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tv   Erin Burnett Out Front  CNN  June 15, 2017 4:00pm-5:01pm PDT

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will be interviewed together with paul ryan, the speaker of the house by our own jake tapper. that's coming up within the next hour. we're going to have extensive live coverage of this night. that's it for h me. thanks for watching. special edition of out front front with erin burnett stars now. >> welcome to a special edition of "out front." it is the cite of today's congress baseball game republicans versus democrats. it is an nunlt charity game. it has taken on an incredible significance tonight after the shooting yesterday at alexandra, virginia. the third ranking republican in the house is out of his third surgery tonight. according to a source he is still in critical condition at this hour after being shot in the hip. to honor him tonight both teams
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will wear the same hat provided by his alma mater, lsu. mike maatta is ok. we're going to have the introduction of the ooms teams and a very emotional night here at nationals stadium. the shows of unity that we're seeing are coming amid some significant developments in the russia probe. mike pence announced he has hired his own outside counsel. and the president of the united states tweeting furiously today in a response to a report that he's under swregs for obstruction of justice. several with tweets, including this. he said it's quote phony story turning the focus to a fam target hillary clinton. that's what he was tweeting about today. "out front." now we have bill lerd who sits
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on the intelligence committee, a former cia undercovering agent. and our panel here, gloria borger, chris sa lizza, reporter and editor at large for cnn politics. congressman, thanks for being with us. obviously, an emotional moment. we're seeing everybody gathering here. we're going to have the announcement, the first pitch and and emotional national anthem. >> you can feel the energy walking in here. we're going to raise more than a million dollars for charity. this game is a charity game and we've added a new charity here. it's for fallen officers to help with the bravery that our two capital police showed and the alexandra police showed a couple of days ago. >> what does it mean for you to be here tonight? this is something that americans don't even know happen. it's been happening annually. tonight it's different.
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>> tonight it's very different. tonight this is about us showing solidarity. showing that an attack on one of us is actually an attack on our democratic institutions. the goelg, can we take this feeling of bir partisan ship and unity and continue it beyond just tonight? that's going to be the responsibility of our political leaders. it's going to be the responsibility of the american people to say we b demand. >> you have done a lot of bipartisan things. you did a road trip with a democrat. you talk about this investigation and you're asking tough questions as a republican but you're open minded. i can't say that about all of your colleagues in congress. some people have been blaming the left because the shooter was obviously a bernie sanders supporter, a gop hater. when you hear these sorts of comments, does that upset you or do you think there's something fair to it? >> we all have to take a deep
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breath. we all have contributed to the di viciveness. one of the things i learned on my road trip is that we agree on more than we disagree and we should be focussing on those things. but if we want to see different outcomes in our governments, we got to change the way we think. if we change the way we think, we complaining the way bebehave. i hope everybody uses this as an example to show that would bipartisanship is not a dirty word and that quebec disagree without being disagreeable. >> on a physical basis, you've heard a lot of people say look, it's understandable. there's fear. eats natural after what just hands. you're a former cia agent, you're allowed to carry a gun, i'm sure you own a gun. are you going to changes your security because of this? are you going to carry your gun around? you're allowed to do that. >> unfortunately i have too much experience with these type of
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activities. be afraid. be nervous, be angry. all that stuff is natural. but we also have toss realize we can't lets this stop us from doing our job and representing the american people. i've been looking over my shoulder all my life and i've continued to do that in this job. i think the american people need to realize the number of threats has been increasing over the last couple of years. republicans and democrats are seeing this problem. >> so congressman i want to ask you one thing and bring in our panel. tonight is a moment of unity but tomorrow what will happen he talked about blaming barack obama. he gave a radio interview. i want to play it briefly. >> i do want to put this at the feet of barack obama. he contributed mightily to
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creating it. >> i agree. >> this is some of the fruits of that labor. >> what's your reaction when you hear from that your colleague? >> poimtding fingers doesn't help. right. we can only control our own actions. we can only control the way we talk about things and if you want to see a difference, then you have to be that difference, you have to be that change. we all should be talking about politics the way we want everyone talking about it instead of pointing fingers. >> all right. and as you can hear a little bit of cheering, you have the democrats coming out to second base. they're going to be introducing for the democratic team. the republican team we'll have the first pitch which we expect b to be from the british ambassador. we will have the national anthem which we'll bring to you live. you've interviewed him. you know he's someone open minded. kbh you hear comments like those
