tv Politics Nation With Al Sharpton MSNBC December 17, 2017 5:00am-6:00am PST
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thank you so much. thank you! so we're doing it. yes! "we got a yes!" start saying yes to your company's best ideas. let us help with money and know-how, so you can get business done. american express open. good morning and welcome to "politics nation." this morning, i asked three urgent questions. one, how little diversity is there really in the trump white house? and how much should the lack of it surprise us? two, can i challenge my comrades on the left to do the grown-up thing and show up and vote in 2018? you bet i can. and three, how disturbed should
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we all be that the new tax bill could hurt students' learning ability for generations to come. i'll give you the answers during the show, but we start with alabama, as democrats and republicans are extracting what they will from the results of the senate race there. with the republicans questioning just how far the party's moral compass sank in promising president trump's lead to the support he defeated roy moore. and democrats riding high on doug jones' narrow victory. their party licking its chops over what they see as a promising omen for the 2018 midterm elections. but the victory comes with the assessment and much has already been made of just how instrumental black voters were in alabama. my vote is will the democratic
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party learn its lessons and finally start embracing the black electorate that has come to his rescue for the past half century? joining me now is eugene scott, political reporter for "the washington post," who was in alabama to cover this race, and randall woodfin, who recently made history of his own, becoming the city's youngest mayor since 1893. let me go to you first, eugene. you covered alabama. >> yes, sir. >> and you were there, you talked to the voters. first of all, black women came out strong and black men was only three points behind, really came out strong. what did you find were the things that you heard from black voters? what was the thing that led to this enormous black turnout that even exceeded the black turnout for president obama in alabama?
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>> yeah, most black voters i spoke with at schools and churches and barbershops and restaurants i ran into, saw roy moore as a local version of donald trump. they voted against donald trump, after donald trump's statements about charlottesville, about donald trump's statements about nfl players. they just felt like sending someone to the white house who was endorsed by -- i'm sorry, to washington, who was endorsed by the person in the white house would reinforce many of the things that alabama voters had worked for years -- >> so many of the voters were voting as a repudiation of donald trump? >> that's what they told me, absolutely. >> how much did the fact that roy moore had embraced that slavery was the last time that america was great and other things that was racially insensitive or offensive, how much did that play into it? >> that was huge. one thing i don't think most people know about black voters, they found roy moore problematic way before the sexual allegations came out. they weren't voting against that
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because of him. they voted against him because of things he said about black people, lbgt people, muslim people, undocumented people. they found out he was not the right person for alabama way before what "the washington post" reported. >> now, alabama has some very repressive laws now. with voter i.d., they closed some of the places where you can get state i.d. yet, people found a way in the black community to come out and vote in big numbers anyway. did you hear any complaining about these measures that had tried to restrict them, but yet they overcame them? >> absolutely. there were people who made it very clear that voting for them was not easy. there were some polls that were not operating correctly. there were people who went to the polls, that they are used to voting at, only to find out that was not the same poll they were supposed to vote for in this election and they had not been notified. there were normally long waits that were -- thought was that people were not staffed -- polls were not staffed appropriately.
