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The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Transcript 6/9/2016

Guests: Nicholas Kristof, Al Franken, Rick Tyler

Show: THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O`DONNELL Date: June 9, 2016 Guest: Nicholas Kristof, Al Franken, Rick Tyler

RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: Big day in politics today. Now, I`m off to 

figure out how to best mix Gatorade and pure grain alcohol.

I also need to find Chris Hayes to apologize for him, to him for saying that his show airs on weekend night, it airs 8:00 week days.

I don`t know what I was thinking. Anyway, sorry, Chris, that does it for us tonight, we will see you again tomorrow, now, it`s time for THE LAST WORD with Lawrence O`Donnell, good evening, Lawrence.

LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: So, Rachel, you spend weekend nights watching Chris Hayes on your DVR, I think.

MADDOW: Yes --

O`DONNELL: OK --

MADDOW: Also, you know, he is the secret star of all those prison shows.

O`DONNELL: I got it. Rachel, great interview, we`re going to play more that I want to get your analysis of it. Can you just stay in the studio there.

We`re going to play --

MADDOW: Absolutely --

O`DONNELL: A little of the interview with -- I want to get the Rachel Maddow take on the Rachel Maddow interview of Elizabeth Warren --

MADDOW: I`ll be right here --

O`DONNELL: OK, great.

MADDOW: Thank you, man --

O`DONNELL: Stay right there.

MADDOW: Thanks.

O`DONNELL: All two of us tonight, Senator Al Franken who was the first senator to endorse Hillary Clinton, he will join us on this very important political day in Washington that saw President Obama lead the way to Democratic Party unity.

While Republicans in Washington continue to distance themselves from Donald Trump and condemn his attacks on that federal judge who Elizabeth Warren defended so strongly tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I am with her.

CHUCK TODD, MODERATOR, MEET THE PRESS: The Democratic Party is coming together in full force for Hillary Clinton today.

SEN. WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS: I am ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for Hillary Clinton.

OBAMA: I am fired up, and I cannot wait to get out there and campaign for Hillary.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We`re still family.

(CHEERS)

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: Bernie is going to be good for the party.

SANDERS: We can work together to defeat Donald Trump.

WARREN: Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud.

GOV. JOHN KASICH (R), OHIO: I can`t go for dividing, name-calling.

JOE BIDEN, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This behavior in a president smacks of authoritarianism and tyranny.

WARREN: You, Donald Trump are a total disgrace.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it too late for the party to find another choice?

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: He won the delegates, he won fair and square.

WARREN: Now is the time to stand up. Now is the time to say no.

(APPLAUSE)

Not here, not in these United States of America.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Just moments ago, speaking with Rachel Maddow as you saw in an exclusive Msnbc interview here.

Senator Elizabeth Warren finally made an endorsement. Elizabeth Warren was the only woman, Democratic woman in the Senate who had not endorsed Hillary Clinton.

Tonight, within the last hour, she finally made up her mind and made her announcement on Rachel`s show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN: I am ready to get in this fight and work my heart out for Hillary Clinton to become the next president of the United States, and to make sure that Donald Trump never gets any place close to the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: And just about an hour and a half before that in Washington, Senator Warren gave a speech to the American Constitution Society; a national group of constitutional scholars.

She said that Donald Trump`s attacks on the judge handling his fraud case in California are a threat to America`s judiciary.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN: Judge Curiel is one of countless American patriots who has spent decades quietly serving his country.

Sometimes at great risk to his own life. Donald Trump is a loud, nasty, thin-skinned fraud who has never risked anything for anyone, and who serves no one but himself.

(APPLAUSE)

And that is just one of the many reasons he will never be president of the United States.

(CHEERS)

(APPLAUSE

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: And here is former Harvard Law Professor Elizabeth Warren`s analysis of the Trump University fraud case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN: I taught law for more than 30 years, and you can ask any lawyer in America, and they will tell you, it sounds a lot like fraud. And --

(LAUGHTER)

I`m just saying. And by the way, that is exactly what Donald Trump is being sued for. He is being sued for fraud and worse for targeting the most vulnerable people he could find, lying to them, taking all their money and leaving them in debt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Joining us now Rachel Maddow, and "New York Times" columnist Nicholas Kristof. Rachel, fantastic, you led first question was the endorsement, she gave it to you right off the bat.

I just want to get your basic take on that 30 minutes with Elizabeth Warren.

MADDOW: You know, the thing that I did not know to expect in which it didn`t surprise me, but it made an impression on me that she`s really fired up.

I have interviewed her a number of times in a number of different circumstances, including sometimes that had some sort of political spotlight on some sort of political pressure.

