Transcripts For MSNBCW The 20240702

Secretary of defense lloyd austin said President Biden ordered selfdefense drags onto facilities in Eastern Syria used by irans revolutionary guard. He added the strikes our response to attacks against u. S. Personnel in iraq and syria by iranianbacked militia groups. Joining me now on the phone to discuss, my colleague msnbc White House Correspondent peter alexander. Peter, what can you tell us about how biden order the strikes and why they were carried out today . Stephen, a first, i think we should put this in the contt of what weve been watching happen in the middle east. And as we heard from lloyd austin tonight, the u. S. Military action, these defensive strikes, if as you describe them, they do come amid the rising tensions in that region with the rising tension between israel and hamas, but also called these attacks and his words separate and distinct from the ongoing conflict between israel and hamas. They said they do not represent anything in the u. S. Approach of the conflict. The simplest terms in this effort, it was an effort to restore a deterrent in the region. Obviously, the u. S. Is trying to avoid the situation that is already so dangerous involved right now from escalating in any further than it already has right now. But as the president said in the rose garden yesterday, i was with him during a News Conference that took place there alongside the Prime Minister of australia, he delivered a clear warning to the ayatollah after these recent attacks largely by drone and by rockcut on a series of u. S. Bases in iraq and in syria. He said my warning to the ayatollah staff was that if they continue to move against those troops, we will respond, and he should be prepared. Obviously, the challenge in all of this is to find the appropriate measure of retaliation at a response that doesnt escalated further. The white house, though, has tried to make it very clear that theyre not going to allow for this to happen. The Defense Secretary himself saying that these attacks must stop, staff. The Defense Department calls these strikes narrowly tailored. What does that mean . Are they trying to say this is just in this one specific instance, we are not trying to give the signal that this should or could be anything bigger are broader . Because thats what the sort of general audience have panicked about when i think about the region. I think youre exactly right, obviously, the desire here was to find the appropriate level of retaliation of a response was here without doing anything that may sort of ramp up the fears of whats already a dangerous situation in that region. But you go back to october 17th until just this week, and u. S. Coalition forces were attacked at least ten separate times in iraq, three times in syria by a mix, as we were saying, of these drone and rockets. Just today, actually, we learned, the pentagon confirmed that there was a separate strike that took place. I believe that one was a in iraq. That was an unsuccessful strike and the pentagon details it right now. Thats why they referred to these narrowly tailored strikes as being done in selfdefense, that they were intended solely to protect and defend u. S. Personnel in that region right now. Their desire, again, to be clear, is in the effort in deterrence. Its the same reason in many ways why the u. S. Has sent the uss Eisenhower Carrier Strike group to the eastern mediterranean. The second Carrier Strike group there, as well, obviously, as the u. S. Wants to make it very clear, again, these specific strikes who are not associated with the conflicts taking place between israel and hamas. But the u. S. Simultaneously is trying to make it quite clear to any other organizations backed by iran, like hamas is, hezbollah, and other proxies, not to engage, not to try to take advantage of the situation that exist right now in that region. Peter alexander, thank you so much for being here. Im gonna let you get some rest. Im sure you have a long day ahead of you tomorrow. I want to bring in retired four star u. S. Army general barry mccaffrey, a decorated combat veteran of vietnam, and a former battlefield commander of the persian golf. Former democratic new york and respond macros joins us, and editorial for political life. He spent more than 20 years in washingtons defense, National Security, and Foreign Affairs seen. General, i turn to you first. What do we need to know right now . Well, i think its been set up pretty well so far in the earlier shows. We have had a significant escalation of attacks orchestrated by iran, using proxy forces on u. S. Forces in both iraq and syria. 21 wounded, some of them with brain damage. The u. S. Is now deploying significant assets, to carrier Battle Strike groups, bombers into the 90 kingdom, f16 fighters going into greece. Theres a significant u. S. Airbase that in qatar, and theres a major deployment of u. S. Air defense assets, patriot missiles, batteries, and the avengers shortrange system. So i think the Biden Administration is being very careful. Theyre saying this is got to stop, theyre trying to deter around. And its a proportional response. I dont think this is over, though. Iran is going to try and put a vice on u. S. Support to israel as the israelis inched toward the Ground Invasion of gaza. So we havent seen the end of this very perilous time. Max, this came as no surprise to. You know, because weve seen this escalation in attacks by iranian associated elements on our u. S. Troops both in syria and iraq. I think if theres any surprise, its the nature of the escalation because the attacks were against iranian