Obamacare. I will build a great great wall for southern border and have mexico pay for that wall. We wont be using a man like senator kerry that has no and im using my own money. Im really rich. 9 billion 240 million dollars. Im not doing it to brag. I dont have to. Not my air or by sea. The latest most anticipated, specifically by this broadcast. The latest entry to the republican race arrived by escalator. This is the moment today when the dream became reality. The flirtations and the heartbreak fell away as donald trump arrived to make his big announcement at trump tower. This is beyond anybodys expectations. Theres been no crowd like this. Our country is in serious trouble. When was the last time you saw a chevrolet in tokyo . They are laughing at us at our stupidity. We have a disaster called the big lie, obamacare. You have to get hit by a tractor, literally a tractor, to use it. We need somebody that can take the brand of the United States and make it great again. I am officially running for president of the United States. And we are going to make our country great again. Queue the applause. Queue the music. Except dont. Not yet. The donald was not done. He went on to speak for another 30 rambling grand standing stream of consciousness minutes because this is america and why the trump not. Joining me now host of studio 360, curt anderson. And msnbc political correspondent. And former Senior Adviser to president obama david axlerod. Are we living in a dream . Or is this truly reality . First i have to offer a disclaimer. When i was doing the big slash to stash things donald trump was very generous and gave a big contribution to that cause. Im grateful to him for that. I cant see russia from my window. But i can see trump tower in chicago and it is a lovely building. I have to say what we saw today was this crazy entertaining inging brew of narcissism, nativism and pure non sense. And i got the feeling at the end of it. And im not the most insightful guy in the world but i got the sense that guy likes attention. That is a legitimate point. Casey, you were there when he descended from the escalator. I was there. And my question is who was in the audience . There were moments of the unbridled enthusiasm. Not just in the announcement but throughout the speech. People are calling out. Apparently speaking unprompted in support of him. He east a famous guy. Hes well known and there were people who came from all over the world to new york city who ended up at the trump announcement in trump tourist. Wers. Some of whom just happened to be walking down the sidewalk. Many did show up with the printed tickets. The ticket to get in the event was a trump make America Great tee shirt. You were not allowed in the building if you were not wearing your tee shirt. But i talked to people from finland and france and none of whom can actually vote in the United States of america. But the. He didnt say he hated yeah. He did say at the beginning there were thousands of people in the room. From all accounts i dont think that was true. He also said you literally have to get hit by a tractor to use obamacare. Among many things thats not true . Is there any point in checking donald trurp at this point. The fact he cannot make a gaffe. Yes. He his regular speech trying to be normal is a series of gaffes. So it is just it is a wonderful free fire zone. He is a selfcreated fictional character not unlike Rachel Dolezal in a certain sense. And now we get to see him in this race. A free fire zone is the way to describe it david. The question is david, donald trump could end up on a debate stage. And of the things i mean i want to play this piece of sound because this was of the me greejs moments today this was perhaps the most egregious. Lets listen to what donald trump had to say about mexico and mexicans. When mexico sends his people they are not sending their best. They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime. They are rapists. They are sending us not the right people. Contrast that with yesterdays announcement. Jeb bush speaking Space Shuttle inging inging spanish, talking about his mexican wife. Really trying to make it outreach to latino population and then you have donald trump. I had another thought. Chfls which was i wonder who works at his hotels. I bet some of them are those hardworking immigrants he slandered today. But previous point is one worth talking about for a second. How would you like to be john kasich or Lindsay Graham or some of the candidates who would not qualify right now for the Republican Debate stage are watching this and saying that guy . This guy is going to be up there and im not going to be up there . I have to say the Republican Party and fox and all those involved in that cnn. They have to rethink their rules. They cannot allow donltd trump to be on that stage and bar these other people who have some legitimate game to be there. And certainly some legitimate claim to sanity. Casey, i would imagine while it is a gleeful event that trump announced candidacy. There are republicans that have real issue that are issues that are already tough to navigate. And he can throw bombs that potentially put the other republican candidate in a difficult position Everyone Wants to avoid. And some said the rnc made a mistake seating all this to the networks and fox use your National Polls because it could ultimately shut out kasich. The governor of ohio which is the state that is probably going to decide the general election like it has many previously. The potential for real trouble for republicans on this is intense. And kurt, to your point that is a free fire zone. Trump weighed in on his fellow candidates and here is what he said. Lets take a listen. When i hear my fellow republicans and they