Transcripts For MSNBCW The Beat With Ari Melber 20190805

Monday. People still had to go to work and talk to each other and share their grief and their thoughts and their mourning and discuss this tragic unacceptable seemingly new normal. Well, heres one small way to stop and reflect on how unacceptable this reality is for our nation, for each other, for our children, to acknowledge this level of violence occurs regularly itself is to know its wrong. In fact, thats the simple point presented succinctly on the front page of todays boston globe. This is what weve become. This is what weve become because this is reality. This is how we live now. To feel that reality and to know inside that its wrong is to maybe understand the beginning of how to change it. You dont need a newscast to also know theres no unity on solutions for all this in america right now. Top democrats are invoking these shootings to make a somewhat unusual call to demanding republican leader mcconnell interrupt the current summer recess to hold a vote on background checks. As a matter of political timing, that itself continues on a little bit of a shift because for years many conventional politicians in both parties actually would repeat this talking point, that the first reaction to these types of Mass Shootings should not be any call to particular action. That there must be time for fact finding and grieving. Well, now many politicians and Many Americans say, no, the general facts of the problem are well known. The grieving, the time for grieving has been somewhat constant and the time for real action long overdue. Take this crowd at a vigil in dayton last night. Shouting down the republican governor and telling him to just do something. Do something. Do something. Do something. Do something. These horrific mass murders, this masterer, these Mass Shootings, also knocked President Trump off the aggressive rhetoric and political battles he has been waging pretty much nonstop the past two weeks straight, we should note, part of that rhetoric included laughing off a different felony, attempted burglary at a home of a member of the u. S. Congress. So hes off that script right now, and he turned to a speech condemning White Supremacy with no mention of his own past rhetoric, or the calls for gun control. The shooter in el paso posted a manifesto online, consumed by racist hate. In one voice, our nation must condemn racism, bigotry, and White Supremacy. We must stop the gloria if i indication of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. Mental illness and hatred pulls the trigger, not the gun. You heard the rhetoric there. Newly shifted, a call to condemn White Supremacy. But that was within a speech that didnt fully condemn the White Supremacy thats been reported out from these very shootings. For example, minutes before this el paso shooting, authorities tell us now that the shooters writing appeared in a twisted and hatefilled post online. The New York Times analyzed it and their journalists reported that it matched Donald Trumps own words and language about immigrants. Today we also have coming into our newsroom a rare public detailed statement from president obama. As you probably know, there are a lot of things that he cares about that he worked on. He doesnt speak out every time there is an event, even a killing, even a horrific event. But he spoke out and let me tell you exactly what he said because many see it as partly a rebuke to donald trump. Quote, we should soundly reject language coming out of the mouths of any of our leaders that feeds a climate of fear and hatred or normalizes racist sentiments or suggests that other people, including immigrants, threaten our way of life or refer to other people as subhuman. The former president went on to say, it has no place in our politics and our public life and its time for the overwhelming majority of americans of good will of every race and faith and Political Party to say as much clearly and unequivocally. I turn now to our special guest tonight antonio villaraigosa, the mayor of los angeles, victoria de fran ka desoto, former university of texas. Mayor, what are you taking from what the president , former president just said . I think hes right. The role of the leader is to unite us. I was elected, the first for my community in 133 years. I understood what that role was. To open the door for the rest, and to create a common thread, a common unity, if you will, a call for unity. And i think thats what we need right now. And its unfortunate that the president of the United States hasnt been that person who makes the call that we ought to that were all americans no matter what country we come from. That whether we were born here or not, were human beings. And unfortunately, what we get from the white house is a lot of rhetoric, hateful rhetoric against immigrants. As we all knows, he started his campaign focusing on mexicans as rapists and criminals. Instead of people that come here like people have come from every corner of the earth, to make america what its always held itself out to be, a place where we welcome people. Victoria . So, when president obama was talking about the need to recognize the humanity because what happened a couple of years ago when donald j. Trump descended from the escalators and calling mexicans rapists and drug dealers is the drip, drip, drip of dehumanizing immigrants, mexicans, people who are not your typical white anglo saxon protestants started there and has