Be awkward in terms of his interactions with that bank, given the particular focus of that bank on lending to veterans. But if you think Something Like that was going to trip up this plan, you underestimate the genius of the scheme here. The president s Campaign Chairman, what he did is he applied to this little bank in chicago for millions of dollars in loans and he was not applying, shall we say, purely on his financial merits. Prosecutors later spelled out how he falsified records and materials in his loan applications. And he didnt even do a great job of fudging that stuff that he fudged. He kept getting caught out, kept apologizing, kept resubmitting different numbers, different materials. Bank employees at that little bank, we now know, they did not want to approve these loan applications for the president s Campaign Chairman. They didnt want to give him these loans. They didnt think he qualified. These were not the kind of loans the bank usually did. They were huge loans relative to the banks size. These loans would make him the single biggest borrower for the whole bank. But those employees were overruled. The banks ceo repeatedly intervened in the loan applications for that one potential lender. The banks ceo intervened personally to make sure that Paul Manafort, the president s Campaign Chairman, would get those millions of dollars worth of loans anyway. That he would be approved. Prosecutors say that bank exec intervened the way he did because of what they describe as a neat quid pro quo arrangement with the president s campaign chair. The campaign chair, Paul Manafort, would get those millions of dollars in loans, biggest loans the bank had ever given, loans on which the bank would ultimately lose millions of dollars, and in exchange the ceo of the bank would get a position on the Trump Campaign. And according to prosecutors the quid and the quo were both delivered. Paul manafort did get the millions of dollars in loans and the Bank Executive who personally intervened to make sure those loans got approved, he was in fact appointed to an Economic Advisory group on trumps campaign. And then beyond that, prosecutors say the biggest payoff in this planned exchange was that the president s Campaign Chairman would then put up that bank exec to become the next secretary of the United States army. To become the armys top civilian leader, to be appointed to that job by the new president donald j. Trump. Now, ultimately that part of the quid pro quo did not work out. As you know, the president s Campaign Chairman, he of course now lives in prison where he is serving a 7 1 2year federal prison sentence and where he is awaiting the start of yet another trial on additional charges from new york state. The most recent controversy over Paul Manafort concerns this letter in which the number two official in the justice department, trumps newly appointed Deputy Attorney general, has written to the new york state prosecutors who have brought charges against manafort inquiring as to manaforts health and dispensation in prison and the question of where hes going to be held while hes awaiting trial on these new york state charges. There had been earlier reporting that manafort was going to be transferred to new york citys notorious Rikers Island jail complex to await the start of his state trial. Now it appears he wont go to rikers. Instead hell be staying in federal custody in new york federal lockup while he waits for his next trial to start instead. And whether or not his conditions of confinement have been influenced by the top trump appointees at the federal justice department, its not exactly clear yet as this reporting has continued to evolve but, i mean, even before we get clarity on that, i mean, bigger picture, right, this is how things have worked out for the president s Campaign Chairman in all this. Like, these are the questions about Paul Manafort at this point. Is he going to rikers or is he going to the federal lockup where el chapos in charge, right . Or is he staying at his federal work camp in pennsylvania . Thats the range of possibilities for the president s Campaign Chairman Paul Manafort at this point, none of which is good, no matter how you answer any of those questions about his current fate. As for the other guy in that arrangement, the guy who thought he was going to get to be secretary of the u. S. Army because of his dealings with manafort, he is also not good right now. He has been indicted on federal bribery charges related to his interventions on those loans and related to that proposed job offer for him to be Army Secretary. The bank ceo pled not guilty to that federal charge. Hes due to get a trial date next month. So that first plan, that once upon a time plan for how the new Trump Administration would staff up and appoint the most senior civilian leadership in the greatest army on the face of the earth, that plan a did not work out for them. Dont worry, though, they had a plan b. The president found another guy to nominate for that same job. Whether it is his distinguished military service or his highly impressive track record in the world of business, vinnie has proved throughout his life that owe knows how to be a leader and deliver major results in the face of any challenge. That was the announcement. That announcement, vinnie viola, that plan b seemed to be going well until this part of that nominees track record was released by the local Police Department in saratoga springs, new york. A Police Incident report about the new Trump Army Secretary nominee punching a guy out at a highend horse auction in saratoga springs. It wasnt like a youthful indiscretion