they did not get to talk long enough. we'll get them next time. does it for this hour. "mtp daily" with chuck todd starts right now. daily" with c starts right now ♪ welcome to thursday. meet the press daily. good evening. i'm chuck todd here in washington where, i don't know, we're running out of ways to describe how alarming and consequential some of these days

are becoming and right now it's an alarming day for the american presidency. alarming for many reasons. perhaps what is most distressing right now is every crisis created and worsened by the president seems to end up benefitting one person and one person's policy and that's vladimir putin in russia. acting chief of staff today confirmed an allegation that the president of the united states held up congressionally approved aid to ukraine to help it fight russia, unless it agreed to his request to open an investigation into his political rivals. an investigation that he thinks might also discredit mueller's findings on russian interference. here's mick mulvaney talking to reporters about discussions he had with the president involving ukraine and what appears to be a four chan inspired conspiracy theory. >> did he also mention to me in past that the corruption related to the dnc server? absolutely. no question about that.

but that's it. and that's why we held up the money. >> so the demand for an investigation into the democrats was part of the reason that he wanted to withhold funding to ukraine? >> the look back to what happened in 2016 certainly was part of the thing that he was worried about in corruption with that nation. and that is absolutely appropriate. >> funding? >> yeah. >> let's be clear what you just described is a quid pro quo. it is funding will not flow unless the investigation into the democratic server happen as well. >> we do that all the time with foreign policy. >> well, that's going to be even more alarming. no, we do not do that all the time. at least not perhaps until recently. it's not american foreign policy to pressure foreign governments to open an investigation into political parties so the president's rivals that could also happen to benefit another foreign country by the way. that was alarm bell number one. alarm bell number two was the administration's announcement from turkey that the u.s. had

agreed to a five-day ceasefire in syria, which despite the president's spin amounts to a spectacular failure on his part. again, it will ultimately benefit russian foreign policy interests. we have basically agreed to guarantee turkey and russia's gains in syria as we withdrawal our troops. then we are withdrawing them in such a hasty fashion that we literally are bombing our own military bases as we leave for fear that the turks would take over these bases. you know, our nato allies, the turks. the alarm bells kept coming because the minute an impeachment investigation -- today, the white house announced that the g7 gathering of world leaders next year would be held at trump's property in miami in doral, florida, which is a suburb i guess of miami. meaning, foreign governments are literally going to be paying the president as they discuss matters of war and peace. and of course, the white house today said it's also possible

that the president being the host will have his own -- it will be up to him whether he decide to invite putin to this meeting. and ostensibly, it gives him a chance to call it the g8 if he wanted to do that. as you recall, the g7 countries before president trump became president agreed to kick out russia over its decision to invade parts of ukraine. and i have not even mentioned the bomb cell testimony. that is somehow the third run on this news cycle today where one of the president's top dip low mats to ukraine basically threw him and rudy giuliani under the bus. we just learned energy secretary, one of the so-called three amigos, rick perry, has indeed told the president he is resigning despite previous reports that he would be doing just what he's announced today. folks, this is one of the moments in the trump presidency where the alarm bells are sounding everywhere and the president is making jawdropping decisions that do not appear to

benefit america interests. but they all seem to benefit him or putin personally. kelly o'donnell's in dallas where president trump is holding a political rally tonight. garrett is in capitol hill. richard engel is in northern syria. kelly, let me start with you and the decision to put mick mulvaney out there. you and i have been in washington a long time. you know what that looked like today? that looked like the white house trying to get in front of a story that was coming and that they needed to admit to something but they were trying to draw a line. what more have you learned about the motivation to put mick mulvaney out today? >> well, putting him out today amid the cover, if you will, of the vice president and secretary of state and their turkey announcement. so potentially, giving this less sort of kryptonite by putting it out today. and watching mulvaney try to rebrand terms. they dispute quid pro quo but they try to neutralize that by saying this is a sort of transaction of foreign policy that should not set off any

alarm bells. nothing to see here. it's all normal. and as you outlined, while there might be some transactional nature to foreign policy, it is not meant to benefit the political agenda and needs of the sitting president. it is at times u.s. national interests might be weighed against other foreign policy concerns. so getting this out there today at the same time that ambassador sondland, the eu ambassador and donor to the president who also had this compelling testimony, again trying to sort of neutralize that. so it seems in the marketing/branding section of the west wing, they are trying to relabel some of these events as nothing to see here. everything's fine. a crisis and what lindsey graham said could be the biggest mistake of the trump presidency is now a victory in the eyes of the president and vice president. >> can i pause you there? will they -- what did they negotiate -- they keep saying they negotiated? what negotiation? what did the u.s. get? doesn't look like the united

states got anything. all it did was cement turkey's gains and more importantly the president withdrew sanctions. so essentially, is rewarding turkey for doing exactly what we said we didn't want them to do. and this is a victory? i don't understand. >> talking point. right? they got an event to claim that they have been part of the solution but you're absolutely right. the u.s. is just simply saying it will not enact the sanctions the president threatened. okay. tell that to congress, which is a co-equal branch and can try to pass its own, should it consider doing that. and they get a chance to try to look like somehow the president/vice president/secretary of state were able to have sway over a nato partner like turkey. but you're right. the kurds are still displaced from their land. there was no mention of them as a multigenerational ally of the united states. it was a way to try to put a wet blanket over a bonfire.

