Up next. Tonight on the reidout and like any mom, im going to do a pivot Out Of Nowhere into a shockingly violent story about sex trafficking. And rest assured, every detail about it is real, except the year, where it took place, and who was president when it happened. Snl turns to Scarlett Johansson to mock alabama senator katie britts wildly misleading screed on immigration. But the truth is, Immigration Reform has failed again and again because of the Rightwing Echo Chamber from Rush Limbaugh to donald trump. Meanwhile, donald trump is again lavishing praise on his autocratic role models because he really, really, really wants that kind of power for himself. But we begin tonight with a big lie. No, not the big lie. Another lie. Something that we heard in senator katie britts response to president bidens state of the Union Address last week. Now, you remember during the alabama senators rather odd remarks, there was this moment when things got really, really dark. I traveled to the del rio sector of texas. Thats where i spoke to a woman who shared her story with me. She had been sex trafficked by the cartels starting at the age of 12. This is the United States of america. And it is past time in my opinion that we start acting like it. President bidens Border Policies are a disgrace. Now, while she does not explicitly say when and where these events took place, its heavily implied it happened on president bidens watch. Which turns out not to be the case at all. As journalist Jonathan Katz uncovered this weekend, not only did Thee Atrocities take place in mexico and not in the United States, they happened between 2004 and 2008, when the american president was george w. Bush. The victim in this story, carla romero, even spoke out after britts lies were exposed, telling cnn, quote, i hardly ever cooperate with politicians because it seems to me that they only want an image, they only want a photo, and that to me is not fair, unquote. But beyond just misleading the public on that story, Something Else senator britt also forgot to mention is her own partys role in blocking immigration related legislation over the past several decades. Now, im old enough to remember when comprehensive Immigration Reform was actually a very normie republican policy goal in the Ronald Reagan, George Herbert walker bush era. In november 1986, President Reagan signed into law the bipartisan Immigration Reform and control act of 1986, better known as the Simpson Mizoly Act Named for a democratic congressman of kentucky and republican senator alan simpson of wyoming. A bill that granted literal and immediate amnesty to any immigrant who had arrived in the u. S. Prior to january 1st, 1982. Some 2 million people. While making it illegal to knowingly hire undocumented migrants going forward. That was an acceptable and normal republican position in 1986. But ever since then, there has been a rightwing war on Immigration Reform, driven not by republican politicians but rather by another thing that came out of the 1980s, besides Lifestyles Of The Rich And Famous and donald trump. Rightwing talk radio. Led by its biggest star, Rush Limbaugh. Whose nationally syndicated show first aired two years before the Simpson Mizoly Bill in 1984. And when fox news, roger ailes right wing Propaganda Operation joined the fray in 1986, the Incentive Structure of the Republican Party just fundamentally changed. By 2007, the george w. Bush administration and a Bipartisan Group of senators reached a deal on an Immigration Bill that would have created a path to citizenship for the millions of post1986 undocumented immigrants living in america. As well as a new temporary Working Program and Stricter Border security. Many thought this would be the big legislative achievement of bushs presidency, until this happened. We heard that there was a bipartisan consensus of immigration. Bipartisan and it was all good. President bush was signing on and republicans, and we had ted kennedy was happy. Thats all i needed to hear. It had been left up to the Major News Networks or the regular cable networks, this would have been a done deal. This was signed, sealed, and delivered right at the rio grande for us. Well, it turned out that talk radio and the internet energized the people. Right wing cable tv and radio hosts like Laura Ingraham as well as lou dobbs and especially Rush Limbaugh trashed the bill, blanketing the airwaves and rallying their largely white male audiences against the bill until hard liners in congress who were likely also hard core consumers of right wing media along with their voters killed it the tirely. Almost the same thing happened six years later when president obama was in office. Thats when the Gang Of Eight was formed, a Bipartisan Group of senators who came together to finally get Immigration Reform done. The group included big names in the Republican Party like john mccain, lindsey graham, and was led by marco rubio, a Cuban American and the partys new tea party star. The latino obama, the media crowed, hyping him up as the republicans potential first latino president. The New York Times reported