Transcripts For WMUR Matter Of Fact With Fernando Espuelas 2

New hampshire voters break late and they often break together plus, while washington weighs in, outrage overflows in flint. Can mayor karen weaver save her city . I m going to talk to whoever i have to talk to. All the way up to the white house. And, offense, defense and special teams. Why the super bowl is the perfect pregame show for super tuesday. Fernando i m fernando espuelas. Welcome to matter of fact. New hampshire voters are making their final decisions in the nation s first primary on with endorsements. One conservative news leader in manchester made a surprising choice, backing governor Chris Christie for president. The publisher of the state s largest newspaper, the new repeated jabs from donald trump , who called him a lowlife. The paper has not backed down, and today we talk to the Editorial Page Editor grant bosse, who joins us from manchester. Grant, welcome to the program. Grant fernando, great to be with you. New hampshire is getting ready for super bowl tuesday. Fernando yeah, no doubt. so, give us a picture on what s going on, sort of the big picture. What movement are you seeing among the candidates . Grant well, New Hampshire voters break late and they often break together, so i think we re going to see one candidate, on the republican field, probably get a lot of that latebreaking, last 48 hour vote. Of course, they make up their minds in the last 48 hours. We don t know who they are going with. There s a big fight among the governors for one seat left at table between governors Chris Christie, jeb bush and john kasich to move on and be viable. And on the democratic side, you re seeing Bernie Sanders way, way ahead but nobody thinks this is going to be a 20 point race. Fernando well, you mentioned your newspaper endorsed him. What s happening with him . And if you could share, very briefly, why you think he is the man . Grant well, he s been tested. He s been a u. S. Attorney, prosecuting government corruption, terrorism cases. He s been a governor that tackled tax reform. He vetoed every tax increase that came to his desk. We think he s shown how he will perform in office against some pretty impressive freshman senators who, frankly, don t have that record of leadership. Just, that they haven t been around as long to prove it. Fernando and i understand that the publisher of your newspaper has been attacked as well because of this endorsement . So what s really going on . Grant yeah, the new jersey of Chris Christie that didn t like our endorsement too much. We had some very strong opinions on mr. Trump t like that too much. So, when you go out there and have strong opinions as we do at the union leader, some people it s all part of the primary. Thank you so much for joining me grant thanks, Fernando Fernando we now turn to carl cannon, Washington Bureau chief for real clear politics, who knows firsthand the political terrain in New Hampshire. Carl, welcome back to the program. Carl thank you, it s pleasure to be here. Fernando so a lot of exciting things are happening in the next few weeks. Obviously New Hampshire right away, and then also South Carolina, then nevada. How are you war gaming this . How do you see it . What do you think is going to be happening . Carl well, look, we re the news business. We re like the candidates; it s like a video game, this stuff is just coming at us, right . New hampshire first. Two days from now, the New Hampshire primary will answer a lot of these questions we have. Bernie sanders and hillary clinton, on the democratic side, a tie in iowa, right . Nothing was decided. Right . Bernie sanders wins there, maybe you have a race. Maybe you actually have, instead of a coronation on the democratic side, an argument over the future of the Democratic Party between two candidates, who you know have accomplished a lot in politics. Fernando you look at the republican side, maybe a bit of a surprise that ted cruz overwhelmed trump, relative to the polls anyway. What do you think will happen in New Hampshire . Is the ground game that trump has or doesn t have is going to be important there . Carl look, a ground game s important in New Hampshire, too. Not as important as iowa, a caucus state. Trump and cruz sort of flip flopped. They were running one two and it came out 12 the other way. The real story there was marco rubio, really outperformed his polls and came a very strong third, much closer to trump than trump was to cruz. So you have these three people coming out of iowa with momentum. In New Hampshire, trump s got advantages he didn t have in iowa. For one thing, it s a primary. That s just different. You can go vote. You don t have go at 7 00. You can go anytime, all day long. And the other thing is, it s an open primary. Fernando democrats can switch, republicans