yeah i find it strange that max boot is calling stephen cohen a put in apologist i like to call max boot a war machine apologist he's an apologist for the military industrial complex he's an apologist for criminals has this guy gotten anything right ever in his career he pushed iraq he was wrong he pushed libya he was wrong he pushed syria he was wrong he pushed ukraine he was wrong it's absolutely amazing that the the if this guy any airtime whatsoever and we can remember i think was three or four of us back to remember that tucker carlson had max boot on show and tucker carlson crushed dollar he crushed him and he showed what an idiot max would match who is an apologist for stupid people around the world but he's very popular ok because he says the right things to the right people well. stephen cohen also has to explain to my example that they still called russia madelyne it's not perfect harbor well i think you know i was very impressed when several u.s. senators and other prominent politicians when they compare the two thousand and sixteen election and then ledged russian method into

yeah i find it strange that max boot is calling stephen cohen a put in apologist i like to call max boota war machine apologist he's an apologist for the military industrial complex he's an apologist for war criminals has this guy gotten anything right ever in his career he pushed iraq he was wrong he pushed libya he was wrong he pushed syria he was wrong he pushed ukraine he was wrong it's absolutely amazing that the the if this guy any airtime whatsoever and we can remember i think was three or four of us back to remember that tucker carlson had max boot on a show and tucker carlson crushed dollar he crushed him and he showed what an idiot max would match who is an apologist for stupid people around the world but he's very popular ok because he says the right things to the right people well. stephen cohen also has to explain to my example that they still called russia mad and it's no of pearl harbor well i think you know i was very impressed when several u.s. senators and other prominent politicians when they compare the two thousand and sixteen election and their ledged russian method

world which is very much i think in line with your readers, a book again for your kind of reader, max boot who use to be quite a neocon and now has written a book on "the corrosion of conservatism." he says what i left the right and that's coming out in september and he really, one of the former conservatives who has been soul-searching has written this very interesting book. >> what books you want to let our audience know that a coming up from norton this fall? >> in september, as i'm sure you're aware, neil degrasse tyson "astrophysics for people in a hurry," and the september we will publish other, "accessory to war" which is a story of relationship between astrophysicists and the military beginning with celestial navigation in the 15th century and up to the present. interest in tracking and ranging, protection and nuclear fusion, and as he puts it, a curious, what did he say, complicity, curious complicity between astrophysics and the military. that will be very interesting. and october we are over the moon to be publishing a one volume american history trade book by jill lepore, harva

as we watch that, i want to bring in cnn global affairs analyst max boot. 's joining us right now. max, you've written a very explosive new article in the "washington post" calling the president illegitimate. explain to our viewers. >> well, this is based on what's happened the last few days. not just the conviction of paul m manafort, former campaign manager, and not just the fact michael cohen his longtime personal lawyer also pleaded guilty to eight felony counts but the fact michael cohen said in court that donald trump, his client, directed him to break federal campaign laws when he paid off these two women who allegedly had affairs with donald trump. so for the first time since watergate, wolf, we have a president who is an unindicted co-conspirator charged with violating federal law. that's an unprecedented situation. and what i believe is that donald trump is actually even more illegitimate than richard -- because nobody imagined that the watergate brea brea break-in won richard nixon the election. was a a landslide. look how close the 2016 election

joining me now, cnn global affairs analyst and "washington post" columnist max boot. president say what you're seeing and what you're reading is not what's happening. so for him, once again, he's attempting to discredit a recording of himself. >> right, john. i would say that donald trump is revealing himself to be a marxist, not karl marx, groucho marx, who said, who are you going to believe? me or your own eyes? clearly he wants his followers to believe him rather than their own eyes. this is taking it to a whole new level. this is basically denying reality in the way that authoritarian dictators always try to do with their followers and to just rewrite the script. >> any guess about why he might be doing it now, why he might be choosing to say that this tape where he talks about russia being a reason for firing james comey, why he's saying he didn't say it. >> why he might want to explain a way a tape on which he confessed obstruction of justice? 9 only issue is why it is taking him so long to try to make these ludicrous claims. i think what you see with the presid

