Show: THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW Date: July 12, 2016 Guest: Jeff Weaver
CHRIS HAYES, "ALL IN" HOST":
That is "ALL IN" for this evening.
THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW starts right now. Good evening, Rachel.
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: Good evening, Chris. Thanks, my friend.
HAYES: You bet.
MADDOW: And thanks to you at home for joining us this hour.
It`s been another really big day in the news today. I think we`re going to have a bunch of these over the next few days, but today was another day of a lot of really big news and news that continues to unfold tonight.
Today, we had the incredibly moving memorial service in Dallas, featuring pretty impassioned remarks from President Obama and also remarks from former President George W. Bush. It`s very rare to see those two men appearing together anywhere. It`s even more rare to have President Obama flying Texas Senator Ted Cruz with him on Air Force One to an event anywhere in the country.
But after what Dallas has just been through, partisanship became very specifically irrelevant at today`s Dallas memorial service. We`ll have more on that occasion ahead tonight, on tonight`s show.
Also this time tomorrow, we`re looking ahead to our closest ally overseas, Great Britain. They`re going to have a new prime minister this time tomorrow. Only the second woman ever to be British prime minister, after Margaret Thatcher. Theresa May will be taking over in Great Britain as of tomorrow night. We`re going to have news on that ahead.
Also on this program tonight, we`re going to be joined by the campaign manager for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Jeff Weaver is going to be joining us live tonight following Senator Sanders` landmark decision today to endorse Hillary Clinton and to apparently start campaigning for her for president. We`re going to have much more on that endorsement ahead tonight, in terms of what it means for the election, what it means for the Democratic Party, what it means for liberal politics in this country.
But logistically today, that endorsement of Hillary Clinton by Bernie Sanders, it wasn`t just a declaration of support, just a declaration of intent to campaign for her. Logistically, it also ends up being important that this was technically the end of Bernie Sanders`s own campaign for president.
One of the consequences of that, after he left this event in New Hampshire, he flew back to Washington, D.C., and then his landing in Washington, D.C. today marked the end of his Secret Service protection. Senator Sanders has been protected by the Secret Service since the very start of the presidential primary, since the first week of February this year, but that ended for Senator Bernie Sanders tonight. He`s now officially back to being just a United States senator, depending on how he chooses to spend his time between now and November. Though Senator Sanders will also now be one of the most valuable speakers and supporters and surrogates that Hillary Clinton will have, of everyone, especially when it comes to trying to rally liberal Democrats, and the kind of independent-minded Democratic voters who Bernie Sanders attracted to his campaign by the millions during this unexpectedly long and hard-fought primary that the Democrats had this year.
Senator Sanders said today that he intends to be in every corner of this country to make certain that Hillary Clinton is the next president of the United States. He said today, quote, "I intend to do everything I can to make certain that Hillary Clinton will win this fall`s election."
So, again, we`re going to be talking with Senator Bernie Sanders` campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, just a few minutes tonight about what this announcement today means, in nuts and bolts terms, what we should expect from Senator Sanders between now and November. He not only started talking about campaigning for Secretary Clinton for president, he also talked about forming successor organizations to his presidential campaign. What does that mean? How are those going to work? What should we expect from them for this year`s politics?
So, big day today, in Democratic politics. The endorsement is there, the sentiment is there. The importance of it for November may ultimately be in the details. We`ve got a lot of important and specific details today on the Democrat side and the Republican side of politics. Because we`ve been talking about Sanders and Clinton, let`s talk about the Democratic side first in terms of new details that we got today and tonight.
Now, on the Democratic side, we don`t exact guidance on the line-up and the speakers for the Democratic convention two weeks from now. But, "The New York Times" reports that a prominent speaking slot has been reserved at the Connecticut on night one for Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Now, on the one hand, that must be very exciting for Senator Warren to know she has a dedicated prominent speaking slot on night one of the Democratic National Convention. On the other hand, night one is usually not when the vice presidential nominee makes his or her speech.
So, does that mean that Elizabeth Warren is definitely out as a potential Hillary Clinton running mate? Not necessarily. If they decide to choose Senator Warren as their V.P. choice, obviously they can move her speaking slot. It wouldn`t be the biggest deal in the world.
But them announcing today, letting it be known to reporters today, that she`s speaking on night one, that`s the current plan, that is a little tea leaf that we found out about today. And frankly, at this point in politics, it`s impossible to not try to read signs like that, to read tea leaves like this when we find them. In terms of the timing of Hillary Clinton`s running mate announcement, we`re now led to believe that her announcement will be timed to take full advantage of the fact that the Democrats are holding their convention second this year, after the Republicans.
