>>> WELCOME BACK TO "MORNING JOE."
JOE." LIVE LOOK AT WASHINGTON, D.C., A
FOGGY, RAINY, DREARY MORNING.
JOINING US NOW, CHIEF WASHINGTON
CORRESPONDENT FOR "THE NEW
YORKER" JANE MAYER.
SHE WRITES IN THIS WEEK’S
EDITION ABOUT MITCH McCONNELL,
CALLING HIM ENABLER IN CHIEF,
WHOSE REFUSAL TO REIN IN
PRESIDENT TRUMP IS LOOKING
RISKIER THAN EVER.
JANE, I WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR
CENTRAL FOCUS OF THE PIECE, BUT
I’M ALSO VERY INTEREST DED -- TH
IS HIS WIFE ELAINE CHAO IS IN
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S ADMINISTRATION, AND THERE ARE
LOTS OF DIFFERENT TIES THAT
STAND OUT AS IMPORTANT HERE.
CAN YOU TALK ABOUT MITCH
McCONNELL’S WIFE, THAT
CONNECTION, AND POTENTIAL
CONFLICTS OR EXPLANATIONS?
>> WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS THAT
WAS INTERESTING WHEN I WAS DOING
THIS REPORTING IS THAT ELAINE
CHAO IS SUCH A PLAYER IN HER OWN
RIGHT, AND WHEN TRUMP WAS
ELECTED, MITCH McCONNELL TOOK AN
UNUSUAL ROLE WHERE HE PROMOTED
HIS WIFE FOR A CABINET POSITION.
HE CALLED THEM UP AND BASICALLY,
IT WAS HIS ASK OF TRUMP.
AND TRUMP, I TALKED TO SOME
PEOPLE IN THE TRANSITION TEAM,
SOME SENIOR PEOPLE, WHO SAID
THEY WERE EXPECTING THAT MAYBE
THEY WOULD MAKE HER LABOR
SECRETARY, AS SHE HAD BEEN
DURING THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION,
BUT SHE WANTED TRANSPORTATION,
WHICH THEY SAW AS A BIT OF A
PROBLEM BECAUSE HER FAMILY HAS A
GIANT SHIPPING COMPANY THAT DOES
ABOUT 70% OF ITS BUSINESS WITH
CHINA.
CHINA. THEY THOUGHT OF IT AS POSSIBLY A
CONFLICT OF INTEREST, BUT THEY
ALSO REALLY WANTED HER ONBOARD,
BECAUSE THEY WANTED MITCH
McCONNELL ON BOARD.
SO THEY GAVE HER THE JOB.
AND SINCE THEN, THERE HAVE BEEN
ALLEGATIONS THAT SHE, AS
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY, HAS
FAVORED HER HUSBAND’S STATE,
KENTUCKY, BY GIVING IT MORE
GRANTS.
GRANTS. THERE’S AN INTERNAL
INVESTIGATION TAKING PLACE IN
THE TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT ON
THIS.
THIS. SHE’S DENIED IT.
THE INVESTIGATION IS ONGOING.
POLITICO HAS WRITTEN SOME
TERRIFIC STORIES ABOUT THIS.
AND THE IRONY IS RATHER THAN IT
BEING SEEN AS A SCANDAL BY MITCH
McCONNELL, INSTEAD, HE’S MADE AN
AD IN KENTUCKY WHERE HE’S UP FOR
RE-ELECTION, CLAIMING, YOU SEE,
I CAN BRING HOME MORE BACON,
BASICALLY MORE TRANSPORTATION
GRANTS TO MY STATE.
SO IT’S KIND OF A SELF-LICKING
ICE CREAM CONE GOING ON THERE.
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. KASIE HUNT HAS A QUESTION FOR
YOU.
YOU. KASIE.
KASIE. >> TERRIFIC PIECE, JANE.
I STAYED UP PROBABLY LATER THAN
I SHOULD HAVE AFTER MY SHOW LAST
NIGHT TO GET ALL THE WAY THROUGH
IT.
IT. AND I HAVE TO SAY, YOU KNOW, WE
TEASED THE PART WHERE IN PRIVATE
MITCH McCONNELL HAS CALLED
DONALD TRUMP NUTS AND ALL OF US
WHO ARE HERE IN WASHINGTON HAVE
PICKED UP ON SOME VERSION OF
THAT OVER OR AT LEAST I HAVE IN
THE HALLS OF THE CAPITOL, BUT I
WAS FASCINATED BY THE
CONVERSATIONS YOU HAVE HAD WITH
PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN SUPPORTING
MITCH McCONNELL IN KENTUCKY FOR
MANY, MANY DECADES, AND THE
DISPOIMENTDDIS
DISPOIMENTDDIS DISAPPOINTMENT SOME OF THEM SEEM
TO HAVE EXPRESSED TO HIM IN
PRIVATE ABOUT HOW HE HAS
INTERACTED WITH THE PRESIDENT
AND THE DAMAGE HE’S DOING TO THE
COUNTRY IN THEIR VIEW.
CAN YOU WALK THROUGH WHO THESE
PEOPLE ARE AND WHAT THEY’RE
SAYING TO THE MAJORITY LEADER
BEHIND THE SCENES?
>> ACTUALLY, THANKS FOR ASKING
BECAUSE I THINK ONE OF THE REAL
PIECES OF NEWS IN THIS STORY IS
THAT SOME OF THE TREMENDOUS
BACKERS THAT MITCH McCONNELL HAS
HAD IN THE PAST, IN PARTICULAR,
A MAN NAMED DAVID JONES, THE
COFOUNDER OF HUMANA, THE HEALTH
CARE COMPANY THAT IS A GIANT,
ONE OF THE BIGGEST EMPLOYERS IN
KENTUCKY.