forces, not just their affiliates. But with that being said, ive seen Secretary Austin and his team work up close and personal. Ive seen how this administration operates from the inside. And they do not make decisions recklessly. Oh what i am absolutely certain of is that this decision was made with a full understanding that its goal is to restrain a further escalation of conflict, not promote it. This is a tenuous moment in the region. And the goal, and i believe that they will be successful in this effort in the short term and the long term is to enable this to be isolated between israel and its effort to defend itself. Do you think Prime Minister netanyahu knew this was going to happen . Yeah, i do think he was given a heads up. And thats the proper thing to do considering the tenuous situation in the region. Kevin, Secretary Austin called it, i want to make sure i get the wording right precision selfdefense trucks. Do you think thats how iran is going to see this . Probably, but i think the other guests are right that in this matter, your guess should know that the u. S. Is still in combat across the middle east and has been continuously for years despite proclamations of previous president s and others, the ices war has not ended. Central command continues to put out lots of fact sheets and statements anytime that theres any kind of action of americans engaging with fighters there and that still lingering forever war, if you will, among i. S. I. S. Thats why their u. S. Troops in the region, and why the iranians are using that proxy to potshots at the americans back and forth. This is the second time a contractor has died in the region during the airstrikes or fear of airstrikes, and contractors are usually laundrie and kitchen contractors, these are fighters and enablers to that special ops fight. All of those attacks over the last couple weeks at American Forces have been extraordinary and they have been coordinated. They have come and ships at sea with Cruise Missiles. This is extraordinary stuff. Youve heard on the right, ive heard a growing chorus of voices saying, when is the United States going to strike back . Biden isnt doing enough, hes been weak. This is the response. And it is extremely limited in that language. The other part of the language that austins head that you guys mentioned it is that this is not related to the israelhamas war, right . This is completely between us and the iranians. That is easier said than done, or easier to say than to convince the region. This is all connected. Well, general, given how tense everything is across the region right now, how is today s action going to impact whats happening across israel . Well, i think, look, the bottom line is the iranians would be ill advised to take on the United States directly in a major combat situation. We could turn off their oil supplies, the massive u. S. Air power capability. The u. S. Navy could close down their port system. I dont think the iranians want to end up in a regional war. However, using these proxy forces, whether houthis or hezbollah or hamas or syrian army, they are clearly going to defuse the intention the United States can place on standing behind israel. This thing is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. The israelis in no way, in my judgment, will allow things to go back to where they were on six october. Having 1400 israeli civilian innocents slaughtered on the most brutal possible manner means theyve got to try to take down hamas. Its likely that hezbollah will try and interfere in that ocess also. I dont think with a major invasion by 100,000 hezbollah fighters, but clearly everyone s on edge. The worst is yet to come. I want to bring Courtney Kube into our conversation, nbc correspondent, courtney, what can you tell us . So weve got a little bit more detail about the strikes tonight. First off, they were carried out by f16s, so what we expected, manned jets according to syrias military officials, they dropped precision munitions, which is what we expected. The two locations were apparently a Weapons Storage Facility and an ammunitions storage facility. We dont know much more about that. The official would not say whether these were literally so directly linked to the attacks that weve seen in iraq and syria recently, that the actual munitions couldve been stored and prepared or whatever their. But both the senior u. S. Officials said that they were confident these strikes, taken out these facilities, would impact these groups abilities to continue to attack u. S. Forces. Now, one thing thats kind of notable is we were asking about casualties, and they said that, as of now, they cannot say whether there were any casualties at the site or not. Nor could they say there were any iranians that may have been present at the site, especially given the fact that this statement very clearly at the top said that these were iranianbacked groups that were associated with these facilities. And very specifically, Iranian Revolutionary guard corps linked facilities. We hope to learn more in the coming hours, or maybe days, about whether there were any casualties there on the site. In addition to that, we also learned, so weve been talking over the last week or so about this uptick in attacks against Bases Housing American Xerox and syria. Weve learned that number has ticked up again. There have now been 19 total attacks since october 7th, 17th, so thats 19 attacks in eight days. Thats a pretty dramatic escalation from where we have seen over the last several months in iraq and syria. The majority of those attacks have been unsuccessful, meaning they have