And generally speaking, this sort of thing tends to be a good move. Republicans did it in 2008. The Republicans waited for the Democratic convention to end. They waited for the -- for nominee Barack Obama to have his ginormous acceptance speech at the huge stadium in Denver, to wow the country with one of the great Obama orations of all time, on this incredible stage, before a huge crowd.
But then the very next morning, quash. They stepped right on the tail of that story with their own Republican surprise announcement that John McCain had chosen for his running mate, a half term governor of Alaska who nobody had ever heard of. I mean, whatever you think of John McCain choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate, the timing of that surprise announcement in 2008, right after Obama`s convention, right between the two conventions, squashing the momentum from the successful Obama/Biden convention, and that incredible acceptance speech that Obama gave in Denver, whatever you think about that, the timing of that was very well-played by the McCain campaign in 2008. And the Clinton campaign is reportedly planning on similar timing with their announcement this year.
We`re told tonight that the Clinton campaign is planning to announce Hillary Clinton`s running mate, sometime during the three-day window, between the end of the Republican convention next week and the beginning of the Democratic convention the week after. So that means a week from Friday, Saturday, or Sunday, that`s when we`re going to get the Clinton announcement.
Now, in terms of who Hillary Clinton is likely to pick, we still really don`t know. There`s that intriguing Elizabeth Warren speaking slot news from today. Although really who knows what that means. There`s also a big joint appearance planned on Thursday this week, two days from now, for Hillary Clinton with Virginia Governor Tim Kaine.
And I know, I know, Tim Kaine is always derided as the boring choice for running mate. But if you want to know, part of the reason Tim Kaine is always in the running anytime any Democrat is looking for a potential vice presidential running mate, if you want to know why he`s the king of the short list, why he is always a bridesmaid -- well, behold, here is Tim Kaine`s last Sunday show appearance. Just watch this briefly, only about 20 seconds.
What subtle detail do you know about this Sunday show appearance that might set Tim Kaine apart from your typical, boring, short list perennial contender?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(SPEAKING SPANISH)
LEON KRAUZE: I know that if I ask you if you`re interested, you are going to tell me that you are thinking bout the Senate and about Virginia and so on, but does it excite you, Senator? Are you excited? Which is not the same thing as whether you are interested. Are you excited?
SEN. TIM KAINE (D), VIRGINIA: I am a very happy senator, Leon, very happy. I`m not looking for another job. Now, with Hillary`s campaign, I only have one responsibility, and that is ti win Virginia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: In Virginia. Tim Kaine speaking on Univision this weekend, giving the boilerplate denial that he`s not interested in being vice president and he`s happy to be senator from Virginia, but doing that boilerplate denial in fluent Spanish -- Spanish so fluent that he gets the jokes, he needs no translation, he knows when to smile and laugh and react to the Spanish- speaking anchor.
There are 320 million people in this country, 55 million of them are Hispanic. Tim Kaine is always on the Democratic vice presidential short list for a reason, and that is one of them.
We`ll get a little window into how seriously the Clinton campaign is really considering him as a running mate. We`ll get a little window into what the chemistry is like between Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton at their event that is scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Thursday event, Tim Kaine and Hillary Clinton.
In addition to the Elizabeth Warren buzz and the Tim Kaine buzz, there was also a brief flurry of reporting today about the possibility that the Clinton campaign was vetting former Navy Admiral James Stavridis.
Now, we don`t know how specific that prospect is. This is the first time his name has really surfaced. There were reports earlier in the day that they were vetting him. There were reports later in the day that Admiral Stavridis was not actually in serious contention. So, we don`t really know.
But in general, it`s not inconceivable that a retired military officer will be in the mix for one or even both of the presidential candidates this year. The Trump campaign just in the past few days floated and then un- floated the name of controversial retired general named Mike Flynn as a potential running mate for Donald Trump. Mr. Trump reportedly floated the name of retired General Stanley McChrystal this past week. General McChrystal himself who stomped all over that prospect today when he told CNN that he would not accept any role in a Donald Trump administration, emphasis on any.
Honestly, if the candidates are considering former military officers as possible running mates and it seems like both of them are, General Stanley McChrystal would make a much more sensible running mate for Hillary Clinton, not for Donald Trump. Even though it was Donald Trump who mentioned McChrystal`s name publicly, Donald Trump and Stanley McChrystal seems like an inconceivable political match-up.
