Transcripts For WRC Meet The Press 20170514

State Rex Tillerson. Lindsey graham and Chuck Schumer. And new words on our poll about what a skeptical public is thinking. And west wing shakeup watch. A report this morning says a frustrated President Trump is considering firing many of his Top White House aides. Well get the latest. Joining me for insight and analysis are nbc news chief white house correspondent, hallie jackson. Washington post columnist eugene robinson. Bbc anchor, katy kay. Welcome to sunday, its meet the press. From nbc news in washington, the longestrunning show in television history, celebrating its 70th year. This is meet the press with chuck todd. Good sunday morning. Moms out there. After the firing of the fbi director james comey, conflicting administration explanations and open disagreement about what comey and President Trump said to each other, at what is now an infamous dinner. What happened on friday feels like a capstone to a whiplash week. President trump tweeted james comey better hope theres no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press. Are there tapes . Heres what the president told fox news. I wont talk about that. All i want is for comey to be honest. Just Something Else for congress to try to subpoena. All of which leads us to our brandnew nbc news wall street journal poll, that just finished overnight. 29 we polled said they approve of the decision to fire james comey. Roughly one third says that they tonight have enough to say which means the story hasnt penetrated the national consciousness. President trump. While 30 say it has given them a less favorable one. 61 said it had no impact. And finally, this is the most troubling number 46 said they feel that President Trump fired comey to slow down the russia investigation. And 38 buy the original explanation from the white house, that it was done over legitimate concerns over how comey handled the Hillary Clinton email issue. And theres a report that a frustrated President Trump is considering firing many of his Top White House aides. It adds up to a week, at best, the administration has a communications problem. Or at worst, it is facing accusations of obstruction of justice. I was going to fire comey. Donald trump contradicted his white house aides and his Vice President , adding to questions as to why the president chose to fire fbi director james comey when he did. No one from the white hou. That was a d. O. J. Decision. He took the recommendation seriously. And he made a decision based on that. President trump made the right decision at the right time. And to accept the recommendation of the Deputy Attorney general. That i am reporter in an interview on thursday, the president said not only did he decide to fire comey before getting rod rosensteins investigation. He had the russia investigation on his mind when he did. When i decided to do it, i said to myself. This russia thing with trump and russia is a madeup story. Its an excuse by the democrats for having lost an election, that they should have won. Reporter mr. Trump said he pressed comey in a private dinner on january 27th to tell him if he was under investigation. The dinner was held three days after the fbi interviewed former security adviser mike flynn. And one day after sally yates briefed the white house, warning them that flynn could be blackmailed by russian contacts. I think he asked for the dinner. He wanted the stay on as the fbi head. And i said, you know, ill consider it. See what happens. But we had a very nice dinner. At that time, he told me, you are not under investigation. Reporter in fact, sources close to comey says the president invited him to the white house in a lastminute request, on the day of or day before and asked comey if he would be loyal. Comey refused to pledge loyalty but promised to be honest. Did you ask that question . No, i didnt. But i dont think it would be a bad question to ask. Reporter then, on friday, came the president s warning. James comey better hope that there are no tapes of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press. The secondranking democratic senator dick durbin calls that a threatt of law. President trump is dangerous. Dangerous because he may be obstructing justice in terms of the investigation. Joining me now is senator Lindsey Graham of south carolina. Senator, welcome back to meet the press. I have now laughing. Im sure its dark comedy. Why did i agree to do this . Oh, because youre a glutton for punishment, sir. Okay. Let me start here. The president said that russia was on his mind when he was making this decision. How concerning is that to you when it comes to him admitting that was among the things on his mind when he made this decision to fire james comey . Well, i think we need to have comey come before the Judiciary Committee and clear the air. Did the president ever say anything to the director of the fbi that would be construed as trying to impede the investigation . The president called me about the firing. And he referenced the comey testimony last week and the Judiciary Committee about how bad it was. So, thats all i know. But i think its time to call the fbi director before the country at large and explain what happened at that dinner. If theres any tapes, they have to be turned over. You cant be cute about tapes. If theres tapes of this conversation, they need to be turned over. I doubt if there are. But we have to clear the air there also. Let me put up that tweet where the president