tv The Reid Report MSNBC July 16, 2014 11:00am-12:01pm PDT
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hello, everyone. i'm joy reid. this is "the reid report." we begin with a protest over the immigration crisis, which have gotten so ugly it's become a side show that could become a political liability for the right. >> protesting the invasion of the united states. >> we've got an ebola virus that is decimating three countries there. >> smallpox, the infectious diseases of children. >> all it takes is one bad one to come in our community. >> are we going to be seeing something like that coming in? >> you come illegally, go home. i don't want you here. >> the rule of law has been undermined by the president himself. >> then a report from the ground in gaza, where four small boys, all cousins, became the latest casual tis of the israeli-palestinian conflict. and an exclusive investigative reported from "the huffington post" that we'll report right here on a
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koch-backed initiative. first, a quick step back to look at just how some americans are responding to the humanitarian crisis that's driving tens of thousands of men, women, and children from central america into the u.s. after protests in michigan and california in recent weeks, about 100 people showed up in oracle, arizona, yesterday to march and wave their gats and flags in outrage over word the federal government planned to provide food and shelter to refugee children in their town. only one problem. the department of health and human services says there were no kids on buses headed for oracle. now let's go to texas, where one of our nbc news producers got a chance to ride along with a sergeant from the hidalgo county kons with. they encountered a pair of women from el salvador traveling with two small kids. one was headed to los angeles, the other to houston. granted, this is just one example, but let's hear the sergeant's observations on this
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particular group. >> obviously, they were clean, bathed. they had their hair done and the makeup was on. both the children were clean. i asked about their medical welfare and their condition. they said they were fine. i don't know if you noticed, but the border patrol agent was dirtier and more muddy than the women were. >> well, if you ask georgia republican congressman and retired physician phil gingrey, who wrote a letter of krrn to the cdc, quote, illegal immigrants, migrants are carrying deadly diseases such as swine flu, dengue fever, and tuberculosis. yes, e bbola, the west african disease, which a board certified internalist points out in this column in the daily beast, it has not, as in never, appeared in the americas, north, south, or central and shows no signs of doing so. our capitol hill correspondent luke russert ran into the congressman yesterday and asked him about that letter.
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>> i wanted to ask you about the letter you sent to the cdc about the children from central america possibly carrying ebola. where was your evidence on that? >> the border patrol gave us a list of the diseases that they're concerned about, and ebola was one of those. i can't tell you specifically, but there were cases of ebola, i don't think that were. >> yeah, that's right. that's what we thought. but he's not the only lawmaker tossing around far-fetched allegations. as first picked up but buzzfeed, republican congressman rich nugent of the great state of florida explained in a radio interview yesterday, these are not kids, they're gangsters. >> a lot of these children, quote/unquote, you know, and the caller, the first caller mentioned it. they're gang members. they're gang affiliates. these kids have been brought up in a culture of, you know,
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thievery, a culture of, you know, murder, of rape, all those types of things. and we're going to now infuse them into the american culture. >> yes. then of course there was illinois senator and republican mark kirk last week suggesting background checks at the borders because obviously that's the way to weed out the criminals, you know, from the legitimate child refugees. so the question is, has the republican party completely jumped the shark on this issue, and is this ratchet rhetoric really the gop's grand latino outreach plan? alfonso aguilar joins us. he served as chief of the u.s. office of citizenship under president george w. bush. i'm going to start with you, alfonso. the images of people screaming at buses full of children who don't understand what they're saying because they probably don't really necessarily speak english, and some of them are 5. people yelling go home.