continued. With that dee humanization, we have become desensitized. At the top of the show you said weve become this is normal. The headline says weve gotten used to this and its not right. So in the wake of this, what do we do . We need to resensitize ourselves. Media outlets such as msnbc and others have been telling the stories of the victims who were shot over the weekend. A father, parents, daughter, and we need to not let go of this. Keep bringing up the humanity because this is the only thing that is going to push up against the rhetoric that donald trump, others in his party, keep pushing forward that ultimately foment this. Yes, gun laws can be tweaked. Yes, Mental Health. But really, at this moment, i think we need to focus on the rhetoric and the need to right the ship in terms of who we are as a nation, e pluribus unim. You lay that out in terms of what everyone knows and being diplomatic and rise above certain moments is intention with acknowledging the way that donald trump has traumatized the country and the type of hate hes uncorked and what hes appealing to. We all know what it is. Congressman orourke is running for president , but served as a representative for el paso here and is tied to it, was quite strong. I think as strong as weve ever seen him in public on this. Take a look. Is there anything in your mind that the president can do now to make this any better . What do you think . You know [ bleep ] hes been saying. Hes been calling mexican immigrants rapists and criminals. I dont know members of the press, what the [ bleep ] hold on a second. You know, its these questions that you know the answers to. I mean, connect the dots about what hes been doing in this country. Hes not tolerating racism. Hes promoting racism. Victoria . Its that rawness, that emotion i would hope most of us feel, but i dont know if everyone necessarily feels. And its you know, it is this emotion that we hope will push leaders to do something, but ultimately it comes down to us, ari, it comes down to voters, to individuals. So were in the midst of ramping up to a president ial election and elections have consequence. So is the American Public at resensitized enough . Are we shocked enough to do something to make a difference at the ballot box . Or has this become the new normal . And, ari, i wish i could tell you one way or the other definitively, but i dont know. I dont know if weve become too desensitized and donald j. Trump could continue what hes doing. I hope its not, but it is a possibility. Both of you stay with me. I want to advance our conversation here and bring in a former Police Commissioner for both new york and los angeles. Commissioner bill brad, an analyst for us at nbc. Thank you for joining us. Great to be with you and mayor villaraigosa. Your boss. Handling issues like this he was a great boss. Where do we go from here, commissioner . Well, the good news, as we focus on the bad news, is that from each of these incidents we learn a lot. Fbi has recently formed a special unit to really focus on this particular problem and its growth and what to do about it in terms of better capabilities to detect it as its growing, and improve their ability to detect early on to prevent it from happening. So out of the negative comes the positive. Im reminded of the early 1990s in our country during the midst of the worst crime years in the history of our country, 1990, 91. There were so many who felt that nothing could be done and a lot ended up being done in the 90s so that new york city today, 80 less crime than it had back in that era, nobody would have believed that. Similar to these issues, as i look at it and basically try to deal with the grief around the tragedy, i deal with the grief by focusing on what might be done about it going forward. And i look back to the successes in the 90s. And as we go forward dealing with this issue, the White Supremacists, a president who is insensitive to these issues, a total donothing congress, i love the nickname today, massacre mitch, going along with moscow mitch of last week. The sentiment is building up against this donothing congress who doesnt want to hear anything, see anything, and say anything. Well, the fact that that governor in texas last night was shouted down by his constituents is going to send the message, we need more shouting down of politicians who just come into these things and issue their pla platitudes and do nothing. Im optimistic out of these tragedies will come a foundation to move forward. Mayor villaraigosa, take a listen to what we know rings so hollow in the president s calls today, which is how he sounds normally. Take a listen. I think theres blame on both sides. And you have some very bad people in that group. But you also had people that were very fine people on both sides. Democrats want to invite caravan after caravan of illegal aliens to pour into our country. Thats an invasion. I dont care what they say. I think thats probably why beto got so upset. Is he a racist . Come on, if you walk like a duck and talk like a duck hes been talking like this for years now, from way back, from the central park five. So i think whats important is chief bratten just spoke to. The fbi apparently has now created a task force thats going to focus on domestic terrorism particularly White Nationalist domestic terrorists. Weve seen a connection between the White Nationalist manifesto in gilroy, the similar attribution in el paso. I think we need to focus on whats going