And to the contrary, I would be surprised that Stanley McChrystal is not on the list that Hillary Clinton is considering, as her campaign continues to narrow down its choices. So, we shall see.
We do now tonight have some very specific reporting on the Republican side in terms of what to expect for a vice presidential announcement timing. The Trump campaign is now expected to reveal Donald Trump`s choice of running mate as some sort of orchestrated big public event on Friday of this week. Now, it`s possible that the selection will happen before that, that it could be leaked, that they`ll let it be known in a quieter way before Friday. But they are planning a vice presidential roll-out event on Friday.
Despite their earlier flirtation with General Mike Flynn, the remaining names on the short list for Trump tonight are reported to be three. Number one, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, number two, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, and number three, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
Now, if you`re trying to read the tea leaves in terms of deciding between the three of them, the easiest tea leaf to read on these guys is that the big, blaring, nationally broadcast one over at the FOX News Channel. FOX News Channel is very powerful, very rich, they get great ratings. More power to them. Not really.
But they are in an unusual position in American politics and American broadcasting in that the FOX News Channel is effectively the official TV station of the Republican Party. And whether you like that about them or you don`t, having FOX have the role of being official Republican TV, it does give us one very handy signal we wouldn`t otherwise have in American politics.
FOX News helps us know when specific Republican politicians are about to run for office. They make it really obvious. It`s like clock work, right? Republican politicians leave office, or they lose an election or something, they go then, get a job at FOX News. Then, as soon as they`re ready to run for office again, FOX News has to go through this big public display of firing them.
And so, we all get this very clear, sure-fire sign that a Republican politician is about to jump back into electoral politics when they get fired from FOX News for that purpose. It`s like when the white smoke starts coming out of the chimney at the top of the Sistine Chapel. You don`t know who the pope is, but you know they got a pope, white smoke.
It`s the same thing at FOX News. If you`re a Republican politician and you get fired from FOX News, clearly, it`s because you`re about to run for something. That`s how we knew that Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum were going to run for president in 2012. Bret Baier got on today and announced that they were both fired from FOX News on the same day.
It`s the same way when you found out that Liz Cheney was going to run for Senate in Wyoming. She got fired from FOX News. It`s how we found out Scott Brown was going to run for New Hampshire this time. He got fired from FOX News.
That`s how we find out that Ben Carson and Mike Huckabee were going to run for president in 2016, they got publicly fired at FOX News, so they could clear the way to make that run, and that`s how we all knew they`d be running.
Well, keeping that pattern in mind, you should note that today, Newt Gingrich, once again, got fired from FOX News. And so, maybe that means he`s going to be running with Donald Trump as Trump`s vice presidential running mate. Maybe it does. We will see.
Who knows? Maybe FOX just fired him for a week and they`re going to hire him back after the convention, once Trump names Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate. Who knows?
It`s almost not worth speculating on at this point if only because we don`t have to speculate for long. We just have to hold our breath and wait. We`re going to find out by the end of this week. So, your guessing time is almost up.
The real unanswered question is whether or not the sort of thing that is worth worrying about at this point, particularly for Republicans, is whether the vice presidential running mate announcement, whoever it is, the real thing to worry about, the real thing to wonder about, is whether it`s going to work. Whether it`s going to be a big enough deal that it`s going to make a difference in the campaign, because the latest data about the campaign, about the race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, the latest data is really bad for Donald Trump.
And the latest Pew National poll that just came out -- yes, sure, Hillary Clinton is beating Donald Trump overall, nationwide, no big deal, nine points. We`ve seen this before.
But look at this one slice of voters under the age of 30. Nate Cohn of "The New York Times" is first to point this out today. In the new national Pew poll, look at this, voters under 30 nationwide, not only are picking Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump by a huge margin, they`re actually picking Hillary Clinton and Gary Johnson over Donald Trump. Donald Trump is losing to Hillary Clinton and to the libertarian guy among voters ages 18 to 29.
"Bloomberg Politics" also has a new national poll out that has just devastating numbers for Trump, with a different slice of the electorate. Bloomberg looks specifically at white, college-educated voters, which is about a third of the electorate. In every election since 1952, white college educated voters have picked the Republican candidate for president.
In the last election, for example, Mitt Romney versus Barack Obama, white, college-educated voters went for Mitt Romney over Obama by a margin of 14 points, even though Obama won handily overall. White college educated voters are as closed as the Republican Party gets to a sure thing in national elections. But white college educated voters are right now, plus 11 for Hillary Clinton in this election.