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and just across the board, people did not have the information they needed to make the decision they wanted to. >> democrat dnc has been attacked by a lot of people, including me. they don't engage the community a lot, day go to wrong places, they don't really deal with the people on the ground, the grassroots, the churches, black radio. and they really don't understand our community. did they correct that here? because i got reports they sent in people. and the people there on the ground didn't even know who they were. i love senator cory booker. i love others, but they really didn't even know them. did they have any impact on the voters you talked to? >> not too many of the voters i spoke with. so i heard two different things. i definitely spoke with people at the dnc who did send people and could point to everything they did to pull out the black vote. but many of the black voters i spoke with never ran into these people. they didn't feel like they actually came to their community. so they were there -- >> some of the people they sent
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are unknown and the people that are known, they don't send. i don't understand. >> yeah, alabama voters are not really -- swerved or whatever, by celebrity politicians. they really could have done a better job, they said, of sending people in their community who is they actually recognized as opposed to people from out of state who don't have a huge impact on what people in alabama do. >> now, let me g to to to the m. james brown, used to sing, i need to be the mayor so i can change some things around here. while you were running, all your moorhouse buddies were baeeatin up on me saying, he's the new deal and he's going to be great, and a lot of promise on you. what did you observe in this special election? first of all, were you surprised to see the democrat win and the black electorate be so important? >> rev, it's good to be on your show this morning. i think two things. i think the first thing is, i
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think that the doug jones campaign didn't treat black voters or entertain black voters only during the gotv get out of the vote effort. i think they spent an amount of time that was important around persuasion, just was it's a special election or you're a democrat, you can't necessarily take advantage of. so there was a lot of persuasion going on, on black radio and black print, et cetera. i believe the other thing was the gotv effort. whether it was text messaging, knocking on doors several times, et cetera if doug jones campaign spent a lot of the time with that gotv effort. not just in urban alabama, which would be birmingham, montgomery, huntsville, and mobile, but they spent a lot of time with their gotv effort. i think the combination of those two things allowed doug jones to have a great victory. >> now, i have folk from alabama. i was born and raised in brooklyn, new york, but my
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mother's from dothan, alabama, is buried there. so i know relatives there that told me that they had a really gotv effort. is that the formula that you think the dnc ought to be dealing with national? you are now a rising star in the party nationally, whether you want to be or not. and you're the mayor of one of the biggest cities in the south. if the dnc officials are watching you right now, what lessons do you think they should take from what doug jones did in alabama? >> i think, tom, under his leadership, as well as the buyer dnc, has to embrace three things. the first thing they have to do is make sure the bench is secure. attract, recruit candidates who are not only likable, but viable. and a good personal story tornado wat attached to great policy. i think the other thing they have to do is really focus on persuasion. that entertaining the base of the party, which is african-americans, they have to be in a space of persuasion. what is the actual story that's motivating black voters to
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support a candidate? thenned t the third thing is go. we can never of forget or disrespect the ground game. everything is rooted in turning out your vote, your support. that is going to include knocking on doors. and so we're not disregarding tv or radio or direct mail, but those things supplement an effective ground game that allows us to motivate and get people to the polls. >> now, how -- how important was it to have ex-cons be able to vote? ex-felons. my brother works hard in alabama on that, as you know. was that addition important? what was the significance of bringing in people that had been disenfranchised? >> well, it's all about the margin, right? and stoo it's extremely importa. i think whether it's generation boomer, x or y, black or white, or where your mother is from, or north alabama. making sure we have a program
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around ex-felons having the opportunity to vote will always drive up turnout, particularly in the special election, as it relates to where you know you're going to have a slim margin of victory. but it works. so it's extremely important. >> i like that he said generation "z," eugene, generation "x," for baby boomer. i'm boom! i'm booming sc inbooming! thank you, eugene scott. thank you mayor randall woodfin. now, an important programming note. next week, awe have a special show as we wind down 2017. it's called the year in social justice. and a special guest panel will re-examine stories like white supremacy in charlottesville, pro-athletes taking a knee against police brutality, and jeff sessions aeg aegi' justice
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departme department. that's next sunday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. and then on new year's eve, it's the revvies where we give awards for the best and worst political moves and those who made the biggest impact in our lives. that's on december 13st, 8:00 p.m. eastern. when we come back, four black young girls lost their lives in the bombing of a baptist church in 1963 done by the coup clku klux klan. we'll talk to the sister of one of those girls. we'll be right back. this is "politics nation."
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i damn eed sure believe thai have done my heart to ensure that men who hurt little girls should go to jail and not the united states senate. [ cheers and applause ] >> along with the many adult women that have accused roy moore of child sexual abuse, senator-elect doug jones' victory this week was also seen as a vindication for four black free-teen girls. carol robertson, addyi may collins, cynthia wesley, and denise magnair. they lost their lives in the brutal bombing of the 16th street baptist church in birmingham on september 16th, 1963.
