Transcripts For MSNBCW Weekends With Alex Witt 20200823

Well, these were first reported by the Washington Post. They had been obtained and confirmed by nbc news. Now, the recordings were made in new york. That is a state where only one party needs to consent for a conversation to be legally recorded. Meanwhile, the president is gearing up for a scaled down Convention Set to begin tomorrow. This as joe biden and Kamala Harris sat down for their first joint interview as the Democratic Party nominees. Did you feel pressure to select a black woman . No, i didnt feel pressure to select a black woman, but what i did think and ive said it before, ive probably said it on your show with you, is that the government should look like the people. Like the country. 51 of the people in this country are women that, the old expression goes, women hold up half the sky. And in order to be able to succeed, got to be dealt in across the board. Were going to go first to the white house and of course Kelly Odonnell standing by at her post there. With a good day to you, my friend. Lots to get to in these recordings, but im curious how the white house is responding tf news the white house would want on the eve of the president s convention because of course, there has been a lot of focus and attention on the president s agenda and this undercuts the the president s sister, now retired and of course the nature of some of the things go right at the president s most make about him. In terms of truthfulness and in terms of his own personal agenda. Wrote the book that they would been fighting about this year and that it was done without the knowledge of the president s sister. We heard from the white houses chief of staff on the sunday shows today and he sort of recounted the president s own words which is the president s own, and he described this as coming from the president s niece point of view, because shes the one who did the recording. Heres mark meadows. What i find interesting is any Family Member that would secretly tape 15 hours of a conversation with somebody obviously to promote an agenda, shes been very vocal in her support for joe biden. This is really a sad day. A number of the accusations being made, ive been able to witness up close and personal and theyre just not true. The president is not only well prepared, but reads so much that it causes me to have to read many times well into the night to catch up with him. So hes addressing there some of the comments of mary ann trump berry, who said her brother doesnt read. Hes not prepared. Her criticisms of him. And the tape recordings were made by the audio recordings were made by mary trump, the author of this book, done in 2018, 2019, and she says that she did it in part because she believed Family Members like her aunt and uncles had been lying about their disagreement over the family estate. She had to sue for her portion of that. She is a granddaughter of fred trump, the president s father, and her father, fred trump, the younger, passed away, and so there was the family drama over the estate and the wealth of the trump family. So theres a lot of issues here and certainly, it makes for an unpleasant portrait of the president and he is dismissing, saying in his own words in a statement from the white house, under the president s name, that hes still focused on the death of his brother, robert trump, who died a week ago, and was memorialized here at the white house with a service on friday. The president saying hes focused on that and focused on the country and doesnt address his sister directly at all. Al alex. Thank you. With me now, we have Abigail Tracey and jeff mason, White House Correspondent at reuters. Hey, guys. Jeff, when this began to ripple through the white house and up to the president , how was it received . Did the president have any kind of explosive reaction or was it more here we go again . Any sense of that . I dont have anything to add on that beyond the statement that kelly just talked about, but you can certainly imagine that its the exact opposite thing of what the president and the white house in general would like to be seeing on this sunday before the start of their convention. The president is obviously, right, and the president has not been happy at all about mary trump and this is just a con n continuation of that. I do think its interesting though in some ways, it is very damning to hear that kind of a comment from someone so close in the president s family. But it is not a new revelation to critics. It is the same type of accusations that have been levelled against this president for years and in that sense, though its horrible timing for him, you would think that they might find a way to just blow it off. Do you have a sense though, jeff, before all of this, what the president s relationship was with this particular sister . You know do you think this shocked him i guess is the question. It might have. I mean, he has spoken glowingly of his sister before. I think what was interesting in the Washington Post story is the discussion or the diskripgs of the conflict between them in the past with regard to the favor that she asked him that perhaps helped her. Seemed to have helped launch her career as a judge. But in general, and the two of them, we thought, had a good relationship. He has spoken well of his sister in the past. Yeah. So abigail, in another recording, the president s sister, mary ann, appears to confirm her nieces allegations that the president actually had a friend take his s. A. T. Test to