we're here with the author of "a sacred oath," former secretary of defense mark esper.ou describe steve miller who proposed the outlandsh ideas. the idea of deploying a quarter million troops to the border to deal with caravans which is absurd. when we were having the discussions talking about the unrest in portland, seattle, he would talk about an american dystopia where cities are burning and melee was ruling. to general milley's credit, he carried facts and statistics and said there's only a minority of cities and not many protest and protesters. the general was important to say, this is a law enforcement issue, let state and local deal with it and this is not the place for the military. >> stephen: you don't have to be in the administration to smell the crazy coming off stephen miller. are you surprised guys like thay specifically -- who is so readily crazy and poorly informed and balls-out racist is still getting jobs. he's working for mccormack's campaign in pennsylvania, and he didn't get it, yet stephen miller is still sucking on the g.o.p. political gravy becau

mark esper knew that. many things that could have been worse had he not been in government. he did take the unprecedented step of joining every other living secretary of defense, and condemning donald trump after january 6th. that is remarkable and the american public cannot forget about that. >> alyssa fair griffin, good to have your insight. thank you. >> thank you. >>> the nation's top spy warns that the war in ukraine could escalate further in the months ahead. >> and new covid concerns, a sub variant of the omicron strain is quickly spreading. that's ahead. er 7 million kids develop their passion for learning through our grow up great initiative. and now, we're providingng billions of dollars for affordable home lending programs... as part of 88 billion to support underserved communitities... including loans for small businesses in low and moderate income areas. so everyone has a chance to move forward financially. pnc bank: see how we can make a difference for you. >> the day you get your clearchoice

judy: mark esper.ook is "a sacred oath: memoirs of a secretary of defense during extraordinary times." thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. ♪ judy: extreme heat is gripping large parts of india and pakistan, affecting hundreds of millions of people in one of the most densely populated parts of the world. temperatures in india's capital rose above 100 again today. fred de sam lazaro reports from india. >> may is the hottest month in india, a time when schools are out and kids learn various ways to cope with the stifling heat, like sharing this muddy pond with the water buffalo. >> it is too hot inside. the water has stopped coming to our house. my mother told me go to pond and take a bath. >> for many mothers, the daily routine makes it difficult to escape. >> it's really hot here. when i cook, i get flashes of heat from the stove. it's hot even in the shade. >> temperatures like these are not unusual for may. but this year they came early, really early, and across a much wider swath of the country

ju: during the 18 months mark esper served as secretary of defense, he clashed at times with former president trump over proposals to use the military in ways esper thought were inappropriate. trump fired esper in november 2020, a few days after trump lost re-election. i sat down with esper yesterday to discuss his experiences, which he details in a new book, "a sacred oath: memoirs of a secretary of defense druing extraordinary times." ma esper, thank you very much for joining us in this book. i think there are so many questionable, even astonishing ideas that you write about that emerged from either former president trump or the people around him, that it was hard to keep track of them all. i wrote i wrote down firing missiles from the us into mexico to go after the drug cartels, striking iran, sending 250,000 u.s. troops to the southern border. how is it that none of these actually came to happen? >> well, i think, judy, that there were myself and others in the cabinet who successfully, at times either individually or together, were able to talk the president and others out of these ideas,

>> mark esper: it's mixed. they had a shaky start. ve never taken the military option off the table, for example. i don't understand the reluctance to provide the ukrainians with migs. >> o'donnell: fighter jets. >> esper: fighter jets, that's right. but, since then, it's picked up. i think we're now flowing more supplies and material and weapons into ukraine. i think they've done a good job of bringing the allies along, which is important. you-- you have to act collectively. and you have to give some credit, by the way, to the congress, which i think-- you know, in the few-- few issues that has unified congress has been this one, support for ukraine. and in some ways, they've led the administration. so, it's good to see now congress and the executive branch acting together, reasonably aligned, to help the ukrainian people. >> o'donnell: tomorrow, may 9, marks an important day on the russian calendar-- victory in world war ii. >> esper: well, i think the conventional wisdom right now seems to be that by may 9th, putin is going to try a

