tv Ali Velshi on Target Al Jazeera March 15, 2016 1:30am-2:01am EDT
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-- if the sperlt succeeds for the very latest, head to our website at aljazeera.com both sides from going too far? one day before another round of presidential primaries, all eyes are focused on republican front runner donald trump. actually all eyes are focused on the rhetoric on the campaign trail. while his appearances have gone
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by without a hitch so far this week, a melee forced him to cancel a rally in chicago he was about to hold. and one protester rushed trump on stage. in the my event, donald trump has come under a braj of barrage of criticism. trump said he would pay the legal fees of one overzealous supporter in north carolina. escorted out of a trump rally. and crash his rallies is being construed as being construed by some as in incitement to violence. >> it is a bernie person, it is
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a bernie person. there is a guy charging the stage. probably i.s.i.s. or i.s.i.s.-related. >> isn't this better than listening to a long boring speech? looks like go home to mommie, bye-bye. >> protesters make no apologies for crashing trump rallies. they are willing to dive into the middle of a mosh pit to disrupt trump from speaking. these guys are truly looking for trouble. >> we came here to protest donald trump. >> so amazing. >> ho ho ho! [ screaming ]
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>> watch it! >> we shut it down! >> on violence we have seen at donald trump rallies have raised questions where the legal lines are drawn when it comes to a candidate renting out a venue and what are the rights of the protesters at that venue. an election law attorney in san francisco has been practicing law for 25 years. jim if a candidate rents out a private venue as trump can friday night in chicago what are the rights of the candidates and what are the rights of the people who want to disrupt or protest? >> first of all thank you for having me to talk about these interesting legal issues. if it's a truly private event, one of the questions are going to be what are the terms set up at the beginning? if it was an event and the public was invited in then the campaign is going to have more of a duty to let everyone in who shows up. as opposed to pain a preliminary
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convention or a campaign meeting where the termination that were set up were only certain people whomever that happens to be will be allowed into the meeting. >> so it sounds like an obligation of everyone to get in line, once the event starts, someone starts screaming or shouting what's the opportunity for both the campaign and also the protesters? >> well, welcome to i guess what we say in law school is the free marketplace of ideas and certainly thought the first time that people have gotten very animated and excited forren or against a candidate or a cause. so in terms of what the rights or responsibilities of the campaign are, when you have protestors, frankly, the only right i would say they have is, up until the point the protesters commit assault and battery. before that it is free speech it is open game it is as i said the
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free marketplace of ideas and it is really up to the candidate and his or her staff to control -- chrome those people. the same way comedians learn to control hecklers over the years. and certainly something that ever seasoned candidate learns to do. but if -- until those protesters take some affirmative action, that would be an assault and battery against someone at the event, there is nothing to symptom them from screaming and yelling and otherwise disrupting the event. >> but you're still allowed to remove them, look you are being disruptive, and we can call security and have police charge you with trespassing is that right? >> yes, that's a very important distinction between is the campaign, does the campaign have the right to remove the person? versus the campaign has the right to call in the police or perhaps hotel security. they certainly have the latter
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just as we all have that right. but they -- i would not say that they have the right to take the matter into their own hands and to, on their own motion, grab that person and take him or her out of the venue. >> now we understand there were some students at the university of illinois chicago who planned to go into this rally and be silent. there were a couple who said they wanted to turn their backs and quietly demonstrate against trump. is there anything wrong with that or cause the trump campaign to remove people who are doing a silent visual protest like that? >> i would say no, nothing at all. at that point if they were to call the police or the security at the university i doubt very much the police or the security officers would do anything to people who were really just standing there. now of course, what i have learned working on campaign for so many years is, just because someone says they plan to come in, and do something peacefully and quietly, doesn't mean that
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that's what their true intentions are. >> is there anything that a protestor can do in terms of suing a candidate in other words holding that candidate liable for violence? i'm thinking of for example the incident in north carolina where an african american protesters, someone sucker punches him on the way out, can that protester sue donald trump for one of his supporters? >> my guess is that protester will sue or is suing. that will be successful whether or not the protester can prove the campaign which is a separate legal entity it is a corporation that is run by the candidate kind of as a ceo or board president. can the protester prove that the campaign did anything to either incite the punch or didn't do something that they could have done to prevent it.