If you broaden it out to all college educated voters, not just white people, but all college educated likely voters in this country, that`s a group President Obama actually won by two points in 2012. Hillary Clinton leads with those same voters not by two points, but by 22 points. And that`s a huge portion of the electorate. White college-educated voters is a third of the electorate in 2012. All college-educated voters, that was 47 percent of the electorate.
She`s got a 22-point lead with half of the electorate?
If you specifically focus in on likely voters who have graduate degrees, people who have not just a college degree, but a graduate degree beyond that, Hillary Clinton wins those voters by a 34-point margin, by 61-27 percent. And that dynamic is one that the Trump campaign has sort of tried to turn into lemonade a little bit. They`ve tried to celebrate that a little bit.
Do you remember when Donald Trump said this after Nevada?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESUMPTIVE PRESIDENTIAL NOMINEE: W won with poorly educated -- I love the poorly educated.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Donald Trump and his campaign may love their success with the poorly educated, but any Republican candidate who is losing college- educated white people by 11 points is going to lose a national election and badly.
So, that`s a big deficit from which he is starting as we head into the convention and are poised to hear who his vice presidential running mate is going to be. As we get down to the wire for the last big decisions of the presidential campaign, as the last tea leaves settle into the bottom of the dirty cup, in terms of who each of these candidates is going to pick as their running mate, is there anybody who Donald Trump could pick that would make a big enough difference to change the trajectory of this race for him? That`s next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MIKE PENCE (R), INDIANA: Let us resolve here and now that from this day forward, we will unite, we will stand together, we will not rest, we will not relent until we make this good man our next president. My fellow Hoosiers, I give you the next president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Indiana Governor Mike Pence, introducing Donald Trump, just a short time ago tonight, at a crowded rally in Westfield, Indiana.
Governor Mike Pence is not much of a household name. He also has his own re-election worries if he is going to stand for re-election as governor in Indiana. He`s only got about a 40 percent approval rating in his home state. A lot of national conservatives have turned on him because of the way his governorship has gone in Indiana.
But with all that stacked against him, he does now have the distinction of being on Donald Trump`s vice presidential short list. And we`re going to find out how short the list is going to get in just a matter of days.
Joining us now is MSNBC political correspondent Steve Kornacki.
Steve, good to be here.
STEVE KORNACKI, MSNBC POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure.
MADDOW: In terms of Mike Pence, I have always felt like Mike Pence`s reputation was bigger than Mike Pence -- is bigger than what Mike Pence has earned in the terms of the way that he`s governed. He`s never passed a bill in Congress. He`s been deeply unpopular as a governor in Indiana. National conservatives have started to sour on him a little bit.
Why is his reputation so much bigger than what it would seem like he`s earned on paper?
KORNACKI: I think in this case, it`s a fight of comparison. Most people think it`s come down to Pence and Gingrich. Maybe Trump has a surprise up his sleeve, we never know. But the conventional wisdom is that he`s deciding between Pence and Gingrich.
You look at Gingrich, he had the ethics violations when he was in Congress. He has all sort of personal baggage. He has a tendency to say things that raise eyebrows. When you compare Pence to Gingrich, Pence has more convention credentials without the sort of flamboyance of a Gingrich, without a lot of this sort of obvious baggage of a Gingrich.
So, I think when you compare the two of them, it starts to look like Donald Trump is choosing here between sort of a safe conventional establishment pick in Mike Pence, and then Donald Trump, who wants to do something unconventional, the showman Donald Trump, in maybe the Newt Gingrich pick.
MADDOW: Why is Chris Christie not in the running anymore as far as you see it?
KORNACKI: There`s two factors there. One, obviously, that bridgegate thing is still hanging over Chris Christie.
The other thing is, when you look inside Donald Trump`s world, I`ve never gotten past the fact that Donald Trump`s son-in-law, the husband of Ivanka, Jared Kushner, his father was prosecuted by Chris Christie, and when you start to see the history there and you start to consider the role that Jared Kushner plays in Chris Christie`s world right now, I have always had a hard time seeing how Donald Trump would bring him in as vice president.
MADDOW: And that hasn`t changed at all as you see how close Christie has kept Trump?
KORNACKI: And Christie has his reasons and Christie certainly hopes he can get this, and maybe something`s happening behind the scenes. It`s unthinkable to people who know the Chris Christie, Jared Kushner world. It`s unthinkable how this could happen.
