In afghanistan, offers a stinging review to anyone who suggests the president lacks compassion for the fallen. If youve never been in combat, you cant even imagine how to make that call. I think he very bravely does make those calls. And the expresident s club is exclusive and almost always above the fray. Not today. If you have to win a campaign by dividing people, youre not going to be able to govern them. You wont be able to unite them later if thats how you start. We begin the hour with a Major Development today in the investigation of the deadly ambush in nigh jeer in which a of isis terrorists killed four American Service members. Fbi is now on the ground to find out what happened and assess. This as lawmakers on capitol hill say the white house is not being forthcoming at least as quickly as they want with information. Right now what we dont know outweighs what we do. And as the president s chief of staff, a fourstar marine general and a gold star parent steps forward again to serve as character witness for a president whose character and compassion is being questioned. I just thought the selfless devotion that brings a man or woman to die on the battlefield, i just thought that that might be sacred. That was general john kelly in the White House Briefing room defending the commander in chief defending his call to a widow of one of the niger fallen. Democratic congresswoman who listened to the fall close to the president say, army sergeant, quote, knew what he signed up for but it still hurts. The congresswoman says it was cold and callous. And general kelly cede it made him furious and walked around the National Cemetery to calm down. And then general kelly recalled the message delivered to him by marine commandant just days after kellys son was killed in afghanistan. He said, kel, he was doing exactly what he wanted to do when he was killed. He knew what he was getting into by joining that 1 . He knew what the possibilities were because were at war. And when he died in the four cases were talking about in niger, in my sons case in afghanistan, when he died he was surrounded by the best men on this earth, his friends. Thats what the president tried to say to four families the other day. With us to share the reporting and their insights, karmen from the washington post, New York Times michael sheer and Mary Kathrine ham from the federalist. Sadly were talking about this at all. Saying all week this should be sacred, this should be a conversation between the commander in chief, the widow and family members, the president himself started this in the rose garden. So as the white house gets mad at these discussions, the president starts this. Theres a lot of he said she said between now from the president and the congresswoman from florida. Well get into that as new tapes come out and the likes of that. But just the fact general kelly normally a private man who does not like to talk about his own military experience let alone the loss of his son would come to the Briefing Room and defend the president , the president s character, the president s conduct on the calls. Twice hes come in to brief the press. I was there and we were all very surprised and it really sort of had, i think it was 18 minutes long, but it has two distinct phases, right . There was a very emotional, very personal sort of searingly excruciating part in which he talked about his own son and talked about the way remains come back from battlefield packed in ice. And then there was the Political Part of it in which he really was clearly incredibly angry at the congresswoman, congresswoman wilson. And so those two pieces sort of melded together in this one kind of defense of his boss. And, you know, it reminds you that how many norms have been shattered in the nine months of this presidency, right . Like there are lines that normally we dont remember as white house reporters covering the presidency, we dont remember those lines being crossed. And in this story this week they keep being crossed. The congresswoman, you know, relates a conversation that normally would be private, you know, kelly comes out in a way that chiefs of staff dont normally do, now theres a continuing kind of political backlash and back and forth in a way that on a subject you wouldnt normally have that kind of political discussion. And were sitting around the table talking about something normally would be regul normally would be relegated to a private moment. And the president tweeted her account was fabricated. From listening to general kelly seemed what he was saying maybe the president didnt say this exactly as he wished, but a, how dare you for listening, and b, how dare you for trying to interpret the president s tone. Maybe it wasnt scripted. Maybe he tripped over his tongue a little bit, but how dare you. And essentially general kelly was saying damn you for questioning the president s tone here. Well, this is unfortunate because i dont think a highly politicized he said she said is going to be resolved at this point. I think when the president said what he said about obamas record on this without knowing the facts he was taking it out of this very sacred and solemn realm its usually in. When the congresswoman then came forward with this conversation, she was also taking it out of that realm. And now were here and i actually spent last night with gold star families who i spend a lot of time with and what i dont want is for that very tight knit community that transcends all of this and experience this loss on behalf of all of us to start fighting each other. Like it is tragic to watch lines be drawn there if that happens. And i think some of the best of what america has to offer in this fight is actually could be detrimental to that. And i also think that all president s deserve the credit of, look, we elected you and you care deeply about what these soldiers sacrifice on the battlefield. And i do think, look, if it was reported that this is what he said, it was clumsy, this is a very, very hard call to make. I think he wanted to make the hard call probably because he wants people to know at the highest levels that this matters. And theres a way to say it is remarkable that this country produces men and women who know the cost of going into battle and who do it anyway and we thank you. But that is not how it seems to have come out of his mouth. Also, its not like that was the only element at play here, right . So were dealing with a situation where it was a very long time before the president said something publicly about this and defends himself by pointing a finger at the last president where you have congress up in arms because they had no details about what was going on in niger in the first place and furious the Trump Administration generally and this episode is really what lit that powder keg basically because now theyre saying we want a new policy, this is not okay, we might threaten a subpoena. Youre right, this is something that was sacred before that was nothing is sacred i guess in this administration anymore, but this is also a multifront now over this one tragedy that happened. So that point secretary mattis sorry to interrupt, secreta secretary mattis, member of the Senate Armed Services committee, you need to even if this is classified we need to keep secrets you need to tell us what happened here. Why does i guess is this a reflection of how the president handled this in the begin sng is this just a reflection for how the president has been for nine months, nine months ago today he took the oath of office . What is it he needs general kelly or general kelly the tone is so different. Peggy writes this the great power is you knew he was telling the truth and in all specifics kelly comes to the podium and it was credible and you felt a relief and gratitude. Why is the president of the United