Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Alex Witt 20170916 :

Transcripts For MSNBCW MSNBC Live With Alex Witt 20170916

Subway attack. Happening right now, a rally in support of the president in washington, d. C. , and a protest again a state confederate statue in west virginia. Hans nichols is in the richmond event. Were going to head to virginia where the groups are facing off. Hans nichols is right in the middle of things. Its a little quieter, whats going on . Reporter this protest is all but over. Before this was crowded with counterprotesters an protesters. The counterprotesting outnumbering those for the robe robert e. Lee statue basically 101. We have some conversations winding down. We caught up with some folks and theyre engaged in some pretty respectful conversation trying to understand both sides. Yelling and screaming, like i said before, its not it doesnt do anything. It doesnt help matters. People arent thinking clearly. When people like this man and myself can have a conversation like this, thats what it is. I dont look at a statue and say this man this man was against slavery, it has less to do with that. He was in his time. Alex, at this point its mostly winding down. It has the feel almost as a Church Picnic thats been dissipating and has all but wrapped up. We did see one arrest across the way here. The robert e. Lee statue is right there. Its still standing. Youll get a sense here for just how Little Police presence there was there is at this time. Obviously theyre prepared for much more. You can see some riot police over there. Everyone is kind of standing down. This all seems that its over. Ill send it back to you and see whats happening down in washington. We are definitely going to get to mike to get the latest from there in just a moment. But first staying in washington, of course, new reaction today to the president s latest moves on immigration, including that controversial sitdown with top congressional democrats. Do you have buyers remorse for your early and strong support of President Trump . I have to say no. I think i made the right decisions at the time that i made them and im asking the president now to recall the commitments that hes made, keep them, so that he can keep his base. Even if we part company in a great big way on imgramigration still want to move the rest of his agenda. Congressman, thank you for being with me, sir. Id like to ask you a couple of questions. Your response first to congressman king. Also, can you clarify your position on this issue . I have read your statement, but im not sure what you want to see done. Well, i guess, alex, to start out with, yesterday was my 72month anniversary for being in the congress. Ive said throughout that 72 months its pretty hard to defend nothing. So if what the administration is doing pushes congress, which has a clear constitutional duty to regulate naturalization, which is immigration, to finally do something since its been 31 years, yay. Ive looked at both of the bills, the democrats are calling theirs the d. R. E. A. M. Act, the republican one they talk about the three basic similar things. I think theres plenty there to agree on. Its a good first step for immigration. And so im looking forward to an want to say thanks. If the fact that the president is meeting with mr. Schumer and miss pelosi, if that gets us moving on taking the first step as far as the daca folks, then yay, lets put something on the floor, let everybody vote and let everybody judge where their vote is. You do talk about the 800,000 immigrants who will be affected by the decision that Congress Makes or the lack thereof, but that includes those serving in the military, working professional students, other contributing members of our society. So to that end, how do you want to see this resolved . Heres the thing. This will be the most naive statement you probably hear probably all year. If you scrub the politics out of this part of immigration in particular, the solutions are not hard. If it benefits the country, if you have people who are serving in the military, if you have people who are college graduates, if you have people who are productive members of the workforce, that sounds like a positive thing to me. Now, they have to earn that status. The two bills, is it five years, ten years, something in between . The bottom line is if it benefits the country, why is it such a hard thing to vote yes or no on. Ill have to let that be rhetorical because im not in congress, but i will say lets move on to your read of the president s meeting with Chuck Schumer and nancy pelosi. Is it a betrayal as many of his backers and republicans are saying . Well, you know what, i dont know because i try not to you know, in this business when your house has plenty of windows in it, youre a little hesitant to throw rocks at either side of the fence. But i will say, this if it gets people in gear and gets things moving, the history of Congress Taking the bull by the horns is not excellent, shall we say, and therefore, it is america. Last time i checked, you can have dinner with whoever you want. So if this gets folks moving in terms of bringing something to the floor, then i hope they have some more i hope they have some more dinners together. How do you feel about the deal reportedly discussed by the president and the democrats would not include funding for the border wall. Do you think thats a fair concession to make . Well, first of all, lets talk about the, quote unquote, wall. Its 74 miles. I mean seriously, 14 miles is replacing substandard stuff in san diego. 