the jaw-dropping accusations former defense secretary mark esper told "60 minutes" about his time working for then-president trump. > and nationwide mnt coti before she aedped >>ll we begin with the war in ukraine and the latest atrocity carried out by russian forces. you are looking at what the is left of a school in eastern ukraine that was being used as a shelter. the building was hit by russian bombs, and now more than 60 people are feared dead. meanwhile this morning, in moscow russian troops marched through the streets to mark vctory day. russian president vladimir putin led the national holiday which marks the defeat of the nazis in world war ii. with the very latest.in new yor- good morning. >> reporter: anne-marie, good morning. during those celebrations, we heard directly from vladimir putin just a short time ago. he is trying to rally russians by suggesting his invasion of ukraine is unfinished business from world war ii, falsely saying ukraine is controlled by nazis. and he also claimed that russia had to act because the west was planning its own invasion of russian lands. it

says mark esper was weak and totally ineffective, and because of it, i had to run the military. esper saying he suggested shooting protesters, trump says this is a complete lie, and ten witnesses can back it up. but he doesn't provide the specific witness names. >>> act now or pay for it later. the white house warning about a covid surge this fall if we don't prepare for it. stay with us. you're live in the cnn news roroom. ous pepper jack cheesese, and kicking itit up a notch with smoky- baja chipotle sauce? yep, they're constantly refreshshing. y'all get our own commercial! subway keeps refreshing and- ♪ three times the electorlytes and half the sugar. ♪ pedialyte powder packs. feel better fast. when a normal day is anything but normal, we fit your schedule, with our unique tub over tub process installed in as little as a day. bath fitter. it just fits. visit bathfitter.com to book your free consultation. you know liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need? oh, like how i customized this scarf? wow, first time? check out this backpack i mad

>> yeah, [laughs] listen i sincerely hope mark esper booksellers many copies as meghan mccain's.within that. it's interesting because obviously trump is a monster, but he's also a dad, and maybe he wanted to bomb the jakarta's cause it was the only way to get -- stop doing cocaine. [laughs] when you think of it that way gives you a little bit of empathy for donald trump. i love the idea that no one would find out, you know he would've tweeted about it before the bombs landed, he would've tweeted look out, cancun. and then they would've exploded. so, there's no way no one would've found out [laughs] we would've found out immediately. >> -- to get out of mexico. he would've warned, he would've said something to get ted cruz you might want to leave mexico, i heard something's incoming. >> ted cruz stay in mexico. i think you would encourage them to remain there actually [laughs] . >> maria, glad you want to say something, go i? had >> you were speaking, today's mother's day and -- they remind me of donald trump said no one's gonna know. i have a picture of my son with its green all

so good to have you with us today, mark esper. the book and thanks for joining us. i want to focus on this question as a former secretary of defense and what you think about where this war is right now. if it's true that we're entering a more escalatory and highly unpredictable phase, what do you think that says about what we need to be prepared for in the future with this war? >> yeah, well first of all, thanks. great to be with you. let me say this much. the assessment that you portrayed from the dni is a sober one. seems accurate to me. for vladimir putin, it's been a strategic failure to date. he's managed to push ukraine into the arms of the west, deeper. he's brought more nato forces on to his borders. he's unified nato and i hope soon nato will admit two more countries, sweden and finland and shore up the northern flank of the alliance. not just a strategic failure but at the tactical level, he cannot consolidate additional gains in the donbas. they seize one town one day and the next day the ukrainians fight back and retak

our "60 minutes" interview with former secretary of defense mark esper. the tense standoff. >> i just turned squarely around to him, faced him and said, "i don't have a quarter million troops to send on some ridiculous mission to the border." >> o'donnell: and a field of dreams for a young yankees fan. the special moment between fans of two rival teams. >> this is the "cbs evening news" with norah o'donnell reporting from the nation's capital. >> o'donnell: good evening, and thank you for joining us on this thursday night. as we come on the air tonight, public protests are spreading across the nation, following the leaked draft decision from the supreme court that would end federal protection of abortion rights. well, the demonstrations have ben mostly peaceful so far. there is growing concern about potential violence leading up to the official ruling. fences have gone up around the supreme court as crowds are expected to grow in the days and weeks ahead. and cbs news has learned that the justices themselves have been given extra security while several ju