Sure, maybe there`s been an alignment behind the scenes. It would be an incredible story if that were true. But just having covered Chris Christie putting Jared Kushner`s father in jail ten years ago, humiliating him.
I mean, it wasn`t just prosecuting him, he revealed stuff about it was a scheme involving prostitutes, crossing state lines, he prosecuted him under a hundred-year-old statute, that brought the prostitution of it into it. There`s a history there, I just -- it`s hard for me to see how that would happen.
MADDOW: If it`s Pence or Gingrich or somebody else who we`re not talking about, is there a vice presidential pick in the world who could radically change the trajectory of Donald Trump`s national election prospects?
KORNACKI: Here`s what I always think when that question comes up, in any scenario like this. Think back to 1988, Lloyd Bentsen, Dan Quayle. The ultimate line in any political debate in history was Lloyd Bentsen saying to Dan Quayle, "Senator, you`re no Jack Kennedy." It`s the all-time best line in a political debate, I don`t care what level.
MADDOW: Greatest contrast too just to the extent of the vice presidential choices.
KORNACKI: Exactly, in terms of experience, in terms of stature. Everything across the board. Did Lloyd Bentsen help Michael Dukakis at all? There`s zero evidence he did anything. Dukakis lost in a landslide.
MADDOW: So, it`s going to be fun to see who Trump picks, and it will be consequential if Trump wins, but nothing`s going to change what`s going to happen anyway.
KORNACKI: I think so.
MADDOW: See, the good thing about having Steve Kornacki on TV, he tells you how things end. So if you don`t want to pay attention to the middle part, you can skip to the end and know how it will all work out. He`s actually very relieving in that way, even when it`s bad news.
We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MADDOW: Police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, tonight say they have stopped what they`re calling a credible threat to shoot police officers in that city. Law enforcement officials in Baton Rouge say there were four suspects involved in what they`re describing as a plot against police. They say the four suspects broke into a local pawn shop and stole multiple handguns.
The police say the suspects` intent was to shoot police officers in that city. Three of the four suspects in this case have been arrested. One of them is only 13 years old. The others are 17 and 20.
A fourth suspect remains at large. Police say they are searching for that suspect, and they are concerned that this remaining suspect they haven`t arrested, that he may have, in his possession, some of the stolen firearms that have not yet been recovered after the pawn store robbery.
Now, this, of course, comes less than a week after the shooting death of Alton Sterling by Baton Rouge police, and the protests that have followed that death. After that killing and the police killing of another African- American man, Philando Castile in Minnesota, and after the murder of five police officers in Dallas, it is an understatement to say that many communities across this country are very much on edge right now.
Today in Dallas, the president, and other political leaders, tried to do what they could, to say what they could, to try to pull us back from that edge. That story is ahead.
Stay with us.
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MADDOW: One month ago today, we woke up to the news that in the early hours of the morning, a gunman had opened fired in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, and killed 49 people, a month ago today, June 12th. That was the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. It was the worst terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11. President Obama spoke about Orlando that day from the White House briefing room.
Today, one month later exactly, President Obama addressed a mourning nation again, this time following the worst attack on law enforcement since 9/11. He cut short his trip to Europe to return to Dallas today to speak at a memorial service for the five police officers who were shot in the streets of downtown Dallas last Thursday night.
This was a profoundly non-partisan event. Texas Senator Ted Cruz flew to Texas with the president today on Air Force One. President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush were also there on stage with the Obamas. Former President Bush gave brief remarks at the service. He almost never speaks publicly now but he did today.
And President Obama gave remarks, remarks that were moving, which I think a lot of people expected, especially once we learned the president would be writing the speech himself. I`m not sure that we expected that his remarks would be so personal, and in some ways, also just profoundly sad.
Watch some of what the president had to say today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, I`m not naive. I have spoken at too many memorials during the course of this presidency. I`ve hugged too many families who`ve lost a loved one to senseless violence. And I`ve seen how a spirit of unity, born of tragedy, can gradually dissipate, overtaken by the return to business as usual, by inertia, by old habits and expediency.
I see how easily we slip back into our old notions, because they`re comfortable, we`re used to them. I`ve seen how inadequate words can be in bringing about lasting change. I`ve seen how adequate my own words have been.
And so, I`m reminded of the passage in John`s gospel. "Let us love not with words or speech but with actions and in truth."
As a society, we choose to under-invest in decent schools. We allow poverty to fester so that entire neighborhoods offer no prospect for gainful employment.
