Transcripts For MSNBCW Andrea Mitchell Reports 20190816

Interest in buying greenland and greenland responds theyre open for business but not for sale. President ial retreat. President trump is talking about Mental Health not background checks in his First Political rally since el paso and dayton. There is a Mental Illness problem that has to be dealt with. Its not the gun that pulls the trigger. Its the Person Holding the gun. And good day. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. President trump reigniting his today with the socalled squad of democratic congresswomen of color after the unprecedented step to pressure israels Prime Minister netanyahu to block two muslim congresswomen from an official visit to israel and the palestinian territories. Now Michigan Democratic congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has rejected a belated offer from israel to visit her relatives only if she remains silent about the antiisrael boycott. Tlaib tweeted i have decided that visiting my grandmother under these oppressive conditions goes against everything i believe in. Parties are slamming the president s interference of travel by a member of congress and israel caving into the pressure after saying last month that the congresswomen were welcomed to visit. Joining me now nbc White House Correspondent kristen welker, senior political analyst Ashley Parker and reporter at the Washington Post and reuters White House Correspondent jeff mason. Welcome all. First of all, kristen, lets talk about this unprecedented step by a president of the United States to pressure a foreign ally to deny two members of congress an official visit and netanyahu then caving in to considerable criticism as well back home. It is unprecedented, andrea, and its a remarkable political strategy. Effectively you have an american president siding with a foreign government, essentially to try to punish his opponents here at home and to escalate this ongoing feud that he has with the socalled squad. So were seeing that play out. We have reached out to the white house to see if they have any Immediate Reaction to this news that israel has offered for Rashida Tlaib to visit and that she has rejected that offer. So far, no response, andrea. Of course well be watching our twitter feeds very carefully to see if President Trump weighs in. He continues to vacation here in bedminster. He sees this as a way to energize his base, to try to essentially paint the entire Democratic Party in the light of these four freshmen female congresswomen of color. He argues that theyre quote unquote socialist, antiamerican and of course he has gotten bipartisan backlash for all of that. Now, last night at his rally in New Hampshire, andrea, it was interesting he did mention ilhan omar a few times to sort of use a punch line out of her. But didnt really delve in to detail about this controversy. Before his trip though, he said look, he didnt pressure israel behind the scenes and then in same breath he said he was in in contact with israeli officials so clearly in contact with them in the days leading up to this decision, andrea. It was clear as well in the tweet. Because israels decision which all day was back and forth and they were deciding, werent deciding, then he comes of without a tweet and that made it impossible as from the Prime Ministers perspective to not cave in. Hes got a tough election next month. Ashley parker, what are you hearing from the white house officials . Was anyone pushing him to do this . Was this donald trump on his own . Was anyone advising him not to do it . There were certainly people initially at least advising him not to do this. This was an idea President Trump had been floating privately with advisers at least as of last week and what i had heard was that a number of senior white house officials had basically told the president dont do this. And tried to explain it to him and put it in Historical Perspective and say there is this would be unpredented and theres a long history of israel letting in those who they dont believe with on policy and politics but you do not bar a member of the u. S. Congress from entering your country. And it seems like he heard that message, disregarded it, his private views were communicated to the Israeli Government and then of course he went out and as you said it tweeted it and backed them in the corner as they were going through the frantic deliberations. The New York Times has a tough editorial saying, there are not many traditions of decor up that President Trump has not trampled on since entering the white house, but to lean so crassly on the foreign leader to punish his political adversaries, is New Territory even for him. Jeff mason, that is a tough editorial. And also youre getting backlash from tim kaine and others. Long time supporters of israel, but israel is the largest recipient of military aid. And these members vote on that. This is a president who has been very comfortable with just bursting through norms. And this is another example and that the New York Times editorial really puts it in a very blunt and very harsh terms but its true. Thats what the president has felt he can do on this and other issues and as nancy pelosi said in her reply to this, she believes its un its beneath the dignity of israel and