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jones built a reputation with alabama's black voters as the federal prosecutor that sent two of the ku klux klansmen responsible for the bombing to prison for multiple life sentences. among those voters was lisa magnair, who was born one year after her sister, denise, was killed in the bombing. joining me now and it's an honor, is lisa magnair. thank you, lisa, for being with us this morning. tell us what the election of doug jones to the u.s. senate, a man who 20 years later made people that were responsible for your sister's death held accountable. what did it mean to you and your family? >> well, thank you, first of all, for having me. it meant the world. i think it was definitely exciting for us in our family, because we feel it's very well
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deserved. just based on doug's history in the bombing case and other cases. but also for the state of alabama to show the rest of the world that alabama is coming around and has come around and giving hope to our people here that we choose to have love and unity rather than hate. >> you know, i remember, i was around 8 or 9 in '63, but i remember when martin luther king made the speech "i have a dream" and it had really energized everyone in my church community. you know, i'm from the north. and then just a couple of weeks later, a month later or so, the church bombing in birmingham. and people felt like, wow, after this dream, after this going to the peak, here we see a church bombing and four little girls in sunday school killed. and i visited that church and
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spoke there many times. and you were born al year later and have had to grow up being the sister of one of those victims. but i don't know if people around the country understand, it is baked into the very fabric of that city, people, even 50 years later, over 50 years later, everyone in that town lives with some part, some reaction, some growing up to what happened to your sister and those other three. >> yes. that's very, very true. i often meet people who don't know me and then either somebody is with me, will introduce me as one of the sisters of the bombing victims or i'll share with them who i am, and they will almost every time, just go into tears and cry. they always want a hug from me. and it just moves them so. and often, people -- especially people who were around during
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that time will share where they were that day. and their experience and how it made their whole family feel. it is definitely a product of who birmingham is, and i think it's also helped us to be consciously aware, all the time, of how we look at people and how we interact with everybody, because of what happened. >> and even condoleezza rice, someone that i don't agree with on a lot of political issues and policy issues, i remember, i interviewed her for a special i did here on msnbc and she talked about how she remembered feeling the ground move, because she was worn and raised in birmingham and she was there when the bombing went off and knew some of those that were killed. and she came out against roy moore. what did roy moore mean to you and your family over 50 years later to see this man spewing
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the kind of hate that he was spewing, in terms of really saying slavery was the last time america was great. how did it make you feel with the personal pain your family has felt as a result of the bombing of your sister and the other three in the 16th street baptist church in '63? >> i really just felt bad that he thought that way and he had those words to say and then covered it up with christianity. it reminded me very much of what a lot of the christians -- of what the southern baptist christians back in that time, in the '50s and '60s would sanction that bad behavior, the segregation behavior and cover it up with christianity, because we all know that isn't what our god believes and that isn't what our god is all about. so it was sad to hear him say that. but i was grateful that the people of alabama realize that that is not what god wants. that is not how we should live
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our lives here in alabama and in america. and they rejected him. and so that was a blessing. >> we still have a lot of work to do, though. because 48% of the electorate voted for him. there's still a lot of people in alabama that give that kind of feeling a pass or they are willing to support it. you were with president obama in 2013 when he honored your sister with a medal. we've gone from being bombed to having medals in the white house and winning close elections. is it a struggle, but it continues. and we can win. i thank you so much and bless your family, lisa mcnair. >> thank you very much. thank you. up next, why an old message about voting in political elections is more important than ever in this era of the trump presidency. i'll be right back.
