Sunday, June 01, 2014

Meet The Press – June 1, 2014


Meet The Press – June 1, 2014
Guests:
Jim Miklaszewski
Chuck Todd
Kevin Tibbles
Chuck Hagel (Sec. of Defense)
Mike Bloomberg
Michael Leiter
Paul Rieckhoff
Rep. Adam Kinzinger
Fmr. Rep. Jane Harman
Fmr. Speaker Newt Gingrich
Rana Foroohar
George Stevens, Jr.

Gregory: wow a U.S. soldier was
released from captivity from the
Taliban after 5 years

Miklaszewski: he was used
for propaganda purposes

Gregory: wow

Miklaszewski: but the U.S. felt
they had to get him out before
the Afghan war ended

Gregory: no spoilers!

Miklaszewski: sorry Dave

Gregory: good morning Chuck

Hagel: hi David

Gregory: how is Bergdahl's health?

Hagel: well he was a POW of
the Taliban for five years
so it's not great

Gregory: that's understandable

Hagel: although he is walking and talking

Gregory: how did the negotiations get done?

Hagel: I want to thank the Amir of Qatar

Gregory: well go ahead

Hagel: I can't say anything else

Gregory: does this show the
Taliban can help run Afghanistan?

Hagel: it might and it could

Gregory: can you be less specific?

Hagel: this could be a new
opening to the Taliban

Gregory: Republicans are mad
they were not consulted before these
Taliban were released from Gitmo

Hagel: look there was no time –
we had to save Bergdahl –
we had the opportunity and we took it

Gregory: also Rep. Rogers says
this deal will encourage terrorists
to take Americans hostage

Hagel: we didn't negotiate with terrorists
Bergdahl was a prisoner of war
and this was normal

Gregory: but these detainees
are dangerous

Hagel: Gitmo needs to be closed anyway

Gregory: but some say
we're rewarding terrorists

Hagel: look Obama drones
a terrorist every other day

Gregory: more on weekends

Hagel: we find and hunt terrorists!

Gregory: did Bergdahl desert his post?

Hagel: we're focused on helping
him re-integrate into society
and reunite him with his family

Gregory: but he won't speak
English like a real American!

Hagel: well he hasn't spoken 
English in 5 years

Gregory: but his dad says he
can't communicate in English

Hagel: neither can Sarah Palin
and she was almost Vice President

Gregory: I'm suspicious of this POW
I've seen Homeland you know

Hagel: he's been through hell!

Gregory: was he tortured?

Hagel: we can figure that out later

Gregory: how do you fix Veterans Affairs?

Hagel: we owe Shinseki a debt
of gratitude for his service

Gregory: fine but 22,000 troops are
coming home from Afghanistan
and they're screwed

Hagel: at the Pentagon we 
work very closely with the VA

Gregory: well isn't that innovative

Hagel: don't get snippy Fluffy

Gregory: thanks for coming Chuckles

[ break ]

Gregory: aren't these released
detainees super-dangerous?

Leiter: yeah they fought
against America and America won

Gregory: so is it safe to release them?

Leiter: yes it is because
we are leaving Afghanistan

Gregory: is everybody in 
Gitmo a bargaining chip?

Leiter: the current exchange rate is
five Gitmo detainees equals one American

Gregory: so maybe we trade prisoners
for something valuable like oil or gold
or bootleg DVDs of Game of Throne

Leiter: I hope not – those dudes terrify me

Gregory: why?

Leiter: they really really hate America

Gregory: why is that

Leiter: cause they've been 
trapped in Gitmo for years

Gregory: that makes sense

[ break ]

Gregory: Adam what is
your reaction to this deal?

Kinzinger: welcome home Bowe! –
although you are probably a traitor

Gregory: I see

Kinzinger: I am disappointed and
shocked by this deal I welcome
and disapprove of

Gregory: he has difficulty speaking
English which means he is anti-American

Reickoff: I am just glad we got our man back

Gregory: what about the VA?

Rieckhoff: this is a defining moment
for America – its to step up for our Veterans

Gregory: how did Shinseki not know?

Kinzinger: a good leader would know

Gregory: right!

Kinzinger: I like Shinseki very
much but he's also terrible

Gregory: exactly!

Kinzinger: I want to see people fired!

Gregory: so do I besides the ones already fired

Gregory: Paul I've heard care is
good it just takes too long

Rieckhoff: it is good but the delays
have been going on for decades

Gregory: reform is taking long

Rieckhoff: I mean one guy
has been waiting decades for care

Gregory: Adam I know you want
people fired but are Republicans
in Congress willing to spend the
money to fix the VA?

Kinzinger: the answer is not 
just to spend money – 
it's to get better outcomes

Gregory: so is that a yes or no?

Kinzinger: the answer isn't to
throw more money at the problem!

