(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA), PRESDIENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, health care is a basic human right and I will fight for basic human rights --
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: Senator Elizabeth Warren saying, you know, you can say that me saying I`m for Medicare for all and I want to do away with private insurance is a liability for me, here`s why -- let me explain to you why I`m for it. Let me bring the house down while explaining to you while I`m for it.
Anyway, I know this is an unpopular take on how these debate things go. Everybody wants theirs to be winners and losers and it`s clear and some people definitely suffered for their participation. Every single one of those 20 candidates had something to bank on and build on for the future.
And the next debate is pretty soon and not all of them are going to qualify so they are all going to need to build on something. Anyway, thanks for watching the last two nights. Thanks for watching tonight. See you again on Monday. Now it`s time for "THE LAST WORD" with Lawrence O`Donnell.
Good evening Lawrence.
LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Good evening, Rachel. And I have to tell you, my favorite post debate moment last night was when we got you on the air in our coverage and Brian asked you how did you think it went? And what I thought I was watching was someone asking a boxer and after 15 rounds, how do you think it went. And the person in that stadium who knows the least about how it went is the boxer because they are just in too close.
MADDOW: Exactly. I was like oh, sure. I can talk about that. Just give me a second and three beers. Yes, I had no ability to comment on what I had just been through.
O`DONNELL: Well, this is what I love about the last hour because I was dying to see what it was like for you once you could digest it and once you could actually put it together like this. And I was absolutely certain that where you were sitting last night in realtime was the worst place to be.
MADDOW: Yes.
O`DONNELL: To try to figure that out.
MADDOW: Well, the thing is like going back to the transcript today to pull these clips, I`m like, I remember all of these things happening, but watching the tape again in order to sort of confirm my shaky memories about what was happening, you know.
The reason I wanted to go through the debate this way is that the thing that resonated for me is that I do feel like I learned something about every single one of these candidates. I did get to hear them all in their own words talking about the things they most wanted to talk about. And every single one of them had at least one good moment.
And I think that`s sort of incredible for 20 candidates over four hours. That everybody had something that they can build on, bank on, take the donors, take the voters and try to use to get into the next debate. I definitely didn`t expect that.
I certainly expected some people to washout or just be basically completely upset about the process at this point, but everybody had a moment, at least one.
O`DONNELL: Yes, and my favorite tweet that I have seen that actually I hope we can print it so that I can use it in this hour, was someone in my twitter feed saying that, you know, he went into the debates not so sure. He came out of it thinking he really likes Senator Warren, really likes Senator Harris. Those are his two favorites.
Really grateful to Bernie sanders for pushing the agenda in the direction it has gone over the last four years. What I found interesting about it is he came out of the debate with two favorites. And that I think is a very common reaction that I`m getting from a bunch of people, is that they decided that they weren`t going to have to pick one person and they`ve actually now come out with two or a handful. And it`s not the same ones they went in with.
MADDOW: And it`s ones who they were looking for to see campaign in future events and they`re looking forward to seeing them side by side at future debates because they want to see how they interact and how they contend with one another. I mean, I think that Democrats have now sized up the field.
The field is now going to compete with itself for a long time and I think everybody on the stage did something to make their own case for why they should be in that competition. I don`t feel like this is a, you know, kid gloves thing. I don`t feel like they are all being nice to each other. That`s not happening.
They are starting to fight with each other, but they are all still showing their stripes and I mean, I`m exhausted and totally fried, but I think this is an exciting part of the primary.
O`DONNELL: Great job, Rachel. You have earned your weekend.
MADDOW: Thank you.
O`DONNELL: Thank you. There she goes. The nap starts now. Well, President Trump lost a big case in the Supreme Court yesterday when the court denied the Trump administration the right to include a question about citizenship in the census.
The Census Bureau says that it has to start printing next year`s census next week. That`s the normal lead time on a printing project that big, six months. And so, President Trump is now asking Trump administration lawyers if he can delay the census, something that has never occurred in the history of the country.
Neal Katyal who has argued several cases before the United States Supreme Court has an answer for President Trump tonight and he will give us that answer at the end of this hour.
