mcgurk: it is a great question. the camp david meeting is interesting because that is when we thought, and this is reflected somewhat in the book, but that would be a key moment that hard questions are going to be asked. it ended up being a cover for a secret tip of a new sense of a new government and things are moving. i have to say, it is reflected in the book, but nobody supported sending more forces to iraq. it was a very small number. some of the colonels in the council of colonels, but not the consensus. state department. we had a debate about clear hold build in 2005, which would have been a counterinsurgency-type thing. that did not go anywhere, and the state department really swung totally against any real talk of more resources. so, from our perch, it was frustrating. and then there were things outside of my purview, even next door to me. stephen hadley asked bill, two doors down from us, to actually look at this, is this even feasible militarily. i did not know bill was working on that. so there was a lot

then we have on the panel professor brett mcgurk. he's currently based at the freeman spaulding institute at stanford university. before moving to stanford, mcgurk served as a special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat isis and he helped build and lead a broad international coalition to fight against the terrorist network. previously mcgurk served in senior positions in the george w. bush and barack obama administration including in the bush white house senior director for iraq and afghanistan and then as deputy assistant secretary of state for iraq and iran under president obama. mcgurk has led several sensitive diplomatic missions in the middle east. over the last decade, for example, he led talks with russia over the syria conflict under both presidents obama and donald trump. and finally, the panel discussion this afternoon will be moderated by professor hal brands. dr. brands is the henry kissinger distinguished professor of global affairs at the johns hopkins school of advanced international studies. he's als

we want to turn now to brett mcgurk, an nbc news foreign affairs analyst. as a presidential envoy, he was responsible for coordinating all aspects of u.s. policy in the campaign against isis in iraq, syria, and around the world. the situation now escalating quickly where do you see it going? what kind of response might we see out of the u.s. >> well, lester, i hope in the situation -- i've been in the situation room in national security crises it's very important everyone's adrenaline is moving. information is coming in fast. it's very important to try to slow things down, be deliberative. i hope there is a voice in that room that is really making that point let's slow down. let's get our facts together a couple things here i've been on all these bases. these are iraqi bases. al asad air base is a huge, enormous facility we don't know the damage assessments we're all very hopeful there are no american casualties this is an iraqi base, so i think first of all these are iranian attacks, ballistic missiles from iran against iraq it's an attack against iraq we'

and bret mcgurk, he served in senior positions leading the envoy to defeat isis. and let's begin with you and the situation in tehran. >> hi, ali. well, it's a very, very sensitive situation here. there is a feeling of shock in iran that qassem soleimani has been killed. he was a central figure in iranian military and politics. as you mentioned he is arguably or was arguably the second most powerful man in the country after ayatollah khamenei. and he was very dependent on qassem soleimani. they were very, very close to one another. why? because qassem soleimani had developed this incredibly powerful network of militias across the region that had made iran very, very powerful. these militias were fiercely loyal to him. he was a cultish figure to these guys. i have seen videos of qassem soleimani on the front lines in syria walking around not wearing military fatigues, not carrying a weapon. bullets firing around, and he sort of walked around with impunity when he would meet the troops there on these front lines and he would either kiss them or touch them on the sho

i think it was brett mcgurk or maria von vich, but she was in that national security video, brian, andou and i covered the impeachment hearings life together. and i don't know that other than fiona hill, there was a more compelling witness to donald trump's criminality and misconduct around national security than marie yovanovitch. >> we all gasped. >> we did. i think putting these things together that these are painful times and these are scary times -- they're painful because of the tragedy of covid, the economic despair it's unleashed, and this is -- to put joe biden in the center of solving both those problems, our pain and our fear, was strategically brilliant. and i think it's time in the convention, having worked on conventions, to give this campaign some credit for execution. >> absolutely. >> it could have been a weird mix, right? we could have been trying to talk about joe biden's humanity as jill biden detailed it and that brilliant national security piece that was produced in there and all those interviews with chuck hagel and brett mcgurk. but to put it together speaking t

previously mcgurk served in senior positions in the george w. bush and barack obama administration, including in the bush white house as senior director for iraq and afghanistan and and as tippy assistant to secretary of the state for iraq and iran under president obama. mcgurk has led several diplomatic missions in the middle east over the decades. for example he led talks with russia over the syrian conflict under both president obama and donald trump. finally, the panel will be moderated by effexor -- professor brand, henry kissinger distinguished professor of affairs. he is also a columnist for bloomberg opinion and scholar of american enterprise institute. dr. brand is author and editor of many books, including american grand strategy in the age of trump, published just one year ago. professor brand served as special assistant to secretary of defense force with -- strategic planning from 205 to 2 016. so please join me in welcoming are very distinguished panel this afternoon. [applause] thank you very much. i would also like to thank our ho

