And Kamala Harris later in the show. But i fir but first, President Trump is drying out at his new jersey golf course, his bright i explain day salute to america literally turned gray by dark clouds and thunder, partially paid for with your tax dollars while his republican donors sat in the front row. But given the optics of tanks and trump, the speech was probably as safe as weve ever heard. Wed come together as one nation with this special salute to america. We celebrate our history, our people, and the heroes who proudly defend our flag, the brave men and women of the United States military. The president stayed on that neutral message celebrating the military on the fourth of july as one would expect. But on a day america filled itself on pie and public spirit, the president s salute tasted like soggy fascism with all the ingredients, an aspiring autocrat using a symbolic backdrop to suggest unearned standing with one of our greatest leaders, calling for a sacrifice from behind bulletproof glass. I guess for his hair. Oh, and then, of course, there were the tanks. Im sorry, the armored tanks. Joining me now, jeff mason, White House Correspondent for reuters. Jeff, the tanks, the military, the flyovers, i mean, it had all of the optics the president wanted, but it rained on his parade. What are you hearing . Well, i was out there for it actually, and it did rain off and on throughout the day. But he was able to give his speech. The flyovers did occur and the crowd showed up. That was one of the concerns that apparently some of the white house had was that it might not have a big turnout. The president certainly viewed it as a success, but you are right to say that it was a celebration as much of the military as anything else. He has taken some criticism for that. His speech seemed pretty neutral. There were concerns he would go off script and become very partisan, though, there are reports that invitations were partisan, seating was partisan. But he kind of remained neutral in terms of partisan issues, in terms of his speech, is that correct . Reporter yes, that is correct. That is a departure for President Trump because he does often at events that are not supposed to be overtly pilt he ends up giving a partisan speech or going off on partisan tan gents. He didnt do that on july 4th. He made the observation that the country has been the strongest its ever been, but he didnt criticize any of his opponents or talk about democrats versus republicans. He did talk about the strength of the country and he praised each of the branches of the military. Let me ask. Did anyone in the white house, any of your sources explain how the president , after coming back from the g20 meeting, where he kind of smirked or smiled or however you want to say it with the president of russia, Vladimir Putin, dont mess with our election almost in a mocking way, mocking us rather than the president of russia, and then leaving there, going and dealing with no of any kind guarantees of anything, stepping on the grounds of north korea with the dictator, kim jongun. You do in the backdrop of that, and then you go and do this whole gloryification of the military and celebrate what the country is supposed to stand for in terms of democracy, when just days ahead, if not hours, you were with a dictator of north korea and of russia. Reporter it is an interesting juxtaposition. This celebration was a few days after he got back from the g20 trip and then the trip to south korea in which he went to the dmz and met with kim jongun. Yes, you would expect to see parades and celebrations of nations in countries like north korea, in countries like russia with a big military presence, and that is one thing that the president took criticism for on july 4th. There were tanks there. The flyovers, though, i should say, really did throw the crowd, and it was a crowd that was largely supportive of President Trump, even though it was not partisan speeches as we were talking about earlier. There was a lot of choreography to it and the president is a producer in chief, a former reality star, and you could see that in how the event came together on thursday. All right, jeff mason with reuters. Thank you for joining us. The other big political news story this week, the crisis around the detainment of migrants at the southern border. Earlier this week Congressional Democrats denounced racist and sexist comments found in a secret Facebook Group made up of nearly 10,000 u. S. Border patrol agents, connecting the dots between the comments and the inhuman conditions that more than a dozen democrats say they observed at a texas Detainment Center earlier this week. Joining me now, new york congressman and House Democratic caucus chair hakeem jeffries, who joined several of his states delegation this week to denounce those comments from there in new york. Congressman jeffers, thank you for being with us. Let me ask you how you look at the situation. You have the conditions of Migrant Children being forced to live in what many have observed as inhuman conditions, you have the postings of border patrol. I mean, this is as bad as it can get in terms of racist postings, making children go days without any kind of bathing and any kind of medical care in some situations. Yet this president seemed oblivious to the criticism. Good afternoon, rev. Its great to be with you. Youre exactly right. The entire situation is completely out of control. The inhumanity of the treatment of Migrant Children should shock the conscience of every single american that exists. Its horrendous. You have Young Children being forced to live in conditions often without adequate food, without adequate water, without adequate medicine, without adequate diapers, without adequate soap, in conditions you would expect not in the United States of america, the