can carl democrats. There s nobody in iowa who s a democrat that went to the republican caucus. You just don t do that. But plenty of democrats vote, although sanders may keep them. Keep running into these people, fernando, and they ll tell you at these rallies, i m either voting for trump or sanders. Now, in washington, we go what . This a very confused person. Maybe not. It s the opposite side of populism, but it s populism, things are broken, the little man s getting screwed. Sanders has it identified that it s wall street, big government. Trump has these other bogeymen, but same sort of emotional appeal. So you re going to have cross over votes in New Hampshire. Fernando and, very quickly as we wrap up, when you look at trump S Performance in iowa, can you extrapolate anything toward New Hampshire . In other words, he s ahead in the polls, obviously there s a different mechanism as you pointed out. Do you think he has a chance of winning . Carl i do. He was leading narrowly in iowa. He s leading more in the polls, in the realclearpolitics average, in New Hampshire than he was in iowa, and in South Carolina he s even more than New Hampshire. There s no reason to think that support is going to hemorrhage. The real contest may be between fernando the governors. Carl the governors and cruz and marco rubio, who are bunched there. Kasich, jeb, marco, cruz, between 12 points and 10 points, and one of them wants to finish second and they may get the most momentum. But, there s no reason to think trump is going to lose New Hampshire. Fernando well, carl, thank you so much. Really appreciate your insights. Coming up, the water crisis brings flint to a breaking point. We can not guarantee at this point that the water is safe to drink. A nation turns to the mayor for answers. Nobody d hi, im Henry Winkler and im here to tell homeowners that are sixtytwo and older about a great way to live a better retirement. Its called a reverse mortgage. Call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. It answers questions like. How a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money. And more. Youll get this magnifier with led light absolutely free when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today, youll learn the benefits of a governmentinsured reverse mortgage. It will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you taxfree cash from the equity in your home and heres the best part. You still own your home. Take control of your retirement today rep. Chaffetz the public has a right to be outraged. Outraged doesn t even begin to cover it. Fernando that s representative jason chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight committee, summing up public sentiment as congress confronts the crisis in flint, michigan. It an entire city hostage. We sent jessica jallings gomez to flint for a conversation with mayor karen weaver about the city s struggle to survive. Mayor weaver when i drive through flint, i have a range of emotions. Some days, i am disappointed about what happened. Jessica flint mayor karen weaver, just three months into a brandnew career. Mayor weaver i know what happened here in flint, nobody deserves. Jessica a cost saving measure put high levels of lead contamination into water pipes, exposing tens of thousands of people, among them 9000 children. Mayor weaver this has been a breakdown in government. A breakdown in oversight. Then it was a coverup. Jessica while state and federal help has arrived, as well as private donations, the city is mayor weaver it is really sad. If somebody wanted to move, who will want to buy their house . The Property Value has plummeted. Jessica mayor weaver says the city needs more than bottled water and filtration systems. Mayor weaver we need Service Lines replaced. Homes that have kids under six, pregnant women, homes identified as high lead, those with elderly or compromised immune systems, that s a way to get started. The state has to step up and owned this, but this is bigger than the state as far as resources. Jessica while she is still outraged, she is also inspired. Mayor weaver there are parts of me when i drive through flint i am optimistic, happy. There will be better and brighter days ahead. Jessica as the fingerpointing continues over just who is responsible for the water crisis, a president ial democratic debate has been scheduled here for march. Mayor weaver says that so far the only president ial candidate to contact her directly is in flint, michigan, i am jessica gomes. Fernando no one knows the real cost of this disaster. By any measure, it could have been worse if it hadn t been for a Virginia Tech professor who felt compelled to fight for the children of flint. I spoke with citizen scientist marc edwards via skype about why he took up the their cause. Professor, welcome to