>>> WELCOME BACK TO "AM JOY." ON THURSDAY "THE NEW YORK TIMES"
DROPPED A BOMBSHELL REPORT WITH WOMEN GOING ON THE RECORD ABOUT
DECADES OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT ACCUSATIONS AGAINST HARVEY
WEINSTEIN WHICH LED TO SETTLEMENTS IN AT LEAST EIGHT
CASES. WEINSTEIN RELEASED A STATEMENT
APOLOGIZING FOR HIS BEHAVIOR WITHOUT ACKNOWLEDGING THE
SPECIFIC BEHAVIORS. THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY ANNOUNCED
HE WOULD BE TAKING AN INDID HE HAVE DID HE HAVE NINT LEAVE OF
ACTION. IT'S THE WORST KEPT SECRETE IN
HOLLYWOOD AND NEW YORK. REPUBLICANS SEIZED ON
WEINSTEIN'S LONG-TIME PUBLIC ADVOCACY AND DONATIONS TO
DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATES TO HAVE THEIR OWN AHA MOMENT AGAINST
THOSE WHO HAVE CRITICIZED DONALD TRUMP'S TREATMENT OF WOMEN.
EVEN SEAN SPICER GOT IN ON ACTION.
NOT TO BE OUTDONE, DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF WEIGHED IN YESTERDAY.
>> I'VE KNOWN HARVEY WEINSTEIN FOR A LONG TIME.
I'M NOT AT ALL SURPRISED TO SEE IT.
>> SO THERE ARE A FEW DIFFERENCES, HOWEVER, WHICH
MIGHT PROVE INCONVENIENT TO THE GOP.
DEMOCRATS WASTED NO TIME DROPPING WEINSTEIN GIVING AWAY
HIS PAST CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHARITY.
THERE'S ALSO THE LONG LIST OF WOMEN WHO HAVE ACCUSED DONALD
TRUMP OF GROPING THEM OR MAKING UNWANTED SEXUAL ADVANCES,
ALLEGATIONS HE HAS DENIED INCLUDING THREATENING TO SUE A
DOZEN OF HIS ACCUSERS DURING THE CAMPAIGN, SOMETHING HE HAS YET
TO DO. OF COURSE, THERE'S THE FACT THAT
REPUBLICANS RESPONDED TO THE SWARM OF ALLEGATIONS AROUND
DONALD TRUMP INCLUDING HIS OWN BOASTING ABOUT MAKING UNWANTED
SEXUAL ADVANCES ON WOMEN BY BY ELECTING HIM PRESIDENT.
AND NEVER BACKING DOWN FROM SUPPORTING HIM EVEN AFTER THEY
FOUND OUT THAT HE SAID THIS. >> I AM AUTOMATICALLY ATTRACTED
TO BEAUTIFUL I AM JUST AM. IT'S LIKE A MAGNET.
YOU CAN DO ANYTHING. AND WHEN YOU'RE A STAR, YOU CAN
DO ANYTHING. GRAB THEM BY THEIR [ BLEEP ].
>> JOINING ME IS GABE, ERICA BOWLER, CHRISTINA LOPEZ AND
MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR. GABE, LET'S START WITH THE
WEINSTEIN. IT'S OBVIOUSLY THE WORST KEPT
SECRET IN HOLLYWOOD AND NEW YORK.
WAS IT? DID PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT THIS
WIDELY? >> THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT WAS
WHISPERED ABOUT IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT CIRCLES.
I SEE A LOT OF PARALLELS TO THE STORY THAT I COVERED LAST YEAR,
THE ROGER ALES STORY. HE WAS A VOLCANIC TEMPER.
HE RULED THROUGH FEAR AND INTIMIDATION AND HE WAS ABLE
OVER DECADES TO KEEP THESE SEXUAL HARASSMENT ALLEGATIONS
OUT OF THE PUBLIC EYE BY COERCING WOMEN ALLEGEDLY TO SIGN
SETTLEMENTS AND THE OTHER REAL THING I NOTICED IS LIKE FOX
NEWS, HARVEY WEINSTEIN PRESIDED OVER HIS MOVIE COMPANY WITH NO
ACCOUNTABILITY. THERE WAS NO INDEPENDENT HR
DEPARTMENT, THERE WERE NO CHECKS AND BALANCES.
