Guests:
Senator
Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Governor
Jon Kasich (R-OH)
Sara
Fagen – Fmr. Bush White House
Jose
Diaz-Balart
Ron
Fournier
Amy
Walter
Pat
Buchanan
John
Nichols
Todd:
OMG we polled all voters
in
the early primary states which
makes
no sense
Todd:
it's bad news for Hillary!
Todd:
she only leads Bernie
Sanders by 13 points!
Todd:
E-mails! Benghazi!
Todd:
welcome to the show Bernie
Sanders:
hiya Charles
Todd:
let's talk about how
much
you love guns
Sanders:
I voted to ban assault
weapons
and for background checks
and
to close the gun show loophole
Todd:
okay
Sanders:
no one should be
allowed to
have a gun if they
commit domestic violence!
Todd:
what else?
Sanders:
we should ban certain guns!
Todd: you're on fire!
Sanders:
guns mean different
thing
in a hunting state like Vermont
Todd:
background checks don't
always
work so shouldn't we not have them?
Sanders:
this Louisiana shooter
was
mentally ill and shouldn't
have
had a gun
Todd:
well we have those
laws
on the books
Sanders:
well then we need
to enforce those laws
Todd:
you had a confrontation
with
Black Lives Matter
Sanders:
it was not a confrontation
Todd:
okay
Sanders:
look I care very
much
about Sandra Bland
Todd:
you were dismissive
of
the black lives matter protesters
Sanders:
no I was not dismissive –
they
interrupted a very interesting
panel
discussion on Ben vs Jerry
Todd:
I see
Sanders:
Martin Luther King
was
working on economic injustice
when
he was killed
Todd:
you don't care
about institutional racism
Sanders:
of course I do
– I
care about Sandra Brand
Todd: okay you said her name
Sanders:
the middle class is disappearing!
Todd:
all right
Sanders:
it's morally unacceptable
that
the top one tenth of 1% has
as
much as the bottom 90%
Todd:
perhaps
Sanders:
my message is
resonating
all across America
Todd:
every lazy pundit says
you
and Trump are the same
Sanders:
billionaires can buy elections
Todd:
yeah yeah
Sanders:
shut up Todd
Todd:
so you still claim
you're not Donald
Trump
Sanders:
no that's bullshit
Todd:
strong language
Sanders:
we need a campaign
finance
system so people can
run
for office without being
beholden
to the Koch brothers
Todd: thanks for coming Bernie
[ break ]
Todd:
panelists Bernie is pretty
defensive on
guns and race
Walter:
Sanders is blunt and
fun
and that's different from
Clinton
but Democrats still like her
Todd:
people really like
Bernie
Sanders – why?
Fournier:
because no one knows who he is
Todd:
ha ha
Fournier:
Donald Trump and
Bernie
Sanders are the same person
Todd:
right
Fournier:
also Hillary is dishonest
and
everyone hates her
Todd:
Bernie is weak on immigration
Diaz-Balart:
Sanders is not
focus-group driven
– he's honest
which is just
like Donald Trump
Todd:
Hillary is being driven to the left
Fagen:
Clinton is an extreme
leftist
and is doomed!
Fournier:
I disagree – she's doomed
because
no one trusts her!
Walter:
that's right – she's
untrustworthy
and Sanders is authentic
Fournier:
Clinton should just
drop out and be evil full-time
[
break ]
Todd:
Donald Trump and Bernie
Sanders
are both populists
Todd:
they are both fed up with
political
correctness and are angry
Todd:
both have supporters
who
are white and pissed off
Todd:
Remember Pat Buchanan
was
an elitist who ran as an
angry
racist outsider
Todd:
and Ross Perot was a
rich
guy railing against blue
collar
jobs lost to NAFTA
Todd:
Sanders is a modern day
Gene
McCarthy and is drawing big crowds
Todd:
he's turning Clinton is a liberal
[ break ]
Todd: welcome to my show Pat Buchanan
Buchanan: nice to be here Todd
Todd:
does Trump remind you of
your
own campaign in 1992?
Buchanan:
you betcha – he's the only
one with the guts to point out the
conquest of America by Mexico
Todd:
aren't Trump and Sanders the same?
Nichols:
no
Todd:
oh no?
Nichols:
Bernie is tapping into
mass
movements – minimum wage,
black
lives matter, occupy
Buchanan:
that's leftist populism
– where
people want food to eat
Todd:
right
Buchanan:
Trump is tapping into
a
very well-founded terror of
brown-skinned people
Todd:
that sounds right
Buchanan:
you had that lady in
Texas
who was killed and then
later
killed herself
Nichols:
President Obama won
the 2008 primary and two general
elections running on liberal populist issues
Buchanan:
bald appeals to racism
can
get you the nomination
Nichols:
a billionaire beating
up
on immigrants is not populism
Buchanan:
he's going to
make
America great again
Nichols:
the greatest populist ever
was
FDR and he didn't attack
immigrants
or poor people
Buchanan:
but he was a liberal!
Nichols:
and he won four times!
