tv Alex Witt Reports MSNBC August 13, 2022 10:00am-11:00am PDT
10:00 am
msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome to alex witt reports. we begin with new reaction shin to donald trump in the fbi search of mar-a-lago. one former white house chief of staff says trump sometimes asked to keep documents he'd been given to review, during official meetings. >> from time to time the president would say, can i keep. us but we had entire teams of people to say that people the to make sure the documents to get left behind, and get to get up to the office.
10:01 am
but he would use them as is right as president. but to draw direct line from that to the documents ending up in the basement of mar-a-lago doesn't and sit well with me because i know for a fact that most of the documents he saw where that were classified, or higher than that, was electronic not in paper. the trump spokesperson says the materials have been declassified. so far no one has shown those declassification processes meanwhile on capitol hill, after biden's signature legislation getting final passage, and now heads to biden's desk to be signed into law. >> hail to the chief. to joe biden. his leadership, his vision, his inspiration made today possible. thank you mister president. >> also in washington d.c., new security barricades are going around fbi headquarters.
10:02 am
hidden security comes after increased threats after agents, days after an attack on fbi in cincinnati. >> joining me now -- also tracy walter, msnbc legal analyst danny suppleness, and frank bigly you, former fbi director for counter intelligence. a big group there, but gary we're gonna start with you. what did the warrant reveal about why the fbi searched mar-a-lago? but questions remained unanswered? >> we'll start with what we do know and get to it we don't know. we know the fbi collected 27 boxes of information from mar-a-lago on monday. 11 sets of classified information from the mar-a-lago property. i have this search warrant and the receipt right here. it says the fbi took possession of the executive grant of clemency for roger stone, info
10:03 am
regarding the president of france, three boxes of -- and at least five boxes that contained top secret documents. it doesn't get much more secret then top secret. the world that has access to top secret information is very small. the washington post working with nbc to confirm -- documents of course would be in the top secret range. republicans and democrats on both sides of the aisle are really concerned about this fbi search. but of course were very different reasons. here's what some had to say. >> it's definitely concerning, but why not just subpoena. this is a long history now where one of our most valued institutions are being degraded because they're being very clearly politicized. people higher up. >> there's a lot we don't know. all tell you as someone who
10:04 am
didn't have -- who used to have a top secret clearance, the idea of taking that step home is disturbing to me. we don't know all the facts, but president trump, former president has the right to due process, any american who's accused of a serious crime like this. if he has concerns, who will have every opportunity to make those concerns no in a court of law. >> but we don't have yet is the unsealed after david. for those unfamiliar, an affidavit has to be filled out by the fbi for the reasoning for going into mar-a-lago and for what they want from mar-a-lago. you can't get a search warrant without an affidavit like that signed. this will give us a look at what the fbi thought was there and why they had to go in now versus a few months from now. alex? >> okay thank you for outlining that for us. here's a look at which items
10:05 am
the judge gave clearance to seize from mar-a-lago. and includes items of evidence, classified documents, documents related to national defence, and all records created during trump's terms in office. here's a look at what was seized. items one and one a. clemency for roger stone, and info related to the president of france. beyond that, several bucks including sets of classified materials, including top secret and confidential documents. joining me now, welcome all, tracey, you once held tss clearance. can you give us examples of the kinds of things that can fall under these various levels of classification and wet might disappear be most about how they were being stored? >> thank you so much for having me. i had it tss ei clearance for almost a decade. in the decade of having it, i never once left a facility with
10:06 am
those documents. that's how closely held they are. the president dove has a sweeping ability to declassify the documents. however there's two things that can be classified -- [inaudible] that is the most concerning to me. could be in these [inaudible] and that puts peoples lives at risk. >> totally makes sense. what about you, danny, because the statues driving the warrants include obstruction and espionage. from a legal perspective, how do you interpret that? >> espionage act sounds really bad, but when you go back, you remember that the espionage act was also the same basis, the same section was the basis for the investigation into hillary clinton's emails, and for those involved in those classified information. even those, james comey concluded that no reasonable
10:07 am
prosecutor would bring that case, even though there may have been violations of the espionage act. the espionage act is obviously very serious, but it doesn't necessarily mean that the person being searched was engaged in actual espionage. it's a very broadly drafted statute. the other statute section 2071, it involves similar actions. taking material from the white house, or destroying it. it's essentially if. but there is a lot of thorny issues about whether or not the president declassified it, if he did, was it okay for him to have it? did he give permission through an executive order or some standing order? if so, is that a potential defense? these are all things that merrick garland has to consider. not just the simple step of deciding whether or not where trump did bid into the elements of the statute. he also has to consider possible defenses, and issues of immunity. >> okay, trump claimed the fbi
