Meet The Press – August 17, 2014

Host: Andrea Mitchell

Bill Neely

Guests:

Gov. Jay Nixon (D-MO)

Kevin Tibbles

James Clark

Heather McDonald

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D-Baltimore)

Charles Ogletree

Wesley Lowery

Gilbert Bailon

Barnard Parks

Rep. John Lewis (D-GA)

Ann Gearan

Fmr. Rep. Jane Harman

Rep. Michael Turner (R-

Jason Riley

Harry Smith

Barry Levinson

Mitchell: good morning omg there's

a state of emergency in Missouri

as citizens violate a government curfew!

Mitchell: police released the name of

cop then a surveillance video of the

guy the police shot and then said

video was unrelated thus instilling

great confidence

Mitchell: welcome Governor Nixon

Nixon: morning Andrea

Mitchell: hey I'm just curious – 
why did that police officer 
shoot and kill a teenager?

Nixon: you know that's a good question

Mitchell: what's the answer?

Nixon: we're bringing in

the FBI to figure that out

Mitchell: does county prosecutor have

a conflict of interest since he called

bringing in competent police shameful?

Nixon: well he's a very seasoned man

Mitchell: no doubt

Nixon: also we have the whole FBI

looking over his shoulder – we even

brought in Mulder and Scully!

Mitchell: so it's been a whole week

and we don't why this teenager was shot

Nixon: yes but I showed great leadership

by bringing in outside cops and 
ordering a curfew

Mitchell: well there was peace until there

that unrelated video being released

Nixon: yeah I had no idea that was going

to be released and we disagreed with it

Mitchell: oh ok then

Nixon: because it smeared a

shooting victim and oh and by the

way it inflamed an already volatile situation

Mitchell: should this idiot police 
chief step aside?

Nixon: well he's been pushed aside

Mitchell: but he's still doing stupid shit

Nixon: yes but we told him specifically

to stop doing moronic crap

Mitchell: I see

Nixon: we told the local police not to

assassinate the killed teen's character

Mitchell: why did it take you

until Friday to do anything

Nixon: no I've been involved all

along for example on Saturday

Mitchell: oh I see

Nixon: I even spoke with the President

and AG Holder and they told me

get on top of this you idiot

Mitchell: now on to Kevin Tibbles

Tibbles: black men are 600% more

likely to be jailed than white men

Tibbles: 100 black people are killed

by white police officers every year

Howard: police officers don't

value the life of black person

Heather MacDonald: no I found the

opposite is true – we're coddling black criminals!

Clark: we must reach out to young

people or this will continue

[ break [

Mitchell: what is the situation 
now with the curfew?

Lowrey: most people obeyed the curfew

but there were some who didn't who

were angry and others from outside

who wanted to protest

Mitchell: it seems like the white authorities

in that area are in totally incompetent

Bailon: residents say they are constantly

harassed and police say they have to

harass people because of crimes

Mitchell: it's amazing how local cops

look like armored soldiers in a war

Rawlings-Blake: we have military
weapons but only to fight off 
 a terrorist invasion of Baltimore

Mitchell: right

Rawlings-Blake: but there is a sacred

bond with citizens not to attack them

Mitchell: but Baltimore still has

a white police force

Rawlings-Blake: true but we now let

the community decide who should
police their neighborhood 

Mitchell: President Rand Paul is

talking about racial injustice and he's 
a republican which means we're  
officially allowed to talk about it

Ogletree: Ferguson is a black community

policed by white people who don't live there

– is it any surprise there are problems?

Mitchell: no

Ogletree: how many kids have to be

killed before we recognize there is

a problem in places like Ferguson?

Mitchell: in Ferguson the police, city

council and school board are all white

Parks: how come we haven't heard

from the Mayor of Ferguson in all this?

Mitchell: no idea

Parks: citizens are going to have to

start showing up and city council

meetings and at elections

Mitchell: what should be done now?

Lowrey: how about answering one question

– why did the police shoot this teenager?

Mitchell: the police haven't released 
any of this information

Ogletree: no one knows where

this officer is or what his story is?

Ogletree: young people are angry

and are going to stay mad until things change

[ break ]

Mitchell: welcome John Lewis

who marched with Martin Luther King

Lewis: good morning Andrea

Mitchell: what do you think

should happen in Ferguson now?

Lewis: we need to have the police

respect the dignity of every human being

Mitchell: there's an idea

Lewis: we must teach the way of love

and peace and non-violence but we

must also have justice

Mitchell: how do you get people involved

in their community when they're

harassed by their government

Lewis: the city government should

apologize and bring all people together

Mitchell: what about the 
militarization of police?