as part of the sales pitch, rubio went on limbaughs show to try to sell him on the bill, and rubio along with Chuck Schumer went so far as to meet with Rupert Murdoch and roger ailes to tray to persuade them to keep foxs onair personalities from savaging the legislation and give it a Fighting Chance at survival. Apparently, they were unsuccessful, as that is exactchy what wound up happening. Several conservative media figures even signed on to a letter opposing this bill. Once again, it died in congress. Fast forward to today. And we shouldnt be surprised that yet another bipartisan border bill was killed by d. C. Republicans, including the aforementioned alabama senator katie britt who was part of the team that negotiated the very conservative Immigration Bill that House Speaker mike johnson is now refusing to bring to the floor, all because the new Rush Limbaugh, donald trump, told him he wants to run on the issue instead of letting his party solve it. Even though he was literally the president for four years and didnt pass any Immigration Reform at all. Not even during the two years when republicans controlled the house, the senate, and the white house. Joining me now is Michael Steele, former chairman of the rnc, cohost of the weekend right here on msnbc, and host of the Michael Steele podcast, and maria teresa kumar. Where to begin. Im going to start with you, michael, because you like me probably remember this history but you had been a republican that whole time. Talk to me about how your party went from Ronald Reagan and George Herbert walker bush saying George Herbert walker bush was for giving immigrants ids, and how do we get here . A lot of it is talk radio, but its also what was happening and bubbling beneath the surface across the country in conservative circles. So talk radio was able to amplify and push that out. To give it the sort of National Voice it only had maybe on a local or even a regional level. Disjointed, not wholly connected. But limbaugh, ingram, all thee other foams began to create that echo chamber, a better way to put it, in which these sounds reverberated. So when you had the traditional stalwarts of republicanism, conservative republicanism, who believe fundamentally in a couple things. Oh, freedom and liberty and you know, all of those Gateway Opportunities for the newly arrived immigrants, even if they came illegally, that was the thrust of what bush was trying to accomplish. To say okay, we recognize since reagan this has become broken. Here, lets fix it. The Gang Of Eight, the same thing. Sort of picking up where the 2006 effort failed. And at each turn, those antiimmigrant republicans cut the deal in half, broke it apart to the point where it was not salvageable. But heres the rub, in everything you just said in this very important intro, not one time did you mention that Laura Ingraham had anything to offer on Immigration Reform. What was her reform . You can be against people who dont look like you coming to your country or your neighborhood, but you got to put something up to tell us, okay, whats your plan. And every time republicans in it party try to move towards a plan, it has been that same segment, the sort of antiimmigrant, thats the only way you can put it. I mean, build a wall. Thats antiimmigrant. We dont want you here. We dont want you to step on the soil. Okay, fine, whats your alternative . Every time theres nothing on the table thats offered. Youre rightly noting that happened during the four years of trump, nothing. Let me just 2007, they did a pew study during the george w. Bush time when katie britt was talking about. Coverage of immigration increased dramatically, the top story in 8 of news papers. Fourth place online, third Biggest Network story, Second Biggest Cable Story and the biggest story on the radio between may 17th and june 28. Conservative radio hosts devoted 31 of their News Time Coverage to literally immigration. And when you think about what they were angry about, mtk, it was fear of a brown planet. It was the demographics because the Chamber Of Commerce part of the Republican Party understood they need these migrants labor. It was the fear of you. They dont like people who look like you, right . Lets level. By that time, it was absolutely too late. By that time, all the american babies born of immigrants had already been born. And they were reading the same things that voters latino were reading. By 2010, 52 of u. S. Population growth was attributed to the birth of American Children from immigrants. And thats what scared them. You know what didnt scare them . The cheap labor, the cheap prices. Right. The ability to be able to exploit people to make sure their business were thriving. That didnt scare them. So we need to once again as were going into this really chaotic electoral season remind people that what britt was trying to peddle after the State Of The Union was what trump was peddling and what these folks were peddling. That is gaslighting the American People, not telling them the truth, because they felt that they wanted to live in sound bites, but through fear and intimidation. We