Thank you to a great group here. Stay safe on the trail. Stay with us here at msnbc. The place for politics. You dont want to go anywhere. Well see you later. Have a good night. [ cheers and applause ] Hillary Clinton, she leads in delegates. I am not a oneissue candidate, because this is not a oneissue country and tomorrow, shes looking to win big in five key states. You dont make America Great by getting rid of everything that made America Great. But as Bernie Sanders proved last week, anything can happen. We want michigan. Tonight, Hillary Clinton makes her case to the voters of illinois. I am a progressive who gets things done for people. Wanting to extend her lead. Lets go win the nomination this is an msnbc special town hall with Hillary Clinton, from the old capital site in springfield, illinois. Here is chris matthews. [ cheers and applause ] welcome to this special town hall. For the next hour, Hillary Clinton. [ cheers and applause ] hello nice to see you. Hi, mr. Matthews. Well, thank you, madam secretary. As you know, as an illinoisan, that this is that room whereAbraham Lincoln theres Washington Abraham Lincoln gave his house divided speech. Thats right. That was in 1858. How are we doing on that subject today . Well, we could use that speech again. From, you know, a lot of leaders as well as citizens. Because theres a disturbing amount of divisive rhetoric in this campaign that is playing on peoples fears, and really engendering a lot of meanspiritedness, bigotry, that i think is, you know, not only bad for our politics, its bad for our nation, and we need to stand up against it. Weve had periods in our history, as you know so well, being such a history buff, chris, where people have strong feelings. I totally accept that. And theres even reason for some people to be frustrated, angry, fearful. But thats when leaders are supposed to be trying to find
common ground, bringing people together, not flaming the discontent, and setting up us versus them. I fear thats what were seeing in this campaign this time. You called donald trump a political arsonist. Yes. Do you believe hes responsible for igniting all this fist people throwing punches at each other . Not just waving at each other, theyre fighting out there. I think if you go back several months, hes been building this incitement. He has been leading crowds in jeering protesters. He has been talking about punching people in the face. Hes been encouraging the manhandling of both, you know, people who are attending, as well as journalists on the floor and in the stands of his events. So i think what happened on friday in chicago is tragically
a natural outgrowth of that kind of incitement. And, you know, look, all of us in public life, and youve covered all kinds of people running for office, in office, we all get protested against. Somebodys always upset about something. The other day i had a man that was convinced cell towers are causing cancer in your sal i variousy glounds. Hes yelling and screaming. We all have to deal with that. You try to deal with it calmly and peacefully, and dont tell people, hey, do something to him, take him out, beat him up. And, you know, thats what leadership requires. Youre supposed to be calming people down to try to find solutions to problems. Would you encourage a young person, or a person of any age to go out if they believed trump was saying terrible things, to go out and protest him, challenge him publicly . Would you encourage them to do that . What i would encourage them
to do is protest peacefully, protest in the most effective way, which is to get people to come out and vote against him, thats how we how about this disrupteding . I think disrupting, you have to be careful that its done in a way that is peaceful, that is respect tl slg insofar as that is possible. Someone inside an event that they know is going to be unfortunately filled with folks who are going to be against them. You know, they should be careful about that. I think, you know, walking with signs, engaging in peaceful protests outside of venues probably makes more sense. But the best thing is organize against anyone who incites violence and vote them down. Lets look at two american politicians on this little screen here now. And how they in very different ways address political and racial tenseness. Right. What we need in the United States is not division, what we need in the United States is not hatred, what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom and compassion toward one another. And a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country. You see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them, will you . Seriously. Okay . Just knock the hell i promise you, i will pay for the legal fees, i promise. You know what they used to do to guys like that when they were in a place like this . They would be carried out on a stretcher, folks. I would like to punch him in the face, ill tell you. Bobby kennedy, talking to people in a tough neighborhood in indianapolis the night that dr. King was killed. He told them, a white guy had to come and tell them. And trump. Compare and contrast. Well, you couldnt have a
starker contrast between a leader, a statesman, a visionary, someone who, you know, was willing to take on the sorrow and the burden of the assassination of dr. King, to talk to people who were distraught, and just absolutely heart broken over what had happened. And you have someone like trump, a demagogue, a showman, an inciter, who is actually fanning the flames instead of trying to, as we saw in that clip from bobby kennedy, trying to bring down the passion so that people could Work Together to find common ground. Thats what we need today in america. We started this number by saying president obama wasnt born in this country, an illegal immigrant that snuck in in a weird way from kenya, honolulu, and faking the birth records and
