Show: FOR THE RECORD Date: April 21, 2017 Guest: Henry Brousseau, Greg Belzly, Annie Karni, Heidi Przybyla, Clarence Page, Ken Dilanian, Ned Price, David Adelman GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, FOR THE RECORD HOST: Chuck, big Sunday. I not going to miss, Meet the Press, this Sunday. I never do. Anyway, OK, tonight, President Obama resurfaces. We`ll tell you about that. Meanwhile, President Trump denies it, but it sure looks like he`s put himself in a race against the clock, President Trump today signing three new executive orders and then dropping this bomb about what he is doing this coming Wednesday.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We`ll be having a big announcement on Wednesday having to do with tax reform. The process has begun long ago, but it really formally begins on Wednesday.
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VAN SUSTEREN: And next week, shaping up to be a big one for President Trump. NBC News reporting we could see any day now that a boarded vote to repeal and replace Obamacare. And today we learned there will be a private meeting set for next week with senators on North Korea, and that meeting is now moving to the White House. Plus, it does appear, although he denies it, that the president is on a mad dash ahead of that symbolic 100 day mark coming in just eight days. President Trump writing this on twitter, no matter how much I accomplish during the ridiculous standard of the first 100 days, and it has been a lot, including Supreme Court, media will kill. But it was candidate Trump who made so many big promises for those first 100 days.
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TRUMP: I will work with congress to introduce the following broader legislative measures and fight for their passage within the first 100 days of my administration.
Just think about what we can accomplish in the first 100 days. We`re going to have the biggest tax cuts since Ronald Reagan.
On day one, we will begin working on an impenetrable, physical, tall, powerful, beautiful southern border wall.
Our America first plan, 100 days, so many great things are going to happen, so many great things.
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VAN SUSTEREN: And this is a contract still in the president`s campaign website with his list of promises for his first 100 days. It included tax reform, the border wall, infrastructure, naming China a currency manipulator, and the big one.
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TRUMP: Real change begins with immediately, immediately repealing and replacing Obamacare.
My first day in office, I`m going to ask congress to put a bill on my desk getting rid of this disastrous law.
It doesn`t work, Obamacare doesn`t work.
I`m repealing it. I will repeal and replace Obamacare.
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VAN SUSTEREN: But so far, on day 92, that number one priority is President Trump`s biggest flop. Contrary to his promise, Obamacare is still the law of the land. His travel ban is being held up by the courts and the border wall, well, that still has not even broken ground. But to be fair, the president has had some accomplishments supported by many. He has a new Supreme Court justice or we have a new Supreme Court justice. The Syria strikes and the stock market breaking some incredible records. All of this coming as President Trump is fighting to avoid a government shutdown that could fall exactly on day 100. But the president remains very confident.
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TRUMP: No administration has accomplished more in the first 90 days.
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VAN SUSTEREN: Kristen Welker is NBC News White House correspondent, Annie Karni is the White House reporter for Politico, Heidi Przbyla is the senior politics reporter for USA Today. Let me go first to you, Kristen, the president tweets that the 100-day mark is ridiculous, but tell me, you`re at the White House, are they taking it seriously?
KRISTEN WELKER, NBC NEWS: Oh, they`re taking it very seriously, Greta. They`ve been working on messaging and touting some of what the president has accomplished. You just laid out some of that list. But President Trump wants to have a few more victories under his belt before that all- important 100-day mark. So today, he said he would be rolling out his tax plan on Wednesday, and we know that behind the scenes there is an effort to try to revive the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. There may be some language that we see start to surface on Capitol Hill over the weekend that would have a compromise amendment that would be aimed at getting conservatives and moderate Republicans on board so that something could pass the house next week. Now, the reality check there, Greta, is that if you talk to the folks who know how the house and the senate work, it`s going to be very tough to get a vote on that bill next week for the full house. But, if they can make a little bit of progress, that might be significant. President Trump was asked about all of this as well as the potential government shut down next week. Take a listen to what he had to say.
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UNINDENTIFIED MALE: Could you speak to us briefly about all the legislative action that you`re planning next week? How you`re going to accomplish all that?
TRUMP: It`s going to be great. It will happen.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: And your health care and tax reform?
TRUMP: It will happen. We`ll see what happens. No particular rush but we`ll see what happen. But health care is coming along well. Government is coming along really well. A lot of good things are happening. Thank you, folks.
UNINDENTIFIED MALE: You`re going to get health care bill next week?
TRUMP: Doesn`t matter if it`s next week. Next week doesn`t matter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WELKER: So, the president really striking a note of confidence there, as for keeping the government funded, Greta, I am told that the likely scenario that you`ll see an extension of government funding of one to two weeks, and then they can hammer out some of those final details. In terms of health care they would love to get something done next week, but the reality is I am told they want to get it right, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Kristen, is the president upset with Capitol Hill? I mean you take the Obamacare vote, I mean, that`s pretty much because the house couldn`t do the whipping to get the votes. It`s sort of been hung around his neck. But, I mean, that vote, they determined that vote.
