Sunday, May 03, 2015

Meet the Press – May 3, 2015

Guests:
Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake (D-Baltimore)
Martin O'Malley – Fmr. Gov. of MD (D)
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH)
Tom Brokaw
April Ryan
Kim Strassel
Wes Moore
D. Watkins


Todd: oh my there is calm is Baltimore 
after a week of unrest

Todd: but it's deeply divided city

Todd: 96% of people believe 
this will be a summer of riots

Todd: six cops were charged with
crimes after snapping the spine 
of a guy they illegally arrested

Todd: all the cops have been released on bail

Police Union: they did nothing wrong!

Todd: will you ever lift the curfew
in this the most free country in the world?

Rawlings-Blake: maybe we'll see

Todd: what about liberty?

Rawlings-Blake: you don't just
let go of a curfew – it's very useful
for preventing protesting

Todd: so you're keeping it for now?

Rawlings-Blake: well things
are getting better so why end it now?

Todd: do you regret using
the phrase 'space to destroy'?

Blake: that was taken out of context

Todd: oh I see

Rawlings-Blake: I would 
never condone rioting

Todd: well good for you

Rawlings-Blake: thanks Chuck

Todd: do you regret using that phrase?

Rawlings-Blake: certainly I 
used the wrong phrase

Todd: all right then

Rawlings-Blake: I will prosecute looters!

Todd: how will you do that?

Rawlings-Blake: we will go troll through
videotapes to find and arrest looters

Todd: wow

Rawlings-Blake: we will even use
facial recognition technology
and flying robot drones if we have to!

Todd: jesus we get it Mayor

Blake: we will bring justice 
to victims of looters!

Todd: okay okay

Rawlings-Blake: I don't condone violence!

Todd: righty-o

Todd: one protester said if the
CVS hadn't been burned there
wouldn't have been criminal
charges brought against cops

Rawlings-Blake: that's not true

Todd: no?

Rawlings-Blake: no burning
a CVS is senseless –
people need those to get medicine
and diapers and late night munchies

Todd: even your pastor
thinks you're a crappy Mayor

Rawlings-Blake: he's entitled to his opinion

Todd: well his opinion is that you suck

Rawlings-Blake: I know how to lead
our city through tough times

Todd: all evidence to the contrary

Rawlings-Blake: that's mean Charles

Todd: how should you be judged?

Rawlings-Blake: how should I know?

Todd: gee I don't know

Rawlings-Blake: we need to fix our problems

Todd: yeah no shit – how will you do that?

Rawlings-Blake: I asked the 
Department of Justice to come
in and fix our police department

Todd: you're really hands-on aren't you?

Rawlings-Blake: I do try Ted

Todd: thanks for coming Mayor

Rawlings-Blake: you too Ed

[ break ]

Todd: we decided to talk to
real citizens of Baltimore
about what they want

Citizen: we need to focus on education

Citizen: economic development!

Citizen: fix the police

Citizen: no one cares about us

[ break ]

Todd: welcome Marty

O'Malley: nice to be here Chucky

Todd: what's wrong with Baltimore?

O'Malley: our modern economy
leaves whole parts of America left behind

Todd: true enough

O'Malley: extreme poverty
leads to extreme violence

Todd: but you once said crime
causes poverty which is politically incorrect

O'Malley: well it's true

Todd: looking back what are
all the things your did wrong as Mayor?

O'Malley: I was a very good Mayor Todd

Todd: that settles that

O'Malley: I was elected with 90% of the vote

Todd: those are North Korea numbers

O'Malley: I rock Todd

Todd: Republicans and Democrats
now agree we arrest too many
non-violent criminals

O'Malley: Believe me I know all about this
I started out as a prosecutor of
low-level drug offenders

Todd: good for you

O'Malley: but we reduced crime 
and incarceration at the same time

Todd: impressive

O'Malley: I even decriminalized drugs
doesn't that give me liberal street cred?!?

Todd: Speaker Boehner says
all the problems are liberals' fault

O'Malley: that's fucking stupid

Todd: but we spend $100 million
to fix Baltimore and it's still broken
proving liberals are wrong

O'Malley: what a fucking lie –
national politicians abandoned Baltimore!

Todd: whoa call down Martin

O'Malley: fuck Speaker Boehner –
that's a spit in the bucket

Todd: can you still run for President
when it's clear all Baltimore problems
are your fault?

O'Malley: damn fucking right 
I can this should be a wake-up 
call for all America!

Todd: will this be central to your campaign?

O'Malley: absolutely it will

Todd: will you announce in Baltimore?

O'Malley: not anywhere else!

[ break ]

Todd: 1965 Pat Moynihan warned
us black people were in trouble

Todd: inequality is worse
than it was in the 1960s

Todd: unemployment for African-Americans
was twice the national average and
it still is fifty years later

Todd: poverty is down but still
worse for blacks than whites

Todd: Tom Brokaw talk about blacks to me

Brokaw: Moynihan was attacked
from the left for criticizing inner city
blacks but he was right

Todd: so true Tom

Brokaw: Black leaders should
have stood up and said Pat Moynihan is right

Todd: preach it Tom

Brokaw: we need a Marshall Plan for ghettos!

Ryan: okay fine white dudes but
we need to do more than just point fingers

Todd: maybe

Ryan: black people just want
opportunity to succeed

Todd: Moynihan said the American
Negro had a pathology – gosh he was smart

Moore: how nice for him Chuck

Todd: you differ Wes?

