ALSO – EXCLUSIVE WITH SEN. TIM KAINE: TRUMP’S BORDER WALL IS A “VANITY PROJECT” AND “INEFFECTIVE”
PLUS – MICHAEL SCHMIDT AND BENJAMIN WITTES BREAK DOWN THE NEW YORK TIMES REPORT ON THE FBI INQUIRY INTO PRESIDENT TRUMP
JAN. 13, 2019 – Today on Meet the Press, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) said, “As a member of the Judiciary Committee, I’ll consider whatever evidence is produced,” when asked about the recent New York Times report on the FBI inquiry into President Trump working on behalf of Russia.
“I don’t know the details or the specifics there. I know what was reported publicly in the media. I sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, so we will consider any allegations that come forward,” Sen. Cruz told moderator Chuck Todd during the exclusive interview.
Sen. Cruz also did not dismiss the report and said, “I’ve seen the allegations. I want to find out a little bit more about what happened there. I want to learn more than just the allegations in the press.”
When asked to weigh in on Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe, Sen. Cruz said, “When it comes to Mueller and the Russia investigation, the mainstream media, Washington is obsessed with it. And when you get outside the Beltway, I don’t find anybody concerned with this at all.” Sen. Cruz also defended President Trump’s policies on Russia saying, “If you compare, objectively, President Trump’s policies to Russia, compared to President Obama’s policies to Russia, by any measure, President Obama was much easier, was much more gentle, on Russia.”
Sen. Cruz also responded to Rep. Steve King’s recent comments lamenting that the ‘white supremacist’ label is considered offensive, saying, it was “stupid, it was hurtful, it was wrong, and he needs to stop it.” He stopped short of saying he wouldn’t support him in the future but continued, “I think all of us ought to be united, regardless of party, in saying white supremacism, white nationalism is hatred, it is bigotry, it is evil, it is wrong, and I think we need that clarity and I’m certainly going to urge everyone to provide that clarity.”
On the government shutdown, Sen. Cruz said, “I hope on Monday, what we’ll see is, finally, Washington coming together and opening up the government.” He said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) are “playing politics, because they hate Trump. And that’s not a good enough reason for Chuck Schumer and the Democrats to shut down the government.” Watch the full interview.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) also joined the program for an exclusive interview and told Chuck Todd that the report on the FBI inquiry into President Trump will be a “critical issue in the Judiciary Committee hearings about the attorney general nominee.” He continued by saying the FBI “had to have a very deep level of concern about this president to take this step.”
On the Mueller investigation, Sen. Kaine said there are “nearly 100 documented instances of ties between the Trump campaign, transition and administration with Russia, bizarre failure to be honest about meetings, and now this indication that President Trump has gone to unusual lengths to hide the content of discussions with Vladimir Putin. But the right answer is, as you suggest, it is to protect the Mueller investigation at all costs, let it get to its end, make sure that the results are made public, so then can we decide.”
When asked about the debate surrounding the government shutdown, Sen. Kaine said, “We first should reopen government. Why punish people who are applying for food stamps because the president is having a temper tantrum?” “What we don’t want to do is waste taxpayer money on a vanity project that’s ineffective, that the president said Mexico would pay for. But spending massive amounts on border security to keep us safe, Dems do it over and over again and it’s been Republicans that have been blocking it.” Watch the full interview.
Plus, New York Times Correspondent and NBC News National Security Analyst Michael Schmidt and Lawfare Editor-in-Chief and NBC News Legal Analyst Benjamin Wittes joined the program to discuss the recent New York Times report that the FBI opened an inquiry into whether President Trump was secretly working on behalf of Russia. Schmidt said on the program, “We know the Mueller probe inherited it. We know the Mueller probe has spent an enormous amount of time trying to figure out what the president has done in office in regard to the investigation, his interference with it. They’ve talked to all these White House officials. Do we know if there is still this belief and aspect that the president is working for the Russians? I can’t answer that.” Watch the full discussion.
Democratic Pollster and NBC News and MSNBC Political Analyst Cornell Belcher, Republican Strategist and Senior Partner at Squire Patton Boggs Al Cardenas, NBC News National Political Reporter Carol Lee, and Wall Street Journal Columnist and NBC News and MSNBC Political Analyst Peggy Noonan joined the broadcast’s roundtable for insight and analysis on the week in politics. Watch the full panel.
Read the full transcript of Meet the Press this morning and follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest.
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