10:08 am
did not need to resort to assert. in that timeline it goes back to january, when the national archive between 15 boxes of documents from mar-a-lago, and there were months of back and forth with the fbi and the doj. we are showing you right here the stats. does this suggest to you that trump was corroborating. does any of this deviate from what you know to be standard fbi procedure? oh >> well the deviates from standard fbi procedures that they took this long to do it. if they -- don't want to criticize them, let's criticize them for waiting over a year to get in there and take back with the u.s. government currently have. there's a time for talking, and a time for action. we know that there was a subpoena issued. we know it didn't work. why do we know? that because now we're finding out from a piece, alex, just out from the new york times, that may shed a whole lot more
10:09 am
light on the obstruction end of things. why that statute was listed. one of trump's lawyers, allegedly signed a document saying we've given you everything we have. this was after the visit from the official to mar-a-lago, they walked out with classified -- and a lawyer assigned, yeah we have everything we've got. and now there's a reference in this piece, just out, the new york times, that says there's a witness that provided information that, no you didn't get everything. there's even more to get. at that point, it appears, that's when the doj decided that's enough, we've got to go in with a search warrant. that may shed a whole lot more light. by the way, i'm eager to get danny's opinion on this, but that would blow out of the water with this trump attorney -- they'd have to almost recuse themselves at this point. now they're a party of interest. if they send a document saying you got everything, and it was wrong, that attorneys either
10:10 am
lying or being lying -- lie to you and they have a big problem. >> do you want to comment on that danny? >> the timeline is the most problematic thing for trump and his team. you see from the timeline that there was a subpoena. the timeline we just had out there. there was a subpoena, and really when it comes to the difference between a subpoena and an eventual search warrant, you can boil it down to one where. trust. a subpoena says to somebody, hey, you get these documents. they may be damaging to, but we trust you to go to your file cabinet, when you file that damaging document, you will not crumble it up, or burn, it or thrown in the toilet. a search warrant is about the government saying we don't trust you. we're not going to announce when we come. we are going to come and look for the documents ourselves. any evidence of that, whether they're a lawyer, or trump saying, hey you asked for that stuff, we give you everything i got. by the way, after the civil discovery a lot more than you might think. that's a common problem that
10:11 am
can almost never get solved. generally, sir torrents like this aren't executed, and you don't find out that people were less than honest about the documents they give it. that's really problematic if true. there was personal requests, subpoena, and then a search warrant. a lot of folks may have some concerns about what they said when they said it. >> so tracey, when we look at the receipts, it lists the roger stone pardon, and something, we don't know, wet related to the french president. is there unacceptable reason donald trump could offer for where you want to keep them? because the president say, the roger stone pardon, he's my best friend, and i wanted to keep this? it is anything like that acceptable? >> personally i can't think of unacceptable reason. going back to this timeline issued. something that's been thrown around a lot is that, all of these documents were deeply classified, regardless of the documents, they were all
10:12 am
declassified. that's also where a timeline will also come into play. he does have the sweeping capabilities, but typically there's written documentation that he and a white house draft regarding classification. i would be really interested to know if that was done when he was president. if it's done afterwards, he can't declassify anything. >> to your point earlier, when you said the types of things you would read in a scif environment would be if there was any revelation of names, names of agents, you talked about anything about national security, nuclear secrets that kind of thing. when you look at those things, can those ever be declassified? currently, it's one thing maybe 50 years down the road, but in the present tense, would any president be able to declassify that kind of material? >> typically, no. that is not something the identities of human sources and nuclear secrets --
10:13 am
they're not something that a president can declassify on his own. that's what other people would have to be involved in that. i can't think of a reason in my mind why those things would have been declassified. that's really when i get it to with the espionage act. using this information to injure the united states, or to the advantage of a foreign nation. that gives the cia officer in me, that makes me unnerved a bit. >> danny, when you compare the words to the receipt, you have a clear sense of probable cause, with the fbi agents were looking for? is that information that would likely be fine in the affidavit, by the way now trump defenders are demanding? >> the affidavit of probable cause is the holy grail of finding out what this was all about. it was never going to be revealed. the search warrant and the property received, they're gonna give you a little information. but the property seat was when i expected. one box. two boxes, three boxes.