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we are the driven...hings the dedicated... the overachievers. we know our best investment is in ourselves. we don't take no for an answer. we fight for what we want. even for the things that were once a given. going to college... buying a home... and not being in debt for it for the rest of our lives. but we're only as strong as our community. who inspires and pushes us to go further than we could ever go alone. sofi. get there sooner. we have just two weeks left in 2017. the growing nightmare that has been the trump presidency has set in like a bad stain that
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we've all gotten used to, but are still hoping will wash out with enough water and mueller brand detergent. but as the first year of this horror comes to a close, i'm inclined not to look at the drastic difference in tone, tenor, and tactics, the gulf of governance between the current administration and the previous one. that would be too easy. as hindsight and nostalgia usually are. now, i would like to do the more uncomfortable work of challenging my comrades on the le left, too many of whom contended last year that there wasn't much difference between presidential candidates donald trump and hillary clinton. emphasizing relative hawkishness and affinity for the donor class between the two of them yes, secretary clinton made paid speeches to banks like goldman
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sachs, an albatross used to paint her as a craven corporatist. politics make strange bedfellows, we all know that. but in president trump's case, he brought that pbed with him into the oval office, stacking his cabinet with goldman sachs alumni while naming an oil executive as hi secretary of state. and let's not forget the refrain among some in the black community that the candidates were essentially the same on the topic of police brutality. harkening back to then first lady clinton's comments about urban super predators. a comment i have taken her to task for and one for which she apologized. but while president trump paid lips service to the tragic deaths of philando castile and alton sterling, his justice
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department under jeff sessions has all but dismantled the obama administrati administration's reforms, while he himself has castigated black athletes and activists that dared to point this out. but perhaps the most important distinction between the candidates, their assessments of the climate change threat was lost on a plurality of millennial voters. according to polling, with many seeing no difference between a woman who, while not known as an ardent climate hawk, called the phenomenon a defining challenge of our time. and donald trump, who has called it a chinese hoax and headed his environmental protection agency with a climate change denier, whose watch has been marked by an exodus of experts and an influx of extraction industry hacks. as i said before, it's easy for
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self-described liberals to paint themselves clean, because they didn't cast votes for trump. but adulthood is about making tough decisions, endorsing less-than-perfect options, and working to improve the resulting outcomes. we've got a lot of work to do in 2018, folks. please do the grown-up thing and this time, show up. we'll be right back. ♪ what i want, you've got,
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there were a lot of things that i observed during the last year that i was very unhappy, that i was very uncomfortable with. things that i observed, that i heard, that i listened to. >> such as? >> as the only african-american woman in this white house, as a senior staff and assistant to the president, i have seen things that have made me uncomfortable, that have upset me, that have affected me deeply and emotionally, that has affected my community and my people. >> whether she resigned, as she has claimed, or was, indeed, fired from her position as an assistant to the president, omarosa manigault-newman's departure from the white house has brought yet another round of scrutiny to an administration already short on minority, talent, and long on racial controversies. not least of which being
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president trump's rightfully maligned response to the violence in charlottesville, virginia, in august, an episode that along with his endorsement of roy moore and insensitivity toward a black gold star widow are reported to have played a key role in newman's discomfort with this administration. but despite the loss of its only black woman in a senior position, the white house claimed this week that a diverse staff remains a valued objective, even as press secretary sarah huckabee sanders could not give any numbers to support the claim and her boss didn't even bother to try. joining me now is nbc news white house correspondent, ali vitali, who wrote about the white house diversity problem this week for n nbcnews.com. ali, this white house is the first i can remember in my
