>> I AM GOING TO HAVE YOU TWO STAND BY.
STAND BY. ALEXI AND JOSH, I WANT TO BRING
IN NO JOSH BRENNAN, THE FORMER
CIA DIRECTOR UNDER BARACK OBAMA,
WHO SERVES AS MSNBC’S SENIOR
NATIONAL SECURITY AND
INTELLIGENCE ANALYST.
INTELLIGENCE ANALYST. PLEASURE TO HAVE YOU ON THE
SHOW.
SHOW. >> GOOD MORNING, ALLEY.
>> LET ME GET YOUR THOUGHTS ON
THE WAY THE WHITE HOUSE AND,
SPECIFICALLY, THE PRESIDENT HAS
RESPONDED TO THE DEATH OF THIS
LONG-SERVING SENATOR, JOHN
McCAIN.
McCAIN. >> WELL, I’M GLAD THEY FINALLY
CAME OUT AND ACKNOWLEDGED THE
TREMENDOUS CONTRIBUTIONS THAT
SENATOR McCAIN HAS MADE TO THIS
COUNTRY.
COUNTRY. WE SHOULD ALL HONOR THE McCAIN
FAMILY REQUEST, TO KEEP THIS
FOCUS ON THE SENATOR AND
CELEBRATE HIS LIFE.
CELEBRATE HIS PATRIOTISM AND HIS
COUNSELOR
COUNSELOR COURAGE.
COURAGE. THAT’S WHAT WE SHOULD DO.
I’M GLAD TO SEE, FINALLY, THE
WHITE HOUSE CAME AROUND AND
ACKNOWLEDGED THE TREMENDOUS,
TREMENDOUS WORK OF JOHN McCAIN.
>> WERE YOU SURPRISED BY SENATOR
GRAHAM THIS MORNING?
YOU SAW THE SOUND BITE THAT
GARRETT HOOKAAKE PLAYED, WHERE H
SAID THE PRESIDENT DOES WHAT HE
WANTS TO DO.
SEEMED UNBOTHERED BY THIS.
>> LINDSEY GRAHAM IS PROBABLY
THE CLOSEST PERSON IN THE U.S.
CONGRESS TO SENATOR McCAIN.
THE TWO OF THEM HAD GREAT MUTUAL
RESPECT AND EVEN LOVE FOR ONE
ANOTHER.
ANOTHER. THEY DIDN’T ALWAYS AGREE.
DIDN’T SEE EYE-TO-EYE.
THEY HAD DIFFERENT APPROACHES ON
ISSUES.
ISSUES. I THINK THIS DEMONSTRATES A
DIFFERENT APPROACH.
DIFFERENT APPROACH. SENATOR McCAIN WOULD CALL IT THE
WAY HE SEES IT.
IN FACT, HE CRITICIZED HIMSELF
WHENEVER HE WAS BEING
POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT.
POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT. SOMETIMES, I THINK, LINDSEY
GRAHAM TAKES THE POLITICALLY
EXPEDIENT ROUTE.
EXPEDIENT ROUTE. IT DOESN’T MEAN HE IS IN ANY WAY
MAKING LIGHT OF ANY OF THE
THINGS THAT SENATOR McCAIN HAD
DONE OR STOOD FOR.
HE WAS AN EXCEPTIONALLY
PRINCIPLED INDIVIDUAL.
PRINCIPLED INDIVIDUAL. MY LAST ENGAGEMENT WITH HIM WAS
CONTENTIOUS
CONTENTIOUS CONTENTIOUS.
CONTENTIOUS. HE HURLED PROFANITIES AT ME OVER
DIFFERENCES IN POLICY.
THOUGH IT WAS HEATED, I HAD THE
GREATEST RESPECT FOR SENATOR
McCAIN BECAUSE HE WAS A
PRINCIPLED INDIVIDUAL.
PRINCIPLED INDIVIDUAL. STUBBORN, FEISTY, YES.
BUT PRINCIPLED, PATRIOTIC,
COURAGEOUS
COURAGEOUS COURAGEOUS, SOMEONE WHO LOVED
THIS COUNTRY BEFORE ALL ELSE.
AS SENATOR GRAHAM SAID, IT WAS
COUNTRY BEFORE SELF.