from his sealed juvenile record or something. The punching the guy out at the horse auction which led to the Police Report and all that, that was all less than six months before trump announced him as his plan b nominee to be secretary of the army. I guess they didnt google him. So that was weird, but their plan b for Army Secretary didnt work out either. That meant it was time for plan c for an Army Secretary. You might remember that as the brief interregnum where the president s nominee to be Army Secretary was yet another guy who didnt end up in the job. It turns out he couldnt get the support of trumps newly appointed defense secretary at the time. This is when jim mattis was defense secretary. Secretary mattis declined to answer when he was asked if he supported the plan c nominee to run the u. S. Army, a guy named mark green. Plan c nominee mark green was a doctor from tennessee who was a selfproclaimed creationist who said on tape, and i quote, transgender is a disease. He also mused on tape at a Tea Party Event about putting down the armed muslim insurrection in this country. Secretary mattis, you okay with this guy running the United States army, sir . Sir, sorry, did you hear the question, sir . We didnt hear your answer. Do you so that one didnt work out either. Time for plan d. Right . After all of those earlier experiences, President Trump still needed somebody to be the top civilian leader of the United States army. His plan d choice after running through all those other carefully chosen best people was that he eventually arrived at the top lobbyist for raytheon. Raytheon, one of the biggest defense contractors on earth, which means literally its income derives from military contracts. That is ultimately who President Trump decided to put in charge of the u. S. Army, the top lobbyist for raytheon. Put him in charge of the army because, you know, drain the swamp. Well, now today that lobbyist has just been promoted. As of today hes the acting secretary of defense. Because incredibly, yet another Trump Nominee has been caught up in a lurid and sad and in his case somewhat terrifying personal spectacle, and it has all now become public business because apparently there is no vetting whatsoever when it comes to the Trump Administration filling the most important jobs in the u. S. Government, including those in the military and National Security fields. They just put in guys who look the part or who, like, somebody said once would be good. I mean, remember the new va secretary we were going to have . Hey, how about ronnie . Hey, dr. Ronnie, you happen to be, like, on the plane and within sight when we started talking about needing somebody to run the va. There you are. Like, handing out the ambien in the central aisle of the plane. Hey, you know, the president likes you, ronnie. Arent you in the navy . Do you want to run the second Largest Organization in the western world with the responsibility of the care of tens of millions of American Veterans . You seem like a nice guy. You seem like youd be good. You want that job . Tell the senate. Here he comes. Thats enough vetting. The president likes him. Hes got a good reputation. Look how friendly. I mean, thats basically how they tried it with the va of all things. I mean, they did this with the secretary of the army multiple times and worse. Were now living through them doing it with the secretary of defense. Which youd think would be a job theyd take more seriously. And in some ways the implosion today of the defense secretary nomination for Patrick Shanahan, in some way this one stands alone in terms of its bloody and personal misery and were going to be talking in just a moment with the Washington Post reporter today who really broke this story open of what exactly the Trump Administration was letting him twist in the wind all this time for, what they were just hoping no one would notice about him and maybe the fbi would let it slide in his background check. Well talk in just a second about what exactly turned up in Patrick Shanahans life that the Trump Administration apparently never vetted out of him, and so now its all come out in public and now hes the latest of these nominees to implode. But for everything uniquely terrible about this latest personnel disaster and cabinet disaster today with the shanahan nomination going away, i think its also important to see this thing that just happened with the defense secretary nominee as just one in a long line. I mean, honestly, lots of people have criminal histories. Lots of people have been involved in possibly illegal or shady or violent stuff. Lots of people have been caught cheating or stealing or beating people up. I mean, were all more than the worst thing we have ever done, but one of the Core Functions of a functioning white house, that we didnt used to have to even spell out because we thought it was intrinsically obvious, right . We thought theyd at least see it as in their own interests enough to do it. One of the i cant believe we even have to say this basic rules of a functioning white house is people who have been caught up in criminal activity or shady activity or cheating or stealing or violence or lying about any of those things or trying to keep their involvement in closeness to any of those things secret so people dont find out, i mean, one of the things a white house at a basic level is supposed to do is make sure people who are compromised in that way dont get highranking jobs in the federal government. I mean, you are supposed to check for that sort of stuff before you put people forward for highranking jobs in the government. Particularly National Security