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some showing up to meetings in michigan with guns, with ar-15s strapped on and screaming go home. is this the way the republican party reaches out to latino-americans? when americans, whether you're latino or not, look at this, this looks crazy. does it look crazy to you? >> it looks definitely crazy. some of those comments are preposterous and are offensive to hispanics. but let's be fair, however. i think it would be irresponsible and false to say that the majority of republicans are using that type of rhetoric and are expressing those types of sentiments. >> alfonso, i wouldn't say the majority of republicans are using that type of rhetoric, but i don't hear a lot of republicans leaders standing up and saying, that is out of bounds, stop saying that, don't do that, and telling people to back down. i don't see a lot of people doing that. what i do hear are like congressman gohmert of texas. take a listen. >> you want to talk about a war
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on women? this administration will not defend the women of america from criminal aliens by the thousands and hundreds of thousands. >> i mean, alfonso, that's the rhetoric we're hearing out of leaders. >> but again, i think you're looking at a couple of members of congress, you know, people like luis gohmert and saying they speak for the entire republican party. and that's not true. i would agree with you that the majority are keeping quiet. i think they should stand up. in the past, we've seen reince priebus, the chair of the republican national committee, even speaker boehner and others come out and say, you know, please, don't use that type of language. i think they have to do it now. but let's not generalize. and at the end, i think, look, everybody around this debate is
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behaving badly. some republicans for saying things that are outrageous, proposing ideas that are wrong to deal with the situation. but the obama administration as well. the obama administration was not ready to deal with this situation, even though they had two years to prepare for it. and let's not forget that it was president obama, the first one to suggest that we change the law to arbitrarily send kids back to their home countries. >> mr. aguilar, that's something that republicans are saying that they want. they want to send the kids back faster. as a matter of fact, the governor of texas said they also want to deploy the national guard and festoon the southern border with armed military men. >> and i disagree with that. what i'm saying is we have democrats like congressman cuellar, a democrat of texas, working with senator cornyn suggesting we change the law. i disagree with that. what i'm saying is both parties are using this issue politically instead of thinking of the children. and that's what we should be focused on. >> let me come to you, jimmy
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williams. is this an issue where, one of my least favorite phrases, both sides are doing it equally? >> sure, yes. but because democrats are for something, which is called immigration reform. remember, they passed a bill out of the senate a year ago, like two weeks ago. 14 republicans voted for it. sitting in the house, been there for a year. alfonso is right, the republicans should speak up. speaker boehner should speak up. i respect speaker boehner. by the way, if speaker boehner has an alternative, just put it on the floor. just dow it. this is not complicated. remember during the a.i.d.s. crisis, the activist put up the sign that said violence is death. that's what this is. if the gop is going to be silent on the issue of immigration reform and only let the crazies speak out in these hyperbolic terms, then that is their voice. i would suggest that speaker boehner and others take to the podium. >> is there political space for them to do that? of course, alfonso worked for
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president george w. bush, who on this issue was very progress i have and tried to make reform happen during his administration. and i think you could argue that the bush family is actually quite positive on this issue. but where are those republicans? where are the bush republicans to speak up on this issue? because they are silent, to include one jeb bush, who's maybe running for president. alfonso? >> oh, i don't think he has been quiet. and frankly, president bush's views on immigration were not progressive, as you say. actually a part of that free-market ideology you talked about. >> but he did something. >> right. but what you're saying is somehow immigration reform would have prevented this crisis at the border. and that's not true at all. in fact, we know that one of the underlying reasons many of these kids are coming to the united states is because their parents are here. their parents are here not because they don't want to visit their children back home. it's just that if they go back
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home, they would have to re-enter into the united states illegally. that's why we need a guest program, which president obama opposes. and the senate bill did not include an effective guess worker program. >> but the point is the senate passed a bill. the house has passed nothing. there are currently more border patrols on the border right now than at any time in american history. and yet, we have this problem. you're right. it's been a long time in the making. again, at least the democrats did something. president obama sent a bill. it was passed out of the senate with 14 republicans. valiant republicans. i give them that. again, your party has got to step up on this. you cannot issue an autopsy report in january of 2013 saying we've got to reach out and then sit back and be silent about that. you can't do that. >> with that, i agree. speaker boehner -- i understand they don't want to consider the senate bill, but they should -- >> come up with any bill. hell, anything. i'll take anything at this point. >> indeed. i think we've come to one point of agreement.