Lewis: this footage looked like something

out of Baghdad and in America people

have a right to protest and press

have a right to cover public unrest

Mitchell: thanks for coming Congressman

[ break ]

Mitchell: oh wow the US is using air

strikes to help the Kurds take the Mosul dam

Mitchell: also Iraq got a new prime minister

Neely: ISIS has taken the

second-biggest cities in Iraq and Syria!

Mitchell: yikes

Neely: they're even bigger than al-Qaeda!

Mitchell: oh dear

Neely: why didn't Obama bomb Syria?

Mitchell: damn right

Neely: Obama pulled back from

his red line and got chemical weapons

without firing a shot

Neeely: questions are being asked

why Obama doesn't bomb more –

is he a wimp or what?

Neely: questions are also being asked

the US isn't more involved in war in

the middle east when it always works so well

Neely: ISIS is about to attack America and

form a huge caliphate OMG arrrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!

[ chyron ]

[ SHOULD THE US HAVE 
INTERVENED IN SYRIA? ]

Mitchell: we should have bombed Syria!

Obama is weak!

Talking Parrot: Obama weak!

Gearan: yes a lot of people are

asking why we didn't start a war with Syria

Mitchell: are we involved in a war in

Iraq and why wasn't I informed about this?

Harman: we should have bombed Syria

– the Saudis wanted us to bomb

Syria and they always know best

Mitchell: exactly

Harman: the caliphate!!!

Mitchell: Jim Jones said we should

have bombed Syria!!

Harman: fuck yeah!

Mitchell: Congressman you were

against bombing Syria – what the

hell is wrong with you?

Turner: yes but we both agree Obama

is weak and terrible all the problems

in the middle east are all his fault

Mitchell: well that's okay then

Riley: look it's simple the US must start

a war with ISIS and defeat them and

I certainly support other people fighting

that war and also tax cuts to pay for it

Mitchell: Hillary Clinton disagrees with

Obama but she was his Secretary of State

Gearan: yes she's positioning

herself but she looks disloyal

Riley: yes but she's not credible

because she once met with Putin

and then he invaded Ukraine

Harman: we have a chance for 
a new Sunni awakening

Mitchell: yes but he might fail

Turner: ISIS is about to attack 
the United States!

Riley: right – we need to fight a new war!!

Mitchell: war!

Neely: war!

Harman: war!

Gearan: there are some people who

don't love war – for example the

ones who have to fight it

Riley: sorry but sometimes war

must be done and I'm right behind them

[ break ]

Mitchell: OMG Rick Perry was indicted

but he called it a farce

Turner: its a blow to democracy!

Mitchell: Jason you wrote a book

about how liberals hurt black people

Riley: we need to talk about

how blacks are criminals

Mitchell: that is such a good point

Riley: Al Sharpton doesn't care

about murder victims!

Mitchell: whoa

Mitchell: wow we might have a

girl in major league baseball!

[ break ]

Mitchell: so audience as you may

have heard David Gregory's final

show was last Sunday

Audience: you will be missed Fluffy

Mitchell: as host Fluffy interviewed

many famous people and covered

everything from the the OJ Simpson

trial to the Bush White House and

even hosted the Today show

Audience: Willard Scott outlasted 
Dancing Dave

Mitchell: David left via tweet and

said to the viewers thank you

Audience: I'm getting verklempt

Mitchell: I will miss David and he 
will always be my friend

Audience: [ sniff ]

[ break ]

Levinson: Robin Williams was like fireworks!

Smith: you made 'Good Morning 
Vietnam' with him

Levinson: it was amazing ideas and jokes

were coming out lighting fast

Levinson: it was like he was channeling

something and it was extraordinary to see

Smith: did you ever talk politics?

Levinson: we did talk about

how crazy things can be

Smith: in 2005 Robin Williams and

Barry Levinson made another movie

about a guy running for President

going after special interests

Levinson: his comedy was very

human and filled with kindness

Smith: he was a special person 
– how did he work?

Levinson: you brain says how

do I connect with an audience

Smith: he took off like a rocket ship!

Levinson: there are many talented

people but he was unique

[ break ]

Mitchell: he went to Iraq and

Afghanistan with the USO

Gearan: in Iraq in 2010 Robin had to

share a suite with three women

and we occupied the shower around the clock

Mitchell: and that's another

episode of Meet The Press