Moore: it's not just about
single parents – it's about relatives
and mentors and neighbors and
pastors so kids know people care about them

Todd: what should rich people
do about black pathology?

Strassel: we tried liberals' central
planning and we still have high crime

Todd: well put

Strassel: we have to break 
the teachers union!

Todd: if we don't crush the 
unions CVS may never rebuild!

Watkins: Baltimore cops are out of control

Watkins: cops don't speak to
black people as people but as animals

Watkins: I've never had a good
encounter with a Baltimore cop – ever

Watkins: some cops are from
the suburbs and never meet a
black person until they get a license to kill them

Watkins: peaceful protests don't
work but violence doesn't either

Todd: Wes it sounds like D. Watkins
is rationalizing riots

Moore: his frustration is real
for black people across America

Todd: I suppose so

Moore: cops need reforms
just to keep them safe

Todd: interesting point

Moore: the Army needs intelligence
and so do cops which means garnering
trust from locals in Afghanistan and
Iraq and Baltimore

Strassel: high crime is vicious circle

Todd: Obama didn't go to Ferguson 
– is this all his fault?

Ryan: Obama says his presence
would be a distraction

Todd: oh I disagree

Ryan: but he should go to Baltimore
this is part of his legacy

Todd: right

Ryan: but Obama is involved with
My Brother's Keeper and the media ignores it

Todd: talk Obama to me Brokaw

Brokaw: Obama is too involved
in the middle east and not the inner city

Todd: exactly!

Brokaw: we need a blue ribbon 
commission with Wes Moore and 
someone from the University of Texas

Todd: and John Boehner!

Brokaw: I'd like to say “inner city” 
five more times

Todd: please do Tom

Brokaw: inner city!

[ break ]

Todd: lets' look at our latest poll –
Democrats think the most important
things are jobs and climate change
GOP voters think the most important
things are terrorism and the debt

Todd: I got to talk to John Boehner!

Todd: welcome Speaker

Boehner: nice to see you Chuck

Todd: how do we save Baltimore?

Boehner: tax cuts for the rich!

Todd: anything else?

Boehner: privatize education!

Todd: problem solved

Boehner: 50 years of liberals
policies have failed in Baltimore

Todd: what else?

Boehner: education!

Todd: that will take money

Boehner: we need to spend less money!

Todd: the police keep
killing unarmed black people

Boehner: yeah you have to scratch your head

Todd: that's one response

Boehner: if the cops are criminal
it's outrageous and unacceptable

Todd: what about body
cameras for cops?

Boehner: body cameras
are okay I guess

Todd: do you have plan if the
Supreme Court overturns Obamacare?

Boehner: no we don't

Todd: you said Obamacare
would be a disaster and it's succeeding

Boehner: Obamacare caused unemployment

Todd: since Obamacare was
enacted we've added jobs

Boehner: no we didn't

Todd: yes we did - 3 million actually

Boehner: giving people Medicaid
is like giving them nothing because it sucks

Todd: so we should get rid of Medicaid?

Boehner: it's an insult

Todd: what about free trade?

Boehner: Hillary's Clinton loves
trade with Asians – she just wont admit it

Todd: do you need Hillary's help?

Boehner: Democrat leaders
oppose Obama and I'm helping him!

Todd: you think Clinton should get invovled

Boehner: darn right

Todd: are there too many
lobbyists in Washington?

Boehner: not at all –
we need more lobbyists!

Todd: really?

Boehner: the worst are those
environmentalists getting rich by
saving rainforests and studying pack ice

Todd: the whole house is gerrymandered

Boehner: stealing elections is perfectly fair

Todd: do you really believe that?

Boehner: sure why not?

Todd: is there too much money in politics?

Boehner: no because we
spend more on antacids

Todd: are you serious?

Boehner: everyone is Congress
are wonderful honest decent people

Todd: you support Jeb Bush
but you won't endorse him!

Boehner: no because
Jon Kasich owes me money

Todd: What about Hillary?

Boehner: she scares me

Todd: Scott Walker

Boehner: who?

Todd: Ted Cruz?

Boehner: ha ha don't
make me say what I think Todd

[ break ]

Todd: who does best - Carly Fiorina or Ben Carson or Mike Huckabee 

Strassel: all these crazy-ass 
GOP candidates were formed in 
reaction in their sheer hatred of Obama

Brokaw: stick a fork in Christie
because he is in a toaster

Todd: well put

Brokaw: Christie was a career prosecutor

Todd: no he never washe just 
bundled a fortune for Bush in 2000

Brokaw: I wish you all could have
been with me when I spent the
weekend at Monticello and it was
a wonderful honest discussion of
slavery with no finger-pointing

Todd: is O'Malley going to become
more relevant or less relevant?

Moore: yes but also no

Todd: the entire Democratic party
is backing away from being 'tough on crime'

Strassel: Republicans love Elizabeth Warren!

Todd: Ed Millband actually unveiled
a platform etched in limestone –
and I thought our politicians were nuts

Brokaw: watch out for him –
he took down his own brother!

Todd: if Cameron loses is
that bad for the Republican party?

Strassel: no because he's a socialist

Todd: Wes you know all
about European elections

Moore: well I know they
spend less money than we do

Todd: but our two-year long
elections is how NBC makes millions

Brokaw: ha so true

Todd: and that's another
episode of Meet The Press


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