of course our chief white house correspondent hallie jackson, a maman mcgurk. brett mcgurk, many are describing this as a watershed moment. >> thanks, andrea. i think a couple of points. when i heard this news last night my first reaction was, justice. seeing qasem soleimani removed from the face of the earth is justice. i've had former colleagues killed by proxy groups he used to control. that's my first reaction. my second reaction, and what i said, is that i think we have to resume now that what's been an overt kind of shadow war is now potentially, and we must hope for the best but plan for the worst, a state of war with iran. sending a brigade of the 82nd airborne to the middle east is not surprising, it's demonstrating what the administration is seeing internally. in 2007 and 2008 in particular when i was in the bush white house and expected a lot of time in iraq, we had 167,000 troops in iraq. we fought shia militia groups under the control of soleimani with very few restrictions. we inflicted significant casualties on those groups. we never stopped rock

brett mcgurk, the former special presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat isis. and our foreign affairs analyst here in new york, our own ayman mohyeldin, who has reported extensively of course from that region. and at the department of defense, courtney kube, nbc news correspondent covering national security in the pentagon. and, courtney, we need to start with you and go over a few things. first and foremost, something people are picking up on their phones in just the time we came on before the air. this is a report out of tehran that a ukrainian commercial airliner has gone down with 180 souls onboard. normally we'd be tempted to say there's no relation, but coming off a night where iranian air defenses have been on a hairtrigger, as we say, it gets your attention. do you have anything to add to this story? >> reporter: no. i mean i can totally understand, and i understand that there's probably going to be a lot of conspiracy theorists out there, but at this point we're not getting any indication that these two things are linked, brian. >> okay. now to our sto

brett mcgurk who once led the coalition against isis joins me next. against isis joi next (female vo) when it comes to longevity, who has the highest percentage of its vehicles still on the road today? subaru. when it comes to best overall value, who does intellichoice rank number one? subaru. and when it comes to safety, who has more 2020 iihs top safety pick+ winning vehicles? more than toyota, honda, and hyundai-combined? subaru. it's easy to love a car you can trust. it's easy to love a subaru. get 0% apr financing for 63 months on select subaru models now through june 30th. ♪ ♪ [ engines revving ] ♪ ♪ it's amazing to see them in the wild like th-- shhh. for those who were born to ride, there's progressive. no uh uh, no way come on, no no n-n-n-no-no only discover has no annual fee on any card. and get way more.ith wso you can bring yours n-n-n-no-no vision to life and save in more ways than one. for small prices, you can build big dreams. spend less, get way more. shop everything home at wayfair today. you say that customers maklet's talk data.s.

charles mcgurk said racism is disgusting, he doesn't want his name to be used in any anti—black livester protests. a russian driver who back in russia it was kneeling and times, and it seemed like a sign of submission or reserved for national instances. lots of different reasons why people haven't taken the knee. rugby league, basketball, it's been the case. how much emphasis has there been on clu bs to much emphasis has there been on clubs to make some sort of stand? when it comes to basketball, that's very interesting. the nba is one of the pivotal organisations in fighting back against things, they've donated millions of dollars, their players are active. jonathan isaak became the first nba player did not kneel for the national anthem. but he was back by his organisation and members of the league as well. his reason is he's a devout christian and naturally believes that kneeling should be reserved for god and god only. he also wanted to make it clear that he supports black lives matter, he just doesn't want to take the knee. supports black lives matter, he just doesn't want to take

order mcgurk that we had 200 animals in the stable. if you ask of them got carefully before all the others thought oh my family was able to drive safely. my. i thought that is all we have left. of him we didn't imagine we would suddenly have to abandon the farm the land and the animals. after the disaster only opened a small private museum on his farm. thousands of tourists from all over the world have already visited to learn about the dramatic events that took place in march and i pulled 2010. doesn't admit it but it seems as if what happened traumatized him but instead of opting for therapy he got over the shock by watching images of those dramatic events over and over again sometimes hundreds of times. just to get the story or not to. be putting that. on march the 20th 2010 the earth opened several kilometers east before your fellow called. lanfear a message from an elongated future and flowed towards the northeast. at 1st it was an exciting out mostly harmless natural spectacle. but then on the morning of april 14th a 2 kilometer

