Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Katy Tur 20190805

New legislation, called for the Death Penalty for mass murderers and blamed the internet and video games for inspiring violence. Ce in one voice our nation must condemn racism, bigotry and White Supremacy. Hate has no place in america. We must recognize that internet has provided a dangerous avenue to radicalized disturbed minds and perform demented acts. We must seek real bipartisan solutions. We have to do that in a bipartisan manner. That will truly make america safer and better for all. We must stop the glorification of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grizzly video games that are now commonplace. Now is the time to set destructive partisanship aside, so destructive, and find the courage to answer hatred with unity and devotion and love. So before he spoke from the white house, the president was on twitter again blaming the media for anger and rage, but in his comments and in his tweets, the president didnt once acknowledge that the alleged gunman in texas mirrored rhetoric similar to his own, citing a hispanic invasion. Rhetoric we have all seen play out over the course of trumps presidency. Were going to build the wall. We have no choice. We have no choice. Were taking people out of the country. You wouldnt believe how bad these people are. These arent people. These are animals. Were taking them out of the country at a level and at a rate thats never happened before. This is an invasion. When you see these caravans starting out with 20,000 people, thats an invasion. I was badly criticized for using the word invasion. Its an invasion. You cant theres thats only in the panhandle you can get away with that statement. As the New York Times writes today, but if mr. Trump did not originally inspire the gunman, he was or has brought into the mainstream, polarizing ideas and people once consigned to the fringes of american society. All right. Joining me now, Msnbc Senior National Correspondent chris jansing, Washington Post White House Reporter and msnbc political analyst ashley parker, vox media senior politics reporter jane costin and the interim executive director of jolt antonio arian no. Chris, begin with you, walk us through the latest in terms of what were hearing a day after the vigil that happened last night, the Community Coming together, where does the investigation stand . Where does the Community Stand as we go forward . Well, let me start with the community because the last couple of hours have been like a punch in the gut to a Community Already reeling from what happened at the walmart behind me and that, of course, is because of the information that came out that late last night or overnight and early this morning two more victims hospitalized had died. So it brings the total death count to 22. I can show you whats going on behind me. There is what started as a very spal memorial to the victims just up the hill from the walmart parking lot, this is the biggest crowd that i have seen so far and i talked to a husband and wife who were walking in, both of them had bouquets of flowers in their hands and i asked them why they were coming. They had heard just recently as they were driving somewhere on the radio about the two additional victims and just felt compelled they had to come and be with other members of this community and to show their respect. Of course the other thing is the breadth of the people who lost their lives to a 2yearold to a woman online in her 80s while her husband and sop were waiting for her in the parking lot and the grim reality of families brought in to identify the victims. All while police, the last word we have from them, is that the suspect is continuing to cooperate, but one of the things i hear a lot from folks is the phrase that he railed against hispanic invasion of texas and even as they come out to pay their respects here at the memorial and last night at a couple of different vigils, many people have acknowledged to me that they are still fearful. Chris, im curious to get your thoughts, i could be making an assumption here, but i would assume that community in el paso, texas, was probably watching the president s comments today very closely to see what he says, what kind of tone he strikes. A lot of people want him to be the consoler or uniter in chief. Like i said, i could be wrong with that assumption, but what have you gotten in terms of the sense of what people wanted to hear from the people, did they even watch the president , did they listen to him . What do they think if, in fact, they did listen to him . I only heard from a couple of people. One was a driver listening on the radio. Whether people saw it or not, its interesting to me, they all said the same thing and it echos what weve heard from the folks in dayton, do something. Its one thing to talk, go ahead and talk, we want to see what kind of action youre taking. Clearly a lot of folks here have been very much aware of the immigration debate, even as they felt in some ways removed from it because people who speak two languages, people crossing the border thats part of their everyday lives, but they also know they have very much been the focus of attention. When it hits home like this, when someone who so very clearly says that he hates hispanics, so clearly has this manifesto laid out of his hateful words, what theyre saying is we need to figure out whats going on and, of course, what we know is right now, the people who have been least willing to talk about some of the things Going Forward are the president and, of course, the white house controlled by a republican, the senate controlled by a republican, and both ohio and texas, their leadership is are republicans. Theyre waiting to see what exactly the government is