the program. Professor edwards thank you for having me. Fernando sir, in this terrible tragedy in flint, you seem to be the one hope of a hero, maybe, if i m not overstating it. How did you get involved . Professor edwards well, there s actually so many heroes involved , and we were just helping them, frankly. The Flint Residents figured out on their own that their water had high lead in it because their children got lead poisoned and their growth was essentially stunted. So a mother did this all on her the state was not following federal law in terms of corrosion control, and so we got involved just to help them in terms of monitoring their water for safety. Fernando but you also, sir, i understand, you put a tremendous amount of your own resources into play. Why did you do that . Professor edwards once we realized that no one would help them, the people who are paid to protect them were not going to do their job, we went all in for flint. We formed a team of 25 people. We worked alongside Flint Residents to test every aspect of their water and we found lead and high levels of legionella, at least in large buildings, and so that s the Health Dimension of the tragedy. Thankfully, we were able to stop worse. Ve just been appointed by the governor of michigan, who has been heavily criticized for his inaction, or his team s inaction you are now on this commission to try to resolve this. I m a little mystified by the threeyear window to reporting. So what s job one . What are you trying to achieve immediately to try to help the citizens . Professor edwards what we have to do is make sure Flint Residents stay protected, they keep using their filters and bottled water in the short term. In the longer term, we ve got to try to get help for flint s children. On top of that, we have to grapple with this manmade disaster to flint s critical infrastructure, which was also permanently damaged by this, and probably had anywhere from 40 million to 200 million of damage. It is an interesting legal and ethical problem of how to resolve all of those problems, because there is no precedent. Fernando professor, thank you so much for joining me today. Professor edwards thank you. Fernando professor edwards tells me he s satisfied with the public apology of governor rick snyder. Edwards added that elected officials were misled by bureaucrats, calling it a endangered the people of flint. Next, why the president did something he s never done before president obama we ve heard inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim Americans the political fallout after his visit to a mosque. And, applaud, if you think the super bowl is a lot like politics. Governor bush please clap. Heres the truth some have proposed to cut Social Security for the elderly and disabled vets. I disagree. In fact, not only should we not cut benefits we should expand them. My plan for Social Security increases benefits and cost of living adjustments and raises minimum payments for lowincome seniors. It will ensure that all seniors can retire with dignity and respect. Im Bernie Sanders, from postal workers to nurses. Hes been endorsed for real change Bernie Sanders. Endorsed by friends of the earth action as a bold, fearless voice for the planet. The nation endorses bernie you can trust sanders because he doesnt owe his political career to the financial overlords. The nashua telegraph declares hes not beholden to wall street money. The valley news says, sanders has been genuinely outraged about the treatment of ordinary americans for as long as we can remember. Im Bernie Sanders and i approve this message. President obama an attack on one face is an attack on one faith is an attack on all our face. Faiths. Fernando living with fear and bigotry is a reality for most american muslims. According to a poll released by pew research, almost half of american s believe that u. S. Muslims are antiamerican. Anushay hossain is a journalist who has dealt with the prejudice. As you know, a tremendous amount of rhetoric, antimuslim rhetoric, in the campaign right now and lot of people are responding to it negatively and some, unfortunately, positively. How does that impact you, m interested in sort of the human dimension of this, not the abstraction. Anushay you know, it affects us a lot. It affects us a lot. Women i know, scholars, family members, any woman that covers, even if you re just wearing the head scarf, yelled at, pushed at on the street. And you know, in washington it s really personal because we have so many think tanks, and muslims are in the government. I mean, these are our policy makers, these are our average citizens. Fernando soldiers. Anushay soldiers. Exactly. President obama pointed out yesterday, even our i. T. Staff. But, it s been terrible, i think especially for the muslims that are most visible, which