LARGEST CRIMINAL DEPORTATION OPERATION IN OUR COUNTRY'S HISTORY. >> JOINING US NOW NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT DASHA BURNS WHO WAS THERE AT THIS EVENT. CHIEF STRATEGIST FOR THE BUSH CHENEY 2004 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN, MATTHEW DOWD, AND FORMER OBAMA CAMPAIGN ADVISER AMISCHA CRAW. YOU WERE THERE LAST NIGHT, YOU HEARD IT, YOU TALKED TO THE PEOPLE WHO WERE IN THE CROWD, HOW WAS HIS MESSAGE RECEIVED? >> I DID TALK TO FOLK IN THAT CROWD WHO WERE IMMIGRANTS, A LOT OF FOLKS FROM THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. A LOT OF FOLKS I TALKED TO WERE BORN AND RAISED IN THE BRONX. FOR SOME OF THEM, THIS WAS THEIR FIRST EVER TRUMP EVENT. WHEN YOU TALK TO IMMIGRANTS GOING TO THESE TRUMP RALLIES, THEY AGREE WITH HIS MESSAGE ON IMMIGRATION. THEIR POINT IS I DID IT THE RIGHT WAY, I CAME HERE LEGALLY AND ESPECIALLY THOSE LIVING IN NEW YORK RIGHT NOW, THE SENTIMENT I HEARD FROM A LOT OF VOTERS, YOU KNOW, WE HAVE THESE IMMIGRANTS RIGHT NOW THAT THE CITY IS TAKING CARE OF IN A WAY I'VE NEVER FELT TAKEN CARE OF BY THIS CITY. YES, THERE WERE PEOPLE FROM WESTCHESTER, NEW JERSEY, BUT THERE WERE A LOT OF PEOPLE THERE FROM THE BRONX, BLACK AND LATINO VOTERS THAT ARE SICK OF HOW MUCH THEY'RE PAYING FOR GAS AND GROCERIES, THAT ARE FRUSTRATED WITH THE SITUATION AT THE BORDER AND THAT FIND PRESIDENT BIDEN'S RHETORIC WHEN IT COMES TO MINORITY VOTERS A LITTLE BIT OFFENSIVE. TAKE A LISTEN. >> LEGAL TROUBLES, DOES ANY OF THAT WORRY YOU AT ALL? >> NO, I THINK HE'S GOING TO BE ELECTED THE PRESIDENT BECAUSE EVERYONE STILL WANTS HIM AS THE PRESIDENT SO TO ME IT DOESN'T MATTER. >> BIDEN, HAS DISRESPECTED THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. THIS WAS BEST CITY IN THE WORLD. WE'RE NOT THE GREAT APPLE ANYMORE. WE'RE NOT THE BIG APPLE. WE ARE THE ROTTEN APPLE. >> BIDEN WENT ON AND SAID YOU AIN'T BLACK IF YOU DON'T VOTE FOR HIM. I'M BLACK BECAUSE THAT'S HOW I WAS BORN AND WHAT I AM, AND TRUMP IS THE MAN THAT CAN SAVE THIS COUNTRY. >> SO INTERESTING TO TALK TO THOSE VOTERS, ANA, AND MULTIPLE PEOPLE ACTUALLY MENTIONED THAT CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD INTERVIEW. I DID PRESS BACK WITH SOME OF THOSE FOLKS, MENTIONING TRUMP'S RHETORIC THAT'S SEEN AS RACIST AND BIGOTED. THEY DON'T HAVE A PROBLEM WITH THAT. THEY VIEW HIS ACTIONS OVER HIS WORDS IN TERMS OF WHAT THEY FEEL HE CAN DO FOR THEIR COMMUNITY. AGAIN, THE ECONOMY, THOSE POCKETBOOK ISSUES OVER AND OVER AGAIN TOP OF THE LIST. >> IT'S IMPORTANT TO HEAR FROM THOSE VOTERS. I'M GLAD YOU WERE THERE TO GET THOSE REACTIONS. TRUMP HAS QUITE A HISTORY WITH MINORITY COMMUNITIES, ESPECIALLY IN NEW YORK CITY. I'M THINKING CENTRAL PARK FIVE, THE ALLEGATIONS OF DISCRIMINATORY HOUSING PRACTICES. WHAT'S YOUR REACTION TO HIM DEMONIZING IMMIGRANTS TO TRY TO CONNECT WITH THESE BLACK AND HISPANIC VOTERS IN NEW YORK? >> IT'S DISINGENUOUS AT BEST. DONALD TRUMP AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY CREATED THE CHAOS HE IS HOPING TO BENEFIT OFF OF. WHEN THE TEXAS GOVERNOR GREG ABBOTT AND WHEN FLORIDA GOVERNOR DeSANTIS DECIDED THEY WERE GOING TO SEND MIGRANTS TO CITIES LIKE MY HOMETOWN OF CHICAGO, TO NEW YORK AND VARIOUS OTHER PLACES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THEY DID IT WITH 2024 IN MIND BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO CREATE THIS FIGHT FOR RESOURCE ALLOCATION. THEY FUNDAMENTALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT MANY BLACK PEOPLE AS WELL AS BROWN PEOPLE IN THESE COMMUNITIES ALREADY WERE SUFFERING FROM LACK OF HOUSING SUPPORTS, FROM FOOD INSECURITY, FROM OTHER ISSUES, AND THEY SOUGHT TO CREATE A MORE DESPERATE SITUATION AND TO HAVE A POPULATION THAT WOULD DEMONIZE NEW ARRIVALS. I THINK IT IS EXTREMELY DISHEARTENING. I WOULD SAY WHEN TALKING TO THESE VOTERS IN NEW YORK, THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN MORE QUESTIONS REGARDING OR MORE COMMENTS ABOUT TRUMP'S POLICIES. THIS ISN'T A RHETORIC ISSUE, TRUMP WANTED TO HAVE THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE ACTUALLY MURDERED. HE WANTED TO ENSURE THAT THE STATE KILLED THOSE YOUNG MEN. HE WANTED TO ENSURE THAT, YOU KNOW, BLACK PEOPLE DID NOT HAVE A SPACE IN THE BUILDINGS THAT HE HAD ACROSS THE STATE OF NEW YORK. IN MANY CASES, HE'S ALSO PUSHED FOR ANTICIVIL RIGHTS LEGISLATION. WE HAVE ALREADY SEEN WHAT PROJECT 2025 LOOKS LIKE, AND FOR BLACK PEOPLE AND BROWN PEOPLE ACROSS THIS COUNTRY, IT IS AN ASSAULT ON OUR RIGHTS AND AN ASSAULT ON OUR VERY BEING. THAT'S WHAT WE SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT HERE. THIS IS NOT A RHETORICAL GAME. THIS IS A MAN WHO HAS PLANS IN PLACE, AND A MAN WHO APPOINTED JUDGES WHO WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN. >> MATTHEW, DASHA MENTIONED HOW THE ECONOMY WAS TOP OF MIND FOR A LOT OF THESE VOTERS SHE WAS SPEAKING WITH, AND TRUMP DID USE AN ECONOMIC MESSAGE AS PART OF HIS APPEAL TO THIS CROWD, A VERY DARK MESSAGE ABOUT THE IMPACT OF INFLATION. TAKE A LISTEN. >> AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE GETTING SLAUGHTERED. HISPANIC AMERICANS ARE GETTING SLAUGHTERED. THEY'RE THE ONES THAT ARE AFFECTED MOST BY WHAT'S HAPPENING, NOT ONLY THE FACT THAT YOU'VE LOST THE USE OF YOUR SCHOOLS, YOUR PARKS, AND YOUR HOSPITALS, JOE BIDEN'S INFLATION -- >> BUILD A WALL! >> MATTHEW, IS THAT A MESSAGE YOU THINK COULD WORK WITH THESE VOTERS WHO OTHERWISE ARE A LOT LESS LIKELY TO SUPPORT SOMEONE LIKE TRUMP? >> WELL, IT'S INTERESTING. I WAS REFLECTING ON THIS CONVERSATION AS WE GO TO THE ECONOMY, IN A TIME WHERE PEOPLE FEEL THE ECONOMY'S IN TROUBLE, UNFORTUNATELY IN OUR AMERICAN HISTORY, THIS IS UNFORTUNATE, TWO THINGS HAPPEN. A STRONG MAN EMERGES OR A STRONG PERSONALITY EMERGES THAT PEOPLE ARE WILLING TO VEST POWERS THEY NORMALLY SHOULDN'T, THIS IS HAPPENING IN THE UNITED STATES AND AROUND THE WORLD. THE OTHER THING IS AN APPEAL TO A GROUP IN AMERICA WHO MAY HAVE COME OVER HERE