Show: For the Record with Greta Date: February 21, 2017 Guest: Nicholas Burns, Ted Williams, Katie Phang, Tim Carny, Anna Palmer, Clarence Page, Kristen Welker, Pete Williams, Byron Dorgan, Jim Demint, Matt Schlapp
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GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOR THE RECORD HOST: Shooting on the border, a Mexican teen standing on Mexican soil shot by a U.S. border agent standing on U.S. soil. That`s on For the Record tonight. But first, the new deportation memos, the Trump administration unveiling their new plans to crackdown on illegal immigrants. This could be a seismic change, and what will happen now on America`s sanctuary cities? Also President Trump speaking out on hate, racism, and Anti-Semitism, all this seven days from his first address for a joint session of congress, will he try to united the country and can he? And Milo facing the media, the right-wing provocateur talks about those pedophilia comments and his steep fall for grace. We`ll talk to the organizer of the GOP summit CPAC that sparked a firestorm by inviting Milo to speak and uninviting Milo.
And today we saw more angry voters in town halls giving politicians a piece of their mind in responds to controversial policies, and a controversial president who meanwhile says that he will be the one to united the country. And today, President Trump toured the national museum of African-American History and Culture. He also weighs in on anti-Semitism and amid a wave of bomb threats made to Jewish centers days and just days after 170 headstones were vigorously damage at a historic Jewish cemetery in St. Louis.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Whether it`s anti-Semitism or racism or anything you want to think about having to do with the divide, anti-Semitism is -- likewise just terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Also today, in the department of homeland security issuing a new guidelines cracking down on illegally immigration. Meanwhile, president tried to reassure those who entered country illegally as children.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have to have a safe country. We have to let people come in that are going to love their country
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: What about the (INAUDIBLE)
TRUMP: We`re going to try to take care of the dreamers very, very (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAN SUSTEREN: Now while all of this going on in Washington, Republican lawmakers back on their home districts responding to tough questions about the Trump agenda from angry voters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: I`m a Muslim, who is going to keep me here? Who`s going to stand behind him and say to them.
(CROSSTALK) UNINDENTIFIED MALE: I wonder if you knew. If you saw that there was overwhelming evidence that a foreign country was meddling in our election and meddling with our democracy.
UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: How can you justify building a wall?
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: It`s nothing compared to 2009 (INAUDIBLE) in the summer in 2009.
UNINDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was more intense?
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAN SUSTEREN: NBC`s Kristen Welker is at the White House. Kristen?
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS: Well, Greta. Today, a lot of fast moving development as you just laid out. And one of the big headlines here is the fact that the president for the first time in his strongest terms yet denounced anti-Semitism. He was pressed on that uptick of threats against Jewish community centers by our own Craig Melvin. And then, he talked about it again in prepared remarks. Now this comes after a number of people have weigh in on this uptick in anti-Semitism, including his former rival Hillary Clinton. Ivanka Trump, last night tweeting about the importance of tolerance. Now, for some, these comments are too little too late. The Anne Frank Center, for example, wrote that the president comments were like putting a band aid on cancer. But, it could be a significant shift for the president as he tries to turn the page on a rocky period in his White House. Remember last week, he was asked about this uptick in anti-Semitism, and instead of answering the question directly, he pivoted, he started defending himself, and making the point that he`s not anti-Semitic. Today was a very different tone. He denounce these types of action in very strong terms. He also, Greta, tried to reach out to the African-American community. He made those comments against the backdrop of a visit to the Smithsonian African-American museum, where he also talked about a lot of the sacrifices and contributions of African-Americans. And, of course, as a candidate he had a somewhat rocky relationship with the African-American community. He struggled to win them over during the campaign. So today, I think marked a real attempt to reach to some of those communities. Sean Spicer was pressed about what the follow up would look like. He didn`t have specifics, but we do know that the White House is trying to make a meeting with the congressional black caucus. Spicer saying that there will be more examples of this in the future, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Kristen, thank you. NBC News justice correspondent, Pete Williams, has the latest on those new homeland security immigration memos. Pete?
