Meet The Press – September 13, 2015

Guests:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ)

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK)

Jim DeMint – Heritage Foundation

Robert Ford – Fmr. Amb. to Syria

Richard Engel

Maria Hinojosa

Sara Fagen

Ron Fournier

David Brooks

Todd: OMG today is NFL day!!

Todd: also we're going to

elect a President next year!

Todd: Rick Perry is out and

Mike Huckabee wants to institute

selective Biblical law

Cruz: the GOP squishes are losers!

Jindal: Trump is an egomaniac!

Todd: Chris Christie is losing badly!

Todd: welcome loser

Christie: nice to be here Ted

Todd: GOP primary voters are

very angry about something

Christie: because the GOP congress

doesn't do anything!

Todd: and you will?

Christie: I've vetoed more tax

hikes than any Governor in history!

Todd: how nice for you

Christie: but I work with Democrats

in Jersey to attack school teachers

Todd: in New Jersey you

have high unemployment

and many credit downgrades

Christie: yes but I cut taxes

Todd: but your record sucks

Christie: but I cut taxes!

Todd: okay but your state

has no money and terrible credit

Christie: that's the fault of

public workers who keep insisting

they should be allowed to retire

Todd: how selfish of them

Christie: if we didn't have to

pay people for their work things

would be great in my state

Todd: but you do have to

pay people for their labor don't you?

Christie: not if I have

anything to say about it

Todd: so your argument is

you're a jerk but you get things done

Christie: I bribed and extorted 

and threatened Democrats to 

give me what I want and I'll do 

the same in Washington

Todd: your incredible corruption

has somehow now led to the resignation

of the CEO of United Airlines

Christie: I am very ethical!

Todd: oh you are?

Christie: I was a U.S. Attorney!

Todd: but you bribed your

way to that job that you were

totally unqualified for

Christie: I can't keep track

of the crimes of 60,000 public employees

Todd: but these are your top

aides who are totally corrupt

Christie: hey they might be innocent!

Todd: but some of them

have already pleaded guilty

Christie: here's what a real

leader does – immediately lie and

blame everyone else but myself

Todd: nevertheless your entire

inner circle are all facing criminal charges

Christie: I have been totally vindicated

Todd: you have?

Christie: look when I found out

my top aides were crooks I 

immediately took action and fired them

Todd: wait a moment ago

you said they might be innocent

– which is it?

Christie: Barack Obama is a crook!

Todd: wait what?

Christie: Obama is a totally failed leader

Todd: okay but the entire Port 

Authority is corrupt

Christie: nothing has been proven yet!

Todd: so you claim

Christie: stop reading newspapers

– they're full of lies and that includes

the sports and weather sections!

Todd: that's your answer –

stop reading newspapers?

Christie: Bill De Blasio's

liberal policies have led to murder

Todd: you sound a bit unhinged

Christie: Mayor DeBlasio has

a total disregard for human life!

Todd: easy there big guy

Christie: Barack Obama supports lawlessness!

Todd: and yet your top aides broke the law

Christie: not true necessarily!

Todd: then why did you fire them?

Christie: because Fuck You that's why

[ break ]

Todd: Trump and Carson

lead the entire establishment combined!

Todd: the Summer of Trump is

turning into the Fall of Lunacy

and the Autumn of Crazy

Todd: it's a battle for the soul

of the Republican party!

Todd: the Tea Party doesn't

want to inspect Iranian nuclear facilities

Tea Partier: Boehner is worse

than Obama because we know

Obama is a muslim but Boehner is a traitor

Boehner: no one knows

this but I'm very popular

Todd: why do you hate John 

Boehner and Mitch McConnell?

DeMint: why is it radical to

want to balance the budget

when a Democrat is President?

Todd: it makes a kind of sense

DeMint: the Republican party

never stands up to Obama!

Todd: I'm not sure about that

Cole: not true! The GOP and 

Obama cut the deficit!

Todd: after all Obama was re-elected

DeMint: Obama tried to

take control of the Internet!

Todd: what do you want?

DeMint: a concrete plan to

deny Obama a third term

Todd: why can't you defund Obamacare?

Cole: we tried but Obama won't let us

Todd: thanks for coming

[ break ]

Todd: there is a battle for control the GOP!

Brooks: you can't govern by screaming

Todd: did the GOP over-promise

or should they make Obama veto stuff?