i'm jonathan lemire. >>> a newly-released excerpt from former defense secretary mark esper's new booklimpse into how senior white house officials and cabinet members would try to steer former president trump away from shall we say from some unusual ideas. esper writes quote i had only been on the job for a few weeks now. so this was my first encounter with trump in this mode. it wouldn't be my last. some of the things he was proposal were outlandish. such as a complete withdrawal of u.s. forces from south korea. or the pullback of all military and diplomatic personnel from africa. shut down the embassies in africa, he often said. and bring our people, u.s. diplomats home. none of this was in our nation's interests, and as i calmly responded with facts, data, and arguments, i saw some irritation in him. i was the quote new guy pushing back. i knew right then and there that this job would be far more challenging than i had anticipated to say the least. he gives examples of one of those examples, a surprising request from trump at a meeting of national security council. i'm quoting esper

mark esper joins us. about what general macarthur would do today with all of his controversy within the republican party the middle 20th century, isolationism and that. what would general macarthur do with his modern defense department that we have? william: it is a great question, and thank you for the introduction. macarthur, we would consider him today to be a combatant commander. but for west pointers and others in the military, we must recall his famous saying about duty, honor, and country. that is the west point motto. he said those three hallowed words dictate what you want to become a what you can be, and what you will be. it was that phrase and that saying that in some ways guided me in my tenure as both secretary of the army and secretary of defense. tom: i'm fascinated by your thoughts. this is a very sophisticated word, so i don't know if you saw this at west point, the ginorm ous nato exercises going on right now from estonia down through lithuania and throughout. are we ready for this new w

mark esper out with a stunging account of donald trump's suggestion suggestions. the details next on "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. mitchell reports" only on msnbc. . i had to get help somewhere along the line to stay competitive. i discovered prevagen. i started taking it and after a period of time, my memory improved. it was a game-changer for me. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. 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. i still had bad days, 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 increas

. >>> former defense secretary mark esper joins us to discuss his new memoir. allergrgies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase dailyly stos your body from overreacting to allergrgens al season long. psst! psst! flonase all good. [bacon sizzles] [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ woo! shhhh. i think she's still awake. don't worry. the lexus rx built for modern families. $1,500 lease cash available on 30 month 2022 rx lease programs. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you can framebridge just about anything. and we have. spacemen. jojo. uncle murray's medals. 17 antique keys. man with peach. the unofficial wedding photos. portrait of an artist. the top of kilimanjaro. a million custom framed pieces and counting. you can framebridge just about anything. framebridge. live life, frame more. >>> in russia today, it was victory day, annual remembrance of the soviet defeat of nazi germany world war ii but for all the examination vladimir putin might declare war, he he did not. there was, as you see, no shortage of pom

mark esper joins us next. you are watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc."ana mitchell reports" on msnbccome t call ourselves bikers anymore? i mean, "riders" is cool, but "bikers"...is really cool. -seriously? -denied. can we go back to meeting at the rter? the commute here is brutal. denied. how do we feel about getting a quote to see if we can save with america's number one motorcycle insurer? should flo stop asking the same question every time? -approved! -[ altered voice ] denied! [ normal voice ] whoa. ready to style in just one step? introducing new tresemme one step stylers. five professional benefits. one simple step. totally effortless. styling has never been easier. tresemme. do it with style. [bacon sizzles] [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ woo! (woman) oh. oh! hi there. you're jonathan, right? the 995 plan! [bacon sizzles] ♪ [electronic music plays] ♪ yes, from colonial penn. your 995 plan fits my budget just right. excuse me? aren't you jonathan from tv, that 995 plan? yes, from colonial

in an interview with 60 minutes, mark esper described some of the dangerous ideas that were coming fromx president and his inner circle, that he says, quote, could have taken the country in a dark direction. >> at various times, doing certainly the last year of the administration, we have folks in the white house, proposing to take military action against venezuela, to strike iran. at one point, if somebody proposed we blockade cuba, these ideas would happen, it seemed, every few weeks, something like this would come up. we have to swap them down. >> and donald trump even proposed ordering the united states military to actually shoot americans, as this happened during a meeting in june of 2020 of course, it was when trump was furious about protests against the murder of george floyd. and he was considering, at the time, according to esper, sending thousands of troops into the streets of washington, d. c.. >> the president's ranting at the room. he's using a lot of, you know, foul language. you are all fin losers. and then he says to the vice president, mike pence, he's using the same la