Todd:
we'll have to continue
this
fight in the green room
[ break ]
Ted
Cruz: Mitch McConnell is big liar!
Rand
Paul: watch me chainsaw the tax code
Lindsey
Graham: I'm going
to
destroy my smartphone in
the
name of veterans everywhere
Todd:
Trump is in second
place in Iowa
Todd:
while Bobby Jindal and
Lindsey
Graham and Carly
Fiorina are all one 1%
Todd:
Donald Trump is in first place
in New Hampshire with 21%
Todd:
and again Jindal and
Graham
and Rick Perrry are at 1%
Todd:
after Trump said
John
McCain was not a war
hero
he got more popular in Iowa
Fagen: true Trump leads in
the
polls but you know 80%
of Republicans don't
like him
Walter:
yes a lot of people hate him
– he's peaking
Todd:
I used to think that too
but
Trump keeps on surging
Fournier:
Donald Trump is a
lying
slippery liberal like Hillary Clinton
Diaz-Balart:
I have some news
for
you people – latinos are not
a
demographic – they are America!
Fournier:
that's frightening
Diaz:
sprinkle that on your oatmeal
Fournier:
oatmeal is bland and mushy
and
untrustworthy like Hillary Clinton
Diaz-Balart:
splash that on
your huevos rancheros
Fournier: ranch is good
Todd: yes it is Ron
'
Fournier: I like ranch
[
break ]
Todd:
there are 16 people
running
for the GOP nomination
and
here's the latest
Todd:
welcome Governor Kasich
Kasich:
hi Chuck
Todd:
are you too nice
to
run for President?
Kasich:
I'm a problem solver
Todd:
all right
Kasich:
I'm reforming everything
Todd:
you talk about your experience
in
Washington which is weird because
voters
hate Washington
Kasich:
voters want us
get
things done
Todd:
so they say
Kasich:
I balanced the
budget
all by myself
Todd:
I remember that
Kasich:
I'm running to fix America
Todd:
that's boring
Kasich:
we're not running
for
class President
Todd:
then you'd have better debates
Kasich:
we need to grow up!
Todd:
what's the biggest
challenge
for next President?
Kasich:
islamic terrorism
Todd:
cool answer bro
Kasich:
we should have troops
on
the ground to defeat ISIS
Todd:
you would send U.S.
troops
to re-invade Iraq?
Kasich:
absolutely!
Todd:
Iowans hate NAFTA
Kasich:
NAFTA was a good thing
Todd:
talk like that's not
going
to get you elected
Kasich:
I'm not running
to
get elected Chuck
Todd:
that could be a problem
Kasich:
but we're
not
gonna be saps either
Todd:
okay no saps – got it
just
one question – what's a sap
Kasich:
but I love
blue
collar workers!
Todd:
what about immigration?
Kasich:
we should seal the border!
Todd:
how?
Kasich:
a fence
Todd:
what else
Kasich:
a big fence
Todd:
okay
Kasich:
I also favor a
guest
worker program
Todd:
what about 12 million undocumented
immigrants
currently in America?
Kasich:
if they're hard- working
and
don't commit crimes they should stay
Todd:
some say they committed
a
crime by coming here
Kasich:
well that's silly
Todd:
that's much too reasonable
Kasich:
Reagan worked with Tip O'Neill!
Todd:
Facebook wants to
know
why you caved to the unions
Kasich:
frankly people like unions
Todd:
what do you make
of
Donald Trump?
Kasich:
I'm not getting into that
Todd:
oh come one
Kasich:
no I'm not talking about it
- he scares me
Todd:
you said after government
you
worked in the the real world
which
was on Fox news
Kasich:
it's kind of the real world
Todd:
not really
Kasich:
I worked in the real world
serving
on corporate boards and
for
Lehman brothers
Todd:
that's rough man
Kasich:
my dad was a mailman
Todd:
now that's the real world
Kasich:
yeah it is ha ha
[
break ]
Todd:
a group recently released
an
edited video about Planned
Parenthood
and I'm obliged to
show
clips from that
Todd:
what's the bigger story here
– the
fake videos or Planned
Parenthood's
actions?
Walter:
the story is Planned
Parenthood
is donating tissue
Fagen:
they're committing
infanticide
and other crimes
Diaz-Balart:
if you see the
unedited
video that's not true
Fournier:
whenever someone
points
out they are victims
of
a deceptively edited video
you
know they must be wrong
Todd:
what a smart thing to say
Fournier:
abortion is wrong
and
Planned Parenthood is icky
Todd:
is this about defunding
Planned
Parenthood?
Walter:
of course it is
Fournier:
they should just donate the tissue
Diaz-Balart:
it's visceral
Todd:
this video was a success
so
groups on the left and right will
all
start releasing edited videos which
we
will have to discuss thus further
elevating
our political discourse
Fournier:
can I say something?
Todd:
um let me think
[
pauses ]
Todd:
no – we gotta go
Fournier: awww
Todd:
and that's another
episode
of Meet The Press