karen bass, congresswoman, let me ask you about this. i think we are americans and we come from a history of slavery and race and jim crow. and i think everybody is a bit tribal. look, it's just part of our being as americans. and everybody, good people fight it from the time they're born. they work against it. they try to outthink it. they work against all the prejudices of their grandparents. and i got them. i know where they were. for trump to say he is the least, isn't that a little arguing too strongly against the charge? how about saying i am working on it or i've been better than my parents or i'm like a lot of people. i really don't want to be a bad guy. no he is the least, the least racist. i just wonder than as a defense mechanism. >> i wonder about it too. but it also makes me wonder what is racist to him. what does it mean? >> oh my god. >> do you have to be in a sheet? what would it be? and for people who say, try to excuse the words and say well, that's just the way people talk, i remember people saying that about the use o

joining me to talk about all of this, democratic member of congress karen bass of california, representativethank you so much for being with us. have you read, by the way, the republican memo? >> no, no, no. i'm not on the house intelligence committee, i'm on the house foreign affairs, however. >> they made it public, available to every member of congress to read. should they want to read it. based on what you know is insid it and based on your role on judiciary, do you think this is the type of memo that should be released? >> well, i think it would be fine to release the memo. but, you know. i do believe that the republicans are really treading in dangerous ground when they are using this as a reason to essentially undermine the investigation and at the end of the day, it is definitely to go after mueller. so i don't like the direction that they're headed. i think the investigation should be allowed to move forward. and concoct the conspiracy within the fbi, i believe, is a complete distraction. >> you say it is an effort to go after mueller. do you think that the special counsel -- do you

lawmakers to trump speech show his words did little to bridge the divide in washington democrat karen bass of one of the leaders of the congressional black caucus said trump's call for unity was empty words and she tweeted quote after a year of calling white supremacists fine people disparaging immigrants and clawing back progress on civil rights and environmental protections the speech represents the insidious normalization of policy designed to rip families apart and by this country congresswoman louise frankel with a similarly sharp words for trump tonight's state of the union speech was full of fake news he called for unity even though he spends most of his days tweeting divisive hateful things now on the republican side most members like congressman dan donovan praised trump's speech as quote remarkable and laying out a bold agenda to strengthen the u.s. at home and abroad the sharp division both on social media and in washington comes ahead of the u.s. midterm election battle in november. and we have give you a clear richardson with us here in studio to analyze that donald trump the

. >> here's democratic congresswoman karen bass, almost a member of the judiciary committee, on msnbc last night. >> the question is whether or not sessions is going to essentially compromise his integrity even more to keep his job and whether jim jordan is going to continue to be the attack dog for the white house. >> democrats also voicing outrage after two key republicans said they're asking the justice department to consider criminal charges against christopher steele, the author of the trump dossier. >>> meanwhile, president trump ramping up his attacks against his former chief strategist steve bannon and the author of the tell-all book "fire and fury" tweeting shortly before midnight, michael wolff is a total loser who made up stories in order to sell his boring and untruthful book. he used sloppy steve bannon, who cried when he got fired and begged for his job. now slop ji stepy steve has beed like a dog by almost everyone. nbc's kristen welker has more. >> reporter: president trump pelted with questions about the else plo explosive book, showing restraint but earlier taking to

with me now, karen bass, democrat from california, and a member of the house judiciary committee. it looks a lot nicer where you are than where i am sitting. good to see you. i wonder what you make of the fact that no democrats were consulted before the letter to the d.o.j. was sent out. >> exactly. i do think that's problematic but i think it is consistent with how they have run the investigation completely. and now it seems as though there are some secret meetings going on and questions as to whether or not they're even able to do that. since they need to be in a skiff, you know, the room where you can reclassify documents and the information. so i think it is very unfortunate and i think it is unprecedented. because usually, these times of investigations of this magnitude, it should be conducted in a bipartisan fashion. >> do you believe at this point either on the house or the senate side that republicans will focus efforts on the actual question of interference? >> i actually don't. i think they are showing us that they won't. i think that they're doing this in complete respo

joining me now is karen bass, a democrat from california and second vice chair of the congressional black caucus. representative, thank you so much for joining us this evening. >> sure. >> president trump is already arguing that democrats will take the blame if there is a government shutdown over immigration. what's your response to that? >> well, frankly, the republicans control the house, and they certainly have more than enough votes. so if they want to pass something, they do not need our votes. if the government shuts down, it is the responsibility of the republicans. >> also i want to ask you about this, the "washington post" has a new reporting on that intense meeting about immigration that happened last thursday, maybe you've heard about it, it's been in the news. this is according to the "washington post." it says trump was curt and dismissive, saying he was not making immigration policy to cater to the cbc and did not particularly care about the bloc's demand, according to people briefed on the meeting. i know you feel strongly about this. what's your thoughts on this? >> i don'

karen bass/d-california"they do not need our votes.."and there is division within the party of lincoln.on tuesday, house republican leaders offered a continuing resolution, which would delay a shutdown until mid-february.the house freedom caucus....made up of conservative republicans.....s ays the party doesn't have enough votes to pass the plan. chairman mark meadows telling cnn it will be "extremely difficult to convince our caucus members to vote for another short-term funding mechanism."and as the clock ticks, talks continue.....sen. john cornyn/r-texas"the blame game is world-class sport here in washington d.c. i'd rather do our job and keep the government up-and-running and continue negotiations, so i don't think there's going to be a shutdown. i think that would be a big mistake."april ryan/cnn political analyst "this president talks about this great economy. the economy will shift if this happens. i mean hundreds of thousands of people could be furloughed for a while."i'm john lorinc reporting. ( james )still ahead ... research

representative caren bass, thank you for your -- karen bass, thank you for your good work. congresswoman sheila jackson lee and ranking member engel. chris smith. senator corker and cardin and isaacs, and senator coons. i thank them for their help on my measure here today and continued commitment to reducing poverty through market based economic growth. with that i yield back the balance of my time. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey previously gave his closing remarks. sires: i have no additional speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman from new jersey is recognized. mr. sires: sires: i have no i y balance of my time. i don't have any additional speakers. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman yields back. all time having expired. the question is, will the house suspend the rules and pass the bill h.r. 3445, as amended. so many as are in favor say aye. those opposed, no. in the opinion of the chair, 2/3 of those voting having responded in the affirmative, the rules are suspended, the bill is passed, and without objection the motion to reconsider