and military jobs, right . I mean, even if its not something bad that you necessarily did or its something thats not all your fault, even if its just something that you really want to keep secret, therefore you are vulnerable to blackmail if anybody figures it out and tries to use it against you, right . Even if you didnt do something all that bad but its something you find embarrassing or otherwise so un not the way you want to think about yourself that people could use it against you as leverage. That kind of thing, anything serious like that would generally disqualify you from getting a highlevel security clearance. It would turn up in your fbi background check when youre up for senate confirmation. It should turn up in the aggressive vetting youre supposed to undergo from the white house itself even before anybody even floats that you might eventually be considered for a potential nomination. But not with this presidency. I mean, even 2 1 2 years in now, how many times is this going to happen . Now that its happening with the defense secretary are they going to take this seriously . I mean, this has happened over and over again. I mean, between losing his plan b and plan c nominees for Army Secretary, between the forced withdrawal of those two consecutive totally unvetted nominees to be Army Secretary, you might remember there was also trumps nominee for labor secretary, andy puzder, who it turns out had had his marriage featured on an episode of the Oprah Winfrey show that was titled highclass battered women. Andy puzders wife had filed allegations during his divorce in which she said he hit her and threw her to the Kitchen Floor and unplugged the phone after she tried to call police. She said he assaulted and battered me by striking me violently about the face, chest, back, shoulders and neck without provocation or cause. She outlined what she said were her injuries. Puzder denied this and his wife later recanted them. He as part of a child custody agreement later on. She later took it all back, he never abused her at all. But in 1990 there was andy puzders exwife wearing a disguise and big glasses and using a pseudonym describing allegations of physical abuse by trump labor secretary nominee andy puzder on tv, the one she had also testified to in their Divorce Proceedings two years prior. He vowed revenge. He said i will see you in the gutter. This will never be over. You will pay for this. The day that the day that politico. Com obtained that tape of that tv show featuring andy puzders exwife talking about what she said happened in their marriage, the day that tape finally surfaced, andy puzder was out as trumps nominee to join the cabinet and run the labor department. Trump instead picked alex acosta, who has since been told by a federal judge that he and his fellow former prosecutors acted illegally when they agreed to a, frankly, inexplicable plea deal with a serial child sex offender who is accused of molesting dozens of young girls. Alex accoosta agreed to an inexplicable nonprosecution agreement with billionaire child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that precluded trying epstein on any federal charges and that precluded investigations or charges against any of his potential accomplices. Acosta is who did get the labor secretary gig and still has it. After andy puzder was deemed too controversial to get it. Before long the Trump Administration would also have to see off the staff secretary in the white house who worked every day in the oval office in the Immediate Company of the president , seeing every piece of paper that crossed the president s desk no matter its classification level. All of this despite the fact that his own application for a permanent security clearance just couldnt seem to get through. Turns out rob porter wasnt getting his security clearance because the fbi was getting stuck on the serious allegations of physical abuse that had been made against him by not one but both of his exwives. Two days after rob porter had to leave the white house over those serious Domestic Abuse claims, a Trump White House speech writer was also forced out after his exwife also explained to the Washington Post that she too had spoken to the fbi about her contention that she was subject to violent abuse by her husband during their recent marriage including her fearing for her life at his hands. He denied the allegations. Quoting from the Washington Post at the time, trumps speech writer david sorensons exwife called it scary that someone like her exhusband had access to the white house. Everyone can think youre the most wonderful guy but youre throwing women into walls by night. What may be most remarkable about all those trump staffers and nominees losing their jobs over these and losing their nominations over these various abuse allegations is that most of them actually did at least lose their jobs, even in this administration for stuff like this. I mean, that itself was a surprise from the very start. Do you remember when steve bannon was first hired to run the Trump Campaign in the summer of 2016 . After Paul Manafort got fired because of his undisclosed ties to russian interests and ukrainian oligarchs. Steve bannon was hired to run the Trump Campaign in the first place despite absolutely lurid Domestic Violence allegations against him as well. Including the publication of these Police Reports which detailed what police saw when they were summoned to his home in california, including the injuries to his wife and the destruction of the phone that could have otherwise been used by her to summon help after the alleged assault moved from the driveway