WE HAVE MORE NEW NUMBERS FROM OUR NBC NEWS/"WALL STREET
JOURNAL" POLL. 70% OF AMERICANS SAY RACE
RELATIONS ARE BAD, FAIRLY BAD, UNITED STATES EVERYBODY.
NOT A HUGE CHANGE FROM THE 74% WHO SAID A YEAR AGO.
HIGHEST PERCENTAGE IN THE POLL'S HISTORY.
HIGHER THAN 61% SAID RACIAL RELATIONS WERE BAD AFTER THE
O.J. SIMPSON VERD. OUR PANEL IS BACK.
PUT UP A FEW OTHER NUMBERS HERE. AMERICA'S VIEW ON RACE
RELATIONS, FEEL IT'S IN A BAD PLACE.
70%. ACROSS THE LIKE IT IS
IN A BAD PLACE. 67% AMONG HISPANICS.
ON PRESIDENT TRUMP'S HANDLING OF THE RACE ISSUE, APPROVED 25%,
DISAPPROVE, 52%. ON CHARLOTTESVILLE, NONE OF
THESE NUMBERS SURPRISING. THE QUESTION IS, IS THE
PRESIDENT GOING TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?
>> I THINK THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES HAS TO BRING THE
NATION TOGETHER, RIGHT? AND I THINK THIS IS A REFLECTION
OF THE POLARIZATION THAT WE'RE SEEING IN POLITICS TODAY IN
AMERICA. AND I THINK YOU HAVE, I WOULD
AGREE WITH THE PRESIDENT THAT YOU HAVE PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES OF
THE LEFT AND THE RIGHT TRYING TO USE RACIAL CONFRONTATION TO
MOBILIZE THEIR BASE. I DON'T THINK CLEARLY HE THAT
DONALD TRUMP DID A GOOD JOB IN EASING THE TENSION.
AFTER THE CHARLOTTESVILLE EVENT BUT I DON'T THINK PRESIDENT
OBAMA DID EITHER. WHEN PRESIDENT OBAMA KEPT
SAYING, AND THEN HILLARY CLINTON, THAT OUR CRIMINAL
SYSTEM SYSTEMATICALLY, I DON'T THINK THAT HELPED EASE THE
TENSION. SO SADLY I THINK IT IS A
REFLECTION OR A POLARIZED ENVIRONMENT.
I THINK WE NEED LEADERS FROM BOTH PARTIES THAT CAN RAISE TO
THE LEVEL AND SAY WE NEED TO UNITE THE COUNTRY.
>> I GO BACK TO ERIC HOLD HERE SAID WE'VE NEVER HAD THIS
CONVERSATION. WE TALKED ABOUT HAVING THIS RACE
CONVERSATION. DO YOU KNOW THE CONVERSATION I
WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE COUNTRY OF?
I WANT SEE THE JEFF SESSIONS AND ERIC HOLDER HAVE A DISCUSSION.
LET IT ALL OUT. IN SOME WAYS, THE TWO OF THEM
WOULD BE EMBLEMATIC OF THIS POLARIZATION THAT IS OUT THERE.
THIS VIEW THAT IT IS A POLARIZED CONVERSATION.
>> SO I DON'T THINK -- I DON'T THINK IT WOULD EVER HAPPEN.
I AGREE WITH ERIC. I WANT TO TAKE A BIT OF AN ISSUE
WITH WHAT ALONZO SAID. PARTICULARLY ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE
REFORM. THAT IS AN ISSUE WHERE YOU HAVE
A BIPARTISAN LEVEL OF AGREEMENT AND YOU HAVE A LOT OF DATA.
DATA THAT DOESN'T LIE IN TERMS
OF THE ADVERSE EFFECTS THAT CERTAIN COMMUNITIES IN THIS
COUNTRY, MOST NOTABLY AFRICAN-AMERICANS HAVE SUFFERED,
BASED ON THE WAY THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM WAS SET UP.