Fagen: it's hard to get stuff

through the Senate

Todd: that's what the Founders wanted

Fagen: but the GOP always plays

chicken and loses to Obama

Todd: no wonder they're mad

Fagen: for example going after

Planned Parenthood could be

a real win for the GOP

Todd: riiight

Fournier: the public is angry and

therefore they support Trump and Sanders

Todd: Both Sides Do It

Fournier: Donald Trump is completely

crazy and people really like that

Todd: the anger is not just on

the right because it's always

true that Both Sides Do It

Hinojosa: no Chuck there is much

more anger on the right – look at

Chris Christie who wants to bring

back illegal stop and frisk

Fournier: Chris Christie is supposed

to be a law-and-order guy except

when it comes to his own administration

Todd: that sounds about right

Fagen: Christie has a lot of 

Donald Trump in him

Todd: I'm not touching that one

[ break ]

Todd: omg Sanders is leading

in Iowa and New Hampshire!

Todd: how many Syrian refugees

should the U.S. take in?

Sanders: why shouldn't Saudi 

Arabia take in a few?

Todd: is the Syrian civil war America's fault?

Sanders: I voted against the Iraq

war because it would destabilize the region

Todd: boy were you wrong ha ha

Sanders: Saudi Arabia is going

to have get their hands dirty

Todd: that ship has sailed Bernard

Sanders: the U.S. should not

have combat troops in the middle east

Todd: you voted for military action

in Kosovo so why not use troops in Syria

Sanders: I also supported the

war in Afghanistan because I

thought we should get bin Laden

Todd: I stand corrected

Sanders: Afghanistan and Iraq

were totally botched and thousands

of Americans were killed

Todd: we all know that

Sanders: let's do everything to

solve the Syrian crisis without

using U.S. troops first

Todd: why are you more

electable than Hillary Clinton?

Sanders: because I support

universal health care and

college education

Todd: good answer Ben

Sanders: people are sick of

establishment politics and economics

Todd: maybe

Sanders: people are sick of

Wall Street controlling government

and taking all the money

Todd: but they're such nice people

Sanders: the Democrats lost

in 2014 because their supporters

are dismayed

Todd: you're a weirdo so how

can you work with Congress as President?

Sanders: we passed a bill to help Veterans

Todd: I didn't know that

Sanders: the truth is Todd we'll

never have real change until the

Congress is full of liberals like me

Todd: thanks for coming Bernie

[ break ]

Engel: refugees are pouring

into Sweden and Austria

Refugee: Syria is a nightmare

of death and destruction

Refugee: I'm escaping the Taliban

Engel: the U.S .invaded Iraq by

mistake wrecking the middle east

Engel: Obama didn't bomb

Syria making me sad

Engel: the U.S. broke the

middle east leading to starving

Syrians arriving in Germany

Todd: has Obama been a failure in Syria?

Ford: no because Syria 

is not an American state

Todd: yes but all the world is part of America

Ford: the unraveling of Syria is

the fault of the dictator there

Todd: but America runs the

world including Syria so therefore

Obama has failed

Ford: the problem in Syria

is the dictator is a brutal lunatic

Todd: see Obama has failed!

Ford: Obama is fixated on attacking ISIS

Todd: so you're saying the

U.S. should overthrow the government

and invade and occupy Syria

Ford: right!

Todd: should America start

a war with Russia over Syria?

Ford: Obama needs keep

bombing Assad and tell Russia

we want to overthrow Assad

Todd: I like it

Ford: this is a war and we need

to be involved or we will miss

out on the all the fun

Todd: but if we bomb Assad 

will that help ISIS?

Ford: it could but we should

help the good rebels who hate

Assad and ISIS

Todd: what a good idea

Ford: that's how we got

the Serbs to the table!

Todd: thanks for coming

Todd: I'm not editorializing I'm

just saying America should solve

the Syria problem by force

[ break ]

Todd: OMG Joe Biden talked

about his son on Colbert!

Todd: he's not running is he?

Brooks: it was an expression

of love and it was real

Brooks: it's an anti-establishment

year but then again the election is next year

Todd: does the Democratic party need Biden?

Hinojosa: yes!

Todd: yes!

Hinojosa: he was talking

without soundbites

Todd: does Biden running

help Hillary?

Fournier: no that's stupid

Todd: don't be mean Ron

Fournier: I believe him when he

says he's not ready to run but his

love for Beau may lead him to get in the race

Fagen: Biden is a gaffe machine

unlike the geniuses in the GOP

Todd: what about Hillary?

Brooks: she's boring –

unlike Sanders or Corbyn

Fagen: the Democrats have moved to the left

Todd: it's so terrible

Fagen: the GOP has moved

to the right even more!

Fournier: people want change

and Hillary is not capable of change

Todd: how do you know that?

Fournier: Karl Rove told me

Fagen: the scandals are not going away!

Hinojosa: Hillary needs to dance more!

Todd: and that's another

episode of Meet The Press