and to do it all in the way that the white house often will do is to try to position and reframe the events to be something that they can -- they can claim is somehow positive for the president and his administration. and as you've outlined and your program will certainly go into great detail about all the wayless these perilless events have been fraught for the president, not victories. >> i feel like whatever he's saying, it appears to be the exact opposite here. kelly o'donnell, a little noisy in there for you and i get that as they set up for what will likely by a ruckus rally tonight. again, we've got two stories together. i'm going to start with the gordon sondland testimony because in some ways, it would have been the bombshell news of the day in the impeachment inquiry as he is -- and it seems as if the white house knew that, which is why they threw mick mulvaney out there to almost

confirm gordon sondland's testimony. >> it really was striking. when i read gordon sondland's opening statement this morning when it came out, it's online. i would encourage everyone to read it. i thought this was the most consequential witness we have seen come forward yet. sondland connects the dots here not just to rudy giuliani but to the president of the united states, which i found so striking. the narrative that had been emerging over the last couple days was that rudy giuliani was free-lancing in the ukraine doing the president's bidding perhaps but mainly doing his own thing. getting himself in right back to the president. said it was the president who directed him to work as ambassador through rudy giuliani. gordon's testimony as we are learning from sources in the room as we're talking to our team, a number of other folks, turns out gordon sondland's testimony is like really good for gordon sondland. he has been distancing himself from a number of these key decisions. but pointing back towards the president and towards rudy giuliani. the mulvaney press conference was jaw dropping in a way i

thought my jaw no longer had that kind of flexibility to drop. i mean -- >> the hinges are gone, dude. >> i -- right? i mean, here you have the president's chief of staff saying, well, of course, we traded military aid for political favors. just not those political favors that you're focused on. i mean, he walked absolutely up to the line of what democrats have said is the single piece of impeachable conduct that got us started here in the first place. and more to the point as you said in your open, he said this is how we do business. i mean, i think he might as well have printed himself a ticket to be called to testify here in front of these committees as they move forward because that was as close to an admission as you are going to see. and i'll just end with this. it would be even more surprising if it weren't in a way so expected. this is how we have gotten used to this white house dealing with scandals by essentially coming out at some point along the scandal timeline and -- >> owning it -- >> -- yeah, not only -- >> well, it's the same thing they deal with even stories like

rick perry. they literally lie to us and say it's not true and literally two days later in the exact way they denied it was happening is exactly how it's happening. you cannot take anything this white house says at face value on the first time they give it a try. that's what we're sadly learning when dealing on this stuff. anyway, garrett hague, thank you. let me go to richard engel because speaking of things, we can't take what the vice president said at face value. as we are learning more details, we're learning from the turkish side what they believe they've agreed to. richard, does it look like the united states negotiated. it looks like the united states went in there begging and essentially erdogan said, okay, you got six days to clean everything up and then get out. >> so what just happened today was the united states gave president erdogan, the president of turkey, what he has been asking for for years, which is a piece of northern syria. the u.s. just seated a piece of northern syria, where i am right now, the kurdish homeland, the

place where kurds have lived for generations and beyond. and for the last several years, have had an autonomous enclave here that has been safe and stable and pro-american. and president trump gave it to erdogan in this deal and said that the kurds -- the kurdish fighters here, the same kurdish fighters who have been fighting alongside u.s. troops have five days to drop their weapons and leave. >> yeah. drop their weapons. disarm. right? they're expected to disarm? >> they're expected to disarm. drop -- drop -- to leave. they can take their weapons with them but if they stay in this area, they have to be unarmed. so they cannot be armed in this area. so drop their weapons and go or go with the weapons but get out of this area as an armed force. and that means turkey will get a piece of this country. and a fairly large piece of this country. but already, it's been disputed. the kurdish leadership just put

out a statement saying, well, that's not exactly what we agreed to. we didn't agree to withdrawal from the entire area. we just agreed to withdrawal from a small portion where the fighting has been the most intense. so within what are we now a few hours of this agreement, the kurds are already saying they didn't agree to what vice president pence and turkey said they agreed to. and that could set up a very, very bad situation because according to this agreement that was announced in turkey by vice president pence, they have five days, the kurds, to leave. leave as an armed force and if they don't do this, the operation will become -- it will resume once more. now that president trump has clearly given his support for this, if this operation does resume in five days, it could be even more intense than it has been before. if it even lasts five days, frankly. >> do you see evidence that there is a ceasefire right now?