10:14 am
they're not going to tell you a whole lot about what was seized. of course the search war itself gives us barebones as barebones get. but the affidavit of profitable -- probable cause it gives plenty of information in a narrative form. often in a timeline. it's designed to be easily readable by a magistrate judge, and convinced that judge quickly that there is probable cause, and that this is a search warrant worth signing. as you can see it was signed. i imagine this one probably got a couple of extra eyes, and a couple extra proofreading's before it went to the judge. because it's more important than your normal bank robbery search weren't, or whatever else they handle in this particular district. they surely put plenty of information into that affidavit of probable cause. and you are never gonna see it, but it would've been really interesting. that would've told us a whole lot more than we learned.
10:15 am
>> no recent -- so frank, give me your experience in the bureau. what is the likelihood, inside the mar-a-lago tipped off the fbi. obviously investigators consider such a source, credible, right? who might that be? i don't necessarily need names, i just mean the kind of person privy to that information who would be considered a trustworthy surfaced? y surfaced conjecture of course is dangerous but it is becoming clear of this new york times reporting is accurate, just out now read through it once with absolutely refer to quote unquote a witness who told the doj that look, you don't have everything. there is still more. so with that someone obviously with access, someone overhearing a discussion could even be someone on the staff. the new york times piece does refer to someone on trump's staff. i don't know that means, whether it is a hotel or personal staff or even official
10:16 am
post presidential staff. i don't know. could it even be a secret service agent. who by the, way as a federal officer would have a duty to take our action on any felony that is occurring in his or her presence. so if indeed a secret service agent realized they are lying. they still have classified here, there would be a duty to report that. so this is gonna be fascinating. it would explain why now, why they had to go in with such urgency after such a long time. they've got new information. i am sure the trump team is scouring everybody. who's done this, who is, it who can't we trust anymore. >> yeah, but i'm thinking about this location, frank. i mean mar-a-lago, yes it is a private club, but there are a lot of people who cycle through there often. housekeeping, security of some sort. not necessarily secret service. i'm not implying that. but, when you think about it there are actually a lot of
10:17 am
people who might know things just from being around on the property and having free reign. >> you ever hear things a lot on a large highly managed property. but i know that the warrant was specific to not third-party areas. the search warrant did not permit wide search of the resort. we are focused on the residential portion, which is large enough of course. so that can tend to limit the source of potential witnesses on this thing. but i do know, the only specificity in here in the warrant on where you can search is quote unquote the 45 office. so they knew whether it was during their last visit their, whether it was a witness, whether it was a trump attorney saying that don't worry it's all locked up in the 45 office. but the only specific thing we see about searching is the 45 office. quote unquote. so they knew that for some reason. >> so a couple of things i'm thinking here, danny.