AS IMMIGRANT, AND I'M THE GRANDSON OF AN IRISH IMMIGRANT WHO THEN BEGIN TO BLAME OTHERS ALONG THE WAY. IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO THAT -- OKAY, THIS IS THE PROBLEM, YOU MIGHT HAVE COME HERE, BUT IT'S THOSE OTHER PEOPLE THAT ARE PROBLEMS. AND WHERE THE ECONOMY IS TROUBLED EVEN THOUGH THE FACTS OF THE ECONOMY WHEN YOU LAY IT OUT WITH UNEMPLOYMENT AND THE GROWTH OF THE ECONOMY COMPARED TO OTHER EUROPEAN ECONOMIES PEOPLE BECAUSE OF INFLATION DON'T FEEL. UNFORTUNATELY, IN TIMES OF TROUBLED ECONOMY, THERE'S AN AUDIENCE IN AMERICA THAT CAN BE APPEALED TO BY A STRONG MAN AND BLAMING THE OTHER. AND THE OTHER THING I'LL NOTE IS HE NEVER ON HIS SORT OF ENGLISH, WHY PEOPLE SPEAK ALL DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, HE NEVER SPEAKS ABOUT SOMEBODY SPEAKING NORWEGIAN OR SOMEBODY SPEAKING SWEDISH OR DANISH. IT'S EITHER LATIN AMERICA, MEXICO OR AFRICA, WHICH IS A PRETTY STRONG SIGNAL OF WHAT HE MEANS. >> DASHA, ARE THESE VOTERS JUST NOT OFFENDED AT ALL BY THOSE TYPES OF COMMENTS AND SOME OF THE ACTIONS HE TOOK AS PRESIDENT? >> YEAH, NO, I WILL SAY I TALKED TO THESE VOTERS ABOUT THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE. I TALKED TO THEM ABOUT SOME OF THE COMMENTS THAT HE'S MADE, AND THE POLICIES BEYOND RHETORIC, RIGHT? THEY ARE JUST SO FOCUSED ON WHAT THEIR LIVES ARE LIKE RIGHT NOW, WHAT THEY CAN FEEL TANGIBLY THAT WHEN I PUSH BACK WITH THOSE COMMENTS, THEY JUST -- THEY SHUT THAT DOWN. THEY SAID, LISTEN, HE MIGHT SAY SOME THINGS -- AGAIN, THEY FOCUSED ON THE RHETORIC STILL BECAUSE THEY FEEL LIKE THAT'S WHAT THE MEDIA SORT OF CONSISTENTLY PUTS OUT THERE. HE MIGHT SAY SOME STUFF THAT'S OFFENSIVE, BUT AT THE END OF THE DAY, I FEEL LIKE MY LIFE WAS BETTER UNDER FORMER PRESIDENT TRUMP THAN UNDER PRESIDENT BIDEN. I TAKE ALL OF THE POINTS I'M HEARING HERE. THIS IS WHAT I HEAR FROM VOTERS CONSISTENTLY, AND WE SEE THIS REFLECTED IN THE DATA AS WE'RE SEEING THESE NUMBERS OF BLACK AND HISPANIC VOTERS SORT OF GETTING CHIPPED AWAY FROM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY AND MOVING TOWARDS TRUMP. I SEE THIS CONSISTENTLY AS I TALK TO THESE DEMOGRAPHICS. >> MATTHEW, YOU BROUGHT UP STRONG MEN, AND HERE'S WHAT THUMP SAID ABOUT AUTHORITARIAN LEADERS LAST NIGHT. >> WHEN YOU SEE PRESIDENT XI OF CHINA, WHEN YOU SEE KIM JONG-UN OF NORTH KOREA, WHEN YOU SEE PUTIN AND YOU SEE ALL OF THESE PEOPLE, THEY'RE AT THE TOP OF THEIR GAME, WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT. >> AND NOW HERE'S THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN'S NEW AD THIS MORNING NARRATED BY ROBERT DE NIRO. >> DESPERATELY TRYING TO HOLD ONTO POWER, NOW HE'S RUNNING AGAIN, THIS TIME THREATENING TO BE A DICTATOR, TO TERMINATE THE CONSTITUTION. >> IF I DON'T GET ELECTED, IT'S GOING TO BE A BLOOD BATH. >> TRUMP WANTS REVENGE AND HE'LL STOP AT NOTHING TO GET IT. >> MATTHEW, WE HAVE REPORTING THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN'S PLANNING TO GET EVEN MORE