WELKER: I think that based on my conversations here, it would be undeniable to not say that there is some frustration that this didn`t get done the first time around, Greta. There`s no doubt about that. You saw in that initial push the president going back and forth between the White House and Capitol Hill, inviting lawmakers here to the White House, really trying to twist some arms, trying to get Republicans on board with his plan. And of course, it was Republicans ultimately who sunk this legislation because Democrats were never going to get on board with the plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. But having said that, look at who they`re working with, Greta, the same people, this is not a plan to try to get Democrats on board. They`re going back to members of the freedom caucus. They`re going back to members of the Tuesday Group to see if they can find some consensus there. Based on my conversations there is some real optimism that they`re making progress. But the reality is this compromise that`s coming together isn`t that different than the initial plan that we saw when this was sort of revived several weeks ago and then wound up going nowhere. So, it`s not clear that this is going to get enough votes to pass the threshold this time around, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Kristen, thank you. Heidi, you know, the president denies that this is important, this 100 days. He`s sort of taken the bait. But he`s certainly trying to hustle getting something done within 100 days. But he`s the one who sort of promised all these things.
HEIDI PRZBYLA, USA TODAY: Well, he did promise all these things. And to be fair, he has delivered on some things. But this is the distinction. These are the things you can do unilaterally, right? Like the government hiring freeze, like moving keystone along, but presidents are usually judged based on their legislative accomplishments, right, like Obama, and the stimulus, or George W. Bush and the 2001 tax cuts. He hasn`t gotten anything through congress. And particularly, this stands out because of the way that he sold himself on the campaign trail as a businessman who makes deals. That he would be superior in this regard and bring people together. So, if you are that coal miner or that unemployed manufacturing worker in Johns town, you`re wondering what it is that he`s delivering for you. Because, Greta, I just remember these people and talking to them all over the place thinking this is a businessman who is going to come in and push some of this onto me, some of this wealth and make the country flourish economically.
VAN SUSTEREN: Annie, if he does this on the 120th day, I think even the fact he didn`t get it in 100 days is nothing. I think this is somewhat of a construct that we in the media have created. He`s taken the bait and we created it because he made all these promises.
ANNIE KARNIE, POLITICO: Well, yeah, I mean it`s completely arbitrary, a 100 versus 120. But for him it`s a marketing thing, like this is a deadline that he`s trying to show. He knows there will be a lot of media around it and he is someone who cares a lot about the coverage in the media so he knows it will look back. You saw on twitter he`s kind of like pre- butting the coverage.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, that`s why he`s so slick on this tax reform thing. This tax reform thing he`s going to unveil on Wednesday, I mean, it`s not going to be something that`s necessarily going to pass. There`s going to be a lot of hoopla, we`re going to be covering it. But he`s going to say within the first 100 days this is what I`ve presented.
KARNI: The thing is, I don`t feel confident that he`s going to have any accomplishments on day 120. What he`s learning here, we watched this clip of all the promises, like it`s easier to campaign than to govern. He filled his west wing with people who have no experience in governing. And now he`s like -- Heidi said, the challenge is getting anything through congress.
PRZBYLA: That`s the connection between health care in terms of getting some of the money that would be used for tax reform. And that was a little bit misunderstood. There is a connection there and there is a reason why they did it in this order to try and get the health care done first so -- it`s essentially a tax cut.
VAN SUSTEREN: But, I mean, if we want to go a little further in absurdity in this repeal and new one, and replace, it isn`t really a repeal and replace, it really is an amendment of Obamacare because a lot of things in Obamacare are going to be back in the replacement. So, I mean, it`s not even a repeal and replace, it`s a little bit.
PRZBYLA: And that`s what the conservatives say and that`s why they`ve had so many problems getting conservatives vote for it.
VAN SUSTEREN: But they`re not completely throwing it out. We`re going to keep preexisting issue, right? Preexisting problems, that will be back in.
PRZBYLA: With some caveats, right? They`re saying maybe some states can opt out. They`re not explaining how that would work either. So -- one of the things to watch is now also if they can`t come up with something, what happens with the moderates? Do the moderates start to bail on them and say, let`s just fix Obamacare. I think that`s something to watch.
VAN SUSTEREN: Kristen, what`s the excuse from the 100 days? I mean, I think it`s a fictional construct, but everybody takes the bait and is talking about it. But what are they saying at the White House, that it`s meaningless and all our promises about the first 100 days don`t matter?
