Corker dances around questions about Trump's preparedness

Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) spent the majority of his interview Wednesday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" dodging multiple questions about whether his party's presidential nominee Donald Trump is prepared to tackle the job of commander in chief.

After co-host Mika Brzezinski asked the Senate Foreign Relations chairman to offer thoughts about the latest reports about the United States' payments to Iran earlier this year, her co-host Mike Barnicle followed up with a question teasing out the Commander in Chief Forum set for later in the evening on both NBC and MSNBC.


"Can you explain to us why you think Donald Trump would be a better commander in chief than Hillary Clinton?" Barnicle asked.

Corker, whose name was once floated as a potential running mate for Trump, responded that he "didn't come on the program to talk about politics."

"I think that you know you asked me to come on to talk about public policy," Corker said. "I will say in general look the foreign policy establishment in Washington does need a shakeup. I mean if we look back over the last 16 years there have been a lot of mistakes made in both directions. And it's created a lot of instability around the world."

Referring to Trump, Corker added, "So it appears to me that the candidate yesterday with numbers of people backing him from the foreign policy establishment is evolving. And again, it's up to you and others to make the assessment you just made."

Co-host Willie Geist, sensing an opportunity to drill down deeper into Corker's thoughts about Trump, asked about whether Trump has shared with him any more particulars of his plan to defeat the Islamic State. On Tuesday, Trump said that he would give his generals and national security team 30 days to come up with a plan to "soundly and quickly" defeat the terrorist group.

"No I have not had discussions with Mr. Trump or Secretary Clinton either, their strategy as it relates to ISIS," Corker responded.

Asked whether the plan sounded good to him, Corker remarked, "Well again, I haven't heard either candidate be very crisp as it relates to dealing with ISIS. Nor have I heard either candidate be very crisp as it relates to dealing with our fiscal issues, our entitlement issues or anything else. So again, I know that because I'm a Republican and I'm here in front of you, you want to slant this in a particular direction."

Geist responded, "No, I'm not."

"In general, and I don't mean that to be offensive. But in general I haven't heard a lot of crispness as it relates to the policies that really affect our nation ... from anyone," Corker said.

"Donald Trump is the candidate that you're supporting. That's why I'm asking you about him," Geist responded, asking whether Trump's statements about what he would do about ISIL concern him as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Corker focused instead on President Barack Obama and the unfolding "humanitarian crisis" in Syria. Well it concerns me that we've got another 4 or 5 months under an existing president that does have the input of lots of people and has had for 7-1/2 years and that we've allowed Syria to devolve into the greatest humanitarian crisis of modern times.

"Chairman I hear you on that. I don't think anybody could ever say that anything's going well in Syria. It's a huge problem," Geist said, going on to ask whether the next president could be more specific in dealing with the region.

"Well I think that certainly we've got some debates that are coming up," Corker responded. "My guess is that intelligent people like all of you are on this broadcast will be asking those questions. And my guess is those kinds of things will be illuminated over time. And they're spending time, each of them, trying to figure out how more crisply they can lay out their plans. That's what a campaign does. That's how it evolves. And I look forward to that when it happens."

Brzezinski, who has made her opposition to Trump known, observed to Corker that "with respect, it seems like you don't feel comfortable talking about Donald Trump."

"Well I don't feel comfortable coming on a program and being sort of a judger if you will, of the two. I mean I've got a job as Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. We've got a committee meeting today where we've basically looking at whether the administration is trying to go straight to the UN Security Council and bypass the Senate on an important issue. And that's what I'm focused on. You guys wake up each day and you're focused on who shot John and the political give and take," Corker responded. "That's just not what I'm focused on."

Attempting to rephrase, Brzezinski proffered, "do you have confidence in Donald Trump as commander in chief, especially as it pertains to foreign policy? I'll make it really broad and easy."



"Well again look, neither of the campaigns to my knowledge have laid out much of anything that is specific relative to getting people back to work, growing our economy, dealing with the entitlement program, dealing with the massive debt which is the greatest threat to our nation, dealing with any of these issues," Corker responded. "And I think what the appropriate response for all of us is to, when these debates occur, and people have to tease out these very specific issues, hopefully moderators are going to push that. Then we can judge. In the interim to try to make some assessment when those things have not been teased out, I've had no conversations with either candidate. My concern right now is we've got 4 or 5 months in an administration left with all kinds of instability around the world. We know that we are disrespected because people understand that--"

Brzezinski interjected, "I'm sorry ... that's not an answer."

"I'm sorry, Mika," Corker responded, to which Brzezinski replied, "I have to be respectful but I'm sorry I just asked if you had confidence in Donald Trump as commander in chief as it pertains to foreign policy. That's pretty much a yes/no question."

The question is "not about Obama," she added.

"I think the candidate is certainly deepening in what he's; Donald Trump is deepening in what he's throwing out. He's shaking up the foreign policy establishment. And I think we're going to have a much clearer sense of where he is as he moves ahead," Corker said, going on to say, "I've got a job to do here. And it's not to be the referee on a presidential campaign. You may get up every day and this may be the only thing you think about--"

Brzezinski, gesturing to herself, exclaimed, "No, no, no. It would just mean a lot to me. ... Bob, it would mean a lot to me if you would, if you said yes I have full confidence. I would take a, you have great stature in the Senate."

It would also "mean a lot to a lot of people if the answer to that question was yes," Brzezinski added, before tossing the next question to Barnicle.

"I got it, and look, I didn't come on this program to be that referee. But let me say I do believe that Donald Trump is growing in his understanding of these issues," Corker said. "And I think that he's beginning to get more and more people around him that have a depth of understanding as to the complexities. And I'm watching this evolve. I'm, you know, and look we'll all make our assessments will we not ... at the end of October and early November as to whether we have faith or not."

As the segment drew to a close, Corker reiterated that he is seeing Trump "deepen and evolve," while adding, "but a candidate is just not what I'm focused on."

"I'm focused on Iran, I'm focused on Syria, I'm focused on the South China Sea," Corker said. "We have numbers of issues that can go haywire while this president is in office that are being unattended to."