on here with respect to this group. You mentioned that it used to be that people didnt raise the issue of what do we do in the beginning. You remember that. Right. And i always acknowledged that. But this, as was mentioned, so many of these events have happened that i think its appropriate for us to say, particularly when the president mentioned it this morning, what are we going to do about universal background checks . More than 80 of nra members believe that we ought to have stronger universal background checks. Straw purchasers, buy them on behalf of others legally, but illegally for others. I was the author of the assault weapons ban in the 1990s and some of the toughest legislation in california when i was speaker of the assembly. We need a national one because what happens in california, you may have a ban in california, but you can go to nevada or arizona to pick up those same weapons. So we need to do something about this and i think the chief is right. Were just out of time, but while i have you, mr. Bratton, what about folks watching at home who are afraid, afraid for their families, afraid of when the next shooting would be, what is the practical advice you give folks . Practical advice would be to not be afraid, to be aware. I spent a lot of time today moving around the city, bryant park, down in harold square, by Madison Square garden. I was out on the streets. People here in new york are going about their lives. They need to be aware. They need to be angry about this and the fact that nothing is being done, once again, by the leadership of this country. But in the sense of fear, you cannot live in fear because then fear wins. No, be aware. Good news also is that Law Enforcement is Getting Better at dealing with these incidents in terms of when they happen, but also Getting Better at trying to detect them. The focus always has to be on the prevention rather than satisfaction that we made, we stopped it. The good news is the efforts by the fbi, for example, the efforts certainly that im familiar with in los angeles and new york, the focus of the police on precision policing to prevent and take successes with the prevention rather than our response. You have to have both, but for the public, your Public People watching tonight, the millions here in new york city, go about your lives. Enjoy your lives. But get angry about these incidents that take so many lives to make sure that effectively they dont take the lives of your family going forward. Former commissioner bratton, former mayor villaraigosa, victoria, thank you to you. We have the details on what is getting to Mitch Mcconnell. Senator and president ial candidate Kirsten Gillibrand is here on the beat. Later well look deeply at the White Nationalist rhetoric where the el paso gunman found his, quoteunquote, inspiration. Meanwhile calls for strategy to prevent domestic attacks, something barack obama cited. Were going to speak to the every town gun reform here. Im ari melber. Youre watching the beat on msnbc. Msnbc. Ally these days. dad i think its here. mom vo especially at this age. big sister where are we going . mom vo its a big, beautiful world out there. little sister woah. big sister wow. See that . mom vo sometimes you just need a little help seeing it. avo the threerow subaru ascent. Love. Its what makes a subaru, a subaru. Get zero percent during the subaru a lot to love event. Dprevagen is the number onemild memopharmacistrecommendedng . Memory support brand. You can find it in the vitamin aisle in stores everywhere. Prevagen. 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Hes given license for this toxic brew of White Supremacy to fester more and more in this country. The president has embraced White Nationalists. When White Nationalists embrace him and call him their friend, i take them at their word on that. Im joined now by democratic senator and 2020 president ial candidate Kirsten Gillibrand. Thanks for joining me. What do we do now . I dont know what Mitch Mcconnell is waiting for. I dont know what the republicans in the senate are waiting for. We should be heading back to washington now to vote on common sense gun reform. But unfortunately the greed and corruption of the nra and the gun manufacturers have this forever choke hold. And, ari, you know, we have to be honest about what this is. We really have people fuelled by hate hunting down other humans with weapons of war. Thats what were dealing with and theres no question what should be done. We should be back at our jobs, passing legislation to get these weapons of war out of the hands of people who seek to do harm. As we get into how it really works on the senate floor, is this the situation you see where Mitch Mcconnell is preventing a vote that would win, or is this a situation where it would be important to push forward but you dont know whether you have the votes . I think he needs to push forward because i cant imagine another just spree of gun violence in this country like weve seen. Were already on mass shooting number 31 and 32 in this year alone. And we have a president who has been spewing hate and division, finding moral equivalencies after charlottesville, saying there are good people on both sides. Shes spurr hes spurred on this White Nationalism and white racism. Its domestic considerism. We have to call it what it is. The fact that Mitch Mcconnell wont stand up to President Trump, and others wont stand up to Mitch Mcconnell. They need to do the right thing in