>>> WELCOME BACK. WE WANT TO DIG A LITTLE L DEEPER
INTO THIS "WASHINGTON POST"
REPORTING THAT SAYS PRESIDENT
TRUMP HAS CONCEALED DETAILS OF
HIS MEETINGS WITH VLADIMIR PUTIN
FROM SENIOR OFFICIALS FROM HIS
OWN ADMINISTRATION.
OWN ADMINISTRATION. GREG MILLER DOING THE REPORTING
THAT TRUMP ACTUALLY TOOK
POSSESSION OF HIS INTERPRETER’S
NOTES AFTER A JULY 2017 MEETING
IN HAMBURG, GERMANY, WITH PUTIN,
REX TILLERSON, AND SERGEY
LAVROV.
LAVROV. THE REPORT ALSO SAYS TRUMP TOLD
THE INTERPRETER NOT TO DISCUSS
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE MEETING
WITH OTHER ADMINISTRATION
OFFICIALS.
OFFICIALS. TODAY, ANDREW WEISS OF THE
CARNEGIE FOUNDATION WAS AMONG
THOSE POINTING OUT HOW THE
PRESIDENT’S EXPLANATION OF THE
JUNE 2016 TRUMP TOWER MEETING
OVERLAPPED WITH HIS MEETING WITH
PUTIN IN HAMBURG.
ON THE MORNING OF JULY 7th,
2017, "THE NEW YORK TIMES" TOLD
THE WHITE HOUSE THAT IT LEARNED
ABOUT THE TRUMP TOWER MEETING
WITH TRUMP CAMPAIGN OFFICIALS
AND RUSSIANS AND ASKED FOR
COMMENT.
COMMENT. LATER THAT AFTERNOON IN GERMANY,
TRUMP MET FOR 2 1/2 HOURS WITH
PUTIN, TILLERSON AND LAVROV.
THIS WOULD BE THE MEETING WHERE
TRUMP REPORTEDLY SEIZED HIS
INTERPRETER’S NOTES.
INTERPRETER’S NOTES. THE SAME EVENING, TRUMPB, AGAIN,
SPOKE WITH PUTIN DURING A G20
DINNER.
DINNER. PUTIN’S INTERPRETER WAS THE ONLY
OTHER PERSON PRESENT.
WE ACTUALLY LEARNED ABOUT THAT
MEETING ABOUT A WEEK LATER.
THE VERY NEXT DAY, JULY 8th,
2017, AS TRUMP WAS FLYING BACK
FROM HAMBURG, HE DICTATED THE
MISLEADING STATEMENT, THE COVER
STORY, HIS SON, DON JUNIOR,
WOULD LATER RELEASE ABOUT THE
TRUMP TOWER MEETING.
THAT STATEMENT SAID THE MEETING,
AS YOU RECALL, WAS PRIMARILY
ABOUT ADOPTIONS OF RUSSIAN
CHILDREN.
CHILDREN. NEARLY TWO WEEKS LATER, JULY
19th OF 2017, PRESIDENT SAT DOWN
FOR AN INTERVIEW WITH "THE NEW
YORK TIMES" AND HE WAS ASKED
ABOUT THAT SECOND MEETING WITH
PUTIN BACK ON JULY 7th.
>> WAS NOT A LONG CONVERSATION,
BUT IT WAS, YOU KNOW, COULD BE
15 MINUTES.
15 MINUTES. JUST TALKED ABOUT THINGS.
ACTUALLY, IT WAS VERY
INTERESTING, WE TALKED ABOUT
ADOPTION.
ADOPTION. >> YOU DID?
>> RUSSIAN ADOPTION.
YEAH.
YEAH. I ALWAYS FOUND THAT INTERESTING
BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, HE ENDED THAT
YEARS AGO.
YEARS AGO. AND I ACTUALLY TALKED ABOUT
RUSSIAN ADOPTION WITH HIM, WHICH
IS INTERESTING BECAUSE THAT WAS
A PART OF THE CONVERSATION THAT
DON HAD.
DON HAD. >> WE ASKED TWO OF OUR GUESTS TO
RETURN TO THIS SEGMENT TO TALK
ABOUT THIS.