. >> joining me right now, cnn global affairs analyst max boote a long-time friend and colleague.u met the senator back in 2002. what were your first impressions? does humor come to the top of the list? >> absolutely. his humor is very real. he was very irreverent. he was not somebody who took himself overly seriously, unlike most politicians. in fact, a lot of his appeal was the fact he was not a normal politician. unlike donald trump, he did not have to demonstrate his authenticity by vilifying people or by saying ignorant or deranged things. he was always a gentleman, but he also had that kind of caustic wit, some of which you showed before. i think there are other elements of him which were less well known, including the fact he was a great reader of history. that's how we first met. he read a book i'd written and wanted to talk about it. he read all the time. people don't realize that. he traveled all the time. he went all over the world incessantly going to allied countries, meeting with dissidents and freedom fighters. there were so many aspects of john mccain that made him

neo cons and establishment democrats like rachel maddow joined at the hip now you know at these max boots bill crystal's david frum's like they're they're the resistance heroes now or as some like to call it the assistant's which i think is better so so that's what it is and it's crazy because you look at the it's the biggest failures in american history coming together and talking about russia twenty four seven to try to root to continue to meet the relevance like and it's like cancer and herpes you know coming together and getting on m.s. n.b.c. with the you know tumors and sores and telling you come to us come to us will save you from putin it's pathetic wow that's not a pretty picture you know you mentioned bill kristol there and it is amazing that for a long time he was vilified as a warmonger a bloody bill kristol all of by the left and then because they need a an assassin because they need someone with no moral or ethics at all the left to size to bring them up and say well here's a guy you know well sic him on here we know he's dangerous. fairly have no moral compass whatsoever no

neo cons and establishment democrats like rachel maddow joined at the hip now you know at these max boots bill crystal's david frum's like they're they're the resistance heroes now or as some like to call it the assistant's which i think is better so so that's what it is and it's crazy because you look at the it's the biggest failures in american history coming together and talking about russia twenty four seven to try to root to continue to meet be rodents like and it's like cancer and herpes you know coming together and getting on m.s. n.b.c. with the you know tumors and sores and telling you come to us come to us will save you from putin it's pathetic wow that's not a pretty picture. you mentioned bill kristol there and it is amazing that for a long time he has vilified as a warmonger a bloody bill kristol all of by the left and then because they needa an assassin because they need someone with no moral or ethics at all the last decides to bring him up and say well here's a guy you know well sick him on you we know he's dangerous. is a fairly have no moral compass whatsoever now your l

neo cons and establishment democrats like rachel maddow joined at the hip now you know at these max boots bill crystal's david frum's like they're they're the resistance heroes now or as some like to call it the assistant's which i think is better so so that's what it is and it's crazy because you look at the it's the biggest failures in american history coming together and talking about russia twenty four seven to try to root to continue to meet the relevance like and it's like cancer and herpes you know coming together and getting on emmis n.b.c. with the you know tumors and sores and telling you come to us come to us will save you from putin it's pathetic wow that's not a pretty picture. you mentioned bill kristol there and it is amazing that for a long time he has vilified as a warmonger bloody bill kristol all by the left and then because they need a an assassin because they need someone with no moral or ethics at all the left decides to bring him up and say well here's a guy you know well sick him on you we know he's dangerous. have no comp moral compass whatsoever now your latest b