10:18 am
does it appear that his lawyers didn't even know the kind of information he had. to the points made earlier, that there is a lawyer that signed off and said you've got it all. taking the word of someone presumably, or witnessing what was extricate it from mar-a-lago previously. but the fact that the lawyers let it get to this point, doesn't indicate to you that they didn't have a clue? >> in my personal experience, clients have zero problem heaping the bad information from their own lawyers. they want to control, often clients, especially white collar clients, want to control the narrative so they tell the story to the lawyer that they think the lawyer would most like to hear, but that ends up coming back to you by both client and the lawyer where it hurts later on. so, more likely than not, and if this is again pure conjecture, i would like to believe that the lawyers were relying on what was told that by third parties in the circle of their client, before they
10:19 am
made that representation to the government. because they know that the government has 0.0 sense of humor about this kind of information. it's kind of deceitful information, if it is true that the lawyers were concealing whether or not they gave over all the documents. and by the way, this is the kind of thing that is easily bind-able. in other words, if the lawyer said we give you everything that you asked for, here you go, this is exactly the kind of thing that could come back to bite them. a search warrant finds that, no, in fact everything was disclosed. and i have to assume lawyers don't have access to all parts of the estate, all parts of the property. so this may be my bias lawyer brethren loyalty, but i have to believe that in the first instance, the lawyers hopefully didn't know about this. >> yeah. tracey, last question to you here. because whether not classified materials related to u.s.
10:20 am
nuclear programs could have been in these boxes. i want to say the trump released a statement yesterday talking about it, and invoked former president obama, alleging that he kept 33 million pages of documents and asking quote, how many of them pertained to nuclear word's lots is when he said. national archives have already said, that is not true. but, how do you interpret this? is donald trump tacitly admitting something? >> so, i actually do think he is admitting that he has these classified documents. and i think the reason, and the way that he is admitting that is by his statements that, oh it has already been declassified. i think that is an admission of having this information. but, i think in terms of it being a new killer information, we can just simply take his word for it. and unfortunately, the reality is, because they are tsmc documents, we are probably never going to know exactly what those documents had unless they are declassified. and that probably won't be for decades. but oddly enough, the letter for mueller clarence's to which
10:21 am
i find that fascinating. >> okay, frank to you actually discretion about rightward. you know that that was among the first outlets to publish became under big-time fire for doxxing fbi agents. what have you learned about this, and how dangerous is that? >> you know, i can't in my mind recall a period of time where the fbi, writ large, cross city six field offices with facing this kind of physical and imminent threat. the intelligence out there, the monitor the violence extreme list, ice chat rooms. their focus squarely on hurting the fbi and its agents. as well as the u.s. magistrate who signed off on this. they want everybody involved. they want the agents, every age and that went to mar-a-lago, and we saw this week of course a deadly situation that fbi citizen that he. and let me say something quite clearly. the media outlets, the pendants,
10:22 am
the trump minions who put out disinformation, tried to target federal law enforcement for doing their job. blood will be on their hands, alex. if someone is injured. someone has already been killed. a gentleman in ohio who simply bought into the lie that is being sold. lies that evidence was planted, lies that the fbi is out of control. the people get hurt when this happens, and it needs to stop. >> you are i commit echoing the sentiments that were made by jim hines who i'm speaking with after the short break. very sobering times for fbi law enforcement in general. guys, thank you all three for joining me. sizing at the biggest benefits of the inflation reduction act, and the one measure that has republicans really open arms, democrats say that the gop is just trying to scare americans. just trying stocare americans
10:28 am
10:29 am
it >> so you can so you can imagine imagine democrats democrats in the senate, back in their districts, back from august recess, using this as bragging rights ahead of the midterm elections. we know that biden has to sign it into law and then hold a bigger celebration at the white house when congress is back in session, alex. >> joining me now is congressman jim himes, member of the permanent committee -- >> the inflation reduction act is going to go to the presidents desk, going to get his signature. this package covers a lot of ground. this climate change, texas, health care. it feels like those things were re-branded to address sky-high inflation in the u.s.. does this legislation tamp down inflation? and keep benefits to average americans, what are the?