going to do because as weve seen time and again, they dont want any community to have to go through this again. All right. Chris jansing live in el paso, texas, thanks. Ashley, let me get your thoughts on this. We heard the president i believe back in october, essentially, you know, make some really kind of i guess selfdeclaration that he is a nationalist and i want to play this sound bite and juxtapose with what he is saying today about White Supremacy and terrorism and nationalism. Watch this. They have a word, it sort of became old fashioned, its called a nationalist. I say really, were not supposed to use that word. You know what i am, im a nationalist, okay. Im a nationalist. So you take that with what the president has said today. Its hard to not look at this and say these are contradictory statements. One scripted, you know, probably advisors telling him you have to say this, one when hes off the cuff and speaking in what he normally does at his best. Which trump should america believe . Theyre absolutely contradictory statements and you mentioned him being scripted. One thing weve learned during the campaign and in his white house is that this president is like many politicians capable of reading words off the teleprompter. He can do that. That said, he often then seems to almost regret what he said in these kind of moments where he behaves in a more traditional, political, stately way and will often go back on them. We havent seen that yet. I think one of the things everyone who covers trump is going to be watching play out this week is, does he sort of stick with this tone we saw this morning where he condemned race im, bigotry, white supreme sism, called this an act of domestic terrorism or are we going to see him retreat and retrench to being a nationalist, to his tweets that divide the nation in many ways. Its interesting to watch the president today stand up there and kind of rail against partisan rhetoric and divisive rhetoric when he himself through his tweets and off the cuff comments is often the biggest offender of that rhetoric he was criticizing this morning. Its an important point, he got the name in the city in ohio wrong, toledo instead of dayton. You would think it would be seared in his psyche he would be able to get it right. Let me get your thoughts, an aspect to the president in terms of how he double speaks and youve written about this, that infamous moment when he tried to have it both ways saying the protesters in charlottesville, the neo nazis and those protesting them were, you know, fine people on both sides and tried to draw that eequivalency. What do you make of that . What do you make of the president trying to always draw that line and now trying to spin that what he was saying was not, in fact, about the neo nazis . Well, i think first and foremost, unite the right was an event organized by white nationalists. Theres no argument to be had. Jason kessler among the organizers, avowed white nationalists who said the event was going to be a moment for prowhite activism. I also think that trump, like a lot of politicians, makes often the worst assumptions about his own voting base. I think theres a sense for him that he believes that people who like him the most, may also agree with white nationalists or white supremacist rhetoric, therefore its very difficult for him to disavow. I think that you see that even even before he became president a couple years before, he was well aware of who david duke and pat buchanan were and was all too willing to denounce them except when he got into the political arena in 2015 and 2016 suddenly he seems less sure about who they are or whether or not he should disavow them and saying that, of course, i disavow them but not really. Its a sensibility i think you see this across the political spectrum an assumption being made about who voters are and what voters want. With trump, you definitely see an assumption that what his voters want, what his base wants, is this kind of racist rhetoric. Antonio, i want to bring you into this conversation. Theres no doubt that target of this hate crime, this terrorist attack, in el paso, was the Latino Community at large, may have been targeted to el paso, but sends a broader message based on the alleged manifesto left behind, you cover that community, tell us how they are feeling in the wake of both this massacre and the increased rhetoric that is coming against the community from the highest offices in the land . You know, its incredibly heartbreaking and at the same time frustrating. Its important we understand latinos are not invading texas. Weve always been here and we belong here and were not going anywhere. This president needs to stop demonizing latinos for political gain and take meaningful action to fight White Supremacists. This is domestic terrorism. The hispanic invasion of texas narrative that this president has played for his political expediency is reprehensible. The fear of the latino population growth in texas is shared by conservatives who are working to suppress communities of color. Its particularly latinos in texas working to make sure that we dont get counted in the census, working to make sure that we dont have access to the ballot box. These are traits and common issues that we see the conservative party continuing to enable. The president of the United States must stop enabling White Supremacy. We have got to make sure we call it out for what it is. This president is clearly an actor. We remember what his background is in and today we saw one of the best performances hes ever done. I dont believe the president is at all remorseful for participating in this. He enabled it. He knows exactly what he does at his rallies by empowering White Supremacy to go out and perpetuate this type of violence. We