When i was in china, and other places, by the way, i said, mr. President , do you have a drug problem . No, no, no. I said, what do you attribute that to . Well, the Death Penalty. So i dont know that the United States frankly is ready for it. They should be ready for it. But at a minimum, you have to give long, tough sentences. Long, tough sentences. Are we ready to give the Death Penalty to drug dealers . I mean, where are we going here . This is not just the musings of an old billionaire out of touch. This is the president who is nominating and stacking federal courts with judges and federal prosecutors and Supreme Court seats as they become available. Dont take lightly where hes going and where hes going to take the nation. Joining me now is former governor of pennsylvania, ed rendere rende rendell, who is also the former chairman of the dnc and a conservative commentator who has worked on president ial campaigns of gingrich, romney and carson. Let me go to you first, governor. Hes in pennsylvania, he being President Trump. Hes talking about his tariffs and how theyre going to bring jobs, Steel Workers there. Hes even flirting with the idea of Death Penalty for drug dealers. I mean, are we really, really seeing this country go that far off the rails from where president obama had where he was commuting lowlevel drug offenders that were nonviolent to where were now openly flirting with executing them and were putting tabs on countrin countries that could cause a trade war . Where are we going here . I think were seeing a president that is becoming inincreasingly unhinged. We all know that most drug addicts that get arrested are addicts themselves and theyre dealing just to pay for their own drugs. Theyre not biglevel distribute to tors and no one says biglevel distributors who deliver them on our streets shouldnt be locked up. They should. But this has been a disaster for the criminal justice system, and Everybody Knows that. Conservatives know it, liberals know it, former prosecutors like myself, we understand it. It didnt work and it wont work. Its made new york state a disaster and federal prosecutors know this. So hes unhinged about that. The tariffs. Look, if a country is deliberately dumping product in here at a lower price than it sells it in other areas to drive our businesses out of business, then yes, lets take sanctions against the wrongdoer. But here he comes up with worldwide sanctions against our allies, against people that we have a balance of trade surplus on our side. Its ridiculous. Hes totally unhinged. Even the republicans, even paul ryan and Mitch Mcconnell who are loathe to criticize this guy, they wont criticize him for any racist or ridiculous statement he makes. Even they have spoken out against him. And you know, michael, talking about racist and ridiculous, lets be separate up about this. Isnt there a racial implication here when youre talking about executing drug dealers given the ratio of data and who is arrested for drug dealing and who is not . And i cant help but think of how almost three decades ago, i marched on donald trump who was calling for the execution of five people who were accused of a central park jogger raping that was grotesque and despicable, but they ended up not being the guys. Supposedly they have been executed. He always goes there. And there are racial implications here. Well, you know, reverend sharpton, thank you for having me on your show this morning. We know for a fact that africanamericans are disproportionately impacted in the criminal justice system, starting all the way back to the 90s crime bill which we have since tried to correct. Toward the end of president obamas term, you saw organizations working with him, as well as remt tifz of tpresen the Koch Foundation who were trying to decrease sentences for individuals who didnt vindicate large crimes. Instead of penalizing people to that extent, the amount of money you would spend per individual, you could spend that money on economic opportunities, providing relationships to provide trade skills, et cetera, for those individuals to actually learn the skills necessary so they could be actually contributing members of society. I think that would be a more proactive approach. If i could also respond quickly to the tariffs thing. I think the president s message has been china, right . Target china. So if youre going to target china, you should have a specific tariff target, meaning we should increase our efforts in asia pacific, we should increase our efforts in china where they are trying to increase their role, and we should also increase our efforts in africa. I think if the president wants to go the right direction, he needs to take advice from his staff that are trying to get him in sync in things that would be best for the economy. Increasing efforts in china and the countries he referred to. Let me ask you this, governor. Youve not only been governor of pennsylvania, youve chaired the National Democratic party. The president goes in. Its a special election this tuesday. Theyre saying the republican candidate doesnt look well even though trump won the district, i think, by over 30 points. Thats why the president goes in, and he spends most of his speech talking about him. Me, me, me, me. Not helping the candidate, not talking about why the candidate should get through. Me, me, me, me. This president s narcissism is actually a political liability to his own allies, governor. He cant help himself, rev. He cant help himself, he always makes it about himself. The only thing they did by bringing the president in, and its their strategy, their last gasp, their hail mary, is to try to nationalize the race. Thats why he brought up nancy pelosi. Even though they said he would not vote for nancy pelosi for speaker, he would vote for some other democrat. But theyre trying to get people to forget about our candidate lamm, who has