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from steve king, what might happen? we're hearing chants. >> there was this moment of unity. i remember standing on the capital and seeing members of congress come together on the steps and sing in unison. we saw that again when f
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moment. >> you see democrats. you're obviously going to see republicans in a moment and the national anthem. i think it's a moment and part of the reason we're here broadcasting for americans to feel how important this moment is. >> i mean, you watch these people taking a moment, these members of congress, praying for the other side, praying for the other team and we don't see that very often. and i think that of all the people who are here tonight, used to be you root for the democrats, you root for republicans. you heard the chants. people just want to be here for this moment to applaud the
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people who have sacrificed steve scalise, whose fighting in the hospital and for our system and i think everybody has realized that we all need to take a step back and tone it down. so i think this game is going to be a celebration of both sides. honestly, i don't think anybody here is rooting for any team. i really don't. >> chris? >> you know, mark and i having worked at roll call newspaper which long ago started sponsoring us. we've been to these games before. gloria's right. of a different moment here for obvious reasons. the one thing i would add to what the congressman said about is this a moment or is it something more? the reason that you see a lot of statements out of members of
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congress on both sides that are not the sort of thing that are going to make this more than a moment because unfortunately, voters often reward that. we have a lot of districts in the country. the congressman does not represent one. he represents one very evenly split. >> right. >> the problem that you get, steve king will pay no political price for a comments like that. >> maybe -- >> it may do him some good. that's a big part of why we have these moments in time that are meaning. are different. do suggest we have more in common than we have difference. they are moments rather than any kind of extended period. >> if i can add to that -- you've highlighted steve king. over the last two days, there have been a number of republicans in plus 27 or plus 30 r districts that have said and talked about bipartisanship in a way they never have. one of the things that i would
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ask from y'all who many people turn to and look for what's really going on is highlight some of those folks who are actually doing the behavior that we want to see continue, because there's plenty of examples of that. we don't always highlight that enough in -- on tv or in -- >> it's a fair point. that's part of the reason you're standing here tonight. we wanted someone like that. >> we spent a lot of time covering capitol hill before going out on the national campaign trail. if you look at congress 10 years ago, very much more polarized today. it's good to see somebody like congressman hurd come in wanting to work across party lines. some districts will not pay a price because they are so backed by either the hard right or the hard left. >> you also -- >> yeah, go ahead. >> it's a different congress than when we were all covering congress, not to age ourselves, but people come here for a term
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or two and leave. either they're term limited or they self-limit themselves. people don't know each other very well because they go home every weekend to their districts. it's demanded of them. there's a lot on social media. the news cycle that they have to deal with. there isn't as much time. congressman, you can talk about this if i'm right. for members to really get to know each other and appreciate each other, that's why games like this are important, because plunls can bond with republicans and with democrats. >> as you were coming out we were talking about the issue of security. you were saying you had hosted 400 political public events in the last two years. >> yeah. >> 400. >> yeah. >> that's not just security. that is now demanded. >> right. >> it's important that you do that for your constituents. but it means you're not able to deal with people here as much. >> absolutely. but i think everybody's recognizing that. what i would say about my class and the current class, one of
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the things is we've all had backgrounds in other industries. right. we haven't been career politicians. so we have a bias towards action. that's where republicans and democrats. so they bring a different mentality here that we haven't seen in a while. i'm hopeful for the future. there are some members committed to getting things done. >> we're just hearing the announcement of the republican team and then we'll see what happens after that. then the color guard and the national anthem. then we'll have that first pitch. chris, let me ask you, as -- we understand the president has taped a meblg. we'll see that. he's not here tonight. he obviously gave some very emotional comments yesterday about what happened. today, though, he has been on twitter five times tweeting about hillary -- crooked hillary, the witch hunt, the washington post on bob mueller being phony. that's what he's done today.
