Transcripts For WRC Meet The Press 20240622

It turns out way too much. Joining me for insight and analysis this morning are jeff greenfield, contributor to the daily beast, molly ball of the atlantic, kimberly strossel, and Eugene Robinson of the washington post. Welcome to sunday. Its meet the press. Good sunday morning. When he first began talking about running for president , a lot of people dismissed him, including myself. But theres no denying that donald trump is completely shaken up the republican race, topping national and state polls, drawing 24 Million People to the gop debate and simply dominating the coverage so far. I caught up with trump yesterday in des moines, iowa, for his first facetoface sunday morning interview as a had can. I wanted this interview to be less about personality and more about substance. We touched on a lot of issues. Birtherism, abortion, isis, illegal immigration and much more. Lets get right to it, starting with his standing with the conservative movement. Some of the criticism on you from conservatives is youre not a real conservative. When you hear that, some of them will argue on social policies that youre not a real conservative. Is it just different brands of conservatism thats out there and you just have a different brand or do you think they have a point . Well, i think they have a point from years ago, but they also have that same point with Ronald Reagan, who was a democrat absolutely with a liberal bent. And Ronald Reagan became, you know, not only a republican but a pretty conservative republican. Not the most, but a pretty conservative republican and hes somebody that i actually knew and liked and he liked me. I worked with him and helped him. But i think that when you get right down to it, people do evolve on different issues. And ive you know, im prolife and i was begrudgingly the other way. But when those questions were asked and that was many, many years ago, i wasnt a politician. Should some form of abortion always be legal . Well, to me i have exceptions, rape, incest, if the mother is going to die, and Ronald Reagan had those same exceptions and many republicans have those same exceptions. But i say rape, incest what about health of the mother . I said actually if the mother is close to death. Im talking about death. If you know, because then you sort of say, well, maybe shes not what is the constitutional right between the mother and the unborn child . Whose Constitutional Rights matter more . My statement on that happens to be the you know, if the mother will die and youre going to know that and the problem with the life, if you say life, what does life mean . You have a cold and youre going to end up having an abortion. So i have the three exceptions and pretty much the standard three exceptions that many republicans have. You were pretty you were somewhat defending planned parenthood earlier this week. It struck me that there was a time planned parenthood was not seen as a very political organization. Do you ever were you ever a donor . I dont know. I mean i dont know, but its possible. I give to so many i give to so Many Organizations over the years. Hundreds of millions of dollars. So i dont know. I dont think so, but its possible somewhere it wouldnt have surprised you if you had . Well, look, planned parenthood had to stop with the abortions. A lot of people consider it an abortion clinic. I think those tapes that i saw, the five tapes or six tapes, i thought they were outrageous, i think they were terrible, disgust buying any standpoint, and they have to stop. Does it bother you that they were edited . Well, i dont know about them being edited. Whatever i saw was terrible. I mean it was terrible. In particular i didnt like the attitude of the people. They talked about it almost like were making wijdgets or gadget and it was not appropriate. You dont think there should be a government showdown, shutdown over planned parenthood . I wouldnt fund it if they have the abortion going on the and its been a big factor. You hear all different numbers. They say its 3 , other people say its 85 , thats a big difference. Would you shut down the government over this dispute . I would not fund if theyre doing abortions. But as you know there could be a stalemate in congress. Is it worth shutting down the government . Thats something id have to think about to be honest with you. I dont want to give a hard and fast answer to that. It bothers me greatly that theyre doing the abortions. At the same time, Womens Health issues are very important to me. Lets go foreign affairs. You want to knock the hell out of isis, how . I want to take away their wealth. For years ive been saying dont go into iraq. They went into iraq, destabilized the middle east and they did that. I said iran will take over iraq, which is happening, as sure as youre sitting there, and isis is taking over a lot of the oil in certain areas of iraq. And i said you take away their wealth. Go and knock the hell out of the oil. Take back the oil. We take over the oil, which we should have done in the first place. Youre talking about maybe 25,000 . Were going to have so much money. What i would do with the money that we make, which would be tremendous, i would take care of the soldiers that were killed, the families of the soldiers that were killed, the soldiers, the Wounded Warriors that are see, i love them and theyre walking all over the streets of new york, all over the streets of every city without arms, without legs and worse than that. And i would take care of them. They paid a big price so america should take over these oil fields. Shouldnt be given to the iraqis . We can give them something but definitely take back money for our soldiers. Weve had soldiers that were decimated, so badly hurt, the Wounded Warriors, and killed, of course. But weve had soldiers who were so badly hurt and killed, i want their families to get something because we got nothing out of that war. We spent 2 trillion, chuck. We had thousands of people killed. Wounded warriors all over the place, they got nothing. And they cant even say we had a victory. Who do you talk to for military advice right now . Well, i watch the shows. I really see a lot of great when you watch your show and all of the other shows a you