. >>> let's bring in brett mcgurk, he served as the special presidential envoy to defeat isis. back. lots of discussion on whether or not this attack on soleimani was warranted. in your experience, do you believe there was a plausible threat and if there was, did it justify striking soleimani? >> my gut sense when i heard that news a week or so ago now was a sense of justice as someone who has served in iraq had colleagues killed by iranian backed militia. the second thought was preparing for the consequences and the aftermath. an act of self-the administration should stay within that justification and go through the things that soleimani has done and had the capability to do. the shifting explanations and four embassies and this, it adds to the dimension this may not have been properly gamed out. >> the two point gs you make, the first one i think everybody can be in unanimous agreement about. the second one, though, there is the reporting that both presidents bush, george w, and president obama had the ability to target general soleimani, and chose not to. is that accurate? a

joining me, brett mcgurk, jeremy bash, and peter baker, "new york times" chief white house correspondent. jeremy, it seems to me bolton is confirming while not confirming, but the fact that the democrats didn't get the same briefing the republicans got, and they weren't briefed together, and it wasn't the big eight or the gang of eight or any of the top leaders, this is not the way it has ever been done under bush, clinton, bush, and obama. >> that's right, andrea, intelligence briefings to congress, which by the way is required by the law, have always been bipartisan. so obviously the white house is playing politics. i think the question is why. and i've looked at more than a thousand pdbs during my tenure at cia and dod. there's a lot in there about the election scandal in mali or what china is doing in space. something about russians putting a bounty on the heads of the united states would absolutely jump off the page. if the president ignored it, didn't ask followup questions, or his own staff didn't want to hall him about it because they were scared he's so pro-putin he wouldn't rea

it should happen immediately. >> brett mcgurk, thanks again, very good to see you.being with us today. >>> governors, meanwhile, being forced to put tough restrictions back in place as covid cases surge. the impact on small businesses as a not so normal holiday season kicks off. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." this is msnbc. ports. this is nbmsc. it's open! hey. think you're managing your moderate to severe ulcerative colitis or crohn's disease? -are you ok? -i did. but even when i was there. i never knew when my symptoms would keep us apart. so, i talked to my doctor and learned... humira is for people who still have uc or crohn's symptoms after trying other medications. and humira helps people achieve remission that can last. so you can experience few or no symptoms. humira can lower your ability to fight infections. serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. tell your doc

so these two incidents are exactly as investigator mcgurk says. if the iranians have done this, the question is as was noted before, why was there not a notice to all mariners and aviators around the city of tehran. also, their command and control is so loose that a battery commander can shoot when none of the other advanced air defense systems around tehran has shot. fog of war is involved here, but it is going to require some serious answers. >> bret, let's talk about the u.s. position. we know there's obviously major tensions between the united states and iran, but as relates to the plane, there were no american passengers, but there were a number of passengers, there it is there again, from many of our allied nations. if and what is our responsibility here? >> i don't think we have any responsibility but i do think if president trump is sincere that he would like to de-escalate the overall situation in the wake of this tragedy, i know prime minister trudeau in canada, given 30 canadians were apparently on the plane, canadian citizens offered t

but we're not acting upon it. >> brett mcgurk, thank you very much.unique insight because you did used to work in the white house in the fnsc. we appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. >>> and another news out of russia. we have an election update. vladimir putin would be russia's president until 2036. 16 years from now. voters just approved changes to the country's constitution allowing putin to seek two more terms. it was not surprisingly a landslide with 74% of the voters backing put inbut there are widespread reports of pressure on voters and other, quote, irregularities. again, not a surprise about that either. we'll be right back. aa is made t we're helping members catch up by spreading any missed usaa insurance payments over the next twelve months so they can keep more cash in your pockets for when it matters most find out more at usaa.com for spending a perfectly reasonable amount of time on the couch with tacos from grubhub? grubhub's gonna reward you for that with a $5 off perk. (doorbell rings) - [crowd] grubhub! (fireworks exploding)

brett mcgurk and ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you both for being with us. appreciate that. >> thank you. >>> and coming up, as cases continue to skyrocket, the mayor of miami, who also happens to be a covid survivor, tells us about his latest attempt to stop the spread when "the 11th hour" continues. >>> florida's daily new case count increased fivefold in the last two weeks. saturday shattered the record with over 9,500 new cases in a single day. south florida's beaches will be closed over the july 4th weekend. and in the city of miami, the mayor is requiring a ten-day shutdown for any business violating covid-19 regulations. second-time offenders will be forced to shut down for 15 days. and third time offenders will be shut down for 30. for more, we welcome back miami's republican mayor, francis suarez, who is also a coronavirus survivor. your honor, thank you for joining us. the penalties here, the risk of being shut down, first, second, thirst time offense for increasing amounts of time, what are you expecting? what are you seeing in terms of compliance