AND I THINK THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE WHO LOOK AT THE PENALTIES
FOR CRACK COCAINE. FIRST IT WAS POWDER COCAINE BACK
THERE IN THOSE CRIME BILLS. PEOPLE WHO LOOK AT THE ACTUAL
EFFECT OVER THE YEARS AND THIS WAS A BIPARTISAN EFFORT THAT WAS
LAUNCHED UNDER THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.
THAT THE KOCH BROTHERS WERE VERY INVOLVED.
I THINK PRESIDENT OBAMA WOULD BE THE FIRST TO SAY THAT HE WISHED
HE COULD HAVE ADDRESSED THE POLARIZATION.
I DON'T THINK I WOULD GO TO CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORM TO
ILLUSTRATE THE POINT. >> THE PROBLEM IS WHEN YOU HAVE
THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, OR PRESIDENTIAL
CANDIDATES SAYING THERE'S INSTITUTIONALIZED
DISCRIMINATION. THE MESSAGE THAT YOU'RE SENDING
IS THAT THE POLICE ARE RACIST AND SOME SADLY BELIEVE THAT.
I THINK IT REQUIRES A CONVERSATION BETWEEN BOTH SIDES.
AND I THINK WE CAN'T BE NAIVE. THERE ARE PEOPLE ON BOTH SIDES
TRYING TO USE RACE FOR POLITICAL REASONS.
>> I THINK THAT HE THE BOTH SIDES LANGUAGE WHICH PRESIDENT
TRUMP MADE VERY NOTORIOUS, IS NOT REALLY THE CORRECT LANGUAGE
HERE. I THINK THAT IN PARTICULAR, THAT
WHEN YOU LOOK AT WHAT THIS PRESIDENT, WHAT THE CURRENT
PRESIDENT HAS DONE TO ACTUALLY, TO REALLY USE DIVISIVE LANGUAGE.
TO TRY TO EQUATE PEOPLE WHO WERE
WEARING SWASTIKAS. THAT IT HAS BECOME CODE FOR
SOMETHING REALLY DAMAGING. >> I'M NOT GOING TO DEFEND THE
LANGUAGE FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP. HE SAID THERE WERE PEACEFUL
PEOPLE AT THE WHITE SUPREMACIST RALLY.
THAT'S RIDICULOUS. BUT THERE ARE ELEMENTS ON THE
LEFT, BERKELEY. LOOK WHAT'S HAPPENING IN
BERKELEY. YOU SEE A CONSERVATIVE SPEAKER
AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU HAVE ALL THESE GROUPS.
YOU SEE VIOLENCE. >> THIS IS PROBLEM.
WE'VE CONFLATED IT INTO A POLARIZATION.ON.
THIS RACE ISSUE IS SEPARATE AND DISTINCT.
>> YOU KNOW ONE THING THAT IS SO DISCOURAGING ABOUT THE NUMBERS
IN YOUR POLL, IT WAS JUST EIGHT AND A HALF YEARS WLAG MORE THAN
TWO-THIRDS OF AMERICANS THOUGHT RACE RELATIONS WERE GOOD.
THEY WERE BETTER. >> WE DID A USA TODAY POLL.
WHAT WE FELT IS THAT BOTH BLACKS AND WHITES WERE OPTIMISTIC.
WHITES WERE OPTIMISTIC. >> IT GOES BACK TO, WE NEVER
HAVE THIS CONVERSATION. THE FACT IS, I THINK THERE ARE
PLENTY OF PEOPLE WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE
PULLED OVER FOR THE COLOR OF YOUR SKIN.
THAT'S A CONVERSATION THAT WE DON'T REALLY HAVE THAT
CONVERSATION. ?
>> OR TO BE WORRIED THAT YOUR KID JUST WALKING HOE FROM SCHOOL
OR GOING TO A CONVENIENCE STORE TO PICK UP A CANDY BAR.
>> AT THE SAME TIME, I LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ARE IN A
BAD PLACE. >> WE'RE IN A BAD PLACE BECAUSE
PEOPLE ARE RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEMS WE HAVE.
THIS IS AN INCREASINGLY MORE DIVERSE --
>> YOU CAN MAKE THE POINT ALL OF THIS ATTENTION IS PROBABLY
NECESSARY ON SURFACE IT. WE'VE BEEN SWEEPING IT.
>> BUT
