Transcripts For MSNBCW Meet The Press 20160118 : comparemela

Clooney, the human rights lawyer and wife of George Clooney trying to rally america to save an island paradise from the threat of isis. Youre a woman lying on the beach in the maldives you might want to know that a kilometer away another woman is being flogged. Joining me are republican strategist Steve Schmidt, msnbcs joyan reid, president obamas 2012 Deputy Campaign manager stephanie cutter, and radio talk show host hugh hewitt. Welcome to sunday, its meet the press. Good sunday morning and what a sunday morning it is. Its crunch time. Four president ial candidates are joining us. And with just two weeks to go until the first voting, we have some truly headsnapping developments in both campaigns. In just a few hours, the Democratic Candidates will gather in charleston, South Carolina, for the final debate before iowa and it airs right here on nbc at 9 00 eastern time. But theres also big news overseas involving iran, its Nuclear Program and its prisoner swap. And for that we go to nbc news chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel from vienna. It has been confirmed the five american prisoners held by iran have been freed, some of them, including the Washington Post reporter, leaving tehran this morning. It was not exactly part of the nuclear deal but the nuclear deal certainly opened up a dialogue that allowed for this prisoner release to happen. That nuclear deal was brokered and announced here in vienna yesterday. It was an enormous breakthrough. This is what people are calling implementation day as the terms of the agreement are starting to take effect. After iran, it has been certified, lived up to its obligations, put checks in place to make it very difficult for iran to develop a Nuclear Weapon. So what does iran get from this deal . First of all, it gets access to international markets. It can bank. Iranians can move money into and out of the country. Iran can now sell oil legally. Also it unfreezes tens of billions of dollars. Effectively an economy of 80 Million People is now being welcomed back into the international community. Chuck . Richard, thank you very much. Now, lets get back to the president ial campaign. In a few minutes well get to my interviews with two men who hope to grab the establishment lane in the republican race, senator marco rubio and former Florida Governor jeb bush. But we start with the democrats and a Hillary Clinton Bernie Sanders race that has turned out to be much closer than the experts thought, especially the Clinton Campaign. In fact, we have brand new nbc news wall street journal poll numbers out that has some good news for the Clinton Campaign. Nationally we still have her with a big lead over Bernie Sanders 59 34 but in iowa the story is different. Three polls out this week showing neck and neck race including our own nbc news wall street journal marist polls. Quinnipiac found sanders up by 5 and the Des Moines Register had clinton up by just 2 . Bottom line, its too close to call. With a closer race, it has become a more aggressive race against sanders, so we begin with Hillary Clinton who joins us from charleston, South Carolina. Good morning, chuck. Let me start with the iran deal. Yesterday in response to it you immediately said that iran is still violating u. N. Security Council Resolutions with its Ballistic Missile program which should be met with new sanctions, designations and firm results. So my question is what do you tell the American Public that says you want new sanctions against iran, theyre violating agreements but what did we do . We just handed them 100 billion and we just did a Prisoner Exchange. Would you have done that considering your concerns about their Missile Program . Absolutely. Look i have said for a long time that im very proud of the role that i played in getting us to the point where we could negotiate the agreement that puts a lid on Irans Nuclear weapons program, but ive also said the way well hold them accountable is to have consequences when they do anything that might deviate from the agreement or continue to flot the kind of sanctions and mandates that the u. N. Security council has put on, including on missiles, so i see this as mutually reinforcing, chuck. I was delighted that the prisoners are on their way home. Thats a good sign. We still dont see bob levinson coming home, theres more work to be done, but if the implementation of the agreement which is being done today is to be successful in the way that i expected were going to watch iran like the proverbial hawk. When it comes to the Missile Program, they are under u. N. Security Council Sanctions and if they are violating it which the evidence seems to suggest they should be held accountable. They need to knows that this is a good step forward with respect to the Nuclear Weapons program, but there are other areas of their behavior that were going to continue to be focused on. Do you consider iran a National Security threat to the United States . Well, certainly we have lowered that threat because of the Nuclear Agreement but they continue to be destabilize governments in the middle east. They continue to support proxies and terrorist groups like hezbollah, they continue to threaten israel, there