Meet The Press – December 27, 2015

Host: Jon Karl

Guests:

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT)

Wendy Sherman – Fmr. Under Sec. of State

Michael McFaul – Fmr. Amb. To Russia

Matt Bai

Helene Cooper

Amy Walter

Michael Gerson

Mitchell: omg Donald Trump is 
still leading in the polls and Bernie 
Sanders hasn't lost yet!

Mitchell: the old order is being swept away

Trump: Clinton goes to the bathroom 
which is disgusting

Clinton: he's a bigot

Sanders: I also go to the bathroom 
when I can!

Mitchell: welcome Senator Sanders

Sanders: nice to see you again Martha

Mitchell: you fired staffers on the data breach

Sanders: we did the right thing that one time

Mitchell: okay

Sanders: but that has nothing to do
with the disappearance of the middle class

Mitchell: Trump used a vulgar term about

Hillary and Trump attacked Bill Clinton!

Sanders: who cares Andrea

Mitchell: I care

Sanders: Trump thinks wages are

too high and wants to give tax cuts

to the richest Americans

Mitchell: well everyone I know is rich

Sanders: why are the rich doing 
so well and why is the middle class
is getting crushed

Mitchell: maybe we should try 
some more tax cuts

Sanders: it's the warmest Christmas 
eve since the first one!

Mitchell: right

Sanders: it's warmer in Bethlehem

Pennsylvania than in the original Bethlehem!

Sanders: Trump denies reality 
on climate change!

Mitchell: but Americans are more 
worried about being killed by terrorists
than anything else

Sanders: because people like you 
keep scaring them

Mitchell: your poll numbers dropped 
after terror attacks

Sanders: not true – we gained 
12 points on Clinton

Mitchell: but you're weak on terror

Sanders: we're closing the gap

and catching up to her!

Mitchell: look we're all terrified Bernie

Sanders: we must destroy
ISIS but be smart about it

Mitchell: you lost me with that last part

Sanders: what?

Mitchell: how you would persuade the

Saudis to ignore Yemen and attack ISIS

Sanders: we have a lot of leverage angela

Mitchell: we do?

Sanders: we need a coalition 
– Qatar is very rich!

Mitchell: we all know that

Sanders: America should put together

a coalition of other countries to fight this war

Mitchell: great idea but how

Sanders: Americans don't have 
enough money to retire on and their
kids can't go to college

Mitchell: don't you want to talk about terror

Sanders: we need to prove

health care and family leave!

Mitchell: is the DNC trying to 
sabotage your campaign?

Sanders: when I started I was at 3%

and now I may win New Hampshire

Mitchell: that is impressive

Sanders: we have a big grass roots organization

Mitchell: is the DNC fair to you?

Sanders: look we all want to 
defeat right-wing extremists

Mitchell: thanks for coming Bernie

Sanders: thank you Andrew

[ break ]

Mitchell: welcome Debbie

Wasserman-Schultz: good morning Andrea

Mitchell: Donald Trump attacked Bill Clinton!

Wasserman-Schultz: he's vulgar 
and his hair is weird

Mitchell: true enough

Wasserman-Schultz: the lowest depths

I've ever seen on Presidential campaign since

Lloyd Bentsen called Dan Quayle

'you impertinent whippersnapper'

Mitchell: that was something else

Wasserman-Schultz: you would think Trump

would want to uphold some minimal level of

leadership and values if only to avoid further

embarrassing his children

Mitchell: Trump is going to bring up

Bill Clinton's past – does that worry you

Wasserman-Schultz: he will attack

Bill Clinton his own peril

Mitchell: perhaps

Wasserman-Schultz: he's one of the most

popular and admired men in the world

Mitchell: Trump said Hillary got schlonged

Wasserman-Schultz: if I ever used that word

my bubbe would given me such a punishment

Mitchell: oy vey

Wasserman-Schultz: he's a schmuck! 
He's mishegas!

Mitchell: I'm going to plotz!

Wasserman-Schultz: anyway the larger

issue is the GOP war on women

Mitchell: but he's in a class by himself

Wasserman-Schultz: he is terrible

Mitchell: Trump says Hillary has no

energy and no stamina and goes to

sleep for days at a time like a vampire

Wasserman-Schultz: he's a sexist – 
he went after Carly Fiorina and 
Megan Kelly and even me

Mitchell: why is it working so well for him?

Wasserman-Schultz: because the Republican

party opposes women rights on choice 
and birth control and equal pay

Mitchell: oh right

Wasserman-Schultz: also the Republican

party created a Depression

Mitchell: thanks for coming Deb

Wasserman-Schultz: thanks for inviting me

[ break ]

Mitchell: welcome panelists

Mitchell: Trump is going after 
Bill Clinton now!

Walter: he gets the GOP base like

no one else – but he's guaranteed

to lose next November

Mitchell: Matt you have a unique insight

into millennial women – thrill us with 
your acumen

Bai: Hillary Clinton keeps getting lucky 
– just like Obama

Mitchell: Bernie failed to bomb ISIS

Cooper: everyone wants a coalition to

bomb ISIS which Obama is already doing

Mitchell: people hate the media

Trump: I would probably not murder

reporters but I really do hate them enough

to do it and ethics or laws wouldn't stop

me so maybe I would

Mitchell: these attacks on the 
media are scary!