WELKER: They`re not saying it`s meaningless. But what they`re saying particularly when it comes to health care is they don`t want to see what happened the first time around happen again. They don`t want this to be rushed through effectively, and there is a group of officials, senior officials here at the White House who are pumping the brakes on this idea that it has to be finished by the first 100 days. They say, hey, look, if it can happen by next Saturday, that`s fantastic. But if it can`t, let`s look to 120 days, as you point out, Greta. The president continues to underscore this point that while he has placed some significance in the first 100 days, he says, look, I`m a businessman and this is part of a broader negotiation. So expect to hear that a lot next week particularly if health care does stale again, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Annie, it`s hard to get things done when everyone is on vacation, too. I mean, let`s face it, we`re having this mad rush, we had this mad rush to fund the government. But let`s face it, congress has been, I use the term vacation, but on recess. But they`ren`t here. So why is anyone amazed they`re not getting it done?
KARNI: I don`t know. I mean, this is another thing. The other deadline that I`ve heard people in the White House talk about internally even though they`re aware of the 100 days is August. That`s when I think that if we do.
VAN SUSTEREN: A big recess.
KARNI: That`s when, I mean that`s really when I think we would see a shakeup of potentially Reince Priebus or Steve Bannon, that this is -- if they haven`t gotten tax reform or infrastructure bill or health care done by then.
VAN SUSTEREN: Then there`s real trouble.
KARNI: Yeah.
VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you all. You guys stick around. Remember the Russia election hack investigation? Well, it`s back and a key witness could connect the dots while speaking out for the first time. Also, Trump versus Obama, again, the former president and the new one squaring off with another election of huge consequence hanging in the balance. And lawyers for the president arguing, you have no right to protest at his rallies because of the president`s free speech rights. We talked to the young man suing the president. Plus, a jaw dropping comment about women from a lawyer in a rape trial.
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UNINDENTIFIED MALE: People can be very good at lying. Women can be especially good at it because they`re the weaker sex.
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VAN SUSTEREN: Oh, brother. Well, you heard right. The lawyer says women are good at lying because they`re the weaker sex. There is much more to this. We`ll tell you coming up.
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VAN SUSTEREN: Is the house intelligence committee getting back on track? Well, the committee now re-inviting, not subpoenaing, but re-inviting former acting attorney general Sally Yates to testify at a public hearing as part of its investigation to Russian election meddling. This comes nearly a month after house intelligence chairman Devin Nunes unexpectedly cancelled the hearing Yates was set to testify in. Now, Nunes has recused himself of the Russia investigation because of all the hoopla that he went through. So Yates has been re-invited by the committee.
Now remember, President Trump fired Yates because Yates said she would not enforce his travel ban. But her firing happened after Yates warned the White House of national security advisor Michael Flynn could be subject to blackmail over his ties to Russia. The intelligence committee calling other witnesses also to testify at the public hearing, former CIA director John Brennan and former director of national intelligence James Clapper, and the house will also hold a closed hearing that would be May 2nd when FBI director James Comey and director of the national security agency Mike Rogers will appear behind closed doors. Now, the last time Director Comey testified before the committee, he announced for the first time that the FBI had started back in July investigating Russian meddling.
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JAMES COMEY, FBI DIRECTOR: I don`t know how much longer it will take, but we`ve been doing this -- this investigation began in late July.
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VAN SUSTEREN: Joining me, NBC intelligence and national security reporter, Ken Dilanian, and Ned Price former senior director at the National Security Council. Ken, first to you, you need a score card for this. I mean this sort of on the back burner for about two weeks. It`s almost enormously complicated to remember who is who. But Sally Yates, at least to me is a very interesting person to be subpoenaed to this hearing that`s going to be open. What do they want from her?
KEN DILANIAN, NBC NEWS: You`re absolutely right, Greta, she is key. Because Sally Yates knows a lot about what the U.S. intelligence community collected on ties between Trump associates and Russia. She also knows about what Mike Flynn was up to. She had some concerns about Flynn. She said he was blackmailable. We know that she told the White House that he misled the vice-president about his contacts with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak. We don`t know what else there is, did she have any other concerns, so that`s interesting. I mean, Yates along with CIA director John Brennan and former DNI director James Clapper, they have a lot of information. The big question is going to be what can they say in public in an open hearing, non-classified setting about this stuff, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, Ned, a lot of people are probably thinking why are we talking about Mike Flynn. He`s gone. Tell the viewers why this is important.
NED PRICE, NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL FORMER SENIOR DIRECTOR: Well, Mike Flynn is gone. But if you remember for the last month we have been talking about aspects of this that have absolutely no relevance to the broader question of Russian interference and intervention in the campaign and, frankly, Russian -- potential Russian collusion with the Trump campaign. So, to return to the subject of Mike Flynn actually means that we`re getting back to the subject at hand. For the past several weeks we`ve been talking about unmasking, Ambassador Rice. People had issues that are really unrelated to this. But as Ken just said, Sally Yates will really have some insight to offer because she was one who served both with the Obama administration and then for a matter of a couple weeks for the Trump administration and knows precisely what Mike Flynn did and when the government became aware of this.