are a lot of concerns. But what ive said for sometime now is id rather have the Nuclear Weapons program off to one side and work to make sure they abide by the agreement and then turn our attention to some of these other behaviors that are threatening. Certainly in the region and therefore cause concern for us. Let me move to the campaign. To try to figure out why this race has gotten closer in iowa, why your lead has shrunk in iowa, we spoke to a number of voters. I want to play three sound bytes from iowa voters about potential pause they have regarding your candidacy. Im going to play it and get you to respond on the other side. You get the impression from her that she believes maybe the rules dont apply to her. Or the same rules dont apply to her that apply to everybody else. Shes worked really hard and done some amazing things. I just feel that Bernie Sanders is kind of has a little bit more fire lit up in people. Well, i hear people talking about questioning her honesty. And i dont necessarily do that but i think thats one thing people are kind of not sure and theyve felt that way about bill clinton, too. So i think some of that rubs off. Madam secretary, how do you answer that pause . Its just from democrats, some pause that they have. Well, first of all, chuck, i always thought this was going to be close and i cant speak for anybody else but ive worked as hard as i can to build an organization in iowa to be out there listening and talking with iowans as they move toward making the first in the nation decision in the caucus on february 1st, and ive also been very consistent over the course of my public life. If i tell you im going to fight for something, i will do my very best to get results. I think thats why i have such strong support and i feel very good about where we are but were just going to keep working until the very last caucus is decided on february 1st. Another problem in iowa is you dont ideologically fit. This was in the Des Moines Register poll this week. 43 of likely Democratic Caucus goers identified as socialist. Only 38 of likely Democratic Caucus goers identified themselves as a capitalist. You in the last debate said you were a capitalist. Bernie sanders calls himself a democratic socialist. If you dont win iowa, do you think thats the reason . Oh, i dont know how people take all this information. But i support a free market economy. I support the competitiveness that has created the greatest economic engine in the history of the world. What i am worried about is that its not continuing to do what it used to do which is to give the vast majority of americans a chance to get ahead and stay ahead. Thats why ive got a very vigorous jobs agenda. Thats why i put raising incomes at the center of my Economic Policy and i think what i know will work is to get back the good oldfashioned Job Opportunities that will help people get ahead through manufacturing, through infrastructure, through clean energy, through the kinds of plans that ive been putting out. Look, when we have a democrat in the white house a democrat we do better economically. We saw that when my husband was president , we saw president obama dig us out of the ditch republican policies put us into, so im very confident that i know what will work if we have a the right commitment as a nation and thats what i want to do as president. Let me ask you about whether going in chicago, right now, mayor rahm emanuel has been under fire for what he may have known about a shooting incident. Do you think he still has the credibility to heal the wounds in chicago between the Africanamerican Community and Law Enforcement . Look, like everybody else who watched that video on television i was just outraged by what happened to laquan mcdonald. I was one of the first to call for a complete department of justice investigation and in fact urged that it include the entire Chicago Police department. This is not a problem that is unique to chicago, unfortunately, and weve got to do a lot more to deal with the systemic racism and the problems that policing has demonstrated. Mayor emanuel has said he is committed to complete and total reform and i think he should be held to that standard. But do you think he still has the credibility to do this . Thats going to be up to him and up to the people of chicago to prove. Very quickly, the movie 13 hours about the incident in benghazi. I know theres a lot of chatter about the movie itself. Let me ask you. The controversy involves whether or not everything was done that night to rescue ambassador stevens. Looking back, do you believe everything was done that night that could have been done to save his life . Based on everything i know and based on a Republicanled Intelligence Committee investigation, a republicanled Arms Services committee investigation, the answer to that is yes. That people were scrambling trying to figure out what could be done, if anything, and i cant speak to a movie, but i know people have raised questions about some of the dramatization. I testified for more than 11 hours, as you know i answered every question i was asked. My real focus, chuck, is what do we do to make sure that we send americans into harms way military or civilian, diplomats or soldiers we take every precaution