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and given some of the remarks that are made i think it will be a very interesting lawsuit. >> well it's such a great point that you make because we have seen donald trump saying to his people maybe we should rough somebody up or i'd like to punch somebody in the face for interrupting, could that qualify as a general statement to sue the campaign? >> there is a whole body of law int incitin about inciting to violence. crowded theater kind of analysis. i don't know whether it's gotten to the point of a political campaign where a candidate actually encouraging his or her supporters to undertake violence. i think that would be a novel issue. but i'm sure the campaign's insurance carrier is probably making a phone call or several phone cause as we speak because it would be the insurance carrier that would be
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responsible for defending the campaign against these charges that it is responsible for these bodily injuries. >> i got to ask you because so many people have suggested, donald trump fans, his first amendment free speech rights were trampled friday night. is that something to that argument or are they overstating what donald trump' donald trumpo him when there are disruptions or interruptions? >> first of all, there is this long body of court cases about inciting violence and there are -- the point is being there are limits on someone's first amendment rights but there are not that many limits. but for political candidates there are even kind of fewer limits on their first amendment rights. meaning that when you put yourself voluntarily into a political campaign the expectation is that you are going to be insulted. yopeople are going to say things
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to you that you don't agree with and you think aren't true. there is very little if any legal recourse for candidates. they are really held to a much higher standard. i think it would be very difficult if not impossible for trump othe trump campaign to prove -- or the trump campaign to prove sacks actions of these protesters. >> jim so interesting talking to you about this and we appreciate you coming on. >> thank you very much for having me, very interesting legal issues. >> you're welcome. coming up. a potential stumbling block for donald trump the state that could trip him up on tuesday. >> stopping the next generation of isis recruits. teaching the youth on the front lines. working towards a better future. >> this is one of the most
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>> the recent mayhem at donald trump rallies are part of the backdrop in five key states tomorrow, ohio, florida, illinois north carolina and missouri. big delegate counts and win are take all rules for republicans make ohio and florida particularly important in the republican race. what donald trump can and cannot achieve tomorrow is jeannie zeino. jeanne it may seem a little bit crass, how does that cut politically tomorrow? >> you know i'm not sure in the
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short term it is going to impact him at the polls that much. in part because we have early voting in some of these states so the important states like florida for instance have early voting. this has been kind of a pattern with donald trump where the things he's doing right before the primary or ca caucus don't impact him too much. but it's the same problem he's had before, is this person presidential? does he have the temperament to be president? i think he missed a great opportunity this weekend to show that he's presidential, to show that he has what it takes. when he was asked repeatedly whether he would not only denounce the violence but also whether he would apologize for anything he may have incited the violence and he absolutely refused to do that. that's going to be a problem for him in the long term but in the short term i don't know if it's going to impact him much at the polls.
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>> especially a runup to the election, there was donald trump dominating the media yet again on thursday night on a night when marco rubio had one of his better debate moments but it's all been donald trump, just by that alone, does that portend bad news for marco rubio and good news for donald trump? >> it probably does, this is a pattern that others have noticed, any time donald trump has a mediocre debate or not very substantial debate he changes the topic very greatly in the next 12 to 24 hours and all the media attention is on him. that has lend him throughout and probably will help him on tuesday, and hurt marco rubio, if you believe the polls marco rubio is down in double digits in the polls, he has already said if they are going out to vote in ohio, they should vote john kasich. and unless they are wildly
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wrong, marco rubio will have a pretty bad fight on tuesday and probably have to bow out of the contest tuesday or wednesday. >> you mentioned donald trump's amazing ability to change the media narrative to his benefit. some strategists suggest that friday night was a put on by donald trump. we are cancelling the rally in chicago and chicago said no we never had a discussion with donald trump. do you fall into the camp of those who believe there was something manipulative by donald trump by staging perhaps what happened in friday night on chicago? >> donald trump is a great stager, a great performer i wouldn't put it past him that that's what he does. you look at where he has held these events, these are places where it's no surprise that you are inciting people to violence. people in chicago have to know that. that. would i not put it past him, i
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have no evidence, that that is not the case. this is somebody who knows how to work the media and certainly knows how to get his name out there and certainly knows how to get coverage. he has proven that again and again especially this weekend. >> as far as john kasich is concerned, the governor of ohio, it is a must-win, for him, the polls suggest he's neck and neck. john kasich supported the kind of trade deals that ruined the kind of trade deals in industry and manufacturing, is that cutting through very much and how does that play? >> i think that is playing, we saw that in the midwest on the democratic and republican side. if it's enough to beat kasich in ohio we don't know yet. that resonates. people are very, very concerned, number one issue, jobs and the economy and any time donald trump or anybody else gets out there and says supporting a policy that in the last ten, 20, 30 years has taken jobs out of
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the country, that's going to resonate. does it hurt john kasich? it's going to make it a tough night for john kasich and just like marco rubio, if he doesn't get ohio, he has not won one state caucus yet and you'd be hard pressed to think he would stay in this after ohio if he doesn't win. >> let's suppose he does win or ted cruz does have a great night, there is a nat mat cal mathematical possibility to pull the trump but. >> it is going to be very, very touch for them. that is the issue that they are facing. how do you deny this candidate who has got the plurality or the majority of the votes he needs, how do you deny him the nomination? certainly rules-wise they can do
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it but politically it is going to be a battle for them they know that and of course they don't want to face that but that is probably what they are going to be facing because it looks like now he probably will be close but not quite clinch the 1237 rather that he needs. >> i want to ask you a question about the democrats before we let you go and that is when the republican, have more votes have been cast on the republican side than the democrats. that would suggest the bernie sanders revolution is not as big as the democrats are looking for. how do you see the seanders-clinton race playing out the rest of the way? >> the enthusiasm gap is the the huge issue, she needs to work hard to capture those bernie sanders supporters if he is still behind in the delegate count which he will likely be even if he gets a good night. it's hard to catch up, the way they allocate proportionally. she has to capture those voters
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and bring them over. they suspect or have been saying that even donald trump or ted cruz will be a turnout machine for them. they are banking on them to help energize their base but she has some real concern there. and i think tomorrow the big question on the democratic side is does he do well in states like illinois and ohio, if he does that doesn't mean he wins the nomination but she might have a fight on her hands against donald trump in the rust belt. >> jeanne zeino always a pleasure. coming up we'll take a closer look at the states tomorrow night and what surprises me, we'll talk about michael shure about that next. >> these people have decided
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that today they will be arrested. >> i know that i'm being surveilled. >> people are not getting the care that they need. >> this is a crime against humanity. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> hands up... >> don't shoot. >> what do we want? >> justice. >> when do we want it? >> now. >> explosions going on... we're not quite sure - >> is that an i.e.d.?