need to make sure we call on all of our rettives, texas leadership, governor greg abbott, nothing stopping you from starting a special session and calling action and we stop putting lives above guns. Antonio, ashley, jane, stay with me for a second. I want to bring in author and New York Times oped writer Richard Parker into this conversation. He is from el paso, texas. You recently wrote this in your oped. The el paso is massacre, thats what it is, its not a mass shooting, a premeditated massacre, was the inevitable byproduct of the trump eras antiimmigrant and antilatino invective with its pervasive vile racism has poisoned our nation. A lot of democrats candidates laid the responsibility directly on the president s shoulders. Listen to what tim ryan had to say. I think its completely disingenuous what he said. He gave the same speech after parkland. Hes trying to cloud this all up, talking about immigration. Hes divided this country so much and then he tries to inject immigration into this or talk about video games or this other stuff. No. This is about people getting highpowered weapons and having 250 rounds to be able to walk into an Entertainment District and an iconic American City like dayton and start slaughtering people. That is preventable and why were so pissed off. Richard, i want to get your thoughts on this. Its a two part. One, what do you make of the president s tweet today where he tried to link immigration to the gun control debate in this country with the background checks saying you do this, we can do that . Second of all, what do you make of his antiimmigrant rhetoric in general contributing to this . Do you share the congressmans sentiment he shares responsibility . I think its even worse than that, quite frankly, to link Immigration Law at a time like this which is the greatest massacre of latinos in american history, is rubbing salt in the wound here in this city, most certainly. I was covering the vigil last night. It was also a slap in the face to 60 million latinos, 55 at least of whom, million are citizens of this country. I think the most significant thing he said today was not comparing the issue of gun control to video games and Mental Health. Unfortunately those are the new thoughts and prayers from the Republican Party and certainly from this president. The worst thing he did was simply say, you know what, the Latino Community in the United States will not be safe again until he gets what he wants on immigration. So i think by far he worsened the situation to a point even i couldnt quite imagine. What would you say, richard, to the president if he comes to el paso . Hes been there before and used the border as a prop in his policy debate about immigration. If he came down there today to try to console and offer his condolences to the families, what would you tell the president . I would tell the president that hes not welcome here. I covered his last event here in january. He purposely chose this city, which wants nothing but calm and peace when it comes to immigration, to be a testbed for some of the worst things that we have seen since the internment of the japaneseamericans in world war ii. He used that again as a backdrop for launching his campaign, talking about a wall that he has promised of which not one mile has been built. So i would tell him in my opinion to stay away from el paso. All right. Richard parker, excuse me, Richard Parker, ashley parker, jane costin and antonio, thank you very much for joining us. And next were going to head to dayton, ohio, another city that is in shock today. Officials there updating the investigation a short time ago. Were live on the ground with the very latest. Later, a question in the wake of these massacres, has the government missed the rising threat of domestic terrorism . Let me ask you something. 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 mno kidding. Rd. But moving your internet and tv . Thats easy. Easy . easy . Easy. Because now xfinity lets you transfer your Service Online in just about a minute with a few simple steps. Really . Really. That was easy. Yup. Plus, with twohour appointment windows, its all on your schedule. Awesome. Now all you have to do is move. That thing. [ sigh ] introducing an easier way to move with xfinity. Its just another way were working to make your life simple, easy, awesome. Go to xfinity. Com moving to get started. Do something do something emotional calls to do something erupted last night in ohio at a vigil for those killed in sunday mornings deadly shooting spree in dayton. Police have no motive for the deadly attack that killed nine people and injured dozens more. Investigators there are digging through evidence, including the 24yearold gunmans social media profile trying to determine why he opened fire in a crowded Entertainment District. Among those killed was the suspects own sister. It seems to just defy believability that he would shoot his own sister, but its also hard to believe that he didnt recognize that was his sister. So we just dont know. All right. Joining me from ohio with more on this nbc news correspondent kathie park. Give us a sense of what youve been able to learn about where the direction of this investigation is going and what is the latest on the ground . Good afternoon to you. I do want to point out that the oregon district, the Business District that we are standing in right now, really has come alive ever since the road reopened last night. Theres been a lot of traffic moving behind me. People have been coming by, paying their condolences and paying their respects, dropping off flowers and candles. The community really starting to begin the healing process. But as far as the investigation goes, a couple of things to note. We were told that suspect had on him 250 