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let's get some kind of bill on the floor. >> 126 bills passed in the house this year. one of them has not been immigration. >> very quickly. >> just on this point, let's focus on the children. these children are not entering illegally. they're going to the border, surrendering themselves. they're not thugs. >> and they're not from the middle east. they're not carrying dengue fever. hopefully someone will speak up. unfortunately we're out of time. thank you. >> thank you. time for a quick reid alert. jose antonio vargas has been released from border control custody. border agents detained him yesterday while he was trying to board a plane in mcallen, texas. he's been freed with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. vargas was featured on the cover of "time" magazine after outing himself as an undocumented immigrant. he's written and testified in front of congress. up next, the conflict in gaza escalates. mothers wail in the streets of
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gaza city where four young boys were killed in a recent israeli air strike. we'll have a report from gaza. then, how the koch brothers brand of libertarian economics is now being taught in dozens of high schools. which is why he's investing ain his heart health by eatingw. kellogg's raisin bran ® good morning dad. hi, sweetie. here's another eye opener, not only is kellogg's raisin bran ® heart healthy, but its a delicious source of potassium. mom make you eat that? i happen to like raisins. now that's what i'm talkin' about. invest in your heart health. with kellogg's raisin bran ®.
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moments ago secretary of state john kerry made an unscheduled visit to the white house where among the subjects believed to have been discussed with the president are the violence in israel and gaza. four children were killed during israeli retaliatory strikes against hamas today, bringing the total to about 43 kids and more than 200 palestinians overall and one israeli dead from recent violence. nbc's ayman mohyeldin and his crew were in their hotel near the location where the children
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were killed and has this report. >> reporter: good afternoon. what we witnessed today is a scene that palestinians say is happening time and time again over the course of the past several days. innocent people, women and children, getting caught up in the ongoing fighting between hamas and israel. today it happened at the gaza sea port. we happened to be witnesses to that scene of devastation and carnage. now, it was at about 4:00 p.m. local time that a group of young palestinian children from the ages of 9 to 11 years old were playing down by the gaza sea port when two israeli shells landed right where they were playing. now, according to one of those children who survived, there were about seven kids. three of them survived. four were killed. one of those that survived told us that they were simply playing down by the harbor when those shells landed. now, we, as i said, were just down by the hotel and we actually saw that some of these children's bodies were being recovered, taken from inside the hotel lobby where they were being treated to and loaded on to ambulances before taken to
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gaza's main hospital. it was there, that scene, that was just completely heart wrenching. while we were there filming the arrival of the boys, one of the young children's mother arrived. she at the time had not known what happened to her son. she started asking people at the hospital, where is my son, where is my son? is he okay? is he okay? as she made her way through the hospital grounds and ultimately to the back end where the morgue was, one of the relatives came out and told her, pray for your son, your son is dead. and it was at that point she just completely broke down, completely grief stricken. she couldn't stand anymore. she started wailing, pulling on her hair. relatives -- i mean, it was a scene of complete devastation because every 20 minutes over the course of 20 minutes, rather, every few minutes a relative was coming and learning that, in fact, one of their sons was also killed. at the end, four children, four first kuz frns the same family, 9 to 11 years old is the range of these kids, all of them killed as a result of these two israeli shells that landed here
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today. the bodies of these four children have been released to their families. they have been buried. the funeral took place a short time after. they were released. it gives you a sense of what life has become here in gaza over the course of the past several days for families getting caught up in the middle. >> thanks, ayman. those kinds of scenes, as they play out, even more so in europe, even more so throughout the arab world, i think they point up asymmetric capability of hamas versus the israelis. but it also plays up the central problem for israel, the dilemma, which is they see the threat coming from gaza. they respond to it. rockets are coming their way, which are obviously ineffective. but the death toll on the palestinian side is so heavy with civilians, with women and children. how does israel deal with that? >> first of all, i think many
