Transcripts For MSNBCW Melissa Harris-Perry 20140907

Good morning. Im melissa harrisperry. Brandnew news that democrats may rather not hear when it comes to their partys chances to maintain control of the senate after novembers Midterm Elections. There are 36 senate races this year and republicans just need to win six additional seats to gain control. A new nbc news marist poll out this morning underscores the challenge of facing democrats. In Arkansas Senate race, republican come cotton leads the democratic inkoum bent mark pryor by five points. In kentucky, mitch mb connell leads allison london grimes by eight points. One bright spot for the democrats in colorado mark udall leads his republican challenger cory gardner by six points. Another Key Senate Race is in my new home state of North Carolina np which president obama won in 2008 but then lost four years later. His current disApproval Rating in North Carolina are near an alltime high. The latest poll on the North Carolina senate contest, democratic incumbent kay hagan is clinging to a razorthin lead over North Carolinas statehouse speaker tom tillis. And in the state that inspired the moral monday protests, there are a lot of key issues to talk about, education, reproductive rights, Voting Rights just to name a few. But in the very first debate between hagan and tillis monday night, this was the very first question to the statehouse speaker of North Carolina . How do you think the administration should proceed . Does the u. S. Need to strike isis in syria to protect American National security . Okay. Did you catch that . Shes asking that of the house speaker, the North Carolina house speaker, the first question in the first debate in the u. S. Senate race in North Carolina is not about anything going on in the state but about isis and the Obama Administration. As expected, tillis called for tougher action by president obama but so did the president s fellow democrat, senator hagan. The answers by the candidates as well as the question itself demonstrate how in North Carolina, like elsewhere, Midterm Elections are about as much about president obama as they are about anything or anyone closer to home. Hagan is just one of several Democratic Candidates distancing herself from the top democrat in the country. And thats because a whole lot of voters appear to be distancing themselves from the president too. The latest gallup poll, the president s job Approval Rating has dipped to 41 . It doesnt help that recently at nearly every turn it seems as though the president is confronted with yet another unsolvable crisis. Just for starters, there is the brutal militant group isis beheading two americans. Friday after smoefrls of steady job growth, employment numbers for august were lower than expected with just 142,000 jobs created. Theres Vladimir Putin messing with ukraine. Theres ebola in western africa. And then just yesterday the white house announced that the president will not take any executive action on immigration until after the november Midterm Elections. And that was at the urging of many in his own party. As the Washington Post reports, Senate Democrats have warned that any bold executive action ran the risk of upending the chances of several democratic incumbents running for reelection in southern states. One of those democratic incumbents usualing the president not to take executive action, you guessed it. North carolina senator kay hagan. And you may understand why given her challenge is a fairly fervent response to a question on immigration in that same debate wednesday night. Now, we talk about how easy it is to seal the border, but were not sealing the border. Wed failed to seal the border dating all the way back to the ray dwan rather. We need to get serious about that. A strong nation needs a strong border. We have to seal the border. I think he really wants to seal the border. Some republicans are denouncing the president s decision to delay executive action on immigration as a cold political calculation. In an exclusive interview with nbcs chuck todd, the new moderator of meet the press, the president said the surge of unaccompanied children across the border this summer was a factor in his decision. The truth of the matter is the politics did shift midsummer but a of that problem. I want to spend some time even as were getting all our ducks in a row for the executive action, i also want to make sure the public understands why were doing this, why its the right thing for the American People, the right thing for the american economy. The president had initially promised to take action on immigration before the end of the summer and it remains to be seen how his reversal and reasoning for it will play with the growing latino electorate. In his interview with chuck todd, the president also spoke act isis and how the u. S. And its allies can contain the sunni militants. The president says he will meet with congress in the coming days and deliver speech about his plans for addressing isis. What im going to be asking the American People to understand is, one, this is a serious threat. Number two, we have the capacity to deal with it. Heres how were going to deal with it. I am going to be asking congress to make sure that they understand and support what our plan is. And its going to require some resources i suspect above what we are currently doing. So from immigration to isis and the politics involved in both, this is clearly a president now operating in Crisis Management mode. Joining me now, New York Times editor at large marcus mabry. Nice to have you. Good to be here. Okay, so lets back up for just a second to the polls. Clearly the president seems to be responding to these very tight polls. What do they say to you . Well, its interesting. Many of our polls right now the New York Times, we say probably have twothirds, 66 chance of capturing the senate. All these polls, a lot of them you showed the one where is basically republicans are in excellent shape there are a few states that could go either way, one or two points, landrieu in louisiana, you know, the democrats are in trouble there. It could go were talking act a wave election potentially, but i dont think you can call that. A wave election would be if republicans took the vast majority. At this point seven to nine tossup states. All the republicans need as you said are six seats and theyre there. Let me ask you this. Dont they already droll senate . And im being very serious here because this brings me to the immigration question and the decision to punt. Right . Its football days, a lot of punting things going on. But it does feel to me like this presumption that kind of backing off allows for these blue dog democrats to win, nobody is talking act democrats picking up seats and at this point since the senate has to be filibuster proof to actually operate, dont they already control the senate . Yes and no. The democrats of course exercise the quasinuclear option and said in some actions instead of needing a super majority well go with a simple majority and that allows them to get things through like president ial confirmations, which are important. So its not as you say at this point for the democrats. But i think if you see this tip, i dont see how you actually complete the last two years of the presidency. Its got to be the most miserable situation in the world. The house doesnt do anything. Senate would be impossible for the president to okay so, look, you dont govern in the last two year ts of a lets be really, like, hardcore, this is painful for me to say, honest, president obama gets to be president for two more months because then there will be a Midterm Election and then he will be lame duck and all eyes turn to who will be president next. Absolutely. Why not govern in the two months he has left . Why not get the immigration done . The political calculation is clear enough. There is no reason to do anything thats going to make it harder for one single Senate Democrat candidate to win in his or her race. There is no upside to that. Okay. Kay hagan, mary landrieu, if they want to win, this is not a general election. Theyre not in the middle. Theyve got to get excited again. Those voters who do still support president obama. Those who have stayed on his side. Now shouldnt they in that context go ahead and throw a little caution to the wind and be, like, you know what, i am down with president obama, hes going to do Immigration Reform, im going to stand with him shgt and i dare you not to come out and vote for me . The bet is that theres actually more of a Downside Potential the democrats doing that because it would further invigorate a republican electorate and actually help the republican candidates in these close red and purple states than it would help the democrat by saving the ra l. A. Tino base, which would be in support of those kinds of policies. Political ka clcalculus is pret brutal. They dont want to enlivin the base anymore. Two years ago republicans were convinced mitt romney was going to win. Thats what their internal polling showed them. But their models were wrong. You know, we have no time, but i got to tell you, the point at which i feel like the president of the United States is being held hostage by tom tillis politically that the speaker of the North Carolina house is one who gets to, you know, pontificate about sealing the border, it makes me wonder what the value of that position is. I want a little hmm he will govern by executive action for the last two years. That might work in the short term. Long term for the american political process it is a dire situation. All right. I want to remind the viewers that meet the press with chuck todd and his exclusive interview with president obama will air today at 2 00 p. M. Eastern here on msnbc. The funeral of joan rivers is set to begin in less than an hour. Well talk about her legacy next. Fill their bowl with the meaty tastes theyre looking for, with friskies grillers. Tender meaty pieces and crunchy bites. In delicious chicken, beef, turkey, and garden veggie flavors. Friskies grillers. 