put the word tapes in quotes. So, we dont know quite what that means. But did did you think that constituted a threat to comey . I think it was inappropriate. I think it requires somebody like me, a republican, to call comey before the Judiciary Committee to let him explain that conversation. Right now, i do not believe President Trump is a target or subject of any investigation regarding collusion with the russians. Thats what i believe. But this tweet has to be answered. I would advise the president not to investigation, as we go forward. The russians did interfere in our election. I dont think they changed the outcome. I have no evidence of collusion. But the president needs to back off and let the investigation go forward. We need to call comey and get to the bottom of all of this. I think its time for an fbi agent to lead the fbi. When you talk about a new person to lead the fbi, how about an fbi agent who is above reproach. Why does it have to be an fbi agent at this point . It doesnt why not a u. S. Attorney . A prosecutor, somebody like that . It could be. It could be a lot of people. How about the idea of an fbi agent leading the fbi, promoting within the ranks. Theres so many good agents, men and women out there, capable of leading the agency. This is up to the president. He has an duty and obligation to pick somebody beyond reproach outside of the political lane. I think he will do that. I hope he will do that. Im ready to move on and pick a new fbi agent. Im ready to get to the bottom of what russia did. No evidence that the president colluded with the russians at all. Nobody on the campaign that i know of has colluded with the russians. We dont know all of the evidence yet. We need to continue forward and protect these investigations. While were staying on the fbi director, eight people interviewed yesterday at the Justice Department. One of them is a colleague of yours, senator john cornyn. Two were women, could be the first woman to head the fbi. Former fbi agent and a former member of congress. Let me ask you this in this political environment, do you think its the right time to have the firstever fbi director who had a political elected political background, which is what it would be, if mike rogers or john cornyn were named . No. I think its now time to pick somebody that comes from within the ranks or such a reputation that has no political background at all, that can go into the job on day one. Who does the fbi director work for . Judge. The president actually appoints a judge. But the judge is loyal to the law. The president appoints the fbi director, but the fbi director has to be loyal to the law. John cornyn is a wonderful man under normal circumstances. Would be superb choice to be fbi director. We have a chance to reset as a nation. The president has a chance to clean up the mess that he mostly created. He really think did his staff a disservice by changing the explanation. I would encourage the president to pick somebody we can all rally around, including those who work in the fbi. Let me ask you something about the russian interference. Later in the show, i have an interview with Rex Tillerson. I conducted it yesterday. And he would not give an explanation as to why russian interference wasnt brought up during his meeting with foreign minister lavrov. We go back and forth and not once was it thought of as a top priority. With russia if we dont confront them on this . Absolutely not. I dont know if they privately talked about it. But secretary tillerson did a masterful job in the u. N. Security council talking about the threat of north korea. I understand wanting to engage the russians in syria because theyre part of the solution, if we ever find one. But heres what i believe. Im 1,000 certain that the russians interfered in our election. It was the Russian Intelligence Service that hacked into podestas email, the dnc, to create chaos. They did try to undercut clinton. I dont think they changed the outcome. I dont believe we can go forward as a nation until we punish russia. Have bipartisan sanctions against russia for interfering in our election. And my goal is to put it on the president s desk. I hope he would embrace it. Russia didnt change the outcome of the election but they tried. And i want to punish the russians. And i hope the president will see their interference as a threat to our democracy. I want to talk about the investigation. Word just out of the field, nbc news wall street journal poll. I have to put the up the number. Ill read it to you. I know you dont have a screen. Who should investigate russian interference . Only 15 think it should be you folks in congress. 78 that means its a Bipartisan Group of people, would like to see an independent commission or a special prosecutor. Do you understand why the public doesnt trust, now, the politicians to do this . Yeah. But heres what i think about the investigation right now, it is a counterintelligence investigation, not a criminal investigation. You dont need a special prosecutor. I trust Deputy Attorney general rothenstein to do this. If he cant do it, well have a special prosecutor. An independent Commission Takes it outside of congress. The Intel Committee, the Judiciary Committee, were doing a good job. I want to keep it inside the congress. Id like a select committee er but right now, i see no need for a special prosecutor. Its not a criminal investigation. I see no need for an independent commission yet. You called for a special counsel