sadly are men with beards and women who cover. Fernando let me ask, you mentioned president obama. He spoke at a mosque. What did that mean to you . Anushay his rhetoric has always been great. People might, you know he s even been accused of being a muslim. [laughter] so it was funny to note that, wow, he actually has never spoken from a u. S. Mosque, not to say he hasn t visited mosques when he s been overseas. But i think it obama. He s kind of had to maneuver allegations of being a muslim while standing up for muslims. Fernando that s kind of a funny phrase in itself. No one says allegations, like no one says allegations of being a catholic or anything like that. So, when you look forward, how will this rhetoric impact america . How do you think this rhetoric gets dialed back . Anushay so i think the conversation, the fact that you and i are talking about it. The fact that Mainstream Media is asking, how do muslims feel . Is this true . Yes, there is some uncomfortable questions and stereotypes that are being raised in the midst of all of this, but i think there is a silver lining, which Muslim Americans are coming forth. We re saying, no, this is not acceptable. We re speaking out more than ever, and we re kind of reclaiming the narrative. You can t be dismissive of the fact that the president of the United States spent over 40 minutes at a mosque preaching love, respect. It s important. Almost a technical question, i guess, but where he spoke, women are not allowed to speak. So, how should we interpret that as americans . The president of the United States goes to a place where, effectively, half of the can t be. Anushay that is such a fantastic question. And you know, as a muslim, feminist, american, bangladeshi, i don t know what else, mom . Writer, anything else you can throw at me. It s conflicting. We re not only denied pray or lead prayer, but we re denied to be in the central parts of the mosque. It s like going to vatican and you get to pray in the great hall room in the front, and i get to pray behind the bathroom in the back. But i think one step at a time. He can t go to the mosque and say, feminism, women in islam, antiamericanism, everything. So one step at a time. I think it s good that you asked that question, and people need to ask it because it had. Fernando most democrats and republicans agreed with one question in the pew survey discrimination against muslims in america is on the rise. Just ahead, from the Playing Field to the campaign trail, how labels could limit these trailblazers. And, taking politics to the grave. The twitterverse explodes with dying wishes. Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmmhmm theyve all come to look for america to look for america all come to look for america im Bernie Sanders, the wall street banks meltdown goldman sachs. Just settled with authorities for their part in the crisis that put seven million out of work and millions out of their homes. How does wall street get away with it . Millions in Chris Christie<\/a> for president. The publisher of the state s largest newspaper, the new repeated jabs from donald trump , who called him a lowlife. The paper has not backed down, and today we talk to the Editorial Page Editor<\/a> grant bosse, who joins us from manchester. Grant, welcome to the program. Grant fernando, great to be with you. New hampshire is getting ready for super bowl tuesday. Fernando yeah, no doubt. so, give us a picture on what s going on, sort of the big picture. What movement are you seeing among the candidates . Grant well, New Hampshire<\/a> voters break late and they often break together, so i think we re going to see one candidate, on the republican field, probably get a lot of that latebreaking, last 48 hour vote. Of course, they make up their minds in the last 48 hours. We don t know who they are going with. There s a big fight among the governors for one seat left at table between governors Chris Christie<\/a>, jeb bush and john kasich to move on and be viable. And on the democratic side, you re seeing Bernie Sanders<\/a> way, way ahead but nobody thinks this is going to be a 20 point race. Fernando well, you mentioned your newspaper endorsed him. What s happening with him . And if you could share, very briefly, why you think he is the man . Grant well, he s been tested. He s been a u. S. Attorney, prosecuting government corruption, terrorism cases. He s been a governor that tackled tax reform. He vetoed every tax increase that came to his desk. We think he s shown how he will perform in office against some pretty impressive freshman senators who, frankly, don t have that record of leadership. Just, that they haven t been around as long to prove it. Fernando and i understand that the publisher of your newspaper has been attacked as well because of this endorsement . So what s