what have you. Do you think thats why the africanamericans as a group have really turned on him . Theres something i havent been quite able to figure out. Denying the first africanamerican president to be legitimate, seems to be grounds for hostility. I think its that, plus other feelings. I think certainly the fact that trump led the campaign to try to delegitimize president obama from the very beginning. He used this phony issue about where he was born. There was definite proof we knew where he was born. It didnt matter. Trump kept beating that drum and kept trying to, again, incite people to be hostile toward the president. Who happened to be the first africanamerican president. That sent a lot of signals. Not just to africanamericans, but to all americans. Wait a minute, whats going on here. But i think its more than that. You know, when you are inciting
mob violence, which is what trump is doing in those clips, there are a lot of memories that people have. Theyre in the dna. People remember mob violence that led to lynching. People remember mob violence that led to people being shot, being, you know, grand, being mistreated. And its something that has a deep, almost psychological resonance to people who have ever been in any position of feeling somewhat fearful, somewhat worried. Weve come so far in our country, that to be here in this state capital, in this room, where Abraham Lincoln gave that speech about a house divided, and to see that someone who is vying to be president of the United States is using divisiveness, is stoking fear, is pointing fingers, scapegoating against all kinds of people, i think is so dangerous. And yes, its wrong, its offensive, its also dangerous. When you were a young girl in illinois, somebody was bullying you in the new neighborhood you moved into. Thats true. Your mother said to go out and deal with this personally, and you decked him. Youll have to deal with that similar situation if you win the nomination. Youve got trump calling you a criminal. Yes. Hes turning his fire on you. Thats where i was born. I dont know. Maybe not. Chicago. [ applause ] you have the certificate ready. I have my birth certificate ready. You know, triplicate. You might get carded. That would be nice. You went to wellsly. I did. What would have happened if you had gone to Trump University . I would have been out a lot of money from what i hear. And nothing to show for it. You said something rather odd
the other day. You said youre not a natural politician, like your husband. What is the difference between you and him . Forget obama, president obama. Bill clinton, ive seen him on a million occasions, he wont leave. The occasions over and you see him working the room. He doesnt wanted it to end. Yeah. What is that dna . You talk dna. What is in a being that makes them never want to leave the crowd . You know, for bill, and obviously ive now known him much more than half my life, he is, you know, someone who is so curious, almost in a way that i dont know anybody else, he is constantly, you know, seeking out people, waiting to hear their stories, trying to make connections between, you know, something hes heard in one place and something he might hear in another place. He used to come off of rope lines at the end of big events,
running for governor, running for president obviously, and he said, i learned so much. And he would tell me stories. Sometimes it would just be a 30 or 60second interchange. But he could really derive from that something about the person in front of him. And i learned an enormous amount, in those 18 years, the wonderful years that we spent in arkansas, going to all kinds of events, tiny events to big events, listening to people, learning what was on their minds. When i moved to fayetteville, arkansas, to teach at the law school, it was really because i was trying to figure out how do you say that again . Fayetteville. I was trying to figure out if we were going to get married or not. So i moved there. Teaching at the university of arkansas law school. And i noticed that one of my students hasnt shown up for a couple of days, a couple of classes. So i call information. We used to have information in those days. I called information. And i said, im looking for john
smith. The operator says to me, you know, hes not home. I said, what do you mean . Hes not home. He went camping. It was just such an incredible experience, where peoples stories, their lives were so intertwined. And i think bill is someone who was brought up hearing stories from his family, and just lived in, you know, that great storytelling tradition. So i am in great admiration of that. I am somebody who believes strongly in public service, in doing all the good i can for all the people i can. For as long as i can. How about this part . I enjoy it. But im not deluding myself. Im not speaking in poetry. Im not bringing people to fever pitches of, you know, incredible admiration. But every time ive had a job, i do it well. And i do it in my own way. And i produce results for people. When i ran for the senate, you know that, you covered that, i ran for the senate. People are, oh, my gosh, she cant win. I won. You were going to take on rudy giuliani. Thats why i was recruited, because people didnt think anybody else could beat him. Six years later i won by an even bigger margin, because i did the job. Im somebody who believes, okay, you have a job to do, you want to help people, you want to produce results. Maybe that is more governing no prose than campaigning in poetry. But thats what i want to do as president. It will get tougher. When we come back, lets talk about the race for the democratic nomination. You and senator sanders. This is a special hardball town hall with Hillary Clinton, of course, from the old state capital in illinois in springfield. And can you explain why you recommend synthetic over cedar . Super food . Is that a real thing . Its a great school, but is it the right one for her . Is this really any better than the one you got last year . If we consolidate suppliers, whats the savings there . So should we go with the 467 horsepower . Or is a 423 enough . Good question. You ask a lot of good questions. I think we should move you into our new fund. Sure. Ok. But are you asking enough about how your wealth is managed . Wealth management at charles schwab. People love me for saving them over half a grand when they switch to progressive. So im dabbling in new ventures. It was boardgame night with the dalai lama. Great guy. Terrible player. Go paperless dont stress, girl i got the discounts that you need its a balancing act, but i got to give the people what they want more box. Any words for the critics . What can i say . Critties gonna neg. [ applause ] the what . [ laughs ] trust number one doctor recommended dulcolax constipated . Use dulcolax tablets for gentle overnight relief suppositories for relief in minutes and stool softeners for comfortable relief of hard stools. Dulcolax, designed for dependable relief