the face of more and nor gun death. The president spoke about rebuking White Nationalism today, as you know. He did not address or really in any way withdraw obviously his past statements, some of which weve mentioned in the broadcast tonight. He also raised the spectre of video games as a driver of this. Thats become more common among conservatives. Take a listen. I look at this evil act and lets condemn it for what it is, evil. Evil. And i say how long are we going to let, for example, and ignore at the federal level particularly, where they can do something about the video Game Industry . Weve watched when studies have shown before what it does to individuals. When you look at these photos of how it took place, you can see the actions within video games. We must stop the gloria if i indication of violence in our society. This includes the gruesome and grisly video games that are now commonplace. Your response . President trump should stop his glorification of violence. When hes at a rally in florida, we dont know what to do with these he wouldnt use those words, illegal immigrants. Someone shouts out, shoot them. He laughs, he literally laughs. When we have protests in charlottesville, he says theres nice people on both sides, when people are screaming racial epithets. He is the one driving this hate and division. He is the per ssonification of e glorification of violence. It is a fact we have a gun violence in this country. First its Mental Health, now its video games. Lets look. We have video games and Mental Health issues worldwide. But what makes america different . The reason we have so many massive gun shooting and gun death in this country is because the prevalence of weapons. The fact that these militarystyle weapons can get into the hands of anyone and they should be reserved only as weapons of war for our war fighters who are intensely trained on these weapons. It shouldnt be easy for any teenager to walk into a gun shop and buy a gun, particularly an assault weapon. They should be banned and the large magazines, to have nine people die in less than a minute . That means youre talking about a weapon of war that can deliver a round of fire that just kills people rapidly. Thats what its designed for. They should be banned. Senator gillibrand, thank you for joining us on this sad evening. I appreciate it. When we come back, we are going to take a deeper look at this role of White Nationalism and Mass Shootings and whats fueling it. We have an expert from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Well be back in just 30 seconds. Seconds. Mutual customized my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. And this is me now any physical changes to this mans appearance are purely coincidental. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Tonight investigators continue to pour over these writings, the el paso shooter apparently posted minutes before the deadly rampage. The document clearly antiimmigration, antigovernment. We should note it also criticizes both democrats and republicans. While the writer claims that the views were formed before donald trump was elected president , the New York Times reports that it does match some of trumps language as well as the recurring language that we hear in politics of a, quote, immigrant invasion. Deport criminal aliens and keep the coyotes and traffickers and drug dealers the hell out of our country, please. But how do you stop these people . You cant. [ laughter ] thats only in the panhandle you can get away with that statement. [ applause ] only in the panhandle. You look at whats marching up, thats an invasion. Thats not thats an invasion. It is an invasion. You know that. I say invasion. Isnt that terrible . I dont care what the fake media says, thats an invasion of our country. This morning President Trump condemned in a scripted speech what he called racism and White Supremacy. He made no mention of his own rhetoric that you just heard, race baiting, invasion, et cetera. It comes at a time, though, when experts say that the number of hate groups is growing, from 784 undocumented in 2013 to over a thousand nowadays. Im joined by an expert in extremism and jason johnson, politics editor for the root. Heidi, how much does what we have observed over the weekend fit in with the larger patterns and the rhetoric we heard on the screen, how much does that fit in your view . Well, unfortunately trumps rhetoric of invasions, his other comments about mexicans as rapists, et cetera, is speaking directly to what White Supremacists want to hear. They have responded enthusiastically to this presidency. They have imbibed these ideas. At this point the country has more hate groups, 1020, than the Southern Poverty Law Center has ever counted. And this just shows how this kind of rhetoric is fueling this extremism in our nation. Jason, building on that point, the president obviously hit some sort of new approach, emphasis or message today, and people can assess for themselves as weve pointed out how it contradicts what hes said before and whether its genuine or not. Here is how he used to describe his view of whether this White Nationalism as documented was an actual problem in the United States. Take a look. Do you see today White Nationalism as a rising threat around the world . I dont really. I think its a small group of people that have very, very serious problems. I guess, if you look at what happened in new zealand, perhaps thats a case, i dont know enough