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israelis were shocked by the pictures that have been broadcast over the past few hours of the children. i don't think it changes the situation strategically. israelis have been trying to counteract the scenes being shown on tv and to claim that one should not judge this conflict based on the number of civilians. there's a whole line of israeli arguments about how hamas uses civilians as human shields, how it doesn't protect them like israelis do and so on. but i think most israelis realize, at least those in government, that they're living on borrowed time. meaning, another incident like this, another incident like this, and the international community, which has been very willing to let israel go ahead with its plans, will have to intervene because of public pressure. >> indeed. people probably don't have a sense of how dense the gaza strip is. it's a tiny, tiny place. everything is pretty much on top of each other. if you're dropping, if you're conducting air strikes in that tiny little part, that tiny
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little plot of land, everything is on top of each other. there have been mosques that have been hit. there have been hospitals where there were disabled people. everything is on top of each other. can you make a credible argument as a powerful nation state that you can wage war against a population in that dense of a place without essentially waging war on the civilians? >> well, i don't think israel is waging war on the civilians. i take the army's claim that it is doing whatever it can do avoid civilian casualties. there are people who compare our performance with civilian casualti casualties, say, to the american performance in iraq or afghanistan and say we're doing much better, in quotation marks. again, israel is trying to do surgical strikes. as you say, it's quite impossible in gaza. and it's a matter of time before the civilian casualties sort of become more prominent than the targets that israel are hitting. the second problem that israel may be having is it's running out of targets to hit. in that case, it'll have to just judge militarily what should it
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do that is better than that. one of the options that are on the table, there's a story an hour ago from in the "new york times," the ground operation, which is a whole completely different new world, again, of civilian casualties that could be hurt if such an operation takes place. >> indeed. we were talking in the break a little bit about the dilemma for mahmoud abbas, who's the head of the pal stestinian state in waiting. can he do anything about any of this? does he have any authority or sway over hamas to get them to back down? >> it's a very delicate -- inter-palestinian politics are just as complicated as israeli politics. at the beginning when this thing developed, people we are saying abbas is going to be irreparably perhaps weakened. he seems to be emerging from that as storm some sort of go-between. he's in cairo discussing possible cease-fire arrangements and the stationing of his own
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policemen on the border between egypt and the gaza strip. a lot depends on how this ends up. if hamas emerges heroes from this conflict, that may come at the expense of abbas, and he will be perceived as having been weakened. >> an intractable problem. hopefully we'll be able to have you come back. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> we'll be right back. (son) oh no... can you fix it, dad? yeah, i can fix that. (dad) i wanted a car that could handle anything. i fixed it! (dad) that's why i got a subaru legacy. (vo) symmetrical all-wheel drive plus 36 mpg. i gotta break more toys. (vo) introducing the all-new subaru legacy. it's not just a sedan. it's a subaru. but what about here?
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shinglesthe blisters tremendously as a pilot. and the pain in my scalp area and down the back of my neck was intense. it would have been virtually impossible in that confined space with the rash i would just stop and literally freeze up. i mean it hurt. to move to change radio frequencies. i couldn't even get up and drive let alone teach somebody and be responsible in an airplane. when my doctor told me that shingles came from the chickenpox virus i was very surprised. for two weeks i sat up in bed because i couldn't lay down. i had the scabs all throughout the side of my head and into the upper neck region. i didn't want to do anything except go to sleep
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you're sending tweets like this one. quote, you had us at the dancing punctuation marks, weird al. and you're sharing articles commemorating his 32 years of poking fun at pop culture. yes, weird al is staying true to his special brand of humor. but the marvel character of "thor" is going through a major change. thor will become a woman in the latest plot line of the come book series. quote, now thor is going to be a girl. i'm all for being represented in comics, but seriously, marvel, make another character. marvel says this is all in keeping with the rules of thor's mythic world. the editor explained in a statement, the inscription on thor's hammer reads, who so ever holds the hammer, if he is worthy, shall possess the power of thor. one writer added, this is not she thor, this is not lady thor. this is the thor of the marvel
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universe. still, many of you are thrilled. i stipmy diamonds to marvel for the new female thor. but i share one of your concerns. are we losing chris hems worth as the store of those "thor" movies? because that is not acceptable. just saying. you can join the conversation with fellow reiders on twitter, facebook, and instagram. now this news. germany just bought a ton of new typewriters. here's why. so what's this?