get into college. Marys spokesperson has said in the statement, several prominent individuals are acurrently takig prison sentences for taking unethical steps to get their children into college all while the president of the United States paid someone else to take his s. A. T. S. This was a long time ago. Is this just a further attempt to impugn her uncles character . First off, its not verified. Nobody has come forward to say yes, they were the one to take his s. A. T. S. Hearing these tapes and hearing something of a confirmation from the president s sister does add heft to those allegations and if someone comes forward to verify, i think its notable. Obviously, this is the president of the United States and he should be held to the highest standard, whether thats taking a test to get into college or otherwise. We should suggest this joe sh shapiro, no other one has come forward. So it is what it is. Is this what its going to be like from now until november . Are People Holding on to information about the president timing wise until it could be the most damaging . Do you think theres a lot more on the horizon here . Its just hard to say, alex. We all know about the october surprises that come in these elections. We saw in 2016, the access Hollywood Tape that appeared to upend the election at that time. But then you know, didnt result in the president losing. As many i think of his critics have had thought it would be a death nail to his campaign. So, you dont know what people are holding on to. What journalism might discover. In the coming months about President Trump or about former Vice President joe biden. Yeah. Abigail, can you gauge the political impact of this, particularly these allegations that someone else took the test for the president because its at a time, as noted by President Trumps spokesperson, its a at a time when parents are going to jail for cheating trying to get their kids into college. Do you think voters will consider any of this . I think some will, absolutely. But to jeffs point earlier, a lot of these criticisms have been levelled on the president. Whether about his reading or sb intelligence ch i think that will be more critical is to see how the president reacts over the next couple of days. His First Response was really measured. You know. And but i will note that as the Republican National Convention Kicks off, the president is scheduled to speak every night. So it will be interesting to see if he airs his grievances over the next couple of days to this, if it goes beyond the initial. And i do think people will judge him a little bit based on that. Sort of whether he just, sort of his reaction as we move down the line. Good point there. All right. Both of you made good points, as usual. Abigail and jeff, thank you so much. Have a good sunday. Now to decision 2020. New reaction to joe biden to President Trumps ongoing attacks and claims on his Mental Fitness and age. The big question, as i say good day, how is biden responding to this . Hey, alex. Were here in washington, d. C. And so joe biden, this question of his age and Mental Fitness for office, thats something thats been coming out throughout the entire primary all through last year. What were seeing is it kind of bubble up again with President Trump and his supporters. I was in wilmington last week during the dnc and there was a plane flying over the Convention Center that said biden is losing it, vote trump 2020. So this kind of messaging is something thats been growing within trumps base. Obviously as we go through the week and into the rnc starting tomorrow, joe biden and Kamala Harris did a joint interview and he responded to some of those attacks from President Trump. Take a listen to what he said. Watch me. Mr. President , watch me. Watch us both. What we do, what we know. Come on. I think its a legitimate question to ask anybody over 70 years old whether or not theyre fit and ready, but the only thing i can say to the american people, its a legitimate question to ask anybody. Watch me. You hear there, joe biden would be the oldest president inaugur inaugurated should he win in november, so hes acknowledging its a legitimate question to ask. You also hear him point towards Kamala Harris, saying look at us. It tells you a story of this joint ticket together of how the energy and youthfulness from Kamala Harris and what thats bringing to the ticket. We saw last week the huge rush of fund raising that came a after she was selected and what that brought along as well. So i think it is interesting to see the balance between the two of them. I do want to point out one more thing, which is that in that same interview, joe biden was asked whether or not he would have ruled out two terms as president should he win and he said he hasnt ruled that out, so thats something to keep in mind as well. Can i say, a watching him respond, i thought he did so with such utter confidence and i thought he was almost goading the president a little bit, doing bring it, with his hands like this. Bring it, brother. Any way, thats one interpretation. Thank you so much from d. C. We are of course just one day away from the Republican National convention which kicks off with an in person role call. It will be in charlotte, North Carolina and thats where we find amanda golden. We have the president , an accomplished tv producer, so do you think hes going to bring some of that tv glam, that experience to the convention . Alex, i think thats exactly what we can expect. Thats what President Trump has said publicly. Hes