Show: MTP DAILY Date: June 30, 2017 Guest: Amy Holmes, Gwenda Blair, Eric Garcetti
NICO:LE WALLACE, MSNBC HOST: So, good advice from Juliana (ph). It`s better to know --
(CROSSTALK)
WALLACE: Susan Glockner (ph), thank you for joining us. Thank you to my panel, Michelle Goldberg, Brian McGuire, Paul Butler, Juliana, the Rev. Al, Robert Traynham. I`m sorry we were so short. That does it for this hour.
I`m Nicole Wallace, MTP DAILY starts right now with Katy Tur in for Chuck. Hi, Katy.
KATY TUR, MSNBC HOST: Nicole, so many variables. Thank you very much, Nicole.
Good evening, I`m Katy Tur in New York in for Chuck Todd. Welcome to MTP DAILY.
We begin tonight with some breaking news out of the Bronx in New York. One person was killed and five more injured after a gunman dressed in a doctor`s lab coat opened fire at are Bronx-Lebanon hospital a little bit earlier today.
The gunman identified as 45-year-old Henry Bello is dead by a self- inflicted gunshot wound, according to an NYPD spokesperson. Investigators say Bello was a former employee of the hospital and the incident appears to be a workplace incident.
Joining me now NBC News investigative reporter, Tom Winter. Tom, what more can you tell us about what is happening up there?
TOM WINTER, NBC NEWS INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: So, the shooting happened just right around 3:00 today, Katy. And we know that this person, there were multiple calls to 911 saying that there was a gunman in the hospital that was shooting.
Some callers identified him as wearing some sort of a white coat. We`ve been told that a rifle was used in the shooting, possibly an A.R. 15 style rifle. Of course, we`ve heard that many times before in these active shooting incidents.
We know that six people, in total, were shot by Bello. One of them has died. Five others are wounded. Their conditions were not quite clear yet, at this point, what shape that they`re in. And we also know that the gunman, as you said, has also killed himself.
The NYPD responded as they have now been trained to do which is the first patrol officers responded. Then, they send in the SRG, their Strategic Response Command which is this group of heavily armed officers themselves with rifles, semi-automatic rifles. And their job is to enter into that building and quickly confront whoever is shooting.
There`s been some conflicting reports about smoke on some of the floors where the shooting activity may have taken place. Right now, that`s under investigation. It doesn`t appear to have been a fire in the building.
And, obviously, as we`ve been looking the pictures here, there`s no visible signs of smoke or flames. Sometimes, obviously, there are reports of that, following the gunfire and the smoke of that.
TUR: Tom, we know that he was a former employee of this hospital. Do we have anything more about his background? Why he left the hospital? Whether or not anyone knew he was disgruntled before this happened?
WINTER: Sure. So, the investigative unit has gone through New York state medical records. We can`t find anything that is a flag in as far as his past.
If he was a doctor that perhaps had an incident with a patient, if he was - - if he was a doctor that had a -- some sort of disciplinary action. There`s no records of that in there.
So, at this point, it`s a little too early to say why he may be an ex- employee of the hospital. Did he leave willingly or was he forced out and is that a reason why this happened today?
But, as you said, this appears to be workplace related --
TUR: Yes.
WINTER: -- and not something else.
TUR: And so far, the local authorities are taking -- or have a handle on this. This isn`t being passed on to any federal officials which means, at least as of now, that terrorism is not being considered?
WINTER: That`s exactly correct. As you know from your experience and years of covering the NYPD in this city, the NYPD is more than equipped to --
TUR: Yes.
WINTER: -- handle an incident like this. And there`s no indications of terrorism at this time.
TUR: Absolutely. Tom Winter, thank you very much for keeping us apprised of this ongoing situation.
We are expecting a press conference from New York City officials within the hour. And we`re going to bring you any new information right as we get it.
Turning now to the big story in American politics tonight. President Trump has left folks in Washington dazed and confused after another whirlwind day.
Mr. Trump`s tweet storm yesterday arguably sabotaged Mitch McConnell`s last-ditch effort to rescue the Senate GOP health care legislation.
And today, the president endorsed an effort to basically scrap it all together. This morning, the president threw his support behind a plan to immediately repeal Obamacare and then replace it at a later undetermined date.
But as with most things the president says these days, we`re left wondering whether or not to take him seriously.
First off, repealing Obamacare without a replacement would be a dramatic departure from what he promised voters after they elected him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And there is going to be a period, if you repeal it and before you replace it, when millions --
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We`re going to do it simultaneously. It will be just fine. That`s what I do. I do a good job. You know, I mean, I know how do this stuff.
It`ll be repeal and replace. It will be essentially simultaneously. It will be various segments, you understand, but will most likely be on the same day or the same week, but probably the same day, could be the same hour.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUR: And not to mention the promises he made on the campaign trail. As Mr. Trump, himself, made clear, pulling the rug out from under patients without a replacement ready to go is not a wise thing to do.
Some of the GOP`s number crunchers on Capitol Hill aren`t even sure if the parliamentary rules would allow a simple majority vote on repeal.