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lifetime that has no real senior blacks that have access to the president. i'm talking about from the reagan years through both bushes, who i adamantly disagreed with, but we knew the senior black near them. it's like the rocky mountains, the higher you go up in this administration, the whiter it is. >> and that's something actually that was brought up to former white house adviser, steve bannon, a few weeks ago, earlier this month, when he was told at a gathering of conservative african-americans, you know, there's not a lot of black people at the top of this administration. and steve bannon called that inexcusable. saying that he hoped and he thought that there were being steps to change that. but, of course, when omarosa was taken out of the mix in this administration, it only became more apparent that there really is a diversity problem at the top of this white house. when we started digging into it, we found that when you look at the cabinet, ben carson is there, he's now the most senior african-american adviser in this
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white house, at housing and urban development. and so it's certainly something that this white house, when they say there's an effort to make it better going forward, there certainly needs to be that effort. you're right, there is clearly a problem here with diversity from a race perspective at the top of this trump administration. >> now, you know omarosa, i disagreed with her, but i know omarosa, she was a member of our los angeles branch at narc acti national action network. she spoke at our convention this year. we took her to task, because we disagreed with her defending president trump. other guests there took her to task. but to say that they didn't know what her job was, she was in the public liaison's office, which others have served in that position in every administration. maybe they didn't know her job, because they don't know what it is to reach out. maybe because they're so alien to reaching out, other than the lobbyists and people that come to them with contracts, that they don't understand what she was doing. part of the job was to go to
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groups, organizations, churches, and reach out to people. i disagreed with the politics. i disagreed with who she was working on behalf of. but to say she didn't know her job, i don't think they knew what her job was supposed to be. >> i think that's probably a fair assessment. i mean, when you had initially reince priebus as chief of staff in this white house, the door to the oval office was definitely more open to people coming in and out. and omarosa was one of the people that really took advantage of that. and she was in charge of outreach to minority communities. and like you mentioned, there was a lot of pushback from the african-american community when she did attend these events on behalf of the trump administration. that's because the administration has not really done a very public or aggressive job at reaching out to minority communities. and so i think that when you're tasked with that, in the trump administration, and it's not a top priority, it is difficult, then, when you say, okay, what is she doing with her day today? i guess i can understand why people say, well, we didn't really know what her job was.
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of course, when you brought in chief of staff kelly, he did restrict access to the oval office and omarosa was not getting as much face time with the president, as we understand it. so when she says, well, trump found out about my resignation on tv, that makes a little bit more sense. so you've seen a crackdown with this new era of the john kelly chief of staff era, and that kind of makes a little bit more sense, as the to why omarosa's access was restricted. and when you think who has the president's ear on these issues, you have to wonder, who's next in line to kind of be the voice for, you know, african-american outreach or in general, minority outreach. because when you don't have a lot of people -- when you have a lot of people who all look the same in this administration, you have to wonder, you know, are extra voices being heard? >> that's the concern. >> are other diverse voices being heard? >> thank you, abc's ali vitali. to continue the conversation, i want to bring in my colleague and dear friend, joy reid, the host of "a.m. joy." joy, i'm not going to dig deeper on the omarosa thing.
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i think we all know that we have disagreed with her. and i really think it's a lot more, they don't no what he she was supposed to do, because they'd never done it. i've never seen a black in a high position at trump towers when he was running there. so what are we talking about there? they're going to say she didn't know what her job was. they don't know what her job of reach out is. and you've got to have something to reach out with. >> exactly. >> let's go to the broader issue here. you are, aside from hosting "a.m. joy" and all that that has brought to this nation have been an offer and have really studied the difference in policies in terms of racial politics. how important is diversity at a white house level, in terms of setting policy for the nation for all americans? >> absolutely. it's crucial, because of the diversity of the nation, right? and as you know, rev, you know, the nation is only becoming more black and brown. so if you have an administration that is staffed almost entirely