>> yes, to a degree. the -- the main conventional assault has slowed, if not stopped. there's been a few reports of some explosions and artillery fire and a few crackles of gunfire along the border area. but i wouldn't necessarily think that means a total collapse of the ceasefire. but we have the two sides agreeing to different terms that turkey and president trump and vice president pence said there is going to be this safe zone 20 miles deep, 250 miles long. actually, turkey says it's a little bigger than that. and the -- the kurds don't say that they agreed exactly to that. and there is no mention of what happens to the russian forces or the assad forces. so we are setting up a situation for absolute chaos. potentially, even civil war here. i think what we are seeing is president trump using the power of the presidency to -- to -- to shake the world and turn it into some sort of snow globe. and the people who get hurt the

most are those who do not really have the position to defend themselves. and in this case, it was the kurdish people who had their homeland given away tonight by president trump and now they're saying, well, that's not exactly what happened. we had to agree to some sort of agreement because we were under fire but we didn't agree to all of that. >> kelly o'donnell, garrett hague, and richard engel getting us started this evening. thank you, all. richard, please stay safe out there. joining me now, andrea mitchell. michael steele, former senior advisor to jeb bush. andrea, i -- it -- >> i'm on fire. >> it is just -- and -- honestly, trying to -- we -- we had an argument today what should be the lead. you know, and nobody was wrong. right? it is alarming what we are seeing but let's begin with what

just happened in turkey and what i don't understand is the president and mike pence are presenting this -- i understand trying to put lip stick on a pig. but this is -- it is literally a 180 of exactly what happened. >> i was just reading a tweet from a correspondent on mike pompeo's plane heading to te tellaviv. they're being briefed and he's asking questions and i'm tweeting back to him ask why he sold out the kurds. why did they sell out the kurds? they have to disarm -- give up their land and disarm? >> give up their land and disarm. >> it has been a relatively peaceful coexistence. they've lost 11,000 troops fighting isis, men and women. but we have lost, sadly, four american special forces. four in these years. that was the deal that mattis was willing to accept, brett

mcgurk, all the others-let l. less dramatic. and we have basically given them over to the turks, to assad. they had to call in assad for help. vladimir putin where erdogan is going next week to sochi. and they have to give up their weapons. they're going to be slaughtered. >> we have forced the kurds to pick between abusive spouses or parents that they were trying to get away from. i hate to put it that way. but they're throwing in the arms of murderers. people that want them dead. >> this -- we say that we want the kurds to drop their weapons, it makes it sound like they have sophisticated armory. they don't. turkey has the second largest military in nato. they are incredibly sophisticated and they're using our arms on our allies who made sure isis was contained so we didn't have to have the issue here at home. >> but the president says it's 7,000 miles away. we don't have to worry about them. it's europe's problem. >> i'm old enough to remember

when -- when house republicans wanted to open a special inquiry on benghazi because they were upset about a talking point. they were upset about a talking point. this is -- this is a misleading of the american public on degrees a thousand, million times more serious than a talking point. >> that's right. >> they have sold out our allies and instead of admitting that or fixing it, they are creating a facade. there is the vice president, the secretary of state, and the turkish president standing on camera with a bunch of flags claiming victory, claiming statesmanship. and it will be enough for some of the president's supporters who want to buy into that lie. >> isn't that what they basically made that decision? they figured we're going to lose some but let's keep as many supporters as we have. here's the kool-aid we're going to serve tonight. >> and let's be clear. this is all for his own political gain. he is doing smoke and mirrors right now on the american people because this happened on the heels of impeachment inquiry. and the fact that all of a sudden the american people -- i

mean i think the majority of the american people are disgusted with this. but we have let them down in a way that is incomprehensible but more importantly, putin right now is the one who is seen like he has won that day. the fact that we are bombing our military bases because russian troops are moving in. >> by the way, andrea, before you jump in here, i want to play a piece of nancy pelosi today because we now know what set the president off. it was connecting the two to putin. take a listen. >> i also pointed out to the president i had concerns that all roads seemed to lead to putin. the russians had been trying to get a foothold in the middle east for a very long time unsuccessfully. and now the president has given them the opportunity with the kurds reaching out to them for support in syria. >> of course, it was this. and it was also her telling him that 129 republicans had voted

for that resolution. she didn't seeven say condemnin. she said disagreeing. when you just said they are doing this, the truth is there was no they. the president did it on a phone call and this entire construct is to give diplomatic legitimacy. they are getting him out of the hole that he dug. >> they're trying to get him out of a hole. they are digging worse. mick mulvaney today, it's really -- i have to tell you it is -- was quite the show. but let's play -- let's play his get-over-it byte first. >> yeah. >> and i have news for everybody. get over it. there is going to be political influence in foreign policy. i'm talking. that is going to happen. elections have consequences and foreign policy is going to change from the obama administration to the trump administration. elections do have consequences and they should and your foreign policy is going to change. obama did it in one way.