10:30 am
what do you want to tell americans about why they should be applauding? this >> is good to be with you alex. it's a worthy question. it's the one question that my republican colleagues can ask? the other question you ask is the important one, what will this do for americans? it will make sure that no senior citizens on medicare will ever pay more than $2,000 a year. it's the first time that congress has ever done anything about skyrocketing prescription drug prices. it's the biggest investment we've ever made addressing the challenges of climate change because the world is on fire. republicans really can't argue these points on merit. we also know for the first time ever were requiring billionaire corporations to pay the same kind of taxes that you and i pay. instead they want to have a conversation about precisely how d inflationary this is going to be? i'm not an economist so i can't
10:31 am
answer that question with great specificity, but i can tell you when we start to address drug companies on the spiraling cost of prescription drugs, seniors are going to see the drug prices go down. that's going to have a good impact on their lives. >> it's gonna be something that certainly the democrats are gonna point out time and time again to voters, saying, hey guess what, all the republicans in congress, said i don't to do this for you. i want to clarify something for you, republicans who are slamming the funding of the irs, they say it's going to be hiring more agents. they say it's going to add it every day americans. but that's disputed by democrats. can you explain how many new employees the irs is hiring, and what you think their primary role will be? >> absolutely, let me start by giving you a little bit of context, here. and my first term, we pass the affordable care act. today it's covered in excess of
10:32 am
20 million people who weren't covered before. it's the lower it's ever -- been you remember alex, they said at the time there's going to be death panels. there's gonna be these panel set up that are gonna send grandma off to an early grave. i remember the death panel fights. you and i both know, and the american people now, that was complete and total baloney. that's what they're running with the snow should that irs auditors are somehow black helicopter ar-15 will be police officers that are coming down utility to come after you. it's utter nonsense. here's the bottom line. economists will give you different numbers but they estimate that this somewhere between 300 billion and a trillion dollars of tax fraud in this country. where does it come from? as my republican friends come to point out to you, it's only the 15 -- it's not even me that file it 10:44, and a w to who are creating fraud. it's enormously wealthy people,
10:33 am
who have private llcs and complicated investments in oil and real estate. that's where that fraud lives. that's where these auditors, these are not guys with guns. that's where these auditors will be looking to try to make sure that in this country that purports to be a rule of law country, that people are actually abiding by the law. >> okay, point well taken. let's go now to the doj investigation of former president trump trump. according to the mar-a-lago search warrant, a possible violation of the espionage act, that was the legal basis for the search. take a listen to whet senator tim kaine had to say about the dangers of such sensitive information getting out into the public. >> it's pretty clear that they had information likely from some source the documents at mar-a-lago dealt with. the most sensitive national security matters that the u.s. must guard jealously. i'm on the armed services committee -- there is nothing more
10:34 am
classified than the nuclear program. this can be very damaging in the wrong hands. somebody could try to make money by selling this kind of information. >> look, donald trump for his part claims he declassified all these documents, but even if that is true, do you agree with senator cain about the national security threat these document could potentially pose, and might some of them be beyond something that could be declassified in a sense? >> well, let's spend a second on donald trump's defenses. in the last 72 hours the defense has been i didn't do it. barack obama also did it. and the latest defenses, oh well i just magically declassified these things. again, it's the typical donald trump playbook, where he sending us running after ridiculous ideas. but let's spend a second. like senator cain, i spent a lot of time around the most highly classified information as a member of the intelligence community.
10:35 am
whenever i have access to that information, i go to a special office building in the capital, that has heavy bulletproof doors, guarded by armed guards, i can't take any electronic devices. i see this information and i'm allowed to take it with me. what does it mean? that box that is ts ssdi, a bunch of initials that most people don't understand. that's stop secret sensitive compartmentalize information. it's information that by definition would cause extreme damage to the national security of the united states. it's important that people understand what that means. that's information that's gathered by our officers in places like afghanistan, iraq, very dangerous places. we've got it because somebody put a collection device in a dangerous place and risk their lives to do so. the reason it has that cost of a vacation is because if it gets out there, those people can and will be killed. that's what is at stake here. the ideas that it's floating around in a basement in mar-a-lago, when, it needs to
10:36 am
be recovered, because it's dangerous. number two is there needs to be accountability. there's a whole lengthily process to go through for declassification, we're close code words are taken off of documents, various agencies sign of, people like me you know that it's been declassified. of course none of that has happened. but it's donald trump reaching for the defense du jour for behavior that's beyond the pale. >> always a pleasure, thanks for spending part of your saturday with me. terrifying moments, officer salman rusty attacked and stabbed on stage. this is the moment. for a treatment for moderate-to-severe eczema. cibinqo — fda approved. 100% steroid free. not an injection, cibinqo is a once-daily pill for adults who didn't respond to previous treatments.