have the generals and you have certain people that you like but is there a goto for you . Probably there are two or three. Probably there are two or three. I like bolton, i think hes a tough cookie, knows what hes talking about. Jacobs. You mean ambassador boldon. Colonel jack jacobs is a good guy. You wrote this in 2011 about saudi arabia. The worlds biggest furnished of terrorism punls our dollars, our very own money, to fund the terrorists. What are u. S. saudi relations going to look like under a Trump Administration . Well, the primary reason were with saudi arabia is because we need the oil. Now we dont need the oil so much. If we let our people really go, we wouldnt need the oil at all and let everybody else fight it out. Saudi arabia is going to be in big trouble pretty soon and theyre going to need help. If you look at yemen and you look at that border, you dont have to be an expert to know that is one long border and theyre not going in for yemen, theyre going in for the oil and saudi arabia. So saudi arabia is going to need help. Like it or dont like it, people have backed saudi arabia. What i really mind, though, is we back it at tremendous expense. We get nothing for it and theyre making a billion dollars a day. We do have a running theme here. You believe the u. S. Should youre okay with the u. S. Bowing the worlds police. We should police and be re reimbursed. It turns our military into a mercenary force. We are a debtor nation. We owe now 1. 9 trillion. Ive been saying 1. 8. Its soon going to be 2. 4 trillion. Thats like a point that whether you believe in the great economists or not, that seems to be a point of no return. Thats where were greece on steroids, okay. Were going to be there very soon. Why are we doing all of this these are wealthy countries. They will give us, if we have the right messenger, they will give us. Its like this horrible deal with iran. This deal, if you had the right youd have the prisoners back years ago. Iran will still get money. But let me ask you this. I understand theres a lot of people that are critical of the deal. But could you what deal can you come up with that wouldnt give iran money . Okay. Wouldnt give them sanction money. By the way, we will never give you back your money, never get your 150 billion. Youre never getting your money back, number one. Number two, before you start negotiations, you have to give us three prisoners, now its four. You have to give us back without question, you have to give them back. And you know what, you dont want them but we do. Its psychologically good and will help us make a better deal together, thats good for you. I would have told them up front youll never get your 150 billion back. They are going to be such a wealthy, such a powerful nation, theyre going to have nuclear weapons. They are going to take over parts of the world that you wouldnt believe. And i think its going to lead to nuclear holocaust. I will say this, the people that negotiated that deal, namely kerry and his friends, are incompetent. What do you do on day one, though ive heard a lot of people say were going to rip up the deal. Its very tough to do when you say rip the deal. Let me tell you. But i will police that deal. Ive taken over some bad contracts. I buy contracts where people have screwed up and they have bad contracts. But you have to abide by it. Im good at looking at a contract and finding things in a contract even though theyre bad. I would police that contract so tough that they dont have a chance. As bad as the contract is, i will be so tough on that contract so the deal lives in a Trump Administration. Youre just going to be well, its very hard to say were ripping up. The problem is boy the time i got in there, they will have already received the 150 billion. Do you know if the deal gets rejected they still get the money, which is something i found out a week ago. I couldnt believe it. If the deal gets rejected, they still get all of this money. Iran is going to be unbelievably powerful and unbelievly rich and israel is in big trouble. Israel is in big trouble. Obama has really let israel down. If you get evidence theyre working on a nuclear weapon, you order air strikes immediately . I dont want to really say. I would be so tough, you wouldnt believe it but i dont want to really say. If i win and now im leading in every single poll. Even you will agree to that, right . Local, national, iowa, new hampshire, everything. If i win, i dont want to really be talking too much about obama talks too much about what hes going to do. Were going to raid here, were going to do this. General mcarthur, general patton, they didnt talk. They got the job done. So that was part one. Ive got the panel here. Dont worry, more trump interview coming up in the show. Jeff greenfield, now contributes to politico and the daily beast, molly ball, politics writer, kimler be strossel and Eugene Robinson. The Trump Campaign has contacted me and said on planned parenthood they cant find any evidence he gave any money for the past 20 years. Jeff greenfield, what did you learn . First i learned that he has moved to a slightly more subtle level than in the opening rounds. He actually said i have to think about that. Thats not a sentence that easily comes to Donald Trumps mind. Not sure about that. The first vague hint of nuance, which is another word i dont associate with him. I must say that the answer to the question you asked him about where he gets his military and defense advice, he watches shows. Once again, i think for an ordinary political person, that would have consequences. Its just that ive been so wrong about what was going to hurt donald trump for so long, that maybe his supporters will say thats a good place to figure out your military strategy, ill watch television. Heres the thing, a lot of his supporters do watch a lot of television. Right, molly . They seem to. Look, he is capable of seeming to give details while actually being very slippery. He didnt actually answer a lot of your questions there. He said, well, its this or its that or hell say two contradictory things but he fill busters in a way that it sounds like hes answering the question in a high level of dough taetai because he uses a lot of words. Kimberly, did he make the case to