about it yet. Theyre just learning about the person and the people involved. But its certainly a terrible thing. Jason . Yeah, its typical word salad from President Trump. Look, we already know who he is, ari, we know that he is a terrorist sympathizer. He is encouraged and not changed his dialogue or rhetoric at all that encourages these groups. We have reports coming out of the Washington Post and the New York Times today saying that fbi agents feel ham strung to go into these kinds of investigations because they believe that this might be trumps base and theyre going to be in trouble. The president has pulled back funding from investigating these kinds of groups. And Something Else i want to point out here. There is a bill sitting in the senate now, senate bill 894. Its been signed by san r sanders, booker, klobuchar and harris that is supposed to approach domestic terrorism specifically targeting White Nationalists and it hasnt moved at all. Mitch mcconnell hasnt moved t. President hasnt moved it. Senator gillibrand hasnt signed onto it yet. There are methods at our disposal we can use to address these issues. The president has done nothing practical in any shape or form, rhetoric or policy wise to address this rising terrorism threat that is a danger to white people as much as anybodys else in this country. Heidi, do you think that the nation has a decent literacy on this . The stats that we mentioned are the fbi saying the majority of these types of arrests are linked to White Nationalism, which is to say, at least with regard to suspects and we can always note legally being a suspect doesnt mean you did anything yet or youve been convicted, but the threat as far as theyre tracking is its not other types of domestic crime. Its not other extremists. Isis is a huge problem internationally, but the numbers show that its majority White Supremacylinked suspects. Do you think we have the right literacy on that or not yet . I dont think the country does have the right literacy on that. For so long terrorism has been framed as something coming from the middle east, from isis, from al qaeda. But the fact of the matter is the number of domestic terrorist attacks where White Supremacists are accused of fomenting the violence has been on the rise. And in 2018, every one of those domestic terrorist attacks was committed by someone who is connected to somebodys racial ideologies. So this problem is on the rise. And the kind of thing most people think about when they think of terrorism, which is islamic extremism is on the decline, at least if you look at the number of attacks. And people dont connect the dots here. Right, every time there is an attack of some sort by an extremist muslim, the idea is these are all connected. But when an instant happens like happened in el paso or the attack on the max train in portland a couple years ago, or dylann roofs attack in charleston, theyre seen as one offs, when in fact they are also a pattern, they are connected by the ideology of White Supremacy. On this important aspect of the story were cover, thank you very much. Well fit in a break. When i come back, i have a top d. O. J. Official calling for domestic terrorism to be treated as we were discussing, more like the prism of international ter i am. Also, the fight for gun control and the murdoch owned post coming out with this demand, to buona salt weapons. I wish i could shake your hand. Granted. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Whenso if you find your. Com, you get troom at a lower rate,tee. Hilton is like. Were gonna match that rate and give you an extra 25 off. What would travel sites do if you found a different price . Thats not my problem, its your problem. Book at hilton. Com and get the hilton price match guarantee. You should be mad they gave this guy a promotion. You should be mad at forced camaraderie. And you should be mad at tech that makes things worse. But youre not mad, because you have e trade, whos tech makes life easier by automatically adding technical patterns on charts and helping you understand what they mean. Dont get mad. Get e trades simplified technical analysis. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Ecommerce deliveries to homes Liberty Mutual customizes your car insurance, hmm. Exactly. So you only pay for what you need. Nice. But, uh. Whats up with your. Partner . Not again. Limu thats your reflection. Only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty the fbi says most domestic terrorists this year involve White Supremacy. The bureau is now warning against copy cat attacks. The quote, the fbi remains concerned they could become inspired by these to engage in similar acts of violence, from a new statement, fbi director wray has ordered the field offices to conduct new threat assessments that could thwart any future attempts at Mass Shootings. Fbi Officials Say they are investigating 850 domestic terror cases, 40 allegedly motivated by race or religion. There are many questions and debates over house do you do this, how do you monitor it. Authorities had just about 19 minutes to track down the terrorist after his antiimmigrant writings appeared online. Thats not a lot of time. Should domestic terrorism being treated more similarly to the threat assessments and rapid responses of, say, isis . Director wray testified recently domestic terrorists are up, they are similar to international terror, and the majority are motivated as we have been covering tonight, by, he says, White