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With your help, we can do even more make a donation at mattressdiscountersdogs. Com or any mattress discounters. Mattress discounters good deed dogs helping dogs help people. If youre like me, you may have only known of joan rivers later in her careers as an interviewer of celebrities on the red carpet and offen the butt of her own jokes about plastic surgery. But her career started decades earlier and was quite groundbreaking. She was the first woman and to this day one of the only women to host her own latenight comedy show. In 1986, the late show starring joan rivers on fox. It was short lived but came on the heels of 20 years of appearances on tthe tonight show with johnny carson. My body yeah. Wait, wait come back, girls. Thank you. My body is dropping so fast buggs bunny saw my rear end and went, now i know whats not up, doc. My boobs, oh, think how i feel rivers passed away this week at the age of 81. Her funeral is being held today at Temple Emanuel in manhattan. And for more, we go live to nbcs ron mott. Hi, ron. Rivers was pretty specific about her funeral wishes. She wanted meryl streep crying in different accents and a Harry Winston toe tag, hollywood all the way. Will those final wishes be honored today . Reporter hey, there, melissa. They talked about this being a red carpet funeral. We dont see any red carpet on fifth avenue but this is a highprofile funeral. Howard stern just walked in. Rosie odonnell, kathie griffin, those comedians who say joan rivers was their inspiration for getting into the business, there will be a lot of sadness because of her sudden passing on thursday. The theme here is this is all about humor. She had a sense about her funeral and her life that she wanted this to be big time. And she would be honored. A lot of friends have said since her passing this week about this turnout. There are dozens of Television Cameras here, dozens of still photographers and hundreds of people standing by behind our camera three and four people deep just to get a look at some of the people coming and going for this service. The service is set to get under way at 11 00. As we understand yesterday the body was transported to new jersey for cremation, and so right now were looking out for melissa rifrs, her daughter, and her grandson cooper pap lot of people got to know those two thu the reality show she did with her daughter and granddaughter. A powerful force in comedy and a great american. Nbcs ron mott, thank you so much. Up next, liz winston is here to explain what rivers meant for women who are also xheed i dont knows. When folks think about what they get from alaska, they think salmon and energy. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. 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Dukes family only feeds him iams, for a love that can endure any fashion trend, with two times the meat than other leading brands. It helps keep him strong from tiara to toenail. Just one of many iams formulas to keep love strong. knochello . Hey, i notice your car is not in the driveway. Yeah. Its in the shop. Its going to cost me an arm and a leg. Thats hilarious. Sorry. You shoulda taken it to midas. Get some of that midas touch. They tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. Next time im going to midas. Highfive arg i did not see that coming. Trust the midas touch. For brakes, tires, oil, everything. whistling joan rivers got her big break back in 1965 when she first appeared on the tonight show with johnny carson. She would become a frequent guest and guest host for decades. This is like an old cliche. People say that new yorkers are rude and theyre polite in los angeles. Do you find that true . Yes. I live in both places and i do. And its healthy. Healthy . California, everyones smiling, theyre dying of ulcers at 30. Right . Here theres hostility and its overt. You know who youre tealing with. We had a taxi driver today, gave a 6 tip on a 40 ride, he gave us the peace sign, a half of it. Still with me marcus mabry of the New York Times and joining us liz winston, cocreator of the daily show and author of lizz free or die. This has been a challenging week because my first reaction was im not a big fan of her comedy. And my friend sat me down and said no, you need to understand more about joan rivers. So help me to understand more about why she matters so much. Yen what she did on stage and the kind of comedy that she was is comedy so subject theyve i like to put that aside for a second. From the second joan rivers set foot on stage she announced to the world im a woman, i have something to say, i deserve to say it, and if you dont like it, weigh in and ill weigh in back. And giving that permission and in 1965 when the pill was literally the Supreme Court said the same year, you married ladies can get the pill now, you know, it was a huge step for women to go, wow, i matter and i get to get up there and think about that and a lot of comics when they say especially women that joan rivers was the person who allowed me to feel like i actually deserve to be on the stage and command attention is huge. Did you actually know joan personally . I did. I was on her there you go. Thats 91ish. She had a new talent show and i was on with john cicada. Wow. The brilliance continues for the both of us. I can part of what is stunning about her is not only did she step on the stage in 1965 but also refused to leave stage. Ever. Right . She kept looking for another activity, another task, another gig. And in many ways also didnt even think of herself primarily as a comedian. Thought of herself as an actor and sper taner and other sorts of identities. She always says she was an actor acting the part of a comedian. She so believed in it but also was so vulnerable and i think thats why to many populations, you know, i guess i should have known since 1986, i watched her show. For the lgbt community, especially for gay men, shes meant so much. And for women comedians, she spoke to our sense of im here and im going the to demand it. Amay be marginalized but im going to take center stable. To do that for six decades, i think her last incarnation in many ways her most kind of famous incarnation. Shes got a broader following now than she did ever before in six decades including being guest host of the tonight show. Thats right. Those criticisms of her as mean or being harsh, sometimes mean and harsh, two people on the red carpet who were also women, are those gendered criticisms . You know, i think that comedy isnt nice in general. You know, how many comics that you think of that you go, you know what, i love how that person brings everybody together. Yeah, yeah. Comedy is based in that. People can have their feelings. And i think its whooo what kind of humor appeals to you. Do you like humor about fashion, shallowness, taking on celebrities . She took on her and i dont mean this as a justification for whether or not people liked it, but she took on herself as much as she did other people. Does that mean its okay to say other things . Thats for others to decide for themselves what is they think is okay in comedy. Im never going to say that. I put it out there and if people dont like it, i got to be able to defend it. Even more harsh to herself than she was anyone else. The joke act, you know, wake up one morning and thinking shes wearing gray bunny slippers and they were actually her breast ts that had fallen. She said something as harsh and would have been hurtful, right . And she said it was one way of her dealing with the pain of selfhate or selfloathing. And theres something about somebody putting out there who they are and you dont have to wonder in the least bit about whats going to come it from and what it is. Like its very brave to be at your to beat at your absolute self. Ive heard from many people the ways in which she opened doors but also watched on the night that her death was announced that it was all male latenight comedians who had a stage, who had a microphone to eulogize her. I do hope in addition to opening the doors there are opportunities for women to walk through them. Thanks to marcus and lizz. Coverage of joan rivers continues this afternoon right here on msnbc including a replay of celebrity joan rivers at excuse me, celebrating joan rivers at 3 00. Up next, the reproductive rights clinic now back up and running but at risk of being shut down all over again. 