back into their home. Bannon was charged with Domestic Violence, battery and witness intimidation. The court in Southern California issued a Domestic Violence protective order against him. Now, i mentioned that witness intimidation was one of the charges against bannon. Ultimately the way that criminal case against him resolved is that his exwife, in fact, did not show up to the trial to testify against him. The basis of the witness intimidation charge against him was that he was allegedly trying to terrify his wife into getting out of town and not turning up at the trial so she couldnt testify against him. In the end, she got out of town and did not show up for the trial so she could not testify against him. But because she didnt show up, the charges were dropped. And then steve bannon put in charge of the Trump Campaign. Hired on as white house Senior Adviser and now swanning around europe trying to trumpify european politics as well. I mean, this is how its been since before the beginning, without even talking about the president himself. Who is going to vet him . I mean, now the president s running for reelection. His kickoff Reelection Campaign rally is tonight. And today his acting defense secretary, his nominee to run the defense department, that nomination blew up in a way that did not have to happen, that youd think would have been caught early in any serious vetting effort by any white house, except for the fact that this white house 2 1 2 years in still doesnt do any of that. As Patrick Shanahans defense secretary nomination was being withdrawn today, reporters aaron c. Davis and shawn boburg at the Washington Post went to the press with this remarkable stop you in your tracks story that is based in part on an interview they were able to secure with Patrick Shanahan last night. I dont believe violence is appropriate ever. And certainly theres never any justification for attacking someone with a baseball bat. For attacking someone with a baseball bat. Patrick shanahan speaking to the Washington Post last night. Having to explain his belief that theres never any justification for attacking someone with a baseball bat. Over the brief 2 1 2 years that the Trump Administration has been in there, we have seen a remarkably high number of trump appointees and nominees resign or get pulled or at least get called out for a remarkable rogues gallery of alleged and admitted behavior. Nothing like this, though, tonight with Patrick Shanahan. As the Washington Post went to press with the fruits of that interview today, the president announced that Patrick Shanahans defense secretary nomination was being pulled. The story that made that happen and the lead reporter who got that interview is going to join us next. Stay with us. Us s so this was the First National news report on the subject this morning in usa today. The fbi has been examining a violent domestic dispute from nine years ago between acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan and his then wife as part of a Background Investigation ahead of his possible confirmation hearing to be President Trumps Permanent Defense chief. That was this morning in usa today. Then this afternoon in the Washington Post, this is how we knew it was all over for Patrick Shanahan as trumps nominee to be secretary of defense. And i know this is, you know, just the latest trump cabinet official or nominee to blow up in scandal, but this one is definitely different. I will warn you its also a little bit hard to stomach. In the months that he has served as President Trumps acting secretary of defense, Patrick Shanahan has worked to keep Domestic Violence incidents within his family private. His wife was arrested after punching him in the face and his son was arrested after a separate incident in which he hit his mother with a baseball bat. In november 2011, shanahan rushed to defend his then 17yearold son in the days after the teenager brutally beat his mother. The attack had left Patrick Shanahans exwife unconscious in a pool of blood, her skull fractured and with internal injuries that required surgery, according to court and police records. Two weeks later, shanahan sent his exwifes brother a memo arguing that his son had acted in selfdefense. Quoting from the memo, use of a baseball bat in selfdefense will likely be viewed as an imbalance of force, said shanahan, however, wills mother harassed him for nearly three hours before the incident. In an hourlong interview monday night at his apartment in virginia, shanahan, who has been responding to questions from the post about the incidents since january, said he wrote the memo in the hours after his sons attack before he knew the full extent of his exwifes injuries. Shanahan said monday, meaning yesterday, he does not believe there can be any justification for an assault with a baseball bat. He now says he regrets writing that passage. Quite frankly, its difficult to relive that moment and the passage has been difficult for me to read. I was wrong to write those three sentences, shanahan said. I have never believes wills attack on his mother was an attack of selfdefense or justified. I do not believe violence is appropriate ever and certainly never a justification for attacking anyone with a baseball bat. The post goes on to explain based in part on extensive divorce filings, Patrick Shanahans own behavior in the immediate aftermath of the baseball bat fractured skull attack including him renting a hotel room where he holed up for days with his son while police were looking for him. Joining us now is aaron davis, Investigative Reporter with the Washington Post. Mr. Davis, i appreciate your