a number of times during the obama years, for the clinton emails, for the department of justice, targeting leaks, White House Leaks of investigation, the idea that joe sestak may have gotten a job offer in exchange. My point is, why did all those meet the test for a special counsel but this one doesnt . This is a counterintelligence investigation. Were not investigating a crime yet. If it becomes a criminal investigation of the Trump Campaign colluding with the russians during the election and mr. Rothenstein doesnt believe he can do the job, well have a special counsel. Theres a process in place. Im not worried about polling, not worrying about anything other than trying to get the right answer. The russians did it, they need to be punished. Trump is not a target of the investigation yet. My view. If it gets to the point we cant, we will take it outside of congress. You are looking at the president s finances. The president has made a big deal that he sent you a certified letter from his accountant, which all that means is you signed for it. And thats fine. But why does it in this case, shouldnt you want to see the tax returns from one of these llcs that run a golf course, for instance. Theres a report out there in North Carolina that the Trump National golf course may have been financed by russian money. Thats not going to be in the president s tax return. Thats going to be in the llc of Trump National in charlotte has that. Are you going to be able to get your hands on those records . I have yet to find any evidence of improper business dealings between the Trump Organization and russia or anything else. If you can show me theres that, we need to get financial documents. Have you seen those records . I cant ask for documents without a reason. The president should turn over the tax returns. I dont have a reason to subpoena them. If i get that reason, i will do it. He should turn over the tax returns. He should do that now. All tax returns, not just the personal but the llcs. Its not going to be in his tax return if theres anything there. If you can show me we need to do that, i will do it. I cant say on television, based on your question, thats a good idea. But im openminded to all things russia. The bottom line is, i think russia tried to affect our election, undermine our democracy. I want them to pay a price. I have yet to find collusion between the Trump Campaign and russia. Theres a Washington Post story that comey went to burr to get more agents and more money. Thats not true. Theres a lot of things that are said that are true or halftruths. Let the process work and the people of the United States, i do care about this. I have nobody to punish. I hope you dont regret coming on now. Happy mothers day. It was fun. Thats the most Important Message to say. There you go. Let me go to the other side of the aisle. Senate democratic leader Chuck Schumer of new york. Senator, welcome to meet the press. I hope youre more enthusiastic to be on than senator graham. Yeah, i didnt see senator graham. I want to join him in wishing all of the moms happy mothers day. In particularly to my mom, who will turn 89 in three weeks. Well done. Let me start with the issue of a special prosecutor. Why do you believe it needs to be done. Senator ben sass indicated that if you do that, it is sending a message you dont trust the Intel Committee to do their work. And its a vote of no confidence shouldnt you let them do their job to see if they can do it without a special prosecutor . Well, there are two separate lines of activity here. One is the oversight function of the Intelligence Committee. Theyre doing their job. Mark warner has done a very good job. Ive had some differences with senator burr. But in the last week, people tell me, he was upset with comeys firing and hes been good. I hope it continues. But they cant prosecute. A special prosecutor appointed by the Justice Department has the ability to actually prosecute people for violations of law. And they go on in tandem. One shouldnt step on the other. Theyre talking to each other right now. The fbi was with the Intelligence Committee to make sure no one is granted immunity. But its two separate issues. And we need a special prosecutor, chuck. We need somebody who is independent of the Justice Department to get to the bottom of this. And i just say one more thing. The silence of my republican colleagues on this issue is sort of deafening. This is not an issue of party. This is an issue of country. Foreign interference in the elections is a very, very serious, serious thing. And we should get to the bottom of it. Where is the howard baker of 2017 . We need one. One of your democratic colleagues, senator sheldon whitehouse, said why he is skeptical of a special counsel. Take a listen. If you look at the special counsel rule, you have to bring in somebody new, bring him in from outside the department. And they have the choice to make their own decision they want to start from fresh, perhaps. His concern is that everything starts over. Youre hitting a reset button and it sets the investigation back. Look, i have a i love sheldon whitehouse. I have a great deal of respect for him. Hes one of the great lawyers around. Theres many instances where a special prosecutor comes in. Theyre in charge, theyre the shield, so theres no outside interference or direction. But the same investigators who worked on this will continue to work on this. And thats how i imagine it will work. Lets remember, the special