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by white men, who would comprise about 31% of the population of the united states, they can't possibly really understand in any depth the needs and interests of any of the other communities. whether it's the african-american community, the latino community, et cetera. asian americans, there's so many different groups of people, that typically, whether they're republican or democratic administrations, they've tried to have at least some window into those other communities, so that they can make policy that's appropriate. but donald trump is not, sort of, in the traditional sense, acting as the president of the united states of the donald trump is still acting as sort of the carnival barker for a very small but very vehement fan base. he's still acting like a television personality, who's entertaining his fans. and the way he staff as his administration was accordingly. omarosa has had a 14-year personal relationship with donald trump on "the apprentice." he reached out to her because he's comfortable with her. she's african-american and a woman, but he's someone comfortable communicating with. lynn patton, probably the only
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other frafrican-american woman left in the administration was the wedding planner to eric trump, his son. now she's in charge of the funding for people in poverty using hud housing, which she has no qualifications for, but he's comfortable with her. and ben carson, he thought, i need a black person, hud, black person, i'll put him in there. this is a guy who thought about putting entertainer steve harvey in some position dealing with poverty. he doesn't have any depth. >> but now we don't see really anybody but maybe the event planner with. and the point is that, i mean, you documented it in one of your books, as we've gone through racial flashpoints, which only expose the institutional problems. >> yep. >> when we deal, in my case, a trayvon martin work a ferguson or eric gardner, they only represent a deeper problem. it's not that they're just isolated problems. >> right, yep. >> and there's no one in the white house that you can talk to that can understand and
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communicate that. and every incident that i've dealt with over the last decades, even when bush was in there, we knew who we could talk to, even if we were going to argue with them, we knew the robert browns, the art fletchers, all the way to even president obama, who was black himself, but had valerie jarrett and scott minerson in there. there's nobody that black leaders can talk to that they know. we did know omarosa. we may have taken her to the woodshed a few times, and she might have fought back, she's no pushover, but we knew her. there's no one there and they don't even seem to get it. >> at the same time, for a lot of african-americans, it was offensive to say that this reality show is who we have to talk to. that the only person you're going to give us to talk to is omarosa. at the same time, as you know, when we were at the naacp image awards last year, omarosa was
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the there. she was at least willing to go into these spaces and have the conversation, even if she was controversial and knew she would be, at least she was there. >> and even if we took her to task. >> she would show up. this administration is struggling that they don't have access to what normal administrations do, which is the previous republican administration's experts. omarosa is a democrat and remains a democrat o thto this . she supported barack obama in 2008. when she came in, she was in sense the gatekeeper for who else would come in of color. >> all the black republicans were frozen out. >> who paid their dues. and the timing. they did it the week the president was overwhelmingly supporting roy moore. >> the day that black women helped roy moore to be defeated! >> the day that black women took roy moore down, who said that slavery was the last time we was great, you fire or force the resignation of your most
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high-profile black in the white house compound? >> and doing it from what i understand, either at or just after the white house christmas -- holiday party! i mean, literally, the same night -- the same tuesday night that black women delivered that victory for doug johnson in alabama, that's the night that you fire your only high-profile fr african-american woman? but optics don't matter to this administration, politics don't matter to this administration. obviously, she was separated from donald trump and kelly was able to get rid of her. he's wanted to do it for quite some time. theometerics are bad, but you made the point that's more important, there really isn't anyone for the african-american community in leadership to talk to. because donald trump certainly isn't the person that you talk to. >> and that is sending the signal that they don't care what we think. >> that's correct. >> which is why we've got to keep mobilizing. >> i'll make a deal with you,
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"a.m. joy" and "politics nation," we'll find a reporter to ask sarah huckabee sanders if she knows what kwanzaa is. >> wouldn't that be interesting? maybe she can bake a pie for it or buy one or whatever. >> she probably would answer that. thank you, joy reid. don't forget to watch her on her own "a.m. joy," that's right here on msnbc, beginning at 10:00 eastern. up next, a look at just how dangerous this republican tax bill will be to children, possibly yours, on getting a public education. ♪ ♪ think of your fellow man, lend him a helping hand, ♪ ♪ put a little love in your heart.♪ ♪ you'll see it's getting late, oh please don't hesitate...♪ ♪ put a little love in your heart.♪ ♪ in your heart... ♪ in your heart... ♪ in your heart... ♪ in your heart. (vo) get zero percent financing for 63 months on select models, plus we'll donate two hundred and fifty dollars to charity.