VAN SUSTEREN: Ken, the thing I find so intriguing of course maybe because it`s behind closed doors, but Comey and Rogers, we don`t get to hear what they`re going to say on or about May 2nd. What would you expect from them and why is this behind closed doors and not Sally Yates?
DILANIAN: Well, James Comey could brief, if he chooses to do so, he can update the committee on the fruits of the FBI investigation. I mean, the FBI has been working behind the scenes actively as we understand it in a counter intelligence investigation. They`re looking at intelligence. They`re interviewing witnesses. They`re going through records. Generally the FBI does not brief the hill intimately on the details of investigations, but this is such a high profile matter that he may read out more than he ordinarily would, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: Ken, who`s running this? Because Nunes after that thing he did at the White House and the press conference, he`s disqualified himself. He`s now removed himself from the committee chairmanship, but from this. So who`s now driving this on the Republican side?
DILANIAN: So, it`s Mike Conoway, he`s a CPA, a Republican from Texas. And that`s what the -- what was really interesting about today`s development, it shows that he said this investigation on the house side appears to be back on track. The Nunes stuff seemed to derail it for a while. It seemed like it was a partisan breakdown, wasn`t going anywhere. Nunes canceled this hearing without explanation. But now it`s back on track, the Republicans and Democrats seem to be on agreement on a witness list and they`re going forward, Greta.
VAN SUSTEREN: So, Ned -- let`s assume and jump ahead and assume we have all these hearings, senate and house, we determine, yes, indeed, although I don`t think anyone doubts that Russia was meddling in these, they`re doing all the hacking, what can we do?
PRICE: Well, look, we know for a fact or as close to a fact as we can get given the high confidence assessment of the intelligence community that Russia indeed meddled in our election in an effort to help the Trump campaign and hurt the Clinton campaign. But I think we also have to reckon with how they came to do this and the steps that we can take not only to protect ourselves going forward, but also the steps that our allies seem to take. There is a very important election in France this weekend. There`s going to be elections in Germany later this year. We know the Russians are just as interested in those elections. So we`ll need to work closely with our allies, closely within our own government to make sure that we partake -- we take these steps to ensure that something like this can ever happen again.
VAN SUSTEREN: And bottom line, the house and the senate should not step on the FBI because if there is a criminal investigation they can make a lot of trouble for a criminal investigation if indeed there is one. There is some investigation going on. Anyway, gentlemen, thank you both.
DILANIAN: Good to be with you.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, he`s back. Former President Obama making his first public appearance Monday, but is that bad news for Democrats? A very prominent Democrat is blaming Obama for something big. Also the Trump justice department versus the NYPD, New York police officials slamming the DOJ for claiming they are, quote, soft on crime.
And suing President Trump for inciting violence, the president`s lawyer saying today protesters had no right to protest at his rallies. A young man suing the president joins me live.
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TRUMP: Oh, get out of here. Get out of here. Look at these people. Get out of here. Get out! Out! Out! Get out.
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VAN SUSTEREN: Is it Deja Vu all over again with President Trump versus President Obama? Because in just two days France holds its vote in its presidential elections, and here in the United States the current president and the former president seem to be taking sides in the French election. President Trump suggesting the far-right candidate Marine la Pen would do well, he told the A.P., quote, she`s the strongest on borders and she`s the strongest on what`s been going on in France. Now, La Pen is controversial in France for her anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views. But meanwhile, President Obama just spoke on the phone with the candidate who`s been describe as more centrist, Emmanuel Macron, who then posted the audio on twitter.
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BARACK Obama, FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: Hello.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRANCE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hello, Mr. President, how are you?
OBAMA: Is this Manuel?
MACRON: Yeah, exactly.
OBAMA: The main message I have is to wish you all the best in the coming days. And make sure that, as you said, you work hard all the way through because you never know. It might be the last day of campaigning.
MACRON: Yeah, I do agree.
OBAMA: . makes all the difference.
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VAN SUSTEREN: With me from Paris, David Andelman a columnist for USA today, long-time foreign correspondent. David, nice of you to join us, and just so the viewers understand this race, there are other candidates running for office, in fact they go all the way to the left side, very far from to the left as well, is that right?
DAVID ANDELMAN, USA TODAY: Oh, yes, there is an entire spectrum. There are 11 candidates standing for election this first round, imagine 11 candidates. And two will go into a second round two weeks after this. So, it`s really, they`re all the way from a Trosky candidate really on the far left, all the way over to, as you mention, Marine La Pen on the far-right.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Now we`re paying a lot of attention to the fact that President Trump -- they haven`t officially endorsed, but President Trump has said that La Pen would be a good candidate, I think. And President Obama making a phone call is pretty close to an endorsement. Does it -- I mean, we`re paying a lot of attention to the fact that they`re doing it. Does it mean anything in Paris and France for the vote?