conservatives that hes a conservative. Ever since the debate you see that hes decided hes going to be a real candidate. Hes putting out some policy details, building up his organization in iowa, hes going to be a candidate. The question is whether or not that doesnt hurt him more in the end with conservatives. You look at the conservative electorate over the last decade, its gone through this evolution, tea party change. And what they have decided is that they are generally demanding more principled candidate and they also want to win. And when you listen to him, its very hard when you hear the answers to some of these questions. They dont necessarily fall in line with what the conservative electorate has been asking for from candidates over time. Its not just single payer, but all kinds of things. Gene, if you could, if you had to sum up what you learned about his Foreign Policy philosophy, did you find, is he an interventionist, an isolationist . What is he . What did you get from it . Well, you know, hes donald trump. Hes himself. And the selling point of his candidacy is im donald trump. And its not about his specific policies, and, you know, youre right, that was a very weak answer on where do you get your military advice but its really not about where he gets his military advice. Its about i can make a better deal. I can go in and take the oil. Dont worry about the details, ill figure it out. Im not going to talk a lot about exactly how im going to do x and y because that would be foolish, i know how to make a deal. Thats the donald trump candidacy. And i actually think hes been very consistent and sort of singleminded about that fact. The simple fact of his candidacy. Jeff, you brought up nuance. I thought the most fascinating answer was his iran answer. That im going to accept the agreement. And im going to that was a very believable answer to him. I know how to read a contract, i know how to find loopholes. And thats two things. One, thats another thing that could set some of those conservatives off because the set line is rip the deal off right after i finish swearing myself in or whatever. And the other part about that is that youre getting the sense that hes torn. I mean one point he knows that it would be useful to be more reasonable. On the other hand, i think this may be the mantra of the whole campaign, hes donald trump. I keep coming back to what mark cuban, his fellow reality guy said very early in the game. It doesnt matter what hes saying, youre missing the point. But also what he said was very realistic. You tear up the deal on day one, everybody else is following the deal. Iranians already have the money, some very realistic answers. But it also shows a lack of understanding. He doesnt get to enforce this deal. International nuclear inspectors enforce this deal. So and that does come through the more you talk about Foreign Policy. Let me take a break here. Weve got more of the trump entinterview interview, a little more domestic issues coming up, including and revealingimmigrat you have to [ male announcer ] whether it takes 200,000 parts, 800,000 hours of supercomputing time, 3 million lines of code, 40,000 sets of eyes, or a million sleepless nights. Whether its building the worlds most advanced satellite, the space station, or the next leap in unmanned systems. At boeing, one thing never changes. Our passion to make it real. I know, mommy, our passion to make it real. But its time to let the new kitchen get some sleep. If you want beautiful results, you know where to go angies list. Now everyone can get highly rated service even without a membership. You can shop special offers or just tell us what you need, and well help you find a local company to take care of it. Angies list is there for all your projects, big and small. Pretty. Come see what the new angies list can do for you. Welcome back. Few things donald trump said during the campaign has attracted more attention than negative comments about mexican immigrants. Hes light on detail about how he would address illegal immigration. Yesterday on his plane he handed me his immigration plan, about an eightpage plan. He wants to end the automatic right of citizenship for anyone born in the country. Thats probably the biggest news in the plan. He plans to immediately rescind president obamas order to stop undocumented children. The executive order gets rescinded. One good youll rescind that one, too . Youll rescind the dream act, daca . We have to make a whole new set of standards. And when people come in, they have to youll split up families, deport children . No, well keep the families together. We have to keep the families together. But youre going to kick them out . They have to go. What if they have no place to go. We will work with them. We have to go. Chuck, we either have a country or we dont have a country. How do you do it . The question of look at what we have right now . The question of doing it let me ask you this but how do you do it . Do you think theres cost for illegals . Of course theresk s1i;a r . N tremendous. Do you think theres tremendous crime being committed by illegals . Theres definitely evidence its happened. And you see it all over. Just last night. All over. We will do it and we will expedite it so people can come back in. Its still not clear. Chuck, chuck, it will work out so well. Youll be so happy. In four years youre going to be interviewing me and say, what a great job youve done, president trump. Coming up, my lightning round with donald trump including whether he believes president obama is a u. S. Citizen. And then theres this little nugget, i asked him why he felt it was necessary to constantly remind people that he attended the Wharton School of finance. His response. Look fishgs were a liberal Democrat People would say im a super genius of all time. If youre a conservative republican, have you to fight for your life. Its really amazing. Announcer meet the press is brought to you by morgan stanley, where capital creates change. Two streetlights. The only difference that little blue thingy. You see it . Thats a sensor. Using ge software, the light can react to its environment getting brighter only when its needed. In a night, it saves a little energy. But, in a year it saves a lot. And the other street . Its been Burning Energy all night. For frank. Franks a cat. Now, two things that are exactly the same, have never been more different. Ge software. Get connected. Get insights. Get optimized. You forgot the milk thats lactaid. Right. 