PETE WILLIAMS, NBS NEWS JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, this is an instruction from the secretary of homeland security to DHS components on how to carry out President Trump`s executive order that were issued in late January. I`m trying to get more people who are here in the country illegally out. And what they say is that it`s going to be a much stricter enforcement, but enforcement of laws that are already on the book. But in theory, Greta, anybody now could be removed. There are very few exceptions. Very few categories of people who are not subject to removal. For example, they say, anybody who has committed a crime, or suspected of a crime, or has tried to fraudulently get benefits, or even someone who commits a traffic offense, driving without a license could be subject to deportation. Anytime, anyone is stop by the police, arrested, finger printed, those finger prints will be sent to homeland security. They could put a detainer on that person and ordered them held and then deport them. But home land security says they`re not going to be waves of mass deportation, that they want to focus on the people who have committed the most serious offenses. Interestingly, there`s one big exception to the crackdown on immigration today, and that`s President Obama`s order in 2015 for so-called dreamers. Young people who came here with their parents illegally but have remained in the country, gone to school, served in the military and become productive members of society. They`re an exception to this rule. They will be allowed to stay under the original executive order signed by President Obama. That one was not rescinded, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Are they silent as to that one? Or that the Trump administration say that one will stay intact and effective.
WIILIAMS: Good question. The executive order signed by the president in January was silent, but the memos today issued by John Kelly, the new secretary of homeland security is explicit. It says that those memos -- that memo and another one will be -- will remain in effect. The other one was the one that said, adults could come here and join their children if the children were citizens. But, even though that one will be allowed to stay on the books, the government can enforce it because (INAUDIBLE) so well. That`s the one that was stopped by a federal court, and the Supreme Court declined to remove that stay.
VAN SUSTEREN: Pete, thank you.
WILLIAMS: You bet.
VAN SUSTEREN: And today, President Trump explicitly addressed the division facing America. In an interview with NBC`s Craig Melvin, talking about why those divisions still exist today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They`re just age old. There is something going on that doesn`t allow it to fully heel. Sometimes it gets better and then it busts apart. But we want it to get very much better, get unified, and stay together. But you`ve seen it where oftentimes it will get much better and then it blows up.
(END VIDEO CLIP) VAN SUSTEREN: Even as the president was speaking, voters were filling town halls to speak out against out and for his policy. But the president insists that he is the one to united the country.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We`re going to bring this country together. We have a divided country that`s been divided for many, many years. But we`re going to bring it together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: And late today, this was the scene at the Statue of Liberty. A banner that said, refugees welcome, unfrowned across the statue pedestal. The park services is investigating. Former Republican senator from the great state of South Carolina, president of the Heritage Foundation, Jim Demint joins us, and former Democratic senator from the great state of North Dakota, Bryon Dorgan joins me as well. Nice to you see both of you, gentlemen.
BYRON DIRGAN, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Thank you very much.
JIM DEMINT, FORMER U.S. SENATOR: Hey, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Nice to see you, senator. Senator, first to you. There`s all these discussions about being divided, are we anymore divided or just louder now?
DORGAN: Well, we are louder. I think we are more divided perhaps, although -- I saw Senator Chuck Grassley talk about the town meetings, I think it was in -- about six or seven years ago that he attended that he felt were (INAUDIBLE). I went through all of those as well. You know, we`ve been increasingly divided over several decades. And, you know, honestly, I want this president to succeed. I mean, I don`t want him to fail. But I think he had done a lot to divide this country as well with his language, his behavior, and so on. So I hope some of that change. The tweet storm that we face every night and every morning from this guy, that is not helping our country at all.
VAN SUSTEREN: Senator Demint, your thoughts on this controversy of whether or not the president is dividing us more, or not of any different, or how can we fix this?
DEMINT: The president is trying to keep his promises. I think that in and of itself if he can continue to push, could help unite the country. Once you get out of Washington, Greta, as you know, the divisions are hardly there around the country. People as Americans work together well. Certainly, we have our problems, but not nearly as exaggerated as you see in political circles.
VAN SUSTEREN: you know, senator, some of the things that -- I`ve even ask him, I think the president was put on the spot about whether he`s anti- Semitic or not today with the question. He was asked a few weeks ago and he didn`t respond to the way a lot of people want to see. Frankly, if someone said to me are you anti-Semitic, I would be angry. If someone say you`re racist, I mean -- to me these questions are a little bit like you still beat your wife. And those in many ways, you know, make it very hard to unite the country.
Bryon: The fact that his style sort of in vise that because his style is very provocative. You know, he doesn`t exactly take a podium and then gives one of these long talks sweet speeches. I mean, his style if very provocative. And so, I think it kinds of invites the same sort of response. But, as I said, this is only been four weeks. I mean, my head exploding. It seems like four years for this administration. And I want him to do well. I come back to the tweet thing, I don`t think you can have a tweet storm going on coming out of the White House in 140 characters and haven`t serve this country well. I just don`t think it does.