prosecutor has four abilities that an internal person doesnt. He or she makes the decision. Daytoday, on who to subpoena. Who to examine, what questions to asked. Who outside interference. Second, can only be fired for cause. Third, has the ability, if theres interference, someones trying to thwart the investigation from up above, they can make sure that doesnt happen. And investigate that and, fourth, they have to report to congress. Theres a lot of advantages over a special prosecutor. And if you look at the department of justice guidelines, theres never a more important time, a more appropriate time for a special prosecutor than in this situation. Senator warner, who is the investigation. He said, unless the Deputy Attorney general rosenstein appoints a special prosecutor, he thinks it will very difficult to get support for an fbi director. Do you plan on linking those two issues . Not trying to tell the democratic senators, withhold support until theres a special prosecutor named . Well, each democratic senator is going to make up his or her own mind. But i think the two are very much related. If you have an independent special prosecutor, you really have the ability to get to the bottom of this. So, it matters in terms of who the fbi director is. You need both of them, really, to have a lot of courage, to resist any pushback, not to do the investigation. You need both to be very experienced. Thats important, as well. And i think both should be nonpartisan. Not from either political party. Those would be my criteria. But i think theyre linked becath of the most serious investigations weve seen in a very long time. There were eight candidates interviewed yesterday. Two have an electoral background. A sitting senator in john cornyn, a sitting member of congress. Some have a bipartisan background, like townsend, that served in the clinton and the bush administration. Anybody jump out as a favorite of yours . Someone you could see supporting . Ive made it a practice, chuck, of not commenting on nominees publicly. Lets see who they nominate. But as i said, certainly somebody not of a partisan background. Certainly somebody of great experience. And certainly somebody of courage. What did you make of the Merrick Garland suggestion . Im not going to comment on any of them. I like him as a justice, though. Hes very good on that d. C. Circuit. I dont know if he would want to leave. You think that was too cute at that point . No comment. No comment. All right. Im smiling. Senator Chuck Schumer, i will leave it there. Senate democratic leader. Thanks for coming on meet the press and sharing your views. When we come back, signs of a big white house shakeup. Yet more reporting this morning that President Trump may be prepared to do House Cleaning in one part of the west wing. As we go to break, heres a moment from President Trumps commencement address yesterday at Liberty University in lynchburg, virginia. Being an outsider is fine. Embrace the label because its the outsiders who change the world and who make a real and lasting difference. Outsiders w. Their leadership is instinctive. Theyre experts in things you havent heard of. Researchers of technologies that one day you will. Some call them the best of the best. Some call them veterans. We call them our team. So we need tablets installed. With the menu app ready to roll. In 12 weeks. Yeah. The world of fast food is being changed by faster networks. Data, applications, customer experience. Which is why comcast business delivers Consistent Network Performance and speed across all your locations. Fast connections everywhere. Thats how you outmaneuver. Whats going on . Oh hey thats it . Yeah. Everybody two seconds dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance. Through the Tuition Assistance program, every day mcdonalds helps more people go to college. Its part of our commitment to being americas best first job. Welcome back, panelists another, eugene washington, our newly appointed white house contemporary, hallie jackson. Bbc world news anchor, katty kay and from the Washington Free beacon and late breaking news, from founder of asios, he joins me. You will throw some more wood here on the fire. A whole shakeup you say is coming soon. Walk us through it. I think we will put up the four positions that could be on the firing line including the chief of staff. You talk to the same people we do. You have a president so frustrated hes getting nothing done, it has the coverage feels hes been on the phone talking about getting rid of everyone from steve bannon to rinse priebus to his white house lawyer, don mcgann. Hes even frustrated with his cabinet officials talked about getting upstaged with top officials including his friend, wilbur ross. But the thing is hes just frustrated. The thing for the white house, hes the product and pitchman. Hes the producer, firing the stage hands denies a fundamental we know this happens a lot. Is this a timeline here . Something hes moving quickly or like comey, could happen in a day or month . We never know. We had this three weeks ago, we know he wants steve bannon out and Jared Kushner wants steve bannon out. Theyre worried about the optics of doing it. When he vents and get frustrated he really gets frustrated. You never know if hes blowing its clear to me the circle that sluhrunk around the president. I think you saw that with the comey decision, steve bannon was not in the loop with this. Theres pushback with his allies. The point is this circle