mr. ellison: how are you doing out there, everybody? [cheering] mr. ellison: if there was ever a moment when people who love this country and the people in it need to step up and do everything they can to improve the lives of their fellow americans, that moment is right now. that moment is now. if i told you you had an opportunity to fight for people who felt vulnerable and scared in this trump america, would you do it? yeah! mr. ellison: if i told you you had a chance to stand up and fight for working people, would you do it? >> yeah! mr. ellison: if i told you that you could be the hero of folks who pour the cement, who teach the classes, who take care of the folks in the hospital -- i mean the hard-working people of america, would you step up and do something for them? >> yes! mr. ellison: that is good, because we need you, right now, to do all of that. because let me tell you, it's hard to imagine somebody like donald trump being elected president, but in a few days, he will be the president. i don't know what stage in the whole spectrum of grief y

mr. ellison: how are you doing out there, everybody? [cheering] mr. ellison: if there was ever a moment when people who love this country and the people in it need to step up and do everything they can to improve the lives of their fellow americans, that moment is right now. that moment is now. if i told you you had an opportunity to fight for people who felt vulnerable and scared in this trump america, would you do it? >> yeah! mr. ellison: if i told you you had a chance to stand up and fight for working people, would you do it? >> yeah! mr. ellison: if i told you that you could be the hero of folks who pour the cement, who teach the classes, who take care of the folks in the hospital -- i mean the hard-working people of america, would you step up and do something for them? >> yes! mr. ellison: that is good, because we need you, right now, to do all of that. because let me tell you, it's hard to imagine somebody like donald trump being elected president, but in a few days, he will be the president. i don't know what stage in the whole spectrum of grie

mr. ellison: thank you for having the shop open. >> i work for the air traffic controller. am not sure. ellison: my point is that whenever you get political leaders that try to separate people, usually they have a plan in mind to divide. it usually doesn't go well for the group they are flattering. philadelphia, mississippi, reagan, google those three words. .ou will read about his speech >> i just wanted to say thank you. i am a local teacher and i am trying to figure out how to get involved with politics myself. i enjoyed the speech. . do not have all the details keithfordnc.org is the website. i was happy to support bernie, so we are trying to unify. thank you for teaching our kids. it is hard work. >> it is hard work. mr. ellison: what classes do you teach? probably sixanish miles from here. thank you. you had a great speech, but there were things i wanted to bring up that we have in common. about the unity, and i think one thing that is important is addressing the very the sensitive -- the sensitive -- surrounding the democratic party, especially this past campaign. sp

mr. ellison. it is not complex in the least, it is simple. it is a fundamental right for tribes to be able to defend themselves and have access to clean water. everybody in that community needs clean water. they deviated it to protect the cities, why won't they protect our reservations? i preach it time, but i did want -- i appreciate the time but i , did want to echo that it is not a complex issue, it is a simple issue. [applause] >> if i may, i absolutely agree with you, which is why i have letters that are contesting and disputing the pipeline. and i have been on record. i would like to send those to you. i am on record of standing with you. i really do want to tell you, it is absolutely unfair and environmental injustice abuse to deviate the line towards a native community and run the risk of their water, when you made the decision to avoid a white community. i think you are absolutely right. the treatment of the protesters had been abysmal. that is why i have spoken out at public rallies. i do want to tell you though, i have had people c

mr. ellison: this is a history movement. this is a movement at a moment when the american people fought back to reclaim their democracy of, by, and for the people. , you know he ran saying jobs,like, you know, more new trade models, he said these things. ,nd as soon as he got in there he said he was going to drain the swamp. you all remember that one? he is filling it up with lots of millionaires, corporate executives, hedge fund managers, all these folks. we are going to have the richest cabinet ever. if you just had a few million, you would be like the poor guy in that bunch. he said he is going to fight for little people, yet he puts the secretary of education, another billionaire who is against public schools. when 90% of american children theygo to public school, want to privatize them. he said he's going to get his labor secretary, another billionaire, who makes his billions on the backs of low-wage fast food workers, is actually against the minimum wage, and would lower it if he could. and don't stop there. he said he

