Says, President Trumps vision of soldiers marching and tanks rolling down the boulevards of washington is moving closer to reality in the pentagon and white house, where Officials Say they have begun to plan a Grand Military Parade later this year showcasing the might of Americas Armed forces. Trump has long mused publicly and privately about wanting such a parade, but a January 18th Meeting between trump and top generals in the pentagons tank, a room reserved for topsecret discussions, marked a Tipping Point according to two officials briefed on the planning. So theres where we begin. Lets bring in our leadoff panel on a tuesday night. Phillip rucker. White house bureau chief for the Washington Post. Shannon pettypiece for bloomberg news. And the Pool Reporter on duty at the white house today. So, todd, id like to begin with you. Talk about the president s demeanor, the kind of Bluster Index compared to other days
youve spent on the beat and the mood around him in the west wing. It was pretty extraordinary to hear him talking with such enthusiasm about the possibility of a shutdown. When we had a 16day shutdown a few years ago, basically the economy lost about 1 billion a day. The threeday shutdown didnt seem too damaging just a few weeks ago, but its pretty unusual to hear a president or anyone in washington say it would be a great thing to have a shutdown and he repeated the word over and over and over. He seemed combative. It did not seem to be something that was just off the cuff. It seemed like something he probably came into that Meeting Planning to throw on the table. Shannon, to todds point, we are not used to hearing president s say this kind of thing. Though weve now said that kind of thing about this president on this broadcast so many times. Ditto the chief of staff, john
kelly was supposed to be the incoming fixer, not part of the problem, but a moderaing force, and especially on immigration, john kelly turns out to be more of an ideologue than i think anyone banked on. Well, he was the head of homeland security. Appointed by President Trump. The Main Department that has been charged with cracking down on Illegal Immigrants in the u. S. Those coming across the border. He has gone out of his way pa a few times, though, to wade into issues of race or issues of immigration when he really doesnt have to. Today is a good example of that where he didnt have to make this point. He is on the hill trying to create a bipartisan deal, trying to bring people together and makes a comment that did not seem necessarily off the cuff because as you pointed out, he repeated it again. What is he trying to accomplish by that . All he has to do is not stay anything and go about trying to strike a bipartisan deal. Congressional memos pertaining to the Russia Investigation, or his his comments yesterday about democrats in congress who did not stand up and clap for him at the state of the union. Philip, congrats on a clean kill on the Military Parade story. Thank you. You and your coauthor tonight. I have to say, ive watched a lot of the subsequent coverage of it on cable tonight. I heard one White House Correspondent say she was there in paris and was amazed that the parade on bastille day kept the president s attention, she said, for hours. Something thats very rare. I heard a former general kind of gently asking if the president may not know how and that our Military History differs from france. The president may not know that Military Parades should not be the stuff of a superpower. Did you pick up reaction along the way from the pentagon . I know you interviewed at least one historian. Yeah, you know, brian, first of all, the president truly was dazzled by that parade in france, and talked about it to his aides in private on the flight home on Air Force One and in the weeks that followed and, indeed, two months after that parade when he sat down with president macron of france at the United Nations general assembly. Said he was so struck by that parade, americas going to have to oneup france and do its own parade. But to your broader point about the dynamic here, i picked up some concern in the pentagon, frankly, that the military officials there would like to not see this parade happen. This is not usual activity. There have been some instances, rather, in history, including john f. Kennedys inaugural parade in 1961, where Military Equipment was used. But for the most part throughout the cold war, america did not display its arsenal on the streets the way moscow did in the red square. And that was deliberate. There was a consensus within the American Government that doing so was unnecessary for the