is shrinking. The president is frustrated. When he gets frustrated he vents and spitballs, how real is it as a question . Since sean spicers first press briefing i get a text every 10 days that says spicer is gone. This feels different and even those in spicers corner say this is a different situation. I would not understate talking about timing the importance of this foreign trip. The president has an extraordinarily busy week, four leaders this week and then heads to the west coast. Is this trumpy, my god, everybody is focused on comey. Let me do a white house shakeup and maybe everybody with there, act two. Figuring out timing with President Trump is impossible. Look at the comey firing, right . Awful, terrible timing, you ask for this report thats the cover story, you get it. The next day hes out or later that day hes out. The timing was awful. It created the appearance of all sorts of conflicts and then he schedules the lester holt interview and decides to blurt out what sounded like a confession to a lot of people to obstruction of justice. I think your point, jim, you have no idea when this is going to happen or might happen. It does feel different. It feels like something has to give in this white house. The other part the more somebody gets talked about getting fired the less the president wants to do it. The more we bring it up. Matthew, you wrote a great column on friday that may summarize this whole thing best. You hear it all the time. President trump hasnt been tested or faced a real crisis. The events of the la formulation around. Trump doesnt face crisis so much as manufacture them. In a way he is the crisis and his presidency in danger of not being defined not by any legislative or diplomatic achievement but his handling of diplomatic obstacles he creates for himself. You have the most unpredictable president probably Theodore Roosevelt president before the 24 hour news psych until achlt lot of people worried about President Trumps policies when he took office. Hes a businessman, he will manage like a businessman. Now we come to the reverse, many republicans find with President Trumps policies mainly conventional conservative policies with a few trumpian twists. You hear a lot of complaints from republicans about the management. I wrote this week perhaps its the president s thin skin getting in the way of his presidency. There may be nothing behind the firing of or Hillary Clintons email. It may be the psychology of the president that cannot bear the idea this man was not loyal to him, went on television and hit the sweet spot of undermining somehow the president s electoral victory. The problem is without a straight story conspiracy theories will fill the vacuum. Were not getting the straight story and not getting the facts from the white house and leaving them wide open to the criticism this was somehow nefarious. On top of this, he thinks so small, for all the rage against the media he remains this past week obsessed with coverage, spends so much time watching sean spicers performance and probably watching our performance. When you think small its hard to do in life. Thats something ckatty was implying. The worst thing comey said in that testimony, nauseous. It came close to comey with the clinton narrative comey cost her the election. Despite it not being james comeys intention to make that. That was the day this kicked another gear. He may have wanted to fire comey but wednesday was it. He may never accept this investigation of russian meddling exists separate from any question of Hillary Clinton having lost the election and whether she ran a bad campaign or not. The question of whether that reaction gets in the way of his presidency is that it leads to a lack of competence in the white house. He cant overcome his personal feelings to run the white house. A showboat and grandstander. Theres only one star of the show were in. Its President Trump. I will leave it there. A little breaking news this morning, appreciate you getting up. Thank you. Up next, President Trump says the russia story is fake news and a witch hunt. Does is secretary of state, rex tier and senator warrens commencement address at the university of massachusetts. Study up because knowing something about an issue makes a difference. Go online and read the facts, not the alternative fac as after a dvt blood clot,ital i sure had a lot to think about. What about the people i care about . Including this little girl. And what if this happened again . I was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me . So i asked my doctor. And he recommended eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Yes, eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Both made me turn around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis ness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made eliquis the right treatment for me. Ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. We cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. And at 4. 