The president spent the day in Japan today at the G20 Summit where he disgraced himself once again with Vladimir Putin and how warmly welcomed the murderous dictator of Saudi Arabia and then sent one of the love tweets to the murderous dictator of North Korea.
Former Undersecretary of State, Wendy Sherman, will join us with her analysis of what appears to be Donald Trump`s new public invitation for Vladimir Putin to please interfere in our election again and try to help Donald Trump win the Electoral College again.
But we begin tonight with the debates. Now, debate winners do not necessarily win elections. Let`s just start with that. Just ask John Kerry who won every debate against George W. Bush and Hillary Clinton, who won every debate against Donald Trump.
So let`s keep that in mind as we now discuss who won or performed the best in the two nights of Democratic presidential debates right here on MSNBC. We will get the most important verdict on that question next week when polling starts to come out that will show which candidates gained support or which candidates lost support as a result of the debates.
And it is entirely possible that there won`t be any immediate movement in the polls because of the debates. But the general consensus among media observers and Democratic presidential campaign veterans tonight is that Senator Elizabeth Warren outscored her opponents on night one and Senator Kamala Harris outscored her opponents on night two.
Count me among those who are not even slightly surprised by both of those outcomes. I have been watching Elizabeth Warren closely since she began her career as a politician, running for Senate in my home state if Massachusetts. And I have been watching Kamala Harris demonstrate her skills since she was the district attorney of San Francisco.
I was introduced to her by a California friend who told me I want you to meet the first black woman president. And as I said on this program at the time, I believed Kamala Harris was on the presidential track as soon as I saw her campaigning state-wide in California for attorney general nine years ago.
And as soon as Barbara Boxer announced that she would not run for re- election in 2016, I was sure that Kamala Harris would run for that Senate seat and win it, which she did. And when Donald Trump won the Electoral College on the same night that Kamala Harris was elected to the senate, I was certain that Senator Harris would be running to take that presidency away from Donald Trump.
But to do that, Senator Harris and the rest of the Democrats now know that they have to take the Democratic nomination away from the frontrunner in the polls, Joe Biden. And so last night, Kamala Harris launched the most forceful challenge to Joe Biden on the issue of race.
The debate turned in that direction after Mayor Pete Buttigieg explained how he has handled the shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer in South Bend, Indiana. With others candidates interrupting their way into that discussion, Kamala Harris finally said as the only black person on the stage, I would like to speak on to the issue of race, and then this happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. KAMALA HARRIS (D-CA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Growing up, my sister and I had to deal with the neighbor who told us her parents couldn`t play with us because we were black. And I will say also that in this campaign, we have also heard and I`m going to now direct this at Vice President Biden.
I do not believe you are a racist and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground, but I also believe and it is personal and it was actually very -- it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.
And it was not only that, but you also worked with them to oppose bussing. And, you know, there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools and she was bussed to school every day. And that little girl was me.
(END VIDEOP CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Senator Harris finished her answer, got thunderous applause when she finished her comments and then, Joe Biden responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN (D-DE), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: It`s a mischaracterization of my position across the board. I did not praise racists. That is not true, number one. Number two, if we want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights and whether I did or not, I`m happy to do that.
I was a public defender. I didn`t become a prosecutor. I came out and I left a good law firm to become a public defender when in fact my city was in flames because of the assassination of Dr. King, number one.
Now number two, as the U.S. -- excuse me - as the Vice President of the United States, I work with a man who, in fact, we worked very hard to see to it we dealt with these issues in a major, major way.
So the bottom line here is, look, everything I have done in my career, I ran because of civil rights. I continue to think we have to make fundamental changes in civil rights and those civil rights by the way include not just African-Americans but the LGBT community.
HARIS: But Vice President Biden, do you agree today -- do y ou agree today that you were wrong to oppose bussing in America then?
BIDEN: No.
HARRIS: Do you agree?
BIDEN: No, I did not oppose bussing in America. What I opposed is bussing ordered by the Department of Education. That`s what I opposed. I did not oppose --
HARRIS: Well, there is a failure of states to integrate public schools in America. I was part of the second class to integrate Berkeley, California public schools almost two decades after Brown v. Board of Education.