rounds of ammunition. There was also a shotgun that was discovered in the trunk of the vehicle that he came in. There was also some more information about the sister. We were told, right now, really the link between that, we just know that the sister came with the suspect and eventually once they arrived near the scene they separated and officials kind of stopped short there and said thats part of the larger investigation. As we have been reporting all day long, the gunman came equipped with body armor, had a large Assault Rifle on him, extra magazines, and if he actually got into this bar behind me he could have done a lot more damage. As you know, this conversation has shifted to gun control. It has been a national conversation, but it has hit a lot close to home here in dayton and you have Law Enforcement as well as residents weighing in. Take a listen. Its problematic. It is fundamentally problematic. To have that level of weaponry in a civilian environment unregulated is problematic. There can be ways to tighten up some things, like even though the kid i raised is a member of nra and i believe we do have to have freedom to have weapons, we can tighten up and some things like background checks to do that more thoroughly. Reporter and Something Else to pass along that we learned in the latest media briefing, we learned that 14 people were injured due to gunshot wounds and the various other injuries happened after people were running away from the scene when they heard the shots fired, but as far as the scene here, back here in the oregon district, we have noticed as some of the businesses have actually reopened including the bar behind me where the shooting took place outside of this building. Were told that a lot of regulars are in there right now and coming together to heal. All right. Kathie park live in dayton, ohio. Thanks. Next when it comes to addressing hatebased domestic terrorism, is america too late . Stop struggling to clean tough messes with sprays. Try new clean freak it has three times the cleaning power to dissolve kitchen grease on contact. It works great on bathtubs. And even stainless steel. Try new clean freak from mr. Clean. You should be mad at leaf blowers. [beep] you should be mad your neighbor always wants to hang out. And you should be mad your smart fridge is unnecessarily complicated. But youre not mad, because you have e trade which isnt complicated. Their tools make trading quicker and simpler. So you can take on the markets with confidence. Dont get mad. Get e trade and start trading today. It was less than two weeks ago that the director of the fbi warned congress about the rise of domestic terrorism cases that are motivated by white supremacist views. Watch. I will say that a majority of the domestic terrorism cases that weve investigated are motivated by some version of what you might call White Supremacists violence. According to the Antidefamation League killing by White Supremacists in the u. S. Have vastly outpaced those by islamist extremists. Critics to the governments response to domestic terrorism says the u. S. Justice system has not yet caught up with this trend and that its high time to do something about it. Joining me now the former director of the National Counter Terrorism Center and Msnbc National Security and Intelligence Analyst Nicolas Rasmussen and former analyst tore domestic terrorism at the department of Homeland Security, daryl johnson. Great to have both of you with us. Nick, let me begin with you because you appeared on a panel at the annual Aspen Security Panel and the daily beast had this to say about your statements. You said during your time in office in government when you dealt with terrorist threats at the highest levels you couldnt remember having a single conversation about hatebased domestic terrorism, including hate inspired by White Supremacy, and now in a joint statement with five other counterterrorism directors from past administrations, you write this, more must be done to address acts of violence driven by extremist views of all types, including acts of domestic terrorism. We call on our government to make addressing this form of terrorism as high a priority as countering International Terrorism has become since 9 11. First, give me your take about what has changed since you were in office to now that has led to this spike in White Supremacybased hate crimes or domestic terrorism . Well, ayman, as the fbi director said in his other numerous officials have said in public testimony in recent months, there is an increase in the volume of cases, theres an increase in the frequency of violent incidents tied to domestic terrorism and white supreme particularly White Supremacy as director wray was saying. I dont want to suggest this is a new problem, something that came upon the scene and took us by surprise, but i will tell you there is a sense there is a greater volume, a greater frequency and this calls for a bit of a paradigm shift and thats what i was trying to get in that statement i issued with some colleagues of mine yesterday. Too long after 9 11 we focused almost exclusively on the overseas aspects of our terrorism fight when there is something we have to deal with at home. This extremism problem at home is one that affects communities all across the country and demands a more urgent response from the federal government. Specifically, walk us through some ideas that you think would work immediately either within the law or new laws that need to be written . When i think about some of the things that happened after 9 11, the patriot act, which was extremely controversial in terms of what it allowed the government to do, the wars we launched in iraq and afghanistan under the guise of fighting foreign terrorists, some of the things weve done