>> "MORNING JOE" STARTS RIGHT NOW.
NOW. >>> MY PEOPLE CAME TO ME, DAN
COATS CAME TO ME AND SOME
OTHERS.
OTHERS. THEY SAID THEY THINK IT’S
RUSSIA.
RUSSIA. I HAVE PRESIDENT PUTIN.
HE JUST SAID IT’S NOT RUSSIA.
I WILL SAY THIS.
I DON’T SEE ANY REASON WHY IT
WOULD BE.
WOULD BE. >> QUOTING U.S. SENATORS FROM
BOTH PARTIES.
BOTH PARTIES. DONALD TRUMP’S ACTIONS YESTERDAY
WERE "APPALLING AND SHAMEFUL."
"SHOCKING AND SAD."
"DAMAGING AND A THREAT TO
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY."
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY." OR AS JOHN McCAIN PUT IT, ONE OF
THE MOST DISGRACEFUL PERFORMS BY
AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT IN MEMORY.
GOOD MORNING, AND WELCOME TO
"MORNING JOE."
"MORNING JOE." TODAY IS TUESDAY, JULY THE 17th,
AND WHAT WE SAW YESTERDAY WAS
SHOCKING.
SHOCKING. IT WAS APPALLING.
JON MEACHAM, YESTERDAY WE HAD A
PRESIDENT WHO STOOD ON THE WORLD
STAGE AND HE AN OPPORTUNITY TO
SHOW LOYALTY TO OUR REPUBLICAN
ININSTEAD, FECKLESSNESS.
ININSTEAD, FECKLESSNESS. HE SHOWED COWARDICE ON THE WORLD
STAGE WHERE THE PRESIDENT LOOKED
LIKE A WEAK, DUPY STOOGE TO A
KGB SPY.
KGB SPY. HE HAD A CHANCE TO SHOW LOYALTY
TOY THE MEN AND WOMEN OF UNIFORM
OF AMERICA’S MILITARY AND INTEL
COMMUNITY, AND INSTEAD HE
BETRAYED THEM.
BETRAYED THEM. TIME AND AGAIN.
AND INSTEAD HE SAID THAT HE
TRUSTED VLADIMIR PUTIN’S WORD,
AND BY EXTENSION, THE WORD OF
RUSSIA’S SPY COMMUNITY WHICH
ATTACKED THE UNITED STATES OF
AMERICA.
AMERICA. SO MANY THINGS WERE SAID
YESTERDAY, JON.
YESTERDAY, JON. SO MANY CONCERNS, NOT ONLY BY
THE USUAL SUSPECTS IN THE
DEMOCRATIC PARTY BUT ALSO BY AN
AWFUL LOT OF PEOPLE AND WHAT IS
NOW THE TRUMP PARTY, THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY.
REPUBLICAN PARTY. I KNOW THERE’S NO WAY TO ASK YOU
FOR A PARALLEL, BECAUSE THERE IS
NO PARALLEL.
NO PARALLEL. FDR, AFTER PEARL HARBOR, DIDN’T
DENY THERE WAS AN ATTACK.
GEORGE W. BUSH DIDN’T DENY AL
QAEDA’S ATTACK ON SEPTEMBER
11th, BUT VLADIMIR PUTIN
ATTACKED AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.
WE’VE GOT THE FORENSIC EVIDENCE.
IT’S THERE FOR ALL THE WORLD TO
SEE.
SEE. EVERY REASONABLE, RATIONAL
PERSON LOOKS AT THAT MATERIAL
JUST LIKE THEY CAN SEE THE DNA
ON A GUN AND THEY KNOW WHO DID
IT, WHEN THEY DID IT, HOW THEY
DID IT, WHY THEY DID IT.
YOU COULD ACTUALLY TAKE JUDICIAL
NOTICE IN EVERY COURT IN AMERICA
THAT VLADIMIR PUTIN’S RUSSIAN
SPY AGENCIES TRIED TO UNDERMINE
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, AN DAN
COATS, THE PRESIDENT’S DNI
DIRECTOR ON A DAILY BASIS, AND
YET YESTERDAY DONALD TRUMP
DEFENDED VLADIMIR PUTIN’S SPOOTY
AGENCIES INSTEAD OF HIS OWN.
WHERE ARE WE RIGHT NOW IN THE
SUMMER OF 2018?
>> THERE’S A LIVE AND OPEN
QUESTION WHETHER THE PRESIDENT
OF THE UNITED STATES IS PUTTING
THE NATIONAL INTERESTS OF OUR --
OUR NATIONAL INTERESTS AHEAD OF
THAT OF A FOREIGN POWER WHO MAY
HAVE LEVERAGE OVER HIM IN SOME
WAY, AND WITHOUT -- WITHOUT THAT
EXPLANATION YOU HAVE TO WONDER
WHAT POSSIBLY COULD BE GOING ON.