ANDELMAN: Well, first of all, you have to understand, it`s very interesting. I`m not sure that President Trump recognizes the fact that the day after he launched the missiles into Syria, Marine La Pen came out with a statement saying that she was very disappointed in this. She was shocked by it. She thought that Trump was no longer going to become make America the John -- of the world. And all of the sudden, here he is acting like the -- of the world. So that was really quite astonishing. Clearly, she does not care very much and most French people don`t care very much about an endorsement one way or another. They believe that they have a very good sense of what their country needs and what they want from their next president. So, really, Trump obviously has not very many friends here. Obama has many more. But there were also problems with Obama in the past as well.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. You know we`ve had this ongoing investigation about Russian interference into the U.S. election. Is there any suggestion or suspicion that there`s Russian interference in this French presidential election?
ANDELMAN: The Russians are certainly involved in this. The Russians want very much to see someone like La Pen or even Fillon who is the right-wing center right candidate. They would love to see someone like that in office because they have pledged, in fact, to break up the European Union, to pull France out of NATO. But whether they really have the same kind of impact as the Russians did in the United States in the presidential election, that is really somewhat questionable. As I say, the French are very focused on what works for them. And Russia is sort of off to the side, if you will. Sputnik, R.T., Russian Television, so on, they`ve been stirring the pot, but it hasn`t really, I suspect, gotten out into the vast mass of the French people. Deep France, shall we say.
VAN SUSTEREN: One last quick question. So, who is leading in the polls and does that person have 50 percent?
ANDELMAN: No one is going to get 50 percent. There is no question about that. The most someone is going to get is maybe 25 percent because there are four or five leading candidates. I would say two or three weeks ago I would have said it would be La Pen and Macron, there is no doubt about that. But now, I think it really is too close to call. We could have a very late night Sunday night. As I suspect there are left wing candidates that are very powerful, and I think even the center right candidate, he, too, Fillon has come on strong. So I think we really are going to be in for a nail-biter Sunday night.
VAN SUSTEREN: David, thank you for joining us. I`m insanely jealous. I`d love to be in France covering that race.
ANDELMAN: Right behind me, yes, indeed. It`s a wonderful place.
VAN SUSTEREN: Thank you. Still ahead, President Obama, he is back making his first public remarks since leaving office. But here`s a twist. The former president is also facing some criticism from his own party. But first President Trump has some trouble. He is once again a defendant. He has just been sued again. The young man suing him will be here. And what was this lawyer thinking, or was he thinking when he talked about lying by the, quote, weaker sex?
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VAN SUSTEREN: President Trump fighting another lawsuit. This one claiming the president incited violence at his campaign rally. What`s the president`s defense? He says people have no right to protest him at his own event. It all happened at Louisville, Kentucky last year.
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DONALD TRUMP, THE 45TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If I say don`t hurt him - (inaudible). Get out of here!
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VAN SUSTEREN: A new filing from Trump`s lawyers asks a judge to toss the lawsuit claiming, of course, protesters have their own first amendment right to express dissenting views, but they have no right to do so as part of campaign rally of the political candidates they oppose. Now this stems from this lawsuit filed a year ago in Louisville, Kentucky. These three protesters are suing President Trump and three of his supporters for assault. Saying those Trump supporters assaulted them at his direction from the stage.
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TRUMP: Get them out. Get them out. Oh, look who we have here, some wonderful people. Ah! Now get out of here. Get out. Get out of here.
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VAN SUSTEREN: Now, we don`t have video of two of the plaintiffs, but here`s one of them. You can see her being pushed through the crowd by Alvin Bamberger, the veteran in the black hat. This man white nationalist Matthew Hienback wearing a make America great again hat is also accused of assaulting the protesters. Both men say they were simply following Trump`s orders to remove people. Now the president`s team wants all of this thrown out saying no one had the right to protest him, because they were the ones trampling on his first amendment rights. Joining me is one of the plaintiffs, Henry Brousseau. He is suing President Trump and the supporters for assault. And Greg Belzly, his lawyer, he is joining us. Thank you both for joining us, first to you, Henry. Why did you go -- did you go there to protest?
HENRY BROUSSEAU, PROTESTER FILING AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP: I went there to express my first amendment rights. That is an American tradition and I wanted to take part. I disagreed with what he had been saying throughout the campaign as most Americans had. And I wanted to get my voice heard. I wanted to say if I could change any people`s opinions.
VAN SUSTEREN: What happened, how were you assaulted?
BROUSSEAU: Oh, well, I unfurled my banner. Somebody with a traditional workers party, neo-Nazi organization grabbed the band out of my sign and punched me in the stomach.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right Greg, you brought this lawsuit. Tell me, where is it filed?