(APPLAUSE)
We refuse to fund drug treatment and mental health programs.
(APPLAUSE)
We flood communities with so many guns that it is easier for a teenager to buy a Glock, than get his hands on a computer or even a book.
(APPLAUSE)
And then we tell the police, you`re a social worker, you`re the parent, you`re the teacher, you`re the drug counselor. We tell them to keep those neighborhoods in check at all costs. And do so without causing any political blowback or inconvenience. Don`t make a mistake that might disturb our own peace of mind. And then we feign surprise when periodically the tensions boil over.
We know those things to be true. They`ve been true for a long time.
We know it! Police, you know it. Protesters, you know it. You know how dangerous some of the communities where these police officers serve are. And you pretend as if there`s no context.
These things we know to be true, and if we cannot even talk about these things, if we cannot talk honestly and openly, not just in the comfort of our own circles, but with those who look different than us, or bring a different perspective, then we will never break this dangerous cycle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: This was the 11th time President Obama has traveled to an American city in the immediate aftermath of a mass shooting. There are six months left in his time in office. How many more of these will there be?
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MADDOW: By the time the 1988 Democratic presidential primary was over, Jesse Jackson had won 13 states. Jesse Jackson had secured 1,200 Democratic delegates. After running away with Michigan, Jesse Jackson briefly became the front-runner in the 1988 presidential campaign.
Now, in the end, Jesse Jackson came in second to Michael Dukakis. But Jackson and his supporters felt that he had earned some leverage in that campaign, that he ought to have some say in the future of the party, given how well he did in the primary.
Michael Dukakis, as it turns out, did not share that view.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Democratic Party today was presented with a platform for to Michael Dukakis to run on. The platform committee which met in Denver produced a document which is short in length, details and controversy, which is just what Dukakis wanted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jesse Jackson was in Puerto Rico today, vowing to take his flat form fight to the floor of the convention.
JESSE JACKSON, FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I do not think bland is beautiful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Dukakis from his Nantucket island vacation got exactly what he wanted.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Governor Dukakis does not support a tax increase. Governor Dukakis does not support a reduction in defense expenditures.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Former Congressman Michael Barnes led the Dukakis defense.
Every Jackson bombshell fizzled, Palestine, taxing the rich, all of Jackson`s ultra liberal proposals were rejected.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did Dukakis lose anything at all here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did Jackson win anything?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The goal was to be on the inside with a microphone, rather than on the outside with a picket sign.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: It did not do Jesse Jackson much tangible good to be on the inside in 1988. But that is hugely the way it goes. I mean, the winner of the primary is the leader of the party, and he or she gets to decide what the party is going to be from there on out, including stuff like the party platform.
So, considering that history, considering the way it usually is, when Bernie Sanders did give his endorsement to Hillary Clinton today, four weeks after the end of the Democratic primary, he was able to claim a rare and pretty remarkable achievement, even though its candidacy was ultimately not successful, he did genuinely succeed in moving the Democratic Party and moving the Democratic Party`s nominee to the left. And on the most important stuff, he got it in writing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: It is no secret that Hillary Clinton and I disagree on a number of issues. That is what this campaign has been about. That is what democracy is about.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
But I am happy to tell you that at the Democratic platform committee, which ended Sunday night in Orlando, there was a significant coming together between the two campaigns and we produced --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
We produced by far the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party!
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Indeed the Sanders` camp got the language they wanted on almost every plank of the party platform, from the minimum wage, to breaking up the big banks, to carbon pricing, to the abolishing the death penalty.
Hillary Clinton last week threw her support behind tuition free higher education for families under a certain income threshold, which is a significant step, and Senator Sanders` direction on the issue of college tuition. Both Secretary Clinton and President Obama have vocally renewed their support for a public option under Obamacare. Remember the public option? It`s now back.
Bernie Sanders is apparently happy enough with these developments and others that today his campaign announced that they will not be filing what they called minority reports at the Democratic Convention. Minority reports are where you lay out disagreements with the party platform. It means you have floor fights, over not necessarily the nominee, but over policy, over the platform. There are not going to be floor fights over the platform at the convention. That is something that Senator Sanders had threatened in the past and we now know it`s not going to happen.
It`s worth appreciating what Bernie Sanders has achieved and how rare it is. Here was not the world`s most high profile senator, right, launching a presidential bid in a party he was not even a member of and he came closer than anybody thought possible to beating the overwhelming favorite for the nomination.