10:37 am
and cibinqo helps provide clearer skin and less itch. cibinqo can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. do not take with medicines that prevent blood clots. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma, lung, skin and other cancers, serious heart-related events, and blood clots can happen. people 50 and older with heart disease risk factors have an increased risk of serious heart-related events or death with jak inhibitors. this is the moment. but we've only just begun. speak with your doctor about cibinqo today. an innovation from pfizer. man 1: have you noticed the world is on fire? speak with your doctor about cibinqo today. record heat waves? does that worry you? well, it should. because this climate thing is your problem. man 2: 40 years ago, when our own scientists at big oil predicted that burning fossil fuels could lead to catastrophic effects, we spent billions to sweep it under the rug. man 3: so we're going to be fine. but you might want to start a compost pile, turn down the ac. you got a lot of work to do
10:38 am
10:39 am
degree. those details coming in just a few moments ago. nbc news is emily -- joining us outside the pennsylvania hospital where the author is being treated. emily, welcome, i know there's some updates on rescues condition, what you share about them? >> good to be with you, alex. still no official word on rusty's condition, but the injuries are severe, with multiple stab wounds to the neck and abdomen. i finished speaking with a doctor who happen to be at friday speaking event. he was in the audience, and he was one of the first people to rush to rusty's aid on the stage. he said that he's hoping that the quick reaction by those audience members will help save his life. >> acclaimed author salman rushdie is reportedly on a ventilator and cannot speak, after a brazen knife attack left the 75-year-old with stab wounds on the neck and abdomen. his agent telling the new york times, salmon will likely lose
10:40 am
one eye, the nerves in his armor severed and his liver was stabbed and damaged. >> i'm at the amphitheater, presenter was just attacked onstage. >> rashid made his stage -- for a lecture series in chautauqua new york. >> my wife was next to me. she started screaming, i looked up and saw this man running on the stage. >> that's when police say russia he was repeatedly stabbed by a man, identified by this 25-year-old >> rabbi charles recorded the frantic aftermath. a stream of audience members rushing to use a, with a pair of officers taking the suspect in custody. >> this community is committed to the expiration of ideas and wrestling with our ideals and aspirations. but we witnessed on the stage it was the antithesis of that. >> rusty has faced decades of
10:41 am
death threats from extremist overs work. 1989 iran's supreme leader ordered refugees killing with a fattah -- he reflected on his time in hiding in 2020. >> you had to hug for a decade? >> there were some nine years of difficult time, >> police had not identified a motive in the attack. social media accounts belonging to the suspect show he had sympathies for shia extremism and iran's viva evolutionary guard. >> we condemn all violence. we want people to feel that freedom to speak into right. >> and the 24-year-old suspect we're just learning is expected to be arraigned within the hour it chautauqua county, about 40 minutes from where we are here. meanwhile in iran, strong
10:42 am
reaction from the ground. some newspaper headlines praising the actions of the attacker calling him conscientious and brave. >> thank you so much, emily, for that. republicans downplaying the search at mar-a-lago by trying to make the whole thing seem routine, but history tells us something different. thing different. take care of myself. i try to stay in shape. that's really important, especially as you age. i noticed after kids that my body totally changed. i started noticing a little pudge. so i took action! coolsculpting targets, freezes and eliminates treated fat for good. no needles, no incisions. discuss coolsculpting with your provider. some common side effects include temporary numbness, discomfort and swelling. you've come this far... coolsculpting takes you further. visit coolsculpting.com
10:43 am
this is john. he never gives up—no matter what life throws his way. high cholesterol. heart disease. 17 fad diets... 5 kids... 3 grandkids... 1 heart attack. and 18 passwords that seem to change daily. with leqvio, john can lower his cholesterol— and so can you. when taken with a statin, leqvio is proven to lower bad cholesterol by over 50% and keep it low with two doses a year. common side effects of leqvio were injection site reaction, joint pain, urinary tract infection, diarrhea, chest cold, pain in legs or arms, and shortness of breath. with leqvio, lowering cholesterol becomes just one more thing life throws your way. ask your doctor if leqvio is right for you. lower. longer. leqvio.