KENTUCKY. HE’S BEEN WITH MITCH McCONNELL,
BACKING HIM SINCE 1984.
HE’S PUT MILLIONS INTO A CENTER
McCONNELL HAS BUILT, AN ACADEMIC
CENTER THERE, AND McCONNELL HAS
CALLED HIM THE MOST INFLUENTIAL
FRIEND AND MENTOR IN HIS ENTIRE
CAREER.
CAREER. WHAT I DISCOVERED IS PRIVATELY,
DAVID JONES HAS SENT LETTERS TO
MITCH McCONNELL.
MITCH McCONNELL. DAVID JONES AND HIS SON SENT TWO
LETTERS TO BASICALLY SAY STAND
UP AND LEAD.
YOU HAVE THE POWER IN THE
SENATE.
SENATE. YOU ARE UNDER THE CONSTITUTION
SUPPOSED TO FORM A CHECK ON THE
PRESIDENT WHEN HE’S AIR NTDERRAN
YOU’RE NOT DOING IT.
AND THEY ARE, YOU KNOW, AS CLOSE
TO MITCH McCONNELL AS YOU COULD
POSSIBLY GET.
POSSIBLY GET. DAVID JONES DIED LAST FALL.
HIS SONS ARE STILL ALIVE.
I’VE GOT COPIES OF THE LETTERS,
AND MITCH McCONNELL’S RESPONSE.
AND WHAT YOU SEE IS I THINK A
TREMENDOUS DISAPPOINTMENT THAT
THE WATCHDOG HAS BEEN ASLEEP AT
THE SWITCH.
THE SWITCH. THE SENATE HAS NOT TAKEN THIS
LEADERSHIP ROLE.
LEADERSHIP ROLE. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE IN
KENTUCKY WHO ARE VERY
DISAPPOINTED BECAUSE THEY THINK
MITCH McCONNELL COULD HAVE DONE
A LOT BETTER WHEN HISTORY LOOKS
BACK, THEY’RE GOING TO SEE IT
WAS, YOU KNOW, THAT HE DIDN’T DO
THIS JOB.
THIS JOB. >> JONATHAN LEMIRE.
>> SO MUCH OF THE COMPROMISES
THAT PEOPLE HAVE SAID THAT MITCH
McCONNELL HAS MADE IN TERMS OF
DEALING WITH THIS PRESIDENT IN
ORDER TO ENACT A CONSERVATIVE
AGENDA, PARTICULARLY INSTALLING
CONSERVATIVE FEDERAL JUDGES, SO
MY QUESTIONS FOR YOU ARE THIS,
COULD YOU SIMPLY GIVE THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE AN UPDATE?
THAT’S CONTINUING, CORRECT?
A PACE DURING THIS PANDEMIC, AND
ALSO, DO YOU HAVE ANY HESITATION
IN SAYING THAT WERE A SUPREME
COURT SEAT WERE TO OPEN UP,
WHETHER IT BE THE SPRING,
SUMMER, OR FALL, DESPITE THE
PRECEDENT OF MERIT GARLAND, IS
THERE ANY HESITATION MITCH
McCONNELL WOULD TRY TO FILL THE
SEAT WHILE PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS
STILL IN OFFICE.
>> I’LL TAKE MITCH McCONNELL AT
HIS WORD.
HIS WORD. HE’S BEEN GOING TO BIG DONORS IN
THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND
PROMISING IF RUTH BADER GINSBURG
WERE TO DIE BEFORE THE ELECTION,
EVEN IF IT WERE OR HAVE TO
WITHDRAW, VACATE THE SEAT FOR
SOME REASON, HEALTH REASONS,
THAT IT WOULD BE, AS HE’S BEEN
PUTTING IT, OUR OCTOBER
SURPRISE.
SURPRISE. HE’S BEEN PROMISING THEM HE WILL
FILL THAT SEAT.
SO NO, I DON’T HAVE ANY DOUBT
THAT HE WILL GO FOR IT.
THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT HE HAS SAID
HE PLANS TO DO, AND HE’S PUT, I
THINK, SOMETHING LIKE JUST UNDER
200 CONSERVATIVE JUDGES ON THE
FEDERAL BENCH.
FEDERAL BENCH. THIS IS HIS LEGACY PROJECT.
THIS IS WHAT HE’S PUTTING ALL OF
HIS ENERGY INTO.
IT WAS WHERE HE WAS IN THE
BEGINNING OF THE WEEKEND WHEN
THINGS REALLY STARTED TO FALL
APART IN THE COUNTRY ON THE
CORONAVIRUS, HE WAS DOWN IN
KENTUCKY GOING TO A JUDGE’S SORT
OF INVESTTURE, CELEBRATING WITH
THE JUDGE.
THE JUDGE. I THINK IT’S THE WAY HE WANTS
HISTORY TO JUDGE HIM, PEOPLE
TELL ME, BUT WHAT IT SAID IN THE
LETTER FROM DAVID JONES, HIS
TREMENDOUS BACKER, IS WHAT’S THE
POINT OF PUTTING JUDGES ON THE
BENCH IN A COUNTRY WHERE THE
REPUBLIC IS CRUMBLING AROUND
YOU?
YOU? STAND UP FOR DEMOCRACY, IS
BASICALLY WHAT HIS DONORS ARE
SAYING TO HIM.
>> JANE MAYER, THANK YOU VERY