time tonight. This is quite a scoop. Thanks for having me. So you mentioned that mr. Shanahan had been discussing these incidents with the post, with you since january. Its remarkable that you guys have had this reporting project in the works for all this time while when he was not long ago confirmed as Deputy Defense secretary, this never turned up in any of the documents that were handed over to the senate. Senators say they had no idea. This apparently didnt pop in any of his background stuff that was made available. Well, shanahan in his interviews with us says there was some litigation of this very issue the first goround when he was up for the number two slot in the pentagon, that that was communicated that a fbi background check was communicated to then chairman mccain and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services committee. It does seem, though, theres been a much more fuller investigation by the fbi in the course of this much larger role as secretary of defense. We do not know i mean, theres a few things we dont know about this situation. We dont know where the fbi is in their process of investigating this. We dont know if theyve actually finished their investigation. Given it to the white house and theyve been sitting on it. Because of this or some other thing. But we do know that it became clear to Patrick Shanahan in recent days as just so many weeks had gone by without his nomination papers being officially transmitted to the congress that this story, these Domestic Violence episodes were eventually going to have to be confronted by him in public. Now, its to your point earlier about the vetting issue, its pretty remarkable because for the past five months now or six months nearly Patrick Shanahan and those close to him, his family, people working with him in the pentagon, have been working to, you know, make sure this didnt come out in the press, to make sure that Congress Never asked about this when it came to the confirmation hearing. So you have a situation, you know, where the very purpose of a confirmation hearing, of vetting nominees so that there isnt something, as you said, that could be used as blackmail, we are very close to Patrick Shanahan being put before congress for a confirmation hearing, possibly having this never come up. You know, if there hadnt been such a delay around the latest fbi investigation. But possibly a very long time before, you know, this was out there and he was trying to keep it from getting out there and who knows how that could have been used against him. And him serving nearly six months as acting secretary of defense with this potential leverage pending against him while he tried to keep it secret as well. I mean, obviously an acting secretary doesnt have exactly the same power as a secretary of defense, but its not like hes been shy in that position. I want to ask you something about some of the documents you turned up. In your reporting with shawn boburg at the post. Youve obviously gone through more than 1,000 pages of divorce documents. Youve gone through the police documents, including some incredible detail. Sarasota Police Reported that the young man struck several blows to his mothers head and torso, left her in a pool of blood and unplugged the phone cord, denied the brother the use of 911 to render aid. The incredible Police Reporting on this. Also the memo that shanahan himself wrote to essentially try to shield his son from from from getting in trouble on this stuff. Is the memo that you guys have reported here, which is such an important part of the story, is this the first time it has become publicly known, that he did that memo . Yes, thats the first public reporting on this memo. And the memo is, as you said, its pretty important because the lines that he used in trying to very early on decide if there was some mitigating factor, as hes told me, you know, how did this happen, how did it come to be that my son did this . He was really looking for what would be the defense and what would be the explanation. And he wrote this memo that he circulated with his attorneys that later was sent to another Family Member and found its way into the public court file where he did use this equivalency almost of a verbal assault with a physical assault. And i think people who have heard that on the hill have had kind of a visceral reaction to that sometimes, the way he phrased that. He now says he regrets writing it, he wrote it poorly, doesnt mean it and doesnt believe there is any justification for using a baseball bat, but this discussion, i do believe in my conversations with him last night and this morning have perhaps him hearing the words come out of his mouth and rereading this memo, perhaps for the first time visualized what a very public airing of this would look like. Mmmhmm. And i think it became too much for him. There is a document in the court file where it says Patrick Shanahan is not without fault in this whole situation. He was never, you know, the person who used the baseball bat. That was his son against the mother of his three children. But he was not without fault in that he knew there was a very complicated and tense situation going on with his exwife and the children and he should have done more in that situation. I think, you know, reading by what he has done today, stand up and walk away from the nomination, that this is a chapter two and perhaps a way for him to, you know, be the parent perhaps that earlier on in the course of this very awful, sad and tragic Family History that he was, you know, somewhat criticized for. Aaron davis, Investigative Reporter with the Washington Post who