think if mark esper, mark milley, and bill barr, i know you're shocked when i give you that list.about the choices they could have made differently. >> i just need a drink. >> think about the choiced they could have made differently, where we would be today. think about the choice that vice president pence made that had he not been so furious, we would not have seen the certification of that election. so, i think you're going to see -- and this is tying together the two segments, and a point that basil and also tim made earlier, which is, okay, this democracy was stress tested to the nth, nth degree. the 25th amendment -- mark esper could have been part of a group that said, wait a minute, this is bonkers, and we need to all get together at the burger king tomorrow night and vote on the 25th amendment with or without the vice president. and one of those recommendations i'm hearing is going to be about exactly that. when do you say, i've had enough of hearing the president say we're going to shoot people. i need all of you to gather with me to discuss whether he is appropriate to l

. >>> chilling new revelations from trump's former defense secretary mark esper. according to "the new york t times" in his upcoming memoir, writing that they don't have control of their own country, when mr. esper raised various objects, mr. trump said we could shoot some patriot missiles and take out the labs quietly adding no one would know it was us. joining us now, cnn chief political respondent and state of the union co-anchor dana bash and analyst gloria borger. always a treat to have you join us here in the morning. no one will know it is us. what do you think about this revelation? >> first of all, everyone will know. and i think it is just one more thing that you can't believe that you've heard. and the question that i have really after learning of these revelations and this book is why esper didn't say anything. this is dangerous. and i know that he writes in the book that he felt he was last defense and he had to stay there for the good of the american public, but there has to be some way beyond that to kind of hold a president in check and go to the c

you'll see him soon on book tv as well as trump administration defense secretary mark esper who has a memoir out a sacred oath. also longtime presidential adviser david gergen looks at what he thinks makes a great leader in hearts on fire. and tarika lee takes an alternative look at a long time british icon in winston churchill. his times his crimes. now another news two book festivals have returned as in person events this month. the gaithersburg maryland book festival takes place in the town square on may 21st and the san antonio fair happens at the central library that same day. also want to note that the senate chaplain admiral barry black has a new book coming out. it's for children, and it's called a prayer for our country. we also want to share with you some of the current best-selling nonfiction books. this is according to amazon former defense secretary mark espers memoir of his time in the trump administration made the list in its first week of publication. bill o'reilly and martin dugards killing the killers is a look at how the us hunts terrorists. in this will not pass ne

several of the top officials accompanied the then president across the square, including esper and mark has a new book detailing his time with trump. here's what he told "60 minutes" about the oval office meeting that proceeded. >> it was the most disturbing thing that the president said during that meeting on june 1st? >> the president is ranting at the room, he's using a lot of foul language. you all are f'ing losers. then he said to the vice president, he's using the same language and looking at pence. >> he called mike pence an f'ing loser. >> he was looking at him when he was saying it. it really caught my attention. i thought we're in a different spot now. he's going to finally give a direct order to deploy pair troopers into the treats of washington, d.c. and i'm thinking with weapons and bayonetings and this would be horrible. >> what specifically was he suggesting that the u.s. military should do to the p protesters? >> he says, can't you just shoot them? just shoot them in the legs or something. he is suggest ing that's what w should do. we should bring in the troops and shoot

i might also say former secretary ofth the army mark esper, colonel retired united states army mark esper come served in uniform on active duty, served in thene army national guard, served in the army reserve. one of the few people i know who served in all three components of the united states army or distinguished 21 year career. dr. esper, phd, vice president as per of one of the largest defense and aerospace companies that we have in our defense industrial base. professional staff member on the senate foreign relationste committee, had a policy on the house armed services committee, national security adviser to one of thehe most distinguished senators fred thompson, a very varied career and you brought extensive background to your role as secretary of defense and we hear today to discuss your book which is entitled "a sacred oath: memoirs of a secretary of defense during extraordinary times." i and i would like to start by sayingm that i believe, if i am correct, that when you graduated as a second lieutenant from west point you raise your right hand and you said i, mark esper, do sole

mark esper may have done things. again, we're talking, though, about difference between a situation that's not good but stable and a situation that -- where things absolutely fall through the floor. >> yeah. >> no easy decisions made in there for the people that went into the trump administration. >> all right. we'll be looking forward to having that conversation this morning. a lot of really great questions to discuss with former defense secretary esper. >>> let's start in ukraine. the southern port city of odesa once again came under intense russian attack yesterday. a barrage of rockets hit a shopping mall and a warehouse, killing one person and injuring five others. local officials say at least seven missiles were fired from the russian-controlled crimea region. nbc news has not been able to independently verify that claim. the attack also forced the european council president, who was visiting the city at the time, to take shelter. this is the second deadly strike on the crucial port city in as many days. at lea