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>> you just saw roger williams from texas wearing the purple tcu walking out on crutches because he dove head first yesterday to avoid someone who was hunting members of congress. the president does this. it's a boom-bust psyche 78. he gives a speech that anybody would say that's kind of the message you want to hear. let's focus on the victims and what matters here. then at 6:55 in the morning he's on the special counsel. and then at 4: 30 he's on hillary clinton, which makes it harder, i think, you know, i hear from a lot of republicans who say why don't you guys focus on the issues, from democrats focus on the kwlishs. this is not a private citizen offering his thoughts. this is the single most powerful politician in the country, maybe in the world, who is constantly suggesting that his priority in
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terms of what he feels personally is not this stuff. that's it. look. it is a good thing that cnn is here at this game. that we are here. that people are getting to see us. people need to understand you don't like the way in which people interact in congress, you need to elect different people. you need to elect people who are more kbhitsed to bipartisanship, who do believe that working is good, that compromise is not capitulation. we can't change it from this level. he did what he could but you can't altar the makeup of the congress in a day or a week. >> there's also question of where leadership comes from. you're making the point that it could come from everywhere. but it also needs to come from the president of the united states. it did yesterday but when you get tweets like today, it's nothing the media can ignore. as leader of the country, this is what he's chosen to talk
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about today. >> there is co-equal branches of government. congress is one of those. the president has he can say what he wants to say but our government is actually run by congress as well and the judicial branch has a role also. that's why we're resilient. that's why we can disagree and that's why we can have a battle of ideas. but we need to make sure that we're talking the way we want our children to talk angds the way we want our dwrand children to take. it starts with some of the basic things we learned in kindergarten. be nice to people. >> right. >> be honest. >> it isn't things like crooked hillary at 5:00 in the afternoon today. that's just the realty. >> a couple of things. one is i absolutely agree with the congressman about the three branches of government. i think we get caught up at least people look at the white house and say the president, it begins and ends with him. but the fact of the matter is it
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does. he needs to lead by example and he hasn't. i actually have a lot of sympathy for the congressmen leer, they have to answer questions from us day in and day out about whatever president trump is tweeting about. that's got to be hard. >> i'm glad you recognize that. >> can i -- >> i hope somebody's recording this. >> can i just say there is nothing more american than baseball. and you have -- these are not the boys of summer out here. they are -- >> many, many summers ago. >> what makes it so -- >> they all came here and did not want to cancel this game. >> right. >> yep. >> yeah. >> i think it is important to point that out. >> right. >> all wearing the same hat in honor of steve. >> they're playing against each other and they want to have a winner and loser.
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as long as the game is played fairly, there's winners and losers. >> they come in tide tonight tied overall. i'm a nerd about these things. the republicans -- >> about can congressional baseball matches? >> yeah. >> that's funny. >> republicans, seven, eight games in a row because the member of congress from louisiana cents an amazing picture. last year republicans one by one run. now i will resign myself -- >> they didn't take him out of the seat? >> no. >> jeff zuckerman was looking for -- >> not me. >> we have just talent. we have new talent being rolled out tonight. >> the question. >> congressman chblgts former cia agent, used to the dark arts, why are you here? >> i'm a basketball player. i'm a basketball player. >> ok. >> you'll see me in that game.
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>> this is obviously the republicans have fanned out as we're finishing the announcement. from this event we're going to have the color guards. there will be the color guard and then the national anthem and then there will be in a first pitch. which as i said, its should be the british ambassador but that could change. we'll see. >> it's striking to think that literally almost started -- shooting started at 7:09 yesterday morning. to be able to do this and have these guys out here and -- is meaningful and we should stop and take history -- it does speak to resilience. make too much of one thing. but persistence, getting knocked down and get up. 36 hours ago a man was shooting at them, struck a member of congress as well mike emricka. >> palmer said he was aimed at.