looking to really do with this rnc this week. In direct contrast with how the dnc went on as largely a Virtual Convention last week. The president will continue to push his message throughout this whole week of events and while the official business of the Republican National convention will be here in charlotte a, it just started percolating over the weekend with that roll call and nominating speeches. The majority of events will take place throughout the washington, d. C. Area. At the white house and at the melon auditorium near the white house,baltimore. So as we look ahead, the messaging President Trumps trying to push in the contrast with the dnc can be seen no further within the most recently announced list of speakers. Theyre widespread throughout Trump Officials as well as operatives and some notable figures. Some names will include mitch mcconnell, nikki haley, Rudy Giuliani and the trump children. So we can look at them to push that message throughout week of ooen events with a real emphasis on live speeches. Thats something the president has said he really wants to do in contrast with what we saw with the dnc. Is there any concern with the republicans that not having a typical full fledged convention might not create as much enthusiasm . Its a good question, alex. In speaking to a lot of locals here in charlotte, there are some residual effects both economically and politically with the back and forth of it being here in charlotte in its scaled down form. The rnc was supposed to be here pre covid, pre everything, in a full fledged form and was scr scrapped and moved to jacksonville, florida, at the president s request. Then converted back to a mix. Especially politically for this crucial swing state and what it can mean for the president s reelect. Take a listen to what one Republican City Council Member told me about that very issue. I think the political repercussions im anticipating and interested to see how it plays out really are twofold. North carolina is going to be critical in this election. And it is a swing state. So, if you think about the fact that yes, a city like charlotte is highly progressive, highly democrat, theres 99 other counties. Many of which are rural and are watching this with deep frustration because they knew it wasnt just charlotte. It was North Carolina that was going to benefit from this. And alex, were watching to see if President Trump will make an appearance here in charlotte as hes expected to visit North Carolina tomorrow going to asheville but well see if he comes to greet those here in charlotte specifically. Im going to ask that question to the spokesperson. Well see if i can get the answer to that, too. Thank you so much. Our special live coverage of the rnc begins tomorrow beginning at 7 00 p. M. Historic danger looming in the gulf of mexico. Bill karins will explain next. Fo bill karins will explain next. 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And work anywhere, with comcast business at home, our new businessgrade Internet Solution for remote workers. Whatever your business needs, comcast business has the solutions to help you not just bounce back, but bounce forward. Call or go online to find out more. Its totally not the same without you. Were finally back and cant wait until you are too. Universal orlando resort. Buy now and get two days free at the parks. Restrictions apply. Wow. Bra breaking news on the gulf coast, bracing itself for a pair of tropical storms heading right for the u. S. Hurricane warnings are in effect for parts of louisiana as marco is gaining strength. Meanwhile, laura is clirurrentl sweeping through the Dominican Republic as well as haiti, but soon, it will move into the gulf of mexico. Bill karins working on a sunday. It warrants bringing you in to work here, bill. These look like two wig big storms. Whats the latest. Marco is going to make landfall tomorrow as it heads up the texas coastline all the wii to the louisiana coast. This could be serious. Our first real huge threat of the hurricane season. Whats amazing is that laura is over the top of haiti and the Dominican Republic. Theres monuntains there that g up to eight to ten feet. We call that island the hurricane shredder. Blows your mind. 2020. Now its got to head over cuba. Let me take you storm by storm. The first is named marco. This is the storm thats going to move into southern louisiana tomorrow. We could get a hurricane landfall. I think at the 2 00 p. M. Update shortly, it will be officially be called hurricane marco. The hurricane aircraft flew through it and found Hurricane Force winds. As far as the forecast goes, it takes it up just south of new orleans monday morning so during the day monday is when conditions will deteriorate towards grand aisle. In new orleans, looks like the worst will be monday afternoon. Wind gusts possibly 50 miles an hour. Well get minor power outages, but by l. Ouisiana standards, yo can deal with a category 1 without my problems. We have some storm surge issues well watch from around noon to maybe 5 00 p. M. On monday. Thats when the heist water levels will occur especially to the east of new orleans and the south. We expect the city of new orleans should be able to handle that storm surge with no problem. Now, as far as laura goes, and this is the real problem. Its going to go over cuba. Remain relatively weak, then hits the warm waters of the gulf. Conditions are favorable for rapid intensification and the Hurricane Center is thinking this could make landfall as a major hurricane