. >>> let me bring in brett mcgurk. good to talk to you, as always. first, your perspective on this. how does it change things if, in fact, russian bounties and the intelligence community assesses that russian bounties, in fact, led to the deaths of u.s. troops? >> obviously, as ken reported, it is a huge issue. what this goes to is a national security system and process that has completely broken down. there is no way that intelligence of this nature would not or should not get to the president. the way this should work, the president's first job is to protect the american people. you have to have meetings with the president. you say, "mr. president, we're following threat streams. we have high confidence in this. moderate confidence in this. low confidence in that." but the president here is saying he was never told about this so, therefore, he washes his hands of it. he is the president of the united states. he is the one talking to president putin. he had five phone calls with president putin over the course of the spring when this was coursing th

brett mcgurk and ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you both for being with us. appreciate that. >> thank you. >>> and coming up, as cases continue to skyrocket, the mayor of miami, who also happens to be a covid survivor, tells us about his latest attempt to stop the spread when "the 11th hour" continues. businesses are starting to bounce back. but what if you could do better than that? like adapt. discover. deliver, in new ways, to new customers. what if you could come back stronger? faster. better. at comcast business, we want to help you not just bounce back, but bounce forward. and now, with one of our best offers ever, we're committed to helping you do just that. get a powerful and reliable internet and voice solution for only $29.95 a month for three months. call or go online today. >>> florida's daily new case count increased fivefold in the last two weeks. and saturday shattered the record with over 9,500 new cases in a single day. south florida's beaches will be closed over the july 4th weekend. and in the city of miami, the mayor is requiring a ten-day

but right now, i don't see it. >> brett mcgurk. brett, thank you very much for joining us.nd next up, the impeachment trial waiting game. stay with us. ment trial waiting game stay with us ♪ [ gunshot ] [ multiple gunshots ] [ orchestral music playing ] actions speak louder than words. she was a school teacher. my dad joined the navy and helped prosecute the nazis in nuremberg. their values are why i walked away from my business, took the giving pledge to give my money to good causes, and why i spent the last ten years fighting corporate insiders who put profits over people. i'm tom steyer, and i approve this message. because, right now, america needs more than words. we need action. doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacist-recommendeding? memory support brand. you can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. >>> welcome back. once again with us. all right. let's take about impeachment and the trial. just security has come out with a trove of e-mails that were unredacted e-mails between omb and the pentagon talking abou

joining me now is brett mcgurk who served under presidents bush, barack obama and donald trump. brett, you have a lot of experience and you're not hocking a book in the way john bolton is, and so i sort of give you some more credibility on this. i wonder if just the basic picture here of the president being ironically for mr. america first like incredibly easy to roll or push around by foreign authoritarian figures, if that squares to you. >> yeah, you know, thanks, chris. i think what we're seeing here is incredible. i mean, bolton was national security adviser for 17 months. it begs the question, what was he doing for 17 months? what he's coming out now is confirmatory of everything we know. it's exactly what i said when i came out of the administration. this is a president that does not prepare for meeting heads of state. he doesn't focus on facts. he doesn't know what's going on. so when he's on the phone with someone like erdogan or vladimir putin or xi jinping, he tends to get totally rolled. and our policies just shift all over the place. in the case of syria, we have ame

. >> let's take a listen to what brett mcgurk, special adviser on the global coalition to defeat isis, what he had to say on "last word" about all this last night. >> the assumption that we could change the calculus of the adversary by increasing pressure was wrong. and if that assumption is wrong with respect to iran, then this is not going to stop. the escalatory ladder will continue to go up. we have no diplomatic channels that are really open, as far as we're aware. and so, right now it's a very good question, when iran responds, what do we do? and right now, i think that question is coming for the white house. >> and do you think the white house is ready to answer that question? >> no. all of the reporting we have seen is that they do not think through consequences when they take actions. and what your viewers need to understand, alex, is they are no longer in control of this situation. donald trump sees foreign policy as kind of an extension of his reality tv approach to events. but now the ball's in iran's court. and they will respond. they've said they will respond. and it mig

brett mcgurk, at forementioned envoy is here and msnbc foreign affairs analyst for us.former chief of staff at the cia and department of defense, also an msnbc national security analysts. and former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul is here. the three of you would be the three i want to be briefed by if i was joe biden. let me start with you, brett, because i've mentioned you in the last few days how it is not even a delayed transition, it is a canceled transition and how that impacts national security. you wrote something that i think is haunting to anyone, really any american that won of the many, many factors that contributed to the attacks of 9/11 was a delay the transition, a delayed ability to integrate an incoming team with an outgoing team on the topic of terror threats. talk about how that could be a danger right now. >> well, thanks, nicolle. for having me on such an important topic. i served through the last two post 9/11 transitions with george w. bush and with president obama and both of them -- by the lessons of the 9/11 commission report just that

brett mcgurk and ambassador michael mcfaul, thank you both for being with us. appreciate that. >> thank you. >>> and coming up, as cases continue to skyrocket, the mayor of miami, who also happens to be a covid survivor, tells us about his latest attempt to stop the spread when "the 11th hour" continues. continues. to severe psoriasis, little things can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. anyou can't give th

