{"id":868,"date":"2015-07-19T13:16:59","date_gmt":"2015-07-19T17:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/press.nbcnews.com\/?p=868"},"modified":"2015-07-19T13:16:59","modified_gmt":"2015-07-19T17:16:59","slug":"mtp-exclusives-sen-cotton-trump-should-apologize-retract-mccain-comments-uk-pm-cameron-iran-deal-better-than-the-alternative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nbcuniversalnewsgroup.com\/nbcnews\/2015\/07\/19\/mtp-exclusives-sen-cotton-trump-should-apologize-retract-mccain-comments-uk-pm-cameron-iran-deal-better-than-the-alternative\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: SEN. COTTON: TRUMP SHOULD \u2018APOLOGIZE & RETRACT\u2019 MCCAIN COMMENTS"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fmr. Gov. Rick Perry: Until Trump Apologizes to McCain and to Veterans, He Doesn\u2019t Have \u201cCharacter or Temperament\u201d for White House<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Fmr. Gov. Rick Perry: Boy Scouts \u201cBetter Off If They Didn\u2019t Have Openly Gay Scoutmasters\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sec. John Kerry: Arms & Missiles \u201cWere Thrown In As An Add-On to This Nuclear Agreement\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sen. Tom Cotton: \u201cUnlikely\u201d Iran Will Change Behavior. \u201cJust Nine Years Ago, They Were Trying to Kill Me and My Soldiers\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

JULY 19, 2015 – In an exclusive interview with NBC News\u2019 \u201cMeet the Press,\u201d Sen. Tom Cotton<\/strong> (R-AR) told moderator Chuck Todd he disagrees with Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump\u2019s comments on John McCain, recommending \u201che apologize and retract them, and then get back to the campaign that he’s been running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Cotton also voiced his opposition to the future of the Iran nuclear deal: \u201cAnd if you think Iran is going to change their behavior in a decade, I can tell you how unlikely that is. Because just nine years ago, they were trying to kill me and my soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

British Prime Minister David Cameron<\/strong> also spoke exclusively to \u201cMeet the Press\u201d on the Iran nuclear deal, and the show featured interviews with State Sec. John Kerry<\/strong>; Gov. Bill Haslam <\/strong>(R-TN); and former Gov. Rick Perry<\/strong>, a Republican presidential hopeful.<\/p>\n

This morning\u2019s show also featured a conversation on immigration reform with Rep. Joaquin Castro<\/strong> (D-TX) and Rep. Raul Labrador <\/strong>(R-ID); an interview with Michael Leiter<\/strong>, fmr. director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center; and a political panel discussion with Tom Friedman<\/strong>, columnist for The New York Times; Andrea Mitchell<\/strong>, NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent; Danielle Pletka<\/strong>, SVP, foreign and defense policy studies, American Enterprise Institute; and Fmr. Gov. Bill Richardson<\/strong> (D-NM).<\/p>\n

Below are highlights, video clips, and a rush transcript of today\u2019s program. Additional show video is available online at www.MeetThePressNBC.com<\/a>. Join the conversation online with hashtag #MTP.<\/p>\n

Like the show<\/a> on Facebook, and follow \u201cMeet the Press\u201d<\/a> on Twitter.<\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

ON TRUMP<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fmr. Gov. Rick Perry: Until Mr. Trump apologizes directly to John McCain, and also to the veterans of this country, I don’t think he has the character or the temperament to hold the highest position in this country.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1RHd7Uc<\/a><\/p>\n

Fmr. Gov. Rick Perry: I’m real comfortable being on the stage with him and confronting him on a host of issues that he’s just wrong on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1OouXWx<\/a><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE – Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR): I disagree with Mr. Trump’s comments\u2026. I would recommend that he apologize and retract them, and then get back to the campaign that he’s been running.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1J9xzrc<\/a><\/p>\n

Rep. Raul Labrador (R-ID): He overhypes everything.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1SrJQb3<\/a><\/p>\n

AEI SVP Danielle Pletka: He\u2019s an idiot.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1GtLt0W<\/a><\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

ON IRAN<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE – British Prime Minister David Cameron: \u00a0It is so much better than the alternative. \u00a0I think that if there wasn’t a deal, I think we would face Iran with a nuclear weapon. \u00a0And that would’ve given a terrible choice to the West of either enabling that, allowing that to happen, or a very difficult decision to take military action. \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1CJJTNY<\/a><\/p>\n

Secretary of State John Kerry: \u00a0If you’re going to push back against Iran, it is better to push back against an Iran that doesn’t have a nuclear weapon.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1Ic5YER<\/a><\/p>\n

Sec. Kerry: Even though the arms and the missiles were thrown in as an add-on to this nuclear agreement, it was always contemplated that if Iran did come and deal on the nuclear program, that was going to be lifted.<\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE – Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR): The alternative is for Congress to reject this deal and demand a better deal. <\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1J9rR8S<\/a><\/p>\n

Tom Friedman of The New York Times: Let’s make the best of this deal. \u00a0I think give it a chance, try to make it work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1Kej57X<\/a><\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

ON CHATTANOOGA SHOOTING<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

EXCLUSIVE – TN Gov. Bill Haslam: One of the challenges we have is that many of our armories, many of our facilities are federal facilities. \u00a0So we don’t want to put our adjudicant generals in a difficult position of giving them an order that they can’t carry out because it’s on a federal facility.<\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1KejJCv<\/a><\/p>\n

Former Counter Terror Chief Michael Leiter: If I were in the administration, what I would be telling the president is, every event, isn\u2019t predictable, and every event, isn\u2019t preventable. <\/strong><\/p>\n

VIDEO: http:\/\/nbcnews.to\/1e94WNI<\/a><\/p>\n

# # #<\/p>\n

Additional clips from today\u2019s program and web-exclusive video:<\/p>\n