100 real milk, just without the lactose. So you can drink all you want. With no discomfort . Exactly. Here, try some. Mmm, it is real milk. See . Delicious. Hoof bump oh. Right here girl, boom. Lactaid®. 100 real milk. No discomfort. And for a creamy and delicious treat, try lactaid® ice cream. Welcome back. As everyone knows, donald trump has a lot of opinions about a lot of things. I did sort of a lightning round on issues with him, starting with his role in the birther movement, questioning president obamas citizenship four years ago. Let me go through some grab bags. What launched our relationship, shall we say, is was back four years ago. Do you believe president obama is a citizen who was born in the United States . Well, i dont like talking about it anymore because, honestly, i have my own feelings. I think he should have taken the 5 million. I dont know why he spent 4 million in legal fees to keep his records away. Im talking about the birth certificates. Maybe the hackers have his records. It will be very i mean, his college records. He spent 4 million in legal fees to make sure nobody you want him to release his. Would you release all his . Im proud of mooi my records. If he does it, ill do it. President obama tried to put a ban on lobbyists working in the administration. Would do you that . Thats a pretty good idea. These guys get out and they almost meetly go to work for a company and they have power they shouldnt have. Look, when jeb bush raises 114 million, i know those people that gave him the money. I used to be one of them. I gave to everybody. I know those people. Hes like a puppet for those people. Hes a puppet. Those people will take negative ads on me and other people because they want him in there because theyre going to control jeb bush. Not only jeb, theyre going to control hillary. She raised 16 million plus. Theyll control whoever is in. The lobbyists and special interests and donors have so it will work in the Trump Administration, a ban . Yeah. I would have a ban. You cant put a lifetime ban but you can certainly make it three, four years. What is a fair living wage . Whats fair . I want to keep the minimum wage pretty much where it is right now because we have a country that is now competing more than ever before because of airplanes and transportation and internet we have to we cant compete with the rest of the world. I want to compete with the rest of the world. What i do want to do is bring in jobs so much so that people dont have to live on minimum wage, but we have to compete with the rest of world. Facebook question. Residents of the direct of columbia currently pay federal taxes but have a nonvoting delegate in the house of representatives. Should that policy continue as is . Should d. C. Become a state . Should it not have to pay taxes . Should it be treated like puerto rico . I have a conflict of interest because im building at the Old Post Office what i think will be one of the great hotels of the world. It will open unlike our government, under budget and ahead of schedule. Like the wall will be under budget, ahead of schedule and nobody is getting through that wall, believe me. So i have a little conflict. I would like dotodo whatever is right for the direct of columbia. Its funny. Ive really gotten to know the people, the representatives, mayor there, they are special people and theyre great. They have a great feeling. I would say whatevers best for them. Im for. I have a total conflict of interest. Your slogan, well hear it a lot today at the fair, were going to make America Great again. When was when was the last time america was great . I would say during the administration of Ronald Reagan you felt proud to be an american up. Felt really proud. I dont think since then to any great extent people were proud. Let me ask you this, im not trying to play a little gotcha here. In 1987 you took out a fullpage ad during the Reagan Administration and you said this, for decades and japan and other nations have been taking advantage of the United States. On message. Consistent. The world is laughing at americas politicians as we protect ships we dont own, carrying oil we dont need destined for allies who wont help. Messagewise, very consistent. But from day one, including during the reagan lets nafta lets not let our great country be laughed at anymore. If that was the last time america was great then, you didnt think america was great then. I thought america was excellent. I thought nafta was a huge mistake, a terrible mistake, but i think he set a tone that was an excellent tone for this country. I disagree with some of his looking back you seemed to like it, but at the time looking back i liked it more. This was a fiery guy. Donald trump of 1987. Its the same guy. Ill give you consistency. If you could win as an independent, would you be more no i want to run. I get why you dont want to run as an independent because you probably wouldnt win. Its hard. Look, somebody was asking me that question the other day times 50. I understand. Im hearing it all the time. I know. Im running as a republican. Im leading by double digits for just say im going to stay as a republican. Why is it so hard . Because im not prepared to close that door yet but i wouldnt be surprised if some day in the not too distant future it happens. Theyre treating me very well. I just want to be treated fairly. Im a person that believes in leverage. I was amused about this excerpt from yourplayboy interview of 1990. The question asked what does all this mean, the yacht, bronze tower, casino, that what does it mean for you . You replied, props for the show. They said, what show is that . You replied, the show is trump and it has sold out performances everywhere. It has been for a long time. Are we part of a show . No. You know some of the criticisms, we all feel like are we in a reality show . No, this isnt a reality this is the real deal. You did smile when i read the show quote because it resonated with you. Look, my life has been an interesting life. Ive had a lot