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david and charles koch have a well-established reputation as conservative money men when it comes to politics. perhaps less well phone are their attempts to use their money to mold the minds of young americans. that's the crux of a new report in "the huffington post," which examines one such program called the young entrepreneurs program. the report says the program is funded primarily by charles koch, the older of the two brothers. in the previous school year, it introduced about a thousand teens in kansas and missouri to the basics of business. charles koch's basics of business. lessons and material obtained make the course's message clear. the minimum wage hurts workers and slows economic growth. low taxes and less regulation allow people to prosper. public assistance harms the poor. government, in short, is the enemy of liberty. "huffington post" says the koch foundation did not responsible
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to their request for comment. this show reached out to the reps for the three organizations. only koch industries responded. the manager director said, quote, we at koch industries had not been contacted by "the huffington post" for this story. christina sumner co-wrote the story. i want to start with you. the koch foundation, or the koch brothers says they were not contacted for the story. you want to clarify whether or not they were actually reached out to by you and the other reporter. >> sure. we reached out repeatedly to the koch foundation and to charles g.koch institute. those are the two groups that have funded a lot of this work. this is not specifically a story about koch industries. it's a story about charles phil. >> what kind of schools are getting this curriculum?
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is it curriculums and money? >> the curriculum obviously has a value. these students, they're mostly in public schools throughout kansas and missouri. often economically disadvantaged schools. the schools need to give the koch program a wide berth of control in my of the schools over selecting the teachers. the youth entrepreneurs program designed the curriculum, which was surprising, remarkable, really, to us. youth entrepreneurs, their employees come to the classrooms. they observe the teachers. they really want teachers who buy in, they told us, into their program and into their messaging. >> and what is the ultimate goal? because you point out some of the things they're teaching things like trying to thwart what they say are the myths that unions protect people, the myth that fdr and the new deal ended the great depression, the myth that the rich get richer at expense of the poor. what is, in your reporting, the goal of these programs, the
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ultimate goal in trying to teach high school kids that message? >> what we found was a deep and detailed plan detailing exactly -- detailing a multiyear strategy to reach high school students and to indoctrinate them with ideological -- with libertarian ideology before they reach college, where they could potentially be exposed to harmful liberal thought. so this plan took place in 2009 and 2010. there was a small group blessed by charles koch, but they worked on developing what they said was going to be a program that was going to create a generation of liberty minded students. >> and is this taking place just in kansas or elsewhere? >> it began in kansas, but it has expanded now to missouri. there's a small program, a satellite program, in georgia. it's also expanding online so that more and more students can access these materials. >> all right. thank you so much to christina wilkie summer. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> joining me now is democratic
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strategist tara dowdell. you've read this report in "the huffington post." is this strategically for the koch brothers? they have tried other strategies. they're advertising, trying to make a warmer, fuzzy image. they're getting on this school to prison pipeline. is this a smart way for the koch brothers to rebrand themselves, or is this just about growing future republicans? >> well, i think this is definitely about growing future republicans and advancing the koch brother ideology. one of the koch brothers actually ran as a libertarian political candidate. so this is certainly about that. the problem with this is that many people don't know a lot of these programs -- and this is not the only program that they have. many of these programs have names that sound rather benign. they sound very helpful. so people don't know these programs are being backed by the koch brothers for the explicit purpose of advancing a gop ideology. >> what's interesting is --
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>> a partisan ideology. >> it's interesting that the koch brothers have made these the targeting -- you know, low-income communities. also, they've given like $25 million to the united negro college fund. what is that about? you have african-americans typically quite resistant to the republican message. >> i think that's what this is about. this is about trying to change that dynamic, trying to make african-americans more receptive to the message, even though the gop platform in many ways hurts african-americans. we're usually the last hired, first fired. we usually, you know, in terms of wages, we don't receive as much money. we all know that. and as the economy has gotten worse, we're the ones that feel the brunt of that economic pain. so what i do think, though, people need to really do is vote in their local elections. because it's so easy to influence policy because what you can do is support a candidate running for school board. you support multiple candidates running for school board. then you can influence what
