joining me now, democratic representative keith ellison of minnesota. let me ask your reaction to watching this debate play out around ted cruz's proposal. >> well, first of all, chris, i'm so brokenhearted for the people of brussels. my sympathies go out to them. i think it is incredibly sad their tragedy ends up being a political football in the united states and people like ted cruz and donald trump try to exploit this in order to make electoral gains. i mean, the fact is what both trump and cruz have said is reprehensible, wrong, unconstitutional, counterproductive and bad policing as bill bratton made very clear. it's bad policing. doesn't help us get safer but it does undermine the rights of u.s. citizens and residents. i'm from minnesota. i'm a few blocks away from where he might be talking about in terms of muslim neighborhoods and i can tell you this neighborhood is full of excellent, hardworking, patriotic people who love this country and make it better all the time. i'm offended for them. i'm offended with them. and we're not going to let go

joining us now to talk about that congressman keith ellison of minnesota. ess. so, keith, great to have you on the show. >> thank you, mika. >> i've been at a loss this morning really. >> you have. >> at a loss. and embarrassed really for how we must seem, we meaning everyone else and then muslim americans who should be one of us in light of what ted cruz had to say. so i will just give you the floor here and ask you to respond. >> well, you know, it's recently been ted cruz who has sort of engaged in scapegoating and hate mon gering for political gain. tragic situation in europe and brussels. we should be talking about how we help our european allies, instead it gets turned into a political football which is really sad. i tell you we have a large so mali community here, a large number of people who are muslim and we have neighborhoods and i am proud of them. not too long ago the chief of police of oslo, norway, came to the twin cities and he wanted to know something, how well -- how is it that you're integrating people to well. here in minneapolis we have a

sided keith ellison on our and we won by a landslide. i was going to tell you so i am going home. [laughter] the point.s keith made the most important point that i commit to you. it's that real change never takes place from the top on down. it always takes place from the bottom on up. [applause] and if you think back historically at the struggle for workers rights, you remember that workers came together, some of them were beaten, some are jailed, some were killed but they said workers are entitled to collective bargaining and entitled to negotiate a contract. we will form a union. it took place from the bottom right on up. [applause] as keith indicated, you remember, we often forget that women4, in 1924 is when got the right to vote. it's less than 100 years ago. how did that happen? did it happen because some president signed something? it happened because women and their male allies struggled for decade after decade, some died, somewhat to jail, some went on hunger strikes and they said, in america, women will not be treated as second

[applause] again, this is what keith ellison was saying. we have got to think outside of the status quo. we all take it for granted. millions of people in this country are deeply in debt for the crime of getting a higher education. you know what? that's pretty crazy. that is not right. what we want to do is to encourage every american to be able to get all of the education that they need, not punish people for getting an education. [applause] that is why we are going to do three things. again, this may seem radical but women's rights were considered radical. gay rights were considered radical. [applause] workers rights were considered radical. so here is the idea. the idea is that for many, many years, the idea of free public education being first grade through 12th grade was a great idea. because 40, 50 years ago, you graduate high school and you know what? you can go out there and get a pretty good job. the world has changed and today in many respects, a college degree is the equivalent of what a high school degree was 50 years ago. [appl

just a few months ago, i was with keith ellison. keith is congressman from minnesota. few muslims in the united states congress. keith and i went to a mosque in washington, d.c., and sat down with muslims there just to make the point that we are not going to let the muslim community or the latino community or any other community feel isolated. we are going to stand together against bigotry in this country. >> thank you very much. we have a history that every time we have an economic anxiety, that there is somebody that takes advantage of it saying, blame that immigrant group, blame that one. it's sadly about a 50-year cycle that this happens. >> oh, chuck, it's gone on a lot longer than that. >> about every 50 years we have a new group to attack. >> it's going on all over the world. the cheap way of doing politics is to say, you see that minority over there? they're blacks, they're jews, they're latinos, they're muslims, let's hate them. let's not focus on why we are where we are today. that is why i get criticized for it. but what i try to do is have a rational discou

just a few months ago, i was with keith ellison. keith is congressman from minnesota.e is one of the few muslims in the united states congress. keith and i went to a mosque in washington, d.c., and sat kodow with muslims there just to make the point that we are not going to let the muslim community or the latino community or any other community feel isolated. we are going to stand together against bigotry in this country. >> thank you very much. we have a history that every time we have an economic anxiety, that there is somebody that takes advantage of it saying, blame that immigrant group, blame that one. it's sadly about a 50-year cycle that this happens. >> oh, chuck, it's gone on a lot longer than that. >> about every 50 years we have a new group to attack. >> it's going on all over the world. the cheap way of doing politics is to say, you see that minority over there? they're blacks, they're jews, they're latinos, they're muslims, let's hate them. let's not focus on why we are where we are today. that is why i get criticized for it. but what i try to do is have a

just a few months ago i was with keith ellison. keith is congressman from minnesota.the few muslims in the united states congress. keith and i went to a mosque in washington, d.c., and sat down with muslims there. just to make the point that we are not going to let the muslim community or the latino community or any other community feel isolated. we are going to stand together against bigotry and xenophobia in this country. >> thank you very much. >> i guess how do you -- look, we have a history that every time we have an economic anxiety, that there is -- somebody takes advantage of it by saying plame thblame that im group, blame this one. it's a 50-year cycle -- >> it's gone on a lot longer than that. >> every 50 years we have a new group. >> and it's gone on all over the world. what the cheap way of politics is, you see the minority, the blacks, jews, latinos, let's hate them. let's not focus on why we are where we are today. i try to have a rational discourse about why the middle class of this country is disappearing, why people are angry they're working longer ho

and he throughout every one of them, except for keith ellison in minnesota, the establishment, all thected officials were on our opponents' side. so, you know, there is two sides to every coin. >> i know that you probably -- when you're talking to senator sanders, you probably mull over the possibility, if senator sanders, your husband, were to get the democratic presidential nomination, who would he rather face on the republican side, for all practical purposes? there are four republican candidates still standing. >> well, i think he could face any of them. if you look at the polls, he's doing better than secretary clinton against all of them. by quite a margin against donald trump. now, donald trump would be the most fun, because the contrast is so clear. he is dividing people. he's dividing them up by race, by gender, by whether you're born in this country or born outside this country. whether you're latino or -- ethnicity. and bernie's whole campaign is about bringing people together, to make everybody realize we're all in this together. that we really need to work together to take

tweeted last night -- lieu is a congressman from california, democrat -- host: and then a tweet from keith ellison -- host: it wasn't just democrats responding to his victories last night. here is congressman justin a mosh being quoted yesterday by "inson magazine." saying some ways he's a bigger threat to limited government and hillary clinton. a republican congressman from florida -- "which head of state does he remind me of? the late hugo chavez. never trump." a lot of the pushback on the republican side of the aisle was ramped up went ben sasse of nebraska put out his statements on facebook about donald trump, talking about his concerns about donald trump and republican support. that he could eventually abandon the republican party if he embraces the politics of donald trump. some of washington responding back. add to that that the congressman, just in a mosh, mash, has-- justin a mos endorsed senator ted cruz, part of the tea party movement on capitol hill. let's go to robert in baltimore. robert, democrat, you were on the air. good morning. good morning. caller: yes, yes. host: what are your