Late Wednesday night into early thursday morning somewhere between houston, beaumont, port arthur, maybe the lake charles area. Doesnt have new orleans in that direct cone of uncertainty. Can you imagine, if we get a major hurricane heading for the houston area . Well have to talk about Mass Evacuations and covid at the same time. And also hitting overnight. That never helps in the dark. Its all a lot to consider. Thank you very much, bill karins, spending the time with us. In Northern California today, dry thunderstorms could make the states historic wildfires even worse, hundreds of fires sparked by lightning, have been burning for about a week now and at least five people have died. Hundreds of structures have been destroyed. Firefighters are exhausted. Tens of thousands of people in the bay area are being urged to evacuate quickly. To decision 2020 and 72 days until the election and what voters are thinking in one battleground that helped decide the 2026 election. They have more registered voters than republicans. Nearly 800,000 more, but only 71 of registered democrats voted back in 2016. So what does this mean for 2020 . Lets go to corey coughlin. Give me a sense of where the sentiments lie at this point. Yeah, we wanted to get a good swath of how the vote ers feel, not only here, but in lieu certain county and in pennsylvania as a whole, which is a rich state. Many different pockets with many different issues they care about. Specifically here, were talking manufacturing jobs. Blue collar jobs that are very important to this particular local economy here. In fact, were in the city square and building after building that we have passed here that has been empty. Now, some county leaders tell us that some of those builds are new to the crisis from coronavirus. Those businesses will not come back since the last several months when they had to close, but then others tell us that many of these businesses have been gone over the last several years, so from four years a ago when trump was able to convince many voters here that hes going to revive this economy to where we are now, it is quite a stark difference. Back in 2016, trump won pennsylvania by less than a percentage point. It was razor thin margin. He was able to flip voters to convince them what he would do for them in this state. In lucerne, he won by a little bit more. I think it was a margin of 19 points. For now, i asked voters what they care about now in 2020 and what is on your mind here. Weve got a 100year pandemic, yet another economic crisis theyre dealing with in this area and of course, the racial injustice. Listen to what voters told me yesterday. I do know a lot of people who will suffer four more years under a trump administration. And that is terrifying. You know, we rely on the president whos supposed to be our countrys leader to fix it, but we, we see it. Were seeing that its not being fixed. Is there anything trump could do to still earn your vote for 2020 . Coming around socially would be a huge step. Definitely. You can hear those challenges that trump faces for voters here. When it comes to biden, he faces the challenge of actually getting voters enthuse d to com out to vote. Upping that 71 because if we see the same turnout from 2016, that is a million voters in the state of pennsylvania that would not be voting, those democrat voters. Good point to all. Thank you so much. Concerns about possible cutbacks, delays and issues with mail in voting with the post office at the center of a political battle. Someone with inside experience explains what hes been seeing. E explains what hes been seeing Real Progress . When youre affected by schizophrenia, you see it differently. Its in the small, everyday moments. And in the places, youd never expect. A little sign of hope. The feeling of freedom. And once these little moments start adding up, thats when it feels like so much more. It feels like Real Progress. Caplyta effectively treats adults with schizophrenia. And its just one pill, once a day, with no titration. Caplyta can cause serious side effects. Elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. 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Com print discounted postage for any letter any package any time right from your computer all the Amazing Services of the post office only cheaper get our special tv offer a 4week trial plus postage and a digital scale go to stamps. Com now and never go to the post office again what these letter carriers and those who represent the Postal Service from throughout my Congressional District told me is that they are told that they have to go out first thing in the morning. It doesnt matter that if by the end of their shift, there is leftover mail. That just sits there. And then they start that again the next morning. And if theyre not finished, if they cant get finished with that in their shift, then it just sits there. Part of my conversation there with the congresswoman about her community there and we talked about cities and states around the country which are reporting Postal Service delays. Now theyre blaming operational changes made by the postmaster general for theing thousands of americans. Now joining me in cleveland, ohio, delio freeman. Im curious what your experience has been, sir, and what you are hearing from other postal workers there in cleveland. Were hearing that the mail is still being delayed. With the recent cuts the postmaster general has put in, produced mail cuts. Service times, delay for the american people. Essentially, are