PLUS: John Brennan: Trump doesn’t “demonstrate good negotiating skills,” “dishonorable” to say it was “an honor” to meet with Putin
ALSO: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.): “To forgive and forget when it comes to Putin regarding cyberattacks is to empower Putin”
EXCLUSIVE: First Joint Interview with DNC and RNC Party Chairs
JULY 9, 2017 – Former CIA Director John Brennan exclusively joined “Meet the Press” this morning, reacting to President Trump’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday: “He said it’s an honor to meet President Putin. An honor to meet the individual who carried out the assault against our election? To me, it was a dishonorable thing to say.”
“I seriously question whether or not Mr. Putin heard from Mr. Trump what he needed to about the assault on our democratic institutions of the election,” Brennan told moderator Chuck Todd. He also noted that he has not been contacted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller when it comes to the Russia investigation. Watch the full interview.
In an exclusive interview, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) addressed the president’s tweet this morning about working with Russia on cybersecurity to prevent future “election hacking and many other negative things”: “It’s not the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard, but it’s pretty close.”
Graham told Todd that Trump is “doing a good job in Afghanistan, North Korea and ISIL, but when it comes to Russia, he’s got a blind spot. And to forgive and forget when it comes to Putin regarding cyberattacks is to empower Putin and that’s exactly what he’s doing.” Watch the full interview.
This morning’s broadcast also featured an exclusive sit-down with the party chairs (a tradition of the broadcast dating back to the 1960s) – Tom Perez of the Democratic Party and Ronna McDaniel of the Republican Party – for their first joint appearance.
McDaniel said that Democrats and Republicans “do share common values” while Perez said that “Trumpcare … is a perfect example of our differences.” McDaniel also criticized Perez for his previous remarks that “Republicans don’t give a s*** about people,” noting that “that type of rhetoric doesn’t bring people to our party. We have to have reasonable discussions, have a dialogue.” Watch the full interview.
Robert Costa and Ruth Marcus of The Washington Post, Rich Lowry of National Review and NBC News’ Kristen Welker comprised this morning’s roundtable, discussing the president’s trip abroad this past week and his meeting with Putin.
Read the full transcript of this morning’s “Meet the Press” on MeetThePress.com.
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