{"id":2243,"date":"2018-02-04T13:27:20","date_gmt":"2018-02-04T18:27:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=2243"},"modified":"2018-02-04T13:27:20","modified_gmt":"2018-02-04T18:27:20","slug":"mtp-exclusive-priebus-never-felt-that-trump-was-going-to-fire-mueller","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2018\/02\/04\/mtp-exclusive-priebus-never-felt-that-trump-was-going-to-fire-mueller\/","title":{"rendered":"MTP EXCLUSIVE: PRIEBUS \u2018NEVER FELT\u2019 THAT TRUMP WAS GOING TO FIRE MUELLER"},"content":{"rendered":"

EXCLUSIVE: Priebus: \u201cnever felt that there was some kind of collusion or some kind of obstruction situation going on at all in the West Wing\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

PLUS: Brennan: Steele Dossier \u201cdid not play any role whatsoever\u201d in early intelligence assessments<\/strong><\/p>\n

PLUS: Brennan: Nunes \u201cabused the office of chairmanship\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE: Bryant Gumbel: \u201cthe protest is about police brutality and has nothing to do with the military or the flag\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

FEBRUARY 4, 2018 \u2013 In an exclusive interview this morning on \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d former Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump Reince Priebus <\/strong>told moderator Chuck Todd, that \u201cof all the things that we went through in the West Wing, I never felt that the president was going to fire the Special Counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Priebus added, \u201cI think it was very clear by the president’s own words that he was concerned about the conflicts of interest that he felt that the special counsel had. And he made that very clear. Perhaps someone interpreted that to mean something else. But I know the difference between fire that person, why isn’t that person gone, to what I read in that New York Times’<\/em> piece.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the Russia probe, Priebus said, \u201cI’ve never felt that there was some sort of collusion or some kind of obstruction situation going on in the West Wing. I never felt that.\u201d Watch the exclusive interview with former Chief of Staff Reince Priebus<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his first appearance as an NBC News Senior National Security and Intelligence Analyst, former CIA Director John Brennan<\/strong> told Todd that the Steele Dossier \u201cdid not play any role whatsoever\u201d in early intelligence assessments.<\/p>\n

When asked about the June 2016 meeting in Trump Tower, Brennan said it was \u201cfoolish\u201d and \u201cirresponsible,\u201d and added \u201cI find it inexplicable in terms of how that meeting took place and interest in part of individuals, very close to Mr. Trump, who wanted to get dirt on Hillary Clinton from Russians.\u201d<\/p>\n

Referring to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Brennan said he \u201chas abused the office of the chairmanship\u201d of the House Intel Committee, and that it was \u201cappalling\u201d that he did not allow Democrats on his committee to put out their report as well.<\/p>\n

When asked about his successor, CIA Director Mike Pompeo, Brennan said \u00a0\u201csenior members of this Administration who follow Donald Trump\u2019s way of trying to denigrate and condemn everything that happened before them as a way to make them appear that they are doing things better than ever have been previously.\u201d Watch the interview with former CIA Director John Brennan.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Host of HBO\u2019s \u201cReal Sports\u201d Bryant Gumbel <\/strong>exclusively joined \u201cMeet the Press\u201d this morning and, referring to players who have kneeled during the National Anthem, Gumbel told Todd that \u201cthe protest is about police brutality and has nothing to do with the military or the flag<\/a>.\u201d Gumbel was joined by PBS\u2019 Yamiche Alcindor<\/strong>, MSNBC\u2019s Hugh Hewitt<\/strong>, The Washington Post\u2019s Eugene Robinson<\/strong> and The Cook Political Report\u2019s Amy Walter <\/strong>on this morning\u2019s roundtable for insight and analysis. Alcindor addressed the release of the House Intelligence Committee memo on surveillance and noted, the \u201cHashtag, release the memo was way more important than the actual memo.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

Read the full transcript of this morning\u2019s \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on MeetThePress.com.<\/a><\/p>\n

For more from moderator Chuck Todd throughout the week, sign up for the\u00a0\u201cFirst Read\u201d newsletter<\/a>, and subscribe to\u00a0\u201c1947: The Meet the Press Podcast\u201d<\/a>\u00a0for on-demand interviews.<\/p>\n

MANDATORY CREDIT: NBC NEWS\u2019 \u201cMEET THE PRESS WITH CHUCK TODD\u201d\u00a0 <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n