you citing the effects, the actions of the postmaster general as having trickled down into cleveland . Is that the number one reason for delays to those you service there . Yes, primarily. Obviously dealing with covid19, the pandemic as well. Which has cause add staffing issue that we had. But along with that, then you have the postmaster general come in and make these cuts and pretty much put out a law or two to make sure that all these cuts are done immediately. With no type of insult from anybody. Hang on. The post mmaster general says there have been no cutbacks to overtime. Is that true . Thats not true. We have documents that show that work was septembnt out to the managers locally, that time is to be cut or if you need overtime, you are to relay that message to headquarters before you can get the authorization. Thats got to be hard on people on morale even, knowing youre unable to get very important pieces of mail, medication, checks from the government perhaps, to people on time. Whats the morale like for postal workers there . Look, were proud and this is what we do as postal workers. Its our dna to make sure we provide reliable and prime service. So when you go to work on the floor or get calls from our members saying theyre disheartened, sadden ed by the fact theyre not allowed to continue to process this mail to get it out to the american people. The post mmaster general say that the Postal Service can handle any anticipated mail in ballots this november. You mentioned issues of covid. That has affect ed the ability o service maybe things as quickly as it was able to before. Knowing the amount of people who may rely on mail in voting to get their voices heard via their rights. Thats your reaction to that . Is it true . Do you think you guys can handle everything coming your way . Yes, we prove to handle things that come our way. The problem with that is that when were not getting the resources to handle it. Right. Right. Because we are expecting an increase in those, in that mail, then if resources or machines are taken out, overtime is cut and resource is not given to us to provide that service that were accustomed to doing, then, yes, we will have problems here in the near future. So then if you get the resources back to where they were before the postmaster general started implementing these changes, will everything go out on time . Will ballots be able to reach in time to the election offices to be counted . I mean, will it be okay if things go back to the way they were . They will be okay. But the problem is that damage has been done in a will tlot of. For example, in my area, in cleveland, the machines have been dismantled. The machines have been led out pretty much in the trash to be done away with as with scraps, you know. So, its yet to be seen how theyre going to respond in terms of filling that void in terms of the machines not being able to be reconstructed and brought back. Okay. Im glad you spoke up about all this on behalf of the American Postal Workers Union there in ohio. Thank you. Darkness versus light. Is the president trying to steal joe bidens Convention Speech time . Historian and author, john meacham, with his answers, next. N meacham, with his answers, next. And well replace your windshield with safe, nocontact service. Tech schedule at safelite. Com. 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Joe biden grimly declared a season of american darkness. Where joe biden sees american darkness, i see american greatness. History will be able to say that the end of this chapter of american darkness began here, tonight. Its time to reject the anger and the hate of the democrat party. Well joining me now, john meacham, historian, biographer, distinguished professor at Vanderbilt University and his new book, his truth is margin on. So good to have you here. Im curious of all these biblical tones, what you make of this. The references to darkness and light. Well, i think the president is going to walk right into a conversation that Vice President biden wants to have. And more importantly, i think most of us want to have, which is if you look at the last three and a half years, if you look at the tone and tenor and style and substance of what President Trump has given us, and the management, mismanagement, of the pandemic, would you call this a sunny moment in america . Or a shadowy one . Is this a, you know, is this a president or a moment that is what we want to be. As a clinical matter. I am not a democrat. Right . This is a clinical, historical, reason based observation. Is it a moment of light when 176,000 americans have died . When we have the worst performance on the pandemic of any nation on earth . Where were about to reach Great Depression level jobless level jobless numbers and structural changes where a lot of these jobs may not be coming back. And again, thats not a partisan point. Just look at the numbers. Its a sign of the structural partisan moment were in that it even feels partisan. So, jon, by your description of these facts, its almost head scratching that the president would try to coopt this challenge between darkness and light. I mean, why would he do it . Well, welcome to the arena, mr. President. If you want to debate whether t debate whether donald trump is a more optimistic, enlightening, inspirational figure that joe biden, thats a fight that joe biden will take every day between now and the election. First of all, if we can, weve been friends a long time. If we scratched our head about things that donald trump