welcome back to the old state capital in springfield, illinois. Thank you, madam secretary. I am amazed, maybe i shouldnt say im amazed, but senator sanders have pulled off some gig victories. Hes won in iowa no, i won in iowa. [ applause ] thats right, you did. . I hope that stays in the show. Why did i think lets talk about it was very close. Very close. Youre getting me in a mood here. Lets go to michigan. Thats dangerous. Michigan, all those numbers looked really good for you. Im thinking tomorrows numbers good for you here, and missouri looks good and florida. Do you trust the polls anymore . Honestly, i dont, chris. In large measure, because i think pollsters are trying to do the best job they can. But its very difficult to poll them if you have the only online information. Thats proven to be often unreliable. If you troy to call land lines, you miss everybody with cell phones, if you call people with cell phones you miss people often because they dont answer. No, i think its very difficult now to predict the outcome of elections. Somehow were going to have to get better at it. People do rely on that information. Lets talk about young people and their even as old as their early 30s. People dont have phones, they dont have land lines. Look at the numbers in michigan. Here it was, 80 under 30 voted for senator senators. I hate doing things by race, but we doment what do you think happened there . Let me put it in context. That night i actual l i won 100,000 more votes than senator sanders, because of my huge victory in mississippi, where i did win both white and black voters. On super tuesday, other than vermont, i won a majority of white voters as well as black voters. So i think that you can focus on one state and kind of miss the big picture. Because where we stand today, before the primaries tomorrow, ive gotten far more votes than anybody else running on either side. Ive gotten 5 million votes, 600,000 more than trump, 1. 6 million more than Bernie Sanders. So i feel really good about where i am in this campaign. And of course, the number of delegates that i have won is also considerably higher than senator sanders. So i have a broad Inclusive Coalition which i think puts me in a very good position to be able to get the nomination and to go against trump or whoever they nominate. Lets talk about the tough
part. Ohio is one, missouri is historically against trade, here we are in illinois. Michigans tough. Of course, youve seen that. How do you deal with that . Bernie sanders is known as an antitrade guy, opposed to all the trade deals. Youve been for most of them. You with are for tpp initially. How do you tell the working people trade is the enemy . I understand that. Weve had a number of Years Experience now about what trade can and cant do in our globalized economy. So last night in ohio, i said, look, i want to set the record straight. Yes, i did vote against the biggest multinational trade agreement when i was in the senate, it was called cafta. I voted against it. Ive learned some things since the 1990s and i put that to work. I also said i hoped i would be able to support tpp. But i actually waited until i knew what was in it, and then i stated my opposition to it. You said it was exciting, innovative, cutting edge, high quality and high standard. Before was finished of the i hoped with ecould deal with currency manipulation and a lot of the problems that our country and woshing people had faced. It turned out when it was all said and done, it didnt meet my standards. Thats why i just voted against cafta, i said im against tpp. Heres whats happening, chris. About of coming here, i was in chicago and i was meeting with a group of workers who were most likely going to lose their jobs at a big nabisco factory on the south side of chicago. 600 really good jobs. And i met with some of the workers. And what this company is doing is taking those jobs, sending them out of the country, and turning around and basically saying to the work force, too bad, were done, were not going to be there for you. When that company and its predecessors had said millions
and millions of dollars in taxpayer benefits. So weve got to figure out how to get some leverage against some of these companies. If you took any money from the local state or federal government to put in a plan, to upgrade the plant, to do anything to the plant, you have to pay it back. Thats how i think weve got to get leverage on these companies. So when they do the cost benefit on the cost side is, hey, were going to owe back the money that we took telling the people of this state or city we were going to be there when, hey, were not, were moving out. How come when we were taught in school trade is good. All economists thought it was. And you all trade and everybody wins. What went wrong with that theory . I think what went wrong is you have countries now that are not shy about putting a heavy thumb on the scale. They are supporting their own
industries, in china, for example. Theres no free market. Thats just an illusion. Its not a market economy. You have stateowned enterprises. You have the fogovernment being used when i was in new york, i was always in some kind of controversy with the Chinese Government because they were coming and threatening new york companies. And i would go to bat for the new york companies. You have in europe, in a more refined, gentile way, you have an asia a more roughandtumble way, a set of trade conditions where we end up having the only, in my view, really free trade economy. And weve been able to manage that until relatively recently. Now, because of competition with increases in technology, automation and the like, weve got to really fight for