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Becerra, Cheri Bustos, Hampton Pearson>
jobs here in the U.S. Donald Trump declares that businesses leaving the
U.S. will have heavy consequences. Carrier`s parent company was worried
about losing federal contracts. Democratic Representative Becerra is to
leave Congress and become the California attorney general. Nancy Pelosi
nominated Cheri Bustos as co-chair of the Democratic Policy and
Communications Committee to hone the Democratic message to working class
voters.>
Unemployment; Government; Internet; Media; Policies; Politics; Polls;
Russia; Taxes; Trade; Travel; Women; Political Parties; Rural Areas;
Russia; Vladimir Putin; Donald Trump; Business; Market>
And she joins me now. Congresswoman, welcome to the show.
REP. CHERI BUSTOS (D), ILLINOIS: Hi, Chuck.
TODD: So, you heard, probably, part of my interview there.
BUSTOS: I did.
TODD: There seems to be a generation of House Democrats that have a lot to offer that maybe felt stuck and, you know, pursued other opportunities to work in Democratic politics. Chris Van Hollen, as you know, Avi Abisero (ph) just today.
Are you -- do you sense that there is that frustration in the caucus?
BUSTOS: Well, you know, if you`re good at what you do, you`re going to have opportunities. For Chris Holland -- Van Holland to be the next senator in the state of Maryland, good for him. He`s a great Democrat, he`s a great spokesman for our party.
And for Xavier, I couldn`t be more pleased for him. This opens up opportunities for other members to come in.
TODD: Sure.
BUSTOS: I think it`s not so much frustration as it is we want to be back in the majority again. We`ve got to figure out our path forward. That is what we`ve been talking about since the elections.
TODD: So, you won your district by double digits.
BUSTOS: Yes.
TODD: And Donald Trump, it appears, won your district by double digits. Who are the Trump-Bustos voters?
BUSTOS: Well, so, you showed the picture of my congressional district, but let me give a little more context. I`m the only Democrat in the Illinois congressional delegation outside of Chicagoland.
So, literally, I am surrounded by Republican districts. And Illinois is a big state.
Here`s what I have done to be successful. I`m -- I was just elected to my third term, so I`ve only been out in Congress for four years. I defeated a Republican to get here in the first place.
TODD: Right.
BUSTOS: But when I`m not out here in Washington, I am home. I am working every single weekend. I do something that we call supermarket Saturday.
So, I`ll literally walk the aisles of our grocery store and while moms are picking out frosted flakes, I`m asking her what`s on her mind and what does she want me to know when I`m back in Washington?
I do something that we call Cheri on shift which is, basically, me job shadowing working men and women. I`m a -- I`m a certified forklift driver now.
I have -- I have job shadowed a bee keeper. I have delivered UPS packages. I have processed carp coming from the Mississippi River. And my advice on that is don`t wear sandals while you -- while you do it.
But I`ve talked to people and I asked them what is on their mind? I asked small business owners and small manufacturers what is an impediment to your success?
TODD: Right.
BUSTOS: And then, we take that information. We come back to Washington and either write legislation or sponsor legislation.
And I work very, very well across the aisle in order to bring home results. Because when you`re in the minority party, if you can`t figure out a way work across the aisle, you`re not going to have success.
TODD: So, if Hillary Clinton called you up and say, Congresswoman, I got - - I got crossed in your district and you won it. What is it about Donald Trump that your voters and your constituents felt more comfortable with him than with secretary Clinton?
BUSTOS: I have talked from day one. I announced I was running for Congress in July of 2011. Since that day, I have talked about jobs and the economy. I`ve talked about the fact that manufacturing was our base.
And yet, we have corporations like Maytag that, 12 years ago, sent all 1,200 of its jobs over to Mexico overnight. And, to this day, the wages in that county have not recovered.
So, we talk about making sure there are no tax incentives for corporations who ship their jobs overseas. And on the contrary, there needs to be incentives for those jobs to come home.
