Its an American Issue. Thank you. From new jersey, Bonnie Watson coleman. Thank you, i want to thank everyone for being here with us and i want to thank you for covering this. I want to respond to why trump didnt answer that question when he was interviewed by the post was because he needed people to come to the opening of his hotel because for trump its only about his business, its only about what is good for him. So we know from what weve experienced that trump has acted in a way that suggests hes a bigot. We roh suggests hes an out and out liar and we know he has presented himself with a lack of knowledge and a strong question as to whether or not he has either the temperament or intellect to carry on as the president of the United States of america. So to paraphrase maya angelou, the queen, when she says if someone presents himself to you the first time, believe it. He can not continue to walk back from the mistakes that hes made the first time and thats treated as a legitimate action. It is not. He doesnt believe the things hes forced to say now in order to curry favor with people who are never, never going to support him and so we stand here because we want our communities, not just our black community, women, gays and lesbians and latinos and muslims everyone else to understand there is an urgency associated with what were going to do this november and that we need to get about doing it because the worst thing that can happen to the future of the United States of america is to kill it in its tracks with this person as president. Thank you. From the u. S. Virgin islands, stacy plasket. Thank you very much, congressman meeks and thank you for your leadership for bring us together. Thank you for being out here. I stand here not only as a member of the Congressional Black CaucusPolitical Action committee but i stand here as a citizen, i stand here as a black woman, i stand here as a mother of five children. And i want you all to know that his absence was noted, Donald Trumps absence was noted at the black womens agenda where he was invited to speak along with Hillary Clinton this morning. He did not come. Hes right here in washington, d. C. , not far away and had the time to come but did not choose to come to speak with the largest voting block that comes out in percentage black women. Hundreds of women invited him to speak and only Hillary Clinton showed up. He was invited to speak at the naacp, did he come . Did he think that our vote was important enough . He did not think we were important enough then and doesnt think were important enough now. Hes addressing it because he was forced to address it. Did he address in the a manner that showed him incorrect . No. He has moved on, he is making his money and he wants to do it off of the backs of all of us. We cant let that happen in november. We need to come out, we need to bring people, bring your children, bring your parents, brings your grandparents and stop this man from the madness that hes taken america through. Thank you. Clap clapp. Donald trump came to my city and the question was asked what do you have to lose, africanamericans . I can tell you today is another example of what i have to lose. The arrogance of this candidate to have the audacity to feel that he validates the citizenship of the president of the United States because he said so. What happens when my child or your child arises the levels of success in leadership in america . Is this going to be repeated until donald trump validates our right and our ability to serve as a president of this country. It is not acceptable. Im wondering when this country is going to awaken from this from this reality show, the disrespect to me as a woman, to me as an africanamerican, to my children. You know, if youre discriminated against as a woman you should find another job. A Woman Working is an inconvenience. To say if im hispanic that im a killer and a rapist until i prove different. To say if im a muslim then i must be a terrorist until i prove to donald trump differently. This is one man in america, but we as american citizens and as africanamericans, latinos and women, independents, we have the opportunity to say no, not in this america. We will not be discriminated against. We will not be treated adds second class citizen. We, women, latinos, we, africanamericans, we independents, people who choose to worship which ever way they choose. Were going to stand up in the best way as the president of the United States said, were not going to boo, were not going to cry. Were not going to stand here and say im insulted, were going to vote and were going to vote and send a message to not only the United States of america but to the world thats looking at us and say this is not the america that donald trump is trying to create. Its an america that embraces all of us. Thank you very much. From wisconsin, gwen moore. My name is again moore and im from wisconsin. Lets be clear. This is disrespectful. Its arrogant. Its an effort to delegitimize the most iconic africanamerican in the africanamerican history. Lets also recall that donald trump demanded to see Barack Obamas transcripted from harvard. And its not just a message to barack obama. Lets be clear about that. Its a dog whistle to all americ americans and especially africanamericans. If, indeed, barack obama is not intelligent, if, indeed, barack obama is not legitimate then you striving up the corporate ladder are striving to achieve something in a stake, how can you feel good about yourself as a sixth grader if youre an africanamerican . This is a dog whistle to all other americans who are not africanamericans to say see, youre all right. Dont worry about hiring that black woman or that black man because, after all, the most iconic africanamerican in history is, indeed, not worthy of the American Dream. Be clear, this is not just about degrading the reputation of barack obama. Its about degrading the American Dream for all africanamericans and as Martin Luther king jr. Said, when theres injustice done to one of us, theres injustice done to all of us. From georgia, hank johnson. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. You know, donald trump created the birther issue long before he became a candidate for the republican nomination. He knew exactly what he was doing and he stoked that issue and he parlayed that issue above the 16, 17 people running in the primary, republican primary, and he won fair and square the majority of the republican votes based on the birther issue. So he became the republican nominee for president of this country and he has continued to stoke the fires of polarization and divisiveness based on the birther issue and extended to other issues and even to this day 56 days before the election he continues to parlay this birther issue to suck everything he can out of it for his own benefit, even coming to washington, d. C. Today while the Congressional Black Caucus is hosting its annual legislative conference with thousands of africanamericans in attendance just down the block hes still dealing with the birther issue, playing with it, toying with peoples sensitivities and blowing the dog whistle to his minions, to his support yeers. America are we going to let donald trump use this issue all the way to november 8 . Im telling you, thats what hell do. If you dont think hes finished today, i have land for you in florida. This man is going to continue the birther issue and all of the other innuendos that derive from it to defy americans against each other and to keep from talking about the real issues of concern to americans. I mean, here we are today in this policy conference and were having to deal with Donald Trumps birther issue and the press, i know that you all were there. Hes a master entertain er and its hard to resist what he has to offer. The press has been there. We appreciate you coming here to hear our views about whats really important for america because whats good for one of us is good for all of us and its time for us not to be divid divided. Its time for us to do whats in the best interest of this country, our great democracy, the freedom we enjoy here is under assault by donald trump and the forces that would elect him if we let them. So i want to thank everyone for being here today to get the message out that theres more to life than entertainment, than reality tv, reality campaigning which is what donald trump is all about. Were here to take care of the nations business, to deal with zika, to deal with gun violence, to deal with flint, michigan, and lead in the pipes throughout this country, to deal with our infrastructure. Those are issues that are so important. Fundamental and comprehensive tax reform to get those big corporations paying their fair share of the tax dollars so the you should be doesnt fall on the backs of middleclass people. Those are the issues that we should be talking about. Those are the issues donald trump needs to be held accountable to. Thank you all so much. From texas, mark vesey. Look, im sick and tired of donald trump not being held accountable. Hes been give an free pass this entire election and he needs to be held accountable. He hasnt talked about how hes going to bring jobs back into this country. He talks in very general terms. He has absolutely no working knowledge when it comes to foreign policy. And he did not apologize to the president for questioning his citizenship. Enough is enough. People need to hold man accountable for what hes doing. People need to tell him that this president ial election is serious when you talk about the real issues that are at hand. And it is absolute ly disgustin the things hes saying about Mexican American, africanamericans, other people in this country, the handicapped. And he has offered absolutely no substance whatsoever to this race. Think of one credible thing donald trump has said since he started running that made any sense whatsoever. But he came to washington, d. C. Today to brag on his hotel and talk about lining his pockets. Enough is enough. Hold this man accountable for the terrible, nasty, mean spirited things that hes saying. And last, the former chief of police in the city of orlando and soon to be a colleague here in the United States congress, value demmings fr val demmings from florida. Thank you very much, mr. Chairman, i spent 27 years as a Law Enforcement officer. I had the honor of serving as the chief of police. Ive seen the best that america has to offer and ive seen the worst that america has to offer. I can tell you today based on everything weve seen and heard, donald trump is not the best that america has to offer. At a time when people are struggling, theyre hurting, theyre suffering. Theyre afraid. Instead of coming up with who will make peoples lives better and a quality of life for americans, donald trump is doing everything he can to divide. Hes a hater, hes a big got and hes a racist. Amen. Ive learned as a Law Enforcement to call it like i see it. Quick do better. Just like americans dont get a pass, we shall not allow donald trump to get a pass on this issue. I watchedyearold, i was the police chief when president obama was elected. And i