WHAT -- WHAT IS THE POSSIBLE
MOTIVATIONS ALONG THE WAY.
WAS IT SIMPLY PRIDE?
DOES HE SIMPLY NOT HAVE THE
CAPACITY TO SEE BEYOND HIS, THE,
IN HIS OWN MIND, THE SO-CALLED
LEGITIMACY OF HIS OWN ELECTION?
OR IS THERE SOME LARGER ISSUE
HERE?
HERE? AND MY CHIEF FEAR IS THAT THIS
IS THE MIDDLE OF THE JOURNEY,
NOT THE BEGINNING AND NOT THE
END.
END. BECAUSE VLADIMIR PUTIN HAS A
HUGE CHECK IN HIS POCKET READY
TO CASH.
TO CASH. FROM DONALD TRUMP.
AND I DON’T THINK IT’S SIMPLY
GOING TO BE CASHED FOR A
CONGENIAL PRESS CONFERENCE.
I THINK THERE MUST BE SOME OTHER
SHOE TO DROP, I DON’T NEWS THAT
IMAGE, THERE MUST BE SOME OTHER
COUNTRY TO INVADE, THERE MUST BE
SOME OTHER ATTEMPT HERE BY
RUSSIANS TO EXPAND THEIR
INFLUENCE AT THE EXPENSE OF THE
WESTERN, THE EXPENSE OF THE
WESTERN ALLIANCE AND WE HAVE
SEEN OVER THE LAST -- NOT JUST
THE LAST 24 HOURS BUT THE LAST
SIX, SEVEN DAYS THAT THE
PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
DOES NOT HAVE THE INTERESTS,
HISTORIC INTERESTS, OF THE
WESTERN ALLIANCE AND OF THE
UNITED STATES FRONT AND CENTER.
>> AND WILLIE GEIST, MY FATHER
GREW UP READING BOOKS, A SERIES
OF BOOKS CALLED "NONE DARE CALL
IT TREASON."
IT TREASON." NONE -- MAY DARE TO CALL WHAT
DONALD TRUMP DID YESTERDAY
TREASON, BUT ONE THING WE CAN
SAY IS THIS --
FACED WITH OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE
THAT, AGAIN, ANY COURT IN
AMERICA WOULD TAKE JUDICIAL
NOTICE OF THAT VLADIMIR PUTIN
TRIED TO UNDERMINE AMERICAN
DEMOCRACY IN 2016 AND CONTINUES
TO ACT IN ABOUTHORRENT WAYS, THA
OUR DIRECTOR OF INTELLIGENCE
SAYS POSES A THREAT FOR THE
UPCOMING ELECTION, DONALD TRUMP
SAT THERE AND WAS OBSEQUIOUS TO
VLADIMIR PUTIN.
VLADIMIR PUTIN. I’VE ASKED, I WON’T BRING YOU IN
ON THIS, I’VE BEEN ASKING, BUT
WE ALL KNOW THAT VLADIMIR PUTIN
IS HOLDING SOMETHING OVER DONALD
TRUMP.
TRUMP. WE DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS.
BUT WE KNOW IT MUST BE SOMETHING
EXTRAORDINARY, BECAUSE NO
RATIONAL POLITICIAN, NO RATIONAL
PRESIDENT WOULD ACT THIS WAY IF
HE WEREN’T BEING BLACKMAILED ON
SOME LEVEL.
SOME LEVEL. >> WELL THAT MAY BE TRUE, AND WE
HAVE TO ENTERTAIN THAT
POSSIBILITY NOW.
POSSIBILITY NOW. THE OTHER PART OF IT IS WHAT JON
ALLUDED TO, THE VANITY QUESTION,
WHICH IS THAT ANY IMPLICATION OR
SUGGESTION OR EVIDENCE THAT
SHOWS THAT PRESIDENT TRUMP’S
ELECTION IN 2016 WAS ANYTHING
OTHER THAN LEGITIMATE IS A BLOW
TO THE PRESIDENT’S EGO AND HE
CAN’T STAND THAT AND IS WILLING
TO STAND NEXT TO THE PRESIDENT
OF RUSSIA AND SAY I TAKE YOUR
WORD OVER THAT OF MY INTEL
COMMUNITY SO IT DOESN’T
UNDERMINE MY ELECTION.
>> RIGHT, WILLIE, BUT HERE’S THE
THING.
THING. IT WASN’T JUST ABOUT THE 2016
ELECTION.
ELECTION. WE FIRST HERE ON "MORNING JOE,"
IN THE DECEMBER -- IN DECEMBER
OF 2015, A YEAR BEFORE THE
RESULTS OF THAT ELECTION WERE
CALLED INTO QUESTION, WE ASKED
LIMB REPEATEDLY WHY HE SAID,
VLADIMIR PUTIN WAS A STRONG
LEADER.
LEADER. I SAID, HE ASSASSINATES
JOURNALISTS, ASSASSINATES
JOURNALISTS, ASSASSINATES POLITICIANS, ASSASSINATES
POLITICIANS, ASSASSINATES OTHERS.