We talk about training the next generation of work --
TODD: Yes.
BUSTOS: -- force for the next industrial revolution. And, again, I`ve worked very hard, not only to be a fighter on behalf of my congressional district, but to bring home results, too.
TODD: But to go back to my question.
BUSTOS: Yes.
TODD: Why did they pick -- why did those same voters, though, that voted for you vote for Trump?
BUSTOS: Well, they -- you know, they know me now. They know that I work - -
TODD: I understand you but why do you think they pick Trump? What is it - - what -- is it the core issue of Trump was talking manufacturing jobs and Clinton wasn`t?
BUSTOS: I think it was a frustration with Washington. They wanted to make sure that there`s change, not for the sake of change but to bring home real results. They saw that in me.
There were probably some questions about whether that was going to happen if they didn`t vote in somebody that`s very, very different from what they`re used to. My concern at this point is Donald Trump has thrown out a lot of promises. I will work with him and I will work with his administration where we can. I`m on the transportation committee.
I like the idea that he`s talking about a trillion-dollar transportation package, but I certainly don`t like the thought of the people that he`s brought in on health and human services where the thought is basically you take away patient right or somebody whose leading the Department of Education who doesn`t even believe in public education.
So , we will make sure that if Donald Trump and his administration is going down a dark path that we`re going to fight that.
CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS POLITICAL DIRECTOR, "MEET THE PRESS DAILY" SHOW HOST: All right. Congresswoman Cheri Bustos. From the quad cities.
BUSTOS: Yeah.
TODD: . when I used to go to visit family in Iowa, you fly no hair and drive through the quad cities. I used to do that drive a lot. It`s a great district. It`s a wonderful area. Anyway, thanks for coming on.
BUSTOS: All right, thank you, Chuck.
TODD: Appreciate it. Coming up, from Russia, now truly with a little bit of love. Vladimir Putin says he`s ready to work with President Trump. We`ll look at what it means for the future of U.S.-Russo relations. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TODD: It`s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in the nation`s capitol. Just moments ago, the first family for the very last time lit the national Christmas tree at the White House.
It was the whole family there this time since it`s the last time that Malia and Sasha and all of them will get to take part in the ceremony. Hats off to the National Park Services centennial celebration.
Now, we have more MTP Daily right after this. But first, here`s Hampton Pearson with today`s CNBC Market Wrap.
HAMPTON PEARSON, REPORTER, CNBC: Thanks, Chuck. Manufacturing data and rising oil prices helped yield the Dow a record close. The Dow finished up 68 points, the S&P following by 7, the Nasdaq lost 72 points.
Starbuck`s chairman and CEO Howard Schultz is stepping down as the company`s chief executive. He`ll become executive chairman. Chairs dipped more than 3 percent in after-hours trading.
U.S. auto sales rose 4 percent in November, the highest on record. Analysts say the boost is due to black Friday deals and post-election confidence. That`s it from CNBC, first in business worldwide.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TODD: Donald Trump has been using cozy language for Vladimir Putin for months during his campaign, and today we heard back from the Russian president during his nationally televised end of the year address. He said, quote, we are ready for cooperation with the new U.S. administration.
It is important to normalize and start developing bilateral ties on an equal and mutually beneficial basis. Vladimir Putin stressed a joint fight against international terrorism. Today, Director John Brennan says that Russia has a long way to go when it comes to earning trust from the United States in trying to fight terrorism.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN BRENNAN, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: Russia is a country that will pursue its national interests frequently to the detriment of the interests of the peoples of the countries wherein it operates.
So I think president-elect Trump and the new administration need to be wary of Russian promises. Russian promises, in my mind, have not given us what it is that they have pledged.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TODD: After a bipartisan call to investigate Russia`s connection to the hacking that they apparently did to influence these elections, is Donald Trump preparing to hit the reset button again?
Let me bring the panel back. Ron Klain, Jennifer Rubin, Perry Bacon. Jennifer, you are a national security geek. You like your international affairs. Putin -- it makes a lot of sense for Putin to throw out the olive branch today.