And the Republicans who weighed in on this plan today were decidedly mixed on it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`d be fine with that. I don`t think we`ve got the votes in the Senate to pass that, but I`d be OK with doing it that way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you OK with that?
REP. ADAM KINZINGER (R), ILLINOIS: No, I think its repeal and replace. I think we have to have a good system for the American people to come in.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over in the House, more than 50 times, we have voted to repeal it. So, I would put that vote up and dare Republicans almost to vote against it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would you advise that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That doesn`t sound like a good idea to me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUR: Even Senator Rand Paul who`s been pushing the president to split the legislation into separate repeal and replace bills has warned against pulling the rug out from under the health care system.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: I think it`s imperative that Republicans do a replacement simultaneous to repeal. If they don`t, Obamacare continues to unravel.
It`s a huge mistake for Republicans if they do not vote for replacement on the same day as we vote for repeal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hear, hear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUR: And Senator Ben Sasse who also wanted to split the bill agreed that you can`t do what the president is suggesting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BEN SASSE (R), NEBRASKA: I`m still on board with leader McConnell`s attempt to try to do this as a combination package repeal and replace at once. But if the leader can`t get that accomplish the in the next 10 days, then I think we should do stand-alone repeal, but not effective for a year. And then, we should get to work around the clock on a replace plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUR: So, what with is going on here? Is tis Mr. Trump`s way of telling their caucus that their plan is dead? Is it his way of threatening them to get their act together? Or is it his way of trying to buy them some time with angry constituents back home who want to see some action? Or is he just rattling off whatever is on top of his head and thumbs when he wakes up?
After yesterday`s unpresidential display, we`re left wondering about Mr. Trump`s capacity to lead his party. After all, hacking a lead of group of people when they`re constantly insisting that you don`t speak for them.
I`m joined by NBC News White House Correspondent, Kristen Welker, NBC Capitol Hill Correspondent Kasie Hunt. So, Kristen, first question to you. The president`s tweet, is this the White House`s way of signaling that somebody told Donald Trump that this Senate bill is DOA?
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Sarah Huckabee Sanders walked back from this notion that the president is significantly changing his strategy, Katy. She says the president still wants to see the Senate bill pass. He supports it. He wants to get done by fall.
But there`s no doubt that that tweet is sending mixed signals, Katy. And the bottom line is we saw this happen in the early stages of the Senate trying to get a bill passed.
Remember, he privately told them he didn`t think that the House legislation had enough heart. He wants this legislation to have more heart. That creates complications for senators who might be on the fence about getting behind him and then having him break with them.
So, I think that this mixed messaging certainly complicates things for senators who are working on this legislation. I do think that part of what you said right at the top is part of the president`s calculation. He`s trying to turn up the heat on them and say, get this done or else we`re going to have to significantly shift strategy.
It is an incredibly risky strategy, Katy. As you know, we`ve been talking about this for quite some time, to repeal Obamacare without having something else to replace it.
TUR: Yes.
WELKER: Even if you delay it for a year. Politically, it gets very tricky. What if Congress can`t come to an agreement within that year? We get that much closer to the mid-term elections and then there`s a real risk for people losing their health care.
So, that strategy is risky. I do think part of the president`s plan, though, was to turn up the heat -- Katy.
TUR: And, Kristen, this isn`t the only confusing, or you could say unsettling, tweet that the president has sent out. Publicly, the White House is defending his behavior on Twitter. Privately, is there any concern that this is causing him problems?
WELKER: I think there is no doubt that there is frustration, concern that this is overshadowing his message on a whole host of other issues, Katy. Whether we are talking about health care which has, obviously, been at the center of the president`s domestic agenda. Or, today, look at what happened.
He had that joint statement with the leader of South Korea, talked about the importance of turning up the pressure on North Korea to get them to scale back their nuclear program. And, yet, reporters shouting questions at him to clarify that tweet yesterday, personally attacking our colleague, MSNBC Mika Brzezinski.
TUR: Yes.
WELKER: So, this is something that continues to overshadow not only his domestic but his foreign agenda as well. I think the White House eager to turn the page, part of why they had yet another off-camera briefing today - - Katy.
TUR: Always eager to turn the page at the White House.
Kasie Hunt, the president might be tweeting about repealing and replacing later, but is that even a feasible option?
KATIE HUNT, NBC NEWS CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Not at this point, I don`t think, Katy, based on what you heard Senator Toomey say, and other senators have said it, too, that the votes are just not there to do it that way.
And, you know, with all due respect, I think that the sense I get from talking to Republicans here is that they don`t necessarily give a lot of weight or care what the president is saying in public about this or where he`s urging them to go. I just don`t get the sense that that`s really, at this point, where these negotiations are headed.
Senator McConnell is the one who knows where the votes are in the conference. So does the vice president, Mike Pence. They care a lot about what Pence is saying behind closed doors and they care a lot, you know, the way that he is influencing these negotiations.
And the one thing that I would say points to serious consideration of this plan is Senator Sasse in that same interview at the airport in Nebraska said that the vice president and the Senate were looking at this and talking it through and trying to see if this is a plan that they could get through under the Senate rules and all of those things.
So, I do think this is something that they are, at the very least, taking a little bit of a look at. But I think it`s more from the perspective of trying to convince these conservatives that this is just not a plan that could possibly go anywhere.