broke this story wide open today. As mr. Shanahan has stepped out and will not become the secretary of defense, mr. Davis, thank you for helping us understand your reporting tonight. Much appreciated. Thanks. I will say that, you know, getting this story being made public about the shanahan family, you cant be put forward for a senate confirmable important National Security position while having a big secret that you dont want to come out that some people know about you that could be used against you. For one. But when people do have secrets or they have things in their family that they cannot allow to become public for family reasons or even the most beneficial of reasons, thats the stuff that comes up in a vetting that means you dont get put up for the job in the first place, and that is the white houses failing here, not shanahans failing, the white houses failing that they even tried it with him and theyre the reason this stuff is out in the open in a way that shanahans family would rather would rather anything, right . Much more to come tonight, including senator chris murphy joining us next. Stay with us. I had a heart problem. 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So we havent had a confirmed secretary of defense for nearly six months. Thats a record. Over that sixmonth period weve got ongoing u. S. Operations in iraq and afghanistan and syria. Weve had the Trump Administration threaten brand new wars against both venezuela and iran. And now today Patrick Shanahan, the longest ever nonconfirmed only acting defense secretary in u. S. History, is himself out because the white house apparently did its usual bangup job of vetting highprofile important nominees and they never noticed the huge bloody Domestic Violence crime and tragedy in his familys recent history, which shanahan has been desperately trying to keep secret while he was also expecting to be confirmed as defense secretary. Joining us now is senator chris murphy who is on the Senate Foreign relations committee. Sir, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Its nice to see you. Thanks for having me. So one of the consequences of this story is i think some senators have expressed concern that they didnt know about this. Shanahan was confirmed as a Deputy Defense secretary in the past. He was well into the nomination process at this point. Theyd had no word. The fbi paperwork on him had not been handed over. How concerned are you about this . Well, im very concerned about it, understanding that there is likely a different amount of Background Investigation done for a deputy secretary versus a secretary, but as you point out, weve been waiting for six months for a secretary candidate to be sent to the United States senate. Its unprecedented to have this much time go by without anyone as the formal head of our military, and had the president decided back in january or february that he was going to forward shanahans name to the United States congress, this information would have come out much earlier and we could have moved on to the next nominee. What is particularly perilous is that this hasnt ended yet. We have another announcement of a new acting secretary, and it could be that for the better part of an entire year we are not going to have anyone formally leading the entirety of the United States military, and given, as you mentioned, all of the different crises that are erupting around the world, that is as concerning to me as the lack of information about this particular nominee. What is the practical consequence of having an acting secretary in there versus a confirmed secretary . Obviously were seeing the Trump Administration act in ways that are, you know, concerning to a lot of people on venezuela, certainly right now on iran, theres been lots of confusion in terms of whether or not the president ultimately did give an order that u. S. Troops should leave syria or not and what happened to that order. Ever since james mattis left theres been no clear indication about how the administration handles matters involving civilian control of the military anyway. What have we seen that tells us about the difference of having somebody in there who is not confirmed . So mattis was a commanding presence, and while he lost the faith of the president at the end, he was someone that the white house listened to. The problem is twofold. One, when youre in an acting capacity, everyone wonders whether youre going to be there for the long haul so your influence and naturally diluted. Two, this particular acting secretary had absolutely no experience in the military or in National Security policy. He had not really worked at any substantial level inside a big bureaucracy before and he was by all accounts very ineffective and very quiet during the time that he was there. So i think you have both of those problems. And you can see how this plays out. The military doesnt have a direct line into the National Security adviser. Their advice is supposed to flow through the secretary of defense. So, for instance, our military leaders in iraq have been pretty clear with those of us who have visited that they think it was a pretty terrible decision for the administration to name the Iranian Revolutionary guard as a terrorist organization. They told the administration that that would result in the relationship falling apart and attacks being launched against u. S. Troops, but without a formal secretary of defense to channel that information to the executive branch, it didnt get listened to and we are now in a situation of crisis in part because of that one very bad decision that our military leaders counselled against. In