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Think of it as a way to take more control over your operating costs. And yet another Energy Saving opportunity from pg e. Find new ways to save energy and money with pg es Business Energy checkup. Dad,thank you mom for said this oftprotecting my future. You. Thank you for being my hero and my dad. Military families are uniquely thankful for many things, the legacy of usaa Auto Insurance could be one of them. If youre a current or former military member or their family, get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. In texas and louisiana, those fighting for reproductive rights and Abortion Access received good news about a week ago. However, even with these rare wins, they may be short lived. Last sunday a district judge granted a temporary restraining order in three of louisianas five abortion clinics which faced closure due to a law requiring abortion providers to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. That same sunday Texas Attorney general and republican gubernatorial candidate greg abbott asked the fifth Circuit Court of appeals to reverse a decision to prevent closure of a majority of clinks in that state and allowed at least one clin toik reopen on friday. That was the whole Womens Health clinic in mcgown, texas, which had to due no the new restrictions. Clin eks in ft. Worth and san antonio that had been threatened stay open for now. Heres what the whole Womens Health Corporate Vice president had to say before the reopening. Its gone through a lot of difficult times, a lot of negativity, a lot of saying no to the people that we love. We love the community. We are from the valley. We love doing what we do in Offering Services and for many months weve had to say no. And so now we get to say yes. We get to say yes, youre welcome to come in, yes, we are going to help you, we are going to see you here. So its very exciting and we are so happy that we get to do this. Joining us live from virginia, the president and ceo of whole Womens Health. Given how brief this stay may end up proving to be, why reopen . You know, melissa, we left our clinic in mckeown completely intact with the hopes of being able to reopen and move from court that these laws provided a tremendous undue burden to the women in the Rio Grande Valley specifically. And so we were hoping for an injunction and we were ready to go in case we were able to get it. Even though weve only got two weeks here until the court meets again we felt like it was important to be able to serve these women locally in the community where theyve been able to get safe, professional care for years before this law passed last year. Little bit of flood news for texas and louisiana, but in louisiana it seems to be more of a timing question. The providers werent given enough time to comply with this new law about admitting privileges. But in texas it does sound like theres a ruling here about an actual unconstitutional, undue burden. Are you more hopeful that texas will actually remain that this will be a durable finding . You know, melissa, im always very careful being a reproductive justice person in texas with hope. But i am hopeful this time around. We put together a really good case. Our evidence was really strong in the court. And the judge really saw that clearly in his decision. Its very straightforward that this provides very much of a documented and wellestablished undue burden and that the laws also not passed on anything that has medical evidence behind it. And so we really demonstrated a strong case and im looking forward to seeing what the fifth circuit is going to do this coming friday. I actually want to take a moment and have you hear your own Corporate Vice president making this point last thursday. Lets listen. Before these laws were passed there wasnt any type of Public Health crisis or any type of increase in complication rates. Nothing has changed. Abortion has been one of the safest medical procedures in medicine for decades and decades, and none of thats changed. So those are obviously the facts but is that a winning argument legally or politically in texas . One of the things were dealing with is the stigma that surround abortion in this country and that a lot of these laws are passed from peoples conflicting and moral ambiguity around feelings and beliefs. What we need to keep in mind is these laws are not passed based on medical facts and it is indeed true abortion one of the safetiest procedures, normal, common in health care procedure. Almost a third of women in the United States will have an abortion in their lifetime. This law didnt do anything to sort of address unplanned pregnancy or do any prevention. It simply cut women off from their access to safe, professional, compassionate care. So we are really happy to, one, be able to reopen, but, two, are really committed in the long term to fight these kind of regulations that are passed not on medical truth or on fact but are passed basically about feelings and bleaches. In richmond, virginia, Amy Hagstrom Miller perhaps having our firstever good news conversation ever on this show. Its true. Nice to see you. Thank you. Up next, the ebola crisis you have not heard about yet. Theres a reason no one says easy like monday morning. Sundays are the warriors day to unplug and recharge. What if this feeling could last all week . With centurylink as your trusted partner, it can. Our visionary Cloud Infrastructure and Global Broadband network free you to focus on what matters. With Custom Communications solutions and dedicated support, your business can shine all week long. I am so noh my gosh. Now, its not even funny. Driver 1 you ready . 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Hello three grams daily of betaglucan. A soluable fiber from whole grain oat foods like cheerios can help lower cholesterol. Thank you this week, we saw for the third time an individual infected with the ebola virus land on american soil. Friday morning drhe arrived at special isolation clinic for treatment. He worked at the same clinic and was friend with the two other aid workers brought to the u. S. Unlike both of those patients this doctor but not treating ebola patients but instead was treating pregnant women and delivering babies when he contracted the disease. His wife had this to say about her husbands condition. Rick is clearly sick, but he was in very good spirits and he was and he walked onto the plane. So we are really encouraged by that news and looking forward to reuniting with him. Meanwhile, on the african continent, the situation is getting worse by the day. The death toll has climbed above 2,000 of the nearly 4,000 people infected. Powerful images continue to emerge like the video from liberia of doctors forcing an ebola patient who had escaped quarantine into the back of a truck. The government of sierra leone has announced plan for a fourday nationwide lockdown during which citizens will not be allowed to move their homes, a move some aid agents are learning could actually xa lly exacerbate the problem. Its taking a toll on the political stability and Economic Security of west africa. This crisis will be likely shouldered by the citizenry for years to come. With us, previously serveded with the United Nations for more than a decade. Laurie garrett senior fellow for the council on foreign relations, received the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for the coverage of ebola epidemic in zaire. William koresh, executive Vice President with echo health alliance, a nonprofit that works around the globe at the intersection and konser ration of Public Health. And the editor and chief of african magazine and reporting for nyus journalism institute. Nice to have you all here. Laurie, i want to start with your piece on Foreign Policy yesterday in which the title actually says we could have stopped this. How . Same way weve stopped past epidemics, when it was still rural, still relatively continue find, when the strategies that had worked in one epidemic after another would have succeeded. Unfortunately, by the time the World Community woke up and said, wow, we have a crisis on our hands, it was well beyond the boundaries of villages and rural areas and beyond the tactical approaches that had worked in the past and had become complete economy urbanize sod the many majority of cases are in monrovia, in freetown, in the big cities. When you talk about that sort of the world waking up, we were here kind of screaming out early on, talking about it going on, and now i have a certain sense of, like, guilt in the pit of my stomach because i wonder if those images that were seeing, for example, of you know, of someone being shoved into the back of a truck, i think, have we just reproduced that sick, dirty, awful continent of africa that no one should go to or invest in . Like theres this way in which the african continent has worked so hard to push back those kinds of themes about itself in order to come into an age of Economic Development. And i wontder if this ends up sort of taking a step back, the continent a step back. It could well do, that but i think we need to put this into perspective. As you pointed out, a number of the panelists in our discussions had pointed out, multiple cry cie. Its not just a Public Health crisis. Its governance crisis. People expect their governments to be able to deal with these things that occur. There will be outbreaks of disease. There will be Natural Disasters but the perspective i think we need to put it in is that governments often cant live up to the expectations, and unless we get too smug about whats happening in africa, we should remember Hurricane Katrina and the fact that the u. S. Government absolutely let down its public and its citizens in its response. These are governments that are stretched to the limit in the best of circumstances in terms of governance. Sierra leone, liberia, are coming out of brutal civil wars. Education has been disrupted for decades in those countries. Theyre rebuilding, which is not an excuse at all for poor governance and a poorer response. But i think we just need to put it into perspective and understand that this is not just an african problem but rather a response to disaster whether its Public Health or Natural Disaster that tests any government. And there is an intersection there between that issue of governance, how an economy operates, and this issue of sort of vulnerability in the case of my beloved new orleans to the levees being breached and in the case here of west africa to the question of the spread of this particular disease, because this is in part connected to thousand local economy works. Is that right . Absolutely. You have compete who are completely dependent on a resource for food, which is generally in many of these countries wildlife so, in about Central Africa alone about a billion pounds of wildlife consumed annually for food. There is limited choices and most people are marginalized in rural areas so theyre left to pick and choose what they can in the forest and all these diseases are spreading over from wildlife and then burns out of control. If you have poverty, if you dont have education, if you dont have governance, its like being surprised we had a forest fire after 20 years of drought. You have 20 years of no investment in education and poverty alleviation. And so its right for a disaster. This is not a small point, this idea that the food source itself, the question of the kind of language we hear is bush league, that this language of wildlife that is part of like this key aspect of local economies and then thats precisely also the thing that creates a Public Health vulnerabili vulnerability. It absolutely is. But i think this has gone way beyond that because we see that africas largest economy in nigeria is dealing with ebola and it didnt come from bushmen. It came from a personal trav traveling and now not just the commercial capital dealing with this the, the oilrich city are dealing with this, how did thet this get there . A diplomat who contracted ebola got on a flight to talk to a private doctor and that doctor now treated him got sick and his wife is ill. So we look at how people are moving around in africa either by road or by flight and this is cutting across all sorts of things. So its easier to say, well, lets quarantine people, but that does not work in reality. Im going to add to this. We now have the total genetic analysis of 99 strains skwengsed and there was only one bush entry. Thats been overstated. 