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>> yes. >> they're out there now playing. >> look at the crowd size. it's so much larger. >> there were reports today that they were selling 500 tickets an hour. it's not too late. come on. it's for charity. usually you're not going to draw a crowd size. this looks -- i don't know. 20,000 they're expecting? i don't know. >> hold on. >> people to contribute but many of them are -- >> walk right up to the-week-old now at nationals park. get a ticket for ten bucks. it goes to great causes. this is a bigger turn out. i hope every year, not just this year but every year we do this in honor of what occurred 36 hours -- >> this was -- >> ok. this is a bigger more emotional thing than in years passed. that being said, this lab my girlfriend now wife at the time doing the three-legged raise in the middle of the sixth inning in the congressional baseball
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game. this has regularly been a really good event where if you felt that partisanship was crushing, that members of congress hated one another, this has always been that. it's nice that it's getting -- >> yeah. jooft it's a sad way to get more publici publicity, but it is nice. >> it is. they were out practicing at 6:30 in the morning. they were automatic doing that. they had been out there doing that for a couple of months. they don't just show up that day. they care passionately about it. >> i can't put too fine a point on this. the members, a limb bit over 24 hours ago saw their life pass before their eyes, right? and that's not going to sink in to everybody today or tomorrow. but it is. they're going out there. this is part of the healing process for them as well. think about all the staffers that are here that had one of their own, you know, with a gaping chest wound just yesterday.
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you know, this is what a lot of people here and it's ka thartdic and it's good we can all appreciate that. instead of showing highlights of steve king, i would suggest you go back and show roger williams talking the other day about how this is something to represent those men and women that are still willing to put on a uniform, put themselves in harm's way in order to protect others. >> we did, i thought, run a great -- joe partson, the manager of the republican team and mike doyle from pennsylvania, the democratic team did a presserville ability. they spoke in personal terms about their lives. congressman barton's son was there. >> yes. >> if you haven't seen it, go back and watch it. we forget sometimes. this is dumb but members of congress are human beings. >> i think that's right. and truly affected by this. members were truery affected by this, because they knew there by
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the grace of god. we're seeing the color guards. a moment ago pelosi, ryan, schumer, mccarthy, leadership were all together sort of laughing and smiling. go ahead. the color guard. >> i think there's two very important points. we're seen around the world here and we're often -- cnn. we're talkingant the division, here in the united states between president, demsz, republicans and what have you. this is a very big moment i think for people around the world. >> let's just listen in here and we'll have the national anthem.
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[ cheers and applause ] >> announcer: star spangled banner and "god bless america." performing the national anthem. ♪ o say, can you see by the dawn's early light ♪ ♪ what so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? ♪ ♪ whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight ♪ ♪ o'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? ♪ ♪ and the rockets' red glare the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof
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through the night that our flag was still there ♪ ♪ oh, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ ♪ o'er the land of the free ♪ ♪ and the home of the brave? ♪ [ cheers and applause ]
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god bless america my home sweet home ♪ ♪ god bless america my home sweet home ♪ ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause
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[ cheers and applause ] an impromptu emotional
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moment there. >> certainly was. >> the game ball coming out. we're going to see the first pitch in a moment. then this game -- scalise playing second base, right? where was he? >> scalise played second? >> he was at second base at the time. >> a congressional coarse started that national anthem and then everybody joined in, everybody in the stadium as we were talking about, up to 20,000 tickets sole, that is -- we've never seen anything like that. it is an incredible moment. as the players are going back to their dugouts democrats and republicans, we will get ready for the first pitch. just standing here, i'm sure when you watch this, you feel
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this just with a look of the quiet, but hearing those songs here -- >> yeah. >> -- as americans, which we all are was a very special thing. >> i've been here many times for nationals games with my kids and it is -- yeah, you don't -- it's like a lot of things you take for granted until you don't. you know, and i think again i sometimes wish that we could bottle moments like this and send them around to everyone who hates washington, who hates politics, who hates the media. at the end of the day, we're 99.9% similar and .01% different. moments like this remind you of our similarities. i believe that's joe torre. >> that's joe torre. >> with mlb, former yankees manager. >> congressman, did you see who it was who went out before
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second base and kind of -- >> no i didn't. >> needle a bit. that's where steve ska lee was when he was hit. >> looks like he's going to throw the first pitch. >> i don't think we have to worry about joe torre looking like fifty cent. >> aaron, you were talking earlier about the songs, right? the 400 events i did in the last two years i can easily say in half of them, i don't care if i was in democratic towns or republican towns when everybody starts off with singling the national anthem. a lot of times you hear america the beautiful. it really is one of those things throughout the country. people really care about their country and if we remember that i think we'll always be better off.