And there is a lot of reasons why they`ve always said that they want to repeal and replace together, especially since they installed a Republican president in the White House and whatever happens is actually going to be something that they are going to have to be responsible for defending if they were to pass it.
So, I think that, you know, they`re in a very difficult position. And this would be the way to swing the whole thing towards conservatives.
The other answer to potentially reform health care is to start to work with Democrats and that is what you are hearing moderates start to say.
TUR: Yes. The rule of thumb has been, you might not remember who gave this to you, but you`ll remember who took it away.
HUNT: Yes.
TUR: Kasie Hunt, Kristen Welker, my friends, thank you very much, guys.
HUNT: Thanks, Katy.
TUR: Let`s bring in tonight`s panel. Jonathan Alter is an MSNBC Political Analyst and a "Daily Beast" columnist. Amy Holmes is an analyst with "Rasmussen Reports." And Steve Kornacki is an NBC National Political Correspondent.
Jonathan, let`s start with you. And this goes back to the question we asked in the intro to this entire segment. How can you lead when your own party doesn`t see you as a leader?
JONATHAN ALTER, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: That`s a great question. I mean, Kasie Hunt put her finger on it. It -- the president has no moral authority to lead anymore. People don`t care what he says.
And if you look to political scientists, they general say that the president`s supreme power is nothing more than the power to persuade. If you can`t persuade Congress and the public, you really can`t get very much done.
So, you see this -- the big sucking sound you hear is the president`s authority just going out of him like a balloon.
And in this act, this tweet, it shows that they`re just completely flummoxed. They don`t know what to do. This option of repealing without replacing is dead on arrival. It would send one-sixth of the economy into chaos.
What business hates more than anything else is uncertainty. This will be very, very unpopular in the business community. So, they have to come up with something else fast.
TUR: But, Steve, what is the Senate going to do? I mean, are they going to haggle with McConnell over that $300 billion in deficit cuts, in order to buy people off for opioid treatment or other sorts of funding for those states? Are they going to come up with a completely different plan? Are they going to let this die?
STEVE KORNACKI, NBC NEWS NATIONAL POLITICAL ANALYST: I mean, if you look at it and you look at the divisions that have emerged among Republicans in the Senate, the most logical, the most direct route you go, if you`re McConnell, and you`ve already seen him start to do this, is you take those extra savings -- there were $200 billion more in savings in the Senate bill than in the House bill. You take that $200 billion and you start doling it out. And it`s Medicaid money. It`s money for the Opioid crisis. It`s that sort of thing. And you try to pick off senators that way.
However, I saw yet another fracture emerge in the last 24 hours, one that I don`t think any of us were expecting, and one that I think adds a whole new wrinkle to this, and that`s Bob Corker, the Republican senator from Tennessee, Bob Corker coming out and saying, hey, by the way, this is going to look really bad if we are making changes to Medicaid, if we`re rolling back the rate of increase in Medicaid spending at the same time we`re cutting the investment tax on upper income Americans.
TUR: Yes.
KORNACKI: That`s one of those taxes that Republican currently are planning -- the Republican leaders say they want to repeal. Now, you`ve got a mainstream conservative senator out there saying, hey, I don`t want to do that. And you`ve got Pat Toomey saying, oh, no, we need to do that.
So, that`s a whole new fissure that`s emerged on top of everything else.
TUR: Amy, how do they sell that, give a tax break to the wealthy when they go back to their constituents?
AMY HOLMES, ANALYST, "RASMUSSEN REPORTS": Well, Jonathan, there are people who still care what President Trump has to say and that`s his base. And there was another option, in terms of why he tweeted what he did today. I think it was to align himself with that base as he sees the health care --
TUR: Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. The base that voted for him, not the base that he told -- was going to repeal Obamacare and then do something down the line. This was the base that he told that we would repeal and replace immediately.
HOLMES: Correct.
TUR: So, how is he aligning himself with his base if he --
HOLMES: So, give me a moment, Katy, please.
TUR: No, I just want to hear it.
HOLMES: That his tweet today is to align himself with his base that he would like to see Obamacare repealed because that`s really not going to happen, for all the reasons that you`ve both laid out.
My preference for Republicans, and maybe they`ll go down this road, would be to work with the Democratic Party on reforming Obamacare. And at -- and at "Rasmussen Reports," we found that the appetite for repeal and replace at the Election Day was only at a high of 40 percent --
TUR: Yes.
HOLMES: -- likely voters and it`s continually going down.
So, in terms of a political success, you have to take off, like, little pieces that they can chew. Like, for example, being able to buy health insurance across state lines. 76 percent of likely voters, they agree with that. They -- and I think they would be able to get Democratic aligned very easily on those features.
TUR: That is such an important point. So, the question that I have, though, is how is he appealing to his base, when he is talking about repeal just alone?
HOLMES: Because they would get at least that half. And he said --
(CROSSTALK)
HOLMES: But, you know, I`m talking about Donald Trump, you know, diehard supporters, that they want to see that he is conservative when it comes to health care. And with all of the back and forth, there have been questions about that. I think today was an effort for him to speak to those people.