I have never seen her sort of raring to go, as she was talking about this tonight. I think we`ve seen her ramping up in terms of the way she talks about Donald Trump.

She has real relish when she talks about Donald Trump. She enjoys going after him, she think it`s important.

She advances new story lines and new ways of talking about him in addition to putting that English that she does on the ball where she`s willing to call him names.

She`s willing to insult him, she`s sort of willing to get down in the mud the way that he does. We`ve seen that before, but in talking about Hillary Clinton, bragging on Hillary Clinton as someone who perseveres, bragging on Hillary Clinton as a fighter.

To say all the nice things she said about Bernie Sanders who went out, I didn`t ask her directly about Bernie Sanders before, she brought him up and started saying a lot of very complimentary and substantive things about him crediting him with a lot of change at the top end of the Democratic Party already.

But her praise, her personal praise for Hillary Clinton is something that I`ve never really -- never really heard before. And I think she made news in a lot of different ways.

O`DONNELL: And I guess, it was -- it was an amazing thing to watch the way she actually was able to do both at the same time.

And I think a lot of people watching the Sanders versus Clinton fight didn`t think that was possible. Here as someone came on with a fully praiseful of Hillary Clinton, fully praiseful of Bernie Sanders, and it never seemed strained.

MADDOW: Right, and we saw a little bit about as well from President Obama today. Of course, as the President in a video presentation that was clearly scripted, it was much more stayed, and it was sort of much more, you know, like you could sort of see them calculating it with a micrometer to get it exactly right in terms of that tone.

And she`s just ripping. She wasn`t working from note, she wasn`t working from anything prepared, she wasn`t reading me a speech or anything.

But she went chapter and verse of not just her admiration for Bernie Sanders, but why and the impact of what he`s done.

And then, right away, chapter and verse on her admiration for Hillary Clinton and why and what she`s done in making a totally unreserved, totally unreserved endorsement tonight.

I`m not sure that -- I think we knew she`d endorse at the end of the primary, I had no idea she would endorse like this.

O`DONNELL: And speaking of not trying to do a careful, politicians-woven answer with all sorts of politician verbiage, let`s just take a look at that last question which of course contains my favorite moment.

Let`s watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MADDOW: If you were asked to be Secretary Clinton`s running mate, do you believe you could do it? Ed Rendell, former DNC Chairman, former Pennsylvania governor said recently that you were in no -- not in any way, shape or form ready to be commander-in-chief.

I want to know if you think you could be?

WARREN: Yes, I do.

MADDOW: Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts making this endorsement for the first time tonight, Hillary Clinton for president.

Thank you for making that announcement on this show.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Rachel, I had to leave all that air hanging there because I loved it. I love seeing a politician basically giving a one word answer, just --

MADDOW: Yes --

O`DONNELL: Yes.

MADDOW: Yes, and you know what? I was trying to be piffy. I was trying to ask her a very short, direct question.

But I`m incapable of that because I can`t say anything without 40 parenthetical phrases on the way there. So, I asked her this elliptical blah blah, trying to be piffy, and then she just nailed it arrow to the heart.

Yes, I could. And so, I had to give her her due for not only not squirreling out of it, but for beating me in the way she talked about it.

O`DONNELL: And Nick Kristof, nothing in that interview indicated that this isn`t someone who is ready to accept the vice presidential nomination if she gets the call.

NICHOLAS KRISTOF, JOURNALIST: That`s true, but I mean, I`m sure she won`t get the call, I must say. I just don`t think that`s going to happen.

O`DONNELL: And I`m sure she will. So, here we go --

KRISTOF: And she will be a great commander-in-chief if she does. But --

O`DONNELL: No, I mean, tell me why you think she won`t get the call.

KRISTOF: Because I think --

O`DONNELL: I`ve said many times why I think she will, but you go ahead.

KRISTOF: Because I think that in the primary, I think Bernie Sanders pulled Hillary Clinton to the left. I think that beginning now, she`s going to be moving a little more toward the center.

And I think that she thinks that every sentient woman in America is -- maybe not every sentient woman. But every sentient woman with a conscience is going to already vote for her.

And that I don`t think she`s going to think that her message is, this woman is going to add to her ticket.

O`DONNELL: All right, Rachel, let me try this on you, because Hillary Clinton has been pulled to the left already and may have to move to the center.

Why would she try to find a politician more centrist than herself to do that? Why wouldn`t she let -- say, have someone like Elizabeth Warren in that slot on the ticket who by the way, as we`ve seen is the best battler against Donald Trump that we`ve seen out there, except for possibly Hillary Clinton.

