ON MSNBC AND THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ACTION NETWORK.
ASHLEY PARKER, I HAVE THE SCAR
TISSUE FROM FIELDING QUESTIONS
ABOUT INTEL IN THE LEAD UP TO A
WAR.
WAR. YOU ONLY GET ONE CHANCE TO SET
THE RECORD STRAIGHT AFTER YOU’VE
CREATED A MUDDLE.
THEY’RE ON DAY EIGHT THE
PRESIDENT AND SECRETARY OF STATE
SAYING DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT
THINGS INCLUDING THIS IN THE
LAST HOUR.
LAST HOUR. THIS IS THE PRESIDENT ON "LAURA
INGRAM" SAYING FOUR EMBASSIES
WERE AT RISK.
>> DID THEY HAVE LARGE-SCALE
ATTACKS PLANNED FOR OTHER
EMBASSIES AND, IF THOSE WERE
PLANNED, WHY CAN’T WE REVEAL
THAT TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE?
WOULDN’T THAT HELP YOUR CASE?
>> I CAN REVEAL I BELIEVE IT
WOULD HAVE BEEN FOUR EMBASSIES.
>> THE PROBLEM WITH THIS IS WE
REALLY DON’T KNOW WHAT TO
BELIEVE OUT OF THIS
ADMINISTRATION FOR A COUPLE OF
REASONS.
REASONS. THE FIRST REASON IS A BLANKET
MACRO REASON, WHICH IS FOR THREE
YEARS THE PRESIDENT HAS SAID
THINGS THAT WERE TRUE AND JUST
AS FREQUENTLY SAID THINGS THAT
WEREN’T TRUE.
WEREN’T TRUE. AND TO GO TO THE MICRO, JUST
LOOKING AT THIS, YOU HAVE PEOPLE
LIKE SECRETARY POMPEO GOING UP
TO CAPITOL HILL FOR A CLASSIFIED
BRIEFING WITH SENATORS, WHICH IS
THE VERY PLACE THEY’RE SUPPOSED
TO REVEAL SPECIFICS.
AND THEN YOU HAVE THE PRESIDENT
SHARING THE SAME SPECIFICS ON
FOX NEWS AS YOU JUST PLAYED AT
THE RALLY IN TOLEDO LAST NIGHT I
WAS AT.
WAS AT. AND THEN YOU HAVE THIS OTHER
MURKY THING, WHICH IS THIS IS A
PRESIDENT WHO OFTEN DISMISSES
HIS OWN INTELLIGENCE
COMMUNITIES.
COMMUNITIES. AND WHY DO YOU NOT BELIEVE YOUR
OWN PEOPLE WHEN IT COMES TO
RUSSIA ELECTION INTERFERENCE BUT
YOU DO BELIEVE THEM ON THESE
IMMINENT ATTACKS?
IMMINENT ATTACKS? AND THERE HASN’T BEEN A CLEAR
EXLINEATION
EXLINEATION EXLINE PLNATION OF WHAT THE
DEFINITION OF IMMINENT IS.
>> WE CAN WORK ON THAT FOR THEM.
BUT HERE’S DANIEL GALE ON THE
SHIFTING EXPLANATION.
SHIFTING EXPLANATION. OVER TWO DAYS, TRUMP HAS GONE
FROM ONE, NOT MENTIONING
EMBASSIES TOO, TWO, NOT SAYING
IT WAS THE EMBASSY IN BAGHDAD
TOO, EMBASSIES, PLURAL, TO FOUR.
I THOUGHT IT WAS PRETTY DRAMATIC
WHEN MIKE LEE CALLED THE WORST
BRIEFING ON A MILITARY ACTION
HE’S SEEN IN HIS CAREER.
DEMOCRATS CALLING IT SAUF MORIC
AND ATTACKING THE BRIEFERS WHO
ARE NONE OTHER THAN THE AMERICAN
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE, THE
SECRETARY OF STATE AND THE
CHAIRMAN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS.
WHAT IS THE BUBBLING STATE OF
PLAY ON CAPITOL HILL AMONG
DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS?
>> I THINK IT’S PRETTY STUNNING
WHAT MIKE LEE DID COMING OUT OF
THERE, OFTEN TIMES IN LOCK STEP
WITH THE PRESIDENT ON POLICY
ISSUES.
ISSUES. WHAT DEMOCRATS HAVE BEEN SAYING
FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS IS
THE CHANGING NARRATIVE, THE FACT
THEY FEEL AS THOUGH THEY DIDN’T
GET A CLEAR SENSE OF WHY THE
PRESIDENT CHOSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE
THAT’S WHY YOU HAD SO MANY
DEMOCRATS VOTE FOR THE WAR
POWERS RESOLUTION TO REIGN BACK
SOME OF THAT POWER.
THE MOST PART ON THIS ISSUE AND
CONGRESS MEETS.
CONGRESS MEETS. WHAT KEY IS THE OUTLIAR.
YOU DO NOT SEE A LOT OF
REPUBLICANS IN CONGRESS CHOOSING
TO BREAK WITH THE PRESIDENT YET.
>> I ALSO TALKED TO SOMEBODY
YESTERDAY WHO SAID THE TWIN
PILLARS INSIDE TRUMP’S MIND HAVE
NOTHING TO DO WITH AMERICAN
FOREIGN POLICY OR THE INTEREST
OF THE STATE.
THERE IS PARALYZING FEAR OF
BEING REVEALED OF BEING
IGNORANT.
IGNORANT. HE DOESN’T READ, DOESN’T KNOW A
LOT ABOUT WORLD HISTORY.
AND IN ALMOST EQUAL FEAR OF
LEADING THE COUNTRY INTO WAR.