beneath the dignity of the office of the presidency. That shows the bipartisan nature of u. S. Support for israel could be threatened by this entire thing. Jeff, ashley and kristen, stand by for a few moments because we want to bring in illinois democratic congressman brad schneider. He lobbied u. S. Diplomats here to allow Rashida Tlaib and ilhan omar to enter israel. Thank you so much. When you were talking to israels ambassador and other diplomats and trying to persuade this should not be blocked, what were you hearing from the israelis . Well, i had a long conversation with ambassador dermer and i heard their concerns about the perspectives that both tlaib and omar have and quite honestly i have been critical of their positions on israel long before the trip but the ambassador made a promise last month that all members of congress would be welcomed to israel. I think that was the right policy and i think the decision to block their entry was the wrong policy. It puts israel in a bad light. I think its short sighted but also wrong. In particular democrats like israel and the United States should be celebrating the work they do, allowing people to come and see like the United States israel is an imperfect democracy. But show the strengths, stand the record should stand for itself. This is the most important ally in the region and it can withstand the criticisms of two members of congress or anyone else in the world. Congressman, the large amounts of Foreign Military aid to both egypt and israel from all the way back in 1979 with president carter that has been sacrosanct. And republican and democratic administrations despite at times tension with israel over settlements for instance from previous president s, democrat and republican president s, thats not going to be touched, is it . There may be a controversy over it. But do you think that could be at stake if this policy continues . Well, i worry about it. I worry that they have two threats one is iran and we need to make sure that iran cant get a Nuclear Weapon but push against them in syria. Their support of hezbollah but the second is the bipartisan support of israel within the United States congress. If that is lost, then the support for that aid, the support for the for our critical Work Together is put at risk. Last month i had the privilege of leading a resolution, we got 390 members of congress to support in support of Israeli Security and a negotiated twostate solution and the condemnation of the bds movement. Israel is one of them and we have to work to consistently make sure that remains the case. And the timing is also terrible from israels perspective when you think about the fact that they are always under fire at the united nationss General Assembly meetings when the world gathers at the end of september. And unfairly under fire in many cases from different parts of the world and now thats going to be a lot of criticism for them for caving in to the president s pressure. Part of the reason that bds is so awful the boycott movement. Yeah. The boycott movement, it denies the aspiration for a state, it refuses to support a two state solution, negotiated solution between the israelis and palestinians. It stands in the way of peace. But it is an effort to delegitimize israel and it will find Fertile Ground next month. Thats why the bipartisan support for israel is why so important, why i wanted to make sure we had the vote on the resolution last month that shows that 398 members more than 95 of the Congress Supporting an issue is a strong statement. I want to make sure we retain that support. Congressman schneider, thank you for being with us. Thank you. Lets bring back kristen, ashley and jeff. Lets talk about the president in New Hampshire last month. This was his first rally in the days since el paso and dayton. And since the huge stock market crash of 800 points down, the volatility all week. This was the president on the economy in manchester, New Hampshire, last night. Let me tell you, if for some reason i wouldnt have won the election, these markets would have crashed. And thatll happen even more so in 2020. See, the bottom line is i know you like me and this room is a love fest, i know that. But you have no choice but to vote for me. Because your 401 k s will be down the tubes. If you love me or hate you have to vote for me. Ashley parker, is this a bit of nervousness on the president s part despite his protestations about the economy . It sure is. Privately the president is quite nervous about the economy, where it is and where it could go. And the pitch you saw him make is a pitch that works for him now. Hes sort of acknowledging whether you love me or hate me which to read in the subtext is speaking to some of the voters who dont like his tweets, dont like his behavior. Dont like his comments but do like some of the things hes done and do appreciate the good economy hes presided over so far. But theres a recognition in that if the economy were to go south he like most president s who preside over a recession would be in a very tough political position. Then we get to greenland. To all of you we have confirmed the original wall street journal reporting on the president confiding to people. Kristen, i can hear you chuckling over there. Talk to me about greenland. Theres a Strategic