. >> then, we have, on the panel, former director mcgurk. previously mcgurk served in senior positions including inin the bush white house, a senior director for iraq and afghanistan, and iraq, iron, he lead several missions over the middle east. he lead talks with russia over the syrian conflict. and finally the panel discussion this afternoon will be moderated by professor brands. he is the distinguished professor of global affairs of the school of advanced international studies. he is the author and editor of many books including american grand strategy in the age of trump. and what good is grand strategy power and purpose. he was part of the strategic planning. so goin me in welcoming these scholars a this afternoon. >> thank you, i would also like to thank our osts here for putting on this event today. so many of the policy makers that share their time and insights with us. it is a pleasure to be up here with three gentleman that are importantly involved in the decision making, later in it's implementation, but we're also generous with

previously mcgurk served in senior positions in bush and obama administration's,. he is left several diplomatic -- he led talks with russia over the syria conflict. and finally the panel of discussion will be moderated by this professor, he is henry kissinger distinguished professor of distinguished affairs -- he is also a columnist for bloomberg opinion. he is the author and editor of many books, and what good is strategy and power and purpose from harry truman to w. bush. he served as the special assistant for strategic planning for 2015 to 2016. please join me in welcoming a distinguished panel of scholars. yes (applause) thank you very much, i would like to thank our host for putting on this event. it is a lot of fun to get together with the folks who worked to bring this book to fruition and so many of the policy makers who share their time and insights with us. it is a pleasure for me to be here on the stage with three gentlemen who were not only importantly involved in the decision-making that led to the surge, and to its implementation, we are also very gen

airports but just back to russia i think if we are following brett mcgurk with his last week i think this is the guy long experience in the area and he knows very well how the thinks work in the middle east and he was not very quite sure that that was the right action from trump i think he understands their reaction will be very devastating for the americans interests in the region all right devastating reaction thanks so much for your analysis a man. an iraqi journalist based here and and at rachel his i political analyst thanks so much. all right let's take a look now at some of the other stories making news around the world. people in the indonesian capital jakarta have begun returning to their homes off to severe flooding tens of thousands to evacuate at least were killed others still missing on soon the rains and rising rivers swamped thousands of homes and castle for electricity over a wide area. police in one of sirens have rescued a 3 day old baby girl being held hostage inside an ambulance media reports say the standoff began after the father assaulted the baby's mother and

culturally much that widespread that was culturally united states is interesting i mean even brett mcgurk who was formerly a top advisor u.s. envoy to the fight against eisel in syria has said that it lead province was the largest al qaeda safe haven since $911.00 so a number of instances they recognize that it is haven for terrorists of course he was hiding out there but then i think in their quest to damage their continue to destabilize syria and their allies iran and their allies in lebanon and iraq they are taking this position for geopolitical reasons. and during this session held today the syrian envoy repeatedly accused in the us of occupying and pillaging parts of syria and trying to seize its results since i think both a fat accusation. i'm sorry that who is trying to seize the resources. as the syrian envoy accuse turkey and the us of occupy and pillaging pulse of syria and trying to seize its results is to be asked for having stated that that's been the stated policy of the president out states donald trump has repeatedly and besides that one of the reasons that we are in syria

james jeffrey put us there, brett mcgurk said that al qaeda now has its longest lat safe haven sinceult of the proxy war we have been engaged in, going back to the presidency of barack obama. he was elected on a antiwar platform in 2017, he criticized these wars. he could end them now, pull troops out, tell james jeffrey and joe biden that it is not our job to be occupying other countries, it is our job to bring our troops home and give syria back to syria. >> tucker: what is so interesting is the orthodoxy on the subject is we are not allowed to disagree, everyone is on the same side as susan rice and hillary clinton and john bolton. you are very well informed in this. what are the chances you could get a job at "the washington post" -- and you are very left wing, i should say. what are the chances you can get a job at "the washington post" with the views you have on syria? >> well, look, it's not just syria come as any major national security issue. the media has been in lockstep with the national security stage, whether -- you look at a issue you covered, covered it well, scandal