to the minority communities like the muslim communities, those are controversial policies but what could you do within what the law says now and what you suggest should be done to combat this white extremism . Some of the colleagues have talked openly about whether its time to think about pursuing a domestic terrorism statute. Domestic terrorism is defined in law, but there isnt a standalone domestic terrorism statute that allows the fbi to actually investigate crimes on that basis and carry out investigations on that basis. Thats something that i think is worth looking at and worth seeing if that might give the fbi and other Law Enforcement entities more tools with which to go after individuals and groups that are motivated by these kinds of hatebased ideologies. But beyond that, theres a whole series of soft power tools that the administration or any u. S. Government, any administration, could tap into, the ability to work with local communities around the country, nongovernmental organizations, that are actually much closer to the problem, much closer to the extremism going on in a particular community, grant programs, sharing of information from the federal government to help these communities understand what theyre facing. These are programs that do exist, but they should be bolstered and supported, more dollars need to be flowing to them. Daryl, the department of Homeland Security actually restarted or did at least restart an Obama Initiative this past april but completely gutting it out, i believe called the office of targeted violence and terrorism protection. I want to play you this sound bite from an interview of a former official who worked on that specific program last night here on msnbc. Watch this. At about 16 2016, 2017, had a budget of around 22 million, it had about 40 fulltime employees, to where you look at it now it has a budget of about 2. 7 million to 3 million and youre talking about maybe if youre lucky about eight fulltime employees. A fraction of what it used to be. A fraction. Im not good at math, but that is definitely a massive cut in that budget, both in staff and in terms of resources and money. What does that say to you about the transparency of what this administration has been trying to do and why they just simply dont see it in the same way you guys are describing it, which is a real threat . I think it fits into an overall pattern of dialing back what little resources was devoted to this issue. You know, in 2018, we had the preeminent Counterterrorism Program for state and local Law Enforcement defunded. It was called the state and local antiterrorism training. This was the only training that federal government was offering to state and local Law Enforcement to educate them on domestic terrorist threats. We also had Grant Funding to three organizations that were devoted to countering violent white nationalism. They were the first granted money to try to pull people out of the movements and try to reacclimate them into society and they had their funding pulled. Its not surprising to see that this office at Homeland Security was severely had its budget cut and staffing reduced. Were seeing some of the consequences of that probably play out. Nick and daryl, thank you both very much. And some breaking news on wall street at the moment, the dow plummeting as the president s trade war with china continues to escalate. Major markets on track for their worst day of the year. You see it there on your screen. The dow is down about 840 points. 3. 17 . Cnbcs contributor ron insana joins me now. Good to have you with us. Walk us through what is happening here. You and i spoke on friday and we saw this coming but i dont think anyone anticipated this is what would have happened when china responded. Indeed, china did respond with respect to allowing its currency to fall through seven yuan to the dollar. Thats a near historic low against the dollar. Certainly the lowest level weve seen in several decades. That was an indication that china might more forcefully devalue its currency down the road to offset those potential tariffs that the president has warned. He could put on chinese goods come september 1st. He said as we discussed last week, there could be 10 tariffs on the remaining 300 billion worth of chinese goods that come to the United States and that that tariff amount could go up to 25 higher. Clearly china is letting the president know they could devalue their currency and they would no longer buy any agriculture products from the United States. They made that announcement today. We have the third biggest point decline in dow history. Fourth biggest point decline for the s p. Now in personal terms it doesnt rank in the top 10, 20 or 30, but it is a notable decline when the markets fall 3 or more in a single day. We will continue to watch it as the market begins to wind down for the day. Cnbcs ron insana, thank you. Up next, two 2020 contenders react to this weekends backtoback shootings and the president s comments earlier today. Kirsten gillibrand and senator cory booker both join me after a break. Break. Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. But were also a cancer fighting, hiv controlling, joint replacing, and depression relieving company. From the day youre born we never stop taking care of you. We really pride ourselves on making it easy for you tech at safelite autoglass, to get your windshield fixed. With safelite, you can see exactly when well be there. Saving you time for what you love most. Kids whoa kids vo safelite repair, safelite replace i urge senator mcconnell, republican leader in the senate, bring the senate back to washington. Lets have a real response. Its not everything we need to do on gun safety, but we could take important steps and we could demonstrate to the American People that gun manufacturers are not the ones who are calling the shots in washington. The republicans on the streets of america want this done, but Mitch Mcconnell and the republicans in the senate are in the pocket of the nra. 2020 democratic hopefuls are calling on Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell to bring back the senate to pass legislation that would curb gun violence in america. In february the house of representatives passed a bill that would require firearm dealers to wait for a background check before selling a gun, but as you can imagine that stalled in the senate. What are their plans to end the stalemate if, in fact, they do get elected. Joining me democrat senator and president ial candidate Kirsten Gillibrand. Let me begin with your reaction to the president s comments. What do you make of the way he framed the conversation over the weekend and his comments today . Its outrageous and absurd and he needs to take responsibility for the hate he has spewed, the division hes called in america, the racism hes inspired. He needs to take responsibility for it. Lets be clear about whats actually happening and be very specific, we have people in this country today, people fueled by hate, hunting other humans on our streets today, with weapons of war. So i agree with my colleagues, what is it going to take for republicans to stand up to Mitch Mcconnell and demand that we go back to washington and vote on these common sense reforms now. We know exactly what we have to do. We know exactly what would make a difference. We should be doing it right now. So should the Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell reconvene the senate during the august recess and if so, what is that likely to accomplish realistically . Listen, people are afraid. I have children in school. When a shooting event happened a mile or two from my sons school, they had to do the drills, the goun shooter drills. They had to have safety in place drills to make sure they could be safe. Our children should not be forced to have to have anxiety and fear about going to school. They should be able to do their multiplication tables and practice their spelling, not shelter in place drills. Yes. Go ahead. He should have us come back tomorrow and republicans need to stand up to him and they need to stand up against the nra and the gun manufacturers so that we actually can pass the common sense things. These shooters, they should not have access to large magazines. How many deaths do we have to see, how many people died in less than a minute, in less than a minute . That is the problem with large magazines and militarystyle assault weapons. Guns of war. Weapons of war in the hands of people who are set on hunting down other humans because of the racism, spewed by President Trump. So to that point the president tweeted out earlier today he would be willing to talk about background checks in exchange for an immigration policy or immigration reform. I want to get your reaction to that but also play you this sound bite from the president and get your comments. We must reform our Mental Health laws to better identify mentally disturbed individuals who may commit acts of violence and make sure those people not only get treatment, but when necessary, involuntary confinement. We must make sure that those judged to pose a grave risk to public safety, do not have access to firearms and that if they do, those firearms can be taken through rapid due process. So im curious to get your thoughts, if, in fact, the republicans adopt that as a policy in legislation, would you support it . Its beside the point. There are Mental Health issues in every nation in the world. We have a mass shooter problem in america. We have a gun violence problem in america. Because of the easy access to guns and weapons of war. We have these mass shooting after mass shooting and so many people get killed so quickly because a shooter can get access to a large magazine and a militarystyle Assault Rifle. These are weapons of war. They should not be in the hands of everyday americans. Its the easy access to weapons that distinguishes america from other countries that have the same Mental Health crises that we have across the country and across the globe. Your own views on guns have evolved from the time that you were a congresswoman to the time that you were a senator. I want to read you a part of a letter that you wrote to the nra in can i stop you . I have been an advocate for common sense gun reform for a decade. I went from an arating to the nra to an f in a minute. I want to ask you about that. Its a valid point you have moved forward on, but the question is a lot of people on the outside say that is because of politics and i wanted to put that question to you its more than politics what is the reason for that evolution . Because my job as senator from new york is to listen to families across my state, about the real human crises theyre in. Ive met a mother, a mother, who literally was on a park bench with her 4yearold who was shot and died in her arms. Ive met with parents who lost their teenage daughter who was just at a party with her friends. If you cant have a response to that to stop senseless gun violence when you see it, then you shouldnt be a member of congress and you certainly shouldnt be a u. S. Senator. So the truth is, ive been leading on these issues for a decade and i continue to lead on them. Thats why i know what President Trump is saying is total b. S. Hes full of it. Hes trying to make an excuse to say this is a Mental Health issue or hes trying to make an excuse that we need to combine it with immigration reform. No. President trump is unable to stand up to the nra. President trump is unable to stand up to the greed and corruption in washington fueled by the gun manufacturers who care more about gun sales than protecting our children. Hes a coward, hes unwilling to stand up to them and it shows. All right. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand thank you for your time. Youre welcome. Joining me on the phone for more on this topic new jersey senator and 2020 president ial candidate cory booker. Senator booker, great to have you with us as well. Let me pose the first question to you the same as i did to senator gillibrand, what is your reaction to the president s comments today, both linking the debate about gun control and background checks to immigration and his speech to the nation at 10 00 a. M. . Well, his speech was weak and truly wrong, and we know this quite factually that Mental Illness did not kill the people in el paso. The white supremacist with the gun did. Mental illness didnt kill people of dayton, a man wealding a high capacity rifle with magazines did. He wont say the obvious truth to so Many Americans that we have a crisis in this country. Other nations have violent video games, other nations have Mental Health crises. Only we have this kind of human carnage in our country because leaders wont stand up to take responsibility. So you reap what you sow. We know this from our faith. Donald trump has been sowing seeds of discord, of racism, of bigotry. He has failed to take responsibility at a time when this nation needs leaders that will take responsibility for this crisis and do the things we know that will make a difference. What are the issues, sir, that you think then the senate needs to pass and can pass today that would have prevented these types of attacks . Lets just say that, again, were focusing on two horrific attacks, but we are having a pattern of senseless killings, 100 people every single day. In order for the legislature of this country to pass, we need leaders that will stand up and begin to pin this where we know it is. There are common sense things. The majority of nra members even agree on doing something about these massive loopholes within our background checks or our violent background search checks. There are so many things that we could be doing but mass shooting after mass shooting weve seen nothing from this president but words and tired tropes and when theres not an aftermath mass shooting, he himself is sowing the seeds of racism and bigotry. What we must do right now is begin to have leaders willing to stand up and take responsibility. The president is shirking that responsibility. In terms of the actual legislation theres nobody right now running for president of the United States thats put more forward a bold sense of evidence based reforms that have shown in state after state to dramatically lower violent crime, Something Like a common sense if you need a license in america to drive a car, you should need a license to buy and possess a firearm. The states that have done that have seen dramatic, connecticut, over 40 drops in shootings in their state, including 15 drops in suicides. The problem is, we have a patchwork of state laws that allow as gavin newsom has courageously said, people in california, a state with strong laws, gilroy shooter left the state to go to to exploit a state, another states weaker laws and come back in. We need federal action. This is not complicated. We have enough know what will make us much safer. What were lacking is the political will amongst people, most specifically the president of the United States, who should be standing up and taking responsibility as opposed to pointing fingers of blame, or even worse, is igniting the controversy in our country of White Supremacy by giving statements that only fuel folks like this to take these kind of terrorist activities. Senator cory booker, i know your time is tight. Thank you very much for calling in. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Next hour, my colleague ali velshi will speak live with senator kamala harris. Thats at 3 00 p. M. Eastern. Up next, were going to go back to texas. Where does el paso go from here . Earn unlimited 1. 5 miles on every purchase, plus well match your miles at the end of your first year. Youll match my miles . Yeah mile for mile and no blackout dates or annual fee. Nice i was thinking about taking a scuba diving trip i love that. Or maybe go surfing. Or not. Ok. Maybe somewhere else. Maybe a petting zoo. Cant go wrong. Cant get eaten. Earn miles. Well match em at the end of your first year. Plus no annual fee or blackouts. The discover it® miles card. Liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, hmm. Exactly. So you only pay for what you need. Nice. But, uh. Whats up with your. Partner . Not again. Limu thats your reflection. Only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty this is not just a headache. This is not just a fever. This is not just the flu. Its meningitis b. And youre not there to help. While meningitis b is uncommon. Once symptoms appear, they can progress quickly and can be fatal. Sometimes within 24 hours. Before you send your teen to college. Make sure you help protect them. Talk to your teens doctor. About meningitis b vaccination. O ozempic® oh oh announcer people with type 2 diabetes are excited about the potential of onceweekly ozempic®. 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Tell your doctor if you have Diabetic Retinopathy or vision changes. Taking ozempic® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may increase the risk for low blood sugar. Common side effects are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, and constipation. Some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. I discovered the potential with ozempic®. Oh oh oh ozempic® announcer if eligible, you may pay as little as 25 per prescription. Ask your Health Care Provider today about onceweekly ozempic®. 