95, you can trade with a clear advantage. Fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. Welcome back. When President Trump fired james comey a lot of democrats jumped to the thought that he was trying to stymie the russia campaign. I sat down with secretary of state Rex Tillerson and asked him whether he agrees with the president the russia story is fake news and witchhunt . The president has made it clear he feels its important we reengage with russia, the relationship with russia, as he has described and i have described as well, i think at an all time low point since the end of the cold war, with a very low level of trust. I think the world and its in the interests of the American People and russia and the rest of the world we do something to see if we cannot improve the relationship between the two greatest nuc world. The president , i think, has committed to make an effort in that regard and asked me to make an effort as well. I understand that. You look at whats happening in the western european nations, france and germany and italy and accusations of russian interested interference in their election process. What does id say to them that the president fired the man at the agency that was looking into the very problem theyre dealing with, russian interference and the democracy . Chuck, from what i hear from leaders of the other nations, europe and more broadly the subject of russia comes up in all of our conversations is all the other nations want the u. S. And russia to work towards improving our relationship as well for all the reason is just mentioned. I think it is largely viewed it not healthy for us for the American National security to remain healthy at this low level. Whether we can improve it remains to be seen. It will take time and hard work. The president s committed, rightly so, and im committed with him as well to see if we cannot do something to put us on a better footing with our relationship with russia. Can you get on a better footing if you dont address this issue . Your counterpart, foreign minister, mr. Lavrov said you guys didnt even talk about this issue of russian interference in our election because, as he put it, President Trump himself says its fake news so its not an issue. Why havent you brought it up with him . Chuck, i think we have such a broad range of important issues that have to be addressed in the u. S. Russia relationship. Obviously the interference in the election is one of those. Been well documented, that interference here and elsewhere. These are not new tactics on the part of the russian government directed not only at us but at others. Again, i think we have to look at this relationship in its broadest contours and there are many many important areas which require our attention if we are to bring it back to a relationship we believe is necessary for the security of the u. S. Mr. Secretary, this is fundamental, they interfered with our democracy. I just dont understand how this is not a top issue for you to deal with, with them, in order to essentially start with a clean slate. Can cant start with a clean slate until either they own up to what they did or we punish them in a way they wont do this again. Chuck, i think its important to understand were not trying to start with a clean slate. Terms like having a reset are overused. You cannot reset, you cannot you cannot start with a clean slate and were not trying to start with a clean slate. Were starting with the slate we have and all the problems on that slate. We dont dismiss any of them, we dont give anyone a free pass on any one of them. Theyre part of the entire nature of the discussions were having with the russians. There are a large number of issues we have to get around to addressing in order to put this relationship back together if that is indeed possible. During your confirmation hearings you made clear you hasnt obviously hasnt been briefed on the intelligence reports, 17 different agencies that came to the conclusions that the russians did make an effort to interfere in this election. Obviously, theres an investigation going along to see if theres any collusion in this interference. Since you became secretary of state in february, i have you seen this intelligence now . Is it clear in your mind that it is a fact the russians interfered in our elections . I have seen the intelligence reports, chuck,e the russians were playing around in our electoral processes. Again, as those intelligence reports indicated its inconclusive as to what if any effect it had. I understand about the impact, the fact they got into it, what should the repercussions be now in your mind . Theyre just part of that broader landscape of conversations, chuck. The real impact it serves yet again to undermine the trust between the United States and russia. As i have said and the president has said, you know, were at a very very low level of trust between our two countries right now. So what were exploring is how do we begin the process of restoring that trust. Ultimately, it will touch on all these issues. I want to give you a chance to respond to an oped senator john mccain wrote, where he invoked your name, sir. In a recent address to state Department Employees, secretary of state Rex Tillerson said co obstacles to advance our national interests. With those words, secretary tillerson sent a message to oppressored people everywhere, dont look to the United States for hope. Our values make us sympathetic to our plight and when its convenient we might officially express that sympathy. Pretty tough words from senator mccain. What do you say in response . First, i would say if anyone has earned their right to express their views, senator mccain has. I have Great Respect to the senator. I think the point of the message i was saying to state Department Employees is an important one to understand. Americas values of freedom, dignity, freedom of expression, those are our values, enduring values and part of everything we do. They serve as the