talked about this before. Remember the anxiety everybody felt under trump . The fear that people felt under trump. That is what hes trying to do once again, and thats what she said, im okay signing up for that. Im okay with that. But at the end of the day, if we are to be honest with each other, one of the reasons that america has always been able to thrive is because of the labor that comes into this country, even today, when people keep talking about the recession that never was, its in large part because of the Essential Worker who have been here for 10, 20, 15 years. But also for the recently arrived that are getting work visas, temporary stat, until they figure out what the process finally is. And if there is a real reason to try to fix Immigration Reform, its so we can get back to the peoples business. Because this idea that people are crossing and theyre crossing because they want to work. We all benefit from that. And i do encourage, one of the things that did not make news that should have was the Vice President in vegas where they launched that official campaign, voto latino officially endorsed the president and Vice President , but for the very first time, what we heard on that launch was they want to seek citizenship for dreamers but also for their parents and their families. Thats huge. Because these individuals have been paying billions and billions of taxes and one of the reasons we never had the recession was because they were able to invest in the United States while other people chose to stay home. They were propping up social security. Theyre propping up social security, literally. And really quickly when we didnt want to go outside. So when people say Essential Workers, essential for who . For thriving american businesses. It was the reason that people could order food to come to your home, because the Essential Workers were actually in the g the food. L working in the doing all of the food to make sure you could eat. They were still working in the fields making sure there was food. Quickly, Michael Steele, when you have somebody as conservative as senator langford saying he was threatened by a Radio Personality that they would destroy him, and hes saying yes, yes, yes, when biden is saying this was a conservative bill that was good, and hes mouthing yes, and yet, you know, hes being openly threatened and the guy bragged about it. A radio host in his home state said, yeah, i threatened him. How do we get republicans to do what theyre asking for . Immigration reform . They wont do it. As long as it is a political weapon that can be used against the Latino Community in this country, whether theyre documented or undocumented, it doesnt matter. There will be no reform unless the American People decide to change the makeup of the congress, the senate. And to put people in place who actually want to get this done. My party unfortunately has shown its hand. It has said in the face of giving a democratic President A Bill that he would sign, a very conservative bill, one that had stuff that trump wanted when he was president , and they said no, and the conservative senator who led that bill is threatened, that tells you how unserious they are about it. Indeed. Michael steele, marisa teresa kumar, thank you. Up next on the reidout, a new book reveals stunning new details on just how much trump looks up to dictators. The author, jim sciutto, joins me next. Me next. Enamel is gone, you cannot get it back. But you can repair it with Pronamel Repair. It penetrates deep into the tooth to actively repair acid weakened enamel. I recommend Pronamel Repair. With new Pronamel Repair mouthwash you can enhance that repair beyond brushing. They work great together. Im hearing different ways for me to screen for colon cancer. Its time to use my voice, ive got a choice, more than one answer. I sat down with my doc. We had a talk. Knew just what to say. I asked for cologuard and did it my way. Cologuard is a oneofa kind way to screen for colon cancer thats effective and noninvasive. Its for people 45 plus at average risk, not high risk. False positive and negative results may occur. Ask your provider for cologuard. I did it my way he hits his mark center stage and is crushed by a baby grand piano. Youre replacing me . Customize and save with liberty bibberty. He doesnt even have a mustache. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Were talking about cashbackin. Not a game. Not a game were talking about cashbackin. Were talking about cashbackin. Were not talking about practice . No. Were talking about cashbackin. Were talking about cashbackin. Were talking about cashbackin. Not a game weve been talking about practice for too long. Word. No practice. Were talking about cashbackin. Were talking about cashbackin. I mean, were not talking about a game cashback like a pro with chase freedom unlimited. How do you cashback . Chase. Make more of whats yours. Donald trump has a thing for tyrants. Which explains why hungarian leader viktor orban was invited to trumps maralago home where he received a heros welcome. Theres nobody thats better, smarter, or a better