leading superpower. That we everyone knew we had a strong military, we dont have to waste money and time showing it off. Theres some legitimate concerns at the pentagon including about the cost this would endure. It could be potentially tens of millions of dollars. Its unclear where that money would come from. Its not been appropriated in the budget. Then there are very practical concerns like how do you transport these huge tanks from bases around the country to washington . And then if youre going to rumble down pennsylvania avenue, theyre going to destroy the asphalt and the city will have to repave the roads. Heard a former general tonight say you have to decide which tanks to take out of the tank line in ft. Stewart, georgia, spif them up and get them parade ready. Theyre not built for parades. So, shannon, i also heard it noted tonight that weve got thousands of troops in the field and at least two war zones that have not received a visit from the president. He has an interesting relationship with the military. He loves his generals. I mean, i guess this parade well, its pretty real. It seems unlikely that there would be a shutdown. Theres very little appetite in congress for that. Even if theres president President Trump seems to have an appetite for it. Hes talking about a shutdown as a tactic in order to force congress to address his Immigration Plan which has a number of planks which are extremely controversial at the capitol. He wants to dramatically curtail legal immigration, Curving The Chain Migration allowing sponsorship of new visas by immigrants and citizens. Its really an overhaul of immigration policy, which doesnt go quite well with the budget fight. So the democrats have really resisted much of what the president is suggesting. We heard general kelly talking about the president is a champion of 1. 8 Million People who are daca eligible and that
up next, new developments on the russia front including rosenstein back at the white house. Bannon reportedly on his way to mueller. Were just Getting Started on a tuesday night. Fred would do anything for his daughter. Get in, fred even if it means being the back half of a unicorn. Fear not fred, the front half washed his shirt with gain flings and that smell puts the giddy in giddy up. Thats because one gain flings pac has more freshness than a whole bottle of the other guy. Gain. Seriously good scent. Pick a domain name. Choose a design. You can build a website in under an hour. Now thats a strike get your domain today and get a free trial of gocentral. Build a better website in under an hour. I love you. Weve seen from the white house, from the president , an effort to try to undermine the credibility of the independent investigation being done by the Department Of Justice under mr. Mueller. By attacking the Justice Department and the fbi, the president is attempting to discredit the Russia Investigation and protect himself and his family. From connecticut, maryland, and hawaii, democrats in the senate today expressing concerns over republican attempts to discredit this Russia Investigation. As we mentioned, President Trump met today with the man overseeing the investigation about the Controversial House Intelligence Committee dueling memos. Chief of staff john kelly addressed the president s meeting with Rod Rosenstein earlier today. Had a great conversation, help the president understand the differences between the first memo, second memo. Are you leaning toward
releasing it . No, i would say, this is a different memo than the first one. Its lengthier. Its different. So not leaning toward it, it will be done in a responsible way. But at the end of it all, it will be guys like Rod Rosenstein, chris wray from fbi, certainly the National Security attorneys at the white house given the president s recommendation on it. Remains to be seen if all that will hold, if those recommendations will affect the outcome. Doj and fbi, youll recall, strongly advised against releasing the first memo, the republican memo. Trump did so anyway, a decision he appeared to reach before he read it. Meanwhile, one of President Trumps former allies is getting ready to testify to the Mueller Investigation. Nbc news has confirmed steve bannon will answer questions next week. You may recall he was supposed to be back on capitol hill today to testify in front of house intel, but as was predicted by a member of that committee on this
broadcast just last night, thats now been postponed for a third time. A source tells nbc news the white house is Forbidding Bannon to speak until they agree to the scope of the questioning. Here to talk about it with us, Jeremy Peters, political reporter for the New York Times, and an msnbc contributor. And Amber Phillips, political reporter for the fix at the Washington Post. So, amber, i keep Hearing Republicans say that this democratic memo has been loaded up with stuff, facts, sources and methods that will need to be edited out, covered up, redacted and make it seem like its a tougher job for the white house, make it seem like it faced scrutiny the gop memo did not. Yeah, i think thats a fair point to make, brian. Theres a little bit of irony in the white house and republicans who champion the first memo, saying, giving deference to the Justice Department, intelligence
committee, whether to release this Second Democratic memo, gone they released the first memo as you just pointed out over the extraordinarily public and firm objections from the fbi and the Justice Department. Saying releasing the first memo would be extremely reckless. It is pretty clear trump is in a difficult situation right now. Does he release a memo that we can fully expect undermines his argument and his argument is simple, that the fbi was politically motivated in starting the Russia Investigation, this gop memo proves it, so the Russia Investigation is a hoax. Democrats say, wait, wait, wait, we have ten pages that show basically none of that is true, and heres our evidence. You know, its arguable that they have a case to make. We havent seen this memo, but already the author of the first memo, the republican memo, has basically conceded that, yes, they got a fact wrong, that the fbi did tell a fisa court that