terms of what happens next here, we have a new acting secretary of defense, as you mentioned. The president chose him for his current job, which was secretary of the army, from having been the chief lobbyist for raytheon. Is this a nominee who you are inclined to feel to feel confident about . Is this somebody who you think will ultimately be nominated to be the defense secretary . Do you have any expectation in terms of how long it will take . Well, listen, i hope that the president puts a name before us as soon as possible. I dont think there is any excuse for the president to take more than a few weeks before he submits this name or someone elses name to be in that position permanently. I am very worried about this broad trend in the administration to put lobbyists for the industries that these agencies do business with inside these positions. Raytheon as we speak has a very controversial sale pending before the United States congress. They make the precision guided missiles that we sell to saudi arabia that they have used to drop bombs inside yemen. The idea that we would have someone that has worked for raytheon that may want to go back to work for raytheon setting defense policy that has deep objections on both sides of the aisle is alarming. I understand there is unfortunately a resolving door in which lots of people on both the democratic and republican side of the aisle come in and out of the private sector, but this seems to be a trend line throughout the administration, the epa, the department of interior, the department of defense, that suggests this administration is not so serious about cleaning up this swamp they talk about all the time. The shock. Senator chris murphy of connecticut, thank you for joining us, sir. Appreciate having you here. Thanks. All right. Much more to come tonight. Stay with us. Applebees new loaded chicken fajitas. Now only 10. 99. After my. I wondered,. Is another one around the corner. Or could it be different than i thought . I wanted to help protect myself. My doctor recommended eliquis. 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We are here to announce our endorsement for president in 2020, or at least who were not endorsing, donald trump. Some readers will wonder how we could possibly eliminate a candidate so far before an election and before knowing the identity of his opponent. Well, its because there is no point pretending we would ever recommend that readers vote for trump. After 2 1 2 years weve seen enough, enough of the chaos, the division, the schoolyard insults, the selfaggrandizement, the corruption, and especially the lies. So many lies. From white lies to whoppers. Told out of ignorance, laziness, recklessness, expediency, or opportunity. Trumps capacity for lying isnt the surprise here, though the frequency is. Its the tolerance so Many Americans have for it. There was a time when even a single lie, a phony college degree, a bogus work history, would doom a politicians career. Not so for trump who claimed in 2017 he lost the popular vote because millions of people voted illegally. They didnt. In 2018 he said north korea was no longer a nuclear threat. It is. In 2019 he said windmills cause cancer. They dont. Just last week he claimed the media fabricated unfavorable results from his campaigns internal polling. It didnt. The editorial goes on from there in detail. Trump has diminished our standing in the world. He reneges on deals, attacks allies and embraces enemies. The nation must endure another 1 1 2 year of trump but it neednt suffer another four beyond that. We can do better. We have to do better. The Orlando Sentinel is a paper that usually endorses republicans for president. This unendorsement today in the sentinel is a blow to the president in a state he has to win for his reelection, but do not look past the fact that it has been published in orlando as the president arrived tonight in orlando to launch his Reelection Campaign. According to the sentinels Editorial Board, that was the point and their Editorial Page Editor joins us straight ahead. Stay with us. 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Giving you the power to actually lower your cost. Unfortunately, it cant do anything about that. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . In what may be a new genre of political endorsements, the Orlando Sentinel newspaper today offered up an antiendorsement of the president s reelection. Our endorsement for president in 2020 not donald trump. They say this as the president arrives in their town tonight to launch his Reelection Campaign. The sentinels Editorial Board saying essentially they dont know whos going to be running against him yet but they know already they dont want florida voters voters to vote for the president , no matter who hes up against. Joining us now for the interview is mike lafferty, Editorial Page Editor at the sentinel. Thanks for being here. Youre welcome. The president launching Reelection Campaign tonight in orlando. I think thats a sign he thinks hes in Trump Country in your town tonight. What has been the reaction to this today from our readers . Well, its been mixed. Thats probably a typical answer. But we sat down and counted up the number of notes that we got, letters to the editor. We got about 112 that liked what we wrote. We got 108 that did not. Its about the same split for the things that came directly to me and to a couple of others in the in the editing ranks. So it was pretty divided. Some people were really unhappy with it and, you know, they thought it was an insult to the president. They thought it was an insult to the people who came to see him