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>> i'm still struck by the size of this crowd and people still coming in here tonight. >> we can see -- i don't know if you can see it on television. >> yeah. >> it is still a full flow. >> they're not going to see major league baseball but they did witness some major league event here which is something we don't get to see. [ cheers and applause ] [ cheers and applause ] >> oh, that's -- >> yeah. >> capitol hill police. >> injured. >> that was incredible.
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>> and that's the police officer who so heroically rushed injured, kept running towards the shooter to try to say the lives. >> 24 hours ago this man was running with rifles shooting at him. stunning stuff. that's really legitimate heroism. >> i think it's not the first pitch he ever wanted to throw out but he's sure glad he's doing it. >> and he did it with some humor. >> it was david bayley and krichlt griner, the two capitol hill police officers both injured. she had been in the hospital recovering, of course. both of them heroes as every single person there are. >> they're both quiet professionals. i've gotten the chance to know them over the last two years. these are people who care about their country, are true professionals, and these are the
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kind of people you want your son and daughter to grow up to be. >> quickly -- >> yes. >> by anyone's account saved a up in of lives that day. >> it wasn't -- >> if there weren't anyone there like them we'd be talking, i think, a very different story. >> steve scalise gets protection. if he hadn't been there, you heard other members say it, there could have been a very different outcome. >> i think it's important saying that. the field they were practicing had a chain link fence around it. there was only one means of egress. several congressman have pointed to the fact that they were sitting ducks. they had nowhere to go but that one exit. and these officers saved all of these lives. congressman what i find so incredible, if this day ever happens, they've trained to be ready. nobody expects this to happen. it did, and they were ready.
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>> they were ready and they've been doing that -- how many meetings, how many events have they gone to in neighbor career where absolutely nothing happens and when the time comes they react. >> this is the video message from the president. let's listen. jook i want to thank members of congress, their staffs and baseball fans across the country for supporting tonight's congressional baseball game. this game is always an important moment for both parties to come together to support charity, build friendships, and celebrate our national pastime. as you all know tonight's game
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has taken on a much deeper level of meaning, beyond anything that we would have thought. by playing tonight, you are showing the world that we will not be intimidated by threats, acts of violence, or assaults on our democracy. the game will go on. i want to take a moment to send our thoughts, love and prayers to congressman steve scalise and his entire family. steve is our friend. he's a froot, and he's a true fighter. i know you all will be playing extra ladder tonight for steve. we pray for all of the victims of this terrible crime who are still recovering including zachary barth and matt mika, both of whom are respected and cherished by so many. we also pray special agents crystal are griner and david bayley for their heroic deeds that saved so many jobs. what a great job they did. and we thank all of the members
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of the alexandra fire, police, and rescue. in washington we have our disagreements, but we all agree that we are here to serve this nation we love and the people who call it home. that's the source of unity. more than ever, we must embrace it so that on this special night, i leave you with three great american words that for generations have torn down barriers, built grijs of unity and have defied both all those who hinder us, ladies and gentlemen, let's play ball! >> and that, congressman, is exactly what you would want to hear from the president of the united states. >> that's -- >> uplifting emotional message of leadership. >> i think he hit it perfectly. i think we're going to have fun tonight. i do believe republicans are
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going to win tonight and, yeah, you know -- and -- >> nancy pelosi. >> yes, paul ryan, the leadership together. shooez wearing a t-shirt in honor of congressman scalise. that is exactly what the country needed to hear from the president. >> it is. >> my gosh, i don't want to be a downer in a moment like this because i think this is really nice. >> don't be a down ir. >> donald trump needs to understand that statements like this and his twitter feed are equally important. that's all i'll say. you can't -- these two things are both things come from the office of the presidency, we need more like this and the statement yesterday. this is not a partisan statement. we need -- as a country we need to show our that when things