Supremacy. Just in the first three quarters of this year, weve had mordoh me mordoh more domestic terrorism arrests than we have and its more than on the International Terrorism side. They have been advocating to make domestic terrorism treated more like it is on the international footing. And rick stengel, former diplomat in the obama administration. Mary, walk us through what the director means when he says that and hes using the careful Law Enforcement bureaucratic language but using that hearing which is before all this to say, hey, this is mathematically as bad as the foreign stuff thats treated as so ominous to Many Americans. I think its really important that director wray did give that testimony and its a first step in really educating the public that terrorism, the threat of terrorism in the United States, is right now greater from White Supremacists and farright violence than it is from islamic extremist violence. Many people i think historically have thought certainly since 9 11, they equate terrorism with islamic extremists. As the statistics director wray just mentioned in his testimony reveals that is not a terrorist can be someone who commits a crime of violence for purposes of intimidation and coercion and to influence government policy through intimidation or coercion regardless of their ideology. Whether its islamic extremism, farright being extremist or farright. Now its from the farright. When you lay that out, any citizen to be informed especially for Law Enforcement, what do you think would specifically need to change at more of a policy level . So, i think it is important not only just to say those words and its good director wray said those and attorney john bash in el paso said the attack there was an act of domestic terrorism, but we dont currently have a federal criminal statute that would apply, that would call terrorism, that would apply to the crimes in el paso. Thats why u. S. Attorney bash quickly said we are investigating these as hate crimes. These are different things. Hate crimes are important and theyre like a vin diagram with domestic terrorism, but not all hate crimes are dough mess tech terrorism and vice versa. So right now there are a lot of terrorism offenses on the bugz. Those apply predominantly to terrorist attacks committed on behalf of or in furtherance of the goals of Foreign Terrorist Organizations like iesis, like l qaeda. If it is a crime committed in the United States and based on an ideology not associated with a Foreign Terrorist Organization and involves a firearm which is what most attacks involve or even a vehicle we saw in charlottesville and elsewhere, there is no terrorism crime that applies to that. Because of the mixing foreign nexus the law makes the trigger basically . There are a variety of crimes, and there are some many of which are focused on this foreign nexus. Now, i do want to be clear, there are some that would apply to white supremacist violence, but it means you need to be using a weapon of mass destruction, bomb. Which is again what the the statutory trigger and how outdated is it compared to what fbi director wray what were seeing. He was appointed by trump in what were saying. Let me bring in rick stengel. Im curious to your views on everything. Open season. I wanted specifically to get your reaction to something we touched on earlier in the hour, your old boss, president obama, not only doesnt comment much. I think he takes a certain kind of civic pride in holding back. We know he has strong views. He can weigh in on anything. He really holds back most of the time. He spoke out after charlottesville, he spoke out today. The significance of that as well as anything else you want to touch on. Thanks, ari. In fact, im going to wholeheartedly endorse what mary was talking about. There should be a federal domestic terrorism law. In fact, i would argue there should be a domestic terrorism czar. One of the subtext of what mary is advocating a lot of other people are as well, is that we need a whole of government effort against domestic terrorism. Just like weve had against International Terrorism. The antiisis group at the state department that was under me, there were tremendous resources from all across government, not just money, but intelligence and other kinds of support against that effort. We need that same whole of government effort against domestic terrorism. Very clear to me, there have been many more domestic terrorist deaths since 9 11 than terrorist deaths. As far as what president obama said, id love him to speak out even more. I think he was moved primarily by the rhetoric that we hear coming from the oval office. I mean, here, president obama was absolutely a kind of almost infallible in terms of the way he conducted himself, his own rhetoric, his own positive rhetoric about american exceptionalism and all of that. Hes looking at his successor who is actually, by his rhetoric, kind of promoting terrorism in that basically he is endorsing so many ideas that the white militias and these white terrorists have. And, in fact, before i, you know last thing i want to say, when i was editor of time in 2010, we did a cover story about the rise of white militias. And the fbi and dhs all said part of the reason they were growing during that time was because they were antiobama, because they were White Supremacists and there was a black president. So what we have now is barack obama is gone, and President Trump, his successor, is fueling those