JENNIFER RUBIN, JOURNALIST, WRITES FOR THE WASHINGTON POST: Listen, he`s going to try to snow Trump as long as he can, and the job, I think, of the national security team for Donald Trump is to introduce reality, that there is a reason we don`t get along with Russia.
It`s not just because Hillary Clinton was mean to him or Barack Obama doesn`t know how to do a deal. It`s because they act in ways that are opposite in our national interest. They invade their neighbors and occupy them. They are not fighting terrorism in the Middle East. They are contributing to genocide in the Middle East by assisting the Assad regime.
They can go down the list of things that they are doing. There are real issues. And until Donald Trump learns or he loses interest and lets other people deal with it that countries have interest, and an equal relationship depends upon equal respect and equivalent behavior that we don`t have with Russia.
TODD: Look, Trump, Putin, we can throw in sort of Theresa May although it`s sort of been forced upon, but there is a nationalism movement in democracies around the world. The Turkey`s democracy and Russia`s democracy I`m putting in the quotes here a little bit.
RON KLAIN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: Yeah, big quotes.
TODD: But, they first got into office in a real election. So, the point is, isn`t...
KLAIN: There`s nothing about this that makes me feel good, Chuck. Nothing about what you said that makes me feel good.
TODD: No, but isn`t essentially this is how Trump wants to operate, is more in a nationalist America first attitude. He kind of understands Putin`s point of view.
KLAIN: Well, again, there`s nothing about that that makes me feel good. Look, Vladimir Putin is just a veneer above being a dictator in Russia. He runs a kleptocratic regime that abuses human rights, that has journalists killed, that has enemies jailed or killed, that advances Russia`s power around the world. And if that`s Donald Trump`s model, that`s a horrible model for an American president.
I hope Jennifer is right. I hope that when he comes into office, assumes the awesome responsibilities of president, it`s more than a twitter feed, it`s more than just firing off some press releases, he will learn and he will grow and he will adapt. But it`s very, very frightening to look at where he is right now.
PERRY BACON, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER FOR NBC NEWS: We`ve had two interests we reset with Russia.
TODD: Right.
BACON: We`ve seen how that went the first two times. I assume to learn the third time was in their interests and not our interests. I assume Donald Trump will learn that. Also.
TODD: Putin is involved, right?
BACON: Putin has been involved every time.
TODD: But, no, well, they did do some business for a four-year period.
BACON: It`s hard to see how Putin -- they`re all naturalists, I agree, but our interests and their interests are so different. You know, the picks on the cabinet matter here. If you have a Mitt Romney, if you have Petraeus, those are people who have seen this and know what to think about and so on.
TODD: I guess what I`m trying to say is that without violating the off-the- record agreement the last time that I spoke with the president-elect, but he gives off the sense of, you know, if it doesn`t have an immediate impact on America`s national security, he thinks some of these things are like, you know, hey, if Russia wants to spend their money on propping up Assad, let them do it.
That`s his attitude and there`s a lot of his supporters that believe this.
RUBIN: Well, it`s going to be the job of the national security professionals to explain why that attitude really isn`t in America`s interest. That our ability to influence events around the world for the last 70 years or so has kept the peace, has kept us prosperous, that our democratic allies depend upon us to break the rules of the road and bad things happen when the United States recedes.
The irony is that this was the republican criticism of President Obama, that he was too reticent, that he wanted to pull up stakes, that he wasn`t interested in the Middle East. And now Donald Trump wants to come down on that.
BACON: Interesting question. Do Donald Trump or do Americans really care about the Syrian genocide or the Ukraine, and the answer may be less than you and I and Jennifer wants them to. There is a real point that maybe Donald Trump foreign policy view is we should pull back, we should be less involved. This sort of anti Merkel-Obama view is one that more Americans share that I wish.