of fun. Im leading the polls. I go on your show, its the high hess ratings in years. Look at fox, look what happened to fox. I mean, its a whole, crazy thing going on. And all i care about, and this is 100 truthful, i love this country and i want to make it great again. And its not going to be great if we keep going the way were going, were going to be third world. We probably already are. You look at our airports, roads, bridges, schools, our school system. We spend more on individual students than anybody else. Were 25 in the world. We have to fix our country. We have to make our country great again. Let me bring back the panel. Molly ball, one thing i and i was going to give him credit for there, which is, there is a consistency to his complaints about government, which is trade. There absolutely is. This has been a longterm consistency, as you noted. I think we talk about, is he going to alienate conservatives with this policy and so on. I dont think his real audience is conservativebased voters. I think his voters is broader set alienated bluecollar people, upset with china, upset about trade, immigration. The continuity between the china complaints and immigration complaints is there is a feeling the reason were losing bluecollar jobs is because of these two factors. He appeals to a lot of people loosely connected to politics, dont have ideological litmus tests on all these issues we try to trip him up on but someone who is strong, tough and takes charge with the force of personality and that is what he offers. Jeff, you and i were talking about this historically, hes a nationalist. And hes in line with other infamous and famous businessmen who turned to politics and preached nationalism. I would broaden it out a little bit. Heres yet another thing i missed. Not sure what im doing here with all these misses but there is a strain in this country of looking at really wealthy people who are outside of politics and thinking, thats the answer. Henry ford was seriously considered as a president , ross per perot, both romneys. Its in that answer about lobbyists. I cant be bought and im too rich to steal. And all these other people, one way or another, are groping for money from people who want influence. Thats what he said in that first debate. That and kimberlys and molly both, youre exactly right. Thats not necessarily a conservative appeal at all. It is populist. When its linked to his rhetoric on immigration and birtherism of three years ago, thats another long and fairly ignoble tradition. Thats an interesting brew. But its not just the money thing. Its the outsider question. Look who else did well in that poll . You had carly fiorina, ben carson. The americans out there are just very unhappy in general with washington. They want someone who is outside of that perspective. And go back go back, by the way, to 2011 at this time, who was heading in the polls . Herman cain. And they say, you should dismiss it. No, because he has tapped into things that do matter. The immigration things. The things he proposed is not going to fix the immigration problem up. See real anger out there. Other republicans realizing they have to address it and that has had an influence on the race. He worked with senator jeff sessions, thats who they used who is probably the hardest line immigration activist in the senate. Go ahead. Another trump appeal is people who think all politicians are a bunch of clowns, who are who make promises theyre not going to keep and who take themselves far too seriously. Donald trump is kind of a clown, makes promises hes not going to keep. He doesnt take himself that seriously. Like, he pulls back the curtain on oddly authentic about it. Right. This is all kind of a game, theyre all theyre telling you this because this is what you want to hear. Let me show you how it really works. By the way, theres a lot more to the interview. We talked nato, what would happen if saudi arabia erupted into a civil war. A lot more you want to see. Check it out on our website, of course. By the way, we have his plan, his new immigration plan pipts already up on the website as well. A little more details there. When we come back, were going to change things up, the democrats. Hillary clintons growing trouble has led to the rise of trouble has led to the rise of this man, bern at ally bank no branches equals great rates. Its a fact. Kind of like shopping hungry equals overshopping. By the time Police Arrive on a crime scene, they could have little to go on. A vague description. A single piece of evidence. A partial plate number. With an app from ibm, officers can now access over a billion police documents to find hidden connections, and identify potential suspects. Ibm analytics helps one hundred thousand officers work smarter every day. Thankshow may i help you . S list. I heard i could call angies list if i needed work done around my house at a fair price. You heard right, just tell us what you need done and well find a top rated provider to take care of it. So i could get a faulty light switch fixed . Yup or have a guy refinish my floors . Absolutely or send someone out to groom my pookie . Pookies what you call your . My dog. Yes, we can do that. Real help from real people. Come see what the new angies list can do for you. At ally bank no branches equalsits a fact. Kind of like mute buttons equal danger. That sound good . Not being on this phone call sounds good. Its not muted. Was that you jason . It was geoffrey it was jason. It couldve been brenda. Welcome back. To understand whats going on in the democratic primary, have you to sample the mood on the ground. From my days in iowa, its clear to me the Bernie Sanders apool is very real as he attracts huge crowds. Senator joins me from iowa. Senator, welcome back to meet the press. Thank you. I have to say i was both in clear lake, watched you there, watched you on the soap box yesterday where you had so many people, the fair stopped. Forget trump, forget Hillary Clinton, i think you might have had the biggest crowd yesterday. Why do you think youre resonating at this point and how do you take this from being a movement that seems big in august and how do you keep it from fading five months from now . Chuck, i think we are resonating all over this country and