Gregory: of course

[ break ]

Tibbles: people are angry
here near Fort Bragg

Vet's Wife: Shinseki isn't the problem
the VA is understaffed

Green Beret: putting bonuses
ahead of veterans is criminal

Green Beret: our foreign policy
is weak and ambiguous and our
enemies take advantage of it

Vet's Wife: the U.S. can't police the world

Tibbles: here they say the VA needs
more than a new figurehead –
it need to be completely fixed

Gregory: when we come back – Benghazi!

[ break ]

Gregory: welcome panel –
let's talk about Ed Snowden!!

Todd: we have an exclusive poll
that shows most people don't like
Snowden but young people do kind of like him

Gregory: wow!

Todd: also the hashtag #patriot
beat the hashtag #traitor on twitter!

Gregory: well that settles it

Todd: everyone says he should
come home but he says he
could never get a fair trial

Gregory: America is entrenched
on the great traitor or patriot debate!

Todd: yes but there is a third
group that thinks the whole
debate is really stupid

Gregory: Newt Gingrich some
people like the fact that we're
talking about surveillance but
don't think one guy should have
the right to take and disclose
whichever secrets he wants

Gingrich: visit the 9/11 museum!
this was treason and he's a traitor!

Gregory: whoa

Gingrich: he aided and abetted the enemy!

Gregory: but we didn't we need to
have real debate about surveillance?

Harman: Congress had a debate 
when we amended FISA

Todd: seven years later!

Harman: well we did

Gregory: is he a traitor Jane?

Harman: I wouldn't call him a traitor
but you can't take those documents

Foroohar: both sides have been evasive

Todd: the young kids love the
idea of one person taking the
law into their own hands –
Snowden is like a whistleblower startup

Gregory: Chuck Hagel says Snowden
damaged national security

Hagel: I assure you there
is plenty of evidence

Gingrich: fuck those millennials –
when we're attacked and their
precious smartphones are
under rubble they won't care
about spying – they'll want revenge

Gregory: go on Newt!

Gingrich: this is is a big deal –
it cripples our capacity to fight
the bad guys and murderers

Gregory: what is the
future for Snowden?

Harman: he should cut a deal and
serve prison time so no other
young person ever does the same thing

Gregory: Hillary Clinton says
she will not participate in politicizing Benghazi

Todd: she's getting out in front
of Benghazi so it will be old news by 2016

Foroohar: the key question of Benghazi
is why was Susan Rice on
Meet The Press instead of her

Gingrich: the big issue of 2016
will be west African terrorism

Gregory: really?

Harman: there's no there there

Gregory: what is America's responsibility
in the wake of its many failed wars?

Todd: Benghazi was a dangerous
place because of the overall Libya policy

Gregory: omg next week is the 70th
Anniversary of D-Day

Brokaw: in WWII everybody fought –
even Clark Gable and Jimmy Stewart
flew jets and Chaplin mocked Hitler

Brokaw: the army had great film
directors like John Ford and John Huston
Frank Capra and William Wyler 
and George Stevens!

George Stevens Jr: my dad saw
'Triumph of the Will' and the
next day he joined the army

Brokaw: that's so cool

Stevens: then I was looking
his old stuff and found color
footage of D-Day – it was amazing

Brokaw: there is even color film of Dachau
those swastikas really pop

Expert: we see those who fought
in WWII as larger than life but
they were ordinary people
who became larger than life

Gregory: ironically with all this
great war nostalgia the President
is talking about not having so
many wars which is sad

Brokaw: well technically wars are bad

Gregory: but also awesome

Brokaw: yes D-Day is an example
of everyone pulling together which is great

Gregory: true

Brokaw: we're just beginning to
understand that D-Day was really big

Gregory: thanks for coming Tom

[ break ]

Gregory: sure the massacre in
California was bad but will it really
have any impact on gun laws?

Bloomberg: we have too many
guns in the hands of criminals
kids and crazy people

Gregory: how do you keep the crazy
from having guns because the
NRA might agree with you here

Bloomberg: we need to empower
cops and courts to take guns from lunatics

Gregory: good luck with that

Bloomberg: and we need to
keep a national database of
people with mental problems

Gregory: some of my
best friends have mental problems

Bloomberg: and also keep guns
away from people with a record
of domestic violence

Gregory: you want to take on the NRA

Bloomberg: no – we just want
reasonable background checks

Gregory: but gun owners are
one-issue voters so you always lose

Bloomberg: that's where me 
and my money come in

Gregory: thanks for coming

Gregory: did you know Maya Angelou
was a poet and author and
civil rights activist who won three grammys

[ break ]

Gregory: on twitter people are
asking what is the future of Gitmo?

Harman: we should close it and
stop giving terrorists ammunition

Gingrich: these people want
to defeat our civilization!

Farhoo: close it but don't trade with terrorists

Gregory: and that's another
episode of Meet The Press

1 comment:

Ryan said...

Gregory: I'm suspicious of this POW
– I've seen Homeland you know

I fucking lost it there. Well done!