we're doing it a different way and there is no problem with that. >> there's no policy. what is the foreign policy? >> he's gaslighting us. he is gaslighting the -- basically, he admitted that he is using political foreign interference to basically -- >> normalize this. >> that is absurd and obscene. >> i mean, this is -- this is their argument. their argument is that we change the republican party platform at the convention. it was the president was very clear about his affection for putin and russia before the election. he won the election. it should be no surprise when it comes to these conspiracy theories regarding ukraine or selling out the kurds, we are essentially more pro-russia. >> ask why rudy giuliani is doing the bidding of erdogan to try to get the cleric back. ask what else might be going on here, whether it's trump hotels or the secretary of state rudy giuliani and effectively -- effectively implicating the president in a skacandal, corru

policy, potentially illegal policies in both ukraine and turkey. disastrous policies that all benefit putin. that's why nancy pelosi said all roads lead to putin. it's in both instances that putin wins. >> it keeps coming back to, right, what did -- what did putin care about most in h disputes with america? syria and ukraine. why is it that there is this -- i mean, we've got some potential republican guests that want to come on and say we'll talk about syria and turkey but we don't want to talk about ukraine. i'm sitting there going why do you want to compartmentalize the two? it is obvious that number one, trump doesn't and, number two, putin doesn't. >> i agree and disagree. i think the president clearly sees the situation in syria as terrible but something he can gloss over and not an existential threat to his presidency. not a threat to put him in the history books with andrew johnson and bill clinton as the only president that's ever been impeached. but the legitimacy of the 2016 election, which remains the open

sore in this president psyche. >> i think when we look at why is russia so interested in ukraine, russia doesn't have the raw metals they did, right? so ukraine and all the other former soviet union blocks do. so it's a slow -- not just there but then you also see what they are doing in estonia and latvia. this is a connection more of russia trying to become what it was once and we're helping them. and we're trying -- we're helping them. we're help being them. >> he wants to bring back the soviet union and the president seems okay with that. >> by the way, he's never hidden that agenda. not putin at least. i mean, one of my colleagues today said, andrea, at some point in the way the pattern of trump, i didn't do that. yeah, i did. at some point, he's going to say of course i worked with the russians. because you know what? putin and i are going to bring peace. like we're probably not six months away from that. >> to the point about the politics is i ended the endless wars and, yes, that is a very -- >> he just created an endless war. >> exactly. >> well, no because isis -- no.

no. absolutely. >> do these things ever work out that way? >> no. >> he said yesterday we're getting out of the middle east. we are out of the middle east. how is that possible? this is the united states of america. >> i got the prime minister of israel on line one. >> well, that's where he's landing right now. >> it's almost like he doesn't understand the united states after world war ii, we created the world order. we were the ones designing the rules. >> and he thinks we were suckers all the way along the line to be protecting other people. >> it makes us safe. >> essentially, the idea of america is created because we did this for the world. sorry. we all know this. theresa, stick around. up ahead, the man at the center of the ukraine scandal faces congress. what did the eu ambassador gordon sondland. one of the lawmakers who heard his testimony joins me live. he d his testimony joins me live. hmm. exactly.

liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. nice. but, uh... what's up with your... partner? not again. limu that's your reflection. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ puberty means personal space. so sports clothes sit around growing odors. that's why we graduated to tide pods sport. finally something more powerful than the funk. tide sport removes even week-old sweat odor. it's got to be tide. be right back. with moderate to severe crohn's disease,

i was there, just not always where i needed to be. is she alright? i hope so. so i talked to my doctor about humira. i learned humira is for people who still have symptoms of crohn's disease after trying other medications. and the majority of people on humira saw significant symptom relief and many achieved remission in as little as 4 weeks. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you've been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if you've had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. be there for you, and them. ask your gastroenterologist about humira. with humira, remission is possible. at outback, steak & oh no, it's gone.ck. phew, it's back with lobster mac & cheese. it's gone again.

oh, it's back with shrimp now! steak & lobster starting at only $15.99. hurry in before these three are gone again. outback steakhouse. that life of the party look walk it off look one more mile look reply all look own your look... ...with fewer lines. there's only one botox® cosmetic. it's the only one... ...fda approved... ...to temporarily make frown lines... ...crow's feet... ...and forehead lines... ...look better. the effects of botox® cosmetic, may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as difficulty swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness may be a sign of a life-threatening condition. do not receive botox® cosmetic if you have a skin infection. side effects may include allergic reactions,