been a terrific candidate, or by their own assessment, a lousy candidate. Trump carried the campaign by 20 points, rev. Lamm may lose closely or by a lot. Lets say he loses by three points. That means Democrats Gain 17 points. And in 18 special elections this year, in 17 of the 18, democrats did better than Hillary Clinton, significantly better than Hillary Clinton did in 2016, and in the 18th, although Hillary Clinton did better than our democratic candidate, we flipped that district it was in connecticut and there hasnt been a democrat in 16 years. So this all is a great sign for us when in 18 everybody is up for election. In swing districts and whatever. So i think they have reason to be worried. I think the president didnt help last night. He may have gotten a few people on his side, but he sure as heck delivered a message to our folks that they better get out and vote. He may have energized the opposition. Michael, youre a republican, youre an africanamerican. But youve taken positions that disagree with this president. Is it not a problem for you and other black republicans that this president has were almost a month away. Were a little closer than a month away. The 50th anniversary of the assassination of dr. Martin luther king. Civil rights activist, dr. Kings movement, all of which he helped to put through. Would his voter Fraud Campaign of what hes doing in terms of rolling back on criminal justice reform, police reform, hes undoing the king dream and he has not really put into position black republicans like you on the west wing that says this is my person that is working on an agenda for black america, which he promised. I mean, where is his robert brown that nixon had . Where is his Arthur Fletcher . Dont you black republicans feel like you have been abused, misused, ignored, marginalized . Look, i think there are a lot of africanamericans, reverend sharpton, who arent necessarily a part of the conversation. I know several who are, indeed, making efforts so that they can be a voice for do you have a point person for black america thats republican on the west wing of the white house . No, no, there isnt one. The last black africanamerican that was in the west wing in this administration was omarosa. Now that shes gone, to my knowledge, i dont believe there is any. Reverend sharpton, let me make this clear. Yes, i am a conservative, right . But my conservatism the way i interpret conservatism is through the eyes of an africanamerican. I can change my Political Party but i cannot change those experiences. So when it comes to issues such as criminal justice reform, when it comes to issues such as policing, et cetera, those are important to me because i do recognize how they proportion proportionally impact my community. Now, that may be different from how people on the other side want to correct him, but i think its particularly conservatives of color continue to target and force this administration to address our concerns because they currently are not. So i completely understand why many africanamericans feel marginalized under this administration. And if that does not change, the Republican Party will have an extremely difficult time, if not an impossible time, of targeting africanamericans and people of color. Thats great to hear you say that. I also, as the governor, continue to be conservative. Im trying to conserve the Voting Rights act, im trying to conserve the civil rights act, im trying to conserve president obamas civil reform. One thing we havent mentioned is his attack on Maxine Waters last night calling her a lowlife intellect. We saw visual attacks on Maxine Waters and oprah. There are racial implications there, governor. Ive been in contact with Maxine Waters many times. She knows her stuff, and shell cut you to ribbons. She is no lowlevel intellect by any stretch of the imagination. For a man who doesnt read books, i dont think he ought to talk about peoples intellect. Thank you, governor rendell, sir michael singleton. Coming up, al qaeda, isis, boca raton. Now our governor says the nra should be right there with them. Ill explain, next. N. But you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. Call us or your advisor. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Afi sure had a lot on my mind. My 30year marriage. My 3month old business. Plus. What if this happened again . I was given warfarin in the hospital, but wondered, was this the best treatment for me . So i made a point to talk to my doctor. He told me about eliquis. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots and reduces the risk of them happening again. Not only does eliquis treat dvt and pe blood clots. Eliquis also had significantly less major bleeding than the standard treatment. Eliquis had both. And that turned around my thinking. Dont stop eliquis unless your doctor tells you to. Eliquis can cause serious and in rare cases fatal bleeding. Dont take eliquis if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. If you had a spinal injection while on eliquis call your doctor right away if you have tingling, numbness, or muscle weakness. While taking eliquis, you may bruise more easily. And it may take longer than usual for bleeding to stop. Seek immediate medical care for sudden signs of bleeding, like unusual bruising. Eliquis may increase your bleeding risk if you take certain medicines. Tell your doctor about all planned medical or dental procedures. Eliquis treats dvt and pe blood clots. Plus had less major bleeding. Both made eliquis right for me. Ask your doctor if switching to eliquis is right for you. The nra remains on the defensive, continuing to lash out at the increased scrutiny has faced since the shooting at stoneman douglas. But also springing to its defense are conservative lawmakers in florida who have joined counterparts in georgia, pushing actual legislation that would punish companies for cutting ties