BIDEN: Because your city council made that decision. It was a local decision. The federal government must --
HARRIS: So that`s where the federal government must step in. That`s why we have the Voting Rights Act and the Federal Rights Act.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: The morning after, and Gayle King asked Kamala Harris about that exchange.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GAYLE KING, CBS NEWS HOST: Senator Harris, we just heard Ed O`Keefe say you`re being accused of delivering a low blow last night. What do you say to that?
HARRIS: You know, Gayle, it was about just speaking truth. And as I`ve said many times, I have a great deal of respect for Joe Biden. He has served our country over many years in a very noble way, but he and I disagree on that. And it is a debate. This is a campaign where we should be discussing issues and there will be contrast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Today, Joe Biden was in Chicago speaking to Jesse Jackson`s organization, the Rainbow Push Coalition and he began with what everyone saw last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Before I start, I would like to say something about the debate we had last night. And I heard and I listened to and I respect Senator Harris. But you know, we all know that 30 seconds to 60 seconds on a campaign debate exchange can`t do justice to a lifetime committed to civil rights.
I want to be absolutely clear about my record and position and racial justice including bussing. I never, never, never, ever opposed voluntary bussing and as a program that Senator Harris participated in and it made a difference in her life.
I did support federal action to address root causes in segregation in our schools and our communities including taking on the banks and red line and then trying to change the way in which neighborhoods were segregated. I have always been in favor of using federal authority to overcome state initiated segregation.
In fact, I cast the deciding vote in 1974 against and amendment called the Gurney Amendment which would have banned the right of the federal courts to be able to use bussing as a remedy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Leading off our discussion tonight, Neera Tanden, president of the Center for American Progress, Jonathan Alter, columnist for "The Daily Beast" and MSNBC political analyst, and Maria Teresa Kumar, president and CEO of Voter Latino and an MSNBC contributor.
And Neera, as the only one among us who has worked on a presidential campaign -- you were working on Hillary Clinton`s last campaign -- I want to get your reaction to that exchange last night.
NEERA TANDEN, PRESIDENT, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: So, I did debate prep for Hillary Clinton in her primaries 12 years ago. And I thought Senator Harris had a surgical strike. It was obviously something she prepared for. She delivered very well. She -- it wasn`t just a clinical attack. She used her personal story incredibly effectively.
And I was surprised that the vice president wasn`t better prepared given this was a story over a week ago. In the exchange yesterday, there obviously he responded today, and I do think most people think that he has a record on civil rights and he will have to articulate that case as the debate goes on.
But I thought Kamala Harris was incredibly effective and incredible. She has been making the case that she can prosecute Trump. Yesterday, she demonstrated that she can prosecute Trump.
O`DONNELL: Let`s listen to what Joe Biden said today about what he and the Obama administration did in areas of concern. It`s the kind of thing that you would have expected him to try to say, actually -- say last night. He was talking about what the Department of Justice did during their time. Let`s listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Our Department of Justice investigated police discrimination abuse including Ferguson. Now, Obama-Biden administration, we commuted more sentences than the president did, than the 13 previous presidents combined. We passed the support --
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Maria Teresa, I think we can now see that the prepared speech is going to be Joe Biden`s strength in this campaign and who knows what his future is in the debate format.
MARIA TERESA KUMAR, PRESIDENT AND CEO, VOTER LATINO: Yes, it was interesting. The debate was interesting for me because he didn`t bring up as much energy as I expected him and he seemed very defensive. But let`s be clear. Joe Biden has had -- he has an incredible stuff and moved -- and has incredible legacy in the American space.
But I think the challenge here and what we saw with Kamala Harris last night was that she was able to really demonstrate and crystallize what the segregation of policies impacted, that it wasn`t something in our past, but it was something present in our future and she was part of that present.
And it was able to demonstrate that even the Democratic Party is at odds sometimes when it comes to seeking justice in face of compromise. And that is one of the reasons why we have to figure out how do we put our racist past to bed and we have to have these conversations.
And surprising that the vice president, he just was not prepared. And I think that because he and her have always had such a close relationship, working relationship and friendship. He was surprised that she was able to come out with him in such a strategic matter, but she was able to stand and say yes. Not only could I take this down (inaudible). I can also have a conversation and make sure that Trump is put on notice.