and that is going to hamstring him both at home and abroad. >> ben, i want to ask you about brett mcgurk'sed. he invited the 9/11 commission report because the 9/11 commission found that one of the, as it went back and uned all of the various things that contributed to the attacks of 9/11, one of them was this shortened transition. i mean, it is no joke to say that donald trump's conduct could kill people. >> no, with covid it is very clear. it already has but delaying biden the information he needs to be the best president managing covid response on january 20th. believe it or not, i'm old enough, i worked with the vice chair of the 9/11 commission at that time and part of what was happening is that the al qaeda threat was building and the bush administration was slow in getting up to speed and putting in place a krounter terrorism strategy and it took a month after the florida recounts were done. this is such precious time. you're trying to do so many things as once. i remember from that time in 2008 part of the transition, you're hiring hundreds if not thousands of people but you need t

james jeffrey put us there, brett mcgurk said that in idlib, al qaeda now has its largest safe havenesult of the proxy war we have been engaged in, going back to the obama administration come under the incoming president, joe biden. president trump has an g opportunity, he's leaving in a couple months. he was elected on a antiwar platform in 2016, he criticized these wars. he could end them now, pull troops out, tell james jeffrey and john brannon and joe biden that it's not our job to be occupying other countries, it's our job to bring our troops home and give syria back to syria. >> tucker: what is so interesting is the orthodoxy on this subject is we are not allowed to disagree, everyone is on the same side as susan rice and hillary clinton and john bolton. you are very well informed in this. you break actual stories. what are the chances you could get a job at "the washington post" -- and you are very left wing, i should say. in case our viewers haven't picked that up. what are the chances you can get a job at "the washington post" with the views you have on syria? >> well, look,

former special presidential envoy brett mcgurk described his time in the white house this way. >> when you're in the high-level decision-making circles, there's something called the effectiveness trap when you have a leader like president trump. to be effective, you need to be in the room and in the circle. but in order to be in the room and in the circle, you somehow sometimes need to muzzle your recommendations, live to fight another day. this is a term that came out of the vietnam experience, and i just -- i really feel for the faucis and the dr. birxes. we need them on the wall right now. >> back with us again tonight, eugene robinson, pulitzer prize-winning columnist for "the washington post." and we're so happy to have doug brinkley back with us, presidential historian and author. and for your quarantine reading list, his latest book -- and i have them all -- "american moonshot: john f. kennedy and the great space race" has just been released in paperback. gentlemen, good evening to you both. doug, i have to begin with you because in the last segment, we just heard a columbia phy

official brett mcgurk notes a propaganda bonanza as our own government shrinks. >> joining me now clinical assistant prfrgs at nyu lan gone health, and senior columnist at the intercept and the host of the deconstructed podcast. good morning to both of you. dr. roy, let's start with you. it is now weeks into this thing, and we continue to have conflicting information about the availability of tests, the availability of supplies, the availability of ventilators, and how serious this matter actually is. i would say in this last week the presidential briefings have become a little more newsworthy as they have turned to data as opposed to opinion, but where do you think we stand right now? >> well, i'd say good morning, ali, but waking up to a national death toll of 7,000 on almost 2,000 in new york city alone just doesn't feel so good. look, on your show and on every show here on msnbc, on nbc, you've had a string, a legion of medical, public health experts, scientists, researchers, governors, lifelong military officials who are experts in logistics give the same message, which is that we nee

joining me now, brett mcgurk and former commandant of the u.s. army war college, robert scales. welcome. i do want to start with you, brett. we're looking at a situation that clearly, according to ali arouzi and richard engel is still tense. the president tweet the out all is well. this morning he says it's fine, and let me blame the obama administration for everything that has led to this point. there was also a portion of that speech where he talks about how the iranians felt they could be more violent after the iran deal was signed. but the violence that he points to is all is it you have that happened post-donald trump leaving the iran deal and post-imposing more sanctions. give me a reality check of what's happening from your perspective? >> i think we can stipulate is iran a bad actor? yes, that's been the case over multiple presidents. but in the most recent era, when did these provocative actions really start happening? they happened last may with the attacks in the gulf against shipping, shooting down our drone, and a few months ago after an almost eight-year pause, ca

as brett mcgurk was eluding to, that seems to be still going on. go down that road. of course, republicans control the senate. from that perspective, that might be unliekely. >> thank you. let's go to chuck todd, moderator of "meet the press." did the president find an off-ramp? did the iranians give him an off-ramp? >> they did and he took it. he didn't want to look like he took it. that's why you heard him try to use forceful language in announcing the sanctions. used forceful language in not saying they're not going to retaliate. it is clear our retaliation for now appears to be the sanctions. i think it is notable at how the president tried to politicize this by blaming the previous administration for financing. you know, we're glossing over that. the sitting president of the united states accusing essentially the previous president of helping to finance iranian weapons is quite remarkable that he is willing to push the envelope like that with the office -- with this office. i mean, i guess at this point, we shouldn't be surprised he does these