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happens at that level of government. >> on the other side of this, though, it could be argued by people who support what the koch brothers are trying to do. democrats just need to compete. if the koch brothers want to fund and create a marketplace of ideas and they're winning and they have the money and are able to get schools to pick up these courses, what's the harm? why don't liberals simply fund programs on the other side? >> i think it's a harm either way. what people should be concerned about, whether you agree or disagree with the koch brother ideology, the problem is the influence of money over the system. this shows the impact that money can have over our political system. people have to make a call in this country. is that something that's acceptable to us? the person with the most money wins. is that an acceptable model for a country that's supposed to be about promoting economic opportunity for all people? is that the model we want? >> and you mention that a lot of people, you know, these programs come through. they have these positive names. it sounds very helpful. people only realize maybe on the back end where the money is
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coming from. have democrats or liberals on the other side been quick enough to respond to these kinds of infiltrations? because you do have the koch brothers rapidly expanding their influence. what has been the response? has it been adequate? >> i think the response has been very reactionary on the part of democrats and progressives in terms of responding to these types of programs. ironically, if the koch brothers were actually teaching entrepreneurship, i'm an entrepreneur. if that program was actually about that, it could benefit many disadvantaged communities, in particular the african-american community. they should be teaching things like how to run a business, how to manage a business. that's not the intent of this. democrats should be funding programs that teach the basics of business and entrepreneurship. when the african-american community has entrepreneurship as a big part of our community structure, that's when we did well. i think what the response should be by democrats is a policy response. while they're willing to try to advance these vary various
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programs that are geared for partisan purposes, we need to be responding with programs that can uplift people and address the real issues in the community. >> indeed. the indispensable tara dowdell, one of my favorite people to talk to on any subject. thank you very much. appreciate it. all right. moments ago, members of the senate blocked a bill aimed at reversing the supreme court's hobby lobby decision. the democratic sponsored effort protect women's health from corporate interference act was nicknamed the "not my boss' business" act. the final vote was 63-43. let's listen in. >> the blocking debate on the bill i've been privileged to carry along shows our republican colleagues aren't serious about addressing the devastating effect that the supreme court's decision will have. our bill is simple. it will ensure that no corporation can come between you and your guaranteed coverage of health services, including affordable contraception. it would keep bosses in the boardroom and out of the doctor's offices.
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today's vote may have not gone the way a majority of coloradans and americans wanted, but this is far from over. thousands of women in colorado and millions more nationwide are counting on congress to act and restore their ability to make their own health care decisions without corporate interference. i will keep fighting to ensure congress is focused on coloradans and not corporations. thank you. senator murray. >> first of all, thank you, senator udall. it is an honor to fight shoulder to shoulder, even though we're not quite there with you on this really critical issue. women across the country today watched as all but three republicans showed they care more about protecting the rights of ceos and corporations than about protecting the rights of women to access critical health care coverage. you know, we've seen this kind of attack on women from republicans time and time again. we've seen it in states that are threatening to subject women to
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invasive and degrading ultrasounds in the targeting of planned parenthood, in outrageous statements about legitimate rape and on capitol hill and in state houses across america and in courtrooms at all levels. the fight against women making their own decision about their own health care wages on. republicans have shown they'll go to just about any length to limit our access to our own care. they put politics between women and their health care. now with this vote, they've put employers between women and their access to free or low-cost basic health care under the affordable care act. they have said it is your boss' business. 42 republicans said that today. they've shown that this is not what is best for women. instead, for them, it's been about political calculations and appeasing the far right. and it's about their continued effort to do whatever it takes to push their extreme agenda.