TUR: Respectfully, Amy, I talk to those vote others a daily basis and they did not have a strong are opinion about just repealing Obamacare, period. That`s just not one of the strong opinions they had. They had the opinion that they wanted lower costs.
HOLMES: (INAUDIBLE), Katy.
TUR: Well, I mean, I talk to them every single day for (INAUDIBLE.)
ALTER: So, where I agree with Katy, is I do think -- I do think that there is an opening here for a bipartisan initiative.
TUR: I think everybody agrees with that.
ALTER: For him to agree -- for him to take the phone, call up Chuck Schumer, and say, let`s get to work repairing Obamacare, that would be presidential leadership. His problem is that he doesn`t have the authority inside Washington.
I wasn`t talking about the base. I was saying among other key political players, he`s no longer a leader among them.
HOLMES: Where I think he can --
ALTER: Except for the base, that 25 percent that he could go out and shoot on 5th Avenue and they would still be with him. But that doesn`t help you very much in Washington when it comes to cutting a deal.
HOLMES: I understand that. But I think where he can be effective, and where -- you know, certainly, I don`t expect, you know, Republican senators to be using the president`s Twitter account as a legislative strategy. Where he can be affective and he has been in the past is his campaigner in chief.
And go to the places where he feels comfortable which is out on the road, in front of crowds and, sort of, I guess you could say, leading from behind while Republican leadership on the Hill crafts this health care reform.
TUR: He`s not doing that.
KORNACKI: Well, I think the issue here that goes so much beyond Donald Trump, because this issue for Republicans predates Donald Trump. This was a promise that was made in March of the year 2010 by every Republican politician in Washington. Many of whom are still there.
They said, this thing -- this health care law that was just passed by this Democratic Congress, signed by this Democratic president, we will not rest until we get rid of it. They made that promise in 2010, in 2012, in 2014, in 2016.
So, whatever signals Donald Trump is sending day to day, a promise that Republicans have made to their base for seven years now is we`re going to get rid of it.
TUR: But what happens going forward, Steve? I mean, they control both parts of -- both Houses of Congress. They control the White House.
They can`t get the promise done and it seems like their voters have moved on past it. I mean, the majority of the country likes the current health care law, at the very least wants it fixed.
KORNACKI: Yes, I`ve got to say that the Republicans, when they look at their own polling on this, they`re not getting the message that their base has moved on.
And they are very panicked that this promise they`ve made, if they say, hey, we tried. We failed. We move on to something else, their base isn`t -- it just has another big sellout from Washington.
TUR: Steve Kornacki, Amy Holmes, Jonathan Alter, guys, thank you very much. Steve, we`ll see you later but Amy and Jonathan are sticking with us. He`s going to be hosting "Hardball" tonight at 7:00 so he`s got to run.
Coming up, decoding the president. We`re going to be right back. We`ll try.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TUR: We`re expecting a press conference soon from the NYPD with an update on this afternoon`s shooting at a hospital in the Bronx, New York. Police say the shooter opened fire at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital around 3:00 p.m., killing one person and injuring at least five others.
Investigators say the shooter hit the rifle under a white lab coat before opening fire. While the motive so far is not clear, police have identified the suspect as a former hospital employee. His name is Dr. Henry Bello, and the FBI is not investigating this as terrorism.
After the shooting, NYPD officers went floor by floor looking for the gunman and reported just before 4:00 p.m. that he was dead after apparently shooting himself.
We will, of course, bring you updates on the investigation as they happen.
Meanwhile, we`re back with more MTP DAILY in just 60 seconds.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TUR: Welcome back to MTP DAILY.
As you`ve heard by now, President Trump`s morning tweet storm yesterday got very personal when he went after my colleague and friend, Mika Brzezinski. We`re not going to read the offensive tweets again. You`ve probably already read them yourself.
But we would like to dive into the man behind those tweets. I followed, then candidate Trump, for almost two years, spending every day with him on the trail. And on the trail, we were attacked by him and his supporters. We, reporters, were called scum. We were called liars. And some of us were singled out.
My take? He`s not going to apologize. He`s not going to change. I`m not saying you have to accept it or condone it, but it`s clearly going to keep happening.
Joining me now is another person who knows President Trump pretty well. Gwenda Blair is a Trump biographer, author of "The Trumps. Three Generations of Builders and a President."
Gwenda, thank you very much for joining me, first off.
GWENDA BLAIR, AUTHOR, "THE TRUMPS. THREEE GENERATIONS OF BUILDERS AND A PRESIDENT": Hi.
TUR: Personal attacks, I mean, he`s always been somebody who goes after another personally if he feels disrespected. But talk about the way he goes after women, in particular. Is this characteristic?
BLAIR: He`s got a pretty long track record, didn`t he by now? And it`s mounting up by the day. But that`s distraction, distraction, distraction, distraction. And this -- what -- and let`s see. What happened on Tuesday, the Senate wasn`t able to have that vote on the health care bill. He needed some distractions. And what is going to get it better than this?
TUR: This is all distractions, Gwenda, or is just a lack of impulse control?