saw people who represented places from around the world celebrating his election. And you know why . Because it was representative that america and all that the promises that it holds had gotten closer to really living the American Dream. And for this man who has never, at least that ive seen, proven or done anything to really help anybody else, to delegitimize the first africanamerican president to demand the audacity to demand that he show his papers, we can do better than that and were going to hold donald trump accountable. Thank you so much. Let me just conclude. As ms. Speakers have said, this is not just an africanAmerican Issue, this is an American Issue. And every american should be speaking up about this. Dr. King once said if you are silent in times of need then youre as guilty as the guilty person. This is an American Issue that all must come to the forefront. Lets just look at what the candidates have indicated. One comes with lets make our country great again. When is he talking about . What period is he talki ing abo . What is he talking about . Or is that a hidden message. Some say lets take our country back. Back from who . The other candidate says we are stronger together. We are stronger together. And what makes the United States of america the greatest country is that we accept and bring everybody together. Thats the example that we want to show, we want to show that you can be of different ethnic backgrounds, you can be of different religion, you can come from different parts of the world and then we can come in a Democratic Society and live a better life and not demonize vijs as donald trump is. So let us be stronger together and make this country a more perfect union. Is we can do that collectively by not walking but by running to the polls on november 8. Lets make sure that an individual whos not speaking american values, who is really saying deplorable things throughout this campaign does not make america look deplorable. Thank you. [ applause ] congressman Gregory Meeks of new york, other members of 2 Congressional Black Caucus condemning donald trump by saying he owes the president of the United States an apology saying this man, donald trump, is not fit to be president of the United States, very, very strong words from several, several members of the Congressional Black Caucus, theyve been meeting here in washington all day. Lets discuss what we just heard. Joining us now, our chief Political Correspondent dana bash, chief political analyst Gloria Borger and senior washington correspondent jeff zeleny. If donald trump thought by uttering the words president obama was born in the United States, period that that would end this uproar over the whole birther issue, he was obviously flatly wrong. Yes, he was mistaken. I think that what the people we just heard from would have wanted to hear is at least an apology and at least an admission that it had been a mistake. As i said earlier, you know, you just cant put an end to history in a sentence, and i think theres a long history here with donald trump and the birther question and what we just were witnessing was from the Congressional Black Caucus was a plea to africanamerican voters to get out there and vote. And so this has had the opposite effect that donald trump really would have wanted because in many ways and i think thats what theyre hoping and thats what Hillary Clinton is hoping that this will be a base motivator to come out there and support Hillary Clinton. Let me just give you a specific example to back up what gloria just said. I interviewed john kasich, the governor of ohio yesterday, no fan of donald trump but knows his state very well, which elections turn on, particularly for republican president s and i asked him and he said Hillary Clinton has a big problem with her base, particularly in urban areas. Theyre just not excited. Guess what . This particular issue that happened last night and this morning was supposed to help with that for donald trump and i think it seems to have done the opposite. It looks like thats the goal of these black leaders to say never mind not being excited for Hillary Clinton, put that aside, have intensity against the republican because you dont want this guy in the white house. Because if Hillary Clinton will be elected she has to recreate that base, that coalition that barack obama put together in 2008 and 2012. She does, indeed. Dana is right. In ohio the three cs cincinnati, columbus, cleveland thats the key to a Democratic Victory and just talking to democrats already, donald trump has been able to do something that the Clinton Campaign has struggled to do, a, focus democrats attention on this race. One of the reasons president obamas Approval Rating has climbed to a 58 in the Washington Post poll probably high is because voters arent thrilled with their choices now. This is going to be about, a, president obamas legacy but also keep donald trump out of the white house. So i think he unwittingly has fired up democrats and its also happening on an interesting weekend in washington. We see all the black leaders meeting there. Its the Congressional Black Caucus weekend which is a major event where africanamerican leaders from across the country members of churches are watching this. The president and mrs. Clinton will speak there tomorrow night. Is i think this is an inopportune time for donald trump to make this statement here hiss campaign has exploded by awakening this as times of Voter Registration is coming up right now. If he was going to do this, im not sure september 16 was the best time to do it. I