Meet The Press – January 18, 2015

Guests:

Richard Engel

Gerard Biard – Editor Charlie Hebdo

Robert Gibbs

Kelly O'Donnell

Carol Lee

Michael Steele

Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC)

Dan Pfeiffer – White House Advisor

Todd: omg there are terror raids

all over the world including Belgium

Engel: Belgian cops got into

a shootout with terrorists

Todd: sounds like Belgian

police are on it

Engel: hercule poirot 

has cracked the case

Engel: of course the 

Europeans are bombing ISIS

Engel: but let's be honest

bombing people is America's thing

Metz: terror is cheap but it

can have a big impact –

it's got a great return on investment

Engel: ISIS has gained credibility

since America started bombing it

Engel: ISIS is telling supporters

don't come here – do you terror right

at home which is appealing to

lazy would be terrorists

Engel: Muslims all over the world

are angry about cartoons

Todd: how do we win hearts

and minds like we did so well in Vietnam?

Engel: it's not about hearts and minds

Todd: oh no?

Engel: no you have to find

and destroy ISIS

Todd: what else?

Engel: there are 3,000

motherfucking ISIS fighters in Turkey

Todd: that quite a few

Engel: damn fucking right it is Todd

[ break ]

Todd: welcome Gerard and my condolences

Biard: merci charlie

Todd: how did you put the new issue out

Biard: it was very difficult and emotional

Todd: I can imagine

Biard: some people were there

during the attack and are still in the hospital

Todd: I hope they had good

insurance or they will go bankrupt

Biard: this is a civilized nation Charles

Todd: the Pope says if someone

insults his mother he will punch

him in the face

Biard: when we draw cartoons

of Mohammed we are defending

the freedom of religion because

religion should be private and not public

Todd: I see

Biard: secularism promotes peace

Todd: so you don't attack religion

Biard: religion has no place in politics

Todd: some news organizations

won't run your cartoons

Biard: that cartoon is symbol of freedom

and liberty and when newspapers blur it

out they are blurring out democracy

Todd: are you part of our 

war against radicals?

Biard: we must stop conflating

the murderers and the victims

Todd: but some say both sides do it

Biard: we are not warriors –

we are defending freedom of

conscience and democracy

Todd: thanks for coming

[ break ]

Todd: should governments ask

people not to burn Korans or is

that a violation of freedom of speech

Gibbs: well sure because we need

to remind people we're not at war with Islam

Todd: people want to stand with

Charlie Hebdo but on the other hand

Americans are saying oh boy they

don't support my religion

O'Donnell: exactly Americans want

to support free speech for the

magazine to mock muslims

Todd: what if Charlie Hebdo mocked Jesus

– would Republicans support them so much?

Steele: ha ha no not so much Chuck

Todd: how should Americans

respond to cold-blooded murder?

Lee: the white house is trying to balance

being against murder but also not

making Charlie Hebdo the official

publication of the US government

Todd: the white house won't say radical islam!!

Lee: Congress wants to hear

Obama say we're at war muslims!

[ break ]

Todd: welcome Senator Graham

Graham: good morning Todd

Todd: Lindsay we keep killing terrorists

but terrorism doesn't go away so what

went wrong with our strategy

Graham: we didn't bomb Iraq a

nd Syria enough

Todd: I see

Graham: terrorism exists in the world

because Obama withdrew from Iraq

Todd: so what's the answer

Graham: stop all terrorists all over the world

Todd: ok but how

Graham: we must get all bad 

people out of Syria

Todd: um okay

Graham: we must have no-fly zone

over Syria – that should end the war there

Todd: what do you say to people

who don't want to start two more wars

Graham: you either fight them

over there or fight them here

Todd: it's an oldie but a goodie

Graham: let's re-invade Iraq and

get it right this time!

Todd: should we also bomb Nigeria

Graham: no that terror killing

of innocents doesn't count

Todd: of course no

Graham: if we invade Iraq and

Syria then boko haram will get

scared and go away

Todd: President Obama says more

sanctions would hurt chances for a deal

Graham: we would like a deal but

we need to send a message to Iran

is if you walk away from deal we

will have more sanctions

Todd: interesting

Graham: I would forgo sanctions if he

agreed to bring a deal to the Senate

so we can call him weak and sabatoge it

Todd: you said the President

is getting people killed

Graham: yes Iraq is a violent place

because of Barack Obama

Todd: could you expand on that

Graham: thousands of Syrians have

been killed because of Obama

Todd: are you going to run for President?

