Meet The Press - July 21, 2013

Guests:

Marc Morial - President of the

National Urban League and

former Mayor of New Orleans

Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-OH) &

Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus

Tavis Smiley – PBS

Charles Ogletree - Harvard Law School

Michael Steele - former Chair of the RNC

Chuck Todd

Gov. Rick Snyder (R-MI)

Fmr. Gov. Jennifer Granholm (D-MI)

Gregory: the President come out as a black man!

Fudge: the President made it clear

that Trayvon had rights not to

be followed and killed

Obama: Trayvon Martin could have

been me and African-Americans have

a history that doesn't go away

Gregory: Tavis you said the

President's comments were weak

Smiley: his statements don't count

because he was pushed to make

those remarks and anyway Obama

lacks moral leadership

Gregory: I love it

Smiley: Obama's failure to speak out

on race is this is just like Bill Clinton

allowing genocide in Rwanda

Gregory: is Obama responsible for genocide?

Ogletree: no

Gregory: dammit

Ogletree: he's not a black President –

he's the President who happens to be black

Morial: he started the process which

will hopefully lead to real action

Steele: I agree with Tavis -

it's Obama's fault that we

don't have gun control

Gregory: nice

Morial: the President can't

do it all alone

Smiley: he's weak! Weak I tell you!

Morial: let me finish Tavis

Smiley: Ogletree is wrong –

Obama has tried to avoid

race at all costs

Ogletree: not true

Smiley: Obama said only athletes

can solve our racial problem!

Ogletree: that's crap Tavis

Smiley: screw you Harvard

Ogletree: excuse me – he's pushed

health care reform and gun control

Fudge: the House is trying to

eliminate food stamps!

Gregory: Stand Your Ground laws

have redefined the concept of self-defense

Steele: those laws are probably

bad but the federal government

should mind its own business

Gregory: good point

Steele: Stand Your Ground was

not used by the Zimmerman defense

Morial: but it was used in the jury instruction

Smiley: why hasn't the NRA argued

that Trayvon should have carried

a gun to defend himself from

George Zimmerman?

Morial: why wasn't George Zimmerman

arrested after killing a child?

Gregory: is that sill illegal in Florida?

Ogletree: that's unclear Fluffy

Smiley: the President said Friday

there ain't going to be a civil rights case

Gregory: The Washington Post's

Richard Cohen asked who will be

brave enough to admit we must assume

all black men are criminals

Fudge: police stop and frisk black kids

– no wonder they get convicted more!

Smiley: I want Obama to lead!

Morial: we need economic opportunity

Gregory: Obama said in 2008 we

are not going to get past race easily

Ogletree: President Obama put

Trayvon Martin in American history

Smiley: Obama must leads the

nation in a moral conversation!

Gregory: but conservative says race

had nothing to do with Trayvon Martin case

Steele: well that's stupid isn't it

[ break ]

Gregory: Governor Snyder you said

in 2011 you not allow Detroit

declare bankruptcy – what happened?

Snyder: I changed my mind –

the citizens of Detroit deserve better services

Gregory: half the street lights don't work

Snyder: it's a bit of a problem

Gregory: clearly

Snyder: I'm bullish on Detroit –

we just need to get rid of the city government

Gregory: you have some very lazy greedy retirees

Snyder: shit's gettin' real

Gregory: how will you tell these retirees to suck it

Snyder: it's going to be ugly

Gregory: that's true all over America –

I hate these awful retired teachers

and cops and firefighters

Gregory: what about a federal bailout?

Snyder: in the next month we will remove all blight

Gregory: thanks for coming Rick

[ break ]

Gregory: in 2012 Obama said 'we refuse

to let Detroit go bankrupt' but

he meant the auto industry

Granholm: it's simple - Detroit lost

90% of its manufacturing jobs

Gregory: conservatives blame unions

and blame you for boosting your state

when you were governor

Granholm: to be fair this is a

problem all across America

Brooks: San Francisco lost manufacturing

jobs and they're doing well

Morial: true

Todd: the problem is cronyism –

also businesses failed too

Morial: poor people don't get bailouts

– quel surprise

Gregory: laissez les bad temps roulez

Brooks: Detroit is just like the fall of

the Roman Empire - entrenched elites

engaged in orgies and were overrun by goths

Gregory: is American declining?

Brooks: not if you're white and

college educated – the problem is class

Morial: we need to address that too

Gregory: my mother is from Detroit

– thank god she left

Granholm: Germany is creating

middle-class manufacturing jobs

Gregory: white people say Obama

doesn't care about race

Brooks: yes but Obama's ability to see

both sides comes from the fact that

he has a white mother and Kenyan father

Gregory: but conservatives say now

is not the time to talk about white

people killing unarmed black teenagers

Brooks: well that's stupid

Morial: this was deep in his consciousness

– but he has addressed civil rights and

health care and predatory lending

Todd: Tavis says he was too cautious 
on race but people said that Obama is

too cautious on every issue

Gregory: true

Todd: also Obama is an anthropologist

who studies human beings from a distance

Gregory: and a law professor who

poses tough questions to us all

Todd: also to Obama just winning the

Presidency was a big statement

to young African-Americans

Brooks: he's also pushing immigration reform

– it's about more than just black and white

Gregory: Helen Thomas was a White House

reporter pioneer who asked tough questions

Audience: what an amazing concept

Gregory: and that's another

episode of Meet the Press