VAN SUSTEREN: Senator Demint, what do you make of these town halls? It sort of a little bit like -- when we use to see the tea party who`ll get pretty angry at these town hall meetings. Now we see other people giving the politicians a hard time.
DEMINT: Greta, it`s not really like the tea party. I was going through this document today, indivisible. These folks were very well financed, very well organized. They`re being bus around to go to these different town halls to disrupt them. So it`s going to be difficult for congressman to go out and defend their position because these folks who are coming are not coming to contribute, they`re coming to disrupt. So it`s an organized effort to make it hard for Trump and the Republican congress to be successful. Hopefully they will continue to plow through. Although, Greta, I`m concerned that all of this push back has delayed the repeal of Obamacare and certainly others agenda items that need to be taken out.
DORGAN: Greta, let me just say. I don`t agree with Jim on this. The fact is, if you go back to 2008, 2009, when we have a lot of those town meeting, I think these kinds of town meetings that are occurring reflect a lot of anxiety among the American people about -- OK, if you`re going to repeal the Affordable Care Act, what are you going to replace it with? What are we going to face going forward?
DEMINT: I`d love to answer that, Greta.
DORGAN: Well, if you have an answer, Jim, nobody has an answer for seven years. I hope there is an answer. And I hope it protects and keeps some of the important provisions of the Affordable Care Act.
DEMINT: Well, Byron, before Obamacare, America had one of the best healthcare systems in the world. Obamacare has become a cancer on that system. Rates went up 25 percent last year. Seventy percent of counties have only one or two choices of health insurance policy. We don`t need to replace the American healthcare system, we need to remove the cancer of Obamacare, and began to improve the system so that every American has the opportunity to buy and keep a health plan that they can afford.
DORGAN: We agree with wanting to buy and keep a health plan they can afford. But you know for the first time in many, many, many decades in this country, we said if you have preexisting condition you`re going to be able to get insurance. Prior to that time you couldn`t find insurance if you have a preexisting condition. Or you couldn`t afford it. So there are things -- you know, I wrote the provision that eliminates lifetime limits on insurance policies. A whole lot of folks are going bankrupt because of that, so we got rid of it. There`s some good things here. I`m really wondering when they re-write this, whether they will be able to keep the provisions that are so important in what the Affordable Care Act really was.
VAN SUSTEREN: Let me ask you both the same question. And I`ll go first to you, Senator Demint, so you`ll have more chance to think of the answer. Senator Demint, to what extent does the base of each party make it exceedingly difficult for the members of the house and the senate to do their job? Because they haven`t been the most passionate followers and they are the ones hitting the phones and showing up, and they have a right to be there, but to what extent to they make it unsafe for politicians to work things out with their opponents.
DEMINT: Greta, I have a lot of friends who are Democrats, but they have polar opposite views of the role of government. The Democrats generally believe in more central power and control. Generally, the Republicans, at least, those of us who call ourselves conservatives, believe that America is free because individuals makes more on their own choices. The government should be limited and decentralized. It`s just polar opposite views. And when you look at healthcare, we believe we should move most of this back to the states, and we should allow individuals more choices of health plans. You wouldn`t have to worry about preexisting conditions if people can buy and keep their insurance policy instead of losing it every time they change jobs.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, senator, I guess maybe Senator Demint may not see eye-to-eye on this, but I think in order to solve problems we all got to give a little bit. Even if -- some ideology you`ve got to give a little bit. And I see this basis on both the right and the left, sometimes making it very difficult for politicians even to have lunch together.
DORGAN: It has changed in a dramatic way. I think cable television, talk radio, when drive down the road most people are tuning in to that which reinforces what they already believe. You know, 40 years ago you couldn`t find those programs on. But now, the fact is, it imposes a significant penalty on Republicans and Democrats who decide, I`m going to go across the aisle and find a way to compromise. Compromise has become a four-letter word and it shouldn`t be.
VAN SUSTEREN: That where I think on the base on each side, the right and the left. And I get emails on both sides just saying the worst things about each other. And about politicians -- like a rhino, calling the Republican who dares to talk to a Democrat a rhino.
DORGAN: The lubrication of democracy for two hundred years has been compromised. That`s what works. And compromise these days is revile -- it`s a four-letter word. It`s something you should never do. We need to get above that.
(CROSSTALK)
VAN SUSTEREN: I`m going to give you the last word on this. Go ahead.