Value in greenland. No question about that. We have a huge u. S. Air base, but the president really thinks he can you know, buy greenland . Well, secretary of state mike pompeo has talked about the Strategic Value of that region as a whole, andrea, but yes, according to sources familiar with the president s discussions he has floated this idea. Would it be possible . Would it even be legal, andrea . I think thats one of the key questions that theyre trying to figure out and theyre also trying to figure out how serious President Trump about this idea. Now, greenland has been very clear. Theyre basically saying thanks but no thanks, greenland is not for sale. But clearly, President Trump sees it as a place that has immense resources and also again an area that would have Strategic Value for the United States. We do know that hes traveling to denmark in september. Will he actually raise this issue with the officials in denmark . We put that question to Senior Administration officials, so far no response, andrea. But again, i think everyone trying to figure out how serious the president is. Of course hes a former real estate developer. Hes talked about Good Real Estate deals before. Hes talked about north korea as an area that could be a place of Great Development so not surprising that he would see greenland through a similar lens. But again, its not clear how serious he is about this. It as a great garden spot, believe me, i have been all through north korea. Not exactly your Summer Vacation resort. But jeff mason, you have a former danish Prime Minister tweeting it must be an april fools day joke. Totally out of season though. Yeah. I think kristen is right, it would be interesting to know how serious the president is and the rest of the world is not taking it seriously. Certainly the danish its exemplified by the tweet. And it sounded like he was backing off from the background check break through in talking about Mental Health for gun reform. Are you hearing second or third thoughts . The nra get through to him . The thing that was so striking was in all of these conversations everyone kind of acknowledged all of the players that it came down to President Trump. He was the only one who could sort of give republicans the political cover to do that and that hes someone who will change his mind on a moments notice and watching that rally what was so striking to me was not just what the president said but the reaction of the crowd. When he said he was going to protect the second amendment, there would be no infringement, its not the people its not the guns fault, but the peoples fault. The roar of the crowd was tremendous and when you have a president who polls the crowd that is likely to resonate with him. Does it mean background checks are off the table, not necessarily. But its a poor sign for people hoping to get something done for when congress returns. Thanks for that reality check. Thank you all for coming here on a friday. Coming up, this means warren. President trump going on the attack as massachusetts senator Elizabeth Warren climbs in the polls. Stay with us. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Youre watchil reports on msnbc. All together all together and we switched to geico; saved money on our boat insurance. How could it get any better than this . Dad, i just caught a goldfish theres no goldfish in this lake. Whoa its pure gold. Were gonna be rich. 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Thats where we find a young leader of ours, shaq brewster. Tell us who is making good points, how are people reacting . I believe castro was already on stage. In a few minutes youll have the candidates speaking to the 5,000 black millennials. The Young Leaders conference here in atlanta and what youll hear and conversations that im having with people here theres a focus and an appreciation that that theyre coming to the event like that. How are people going to address the issues important to them. I got to speak to the founder of the event, mike moore jr. Who is being introduced right now. Hell be introducing the candidates. This is what he expects to hear from the candidates. Whats the plan for the state of our union . Whats your plan for education, for prison reform, for immigration. These are the things that matter to our audience and i think that thats what the candidates want to speak to. And what he told me mirrors what you hear from many of the attendees here. They want to hear people focused only the solutions not just the black issues, but unifying this country. Thanks to so much to shaq brewster. Joining me is joel payne from the chin it will president ial campaign and political analyst rick tyler, former Senior Adviser to ted cruz and newt gingrich. Joel, first to you. How are the candidates doing so far in trying to reach out to africanamericans, especially young people . I know joe biden does very well with the older africanamericans and Bernie Sanders less so. Whos breaking through . I think thats important. The generational one. Joe biden has really built a strong lead and most of that is based on older black voters, particularly black women the most reliable democratic voting bloc and the black millennials are important because thats where the energy of the party is in terms of social justice issues. Things