And let Hillary Clinton do any movement to the center that she might want to do.

MADDOW: Yes, it`s interesting because this is --

(CROSSTALK)

O`DONNELL: We could go on for hours about this one --

MADDOW: We could -- OK, this one. It`s a little bit scrambled, too, ideologically. I absolutely hear what Nick is saying, but there is also this weird factor about Clinton`s opponent, Donald Trump, who will attack significantly to Clinton`s left on some economic issues including trade, and on a few other economic issues where he is not particularly populist.

But he makes himself sound populist. If Hillary Clinton is at all worried either because of the leftovers from the primary or because of the threat from Donald Trump about getting outflanked on sort of working class issues and economic populist issues.

There`s no better bolster for her on those issues other than Bernie Sanders than Elizabeth Warren. So, I think there`s a little bit of an ideological scrambling going on because Trump is such a weird opponent.

The other thing is that, you know, in the abstract, you would think that the first woman nominee would need to pick somebody like a grizzly Adams as I once put it to Hillary Clinton as her running mate in order to get the proper testosterone balance on the ticket.

But you know, I think, Hillary Clinton feels like she`s really strong on national security issues. I feel like she`s seen as tough, maybe even tough to a fault.

According to her critics end, maybe she doesn`t feel insecure on that -- on that front, and maybe that`s not the way she feels like she needs to bolster what she`s offering.

O`DONNELL: All right, I want to play a piece, Rachel, I want to play this for Nick, a piece of your interview, Elizabeth Warren talking about Bernie Sanders.

Because we all woke up this morning to a Nick Kristof column, very concerned about how to achieve unity between the Clinton campaign and the Sanders campaign.

Let`s listen to what Senator Warren said about Bernie Sanders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WARREN: What Bernie Sanders did was powerfully important. He ran a -- he ran a campaign full of heart. And he ran a campaign where he took these issues and he really thrust them into the spotlight.

And he brought millions of people into the political process. He brought millions of people into the Democratic Party.

I take my cue on every part of this, from Bernie himself, and what he said right at the beginning. But what this is about, what we`re doing here is about millions of people across this country.

Millions of people who work hard every day and just keep getting slammed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Nick, the Clinton campaign has to be able to talk about Bernie Sanders that way in order to attract those Sanders supporters.

KRISTOF: That`s right. I mean, I share Senator Warren sense that Bernie Sanders did an extraordinary job of elevating --

O`DONNELL: And you made that point in your column --

KRISTOF: Absolutely --

O`DONNELL: As you -- as you included your concerns about what else might be involved --

KRISTOF: But --

O`DONNELL: Yes --

KRISTOF: He also -- I mean, the upside is that we also have these real fishers in the party. And you see, you know, 25 percent of Sanders supporters say right now -- and this is admittedly a time of peace --

O`DONNELL: Yes --

KRISTOF: And upset --

O`DONNELL: Yes --

KRISTOF: That they will not vote for Clinton. And half of those say they would actually vote for Trump.

And I must say, my Twitter feed today was full of people who said Clinton - - from Sanders` supporters who said Clinton is the enemy, there`s no difference between Clinton and Trump.

And I think now, we`re beginning to see today a process of healing that I hope is going to get us beyond that.

Anybody who remembers what happened in 2000, and you know, idealists voting for NATO in ways that arguably ended up electing George W. Bush.

We should hope this is a healing process.

O`DONNELL: And let`s remember that in 2008, there was no President Obama, there was no Obama figure to unite the Obama and the Clinton campaigns the way President Obama is uniquely empowered to do.

Rachel, you asked Elizabeth Warren this question that I was so fascinated by because I think we`ve had an image of Elizabeth Warren being kind of isolated, you know, we know she`s a very real friend of Bernie`s in policy terms and otherwise.

We know that she had that very famous rendezvous with Vice President Biden when he was considering running for president.

And we know she`s the only woman, only Democratic woman in the Senate who had not endorsed Hillary Clinton.

And so, you asked, had she been talking to these people? Had she been talking to Hillary Clinton? Had she been talking to Bernie Sanders?

And it was so fascinating to hear what she said about that because she`s not been someone isolated off in her office that all those --

MADDOW: Right --

O`DONNELL: Groups we`re wondering about.

MADDOW: Right, she said, and I am -- I felt a little bit shy about asking the question because I don`t want to pretend like politics is high school.

And I`m not one of these people who believes that everything would go great if only politicians, you know, played more golf together or whatever that freaking diagnosis is.