not resulted in deaths or casualties. But there have been nearly two dozen minor injuries at two of the locations and some of those attacks, and of course there is one American Contractor who died at a cardiac event. So a little bit more detail also notably the we really pressed these officials about irans role in all of these attacks. The ones weve seen in iraq and syria. And while they declined to say specifically that iran has directed this increase, they repeatedly pointed that to iranian Senior Leaders and tehran as funding, our main, and equipping these groups. And theyve repeatedly called on iran to take specific action to call on these groups carrying out these attacks on iraq and syria to stand down and see. Courtney, thank you. Max. 19 attacks in eight days. What do you think that is . So about ten years ago i was ahanistan and i served with a bunch of soldiers who had deployed to iraq as well. One of them nearly lost his leg due to an iranian aft and the general has seen countless of these stories as well, and the reason i pick this up is because iran has been probing the United States of america in the region for vulnerability and trying to kill our Service Members. For the entire century, virtually. That is nothing new, but what they are seeing right now, while were seeing a significant uptick is because they believe that our attention is focused elsewhere due to ukraine. As well as israel. And they see, amidst the chaos and turmoil, an opportunity to create even more of that and kill our young men and women who are putting themselves in harms way in support of our nation and our security. And thats why this response by the administration is so justified. But what i would say, saying in that point is that when we have our Service Members in iraq and syria and in different places, they are guaranteed to be vulnerable. And thats why, as were constantly picking this up from a strategic standpoint, long term, weve got to think about the fact that it impacts our National Security in both the positive sense, as well as a negative sense. And there is no such thing as deployments and a overseas action that does not and risk. And we have Hundreds And Thousands of Service Members, all across the nation right now, putting themselves in harms way and today of all days we should thank them for that service. We certainly should, and Risk Management has gotten a lot more difficult in the last few weeks. General, what do you think . I certainly appreciate the congressman viewpoint us in infantry platoon leader, understanding whats going on on the. Ground look, theres 25 somewhat odd u. S. Troops on the ground, probably around 900 and syria. It always makes me nervous as a cat to have these modest deployments way out there. Backing them up, thankfully is the u. S. Navy and u. S. Air force. Striking it. These f15s, for example, who knows what they came from. Probably out in the gutter. And so we are a Deterrent Force in the region by our presence. The congressman says, this sort of thing, proportional response means that you see to the other power, the iranians, the decision of when to upped the ante. And these things can turn really bad, really quickly. So, if youre using large eye munitions like Cruise Missiles that may have a multi hundred pound warhead on it, suddenly you can start losing significant numbers of americans. I dont think the iranians want this confrontation to go critical. And i think thats what President Biden and Secretary Austin, Secretary Blinken are trying to do to dam down the horizontal escalation of this for. Kevin, what are you watching for next . Im curious to know whether those when cody was speaking. And from her reporting, and some of the others, i know that were on that call im going to guess that depending on the saying but the general make could be qatar, could be as off russia. There from the ground. Theyre from a country in the regions that has to deal with the United States to allow this to happen. And its probably a country thats somehow embroiled in the israeli hamas conflict. Qatar, has, and has been a United States silent partner thats going to grow more and more visible. First revealing that the base existed. Then revealing their Critical Role in things like hostage negotiations, and being the real conduit for the linchpin and freeze on use between the iranians, and everybody else. It all goes to the, it goes to the cars. And the dirty speakers, is that we have thousands of u. S. Troops there. And with families nearby as. Well ive been. There and its a part of the United States military presence, in that region. And its doing continual combat operations, that we just dont talk about. That we dont hear about. And this administration has done its best to try to mute and to demilitarize as theyve tried to change the course of history in the region. And you, know history has come calling. And again, i think the Precision Strikes are what we would expect. Especially from this administration, when leaders like Secretary Austin and c. Q. Brown. Dont forget about him. Hes the new senior Military Adviser in place. Hes the former at that commander, he was the head of the air force in this region and he was also Deputy Commentator if im not missing. Its so these are men with extensive experience in the region, expensive relationships in the region. And so the United States can continue to do defenseless strides, bit, by bit, by bit but i dont know how that changes the big game with the run. Maybe its not designed to. Thats fine. We can, top will probably no more into, that and we could speculate into that. But as long as the iranian proxies syndromes, the Rocket Launches and then its going to Cruise Missiles. I would imagine, were going to see more of these responses before this is over. Right, kevin baron, congressman thank you all for starting us off tonight. Stay with us. Our breaking News Coverage, on the u. S. Strikes in syria continue right after this. There is a better way to manage diabetes. The dexcom g7 continuous Glucose Monitoring system eliminates painful finger sticks, helps lower a1c, and its covered by medicare. Before using the dexcom g7, i was really frustrated. All of that Finger Pricking and all that pain, my a1c was still stuck. Before dexcom g7, i couldnt enjoy a single meal. I was always trying to outguess my glucose, and it was awful. 