EXCLUSIVE: Treasury Secretary Mnuchin on Trump Rally Attacks: “These Are Campaign Rally Issues”
EXCLUSIVE: Arizona Sen. Flake (R) on Trump’s Attacks on Free Press: “I Don’t Think It’s a Responsible Thing to Do”
PLUS: Massachusetts Sen. Warren (D) on Trump Meeting with North Koreans: “Worried That They’re Going to Take Advantage of Him”
MARCH 11, 2018 – In an exclusive interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Chuck Todd, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says President Donald Trump meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un “isn’t about elevating anybody” and “a major reason of why they’re having this meeting is because the economic sanctions have had – have – a very big impact on both their economy, and their ability to get pieces of material and other things they need for their weapons programs.”
Denuclearization of the Korean peninsula is “absolutely” still American policy, and “the logistics haven’t been figured out yet” on the meeting location, shared Mnuchin.
When asked about the president’s attacks last night in his Pennsylvania rally, including about Todd himself, Mnuchin told Todd: “These are campaign rally issues… He’s using these vulgarities in the context of a campaign rally and obviously there were a lot of funny moments on that rally.” Watch the full interview.
Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) also addressed Trump’s speech last night and his attacks on the press in an exclusive interview: “I don’t think it’s a responsible thing to do… We should never normalize this kind of behavior, particularly from the president of the United States.” On the president’s decision to meet with North Korea, Flake said: “It looks as if North Korea has come to a point where they believe that they can be treated as a nuclear power.”
Flake ended the interview by saying he believes Trump needs to be challenged in 2020 by someone in the GOP who espouses his views: “It would be a tough go in a Republican primary. The Republican Party is the Trump party right now. But that’s not to say it will stay that way.” Watch the full interview.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), when asked multiple times to pledge serving a six-year term upon reelection this year, told Todd repeatedly: “I am not running for president.”
“I am very worried that they’re going to take advantage of him,” said Warren in reference to the North Koreans meeting with Trump. The senator also responded to The Berkshire Eagle editorial calling for her to take a DNA test: “I know who I am. And never used it for anything. Never got any benefit from it anywhere.” Watch the full interview.
Joining this morning’s roundtable for insight and analysis were Matt Bai of Yahoo! News, Andrea Mitchell of NBC News, Peggy Noonan of The Wall Street Journal and Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post. Mitchell offered analysis of the week’s North Korea developments, telling Todd: “They’ve had a victory by setting the terms and by having the meeting itself, as you were pointing out. This is what all North Korean leaders have wanted. Three generations have wanted a meeting, legitimacy from an American president.” Watch the discussion.
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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