At the same time, we are talking about pretty a specific group of people and a specific number of things that need to get done.

If the Democratic Party is going to become more of a natural home for Bernie Sanders and his millions of supporters.

Does Democratic Party need to start standing for some of the stuff that Sanders stands for that the Democratic Party hasn`t been particularly welcoming about or hasn`t been effectual about in the past.

And so, I want to know how does that happen? Do you -- do you guys negotiate it? Do you talk about it? People who are influential within the party.

And she said those conversations are happening and I`m not sure that we can gauge whether there are real friendships, I`m not sure whether that is the part of it that really matters.

But I think what I am starting to see clear and clear day-by-day as this Democratic primary ends, is that the goal that the Democratic Party needs to go for is not that Bernie Sanders needs to be a hero.

Is not that Bernie Sanders needs to be sort of put in a trophy case as a guy who ran a noble campaign that didn`t win.

What needs to happen is that Bernie Sanders needs to be a Democrat at the end of this, both in name and in deed.

And the movement that he created needs to be seen as and defined as and welcomed as a part of the Democratic Party.

He needs to be seen as an integral functional part of the Democratic Party. He`s not only not resented, but not outside it.

There has to be a Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party that is absolutely integral to the decisions that happened on a day-to-day basis on policy and strategy and all of those things.

Otherwise, you are going to keep alienated liberal base outside of the political process in this country and it`s going to hurt Democrats in every race for the country for another ten years.

O`DONNELL: Which cues us up perfectly for our next guest in the next segment Senator Al Franken. I will ask him what role Bernie Sanders will now play when he returns to the Senate.

Rachel Maddow, Nicholas Kristof, thank you both very much for joining --

MADDOW: Oh, thank you --

O`DONNELL: Rachel, really, greatly appreciate you hanging around for this, thank you very much.

MADDOW: You`re very kind to have me, thanks, Lawrence.

O`DONNELL: Coming up, as I said, our next guest, Senator Al Franken, he endorsed Hillary Clinton before she even knew she was running for president.

And in tonight`s war room, how does Donald Trump go up against the power of the Democrats and all those supporters that Hillary Clinton will have out on the campaign trail.

Who will Donald Trump have out on the campaign trail for him?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Whoever the next president is, God willing in my view will be Secretary Clinton.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: That was Joe Biden tonight in a speech in Washington where all of the Democrats are now pretty much supporting and endorsing Hillary Clinton.

The very first senator to endorse Hillary Clinton, Senator Al Franken is here, he will join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O`DONNELL: Elizabeth Warren is not the first senator to choose Msnbc as the venue for endorsing Hillary Clinton.

On December 16th, 2014, yes, I`m going to say that year again, 2014 before any Democratic candidates had announced they were running for president.

Here is what Senator Al Franken told Ari Melber.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. AL FRANKEN (D), MINNESOTA: I think that Hillary would make a great president. I haven`t announced that I`m supporting her, but does this count? I guess, maybe it was kind of --

ARI MELBER, MSNBC: Here`s the question. Do you -- do you need to see who all the candidates are first before you publicly endorse her?

FRANKEN: No, I think that, you know, I am ready for Hillary.

MELBER: So, you are endorsing her today?

FRANKEN: If this is what you call an endorsement? I guess, yes, so, yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Joining us now, Senator Al Franken, Democratic senator from the great state of Minnesota.

FRANKEN: I guess I wasn`t expecting the question --

(LAUGHTER)

O`DONNELL: Yes --

FRANKEN: At the time, but yes --

O`DONNELL: Well, I --

FRANKEN: Of course --

O`DONNELL: I have to, now, it`s my job to come up with that question that you`re not expecting tonight. So, I can come and --

FRANKEN: OK --

O`DONNELL: Get you into one of those. So, look, what I heard President Obama say today about Hillary Clinton being as qualified or perhaps the most qualified candidate he`s seen for president.

That is exactly what you said to Ari Melber before the field of candidates emerged.

FRANKEN: Oh, that`s what I felt. But I think she -- I`ve known her for 20 something years, and she is the smartest, hardest working, toughest person I know and most experienced for this job.

So, I thought that she was the best person for this job back then, and I still do.

O`DONNELL: All right, let`s listen to the way President Obama echoed Al Franken today, because Al Franken said this almost two years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OBAMA: I know how hard this job can be. That`s why I know Hillary will be so good at it. In fact, I don`t think there`s ever been someone so qualified to hold this office.

She`s got the courage, the compassion and the heart to get the job done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FRANKEN: I think that you can see that he was expecting the question.