to the best of our ability in what is an unpredictable and dangerous world to make sure they can discharge their duties and be safe while doing it. All right. Secretary clinton, ive got to leave it there. We look forward to seeing you tonight on stage in charleston for the democratic debate here on nbc. Thank you. Thanks a lot. You got it. Just a few minutes ago i interviewed Bernie Sanders and i began by asking him about the issue of gun safety. Let me start with one of the issues thats likely to come up tonight at the debate and thats the issue of gun safety. Last night in what the Clinton Campaign is referring to as a debateeve conversion you came out in favor of essentially repealing immunity for gun manufacturers when it comes to being held liable for gun deaths. That is a switch of your positions. What brought you to this conclusion . Well, not really. You know, i understand that secretary clinton and her campaign understand that, you know, theyre losing ground. We started this campaign off at 3 in the polls, were closing in in iowa and were doing really well in New Hampshire. So i think in the next few weeks youll see a lot of nonsense thrown around. But you did change your position on this. What i said several months ago, having a dminus voting record from the nra, voting to ban assault weapons in 1988, yeah, that was a piece of legislation i wanted to relook at. And what that legislation had among other things is a prohibition on armorpiercing ammunition designed to kill police officers, it had language for a childlock safety for our kids, important provision. There were things i do not like and i was willing to rethink. We have rethought it. Theres a bill apparently being introduced, i like that bill, it makes good changes and we will be supportive of it. Another thing that will come up on the issue of gun safety is the issue of a waiting period. The Clinton Campaign is hitting you on not being supportive of something longer like a fiveday or sevenday window. And the reason this is being brought up is if dylann roof, the man who killed those nine folks in charleston last year, if there had been a longer waiting period, he might have been prevented from buying a gun. Look, what we saw in charleston is a tragedy of unspeakable dimensions. A guy sits in prayer with people then takes out a gun and shoots nine people. I hope we dont have to politicize that incident. I believe very strongly in instant background checks. I think we have to expand it and make sure 100 that we keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have that, people with criminal backgrounds, people who are mentally unstable. That has been my view from day one. But you know, chuck, i think the reason the Clinton Campaign is getting defensive is they see that we have the momentum. They see the issues that we are talking about are disappearing, middle class and almost all new wealth and income going to the top 1 , a corrupt Campaign Finance system where people like secretary clinton can raise millions of dollars through the super pacs, those are the issues they dont want to discuss, so tonight were going to be discussing a lot of issues. And the main issue is why the rich get richer, almost everybody else gets poorer, and the fact that we have got to stand up to the billionaire class and change those dynamics. So youre in favor of a longer background check . A five, sevenday background check . We are willing to look at anything that makes sense, that keeps guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. But im not going to be defensive on that issue. I lost an election in 1988, probably lost an election because i had the courage back then to say assault weapons should not be sold in america. Let me ask you quickly about the iran deal. Is iran still an enemy of the United States given whats going on . The improved diplomatic relations . Its funny. If you think back to 2007 during the campaign in which secretary clinton ran against barack obama she was critical of him, a question was asked to obama and said would you sit down and talk to the iranians . And he said yeah, i would. Point being, you talk to your adversaries, you dont run away from that. Secretary clinton i think called him naive. Turns out that obama was right so clearly we have many, many issues and many concerns with iran but clearly also we want to improve our relationship with this very powerful country. I think the agreement to make certain iran does not get a Nuclear Weapon was a huge step forward. The fact we have the prisoner release was a good important step forward. So i hope we can continue to go forward to improve relations with iran. Senator sanders, ill leave it there. Well look forward to seeing you, secretary clinton and Martin Omalley on stage on nbc thank you, sir. Its going to be a humdinger of a debate. You just heard senator sanders there mention Hillary Clinton in almost every single answer. Back in a moment with the republicans. Trump and cruz are finally going at it and nobody may be happier about that development than my next two guests, marco rubio and jeb bush. They join me right after this. Is your head so congested its ready to explode . You may be muddling through allergies. 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