wealthiest country in the history of the world. Its a stain on our democracy, our country, certainly a stain on this administration. And the unhumanity that we continue to see by some of my colleagues on the other side of the aisle who both deny the conditions as well as the president of the United States of america who seems to welcome the conditions, is something that is another sad chapter of this administrations sordid history over the last two and a half years. Now, to put this in perspective, as i raised to jeff, we have a president that almost, you know, with a smirk, tells putin of russia dont mess with our elections, ha ha almost. And then he meets with kim jongun in north korea, steps over north korea with no commitment, all while hes presiding over his administration that is in denial or ignoring the charges of whats going on with Migrant Children, and then he has this great military celebration of america and the birth of the country when the country in concept and principle was born to opposite dictatorships and opposite people not having the right to vote. I mean, you couldnt have had a more paradoxical week in terms of the optics he tried to project and the reality of what he did. Thats exactly right. Two things, as you illustrated. One, we are a nation of immigrants, and his behavior is completely inconsistent with that. The xenophobia that continues to be pedalled out of 1600 pennsylvania avenue we believe is intentional. The cruelty that you see along the u. S. mexico border at this point in time, one has to conclude is designed to create what some in the administration have said is a deterrent effect so that the families who are in the central american, northern triangle countries of guatemala, honduras and el salvador, would perhaps be concerned about sending their children into these type of horrendous conditions as opposed to the oasis of opportunity that the United States of america has traditionally been. You have a president who continues to play footsie with people, thuggish individuals like Vladimir Putin and mbs from saudi arabia and kim jongun from north korea. Donald trump clearly is a wannabe dictator with authoritarian tendencies and we have to take care of this National Nightmare by november of 2020 if not earlier. Well, im going to deal with that, of course, in the show from down here in new orleans, some of the contenders are here. I want also to drive home the point that this administration at the same time is insisting you mentioned immigration and its impact on this country and what it has meant to this country. At the same time, this president is fighting to put a Citizenship Question on the census, which directly could impact people of color communities, districting, nobody knows that better than you. At the same time theyre trying to fight to make sure that that question is still put on the census. Perhaps in defiance of a Supreme Court order certainly at this point, the spirit of that Supreme Court decision. Were going to continue to make sure that we do Everything Possible to ensure that that unnecessary, unamerican Citizenship Question does not make its way onto the census form. In the house of representatives i think youll see our fight to make sure that theres language in the spending and appropriation bill that we need to have signed into law in advance of october 1st, which is the start of the fiscal year, that would prohibit either the department of justice or department of commerce from expending any taxpayer dollars in support of that particular Citizenship Question. We also need to try to work toward uplifting this country as a nation of immigrants. We do have a broken immigration system. We do need comprehensive immigration reform. We should work on it in a bipartisan way, but we need allies other side of the aisle and the administration as opposed to hatred. All right. Im going to have to leave it there. New york congressman hakeem jeffries, thank you. Thank you, rev. Coming up, earlier today i interviewed several of the top 2020 candidates at the Essence Festival here in new orleans. My conversation with cory booker is next. Plus, a surprise from former Vice President joe biden reversing positions with an apology, an apology he refused to give weeks ago. Well be right back. Ours is a proud bloodline. We hail from the battlefields to the badlands. From the mountains and the midtowns. From the islands to the highlands. And directly to those who understand. That when you get behind the wheel of a jeep wrangler. Youre joining a family. Hurry in to the 4th of july sales event and get 500 additional bonus cash on select models. Visit jeep. Com we like drip coffee, layovers and waiting on hold. What we dont like is relying on fancy technology for help. Snail mail we were invited to a y2k party. Uh, didnt that happen, like, 20 years ago . Oh, look, karolyn, weve got a mathematician on our hands check it out now you can schedule a callback or reschedule an appointment, even on nights and weekends. Todays xfinity service. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Id rather not. Im live from new orleans this weekend to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Essence Festival, one of the largest annual gatherings of africanamericans in the country. Multiple top 2020 candidates dropped by the event and addressed the convention. One of whom was cory booker, the new jersey senator, who has recently found his footing with the debates last week as one of the main foils to frontrunner joe biden. Despite that, though, the latest numbers show booker continuing to poll in the low single digits. Earlier today i joined shelly banks, ceo of essence, and Sheryl Dennis to talk to the senator. And i got a chance to speak with them about the status of his campaign. Take a listen. You as mayor of newark have had to confront the issue of violence, violence against women, violence, period. I heard you talk about hearing gunfire out the window of your house, your apartment, but you still live in the hood in newark. What would you propose we deal with in terms of gun violence . Theres been 40 shootings over the weekend already, im told, in chicago. What could the president of the United States do about this gun violence in our communities . Well, ive said it already that faith without works is dead. And the challenge we have right now as the reverend said, there are communities like mine just about two weeks ago i had seven people shot in my neighborhood. Last year sha had smith, i will say his name, was killed with an Assault Rifle at the top of my block. Black men in this country are 6 of the nations population but we make up over 50 of the homicide victims. And every single day in america we have 100 people dying due to gun violence. Doing nothing is no longer acceptable because we have seen a country that when people are slaughtered at houses of worship from synagogues to churches, we do nothing. Weve seen in america where people are killed at a concert in vegas or a nightclub in florida, and we do nothing. Children being shot under desks in schools and we do nothing. And so i want everyone to know this is not just a policy issue for me. It is very personal. If i am your president , im going to bring a fight to the corporate gun lobby and the nra like they have never ever seen before. And i have challenged everyone running for president , i have put forth the boldest and farthestreaching policy agenda that will watch shootings drop in this country and i challenge everyone to step up with me. Right now youre seeing shootings in kmupts like mine, Mass Shootings in too many communities. We must act now before it happens in your community, in your church, to your family. The sworn oath of a president is to defend this nation. When weve had more people dying, reverend, in my lifetime due to gun violence than every single war combined from the revolutionary war to present, that the job of a president of the United States must be not just to fight this problem, but to make sure that we as a people win the fighting against gun violence. I will win that fight. [ applause ] we have also had the battle in the congress around President Trumps tax laws, which have benefited private corporations and the wealthy, and they talk about the economic gap with the rich and the poor, but they dont talk about the race gap because being poor black is different than being poor white, and getting access to capital with richard lui personifies that its different for blacks than whites. How would you deal with the race wealth gap and the race economic gap . We really cant have this conversation without talking about the historical roots of wealth inequality in our country. We are a nation right now that has savage inequalities. For every 106ds wealth in a white family, its 1 of wealth for a black family. What a lot of people forget is a lot of the things that allow families to build up wealth over the years through home ownership, through the gi bill and more, in many ways blacks were excluded from many of these opportunities with red linings and other policies designs. We have to deal with racial wealth inequalities in our country. If we dont speak to this problem, it will persist. In fact, the racial wealth gap over the last two decades has gotten wider and it has not closed. And so a lot of the policy ideas that i have dont just address poverty in general, but they also specifically get at this issue. And so when i talk about access to capital, home ownership, when i talk about entrepreneurialism, its there. Wealth in america is what helps you get ahead. So understand this. This has been my life work. Since i graduate from school going to communities like my city of newark that are too often overlooked and looked down upon or cast aside. I know that there is wealth in all communities in america, and we should not have a nation where some kids get opportunity and some dont, where some communities get Investment Capital and some dont. As your president , one of my driving purposes will be to address this issue, not with lip service, policies like baby bonds that actually address the actually issue and address the past economic harms that were purposely done because of White Supremacy and the persistence of racism in our. Unmy thanks to senator cory booker. Joining me now to unpack what weve just heard, democratic strategist and former Senate Leadership aide, joel pane, and republican strategist for vote for America President , chris pollone. You heard senator booker. Im sure you watched the debates. Where do you see the race at this point . Certainly we have seen the polls showing that former Vice President biden come down but still in first place. Booker not really moving, but Kamala Harris and Elizabeth Warren really seem to have a little traction, a lot of traction according to the real clear politics poll which i have on the screen. Harris is up to number two at 15. 2 . Warren, 13. 8 . Bernie sanders somewhere in the middle. How do you handicap the race right now and what effect will this have on this president . I certainly think theres a long way to go, obviously, in the election. Going back to what senator booker stated regarding baby bonds, which essentially is government funding savings account for children. He talked about having access to capital. If you dont understand how the utilize capital and is the resources r it doesnt matter. We have to focus on a more comprehensive plan in terms of educating financial literacy. Are you suggesting that black and brown entrepreneurs dont know what to do with capital . Thats not what im saying. Hes not talking about entrepreneurs. Hes talking about everyday