also with us, msnbc senior foreign affairs analyst brett mcgurk.pecial presidential envoy for the global coalition to defeat isis at the state department. he is now a distinguished lecturer at stanford. >> congressman, thank you so much for being here. but especially, thank you for your service to america. >> absolutely. >> in the marines. we are so grateful for that. let me ask you about the events of last night. how things ended up. and where you would like the president to go this morning and any statement, any speech that he makes regarding iran. >> well, first of all, i think we should all be grateful that no americans, it appears, were harmed in this attack. i spent seven months on the base that was bombed last night. i was grateful last night, as i've been grateful over the holidays, that we have such dedicated professionals not only in the military but in the diplomatic corps that are on the front lines every day protecting our interests and keeping the country safe. second, while the dust is still settling and we're still getting the battl

former general counsel for the director of national intelligence robert and brett mcgurk. >>> still aheade tourists u.s. military base and president trump's home at mar-a-lago. what do all three have in common? solve clues on the country's latest spy mystery. coming up. no. uh uh, no way. ♪ come on. no. no. n... ni ni, no no! only discover has no annual fee on any card. fidelity now has zero commissions for online u.s. equity trades and etfs. and fidelity also offers zero account fees for brokerage accounts, plus zero minimums to open an account. and only fidelity offers four zero expense ratio index funds directly to investors. with all of those zeros, there are zero reasons to invest anywhere else. fidelity. ♪ so maybe i'll win ♪ saved by zero ♪ so maybe i'll win and i like to question your i'm yoevery move.n law. like this left turn. it's the next one. you always drive this slow? how did you make someone i love? that must be why you're always so late. i do not speed. and that's saving me cash with drivewise. my son, he did say that you were the safe option. and that's the nicest thing

he was followed out the door by brett mcgurk who was leading the effort against isis in iraq and syria at the time. this past november it was the navy secretary who resigned, si richard spencer. he resigned in protest when president trump intervened and interfered in the military justice system to mess with criminal cases that he wanted to turn to his political advantage. navy secretary richard spencer's resignation statement was rip roaring. he said, quote, the rule of law is what sets us apart from our a adversaries. good order and discipline is what enabled us against foreign tyranny time and time again. and the constitution and uniform code of military sets us apart. i no longer share the same understanding with the commander in chief who appointed me in regards to the key principle of good order and discipline. i cannot obey an order that i believe violates the sacred oath i took in the presence of my family, my flag, and my faith to support and defend the constitution of the united states. today he became the first endorse one of president trump's. because we know the president d

. >> a haunting assessment, director, from general mccaffrey, from brent mcgurks frankly from courtney'seporting on multiple fronts. we've had lots of conversations about trump's interactions and dealings with his adversaries. it was your assessment that he had been duped by kim jong-un on new year's eve he was talking about peace with iran. what is your assessment of trump's understanding of what he was putting in motion by taking out soleimani? >> well, i think, as has been said, trump has an impulsive character to him. and while the strike against soleimani is, i think, tactically successful and it's cathartic, i think, again as general mccaffrey said, the threat has been unmitigated. my concern is that the decision to strike was done without due consideration for the second and third and fourth order effects. clearly qasem soleimani has been responsible for a lot of iran's activities throughout the region for many, many years including the deaths of americans. but he was seen as the face of opposition to american interference in the area. and so his death and his removal is not going

so bill mcgurk from the journal will join us. lauren simonetti is for melissa. see you at the top of the hour, after the bell. >> after the nonexistent bell. i was listening. thank you. >>> up next tesla's german factory stopped in its tracks but today's countdown closer isn't afraid of that or any other black swans in the market. find out where he thinks there's profits in fear. "the claman countdown" is coming right back. like you, my hands are everything to me. but i was diagnosed with dupuytren's contracture. and it got to the point where things i took for granted got tougher to do. thought surgery was my only option. turns out i was wrong. so when a hand specialist told me about nonsurgical treatments, it was a total game changer. like you, my hands have a lot more to do. learn more at factsonhand.com today. kristina: facebook founder mark zuckerberg spending his presidents' day in europe, speaking out for government regulation for big tech companies. the tech ceo also publishing an op-ed in "the financial times" sunday morning laying out his case saying th