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Oh, and all on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Welcome back. Wireless that works for you. Its not just possible. We are still following Breaking News out of the pentagon tonight. Defense secretary lloyd austin says that the u. S. Carried out military strikes in syria. Against iran linked targets. In response to a series of attacks against u. S. Personnel in iraq and syria. Joining me now to discuss is janine zakaria. Former Jerusalem Bureau chief for the washington post. And ben rhodes, former deputy National Security adviser for president obama. Ben, what is your take on all of this . I think my take is that this is what escalation looks like in the region. It can get a lot, a lot worse. We have already seen obviously the violence, the horrific attacks in israel. We have seen this bombardment of gaza that has killed dozens of people. And we are on the precipice potentially of an israeli Ground Invasion of gaza. And it is always been the case that if the conflict escalates there, then there could be all of these different flash points in the region. There could be hezbollah coming into israel from the north. There could be things exploding in the west bank. It could be iranian proxies in syria and iraq and, yemen. That are attacking not just israeli targets but american targets. We have to recognize, that this interconnected across the region. And the more that this conflict escalates, the more it is likely to potentially draw the United States into military action. Either to prevent attacks on our own forces, or in response to kind of a regional conflagration. So this could be just the beginning of what could be the regionalization of this conflict and frankly i do not think that is in anybodys interest. I dont think thats in americas interest i dont think frankly that isnt israels interest, i dont think it is in the interest of the region generally but this to me is why yes you do need to protect u. S. Forces, you need force protection in need these proportional strikes to send a message, but you need a bigger plan here stephanie. You need to try to deescalate the situation or else there will be more of this and that is the reality we have to reckon with as americans we know. Its not in anybodys interest, but do you think itll get a lot worse . If the current trajectory continues, i am just being honest here, if there isnt israeli Ground Invasion of gaza. Which there likely will be. I dont see how that doesnt bring hezbollah in from the north. I dont see how they are not escalating attacks from iranian proxies across the region. And i dont see how that does not bring the United States further into this. Thats just the reality we are confronting here. The question is is there a different way . To try to address the securities concern israel has. Rather than what could be a broader regional escalation. Because, again i actually do not think ultimately that isnt anybodys security interest. So to me the trajectory we are on right now is it quite dangerous one. You can try to contain it, do it through messaging. The uss tried to deter iranian actions and proxy actions by deploying significant military resources to the region. But what we have seen as tensions are so high, it is such a tinderbox that it does not take much to light a tinderbox on fire. So i think we need the kind of diplomacy we have seen in recent days to escalate as well. Or else there really is a risk of this becoming a broader regional conflict. And that could have Unintended Consequences that we cant quite foresee at this point. What do you think . Ben mentioned the escalating and diplomacy, i just do not know who we will and legault shape with right now. We dont have a deal with iranians anymore, albeit the deal we did have was simply about the Nuclear Program and it did not get into some of these other issues like the proxies. The other party with influence here is russia we arent exactly on great terms with russia. And i want to just direct the listeners attention to a significant meeting i think that took place in moscow today. With deputy Russian Foreign minister. And the hamas foreign minister. So if there was any confusion or uncertainty about whether iran is coordinating with hamas with everything going on i think weve resolved it today. Now, im concerned about is that russia obviously has an interest in this region blowing up, right . It takes the focus of the United States and its allies off the war with ukraine. And so, what happened in that meeting . What kind of signals where they sending . And so, you know who celebrating this week . Around. They are having a great week. Theyre watching their proxy, hamas now, that they funded and trained. And there were meetings in beirut leading up to the hamas massacres of israel. We know that. You, know theyve now youve got Tens Of Thousands of