injection site pain, headache, eyebrow, eyelid drooping, and eyelid swelling. tell your doctor about your medical history, muscle or nerve conditions, and medications including botulinum toxins as these may increase the risk of serious side effects. so, give that just saw a puppy look. and whatever that look is. look like you... with fewer lines. see results at botoxcosmetic.com welcome back and what we thought would be the top story of the day and in some ways it may have helped drive the stop story of the day. u.s. ambassador gordon sondland. despite the president urging them, in some ways begging them not to cooperate. democratic congressman peter welch is on the intelligence and oversight committees. he's been in the room for much of sondland's testimony today. and just from the letter, from the opening statement that the -- that was made public,

congressman welch, i want to put up what he said about his -- about the phone conversation with the president. and start our questioning from there. i called president trump directly. i asked the president what do you want from ukraine? the president responded nothing. there is no quid pro quo. the president repeated no quid pro quo multiple times. this was a very short call and i recall that the president was in a bad mood. congressman welch, gordon sondland today, did he paint a picture of the president calling the shots here on ukraine? or of rudy giuliani calling the shots here on ukraine? >> well, as you know, his testimony is continuing but his opening statement which is public made it very, very clear that giuliani was in charge of the real ukraine policy. in some ways, sondland was a perfect person to be the ambassador because essentially he was a huge contributor. he got himself an ambassadorship. he knew very little about foreign policy. so he actually thought he was doing the president's work on ukraine and it was only after the fact when he read about the transcript of the call and he

saw some of those texts that he realized that what really rudy giuliani was doing, who he knew was in charge, was not the foreign policy that he thought he was pursuing was about. >> congressman, it sounds like you think gordon sondland was duped by the president and giuliani. >> he was. >> you think he was duped. yeah. >> he was thrilled to be an ambassador. you know, he made huge contributions to the trump campaign and there is a history in this country, republicans and democrats, of paying off some campaign contributors with an ambassadorship. so he had the best of intentions. i don't doubt that whatsoever. but he, unlike some of the others, knew how foreign policy was supposed to work. so they had a kind of skepticism that he wasn't able to bring to the job. so he was thrilled to be on the scene. he thought he was doing what he could to advance america's interest.

but what he did know was that it was giuliani who had to call the final shots, not him. >> what we learned from mick mulvaney today where he admitted to at least one part of the quid pro quo and that they were asking for an investigation into the server conspiracy. is that real-time development had an impact on the questioning of mr. sondland? >> i'm not sure it would have much an impact on sondland because he's really confirming what we know. that there was this off the books fo books foreign policy through giuliani. i think what is significant about mulvaney is the explosive nature of what he said. essentially, today, and it will be remembered, the white house went from we didn't do it to so what if we did? what are you going to do about it? that's essentially where they are now. and what the president with his admission through mulvaney is trying to do is say this is what everybody does. but what's different is, sure, there's negotiation in foreign policy. but the goal is the national security interest of this country, not the personal/political interest of the president who happens to be occupying the oval office.

so it is very, very serious and it's going to be a real challenge i think to my republican colleagues because you've got the admission of using the office of the presidency in a way that s subverts national security interest to advance your own campaign. >> how has sondland been treated by the committee? do you feel like he's been forthcoming? you sound very empathetic to him a bit. when do you feel like he knew he was being used? >> i'm not sure because he said in his opening statement, as you know, that it was all after the fact is when that publication, the phone call came out. it's when those texts came out. so it was like too obvious for him to ignore. but i got the sense -- he was treated very nicely by the republicans and by the democrats. you know, he's not the architect of this. he was on the periphery of it. even though he was in on these meetings, he just didn't understand that the real meeting was in the room next door. >> how do you guys plan to get

the white house chief of staff, acting or otherwise, to testify? because i'm guessing you're going to want to hear from mr. mulvaney now and he's going to have that powerful executive privilege argument to make. how is that going to work? >> you know, as a practical matter, i think if he asserts -- if the president asserts executive privilege, it's going to be tough to overcome. but, you know, you just take what is in the public domain. the president's release of the transcript of his call with the president of ukraine. mr. mulvaney's press conference today where he basically says, so what? we did it. that's what you do. well, that's not true. this is illegal conduct that they are condoning. so do we really need him to say more than what he's already said publicly and to the whole country? >> yeah. well, that's a question some people are asking. how much more time do you need to investigate before you start writing your articles? >> well, that's -- there is a question the committee's going to have to answer. but it's important for us to do the best we can to be thorough but not dilatory.

and that's what chairman schiff is really intent on doing. >> congressman peter welch. democrat from vermont. thank you for coming on. i appreciate it. >> thank you. another big breaking story on this day. spectacular fail in turkey that the president is trying to spin as some victory. chris coons joins me next. at fidelity, we help you prepare for the unexpected with retirement planning and advice for what you need today and tomorrow. because when you're with fidelity,

there's nothing to stop you from moving forward. because when you're with fidelity, lashmakes every lash fullyrom maybsensational.ork. our fanning brush volumizes every kind of lash... ...for a sensational full-fan effect. lash sensational. only from maybelline new york. at outback, steak & oh no, it's gone.ck. phew, it's back with lobster mac & cheese. it's gone again. oh, it's back with shrimp now! steak & lobster starting at only $15.99. hurry in before these three are gone again. outback steakhouse.