O`DONNELL: Let`s listen to what Joe Biden said today in Chicago, Barack Obama`s adopted hometown about working with President Obama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: I say to Chicagoans and everyone, my president gets much too little credit for all that he did. He was one of the great presidents of the United States of America. And I`m tired of hearing about what he didn`t do. But here`s what he did. Everything that landed on his desk, I watched him. I watched him.
I sat with him every single morning and I watched him, for hundreds of hours, and I want to tell you, Chicago, you had a great, great man out here and he`s still a great man and still has a lot to offer.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Jonathan Alter, there he was in your hometown of Chicago today. Is that the best Biden kind of hitch yield on in this subject area, just stressing that association with Barack Obama?
JONATHAN ALTER, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, it certainly helps, you know. Obama is hugely popular in the Democratic Party and it helps him protect his base among African-American voters, which is a significant base. And that`s what Harris is trying to erode here and that`s what Booker was trying to erode by bringing this up.
I think the question that Democrats have to ask is what is the damage that could be done in beating Trump if some of these disputes move from issues to personal character questions, which if you are saying, you know, I don`t believe you are a racist, you are about to unload a critique that basically says, well, I think you kind of were a little bit racist in this way.
What is the effect of that on the nominee if Biden were to become the nominee and what is the effect on the debates if they move in this more personal direction? Also, it has the effect of changing the way we understand issues.
So, there is a reason that court ordered bussing hasn`t been used in this country in more than 40 years in any significant way because it was a failure and both black and white parents didn`t like it. They liked the local bussing that Harris benefitted from where Biden called voluntary bussing.
But court ordered forced bussing just basically turned all of education into a big toxic racial issue and people got tired of that. So we have to ask ourselves, do we want to go back to saying that that`s a good remedy for this country? I don`t think so and I don`t think that`s what anybody intends. So, this was just being used as a kind of symbolic issue.
O`DONNELL: I want you to assume -- as soon as I heard Kamala Harris say the word bussing last night, I knew exactly where she was going because in preparation for doing the town hall with her, I read her book. And Neera, this goes to debate prep for the Biden team because all they had to do -- al they had to do was get to page 11 to know this was coming.
Because here is the passage on page 11 of Kamala Harris` book, "I would walk to the corner and get on the bus to Thousand Oaks Elementary School. I only learned later that we were part of a national experiment in desegregation, with working class black children from the flatlands being bussed in one direction and wealthier white children from the Berkeley Hills bussed in the other.
At the time, all I knew was that the big yellow bus was the way I got to school. Looking at the photo of my first grade class reminds me of how wonderful it was to grow up in such a diverse environment because the students came from all over the area. We were a varied bunch. Some grew up in public housing and others were the children of professors.
I remember celebrating varied cultural holidays at school and learning to count to 10 in several languages. I remember parents including my mom volunteering in the classroom to lead science and arts projects with the kids." And it goes on. And Neera, that is a major success story in the history of bussing.
TANDEN: It is and I wanted to respond to Jonathan because I also worry. I think a lot of Democrats worry about whether these debates become too personal, too character-based. I think there is a lot of overhang from 2016 where it seemed like some of the charges became more about character than about policy.
But I think this is an area in which I think people are also trying to see who can go toe to toe with Donald Trump who is going to attack and attack dirty in many different ways. And I think the challenge for the vice president is that he has -- I don`t dispute and I don`t think most Americans dispute that he has a strong record on civil rights issues particularly in the last decade.
And obviously, I think a lot of people in the African-American community remember and know vividly how he worked side by side with Barack Obama. I think the question for the vice president is that he has to demonstrate that he is -- people believe he is the best person to go up against Trump. A lot of people believe that. That`s why he has been leading in the polls, one of the reasons.
He has got to demonstrate that in debate after debate. And I think that`s the challenge for him. I don`t think this is really about civil rights issues. It was a discussion of those issues, but it was Kamala demonstrating that she is tough enough to take on Trump.
And I think the vice president had some (inaudible). Now, it`s a long road. Barack Obama didn`t do so well in his first debates and I`m here to tell you he won the election, he won the primary after that. So, it`s a long, long road from here. The vice president has a lot of opportunity.