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well, i stand here today happy to say the deck is stacked against them. senators like me and senator udall, who joined me in this legislation, are not going anywhere. the advocate, the doctors, the more than 100 organizations that supported this legislation are not going anywhere. and the millions of women across the country -- >> that was senate democrats reacting to republicans blocking a bill that would have reversed the supreme court's hobby lobby decision called the "not by boss' business" act. it failed to reach the 60-vote threshold in order to get through. we'll obviously be continuing to cover this story. very important story for us. now let's go to our series generation to generation, which brings together current leaders and the people who influence and inspire them. for frank conversations about politics, policy and the state of our culture. recently, former san antonio mayor and h.u.d. secretary henry cyster in row roes and joaquin
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castro met to talk about the history and future of latinos in the u.s. >> my name is henry cicneros. >> i'm joaquin castro. >> i remember your mother from my first day in kindergarten. literally. i can actually remember at little flower elementary school. we were together from kindergarten through third grade. >> my mom was very involved in the mexican-american civil rights movement. so was my dad. from when i was very young, we were going to marches and campaign events and activities. so i kind of grew up with that civic conscience. between my brother and i, he kind of new before i did that he wanted to get into politics. even though we both resisted it
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when we were young. >> henry was making history. the first mexican-american elected mayor of san antonio in modern times. he knows his victory reaches beyond san antonio. he's the first mexican-american elected mayor of any major city in the united states. >> and we're going to take the vote that we received today from every section of san antonio and make it work for a better san antonio as we go into -- >> i got elected mayor in 1981. and that is over 30 years ago. i thought there would just be a lot, a lot of continuation of progress and leadership development over that period. it's been a little slower, i think, than i thought. so here's what some people say. the change politically and demographically is inevitable because of the growing
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population. but the intransigence tea party, koch brother, et cetera, is kind of an unwillingness to relinquish and an unwillingness to acknowledge demographic change and somehow a last-gasp hold, you know. you think that's out there? >> i mean, i think for some folks that's probably part of it. i think it's also incumbent upon us to be more par tis pa story. >> what's your realistic sense of what is possible in texas? >> i think that the state will start to become competitive here in the next few years. you know, i think we've got a fighting chance with wendy davis and leticia van deputte. you have so many people from the left and the right who are advocating for reform. the chamber of commerce, for example. yet, the house of
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representatives won't even take up a bill. >> immigration reform would be a kind of civil rights initiative in the sense of 12 million people coming out of the shadows who are presently contributing to the country. >> yeah, and i think -- the way i see that, i think that in the debate, you know, the country is struggling, trying to be honest with itself. if we're honest with ourself, we have to acknowledge that there are four or five or six major american industries that wouldn't exist the way they do but for immigrant labor. >> last night was also about speaking to another key part of the obama coalition, latinos via san antonio mayor julio castro, introduced by his twin brother joaquin. >> my mother fought hard for civil rights so instead of a mop, i could hold this microphone. >> we know the latino community
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is going to be large. that we know. we're going toward 100 million people by about 2040 or so from the 55 million or so we are today. largest increase in any segment of the american population. and in some parts of the population, we're going to be the only source of growth. we are the mechanism for growing as other populations age and some parts of the country lose workers. so the question to me is, are we going to be large but undereducated, undercompensated, and alienated? or are we going to be large but a source of the creative energy for the country's future, you know, the key man power, human capital needed for the country's dynamic engines going forward. >> i hope, and i believe, that it'll be the latter. that we will make significant contributions. >> that would be a beautiful
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with women across the country up in arms over the hobby lobby decision, hello senate, and women in congress pushing to roll back some of the intrusions into women's liberty and access from everything to abortion services and contraception. and with the former first lady and maybe even a primary challenge from another popular woman, republican politicians are fishing for ways to push back on the war on women narrative and show that they care about women too.