i want to thank the kurds because they were incredibly happy with the solution. this is a solution that really -- well, it saved their lives, frankly. it saved their lives. so we've done a great thing for our partner. if we didn't go this unconventional, tough love approach, you could have never gotten it done. they've been trying to do this many, many years. it's a great day for the united states. it's a great day for turkey. it's a great day for the kurds. it's really a great day for civilization. it's a great day for civilization. >> welcome back. that was the president trying to

praise the temporary ceasefire in syria. a deal that gave the turkish president erdogan essentially everything he initially asked for. republican senator mitt romney and a whole lot of other people had a much different take. >> the announcement today is being portrayed as a victory. it is far from a victory. the decision to abandon the kurds vielt kurds violates one of our most sacred duties. it strikes at american honor. what we have done to the kurds will stand as a blood stain in the annals of american history. >> with me now is senator chris coons. he is a democrat from delaware. senator coons, andrea mitchell has been monitoring the jim jeffrey readout to the press that's taking place on the plane with secretary pompeo. and apparently, jim jeffrey is informing reporters that the word "ceasefire" is not part of the agreement.

so what the vice president told us is not true. not part of the agreement. and that the kurds are giving up more land than the u.s. initially thought. again, this is the trump administration diplomat jim jeffrey informing the press of this. senator, your reaction. >> chuck, this is far from a great day for the kurds. and it is a tragic day for the united states and for our reputation around the world. i'm grateful to senator romney for his forceful speech on the floor and i agree with him that this will go down in history as a stain an our honor. president trump made a tragic error here. and the winners are, first, isis. as hundreds of hardened isis fighters escaped from their detention imprisonment. second, russia. the murderous regime of bashar al-assad and iran will now have an expanded reach into northern syria. and obviously, turkey. a 20-mile buffer zone of syrian territory will, according to

this agreement, be policed and patrolled by the turkish armed forces. along that strip are some of the larger towns and cities that syrian kurds live in. imagine how syrian kurdish fighters feel at the concept that they are to just withdrawal 20 miles away from the border and allow the turks to govern and control their families, their cities, their towns after they had fought bravely alongside us for years and lost more than 11,000 of their fighters in the counter-isis campaign we helped organize and lead. i do not think this is a great day either for the kurds or for the united states or our role in the region. >> the vice president also announced that whatever sanctions that the president did want to levy on to turkey, that assuming this -- and again, they don't even call it a ceasefire. as i'm just informed, we're being told don't call it that now. but after this period, why are -- why are we not

sanctioning turkey? i mean, what did we get in return for this? i'm trying to understand. >> chuck, in the senate, many of us intend to proceed with sanctioning turkey. i joined senator van holland and senator graham today. there were a dozen bipartisan co-sponsors of a bill introduced today that would impose very strong sanctions on turkey. there is two goals to this. first, is to make erdogan and turkey pay a cost for invading northeaste northeastern syria and for attacking our former kurdish allies. those who i think deserve our support for fighting alongside us against isis. and second, frankly, to put on notice other leaders, other strong men around the world that just because they might be able to talk our president into an ill-advised abandonment of long-standing u.s. foreign policy principles and interests, in our form of government, congress gets a vote, too. so i have heard senators graham

and van holland intend to proceed with seeking a vote on the sanctions bill. i support that. i, frankly, think all this pause in operations by turkey means the trump administration is trying to muscle the kurds into completely abandoning a very significant strip of territory along the turkish border and the turks will then take possession of it. >> have we allowed the turks to gain more leverage on the united states because we have some nuclear weapons on that country? >> well, a provision of the bill introduced today that i pressed to be added was that we examine and reconsider our basing of critical forces. there is a large base in turkey that has long been a location out of which the united states has run into the region. and it obviously would raise the question about our positioning of nuclear weapons in turkey.

frankly, i think turkey ought to be concerned about this strong bipartisan move to try and reconsider our relationship, which was already badly strained by turkish leader erdogan's decision to take delivery of a russian s-400 missile system. >> but if you're erdogan, no offense, why should he fear you guys? why should he fear congress when the president basically he knows his entire administration told him not to do this. everybody around him warned him not to do this. pentagon state department. you name it. and he unilaterally did it. if you're erdogan, you think i got this relationship with him where i get whatever i want, i don't care what congress says or does. >> chuck, that is exactly the challenge before us in the senate right now. we're on notice that president trump will not just ignore the advice of, for example, former secretary jim mattis. the secretary of defense who resigned in protest months ago