made us scratch our head about, we would have deep wounds at this point. Right . So, lets you know, thats sort of a given. This is a clear choice. Its not, its not ambiguous and its not to say that Vice President biden is some combination of jesus and fdr. Nobodys saying that. What a lot of us are saying is given the choices before us, do you want four more years of what weve had or do you want to change the tone and the substance in the country and try Something Else . This goes straight back to president roosevelt who said in 1932, when a republican president was slow to respond to the human agony of economic collapse, which didnt affect everybody, right . It was 20, 25 , so there was a big chunk of the country that was thinking how can i keep my stuff . My things. And lets not worry about them. He said, first of all, he pledged us a new deal, but i think more importantly, he said this is a time that requires bold, persistent exper menation. Try a method and if it fails, admit it frankly and try Something Else. But above all, try something. And that was the kind of energy and light fdr brought to a country that had been knocked down and i think again, its a choice. Do you think Donald Trumps going to do that or do you think joe biden has a better chance of doing that . Im reading another Washington Post oped that was written by our msnbc contributor, howard fineman, who says biden is running an overtly religious campaign, adding quote, biden is trying something daring to rest the mantle of god from the party that claims to own him to cut the legs out from under the gop. Do you think thats possible with evangelicals and how would biden accomplish that . You dont have to reach everybody. Thats a great piece by my old friend and colleague. And its actually a really important part of republican lower case r politics. We separate rightly church and state in this country. But weve never been able to separate religion from politics or religious feeling from politics. This goes back to jefferson. Who was the person who popularized the phrase, the wall of separation between church and state. But he understood something that tote saw later, which is that if youre leading a popular government, you have to meet the people where they are and many people, at least part of the music that plays in their heads, is in fact, faithbased. And so to ignore that or to push it to the side or to exploit it is all a mistake. But if you speak to it, then thats leadership and you have to, leaders are both makers and mirrors of who we are. Right . And what you want them to do is to mirror the best of us and try to make us a little better and i think this language, i would think this. I think this language of how do you find the best parts of a tradition of charity, of the sermon on the mount, of the song of moses, the commandment to love your neighbor as yourself is not, does not begin with jesus in the new testament. It begins in leviticus and it is, as people have long pointed out, actually common to all the worlds great religions. You dont have to be religious to want to accept this argument. You can be as secular as you want to be, but the great secularists have also seen that there is a moral code. And the moral code is lets try to reach out instead of clinching our fists. This is all pretty straightforward. Yeah. Another quite blatant line written by our friend howard in this particular oped, he said timing and contacts are everything in politics. And President Trumps character, if that is the proper term, presents an opening as wide as a barn door. He is everything the bible tells us not to be. Vain, selfish, covetous, adulterous and even considering his criminal amid the pandemic, worse. Is that something that evangelicals, that those who really look at religion as being a Guiding Light for them in how they conduct their lives, how they may want to cast their votes into the character of someone they want to lead this presidency, this country, is that something that evangelicals will consider . Do they consider this . Are they legitimate that way . Its a great question. We should be careful about the broad pronoun, they, because its not monolithic. True. So theres that. Whats happened with the broad evangelical politically active evangelical community really in the last 65 years or so, and it begins i think less with roe versus wade and more with the School Prayer decision in 1962. I remember going to cover rallies in north georgia when i was a young reporter and there were people who would hold, religious activists who would hold up signs listing divorce rates, abortion rates and dated it on a chart that a didnt start with 1973, but 1962 and the School Prayer decision. I think why the Supreme Court is so central in the imagination of that politically inclined group of evangelicals. My argument to them as a failing and terrible christian, which i am, Robert Lewis Stevenson once said that the duty of a christian is not to succeed, but to fail cheerfully. Only by that standard am i good at this, but my argument is shouldnt we be more focused on the sermon on the mount than on on the Supreme Court . As a political matter, you dont need to get that many folks to agree with you, but some people should and i think its brave, honestly, of Vice President vic biden to lead with this. To say, this is who i am and you could take it or leave it but hes not going to cede that part of the american character and the american conversation to people of a singular political disposition. It seems as if eve putting