with what is supposed to be a nonprofit. Earlier this week, democratic Connecticut Governor daniel malloy, who was in office when six adults and 20 children were shot to death at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, made precisely this point. Comparing the nras grip on our politics to that of, quote, a terrorist organization. Joining me now is the governor of connecticut, daniel malloy. Thank you, governor, for being with me. You know good to be with you. My home base is new york, so we certainly know a lot about whats going on in our neighbor state, connecticut. And you are not one given to a lot of hyperbole, youre very even thoughtful. Why would you make a statement that some could consider provocative . What i said is they could be considered a terror organization. If you go to the dictionary, merriamwebster in particular, it is a fear to coerce. Thats what the terror organizations do. Im not saying the nra went out and purposely pulled the trigger on any of these mass shootings, but they certainly made it a lot easier for those kinds of things to happen in our country. You referenced sandy hook. The federal government hasnt done a thing since then. Right. They cant even bar terrorists from buying guns in this country because the nra opposes that. We have a nofly list, but the people on that list can buy guns in america. How does that make any sense . Al qaeda actually tells people about that in america. They say if youre on our side, you know, use that loophole and commit mayhem. How does that make any sense . The nra has existed from 1871 to 1977 is a very different kor organization than the organization that has existed since 77 when it was basically taken over by the most radical elements who actually believe every gun sold is good for society, regardless of who it goes to. We should measure ourselves by how many guns we have, not by how many children we lose. Now, governor, this comment came from this whole discussion. The nra has actually pressured state lawmakers in florida and georgia to punish companies that say they no longer want to give bonuses or whatever with the nra. I mean, literally threatening lawmakers with their politics in terms of being able to influence their members votes or their donations at a time that the nation is dealing with consistent mass murders. This is unbelievable, governor. So what youre saying is they use fear to get what they want . Well, thats my point, isnt it . The reality is they spent 30 million to elect this president. This president said a couple of things that might move the dial ever so slightly on gun safety, and what did they do, they pulled the leash back . Within hours he had changed his position. In fact, chris cox, one of their lobbyists, went out and tweeted how they got the president back. The number of senators they control. Just over a year ago, the senate voted to prohibit the Social Security administration from sharing data about peoples Mental Health, so were paying people because theyre disabled because of Mental Health problems, but they cant share that data with anyone to make sure that we keep those individuals, their families and their communities safe. I remember after sandy hook, there were gatherings all over connecticut. I even came to one or two that you and i both spoke. Dealing with this is almost unbelievable. The federal government has done nothing, i mean zero, since sandy hook. But also i remember the Connecticut State Legislature and you actually cut, i think, by 20 some of the Mental Health work at that time, saying this is about guns, not just Mental Health. Explain that. No, we actually spend more money on Mental Health, and particularly connected with the Opioid Epidemic that has affected our country. But this is what we did do. We banned the sale of certain types of weapons. We made every weapon and every ammunition purchase subject to having a permit for the ownership or the possession or the purchase. You know, since we enacted bipartisan commonsense gun safety legislation in our state, we have developed Violent Crime by more than any other state in the nation over the last four years by a significant percentage. Our death rate per 100,000 as a result of guns is 4. 6. If you go town to alabama or alaska, its 23 per 100,000. You can make your state safer. New york has done it, new jersey has done it, california has done it, washington has done it, oregon has done it, massachusetts and rhode island have done it, and yet you can make your state far more dangerous. And quite frankly, thats what the nra advocates. They advocate for more danger in your state if you havent passed commonsense gun legislation. 97 of americans believe that we should have universal background checks. The nra once believed it and publicized it themselves. Yet in congress we cant get universal background checks, the number one thing we could do to make ourselves safer. 74 of nra members want universal background checks but their leadership wont allow it to happen, and they use fear to get their way. What is the rationale that the leaders. N the leaders come up with that they dont want background checks even though 70 of their members want it . They want to sell more guns. This is not the nra that gave out certificates to boy scouts when they learned how to fire a long rifle. Its not that kind of organization anymore. Yeah, they may do that, but thats not their primary mission. Their primary mission is to make sure we dont have Safe Gun Technology in our country. That if a gun doesnt work properly, you cant sue the company. Or if somebody purposely sells a gun to somebody with mental illness, you cant have redress. Thats what this organization is. It is a Protection Society for gun manufacturers flying under the guise of protecting individual rights. Children have a right to be safe in schools. We should be able to go to a Movie Theater without worrying about