>> YOU DID HAVE POLICY
DIFFERENCES WITH McCAIN.
GINA HASPEL, FOR EXAMPLE, AS A
RECENT THING.
RECENT THING. WHAT WAS THE RECENT FIGHT OVER,
WHAT POLICY?
WHAT POLICY? >> WE WERE TALKING ABOUT THINGS
GOING ON IN THE MIDDLE EAST,
SPECIFICALLY, SYRIA.
SPECIFICALLY, SYRIA. SENATOR McCAIN WANTED TO BRING
THAT CONFLICT TO A HALT.
ALSO WANTED TO MAKE SURE THE
UNITED STATES WAS ABLE TO
DEMONSTRATE ITS GREAT INFLUENCE
AND MIGHT, AND DO WHAT WE COULD
TO TRY TO BRING THAT CONFLICT TO
AN END.
AN END. >> YOU REFERENCE THAT SENATOR
McCAIN DID SOMETIMES PAY A
POLITICAL PRICE FOR BEING A
STRAIGHT TALKER.
STRAIGHT TALKER. DOES THAT SOUND FAMILIAR TO YOU,
AS SOMEBODY WHO SOMETIMES PAID A
POLITICAL PRICE FOR BEING A
STRAIGHT TALKER?
STRAIGHT TALKER? WITH McCAIN GONE, WHO REPLACES
HIM, SOMEONE WHO CAN SERVE AS A
CHECK ON THE PRESIDENT, OR A
VOICE AS A CHECK ON THE
PRESIDENT?
PRESIDENT? >> GREAT QUESTION.
WE SEE THAT SENATORS FLAKE AND
CORKER HAVE SPOKEN OUT, BUT
THEY’RE LEAVING THE SENATE.
I’D LIKE TO THINK THERE ARE
GOING TO BE SENATORS NOW WHO
WILL BE THINKING ABOUT SENATOR
McCAIN’S LEGACY AND WHAT HE
STOOD FOR, AND ADOPT SOME OF THE
SAME PRINCIPLED POSITIONS AND
SPEAK TRUTH TO POWER.
IT IS NOT JUST THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY.
COMMUNITY. IT NEEDS TO BE MEMBERS OF THE
CONGRESS WHO WILL SPEAK TRUTH TO
POWER, ESPECIALLY IN THIS WHITE
HOUSE TODAY.
HOUSE TODAY. >> HERE’S WHAT SENATOR GRAHAM
SAID THIS MORNING ABOUT THE
FINAL WORDS McCAIN HAD FOR HIM,
AS HE WAS CONIN ARIZONA.
>> HE HAD A ROMANTIC VIEW OF OUR
NATION TO HIS LAST BREATH.
LITERALLY ALMOST THE LAST THING
HE SAID TO ME WAS, I LOVE YOU.
I HAVE NOT BEEN CHEATED.
HE WAS NOT CHEATED.
>> I DON’T KNOWJOHN McCAIN WAS N
HIS LIFE WAS A GREAT EXAMPLE OF
WHAT A LIFETIME OF SERVICE
MEANS.
MEANS. I THINK WE SHOULD ALL LOOK UP TO
HIM AS A SHINING EXAMPLE OF WHAT
AN AMERICAN CAN BE.
>> I WANT TO MOVE ON, BUT BEFORE
I DO, YOU HAVE BEEN SOMEBODY WHO
HASN’T BEEN AFRAID TO CRITICIZE
THIS PRESIDENT, BUT WHAT I’M
HEARING FROM YOU IN THIS
DISCUSSION IS YOU’RE NOT GOING
TO CRITICIZE THE PRESIDENT FOR
HOW HE RESPONDED TO THE DEATH OF
JOHN McCAIN.
JOHN McCAIN. >> RIGHT NOW, I’M CELEBRATING
JOHN McCAIN’S LIFE.
>> OKAY.
>> OKAY. I’LL ASK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE
HAPPENING ON CAPITOL HILL.
BRUCE OHR IS APPEARING BEFORE
CLOSED DOORS, THIS DOJ OFFICIAL
THE PRESIDENT HAS THREATENED TO
STRIP HIS SECURITY CLEARANCE.