really going on . Grant yeah, the new jersey of Chris Christie<\/a> that didn t like our endorsement too much. We had some very strong opinions on mr. Trump t like that too much. So, when you go out there and have strong opinions as we do at the union leader, some people it s all part of the primary. Thank you so much for joining me grant thanks, Fernando Fernando<\/a> we now turn to carl cannon, Washington Bureau<\/a> chief for real clear politics, who knows firsthand the political terrain in New Hampshire<\/a>. Carl, welcome back to the program. Carl thank you, it s pleasure to be here. Fernando so a lot of exciting things are happening in the next few weeks. Obviously New Hampshire<\/a> right away, and then also South Carolina<\/a>, then nevada. How are you war gaming this . How do you see it . What do you think is going to be happening . Carl well, look, we re the news business. We re like the candidates; it s like a video game, this stuff is just coming at us, right . New hampshire first. Two days from now, the New Hampshire<\/a> primary will answer a lot of these questions we have. Bernie sanders and hillary clinton, on the democratic side, a tie in iowa, right . Nothing was decided. Right . Bernie sanders wins there, maybe you have a race. Maybe you actually have, instead of a coronation on the democratic side, an argument over the future of the Democratic Party<\/a> between two candidates, who you know have accomplished a lot in politics. Fernando you look at the republican side, maybe a bit of a surprise that ted cruz overwhelmed trump, relative to the polls anyway. What do you think will happen in New Hampshire<\/a> . Is the ground game that trump has or doesn t have is going to be important there . Carl look, a ground game s important in New Hampshire<\/a>, too. Not as important as iowa, a caucus state. Trump and cruz sort of flip flopped. They were running one two and it came out 12 the other way. The real story there was marco rubio, really outperformed his polls and came a very strong third, much closer to trump than trump was to cruz. So you have these three people coming out of iowa with momentum. In New Hampshire<\/a>, trump s got advantages he didn t have in iowa. For one thing, it s a primary. That s just different. You can go vote. You don t have go at 7 00. You can go anytime, all day long. And the other thing is, it s an open primary. Fernando democrats can switch, republicans can carl democrats. There s nobody in iowa who s a democrat that went to the republican caucus. You just don t do that. But plenty of democrats vote, although sanders may keep them. Keep running into these people, fernando, and they ll tell you at these rallies, i m either voting for trump or sanders. Now, in washington, we go what . This a very confused person. Maybe not. It s the opposite side of populism, but it s populism, things are broken, the little man s getting screwed. Sanders has it identified that it s wall street, big government. Trump has these other bogeymen, but same sort of emotional appeal. So you re going to have cross over votes in New Hampshire<\/a>. Fernando and, very quickly as we wrap up, when you look at trump S Performance<\/a> in iowa, can you extrapolate anything toward New Hampshire<\/a> . In other words, he s ahead in the polls, obviously there s a different mechanism as you pointed out. Do you think he has a chance of winning . Carl i do. He was leading narrowly in iowa. He s leading more in the polls, in the realclearpolitics average, in New Hampshire<\/a> than he was in iowa, and in South Carolina<\/a> he s even more than New Hampshire<\/a>. There s no reason to think that support is going to hemorrhage. The real contest may be between fernando the governors. Carl the governors and cruz and marco rubio, who are bunched there. Kasich, jeb, marco, cruz, between 12 points and 10 points, and one of them wants to finish second and they may get the most momentum. But, there s no reason to think trump is going to lose New Hampshire<\/a>. Fernando well, carl, thank you so much. Really appreciate your insights. Coming up, the water crisis brings flint to a breaking point. We can not guarantee at this point that the water is safe to drink. A nation turns to the mayor for answers. Nobody d hi, im Henry Winkler<\/a> and im here to tell homeowners that are sixtytwo and older about a great way to live a better retirement. Its called a reverse mortgage. Call right now to receive your free dvd and booklet with no obligation. It answers questions like. How a reverse mortgage works, how much you qualify for, the ways to receive your money. And more. Youll get this magnifier with led light absolutely free when you call the experts at one reverse mortgage today, youll learn the benefits of a governmentinsured reverse mortgage. It will eliminate your monthly mortgage