O`DONNELL: Yes, it --

FRANKEN: Rare --

O`DONNELL: Seemed like yes, like he didn`t get blindsided by that --

FRANKEN: Look --

O`DONNELL: One --

FRANKEN: I think he timed this just right. I think this is the proper time for him to do this. I know, he`s worked so close with Hillary, obviously as -- in her role as Secretary of State.

That I am sure he`s felt that way. But this was the right time for him to do this.

O`DONNELL: And you know, when Senator Sanders came out of the White House today, he said a couple of things.

He said he was going to go through the D.C., District of Columbia election next Tuesday, wanted to see the votes come in on that.

Very conspicuously, what he did not say and has not said again today is, that we`re going to the convention. I noticed that that was left out.

But there was a lot of speculation after he spoke in the driveway of the White House that OK, well, the President will wait until D.C. has voted, and will have a week here for everyone to sort of ramp down to this.

But the President took charge of this today. It seemed to me to be -- the president was saying, look, we have to get moving, we cannot lose five days in this campaign.

FRANKEN: Yes, I don`t -- I think Bernie -- what Bernie was saying was, you know, give me a little time here.

Look, here is a guy who had crowds of 10, 15, 20,000 people, who created this movement, who brought these issues to the forefront that are so crucial and important about the middle class, about the hollowing out of the middle class.

Something that Elizabeth Warren has been identifying, talking about for a very long time. And you know, this is, he came very close, and this is hard.

And give him some time. But he also said that he is going to do everything in his power to make sure that Donald Trump isn`t the president.

And he is very powerful, Bernie.

O`DONNELL: Yes --

FRANKEN: He has his huge following, and so, that gives me a lot of confidence that Bernie is going to -- I take him at his word.

He`s going to do everything in his power to make sure that Donald Trump isn`t the president.

O`DONNELL: Let`s listen to what Bernie said today out in the White House driveway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANDERS: Needless to say, I am going to do everything in my power, and I will work as hard as I can, to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States.

I spoke recently to Secretary Clinton on Tuesday night, and I congratulated her on her very strong campaign. I look forward to meeting with her in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: Senator Franken, when Bernie Sanders returns to the United States Senate after a campaign that I am sure surprised everyone there.

I mean, I have said publicly, I expected Bernie Sanders to run at least as well as Dennis Kucinich, maybe get up to 10 points in the polls if he was lucky.

He showed me something I didn`t know he was capable of, I believe he showed all his colleagues, something that he -- that they didn`t know he was capable of as a campaigner.

But I think possibly also, that they didn`t know it was out there in the electorate. What does it mean when he walks back into the Democratic caucus?

FRANKEN: Well, I am envisioning him coming into the caucus lunch, which is where we all get together and getting a long, standing ovation.

O`DONNELL: Yes --

FRANKEN: I mean, this was --

O`DONNELL: Yes --

FRANKEN: A very admirable and incredibly successful campaign. And he mobilized so many people.

And these are important people to bring in to the Democratic Party -- with us in -- the caucus. He is an important member of our caucus.

His position has been elevated in many different ways. And I`m looking forward to him coming back. And again, you know, the -- it`s -- I think it`s a very difficult thing to be so close, and that`s why I feel like -- give him something -- give him a little bit of time here.

Give him that time, but I know that he is going to be a very powerful force for Hillary and for the Democratic Party in this election.

O`DONNELL: Senator, as you know there`s a lot of talk about who is going to be the vice presidential nominee in the Democratic side.

Your name is on lists as is Elizabeth Warren and others. Let me put it to you this way. Is there any Democratic Senator, any member of the Senate Democrat who would turn it down?

FRANKEN: I don`t think so.

O`DONNELL: OK --

(LAUGHTER)

FRANKEN: You know, I think there`d be a number of us who would be surprised if we were chosen. But listen, we`ve got -- you know, and there aren`t -- and there are other people who are being mentioned who aren`t senators.

But we have some senators that are just -- that I`d be very excited about including Elizabeth, including Tim Kaine, including Sherrod Brown, including Amy Klobuchar from my state.

So, we have a lot of people who I would be very enthusiastic about fighting for that ticket. And I`m obviously very excited about --

O`DONNELL: Yes --

FRANKEN: The first woman nominated of a major political party.

O`DONNELL: And you know, there`s a lot of talk. People say, oh, you know, this senator or that senator, including Elizabeth Warren is too powerful in the Senate or they are too valuable in the Senate.

And I keep trying to tell people, not as powerful as Joe Biden has been for the last eight years. LBJ didn`t turn it down when he was majority leader, Lloyd Bentsen didn`t turn it down when he was chairman of finance.