BLAIR: It`s both. I think it`s both. But the distractions -- he`s managed to weaponize distractions. To impulse control, he`s managed to make that into a sign of his authenticity for that -- in the previous segment, when -- well, you were mentioning that base. That he said he could go out on Fifth Avenue, shoot a gun, and they would still be for him.
That impulse control -- that lack of impulse control, he`s turned into a sign that he`s really telling people what he thinks. So, I think when he says something like what he said about "Morning Joe," that`s to a certain group of people. That shows that they can trust him, that he`s not covering up how he feels.
TUR: Yes, he`s unfiltered. He`s not speaking like a politician. He`s not going to say one thing and do another. That`s how -- what people often have taken from him.
But talking about a distraction. He wants to distract certainly from the Russia investigation. The White House doesn`t want to keep talking about it. Donald Trump has said that he doesn`t want to keep talking about it.
But at the same time, Gwenda, he tweets about it all the time. We counted 60 tweets about the Russian investigation or 60 tweets, including the Russian investigation and personal attacks in this month alone since May 30th.
BLAIR: He`s -- that`s part of that, you know, unfiltered access to the public. He may have lost, as again in your previous segment, the discussion of whether or not he had really a, sort of, political authority with Congress. That is certainly, I think, open to question.
But he`s holding onto his authority, again, with that base through, you know -- he`s not afraid to talk about it. In fact, he`ll tweet about it. But he`s trying to own it. To set up his own, sort of, counter narrative. So, he`s the truth.
What you read in "The Washington Post," "The New York Times" or, for example, on MSNBC. That`s fake news. He`s telling you what`s really happening.
TUR: You know, he says the counterpuncher. Oftentimes, people will say that counterpuncher will land right back this his face.
And when you`re -- when you`re looking at when he`s trying to become a successful person, obviously he wants to be accepted by people. Gwenda, he came in with a unique ability. He kept saying what a deal maker he was.
And because he`s not an ideologue, because he`s not a traditional Republican or conservative, because he`s held Democratic positions in the past, because he`s donated to both parties. He had an opportunity to say, hey, listen, I`m going to throw that campaign behind me. And I`m going to find a way to make sure that Congress works with each other. That`s what I promise the American electorate.
Does he not see that he had that chance and that he has completely squandered it?
BLAIR: I`m not sure that that`s really the deal he was looking for.
TUR: Why not?
BLAIR: I think the deal he`s been looking for, he`s turning the White House into, kind of, a for-profit opportunity. He`s a businessman. He`s bringing that so-called business acumen. But I think what he`s looking for with that acumen, whose interest is it in? I think that`s a really interesting question. TUR: Do you think this is all self-promotion?
BLAIR: Well, that`s pretty much what he`s done his entire career. Is it good for him? I think the deal that the American public made was that instinct for what`s good for him, he would put that to the service of the country. And I think we now have that very, you know, right in front of us. Is it for the good of this country or is he still just thinking about what`s for his own good? What`s for the good of the Trump organization?
TUR: Do you think he cares about the American voter?
BLAIR: I think he cares about the voter because that`s putting him in office. I mean, that`s put him office.
But he is -- yes, he`s a performer. He`s a salesman. He`s selling himself. He`s selling to a consuming public and consumer doesn`t think the same way about what they`re hearing. They`re not looking for the truth, for accuracy, for facts. They are looking for what they want to hear.
TUR: Gwenda, what about his wife?
BLAIR: And that base wants to hear that they were right to be aggrieved.
TUR: What about his kids? What are his kids looking for?
BLAIR: I think they`re looking for the future of the Trump organization and not to get out in front of him because they`ve seen what happens to people that get out in front. Do not do that.
TUR: Gwenda Blair, thank you very much for joining us today.
BLAIR: My pleasure.
TUR: Still ahead, the resistance to President Trump goes local. I`ll talk with Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti about how he`s finding the Trump agenda in his town.
Keep it right here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TUR: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is addressing the shooting in the Bronx- Lebanon Hospital. Let`s take a listen.
(START VIDEO CLIP) BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: Thank God this was not an act of terrorism. It was an isolated incident. Appeared to be a workplace-related matter. But that makes it no less tragic or no less horrible. One doctor is dead and there are several doctors who are fighting for their lives right now along those who are wounded. As you know, the shooter killed himself but not before having done horrible damage.
Our hearts go out to the family of the doctor who passed away and both our hearts and prayers standing in solidarity with the families of all those who are wounded and all those who are fighting for their lives right now. This was a horrific situation unfolding in the middle of a place that people associate with care and comfort, a situation that came out of nowhere.
But even in the midst of this horror, there were many, many acts of heroism. I want to thank our first responders, the police officers from the 44 and 46 precinct and from our strategic response group who entered the building quickly, went toward the danger to protect the many, many hundreds of people who were in the building.
The firefighters who arrived, this was not just an active shooter situation, but there was a fire that complicated matters and our firefighters did an exceptional job addressing that situation immediately. And then of course all of the personnel at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital whose day went from normal to horrifying in a matter of seconds.
The doctors, the nurse, all the personnel responded with extraordinary bravery, with cool professionalism. They protected each other, they protected their patients even amidst this horrible situation. I want to express to everyone at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital our profound thanks for all they did to handle this situation and to immediately respond to support their compatriots who were wounded.
