STARTS RIGHT NOW. >>> GOOD EVENING, I’M CHUCK TODD
HERE IN WASHINGTON.
WELCOME TO "MTP DAILY."
WE BEGIN WITH TRYING TO MAKE
SENSE OF WHAT HAPPENED THIS
AFTERNOON AND PERHAPS MORE
IMPORTANTLY WHY IT HAPPENED AND
TODAY OF ALL DAYS.
LOOK, WE SAW A SURPRISE
FULL-COURT PRESS JUST A FEW
HOURS AGO FROM THE WHITE HOUSE
ON ELECTION SECURITY.
IT FEATURED DAN COATS, THE
DIRECTOR OF THE FBI, CHRIS WRAY,
THE PRESIDENT’S NATIONAL
SECURITY ADVISOR, JOHN BOLTON,
WHO CALLED RUSSIA’S INTRUSION
INITIALLY AN ACT OF WAR.
KIRSTJEN NIELSEN AND THE NSA
DIRECTOR.
DIRECTOR. AND THEIR MESSAGE WAS
ESSENTIALLY THE SAME.
THE ATTACKS ARE ONGOING AND
PERSUASIVE, OUR DEMOCRACY IS IN
THE CROSSHAIRS AND THIS
ADMINISTRATION THEY SAY IS ON
TOP OF IT.
SO IS THE PRESIDENT -- IN FACT
THEY TOLD US THE PRESIDENT
EXPLICITLY TOLD THEM TO MAKE
THIS A TOP PRIORITY AND TO HAVE
THIS BRIEFING.
THIS BRIEFING. BUT FOLKS, IT’S ARGUABLY BECAUSE
OF THIS PRESIDENT THAT SOME ARE
WONDERING WHY EXACTLY THEY CHOSE
TODAY TO HAVE THIS PRESS
CONFERENCE AND WHY THE PRESIDENT
HIMSELF WASN’T THERE, IF THIS
WAS SO IMPORTANT TO HIM.
SOME MAY WONDER WHY THEY DIDN’T
HOLD AN ELECTION SECURITY LIKE
THIS IMMEDIATELY AFTER HE TOOK
OFFICE OR WHEN THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY REAFFIRMED ITS
CONCLUSIONS ABOUT RUSSIAN
INTERFERENCE MONTHS AFTER HE
TOOK OFFICE.
TOOK OFFICE. IMAGINE THAT BACK IN MARCH OR
APRIL.
APRIL. OR HOW ABOUT WHEN MUELLER
INDICTED RUSSIAN NATIONALS FOR
INTERFERING IN OUR ELECTION.
THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD DAY
TO DO IT.
TO DO IT. OR WHEN MUELLER INDICTED 12
RUSSIAN AGENTS FOR HACKING THE
DNC AND THE CLINTON CAMPAIGN.
THAT ALSO WOULD HAVE BEEN A GOOD
DAY TO DO IT.
OR WHEN THE SENATE INTELLIGENCE
COMMITTEE ISSUED ITS
RECOMMENDATIONS ABOUT ELECTION
SECURITY.
SECURITY. OR WHEN FACEBOOK ANNOUNCED THEY
UNCOVERED NEW EFFORTS TO
INFLUENCE OUR ELECTIONS.
YOU GET THE DRIFT.
WE’RE LESS THAN 100 DAYS FROM
THE MIDTERMS AND WHY DID THIS
HAPPEN THE DAY AFTER THE
PRESIDENT TWEETED ABOUT
OBSTRUCTING THE RUSSIA
INVESTIGATION AS HIS CAMPAIGN
CHIEF IS ON TRIAL, AS HIS FORMER
PERSONAL ATTORNEY IS MAKING
SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS AGAINST HIM,
AND AS THERE’S A REAL RISK
MUELLER COULD SUBPOENA MR. TRUMP
FOR TESTIMONY.
FOR TESTIMONY. FOLKS, THE BOTTOM LINE HERE IS
THIS.
THIS. FOR SOME IT’S GOING TO TAKE MORE
THAN ONE SURPRISE BRIEFING TO
CONVINCE THEM THAT WHAT WE HEARD
TODAY ABOUT CRACKING DOWN ON
RUSSIA HAS THE FULLBACKING OF
THE PRESIDENT AND IT WAS NOT AN
EFFORT BY A WHITE HOUSE
COMMUNICATIONS TEAM DESPERATE TO
TURN THE PAGE FROM THE OTHER
HEADACHES THEY HAD BEEN ASKED
ABOUT ALL WEEK.
HERE’S AN EXCHANGE BETWEEN A
REPORTER AND THE FBI DIRECTOR
ACTUALLY ON THAT EXACT QUESTION.
>> WHY WOULD THE AMERICAN PEOPLE
BELIEVE WHAT YOU’RE SAYING ABOUT
THE FBI WHEN THE PRESIDENT SAYS
THE INVESTIGATION BY THE SPECIAL
COUNSEL IS A HOAX AND WHEN THE
PRESS SECRETARY YESTERDAY SAID
THAT THERE WAS A LOT OF
CORRUPTION WITHIN THE FBI?
DO YOU HAVE ANY RESPONSE TO
THOSE THINGS COMING FROM THE
WHITE HOUSE?
WHITE HOUSE? >> WELL, I CAN ASSURE THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE THAT THE MEN AND
WOMEN OF THE FBI, STARTING FROM
THE DIRECTOR ALL THE WAY ON
DOWN, ARE GOING TO FOLLOW OUR
OATHS AND DO OUR JOBS.
>> AND WHAT ABOUT THAT
TRUMP/PUTIN PRESS CONFERENCE
JUST TWO WEEKS AGO WHERE THE
PRESIDENT SIDED WITH PUTIN AND
AGAINST THE INTELLIGENCE CHIEFS.
HERE’S MORE FROM TODAY’S
BRIEFING.
BRIEFING. >> AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE, THE
PRESIDENT DIDN’T HIGHLIGHT ANY
OF THE MALIGN ACTIVITIES THAT
YOU HAVE AND THAT HIS ADVISERS
HAVE.
HAVE. AND SO SHOULD AMERICANS BELIEVE
THAT HE IS LISTENING TO YOUR
ADVICE OR THAT HE IS GOING HIS
OWN WAY WHEN HE’S HAVING
MEETINGS LIKE HE DID WITH THE
PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA?
>> I THINK THE PRESIDENT HAS
MADE IT ABUNDANTLY CLEAR TO
EVERYBODY WHO HAS RESPONSIBILITY
IN THIS AREA THAT HE CARES
DEEPLY ABOUT IT AND THAT HE