And so, thank you for confirming my belief that there is not a Democrat in the Senate who would not turn it down.

FRANKEN: No, I can`t conceive of someone turning it down. You know, I could see -- you know, I could see - you know, and especially, obviously, if Hillary Clinton were to ask you to do it, you might be surprised.

O`DONNELL: Senator Al Franken, thank you very much for joining us on this very big political day in Washington. Really appreciate it.

FRANKEN: Thank you, Lawrence.

O`DONNELL: Thank you.

Coming up, in the War Room tonight, Hillary Clinton`s team is ready to hit the campaign trail. Al Franken`s ready to go out there for her. Elizabeth Warren`s ready to go out there for her. President Obama`s ready to go out there. Joe Biden`s ready to go out on the campaign trail. Who? Who, if anyone, is ready to campaign for Donald Trump?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O`DONNELL: Time for tonight`s War Room. Tonight, the Trump presidential campaign war room faces a more unified Democratic Party after President Obama and Senator Elizabeth Warren endorsed Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump responded with this tweet:

"Obama just endorsed crooked Hillary. He wants for more years of Obama, but nobody else does."

Nobody? According to a Fox News Poll tonight, Hillary Clinton is at 42 percent support and Donald Trump is at 39 percent voter support. It doesn`t sound like House Speaker Paul Ryan is ready to campaign for Donald Trump any time soon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. PAUL RYAN (R-WI), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: Look, I think his stage presence is something that`s different than, say, what I would do. But, my personal interactions -- I find them to have a very even-handed temperament.

ANDREA MITCHELL, MSNBC NEWS HOST: You have even said that what he said about Judge Curiel was the "textbook definition of racism". How can you then say "But, you know, he`s okay to be President."

RYAN: I think we all -- everybody -- not just Republicans -- should disavow comments like that. And I`m glad he walked it back. This is a long campaign with a long way to go and he has a ways to go to give us a campaign that we can all be proud of.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: With 152 days left for the campaign war rooms, joining us tonight in the LAST WORD War Room is Rick Tyler, veteran of the Ted Cruz presidential campaign war room.

Rick, we see -- we can see the lineup of surrogates for Hillary Clinton now. You have no less than President Obama ready to be out on the trail. Joe Biden`s ready to be out there. Elizabeth Warren`s ready to be out there. Al Franken -- senators in every state all over the country. Who is ready tomorrow, next week, to campaign for Donald Trump? You know, we`re going to see President Obama out in Green Bay, Wisconsin with Hillary Clinton. On that same day, will we see anyone campaigning with Donald Trump?

RICK TYLER, FORMER SPOKESMAN FOR SENATOR TED CRUZ: Well, look, I think he will, but I think the contrast between the two nominees securing their nomination has been rather dramatic. Donald Trump has suffered a series of self-inflicted missteps, which has caused his party to distance themselves at the exact same time that the Democrats have moved very quickly to get behind Hillary Clinton, starting with the President, the Vice President, and we just saw Elizabeth Warren, on this network, endorse Hillary Clinton.

O`DONNELL: And Chris Christie, today, is reported to -- at the Trump donor meeting - is reported to have said he`s grown tired of Republicans not getting on board. He said "Lindsey Graham needs to shut up." Nothing like that -- Rick, nothing like that going on on the Democratic side. And -- but, it - what is your sense of the Clinton war room? I know you were in the opposing war -- I`m sorry, the -- the Trump war room. You were in the opposing war room to them.

TYLER: Yes.

O`DONNELL: I get the feeling that there`s just things that they either don`t think of -- don`t care about. Was that your feeling, or do you think they do think about it -- they do care about it, but they can`t execute because of an erratic candidate?

TYLER: Well, there seems to be a paralysis of the campaign, that it`s -- it`s undiscernible to me what the decision-making structure is, especially in terms of messaging, and that`s the area I worked on mostly, is on coms. And you have a -- you really -- they don`t have a rapid-response person; that is, someone who makes sure that when things -- there`s misstatements about what the candidate said, that the people are talking to reporters and making sure they get the right information and what they say. They don`t seem to talk to very many of their surrogates.

I talked to a lot of people who speak -- who are Republican strategists -- and I asked them "Have you heard from the Trump campaign?" and they -- they have not heard from the Trump campaign. So there are people out there who, actually, would want to be helpful, but don`t -- are not getting messaging from the Trump campaign. And, you know, something I`ve been saying, Lawrence, for years and years is -- with the donor (inaudible) today in New York with 70 people -- you know, who is going to pay for -- I haven`t been saying it for years, I`ve been saying it for months and months -- who is going pay for all this?