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it will be the largest tax cut in the history of our country. it will be the greatest christmas present that a lot of people have ever received. >> president trump's own words late last week on the impending passage of the sweeping tax bill. concerns, however, are being raised on how it will impact your bottom line, as well as public services. one leader in the field of education says it takes direct aim that could hurt students' learning ability for generations to come. joining me now is randi
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weingarten, the president of the federation of -- the american federation of teachers. >> thanks, rev. >> randi, could actually i'm pack students' learning ability for generations to come. >> absolutely. >> i mean, you're the most prominent teacher leading the country. what are you talking about? >> so this is -- let me say, this is what happens with this bill and frankly, the republican congress people who representen agree. in places in this country that have really invested in schools, in california, new york, new jersey and there is about ten other states, a lot of them happen to be the states that actually also voted for hillary clinton by the way. they -- we spend a lot of local
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and state taxes on policing, fire fighting, infrastructure, schools. that used to be, if this tax bill goes through, that used to be deductible on your federal taxes. so you wouldn't pay double, you'd pay your federal taxes and then you can deduct state and local taxes. >> you pay your federal, you pay your state and you can dedeuct your state. >> this has happened for 100 years. >> right. >> what this bill does is basically and that costs the federal government about a trillion dollars. this tax plan says i'm giving corporations and individuals that are rich a trillion dollars tax benefit and i'm taking it from all those folks in all those states who have spent
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money on local services like education. so what it means to an average american is that they are going to get a $6,000 tax increase if they had actually itemized deductions. >> so you get an increase average -- >> an increase in taxes. >> in taxes, increase in taxes in those states. you're really paying twice. >> correct. >> and you're paying it to subsidize getting a trillion dollars cut to the corporations -- >> exactly, who, by the way -- >> and be ready to pass. >> exactly. that is why there are these independent groups that are saying that this tax bill will increase taxes for 87 million middle class families, and for 67 million middle class families who make less than $100,000. and that is not even counting
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what's going to happen to increases in health insurance because there is going to be an increase in health insurance for 13 million people and that doesn't include the automatic tax -- the automatic cuts to medicare, medicaid and other things that the triggers require because this tax bill has a trillion dollars of deficit. in sum, what this means, this will be a huge squeeze on the ability of localities and states to invest in infrastructure, to invest in schools. that's where school funding is invested in. it will also be harmful to everyone that gets medicare, social security, or medicaid. paul ryan said it. what does it do? it gives 60% of the benefits to the top 1% who already have 40% of the wealth in this country. and frankly, a lot of ceos said
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even bloomberg said this week that this is a blunder. robe robert crandle -- >> no, they are all saying it but nobody says it like you, randy. i wanted you on to clarify it for us. thank you so much. >> you're welcome. up next, my final thoughts, stay with us. thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory. the secret is an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. just serve classy snacks and bew a gracious host,iday party. no matter who shows up.
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these words should not be used in any memos, any requests, anything of official documentation at all. the term or word vulnerable, entitlement, diversity, chan transgend transgender, evidence-based and science based and if you take the words out, if you eliminate references, you're eliminating policies that address them. they are saying that cdc, don't talk about diversity. don't talk about science based, this is the center for disease control so what are you talking about? don't talk about the vulnerable. so you're not going to project trying to service the most vulnerable. you're not going to deal with people with transgender rights and transgender challenges.
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you're not going to deal with those that need it the most. you just took them off the table out of the discussion. that's why we protest. that's why we march. because you'd rather take us out of the discussion, and we can't afford for you to have the discussion and we not be a part of it and force the table to bring solutions to all americans, not just the secluded and those that consider themselves elitest that want to have a private discussion on public policy. that does it for me, thanks for watching. remember next week a special show 2017 the year in social injustice, that's next sunday, christmas eve at 8:00 a.m. eastern and on new years eve,
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it's the seventh annual revvie on december 31st at 8:00 a.m. eastern. no to my colleague alex witt. >> i have to say once again, rev, i love starting my show to an amen to what you said. >> thank you. good morning to all of you. i'm alex witt. it is 9:00 right on the nose in the east, 6:00 a.m. out west and a new turn in the russia probe. the president's transition team firing off a complaint about tens of thousands of private e-mails in the investigation and among the many questions being raised, how did special counsel robert mueller obtain the messages? also being asked, what's behind this complaint and could it be to discredit muller's investigation? we'll have that but first, we have this breaking news to share, an nbc news wall street
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