KUMAR: You`re like from the future, Neera.
O`DONNELL: So we got my favorite tweet of the day which I`m going to read to you. This is Greg Young. And it`s not for me. It`s not about the candidates he mentions. It`s about the concept he`s talking about.
He said, "I followed it all pretty closely and I`m still a Warren fan and grateful to Sanders for waking people up in 2016 and 40 years of consistency, but Harris now has my support, too. It`s good to have choices and debate over policy along with strong candidates." Maria Teresa, that`s the reaction that the party is hoping voters have to these debates.
KUMAR: We had what, 23 million people in the first night and 16 million last night. I mean, Americans are tuning in and they`re tuning in early. This is actually incredibly early. And it`s because they are curious. They recognize there is something off with this country, but it`s not enough to go after Donald Trump.
You actually have to come in and think boldly because the reason a lot of folks initially voted for Donald Trump was because they never recovered economically. So the fact that we have 20 people on stage debating ideas and giving people, you know, the information that they need that, what sets them apart, what`s the pathway to the future.
That`s what Americans are looking for. And then they are also looking for who can deliver on that promise. Who can go toe to toe with Donald Trump with grace? Who is not (inaudible) on becoming the nominee on character assassination, but more importantly on policy, thinking big and broadly and boldly?
O`DONNELL: Maria Teresa Kumar, Jonathan Alter, Neera Tanden, thank you for starting us off tonight. Really appreciate it.
KUMAR: Thanks so much.
O`DONNELL: And later in the hour, President Trump laughed it up once again with Vladimir Putin today and laughed about Russia attacking the American elections. And later in this hour, the Supreme Court ruled against the president on the census question and now the president is looking for ways to violate the constitutional mandate to hold a census next year.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRIS: And I will ensure that this microphone that the president of the United States holds in her hand is used in a way that is about reflecting the values of our country and not about locking children up, separating them from their parents, and I have to just say, that we have to think about this issue in terms of real people.
A mother who pays a coyote to transport her child through their country of origin, through the entire country of Mexico facing unknown peril to come here, why would that mother do that? I will tell you, because she has decided for that child to remain where they are is worse. But what does Donald Trump do? He says go back to where you came from. That is not reflective of our America and our values and it`s get to end.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: We invited representatives of the Biden campaign and the Harris campaign to join us tonight. The Biden campaign could not provide us with a representative of the campaign, but we do have a representative of the Harris campaign. Here, J.A Moore is the South Carolina co-chair for Kamala Harris presidential campaign, and he is a South Carolina state representative.
Thank you very much for joining us tonight, Representative Moore. And I wanted to get your reaction to what you saw and what you saw the vice president doing in the debate last night. Did you come away with that debate with the feeling that any candidate on that stage would not be able to fully endorse and support any other candidate on that stage who might win the nomination?
REP. J.A. MOORE, CO-CHAIRMAN, SOUTH CAROLINA KAMALA HARRIS FOR PRESIDENT: Lawrence, I want to first thank you so much for having me. I had the privilege last night of hosting a watch party at Howe`s (ph) Barbershop. So, we were in my district in Goose Creek, South Carolina. And it was so nice to have such a great group of people watching the debate.
We were so encouraged and excited to hear Senator Harris just really show that she is the only person that was on the debate stage both nights that can defeat Donald Trump. But no, I think this is -- it`s important to show contrast and I think that`s what we saw last night.
So no, I believe that Vice President Biden and Bernie Sanders and everyone else that was on the debate stage last night will have no problem endorsing Senator Harris when she is the nominee.
O`DONNELL: And in Senator Harris` own campaign, Joe Biden has been helpful in the past. And she never voiced any criticism about Joe Biden before -- the nature of last night before last night.
MOORE: That may be correct, but see, I can`t speak for Senator Harris, but what I will say is that the vice president`s comments about known segregationist senators which is out of step and out of touch with the American people. That`s the days of the past.
It reminds me a lot of former senator that we had here, Strom Thurmond. And you have to remember, Lawrence, here in South Carolina, this was a pivotal point in the civil rights movement, Briggs v. Elliot. And that dealt directly with bussing African-American students. And that was the predecessor to Brown versus the Board of Education.