i want to bring in cnn global affairs analyst max boot and molly ball. good evening. >> good evening. max, president trump was on the attack this week, lashing out at everyone, saying that sessions should shut down the mueller investigation, contradicting his national security team on russia, trying to distance himself from paul manafort. what does this tell you about his frame of mind? >> well, first, don, let me just say i have to commiserate with you on going from speaking to king james to talk about to a mere serf like me. i know this has to be a comedown. but we're looking forward to the interview. in terms of trump's state of mind, it's kind of interesting to see because i was looking at the twitter feed just as we came on here. and that's kind of the fever chart of the trump presidency. that's kind of an ongoing brain scan to show where trump was at. it's pretty obvious that a couple of days ago he was having a meltdown because of the start of the paul manafort trial. that's when he was saying jeff session should end this witch-hunt right now, and

i want to bring in abby phillips, cnn global affairs analyst max boot. good evening. what is wrong with this man? >> that's a great question, don. to paraphrase winston churchill, donald trump occasionally does the right thing only after he has exhausted every other alternative. it was sickening to see how hard it was today to get him to pay homage in any way -- >> how small can you be? >> he redefines smallness all the time. it is such a contrast with john mccain who is larger than life. his heroics were almost beyond belief, the kind of life he lived inspires nothing but admiration. we are hearing that expressed. you can see how it is eating away at donald trump. he can't stand to see somebody else getting all this praise. he is lashing out. it's a horrible thing to see from somebody who is supposed to lead the nation, who is supposed to express our highest ideals. donald trump talks a lot about american greatness but he does not exemplify american greatness. john mccain did. >> i said in the open the word statesman. it's a huge loss not only for the senate but for

i will bring in abby phillips, cnn politics reporter and global affairs analyst, max boot. good evening. what's wrong with this man? >> that's a great question, don. to paraphrase winston churchill, donald trump occasionally sometimes does the right thing, but only after he exhausted every other alternative. it was sickening to see how hard it was to get him to do the normal decent human thing and to pay homage in any way whatsoever. >> how small can you be? >> he redefines smallness and it's a contrast with john mccain who is larger than life. his heroics are beyond belief. his inspires nothing but admiration and we hear that expressed. you can see how it eats away at donald trump in his small soul, he can't stand to see someone else get all the praise. it's a horrible thing to see from somebody who is supposed to lead the nation and express our highest ideals and donald trump talks a lot about american greatness, but does not exemplify american greatness. john mccain exemplified american greatness. >> i said in the open the word statesman. i keep using the word statesman.

joining me right now, cnn global affairs analyst, max boot, foreign policy adviser to the mccain, romney and rubio campaign. great to see you, max. >> thanks, kate. >> so at this moment, what will sanctions being slapped back on iran, what do they do now? >> well, there's no question that it will increase the economic pain on iran. you've had the iranian currency already fall in roughly by half this year. and there is unrest in iran, and i'm sure this will contribute to that. the most important part will happen in 90 days when they're going to slap oil sanctions on iran. but, you know, it's not clear to me that the trump administration has any plan. and let me make that actually stronger. i don't think the trump administration has any plan for how to translate these sanctions into actual -- into an actual agreement that would end the iranian nuclear program to a great greater extent than it was already ended under which iran had given up 97% of its material. unilateral sanctions, tough tweets and a lot of hope i don't think will be successful. >> you actually raised something interesting

. >> joining us now is max boot, a cnn global affairs analyst. consulate of foreign relations as well. so what do you think? because there is an exchange of letters between president trump and kim jong-un, talk of a second summit, maybe before the end of this year. but you hear john bolton saying the north koreans are not doing what they were supposed to be doing. >> there's a clear clash here between the president and his national security adviser because bolton is speaking the truth, that the emperor has no close. it this agreement is not resulting in denuclearization, u.s. intelligence suggests they're expanding those programs, and yet donald trump is not willing to admit that. he says he's, quote, very happy, with the results of the singapore summit. bolton is basically calling him out here. i wonder what conversation they had back in the white house. >> you think there's going to be a second meeting? >> there could well be. trump is just determined to ignore all the evidence that the north koreans are not actually denuclearizing and to make