are wonderful people. I like them. Im meeting with three of them in the next week. And i hear their speeches and they dont talk jobs. They dont talk china. Bush it took him five days to answer the question in iraq. I looked at rubio. He was unable to answer the question. They dont have a clue. They cant lead us. Thats not not exactly what you want from the same party. He sounds to me like a protectionist of the most base kind. Oh im a free trade and then his anger at china. And japan . Japan lately . That will be interesting to see when hes on stage in debates with these people how the others react. Because they can oh donald oh donald. They can pretend hes not a real guy but i think hes going to be more problematic than were giving him credit for. David, i just want to give you time to respond to the notion that obamacare is a big lie and you need to get hit by a tractor in order to use it effectively. You know i was as i listened to that i was particularly struck by it. Because just last night i was walking through a mall and a young man came up to me who and he had no hair. He was wearing a hat. And he had had hodgkins disease. He didnt have insurance. And he got it through obamacare. And he said it would not have been detected or at least detected in time. He really felt like obamacare had saved his life. And i hear these ive been traveling the country with my book. I hear these stories wherever i go. So i think that like so many other things that came out in that sort of hail of words today, this one wasnt rooted in the reality that people are living in this country. Reality is over here. Donald trump is somewhere over here. David oxaxlerod. Casey. Thank you for your time. And. I dont think they actually really helped anything. It would be one thing if she viewed herself as black. But shes telling everybody shes always been black. After the break my colleague Melissa Harris perry will be here. What does dolezal have to say to the people who are enraged she is claiming to be black . Well play her response next. [music] jackies heart attack didnt come with a warning. Today her doctor has her on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. If youve had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. Mamas, dont let your babies grow up to be cowboys dont letem pick guitars and drive them old trucks boys . Mamas, dont let your babies. Stop less. Go more. The passat tdi clean diesel with up to 814 hwy miles per tank. Hurry in and you can get 0 apr plus a onethousand dollar volkswagen credit bonus on 2015 passat tdi clean diesel models. Put your hand over your heart. Is it beating . Good then my nutrition heart health mix is for you. Its a wholesome blend of peanuts, pecans and other delicious nuts specially mixed for people with hearts. Planters. Nutrition starts with nut. Hours ago Rachel Dolezal finally speak out. The former naacp chapter head resigned after being accuse of lying about her race. Dolezal claimed from a young age she felt a visceral connection with the black experience. She says she identifies as black. When you respond to my question, are you black . And your response is yes, there are listenering who are en ings who are enraged. Not confused. Enraged. And many of those observers who are angry are black women. Can you understand that anger . Yes. And i would say, you know, stepping outside of myself i would probably be enraged. I would be like what the hell you know, this person how dare she claim this. But they dont know me what ive actually walked through and how hard it is. This has not been something that just is a casual, you know, come and go sort of identity you know or an identity crisis where its going to fade away and people have asked. So are you going to go back to being white. If you are rejected by the black community, what do you do . Ill be me. Ill be me. Because, you know, i feel like at the same time i never want to be a liability to the cause. And i take that very seriously joining us now is the host of the Melissa Harris pairharry. And daniel scharfstin. Melissa, as the really compelling interview you did with rachel. There are so many questions that everybody is going to have. One thought is this idea of being transracial. That would be should to be a sort of explanation but rachel doesnt think of herself as transracial. As you spoke to her, who do you think she thinks she actually is. Its interesting. When you ask the question that way, that is participant of peoples response is who does she think she is to make this claim on experience. T this is a tough interview for me because the most interesting aspects for the entire week are have been our collective responses to this woman who is still ultimately a stranger. I found her compelling and interesting and warm and likable and extremely smart person. But im not sure after an hour i can answer that question except to say that i also met friends and family and say there is not any sense of, at least that i can experience of malice deception or self gain here. That this is maybe confusing and hard and difficult to talk about but not malicious. Professor, let me ask you. You have a great piece in the New York Times magazine that talks about Rachel Dolezal and the american cultural history of passing. I guess id like to ask you historically speaking we think of the passing as going from being black to white. Talk to us about how unusual this is in American Culture and history to have the reverse . I think it is not as unusual as we would think. Any set of artificial and malleable categories like race will bend and break in all kind of different directions. There are that strange things that have happened in this country. Weve had a ku klux klan grand dragon who was not just jewish but would bring ganeshs