WE’RE KEEPING OUR EYES OUT, CHRIS.
CHRIS. >> KEITH ELLISON, THANK YOU.
>> THANK YOU.
>>> MY NEXT GUEST IS A LONG TIME
REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST WHO JUST
QUIT THE GOP AFTER ALMOST 30
YEARS OVER THE PRESIDENT’S
IMMIGRATION POLICY.
IMMIGRATION POLICY. IN A TWEET STORM LAST WEEK,
STEVE SCHMIDT WROTE THIS
INDEPENDENT PARTY WILL BE
ALIGNED WITH THE ONLY PARTY LEFT
IN AMERICA THAT STANDS FOR WHAT
IS RIGHT AND DECENT.
THAT PARTY IS THE DEMOCRATIC
PARTY.
PARTY. AND MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR STEVE
SCHMIDT JOINS ME RIGHT HERE.
>> GOOD TO SEE YOU CHRIS.
>> FIRST I WANT TO TALK ABOUT
THAT.
THAT. THE KIND OF BREAKING POINT FOR
YOU.
YOU. YOU’VE BEEN A NEVER TRUMPER.
THAT’S BEEN CLEAR.
TES A GROUP OF PEOPLE THAT I
THINK HAVE VERY STRONG VIEWS
ABOUT THIS INDIVIDUAL, THIS
PRESIDENT AND HIS CHARACTER.
THEN THERE’S A QUESTION AT WHICH
POINT THAT BECOMES TRUE ABOUT
EVERYONE IN LEAGUE WITH HIM.
WHAT WAS THE BREAKING POINT FOR
YOU?
YOU? >> I HAD THE EXPERIENCE ON JUNE
5th STANDING ON JUNO BEACH AND
SPENDING TIME IN THE CANADIAN
CEMETERY SPENDING TIME AT
PEGASUS BRIDGE WHERE THE BRITISH
6th AIRBORNE WENT IN AND
UNDERSTANDING THE VALUE OF THE
U.S.-LED LIBERAL GLOBAL ORDER
THAT EMERGED FROM THE AFTERMATH
OF HUMANITY’S GREATEST TRAGEDY
WHICH KILLED 80 MILLION PEOPLE
AND LEFT THE WORLD IN RUINS.
THAT LIBERAL GLOBAL ORDER IS
WORTH DEFENDING.
WORTH DEFENDING. THIS PRESIDENT IS AN AUTOCRAT.
HE IS NOT A SMALL D DEMOCRAT.
HE DOESN’T BELIEVE IN LIBERAL
DEMOCRACY.
DEMOCRACY. AND WHAT WE’RE SEEING HERE EVERY
DAY ARE FIVE BEHAVIORS, ONE, HE
INCITES FERVOR IN A BASE THROUGH
CONSTANT LYING.
CONSTANT LYING. TWO, HE SCAPEGOATS MINORITY
POPULATIONS AND HE AFFIXES BLAME
FOR COMPLEX PROBLEMS TO THEM AND
THEM ALONE.
THEM ALONE. THREE, HE ALLEGES CONSPIRACIES
THAT ARE HIDDEN AND NEFARIOUS
AND LINKED TO THOSE SCAPEGOATED
POPULATIONS.
POPULATIONS. FOUR, HE SPREADS A SENSE OF
VICTIMIZATIONS AMONG THOSE FER
PER VENT SUPPORTERS.
AND FIVE, HE AN SERS THE NEED TO
EXERT HERETOFORE UNPRECEDENTED
POWER TO PROTECT HIS VICTIM
CLASS FROM THE CONSPIRACIES AND
THE SCAPEGOATED POPULATIONS.
THROUGH ALL OF HISTORY, YOU
UNDERSTAND TOTALITARIANISM, YOU
UNDERSTAND HOW DEMOCRACIES FALL.
YOU WILL FIND THOSE FIVE
BEHAVIORS.
BEHAVIORS. NOW, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AND
THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY I WOULD
ARGUE AND YOU AND I DISAGREE ON
MANY MANY THINGS BUT WE ARE
FIDELITIOUS TO LIBERAL
DEMOCRACY.
DEMOCRACY. >> THAT’S TRUE.
>> THAT GOVERNMENT OF THE
PEOPLE, BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE
PEOPLE MUST CONTINUE.
AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY
ABDICATED, CONSERVATIVE MIX HAS
BECOME SYNONYM MUS WITH
OBEDIENCE TO THE LEADER A LEADER
WHO SAYS I AM THE LAW.
I AM ABOVE THE LAW.
I WILL DEFINE WHAT TRUTH IS,
TRUTH IS WHAT THE LEADER SAYS IT
IS.
IS. NOT WHAT WE WOULD HAVE
RECOGNIZED MONTHS AGO AS
OBJECTIVE TRUTH.
OBJECTIVE TRUTH. SO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS
BECOME A THREAT TO LIBERAL
DEMOCRACY AND ALL OVER THE
WORLD, WE SEE A REGRESSION IN
POLAND, IN HUNGARY, THE RISE OF
FAR RIGHT ETH-NATIONALIST
PARTIES AND THE LAST TIME THIS
HAPPENED, IT UNLEASHED A TRAGEDY
THE LIKES OF WHICH THE WORLD HAS
NEVER SEEN.