movements that grew under the eight years under president obama. And let me read, rick, for you a little bit as you made mention, the former president obama saying, the el paso shooting appears to follow this dangerous trend embracing racist ideologies, people see themselves obligated to act violently to preserve White Supremacy. He calls on better strategies on government and tech, richard. You know, i mean, never in our history, you know, have white terrorists have someone in the oval office who says you have a friend here in the oval office. I mean thats basically how they interpret it. They interpret what he is doing as a kind of dog whistle of support for what theyre doing, even today. When he reads something from the teleprompter, it just doesnt seem to represent his personal views. And i think, you know, in all the clips that youve shown, and when you looked at this, i wont even call it a manifesto, i think its a mistake to call it a manifesto. Theyre rantings of mad men. But they echo all of Donald Trumps rhetoric. Richard stengel and mary mccord, not only digging into this, but how changes need to be made in policy. Appreciate both of you on this tough night. Thank you. As we mentioned, democrats are still pleading with republicans saying, you must stand up to the nra. Mitch mcconnell under very serious new pressure over gun control when we come back. En we] burke at farmers insurance, weve seen almost everything, so we know how to cover almost anything. Even a threering fender bender. clown 1 sorry about that. clown 2 apologies. clown 1 . Didnt mean it. clown 3 whoops. stilts sorry clowns were sorry scary hey, were sorry [man screams] [scary screams] burke quite the circus. But we covered it. At farmers, we know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum [ text notification now that you have] new dr. Scholls massaging gel advanced insoles with softer, bouncier gel waves, youll move over 10 more than before. Dr. Scholls. Born to move. 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Lower a1c and lower risk of a fatal heart attack . On it with jardiance. Ask your doctor about jardiance. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. Fill up for the chance to win free fuel for a year. Thats one of thousands of prizes in the shell great gas giveaway fuel rewards members are automatically entered when they fill up at shell. Fuel rewards members are automatically if you have moderate to thsevere rheumatoid arthritis, month after month, the clock is ticking on irreversible joint damage. Ongoing pain and stiffness are signs of joint erosion. Humira can help stop the clock. Prescribed for 15 years, humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. 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What Top Democrats are emphasizing is not only a call for action, but they were not wait being for another shooting to act in the first place. Speaker pelosi made gun control one of the very first votes when democrats took back over the house, passing enhanced background checks and a longer waiting period to ensure that those checks worked and this was in february, just weeks into the new democratic majority. So tonight you have the democrats basically calling for a vote and noting this isnt from scratch. Its basically just saying to Mitch Mcconnell, please finally hold a vote on those very bills we already passed in the house, which he has not brought to the floor. And now it is time to call those senators out and say, what side are you on . Are you on the side of the nra, are you on the side of those families that are burying their loved ones today . It is that raw of a choice. The gun manufacturers working through the nra manage to Keep Congress from doing anything. Thats corruption and we need to fight it and we need to fight it now. Lives are at stake. Republicans need to, quite frankly, get their [ bleep ] together and stop pandering to the nra because people are getting killed. Tough talk for a tough challenge, mcconnell prizes his aplus rating from the nra, but there are clear signs the rise in shootings and a more aggressive stance on gun control may be changing the politics in some places in america. State legislatures passed more gun control laws any year since sandy hook. Nra fundraising was down in 2016 and 2017 and 3 of americans back these background checks for gun buyers. The last figure is the most striking. If 9 out of 10 americans support these checks, that logically includes a lot of republicans and gun owners. You see a wide majority for both. 89 of republicans, 87 of gun owners supporting background checks. We turn now to the president of every town for gun safety. Thanks for joining us. How much of this in the politics is about the timing . Because we all understand that the time is the most intense immediately. Do you think these votes would be more likely to pass if they were held this week as opposed to, say, months from now . Look, if the president is serious he should get Mitch Mcconnell on the phone and tell him to bring the senate back and have a vote today. No more tweets. No more politics. Its time for action. What about im just curious what you think of the question. I think that we should be acting right now. Thats what the American Public wants. You just put up on the screen that 90 of americans support common sense gun laws. They want action. We are experiencing a Public Health crisis in this country. Were at a point where parents have to do a risk analysis