THIS WAS FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES A CULTED PERSONALITY
AROUND HARVEY WEINSTEIN. THAT IS WHY THIS WENT UNCHECKED.
DUE TO THE COURAGEOUS REPORTING OF "THE NEW YORK TIMES" THIS IS
COMING TO LIFE. >> I'M GLAD YOU MADE THE ROGER
AISLES COMPARISON. SO YOU HAD A CULTURE AT FOX NEWS
WHICH GABE HAS BEEN KEEN ON COVERING THAT INCLUDED NOT JUST
ROGER ALES BUT ALSO BILL O'REILLY AND OTHER PEOPLE.
WE'VE HEARD ALLEGATIONS ABOUT. YOU'VE NOW GOT THIS ASSUMPTION
ON THE PART OF REPUBLICANS THAT NOT ONLY DID HOLLYWOOD AND NEW
YORK KNOW ABOUT WEINSTEIN, BUT SOMEHOW EVERY SINGLE DEMOCRAT TO
WHOM HE WROTE A CHECK KNEW ABOUT IT, TOO.
DO YOU HAVE ANY REPORTING OR INFORMATION THAT DEMOCRATS, THAT
POLITICAL PEOPLE HAD ANY IDEA ABOUT HARVEY WEINSTEIN?
>> NO, WE HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING LIKE THAT.
I THINK DEMOCRATS HAVE DONE THE RIGHT THING.
THEY DENOUNCED HIM ACROSS THE BOARD.
THEY SENT THE MONEY BACK. THEY'VE SENT IT TO CHARITY.
THEY'VE DONE EVERYTHING REPUBLICANS SHOULD HAVE DONE
LAST YEAR WHETHER IT WAS ROGER ALES, BILL O'REILLY, DONALD
TRUMP, NOMINEE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
THEY DIDN'T RETURN A DIME, THEY DIDN'T DISINVITE TRUMP FROM
ANYTHING. NOBODY SAID, YOU SHOULDN'T BE
OUR NOMINEE. WHAT WEINSTEIN DID IS COMPLETELY
WRONG. >> WHO'S DEFENDING HIM?
IS ANYONE DEFENDING HIM? >> IT'S THE STRAW MAN NARRATIVE
THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE IN THE POLITICAL PRESS ARE TRYING TO
PUSH THAT THIS IS KIND OF THE BOTH SIDES, RIGHT?
>> YEAH. >> THE PRESS LOVES THE BOTH
SIDES APPROACH. THEY'RE TRYING TO MAKE THIS
STICK. THE FACTS DON'T SUPPORT IT.
>> THAT IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT POINTS, CHRISTINA, THERE IS A
TICK IN MEDIA TO DO A BOTH SIDES NARRATIVE AND TO PRESUME THAT
SOMEHOW DEMOCRATS HAVE TO ANSWER FOR HARVEY WEINSTEIN WHEN
LITERALLY NO ONE IS DEFENDING HIM WHEN LITERALLY ON THE OTHER
SIDE THEY'RE COVERING FOR DONALD TRUMP.
LET'S GO THROUGH SOME OF THE WOMEN WHO HAVE ACCUSED DONALD
TRUMP. YOU HAD IN THE EARLY 1980s
JESSICA LEE, THE BUSINESSWOMAN. KRISTEN ANDERSON, FORMER MODEL.
JILL HEART, MAKEUP ARTIST. MISS TEEN CONTESTANTS WHO WALKED
IN ON THEM NAKED. TEMPLE TAGGART.
KARINA VIRGINIA. IT GOES ON AND ON AND ON, MINDY
McGILL RAY, RACHEL CROOKS, NINNI LAAKSONEN, HE'S BEEN
ACCUSED, DONALD TRUMP, BY ALL OF THESE WOMEN, BEFORE HE WAS
ELECTED. NO ONE IS ASKING THAT EVERY
SINGLE REPUBLICAN WHO'S BEEN DEFENDING DONALD TRUMP GO
THROUGH AN ANSWER FOR THAT. >> THAT'S THE THING, JOY.
IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE THAT A LOT OF THE MEDIA THAT ARE
CLAIMING THAT PEOPLE ARE DEFENDING HARVEY WEINSTEIN, IT
WOULD BE HARD TO FIND ANYONE DEFENDING THIS, THE SAME PEOPLE
WHO ARE RIGHT NOW PROPPING BILL O'REILLY UP, ALLOWING HIM TO DO
A COMEBACK TOUR AND BASICALLY HELPING HIM REHABILITATE HIS
IMAGE AND AT THE SAME TIME THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO NEVER SAID
THE NAMES OF THESE WOMEN, THAT NEVER GAVE THEM A PLATFORM TO
SPEAK AND WHO ARE THE FIRST TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, BASICALLY
PUT DOUBTS IN WOMEN THAT DARE COME FORWARD TO SAY THAT DONALD
TRUMP ACTUALLY SEXUALLY HARASSED THEM OR BASICALLY MADE A HOSTILE
ENVIRONMENT FOR THEM TO WORK IN. >> AND, YOU KNOW, THERESA, YOU
EVEN HAD DONALD TRUMP JR. IRONY IS DEAD.
>> RIGHT. >> THE POOR THING.
YOU NEED TO HOLD A FUNERAL FOR IRONY.
DONALD TRUMP JR. CAME OUT AND LIKED A TWEET ATTACKING ASHLEY
JUDD WHO HAD THE GUTS TO COME FORWARD AND TALK ABOUT WHAT
HARVEY WEINSTEIN DID FOR HER. HE LIKED THE TWEET SAYING NOW WE
KNOW WHY ASHLEY JUDD IS A NASTY WOMAN.
SHE WAITED 20 YEARS TO TELL US WHAT HARVEY WEINSTEIN DID.
THIS MAY BE AS A RESULT OF A SETTLEMENT.
MEANWHILE, THIS IS WHAT DONALD TRUMP JR. HAD TO SAY ABOUT
SEXUAL HARASSMENT BACK IN 2013 ON AN EPISODE OF THE OPIE AND
ANTHONY SHOW. BUZZ FEED FOUND THIS.
I'M OF THAT MIND SET, SAID DONALD TRUMP, AND I'LL GET INTO
TROUBLE, I'M SURE I'LL GET MYSELF INTO TROUBLE ONE OF THESE
DAYS. IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE SOME OF THE
BASIC STUFF THAT'S BECOME A PROBLEM IN THE WORSE FORCE
TODAY, THEN YOU DON'T BELONG IN THE WORK FORCE.
LIKE YOU SHOULD GO MAYBE TEACH KINDERGARTEN, I THINK IT'S A
RESPECTABLE POSITION. BACK IN MAY OF 2011 HE RETWEETED
A TWEET THAT SAID LESSON ON THE RIGHT, IF YOU LOOK LIKE MARK
McGRATH, YOU CAN SEXUALLY HARASS THE HELL OUT OF ANYONE.
>> THE FRUIT DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE.
HE IS FOLLOWING IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS.
THAT'S WHAT'S SO DANGEROUS FOR THESE PEOPLE THAT ARE SO
POWERFUL. SEXUALLY HARASSING A MAN OR
WOMAN ON THE WORK FORCE IS ACCEPTABLE.
INSTEAD OF TALKING ABOUT GENDER SAFETY, THEY'RE BRINGING PEOPLE
BACK. I THINK THE FACT THAT THE
DEMOCRATS SWIFTLY DENOUNCED HARVEY WEINSTEIN, HIS BOARD
SWIFTLY DENOUNCED HIM AND PEOPLE FROM THE BOARD THEMSELVES
RESIGNED, IT'S NOT ADVOCATING FOR WHAT HE DID.
IT WAS TAKING STEPS TO RECOGNIZE THERE WAS A SERIOUS INFECTION
INSIDE THAT ORGANIZATION AND IT STARTED WITH HARVEY WEINSTEIN.
WE DID NOT SEE ANY OF THAT DENOUNCEMENT WHEN HE CAME TO THE
TRUMP'S PROPERTIES AND LET ALONE HIS SUPPORTERS.
>> INDEED, THERE WERE STILL PEOPLE SAYING THAT THEY WERE
STILL CLAMORING WITH IT. MARK BURNETT IS HOLDING ON TO
WHAT HE KNOWS. THERE HASN'T BEEN A WHOLE SALE
MOVEMENT FOR PEOPLE LIKE DONALD TRUMP.
HAVE YOU SEEN IT? >> NO, HARVEY WEINSTEIN AS WELL.