ABOUT THIS. JEREMY BASH AND ROBERT COSTA.
JEREMY, YOU’VE SPENT A LOT OF
YOUR LIFE’S WORK IN THIS AREA.
WHAT’S THE STORY HERE?
WHY ISN’T THIS NORMAL BEHAVIOR?
>> WELL, THE REASON WHY YOU HAVE
STAFF THAT GETS READOUTS OF
PRESIDENTIAL CONVERSATIONS WITH
FOREIGN LEADERS IS THE STAFF AND
THE SENIOR AIDES CAN FOLLOW UP,
SO WHEN THEY GO INTO THE
FOLLOW-ON NEGOTIATIONS, SAY,
WITH THE RUSSIAN NUCLEAR
NEGOTIATING TEAM, THEY ACTUALLY
KNOW POSITIONS OUR PRESIDENT HAS
TAKEN AND THEY CAN ENFORCE SOME
TOUGH DEALS, BUT IF, IN FACT,
OUR TEAM DOESN’T KNOW EXACTLY
WHAT THE BOSS SAID OR WHAT HE
MIGHT HAVE GIVEN AWAY IN A
SENSITIVE NEGOTIATION, THEN, IN
FACT, THE RUSSIAN TEAM HOLDS ALL
THE CARDS.
THE CARDS. THEY KNOW MORE.
THEY CAN HOLD THE LINE, AND THEY
KNOW THAT OUR PRESIDENT, FOR
EXAMPLE, IN THIS EXAMPLE, WON’T
BACK HIS OWN TEAM UP.
SO IN EFFECT, WHAT THE RUSSIANS
HAVE DONE BY ISOLATING TRUMP IS
THEY’VE ESSENTIALLY MADE HIM
PLAY FOR THE OTHER SIDE.
PLAY FOR THE OTHER TEAM.
>> ROBERT COSTA, I KEEP WANTING
TO ASK YOU WHAT REPUBLICANS
THINK THEY’RE PREPARING FOR.
AND DO YOU NOTICE MORE AND MORE
KIND OF PEEL-AWAY DEFECTIONS?
>> MORE AND MORE YOU SEE
REPUBLICANS RAISING CONCERNS
PRIVATELY, SOMETIMES PUBLICLY,
BUT THEY ALSO FEEL BOXED IN.
BRIAN, THEY TELL ME THAT WHEN IT
COMES TO THE MUELLER REPORT,
THEY BELIEVE THE PRESIDENT IS
BREAKING NORM AFTER NORM.
HE’S ERODING THESE INSTITUTIONS,
WHETHER IT’S THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY OR THE DEPARTMENT OF
JUSTICE.
JUSTICE. BUT HAVING DEALT WITH HIM UP
CLOSE, THEY SAY THE SAME THING
I’VE SEEN UP CLOSE AS A REPORTER
COVERING HIM.
COVERING HIM. THIS WAS SOMEONE, AND IT’S NO
EXCUSE, SOMEONE WHO’S UNPREPARED
FOR THE PRESIDENCY AND IS KNOWN
TO TEAR UP DOCUMENTS WHEN HE
MEETS WITH CONGRESSIONAL
LEADERS, IS KNOWN TO IGNORE THE
PROCESS FOR ALMOST EVERYTHING.
DOMESTIC POLICY, FOREIGN POLICY,
MAKING DECISIONS ON THE FLY,
GOING OUTSIDE OF THE CHAIN OF
COMMAND, AND SO WHEN THEY LOOK
AT FOREIGN POLICY DECISIONS LIKE
THAT DECISION WITH THE
INTERPRETER, THEY’RE NOT
SURPRISED.
SURPRISED. STUNNED, BUT NOT SURPRISED.
AND WITH MUELLER, THEY’RE JUST
HANGING ON HOPING HE DOESN’T
SOMEHOW FIRE THE SPECIAL COUNSEL
AND THEY WANT CLARITY AS MUCH AS
ANYONE ELSE, BUT THEY ALSO KNOW
HE’S THE POLITICAL BEATING HEART
OF THE GOP, AND A PARTY NOW