when trump tried to make the same move before. but he ignored the advice of all of his senior intelligence diplomatic and military leaders. we in the senate are on notice that there may be other blunt, ill-advised, risky and irreversible decisions that president trump might make next. imagine what he might do on a call with kim jong-un in order to encourage actions, whether against hong kong or south korea or taiwan that would be enormously detrimental to our security position. we must work together to use the power that we have to reign in this president. >> do you think you need to see the transcripts of the president's phone calls with erdogan? >> absolutely because it is deeply troubling, particularly on a day when the president's acting chief of staff also announced the g7 summit will be hosted at a trump resort in florida. and when he admitted -- this is

mick mulvaney -- that there had been a quid pro quo, there had been a politicization of the relationship, his comment was sure there's politics in foreign policy. get over it. i have to wonder what was said in that conversation between president trump and president erdogan that so moved president trump to abandon a close and trusted ally in the region. >> all right. senator chris coons democrat from delaware. thank you for coming on and sharing your views on what has been a striking day. >> thank you. >> in american foreign policy. we'll have much more on all the breaking developments on this day and another reason all roads from this white house apparently lead to russia. be right back. e apparently lead to russia be right back. with fidelity wealth management you get straightforward advice,

tailored recommendations, tax-efficient investing strategies, and a dedicated advisor to help you grow and protect your wealth. fidelity wealth management. to help you grow and protect your wealth. they're america's biopharmaceutical researchers. pursuing life-changing cures in a country that fosters innovation here, they find breakthroughs... like a way to fight cancer by arming a patient's own t-cells... because it's not just about the next breakthrough... it's all the ones after that. we're oscar mayer deli fresh your very first sandwich,m... your mammoth masterpiece. and...whatever this was.

because we make our meat with the good of the deli and no artificial preservatives. make every sandwich count with oscar mayer deli fresh. ♪ and grew it tony $36 billion dollars.986 in 2010, i signed the giving pledge

to fund good causes. then i left my business to combat climate change, fix our democracy, and hold president trump accountable. last year, we ran the largest youth voter mobilization in history - helping double turnout and win back the house. i'm tom steyer and i approve this message. let's make change happen! at outback, steak & oh no, it's gone.ck. phew, it's back with lobster mac & cheese. it's gone again. oh, it's back with shrimp now! steak & lobster starting at only $15.99. hurry in before these three are gone again. outback steakhouse. i was on the fence about changing from a manual to an electric toothbrush. but my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety.

what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro. there's no issue here on him profiting from this in any way, shape, or form. what is eat difference between this and what we're talking about the bidens? well, first of all, there's no profit here. clearly, there is profit with the bidens. and second of all, i think one difference if you look at the trump family and biden family, trump family made their money before they went into politics. that is a big difference. >> welcome back. that was acting white house chief of staff mick mulvaney defending the other big news from today. next year's g7 summit is coming to president trump's miami area resort. not in the best place to do it in miami. that would be where you could actually secure everything. let's bring in the panel. andrea mitchell. michael steele. the irony, you know, mick mulvaney may need a lesson.

they've only made their money off of tax payer dollars. that's the exactly way they built their money was on government handouts. >> not using the same press availability that you announce the g7 or g8 is coming to trump's property to explain is trump's property to explain the trumps made their money before they got into politics, the bidens didn't. >> he acknowledged that there was a corruption quid pro quo with ukraine. that was a beautiful thing of indicting the president. >> andrea mitchell has been a one-person breaking news machine. >> i can read. >> and the amount of people dumping on mick mulvaney now. >> it's unbelievable. >> all of a sudden we heard the justice department is going we don't know what he's talking about. and you say other departments are now -- >> are now saying they don't know what he's talking about. not only doj but jay sekulow. kristen welker was just posting that jay sekulow is saying that they had nothing to do with his talking points and disagree with

it. so he is out there hanging out on a limb. >> do you think he went out there on his own or on the orders of his boss? >> i think absolutely on the orders of his boss. you now have another sacrificial lamb going out and saying what the president wants, but it's putting the president in possible legal jeopardy to confirm that there was a political motivation for holding back that money. >> but mulvaney has a constituency of one. he has to keep donald trump happy. you know donald trump is not happy about so few people going on television to defend him as the story has grown and become tougher and tougher to defend. >> but he basically confirmed the hearings today with the ambassador. he basically confirmed it from the bully pulpit of the white house. that is amazing. >> it's so obvious they knew this was so bad they were like we can't dispute it so let's confirm it. it is reminds me of a harrison ford movie. clear and present danger. >> was he a good friend?

he was a great friend. was he a great friend? he was a lifelong friend. >> really, mick? you're borrowing clear and present danger political advice? >> the fact is that the president's lawyers do have the last word on this. the president may not agree with this -- >> do you think he went out there without talking to pat cipollone? i'm serious. >> in this white house, yes. >> which would be just -- >> business as usual. >> a gigantic mistake on the chief of staff's part. if he did not approve that language with the white house counsel. >> that's why he's the acting chief of staff. >> i know we're not surprised with process -- >> have we mentioned rick perry, one of the three amigos is resigning as energy secretary. there will only be two amigos. >> that was the sixth big story of the day. >> rick perry is the one everybody joked about was going to be a cabinet member. he's the one that's walking out without a scandal. that is shocking. >> this is a scandal.