DEMINT: OK. You don`t get $20 trillion in debt unless there`s a lot of bipartisan cooperation. The problem is the compromise is not been on the right side of the ledger. We need to recognize the country is going in the wrong direction. I think that`s what President Trump is trying to do. And I hope folks would give him a chance to try to implement some of these ideas.
VAN SUSTEREN: Indeed. I think we`ve got a lot of things that we need to work on and we`ve got a long road ahead of us. Anyway, thank you, gentleman. Thank you both. Nice to see you. Why was this right wing provocateur with highly controversial beliefs invited to keynote a major conservative conference. The man who invited him and disinvited him joins me live. And President Trump`s new national security advisor is known to speak through to power. Will he challenge his new boss on Russia and policy, or how about North Korea? And shooting on the border, a Mexican teen standing on Mexican soil shot by U.S. border agents. Latest on that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: Now to the controversy that has dominated a major conservative forum. Milo Yiannopoulos resigning from Breitbart, the conservative news organization. But that`s not all. He was speaking out today after getting dropped as a speaker at the conservative political action conference known as CPAC. Milo would have been at the same event where President Trump and Vice President Pence will speak. He was dropped after past interview surface making off colored comments, to put it lightly, about pedophilia. In a statement and as a result of the explosive controversy, Milo wrote, quote, I do not support pedophilia, period. Now, the conservative magazine, The National Review, that he should have never been invited to CPAC in the first place. Here`s what Milo said today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MILO YIANNOPULOS, FORMER SENIOR EDITOR OF BRIETBART NEWS: The America has a gigantic free speech problem, but the left and the right are guilt of that. My rise and the interest in this story is testament to the fact that America is crying out for somebody who will say the unsayable, who will break taboo, and who resists -- fearlessly resists those who wants to clamp down on free speech and free expression. This is a politically motivated witch hunt. And in other ways you know is the people knew about this stuff a year ago and they didn`t print anything. They waited until the most damaging possible moment and everybody knows that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Matt Schlapp is chairman of the American Conservative Union, and the organization which organizes CPAC. Nice to see you, Matt. And I should say that he was never the keynote speaker. Who was the keynote speaker?
MATT SCLAPP, CHAIRMAN OF THE American CONSERVATIVE UNION: Michael Reagan, the son of President Reagan. He`s going to be our keynote Friday night.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK. All right, now let me talk about Milo.
SCHLAPP: Sure.
VAN SUSTEREN: I guess it`s safe to say that the Republican Party is a big tent including him. Why did you invite him in the first place?
SCHLAPP: We`ve invited him mostly because we all read about what happened to him on Berkeley. You know, what happens on too many college campuses, free expression, free debates gets shutdown, especially if it`s any kind of voice from the right. And he was so controversial at Berkeley that it started riots. And we thought we`re conservatives, we can have free- flowing debate. A lot of us don`t agree with everything, Milo had said over the years. But we can have a conversation on the stage, and take him to task on some of the things he said. We think our attendees could handle that conversation.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Did you not know about the pedophilia in which he denies. You don`t know about that?
SCHLAPP: No, I thought the tapes -- at least came to my attention over the weekend. There were alarming. And, you know, my advised to Milo, who I don`t know very well, had one meeting with him, was that he needed to take very aggressive steps to alter the record. If this is not properly reflect his heart and his beliefs, and so I think he tried to do that today with his press conference. But no longer that the CPAC stage the appropriate place for him to do that with his reputation. It`s about political disagreements and it`s about debates and the give and take, and that`s what we want to focus on CPAC stage.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, some of the stuff that his written in the past, like he`s written columns with things like, birth control makes women unattractive and crazy. In other words, would you rather your child have feminism or cancer.
SCHLAPP: Right.
VAN SUSTEREN: I guess that`s sort of his stick as he tries to be provocative.
SCHLAPP: Yeah. And that didn`t much interest us to tell you the truth. But what interest us, is what is it like when you have a controversial theme, and you go to college campus and you get blocked. What does that feels like? What are the remedies to that. And that was narrow topic that we wanted to talk about. Also, we wanted to ask him questions about some of his more scurrile statements in the past. And once again, we think those controversy should hit the stage. You`ve just talked to a couple of senators about why can`t the right and left get along. And sometimes why can`t the right and the right get along. Because we don`t talk about things in front of cameras with the lights on in a civil manner. I think we need to do more of that, not less of it.