And instead of just losing to the front-runner and marveling about it like 17 Republicans did with Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders in defeat actually managed to significantly and substantively shift the Democratic Party in his direction, which is nothing can be said by any of the Republicans who lost to Donald Trump.
And Bernie Sanders interest still going. He`s not done. In an e-mail to supporters today, he announced his endorsement. He also announced that he will be rolling out plans for what he called successor organizations, to carry on the struggle that we have been a part of these past 15 months.
My question is, what`s that going to look like? We`ve got an answer for that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SANDERS: She will be the Democratic nominee for president. And I intend to do everything I can to make certain she will be the next president of the United States.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Senator Bernie Sanders today, in New Hampshire, saying he`ll do everything he can to help Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump in November.
Joining us now is Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders campaign manager.
Mr. Weaver, it`s really nice to be here tonight. Thanks for your time.
JEFF WEAVER, BERNIE SANDERS CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Thanks, Rachel. You can just call me Jeff. It`s fine.
MADDOW: OK. Well, old habits die hard. On that personal note, let me just ask you how you`re doing. I mean, this is a big political moment for the country and for the Democratic Party, but for you, this is the end of a long, hard, emotional road for you, running this campaign.
WEAVER: Well, it is, Rachel. It will be good to spend more time with my family, but I`ve been working with Bernie Sanders off and on since 1986. So, I don`t see it as the end of the road. The political revolution that Bernie Sanders talked about during his campaign continues. It would continue whether he was president, whether Hillary Clinton is president, whether Donald Trump is president. I hope to be part of that revolution going forward.
MADDOW: Well, Senator Sanders said in the e-mail to supporters today he`s going to establish successor organizations to continue the work of the campaign. What are those successor organizations and what will they do?
WEAVER: Well, I think you`ll see a number of sister organizations, Rachel, which will be focused, A, on policy, B, on recruiting, identifying and training progressive candidates at the local, state, and federal level, as well as some organizations that are dedicated solely to electoral politics.
As I said, you know, Bernie Sanders talks about this political revolution, as you`ve heard him say many times, if he were elected president, he would need millions of people on the mall to help force the Congress do what needs to be done. I think if Hillary Clinton is president, she`s going to need that as well.
We need to create this mass movement if people that started with Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. But this was never about one candidate. This is about transforming the country and mobilizing people from one end of it to the other. And we`re going to do that.
MADDOW: Is there anything out there in modern political history that we can compare it to? Obviously, the Obama campaign tried to transform itself into Obama for America. Obama for America didn`t end up being a major force in progressive politics or any kind of politics. We`ve seen sort of more successful organizing efforts like that on the right, thinking about something like the Christian Coalition, which I talked to Senator Sanders about in our last interview, asking if that might be a kind of model for moving forward.
Are you basing these plans on anything else that has existed?
WEAVER: Now, Rachel, I think the country is at a unique time. I think the Democratic Party, the rank and file of the Democratic Party, and a Democratically aligned independents are realizing, coming back home, after a period of time when the Democratic Party moved to the right after the Reagan era, I think the Democratic Party is moving back into its normal historical trajectory.
I think we found it on the stump, I think Secretary Clinton found it as well as Senator Sander found it, that the rank and file of the Democratic Party is much more progressive, I think, than people had anticipated.
I think there`s a yearning out there for a type that`s going to be able to harness that energy and to use it to put into effect that platform. We talked about that progressive platform that was just passed. Well, we needed elected officials who are going to be able to pass that platform in the Congress.
MADDOW: Senator Sanders today said that talking about that platform, saying the way that platform gets implemented is with not only a Democratic Senate, which seems very possible this year, but a Democratic House which would be a much tougher roe to hoe, and, of course, a Democratic presidency in Hillary Clinton, what should we expect just towards the election?
I recognize the goals go on longer term and they go on beyond the election.
WEAVER: Sure.
MADDOW: But just toward the November election, what should we expect from Senator Sanders in terms of campaigning and organizing?
WEAVER: Well, I think you`re going to see Senator Sanders actively campaigning from one end of the country to the other, as he said. I think you`ll see him on the stump a lot. I think he`s going to be stumping for Secretary Clinton, obviously, to help her become president of the United States.
In addition to that, I think you`re going to see him stumping for progressive Senate and House candidates from one end of this country to the other. So, people are going to see a lot of Bernie Sanders. I think he`s going to be able to excite and generate enthusiasm for a lot of young people, the young people who supported in this campaign from Democratically aligned independents, from working class people in a lot of the battleground states.