100 human transmission after the initial transition. Just how it starts. This tells you more about how this could be control. Let me add i am angry with the United Nations, with w. H. O. , with the failure to respond. You know, the World Health Assembly led in many cases by african nations said, you know, were past the Infectious Disease era. Its time to start slashing that budget, slash, slash, slash. Do you know what the total disease response budget for w. H. O. For the year 2014 is . 114 million. Million, not billion. 114 million. So if anybody thinks w. H. O. Has Rapid Response capacity, a big team in a s. W. A. T. Jet and theyre going to swoop in and staich day, forget about it. Then w. H. O. Two weeks ago starts begging, and the world bank comes up and says, wow, you know, we looked around in here and we just found 200 million for you. So now were up to roughly 300 million for a response that if this was indonesia, 5 billion, the entire u. S. Pacific fleet. I mean, mobilization of 12,600 u. S. Military personnel. What are we at now . Zero. Stay on exactly that because as soon as we come back, the president in speaking with chuck todd this morning actually addressed the question and i want to bring his voice in and get all the rest of you to respond as well. Business, with startup ny. Weve created tax free zones throughout the state. And startup ny companies will be investing hundreds of millions of dollars in jobs and infrastructure. Thanks to startup ny, businesses can operate tax free for 10 years. No property tax. No business tax. And no sales tax. Which means more growth for your business, and more jobs. Its not just business as usual. See how new york can help your business grow, at startup. Ny. Gov [ girl ] my mom, she makes underwater fans that are powered by the moon. She can print amazing things, right from her computer. [ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. My mom works at ge. If we dont make that effort now and this spreads not just through africa but other parts of the world, there is the prospect than that the virus mutates, it becomes more easily transmittable, and then it could be a seriously danger to the United States. So that was president obama speaking with chuck todd on mete the meet the press this morning. Im sure the president knows there not much fear about this thing, but its gearing up for the kind of spending we were talking act before the break. I think thats absolutely right. By making it a National Security potential National Security crisis, the president is creating at least some interest in assistance. But as laurie said, the United States, the rest of the world, the u. N. , the world health organization, the response is so inadequate. And the ability of the countries that are affected to deal with this is so low as to make such a response almost meaningless. I want to go back in part to what laurie is suggesting here. Im wondering if theres a cross purpose, particularly for political leader, a moment where they say were past the Infectious Disease state. Is there a cross purpose of Economic Development interest and the need to attract particularly international Economic Development versus the need to address the Health Crisis . That if that actually ends up working against one another . Well, you know, this is a time for leadership, and president obama had this huge africa summit in august. Bring in all african president s here, say america is ready to partner with you. We have a major crisis going on in west africa, and what really bothers me is that if youre going to say were going to tried with you, were going to do business with you but when your people are dying were just going to wait and see, that doesnt really sound right. And the fact trade is actually being impacted, right . Of course. The New York Times cover story saying airlines have canceled their flights to countries that have been affected, the price of staple foods going up, dwinding supplies the planting season for several countries has gone down the drain right now. Food prices are hiked up in liberia and sierra leone. People are hungry and disgruntled. What is concern to me right now is if you are sick in several of these countries and you dont have ebola, you have nowhere to go. If you are pregnant, if you have meningitis, if you have anything, its all ebola all the time. So which means malaria season is coming up, people are going to get sick, people could die. This is going to be really catastrophic. And the United States has just said we want to be africas partner. Heres a time to show leadership. Dont worry about politics. Say these are our trading partners. We need to pump the money into west africa right now to contain this and to take care of this, because as we have said, we no what this does. Weve seen ebola before. Its not new. Is this what youre saying act indonesia . Is this why the response would have been different . Absolutely. Heres our opportunity, okay . Im going to speak now to the pentagon and to its counterparts in other wealthy nations. Heres our opportunity moment and you will be hailed as saviors on the streets in western africa if you follow through. Ghana has courageously stepped up to the plate and said were willing to be the air bridge, meaning that all transport of goods because as you said, commercial airlines are no longer flying. We cant even get doctors in there now. Right . Theres no flights. Ghana is saying were prepared to be the air bridge. You can use the airport as a staging ground. You can start bringing in 20, 30, 40, giant c540 planes with supplies, protective gear, medicine, the 11,000 Health Care Worker theys need now at the current size of the epidemic, which now is by the way increasing by a thousand a week. Exponential. Unbelievable. Huge increase. We have this opportunity. But, you know, ghana doesnt have the capacity to actually take care of all the kind of logistic and supply issues naps a great role for the United States air force. Absolutely. And then somebodys got to have the courage to risk that their pilots and crew are willing to make the short flights from the okra airport to whatever staging ground there are in the three countries and perhaps also nigeria. Thats another role for the United States air force. How does doing that change who the u. S. Is in the world . I dont know if anyone from the pentagon is watching. Its football sunday. But if someone is, how does making that decision change who the u. S. Is in the world . The u. S. Is dealing with a number of International Crises on a number of different levels. Ukraine, russia working with nato. Isis in iraq and in syria. Showing that degree of and weve got american politicians clamoring for the president to make firm statements, stands, actions in those areas. This shows americas soft power and this could be a demonstration of that. And it could also be a demonstration of leadership, showing the way for other wealthy countries to act as well. So, no, this could be it wont be transformative, but it could be another way for the United States to show it power and for a president who is so embattled, everyone is against ebola, right . I mean, this is the sort of thing where you could actually imagine this congress that is going to return to work acting. As we even begin to imagine these kind of large political, geopolitical, and economic responses as you look at this from a Public Health perspective, do you see, as you talk about malaria season, hunger, that there will be a kind of second wave of public hilt crisis thats not ebola but other kinds of infections that could come on the back end of this . Oh, yeah. Its just brewing right now. We have to move away from just responding crisis to emergency to another disaster and go upstream and prevent it. The same ways we can educate people about reducing ebola or preventing it is the same thing we need for childed hood vacc e vaccinati vaccinations, the same investment for malaria. Its not extra money. Its just taking a really coordinated approach to engage civil society, give people the opportunity to be educators who can learn how to protect themselves. Like i said, we cant prevent every disaster but we can reduce their impact. We have an outbreak in drc right now and that society has been exposed to this for several years and said we need to do something about this ourselves. As we spread around the get in front of these things. The expent if we dont seem s to be exponential in we will have endemic ebola in at least three countries, possibly in the whole of the west africa region that will go on for years. And if we dont act now and im not just saying act. Im saying we need a log rhythmic increase in the commitment, the personnel on the ground, the logistic concern, the u. S. Army to fly in the medevac unit theys ear so good with that weve got battlehardened skilled guys that know how to walk spririghto a war. They need to fly right in, set up a medical response capacity and boom its on the ground running in 24 hours. Theres not anything that could be clearer than the suggestions laurie has made. Thank you all for being here. Still to come this morning, what an africanamericanlatino coalition could look like in 2014. And the u. S. Attorney general is policing the police for civil rights violations. [ male announcer ] introducing vicks qlearquil allergy morning, hank. What a day, huh . Hey morning, hank. [ male announcer ] for people who dont have allergies everyday, just on allergy days. [ sneezes ] [ groaning ] [ male announcer ] new qlearquil. The powerfully effective, take it only when you need it, so you can be you again, allergy medicine. Boo haha. 