GREG BELZLY, ATTORNEY REPRESENTING HENRY BROUSSEAU: This lawsuit was filed in federal district court in Louisville, Kentucky.
VAN SUSTEREN: And what -- tell me how you expect this to proceed.
BELZLY: Well, at this point the judge has denied Mr. Trump`s motions to dismiss the case. He has ordered that the parties provide him with a proposed order setting pretrial deadlines. Mr. Trump`s lawyers, however, have just recently filed a motion asking for permission to take judge hail`s rulings immediately up on appeal to the 6th circuit.
VAN SUSTEREN: Henry, do you have any sort of thought about what was someone supposed to do if there is a protester there disrupting a rally, what would you expect? If this were a candidate you liked.
BROUSSEAU: Well, you could disagree with them respectfully. You don`t put hands on them, you don`t shove them, and you don`t move them aggressively.
VAN SUSTEREN: I assume, were you yelling things or not, were you disrupting at all?
BROUSSEAU: We were saying black lives matter. It was a huge room. You could still hear what he was saying. We weren`t disrupting very much. But that doesn`t change what they did.
VAN SUSTEREN: The first amendment can be a little bit around the edges. Look, I`m a strong supporter of the first amendment. I`m taking it a little further. Do you have a problem with what you did?
BROUSSEAU: I don`t have a problem with what we did. Mr. Trump says he has a first amendment right to say what he wants and we don`t. That is where I strongly disagree with him.
VAN SUSTEREN: Greg, let me ask you, is there any sort of -- when you look at your lawsuit that is seen that your client was sort of an invited guest in there asked to leave? The assault thing, you`re not supposed to lay your hands on somebody. That is assault, I got that. Is there any aspect of this that your client -- he wasn`t on the street. This was inside a rally. I assume the campaign paid for the venue.
BELZLY: Well, that is correct, Greta. I mean, this was a public event. I mean, tickets were sold to the public. There was no litmus test at the door and they were letting people in who wanted to attend the rally generally. As Henry said, it`s an American tradition. The first amendment there is to protect not the kind of speech we all want to hear. The first amendment is there to protect people who are saying things we don`t want to hear and the founding fathers understood that, and that is what the first amendment is there for.
VAN SUSTEREN: And, so, how -- explain to me the causation aspect of it. I got the people laying hands on your client. I got that. That` that is assault. You don`t have to touch someone for assault. What is the cause for the president saying, get him out of here?
BELZLY: You can`t just start in isolation at the Louisville rally. For weeks beforehand, he was making comments about protesters being taken out on stretchers. He was offering to pay his supporters` legal fees. He had the best seat in the house to see what effect his rhetoric was having on the audience. And you and others in the media were doing a very good job of reporting what was happening there. Unless he was living in a bubble, he couldn`t have been unaware of what effect his rhetoric was having on people. And even in the tape you`re playing, you can hear the anger and the venom in his voice. And this is just unprecedented conduct by a candidate for the president of the United States. And he needs to be held accountable.
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, you don`t have to be hurt to get an assault, but I`m curious, were you hurt at all?
BROUSSEAU: Yes, I was punched. I was sore several days, gave me anxiety. It gave me nightmares, so absolutely.
VAN SUSTEREN: We`re going to continue to follow. It`s an interesting case. The interesting aspect to me will be the causation effect. Someone laying their hands is an easier one. Thank you, gentlemen, for joining us, both of you.
BELZLY: Thank you, Greta.
BROUSSEAU: Thank you.
VAN SUSTEREN: In other legal news, a Memphis lawyer is in hot water for comments he made about women during a rape trial. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE FARESE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: People can be very good at lying. Women can be especially good at it, because they`re the weaker sex.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Steve Farese is defending his client against charges he raped a woman who came to his home for a job interview. For him saying he did his job he is not offended if anybody gets offend the. The jury started deliberations this morning.
Up next, is the NYPD soft on crime? That is the new attack from the Justice Department. Is this a fight that the Trump administration really wants to have?
Also, he is back. President Obama making his first public appearance since leaving office, but is there bad blood between the president and some in his party?
Also, what`s up with this? Two candidates running against each other, both shooting at TV`s, what did those TV`s do to them?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: Vacation is over for former President Obama. On Monday the president will head to Chicago to speak with students at the University of Chicago. It will be President Obama`s first public event since leaving office. The event is officially nonpartisan. The president did say he would stay out of the political fray unless he felt that our core values may be at stake. This news about the president resurfacing coming just after the deputy chair of the DNC congressman Keith Ellison said the former president was partially the blame for election losses in 2016.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEITH ELLISON, DEPUTY DNC CHAIR: Barack Obama could have been a better party leader. Given that we did not -- we lost a lot of state house seats, governorships, Secretary of States, his legacy is in danger and I don`t think he can say he wasn`t part of those losses.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: We are back with our panel. Annie Karni, from politico, Heidi Przybyla from USA today and Clarence Page from Chicago tribune, first to you, Clarence, that surprised me the deputy of the head of the DNC taking a swat at the former president.
CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: It didn`t surprise me quite as much because I`ve heard Democrats say it quietly more privately over the years.
VAN SUSTEREN: I think it is a public aspect.
PAGE: Now they`re going public, at least Keith Ellison has always been pretty outspoken anyway. It`s plainly obviously true that Barack Obama was not the kind of party man who was out there organizing at the local level as a community organizer. You saw the party certainly ended up his second term with many fewer seats than he had when he came in. He swept both houses and there were so many local offices as well around the country. This is still a challenge for the Democrats, now on how do they rebuild. Barack Obama is great for the rallies. He was certainly great at organizing his own national campaign. But he is never been a grassroots party guy as far as building state legislatures and governorships.
VAN SUSTEREN: That is what Heidi says he supposedly wants to do now.
HEIDI PRZYBYLA, USA TODAY: It is so much broader than that. I spent time covering the DNC and there is so much discontent there about just the structure --
VAN SUSTEREN: You don`t say it publicly. I guess maybe you do.
PRZYBYLA: It`s public now. I think they feel this is part of healing. This is part of finding the way forward out of the woods, is that a lot of money as well was drained away from the local parties where that local building goes on to, for instance, Obama`s organizing for America, kind of these national groups came in and big footed, took money away from the local parties. There is a huge cultural shift that has to go on as well with the donors who give to these kinds of presidential packs and aren`t focused on the Republican side on the state-level party building.
VAN SUSTEREN: You know, Annie, I would think, though, that President Obama is really still very popular. I`ve seen some of the poll numbers. He can do a lot port party. They may be a little mad at him now. I`m not sure I would throw stones at him.
ANNIE KARNI, POLITICO WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That is true. But the Democratic Party has never been in the wilderness like this. They need anyone they can get. They need rising stars. They can`t bank on President Obama being a huge star. That is what he has been for eight years, for longer than that, and yet didn`t build up the party. I think people will be a little disappointed in his Monday roaring back because I don`t think - - I think people are going to want him to take on Trump, and I think he is absolutely not going to do that.
VAN SUSTEREN: He is not much of an attack-type candidate. He is more cerebral.
PAGE: That is why they call him the professor.
VAN SUSTEREN: They call him the professor.
PAGE: But, you know, let`s give him credit, though. He won over 200 counties twice that Hillary Clinton did not win this last November. David Axelrod, a former intern of mine, brilliant --
VAN SUSTEREN: He learned it all from you.
PAGE: I like to think that. He taught me a few things. But like I said, Obama knows how to run a national campaign for president, but its other campaigns he is not that great at.
VAN SUSTEREN: Let`s go to another topic. A political brawl between the Justice Department and major Police Units across the country including the NYPD Department, the Department of Justice threatening to withhold funds from New York, Milwaukee and others who are not cracking down on immigration, the Justice Department said quote, Many of these jurisdictions are also crumbling under the weight of illegal immigration and violent crime. The DOJ letter singled out New York saying they continue to see gang murder after gang murder. The predictable consequence on the City`s soft on crime stance. Moments ago New York`s mayor and police commission responded with some strong words.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL DE BLASIO, NEW YORK CITY MAYOR: It is an unacceptable statement that denigrates the people of New York City and the men and women of the NYPD. Attorney General Sessions is supposed to be the leading law enforcement official in America. Why would he insult the men and women who do this work every day, who put their lives on the line?
JAMES O`NEILL, NEW YORK POLICE COMMISIONER: When I read that statement by DOJ this afternoon, my blood began to boil. To say we`re soft on crime is absolutely ludicrous. Cops are hurt every day. Cops are killed in the line of duty. This is insulting to the memory of Sergeant Paul Tazulo, Randolph Holder, Brian Moore, Joe Lew, and Rafael Ramos. I find this statement to be absolutely outrageous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Why the tough words? The language may be kind of more delicate.
KARNI: First of all, I think this is a great fight for Bill De Blasio. Now he is part of the national conversation, which is where he wants to be.
VAN SUSTEREN: That is a good point.
KARNI: It`s a good fight for Democrats, for progressives. I think part of the tough language is one of Trump`s campaign promises that he was going to cut off all funding to sanctuary cities. We were just discussing how he is coming up on the 100-day mark and is short on victories. He can`t get congress to cut off all funding, but his can kind of tough talk with the Justice Department. Bill De Blasio loves being played on your show.
VAN SUSTEREN: Clarence, we neglected to include your City of Chicago in that list.
