Across america gets that from this movie. Thanks for watching. Im al sharpton. Hardball starts right now. Friday night bites. Lets play hardball. Good evening. Im Chris Matthews in washington. Let me start tonight with the theater of the absurd now known as the republicanled u. S. Congress. You thought house of cards was bad. At least on that show they get things done. Here in the nations capitol on august 1st, 2014, they stay up late. They stay up late on a friday evening for the most ridiculous of reasons. Start with making it look like theyre working. Theyre here showing that theyre here, got it . So i and other commentators
cant attack them for truancy. Next reason, call it feeding time at the zoo. Some of the hard vicious right need to have votes they call their own, in other words, votes that cast scorn on the president. Cast them in a safe position having done nothing to help barack obama, only to keep him from doing anything. Why . Because any and every action by this president serves to upstage them and their refusal to do anything at all. Its a sorry performance were watching tonight as the u. S. House of representatives prepare to vote prepares to vote on an urgent socalled measure to help the kids at the border, a measure that will never get to the senate much less the president s desk. It will be a waste of time, a waste of paper, and a waste of representing the government and that matters. But dont give up. If the Congress Fails to act on the 58,000 young people at the border, he will. From mother jones magazine and an msnbc political analyst. They slammed House Republicans for catering to far right in order to pass what he called
extreme and unworkable legislation. Well, lets watch. Instead of working together, instead of focusing on the 80 where there is agreement between democrats and republicans, between the administration and congress, House Republicans as we speak are trying to pass the most extreme and unworkable versions of a bill that they already know is going nowhere, this cant pass the senate and that if it were to pass the senate, i would veto. They know it. Theyre not even trying to actually solve the problem. This is a message bill that they couldnt quite pull off yesterday so they made it a little more extreme so neighbor can pass it today. Just so they can check a box before theyre leaving town for a month. Im not sure the president s entirely sad, by the way, that the house of representatives led by republicans is making fools of themselves. The president also said that while congress is out on vacation, putting in the knife, hes going have to act on his
own in resolving the crisis at the border. So what are they proi posing today after they failed to get enough votes yesterday to pass something . The new version would provide the same funding as yesterdays bill did but would also give 39 million to border state governors to pay for National Guard troops and it would treek the 2008 antitrafficking law that would make it easier to deport unaccompanied minors from Central America back to their country. And republicans plan to take a separate vote that deters deportation of children brought to the United States by their parents. The far right tea partier steve king. He told roll call, quote, the changes brought into this are ones ive developed over the past two years. Its like one i order off the menu. Davi david, i think we have a prb. Theyre capable of doing something. What are they doing . What are they doing . The question is whether youre doing this for governance or whether youre doing it for show, for politics. If youre doing it for your governance, you pass the bill. Even though the president might veto it. You go in a conference, you bring the senate in and you get a conference. As we know, the house gop compromise is a dirty word, so as far away as any compromised position as the gop bill was yesterday that boehner couldnt pass, he had to make it even further away from a compromised position to get the house his own people and the tea parties folks to support it. The most frightening thing i saw today on twitter about an hour or two ago, someone tweeted out a picture, steve king and representative Michele Bachmann sitting at a table looking over the final version of the legislation as if to approve it. We go from yesterday, ted cruz is speaker of the house to today steve king and Michele Bachmann, king and queen for the day. John boehner has to kiss their
rings. Whats scary is that this is a recognized national problem. Yes. Now, maybe its would be tragic for most people to see those young people sitting down at the border who were basically sent up here by other people. They didnt make a big decision in life fr. A scary place to place they thought might be heavenlyve. Yet nobody wants to take responsibility entirely for what to do. The president should have offered, i believe, some modification of the previous law that was a magnet for all these people coming up here. He doesnt want to do that. The congress, worse than him, doesnt want to do anything. This bill, as you pointed, was not meant for passage. What the house gop wants to do is give some money, not enough, some money for Border Security. They want to take way the right of half a million youngsters who would otherwise be deported to stay in this country, people who were brought here through no fault of their own, dreamers as we call them. Why are they doing that . Explain . Because they dont like, you know, Immigration Reform. This is a version a backdoor
