EXCLUSIVE: Short: “I don’t know who knew what when at this point”
EXCLUSIVE: Short: Kelly “has not offered his resignation” and Trump “has absolute confidence” in Kelly
EXCLUSIVE: Flake: it is an “understatement” that the White House mishandled Rob Porter situation
Watts: “‘Release the memo’ is a homerun for the Russians”
FEBRUARY 11, 2018 – In an exclusive interview this morning on “Meet the Press,” White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short told moderator Chuck Todd: “I think there was probably some — in the process some lack of communication between different elements in the White House,” and added, “I don’t know who knew what when at this point.”
About White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Short told Todd: “John Kelly has not offered his resignation. John Kelly is doing an outstanding job.” Short reiterated that President Trump has “absolute confidence in General Kelly,” and said that “John Kelly knows that he serves at the pleasure of the president and he will step aside anytime the president doesn’t want him to be there.”
When asked if the President believes that former White House Staff Secretary Rob Porter is innocent, Short told Todd: “I think the President is shaped by a lot of false accusations against him in the past Chuck. But in talking with President, I think he’s saddened about what happened with Rob, I think he’s very disturbed by it and he’s um very disappointed in it. I think that he believes that the resignation was appropriate.”
On the Democratic memo, Short said that the White House “will be releasing” it after revisions. Short added: “What the President said is that we believe that Congressman Schiff intentionally put in there methods and sources that he knew would need to be redacted. And if we redacted it, then there would be an outcry that said the White House is trying to edit it. So we said take it back, work with the FBI, clean it up, and we’ll release it.” Watch the full interview with White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) also exclusively joined the program and reacted to President Trump suggesting that Democrats were “treasonous” for not standing and applauding during his State of the Union address, telling Todd: “I don’t think that it’s a joking matter to say that somebody is treasonous and he [Trump] ought to stop it.”
Asked if he had confidence in White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, Flake said: “I think the way the White House said, that they could’ve handled the situation better, that’s a bit of an understatement. Yes, they could’ve done a lot better. Particularly with the Rob Porter situation.”
On the upcoming immigration debate, Flake said he thinks “we can get something done this week” and added “we’re going to have something in the Senate that we haven’t had in a while. It’s a real debate on an issue where we really don’t know what the outcome is going to be.” Watch the full interview with Sen. Jeff Flake.
NBC News National Security Analyst Clint Watts also joined the program this morning telling Todd: “‘Release the memo’ is a homerun for the Russians. They don’t need to make a false narrative. Americans are making false narratives against each other. And they just repeat them.”
When asked if anything has been done to protect future elections, Watts responded “no” and added “they’ve worked on the critical infrastructure designation. But the number-one thing we’ve got to do is ensure the integrity of the vote.” Watch the interview with Clint Watts.
Eddie Glaude Jr. of Princeton University, The Wall Street Journal’s Peggy Noonan, NBC News’ Kristen Welker and The Resurgent’s Erick Erickson joined this morning’s roundtable for insight and analysis. Noonan noted: “This administration started out in chaos and disorder. It evolved to chaos and disorder. It is in now chaos and disorder. The president brings chaos and disorder. I think he thinks he flourishes well in it. I think no one else really does.”
Read the full transcript of this morning’s “Meet the Press” on MeetThePress.com.
For more from moderator Chuck Todd throughout the week, sign up for the “First Read” newsletter, and subscribe to “1947: The Meet The Press Podcast” for on-demand interviews.
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NBC NEWS’ “MEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD”
“Meet the Press with Chuck Todd” is where newsmakers come to make news — setting the political agenda and spotlighting the impact Washington decision-making has on Americans across the country. It is the #1 most-watched Sunday public affairs show across the board for the 2016-2017 season, reaching more than three million viewers every Sunday and millions more through social, digital and on-demand platforms. “Meet the Press” brings its authority and influencer interviews to MSNBC with “MTP Daily” weekdays at 5 p.m. ET and to the “1947: The Meet the Press Podcast”. It’s the longest-running show in television history, having celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2017 with the launch of its first-ever film festival in collaboration with the American Film Institute this November. Chuck Todd is the political director of NBC News and the moderator of “Meet the Press“; John Reiss is the executive producer.
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