mr. ellison. not. >> i'm not dismayed at the news because i saw what happened with the bernie boom if you will which largely impacted this election when you look at the numbers of people who saved home or voted for gary johnson or jill stein. i don't think going forward that's the best way to go. more americans are fist cooly conservative. but that's not the way democrats are. if that's what the democrats have to do to november forward, i have to suck it up. stuart: do you think a democratic party led by keith ellison could win? >> i don't think it's based on who is leading the dnc. i think it's based on the candidate and the message and appealing toll the will of the people. we saw the middle class and its concern about jobs and the economy. stuart: you may want to consider leaving the party because the party left you. democrats can vote to allow the nomination to go forward for general mattis as defense secretary. if they vote against it they shut down the government. that's an odd position for

mr. ellison: i absolutely will make the dnc my number one commitment. i've been having conversations with many of you and formulating an idea about whether or not i have to give up my seat or i can be in congress and service dnc chair. when i started this conversation, i assume that other people had done it, i did not think it was a problem. but i think we are really in a new age. i am in the process of deciding this issue of whether i can perform both roles. usb my first priority? this, absolutely. you should know when you are in the minority and there is no democratic resident, all their is to do is vote no on the repeals of the affordable care act which takes about 20 minutes and eight given day. every other moment i will be at the dnc working very hard. the day after announced, i went straight to talk to the dmo. then went to california to talk to delegates. then went to the district next to mine in minnesota. went to michigan, then new york. i went to 30 states in the last year. i have raised millions of dollars. i appeared in the media regularly.

mr. ellison. it's not complex in the least. it's simple. it's a fundamental right for tribes to be able to defend themselves and to have access to clean water. everybody else in that community needs clean water. they deviated it to protect the city. why will they not protect our reservations? i appreciate the time but i did want to again just echoed that it's not a complex issue. it's a simple issue. thank you. [applause] >> if i may, i absolutely agree with you, which is why i've spoken about in my own city of minneapolis which is why have letters of contesting and disputing the pipeline. and the been on record and i like to send those to you. i am on record standing with you and with the protesters, bu buti really do want to tell you that it's absolutely unfair and environmental injustice abuse to deviate the line towards a native community and run the risk of their water when you made a decision to avoid and white community. i think you're absolutely right. the treatment of the protesters has been abysmal. you're right which is what i sp

mr. ellison. it is a not complex in the least. it is simple. it is a fundamental right for tribes to be able to defend themselves and have access to clean water. everybody else in that community needs clean water. they deviated it to protect cities. why won't they protect our reservation. i mean, i appreciate the time but i did want to again just echo that it is not a complex issue. it is a simple issue. thank you. [applause] >> well, if i may, i absolutely agree with you, why i have spoken at rallies in my own city of minneapolis. why i have letters contesting and disputing the dapl pipeline. it is on record. i would like to send those to you, i'm on record standing with you and the dapl protesters. it is absolutely unfair in environmental justice abuse to deviate the line toward a native community and run the risk of their water, when you made a decision to avoid a white community. i think you're absolutely right. the treatment of the protesters has been abysmal. you're absolutely right. i spoke out at public rallies and signed the letters. b

joining us now to discuss is the democratic congressman keith ellison. mr. keelson is also running to be chair of the democratic national committee. we'll talk to you about your political fate. let's talk about the state of play here. how do you feel about tillerson, the president-elect has said some people don't like that tillerson is friends with world leaders. i don't think that's the issue. what do you think? >> i don't think it's the issue, either. i think the issue is, what are the material connections which may undermine, compromise american national security. if you are the secretary of state or the president of the united states, for that matter, we need to know that there is nothing, absolutely nothing you're thinking about other than the best interests of the united states. not your company. not your business dealings. not what money you may have on the line. i mean, the fact of the matter is, that this is a very troublesome situation, because if you expand this to the whole hacking situation, which our intelligence agencies have said that perhaps

ellison. "the new york times" saying mr.proxy ballot from those who are with president obama and those with bernie sanders. editor mark murray. before we get to that, e! news is reporting, ready, kanye west and president-elect trump met and apparently they were discussing a potential role for the rapper. >> well, tamron, i thought i was going to try to avoid talking about kanye west this morning with everything else that's out there. >> he met with the president-elect. we could try to ignore it, but everybody doesn't get to go to trump tower. that's a fact. >> i agree with you. it is news. we had the pictures to prove it. that said, i do think other pieces of news whether it's rex tillerson, this dnc fight or to me, what's on the top of mine. >> i could not agree more and say that until kanye west has a position we'll discussi, so the other stuff we know now. >> the dnc fight, the next person's job like democrats across the country not engaging in these ideological fights but as you mentioned, there is a bit of a proxy fight