that become in vogue, reparations. Those are being driven by the younger africanamerican millennials. I think you will see someone like Kamala Harris have to make a big push with them. Thats where she can make up some ground and even some folks like Pete Buttigieg are really trying to dive into that generational divide. I think those are some candidates trying to make a move there. And what are one of thing things is that joe biden is so popular with the africanamerican voters. I mean, we talk about where donald trump has to hold the line and make up, you know, gain new ground, where a democrat has to gain ground, you really can see how depressed the black vote was in urban areas, in detroit, in philadelphia, in those key statements. It was not just the suburbanites. It was not getting the vote that the Obama Coalition had put together. Thats definitely an issue in 2020 is the black vote has to turn out for the democratic candidate. And of course in the primary its this time around its almost everything. There is no path to getting the nomination without significant African American support and Kamala Harris has some advantage. She is roughly in the polls where she was back in march. But in south carolina, she has a good chance of winning africanamerican votes. If i were a candidate, i would want to be probably in her position actually because its a frontrunner, joe biden will get a lot of criticism and Bernie Sanders has lost about 16 points since march. The campaign doesnt want to acknowledge that but its true, according to the last fox news poll so Kamala Harris is in a good position to stay in that top four. The problem with joe biden is he theres there doesnt seem to be any growth area for him. Hes sort of right where he is. Hes competing in a lane by himself thats the moderate lane. And theres nobody coming to him. Hes virtually flat thats a problem for him. Lets look at the new fox news poll where biden is 31 . Warren 20 up eight points. Shes a real gainer here. Sanders, 10 , down five. Harris, 8 , down two. Booker, 3 , up three. Buttigieg is 3 , down two. Yang, 3 , unchanged. So the real gain there is Elizabeth Warren probe taking it away from Bernie Sanders. And i think President Trump may have noticed something here because take a look at who hes going after thursday night in particular. Elizabeth warren i did the pocahontas thing. I hit her really hard. And it looked like she was down and out. But that was too long ago. I should have waited but dont worry, we will revive it. It can be revived. Right . Now, warren has been hit by reports in the Washington Post and the New York Times this week that even though shes been picking up so much steam in this campaign in the primary, that theres a real worry in some democratic circles she is too far left for a general election matchup. I hear that. I also hear a lot of people with grudging respect for the campaign and the machine that shes built on the ground. Theres a poll we didnt show, which has her up by 11 points over i believe joe biden. I think shes at 28 , hes at 17 . Look, polls can go all over the place. They can tell but she has gained some ground. Yeah. Shes moving up in the places she needs to move up in. I think that theres a feeling that shes invested so much in that ground game that organizational might that will come through for over the next 100, 120 days. And nevada as well. Shes become very well organized in nevada. One of things that we have also seen is beto orourke trying to reboot his campaign and telling Lawrence Odonnell last night hes definitely not going to run for senate in texas. Let me make your show the place where i tell you and i tell the country, i will not in any scenario run for the United States senate. Im running for president , im running for this country. Im taking this fight directly to donald trump. So theres a big argument that if you really want to change things and youre not doing well in the president ial primary race, youre not going to change things unless you take over the senate and beto orourke would clearly be a formidable candidate in that senate race. The problem for beto is a political one. He didnt beat ted cruz which tells you hes probably not going to beat john cornyn in texas. There are a number of democrats in the race. He all but endorsed but one of them. He cant afford to lose two senate races. So hes really in a tough bind. I think beto probably gets to the next debate and you will see him bow out after that. Im a little i dont see heres why. One, the people at the leadership of his campaign i know one of them, Jennifer Omalley dillon. Hes in it to win it. This these i dont doubt that. Right. So theres that, and m. J. Hagar one of the leading female candidates in the country he wont do what rubio did last time around and run for the seat of somebody whos already positioned for that. I dont think the politics allow for him to run and i think that beto has an opportunity to real lay reframe his candidatesy. I think he might have a chance to get beyond the next debate. I think the democrat who decides to run on mismanagement of the economy will be very well. The only person talking about that is Elizabeth Warren. It wouldnt be my management of the economy she wants to propose, but mismanagement of the economy by donald trump and i will