. >> brennan: former trump secretary of defense mark esper was with us on "face the nation" recently and he revealed some pretty shocking things that he witnessed when he was part of the administration, unconstitutional, illegal, immoral actions, firing missiles into mexico, shooting american protesters in the legs. did you know that these types of ideas were being considered at that time? >> a few of them, not those specific ones, but some others that he talks about, and people would call me from the except gone and tell me, you know, we are wrestling with how to respond to this. so i had some flavor of it, but none of the kind of detail that mark esper has in his book. >> brennan: do you believe president trump running for office again would present that threat to national security? >> it would concern me. >> brennan: that's a very diplomatic phrase. >> yes. that's where i am. (fisher investments) in this market, you'll find fisher investments is different than other money managers. (other money manager) different how? aren't we all just looking for the hottest stocks? (fisher inve

let's turn now to our interview with former defense secretary mark esper.oval office during a tense standoff over what he calls a ridiculous plan to send 250,000 troops to the u.s.-mexico border. on this sunday's "60 minutes," he reveals more details from a new book, his new book, "a sared oath," which he says was fact checked at the highest levels of the pentagon. who suggested that we send a quarter million u.s. troops to the border? >> stephen miller. we're in a meeting waiting for the president to come out. we're standing around the resolute desk, and he's behind me. and this voice just starts talking about the caravans are coming and we need to get troops to the border. and we need a quarter million troops. and i think he's joking. and then i turn around and i look at him, and these dead-pan eyes, clearly he is not joking. and so, i say something like, "well, look, d.h.s. can handle whatever caravans are coming up. they've done so in the past." and he repeats, "no, we need a quarter million troops." and i just turned squarely around to him, faced him a

you can see more of our interview with former defense secretary mark esper sunday night on "60 minutesthe w.n.b.a.'s 26th season is kicking off without one of its biggest stars. u.s. officials say brittney griner has been wrongfully detained in russia since mid- february. there is a full court press to free the phoenix mercury all-star. here's cbs' nikole killion. >> one on one, griner. >> reporter: instead of being part of the opening lineup... >> griner turns, forces and finishes. >> reporter: ...brittney griner's initials and jersey number 42 will be emblazoned on the hard wood by all 12 teams as the w.n.b.a. season officially tips off. >> it's nice we are doing the floor thing. i wish she was here physically. it's just not the same without her. >> reporter: allie quigley and courtney vandersloot both played with griner in russia before her arrest in february at a moscow airport on drug charges. >> we were obviously there when it happened, and it could have been any of us. >> reporter: griner's wife, sharel posted a video of her hugging brittney while social media tributes have pour

mark esper joins me here and says what he saw and why he's speaking out now. >>> welcome to "meet the press daily." i am chuck todd. there's panic in pennsylvania among some republicans as the party faces, you can call it, a monster of its own creation. some fear it could cost them in the battleground state that could cost them the senate. kathy barnett, the candidate drawn from the far right world that has been curated and seated by former president trump and his allies. judging by how everybody is acting in the last 48 hours, she's ahead in some tracking polls because all of a sudden a world of hurt is coming down on her paid for by oz and mccormick. it could cost them the seat being vacated by pat toomey, somebody who voted for impeachment of the last president. now in an exclusive interview, barnett told my colleague that her notoriety may be new but her campaign has been around for a year and she believes it represents the true will of pennsylvania republicans. >> yes, i was trying to tell whoever would listen that when i am walking into these rooms that were filled, and i would