when their kids ask whether they can go to the mall or go to the movies. Thats not normal. Its time to act. And when we hear from the president and we hear from others talk of movies, the internet, mental illness, those are just nra talking points. You know, we live in a country with 25 times the gun murder rate of any developed country in the world. They listen to the same movies. They all use the internet. They all play the same video games. The difference is that weve got just too easy access to guns in this country. And its got to stop. I think that august is going to be a really tough month for republicans in the senate because you are going to have parents and teachers and doctors and activists from moms demand action at every town hall, at every District Office yeah, thats sort of every county fair. Thats part of the question im trying to engage you on is, im just curious because youre in this fight and youre an activist in this fight. Is the better tack to have to get them back from recess and have this vote the week of the Mass Shootings and try to use the pressure that way or is it to flood the zone out there and put pressure on for weeks and then bring them back . The reason why i ask that is the reason why i ask that is to explain my thinking, i think a lot of viewers, we just showed the stats, 9 out of 10 people agree with you. So we know that. Americans are ready for action. Exactly. Given that, well put it up on the screen, the logjam seems to be how do you convert 90 support on this issue in a way to move Mitch Mcconnell or whomever . Because in the past sandy hook, et cetera, it hasnt quite landed on winning votes. Im curious if there is a strategy or a breakthrough that you have in mind here, given, again, in all fairness to you, most people agree with you. Most people agree with us, but this is not a problem of the public, this is a problem of politics and elected officials have to understand if they dont act and dont act quickly theyre going to be thrown out of office. 2020 is around the corner. And i think that the grassroots is going to make it very clear to them that theyve got a choice. Its a pretty stark choice. You can side with the nra or side with the public and keep our children safe. And you think this is a top voting issue for people in 2020, if there is no action . Just look at the midterms. Look at suburban swing districts and how the issue of gun safety brought out voters and were part of why the house flipped democratic. I think the lessons are very fresh and we dont have to go back very many months to look at that. In states that some people thought were red and purple, in georgia, in colorado, gun safety candidates went into suburban districts and won and unseated republican incumbents. On the issue of gun safety. Well, as weve been reporting tonight, theres a lot of facts on this side and theres a lot of folks who want this to change. So john, we know how much youve been working on it. Really appreciate you letting us into a little bit of your strategy. Thank you, sir. Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Ill have you back. Appreciate it. We will be back with one more thing. Nice. But, uh. Whats up with your. Partner . Not again. Limu thats your reflection. Only pay for what you need. Liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty gasp singsong budget meeting sweet. If you compare last quarter to this quarter. Various mmm. Its no wonder everything seems a little better with the creamy taste of philly, made with fresh milk and real cream. With the creamy taste of philly, were going all in thion strawberries. Ra, at their reddest, ripest, they make everything better. Like our strawberry poppyseed salad and new strawberry summer caprese salad. Order online for delivery. Panera. Food as it should be background checks on guns. E that we should have but Congress Wont act because the nra and gun manufacturers have purchased our government. Thats just plain wrong. We know how to solve many of the challenges facing us. A majority of americans agree on the solutions. But corporate money is standing in the way. Im tom steyer. I approve this message. Because our democracy should work for the people. So, every day, we put our latest technology and unrivaled network to work. The United States Postal Service makes more ecommerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country. You get more thaneries yourFree Shipping. Ir, you get everything you need for your home at a great price, the way it works best for you, ill take that. Wait honey, no. When you want it. You get a delivery experience you can always count on. You get your perfect find at a price to match, on your own schedule. You get fast and Free Shipping on the things that make your home feel like you. 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Thanks for sticking with the beat during our coverage. Well be back tomorrow night, 6 00 p. M. Eastern. I want it tell you a programming note. 9 00 p. M. Eastern tonight, an msnbc special a nation in crisis airs right here on msnbc. Up next is hardball with Chris Matthews. Political terrorism. Lets play hardball. Good evening. Im Chris Matthews in washington. Fear, loathing and death. Is this the fares of trumpland . Dual massacres this weekend in el paso where the death toll has now reached 22. A gunman laid siege to a Walmart Shopping Center saturday targeting families buying School Supplies in the predominately hispanic neighborhood. Just hours later at a