version of Immigration Reform that gives people the right to sort of find a pathway here. Your kids who are brought here, maybe have been here for ten years, have nobody to go home to and yet they still want to send these kids back. Lets bring in u. S. Congressman and congresswoman Donna Edwards. Congresswoman, thank you for joining us. This is a bizarre night. Exchange the situation to all the democrats and whatever, what in the world is going on in the republicanlead house of representatives this friday night . Well, i wish i could explain whats going on. What i will tell you is that House Republicans have decided to do the most inhuman and most inefficient thing ever, not really dealing with the difficulty of unaccompanied minor children, not affording them due process, and then saying to 700,000 or so young people that we said youve lived here, youre going to school, we want you to stay, that were going to come after you and
really encourage deportation and the most harsh, treatment for our immigrants, for our children. And think its really unfortunate. Theres been a complete breakdown in the Republican Party. We thought that what they tried to put on the floor yesterday was bad, but what they have done today, what theyre doing today is even worse. Will any democrats vote for this thing tonight when it comes to a vote . I think our Democratic Party really has been for the most part unified, frankly, on the humane treatment of children, of making sure that our borders are secure, and really calling for a comprehensive solution, and that means a comprehensive solution for Immigration Reform. The fact is that republicans have left on the table for more than a year now a bipartisan bill that passed out of the senate, bipartisan support in the house, and they refused to do it. And then they want to blame the president for their failure. This is a classic colossal gop republican failure and think the American People are going to hold the Republican Party responsible. Well, after yesterdays vote,
congresswoman, failed, the Republican Leadership put out a head scratcher of a statement. In it they had this message for the president , quote, there are numerous steps the president can and should be taking right now without the need for congressional action to secure our borders and ensure these children are returned swiftly and safely to their countries. Remember, by the way, this is the same house leadership, congresswoman, as you know that voted to sue the president the day before. Certainly the irony here is they want the president to make decisions even though they say theyll get him if he does. Heres come on the an surfty of the situation. Look, you cant say on one hand the president s overreaching by acting without legislative authority and direction and then refusing to give him legislative authority and dekz in another area. Damned if you do and damned if you dont. It is ridiculous to sue the
president on a wednesday because he oversteps the law as he has done a dozen times illegally and unconstitutionally and then on a thursday say he should overstep the law, contradict the law he passed in 2008 and deal with this himself. Well, the president today also hammered out that point. He e hammered it home. Lets watch. Even though yesterday they were sitting on a bipartisan immigration bill for over a year, House Republicans suggested that since they dont expect to actually pass a bill that i can sign that i actually should go ahead and act on my own. Keep in mind a few days earth ler they voted to sue more for acting on my own and then yesterday they put out a statement saying i should act on my own. Sometimes i wonder about the
president and think hes a little bit aloof but maybe thats the only way. Theyre basically telling him go break the law and then well grab you. Its so an seward what theyre doing. They want him to make a decision on the 58,000 kids and then theyll be talking impeachment again. I dont think the president is aloof. Hes thinking its ridiculous. Voting to sue him a couple of days ago, now saying he needs to act without his authority. They cant figure out what they want to do. And as a result theyve left the American People sitting weight in the balance. It really is incredibly irresponsible and i hope the American People are going to take note. This is the same party that shut down the government. This is the same party that refuses to Fund Transportation and this is the same party that refuses to deal with immigration. They are a colossal failure, colossalfailure. Tell me if this is wrong. Its not going to go to the senate. Theres not going to be any compromise or any bill. The president will be leaving this weekend. Hell be dealing with this decision singlehandedly, is that right . Thats right. Well boo here until 10 00 tonight wasting the American People and taxpayers money and voting for something they want to have a message on but the fact is they dont have a message because they failed the American People. I think the president needs to go out and tell the American People exactly what a failure these republicans are, that they arent dealing with this. I mean theyre going to blame him for it and then fail to act. Thank you so much, congresswoman Donna Edwards of maryland. Thank you for joining us this friday night. Thank you. I want to get back to you, david. So people want you to understand. The purpose of all this is nothing but message sending as the president said to the hard right. Right. And actually if they wanted to send a message earlier that they were doing something that would