to his gathers gatherings. We can find stories from 200 years ago white women trying to marry black women. And as part of the restitution for marriage would cut their husbands arms and drink their blood. There was a white wife of harlem renaissance author who said i know many other white women married to black men. And for many of us it is just easier to say were light skinned. When we talk about this sort of acceptance certainly i think history is important to think about. In the case of Rachel Dolezal, one of the things that i think seems to be complicated broader acceptance of what shes done is the feeling that somehow this behavior has been transgressive. That she hasnt been expressive about the experience. But also saying an African American man in a photo was her father or saying she lived in the tepee or sorry. Parts of the tepee account. She had an experience in sfkouth africa which by all accounts she hasnt been too. I believe without malice and all is involved. Deception. And i dont know if thats just self deception or the greater world. And to me and as the professor says there are examples of this happening before in american history. To me the larger american thing she represents is this infinite american capacity for self invention. I can be whomever i believe myself to be. Whomever i can pretend to be. And that is what being an american is all about. I find it endlessly fascinating but still bizarre and delusional. And in order for it to be deception. And this is the thing ive been puzzling through. There would have to be a truth. So there would have to be a thing that is true and then she is lying to either herself or others and for me this is the part i i keep wanting to break through on conversation. Somehow separate to her personal story to out someone racially which is to say her family of origin, her birth parents did. She really is white and pretending to be black. And to me the question is what does it mean to really be white . What does it mean to really be black . And as soon as we go down that road we end up request the essentialist definitions that academics have spent 30 years to breakdown. She says i have really gone there with the experience in terms of being a mother of two black sons and really own it what it means to experience and live blackness. And i think there are some people out there, black white and otherwise who say well your living of blackness was a choice. And therefore how authentic can that be . And many response i said my mother is white and reared blacks children and grandchildren and does not feel herself to be black. Understands herself as a white woman. But the fact that is my mothers experience and this is rachels does not cancel one another out. I guess i remain distressed by the idea that there is some core racial truth of who we are and the rest is deception. When in fact we know it was socially constructed and therefore awfully messy. I wonder to that end and to kurts point about this being a longer story of american rinne vengeance. We reinvention. We just talked about donald trump running for president. That is another corner of the same universe with endless possibility. But i dont think when it comes to race that americans have accepted the fact that people may reinvent themselves. It just feels so anak roa nisic in 2015. We think its perfectly acceptable for white women to raise black children or study and teach and celebrate black history and culture and have all kinds of meaningful relationships with African Americans without having to adopt this pose. Yeah. And maybe that is part of it kurt. And to me again, when in her interview with matt lauer says well i hope this begins a discussion about self determination, personal agency and empowerment. Please. I mean to apply these easily thrown around warm and fuzzy, progressive words to describe what she has done and what she is enabling i find what has she done exactly . The world is full of liars. Because its an unusual lie. Exactly. Thats what i want to put a finger on. If it is a lie, the thing that makes it news worthy is that its fascinating and interesting. Not because it is particularly egregious. In the naacp in spokane it wouldnt fw a story. Right. Was a volunteer position for which she was not paid. Its not about defending her. Its about that we have this response she did this deception. And the number of people in country who have lied again donald trump is running for president. And on the lives of black people. If we want to make a list of people who have lied in ways that have meaning she would not make the list. Progressive change. Not i think some of the loudest voices have been coming from the black community that have taken real issue with what shes done. I think the loudest voices have come from African Americans who feel that this is but i guess again. Putting her story aside. For me the concern particularly for people who self identify as black in this country, who are black in this country, when we are asked so what is it that makes you really black . If our response and answer devolves to a essentialist and biological notion that all i will say for most of Human History a essential biological notion of race has not served the Material Interests of black people very well. So we just might want to be careful about employing that ourselves as we police the boundaries of blackness. I mean there is so much more to talk about melissa. I know you are going to be talking about it more and well get the full interview tonight at 8 00 p. M. Professor Daniel Sharfstein and Melissa Harrisperry. Watch her every weekend. Morning at 10 00 a. M. Msnbc. Building aircraft, the likes of which the world has never seen. This is what we do. 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