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Virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. Now its quicker and easier for you to start your business, protect your family, and launch your dreams. At legalzoom. Com we put the law on your side. Welcome back. Im melissa harrisperry. President obamas most meaningful spoons to calls for him to do something about the Police Shooting of Michael Brown and the militarized response to Ferguson Protesters wasnt something he said. It was something he did deploying attorney general eric holder to ferguson to see what was happening there for himself. When the attorney general went to ferguson two weeks ago, he spoke both as the nations top Law Enforcement official and as an africanamerican citizen who related intimately to the racialized tensions that fueled days of protests in the city. This week we learned that his visit but not just a photoop. And it wasnt only to check on the progress of the federal investigation into the shooting of Michael Brown by Ferguson Police officer daren wilson because on thursday attorney general holder announced the doj would be investigating not just a single officer but the entire Ferguson Police department. As a result of this history and following extensive review of documented allegations and other available data, we have determined that there is cause for the Justice Department to open an investigation to determine whether Ferguson Police officials have engaged in a pattern or practice of violations of the United States constitution or federal law. Dojs investigation will look into the Ferguson Police departments use of force including deadly force, its record of stons, searches, and arrests and the treatment of prisoners at the Ferguson City jail. And it adds the Ferguson Police department to a list of 20 other investigations of Police Departments launched by doj in the last five years. More than twice the number in the five years before that. And the end result for those departments according to the Washington Post, is likely to be either a lawsuit against them by doj or a settlement that includes a Consent Decree in federal monitoring. Those investigations arent just happening in departments in states whose policing problems youve already heard of, yes, californias lapd and louisianas new orleans pd and arizonas Maricopa County sheriffs office. Theyll make a list. But also included are departments like portland, oregons, Police Bureau and the seattle pd in washington. Joining me now to discuss Marcus Claxton director of the black Law Enforcement alliance. Hes retired detective who served 20 years with the new york Police Department. Reverend paul roushenbush from the huffington post. Janine nelson, associate director and counsel of the naacps legal defense. And phillip, professor of social psychology at ucla and director of the center for policing equity, visiting scholar at kennedys schools. When has it worked sfwhel. Thats bit of an issue thats controversial within Law Enforcement. Consent decrees are negotiated settlementtype deal where is Law Enforcement and the Justice Department says were going to get together and agree these are the steps we need to take to make the department better. But i think the reality is in places lake cincinnati and los angeles where people have said theyve worked well, theyre really a lever for progressive Law Enforcement that wants to do the right thing. A Consent Decree in the hands of a chief or department thats very resistant is really just a lot of smoke with not a lot of light. Thats interesting. So i want to listen to a. G. Holder because he has got a little more enthusiasm about what they have been up to. Lets take a listen. And weer enforcing 14 agreements to reform Law Enforcement practices at agencies both large and small. With these agreements we have seen dramatic decreases in excessive uses of force, with equity in the delivery of Police Services including important measures to address bias, and most significantly increased confidence by communities in their Law Enforcement agencies. Now, mhp show viewers you couldnt see phillips face in this moment but he had a little skepticism about that. Claxt claxton, what is your experience on this question of how Consent Decree or oversight by the federal government ends up impacting what happens on the ground . A. G. Holder greatly overstates the effectiveness of a Consent Decree. Even a doj investigation itself and subsequent federal monitoring. Its all overstated. There is no significant increase in public confidence, effectiveness of the Police Forces in dealing with municipal environment, et cetera. So i mean its really an overstatement and its shameful because i think what happens is people tend to believe that there will be some positive changes coming out of federal investigation and subsequent Consent Decrees but there is no clear evidence that that is the case. And theyre limited they have limited themselves in the manner which they deal with these things. For example, newark Police Department is also under a Consent Decree, if you will. Theyll appoint a federal monitor there. But they do so in conjunction with City Government. So you have a cooperative agreement between City Government and the federal government to say who will be the monitor and what theyll monitor and what the actual impact will be. So both of you have made me a little sad because i have been feeling excited all week about the fact that a. G. Holder announced this was going to happen. I always have this kind of reconstruction moment where im like haha federal government coming back, take that but now im sitting here thinking, okay, if what its really about is what these City Governments are about, then maybe the most effective things are the attorney general lawsuits about voting because maybe its social movements and voting and who is running these places that makes the big difference rather than oversight. Thats absolutely true. If you look at ferguson and the composition of the city council, for example, in a city hast 67 black, the city council four out of five of the members are bhit whyte. That is due to all sorts of, you know, structural barriers to voting, to political participation in this city, and it shows in the lack of any type of leadership on the part of the city council to represent that community in this moment of crisis. So i think doj should be applauded for this investigation. But it actually is going to take more. This is not a fix to ferguson. This is a fantastic first step but it is absolutely not a fix. And its what the federal government can do. Right . Or are there other steps that the federal government has some capacity over when it comes to local Police Departments . I think part of the reason why youre hearing skepticism not because Consent Decrees dont work, its because as you said we dont have evidence. Why is it the case that the federal government has to go in and find out how much force has been used, right . Find out how many people are getting stopped . Its not even routinely collected. Collected but not reported to any national body, right . So we have the tragedy of Michael Browns shooting death. And now were following that with the embarrassment of not knowing how often that happens. How can you do that and say youre taking race and policing seriously . It makes me wonder, paul, if part of what we need to be looking at and if part of what the lesson of ferguson can be is about sustainable longterm social movement in the face of this sort of injustice so that when we have the hand up dont shoot movement and for at least a moment because of the overreaction of police, we have cameras that come. The cameras induce the a. G. Down there, the a. G. Sets but it does feel like if thats it then its going to just potentially at least go nowhere. So how then do you keep a movement, a protest asflooif. Well, i think thats the point is that no one would be there if that protest hadnt started and hadnt been sustained. You know, the whole reason that the attorney general ordered this was because he went there and then asked, and he said, oh, theres been systemic abuses. And i thought, well, you could go to almost any community in america and find that. So what were looking sat an opportunity here. And one of the is a things i thought was that when this was announced, the Civil Defense police offers, the head of that in the New York Times said this is politically motivated, had a Chilling Effect on police, and i think thats just the wrong message to send. This is an opportunity to are for all of us to say this is what we need, this is what america needs, all citizens. This is not a black issue. This is an american issue. We shall all care about it intensely. I have to take issue with that. I think clearly this is a black issue. And i think what has happened in the past is theres been some minimization of it or, you know, people attempt to say this is a broader issue that affects all people equally. It does not. It is a black issue because of the impact it has on black communities. And to go even further than that, this is a larger irk shoe than just doj or police brutality, criminality. This is about an entire criminal Justice System that is in desperate need of reform. So until we get to the point where were willing to accept that the entire system is broken, these things will continue. But this is a black problem. It is not exclusive to the black community but it is a black problem and all data and Available Evidence supports that. Okay, on exactly that i just want to say i completely agree with you, it is not only up to black people to solve it. It is up to all of us to solve it. So on exactly that topic when we come back, im going to just ask a little question about whether or not having a black solution to the black problem is in fact a sufficient solution. Carmax is the best place to start your car search. E, great for frank, whos quite particular. Russian jazz funk . Next to swedish hip hop. When he knows what he wants. Thank you. Do you have himalayan toad lilies . Spotted, or speckled . Speckled. Yes. He has to have it. A cubist still life of rye bread. Sold. Its perfect. 