wouldnt blame this on the campaign people. I would have to say this is donald trump. Theres not a campaign add vooizor who would say go out there and say one sentence and thats it. I believe they released a Statement Last night. Clearly that wasnt enough. It wasnt satisfactory. Donald trump knew he had to Say Something but a sentence on this the point is that it wasnt cleared up by this point. And a very good reporter bob costa on wednesday night enlightened it all again. It certainly did. Everyone stand by. Well continue our special coverage. Thats it for me this hour. Ill be back 5 00 p. M. East american the situation room. Right after the break, Hillary Clintons Campaign Press secretary is about to join Brooke Baldwin live. He has a lot to say about what donald trump said today. That and much more right after a quick break. Hi there, im Brooke Baldwin and this is cnn. Lets talk about today, a today that will go down in Campaign History for all the wrong reasons. We begin with Donald Trumps concession speech, all 61 words of it. The republican nominee finally admitting after years of pushing a deceptive Conspiracy Theory that president obama, indeed, was born in the u. S. But did trump apologize . Nope. Did he explain why he changed his mind . No. Did he falsely blame Hillary Clinton for starting the rumor in the first place . Yes, he did. Hillary clinton [ boos ] and her campaign of 2008 started the birther controversy. I finished it. I finished it. You know what i mean. President barack obama was born in the United States. Period. Now we all want to get back to making america strong and great again. Thank you, thank you very much. [ applause ] is. Lets do fact checking. Fact check number one. Hillary clinton did not start this birther lie, nor did anyone in her campaign. Fact check number two. Donald trump, did not, as he claim finish it. In fact, donald trump has been called the birther in chief and had it not been for his wholehearted embrace of this fallacy it might have stayed where it belonged in the land of the fringe. You are not allowed to be president if youre not born in this country. He may not have been born in this country. Why doesnt he show his birth certificate. And you know what . I wish he would. A lot of facts are emerging and im starting to wonder whether or not myself if he was born in this country. Perhaps its going say hawaii. Perhaps its going to say kenya. Last week somebody came out with a very strong statement saying he stated himself that he was born in kenya and raised in indonesia. Was it a birth certificate . You tell me. Some people say that was not his birth certificate. Maybe it was, maybe it wasnt. You dont believe it was . I dont know. Nobody knows. Is he a natural born citizen . Who knows . Who cares right now. Were talking about something else, okay . I have my own theory on obama, someday ill give ill write a book, ill do another book, it will do very successfully. So donald trump wouldnt address the issue, he said in abinterview we have to keep this us is suspense going. Instead, he had more than a dozen veterans join him on stage, people who deserve to be honored, for Something Like 30 minutes telling him how great he is. As Hillary Clinton has taken no time in calling him out. She tweeted this. What trump just did is a disgrace. Leading the Birther Movement is deplorable. Attempting to say it did a Great Service to the president who trump attacked is asinine. Lets go straight to the Clinton Campaign headquarters, brian poll lon is with me, a press secretary for the campaign. Brian fallon, welcome back. Lets begin with the first of two false statements from mr. Trump today the fact that he says it was Hillary Clinton who started the birther nonsense. No, she didnt. Cnn has been disputing that, i know, for years. I want your reaction to that. Absolutely thats a lie. Its been debunked on multiple occasions by independent Fact Checkers and i have to tip my hat to cnn and other Fact Checkers calling it out as a lie in realtime. I think donald trump took the stage today in washington, d. C. And thought hed been given credit for finally acknowledging the president was yes, indeed, born in the United States of america. But i think whats clear is that donald trump is not going to get any credit for admitting a base i can fact that only a hatefilled conspiracy theorist like him would deny and what was remarkable about his comments is what he didnt say. He didnt own up to his role in promoting this hatefilled birtherism movement. He didnt explain why he continued to prosecute this case against the president , our first africanamerican president , even after the birth certificate was released in 2007 subpoena and he didnt offer a sense of remorse to this president or country. He lied more. And i think donald trump cannot conceal his role in promoting this Birther Movement. The Birther Movement was to Donald Trumps political rise was what that loan is from his father. It is what made him and he wont be able to disavow or disown it. I think its backfired already today. In the wake of those words, we were live on capitol hill, it was manu raju who sat down with the number one democrat in the senate it was harry reid, called trump in this interview a liar, a bully, a con artist, a phony. I was listening to the News Conference with cbc folks, words i jotted down disgusting, fraud, arrogant, bigot, disrespectful, racist. Do you does the Clinton Campaign agree with all of those words, all of those adjectives. This Birther Movement which donald trump used to essentially put himself on the political map