TODD: I understand the national security impact in all this, but I`m just saying the political impact is -- there isn`t a lot of desire.
KLAIN: I think there`s no question that Donald Trump ran on an isolationist platform, both economically and from a national security perspective, and obviously that resonated with some voters. Fewer voters and Hillary Clinton, but a lot of voters, no question.
But what I will say from having worked in two white houses, the world has a way of intruding. And particularly today in a highly connected, highly complicated world, the idea that we`re just going to build a literal or a metaphorical wall and hide behind it and not be involved in these problems is just wrong.
President Trump is going to learn that shortly after his first day in office, I promise you. That`s what all presidents find, democrat or republican. It`s not a partisan thing, it`s just the way the world works today.
TODD: I have to say I do feel like we`re reliving the `80s. Like Russia is back as a prominent story all the time in our foreign policy. All right. I`m taking a pause here. Just stick here. Up ahead in The Lid, Donald Trump`s fantastic terrific phone call with the prime minister of Pakistan. It`s just a beautiful readout. You got to check this out. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TODD: Welcome back. It`s obsession time. And tonight, I`m obsessed about revisionist history, specifically the pipe smoking and chain stroking about the 2016 election that`s taking place on universities and on T.V. shows everywhere this week.
In a nutshell, here`s the new received post-election wisdom. One, that democrats can`t ignore working class white voters. That you can`t win by relying on identity politics. That Clinton had no positive message. That Donald Trump proved that an organized campaign, voter analytic and a good ground game don`t matter. That republicans now have a lock on the electoral college at least for the foreseeable future.
All right, fine. Right now, Hillary Clinton leads the popular vote by 2.5 million. Just because she is down by fewer than 80,000 votes total in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin. So just shift those 80,000 votes she already has, whatever, about 3 percent of her total to those states.
And you know what the chain strokers would be saying today? If she won the electoral college and still had this 2.5 point popular vote lead, that democrats can ignore working class voters. That you can win by relying on identity politics.
That you did not a positive message against Donald Trump. And that Donald Trump learn that an organized campaign, voter analytic and a good ground game really do matter. And that democrats have a lock in the electoral college for the foreseeable future.
I will admit I`ve been a little guilty of this myself. But it`s a reminder to all of us to be a little bit humble in explaining what went wrong in any election.
Just imagine, instead of working class white voters and the problem for the democratic party, we can easily be talking about the Latino problem with the republican party. Just with moving a couple of votes. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TODD: Welcome back. Time for The Lid. We have to share this. Donald Trump has had a number of pro-formal phone calls with foreign leaders since election day, most just offering congratulations in most instances. The transition team for Trump just puts out a list of names, a running tally of who has politely phoned the president-elect to wish him well and introduce themselves.
But last night, the country of Pakistan put out a very detailed statement on the call between Trump and the Pakistani prime minister. It reads in part, quote, President Trump said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, you have a very good reputation, you are a terrific guy, you are doing amazing work which is visible in every way.
The prime minister reportedly invited Trump to visit Pakistan and according to the readout, Trump said this, he would love to come to a fantastic country, a fantastic place of fantastic people. The Trump transition hasn`t confirmed the account, but that definitely does sound like Trump`s voice.
They called the phone call productive and said they`re looking forward to a lasting and strong personal relationship with the prime minister. Let me bring back the panel. Ron Klain, Jennifer Rubin, and Perry Bacon.
Ron, you`ve been with people that get these phone calls, congratulate, pro- formal calls and all this stuff. And there`s no doubt part of it -- Donald Trump`s being just as polite. Oh, you`re great, but there is some diplomacy here that he may have accidentally messed up. Explain.
KLAIN: Yeah, look, Pakistan is a country with which we have a very complicated and nuanced relationship, particularly in terms of tackling terrorism.
And for Donald trump to just blankly say, it`s a fantastic place, you`re going a fantastic job, it`s all good, sends a message to foreign leaders that basically, if they call up the Trump White House, tell him what a nice guy he is, tell him that they would love to stay at one of his hotels that it`s all going to be good.