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On thursday the New York Times published a listing showing 15 metropolitan areas that, like ferguson, have a Racial Disparity between Police Departments and their communities. The times reported that in hundreds of Police Departments nationwide the percentage of white officers on Police Forces is more than 30 Percentage Points higher than in the communities they are placing. According to experts cited in the article, those numbers matter because diversity in Police Departments give them more correct with the communities they serve. Now, as both a professor and researcher i am willing to take seriously a claim based on research, data, and expert analys analysis. But im also from generation hiphop. And im a student. And so i have to weigh those numbers against a lesson i was taught a long time ago from none other than the teacher himself. On the first solo album released in 1993 from hiphop icon krs1, chris raps on the track, black cop, and apparently im going to get some help here. 30 years ago there were no black cops you couldnt even run drive around the block, recently police trained black cop to stand on corner and take gunshot this type of warfare isnt new or shock its black on black crime again nonstop black cop, black cop, black cop more than 20 years later, the teaching remains the same. Simply having more africanamericans on the police force willed nod need to less policing in africanamerican communities. They think salmon and energy. But the energy bp produces up here creates Something Else as well jobs all over america. Engineering and innovation jobs. Advanced Safety Systems technology. Shipping and manufacturing. Across the United States, bp supports more than a quarter million jobs. When we set up operation in one part of the country, people in other parts go to work. Thats not a coincidence. 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Aggressive ticketing by police for lowlevel offenses has fueled that in other parts of the county. An nbc news report found in recent years ferguson and other jurisdiction ace cross the north side of st. Louis county have issued low level traffic and other violations at a per capita rate as much as a dozen times higher than cities in other parts of suburban st. Louis. Data from the state Attorney Generals Office cited in the report found that per capita africanamerican drivers in the county are 66 more likely to be stopped than white drivers and are more likely to be arrested once stopped. Four of the jurisdictions finds from those violations amount to added revenues. But for the financially Vulnerable People who get caught in the system, those violations add up to what one st. Louis municipal judge said could become a web of dick ticketing, debt, and if people cant or dont show up in court to show it, warrants and arrests. Joining me from st. Louis is thomas harvey, executive director of arch city defenders, a law firm that represents lowincome people in the area and that recently released a report on local municipal courts. Nice to have you. Thank you for having me. Pleasure. It seems that there is an actual incentive here. A city budgetary incentive to criminalize local communities. Theres certainly that impression by my clients and our report is based on taking seriously what our clients had to say about the fact they were stopped because they were black and exploited because they were poor and they routinely told us this isnt about public safety, this is about the money. And when we looked into it we saw a lot of support for what they said in terms of the city budgets, city of ferguson estimates that it will increase it will have revenue from its municipal courts to the tune of 6. 65 million, adjacent city has revenues for 3 million. And those are largely stemming from traffic tickets. Hold for me for just one second. I want to come out to you officer. I made this point that im not sure having back officers fixes the problem overall, and this is precisely why. If there is an economic incentive for stopping and ticketing and ultimately jailing, what difference does it make if the officer is black or sfwhit. Excellent point and thats true because it would make no difference, and not only insofar as the ticketing situation is concerned but as far as the allegations of brutality, et cetera. When you have an individual subsumed by the current culture theyre in, which is the police culture, then Everything Else is off the table. You lose a certain level of consciousness oftentimes and thats sad. Whats happened sheer that you have what should be professional Police Officers who now, because of the citys needs or desire to make more money, have turned into bounty hunters. And you have to deal with bounty hunters as bounty hunters and be real about what they are. Thats not professional Police Service naps bounty hunters. As i was listening to the reports about this, as i was reading these numbers, it felt to me like basically what were talking about is local city jails becoming debtors prisons, that if youre just a person incapable of paying then the way in which that then mounts are enormous, whereas if you have you know, if 100 the so not that a part of your monthly budget, you pay your tickets and go on. Is there a legal question here . Is there a way in which these kinds of city policies might run afoul of larger legal concerns . Absolutely. When we look at the fact that the Police Department is subsidized by the municipality and effectively these officers are funding their own salaries through the communities they serve. Theyre issuing tickets, having their subsidies put in by the people who are targeted. And there should be a legal remedy to this to disincentivize the Police Officers from targeting the communities theyre actually paid to protect and serve. So this is an interesting and important point that these communities are also taxpayers who are initially paying in and then theyre paying in again with these fine ps. I think its really important to make the distinction what Law Enforcement is responsible for and what happens to Law Enforcement. So if the laws of the land are racist its Law Enforcements jobs to enforce racist laws. Thats not going to change by going to Law Enforcement, talking to the chief and begging for a change. The chief has one vote just like every other resident has one vote. If were talking act police reform, its so important that were talking act community reform, municipal reform, because Law Enforcement is a reflection of the community and the police. Its not just its own entity that creates its own laws, at least it shouldnt be. It does seem this question of community, part of what came up for all of us watching ferguson, getting to know ferguson over the course of the past few weeks is how many municipalities they are in a very small geographic ve onand the fact that so many of the officers dont live in whatever the most sort of micromunicipality is. Why is that and what effect does that end up having . Well, there are nine municipalities and when people talk about this being limited to ferguson, i would say thats an error. This is a broader problem in 30 to 40 of the municipalities in that region. Theres a lot of talk of outsiders agitating in ferguson, saying they were not from ferguson. If youre from jennings, maybe less than a mile from ferguson, so fergusons policies impact everybody in that region. Everybodys policies in that region impact people from ferguson because you could potentially drive through eight municipalities in a stretch of 30 miles. I did want to speak to something you mentioned about legal remedies. This is clear that incarcerating someone after theyve stated that they dont have the ability to pay is unlawful. Thats something that were looking into. Thats not the police. Thats the court system. They obviously have different responsibilities than police do. I agree completely that adding a handful of africanamerican officers to fergusons police force or any of the other municipalities is a welcome first step, but it doesnt address the systemic problems that we have many the region with regards to these municipal courts and the fines that are assessed that disproportionately affect poor people and communities of color. Theres a neighboring municipality called pine lawn, predominantly africanamerican, has africanamerican representation on its at the mayoral level and at the prosecutorial level, and