in the Republican Party is just the latest in a pattern of bigoted comments and behavior from donald trump throughout his life. If you look back in the 1970s when he was first getting his start in new York Real Estate he was sued by the Justice Department for not renting apartments in his buildings to africanamericans living in new york city. Just look at the comments hes made throughout this campaign. I think back to when he demean add federal judge born in indiana based on that judges Mexican American descent. The reality is donald trump insults everybody, even the media today. He insulted the medias intelligence by convening this press conference under false pretenses then using veterans as a human shield to deflect from this issue of this birtherism controversy. And then he took the press on a tour of his hotel. Again, trying to use this president ial campaign to promote his private business interests and refused to allow reporters to trail with him and ask him followup questions. I think hes outraged and insulted everybody today. Do you consider him a liar, flat out a liar . Absolutely. Hes politifacts 2015 liar of the year. They measured that 70 of his statements have been fact checked as false, mostly false or pants on fire. This is a guy who hes incorrigible. And he has no shame whatsoever and today he went out and attempted to tell a lie about the origins of this birtherism movement. His campaign and he are trying to take credit. They have the gal and temerity to suggest they were doing the president a favor by finally admitting in the final months of this president s tenure that he yes, indeed, was born in the United States of america after delegitimizing him for the first seven plus years of his administration. I think hes offended go ahead, sorry. I know hes offended and we have listed out the myriad groups in this country and beyond who he has but i was listening to dana bash a moment ago. She was talking about some urban areas theres been a lacking of enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton. I was in a barbershop in atlanta talking to folks and some people just werent quite sure if they were going to vote on the national level. Im wondering if what happened today with trump how its so not over. If it backfired and if you think in the end this is a win for democrats, that this will energize specifically africanamericans to vote for Hillary Clinton. Well, any time that this type of hatefilled bigotry is promoted to the level of the republican nominee for president of the United States i think its a bad thing for our country so i hesitate to call anything that happened today a win but theres no question that the political strategy backfired on the Trump Campaign literally in the moments before this press conference was held there were reports that on background trump aides, his Campaign Staff was saying these comments were going to take this issue off the table in order for him to not be confronted on in the the first debate happening later this month. Gee, i cant imagine how they think this issue is going to go away. I think it will be talked about for a long time and we have to come together and say this is unacceptable and this man is unfit to be president of the United States. One more for you brian. I mentioned harry reid, nancy pelosi was on cnn today saying flat out, guaranteeing donald trump will not be the next president of the United States. Do you take that very same view point . We have to work hard in these next two months. We can not take anything for granted. Look at the polls that have come out this week. For everything he has said, this race is extremely close. There are a lot of americans just tuning into this race and theyre not aware of the things donald trump has said. Why cant you guarantee it based upon everything you just told me about what happened today and his past . There are no guarantees when it comes to president ial elections in this country. We are going to have to mobilize and register voters, turn them out. Why do you think pelosi and reid are guaranteeing it, brian . I dont think we can take anything for grant ed the senat races, harry reid is working to try to elect his successor in nevada, theyre trying to win back the senate, i dont think he is guaranteeing anything on that front. Nancy pelosi is trying to win as many house seats as possible. I dont think she would guarantee anything there. But we need to elect more democrats up and down the ballot, thats why were making the investments in the critical battleground states and not just battleground but beyond in places like arizona and georgia. You saw a tremendous ad from the candidate in missouri, the secretary of state running for senate. These are all important races, not just at the top but up and down the ballot and we should want to make a statement in this campaign in november. We need to not just turn out for the purposes of electing Hillary Clinton, as important as that is. We also need to make a statement as a country we wont tolerate or buy the sentiments or rhetoric coming from donald trump. Brian fallon, Hillary Clinton hq in brooklyn. Brian, thank you. Thank you. Coming up next here, were staying on this, a member of Donald TrumpsDiversity Coalition will join me along with both sides of todays circ circus, thats what it was. Circus. Plus, he is a republican, the governor of a swing state, cant stand trump, hear why john kasich showed up at the white house today and moments from now the first lady, michelle obama, making her first appearance on the campaign trail after firing up the democrats at