VAN SUSTEREN: I`ve watch him today, and at one point I felt sorry for him. The next point I thought, well, OK, he resigned from Breitbart, he took some responsibility, I thought that was -- and I read some of the things he`s done and I thought, you know, he`s cartoonish nasty. He had me bouncing all over and I felt like, you know, I don`t know what I think about him after watching this.
SCHLAPP: But do you think he should be able to speak on campuses?
VAN SUSTEREN: I don`t like those safe spaces on campus.
SCHLAPP: I don`t either. I agree.
VAN SUSTEREN: I believe on the first amendment. When I was a practicing lawyer, I fought for people rights, the first amendment. I used to represents protesters down on the White House, whether I agree with them or not. Because I was in court many weekends, you know, standing in lines like an assembly line representing people. I actually like the first amendment. I`m actually quite surprise on campuses that they have safe spaces.
SCHLAPP: Well, we`ve had all kind of topics that conservatives say we should not address at CPAC. And as chairman over the last three years, I kind of taken the opposite approach. If there`s disagreements, I think it should be a respectful approach to the topic, but we don`t talk about them. I think America is a better place when we talked about our disagreements in a civil way.
VAN SUSTEREN: What a difference a year makes. A year ago, I interviewed candidate Donald Trump at CPAC.
SCHLAPP: That`s right, I remember that.
VAN SUSTEREN: . I went down just so I have a chance to interview him. And now, this year he`s going to be -- he`s going to be one of the speaker and I can`t get near him.
SCHLAPP: The first president -- Well, I don`t know, we can fix that. The first president to come to CPAC in his first year since Ronald Reagan came in 1981. A generation ago. It`s a big moment for us.
VAN SUSTEREN: How many people are going to rate this?
SCHLAPP: Over ten thousand people, it`s the third most covered political event of the year. Over two thousand credential media, activist all over the country. And, look, we have some people from the left who speak as well. So we`re.
VAN SUSTEREN: Who`s on the left speaking this year?
SCHLAPP: Ed Schultz is speaking. We have Rick who has a nationwide radio show is going to be speaking. And, you know, it`s going to be a good free- flowing conversation.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, Matt, nice to see you.
SCHLAPP: Good to see you, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Ahead, well, Donald -- President Trump new national security advisor break with him on key issues including how to deal with the Kremlin. We`re going to tell you what the White House is saying today. Plus, a deadly shooting of a teen at the border. The case in the U.S. Supreme Court raising questions about whether border agent can shoot into Mexico, and the shooting that killed that teenager.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: Those are breaking news. Moment ago, President Trump weighing in on the protests that we`ve been seeing at town halls across the country. President Trump tweeting, quote, the so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. Sad. More on that story ahead. And now on the first full day on the job for President Trump`s new national security advisor, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, attending a national security council briefing with President Trump. And that was this afternoon. General McMasters has a reputation for challenging authority and even boldly writing, while he`s on uniform, a book about the mishandling of the Vietnam War. White House press secretary Sean Spicer was asked about possible differences between President Trump and General McMaster`s views on Russia.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN SPICER, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: On Russia critiques have said he doesn`t talk tough enough on the subject. General McMasters has been labeled a lot of people being hawkish. What should we expect that they are working together?
I think as I mentioned a couple of times there`s widespread praise of General McMaster and his understanding in command of National Security matters, foreign policy matters. He is going to be a great asset to the president`s national security team but ultimately the president has always been the decider whether it`s Russia or any other issue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: With me Nicholas Burns, former ambassador to NATO and to Greece. He also serves as under Secretary of State and worked for five years in the National Security Council, he is now a professor in Harvard Kennedy School, nice to see you ambassador.
NICHOLAS BURNS, HARVARD KENNEDY SCHOOL: Thank you, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador, can national security adviser shape foreign policy?
BURNS: I think we have seen that over the last decade. The job is integrate foreign policy decision making process to collect the best advised for the president from all the agencies to the U.S. government and to be with the president on daily basis. It`s a powerful position. Given what we seen in the chaotic first week of the Trump administration they need some stability in that position and he comes highly recommended, he is a very impressive individual. So this hi is big task.
VAN SUSTEREN: Both sides of the aisle seem to think he is going to be really good for this, but typically going back decades. There`s been tension between State Department and the Defense Department. And I`m I wonder what you think about having a general in that job instead of someone with a history with state department with more diplomacy.