howard: after the break, why does mark esper wait until he's pushing a book to make a whole bunch of♪ ♪ when someone asked for my medicare number in a text, i knew it was a scam. nice catch. and, your mother knew it wasn't a real email. go, mom! - i don't share my medicare number with strangers. - if you get a call, text or email - strike! - asking for your medicare or personal information, - delete! - shut it down. - nope! learn more at medicare.gov/fraud. howard: mark esper, the former pentagon chief fired by donald trump after election, is on a media blitz with plenty of serious allegations against the former president, and a few journalists are asking why he saved this for his book. >> why now in a book? why didn't you speak out during the trump administration? >> it's very simple. if i spoke out at the time, i would be fired, number one. and secondly, i had no confidence that anyone who came in behind me would not be a real trump loyalist. >> do you think donald trump was a threat to to democracy? >> i think that that given the events of january 6th, begin how he has undermined

all this in his new book, written by trump's defense secretary mark esper. mber 2020, only to be fired by a tweet six days after the presidential election. he joins us now. secretary esper, i want to ask you about those shocking claims in a moment. but first, the news of the day. we found out that the house select committee investigating the insurrection is sending subpoenas to kevin mccarthy and four other house republicans. what's your reaction? >> you know, jake, as you mentioned, it's breaking news. i haven't had a chance to find out what's going on. i think it's important at the end of the day that the january 6th committee get to the bottom of what happened and understand it. make sure there is accountability and prevent this from happening again. it was a tragic day in our nation's history. >> we learned in he cent days that kevin mccarthy was thinking about at one point or discussing invoking the 25th amendment that allows a president to be removed from office. he was doing this in the days after january 6th. he concluded it would take too long. there

that's right, captain bonespurs had to run the military. [ laughter ] for mark esper.nd we know that's a lie because, unlike everything else he ran, the military didn't go bankrupt on his watch. [ cheers and applause ] it's really almost unfathomable that this imbecile was running our country. but that might not even be the craziest story esper told last night. >> the president pulls me aside on at least a couple of occasions and suggests that maybe we have the u.s. military shoot missiles into mexico. >> shoot missiles into mexico for what? >> he would say to go after the cartels. >> you politely pushed back on the idea. did president trump really say no one would know it was us? >> yes. [ laughter ] >> jimmy: "no one would know it was us"? could've been anyone! could've been canada, puerto rico. could have been the mexicans bombing themselves! [ laughter ] this is a recurring fantasy of trump's. you know, last month he suggested we put chinese flags on our fighter jets and go bomb the russians in ukraine. of course they would know it was us! our missiles literally ha

suncare brand used most by dermatologists and their families, neutrogena® for people with skin. >>> mark esper wanted to bomb drug cartels in mexico. new york times just published stunning revelations from esper's new book explaining how trump proposed firing missiles at drug labs in mexico to attempt to stop drugs from flowing into the u.s. that's right. firing missiles at a u.s. neighbor and ally, mexico. >> when esper pushed back, he recounts president trump saying we could just shoot some patriot missiles, take out the labs quietly adding no one would know it was us. joining us is ron brownstein senior editor for "the atlantic." there is the craziness of the missile coaccount as we know. what stood out to me, from this in the new york times is esper warning his subordinates to be on high alert for unusual calls from the white house in the leadup to the election. given where we are at this point, with all the revelations that we have heard, with all the accounts that have come out, since donald trump left office, do they still shock at nothis point and what is the purpose they're serving fo

trump's former defense secretary mark esper, he's continued his book tour today.t to show a bit of what he said to our colleague nicole wallace. >> not everybody who served in the trump administration was a bad person. and it goes back to there's a lot of good people serving, not because they were there to serve donald trump, or the republican party. they were there to serve the country. we need people to serve because, look, if people don't serve, who are you left with? >> okay, even if what he is saying is absolutely right, hallelujah, praise to lord. i want to know, who's the target audience for mark esper for, debra, for bill barr's book? it's clearly not trump supporters, and people who don't support donald trump aren't buying into any of this. they're saying what the heck you do anything when you are an office, nobody wants to hear about it now. who are they writing these books for? >> for themselves. and to the idea that it's a very lucrative position to come out of an administration as volatile and divisive as trump was, and have a book deal, and then go o