the dnc. She is in virginia today stumping for Hillary Clinton. Well take it live. Youre watching cnn, im Brooke Baldwin. Cure cancer million . Far off. Liver disease treatment. That by voting yes on prop 61 costs. Dollars pass. Dont let that happen. It because one day it might. Welcome back, im Brooke Baldwin. After four years of feeding the lies, donald trump admitted his birther believes were wrong and stated clearly president obama was born in the United States. Moments ago, members of the Congressional Black Caucus slammed trump as a fraud. By any definition donald trump a disgusting fraud. He started this silliness years ago by saying president obama is not an american citizen. He had no proof of it and so he started this disgusting behavior seven or eight years ago questioning the president s citizenship. He would not have done that to a mitt romney, he would not have done that to a john mccain or any other white who was running for president of the United States but he has leveled his criticism against president obama. With me now, veteran navy seal and trump supporter carl higbie, bruce lavell is with me, executive director of the national Diversity Coalition for trump, cnn commentator Bakari Sellers who supports Hillary Clinton and simone sanders, the former National Press secretary for senator Bernie Sanders president ial campaign and simone now supports welcome. Bruce, let me ask you the overarching question being yearly from trump talking today he now has sort of publicly said, all right, barack obama was born in the u. S. For years, maybe, now, hes saying he knew this but he kept pushing this theory, this garbage and let it hang out there. My question to you, sir, what does that say about his character . Well, you know, i cant i will tell you this, though, like i saw earlier, the Clinton Campaign manager did admit that the Whisper Campaign came from if you want to call it the Clinton Campaign, clinton surrogate, whatever you want to call it but it was acknowledged it wasnt the campaign. Well, worked for the campaign, fired a staffer with no name. But look heres the deal, its not uncommon, brook, for any candidate that runs for office, they check their residency, they check whatever, this is very common for they check you know, for example they questioned john mccain being born on the islands or senator cruz being in canada. So this is just normal processes with anyone that runs. Im sorry, whos the they here . Candidates who run for office historically, for example, when trump brought this up. Well, no, maam, check back when for example, when president obama ted cruz, that was trump. When president obama ran for office as a senator he used that same process to disqualify someone else off the ballot. The Whisper Campaign on the birther did formulate from the clinton establishment if you want to call it that or not the campaign and there was some questions about it that did grow air to it, it went from all over the country where he was or was he not. Thats not uncommon to question someones if theyre qualified to run for that office. Another thing, too, brooke, donald trump was a private citizen. He was a private citizen and donald trump has been an official candidate since last year. Theres been no mention of that. Thats old news. Its been 16 months, bruce. Yeah, but, you know, it hasnt president obamas not running for the president of Hillary Clinton is. 16 months. I notice when everyone says that, well, we asked Hillary Clinton that did you well, no, i didnt say that. Were talking about the same person that has ten different stories on emails, who has the reputation of the American People of not being truthful. Trust me, were talking ab it truthiness about both of the candidates but today were talking trump, bakari, jump in, please. I think today donald trump gave three statements. He said that Hillary Clinton started the Birther Movement, which is a lie. He then stated that barack obama was born in america, which is he acknowledged a fact, then he said nsomehow that he finished the Birther Movement when in all honesty it finished in 1961 with the birth of barack obama. For mes that slap in the face, a spit in the face to many africanamericans throughout the country and good hearted people. Donald trump put forth a wholehearted effort to disenfranchise and delegitimize the first africanamerican president of the United States. I dont need him to tell me barack obama was born in the United States of america, it was the utmost disrespect but my fear, though, brook, and what im having trouble understanding are those people of good spirit, the white americans who still support donald trump even understanding his xenophobic and bigoted language. I believe its not a majority. I dont believe its many but we have to wait until november 8 to see if that bears. Carl, i know you were on a couple days asking and you were asked do you believe president obama was born in the United States and your response was probably. Yeah. Whats your answer today . Still probably. I mean, i believe if donald trump has put it to bed, donald trump has put it to bed. But its not put to bed for you . I just dont care anymore. Theres a difference between not caring and saying probably. Well, i really dont care. And i think the majority of the American Public doesnt care. The democrats can say its a big, big issue. Just because they say it doesnt mean it will. For seven years the democrats have been saying donald trump has to put this thing to bed. Then he finally puts it to bed and says yeah he was born in america, now they complain that he said