60 miles is actually new barrier in the upper rio grande valley. My First Response is seriously, all of this for 74 miles . Theres still well over 1,000 miles of uncontrolled border in the southwestern u. S. Thats before you start counting canada and the ports. So im not a big believer in the wall is a hill to die for. Bad pun, i i understand. But in terms of, its like, listen, put that vote up first. Im happy to vote on both of them and see where were at. If you look at the history of combining a whole bunch of immigration issues in one bill, you have to look no farther back than the senate bill to see youll find something for everybody to hate. The daca thing fine, and let them vote on a separate bill. Lets quit mixing too many ingredients into the recipe and let everybody be jujdged straigt up. Are there any possible compromises on daca that you are aware of that you see as getting a shot through congress . Yeah, i think when you look at the two bills, both sides have done sidebysides. Were talking about degrees of variation in terms of how long before you earn a permanent resident status, how long you have to go to school, those sorts of things. I think those are all imminently doable. The question is can you depoliticize it enough to make some policy that makes sense for starters with the daca folks. All right, congressman, republican from nevada, come see me again. Thank you so much. Okay, thank you. Lets go back to washington and the site of a rally we are keeping a close eye on today, who the supporters of the president are calling the mother of all rallies. Mike is there in the middle of things for us. Whats happening so far, mike . Reporter alex, there are a lot of Trump Supporters here. Ive talked to several of them. Continuing on that issue of immigration, ive asked all of them whether their support is wavering towards President Trump in the wake of what prominent conservative pundits have called a cave on the issue of daca, immigration, amnesty as they phrase it. Theyre still four square behind the president , including the speakers here at this undoubtedly protrump rally. Theres no question about it. Now, having said that, the organizers here are trying to emphasize that this is not an altright rally, it is not an altleft rally, it is a unity rally. They are stressing the fact that there are people here from all walks of life. The crowd is somewhat smaller than they were permitted for. They were permitted for about 3,000. Ill eyeball it and say its somewhat short of that. But there are many people here strongly in support of President Trump. There are also some counterprotesters as well. Just a handful. Some of them quiet, some of them with bull horns. But the people who organized this rally, alex, make no mistake about it, very conscious of what happened in charlottesville. In a sense this is sort of an ant anticharlottesville rally for pro Trump Supporters. Mike, thank you so much from the national mall. Hillary clinton is talking about her 2016 election loss, which included the state of michigan. Up next, congressman dan kilde shares what he thinks happened to clinton in the wolverine state. Just walk right in and pay zero dollars with most insurance. R. Plus, when you get a flu shot at walgreens, you help provide a lifesaving vaccine to a child in need through the un foundation. Its that easy to get your flu shot and make a difference. So swing by your local walgreens today. Walgreens. At the corner of happy healthy. You dont let anything lkeep you sidelined. Come on thats why you drink ensure. With 9 grams of protein, and 26 vitamins and minerals. For the strength and energy, to get back to doing what you love. Ensure, always be you. Unstop right there im about to pop a cap of mmm fresh in that washer. With unstopables inwash scent boosters by downy. And if you want, pour a little more. Ah, its so fresh. And its going to last from wash to. Wear for up to 12 weeks. Right, freshness for weeks unstopables by downy. For a fresh too feisty to quit. Gloria always went big. So we helped her plan a Memorial Service that no one would soon forget. This ones for you, gloria. Only a dignity memorial professional can celebrate a life like no other. Find out how at sanfranciscodignity. Com. Did you make enough mistakes yourself to lose the election without any of the other things you talk about . Well, i will say no, matt, i dont think that will surprise you. But there were frustrating moments, and i do write about some. And i personally believe that our press, which is such an essential part of our country, our democracy, has to take some hard look at how it covered what the first reality tv candidate. Hillary clinton there assessing her 2016 loss saying there were a lot of outside factors, and not necessarily anything she could have done that may have helped her win states like michigan, a reliably blue state to turned to donald trump in november. Joining me to talk about that and more, democratic congressman dan kilde from michigan. Thanks for joining us on a saturday. So your thoughts on Hillary Clintons book, the interviews shes given, the factors shes citing in her loss. She thinks theres nothing else that she could have done. Do you agree . Well, i think Hillary Clinton was a good candidate and i certainly supported her but i dont agree that theres nothing that we as a Democratic Party or her campaign could have done. We lost michigan by 9,000 votes. There was not the kind of clarity of message about the economic fortunes, the concerns that people have about their future. I think there was a lack of clarity in our message. And i think from now on we have to just learn from that and we have to focus on how we make sure that people understand that the democratic agenda is one that gives them