There will be an opportunity in the coming hours to provide more details of this incident. But at this point, there is a lot that we are piecing together. You will hear from the commissioner in a moment, but I want to say up front, there are many, many details that we`re still putting together. That`s why we are not in a position to answer questions yet. But there will be an accounting of details shortly.
But what I can say in the meantime is there were many things amidst this pain to be proud of today and God bless our first responders and the hospital personnel for the way they handled this situation. They put the safety of their fellow New Yorkers first as they always do. I want to thank the Commissioner Daniel Nigro of the Fire Department.
His men and women performed admirably in this situation. I want to thank Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark for being here, the Borough President of the Bronx Ruben Diaz Jr., State Senator Gustavo Rivera, Assembly Member Latoya Joyner, and Congressman Serrano. Thanks to all for being here in support and solidarity. And with that I turn to our Police Commissioner James O`Neill.
JAMES O`NEILL, NYPD COMMISSIONER: As the mayor stated, this is all preliminary information. This just happened a couple hours ago. This is what we have so far. At approximately 2:55 p.m.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUR: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio just giving a statement on that shooting at the hospital in the Bronx that left one person dead, five others injured. In addition to that, the gunman is also dead, an apparent gunshot wound, a self-inflicted gunshot wound. What we know so far is that the attacker, the shooter, was a former employee of this hospital.
A doctor at this hospital. We do not yet know why he came in today with a shotgun and started shooting folks in that hospital. No doubt the investigation is ongoing. They are going to try to determine all of those things. Stay with us here at "Meet the Press Daily." We are going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TUR: Welcome back. As Republicans stumble through their health care effort, Democrats continue to struggle to find their own footing. Democrats still lack a national unifying figure and divisions from the 2016 race could slide into 2018 primaries. But in that absence, some of the biggest acts of resistance against the Trump administration policies have come from the local Democrats.
When President Trump pulled out of the Paris Climate Accord, 60 mayors from across the country said they plan to stay. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said his city will continue to adhere to the greenhouse gas curbing pact. In the wake of the president`s immigration directives and declaration of pressure on sanctuary cities, Garcetti backed the creation of a legal fund to pay for lawyers for those facing deportation.
And as polling shows, President Trump`s credibility dwindling on the worldwide stage, Garcetti is fighting to bring international focus to Los Angeles in the bid for the 2024 or 2028 Olympic games. So one has to wonder as Democrats look to unify and rebuild, could local officials be the answer to solving their national election issues?
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti`s name has been tossed around for California governor or senator and one of the many names tossed around for a potential 2020 contender. He joins me now. Congratulations on being much talked about mayor.
ERIC GARCETTI, LOS ANGELES MAYOR: Well, thank you. I actually got a great new job that starts tomorrow. I`m being sworn into my second term as mayor of L.A.
TUR: Got it. I want to get to all these issues but I do want to start with something that the former mayor of New York is doing, Mile Bloomberg, who started this $200 million initiative to essentially push back at the federal government and allow local mayors to maintain some international influence. How do you plan on trying to first obtain some of that money and use it to L.A.`s advantage?
GARCETTI: Well, Mike Bloomberg has been like the dean of the mayors around the United States and even globally on issues of environment, of gun control and violence, and the environment service as vice chair of C-40, the group he started internationally to combat climate change.
We`ve actually been the recipient of some precursor grants to this larger announcement over 10 projects we`ve done in combination with Bloomberg Philanthropies to look at everything from identification (ph) and how we get people to stay in affordable housing to how we run government more efficiently.
And you`re right, he gets it, as you said it, it`s really to, you know, quote, Justice Brandeis used to say that states are the laboratories of democracy. It`s really now cities that are the laboratories of democracy and even more in this Trump era the defendants of democracy.
TUR: It will include a mayors` challenge in order to get the six or seven figure grant. So what is Los Angeles going to be proposing, what sort of policy idea will you guys have?
GARCETTI: Well, the two things that I like to look at is homelessness and the second one is looking at graduation from high school. I think that we know early on some of the indicators that cause people to be homeless and what can help them off the street. And secondly, we know who the dropouts are going to be as early as fourth grade.
And I want to see how we can create with the tech community some indicators and maybe a mechanism to actually find out who those kids are early on so we can make sure that we get them and their families the resources they need to graduate from high school.
And secondly to get people off the streets who sometimes require these days 20 or 30 interactions with somebody until they trust them enough to start dealing with whether the addiction that they have or the mental health challenges that they face.
I think those are two of the most pressing issues in cities around the country. And here in L.A., we have some great data and some great people and a great proposal to put forward.
TUR: Let`s broaden this out and talk about what`s in the national news right now and that is sanctuary cities. The federal government obviously is not a fan of sanctuary cities, but you`ve said that you guys, the city of Los Angeles, will be a place for protection and refuge. What does that mean for you during the Trump administration?
GARCETTI: Well, it means, first of all, that I guess I`m too pro police to stop listening to police chiefs who say this is the way we make our streets safe by engendering trust, not distrust between the people who live here and the people who police here. Secondly, it means that I want to have a strong economy and we see about 61 percent of our businesses in L.A. started by immigrants.