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like this happen, the convey in which we react is we come together. we -- we're all in this together. >> i would also say you're frustrated we play steve king. a lot of people listen to him. the president himself was out tweeting. what he was acting like today was different from what we heard. when he does this, it sets a tone for everybody else. this is how to act, this is ok. not that -- >> words matter. i spent a lot of time in schools, high schools, middle schools. i was with sixth grader, teaching them how to be kind on line. that's what i tell them, your words matter. words can inner spire. i agree. we've all got to choose our words better and it does start at the top. >> also, i think the floor of the congress has gotten a lot hotter, a lot more heated than it used to be. that's a real problem. congress's approval rating is 9,
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10, 12%? i think that's a lesson for members, because as people watch, whether it's on c-span or it's excerpts that we run or other news organizations run. members of congress are role models and should be role models. >> as is the president. >> as is the. >> just to understand do we know why -- obviously, that was a meaningful and good message he just sent but why he wasn't here? >> it was a security issue. they said it was a security issue. secret service couldn't come here. >> i think you're going to come here with mag no, ma'am terse. this is not an unsecure area. i should say there are other members of the administration here, ivanka trump. it would have made a statement if he had showed up. >> there's an increase -- there's an increased threat to this location with did number of folks that are here.
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it was going to make it a lot more difficult for folks to really enjoy the game, so i think we can't be critical of the president for this and the fact that he was here and delivered a message is what we should take away. it was the right message that tonight is about us being americans. >> it matters. but what's more important is how donald trump acts. >> tomorrow morning at 6:55 in the morning. >> it's not donald trump. it's all of us. >> certainly not. it's -- the moments matter. i remember i was covering congress when after 9/11 they came out, they sang. you had a real sense -- i would add after newtown, as well, there was the sense that something fundamental had changed. then the truth is nothing fundamental changed. >> no. >> it's not about -- the moments matter, clearly, but it's about extending the moments into something new -- a day is fine,
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a month. >> we will be back here from nationals park in washington with this very special game in just a couple of moments. [vo] what made secretariat the greatest racehorse who ever lived? of course he was strong... ...intelligent. ...explosive. but the true secret to his perfection... was a heart, twice the size of an average horse.
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. welcome back. we have breaking news tonight on the investigation of possible collusion between the trump campaign and the russian government. special counsel robert mueller is reporting the finances of jared kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior advisor. he was under scrutiny with russia's ambassador to the united states and the head of a russian state-owned bank who had trained at a top russian spy school. sorry. horowitz broke the story. investigating jared kushner's dealers. what have you learned? >>. >> reporter: we've learned that the investigation is widening again. we learned last night there are obstruction of justice charges being considered by prosecutor mueller. they're looking into the finances and business dealings of jared curb her. in the end there may be no charges coming out of this
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investigation but we know they're looking at financial records. >> jared kushner in particular had meetings with sergey kislyak, the russian with ambassad ambassador. someone who is trained at putin's school. is this a relationship or a meeting of particular significance as far as you know? >> we don't know. this is what special council mueller and his team is looking at. jared kushner and his lawyer have said he's willing to speak to hill verse and also anyone else investigating his finances and dealings with the russians. >> this is obviously hugely significant. it's jared curb her, the president's son-in-law. it's business dealings. but it's also showed an investigation which the president hoped would be narrow in scope, is now get iting
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significantly bigger, not smaller. >> president trump tweeted today the biggest political witch hunt in american history. pretty angry, i think, about the news about possible obstruction. and up think hi said after comey testified that he felt vind indicated because comey said he wasn't under investigation. >> he said he felt completely vindicated. >> right. >> jamie, you haven't -- not since this report. >> i have since jared's name came up in all of this. and what his people say is that jared kushner was the person who was the point man for foreign policy people and that what he wanted to do is establish what they call a back channel to russia. and that was why he met with kislyak and that was where he met with gorkov. we have since learned about a back channel that seemed to be turning into something of more of a secret channel and we --