. >> brett mcgurk, special envoy for the dploebl coalition to defeat isis, you spent a lot of time with us today, listening to the press conference and giving us your expert analysis. thank you, brett. >> thank you. >>> coming up, democrat in the senate. we hear from mitch mcconnell on his thinking when it comes to the impending impeachment trial. and the prospect of calling john bolton as a witness. >>> and in the 2020 race they believe that iran is a winning issue for them. is it? a winning issue for them is it? due to afib not caused by a heart valve problem. so if there's a better treatment than warfarin, i'll go for that. eliquis. eliquis is proven to reduce stroke risk better than warfarin. plus has significantly less major bleeding than warfarin. eliquis is fda-approved and has both. what's next? sharing my roots. don't stop taking eliquis unless your doctor tells you to, as stopping increases your risk of having a stroke. eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. don't take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. while taking eliquis

. >> brett mcgurk, thank you for coming on and sharing your expertise with us. >>> up necks, presidentrump goes to maine and takes aim at the state's governor over the coronavirus. >>> later, protesting in a pandemic. will this week's crowds on the streets become next week's crowds at the hospitals? owds at the hospitals? if you have moderate to severe psoriasis, ...little things... ...can become your big moment. that's why there's otezla. otezla is not a cream. it's a pill that treats plaque psoriasis differently. with otezla, 75% clearer skin is achievable. don't use if you're allergic to otezla. it may cause severe diarrhea, nausea or vomiting. otezla is associated with an increased risk of depression. tell your doctor if you have a history of depression or suicidal thoughts or if these feelings develop. some people taking otezla reported weight loss. your doctor should monitor your weight and may stop treatment. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. tell your doctor about your medicines, and if you're pregnant or planning to be. otezla. show more of you. eh, not

another 135 people in iran raising its death toll to 988 and more than 16000 confirmed cases we'll see mcgurk to is a journalist based in rome she joins me now via skype so speaking there about italy another 300 new deaths have been confirmed in the country can you describe to us the impact the virus is having on people's lives. well here in rome for example but throughout the country really we're all in look down and that means you need very specific reasons to be moving around and the whole idea behind this is to slow the spread of the virus we're seeing these immense numbers particularly from that class to our north but the rest of the country everyone is trying to do the apostle and that means if you go out you need to have a self declaration form and you need to fill it in to say whether you're muvico reasons of work with the of a health situation or you're going to carry on sensual activity and that means either shopping for groceries going to the pharmacy or perhaps even picking up the newspaper because you stand so still open people need to be informed that is considered an essential

meghan was really wonderful about allowing people outside her office to work on it and brett mcgurk did not get as much credit in the contemporary accounts. we now know what a great public servant he has been across several administrations, but he was tireless on this issue at the time any many others. so the human elemtn is important. political scientists abstract all of it out and give a number but it loses the human element. historians are better at capturing that. >> at the heart of this project is the difference between policymakers and academics is at the heart of the project. let me add to what peter said. i was struck in the course of this project and in reading the final product about something i had realized earlier on in my career when i was working on the issue of sanctions. this was before i went into government and i was a fellow at the brookings institution. academics kits kept saying sanctions don't work in policymakers used sanctions with abandon. i realised policymakers and academics are just asking different questions and interested in different questions. i think thi

i want to get to another topic, brett mcgurk, and you, director brennan.e violence with the taliban. what is the prospect for peace, and what does peace look like in afghanistan? >> well, i think the key step, i think david ignatius said it earlier on the show, is inter-afghan talks between the afghan government and the taliban. that's something they've never been able to have in 19 years. i want to see if that happens. that's critical. the taliban just put out a statement this morning, too, and said the end game here is all foreign forces leaving the country. that seems to be different than what the u.s. officials are saying about having a residual force to maintain pressure on al qaeda networks and counterterrorism. i think there's a lot to still come out here. we'll see. i think we should be hopeful. i think one of the great diplomats i had the pleasure to work with has done a great job under difficult circumstances in working were the trump administration. we need to be hopeful. the key step will be the inter-afghan talks. we have to support the afghan

>> i think that's exactly the question that is in the case law brett mcgurk our position -- >> your complete either complete injunction nothing or is it your complete without a district court to grant your motion as part and denied in part? >> correct. we sought to quash the speed in full. >> i'm to try one more time. my question to is an hope i can get a yes or no answer here. is it your position that the district court would have the authority in your complaint to grant your request for injunctive relief in part, but not in whole? what is your position on that? >> i reading that is to question. one, does it have the authority and two did it reserve that request in our complaint. >> answer them the both. >> certainly serve as all the appropriate relief which would encompass lesser injunctions. >> the appropriate relief from this accord with encompass narrowing the injunction? i'm not talking about the court of appeals, the district court. >> correct. >> that's what i can't figure out, thank you. i don't have any more question. >> judge rao? >> no. >> thank you, mr. norris. we would give you