BURNS: One of our finest National Security advisers is Lieutenant General Brent Scrowcroft of the U.S. Air Force. He is the only person who had held the job twice. For President Ford and for President George H.W. Bush and State DOD often get along when you think about the relationship that Secretary Hillary Clinton had with Bob Gaits when he was at the Defense with Conderice had. With Bob Gaits as well, so I think that General Mattis at defense and Secretary Tillerson, they seem to share similar views. What General McMaster has to do as NSC is two things, I think Greta. Number one, bring some order to the process, make sure president getting daily intelligence briefing. Be the center of power there and hopefully he won`t have to contend with power in the White House like Steve Bannon. And secondly have a policy towards Russia that makes sense and can have support both in the senate among Republicans as well Europe. And right now President Obama, I must say fairly weaken accommodation policy towards Russia does not have support among members of the Republican Party and the senate. And definitely it does not have support in Europe. I was in Munich over the weekend and the Europeans are very worried that Donald Trump is tough enough on Russia.
VAN SUSTEREN: What do you think General McMaster biggest challenge is going to be in this job?
BURNS: I think there`s no question consolidated ordinarily process in the White House. If the White House doesn`t tend to have this rivals power centers, if there`s going to be a separate strategy group for foreign policy, as it has been rumored, I think that will be disastrous from all of the process the administration that I have seen. It works best when the president confers authority on the National Security adviser and great trust and sees that person regularly and doesn`t continuants other people in the White House trying to -to be the de facto national security adviser and of course that is what people fear about Bannon.
VAN SUSTEREN: Ambassador, thank you sir.
BURNS: Thank you, very much.
VAN SUSTEREN: Next shooting at border. A Mexican teen shot in Mexico by a U.S. agent who was on American soil when he pulled the trigger, the shooting sparking an international legal fight at Supreme Court.
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VAN SUSTEREN: Now to U.S. Supreme Court hearing a case today, a cross border shooting on a Mexican teen by a U.S. border agent. Now the confusing question is this. Can the boy`s parent sue the border agent in U.S. Court? The shooting took place back in 2010 at the border between El Paso Texas and Wares Mexico. This grainy cell phone video shot by a bystander on the Mexican side was obtained by union vision and it is evidence in this case. It`s a bit hard to see, but on the right, you can see the boy and two others running away from the U.S. border fence and the approaching agent. Moments later you can see the border agent holding one of the boys as he fires in off camera that is where he fired at the teens. Sergio Hernandez, who is hiding behind the pillar, about 60 feet away, he was on Mexican soil. The U.S. did not extradite the agent. Our panel is here. Mexico charge the agent with murder, but United States did not extradite the agent. Our legal panel is here Attorney Ted Williams and Katie Phang. Katie, first to you, sort this out for us, this is a thorny issue not to mention very deeply depressing and sad.
KATIE PHANG, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes, there was pretty interesting oral argument today before the Supreme Court of the United States. Should the 4th amendment of the United States constitution be applied to this U.S> border patrol agent against the unreasonable seizure and unjustified use of deadly force for this 15 year old Mexican national, right now by all the account the Supreme Court going to come back 4-4 on this decision based on some of the questions made by the Supreme Court justices. It`s pretty horrific to see a 15-year-old boy shot in the head. He was shot three times by this border patrol agent, but the law is pretty clear Greta and Ted that a Mexican national doesn`t have standard to bring lawsuit in the United States even by this type of conduct.
VAN SUSTEREN: But it would have been different Ted, if it had been shot in the United States. That is the whole thing, if he had been shot in the United States.
TED WILLIAMS, HOMICIDE DETECTIVE AND CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: The argument today if he had been shot in the United States, that he would have had certain constitutional safeguards, as one justice said today, this is a very sympathetic case where a border patrol officer unfortunately made very well be able to get away with murder, but --
VAN SUSTEREN: Even if is an accident, I mean.
WILLIAMS: It`s no accident where you shoot across the border when this guy is no threat to you and you shoot and kill him and you shoot four or five times.
VAN SUSTEREN: From my point, those factual issues are not resolved. The issue is whether or not the suit can be brought.
WILLIAMS: Absolutely. The court seemed to be split 4 to 4 as Katie already represented. The sad part about this, is when you look at it, what`s going to happen here when you looking at international court. For instance, Justice Kennedy represented that this belong in the political arena. That may give President Trump the president of United States some encouragement on his ban, because the court is signaling to him that the political arena is where the ban should be.
VAN SUSTEREN: Katy, why no extradition so the court in Mexico could consider this.