theres the same problem there. All right so, this goes back to the point you were making earlier, paul, which is as much as this a problem that disproportionately impacts africanamericans and particularly africanamerican men living in cities, as much as all of that is true, the folks who are going to have to fix this cannot exclusively be cant just be adding a handful of american cops to the force. No. It has to be a complete coalition. I want to bring in the clergy that were very impressive in, you know, the response to what happened in ferguson from the first night they were there. They were praying, they were on the front lines of the protest. And i think this is a real opportunity for them to be organized in whatever reforms happen. They should be in the front, because often they can offer a liaison, sometimes even the Police Officers are also in the congregation along with people who are suffering from these racist laws. So i want to encourage that as one step that, you know, could have real solutions. Living in North Carolina, reverend barbour and the moral mondays movement. This is his key. He said you have to take these injustices and frame them as moral questions. Thomas harvey, thank yor your time and for your continuing work. Thanks to all my guests in new york. Stay with us because many of the headlines about policing focus on the treatment of men of color, but there is an alarming case out of oklahoma involving africanamerican women and a Police Officer accused of repeated sexual abuse. You do not want to miss this story when we come back. If you suffer from a dry mouth then youll know how uncomfortable it can be. [ crickets chirping ] but did you know that the lack of saliva can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath . [ exhales deeply ] [ male announcer ] well there is biotene. Specially formulated with moisturizers and lubricants, biotene can provide soothing relief and it helps keep your mouth healthy, too. [ applause ] biotene for people who suffer from dry mouth. 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The stomachchurning testimony of a 57yearold grandmother who says she was violated, molested, and forced to perform oral sex all during what she initially believed was a routine traffic stop. Holtzclaw, through his attorney and family members, is vehemently denying the charges of eight women whose stories collectively present a narrative of a serial sex offender. According to the reporting, holtzclaw allegedly used his position as a Police Officer to identify potential targets who pose the least risk as targets of assault. By allegedly focusing on poor black women with criminal records, holtzclaw kept himself from being caught. Not only is this individual stopping women who fit a profile of members of our society who are confronted rightly or wrongly by Police Officers all the time, said the prosecutor, he identifies a Vulnerable Society that without exception, except one, have an attitude for what good is it going to do . Hes a Police Officer. Whos going to believe me . This of course is the question who is going to believe these women . Anthony douglas, president of the oklahoma naacp, is frustrated that even as he is sounding the alarm about the alleged pattern of violence against black women by a Police Officer, it seems to be garnering less attention than the shooting deaths of black men including the blanket Media Coverage of protests in nearby ferguson, missouri. Well, mr. Douglas, we have heard you. We are paying attention. And we will follow closely as this case proceeds. And thank you to the team at buzz feed who did the work on the ground, original reporting, the kind of original reporting we need so much more of to bring focus to a story in this case of eight women allegedly raped by someone who was supposed to serve and rho text them. Theres a reason no one says easy like monday morning. Sundays are the warriors day to unplug and recharge. What if this feeling could last all week . With centurylink as your trusted partner, it can. 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We learned earlier this week she was harass and attacked while exiting her office with a coworker on wednesday. Her alleged attacker chased her down the street, yelled racially charged threats, and threw a trash can at her. Apparently targeting her because of her identity. She and her coworker called the police, who took more than 40 minutes to respond. In fact, it was the individual being targeted who said she had to go find the two Police Officers in a nearby bagel shop. The guest and friend of this show im talking about is linda sarsor, executive director of the arabamerican association of new york. The day of the attack she says she told police told her they did not believe her case was high priority because of the way she described the incident. But mayor de blasio has since tweeted his support saying new yorkers stand with you, linda sarsour, our city will never condone such glaring acts of bigotry and intolerance. Police commissioner bill bratton said on thursday the nypd has launched an sbesinternal investigation into the officers response to lindas attack. Lin is a sarsour is executive director of the arabamerican association of new york and reverend alvin herring from pico national network. Still with us the reverend paul roushenbush. And from washington, d. C. , felipe sosa rodriguez, deputy moonging director for you nighted we dream. Glad to have you here. I did a head fake introducing you because i wanted my viewers to think i was speaking of someone who was africanamerican because it is a story we so frequently think of as a story of abuse and police not caring. But your story is a reminder that there are some shared experiences here. Absolutely. I mean, to think i could be chased in a street and getting threatened to get my head cut off in broad daylight at 12 20 and to wait over 45 minutes for a Police Officer whos supposed to protect and serve me i cant fathom. Whats more horrifying is there are women in my community whose english is not their first language and its hard for them to describe an experience in way. But to say youre being chased bay man whos violent, i dont know what worse we were supposed to say. The nypd showed up 47 minutes later and spoke to my colleague, because i left the scene of the crime, they had the nerve to lecture us about our lexicon. We should have said we were being assaulted. I had no idea if were supposed to pull out a dictionary every time bewe become a victim of a crime. But unfortunately, this was the case. But im grateful that the commissioner is taking this matter very seriously and i hope that my story is going to make some waves in the new york Police Department that when youre being called to the scene of a crime you dont choose a bagel or a sandwich over the community that youre supposed to be serving. I can remember being told as a young person cry fire not rape because that is what they will respond to. And yet part of what i am hoping emerges as a result of the investigation into this horrifying incident that you experienced is apparently the alleged assailant in this case has a record. Is that right . He has been arrested 56 times and has 34 convictions including ones he walked into a restaurant waving a butcher knife. This man is walking our streets. Hes a man whos mentally ill. Im sure he has addiction problems. He need help. Hes part of a failed system. But if you took the man and he was africanamerican, you Better Believe he wouldnt be walking in our streets right now. Hed be in some maximum federal security prison probably just for having possession of drugs. This is the kind of story that this tells you that i have to live in a community with than like this that the system has fail and in part has failed us as a community. Part of why i wanted this table of folks together is it does seem to me as a matter of electoral reality, Coalition Building is always necessary. But even beyond that, reverend, we often think of particularly i think progress i was tend to think of religion and faith as inherently divisive. Do you see the possibility of interreligious, interracial, cross class alliances that actually come from shared experience of vulnerability . Oh, i absolutely do. Im just getting back from ferguson, missouri. Ive spent two of the last three weeks there. And on the ground there is an amazing Coalition Forming of religious leaders, clergy, faithful congregants of all religious back backgrounds, not just in ferguson but all over the country. We are certainly seeing that in our work. And not only are we seeing people beginning to have conversations and dialogue at tlaesms they hadnt in the past, but were also seeing the beginning of the kind of sko ligs building that will really create community. Now, there are challenges, obviously. We have a great deal of distance to cover because the system really imposes a kind of religious apartheid in this kun where were not supposed to have dialog dialogue, christians, muslim, and jews and other faiths. Our organization, which is a network of some 2,500 congregations is working very hard and were working very hard to do that. But i think that the conversations, the public conversations, the important conversations, police violence, immigration, and so forth, are made better, stronger, clearer through the involvement of people of faith. So felipe, let me come to you then on exactly right since the rev raenld has brought us to the question of he listed immigration as part of the story, part of the reason you are not with us here in new york but instead in d. C. Is because the president who is the beneficiary of perhaps the most diverse Electoral Coalition in american history, just yesterday announced that he is not going to take individual executive action on the question of Immigration Reform. How is the part of the coalition that you are in part part of here responding to this . Well, the president has again failed us on the issue of immigration. More than 2 Million People have been deimportanted. Local police have been deputized to enforce immigration law, which is partly the reason why its so hard for immigrants to even come forward when a crime is being committed against them. And it feels like he played with our emotions. He played with our lives. Right . 