payments and give you taxfree cash from the equity in your home and heres the best part. You still own your home. Take control of your retirement today rep. Chaffetz the public has a right to be outraged. Outraged doesn t even begin to cover it. Fernando that s representative jason chaffetz, chairman of the House Oversight<\/a> committee, summing up public sentiment as congress confronts the crisis in flint, michigan. It an entire city hostage. We sent jessica jallings gomez to flint for a conversation with mayor karen weaver about the city s struggle to survive. Mayor weaver when i drive through flint, i have a range of emotions. Some days, i am disappointed about what happened. Jessica flint mayor karen weaver, just three months into a brandnew career. Mayor weaver i know what happened here in flint, nobody deserves. Jessica a cost saving measure put high levels of lead contamination into water pipes, exposing tens of thousands of people, among them 9000 children. Mayor weaver this has been a breakdown in government. A breakdown in oversight. Then it was a coverup. Jessica while state and federal help has arrived, as well as private donations, the city is mayor weaver it is really sad. If somebody wanted to move, who will want to buy their house . The Property Value<\/a> has plummeted. Jessica mayor weaver says the city needs more than bottled water and filtration systems. Mayor weaver we need Service Lines<\/a> replaced. Homes that have kids under six, pregnant women, homes identified as high lead, those with elderly or compromised immune systems, that s a way to get started. The state has to step up and owned this, but this is bigger than the state as far as resources. Jessica while she is still outraged, she is also inspired. Mayor weaver there are parts of me when i drive through flint i am optimistic, happy. There will be better and brighter days ahead. Jessica as the fingerpointing continues over just who is responsible for the water crisis, a president ial democratic debate has been scheduled here for march. Mayor weaver says that so far the only president ial candidate to contact her directly is in flint, michigan, i am jessica gomes. Fernando no one knows the real cost of this disaster. By any measure, it could have been worse if it hadn t been for a Virginia Tech<\/a> professor who felt compelled to fight for the children of flint. I spoke with citizen scientist marc edwards via skype about why he took up the their cause. Professor, welcome to the program. Professor edwards thank you for having me. Fernando sir, in this terrible tragedy in flint, you seem to be the one hope of a hero, maybe, if i m not overstating it. How did you get involved . Professor edwards well, there s actually so many heroes involved , and we were just helping them, frankly. The Flint Residents<\/a> figured out on their own that their water had high lead in it because their children got lead poisoned and their growth was essentially stunted. So a mother did this all on her the state was not following federal law in terms of corrosion control, and so we got involved just to help them in terms of monitoring their water for safety. Fernando but you also, sir, i understand, you put a tremendous amount of your own resources into play. Why did you do that . Professor edwards once we realized that no one would help them, the people who are paid to protect them were not going to do their job, we went all in for flint. We formed a team of 25 people. We worked alongside Flint Residents<\/a> to test every aspect of their water and we found lead and high levels of legionella, at least in large buildings, and so that s the Health Dimension<\/a> of the tragedy. Thankfully, we were able to stop worse. Ve just been appointed by the governor of michigan, who has been heavily criticized for his inaction, or his team s inaction you are now on this commission to try to resolve this. I m a little mystified by the threeyear window to reporting. So what s job one . What are you trying to achieve immediately to try to help the citizens . Professor edwards what we have to do is make sure Flint Residents<\/a> stay protected, they keep using their filters and bottled water in the short term. In the longer term, we ve got to try to get help for flint s children. On top of that, we have to grapple with this manmade disaster to flint s critical infrastructure, which was also permanently damaged by this, and probably had anywhere from 40 million to 200 million of damage. It is an interesting legal and ethical problem of how to resolve all of those problems, because there is no precedent. Fernando professor, thank you so much for joining me today. Professor edwards thank you. Fernando professor edwards tells me he s satisfied with the public apology of governor rick snyder. Edwards added that elected officials were