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>> we're the mothers. we're the wives. we're the grandmothers. we're the big sisters. we're the little sisters. and we are the daughters. you know it's true, don't you? i love you women! and i hear your voices. >> no, no. that didn't work. much better to put forward women of their own, to tell the conservative story in a woman's voice. last friday a group of conservative women, mostly members of the republican study committee, did just that. they met to talk about how the gop can better reach women with the message of how their policies would improve women's lives. just one reporter was allowed into the session. ashe schow of the conservative washington examiner. she wrote a piece about the session in which speakers explains it's not conservative
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policy that's turning women off. it's about tone. including congresswoman renee ellmers of north carolina, who also added this. >> men do tend to talk about things on a much higher level. you know, one of those things that has always been one of my frustrations and i speak about this all the time, many of my male colleagues, when they go to the house floor, they have some high chart or graph behind them and they're talking about trillions of dollars and how the debt is awful. we all agree with that. by starting off that discussion that way, we've already turned people away because it's, like, that doesn't affect my life. the biggest need that women have it more time. we all want more time in our lives. more time in the morning to get ready. more time in the evening to spend time with our families. all of these things. more time to move up that career path. it's about time. and we have to make sure that women understand that we
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understand that. we need our male colleagues to understand that if you can bring it down to a woman's level and what everything that she is balancing in her life, that's the way to go. >> in other words, instead of all those complicated charty graphy things men use a way to reach women, we should focus on girl things. like having more time to get ready in the morning. and on being a mom and making the family a delicious lunch. oh, thank you. that's nice. ellmers, who opposes equal pay law, thinks insurance companies should be able to charge women more because, well, they have babies. and that the real war on women is obamacare, is facing former "american idol" contestant clay aiken in november. she blasted schow's report calling her a liberal reporter. did i mention she's from the
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conservative washington examiner? quote, i am a woman and find it both offensive and sexist to take my words and redefine them to imply that women need to be addressed at a lower level. so schow release the full audio like a proper, modern girl. the bigger point is the gop solution to the war on women seems to involve some really old-fashioned views on women, even from women on the right. as if women just aren't sophisticated enough to understand data and the way to get more women to vote republican is to get us all back to the olden days. war on women, solved. and that wraps things up for "the reid report." i'll see you back here tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. eastern. be sure to visit us online at thereidreport.msnbc.com. hopefully i'm back in color. yes, i am. hey, cyclists. i got a really chic apron. >> you look amazing. >> joy, you didn't tell me it was bring your apron to workday or i'd be here with you. >> sorry. i'll try next time. the men really should wear them
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too. >> amen. >> what do you have coming up? >> we're going to be covering stuff right in this wheelhouse, including the breaking news on that senate vote about hobby lobby today. we're going to talk about something called drought shaming in california, that's actually opening a lot of big questions. and at the end of the show, we have a little discussion of some media blind spots and why it's so hard to cover the stories that show government is working. >> indeed. telling people what government is always is helpful. they somehow don't seem to know. thank you very much. appreciate it. at legalzoom you can take care of virtually all your important legal matters in just minutes. now it's quicker and easier for you to start your business, protect your family, and launch your dreams. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. (vo) ours is a world of the red-eyes. (daughter) i'm really tired. (vo) the transfers. well, that's kid number three. (vo) the co-pilots. all sitting... ...trusting... ...waiting...
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feel like a knot. how can i ease this pain? (man) when i can't go, it's like bricks piling up. i wish i could find some relief. (announcer) ask your doctor about linzess-- a once-daily capsule for adults with ibs with constipation or chronic idiopathic constipation. linzess is thought to help calm pain-sensing nerves and accelerate bowel movements. it helps you proactively manage your symptoms. do not give linzess to children under 6,
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and it should not be given to children 6 to 17. it may harm them. don't take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain especially with bloody or black stools the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach-area pain and swelling. bottom line, ask your doctor about linzess today. we begin with breaking news here in the cycle. the u.s. senate tries to rebut the supreme court, protect contraception, and send a blow to hobby lobby supporters and fails. just moments ago, the senate failed to pass a test bill that would reverse the supreme court's controversial ruling that corporations have religious rights. today's bill was four votes short of moving forward. simply holding the votes shows democrats are likely to make this part of their midterm pitch
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to hold on to the senate. it was, of course, just two weeks ago when conservatives on the court ruled that an old law defending people's religious freedom now applies to corporations and exempts some of them from providing contraception coverage. the bill was backed by democratic senators patty murry and mark udall. while both parties recently agreed that the federal law in question, something called the religious freedom restoration act, only applied to human beings, the court's ruling has shifted many republicans calculus here. now they accuse democrats of playing politics today. >> make no mistake, religious liberty is under attack today. it's amazing to me the democrats want to make a public issue of this and do it for political purposes. >> when senator kennedy and congressman schumer and president clinton all said religious freedom is an essential part of the american character, this is a
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