guidepost and serve as the boundaries as we develop our Foreign Policy efforts. I make a distinction between values and policy. Policy has to be taylilored to e individual situation and country and its circumstances and broader issue in terms of advancing our National Security interests, National Economic interests. So policies have to be adaptable. They have to change and adjust to conditions. Our values can never change. Our values can never be put in a position of having to be compromised. The values guide our policy. But if we put our values in front of our policies and say, this is our policy, we have no room to adapt to changing circumstances to achieve our ultimate objective. If we are successful to achieving our ultimate diplomatic and National Security objectives, we will create the condition for advancement and freedom of countries all over the world. Secretary tillerson, i know youre busynd trip head of you. Thanks, chuck, i want to say happy mothers day to all the mothers of the world, my own mother and wife and two daughter laws, mothers of my grandchildren. Any decision to move the u. S. Embassy to jerusalem would not be made for some time. You can see a lot more of this interview on our website on meetthepress. Com. Coming up, could we see makings of a democratic wave next year . Will farrells commencement address at usc. This is not my first commencement speech. The institutions to which i have spoken at previously include brimans school of nursing, hollywood d. J. Academy and trump university. Im still waiting to get paid from trump university. Im dr. Kelsey mcneely and some day you might be calling me an energy farmer. Energy lives here. You have afib not caused by a and youre taking warfarin, you have the choice of a different pradaxa helps stop blood cells from pooling in the heart, forming a clot which can cause a stroke in the brain. In a clinical study, pradaxa was better than warfarin at reducing stroke risk. And in the rare case of an emergency situation, when seconds matter, theres the only fdaapproved reversal treatment made for people taking pradaxa that helps you clot normally again. Dont take pradaxa if youve had a heart valve replacement or have abnormal bleeding. Dont stop taking pradaxa without talking to your doctor, as stopping increases your risk of stroke or blood clots. 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Just about all new mothers are millennials, 82 of all births were to mothers born between 1981 and 1997. Thats generation y or the millennials. In the 10 years since theres a 5 of increase in number of new moms unmarried. Now means more than a third of all new mothers are unmarried. 32 of millennial mothers had a bachelors degree or more and 5 increase since 2005. More than 60 of new moms are in the labor force. Thats a 6 point jump in 10 years. 2015 millennial racially and ethnically diverse. What does all this mean . As millennials start to dominate motherhood. It could change our politics. They were concerned about security moms focused on post 9 11 world. Those were republicans. And those now may be focused on other issues as top priorities. Perhaps childcare, family leave and equal pay. For now those are areas of strength for the democrats. Bottom line, demographics of moms are changing radically before our eyes, we showed you that quick snapshot and along the way may change our politics. Back in a moment. The end game and choppy halls at republican town halls that might, might turn into a wave for democrats next year. We need a Bipartisan Select Committee to investigate this. When are you going to open eyes . When are you going to decide to be an american and not a politics . Coming up, meet the press so new touch screens. And biometrics. In 574 branches. All done by. Yesterday. Banks arent just undergoing a face lift. Theyre undergoing a transformation. A data fueled, security driven shift in applications and customer experience. Which is why comcast business delivers Consistent Network Performance and speed across all your locations. Hello, mr. Deets. Every Branch Running like headquarters. Thats how you outmaneuver. Whats going on . Oh hey thats it . Yeah. Everybody two seconds dear sebastian, after careful consideration of your application, it is with great pleasure that we offer our congratulations on your acceptance. Through the Tuition Assistance program, ople go to college. Its part of our commitment to being americas best first job. We cut the price of trades to give investors even more value. And at 4. 95, you can trade with a clear advantage. Fidelity, where smarter investors will always be. There are always new challenges and opportunities. , at unitedhealth group, were built to help with both. Providing employers with data and insights to improve outcomes. Ensuring seniors have stability and choice in their benefits. And working with governments to expand access, lower costs and improve quality. Our question is how can we help . Unitedhealth group. Built for better health. Joy back now with end game and the panel. Town healthcare rants. Now, special prosecutor ones. Take a look, guys. We have oversight committees in the house and in the senate. Are you about ready to call for an independent council and if not, what would it take . Right now i dont think we need an independent council. Theres been zero shred of evidence, zero shred of evidence that the president , theres been any collusion with russia. We need a Bipartisan Select Committee to investigate