israelis have relocate from the Gaza Border Outside of their homes. The same from the north. In anticipation of possible hezbollah strikes in the north. They force the u. S. To send carrier groups. Theyve hit 20 times on the small u. S. Contingents. So, again, i think what we saw today, in syria late today is the small titfortat kind of response. We will see more of that. But as its been pointed out, i dont think the u. S. Certainly is trying to keep this contained. And you know, the big question, one thing that also could help right now i think is if they could work the diplomacy on the israeli and foreign hostages being held in gaza right now. That could go a long way to at least delaying temporarily in Israeli Ground offensive, perhaps. And maybe theres time for diplomacy there. But apart from that, we are, i agree with ben. Were headed into a dangerous direction. Attention hearing loss sufferers do you have trouble keeping up with conversations . Do you listen to tv on max volume . Start hearing better today with rcas micro hearing aids. Through rcas hearing america program, you can get these Ultra Discrete hearing aids at a special, Introductory Price of just 299. Or pay as little as 29 a month. With Free Shipping these arent cheap amplifiers. Theyre rechargeable and have easy to use volume controls, and presets for better hearing in different environments. Order now, and well ship your pair of nearly invisible fda registered hearing aids for only 299 or pay as low as 29 a month. You get a 45 day risk free money back guarantee, free 24 7 us based support, a portable charging case, and Free Shipping. Order yours now. Call this number or go to rcahearingaids. Com heres why you should switch fo to duckduckgo on all your Devie Duckduckgo comes with a builtn engine like google, but its pi and doesnt spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. And theres no catch. Its fre. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. This has been a frightening and heartbreaking day for people in and around the city of lewiston maine. It has been over 24 hours since 18 people were killed in Mass Shootings at a bar and a Bowling Alley. And another 13 people injured. Right now, an urgent manhunt is still underway for the suspect who please say is 40yearold robert card. Law enforcement was at a home connected to card earlier this evening. And they have been combing the area around lewiston. A sows of residents continue to shelter in place for their own safety. Nbcs lester holt has the latest. Tonight, a mass killer is on the loose and a large swath of maine is on lockdown. All of our partners to bring him into custody. Businesses and schools up to 50 miles away are closed. Police advised people should not approach him under any circumstances. Officials say that the suspects 40yearold robert card from bowdoin. A longtime member of the army reserve. A Family Member says he struggled recently with Mental Health issues. Law enforcement sources tell nbc news a note was felt at his home. Theyre working to determine its meeting. On a, who, and where, why. Why In Lewiston May . Today, body bags were removed from just in time recreation. Where the rampage began. All available units. Officials say that the first 911 call came in at 6 56 pm on wednesday night. Reporting a shooter at the Bowling Alley. Which was hosting a youth night. He was, close very close. People inside hid under tables and behind bowling pins. I just went down the lane, i slip into where the booths. Are climbed on top of the machines for about ten minutes until cops got there. Police say seven were killed there. To active shooter locations. 12 minutes later, more calls flooded to 911. The shooter had opened fire again. This time, four miles away at schemengees bar and grill where police say he killed eight. Officials say multiple Law Enforcement agencies were dispatched to the scenes. Its unclear what time they arrived. Among the dead, at the Bowling Alley bill young and his 14yearold son aaron and trisha as lin worked there and was pulling with her sister when shots rang out. Her mom said she was killed while calling 911. Her sister survived. The world lost a great girl and i lost my precious daughter. Leroy walker son, julie, was a minister at schemengees they said the suspect had been there before. All of the people over there, they know so he would come to . Yes he would actually come tishomingo. The ban there often. Leroy said he waited 14 hours to hear whether joey was among the dead. Were all going through a lot of pain right now. Its awful, that moment when i got the call and said joe is dead. Its it just brought me back and brought me to my knees. A State Trooper told them that joey died a hero. I picked up a Butcher Knife and he tried to go out the gunman to stop him from shooting anybody else. Does that change or pain at all, knowing that . It made it worse. It made it worse. Of course, a butter knife is no match for an ar15 style weapon. Tonight flags across the country are have stuff to honor joey walker. And the 17 other innocent americans lost their lives last night. With that, lets bring in ken altshuler, attorney and veteran Radio Talk Show Host Out of portland, maine he lived just 15 minutes from where the shooting took place. And dhruv chandra, a junior at Bates College analyst and where hes the Student Body President and they are still sheltering in place. Ken, what was your reaction last night . When you first learned about the shootings. This is your community . Utter shock. Stephanie, its so hard to express how suddenly, surprising and devastating this was. To put it in context, last year maine had 29 murders in the entire state. 