MSNBC The Situation - Transcript
MSNBC The Situation - Transcript
Friday, September 9, 2005
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CARLSON: Thanks.
The news, of course, today dominated by the Michael Brown move, the head of FEMA no longer in charge of the disaster of the decade, the hurricane that has ravaged the Gulf Coast.
Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo, a Republican, has been harshly critical of Michael Brown from the very beginning, as well as of local and state officials in Louisiana. He joins us now live from Colorado.
Congressman, thanks a lot for coming on. What do you make of Michael Brown's removal today?
REP. TOM TANCREDO (R), COLORADO: Well, before I get into that, can I just say that the segment you just ran about this guy with this 96 guns and the snake, I mean, that's America. You got to just love it, do you not?
CARLSON: I do. I love it.
TANCREDO: It is terrific.
CARLSON: It's an American defending himself. When the government doesn't step up to defend him, he's defending himself...
TANCREDO: Exactly.
CARLSON: ... which is his right, in fact, his duty. Good for him.
TANCREDO: And not only that but helping his neighbors. I mean, this is-that's just a great story. It really is.
At any rate, Brown, Mr. Brown-well, I'm, of course, glad that the president has taken the step of having him removed. I hope within the next few hours, maybe before the weekend is over, that he will remove himself entirely, and I can't imagine that he will stay very long. And that's a good thing.
Now we have to clear the deck. And that is to say, we have to ask the governor of the state of Louisiana and the mayor of the city of New Orleans to do the same thing, to remove themselves, because they are part of the problem.
CARLSON: That is-I think you're absolutely right. Let's go first before we get back to that, get back to the story taking-unfolding on the federal level. How badly does this hurt President Bush?
TANCREDO: You know, I don't know how to quantify it, but I would suggest that on top of a lot of other things that are happening, the president is going to have a very difficult time not only dealing with this issue but, of course, with his agenda in the Congress.
Because, you know, he keeps talking about the-the political capital that he gained during the campaign and the election. But I'm afraid, Tucker, it's all gone.
So I'm hoping-you know what I'm hoping? I'm hoping to God that it does not affect the nominations to the Supreme Court, because to me, that's the whole ballgame. That's it, buddy.
CARLSON: Yes.
TANCREDO: You know, we've got one. This next one coming, it better be a good one or else we've lost everything.
CARLSON: I think it could affect it. Now you have been quoted...
TANCREDO: I do, too.
CARLSON: ... as saying that the state of Louisiana and the city of New Orleans are so corrupt and inept that they shouldn't get federal aid in the wake of Hurricane Katrina and that the money just ought to go to do feds, and the feds ought to do it all.
TANCREDO: Well-well, with the feds but with oversight, which we do not now have, with some accountability, which we do not now have. Just pushing now $62 billion into FEMA does not make me feel all that much better.
But New Orleans-I mean Louisiana-you know, my observations, of course, have been harshly criticized. But the reality is this. The head of the FBI, the head of that section of the country, the southeast section of the country, here's his quote. I think this is pretty close to it. It is, "The corruption in Louisiana is endemic, epidemic and permeates every single level of government." That's the FBI's opinion.
I certainly don't disagree with it, when you consider what have we got now, a governor, several cabinet members, three of the-three successive insurance commissioners, a federal judge, a bunch of state legislators and county commissioners, all in jail, and probably others that are going to be following them.
And look back at the history, I mean, going back to Huey Long. It's a colorful state, but it is not a place I would place a great deal of trust to make sure that the money we are shoving at them gets spent effectively, efficiently and legally.
CARLSON: It's almost unbelievably inept. The state of Louisiana prevented the Red Cross from bringing aid to the Superdome in the convention center as people were dying in both of those buildings. I couldn't agree with you more.
But let's assign blame more precisely here. So you've got Mike Brown, still the head of FEMA; George Bush, the president; Kathleen Blanco, the inept but still government-governor, rather, of the state of Louisiana; and then Ray Nagin, the mayor of New Orleans. Who's most at fault? Rank them for me.
TANCREDO: I would say 60 percent state, governor; 30 percent, the city; and 10 percent the federal government. I mean, that's the way I would put it. And it's a pretty-I guarantee a subjective analysis.
But the reality is that we have enormous problems now because what the federal government has to do is rely upon local government. People don't understand that.
But Tucker, you know, if something happens in my state, in Colorado, the first line of defense, the first people that have to take control are state and local authorities. And then you ask the federal government to come in, and the federal government does what it can do.
But the reality is, if you do not have a functioning and legitimate and lawful state and local set of authorities, you are in big trouble trying to get this thing actually done.
Without spending-you know, of the $60 billion we've already appropriated, probably-well, who knows what percentage of that could end up in the wrong hands and never getting to the people it needs to get to in order to provide the service? It's very, very frightening, my friend.
And, you know, just the magnitude of it. The amount of money. Tucker, you know, remember we appropriated $10.5 billion last week. $51.1 billion yesterday.
CARLSON: Yes.
TANCREDO: And that amounts to more money than is used to fund every single department of the federal government, except for-except for the Department of Defense and veterans affairs. Everything else pales in comparison. That just puts this in perspective here. This is very, very scary, because there's a lot at risk, Tucker.
CARLSON: Yes, there is. Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado, one of the few members of Congress who says what he thinks and doesn't care what you think. And for that I respect you. Congressman Tancredo, thanks for coming on.
TANCREDO: Thank you. It's a pleasure, sir.
CARLSON: Thanks.
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