48 hours after the attack that flipped our world upside down, the community of el paso is coming together. Folks from all over the region driving in to donate their blood, waiting in lines in the heat and joining a vigil to remember the lost with one resounding message for the world, we are strong. This is nt going to define us. This is only going to make us stronger, make us more united, and thats what were going to show the world. I love el paso and el paso is strong. El paso will show that even if theres hardship we can come together as a city and be supportive of one another. El paso is a city of love. El paso is a safe city. Were strong and were going to overcome this together as one. All right. Joining me now from el paso, texas, state representative kreezer blank oh. Youre been on the ground for a lot of the developments postshooting. You were at the vigil last night. You tweeted saturday one of the more powerful tweets that ive seen. Im at my Elementary School that i went to as a kid and i never thought it would be a mass shooting family reunification center. What has it been like for you to watch a community you know and love respond to an act of terror . Well, its tragic. Its very sad that in my community and my district that i represent 20 people were killed. 22 people were gunned down, an additional 26 are still fighting for their lives with injuries in the hospitals. Its tragic that these occurrences continue to happen throughout our country. Weve heard from President Trump today, his message regarding this. But the reality and the question we need to ask is that White Supremacists are coming to our communities and killing many people. This is happening on the president s watch. Whats he going to do about this . And for too long there hasnt been courage on behalf of elected officials to take action. I think the time is now to take action. Sir, i wanted to get your thoughts about the president suggesting he might come to el paso. Hes been down there before. Hes used the border in his policy in talking about immigration and antiimmigrant rhetoric. What would you say, sir, as a member of government, what would you say to the president of the United States directly face to face if you had a chance . Right now i think our community is still dealing with an active investigation, our community is dealing with the major loss of our community. I think our Community Needs a little bit of time to deal with this. We dont need the president to come to our community right now as we are still dealing with this active situation, which requires a lot of work on behalf of the federal government, the State Government and of course our local governments that are taking care of our community. So just to clarify that, sir, would the president be welcome . Would you welcome the president to el paso or is he not welcome there from your perspective . I think the president coming here at this time would be a distraction for our community. I think its important that we are here for the families that are receiving the information about their loved ones that have been killed. I do request that the president ensures that the federal government provides resources and the agencies are readily available for our community. But i think the president coming to our community at this point would be a distraction. I say that because in his speeches throughout his campaign, one that he actually made here in el paso, were very hurtful to our community. This is a Latino Community, a majority Latino Community, and he has made really hurtful remarks to our community. I think we need a little bit more time to cope and deal with the situation at hand. When you take a look at the alleged manifesto or screed that was left behind by this shooter and the kind of terminology that is used and the ideology that he draws upon and you juxtapose that with what the president has said over his time about mexicans and invasions, the kind of chants and comments that hes allowed to happen at his rallies, do you see a direct line of responsibility between what the president said and this type of violence . Absolutely. Weve seen that kind of language in his campaign rallies. Just the other day somebody shouted that hispanics should be shot and he laughed at that comment. Unbelievable for somebody who is serving in the white house as our president. It allows and gives strength and voice to these individuals who are White Supremacists that say the same thing. So we are sad that we have someone in the white house who has campaigned against our community, has said hurtful things about our community and then wants to come here on a tragic week when were at loss to try to bring us together. Texas state representative, sir, to you very much for your time. Thank you. Tonight join msnbc for a nation in crisis in a special report, brian williams, rachel and nicole take a hard look at gun violence, domestic terrorism and hate in america. That is tonight at 9 00 p. M. Eastern right here on msnbc. That wraps up things for us this hour. Ali velshi picks things up right now. Well see you later on. We have much more on our top story this afternoon, President Trumps response to the Mass Shootings in el paso and dayton in just a moment. But i have to begin with breaking news from wall street where the markets are seeing their worst drop of the war as the trade war between the United States and china intensifies. This isnt actually the worst its been all day. The dow was down nearly 900 points just a few minutes ago. We are slightly off session lows right now, which is a good thing. But that is still more than a 3 loss on the dow. Lets take a look at the other indices. You know i like to look at