I mean, the Clinton machine has a very well-organized, well-established finance team. They are going to raise hundreds of millions of dollars, and the Trump campaign is going to be behind. And so, look, the -- they need to get their act together in terms of staffing and running a campaign; but, it appears that Donald Trump does not really allow the campaign to operate in the normal sense that a campaign should operate; that is, the candidate is focused on what he`s doing with -- and executing on messaging, and the campaign is executing on everything else. They don`t seem to have a data team; they don`t seem to have a response team; they don`t seem to have a coalitions director. It`s -- it looks as bad as it can be.

O`DONNELL: Rick Tyler, thanks for joining us in the War Room tonight; really appreciate it.

TYLER: Nice to be here.

O`DONNELL: Coming up: First, he admits that he really cannot afford to pay for a presidential campaign. Now, a new report that Donald Trump just doesn`t quite get around to paying all of his bills.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O`DONNELL: So Donald Trump has finally admitted that he was lying; he cannot afford to pay for a presidential campaign. And a new report in USA Today indicates he, apparently, cannot afford to pay his bills -- his regular bills. He`s hurt a lot of small businessmen -- exactly the kind of people he claims he would help if you just elect him President. We`re going to get that story next.

But, first, here`s how it looked on the campaign trail today:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The President was pleased to have an opportunity to welcome Senator Sanders to the White House. I think you could describe the conversation as a friendly conversation that was focused on the future.

UNKNOWN MALE REPORTER: Senator Sanders telling reporters that he`s staying in the race at least through the D.C. primary on Tuesday.

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thank you, Washington.

UNKNOWN FEMALE REPORTER: He wants to make sure that the people here in D.C. have a chance to vote before any decision that he makes is made public.

SANDERS: I spoke briefly to Secretary Clinton on Tuesday night. I look forward to meeting with her in the near future to see how we can work together to defeat Donald Trump.

CHUCK TODD, MSNBC NEWS HOST: Sanders` day has been packed with meeting, including Senate Minority Leader, Harry Reid.

SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MINORITY LEADER: I feel I`m in a good place with Bernie. I feel Bernie`s in a good place with may caucus and I feel that he`s in a good place with the country.

TODD: President Obama announced his endorsement of Hillary Clinton today in a video. The plan all along was to put out this video today, following the meeting with Bernie Sanders.

EARNEST: And I think it`s fair to say that Senator Sanders was not at all surprised by today`s announcement.

UNKNOWN MALE REPORTER: Trump and his team huddled with some of the Republican Party`s wealthiest donors.

UNKNOWN FEMALE REPORTER: Also inside, the RNC Chairman, Reince Priebus, along with a number of top-name donors. The issue right now is, they don`t want to attach their name publicly to somebody who is so controversial.

MITCHELL: Hillary Clinton has said he is not temperamentally fit to be in the oval office.

RYAN: His stage presence is -- is something that`s different than, say, what I would do; but, in my personal interactions, I find him to have a very even-handed temperament.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I don`t need anybody`s money. It`s nice. I don`t need anybody`s money. I`m using my own money. I`m not using the lobbyists; I`m not using donors; I don`t care. I`m really rich.

WARREN: Trump tells everyone who will listen that he is a great businessman. But, let`s be honest, he is just a guy who inherited a fortune and kept rolling along by cheating people.

(APPLAUSE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O`DONNELL: You`re going to hear more of Elizabeth Warren`s speech in the LAST WORD tonight. The collapse of Donald Trump`s lie that he would self- finance his presidential campaign has been largely ignored by the political media, which has taken to covering his meetings with fundraisers as routine campaign news without ever really noting that he was lying repeated when he said he would never do that -- he would never meet with fundraisers.

Today, Donald Trump had a meeting with fundraisers in New York on the same day that a USA Today report revealed that the candidate who says he`s so rich is not very good at paying his bills. NBC`s Hallie Jackson has that report. Hallie?

HALLIE JACKSON, NBC NEWS REPORTER: Hey there, Lawrence. What a week it has been for Donald Trump. Here in Manhattan, meeting with some 70 donors, fundraisers -- people like RNC Chair Reince Priebus -- making his pitch for what he`d do in the general election and trying to catch up to Hillary Clinton`s cash advantage. She`s raised some 10 times as much as he has, at least so far when you look at money in the bank.

Trump, through it all, facing fire from within his own party. This week, you saw his first unendorsement. We caught up with that Senator, Mark Kirk, on Capitol Hill earlier in the week, and talked with other senators concerned about Donald Trump`s rhetoric; specifically, his comments over that federal judge overseeing a lawsuit against Trump University.