O`DONNELL: And going forward, do you think this issue is now settled or do you expect Senator Harris to continue to be in her terms, in effect, prosecuting this.
MOORE: Well, here`s what I believe. I believe that Senator Harris proved last night that she is the only candidate that can prosecute a case against Donald Trump. And she mentioned earlier when she first announced that she was running for President that she will speak truth to power. And that`s what we saw last night. And so what I believe that Senator Harris would do moving forward in the campaign is what she has already done. Listen to American people and let our voices drive her agenda. And she is doing a fantastic job of that.
O`DONNELL: South Carolina Representative JA Moore, thank you very much for joining us tonight. We really appreciate it.
MOORE: Thank you so much, Lawrence. Thank you.
O`DONNELL: And when we come back, President Trump joked with Vladimir Putin today about what they call - what they both jokingly called fake news. And he also shared a friendly moment or more with the Saudi Arabian murderous dictator. That`s coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O`DONNELL: Tonight President Trump replied to what he calls his beautiful letters from North Korea`s dictator with a tweet. "After some very important meetings, including my meeting with President Xi of China, I will be leaving Japan for South Korea with President Moon. While there, if Chairman Kim of North Korea sees this, I would meet him at the border of the demilitarized zone just to shake his hand and say hello."
The President`s public affection for foreign leaders clearly seems to depend entirely on how murderous they are. He used the word "love" to describe his relationship with the most murderous dictator on earth, Kim Jong-un, who starves people to death in North Korea, tortures people to death in North Korea, and who tortured 22-year-old American citizen, Otto Warmbier, to the point where his life could not be saved when Otto Warmbier was finally allowed to return to his parents in the United States.
And knowing that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, ordered the execution and dismemberment of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Today Donald Trump called the murderous crown prince "a friend of mine."
And then there was Vladimir Putin, the former KGB agent turned President of Russia, who is suspect number one in the murder of several journalists and others inside and outside of Russia. Today Donald Trump joked around with Vladimir Putin publicly and obviously had no intention of threatening Vladimir Putin about interfering in our next election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, will you tell Russia not to meddle in the 2020 election?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Yes, of course, I will.
Don`t meddle in the election, President. Don`t meddle in the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Putin`s translator correctly translated that to please meddle in the election and please help me win. You now have a right to believe that Donald Trump believes he cannot win the Electoral College without the help that he got from Russia last time.
British Prime Minister Theresa May told Vladimir Putin what a real President of the United States would have told Putin. According to the British government, Prime Minister May told Vladimir Putin to stop Russia`s irresponsible and destabilizing activity that threatens the U.K. and its allies, including hostile interventions in other countries, disinformation and cyber attacks. And she told Putin that his country`s use of the deadly nerve agent on British soil was "a truly despicable act."
Today, in an interview with Jon Meacham, Former President Jimmy Carter said that the Russian interference in our election to help Donald Trump makes Donald Trump an illegitimate President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JIMMY CARTER, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There`s no doubt that the Russians did interfere in election. And I think the interference, although not yet quantified, if fully investigated, would show that Trump didn`t actually win the election in 2016, he lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.
JON MEACHAM, HISTORIAN: So do you believe President Trump is an illegitimate President?
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: Based on what I just said, which I can`t retract--
(LAUGHTER)
CARTER: --I would say, yes.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Former Undersecretary of State Wendy Sherman joins us next with her analysis of Donald Trump`s admiration for murderous dictators.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
O`DONNELL: Here is President Trump today joking with the man who is suspected of murdering reporters about how much both of them hate the news media.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Fake news, it`s your term, isn`t it? You don`t have that problem in Russia. We have that problem. You don`t have that problem.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA: Yes, yes, we have. We have it too. It`s the same.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O`DONNELL: Joining our discussion now, Ambassador Wendy Sherman, Former Under Secretary of State in the Obama administration and an MSNBC Global Affairs Contributor.
And Ambassador Sherman, I just want to get your reaction to what we just saw in that video. There is a very smiling and happy Vladimir Putin joking about how much he hates the news media along with Donald Trump.