OTHERS. DONALD TRUMP’S DEFENSE OF
VLADIMIR PUTIN WAS, WELL,
AMERICAN SOLDIERS IN IRAQ KILLED
A LOT OF PEOPLE, TOO.
SO EVEN BEFORE THE ELECTION WAS
CALLED INTO QUESTION, HE WAS
A -- LIKE A SCARED CHILD, AFRAID
TO CRITICIZE VLADIMIR PUTIN.
THAT WAS THREE YEARS AGO.
>> YEAH.
>> YEAH. THERE’S NO QUESTION ABOUT IT.
IN THE CONTEXT OF YESTERDAY’S
PRESS CONFERENCE, THOUGH, ASKING
ABOUT THAT, I THINK, AGAIN, HE
CAN’T SAY ANYTHING THAT MAKES
HIS ELECTION LOOK ANYTHING OTHER
THAN LEGITIMATE, BECAUSE IT’S
ABOUT HIS EGO, AND I WANT TO BE
CLEAR FOR OUR VIEWERS AGAIN,
JOE.
JOE. WHAT EXACTLY THE INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT STATED.
DATED JANUARY 6, 2017.
THIS IS WHAT THE PRESIDENT SAYS
HE DOES NOT BELIEVE.
"WE AS RUSSIAN PRESIDENT
VLADIMIR PUTIN ORDERED AN
INFLUENCE CAMPAIGN IN 2016 AIMED
AT THE U.S. PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION, PLAIN AND SIMPLE."
SO YESTERDAY, DNI, DIRECTOR OF
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE, DAN
COATS, HAD TO PUT OUT ANOTHER
STATEMENT OF HIS OWN AFTER WHAT
THE PRESIDENT SAID REITERATING
THAT THE INTEL COMMUNITY
BELIEVES RUSSIA AND HAS
EVIDENCE, RUSSIA INTERFERED IN
THE ELECTIONS AND IRANNTERFERED
THE 2016 ELECTION.
THE EVIDENCE IS ALL THERE.
THE PRESIDENT CHEESES NOT TO
BELIEVE SO AND SAID SO, JOE,
YESTERDAY.
YESTERDAY. >> WILLIE, THE THING IS -- AND
WE ALSO SAW IT WHEN THE INTEL
CHIEFS WENT TO CAPITOL HILL.
>> YEP.
>> YEP. >> AND I KNOW -- I KNOW THAT
EVEN DONALD TRUMP SUPPORTERS
KNOW BY THIS POINT THAT VLADIMIR
PUTIN HAS SOMETHING OVER TRUMP.
I KNOW THEY KNOW THAT.
THEY MAY TRY -- SOME OF THEM
TRIED, MAY BE TRYING TO DENY IT.
NOT MANY, BUT WHAT’S SO TELLING
IS, WHILE, LET’S JUST SAY, THE
LAST HOLDOUTS ARE TALKING ABOUT
THE DEEP STATE HERE, IT WAS
DONALD TRUMP’S INTEL CHIEFS THAT
DONALD TRUMP APPOINTED HIMSELF.
>> THAT’S RIGHT.
>> -- THAT DREW THAT CONCLUSION
ON THE HILL.
IT WAS THE FBI DIRECTOR THAT
DONALD TRUMP APPOINTED HIMSELF.
IT WAS THE DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL
INTELLIGENCE THAT DONALD TRUMP
APPOINTED HIMSELF.
APPOINTED HIMSELF. IT WAS THE THEN CIA DIRECTOR
THAT DONALD TRUMP APPOINTED
HIMSELF.
HIMSELF. MIKE POMPEO.
MIKE POMPEO. IT WAS -- YOU NAME IT, ALL OF
THE INTEL CHIEFS THAT DREW THIS
CONCLUSION, THEY WERE ALL
APPOINTED BY DONALD TRUMP, AND
THEY WERE ALL CONFIRMED BY
REPUBLICANS IN THE UNITED STATES
SENATE.
SENATE. THERE IS NO DOUBT.
THERE IS NO QUESTION, ESPECIALLY
AFTER FRIDAY’S INDICTMENT, THAT
THE RUSSIANS TRIED TO SUBVERT
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY, AND WE HAVE
ALL OF THE EVIDENCE.
FORGET ABOUT CSI NEW YORK.
THIS IS CSI MOSCOW AND WE HAVE
ALL OF THE DNA, AND IT’S ALL
OVER VLADIMIR PUTIN’S BLOODY
HANDS.
HANDS. >> AND BY THE WAY, THE DNI, DAN
COATS, SAID ALL THIS ON FRIDAY
BEFORE THE SUMMIT HOPING TO
AVOID WHAT WE SAW YESTERDAY.
HE SAID, THE RED LIGHTS ARE
FLASHING, THEY’RE BLINKING.