1. 4 billion people. And that was a high number. Usually theres no more than 20 in the giving. Here there were zero murders. We had 18 people dead in one day. In a Small Community that is a tight community, Strong Family roots. Family town. Its absolutely devastating, and now stephanie, that state of devastation has become a state of fear because we dont know where he is. And as theyll tell you theyre on lockdown. A whole segment of maine is actually not functioning. Supermarkets, the largest Retail Out Late F report has never closed its doors. Its closed today because of the shooting. Thats how out of context, and how unreal the situation is. Are you sheltering in place right now . Yes, were about 15 minutes away and the investigation, as you saw tonight wasnt bowdoin. Its about ten minutes north of us. Its east of lewiston. The whole area from lisbon, lewiston, bowden even freeport, schools are closed. Supermarkets are closed. Stores are closed. Everybody staying inside. We dont know where he is and we dont want to be paranoid about it but this is a very smart, mentally ill man. And he is savvy. He is smart. He is an expert of fire arms. He is dangerous. And you dont know where hes going to be. So yes were locked until we find him. And we are in a State Of Shock and fear. Last night, as soon as i heard it wasnt lewiston, i assumed it was a shooter on the campus of Bates College. I dont even want to say, fortunately it wasnt because it was also in the town. And so many people perished. What is the last 24 hours been like for you and your fellow students at base. Im assuming youre in your dorm room where youve been since yesterday. Its been a shock to me, in this community, theyre on, through these student and stuff faculty and this is something unprecedented and meets the state of maine has seen this before. The last 24 hours for us have been kind of been a learning experience. Weve been sheltering in place. States has taken the necessary precautions. We have had the Safety Administration working with Law Enforcement. Ensuring the safety of the students and the last 24 hours weve been on lockdown. Weve been maintaining the shelter a place advisory. And weve just been managing to hang in tight. Are you all scared . I mean youre just college students. Youre not even home. Yes, so its been a scary experience but i think its really wonderful seeing how the community has been able to come together. And unite in this really crying time and the staff have been really helpful in organizing the food and shelter for all the students. They have family st. Louis. Then they live in lewiston. Theyre just as much as part of the community as we are. And its affected everyone but were getting through it together. Can, the shooting has put a lot of mains gun laws under scrutiny. And some people are saying that this shows those laws are simply too weak. And theyre criticizing means yellow flag law. What is the reality there . Because it is a state. Especially lewiston with traditionally, a very low crime rate. And a lot of people who own guns, but they own guns for hunting and theyre safe about it. Stephanie, your spot on and when we passed we did not pass the red flag law in 2019. Instead we passed the yellow flag law which deals allow a Police Officer to petition the removal of guns and it has to have a medical expert to interview the person on the way to do that. But that was held up as a law that said, look, we have this law and look how well its working in maine. Were a safe environment. So you can have less restrictive laws and be safe. That was a reality two days ago stephanie. Its not the reality anymore. And you have some one like jarred goldman, our representative of the second districts of democrats who, has repeatedly in the House Of Representatives actually not supported the democratic agenda of the gun laws. Today came out and apologized for doing that. He said, i was wrong. We need to ban Assault Rifles and assault weapons. Im changing my course. Im changing my mind. And im sorry. Hes from lewiston. He was born and raised in lewiston. So the impact of this has such a strong effect on us. You have a representative whos repeatedly supported gun rights, now taking 180 degree turn. Thats how powerful this moment has been in our community. Even the greatest hunter out there, just didnt need an ar15. Ken and dhruv, thank you both for being. Here i wish you both safety for being here tonight. I know its got to be terrifying where you are right now. Thank you so much for being here, we appreciate it. We are thinking of everyone in the Lewiston Community this evening. When we come, back the first full day on the job for the Donald Trumpbacked speaker of the house. Well get into Mike Johnsons background, and his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election. Brendan buck is here on all of it when the 11th hour continues. My entire life. With all the yoyo dieting i did in the past, i would lose 20, 30, 50 pounds just to gain them over and over again. Thanks to golo, ive been able to steadily go down the sizes in my closet and keep the weight off. For the first time in forever, i feel in control. announcer change your life at golo. Com. Thats golo. Com. Mike johnson has a very pleasant demeanor. His record is as extreme as the most extreme members of their conference. We spent three weeks without any speaker of the house, but wednesday, House Republicans finally selected someone. Mike johnson. A little known congressman from The State Of Louisiana and he was one of the earliest doctors of, guess what, Donald Trumps