in his new book, ex-defense secretary mark esper writes that despite his hatred of press leaks, formersident trump was "the biggest leaker of all." said trump, "well, that's the last time i show him the area 51 aliens -- oh, damn it! [ light laughter ] president biden criticized republicans at a fundraiser last night for their recent attacks on disney and said, quote, "they're going to storm cinderella's castle before this is over. oh, buddy, i hate to tell you, if they're storming anything, it's the hall of presidents. [ light laughter ] also, that's me, right [ light laughter ] i mean, imagine -- finding -- that's how i found out i was a president. [ laughter ] president biden told a small gathering at a democratic fundraiser last night that it's gonna be hard to maintain the majority in both houses of congress, especially since they don't have it in the first place. [ light laughter ] arizona senator kyrsten sinema appeared on the senate floor yesterday wearing a pink tie-dyed shirt that said, "no thanks." i don't know what that means except that arizona elected a senator who only s

mark esper paints a picture of an embattled president, he was concerned about how trump was going to use the military. >> i had this very private meeting with general milley and general dan hokanson. people watched my calendar so at the end of the meeting i said to general hokanson who is the head of the national guard and i have to say to him, dan, if in the next few days, on the day following election, if you get a call from the white house, where you're asked to deploy troops or deploy the guard or whatever, immediately phone me. i needed to have some type of warning mechanism in place. i needed a way to make sure i could intervene. >> you needed a circuit breaker? >> to go to the white house to go to the president to do whatever could if it was some misuse of the military or politicization of the military in this context. >> o'donnell: what is interesting to me in reading the book is how much time you were actually on the offensive. like you were anticipating and drawing out scenarios, and to avoid a worst case scenario. >> as i describe in the book once president trump beats imp

that was former defense secretary mark esper in june 2020 going on the record at the time because heve-duty u.s. troops should not be used to quell the protests around the white house that were happening in the wake of the murder of george floyd. now according to a scoop from our friends over at axios, expert and a brand-new book will say that trump sitting in the oval office asked esper about the demonstrators saying this, quote, can't you just shoot them? just shoot them in the legs or something, end quote? we should tell you right now, those of us at nbc have not read the book yet that a representative for the publisher confirms that passage and asked for axios reports. the group was reviewed in whole or in part by three dozen four-star generals, senior civilians and cabinet members and some of them had witnessed what esper witnessed so they could corroborate it. we're back with carol and frank. >> carol, i know you had incredible reporting on the strain and the extraordinary inappropriateness of donald trump, but i hadn't seen this reporting that he wanted protesters shot in the

. >> i am honored and privileged to be here this morning with a former secretary of defense mark esper. i would also say secretary ofmy the army mark esper, colonel retired united states army, served in uniform on active duty, served in the army national guard, served in the army reserve part one of the few people i know that served in all three components of the united states army for a distinguished 20 career. doctor esper ph d, vice president of the largest defense arrow space in our defense industrial base. professional staff member on the senate foreign relations committee. orhedda policy on the house armd services committee paid national secured advisor 20 most distinguished editors, fred thompson. a varied career and you brought extensive background to your role as secretary of defense. we are here to discuss your book which is entitled the sacred oath memoirs of the secretary of defense through an extraordinary time. i would like to start by saying that i believe, if i am correct, when you graduated as a second lieutenant from west point you raise your right hand. he said i mar

. >>> let's turn now to our interview with former defense secretary mark esper. he takes us inside the oval office during a tense standoff over what he calls a ridiculous plan to send 250,000 troops to the u.s./mexico border. on this sunday's "60 minutes," he reveals more details from a new book, his new book "a sacred oath," which he says was fact-checked at the highest levels of the pentagon. who suggested that we send a quarter million u.s. troops to the border? >> stephen miller. we're in a meeting waiting for president to come out. we're standing around the resolute desk, and he is behind me. and this voice just starts talking about caravans are coming, and we need to get troops to the border. and we need a quarter million troops. and i think he is joking. and then i turned around, and i look at him. and these dead pan eyes, it's clearly he is not joking. and so i say something like well, look, dhs can handle whatever caravan are coming up. they have done so in the past. he repeats. no, we need a quarter million troops. and i turn squarely around to face him