Tonight, Trump`s facing fire for something else too. A new USA Today analysis showing hundreds of liens against Trump for bills they say he hasn`t paid in full.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: At Harrah`s Casino in Trump Plaza Hotel, the original slot machines sat on bases built by the Friels, Philadelphia cabinet makers who won a contract for the construction in the 80s, but lost more than $80,000 in the process. Paul Friel says they just never got paid in full.

PAUL FRIEL, PHILADELPHIA CABINET MAKER: It absolutely was the beginning of the end.

JACKSON: Five years after finishing the work, the family business, out of business.

FRIEL: It hurt right up until the end when my father died nine years ago. He talked about it a lot. He was not proud to have been involved with Donald Trump.

JACKSON: Donald Trump often points to his business skills as proof he can make America great again, but a new analysis of those business dealings shows Friel`s not alone. A USA Today network special report discovering at least 60 lawsuits, plus hundreds of other liens and judgments over the last three decades, from people who say Trump and his businesses stiffed them. Not just some of Trump`s own lawyers, but a dishwasher, a plumber, waiters and bartenders -- lots of who you might call "little guys"; people like Michael Diehl.

Back in the 80s, he delivered to Trump Taj Mahal $100,000 worth of grand pianos. But he says he only received $70,000 when the company refused to pay all of what it owed him.

MICHAEL DIEHL, OWNER OF FREEHOLD MUSIC CENTER: Anybody running a small business, okay, as an independent business person, that`s a lot of money. It hurt. It was hard to get over.

JACKSON: But the candidate and his daughter argued to USA Today it`s unfair to point to these instances of unpaid bills -- that it`s blown out of proportion, paling in comparison to the thousands of checks Trump companies cut each month.

TRUMP: I have a great history of paying my bills on time. But, you`re right, if somebody does a poor job, I`m not the quickest pay. But, if they do a good job, I pay them quickly.

JACKSON: But for Paul Friel, the kicker? He says even after the Trump organization told his dad he did inferior work, they offered more of it if Friel would settle for what he`d already been paid.

FRIEL: If my father`s work was really inferior, then why would the Trump organization want him to work for the Trump organization in the future?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JACKSON: And late tonight, the Trump campaign directed NBC News to statements made by the Trumps; Ivanka insisting it would be irresponsible if her father paid contractors for work he didn`t like. Trump, himself, arguing, essentially, that`s the kind of attitude the country should have.

Lawrence?

O`DONNELL: Hallie Jackson, thank you.

Coming up, Senator Elizabeth Warren took on Donald Trump tonight over his attacks on a federal judge, and she did it with all the expertise and authority of a Harvard Law School professor, which she used to be before she became a Senator. Elizabeth Warren will get tonight`s LAST WORD.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

O`DONNELL: And now, tonight`s LAST WORD. Senator Elizabeth Warren made huge news tonight on Rachel Maddow`s show by endorsing Hillary Clinton for President. And just before that, she once again showed just how effective a Vice Presidential candidate she could be in a speech to the American Constitution Society in Washington. We showed some of that speech earlier. Here is more:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D), MASSACHUSETTS : What kind of a man is Donald Trump? Donald Trump says "Judge Curiel should be ashamed of himself." No, Donald, you ashamed of yourself.

(APPLAUSE)

WARREN: Ashamed. Ashamed for using the megaphone of a presidential campaign to attack a judge`s character and integrity simply because you think you have some god-given right to steal people`s money and get away with it. You shame yourself and you shame this great country.

We are not a nation that disqualifies lawyers and judges from public service because of race, or religion, or gender, or because they haven`t spent their entire careers representing the rich and the powerful. We are the nation of John Adams, a lawyer who defended the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, and then went on to serve as President of the United States. We are the nation of Abraham Lincoln, a lawyer who defended accused killers and then went on to serve as President of the United States. We are the nation of Thurgood Marshall, a lawyer who fought for racial equality and then went on to serve in the Supreme Court of these United States. We are the nation of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, a lawyer who fought for gender equality and went on to serve in the Supreme Court of these United States.

That is who we are. And we will not allow a small, insecure, thin-skinned, wannabe tyrant or his allies in the Senate to destroy the rule of law in the United States of America. We will not -

(APPLAUSE)

WARREN: We will not -

(APPLAUSE)

WARREN: We are ready for this fight because it is time to fight again, as it has been time to fight in every generation, for those four simple words that define the promise of our legal system: "Equal justice under law". That`s what we`re here for. Thank you.

(APPLAUSE)

END