WE SHOULD NOT FORGET THAT THE COMPANY DID NOT ASK HIM TO TAKE
A LEAVE OF ABSENCE UNTIL "THE NEW YORK TIMES" REPORTED THIS
AND MADE IT PUBLIC. >> YEAH.
>> THEY KNEW THAT THEY HAD AN INTERNAL MEMO.
SO AS MUCH AS THIS COULD BE SEEN AS A SIGN OF PROGRESS, I LOOK AT
IT AS POSSIBLY THE OTHER WAY. IT'S FRUSTRATEDING THAT HERE WE
ARE IN 2017 AND IT TAKES A NEWSPAPER REPORT TO FORCE AN
ALLEGED SEXUAL PREDATOR OUT OF THE WORKPLACE.
>> YES. >> THIS SHOULD HAVE NO PLACE ON
THE LEFT AND RIGHT. >> YES.
>> THIS SHOULD NOT BE TOLERATED. >> ABSOLUTELY.
THAT IS THE POINT. YOU HAVE THESE MAJOR COMPANIES,
WHETHER IT'S FOX NEWS OR WEINSTEIN, SOMEONE CAN OPERATE
AT THESE HIGH LEVELS AND CREATE THE LEVELS OF ABUSE AND PEOPLE
LOOK THE OTHER WAY UNTIL IT BECOMES PUBLIC.
>> I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S
SOMETHING WITH THE MEDIA WORLD, ROGER ALES AND WEINSTEIN,
INDIVIDUAL PEOPLE ARE ABLE TO AMASS SO MUCH POWER AND DOLL OUT
OR GIVE ACCESS TO SO MUCH POWER. OBVIOUSLY IT'S DISGUSTING.
I WOULD SAY I'M TROUBLED BY, AGAIN, THE FACT THAT A LOT OF
REPUBLICANS WANT TO MAKE IT A POLITICAL STORY.
IT'S ABOUT POWERFUL MEN TREATING WOMEN POORLY.
>> HARVEY WEINSTEIN WAS A DONOR TO DEMOCRATS.
I'VE NEVER HEARD OF HIM AS A POLITICAL DONOR.
HAS HE BEEN SOMEBODY WHO'S BEEN THAT IMPORTANT?
BECAUSE ISN'T THIS MORE OF A STORY ABOUT POWERFUL MEN ABUSING
WOMEN? >> IT ABSOLUTELY IS ABOUT
POWERFUL MEN ABUSING WOMEN. IT'S NOT JUST IN THE MEDIA.
YOU GET IT WHEN THEY'RE DEMONSTRATING WHERE THEIR POWER
LIES. THAT HE IS THE PROBLEM.
HOW DO WE START EDUCATING THE WORKPLACE OF WHAT IS CONDONED
AND IS NOT? I DO HAVE TO SAY, THE FACT THAT
THE MEDIA CAME OUT AND EXPOSED HARVEY WEINSTEIN FOR WHAT HE WAS
AND HOW QUICKLY THE COMPANY RESPONDED, BUT HOW QUICKLY IT
RESPONDED IS ALSO A TESTAMENT THAT THEY REALIZE THERE'S LITTLE
TOLERANCE ONCE THIS IS ACTUALLY DISCLOSED.
>> I'LL GIVE YOU THE LAST WORD, CHRISTINA.
WE SAW WHAT THE OTHER FOLKS DID WHO DIDN'T SPEAK.
IS THERE A RISK FOR SOME OF THESE CAREERS?
>> WELL, THERE'S ACTUALLY A RISK.
IT TAKES A LOT OF BRAVERY. FOR PRESENTATION OF WOMEN IN
POSITIONS OF POWER, IT DOES REINFORCE AND CREATE AN
ENVIRONMENT WHERE THERE'S A WIEMD BALANCE OF POWER THAT
MAKES WOMEN THINK THAT THEY CANNOT COME FORWARD WITHOUT
HURTING THEIR CAREERS. >> YEAH, ABSOLUTELY.
TAKES YEARS AND A LOT OF THESE CASES FOR WOMEN TO COME FORWARD
AND GREAT REPORTERS LIKE GABE TO COME OUT AND BRING THESE OUT.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH. GABE SHERMAN, ERIC BOWLER, WE'LL
BE BACK LATER IN THE HOUR. >>> UP