PHANG: Well he wasn`t indicted for murder as you noted. And the United States say absolutely not. We`re going to extradite this border patrol agent to Mexico for him to face murder charges. We don`t know the conditions of the Mexican prisons are, particularly horrible but I think the United States says if we allow extradition for this particular fact then it`s going to be slippery slope, if may end up creating liability for those types of actors.
VAN SUSTEREN: Could he have been charged in the United States but the death occurring in Mexico?
PHANG: No, he could not be charged for that here in the U.S.
WILLIAMS: I don`t think he could be. What we have to be careful about Greta is what goes around comes around. Suppose someone on the Mexican side of the border shoots a border patrol officer on the United States side they don`t want to extradite him. It`s a slippery slope and it`s very scary.
VAN SUSTEREN: And of course we have a 4-4 and eight members of Supreme Court, maybe we would have a ninth so we could argue with. That is been done before. Anyway, thank you both.
Hometown opposition, Democrats face off with Republican members of congress. President Trump responded within the hour, Ohio Governor John Kasich and President Trump meeting on Friday. Who requested the meeting? There`s a dispute about that and there is one thing everyone on Washington could agree on. We love our panda, Bao Bao our hearts are broken. She is leaving us. Where is she going, next?
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VAN SUSTEREN: We`re back with three things you may not know. Number three, there`s a new phone app for visually impaired. The app uses the phones camera to identify objects and even people. The user can customize the app to speak his or her friends name using facial recognition. I love this one.
Number two, alert to all parents, you might have heard the my friend Doll, it`s an interactive toy that use internet to respond to users question but several consumer groups are warning the dolls can be hacked and control the doll, so that the stranger could spy or even start talking to a child, got to fix that one.
And number one, you have due know this one, but I love our giant panda. So let`s wave Bao Bao a fond farewell, she left the National Zoo today heading to China to help grow the panda population and to make sure she comfortable on her 16 hour flight, they bringing alone 50 pounds of bamboo. He also has his own FedEx panda team specialist to accompany her on the trip. I`m going to miss Bao Bao. So there it is, now you know.
To today`s biggest political story, lawmaker home on recess facing questions from voters about Trump`s controversial policies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did you get idea that people in Washington didn`t want you to have health insurance?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obamacare, improve it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You need right to -- revision why and why not.
(APPLAUSE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know there`s been incredible persecution.
You work for us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When you win the election you get to make the policy, always remind people, winners make policy and loser go home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Earlier in the show, a former Republican Senator Jim said this 6:11 p.m. Eastern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: These folks are well finance, very well organized. They are being bused around to go different town halls to disrupt them so it`s going to be difficult for congressman to go out and defend their positions, because this folks who are coming are not coming to contribute, they are coming to disrupt. So, it`s an organized effort to make it hard for Trump and the Republican congress to be successful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: 12 minutes later President Trump taking to twitter and tweeting the so called angry crowds and home districts of some Republicans are actually in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists, sad. Ana Palmer Senior Washington Correspondent, for Politico Clarence Page, Tim Carny Commentator Editor for the Washington Examiner.
Tim, first to you, your thoughts on this, is this some plan by liberal activists or citizens speaking to their representative?
TIM CARNY, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Well to some extent it is a weird and I think false distinction or just angry constituents are being planned out and organized. If people are willing to take the time to organize and then come to the event, that is sign of real passion about what they are doing. The distinction that I think that made it right, are they there to ask question and put congressman on the spot or there to shout them down. The answer starting to coming and they start yelling them down.
VAN SUSTEREN: I think it`s good that the citizens show up and confront their politicians and the politicians have a sense of how passionate they have on how much these things matter to them.
CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Jim talk about these people are paid and bussed in. I heard the same thing about the tea party. Liberals were saying the same thing of the blah blah blah. I think we have seeing a bit of same thing now.
VAN SUSTEREN: I think people are scared about Obamacare whether they like it or don`t the one thing at least I suspect is that, if you`re going to repeal it what are you going to put in its place. I think people are worried about that.
ANNA PALMER, POLITICO: I think they are worried and I think that members of congress care about these things. I think town hall, people showing up, flooding the phone calls, can actually make Republicans -- you see them step back on how they repeal and replace.
VAN SUSTEREN: Clarence, the president though is faking anti Semitism and raise that question all the time, is that a fair question to keep asking, I always think it`s a little bit like, you know when did you stop beating your wife?
PAGE: Obama said the same thing. This is part of the president`s job to respond to this sort of episode. People will judge you by how well you respond. What strikes me about Donald Trump I think is his heart is in the right place. He wants to be very respectful at African-American museum or the holocaust museum. The question is was he really trying to reach out to minority or was he trying to impress the base. That is always the debate.