say this. I think theres a twothirds chance that the democratic nominee at this point is going to be a woman. Im going to take that bet. Just for fun. Well come back. Lets come back. I would be happy to take that bet. Lets come back. Happy friday to you guys. Joel payne and rick tyler. Bully pulpit, Career State Department officials are routinely subjected to a hostile Work Environment by trump employees according to a new Inspector General report from the new ig. Inspector general report from the new ig you have a clear plan to cover the essentials in retirement, as well as all the things you want to do. And on the way, youll get timely investment help to keep you on the right track, without the unnecessary fees you might expect from so many financial firms. Because when you have a partner who gives you clarity at every step, theres nothing to stop you from moving forward. Can the past help you write the future . Can you feel calm in the eye of a storm . Can you do more with less . Can you raise the bar while reducing your footprint . For our 100 years weve been answering the questions of today to meet the energy needs of tomorrow. Southern Company State Department Career employees were subjected to hostile treatment from this administration according to a newly released Inspector Generals report. At least one top career employee was forced out of her position for what is being called inappropriate reasons. While others found themselves stripped of their duties because of the boss political biases. All of this but all unheard of in previous administrations both republican and democratic. Joining me now is nbcs josh lederman. You have covered the state department. You know exactly what were talking about here. Career employees have always had sort of an academic posture. You know, what critics would call critics in the Trump Administration would call the deep state were really career people. You go around the world, you wouldnt know if theyre republican or democratic. They had no labels on them. They were Foreign Service officers or other Civil Servants but now they really are being subjected to a lot of political pressure and im told indirect pressure like if you want to get promoted to become an ambassador, youve got to change your political party. Yeah. Thats right. Diplomats are known for being pretty apolitical. And they serve at the pleasure of which ever president there is. But look, andrea, even though this focus on a couple of officials here we have been hearing this across the board i know youre hearing it too, from the very start of the Trump Administration. Some of the political appointees who came in, many of them former republican political operatives created a culture in anyone who was there before trump was looked as an opponent and people who explicitly felt like they could not say anything that did not show a real loyalty to the president. And there was a suspicion from the white house particularly that the white house policies, the trump policies, would not be popular. But the state Department Employees salute and carry on to do the best they can, at least the career people do, the diplomats do. But theyre finding retaliatory measures taken and they thought it would be better under secretary pompeo and it has not. Its gotten worse. Thats right. They have to toe the line publicly but they have to have a culture in which youre allowed to express dissent and challenge ideas as the policy process is coming forward. In fact, there was a proscribed dissent channel where they can circulate petitions and put dissents that go up the chain. Exactly. In fact, i have talked to a lot of diplomats who said they had signed that dissent cable at the beginning of the Trump Administration that was against the president s travel ban on people from several muslim countries and they were admon h admonished, youre hurting your Career Prospects by putting your name on Something Like this. You can imagine a career diplomat posted in an arab country would feel an obligation, moral and otherwise, to object to the muslim ban. Right. Part of what were seeing is the climate inside the government that is being created certainly the state department and other agencies almost mirrors more some of the less democratic countries around the world where the president seems to get along quite well with those leaders and like their style more than the style here where people are used to being able to have a little bit more degree to challenge and speak out about things they dont approve of it. We see it in the career on the state department side, we have had censorship issues as well. To be continued. Thank you, josh lederman. Bring back the ban. Police chiefs across the country asking congress to ban assault weapons. Well talk to one congressman joining that call next on Andrea Mitchell reports. N joining that call next on Andrea Mitchell reports. And i recently had hi, ia heart attack. It changed my life. But im a survivor. After my heart attack, my doctor prescribed brilinta. Its for people who have been hospitalized for a heart attack. Brilinta is taken with a lowdose aspirin. No more than 100 milligrams as it affects how well brilinta works. Brilinta helps keep platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. In a clinical study, brilinta worked better than plavix. Brilinta reduced the chance of having another heart attack. Or dying from one. 