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>> jared kushner -- >> right. >> your story makes an awful lot of sense given the fact that jared kushner was sort of the epicenter during the transition for diplomats, for people who wanted to get in touch in some way, shape, or form with the incoming managed he did have these russia meetings. >> chris, obviously, the significance of this new story, you can't be ujds estimated here. the president obviously now they're looking at personal obstruction of justice by bob mueller. his son-in-law. it can't get any closer than the president of the united states and his top advisor, his daughter's hugs. >> yeah. no. it can't -- i think it's an important point. this is why politicians live in fear of special counsels, because it often goes like this. not narrow. right? it gets wider. the reporting last night out of the washington post about
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obstruction of justice to me is of huge import in that we've talked about trump aides. we've talked about trump allies. we've talked about former trump staff. who we've never talked about in terms of being investigated is donald trump. we are now talking about that. that makes it fundamentally different. donald trump's reaction to this is his reaction to many things, which is dismiss, detract, move -- >> tell your story today, phony collusion with russia you said you made -- >> but -- so she doesn't have to. neither donald trump nor the white house took any issue with it. mark corralo, personal attorney for mark kasowitz, the leak's coming out. that's fine. a fair point but that has nothing to do with the detail of the story. >> i think it's wrong to say that this is jaw broad fishing expedition. >> no. >> they have to go broad before they go narrow.
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they have to look at everything and focus in on what is potentially criminal and what is not. >> yeah. all right. well, congratulations -- sorry -- on that incredible reporting. we are live at nashlgs park in washington, d.c. democrats he house speaker, paul ryan and nancy pelosi there smiling together. they're now with jake tapper for their first ever joint interview. jake. >> erin, thanks so much. i'm sitting here with speaker of the house, paul ryan, republican of wisconsin and house minority leader, nancy pelosi of california. if you're wondering about their outfits, the louisiana insignias are in honor of steve scalise still in the hospital and paul ryan is wearing a capitol police shirt. the first ever joint interview.
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>> it is, isn't it? didn't know that. >> you should feel free to come by sunday morning, we have another one maybe. let me ask you, speaker ryan, steve scalise is a friend of yours and president trump said he's in a fight here. this must be very tough on a personal level? >> it is. we spend everything on a personal level. our families are close. he's in the hospital and has a ways to go. we are pulling for him. the kids are here. he is a baseball player and supposed to start second base today. he is being missed and we are praying for steve and the family is giving him the support we need. >> your speech on the house yesterday, i can't believe it was only yesterday, your speech as if there were no parties anymore, members of the house of
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representatives. >> we're all close to steve scalise, he's a lovely person. this game is a game we come to have fun and do our very best and hope our team wins. tonight, we're all team scalise. it's interesting for us because our pitcher is our best player, senator richmond. >> he's the best player, a democrat, pitcher. >> he and steve are very close. >> very tight friends. >> very close friends. in fact, the republicans said since steve can't play tonight, why don't you give up? >> cedric, let's take him. >> i heard he can throw the ball at 80, 85 miles an hour. >> that's good. >> let me ask you something on the minds of a lot of your members. are we at an age now where members of congress need to have security with them at all times? >> it's a tough age. it's partisan polarized country. what we need to do is tone down the rhetoric and lead by example
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and show people we can disagree with one another and have different ideas without being vitriolic and going to such extremes. that's what we're trying to demonstrate. members of congress have to get out and interact with their constituents so we can't have a deep barrier between members of congress and their constituents. we also have to be cognizant. remember gabby giffords and now steve scalise. >> when it comes to striking the right balance and tone down the rhetoric, neither of you are known for being vitriolic. >> not between us. >> not even separately, members of your caucuses, people in partisan media left and right, if you look at the facebook feed of the shooter yesterday, there were things you would see at a rally against president trump. do you feel the rhetoric on the left has gotten too intense too
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dem monizing on president trump? >> no. i think the person who perpetrated the crime yesterday has. people feel very strongly in their convictions and some people -- i always say you can be passionate about your beliefs and dispassionate and proceed. you mentioned gabby giffords. i had the opportunity to be at the commissioning of her ship, uss gabby giffords, the second woman to have a ship named after her, her strength and the terrible tragedy that happened to her. and what happened to her also hurt some of her constituents. so when we evaluate the needs of our members, it's about protecting the members and the constituents as well.