that. This shows its a politically partisan issue. Five years later, carl higbie. Five years later and you did care before. They were complaining about it for five years. And now hes said look, all right, guys, i concede he was born in america, lets make America Great again. But he fueled the theories. He was the ox zwroen the fire. Yeah, sure he fuelled it. So he got his information, now hes decided that barack obama in his mind he decided barack obama was legitimately born in america, lets move on. Who cares. Hang on, this applies to both Hillary Clinton and donald trump, we talk about judgment, we talk about character and when you have donald trump who asked at one point in time for harvard to release president obamas prescriptions then you have what he called for which he sort of triumphs is that ultimately the white house had to go to hawaii and got the long form birth certificate. Then you just pose the that with the rest of it all which is the fact that he hasnt released his tax returns when you talk transparency. He hasnt released detailed medical records other than one sheet from his doctor. How is that fair . Well, two things, first of all, mitt romney didnt release his tax returns until a month before im not asking about mitt romney. Well, were talking about barack obama so we can talk about mitt romney, too, i think. The fact is question need to look at donald trump is under audit. Lets say he releases his tax returns and the audit says a, wheres the proof . B, the irs has made it clear you can release tax returns if youre being audited. You can, sure. But he doesnt want to have to deal with the fallout of maybe he filed something incorrectly then they beat him over the head with it. So hell wait to the audit is done. Tell barack obama to tell the irs to speed this thing up and hell get those tax returns out. Im laughing. Im laughing. Thats good. Thats good. Simone, im looking at you, youre shaking your head. I want to hear your voice but im curious. You heard congressman butterfield bring up the point where he said he didnt think trump would have questioned mitt romney, carl brought up mitt romney so ill bring up mitt romney. He didnt hi he would ask mitt romney to prove he was born in the u. S. Or for john mccain is that correct . I agree. I definitely think thats true, brooke, we have to acknowledge theres a heavy race element into what donald trump has done with this birtherism. He has engaged in racist rhetoric and bigoted language and were wrestling with the issue of race. You have folks that are because you guys keep bringing it up. Pardon me, bruce, did anybody interrupt you . Im speaking. Donald trump is the person that brought this up. His took place the Washington Post he never brought race up into the birther irv shoe. You did. Bruce, black people in this country, people of color, mexicans, hispanic, native americans, we can be the most educated folks in the room, the most knowledgeable people in the room, the most brilliant but the moment we get in charge of something somebody it seems someone is always questioning if we deserve to be there, if we are legitimately taking our place and this is what is at the root of what Donald Trumps comments were about president obama so this is definitely an issue and i know republican pundits and commentators where going to get up here and make it seem as though its not but this is about the heart of our country. This is not about who we are as americans and i think this is going to continue to be a topic of note, well have to talk about that at the debate because donald trump is running to be the president of United States of america, the president of black people, the president of Mexican Americans, the president of his pepanic folks, native americans, just like he questioned president obamas legitimacy of the United States, he questioned judge mark curiel because of his heritage that he was mexican, he could not be a judge in this case. This is an issue. Bruce i want to hear from you but one of the questions brought up at this cbc Congressional Black Caucus was the fact that both Hillary Clinton and donald trump are in washington today, that was group today called the black womens agenda, i think its 21 different group, they were all together. She addressed this crowd and we know donald trump was invited to and he did not attend. Do we know why . I dont know. But i will tell you this, brooke, i represent the national Diversity Coalition of trump, we are the largest Diversity Coalition in the history of any republican candidate. This has been ongoing since last year we have hundreds of thousands of supporters in our organization you can go to ndctrump. Com. We represent Indian Americans for trump, hispanic americans for trump, Muslim Americans for trump, africanamerican pastors for trump, the list goes on and on. But i want to make this really strong point right here since were on this black race deal here donald j. Trump has never, ever you cannot find anything throughout in the land on this planet or this universe of him saying anything racially derogatory towards africanAmerican People period. That is im sorry, brook that is absolutely not true. Whoa, whoa, wait excuse me. Its derogatory to question the legitimacy of the first black i didnt interrupt you. Its derogatory to say thats my africanamerican over there. Excuse me, interrupt you. Please let me finish. Go right ahead. So to take this Birther Movement and make it racial is absolutely preposterous, its a fraud, it has no life to it. Brooke, the reason why this is coming up right now is donald trump is