Gerson: he's praising Vladimir Putin

for committing murder 
– it's getting frightening!

Mitchell: demanding Obama's birth certificate

was funny but this is no longer amusing

Gerson: he's flirting with authoritarianism

– it's a serious matter!

Bai: support for Trump is a reaction to

the major media's being shallow and glib

and smug and being generally frivolous

self-regarding assholes

Mitchell: interesting point

Bai: pundits have treated politics like 
a pointless reality game show and 
and Trump has exploited it

Mitchell: but Trump versus Bill Clinton

is so much more fun than policy which

affects millions of people

Bai: media is still giving Trump free 
air time even now!

Mitchell: we have to

Bai: you're hurting America

[ break ]

Mitchell: these are the scariest 
days since 9/11!!

Mitchell: omg we're all gonna die!

Mitchell: terror threats in America!

Mitchell: Americans killed in Afghanistan!

Mitchell: Iraq and Syria are not peaceful!

Mitchell: ISIS is on the march!

Mitchell: Putin is scary too!

Mitchell: Clinton has called for a no-fly zone!

Mitchell: Putin is bombing Syria

Mitchell: Russia and the U.S. may go to war!

Mitchell: Europe is overwhelmed by refugees

Cruz: Obama is a lunatic!

Graham: I love me some Islam

Mitchell: what about all this 
anti-Muslim rhetoric?

Sherman: it's incredibly dangerous –

only the Muslim world can defeat isis

Mitchell: first Putin bombs rebels

then he bombed a terrorist – 
what's his deal anyway?

McFaul: he's supporting Assad

Mitchell: we know that

McFaul: he's killing moderate rebels 
– not ISIS

Mitchell: Trump is a great admirer of 
Vladimir Putin

McFaul: Putin only acts in Russia's interests

so if he endorses Trump it's because he

thinks it would be good for Russia

Mitchell: interesting

McFaul: Trump says there's a moral

equivalence with U.S. soldiers and

thugs committing murder

Mitchell: Chuck Hagel is whining about

not bombing Syria after the red line

Sherman: Assad gave up his 
chemical weapons

Mitchell: I suppose

Sherman: we don't need slogans 
– we need to crush ISIS

Mitchell: but ISIS is spreading to Kenya

and Nigeria and I think Georgetown

McFaul: the solution is a patient
long-term strategy

Mitchell: but I'm panicked now!

McFaul: we've had 9,000 attacks on ISIS

Mitchell: I'm still scared

McFaul: Muslims will defeat ISIS

Mitchell: this year we lost Fred Thompson

Mario Cuomo Bob Simon Julian Bond

Fank Gifford Yogi Berra and Beau Biden

[ break ]

Mitchell: there have been 3,000

shooting victims in Chicago this year

Todd: welcome Spike Lee

Lee: hi Chuck

Todd: who's the audience for Chi-Raq?

Lee: 88 Americans die from guns

every day – that's 30,000 year

Lee: that affects white rural Americans!

Todd: but this movie is for black Americans

Lee: not at all

Todd: but your message is black

America needs to stop gun violence

Lee: well it's not all cops shooting
black people

Todd: why is Chicago so violent?

Lee: I asked experts and no one knows

Todd: well I'm stumped

Lee: it's Americas biggest 
segregated city

Todd: is it a war zone?

Lee: on the first day of filming we 
had to go to a funeral

Lee: 331 people were shot in

Chicago while we were filming

Todd: where is the outrage?

Lee: it's not Sandy Hook!

Todd: true

Lee: people are numb because

it happens so much

Todd: they're comfortably numb

Lee: the problem is guns!

Todd: what do you think

of black lives matter?

Lee: I like 'em

Todd: can Obama fix Chicago?

Lee: ask him

Todd: just bash Obama for me

Lee: this is about gun violence

all over America

Todd: thanks for coming Spike

[ break ]

Mitchell: who can stop Trump?

Gerson: can he get actual votes?

Mitchell: um yes

Gerson: and who is the alternative to Trump?

Mitchell: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Gerson: there needs to be one

establishment choice or he will win!

Mitchell: Christie is blocking Rubio

Walter: the problem with being
the establishment choice is that is 
the kiss of death

Walter: Christie may yet

win New Hampshire

Walter: but Chris Christie

can't win anywhere else

Mitchell: of course I am terrified of terrorism

Cooper: the GOP wants to carpet bomb

Iraq and Syria and probably France

Mitchell: Clinton messed up Egypt

among the other failed Obama policies

Cooper: I don't worry about that Andrea

Bai: no one has done more

for Bernie Sanders than Larry David

Walter: this was the craziest year ever!

Gerson: wait 'til next year!

Mitchell: look at Clinton and

Obama in New Hampshire

Cooper: I am so ready for some

actual votes to be cast

Mitchell: and that's another

episode of Meet The Press