States needs a character witness in his own white house . General kelly has established himself as sort of the moral voice of this administration. It comes at a time when the president has struggled to establish that voice as the moral voice of the nation, you know, with everything that general kelly said was sacred yesterday, women, religion, gold star families, the president has attacked those things in the past. The access hollywood tape, the Convention Last year, the muslim ban he supported on the campaign trail. The president himself does not necessarily have that moral authority, but general kelly has it in the spades given his family sacrifice and his ability to talk about how his son and other gold star families noted members of the military have sacrificed. Its a great point. Listen to that one more segment because theres so much power in what general kelly said. Theres power in his personal story, tragedy, you could see the emotion he had there. Nobody can doubt that whatever your political views. Nobody can doubt that and nobody dare question it because of his service and his familys experience. But listen to the part he was just talking about. You know, when i was a kid growing up a lot of things were sacred in our country. Women were sacred. Looked upon with great honor. Thats obviously not the case anymore as we see from recent cases. Life, the dignity of life is sacred. Thats gone. Religion, that seems to be gone as well. Gold star families, i think that left in the convention over the summer. But just start the selfless devotion that brings a man or woman to die on the battlefield, i just thought that that might be sacred. So theres great power in that message and a great reminder to all of us to maybe sometimes turn the volume down, take a breath, think before you speak. But theres also a problem in the message to the point that his own boss, the guy whose office a few steps away from the Briefing Room, has stepped over all those lines general kelly himself was saying we used to have in society and theyve been blurred. Was he denying those . Or was he also sending a message to the boss . Well, its two parts, right . Because one sense hes sending a message to the boss. But the other i dont know how you all heard it but this is like the make America Great again idealism, yes, women are sacred but women didnt have it that great in the 50s. There are other sides of that, religion, sure, not all religions. Theres two sides of every coin. This is like the gilded side hes putting out there and thats the way trump has presented too. So it could be sending a message to the boss or could be echoing this general presentation of the way things were and dont Pay Attention to the way things are what were seeing now. I also think that this is a perfect example of how america and divided america sees things through completely different lenses. This is supposition, but i think his view is the khan family crossed that line when mr. Khan decided to step up on the step up on the stage and become a kind of Political Animal you know, political person testifying on behalf of hillary clinton. But theres a whole other part of america that looks at it and says, no, the khan episode the line was crossed when President Trump then, thencandidate trump, attacked the khans. So you have the same incident, the same moment in time and yet its being looked at in different ways. I think were assuming quite a bit about how kelly feels about that particular incident. I mean, there were plenty of people right of center who know many gold star families who say, look, theyve earned the right to speak out. So i dont want to assume thats what kelly thinks and hes on that side of things. I think hes being fairly vague in this section of the speech and perhaps with reason, to say to lay down a marker that says, i actually am on this side of things. But without again, the question is who gets to find what the sacred is, the thing thats supposed to be sacred in those cases or the person standing at the white house trying to be protectionist and trying to define it. Thats the tough part of the week. We have politics and partisans and loyal people and deputies and people who believe theyre absolutely right speaking about something that 365 days a year should be off to the end and to that end the friends and family of Sergeant La David Johnson will be gathering tonight. We should be paying tribute. Whats most important is the country honor the services of that fine young man and the three comrades who died with him in africa. Well be right back. Hey, its me, your dry skin. Im craving something were missing. The ceramides in cerave. They help restore my natural barrier, so i can lock in moisture and keep us protected. Weve got to have each others backs and fronts. Cerave. What your skin craves. And fronts. My advice for looking get your beauty sleep. And use aveeno® absolutely ageless® night cream with active naturals® blackberry complex. Younger looking skin can start today. Absolutely ageless® from aveeno®. Hey julie, i know todays critica. A sick day. Need. 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Republicans including republican president hungry for legislative win they cleared a big hurdle last night. Senate passed a budget late last night, thats a big deal because it includes language that allows republicans to add a tax bill and pass with bare majority, meaning without support of democrats. If last night is any indication though, still a steep hill ahead. Every democrat and independent voted no. Only republican novote senator rand paul of kentucky. Thats because he says the gop tax plan would increase the deficit by more than 1 trillion. President trump applauded the vote tweeting the budget passed late last night 5149. This now allows for passage of large scale tax cuts and reform which will be the biggest in the history of our country. Thats how the president puts it. House Speaker Paul Ryan also weighing in this morning. Were really, really pleased the senate did their heavy lifting on the first stage of this. Doesnt sound like the speakers saying much there, but he has been harping against the senate for a long time we keep passing bills in the house only to watch them go to the abyss of the senate. It is a big deal. This is a key republican priority. Again, the president was inaugurated nine months ago today. Obamacares still the law of the land, infrastructure will not happen this year, theres still a question, Mary Kathrine, theyve got the budget framework, the house will adopt it, we expect in a few days, now they have to get to the details of tax reform though which you have the same ideological geographic philosophical internal republican debates as you had in obamacare. Will it happen this year . Thats always the rub. You know, youve already got rand paul saying no to something. In the end i would imagine you might have rand paul saying no its not conservative nuf or mike lee saying no its not conservative enough and, i dont know, collins saying no its not liberal enough. They will face the same problems. I would also caution it is important that its moving forward and theyre making steps particularly in the senate where its harder to do that, but all of this policy if it is like grand sweeping policy, if it is enacted with 51 votes just as obamacare was, it will be easier to get rid of it eventually should they lose. And it just like that kind of policy doesnt win a lot of support and doesnt stick, which is actually what you want a tax reform to do. You want it to be something that ends up being popular, people go, oh, i like this is more simple and making my life easier. And its just tougher to make that sell when youre doing the 51vote game. One of the reasons obamacare has not been popular. And another way to make something stick is sell it around the