misled by bureaucrats, calling it a endangered the people of flint. Next, why the president did something he s never done before president obama we ve heard inexcusable political rhetoric against Muslim Americans<\/a> the political fallout after his visit to a mosque. And, applaud, if you think the super bowl is a lot like politics. Governor bush please clap. Heres the truth some have proposed to cut Social Security<\/a> for the elderly and disabled vets. I disagree. In fact, not only should we not cut benefits we should expand them. My plan for Social Security<\/a> increases benefits and cost of living adjustments and raises minimum payments for lowincome seniors. It will ensure that all seniors can retire with dignity and respect. Im Bernie Sanders<\/a>, from postal workers to nurses. Hes been endorsed for real change Bernie Sanders<\/a>. Endorsed by friends of the earth action as a bold, fearless voice for the planet. The nation endorses bernie you can trust sanders because he doesnt owe his political career to the financial overlords. The nashua telegraph declares hes not beholden to wall street money. The valley news says, sanders has been genuinely outraged about the treatment of ordinary americans for as long as we can remember. Im Bernie Sanders<\/a> and i approve this message. President obama an attack on one face is an attack on one faith is an attack on all our face. Faiths. Fernando living with fear and bigotry is a reality for most american muslims. According to a poll released by pew research, almost half of american s believe that u. S. Muslims are antiamerican. Anushay hossain is a journalist who has dealt with the prejudice. As you know, a tremendous amount of rhetoric, antimuslim rhetoric, in the campaign right now and lot of people are responding to it negatively and some, unfortunately, positively. How does that impact you, m interested in sort of the human dimension of this, not the abstraction. Anushay you know, it affects us a lot. It affects us a lot. Women i know, scholars, family members, any woman that covers, even if you re just wearing the head scarf, yelled at, pushed at on the street. And you know, in washington it s really personal because we have so many think tanks, and muslims are in the government. I mean, these are our policy makers, these are our average citizens. Fernando soldiers. Anushay soldiers. Exactly. President obama pointed out yesterday, even our i. T. Staff. But, it s been terrible, i think especially for the muslims that are most visible, which sadly are men with beards and women who cover. Fernando let me ask, you mentioned president obama. He spoke at a mosque. What did that mean to you . Anushay his rhetoric has always been great. People might, you know he s even been accused of being a muslim. [laughter] so it was funny to note that, wow, he actually has never spoken from a u. S. Mosque, not to say he hasn t visited mosques when he s been overseas. But i think it obama. He s kind of had to maneuver allegations of being a muslim while standing up for muslims. Fernando that s kind of a funny phrase in itself. No one says allegations, like no one says allegations of being a catholic or anything like that. So, when you look forward, how will this rhetoric impact america . How do you think this rhetoric gets dialed back . Anushay so i think the conversation, the fact that you and i are talking about it. The fact that Mainstream Media<\/a> is asking, how do muslims feel . Is this true . Yes, there is some uncomfortable questions and stereotypes that are being raised in the midst of all of this, but i think there is a silver lining, which Muslim Americans<\/a> are coming forth. We re saying, no, this is not acceptable. We re speaking out more than ever, and we re kind of reclaiming the narrative. You can t be dismissive of the fact that the president of the United States<\/a> spent over 40 minutes at a mosque preaching love, respect. It s important. Almost a technical question, i guess, but where he spoke, women are not allowed to speak. So, how should we interpret that as americans . The president of the United States<\/a> goes to a place where, effectively, half of the can t be. Anushay that is such a fantastic question. And you know, as a muslim, feminist, american, bangladeshi, i don t know what else, mom . Writer, anything else you can throw at me. It s conflicting. We re not only denied pray or lead prayer, but we re denied to be in the central parts of the mosque. It s like going to vatican and you get to pray in the great hall room in the front, and i get to pray behind the bathroom in the back. But i think one step at a time. He can t go to the mosque and say, feminism, women in islam, antiamericanism, everything. So one step at a time. I think it s good that you asked that question, and people need to ask it because