here in iowa because were talking about issues that are life and death issues to the American People. And that is the collapse of the american middle class, the massive and grotesque level of income and wealth and inequality in this country, the fact we are the only major country on earth that doesnt guarantee health care to all people, the fact that millions of working class families are now finding it very, very difficult to send their kids to college. And the basic fact the people are working longer hours for lower wages and meanwhile, all the new income and wealth is going to the top 1 . Then you add to that a Campaign Finance system as a result of Citizens United that allows billionaire families like the Koch Brothers and others to literally buy politicians and corrupt the american political process. You know, senator add all that together and the American People are saying, enough is enough. The last time i had you on and i asked you about what do you think of the comparisons between the whats happening with you and whether there were similarities of trump, you were dismisses ive of it. I cant tell you how many people came up and said positive things about you and trump at same time. Using things like the Campaign Money exampler and the outsider. What do you think you have in common with the trump voter . Forget trump, but the trump voter. Yeah, but heres the difference, you know, im not a billionaire. My family doesnt have a whole lot of money. We are raising our Campaign Contributions from 350,000 people, who are contributing, chuck, on average 31. 20 apiece. Thats our response, to get out to working class people, to go out to middle class people and gain support. I think thats a little bit different approach than Donald Trumps. Buzzfeed has an article out this morning. Headlines is Sanders Campaign reaches out to black lives matter activists. Quote, i apologize it took our campaign so long. Tell me more about it. Well, that was sent out by a staffer, not by me. Look, we are reaching out to all kinds of groups, absolutely. I met with people at black lives matter. Were reaching out to latino groups. Were reaching out to the unions. Were fighting to expand Social Security and were reaching out to senior groups. Were reaching out to Health Care Groups because we believe that everybody in america is entitled to health care. Were reaching out to everybody. On this issue of black lives matter, let me be very clear, the issue they are raising is a very, very important issue. There is no candidate for president who will be stronger in fighting against institutional racism and, by the way, reforming a broken criminal justice system. Chuck, we have more people in jail in the United States of america than any country on earth. And we need real changes. We need to do away with the militarization of local police departments. We need to do away with minimum sentencing. We needed indication and jobs for our young people rather than jails and incarceration. I understand that. You said a staffer put it out but you felt an apology was necessary . No. I dont. I think were going to be working with all groups. This was sent out without my knowledge. Fair enough. Let me ask you something that Martin Omalley said. Clearly was a reference to you earlier this week. I dont think its a problem for the Democratic Party but it might be a problem long term for senator sanders. Im a lifelong democrat and i believe in the principles of our party, thats why i choose to be a democrat, not just in president ial years but every years of my life. This reference that you have not become a registered member of the Democratic Party. What do you say in response . Legally in the state of vermont you cant legally become a member. You vote in the democratic primary. Have i done that and supported and helped Democratic Candidates for governor in my state. I have been a member of the Democratic Caucus for 25 years, in the house and senate. Im now the Ranking Member of the budget committee. But it is true, im want longest serving independent in the United States congress. Let me tell you this, i think it is an advantage. Because when i speak to 28,000 people in portland, oregon, 27,000 people in los angeles, the vast majority of those people, theyre not, quote unquote, registered democrats. They are ordinary people who are sick and tired of politics as usual. And, by the way, one of the real advantages, i think, of me winning the democratic primary is that we can get a lot of young people, a lot of working people, involved in the political process, getting them out to vote in a way that establishment politicians cant. Democrats are losing because voter turnout is abysmal. I think we can change that. Very quickly, during your one of your largest applause lines is when you said, when you become president , youre going to focus on creating a Health Care System thats essentially medicare for all. Does that mean youre going to scrap the Affordable Care act and then try to implement medicare for all if youre president . Well, what it chuck, what it means is we are, as you know, the only major country on earth that doesnt guarantee health care to all people. I live 100 miles away from canada. They do it. We spend almost twice as much per capita on health care as do the people of any other country. So, what we want to do is expand on medicare. Medicare is a popular, good system. It covers people who are old. I want to see medicare cover everybody. A medicare for all Single Payer Program is the way, in my view, you provide universal, quality, costeffective health care and we draw in the rest of the industrialized world. Last question, joe biden. Do you welcome him into the race . Do you want him to run . Sdwli have known joe for many, many years. Everybody who knows joe likes him and respects him. The decision is his. If he runs, i promise him an issueoriented campaign. Well debate the major issue facing americans. Help your campaign or hurt . Well let the political pundits determine that. Senator Bernie Sanders, i look forward to a longer, extended issueoriented interview at some point where we can do the gambit of issues, including some Foreign Policy in the near future, sir. Love to do it. Thank you. When we come back, we meet the voters in