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in the five states tomorrow, sanders look competitive. illinois missouri and michael shure, you're at a marco rubio rally i'm going to ask you about that in just a second. hillary clinton is trying to contain the damage she might face in illinois ohio and missouri by running up the race in florida. what do you think? >> this is not a conversation she wanted you and i to be having. this would be a five state sweep for hillary clinton, you should be saying inevitable but after michigan a week ago could ohio be a michigan or could missouri be a michigan or could
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en ilknow? ilillinois? she lost that race by 2. people are quietly nervous in the hillary clinton campaign right now. >> also nervous because pop culture is picking up on that theme that hillary clinton will say whatever is working for bernie sanders and claim she said it all along. a mock commercial overnight, where hillary clinton talked about the wall street rhetoric. >> that famous mobilizing sentence that works on you guys, that i've been saying all the time. landing the be support to the las vegas jew in the race. i'm sick and tired about my own damn e-mails. >> this message was paid for by hillary clinton, feel the bern.
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>> i'm whoever you want me to be and i approved this message. i'm trying here guys. >> now michael it's hilarious but i package not so funny for hillary clinton campaign. >> david it is hilarious but i would imagine not too funny for the hillary clinton campaign. see what i just did there? it's not. as long as that name carries forward and people keep thinking that way, there's a difference between saying we want you to pull this candidate to the left, we want to you pull this candidate in a certain direction and having that just be a mimic candidate and that's not what clinton wants. and it's sort of a success for sanders. because it is taking his message and amplifying his message to different voters in different states. >> will the clinton campaign be argue we picked up some deblghts and ignore what happened in the other three states? >> yeah here's the thing.
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if the clinton campaign is talking about delegates again tomorrow that's not again where they wanted to be in terms of the conversation. the clinton campaign wants to talk about rack up wins. you don't create momentum with delegates, you create momentum with wins. that's what this campaign wants to do. you have heard a lot in the message from hillary clinton against donald trump and that's exactly what she wants to be talking about. the republicans now. she does not want to be defending herself against the democrat once more, it had it's interest at some point but not now. >> some suggests marco rubio is behind by 20 points, what's the mood atmosphere and optimism that marco rubio can pull this out somehow? >> right now we are still in the stages of denial right now. i think that the rubio people are hopeful that something good can come out of it. some were arguing that rubio should stay in the race by
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virtue of the fact he shouldn't surrender those delegates. by staying in the race he holds on to whatever delegates he has, by preventing donald trump from getting them. when you are starting to talk about what the next move is after the logs in your home state, after seeing john kasich succeed in ohio, it gives him an an -- no opportunity to control the narrative. >> you've been to every campaign's rally and what do you make at donald trump 's rallies and the violence that has occurred what do you make of that? >> i was at a rally with donald trump on the u.s.s. iowa, it was certainly during is campaign and there were people across the way from where the ship was docked
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and they were screaming at donald trump and his supporters and is against his stand on hispanic relation on building a wall, things like that and his supporters were screaming some of the ugliest things i'd ever heard at a campaign event at those people. you saw it festering and now it's blossomed to what is. of no moment really something very daircht had a lot of people on the trail haven't seen before don't know how to deal with now. that is going to shape should he get the nomination going to shape the race of a general election whether it's against sanders or clinton. that's the big story and will eventually hurt donald trump in the general election. >> michael shure you'll see him as part of our coverage tuesday night. michael look forward to being on with you tomorrow night. appreciate it. >> likewise david thanks so much. >> and that is our show for today.
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