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>> i know you're interested in the game. the republicans are -- the score is tied. thank you for the play-by-play. >> how do you think republicans in the caucus speak their minds while also setting a role, being a role model and saying that's too far, you've gone too far, don't say that. which hanes sometimes in both your caucuses. >> all of us have a responsibility to watch our rhetoric. we're passionate and believe passionately about our causes and issues and we can do that without being vitriolic and fomenting around the country. that's what leaders do and members have the responsibility to do that. sure, is there rhetoric on both sides of the aisle. it goes too far. it's our job to make sure it doesn't go too far and still passionate. that's basically the tone we're trying to set. >> in terms of tone, what else can you do beyond sitting here and rooting for steve scalise
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and rooting for your teams? can you work together better? democrats and republicans, people outside of washington look at this town and say, nothing's getting done in a bipartisan way? >> the answer is always yes to that. by the way, there is a lot we do do together. we just passed landmark veterans legislation last week. we worked together on the funding bill for government to help the military. most of what why actually pass is bipartisan, it's the stuff that's not that's controversial that gets all the press attention. there are so many things we do on a weekly basis that is bipartisan. >> what's newsworthy is what is controversial. unfortunately the appropriations committee and intelligence committee and those committees are notoriously nonpartisan. left to their own devices they can get their jobs done in a bipartisan way.
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>> what about the issue of people with emotional problems being able to get guns or dangerous being able to get guns. this is where we saw a problem with gabby giffords, we saw a problem yesterday with steve scalise and the others, a problem affecting members of congress everyday shouldn't baseball to get a gun is able to get one. is that an area you can work together? >> we passed legislation in december and we have a brand new mental health law barely dry and we want to identify people early with mental illnesses and we made progress and have to implement that progress. >> in our caucus our members want me to suggest to the speaker, maybe this is the place to do it, that we have a task force to study the issue rather
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than put a bill put a bill, study the issue to reduce gun violence in our country. that's something gabby giffords has devoted her life to now and her husband, mark. hopefully with better understanding, we can do that. that's not for today. coming together and celebrating steve scalise. he had an italian american connection. >> you you would never see me wearing an sec hat except for this. >> it takes a tragedy to come back in touch with the humanity of people on the other side of the aisle. what can you two do long after this baseball game democrats and republicans are showing the same spirit you are finding now. >> we need to find more opportunities to work together. we actually know each other well
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and many don't. we need opportunities to break bread, have meals with one another, travel with each other, do things with one another. we know people on the committees but there are not enough relationships between republicans and democrats. >> i thought you were going to brag about how much my grandchlidren -- >> that's right. her grandkids actually like me, go figure. >> i do think when families get to know each other, we're proud of differences of opinion. we have the responsibility to find common ground and we stand our ground. we have a professional attitude towards our colleagues, that is to respect them. sometimes that doesn't always work. >> thank you so much for doing this. >> my flesh. >> good luck to your team. i don't know if you can tell but i wasn't looking at either one of you. erin, back to you. >> thanks very much. we continue to cover the game and breaking news the special counsel is investigating jared
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kushner's dealings. let's hand it off now to "ac 360" . >> erin, thanks very much. good evening, everyone from national park in washington where democratic and republicans lawmakers are squaring off in baseball tonight while trying to project unity to the country. a mile and a half it was united in shock as well as horror. alexandria virginia is only about a 15 minute drive in traffic and the hospital where steve scalise underwent a third operation today. we will have a conversation with the majority and minority leaders of the senate. in addition, breaking news of the investigation, the vice president is taking on outside legal advice. as erin mentioned the