"washington post" columnist max boot. what you're seeing and reading is not what's happening.g to discredit a recording of himself. >> right. i would say he's revealing himself to be a marxist. who said who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes? he wants followers to believe him rather than their own eyes. this is taking it to a whole new level. denying reality in the way that awe authoritarian dictators try to do with followers and rewrite the script. >> a guess about why he might be doing it now? why he might be choosing to say this tape where he talks about russia being a reason for firing james comey. why he say he didn't say it. >> why he explains away a tape which he confessed obstruction of justice. i think what you see with the president is really getting worse. because the facts are turning against him. the last week remember we can't forget this. his own attorney implicated him in two federal crimes. as a result you see a spike in his tweets about the so called rigged witch hunt. he's feeling the heat. he is lashing out. and because the facts are so unfavorab

joining us now, max boot and cnn legal and security analyst and phil, former senior official at the fbi and cia. it is interesting this disconnect that took place, the president reit -- place, the president reiterated in his speech and his officials were so clear in the russia involvement. >> i think the fact the president continues to acknowledge this is exactly why the intel chiefs had to do this. when you have a threat from a foreign adversary, attack, you need the united states to speaker with one voice and that voice usually comes from the president of the united states, to say, this is who we are, this is what our values are. this is important when there is misinformation, part of the attack is a misinformation campaign. the president, consciously or not, is actually doing putin's work for him. he is echoing and amplifying divisive messages putin is hoping to sow and delegitimizing rhetoric. so i think that part of fight willing back is for these intel chiefs is to make this public statement. >> phil, you worked for the cia and fbi in your long career. does it really matter whethe

. >> joining me now, cnn global affairs analyst max boot. senior fellow at the council on foreign relations. and bryan bender, national security correspondent at politico. gentlemen, good to have both you on this evening. so, bryan, i'm going to start with you. we have this whole rand paul situation we've been talking about with russia, this letter of introduction. it's all supposed to be a continuation of diplomatic outreach and it's coming during the same week when russia is being slapped with more sanctions for the uk poisoning. give me your read on all this. >> well, i mean, i think as the congressman pointed out, we live in an era where the traditional means of diplomacy, the traditional means that a president, his foreign policy team, would engage with an ally, with an adversary, has just been kind of thrown out the window. it's the style of president trump and his close aides. they like to do it their way and clearly president trump and senator paul have mended fences since the election and they have some sort of rapport going on and

a piece in "the washington post" by max boot, "he concludes, "without the russian influence effort, irump would not have been even within striking distance of clinton on election day, that is the inconvenient truth. the putin republicans want to admit." fact or fiction? is there evidence? i have not seen evidence of that. there was one guy he was really happy to hear those comments, vladimir putin sitting in the kremlin, popping vodka bottles, celebrating, that some of these countries are doing is effectively serving as a force multiplier for putin's influence campaign. a self-inflicted wound. when we are already under the kremlin's fee to. >> shannon: do you think that it divides people? there is constant talk on capitol hill it as to whether his benefiting hillary or trump or republicans or democrats, when most people who have actually studied it and have seen the evidence say it was all about creating chaos. now we are having these conversations and people continue to run with us narrative. >> vladimir putin hates us all. he hates democrats, republicans, we are all the main enemy.

i'm a republican because republicans don't believe in that anymore, and that's why people like me, max boot have essentially said forget the republican party. a party that is so hostile to the views of john mccain does not deserve our attention, does not deserve our loyalty. and it is a shame, it is really a violation of everything that we believe in that a major party should follow donald trump down this rabbit hole of racism, of xenophobia, of disrespect for the rule of law. those things that you disagree with john mccain on and i disagree with john mccain on are relatively small. what endures is service to the country, of american freedom, of american democracy, of our responsibility in the world. we are a blessed country and it is our responsibility, our duty to free peoples around the world to support them. while we may have small differences, and they are small in comparison, that is entirely missing in our political structure now and the republican party. it has been an ordeal for many of us who have been fans of john mccain to see what's happened to our party, and i think it's going