this. When are you going to open your eyes . When are you going to decide to be an american and not a politics . The atmospherics right now, matthew, right now, to be a republican member of congress, going into a town hall. Two weeks ago you were getting your head chopped off over healthcare, now, its on this. The timing of all of this, this is when incumbents decide whether to run again or challenges decide whether to run or not. Its probably a good time to b republican. Not very encouraging. I would say the town halls have been attracting the most partisan and motivated democrats. Some numbers in your pollings suggest the comey firing may not have the political impact a lot of people think. One clip you didnt have i think summed up the weird politics this week when Stephen Colbert mentioned the comey firing and the crowd went into applause. He said, no, no, its bad. Many people have conflicting views of james comey including this president. It may not have the political value of the healthcare fight. We put up the president s job rate apology,in our poll even. Disapproval at 54 now and 54 in the last poll. As charlie cook might say he trades in a narrow trading range on his job approval. That tells you the core hasnt left. One number we have what democrats are pointing to when they think there is a prospect perhaps wave coming up is the strongly disapprove number. That number has increased significantly just in the last couple of weeks. That would suggest we dont have numbers yet for enthusiasm how likely people are to vote. Thats the proxy number. If you strongly disapprove. 51 , strongly approve at 25 that subjects those people may turn out and vote in the midterms. Even democratic operatives ive been talking about in the last 48 hours or so say nobody will go to the polls and vote based on comey. Heres what goes the thinking. Number one, what you spoke to, chuck, mobilize and get more enthusiastic, not voters but people who could run, recruitment and candidates to run. The other part when you tally up incidents in democratic views like the comey firing and add that to whatever else might happen the next year pointing it as congress as rubber stamp on could affect them in 2018, not a specific incident but building occupy over time. I think its a better time to be a Democratic Political organizer out of the grassroots than republican organizer at the grassroots. The question is how do you quantify that enthusiasm . Do you find the right candidates . Lets look again in three or four, six months and see where things stand. Right now this is potential there . Yeah. The other argument democrats are making midterms is the first time they have had a chance to do something about trump since the inauguration. Even though youre seeing some enthusiasm decline in protests and numbers a bit smaller when you get to an actual election people feel they can take action that may drive people to the polls. Trumps core is solid. The danger for the gop is it might not transfer to the Republican Party. Donald trump won the presidency differeti Republican Party and similar to his predecessor. Barack obama always maintained that gut connection with his base, his constituency. It didnt transfer to the democratic party, devastating over eight years. Lets get the Charlie Sikes oped into the discussion and talks about discussion there ant conservative electionism, antitrumpism. The elreal heart is the delight in the frustration and anger of his opponents if liberals like something. Each controversy reinforces the divisions and mistrust and mr. Trump counts on that. The conservatives have lost what it means to be a conservative. I think many people come to conservatism for Different Reasons and a lot driven by the opposition to the left and why a lot of went to President Trump and with his flaws they felt he was battering ram against the left and charlie psych sykes. Even like you heard Lindsey Graham on the russia question for example, even those most dedicated to sort of upholding what had been their prior principles and least connected with donald trump, are not ready to jump ship yet. Lindsey graham is not calling for a special prosecutor yet. Theres distance yet to cover, i think, before you see any sort of mass defections. How that plays out we look ahead to 2018, particularly on the republican side with one gop operative saying you might see people redistance themselves from donald trump the way you saw in 2016 if way it is. You have several congressman running less popular than the president. How do they run on Something Like healthcare when people dont want to necessarily distance themselves from donald trump . A lot of unfinished business, healthcare, tax reform. I have unfinished business. I have to stop there. Thats all we have for today. Happy mothers day to all those mothers out there. Mine, my wife, a great mother and katty. There you go. Thank you. All four of my kids are home. All of washington is united behind one wall, john wall. Good luck and see you tomorrow and next sunday. If its sunday, its meet the press. You can see more end game and on the front lines of health care, there are always new challenges and opportunities. At unitedhealth group, were built to help with both. Ensuring seniors have stability and choice in their benefits. And working with governments to expand access, lower costs and improve quality. To all those with a passion to improve health care, our question is how can we help . Unitedhealth group. Built for better health