VAN SUSTEREN: There`s a little bit of dammed in you do or dammed if you don`t. If it you don`t go, you`re incentive. If you go it`s a stunt.
CARNY: That is a no-win situation. This is a token and when you don`t do that you get criticized. What I thought what`s notable they have to really script for him to say the comment about anti Semitism when he was ask, he sort of didn`t expect it at that press conference -- he made it with himself.
VAN SUSTEREN: I thought that was -- if someone said to you are you anti- Semitic I would be furious, I would be enraged if somebody ask you that.
CARNY: The question is, what do you have to say about the anti-Semitic attack is the question you got at the press conference? What was about the attacks going around the country he made it about himself unnecessarily?
VAN SUSTEREN: To my favorite story of the day, the invite gate, more powers and intrigue and yes political controversy. It`s about who planned a Friday meeting between Governor Kasich and President Trump at White House. Team Kasich says the White House requested the meeting, but today Sean Spicer said Kasich reached out to the president. Maybe that fierce campaign rivalry isn`t over yet?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, THE 45TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I don`t how you pronounce his name Kasich. Every time I see him, I say Kasich.
JOHN KASICH, GOVERNOR: Donald Trump is clearly not prepared to be president of the United States.
TRUMP: I have never seen a man who made news conferences while he is eating, he is always eating.
KASICH: I don`t like the divisive language we heard from Mr. Trump.
TRUMP: Kasich has no chance, I mean zero.
KASICH: To say elections are rigged and all the votes are stolen is saying we never landed on the moon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Ana what do you think. Who invited who to this lunch or dinner or meeting on Friday? What was your money on?
PALMER: I don`t think we`ll get to the bottom of who actually invited in the meeting. I think it`s going to be most interesting we saw the video they like to punch each other. They like hard and fast of campaign politics. They actually have to work together. Trump won Ohio by nine points but they have to work together on the budget on Medicaid. Can they have a kumbaya moment that is the real question?
VAN SUSTEREN: You know Clarence I often times think that cable news is like Snapchat. We take our video and show it disappears, we have all this video saying horrible things about each other and then they are walking hand and hand in the White House.
PAGE: Part of being a politician these days is annoying. How to be able to contradict some people just seen on video, it does happen more and more nowadays. If John Kasich would say, it rhymes with basic. The other thing John Kasich is still using #too I think the campaign is still going on.
VAN SUSTEREN: You get the last word.
CARNY: It`s a great Robert Frost poem, the road less travelled.
VAN SUSTEREN: Talked about the meeting not the poem. Nice dodge.
CARNY: I hope that they do not do what John Kasich did and eat pizza with a knife and fork. As a New Yorker that was - I could vote for Kasich.
VAN SUSTEREN: We don`t do that in Wisconsin either. We often drink beer in the can, but anyway thank you panel.
And coming up, it happened again. Our hearts are broken. I`ll tell you for the record.
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VAN SUSTEREN: I want to say something for the record. It`s really important. It`s about Keith Boyer a 27 year veteran of the California police department. Yesterday, he was gunned down murdered during routine police work. He was merely responding to 8:00 a.m. traffic collision. And his suspected killer, Weisley pullover and driving a stolen car. And what happen, well officer Boyer and the second officer, (inaudible) who was wounded but expected to survive approached the killers car and when the killer got out, he open fired. Cops respond to auto for only one reason, always just to help. Yes, just to help. And I don`t know Officer Keith Boyer but his police chief Jeff Piper did know him very well. And here is the chief for the vigil last night for officer Boyar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEFF PIPER, CHIEF OF CALIFORNIA POLICE DEPARTMENT: You don`t know how hard this is. Chief Boyar, outstanding person, he is talking about retirement. I think that upsets me a lot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: There are no words to ease the pain felt by Officer Boyer`s family, his friends, his colleagues, members of all across the country in law enforcement, but I do want them to know that I`m not alone in appreciating all the men and women in uniform who every single day keep us safe and sometimes at the ultimate cost, their lives. Thank you for watching. I will see back here tomorrow night 6:00 p.m. Eastern. If you can`t watch live, you know what to do, set your DVR and also follow me on twitter @Greta. Check out my Facebook page behind the scenes videos and more. I put so many videos up on my Facebook page plus if you want to meet all my pets, but anyway go to my Facebook page. High Ball with Chris Matthew starts right now.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END