11 Million People had their hopes and dreams again up. They believed that we were going to get relief. And yesterday he basically said he chose politics over our lives. I want to leave on that powerful thing just for a moment. Well take a quick break. When we come back, that question of our lives versus splix where i want to ask rev repd paul about how he we go back and make a moral and ethical claim about what our politics really need to look like. So it seemed like a good time to sell my car. Well, we make it pretty easy. In fact, your appraisal should be ready, lets pull it up. Now, how long do i have to decide on this offer . Seven days, and well buy your car even if you dont buy ours. But if i decide to buy a convertible . The offer is exactly the same either way. Nice aaanndd. Here it is well take it terrific. Sell your car the fast and easy way, with no strings attached, at carmax. Start here. knochello . Hey, i notice your car is not in the driveway. Yeah. Its in the shop. Its going to cost me an arm and a leg. Thats hilarious. Sorry. You shoulda taken it to midas. Get some of that midas touch. They tell you what stuff needs fixing, and what stuff can wait. Next time im going to midas. 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In an interview aired this morning on meet the press, president obama spoke to chuck todd about his decision to delay action on Immigration Reform until after the november electi elections. And what i want to do is when i take executive action i want to make sure its sustainable. What im aing is that im going to act because its the right thing for the country, but its going to be more sustainable and more effective if the public understands what the facts are on immigration, what weve done on unaccompanied children, and why its necessary. Paul, this just feels to me like the moment where, no, you do whats right. And in fact that this is such a moment to say, you know what, whatever the political expediency, im going to do whats right here. Whats crazy about immigration is that there is no debate among any religious community, this includes catholics, the southern baptists, includes all these people who normally fight about things, no ones fighting about this. Everybody agrees this is the right thing to do and now is the right time. So whats interesting about this is hes ignoring this grand coalition that makes up like religious america that is decided we have to do something about immigration, we have to do it now, its lives involved and this is our moral imperative. And the president is hemming and hawing. I think what this teaches a lot of us, i think, is its more tlan electing a president. Its about what we do on the ground, how we agitate continuously. I have to say people have been working so hard and thats the reason this is so disappointing for so many, that this has been a major point for many people to come together and the president should act on it. Interesting you frame it that way to say there is a moral consensus on this question that crosses religious differences, because when we think of religion, we tend to think of a set of books that we consider holy or a set of rules that we consider necessary. But sometimes its about can core questions on which there are enormous senses of agreement. I mean, one thing that we have to remember is that if we delay Immigration Reform our country departs over 1,100 people a day. So if we want to wait till after the november elections were basically going to be deporting over 70,000 people, tearing up tens of thousands of families. Its human toll that were not going to forget, a human toll that is creating extreme suffering in the communities that we come from. And president obama is not the one that sits in front of young people that come and tell me their fathers have been deported or mothers will have to now be single mothers and raise their families in this country, and theyve beenhere. Were not helping new people. These people have been living in our country. They are our neighbors, restaurant workers, people that without them, we wouldnt be able to do or daily anything that we do during the day includes undocumented people in this country and president obama has failed us once again. I never believe anything i says anymore. If you talk to em popeople, no s surprised but they are still outraged. Theres a common theme here of harassment and abuse on the street in part her attacker using the language of isis as he attacks her because of her identifiable faith. The experiences in ferguson and the notion of these young black men as threats. And then in this context, vowing to a group who so frequently talk about, for example, undocumented refugee children as though they are a threat, that the constant narrative is that there is some america up here and all the rest of you are threatening and scary. How do we push back that . Well, the truth is that we have to remind the entire country that, number one, they are children. Little kids with violence in Central America and because of the intervention of the United States. But really what this is all about is the president s 2 Million People, 2 million lives too late on this issue and every single day we lose fathers, mothers, we lose our parents. I have to come back home to florida and talk to them and say, the president lied again. The president is asking us to delay our dreams, our hopes one more time and were tired. And the truth is that every single day that he delays, were going to continue escalating and the expectation for him to actually show bold leadership will continue to increase. And, of course, this is the president. Who we elected in part because as a candidate he said the fearest urgency is now. He goes back and quotes king. He says, theres a reason why we cannot wait. Theres a reason why justice did i leaed in inherently justice denied. This 2008. Were like, yes, we can. And now i feel like well, maybe we can in two months. Its really infuriating. Well, paul is absolutely right. We look just like the coalition of different faith background and race background and we are being insistent. This is a moral dilemma. This is a moral issue. We need strong moral leadership as well as Political Leadership. We have asked the president , we have cajoled the president in the house and in the senate. We have tried to make sure that they are allies, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors. And all of that is intended to bring us to this moment of real opportunity in this country. And thats what is not being covered really well. We dont see them at this point. The Political Leadership in this country is not doing what we have been doing so vigorously and so well. So let me ask you a question. If the u. S. Congress has failed on this, and theres no question that the u. S. Congress has failed on this, if the Obama Administration is now delaying on this and potentially may never act on this, the one group that i have interviewed regularly on the show who is doing something is this lovely Little Church in arizona who is providing sanctuary. If this is the time, if nobody else is going to do it, shall the Faith Community step up and say, you will deport no more. All of our churches and synagogues and communities of whether they are catholic or presbyterian, you wont come from our families in our communities . Well, this is the wonderful Presbyterian Church down there thats doing amazing work. And theres a history of that. Its not new. It would show kind of where the putting our morality where our seats are, our sanctuaries and it involves that and on other issues, feeling so much for your situation and how much we all of us, stepping up and saying, this is unacceptable and our police force needs to be taking this seriously like taking race seriously, the Muslim Community has really suffered. And whenever the International Politics around Something Like isis reemerge, then you get a surge in it domestically. Frankly, people who are interested in yes, welcome, stay, inclusion, more justice, more peace have a real moment because the other way is to say, no, be small, be scared. We have a real opportunity to change it completely. Felipe, i think around the lgbt rights, the president has become far more expansive both in his personal opinion and as well as the policy work that he has done within the administration. Oftentimes when it wasnt clear that Public Opinion wouldnt stand with him, can you make an argument, mr. President , do here what you did with the lgbt . Yes. There are people who have to live through harassment and discrimination and deportation every day. So we are Building Coalition organizations in communities and who are really pushing back the deportation and immigration the truth is, its a moral question and its about lives and the president has an opportunity to do something about it right now. Felipe and others, thank you. Weve been talking about how you build coalitions. Later on today, im rooting for one team, that one team is the new Orleans Saints and, atlanta, tune in and just see what happens. Right now its time for a preview of weekends with alex witt. Can i just say i changed out of my usc shirt. Anyway, good luck. Were rooting for you guys. Melissa, many excerpts from chuck todds exclusive interview with meet the press and president obama. And saying goodbye to joan rivers. And the Drought Conditions in california. Plus, what america eats. 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