iowa. Wait until you see what democrats are saying about Hillary Clintons growing troubles. Before we go to break, we want to talk about some sad news this morning. Julian bond, a key figure in the civil rights movement, died at age of 75 at his home in florida. In an appearance on this program in january 1966, bond, who had been just barred from taking his seat in the Georgia House of representatives came on meet the press and said this, his case was a clear example of why the u. S. Government still had to do more to protect civil rights. Certainly the right to free speech, the right to dissent, the right to voice an opinion that may be unpopular, but i think a second and equally as important issue is the right of people, in this case my constituents, to be represented by someone they chose. Everywhere you look, it strategy is now business strategy. . And a partnership with hp can help you accelerate down a path created by people, technology and ideas. To move your company from what it is now. To what it needs to become. Many wbut hope. Ms come with high hopes, doesnt work on wrinkles. Clinically proven neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair with the fastest retinol formula available, it works on fine lines and even deep wrinkles. Youll see younger looking skin in just one week. Stop hoping for results, and start seeing them. Rapid wrinkle repair. And for dark spots rapid tone repair. From neutrogena®. 800,000 hours of supercomputing time, 3 million lines of code, 40,000 sets of eyes, or a million sleepless nights. Whether its building the worlds most advanced satellite, the space station, or the next leap in unmanned systems. At boeing, one thing never changes. Our passion to make it real. If it werent for donald trump, mk mk to maintain control and Bernie Sanders rise would be more. As people descend on iowa fair for food on a stick, there are growing concerns among democrats about Hillary Clintons campaign. It is producing whispers. Vice President Biden or even former Vice President gore, you pick the big name democrat, should jump into the race. I spent the weekend talking to iowans at iowa state fair and you wont believe what theyre believe. In 2008 i supported her because shes a female and seemed to relate to us. Now she seems elite and i dont want another clinton or bush. At the iowa state fair, among the deepfried oreos our best seller. The butter cow, food on the stick, there are raising concerns about Hillary Clintons Campaign Among democrats. What concerns you about Hillary Clinton . Theres always something. Now its the drip, drip, drip about state Department Emails and classified information was mishandled on her private server. This weekend clinton attempted to joke about her new account on snapchat. I love it. Those messages disappear all by themselves. Then she fiercely defended herself so iowa democrats. Its not about emails or servers either. Its about politics. Ive just provided my server to the Justice Department. But heres what i wont do. I wont get down in the mud with them. And then shrugged off questions from reporters. This is the usual partisanization, which i may have just made up a word, of what goes on. Its nothing people talk to me as i travel around the country. Some democrats i talked to is worried how the campaign has handled this controversy. It does make it seem like shes hiding something. Like she owes you a better explanation . Yes, were smarter than that. 61 of iowa voters say theyve had enough clintons and bushes, that includes many democrats. These folks are giving Bernie Sanders a long look. Nice to have an outsider. Hes been in politics for a long time, its nice to have someone who is not a clinton or bush. To rumorsgore jumping in. Do you think its about her . Its got to its got to sting. For now biden appears more serious than gore. In fact, one source tells me, its more like 60 40 that he will run. Meanwhile, clinton sent a not so subtle signal to gore and biden showing is may be too late to get in. She walked side by side with tom harkin who endorsed her. Hillary is doing everything right. A much better and i think personally involved, if i might say that, campaign this year than it was in 2008. And let me bring back the panel. Interesting backhanded compliment by tom harkin, gene robinson. How about that . It was interesting. The whole thing first of all, the joke that Hillary Clinton made was pretty effective, right . Were talking to that room. A room full of activist democrats. Its hard to claim this is all just a partisan witch hunt when the Justice Department under a Democratic Administration is looking into the whole email mess. So, that doesnt ring so true. It is not going to have an impact on people the way she wants it to. And clearly a lot of the press are worried. I was stunned at how many how easily it was to find these democrats willing to say these things. Thawas on camera. Molly ball, this mornings washington coast, blind quote central, a lot of people hired by the campgn were new to the clintons. I kind of assumed it would be different but it hasnt changed. Another strategist, i dont think theres a big smoking gun but its hard to explain why you had a private server, why you just now turned it over. Shouldnt you have had better judgment . And the fact that this story has not gone away has really worried a lot of people in the inner circle. You do have this tension within the campaign. You have this sort of obama veterans who like to take the long view. They believe that this is a long game and that you wait it out and that you dont get caught up in the politics of the moment and in the process. But thats ot the clinton peoples view and they want to fight on everything. And they get very nervous when there is all of this discussion. And so, you know, then it turns into an organizational mess which is what bogged down her campaign in 2008. Its going to be the infighting, all the people in her ear and those mediating those disputes. This was sent to the washington post, the bottom line is, look, this kind of nonsense comes with the materiality of running for president. We know it, hillary knows it and we expect it to continue from now until election day. Its okay. Well be ready. We have the facts, our principles on our side. Is