PAGE: Yeah, like President Trump always does, he is obsessed with the place. But, you know, think about President Trump, Jeff Sessions, and the DOJ under Jeff Sessions. They`re about 40 years behind the times. They`re talking about crime exploding. Crime has been going down. Crime overrule, violent crime in the last 20 years is at an all-time low. And you had certain specific places like Chicago that is got some unique problems I won`t go into. It will take me an hour just to tell you about the complexities of that place. But we`ve got a few cities that have had a surge in crime in recent years. But overall, the kind of methods that Jeff Sessions doesn`t like, which is community policing and other reforms, are very effective, and I think that is going to get rolled back under this current regime if we`re not careful.
VAN SUSTEREN: But, Heidi, I think if Attorney General Sessions were here, he`d say you can`t pick and choose the law. If you don`t like the law, go to Capitol Hill and change the law. These are the laws and if the cities are going to enforce some of these immigration laws --
PRZYBYLA: Sure, and that is one of arguments they`ll make. But if you look at where we are as well in terms of the first 100 days, I do think Clarence is on to something in terms that a lot of things that are now happening are either through executive order or through the Justice Department, like putting the police reforms on ICE, like the immigration crackdown. We`re not watching that closely enough, I don`t think, in terms of Trump kind of going through the Justice Department to fulfill some of these promises that he made on the campaign, particularly with immigration.
VAN SUSTEREN: Finally there`s a lot of fire power on display in a pair of new campaign ads in the great state of Montana. Two congressional candidates, one Democrat, the other a Republican, taking aim at each other, figuratively speaking, over the issue of gun rights. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m Rob Quist, and I approve this message to defend your rights. But I`m sending this one to defend mine.
(GUNSHOT)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s time to fight back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some folks just don`t get it. Our second amendment rights are not up for negotiation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, any quick answers? Clarence, both are shooting guns.
PAGE: Both are shooting. One`s a Republican. One`s a Democrat. The Republican`s got the edge, because it`s Montana.
VAN SUSTEREN: And he had the bigger gun.
PAGE: And he had the bigger gun, didn`t he?
VAN SUSTEREN: Annie?
KARNI: I just like the subtlety of the ads. I think it`s -- you know.
VAN SUSTEREN: And Heidi?
PRZYBYLA: I mean there was a reaction. I understand it. Quist was reacting to the typical kind of attack on a Democrat for being, you know, anti-gun. So he got out there, and you know what? The difference about this is at least it`s not a Democrat who`s never held a gun before getting out there and posing in camo.
VAN SUSTEREN: Panel, thank you very much and coming up, I`ve gone viral. You`re not going to believe how that happened. I`ll explain next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: I have something to say for the record. On Monday afternoon, I landed back in the United States after a trip to Iraq with reverend Franklin Graham, head of the humanitarian organization Samaritan`s purse, and my husband John was with us. Right away and very fast, this show turned around video from the trip that included footage from Samaritan`s purse field hospital where doctors and nurses work 24/7 caring for, saving lives of victims of ISIS. Now, the sites of those injuries are horrific. Many of the patients, mere children viciously maimed by ISIS and after the Monday show, I then posted that video on Facebook. And since then, it has been viewed on Facebook more than 2 million times. Obviously people care and are very interested. So I thought I would show you more video of my trip to Iraq, video you have not seen. This is in Eastern Mosul.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: What`s so stunning about being here is that people have been living here under ISIS. You know, ISIS came in and terrorized them. We`ve seen buildings bombed, but imagine the scars that we don`t see, people living here under the horror and terror of ISIS. You walk outside, and you worry am I going to pick up a stuffed animal that is going to have an IED in it, I`m going to pick up a toy, is there an IED in it? Am I going to get shot in the back of the head by an ISIS sniper? This is war, but it is so vicious. It`s unbelievably vicious. I don`t know how the people endure this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN SUSTEREN: Now, Eastern Mosul has now been liberated by Iraqi Special Forces, but not Western Mosul. They are fighting ISIS for that now. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi is the ISIS leader and in summer of 2014, ISIS moved into this area where it immediately began persecuting the Christians and for one reasons only -- their faith. Homes were blown up. There was raping, chopping offhand, hanging, and all sorts of torture. You name it, the most unthinkable. This video shows you the Christian area that is now a ghost town. And Muslims in Mosul who did not embrace ISIS, they were also subject to the same -- torture, killing. The Mosul area still extremely dangerous and I don`t know how these victims of ISIS will ever recover. But I know one thing. If given the opportunity again to go to this crisis, I`ll go again with my cameras, because this is something we simply can`t turn our backs on. By the way, go to my Facebook page to see the other video I posted on Monday, the one that is gone viral. Thank you for watching. Have a great weekend. I`ll see you back here Monday night at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. I just posted another sort of special video on Facebook, just my Friday afternoon message to all of you because you`re friends of mine on Facebook. Follow me on twitter @Greta. "Hardball" with Chris Matthews starts right now. I`ll see you Monday, 6:00 p.m. Eastern.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END