gaining significantly in polls and touching the heart and soul of the africanAmerican People in these communities and the special Interest Group that you just had on the air earlier that some are tied to pacs just like harry reid is tied to special Interest Groups, him saying these negative things about mr. Trump, all of this stuff is about to come to pass. This stuff has gotten so infected on republicans, democrat side and the best thing we can do is try to put race into this and marry this Birther Movement into it which is absolutely false on donald j. Trump. Can i Say Something from the Campaign Perspective . Go ahead. From the perspective of someone who has worked on many campaigns, yes, the polls are very close and theyre tight and donald trump is up in some places and there have been many polls that have come out that said lots of different constituency groups are not necessarily enthusiastic about what were seeing on the democratic side so it makes zero sense for donald trump to have brought up and spoken about the Birther Movement especially from the democratic side. This is a galvanizing jolt to the democratic party, for racisracist races up and down the ballot. Well keep talking about this issue. This doctor l drag donald trump down so the assertion and notion that this is a ploy by the democrats to drag race into this because, you know were not doing no, donald trump did this himself. This is bad campaign, donald trump is unfit to be president and he needs to consult with his campaign folks. Brooke, brooke hang on bacarri. I want to come in to you in a second. It looks like our signal went out with you for a second. Carl, i want to ask you as i was watching mr. Trump today with the veterans at his hotel. I talked to brian fallon from the Clinton Campaign, he referred to those veterans that deserve to be honored that mr. Trump used them as human shields. You are the veteran, you are the former navy seal on the panel so i wanted to ask you about that. Your response for them to be called human shields. I dont think its the right thing to be called human shields. Keep in mind book, the people like myself and me in the military, an overwhelming majority who are voting for donald trump are willing to cast our vote because we trust him with our lives. We know at a moments notice he could send us to write a blank check up to and including our life. We stand in front of him. If they want to call us human shields, fine. Id prefer not to be called by that but build a human shield for donald trump. Go ahead, bakari. There was a lot to digest and unpack in this conversation we have and i dont want to necessarily goo go into what bruce was talking about, the issues of race and racism in Donald Trumps history and past whether or not he was talking about africanamericans being lazy or taking africanAmerican People off his floor, discrimination in housing, the list goes on and on so i dare not have to repeat that again. But carl made a point earlier today or attempted to make a point which is just not true. You cant come out and say he put this to bed. You cant say oh, we got beyond this. So what do you want them to do. You simply cant just get beyond racism and say oh, my god, i said hes born in america without answering why did you think he wasnt born in america in the first place . Why did you propagate this for five years . Is and then the last question that i really want donald trump to answer is why dont you have the heart, since you want to be commanderinchief, why dont you have the heart to apologize to the president of the United States and the many people who literally stood on street corners with signs that said i am a man because they wanted their respect in this country. Donald trump is a coward because he can not do that. And my last point that i want to make is weve had these conversations about taxes and carl went on this litany and it was really cute about what donald trump should do with his taxes but if donald trump is under an audit, donald trump should show the audit letter. Thats first. And second donald trump said he went under an audit in 2008, so donald trump should show his taxes up until 2008 so we can be cute all you want but donald trump is out of excuses, out of excuses with africanamericans and the American Public. I want to thank all of you for the conversation. Appreciate it bruce and carl and bakari and simone, thank you. Thanks for having me. We need to get to the first lady, michelle obama. She is hitting the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton moments from now. Live pictures, fairfax, virginia, there. We will take you to the first lady momentarily. Can a toothpaste do everything well . This clean was like pow. It felt like i had just gone to the dentist. It just kind of like, wiped everything clean. My teeth are glowing. They look great. They are so white. Crest hd 6x cleaning. 6x whitening. And at two weeks, superior sensitivity relief to the leading sensitivity toothpaste. I actually really like the two steps crest hd step 1 cleans, step 2 whitens. Its the whole package. No ones done this. Crest healthy, beautiful smiles for life. Come sunday, will you root for game of thrones, the americans maybe mr. Robot. The emmy awards will be announced. After years of being ignored by the tv academy, fxs the americans is in emmy con mention a big way. Best drama, best lead a actor and actress. But its up against a parental favorite and multiyear winner game of thrones. Its also got serious competition from the quirky newcomer mr. Robot and its breakout star. If emmy awards are sunday night