In the Trump era, it`s important to come back to not only what is moral, but what is practical. Sometimes we`ve seen these immoral acts come out of Washington, but what is important to say is that they are also impractical. They don`t help move our economy forward, they don`t make our streets safer, they don`t help keep the social fabric and cohesion of our cities.
We should fear these places that the Trump administration, the president keeps telling us about, where immigrants live, they should be these dangerous horrible places, but look at us as we are unified to our diversity, look at us as we are creating green jobs as he withdraws from the Paris Agreement. We are the counter to all the impractical things they are saying and doing out of D.C. today.
TUR: So how will local mayors going to play a role in shoring up environmental policy? As you just said, the administration did pull out of the Paris Accord.
GARCETTI: Well, I chair climate mayors, a group that as you mentioned, we had at one point about 30, then it became 60. I got on the phone the day that the president withdrew from the Paris Agreement. And today, we have 339 cities in 44 states representing 65 million Americans that have joined me in taking the pledge for their cities to say we are going to continue this work.
And the dirty little secret is it was always in cities where the action was. Even during the Obama administration, we had a great federal partner that helped push that further, but whether it`s building codes, public transportation, the way we generate our electricity, no White House can stop me from buying electric cars for my city employees to make sure it`s a green fleet to clean up the air.
No White House can tell me I have to generate the electricity for Los Angeles in the utility that we own from dirty coal. We`re transitioning to being now the largest solar city in America. So those things that we are powerful about, we shouldn`t cede to Washington, don`t cede the power you have, I always say, before you try to exercise it.
TUR: And mayor, the Democratic Party is looking for a leader right now. They don`t have one. What do you think that leader should -- what qualities should that leader embody?
GARCETTI: Well, I think all of us should be less focused on an agenda for the Democratic Party and more refocused on an agenda to the American people. This is the time I think that the qualities we need in leadership are people who can hear, who can listen, and who understand this great economic insecurity where people wonder does the future have a place in it for me economically, socially.
And from us here, I think as mayors, we get the privilege of waking up every day and we have thousands if not millions in a city like mine of people who are our neighbors who talk to us, that half of this country is living paycheck to paycheck, that higher education is out of our reach. We`ve just got to start relating to people and not categorize them as one thing or another.
We have to universally protect the rights of everybody and make sure that there are opportunities in the future, not be talkers, but be doers. And I think that is really important to showcase throughout this country. When I get together with my brother and sister mayors, Mayor Benjamin in South Carolina, Mayor Hancock who is in Denver, I see people who are moving things forward.
Mitch Landrieu speaking about race relations in New Orleans and saying who we are, not just what we`re not. We are not about division, we are about bringing people together. And I think those are the qualities that this party need to get back to so that all Americans can listen to us.
TUR: L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, appreciate your time, sir.
GARCETTI: Thank you as always. Good to be with you.
TUR: And we will have much more MTP DAILY right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TUR: Time for "The Lid." The panel is back. Jonathan Alter, Amy Holmes, and joining us from Capitol Hill, our very own Garrett Haake. Thanks guys for being here. Garrett, thanks for joining us from satellite. Let`s talk about this voter fraud commission that the Trump administration is setting up. Some people are trying to call it a bit of a shakedown operation for voter information.
ALTER: And they are tripping over their shoelaces. Eighteen states have already said they won`t cooperate with this voter fraud commission. That is really a voter suppression commission. Why do I say that? Because not just the head of it, but all the staff are experts in how to tamp down democratic turnout. That is what they have done for the last 15 years.
Literally that is how they spent their time. So now they are going to try to gather a lot of information from different states to try to further restrict democratic constituencies from voting. The interesting thing is 18 have resisted, and more are on the way in part because even Kansas with Kris Kobach who is the head of the commission, they are not going to cooperate all the way with this information.
TUR: Voter fraud in this commission, Amy, comes from Donald Trump deciding when he was elected that there must be massive voter fraud because he didn`t win the popular vote.
HOLMES: Well, he did sign an executive order to create this commission. If the states aren`t cooperating, then I don`t see how valuable the commission will be in terms of the conclusions that they draw from it. It probably will just end up on a dusty shelf and, you know, Donald Trump will take parts of it that back up his view of voter fraud. But I don`t actually put a whole lot of stock in it to be honest.
TUR: Garrett, is this something that Republicans on Capitol Hill are hoping the president gets done?
GARRETT HAAKE, MSNBC CORRESPONDENT: No, there`s really no natural constituency for this, Katy. I mean, elections are a state issue and most of the secretaries of state including in Kansas take great pride in how they run these things. And so the idea that the federal government will reach in and ask for this kind of data doesn`t exactly excite many people we have spoken to about it.
By the way, there`s also a huge privacy concern about this for privacy hawks among the conservatives giving this kind of personal information to the federal government in which ever way it might be transmitted and stored isn`t anything that anyone is particularly excited about either.
TUR: So the other story today is obviously still the president`s tweets and what`s going on with his feud between our morning show and himself. The thing that struck me this morning is Mika and Joe were talking about a National Enquirer story and saying that senior members of the White House would call them and say we can get a bad National Enquirer story to go away if you just call the president and apologize.