>> oh, because of it, okay. >> by the way, this puts the last thing the president wants is these folks leaving because it's a lot easier to testify if you don't work for the government. >> we thought he was going to be the second person to walk out of the trump administration having served and enhancing their reputation. nikki haley is one. we thought rick perry would be two. now it's not going to work. >> one thing about rick perry, rick perry strikes me he's more of a gordon sondland type. whoa, whoa, whoa, i didn't sign up for this. gordon sondland is clearly going -- he wanted to be an ambassador in the bush administration and he wanted to learn diplomacy and learn foreign policy. it was fascinating to hear peter welch paint him as sort of he got used by rudy and the president. fascinating framing. >> well, gordon sondland was also, though, so offensive to the career ambassadors who saw him doing the bidding of rudy

giuliani and the white house, the president, and going around them and going into ukraine when it's not even an eu country. so -- and there's also the reporting on the million dollar enhancements to the residence in brussels, the eu residence in brussels is quite beautiful. i don't think it needs -- >> isn't it -- i always thought it was the rule that the ambassadors themselves had to pay for these upgrades. >> exactly. so is ben carson going to be the last man standing of the original cabinet members? >> the originals. the o.g. of that. andrea, michael, maria teresa, thank you very much. up ahead, remembering a giant on capitol hill. mbering a giant on capitol hill. ♪

applebee's new pasta and grill combos. choose from up to 12 combinations starting at $9.99. we have some great new ideas that we want to present to you today. [son]: who are you talking to? [son]: that guy's scary. the first item on the list is selecting a chairman for the... for the advisory board what's this? as well as use the remaining... child care options run out. lifetime retirement income from tiaa doesn't. guaranteed monthly income for life. asbut when your team is always dealing with device setups, app updates, and support calls... you can never seem to get anywhere. that's why dell technologies created unified workspace, powered by vmware. ♪

a revolutionary solution that lets you deploy, manage, support and secure all your devices from the cloud. so you can stop going in circles, and start moving forward. with time, comes change that's for sure... and when those changes might help more people, especially those in retirement, i think it's worth talking about! so, aag is introducing a new jumbo reverse mortgage loan so you can now access as much as $4 million dollars in cash,

tax free, from your home's equity. aag's new jumbo reverse mortgage loan can give you more tax-free cash than ever before. if you've had your home for a while, it's probably worth a lot more today. so why not use that appreciation for anything you need maybe it's some home repairs, or updates to make it more comfortable so you can stay in the place you love. it's a viable effective way to support your other investments long into the future, and another way aag is working to make your retireme... better. don't wait. get your info kit now! - the tech industry is supposed in invention and progress. but only 11% of its executives are women, and the quit rate is twice as high for them.

here's a hack: make sure there's bandwidth for everyone. the more you know. some years ago a message began to appear across the city of bougaltimorbaltimore. just one word, believe. it was a citywide ad campaign, an effort to raise the spirits of a community struggling with drugs and crime. perhaps no one believed in baltimore as much as elijah cummings. he was born there, the son of sharecroppers, one of seven children. as a boy he thrust himself into the city's battle over civil rights. he helped integrate a baltimore swimming pool while being attacked with rocks and bottles. he was 11 years old at that time. cummings would serve in the maryland house of delegates and. became the first black speaker

pro tem. he became a congressman in 1996, a position he'd hold the rest of his life, becoming one of the most powerful members of the house, the chair of the house oversight committee. by the way, i think he was in line to be a speaker of the house some day. he was a peacemaker. always saw the best in people, even when they didn't see it in themselves, which made friends across the aisle. but elijah cummings always believed in baltimore, like in the rights after the death of freddie gray. with bull horn in hand he walked through the streets calling for peace. >> i said that if we approach the evening of our lives, many of us, we want to make sure that our children have a better morning. >> baltimore's native son, elijah cummings, was 68. so that's all we have for tonight. we'll be back tomorrow with more "meet the press daily."

obviously it's been an avalanche of news. "the beat with ari melber" starts right now. you're going to need all six hours of primetime, everybody is, to unpack everything. >> it's huge and we have some special breakdowns of it. i haven't seen anything quite like that presser in a while, chuck. thank you. as mentioned, we're reporting on the beat right now after this bombshell admission, plus new impeachment witnesses coming forward. much later in the hour i have an exclusive interview with a well placed insider raising new alarm bells about rudy giuliani. and donald trump's self-dealing hits a level that experts say is an unconstitutional move that could back fire. but we begin with the breaking news rocking the white house and taking the impeachment probe up to an 11. president trump's top aide just contradicted president trump, admitting trump pushed a quid pro quo plot, conditioning ukraine funding on a political probe involving the dnc.