election lies. The allegations about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with the software by dominion, look theres a lot of merit to that. In every election in American History there is some small element of fraud, irregularity, are we just know that, we accept that. Thats the case. But when you have it on a broad scale. When you have a Software System and they use all around the country because we must vote to sustain objections, to states of electors submitted by states that we genuinely believe clearly violated the constitution and the president ial election of 2020. This is the threshold lead of questions before house and its issued before us for the state of arizona. Mr. Johnson you help lead the effort to overturn the 2020 election resulted. Do you [crowd chanting] all that nonsense about venezuela and the voting machines, lies, lies, lies. Back with me tonight, Brendan Buck Former chief communication adviser for both Speaker Paul Ryan and john boehner. What does the election of him tell us about the Republican Party . And youve got to think, Mike Johnsons views on things like quality and abortion are so out of step with the majority of americans. Democrats are probably already making ads against this guy. Yes theyre absolutely trying to make him famous. The reality, though it least as it relates to probably both the election denial and his positions on abortion, hes got a lot of company. That is not out of step for who the partys and most of his colleagues probably are batting an eye on any of that. And what it would say is the speakers Personal Policy Preferences dont matter quite as much as people are talking about in this moment. Who the speaker is absolutely matters and what their views are matters but what is watch more important is how good they are at this. We know Mike Johnsons a good guy. We know hes pretty conservative. We have no idea if hes any good at this. And i think thats what were going to have to find out pretty quickly, and my suspicion is that were gonna find out why he was pretty dumb to get rid of Kevin Mccarthy. Mike johnson is going to be pursuing the exact same agenda the House Republicans were pursuing under Kevin Mccarthy. It is not his own policy agenda. Its the will of the conference, the will of the house. He just has no experience doing. It so i think its gonna probably be trying to do the same things that Kevin Mccarthy was doing. Probably doing so less effectively than Kevin Mccarthy was doing. Okay i just wanna take slight issue with that for a second just because someone says please, thank you and maam doesnt mean theyre good or nice guy. Especially when they actively push lies about our elections. Right . Like andy haskell, was he a good guy . No he was a horrible guy. Who was bsing jim cleaver every day of the week. But he slicked his hair to the side and said thanks mrs. Cleaver. Id love to have desert. Please. Lets move on to Kevin Mccarthy. How did Kevin Mccarthy let this happen to him . He knew matt gaetz, a junior joker was coming for him. And Kevin Mccarthy was gunning for the speakership forever. He had the power. He was a money raising machine. Why when he was in this seat didnt he take matt gaetz out there . Would be easy to, theres so much dirt on the guy. Theres ethics issues on him but he didnt and then he let gaetz basically shut him in the back of the head. Why . Because he probably couldnt do anything to stop it but matt gaetz has created like a lot of these Guys A Parallel Universe where hes given up any pretense that he cares about what people say in the new york times. And he lives in the Steve Bannons world and if the speaker of the house, the establishment is coming after him thats great for him because that validates his theory that there ought to get him. And the ironic thing is that matt gaetz went after Kevin Mccarthy because he thinks Kevin Mccarthy was going at their him. Thats what made it so personal. Yes a bunch of issues in front of the house ethics committee, and he blames them. I dont think theres any evidence that hes behind a lot of the stuff that came out about matt gaetz. But matt gaetz thinks theres. And it didnt hurt matt gaetz. It strengthened him with the farright. And allowed him to get away with. This elect to this moment where so many House Republicans can go after the leadership. And face no consequences. Because they live in the conservative ecosystem. And theres no consequences for it. Steve bannon is waiting there with a podcast to feature you. On brendan buck, thank you so much for breaking it down for us. I appreciate it. And for you at home, i appreciate you being here tonight. And on that note of gratitude i wish you all a very good evening. My dear friend and colleague Chris Jansing picks up our breaking News Coverage right after the break. To duckduckgo on all your Devie Duckduckgo comes with a built n engine like google, but its pi and doesnt spy on your searchs and duckduckgo lets you browse like chrome, but it blocks cooi and creepy ads that follow youa from google and other companie. And theres no catch, its fre. We make money from ads, but they dont follow you aroud join the millions of people taking back their privacy by downloading duckduckgo on all your devices today. Hello im Chris Jansing and there is Breaking News at this hour. The u. S. Military announcing they launched airstrikes tonight into locations in Eastern Syria used by irans revolutionary guard and quote, affiliated groups. Defense artery lloyd austin and saying that the strikes were responds to a series of ongoing and mostly unsuccessful attacks against u. S. Personnel in iraq