Mika even saying that her children were being harassed by the Enquirer and that they refused to do that. The president responded by saying that he has taken some time to watch the show that he said he never watch and to deny that he did that but he said that they asked him to do away with the National Enquirer story but he said no. Is he implying that he could do away with the National Enquirer story if he wanted to?
ALTER: Yes, he`s implying that and if he did do that and this is where it got really interesting this afternoon is that various legal scholars like Laurence Tribe of Harvard and others have said that it would be a violation of federal law. It would be a form of extortion if it were proven to be true that the president was trying to use the National Enquirer to manipulate these relationships. It doesn`t fall under an extortion statute. What that suggests is it`s possible and I need to stress possible here.
TUR: Yeah.
ALTER: It`s not that this hasn`t happened yet, but it is conceivable now that Robert Mueller could expand his probe to include this. There`s a lot of precedent to that. It seems like it`s totally unrelated to the Russia story.
TUR: Yeah.
ALTER: But if you look at what Ken Starr did in the 90s, they were constantly expanding the scope of the probe if there was evidence of possible law break.
TUR: Because of that, they didn`t renew the law that allow the special prosecutor to have that much leeway because Kenneth Starr just went so far.
ALTER: Actually, they are under the statute that Mueller was appointed over.
TUR: Yeah.
ALTER: He can go where the evidence leads. So if evidence is produced to him.
TUR: Interesting.
ALTER: That suggests that there might have been possible law breaking, possible extortion in this National Enquirer story, he would investigate it.
TUR: Amy.
HAAKE: Katy.
HOLMES: One more time the presidential tweet has gotten him into more trouble. As we remember James Comey, our former FBI director, when he gave that congressional testimony, he said it was a presidential tweet that motivated him to release that memo to his friend at Columbia in the hopes that it would get to "The New York Times" and the hopes that it would lead to a special counsel, which it did, and it all started with the presidential tweet.
TUR: In addiction to 140 characters.
HOLMES: Katy, there`s something that people say in Washington, you`re only as big as your biggest enemy. So with Donald Trump going after Mike and Joe this morning, he`s simultaneously diminishing his office and elevating his critics. We`ve seen across the board, Republicans, conservatives, Democrats, liberals who have said stop, just stop. I take the "New York Post" three-word editorial had asked to stop, just stop.
TUR: Yeah, don`t punch down. Garrett, you were trying to jump in.
HAAKE: Yeah, let me make the counter intuitive argument here. I actually think the tweet that will have more legs here in Washington that might potentially cause more problems for Donald Trump and the Republicans than any of the things he said about Joe and Mika over the last couple of days was his one about splitting up repeal and replace this morning.
There`s almost a paint by numbers quality to the response here when Donald Trump tweets something that members find offensive. People come out. They say he should stop tweeting. They said they are aghast, they are offended, they are upset by the tweets, and then they move on. They hope they don`t get asked about it again.
Donald Trump wading in to a policy discussion here that`s been incredibly, I don`t want to say tense, but incredibly tightly watched, incredibly narrowly negotiated and incredibly managed from the top down here on the senate side by Mitch McConnell and essentially saying, hey guys, look over here.
Here`s an entirely different avenue and entirely different set of options to explore. It`s going to make things much harder for him and his party here in D.C. Whereas another -- frankly another in the series of insulting tweets is the kind of thing that people down here have gotten very good at trying to dismiss and move on from.
HOLMES: But if I could jump in on that, the net result of a lot of these tweets and we have seen it in polling is -- we have seen that the majority of the public thinks that it hurts Donald Trump and that it hurts his reputation with the very voters that Republicans on Capitol Hill need to be able to move forward.
ALTER: Also these anti-women tweets first time as president.
TUR: Yeah.
ALTER: It demeans the office and embarrasses us in the eyes of the world.
TUR: Jonathan Alter, Amy Holmes, Garrett, thank you very much for jumping in and keeping us on what is going on in Capital Hill. Appreciate it. We are going to be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TUR: In case you missed it, elections don`t always have consequences, at least not the kind you might think. You`re looking at real headlines about an unprecedented environmental data gathered by the submersible Boaty McBoatface. You heard that right. That name was a result of an online contest to name a British research vessel.
Boaty McBoatface 1 (ph) but the UK science minister defied the will of the people and named the ship something else. As a consolation, they gave the name to a submersible instead. But in case you missed it, this is not the first time that the will of the people has been overruled. The people spoke in 2006 after Stephen Colbert got his fans to overwhelmingly put a contest to name a bridge in Hungary after him. And he won.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The winning name is Stephen Colbert.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TUR: Not so fast. Colbert was later disqualified on a technicality. The people spoke in 2012 with a contest held by Mountain Dew to name a new drink became a PR disaster. Google it. We can`t even read you some of the top names on television. But there is one vote that did prevail. The people spoke in 2007 when Greenpeace held a contest to name one of the whales it tagged as Mister Splashy Pants and that became the face of their conservation effort.
Yes, sometimes voters get trumped, sometimes they don`t.
That`ll do it for me tonight. We`ll be back on Monday with more MTP DAILY.
Have a good weekend.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END