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There is a Mental Illness problem that has to be dealt with. Its not the gun that pulls the trigger. Its the Person Holding the gun. In manchester, New Hampshire, last night, President Trump shifting focus from background checks to Mental Illness. Joining me is jason crow, and former army ranger and vice president. Im beginning to hear what sounds like Ashley Parker from the Washington Post reported earlier on the show that theyre beginning to back off of background checks and talking about Mental Illness. He was trying it out with the crowd and he got a roar of approval from the crowd. Well, unfortunately this isnt surprising. This is what he does. Hell Say Something after one of the tragedies and then back off of it. He said he was interested in background checks a couple of years ago and when the pressure from the nra was put on him he folded. What we know is that the president and his enablers in congress will almost always fold under pressure by the nra and the gun lobby. Thats why we have to keep doing sensible things like background checks and the assault weapons ban in the country. I understood from Ayman Mohyeldin that congress is going tock well, the house is going to come back early in september and then have a markup on september 25th on a number of things including high capacity magazines. What do you think the chances are of even getting that through the senate, or the house first . Well, what i do know is that the American People are overwhelmingly on our side. Over 90 of america wants universal background checks of a large majority want sensible things like the assault weapons ban. Im a former army ranger, i served in iraq and afghanistan and i had them used against me. I know what theyre capable of. I represent a district that has seen a terrible tragedy. My kids come home from school and tell me about the bad guy drills they now do. I go around in my community and every week i have kids and parents breaking down in tears saying they want leadership. They want to be safe. Theyre pleading for leadership. So well keep on fighting. Well fight hard to deliver that common sense gun violence legislation and save lives. How old are your children if i may ask . Theyre 6 and 9. And what are they telling you . Do they have active shooter drills at school . They do. You know, shortly after i declared for congress, my then 4yearold came home from school one day and told me about, you know, these bad guy drills. That she now has had in her kindergarten, then kindergarten class and that she had to hide in a dark closet in case a bad guy came for her. I thought about my time in iraq and afghanistan and when i took the uniform off i thought i left it in the streets of baghdad, but they follow med home and theyre terrorizing our children, our homes and theyre in our mosques, places of worship and movie theaters. Theres a reason that the domestic terrorists use the weapons because theyre designed to inflict mass casualties. They dont belong in our communities and im going to do what i need to do. Everything in my power to make sure were preventing these tragedies in the future. And i know congressman, i believe you were an army ranger. You and Michael Cheryl coauthored an oped about this and yet the senate has been resistance and Lindsey Graham talked about having an ar15 at home and this is what he had to say last night in south carolina. So we talked today about the red flag laws and the background checks and i said, the time has come to do more than pray and well find hopefully some bipartisan space here. My view is that there are some people out there that need im tired of trying to explain to parents that come to washington why we didnt do something. Kris brown from the brady group, tell me, do you think that Lindsey Graham shifting on this i know hes running for reelection s that some kind of a flag to you that maybe something is going to happen in the senate . I think so, yes. I was in the audience when Lindsey Graham and others in the Senate Judiciary Committee Held a hearing on extreme risk laws several months ago. One of the people who spoke there is a leader in california for brady. Shes responsible, amanda wilcox, for basically every law enacted in california and she talked about the extreme risk laws and she was very, very passionate. She lost her daughter to gun violence and i think graham was listening and does in this area want to move something forward. I hope hes also looking at polls like the fox news poll that just came out that shows 67 of americans also support an assault weapons ban and high capacity magazine restrictions and theres one common demon straiter as representative crow eloquently said. We need to address the issue of assault weapons on the streets and restrict high capacity magazines as well. What about the legislation sitting in the senate, is that a dead letter, the background checks . Absolutely not. 97 of americans believe we need that law passed. I want to be clear about what that does. Right now, federally licensed firearms dealers are required by the brady law to conduct background checks, but a loophole exists in the law because it was enacted 20 years ago. This