here. And so thats what they thought. Was it a hard call to do this . Obviously you knew that this would be national press. Youd be asked to talk about it on national tv given the platform the president effectively gave your editorial decision by you making sure that it ran coincident with this speech tonight. Yeah, when we heard the president was coming to town for a rally and then heard the president was coming to town not just for a rally but to relaunch his campaign, we sat down and thought about what could we do to comment on that, and the idea emerged, lets just go ahead and write the endorsement editorial. And yes, we knew that it would get some more attention that way. I dont think theres anything wrong with that. And we also knew that there would be some there would be a lot of pushback on it, but you know, we think this is an important issue and this was a good way for a lot of people to see it and so thats why we did that. Once you know who is running against him, you have a funny riff at the end of the editorial where you talk about how this nonendorsement isnt defaulting to whomever the democrats choose. You have a history of endorsing republican candidates for president in general elections. Once you do know who is running against him, do you think and the Editorial Board members will make another decision about whether or not to actively endorse his opponent or might this be it, just a nontrump endorsement . We you know, were going to have to talk about it once we find out who it is. And there are a couple of scenarios. We could endorse that person. We could decide not to endorse that person. We could decide not to endorse. The sentinel did that in 1980 when Ronald Reagan ran against jimmy carter. The paper just didnt endorse. Found it couldnt stomach either one of them for a variety of reasons. So thats an option. I just want i thought it was important for us to say that, you know, this is not a default to the democrat. We want to know what that democrat says, what they want to do. Our paper has a pretty long history of being fairly financially conservative. We worry about deficit spending. We worry about debts, national debt, so those are things that will be important to us when we talk about this. Mike lafferty, Editorial Page Editor for the Orlando Sentinel. This was super provocative and interesting and well argued. I appreciate your giving us insight to your thinking behind it. Thanks for being here. Thank you. All right. Well be right back. Stay with us. You try hard, you eat right. Mostly. You make time. When you can. But sometimes life gets in the way, and that stubborn fat just wont go away. Coolsculpting takes you further. A nonsurgical treatment that targets, freezes, and eliminates treated fat cells, for good. Discuss coolsculpting with your doctor. Some common sideeffects include temporary numbness, discomfort, and swelling. Dont imagine results, see them. Coolsculpting, take yourself further. Here are even more reasons to join tmobile. 1. Do you like netflix . Sure you do. Thats why its on us. 2. Unlimited data. Use as much as you want, when you want. 3. No surprises on your bill. Taxes and fees included. Still think you have a better deal . Bring in your discount, and well match it. Thats right. Tmobile will match your discount. Former White House Communications director hope hicks name checked in the Mueller Report more than 180 times. The vast majority of them in volume ii which is on obstruction of justice. Tomorrow hope hicks will become the first fact witness from the Trump Administration to testify before congress on the mueller investigation. The white house is still trying to stop her, though, asserting today that hicks is absolutely immune from being compelled to testify about her time in the white house. This was the white house today basically telling the committee theyre going to put a chaperone in the room with hope hicks tomorrow to try to keep her from answering questions about her time in the white house and to try to keep her from answering questions probably about the president ial transition as well. But heres a little breaking news for you. We just got this. The judiciary committees chairman jerry nadler has just responded to the white house claim that hope hicks is immune from having to testify. He tells the white house tonight i reject that assertion. Questions will be posed to her and we will address privilege and other objections on a question by question basis. Chairman nadler goes on to say the Committee Plans to ask ms. Hicks about instances she witnessed in which the president took actions that may constitute criminal offenses, including obstruction of justice. Essentially implicitly claiming there that it cant be a privileged communication if in fact what that conversation was about was the commission of a crime. One other thing to keep an eye on with that hope hicks testimony tomorrow, democrats are also reportedly planning to those happened during the campaign before the election. So not when hope hicks was working in the white house. Not when she was working in the transition. Michael cohen has already gone to prison in part for his confessed role in arranging those payments. He didnt invent that scheme on his own. Will hope hicks be asked about it tomorrow . Will they be able to stop her from talking about what she knows about it . We shall see. That does it for us tonight. Hope hicks will be there coyote a. M. Tomorrow. Well see you again tomorrow night. Now its time for the last word with lawrence odonnell. Good evening, lawrence. Good evening, rachel. Theyre asserting overtly she cant talk about anything in the white house