AMB. WENDY SHERMAN, FORMER UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR POLITICAL AFFAIRS: On a day, Lawrence, when five wonderful journalists lost their lives at the Capital Gazette in Annapolis on this day a year ago, it just reminds us how Vladimir Putin sees the world, and it`s his world and anybody who stands in the way has to get out of the way. And that Donald Trump aligns himself with these autocrats, with these dictators, really is about his being a bully, someone who`s really quite weak, quite insecure, and he thinks that if he sort of struts around and, quite frankly, if he sexually assaults women, if he struts around as a leader that he is not, if he in fact speaks with a strong voice and a very weak stick that somehow he`s going to get the job done. And it is really disgraceful to have someone like this as the President of the United States.
O`DONNELL: He said a very strange thing for a President to say today about Kim Jong-un. And of course, everything he says is a strange thing for a President to say, but I mean this one thing in particular. He was talking about basically this tweet that he put out saying he`s hoping to see him when he goes to South Korea if he goes up to the border and they can shake hands at the DMZ. But when he was talking about it, he said "I don`t know where he is right now. He may not be in North Korea." Is it possible that Kim Jong-un would leave North Korea and the President of the United States would not know about that?
SHERMAN: It would be unlikely for him not to know about that. We do have some means to know about his movements and not totally. But yes, the whole statement was bizarre and that point in particular. The President, I thought, also in those comments said this is really a border that they have at the DMZ.
And it made me think back to 1987 when President Reagan, who was not a president who I voted for in that election, went to Berlin and said, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall" because Ronald Reagan understood that freedom, democracy, human rights tolerance, multiculturalism were part and parcel of who we were.
And Vladimir Putin gave an interview to the Financial Times before the G20 saying that in fact that Western liberalism was obsolete, that the populist right was the way to go. And the President of the United States, on the other end of this day, is saying that the demilitarized zone, which is actually the most heavily fortified zone in the world with thousands of land mines, is exactly the kind of border he was saying he`d like to have with Mexico.
O`DONNELL: Vladimir Putin also said to the Financial Times - he said that "Russia has been accused and, strange as it may seem, it is still being accused, despite the Mueller report, of mythical interference in the U.S. election." So there is Vladimir Putin apparently saying the Mueller report acquits Russia, when the Mueller report in fact indicts 25 Russians, all of them working for Vladimir Putin in their interference mission.
SHERMAN: Well, between Vladimir Putin`s statements and Donald Trump`s joking around, he basically is begging Putin to do it again. And I think that you`re raising up Prime Minister May and her drawing a line with Vladimir Putin is what the President absolutely should be doing if he`s really the President of the United States because no one should interfere with our elections. Putin wouldn`t want us interfering in his. And clearly we don`t because he does it all by himself. He wins with 98% of the vote every single time.
O`DONNELL: Ambassador Wendy Sherman, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it.
SHERMAN: Thank you.
O`DONNELL: And when we come back, President Trump lost a big one in the Supreme Court over the census. Neal Katyal will join us.
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O`DONNELL: There were two important decisions by the United States Supreme Court yesterday that could affect voting in America. In one case, the Supreme Court upheld the rights of state governments to gerrymander their Congressional districts for political purposes, something that both parties have done to varying degrees but has most recently been raised to a new level of sophistication by Republican legislatures using computerized analysis of voting data.
Writing for the minority in the dissent, Justice Elena Kagan said "The partisan gerrymanders here debased and dishonored our democracy turning upside-down the core American idea that all governmental power derives from the people." Chief Justice John Roberts switched sides in the other big case and wrote the majority opinion denying the Trump administration the right to insert a question about citizenship in the census.
The Census Bureau says that it has a printing deadline for the next census of Monday of next week, July 1st, that has provoked the President of the United States to call for delaying the census, which would be grossly unconstitutional. The President tweeted, "I have asked the lawyers if they can delay the census, no matter how long, until the United States Supreme Court is given additional information from which it can make a final and decisive decision on this very critical matter."
Former Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal has an answer to President Trump`s question for the lawyers, and Neal Katyal will join us next.