Graham: I'm definitely thinking about

it because the world is falling apart

and I was proven right that Obama

should not have invaded Iraq in 2003

Todd: thanks for coming Linds

[ break ]

Todd: oh my god the Mitt is back

Romney: the rich are getting richer!

Reporter: what do you think of

Mitt Romney running again?

Obama: no comment ha ha ha

Wall Street Journal: if Mitt is the

answer what is the question?

Audience: name a person who

will never be president

Murdoch: fuck that guy!

Cruz: he's a loser!

Walker: he's out of touch!

Chaffetz: well do you want

another fucking Bush?

Todd: Kelly it doesn't seem

like anyone likes Mitt

O'Donnell: people have been 

telling him for two years you 

should've won and he mistook 

pity and politeness for sincerity

Todd: Peggy Noonan says he

is a downright moron

Steele: he tried and he lost – end of story

Todd: what about some fresh faces

Lee: Clinton is old!

Todd: she's got a point there Bob

Gibbs: the point is Mitt is still a

terrible candidate and kind of idiot

Todd: so what about Hillary?

Gibbs: she's going to run a

better campaign this time

Todd: how do you know?

Gibbs: because she's going

to hire Obama's team

O'Donnell: it's Obama's third term!

Gibbs: no that's a trap – she has

to be her own person and not a

third Obama or Bill Clinton term

Todd: ooh

[ break ]

Todd: omg Obama wants to raise

taxes on the rich and close a trust fund

loophole and give college away for free!

Todd: Dan do you really think a GOP

Congress will raise taxes on rich people

Pfeiffer: oh sure why not

Todd: because giving money to

rich people is kind of their thing

Pfeiffer: it's best for the country!

Todd: no one in Washington thinks

Obama's proposals can pass this Congress

Pfeiffer: who cares – Obama is

trying to help the middle class

Todd: I know you said you would 

veto Keystone but Canada is our 

BFF why not let them build a huge 

pipeline across our country

Pfeiffer: it's a bad idea

Todd: oh come one why not

throw this bone to Canada

Pfeiffer: because Obama is an

American and not Canadian

and Canada is not part of the U.S.

Todd: don't tell Ted Cruz

Todd: why not run an Iran

deal past Congress?

Pfeiffer: Lindsay Graham clearly

desperately wants to be President

and be Commander in Chief

well guess what he's not

Todd: why not give Congress a say?

Pfeiffer: because they'd just

fuck it up and start a war

Todd: how can you be so sure?

Pfeiffer: because they fuck everything up

Todd: good point

[ break ]

Todd: did you know Martin

Luther King changed America?

Audience: no!

Todd: the deep south used to be

reliably Democratic and then after

the Civil Rights Act it went all Republican

Audience: what a coincidence

Todd: then the north was Republican

but it's not any more

Todd: and then lots of African-Americans

got elected to Congress and we 

got a whole lot of black Senators 

well seven actually

Todd: and then there's President Obama

Todd: forget the State of the Union

– look at these State of the State addresses

Perry: Obama says we can't have a

clean environment and a

strong economy – well I disagree

Christie: people are terrified across America!

Todd: Christie is very smart

Steele: governors are great because

they balanced budgets in the recession

Gibbs: now that we're close a

Presidential election it's time for

politicians to pretend they care

about the middle class

Todd: are Jeb and Romney 

squeezing Christie?

O'Donnell: yes but be can defend

himself by saying the terrible economy

is the fault of Democrats in New Jersey

Lee: New Jersey is total basket case!

Todd: will gay marriage be a big

deal in the 2016 election?

Steele: darn right – the tea party is

going to be really mad if a conservative

court legalizes this immoral freedom

Todd: they will argue that

forbidding people from getting

married will be about liberty

Todd: giving the response to the

State of the Union is a curse –

Bobby Jindal got lost in a mansion

and Marco Rubio stopped halfway

to drink and Bob McDonnell is in prison

O'Donnell: yes but Joni Ernst is

a combat veteran so she's knows

all about foreign policy

Todd: and that's another

episode of Meet The Press