10:44 am
godaddy lets you sell from your online store or in person and manage it all from one spot. trusted by over 20 million customers worldwide, godaddy has the tools to sell anything anywhere. start for free at godaddy.com/sell so we need something super disctintive. dad's work, meet daughter's playtime. wait 'till you hear this— thankfully, meta portal helps reduce background noise. zero lace model. adjusts to low light.
10:45 am
and pans and zooms to keep you in frame. take a look at this. so the whole team stays on track. okay, let's get you some feedback. i'm impressed. great, loving your work. meta portal. the smart video calling device that makes work from home, work for you. the reaction today from republicans as news broke about wet warrants leading to the search of former president mar-a-lago compound contained. -- some gop elected leaders remain in defiance. >> i think that's really at the heart of the most anger that you're seeing at this unprecedented action. does anybody really feel they have applied these laws evenly to past presidents, to hillary clinton and others who have had
10:46 am
classified information? people are disgusted by that abuse, when you see agents targeting someone because they don't like him or his viewed. >> meanwhile the national archives slapped down -- president obama took documents when he left office. >> joining us now is robert gibbs, which we're all very grateful for. great to see you my friend. of course the gop and donald trump immediately react by invoking hillary clinton and barack obama in this information. i'm curious in your role, did you see death classified documents, and what did that entail? but did that tell you but we've learned in this warrant? >> alex, it's a great question. i did have topsecret clearance. i eventually got but a couple of guests have talked about, sci clearance which is sensitive compartmented information. that's a level above top secret.
10:47 am
that's the most sensitive information that our government gets. he uses it to make decisions. just to be clear, inside the white house, in the press secretary's office, there's a big safe. if i had classified information and was reading it, it was stored inside of that safe when i was not in control of it physically. if i wanted to get rid of something, you don't throw it away in the trash can. it goes in a burn bag situation room. i can remember getting that clearance, that sci clearance to be in meetings like afghanistan and things like that. you go through a rigorous process that ends with an interview. you walk into the room, the only pictures on the walls are of convicted spies. it's not subtle. they're very clear that you are now in possession of information that people who risked their lives and try to pay a lot of money to get, and
10:48 am
your obligation is to sworn oath to keep that information secret. that responsibility is now you are. it's tremendously important for viewers to understand just how sensitive this information is. the idea that it's just sitting in a basement unlocked in mar-a-lago, or anywhere, is astonishing. >> that's the first time i've heard that. convicted spies pictures -- sitting in a room with them looking at you. let's ask about why former president would want to take top secret documents as donald trump did, and then not comply with the subpoena to return them. any idea on that? >> no, i really can't, except i think we watched for years and years, alex, donald trump doesn't think that things like the presidential records act over the secure documentation of sensitive information --
10:49 am
the guidelines and -- apply to him, he's never thought the rules apply to whom. so we just put it all in a box and took it with. now we're learning a lot more about the process. we're learning, as he said, there are meetings about this with his team to give over that information. every opportunity to do that they had. it looks like some of the reporting today, one of his legal team might have signed something that said all of the information that was in his possession has been handed over. now we know that that's not true, that sweat would've required the fbi to go in and get that information. the idea that sci information, but also the top secret information was unguarded and could be accessed by a lot of different people is a scary notion. >> from a historic perspective, i'm curious where this falls. republicans are up in arms over
10:50 am
the notion that this was unprecedented. >> well it is unprecedented. but what's equally unprecedented is wet got us to having to take unprecedented take -- steps to get the information back. donald trump walks out of the white house with top secret information, sensitive comp part mentored information. the idea that barack obama has 33,000 top secret documents in his control in a warehouse in chicago is among the most laughable things i've ever heard. shame on republicans that are out there is suggesting that this happens all the time or that somehow, the fbi, one, is that to get donald trump -- we should remind people that christopher wray was nominated by none other than donald trump. but the idea that they're out to get him, or that they're planting information on this is not only baseless, but they know better.