So, I think he`s going to be effective on the stump in bringing together the type of coalition the Democrats are going to need to elect Hillary Clinton and to elect Democrats up and down the ballot.
MADDOW: Jeff, there is a Bernie or bust contingent among Sanders supporters. People started shouting and making themselves known that they`re not on board with this endorsement, that even if Senator Sanders is going to work for Hillary Clinton, they don`t want to. As your perspective, how many of those folks do you think they are and do you think the Clinton campaign should worry about them? Do you think Senator Sanders has a strategy for trying to change their minds?
WEAVER: Well, I do think that one has to worry about them. One of the concerns is, a lot of these voters won`t necessarily vote for Trump but they`ll stay home on Election Day. Look, let me say, I`ve worked on this campaign on the get-go, no one has poured more of their heart and soul into this campaign, other than the senator and Jane Sanders than I have. When I go home and look at my kids in their face, I cannot imagine a future where Donald Trump becomes the president and my children have to grow up in that type of society.
So, the way we stop that is to elect Hillary Clinton president of the United States. As I mentioned before, the Reagan era, many people thought when Ronald Reagan was president, he was so extreme that he was going to usher a great progressive revolt. Well, what would happen is that the politics and America moved sharply to the right, including Democratic Party and the corporate take over of the Democratic Party.
We`ve almost left that period behind, a little bit of hang over with groups like Third Way and corporate funding groups like Third Way, but the Democratic Party is back on its historic strategy and we need to move forward. And some people may say, we`re not moving forward fast enough.
But Bernie Sanders fought very hard in this contest, but he did not win, Hillary Clinton win. But we have got to support her to keep this country going forward. We cannot leave our children in the hands of Donald Trump. That would be a tragedy.
MADDOW: You`re going to vote for Hillary Clinton?
WEAVER: Yes, I am. And I`m going to work for her between now and then.
MADDOW: Jeff Weaver, Bernie Sanders` campaign manager on what I know is a tough day and big change. I wish you the best particularly in getting back to your life and back to your family and getting some rest after this long hall, Jeff. Thanks for being here.
WEAVER: Nice to talk with you, Rachel.
MADDOW: Thanks.
All right. We`ll be right back. Stay with us.
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MADDOW: Here`s a weird one. Truly, truly unexpected. Today we learned that Donald Trump`s state headquarters in Florida is closed, closed for business, and it will be closed all next week. Florida headquarters, closed, why is that? The answer will surprise you, and it is straight ahead.
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MADDOW: So, this is posted outside Donald Trump`s Florida`s headquarters in Sarasota. It says, "Temporarily closed to the public while our office works to prep for the national convention in Cleveland."
Temporarily closed, that`s the state headquarters in Florida. After "The A.P." reported on this closed for business sign in Florida today, we actually called the number you see on the flyer. We got an automated message saying, memory is full. They get lots of messages. But they`re very busy.
Perhaps they`ve been working on the convention speakers for the Republican convention. First they said we`ll get that list last Wednesday, then they push it to Thursday, then we were told we would be able to report a list of speakers today. So far, this is what we`ve got, nothing, on the record.
According to the official Republican convention app, the only confirmed speaker thus far is George Washington. Seriously, George Washington, I don`t know, I`m sure he`s very nice, no relation, right?
Mitt Romney announced his convention speakers three weeks ahead, this time, we`re less than a week out, still no idea. Some speakers are revealing themselves that they`ll be there. Today, Mitch McConnell said he would address the convention, so you can get excited for that.
We also know to expect to speeches from Ted Cruz, from Paul Ryan, and Scott Walker. But at this point, the list who won`t speak is longer. Basically, all the people Trump has ever insulted, choke artist Mitt Romney, low energy Jeb Bush, or his older brother George Bush, who you can blame for 9/11. Also John not a war hero McCain, little Marco Rubio, disgusting eater John Kasich.
Today, "Politico" reported on Republican political operatives who are skipping the convention in droves. One guy, Republican operative named Will Ritter told "Politico", quote, "I would rather attend the public hanging of a good friend."
Donald Trump says Romney`s convention in 2012 was boring. He promised he`ll have a much more showbiz feel to it. Maybe with some star power, maybe it will. But at this point, we`ll have to take his word for it.
It kicks off in six days. We have no idea what`s going to happen.
That does it for tonight. We`ll see you again tomorrow.
Now, it`s time for "THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL".
Good evening, Lawrence.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END