it had. Fernando most democrats and republicans agreed with one question in the pew survey discrimination against muslims in america is on the rise. Just ahead, from the Playing Field<\/a> to the campaign trail, how labels could limit these trailblazers. And, taking politics to the grave. The twitterverse explodes with dying wishes. Hmm hmm hmm hmm hmmhmm theyve all come to look for america to look for america all come to look for america im Bernie Sanders<\/a>, the wall street banks meltdown goldman sachs. Just settled with authorities for their part in the crisis that put seven million out of work and millions out of their homes. How does wall street get away with it . Millions in Campaign Contributions<\/a> and speaking fees. Our economy works for wall street because its riggedt by wall street. And thats the problem. As long as washington is bought and paid for, we cant build an economy that works for people. Sanders im Bernie Sanders<\/a>, fernando there are few National Communal<\/a> experiences these days. Few. The super bowl is one of them. The oscars another. President ial elections, the most important. The super bowl and the oscars are not without their own america s strengths and problems. Cam newton, carolina s allpro quarterback, is young, hip, and black. He has an easy manner that turns serious when asked about the relevance of an africanamerican quarterback appearing in the nfl s championship game. You asked me a question about africanamerican, or being black it is bigger than that. Fernando newton is not the first black quarterback to lead a team to the super bowl. More than once this week, he told reporters that the black we limit ourselves when we label ourselves. Fernando it s a sentiment shared by Hollywood Alisters<\/a> who say the lack of diversity among oscar nominees raises similar questions. This is about children that are going to sit down and they are not going to see themselves represented. Fernando are we limiting truthtelling in films if they don t depict the participation of people of color in American Life<\/a> . America is obsessed with firsts, with accomplishments too often viewed as exceptions. Election of barack obama. Now we talk about having two latino candidates in the top tier of republican candidates. We might elect a woman, or a Jewish Democratic<\/a> socialist any of those would be firsts. Labels . When will we stop endorsing limits . I tweet the show, matteroffacttv. Check in on facebook or connect with our video site to view and share videos from all our programs. When we return, dying to get your vote. Hes been endorsed for real change Bernie Sanders<\/a>. Action as a bold, fearless voice for the planet. The nation endorses bernie saying, you can trust sanders because he doesnt owe his political career to the financial overlords. Hes not beholden to wall street money. The valley news says, sanders has been about the treatment of for as long as we can remember. Im Bernie Sanders<\/a> and i approve this message. Fernando a parting thought today, that gave us pause. We noted a trend in social media that gives new meaning to the expression, dying wish. We spotted retweets of obituaries like this where a new one, jersey woman asks, in lieu of flowers, don t vote for hillary. Or this one. Where the family of a North Carolina<\/a> man respectfully asks you not to vote for hillary in 2016. And it s not a conservative trend. It s bipartisan. One atlanta man s final request, please don t vote for trump. The same message sent by this pittsburgh man. Now, not all obituaries have gone negative. Apparently much appreciated by donald trump, who retweeted this one saying, thank you so much. Ernest must have been a great person. Thank you for joining us today. I m fernando espuelas, and we ll see you again next week for matter of fact. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its rin the middle of a time when senior povertyt is increasing. Republicans and some democratsp came up with a brilliant idea for cutting costofliving adjustments for Social Security<\/a>. We said, it will be over our dead bodies if you cut Social Security<\/a>. As president , i will do everything i can to extend the solvency of Social Security<\/a> and expand benefits for people who desperately need them. Im Bernie Sanders<\/a>,","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"archive.org","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","width":"800","height":"600","url":"\/\/ia601609.us.archive.org\/17\/items\/WMUR_20160207_180000_Matter_of_Fact_With_Fernando_Espuelas\/WMUR_20160207_180000_Matter_of_Fact_With_Fernando_Espuelas.thumbs\/WMUR_20160207_180000_Matter_of_Fact_With_Fernando_Espuelas_000001.jpg"}},"autauthor":{"@type":"Organization"},"author":{"sameAs":"archive.org","name":"archive.org"}}],"coverageEndTime":"20240624T12:35:10+00:00"}