secretary mark esper. >> thank you. signing of the agreement should be equated with the actual withdrawal? >> first, trey, great to be with you. i would say, no. signing the agreement was not a mistake. we need to have a resolution to the conflict in afghanistan, it could not go on for generations. the american people already committed over a trillion in taxpayer dollars, we committed our service members. over 2400 lost their lives in afghanistan. time to find an end to the conflict, only way to solve it was a political agreement. we tried military solution that did not work. i found a plan baked at that point in time, i said i could support is provide it is conditions-based. that meant we live up to our end of the agreement but taliban did as well, they failed to do. we failed to make them do so, that is you know at the end of my tenure, i sent a classified memo to president saying we should go no further below 4500 troops until the taliban lives up to their end of the agreement. trey: one more question about afghanist

there are new revelations in the book by mark esper, just to look at some of the crazy things he said and when rudy giuliani gave the speech about venezuela with sydney powell it seems so wacky, but then when you read in about how donald trump could have operationalized his desire to seize voting machines, this is in "the new york times" story. when giuliani read a draft ordered to have federal agencies seize voting machines he told trump that the military can only be used if there was clear-cut evidence of foreign interference in the election. can someone examine the conduct and work backward from that? >> does that sound pham familiar to seize voting machineses? >> look, he's daf, but he is also braisen, sin and shamelesses and he propolls theity innive and he's having the american people. it is it is so p/e benign hu of trumpism and back to jackie's point. it's true. they have 800 witnesses and they are confident. i spoke on my podcast with congressman rankin that they have a few exceptions and they don't involve giuliani like the one phone call with pence. everything in there, the

. >> also stunning revolutions from mark esper. hear the absurd instructions he got from donald trump. >> and we'll go live to alabama for the latest on the e ongoing manhunt. ssional. ♪ i i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yl) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirtgrams of protein, e gram of sugar, and nutrients to sport immune health. ♪ ♪ what do you think healthier looks like? ♪ ♪ with a little help from cvs... ...you can support your nutrition, sleep, immune system, energy...even skin. and before you know it, healthier can look a lot like...you. ♪ ♪ cvs. healthier happens together. do your eyes bother you? because after all these emails my eyes feel like a combo of stressed, dry and sandpaper. luckily, there's biotrue hydration boost eye drops for instant moisture. biotrue uses naturally inspired ingredients. and no preservatives. try biotrue lemons. lemons. lemons. the world is so full of lemons. wh

the former defense secretary mark esper has been on a book tour.oot protesters outside the white house in the summer of 2020 asking, quote, can you just shoot them in the legs or something? how wild is it that the man who is supposed to uphold our constitutional rights apparently asked about shooting protesters and no one in the administration, not esper, not general millie, the attorney general barr thought at the time that they should go public with that? >> yeah, i think that's the incredible challenge of dealing with all of these former senior trump fiofficials and having if finished a draft of a book about trump that is going to come out in september, we are talking to sources constantly many who have not been public. their accounts are credible on the one hand hand. mark esper resisted donald trump in a number of ways that never became public at the time. again if people were publicly protesting trump, he would have gotten rid of them even sooner. and a whole different category of filks would have come in. so it's not a simple question, but t

of the army mark esper. colonel retired united states army mark hesper served in uniform on active duty served in the army national guard served in the army reserve one of the few people. i know that served in all three components of the united states army for a distinguished 21-year career. doctor esper phd vice president esper of one of the largest defense in aerospace companies that we have in our in our defense industrial base. professional staff member on the senate foreign relations committee had a policy on the house armed services committee national security advisor to one of the most distinguished senators fred thompson a very varied career in you brought extensive background to your role as secretary of defense, and we're here today to discuss your late your book, which is entitled to sacred oath memoirs of a secretary defense do an extraordinary time in i like to start by seeing that i believe if i'm correct that when you graduated as a second lieutenant from west point you raised your right hand

of the army mark esper. colonel retired united states army mark hesper served in uniform on active duty served in the army national guard served in the army reserve one of the few people. i know that served in all three components of the united states army for a distinguished 21-year career. doctor esper phd vice president esper of one of the largest defense in aerospace companies that we have in our in our defense industrial base. professional staff member on the senate foreign relations committee had a policy on the house armed services committee national security advisor to one of the most distinguished senators fred thompson a very varied career in you brought extensive background to your role as secretary of defense, and we're here today to discuss your late your book, which is entitled to sacred oath memoirs of a secretary defense do an extraordinary time in i like to start by seeing that i believe if i'm correct that when you graduated as a second lieutenant from west point you raised your right hand