it enough . Im glad you mentioned ms. Palmieri. One of her statements about the email issue just brought me up short. She said well, you know what, four other governors running for president , they also had private servers. Im thinking, did they deal with classified material, with cia matters, with no. They were dealing with, how do we fix the offramp off exit 70. Its the tinear quality of so much of what the clinton mrs. Clinton has exhibited this campaign, the 2008 campaign. The distinction between her and her husband is monumental in terms of a kind of natural ability to deal with this. Now, look, every frontrunner going back decades has at one point or another faced these kinds of the neardeath experience. They cant get off the campaign neardeath experience. I think the entire press corps, by the way, should switch to caffeinated. Kimberly, i want to get your take on this. Let me sneak in a commercial. Well be back in a moment, the end game segment and the question at the end of it, how high can you get your cholesterol count in one day at the iowa state fair . Ill prove it. I also have new polls right after the break. Announcer stay tuned for end game brought to you by end game brought to you by boeing. Covering your kids eyes is one way to prevent them from seeing something inappropriate. Another way is to use Parental Controls on your tv, computers, and mobile devices to control viewing habits when youre not around. Its in your hands. The more you know. Announcer time now for meet the press end game brought to you by boeing. End game time and, of course, the panel is back. Before i go, i got some new poll numbers i want to show you on the republican race. Kimberly, i want to you ask about the hillary email situation, the potential for biden jumping in. Is this a good thing for the Republican Party or do you think actually this is is going to help the democrats get their own enthusiasm in gear . Look, i think it would be good for the Democratic Party to have a debate. I mean, Hillary Clinton has made it sound for years that she is the only thing that theyve got. She is invincible. And i think one of the good things about all of this discussion is that maybe it will inspire a little bit of debate. Yeah, probably for the republicans, it would be good for the democrats to have a little debate on their side, too. It will liven things up. Fox news came up with a poll. We gave you that poll last week, telling you and a lot of people were surprised about carson and cruz moving up in that poll we showed you last week, look here. A new fox news poll out. Trump at 25 . Carson and cruz at 12 and 10 . Jeb bush falling down to 9 . Im not going to let jeff whine about polling. Im kidding. There is a pattern, the outsiders moved up in that debate. We all said, rubio and kasich said the best. They didnt make the top. Theres a pundit here, not necessarily so smart, who said trump did well and who said carson was going to move up. There you go. Its clear, there is this outsider thing happening this year. Now, outsider things sometimes happen and sometimes they fade over time, but i think its very strong. Look, youre getting up into the 40s 40 . If you add add it all up. Thats right. Youre getting into a huge chunk of the Republican Party. Heres my favorite line of the week. Ezra cline was writing about Bernie Sanders. He said, people get more pragmatic the closer they get to an actual vote. This is an issue carson has to deal with, trump, sanders, all those people. This is where people try on hats. And it is i would like to think im not whining, im pointing out that we get nuts about this. I suggest that next week, bring some frogs on the platform, cut them open and read their intrails. The carson intrail is never mind. It tells us something about where people are thinking now. Its not shut. Its not football field at 11 00 in the morning. Youre looking real. 08 of the people said if the election was held today, youd all be surprised. Keep that in mind. Molly ball, it seems like silly season. Talking about new candidates jumping in, rise of donald trump, kimberly brought it up, at this time bachmann won the straw poll. Michele bachmann didnt make it to iowa. The line, people are pragmatic, surely thats what consultants say to themselves stay calm. Nothing to see here. This is troubling for people who thought they understand the process. The other thing we learned from that poll, donald trump really is the teflon don. Nothing can take him down. These controversies that people think will show america, hes not fit to serve, it never affects him. Thats how angry people are. I think the possibility that maybe what happens in august doesnt stay in august this time. Maybe that anger is so out of control that it actually keeps going through the caucuses. Thats what people are afraid of. Thats my hunch at this point. Before we go, i did come back from the iowa state fair and i was on a mission. How much fried food fair food could you buy with a budget of 50 bucks. Well, heres the answer. Way too much. Take a look. Pork chop on a stick. How you doing . Really good. Of course, in iowa, you have the corndog. The apple pie on a stick. Baken . Yes. Yes to all of it. The original, the twinkie. Its really good. A mac and cheese and lemonade. We broke the budget. Oh, my god. That, oh my god, was not a good oh, my god. The new habit, gene, is apparently no matter what it is, put bacon on it. The apple pie on a stick, they put bacon on it. Talk about taking one for the team. But seriously, the bacon thing is great. I know, were all into savory. This whole foodie nation. Bacon on everything. I know we love bacon. Thats all for today. Well be back next week because if its sunday, its meet the press. Oh my gosh, its the guy from last night. What . can i jump on your wifi . Yeah, you can try it. Hey i had a really good time last night. Yeah, me too. The only thing is that. The only thing is what . Whats the only thing . Oh my gosh hes married. Hes a kleptomaniac. Hes a pyromaniac. Hes a total maniac. Hey hey go back to your wife you sociopath leave slow internet behind. The 100 Fiber Optics Network is here. Get out of the past. Get fios. Tea . Now 79. 99 a month. Go online or call now. 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