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O`DONNELL: In Chief Justice John Roberts` opinion denying the Trump administration the right to insert a citizenship question in the census, the Chief Justice wrote that executive branch officials must "offer genuine justifications for important decisions, reasons that can be scrutinized by courts and the interested public. Accepting contrived reasons would defeat the purpose of the enterprise."
Joining our discussion now is Neal Katyal, who is the former Acting U.S. Solicitor General and an MSNBC legal contributor. He has argued 39 cases before the United States Supreme Court. Most lawyers don`t ever get to argue one. Neal, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Really appreciate it.
NEAL KATYAL, FORMER ACTING U.S. SOLICITOR GENERAL: Thank you.
O`DONNELL: And you`re reading of the census decision?
KATYAL: Well, I think it`s quite a resounding victory for the challengers. And I should say that I represented the United States House of Representatives in this case. Now, before doing that, some years ago, I represented the Presidency, President Obama and Congress. And I can tell you, Lawrence, that when you`re standing up before the Supreme Court and telling the Supreme Court the President believes X or did - made this decision because of reason Y, it`s really hard to lose that case. You really almost have to try to lose it. It`s kind of like failing a class at Yale. You`ve really got to try.
And here that`s what happened. It`s a remarkable opinion by the Chief Justice, which basically said President Trump`s reasons were contrived. I mean, that`s pretty powerful language. And here is what he meant, the Trump administration said we`re adding this citizenship question to enforce the Voting Rights Act.
Now, I`m not sure the President has even heard of the Voting Rights Act. He certainly never brought any enforcement action under it. So it seemed implausible on its face. And the evidence at the trial really showed this was a bogus reason. And so what the Chief Justice is essentially saying is, look, Mr. President, you can lie to the American people, I`m not going to get involved in that, but don`t you dare lie to the federal judiciary.
O`DONNELL: Is there - now the President is tweeting, can we delay the census?
KATYAL: Yes. So the - two problems with that. Number one, his own lawyers and the U.S. Solicitor General have come to the Supreme Court before and said we can`t delay the census. They then used that to try and bypass the Court of Appeals and race their case to the Supreme Court. Now that that gambit has failed, they`re trying to say, oh, the President is trying to say maybe we can delay the census. There`s one problem with that. It`s called Article One of the Constitution. So you don`t have to go very far. I know we have a President who doesn`t like to read and certainly not read the Constitution. But literally, it`s page one of the Constitution. The census has to take place every 10 years. That`s 2020. And it`s been true since 1790, we`ve always had a census then. So he can try that. it would be blatantly unconstitutional.
O`DONNELL: And it can sound quite reasonable to people that there`d be a question about citizenship on the census. Are you United States citizen? But in that same provision of the Constitution that you mentioned, which I happen to have in front of me, page one as we now call it, it says that the census is to count persons. It could have said count citizens, but it says it`s to count persons.
KATYAL: Yes, absolutely. And then the other important thing is that the Census Bureau itself has said if you add the citizenship question, you`re going to get massive undercounting to the tune of 8%, and that undercounting is going to be minorities. And we now know because of some recently discovered documents that there has been a Republican plot all along to add the citizenship question, not because of the Voting Rights Act but because they wanted to suppress the number of minorities who would fill out the census.
And this is not just like some random survey. This is really important. The census is what decides how many people are sent to the Congress from a particular district and how many Electoral College votes they get and how much federal spending they get for all sorts of social programs. It`s a big, big deal.
O`DONNELL: And what is the theory of the undercount? The citizenship question would produce an undercount, why?
KATYAL: Because if you`re illegal, if you`re undocumented, you`re going to obviously be afraid to answer questions from a government official. And so one of the whole things is if you say, "Oh, I`m not a citizen," then they`re worried that - these folks are worried, "Well, then maybe the ICE or others are going to come knocking."
O`DONNELL: Yes, that is the thing about census takers. They are not there anything other than data. And it`s hard to believe that all the government wants to know is the basic data. They don`t even really care what the name is at that point.
KATYAL: Exactly.
O`DONNELL: Yes. Neal Katyal, thank you very much for joining us. I really appreciate it.
That is tonight`s LAST WORD. "THE 11TH HOUR" with Brian Williams starts now.
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