NEVER SEEN. AND I THINK THERE’S A REAL LACK
OF IMAGINATION IN THIS COUNTRY
ABOUT HOW FRAGILE THESE
INSTITUTIONS ARE AND ABOUT HOW
DANGEROUS A PRESIDENT IS
UNPREPARED AS AUTHORITARIAN AS
IGNORANT AS HE THE DAMAGE THAT
HE WOULD BE ABLE TO CAUSE.
>> THAT’S INCREDIBLY WELL SAID.
AND WHEN I THINK ABOUT THIS AND
YOU THINK ABOUT THOSE BEHAVIORS
THEY
THEY EEM SO OBVIOUS.
AND HERE YOU HAVE TODAY THE
COURT, THIS IS WHAT I FOUND SO
FASCINATING ABOUT THE COURT’S
DECISION TODAY.
DECISION TODAY. IF DONALD TRUMP WASN’T DONALD
TRUMP AND PRESIDENT MARCO RUBIO
ON KAY ONE PUTS IN THIS BAN, IT
ALMOST CERTAINLY IT’S NOT EVEN A
QUESTION.
QUESTION. THE QUESTION IS, DOES WHAT THIS
GUY HAS SAID AND THE BIGOTRY
HE’S ESPOUSED TAINT IN A KINDS
OF UNFIXABLE WAY
CONSTITUTIONALLY THIS BAN.
WE ALL SAW IT HAPPEN IN
REALTIME.
REALTIME. IT’S REMARKABLE YOU HAVE GORSUCH
AND ROBERTS WHO IS SOMETHING YOU
WORKED ON HIS CONFIRMATION.
>> I LED THE CONFIRMATION.
>> BEAK DOING A KIND OF
SOPHISTICATED VERSION OF THE
PAUL RYAN I DIDN’T READ THE
TWEET.
TWEET. THEY ALL READ THE PAPER AND SO
THE FACTS OF THE CASE.
>> THE INTENT WAS PERFECTLY
CLEAR.
CLEAR. THIS WAS A RELIGIOUS TEST.
THIS WAS A RELIGIOUS BAN.
THIS WAS WHAT HE SAID IT WAS.
WE SHOULD TAKE HIM SERIOUSLY
WHEN HE SAYS THINGS.
AND SO THIS IS AS UN-AMERICAN A
POLICY AS WE HAVE EVER SEEN.
WE HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION IN
THIS COUNTRY.
THIS COUNTRY. AND THIS IS ALSO TRUE.
THIS DECISION HARMS THE NATIONAL
SECURITY OF THIS COUNTRY IN A
PROFOUND WAY.
PROFOUND WAY. THE FORCES OF ISLAMIC RADICALISM
OF EXTREMISM ARE REAL AND
DANGEROUS.
DANGEROUS. BUT THE ONLY FORCE THAT CAN
DEFEAT IT IS MODERATE ISLAM.
THIS WAS A GIFT TO THE
EXTREMISTS.
EXTREMISTS. THIS WAS A FULFILLMENT OF BIN
LADEN’S STRATEGY WHICH WAS TO
PRECIPITATE A GLOBAL CONFLICT, A
WAR OF CIVILIZATIONS BETWEEN THE
WEST AND BETWEEN ISLAM.
WE DON’T WANT TO BE AT WAR WITH
A BILLION MUSLIMS ALL OVER THE
WORLD IN A 21st CENTURY CRUSADE.
SO THE STIGMATIZING OF GOOD AND
DECENT PEOPLE IN THE INSULT
GIVEN TO THE MUSLIM SOLDIERS WHO
HAVE SERVED THIS COUNTRY, WHO
HAVE SACRIFICED, IT IS
APPALLING.
APPALLING. > THERE’S ALSO A SIMILARITY HERE
THAT STRIKES ME WHAT’S HAPPENING
ON THE BORDER AND HERE.
IN BOTH CASES THE PRESIDENT
TALKS ABOUT MS-13 AND I.C.E.
THOSE ARE TWO GROUPS GENUINELY
IVL.
IVL. THERE’S NO REAL SUPPORTS ARE OF
THEM.
THEM. WHAT HE DOES POLICY WISE IS
PEOPLE FLEEING I.C.E. FROM SYRIA
AND PEOPLE FLEEING THE MURDERS
IN GUATEMALA TRYING TO FLEE TO
THIS COUNTRY, THOSE ARE THE
PEOPLE THAT END UP CAUGHT IN THE
GEARS OF HIS DEMONIZATION OF
THOSE GROUPS.
THOSE GROUPS. >> YOU LOOK AT REGRESSION OF
DEMOCRACY TO AN OUGHTOCRACY.
ALL THROUGH HISTORY, WHEN YOU
LOOK AT VIOLATIONS OF CIVIL
LIBERTIES THEY HAVE ALWAYS
OCCURRED THROUGH A PRISM OF
FEAR, FEAR IS A CONTAGION.