THAT HE IS IAFRAID OF THAT.
HE RAIN SOUTH CAROLINA AND OTHER
PLACES AS A
NONINTERVENTIONALEST.
NONINTERVENTIONALEST. WHERE DOES THAT LEAVE US?
>> IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION.
YOU KNOW THE EXPRESSION, AIR ON
THE SIDE OF CAUTION?
ER ON THE SIDE OF LYING BECAUSE
THAT’S WHERE HE IS.
HE’S SOMEWHERE BETWEEN TRYING TO
COVER THE FACT THAT HE IS
IGNORANT ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND
MILITARY ACTION.
MILITARY ACTION. HE’S TRYING TO ACT AS THOUGH HE
KNEW WHAT HE’S WAS DOING.
WE’VE ALREADY REDEFINED LYING.
NOW WE’RE REDEFINING WHAT
IMMINENT MEANS.
IMMINENT MEANS. IT IS A VERY PRECARIOUS PLACE
THAT THE AMERICAN PEOPLE FIND
THEMSELVES IN.
THEMSELVES IN. NOT TO MENTION WE’RE LOOKING AT
THE FACT THERE MAY BE AN
UNINTENDED MISSILE THAT KILLED
176 PEOPLE AND CAME OUT OF THESE
STRING OF EVENTS.
IT WAS STARTED BECAUSE OF THE
KILLING OF GENERAL AND I THINK
THOSE EVENTS SHOULD BE OF REAL
CONCERN.
CONCERN. WHERE’S THE MORAL CONCERN THAT
WE HAVE PEOPLE THAT HAVE DIED IN
A PLANE CRASH, ROCKETS BEING
BLASTED AND A PRESIDENT THAT
GIVES FIVE DIFFERENT STORIES A
DAY IN THE MIDDLE OF THIS.
AND WE ACT LIKE HUMAN LIVES ARE
EXPENDABLE.
EXPENDABLE. I THINK WE’RE IN A VERY
DANGEROUS PLACE.
DANGEROUS PLACE. >> I WANT TO POINT OUT, IN TERMS
OF NUMBERS, GETS OR GATES?
THE "E" ALWAYS GETS ME?
>> GETS.
>> GETS. >> SO THE FACT THEY’RE SPEAKING
OUT PUBLICLY AGAINST THIS
ROLLOUT OF THEIR ACTION IS
STAGGERING JUST ON THE RIGHT.
THEY ARE SORT OF WHOLELY OWNED
SUBSIDIARIES OF THE JOHN BOLTON
VIEW OF THE WORLD AND VIEW OF
REGIME CHANGE IN IRAQ.
>> I ADMIRE THEY TOOK THE
CONSTITUTIONAL PRIVILEGE GIVEN
TO THE HOUSE AND SENATE TO
DECLARE WAR.
DECLARE WAR. I WANT TO TAKE A STEP BACK AND
ONE OF THE THINGS THAT DISTURBS
ME ABOUT THIS IS THIS REVIVAL OF
THE BUSH DOCTRINE OF PREVENTIVE
ASSASSINATION, WHICH WAS
DISCREDITED.
DISCREDITED. >> DEFENSE SECRETARY ESPER USED
IT IN A BRIEFING AT 3:00 P.M.
PRE-EMPTIVE AND THAT’S WHAT
WE’RE TALKING ABOUT.
>> I NEVER THOUGHT I’D HEAR
THOSE WORDS.
THOSE WORDS. >> ME NEITHER.
MARK ESPER ALL BUT FORESHADOWING
THIS IMMINENT, PREEMINENT
ATTACK.
ATTACK. >> ONE OF THE MOST REVILED
DOCTRINES.
DOCTRINES. AND ANOTHER REVIVAL IS THIS
STRANGE OBSESSION WITH IRAN THAT
NEOCONSERVATIVES HAVE THAT
SOMEHOW MORE THAN CHINA, MORE
THAN ANYBODY ELSE, IRAN IS
PROVOKING INSTABILITY IN THE
WORLD AND IS AN EXISTENTIAL
THREAT TO THE UNITED STATES.
SO PART -- AND I GUESS WE’LL GET
TO THE "WASHINGTON POST" STORY
ABOUT THE TARGETING.
THEY DADEID A TERRIFIC STORY ABO
THE TARGETING OF A FINANCER OF
IT.
IT. ABDUL SHALAI IN YEMEN.
THE FACT THIS IS PART OF A
SEEMINGLY WIDER PLOT, ALMOST TO
UNDERMINE THE REVOLUTION GUARD
IN IRAN, GOES BACK TO THIS
40-YEAR-OLD IDEA IRAN IS A
THREAT TO US.
WHEN THE AYATOLLAH CAME TO POWER
IN 1979, HE HAD AN IDEOLOGY OF I
WANT TO UNDERMINE THE WEST AND
DEMOCRACY IN THE WORLD.
BUT IRAN IS A FAR DIFFERENT
PLACE THAN IT WAS IN THE 1980s.
THE UNDERPINNINGS OF IRAN’S
REACHING OUT IS THIS IDEA WE
WEREN’T SUPPOSED TO TALK ABOUT
AT THE TIME THAT NOT ONLY WERE
WE GOING TO END THEIR PURSUIT OF
A NUCLEAR WEAPON BUT WE’D BRING
IRAN BACK THE FAMILY OF NATIONS.
AND TRUMP HAS GONE BACK TO THIS
DISCREDITED VIEW THAT IRAN IS
THIS TERRORIST POWER THAT IT WAS
IN THE 1980s.
AND TO YOUR POINT ABOUT HIM
BEING IGNORANT OF HISTORY, IT’S
LIKE HE’S SIDING WITH PEOPLE