Guests:
Gov.
Asa Hutchinson (R-AR)
Tom
Donilon – Fmr. National Security Advisor
Micah
Zenko – Council on Foreign Relations
David
Boies
Ted
Olson
Richard
Engel
Doris
Kearns Goodwin
Helene
Cooper
Matt
Bai
Cicely
Strong
Garry
Trudeau
Todd:
wow a huge
earthquake hit
Nepal affecting millions of third-world
types and 17 western
climbers on Everest
Engel:
people are living outdoors
out
of fear of aftershocks
Todd:
that's shocking
Engel:
a big aftershock hit
while
I was in the airport
Todd:
as if flying wasn't
bad enough
Engel:
people here are quite resilient
Todd:
good for them
Engel:
right now elites are asleep in the hotel lobby
Todd:
just like the
White House
Correspondents
Dinner
Engel:
meanwhile Everest is a mystery
– no
one knows what's going on there
Todd:
thanks Richard
[
break ]
Todd:
a drone strike
killed two Americans
who joined al-qaeda
Todd: but when the CIA drone
bombed
the shit out
of an
al-qaeda
site two hostages
were also killed
Todd:
the CIA has no idea
who it's killing
Todd:
they call them 'signature strikes'
which
is when like go hey 'let's
go
bomb
that place why not''
Brennan:
we're not killing as
many innocent
people as
some
people think we are!
Todd:
Rand Paul used to
filibuster
drone
strikes and now he's
running
for
President he doesn't care
Todd: welcome Tom Donilon
Donilon: hi Todd
Todd:
the CIA has
absolutely
no
idea who it's killing
Donilon:
true the CIA kills people
but
they
were all bad
Todd: what a relief
Donilon:
there has to be near
certainty that the guys are bad
Todd:
well they killed two
hostages
Donilon: war is very foggy Chuck
Todd:
I thought Obama was
going
to
greatly reduce drone killings
Donilon:
define 'greatly'
Todd:
is there any
oversight?
Donilon:
oh sure
Todd:
really?
Donilon:
the President has asked
for
a review to figure why
the
CIA
keeps fucking
up
Todd:
good to know
Donilon:
but you know the
drone
program is a great
program
Todd:
doesn't it create
more terrorists?
Donilon:
oh not at all
Todd:
really?
Donilon:
I have no doubt if we did
not
kill people with
drones Americans
would
be murdered
in their beds
Todd:
what about the
Constitutional
rights
of Americans killed by
drones?
Donilon:
look to be fair the CIA
had
no idea they were killing them
Todd:
oh that's okay then
Donilon:
when you're opposing
American
forces
you don't get
Miranda
rights – you get shot –
that's
true in Pakistan or
South Carolina or Baltimore
Todd:
if the
CIA knew Americans
were there would
they have
bombed the place?
Donilon:
probably not
Todd:
was this an
intelligence failure?
Donilon:
no because it was an al-qaeda base
Todd:
but-
Donilon:
but we didn't know there
were
hostages there so that was a mistake
Todd:
so it
was a failure
Donilon:
no it was a programmatic non-success
Todd:
thanks for coming
[
break ]
Todd:
do drones work?
Zenko:
we've done hundreds of
drone
strikes and there more
are
terrorists than ever
Todd:
they grow like weeds
Zenko:
bombing your
garden
doesn't help either
Todd:
should I welcome
our
new robot overlords?
Zenko:
robots can be useful
because
they
lack all human emotion and
have
no bodily functions
Todd:
just like Dick Cheney
Todd:
but they scare me –
is
there an alternative to drones?
Zenko:
not if you believe in military force
Todd:
oh too bad
Zenko:
but we could avoid
force and
combat
terror using diplomacy and education
Todd:
sounds wimpy
Zenko:
anyway
drones are
now
the face of U.S. foreign policy
Todd:
maybe it needs a facelift
Zenko:
could be
Todd:
what happens when
other
countries start using drones?
Zenko:
Britain
already has drones
Todd:
crikey
Zenko:
so does Israel
Todd:
oy vey!
[
break ]
Todd:
omg 60% of Americans
approve
of gay marriage
Todd:
Ted Olson and David
Boies
opposed
each other during
Bush v Gore but
they fought together
in favor of gay marriage
Todd:
what happened in California?
Boies:
the people of America
are
now in favor of equality
Todd:
what if the court
just split the
difference
and said a state can
refuse
to
let gay
people get married
Olson:
that's not equality Todd
Todd:
perhaps not
Olson:
it would deny their humanity
Todd:
but what about
states' rights?
Olson:
this is America –
individual rights
are
more important than states' rights
Todd:
but won't this lead
to polygamy
and
if so who will my three wives be?