help all republicans, that message has now become just a message of the hard right. And the real thing to remember here is if john boehner put the Senate Bipartisan whats his job exactly . I dont know. Hes not acting like a public servant. If he took the Senate BipartisanImmigration Reform bill and put it on the house floor, it would pass with a bipartisan majority, namely democrat. But some republicans would go for it and the country would move forward. He cant do that because then hes afraid of losing his caucus. So this really about being controlled by the tail, the tea party tail controlling government. The 60 votes in the senate, you cant get anything done and the new rule, you cant get anything done that doesnt have the majority vote of the majority party. These new rules are killing the workings of this government. Ing their you, david corn. Congressman peter king said it best. The house immigration bill died because of senator ted cruz. Who elected this bombthrowing senator speaker of the house. Anyway, the spectacle of what happens to a politician after taking office. And former governor Bob Mcdonnell knows gifts like rolex watches were part of a quid pro quo to help a businessman. Is that the situation here . And one more thing about bringing down Richard Nixon. The hush money. First ever, were getting information. John dean joins us tonight with that. Finally lit me finish tonight with look at john kennedy and a pioneering documentary. What a movie thats going to be. This is hardball, the place for politics. We never thought wed be farming wind out here. Its not just building jobs here, its helping our community. Siemens location here has just received a major order of wind turbines. It puts a huge smile on my face. Cause im like, this is what we do. the fact that iowa is leading the way in wind energy, im so proud, like, its just amazing. [ male announcer ] thats why theres ocuvite to help replenish key eye nutrients. Ocuvite has a unique formula not found in your multivitamin to help protect your eye health. Ocuvite. Help protect your eye health. New polling on the president ial race in the key state of ohio. It may come as a surprise. According to the quinnipiac
scoreboard Hillary Clinton leads rand paul by four points. Close. 46 for clinton, 42 for paul. E toenld you to keep an eye on paul. Clinton by 9, 49, christie, 37 . Well be right back. Two espressos. Make one a double. Shes full and focused. [ barista ] i have two cappuccinos, one coffee with room, one large mocha latte, a medium macchiato, a light hot chocolate hold the whip, and two espressos one with a double shot. Heh, heh. Thats not the coffee talkin. [ female announcer ] start your day with kelloggs frosted mini wheats cereal. With whole wheat goodness on one side and a hint of sweetness on the other, its a delicious way to get the nutrition you want. Live in the same communities that we serve. People here know that our operations have an impact locally. Were using more natural gas vehicles than ever before. The trucks are reliable, thats good for business. But they also reduce emissions, and thats good for everyone. It makes me feel very good about the future of our company. Thats why i always choose the fastest intern. R slow. The fastest printer. The fastest lunch. Turkey club. The fastest pencil sharpener. The fastest elevator. The fastest speed dial. The Fastest Office plant. So why wouldnt i choose the fastest wifi . I would. Switch to comcast Business Internet and get the fastest wifi included. Comcast business. Built for business. Welcome back to hardball. Senator ted cruz. You know him. His extreme tactics have angered many of his colleagues. Hes the preverse pied piper who has rendered or government useless right now. Hes described as the witness night gathering in cruz ee Senate Office where 13 house members ate pizza, drank dr pepper and decided to derail the immigration bill. But he tried to hide his finger prints, quote, careful not to be
viewed as orchestrating action in the house, even though he holds regular fellowship meetings with members, cruz listened quietly and nodded along as his guests laid out their concerns and discussed possible demands for boehner. He agreed that boehner was distracted and said they should stick to their principles. The freshman not also reminded them to be skeptical of promises from house leader, particularly of show votes, legislative action designed to placate conservatives that carry little if any weight. That quite assurance was enough to persuade the conservatives to effectively topple boehners plan. Congresswoman lee, i tlirng must be some lack of what, pride . How about pride . When i worked on the hill, the house members referred to the senate as another body. They didnt even talk about it
hardly except for some vague reference. Here you have this character, this, i dont know. He shows up, he starts orchestrating the place like hes the boss. Ive never heard of that happen and hes a far right winger. Hes so much like joe mccarthy in his attacks on peoples character and now hes bringing down the republican speaker of the house. But when you worked here, chris, you did not have a hard core Tea Party Republican base really and thats what it is. And i suggest to you that if senator cruz really wants to direct the house of representatives, perhaps he should run for the house of republican representatives and then run for speaker. This is outrageous. He is a member of the senate. And they should develop their own agenda. We develop ours. Whats his hold on these guys . Im not so sure what his hold is except for the fact that he really speaks to the fringe, to
those who actually want to dismantle government, who want to provide little or no safety net, who want to provide no government protections. Im not sure what it is. Of course, you hear that he perhaps may be running for president. I mean, my gosh, can you imagine . And so theres, you know, a number of people who really believe in that ideology. Its strictly ideology. Its a far right wing ideology. It really does not believe in government by the people by the people and for the people. Congresswoman, hold on for a minute. Ive got Jonathan Capehart with the post here. You have a right to be whatever you want to be. I dont think people should be driven by identity politics but heres a hispanic guy. Hes making his name basically right now going after immigrants. Thats what hes doing. In this case, thats what hes doing. Yes, thats what hes doing. But to answer the question y