OBVIOUSLY, YOUR SECURITY
CLEARANCE HAS BEEN STRIPPED.
YOU’RE A FORMER OFFICIAL.
BRUCE OHR IS NOT.
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. >> LET ME PLAY WHAT MARK MEADOWS
HAD TO SAY SECONDS AGO ON THE
HILL REGARDING THIS CLOSED DOOR
MEETING.
MEETING. THIS IS SOMETHING CONSERVATIVES
IN PARTICULAR SEIZED ON.
WATCH.
WATCH. >> BASED ON WHAT I’VE SEEN, AND
UNLESS BRUCE OHR WAS UP
INSTRUCTEDINSTRUCT
INSTRUCTEDINSTRUCT ED
ED -- INSTRUCTED TO DO WHAT HE
DID, HE SHOULD BE FIRED.
NOT ONLY WAS HE COORDINATING
WITH CHRISTOPHER STEELE, WHO HAD
BEEN TERMINATED BY THE FBI, BUT
COORDINATING WITH HIM MULTIPLE
TIMES AFTER THE TERMINATION.
>> OHR, OF COURSE, REFERENCING
HIS WORK ON THE RISH YAUSSIA
INVESTIGATION, ET CETERA.
>> IT IS MY UNDERSTANDING THAT
EVERYTHING OHR DID WAS APPROVED
AND KNOWN TO SENIOR OFFICIALS.
COORDINATED CLOSE WITH THE FBI.
I THINK THIS IS SOMETHING THAT,
YOU KNOW, WILL HAVE TO BE LOOKED
AT.
AT. I DON’T KNOW THE FACTS HERE.
I THINK SOME OF THE FACTS BEING
PURPORTED BY SOME MEMBERS OF
CONGRESS MAY NOT, IN FACT, BE
THE ACTUAL FACTS.
>> PRESIDENT TRUMP THREATENED TO
STRIP YOUR SECURITY CLEARANCE
AND THEN HE DID.
PRESIDENT TRUMP HAS THREATENED
TO STRIP BRUCE OHR’S SECURITY
CLEARANCE.
CLEARANCE. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
>> I DON’T KNOW.
THE ONLY THING I HEARD ABOUT IT
IS WHEN SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS
SAID AT THE PODIUM MY CLEARANCE
HAD BEEN STRIPPED.
I’VE NOT BEEN CONTACTED BY
ANYBODY BEFORE OR SINCE THEN.
WHETHER OR NOT MY CLEARANCE IS
STRIPPED, I’M UNCERTAIN ABOUT.
SHE SAID IT.
SHE READ SOMETHING FROM DONALD
TRUMP.
TRUMP. >> WHAT WOULD THE PROCESS BE?
WORLD YOU NORMALLY HEAR FROM
SOME SORT OF INTELLIGENCE
OFFICIAL SAYING, HEY, FYI?
>> I’D THINK THAT’D BE THE
PROCESS.
PROCESS. IN THIS CURRENT ADMINISTRATION,
PROCESS SEEMS TO BE THROWN OUT
THE DOOR.
THE DOOR. THE PROCESS FOR REVOCATION OF
CLEARANCE HAS VERY CLEAR
GUIDELINES.
GUIDELINES. SO THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION DID
NOT FOLLOW THE GUIDELINES THAT
THEY, IN FACT, AFFIRMED LAST
YEAR, ABOUT HOW TO DEAL WITH
SECURITY CLEARANCE REVOCATIONS.
>> DO YOU THINK THEY’RE WALKING
IT BACK?
IT BACK? >> I HAVE NO IDEA.
>> YOU CAN KEEP THE CLEARANCE?
>> GIVEN I THINK EVERYBODY
BELIEVES THAT MY CLEARANCE IS
BOGUS, I THINK PEOPLE ARE SKRAR
CH
CH -- SCRATCHING THEIR HEAD, WHO
HAVE TO PUT TOGETHER THE
MEMORANDUM TO SAY WHY I WAS
STRIPPED, OTHER THAN MR. TRUMP
MAY NOT LIKE ME, WHICH IS NOT A
VALID REPUBLICAN.
VALID REPUBLICAN. I’M WAIT