there were political intentions and money behind a dossier that relied on, in part, to spy on a Trump Campaign adviser. So, jeremy, i hear the other night somebody accused nunes of using Tail Gunner Joe language when he said were going to keep going, there were things he wanted to expose involving the state department. Where does this kind of republican report, then democratic rebuttal, this circle, end . You know, i dont know that it ends with anything conclusive for the american people, brian, because, again, its just a game of he said she said. If you are predisposed to believe republicans and President Trump, youre going to believe whats in the first report. If you want to believe what the democrats are saying, youre going to believe whats in the report that comes out tomorrow. And there are going to be some issues with that report. That the democrats are seeking to release, or they hope to release. I dont know that it will be tomorrow. But they are crafty enough to include things in there that they know will have to be redacted. So, therefore, when the report is released, it will include these redactions and democrats can point to it and say, see, see, the republicans and President Trump are hiding things from you. And we know that President Trump is leaning toward redacting some information in there when he allows the release of it because my colleagues have reported that in the New York Times today. Now, the separate issue, of course, is overredaction and whether or not President Trump will exclude information in there that is politically embarrassing to him. I think we have every reason to believe he will do just that. Jeremy, youve traditionally had some onpoint reporting about mr. Bannon. Whats up with mr. Bannon in light of both house intel and the Mueller Investigation . Brian, what i think is going to end up happening is what happened the last time steve bannon was asked to testify before the house intelligence committee. He will stonewall. He will stonewall because his
approach to the committee is wholly consistent with the white houses approach, which is lets not give them too much information. This investigation is not as serious or as legitimate as the Mueller Investigation, so, therefore, we will cooperate fully or at least much in a much more cooperative way with with the Mueller Investigation because they want to appear as if they have nothing to hide. So steve bannon will sit down with mueller, he will speak to him, he will answer questions. And do so in a more forthright manner, i imagine, than he would with the house intelligence committee. Amber, this next question may call for a judgment on your part, but this is about Customer Service for the american people. What do you think will be the subject of the next Signing Ceremony at the white house . What will be the next substantive piece of legislation to come out of that congress and get signed by the president , do you think . Im going to actually go
positive route and say that there is a excuse me, a bill that the house passed today, im going to be optimistic, i should say, revamping basically the way congress handles Sexual Harassment allegations. In light of all, you know, me too movement, and so far, eight members of congress have lost their job or resigned. That passed the house today. Was little noticed under all this other controversy by basically broad bipartisan support. My sources in the house tell me that the senate was waiting for the house to act and is considering very seriously taking this piece of legislation up. Trump is always a wildcard in any kind of legislation, but so far, house lawmakers are kind of optimistic that this will actually get to the president s desk and get signed and something will change that i think everyone in america can agree needs to be changed. So im going to go optimistic on that front, but i also see your point that that wasnt even noticed today because we are talking about shutdowns and
immigration and the Russia Investigation. And a lot of that is trumps doing. Well, thank you for that answer. As we thank Jeremy Peters and Amber Phillips for coming back on the broadcast with us. Always a pleasure. Thank you, both. And coming up for us, how do you prepare for a special counsel interview with a man whos bragged about his use of something he calls truthful hyperbole . Well ask the man who sat down with president bill clinton. Thats ahead when we continue. Are you going to talk to mueller . Im looking forward to it, actually. Do you a date set . No. I guess youre talking about two or three weeks but i would love to do it. In person . Again, i have to say, subject to my lawyers and all of that. I would love to do it. Just about two weeks after President Trump made those comments audioonly to reporters in the doorway in the west wing, we have learned where the president s lawyers stand courtesy of the New York Times and their reporting that all but one mem