opportunity, that gives this many a better life. I dont think that was clear. Do you think democrats took michigan for granted . Do you think the Clinton Campaign and Hillary Clinton should have been more aggressive in that state . I dont think it was so much taking any state for granted. It was, like i said, the lack of clarity in message. There was enough time spent in michigan, thats for sure. I think there might have been a question about whether wisconsin should have been given greater priority. We can sort of monday morning quarterback that. But the only thing that democrats can control is not what the media says, although i think it was a balanced approach to the campaign, not what the other candidate says, not what the other party says. The thing we can control is how we present our vision for america and how we have a credible and authentic voice telling the American People that if you elect us, if you put us in a position to advance an agenda, this is what it will mean to you. If that had been done in michigan, i think more clearly, i think we would have won the state. Theres no doubt in my mind. 9,000 votes is a pretty small margin there. As an elected democrat, do you think Hillary Clinton hurts or helps the Party Going Forward . Does a higher profile help or hurt democrats in your opinion . I honestly just think looking in the Rearview Mirror is not good for anyone. That is an election that is over with. We have to focus 100 of our energy on the challenge that is before us. And i agree with you and that is my question. Do you think Hillary Clinton helps the democrats Going Forward . You know, i just think anything that is a distraction from us talking about the agenda were working on right now is not helpful. But heres the thing, everyone has a right to tell their story. Previous candidates, even Bernie Sanders, he had his own book and jimmy carter had a book, they all write books. Its a part of the historical record and its an important voice. But i think its important to distinguish what is her legitimate description of what happened and what democrats need to be focusing our attention on as we move forward. We can have more than one conversation in this country and i dont think the two should be confused. And we should point out obviously these books are the personal narrative of the person that they are reflecting so theres that. Lets move on to the very latest regarding daca. Its been going back and forth between the democratic minority leaders and the president. Lets take a listen to these comments by Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer picked up by an open mike. He likes us. He likes me, anyway. Look, what we said was exactly accurate. Heres what i told him. I said, mr. President , youre much better off if you can sometimes step right and sometimes step left. If you have to step in one direction, youre boxed. He gets that. Oh, its going to work out and itll make us more productive too. What do you think of those comments there . Do you agree with the content of them and do you also agree that he should be as encouraged as he is . Well, this is what i this is where i think i align myself with the analysis that senator schumer offered. When we have an opportunity to work with President Trump to advance the things that the American People would benefit from, whether its daca or a big infrastructure bill or better policies on education, if the president of the United States, whatever he said the day before or is going to say the day after, if on one day hes willing to work with us to do something thats important to the American People, im all in and i think thats what senator schumer is saying. Now, the president seems to not be a very ideological person. You know, he seems to be he calls himself a deal maker. So far weve actually as democrats been the folks that have been able to actually put things together. If we can find a way to work with him, like senator schumer said, on one day hes working with us and the next day he isnt, we should shouldnt preclude getting something important done if hes working with us. But does that bolster his standing there . Do some democrats disagree with that because of political reasons . What i hear from people back home is work on the big problems that we face. Donald trump is the president of the United States. I dont like the fact that hes the president , dont get me wrong. I dont think hes fit for the job. But hes the president of the United States right now. And the American People, this country cant just sort of booid our time until we have another president ial election to take on the big problems that we face. The cards are on the table. And if im true to my obligation to the people that i represent, im going to find every way i can to fix the big problems that we have to create more opportunity. If that means working with donald trump and if that somehow accrues to his benefit, thats secondary to what should be the first thing we think about every morning when weet up and go to work and thats how do we make things better for the American People. How do i make things better for the people of flint, saginaw and bay city. Thats my focus. I hope every member of congress thinks about that. I like hearing that. Representative kilde, thanks for your time. The london subway bombing, that massive man hunt may have hit pay dirt. And fired up, are Trump Supporters really this angry . Been trying to prepare for this day. And im still not ready. The reason im telling you this is that there will be moments in your life that. Youll never be ready for. Your little girl getting married being one of them. 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