And I`m sorry, but it isn`t all good. We have real issues here.
TODD: And there`s the India angle, whatever you do with Pakistan, you`ve got to do with India, and then like -- I guess the rule is with a little bit of pinkie on the scale, right? Without Pakistan thinking that. Whatever it is. You`ve got to be careful.
RUBIN: This is Ron`s point. He may not really understand that people pay attention to what he says. He may not care what he says. But in fact, they do. And people make calculations based upon that. Countries move troops, they make decisions, they make and un-make treaties based upon what they think the president is saying.
And what`s obvious from that is you could have had him on the phone with anybody. You could have talking with the president of Fiji and he would probably have said the same thing.
TODD: And basically he got played by -- it was in Pakistan`s interest to make that public. They were probably trying.
BACON: Also, we don`t promise presidential visits just randomly.
TODD: Trump was careful. He never -- as much as he -- he never did promise the visit. He knew enough not to -- that would have been, um, pretty problematic. Maybe switch to what I obsess with, the fact that it all started my executive producer is a Buffalo Bills fan. And he always jokes, the Scott Norwood field goal, right?
If it goes in, then people say, the run and shoot can wins Super Bowl. It was like basically a field goal from like all of these things that were written about the strength of Buffalo Bills. Ron Klain, you were Al Gore`s guy in 2000, you`ve lived with this for a long time, about.
KLAIN: Twice.
TODD: So many could -- how much wisdom gets written based on what literally was a lost by a coin flip?
KLAIN: Yeah. It`s a great point, Chuck. I mean, I think that it`s a lesson to not over-learn the lessons of these elections. She did win 2.5 million more electoral votes. To say the campaign didn`t work, it was a failure, is just wrong. And you shift a few votes and she wins the electoral college, too.
And so, you know, for 16 years, people ask me about the result in Florida, the result in Bush V. Gore, what if you had done this differently or what if had done that differently? My answer is, yes, sure, all of them. We lost by 500 points. Anything may have made a difference.
Here, of course, maybe one more visit there, one more trip there, a few more ads there. All of these things. It was a loss by inches. And more importantly, it`s a mistake by democrats to re-examine fundamental principles, fundamental strategies based on a loss so close.
TODD: What I learned, Jennifer, republicans do have have a Latino problem and democrats do have a working class problem, right?
RUBIN: Yes, exactly.
TODD: Both can be true.
RUBIN: Right. And lets be honest. Politics is also about the people. Hillary Clinton had a real problem. And that was for rightly or not, people didn`t like her. And that changes with every election. New people, new results.
TODD: You`re going to hate me. I`m getting yelled at. All right. The guy that`s here knows he has to take the abuse, right? When you work for the company, you know, we don`t shortchange you guys. Thank you all. After the break, the Selig Rule strikes out. Stay tuned.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TODD: In case you missed it, our long national baseball nightmare ended today. One of the sports` dumbest rules is no more. No, it`s not the DH. Sadly, that idiocy remains. America may play softball, national league plays baseball. But I`m talking about the Selig Rule. Named for the former MLB commissioner who instituted it.
He gave home field advantage in the world series to the team whose league won the all-star game. The idea is that it would make the all-star game more relevant, would make the players and the managers fight harder to win it, was supposed to make the game count. And it did, a little, but not really.
Most major league players would rather have the time off during the all- star break. They want the bonus check for becoming an all-star, but they would the vacation. The ones who do play aren`t on the field for very long.
Now the league`s collective bargaining agreement says home field advantage of the world series goes to the team with the best regular season record. How about that? Wow, what an amazing idea. And the players that do participate in the all-star game would be playing for a pool of extra money which is also a bit ridiculous, but at least it doesn`t give such a big reward for such a frankly meaningless game.
But you know what, at least they tried to make the All Star game cool again.
That` all for tonight. With All Due Respect begins right now, 15 seconds late.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. END
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