Former NBC News anchor Tom Brokaw called on President Barack Obama to take on a sense of urgency in the fight against global terrorism and embrace his role as Leader of the Free World.
Obama has come under fire from some conservatives for sticking with his schedule and attending a baseball game in Cuba rather than cutting the visit short and returning home after the terrorist attacks in Brussels on Tuesday.
Brokaw joined them Wednesday on
MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"So much of politics and national security is a combination of symbolism and reality," Brokaw said. "The reality is that we did have that attack yesterday. It was unnerving to us, it was devastating in Europe. But at the same time, the symbolism is that the president stayed at the baseball game all day long where you would have thought he would have said, 'Look, we've got more business that I have to deal with, I wish you well,' get on the phone."
Brokaw said a "bulletproof syndicate" is needed to deal with terrorism.
"There's a real urgency about it, and he has got to convey that, not just to the American people but to the world."
Obama is the Leader of the Free World, Brokaw said, "and this is a time to be the leader because this kind of attack can occur again and again and again."
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