ellison. ray buckley? mr. buckley: thank you mr. chairman, jamie and keith as well.ant to reiterate what my two friends appear upset. we are not running against each other. we have committed to defend each other and as i tweeted out the other day, do not send me crab about one of the other candidates because we are united and we have chosen to believe that we can win but only if we are one party and we cannot be divided. you can say if you want, but it is not going to affect our support. most of you have known me nearly my entire life. teenager,een me as a 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's. you know the story about studying to become an activist at eight years old because i was so horrified by the injustice of racial injustice. to me, that became my cause. i know little kids are passionate about baseball or barbies or whatever, but for me and the selections and starting at eight years old i started organizing campuses. that is what i believe. i have held every position available within the democratic counter, the might war chair, city chair for five terms, county chair for four

mr. clean! >>> minnesota congressman keith ellison is apparently the front runner to be the new chairman of the>> but is someone who said this about israel the right person for the job? >> united states foreign policy in the middle east is governed by what is good or bad through a country of 7 million people. a region of 350 million all turns on a country of 7 million. >> you know what that country is? israel. our next guest says, no, ellison would be a disaster for the democratic party, trying to win back votes in middle america. >> his name is alan dershowitz. great to have you on the curvy couch. why do you think that? >> the democrats lost this election not because they didn't get the radical or left-wing voters, but because they didn't get the middle americans, the rust belt, white, working families. now they're appointing somebody who fhates america, who hates white people, who hates jews, and this is a man, ellison, who not only worked with him but defended him. he's a role model for black young people. he's the worst possible choice. if i were a republican strategist, i'd be jumping for

ellison. ray buckley. >> thank you, mr. chairman. thank you, jaime, and keith as well.want to reiterate what my two friends appear have said. we we are not running against each other, and we have committed to defend each other an.and as i tweeted out the othr day, do not send me any crap about one of the other candidates because we are united and we've chosen to believe that we can win, but only if we are one party. we cannot be divided. you can say anything you want but it is not going to affect our support. [applause] >> most of you have known me nearly my entire life. you have seen me as a teenager, 20s, 30s, 40s, in the '50s. you know the story about deciding to become an activist at eight years old because i was so horrified by the injustice of racial injustice. and to me that became my cause. i know, look kids are passionate about baseball or barbies or whatever, but for me it was elections because starting at eight years old i started organizing leaf drops and campuses because that's what i believe. i have filled every a position available within the democratic p

. >>> democratic congressman keith ellison is running for chairman of the democratic national committee. how is the race going, possibly mrt to go. grassroots party, a party really connected to the base and the rank and file. prioritizing voter turnout in every election up and down the ballot. that's what we're working on. >> all right. great. hey, let me ask you about -- cnn online had a couple of quotes from the past. we'll put a couple of them up. and what do you say to people who are concerned about past statements like for instance minister farrakhan is a role model for black youth wrote ellison in insight news op ed. he is not an anti-semite. what are your responses to the cnn reporting and other people bringing up this past? >> i think that it is bad reporting because i have a ten-year record in congress. i have a four-year record in the minnesota statehouse. i've practiced law for 16 years. >> right. >> and did a lot -- i just think that, you know, it's just that kind of reporting that, you know, just that sort of is not quality and doesn't help people understand the real issues. >> so just to clarify it then base

ellison to be the head of the democratic national committee. they move ever farther out in the american mainstream. republicans become every more dominant party. bear in mind, mrking gigantic mistakes. republicans in congress are capable of making gigantic mistakes. doesn't seem the democrats are realizing the country and they're another. they don't own america. the democratic party does not own america. they have to appeal to american values, and american common sense and they stopped doing it a while ago. at least in the states that counted. neil: finally, this big guy you talked to, actor or director? >> i'm not telling you. gigantically important person in hollywood. gigantically. neil: really? >> not as important as you but gigantically important. neil: like everyone would know this person? >> every person in the world would know this person. neil: i think i know who it is. we'll explore this later. we report. you deride. thank you very much. catch him this weekend on "cavuto on business." just a great mind. funny guy too. this was the week we lost a hero, right? john glenn is gone. you know what else we lost? came back with all the remembrances, a time w