10:51 am
they're fomenting wet will ultimately be violence. we saw in ohio, it puts fbi agents in danger. just to simply try to cover the tracks of someone like donald trump who's added excuse after excuse, day after day, lie after lie, to try to make up a story as to why he has this information. >> robert gibbs, great chat, thank you so much. coming up next, donald trump is looking for a red. criminal -- rolling stone -- e -- if you have copd, ask your doctor about breztri. breztri gives me better breathing and helps prevent flare-ups. before breztri, i was stuck in the past.
10:52 am
i still had bad days, (coughing) flare-ups, which kept me from doing what i love. my doctor said for my copd, it was time for breztri. ♪♪ breztri gives you better breathing, symptom improvement, and helps prevent flare-ups. like no other copd medicine, breztri was proven to reduce flare-ups by 52%. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. can't afford your medication? astrazeneca may be able to help. if you have copd, ask your doctor about breztri. questions are growing about
10:53 am
10:54 am
have you heard anything developing speculation that there might be an informant within the trump ranks? >> i've certainly heard that trump world is very much wary of the fact that there may be an informant. certainly there have been a number of people who have left mar-a-lago. the trump team in recent months. that's what's feeding the speculation. but you know, according to the new york times, and our reporting, a lot of this has come from the trump lawyers themselves. the times reporting of course that one of trump's lawyers signed a document that said they've turned over all of that material. we heard as early as tuesday that the justice department is concerned that the classified material -- as a result of interactions with the lawyer. have to >> tell me the take away from the three-page list of the items that were removed from trump's home. we have 11 sets of top secret and confidential documents.
10:55 am
something this described as information about the president of france. you've got a wonder where emmanuel macron is thinking right now. when he said in that? >> right, and macron and trump famously did not get along. that is very telling if you look at the relationship that trump had, and they also took away that granting of clemency for stone. those two really stood out. but also that you have those secret and classified material. there were so sensitive that the justice department and fbi could not describe the contents of those documents they had to label them as top secret. that's a good indication of just how secret and classified the material that was the trump was casually keeping in that basement. >> let's listen to merrick garland who personally signed off on that search. he was part of what he said on thursday. >> faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock
10:56 am
principle of the justice department and of our democracy. upholding the rule of law means applying the law evenly, without fear, or favor, under my watch, that is precisely with the justice department is doing. >> what kind of pressure is garland facing right now? what more, if anything, will we hear from him? >> well, we're waiting on monday or later in the week to see how the justice department moves to unseal the affidavit that accompanies the -- which will be really illuminating in terms of who at the colors in order to get that information. i think the fact that garland, if you look at his history, they don't feel under pressure to the degree that i think trump feels under pressure. i think trump honestly think garland feels he's -- been methodically -- and subpoenaed the material. that is almost in a good faith
10:57 am
entry into mar-a-lago saying we're only going to subpoena you and we don't have to do anything more it sounds like they didn't [inaudible] >> i want to say you tweeted this, and a lot of people agree with you, hugo. that's gonna do it for me. i'll see you tomorrow at noon. lindsey is in for yasmin vossoughian, next. n, next. in the next minute... ...thousands of life's doors will suddenly swing wide open. 250 couples will need to make room for a nursery. (laughing) 143 people... yes! ...will get their dream job offer. nine retirees will decide to move closer to the grandkids. 52 people will go... yes! ...all in. this family will become... ...a dog family.
10:58 am
and this family will get two bathrooms. an athlete will find out he's been traded... really? ...again. sweet! a bingo player will win a speedboat. bingo! i'm moving to the lake! and finally, one vacationer will say... yeah, woo, i'm going to live here! but as the euphoria subsides, the realization hits. i got to sell the house! ♪ or skip the hassles and sell directly to opendoor. close in a matter of days. oh, wow. yes! oh! bingo! long story short, be open to stepping through life's doors and we'll handle the house. ♪
10:59 am
11:00 am
361 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC West Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on