bill would ensure that private sellers who arent subject to the federal brady background check law have to conduct background checks before guns are sold. This is critically important. We see every day the carnage thats happening all over america. Because we dont have the political will, too few people have the political will to make this happen. The question is if Mitch Mcconnell will move this forward. Is it what the American People want that hes elected to do or is he going to continue to do the nras business . Kris brown, thank you so much. And congressman jason crow, thank you for joining us from colorado today. I appreciate it. And coming up, my old kentucky home, why Senate Leader Mitch Mcconnell blocked a bill that would keep sanctions on a Russian Company. Youre watching Andrea Mitchell reports only on msnbc. Pharmacistrecommended memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. kickstart my heart by motley crue truck honks wheels screeching clapping sound of can hitting bag and bowl clapping always there in crunch time. Mitch mcconnolell is now unr renewed fire for the success effort to lift sanctions for the russia company. Was it a coincidence . The Washington Post describes how mcconnell went against his own party to lift sanctions linked to putin. At the same time the company was in talks with the producer to open up a plant in kentucky. Joining me now is rosilind, a reporter on this story. It is kind of curious, we were told strongly about the Majority Leader Office is that he was not aware of the possibility and there could be a major investment into a project in his home state at the time he took the sanctions load that he was acting on at the request of the Treasury Department and the Trump Administration and it had nothing to do with his project. The timing is really odd. I mean we were told by the ceo of the American Company that he was actually having dinner with the executive from the Russian Company on the day the senate was debating this measure. What was the investment in kentuc kentucky . It was a big investment. It was 200 million into a project thats going to be u. S. s largest new aluminum mill built in 40 years. It is going to be built in northeast kentucky. The ceo of the American Company basically says we cant be picky. Well take help from anyone. So you can see why this could be an important project to people from kentucky. Those as i said mcconnell insists he did not know about it. It is great work for the Washington Post and our friends. Rachel maddow has been reporting this aggressively and following up on this. We thank you very much. Stay in touch with any new details. Coming up, the new green deal. Reaction from greenland reports President Trump would like to be their new leader. Stay with us right here on and Andrea Mitchell reports on msnbc. Ll reports on msnbc. announcer Important Message for women and men ages 50 to 85. Right now, in areas like yours, people have already called about Life Insurance through the Colonial Penn program and received their free beneficiary planner. Have you received your free planner . If not, i encourage you to pick up the phone and take advantage of this free offer. 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Healthier brain. Better life. Greenlanders today are speaking out about President Trumps reported plan to purchase the territory. Joining me now by phone our science reporter dennis chow, whos been on assignment on greenland. What did people say about this . It was confirmed by nbc news that the president had been talking to people about buying greenland. Yes, the reaction here has been mockery bordering on annoyance i would say. The locals here spoken to a young man this morning who really echoed a lot of sentiment thats come out from greenlands government officials that this island is not for sale. I heard from a lot of locals say they dont know how to respond to these statements because they dont know whether or not to take it seriously. There were a number of parody treats, green lalanders tweetin photo, greenland does have an american air base. It is a very valuable strategic location of course between here and the european mainland and it has been where u. S. Troops stop f. Absolutely. I mean this is territorial. It is political and culture sensitivity flare. You know as far as i can tell the people that i have been speaking to are not keen on other outsiders and coming in and the resources here. To your point of President Trumps visit coming up, i mean there is Even Stronger statements coming out from the danish Prime Minister tweeting he thought it was april fools joke. Certainly a lot of laughter and it is not going to be a trump golf resort on greenland. President truman did suggest this back in 1946 of another suggestion in the 1800s but we dont think it will happen. Deleonnise denise, if it does, you will be the first one to report it. Thank you very much. Thats all for today for our report, Andrea Mitchell reports. Here is ali velshi. This is a catch for 2020. You would have been my go to on this, you are the expert on global affairs, does that even make sense . What Andrea Mitchell is asking the question of whether something makes sense, you know the world is on its head. It is upside down. It is friday, august 16th, coming up, congresswoman