IT ERODES DEMOCRATIC VALUES AND
INSTITUTIONS BUT ALWAYS IN THE
NAME OF SECURITY THAT CIVIL
LISHES ARE COL PRO MIZED AND
THAT LESSON HAS BEEN LEARNED
THROUGH HISTORY.
THROUGH HISTORY. AND HERE WE ARE REPEATING IT
AGAIN.
AGAIN. AND THE MORAL SHAME THAT COMES
FROM INTERNMENT CAMPS AND
PRECISELY WHAT THEY ARE FOR
TODDLERS AND CHILDREN WHO ARE
STRIPPED AWAY, SOME OF THOSE
CHILDREN STRIPPED AWAY FROM
BREASTFEEDING MOTHERS, IT IS A
SHAME THAT WILL LINGER A STENCH
THAT WILL LINGER AROUND THIS
VIAL ADMINISTRATION AND MY VIEW
FOR A CENTURY.
>> IS THERE A -- IS THERE A
POLITICAL CONSTITUENCY OF VOTE
IN OTHER WORDS THE COUNTRY THAT
FEEL THE WAY YOU DO?
I REALLY MEAN THIS.
LIKE I DON’T KNOW IF THERE IS.
THERE’S STEVE SCHMIDT.
THERE’S NICOLLE WALLACE.
THERE’S CHARLIE SYKES, PEOPLE
THAT EXIST IN THE WORLD AND BRET
STEPHENS.
STEPHENS. ARE THERE VOTERS WHO AT WHAT’S
HAPPENING AND SAY I’M A
REPUBLICAN AND CAN’T ABIDE THIS.
I DON’T KNOW IF THEY EXIST.
>> I THINK THERE ARE ACTS OF
KINDNESS AND DECENCY THAT TAKE
PLACE EVERY DAY IN THIS COUNTRY.
I THINK ABOUT THE LAS VEGAS
SHOOTING WHERE JOHNNY SMITH,
33-YEAR-OLD AFRICAN-AMERICAN
33-YEAR-OLD AFRICAN-AMERICAN RUNS INTO A HAIL OF GUNFIRE.
HE SAVES 33 PEOPLE’S LIVES.
HE’S RUNNING TOWARDS A GROUP OF
SCHOOL KIDS TO SAVE THEM AND
HE’S SHOT TWICE IN THE NECK.
AND THEN A WHITE COP RUNS INTO
THE GUNFIRE TO SAVE JOHNNY
SMITH’S LIFE.
SMITH’S LIFE. THAT IS ALSO AMERICA.
THE AUTHOR ALEX HALEY HAD A
SAYING, HE SAID FIND THE GOOD
AND PRAISE IT.
NOBODY CAN COMPETE WITH DONALD
TRUMP IN A VILENESS CONTEST.
HE’S THE MOST VIAL.
NOBODY CAN COMPETE WITH DONALD
TRUMP IN A DISHONESTY CONTEST.
BECAUSE HE’S THE MOST DISHONESTY
HONEST.
HONEST. WE HAVE TO FIND THE GOOD AND
PRAISE IT IN THIS COUNTRY.
FREE MARKET AMERICAN CAPITALISM
IS WORTH DEFENDING IN MY VIEW.
LIBERAL DEMOCRACY IS WORTH
DEFENDING.
DEFENDING. THE U.S.-LED LIBERAL GLOBAL
ORDER DESPITE ALL OF ITS FLAWS,
IT HAS SECURED THE PEACE, IT HAS
LIFTED BILLIONS OF PEOPLE ON THE
PLANET OUT OF ABJECT POVERTY
INTO SOMETHING APPROACHING
PROSPERITY OVER THE LAST 73
YEARS.
YEARS. ALL OF THIS IS WORTH DEFENDING.
IT WAS ARCHITECTED BY GIANTS.
CONCEIVED BY FDR.
BUILT BY A PLAIN SPOKEN MAN FROM
INDEPENDENCE, MISSOURI, HARRY
TRUMAN.
TRUMAN. STEWARDED FROM JOHN KENNEDY TO
RONALD REAGAN TO BARACK OBAMA
AND THE DEPARTURE FROM IT BY
THIS PRESIDENT, HIS FEATHER
SIZING AUTOCRATS FROM ERDOGAN TO
PUTIN TO PRESIDENT XI IS
DISTURBING.
DISTURBING. OUR ALLIES WHO WE ARE CONNECTED
TO BY SHARED HISTORY AND VALUES
ARE RIGHTLY CONCERNED.
BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT THE
AMERICAN PEOPLE DON’T WANT TO
LIVE IN TRUMP I STAN.
THEY WANT TO CONTINUE LIVING IN
AMERICA.
AMERICA. THIS IS A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION
IN 2018.
IN 2018. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT
MIDTERM ELECTION INCOME AMERICAN
HISTORY.
HISTORY. BECAUSE IF THIS IS NOT
REPUDIATED IN NOVEMBER, THIS
COUNTRY’S GOING DOWN A TRACK OF
NOT JUST DECLINE BUT A
FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE THAT WILL BE
VERY, VERY DIFFICULT TO CHANGE
THE TRAJECTORY THAT WE’RE ON.