that out there that the character will be the foundation for the way he conducts policy, the way he approaches policy in this country, if elected. Jon meachham, i could talk to you for days and im not at vanderbilt but i could read your books. One that is perfect for our time, the soul of america the battle for our better angels, required reading for everyone. Jon, good to see you. We have breaking news to share that marco has intensified into a category one hurricane, happening moments ago. Hurricane hunters are reporting winds reaching 75 Miles Per Hour as it moves toward louisiana and expected to make landfall tomorrow, so heads up on that. Mentime new details on the links between trump and russia and how much does that really matter to voters. Y matter to voters tech at safelite, were committed to taking care of you and your car. Tech well fix it right with nocontact service you can trust. Tech so if you have auto glass damage, stay safe with safelite. Singers safelite repair, safelite replace. There has never been any issue from my perspective to bring up any issue with the please to include russia or the Election Security and the efforts the department is doing to keep our Department Safe and secure. And russia is trying to interfere in the election again . Again, my knowledge, absolutely. Homeland security secretary director chad wolf defending the president s position on russia and the election on the heels of the report detailing the Security Risk posed by the 2016 Campaign Russia contacts. Joining me michael mcfaul, written this piece for nbc think, the report proves trump collusion but do voters care. Before i get to the do voters care aspect of this, what one bit of information emerged from the mega report that you did not expect nor necessarily know before, which now draws a clear link between trump, the campaign and russia . Well, the biggest new fact was that mr. Kilimnik is here clearly as an intelligence officer. He was the partner to Paul Manafort and before this was speculation, this report makes that clear. The Trump Campaign was interacing with russian intelligence officers. But the other thing that is more important and reading through it, and i confess i havent read all thousand pages. It is huge. And maybe that is part of the problem. It is hard for americans to read a thousand pages when there is so much more news going on. But the thing it reminded me on, we dont need to get hung up on conspiracy and collusion and all of those things. What President Trump and his team did was wrong. It was wrong. They tried to get help from russia. They welcomed that help. They interacted with the russians to get that help. And to this day, to the best of my knowledge, President Trump has made clear that if offered help from a Foreign Government again, he would consider it. Oh, yeah. That, i think, is the real message that americans need to remember. There is right and wrong in this story and we need to focus on that. It was extraordinary. He said that while sitting in the oval office to George Stephanopoulos and it was jawdropping and shocking. But lets listen to what one official said this week after the russia report. The president was very disinterested in that. You couldnt talk to the president about russia without him thinking that you were saying his presidency was illegitimate. And im asking this after four years of the president , but with the new senate report, and what you heard right there, was this presidency illegitimate . I dont think so. I think the russians helped for sure. Whether they influenced the outcome of the election, it is hard social science question and we here at stanford have wrestled with that. I wont go so far to say it was illegitimate but what i dont understand is why President Trump wont criticize what the russians did in 2016. Nor will he criticize putin for anything, by the way. That raises question marks to me. That raises red flags. What is going on here . Why is he so complacent with what mr. Pute did in 2016 and all of the other actions ever since including our own election. Lets remember our Intelligence Community has states very emphatically that the russians are using disinformation, transferring disinformation to the United States particularly about mr. Biden and alleged crazy schemes that he did with regard to corruption, completely false. Theyre feeding that into the american public. Including to senators. And President Trump is going along with it. That is disturbing to me. Whether it is legal or not, im not a lawyer. But it is wrong. Look, im technically out of time but i have to ask you, given the fact that you were the ambassador to russia and you know vladimir putin, you know his actions and his behavior, his temperament and the like and you watched it very carefully and watched this president. What is it about this president that admires in vladimir putin, why does he look at him so ardently, why does he never call him out . What is it about putin that he admires so much . I think admires that hes an autocrat. He likes the strong man. And that goes back decades. That is noeranother important t we learned. Trump send him a congratulations letter when he was consolidated autocracy and weve seen in our country that President Trump also has autocratic proclivities and that brings the two gentlemen together. Michael mcfaul, thank you. And the white house reacting to the secret recordings of President Trumps sister, a former insider will join us with her reaction. 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