Boies:
that's silly
Todd:
hey I saw Big Love
Boies:
it's simple – you
can't
discriminate
based on gender
Todd:
no wait that's too
confusing
Boies:
banning polygamy
is
not discriminatory
Todd:
but it sad for the polynomials
Olson:
also being a polygamist is
not
an immutable characteristic
Todd:
what if I was born
wanting
to
be married to three women at once
Olson:
take it easy Todd
Todd:
can you win?
Olson:
we got Ginsburg, Kagan, Sotomayor, Breyer
and Kennedy
Todd:
does it matter if
it's 5-4 or 6-3?
Boies:
civil rights cases should be unanimous
Todd:
well it won't be
Boies:
we got five justices and we'll take it
Todd:
Asa make your case
against gay marriage
Hutchinson:
gays are very nice but
we
should defer to state fears of gays
Todd:
that makes sense
Hutchinson:
the Constitution hasn't changed
but
suddenly gays are everywhere!
Todd:
you were going to sign a
discriminatory
law but your son
dad
said don't be an idiot
Hutchinson:
we should be
tolerant
of
all people I just
have a personal
conviction
and belief
that gay
people should
have fewer
legal
rights than other
people
Todd:
this gay things
has moved really fast
Goodwin:
discrimination and prejudice
come
when you don't know someone
and
when you get to know someone
it's
harder to demonize them
Todd:
it's a remarkable transformation
Cooper:
you always hear people say
'I
hated gay people until I found
out
my son was gay'
Todd:
what does the GOP
do
about the gay
in 2016
Bai:
both parties are equally to blame
especially
Democrats but now
Republicans
are behind the times
Todd:
omg there are allegations that
Bill
Clinton got speaking fees and
Hillary
gave uranium to Russia
Cooper:
this feeds the aura of the
Clintons
with the Lincoln bedroom of the 90s
Todd:
so well put Helene
Cooper:
why didn't they foresee this?
Todd:
Jonathan Chait is a liberal
and
he says the Clintons are greedy
Bai:
no
it's arrogance – they never admit
they
are guilty of terrible crimes
which
just shows how
guilty they are
Todd:
exactly – an truly innocent
person
would say they are guilty
Bai:
of course
Todd:
Ron Fournier says they
fight
their opponents which is terrible
Bai:
exactly - why can't the Clintons be
more
like Ron Fournier's best friend
Karl Rove who
would never go after his critics
Bai: the Clintons
oppose their
critics
which is just sleazy and baffling behavior
Todd:
it's boggles the mind
Goodwin:
Mitt Romney says it's
bribery
and he ought to know
Todd:
that's a crime!
Goodwin:
she can't let a charge
like
that just sit there – she must
answer
her critics
Todd:
exactly – why doesn't she fight back?!?
Bai:
right – but also
why are they
always
going after their critics?
Todd:
Asa isn't this terrible?
Hutchinson:
it's an ungodly amount of money
God:
wait a minute I
love money
Todd:
I was talking to Democrats
last
night and secretly they hate
Hillary
and will soon be rid of her
[
break ]
Todd:
welcome Garry Trudeau
Trudeau:
what's up Chuck
Todd:
were you blaming the
murder
victims of Charlie
Hebdo
for their own deaths?
Trudeau:
no but I didn't agree with cartoons
Todd:
is religion a red line for you?
Trudeau:
no but I will mock terrorists
Todd:
where did Doonesbury come from?
Trudeau:
I started in college
so
I was winging it and got
kicked
out of many
newspapers
Todd:
where does it belong?
Trudeau:
I like it on the comics page
because
that's where
the readers are
Todd:
I love the comics
Trudeau:
I asked editors if abortion
and
war belong in the comics page
and
an editor wrote back say it
doesn't
matter just be funny
[
break ]
Todd:
hi Cecily
Strong:
hello Chuck
Todd:
grade the President
Strong:
he did really well
Todd:
it's hard to follow
the
President isn't it
Strong:
very much so
Todd:
he told some of your
jokes
Strong:
heh
Todd:
you seemed cool as a
cucumber
Strong:
I'm good at faking confidence
[ break ]
Todd:
Asa what
do normal people
think
of the White House
Correspondents
Dinner?
Hutchinson:
they don't like it but it's
nice
to have Washington coming together
and
congratulate itself for one evening
Todd:
I miss the days when it
was
just Washington DC and
there
were no Hollywood
celebrities
Goodwin:
it good to have
politicians
make fun of themselves
Cooper:
I'm not allowed to go
– I'm so jealous!
Bai:
I hate the whole thing
Todd:
did you go?
Bai:
of course
Todd:
aha
Bai:
Obama is the funniest
President
of our lifetime
Todd:
no George W. Bush was funnier
Bai:
you think?
Todd:
it's a shame he made
that
funny WMD joke and
everyone got
mad and he
was
afraid to be funny after that
Bai:
that wasn't funny Chuck
Todd:
maybe not
Cooper:
it definitely wasn't
Todd:
and that's another