AGGRESSIVE AGAINST TRUMP, PERSON AFTER HIS TRIAL. IS THIS KIND OF MESSAGING EFFECTIVE? >> I THINK IT'S THE ONLY WAY TO LAY OUT THIS ELECTION, WHICH IS NOT A FUNDAMENTAL CONSERVATIVE VERSUS LIBERAL OR LEFT VERSUS RIGHT. THIS IS FUNDAMENTALLY AN ELECTION ABOUT ARE YOU PRO-DEMOCRACY OR ARE YOU PRO-AUTOCRACY. I FIND THE JUXTAPOSITION OF DONALD TRUMP'S COMMENTS YESTERDAY AND OUR DISCUSSION TODAY SO AMAZING THAT WE'RE GOING INTO MEMORIAL WEEKEND WHERE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF MEN AND WOMEN DIED TO PRESERVE DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA AND FIGHT AGAINST DICTATORSHIPS AND AUTOCRACY ACROSS THE COUNTRY AS WE CELEBRATE THOSE MEN AND WOMEN IN THIS COUNTRY, AND HERE WE HAVE THE RISE OF SOMEBODY WHO HAS BEEN VERY CLEAR THAT HE WANTS TO BE AN AUTHORITARIAN IN THE LIKES OF VLADIMIR PUTIN AND OTHERS AROUND THE WORLD, AND THAT TO ME, WHAT FUNDAMENTALLY THIS ELECTION NEEDS TO BE OUT. I UNDERSTAND PEOPLE ARE SUFFERING IN THE ECONOMY AND INFLATION AND ALL THAT, BUT THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN, THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION AND I WOULD ARGUE ALL OF US NEED TO SAY THAT WE FEEL FOR THAT IN THE MIDST OF THIS, BUT RIGHT NOW OUR DEMOCRACY IS AT STAKE. >> AMISCHA, OUR REPORTING GOES ON TO SAY THAT BIDEN'S TEAM VIEWS THE END OF TRUMP'S TRIAL AS A PIVOTAL MOMENT, AN INFLECTION POINT, ONE AT WHICH THE MINUTE BY MNT SIDE SHOW OF COURTROOM DRAMA HAS CONCLUDED AND THE TIME FOR VOTERS TO FOCUS ON WHAT'S AT STAKE IN NOVEMBER HAS ARRIVED. DO YOU THINK THAT'S THE CASE, AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, THEN, IF YOU ARE INSIDE THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN NOW? >> I THINK THAT'S MORE OF A CAMPAIGN MESSAGE THAN A VOTER MESSAGE. VOTERS HAVE BEEN FOCUSED ON WHAT MATTERS IN THIS ELECTION PROCESS FOR QUITE SOME TIME. THAT'S WHY THE ECONOMY WILL ALWAYS BE A TICKER POINT FOR THEM. THEY ARE CONCERNED WITH THAT. THEY ARE CONCERNED WITH WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, THEY ARE CONCERNED WITH CIVIL RIGHTS. WATCHING THE ATTACKS ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND THE UPENDING OF MANY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ERA POLICIES THAT ACTUALLY WERE PUSHING TOWARDS A MORE EQUAL SOCIETY. THEY'RE PAYING MORE ATTENTION TO THAT AND HAVE BEEN THIS ENTIRE TIME. THEY WEREN'T NECESSARILY FOCUSED ON THIS TRIAL TO BEGIN WITH. WHAT I DO THINK IS THAT THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN WILL GO FULL SPEED AHEAD AND ACTUALLY BE A LOT MORE AGGRESSIVE AFTER THIS TRIAL IS OVER BECAUSE THE TRIAL HAS, QUITE FRANKLY, TAKEN A LO OF THE AIR OUT OF THE ROOM WHEN IT COMES TO MEDIA COVERAGE AND OXYGEN. A LOT OF WHEN HE'S BEEN TRYING TO MUSH AND HIS CAMPAIGN HAS BEEN TRYING TO PUSH HAS NOT SEEPED THROUGH, DESPITE THE OVERWHELMING EFFORTS HE'S DONE IN RATCHETING UP AND CREATING OFFICES ACROSS MULTIPLE BATTLEGROUND STATES, DOING THE WORK ON THE GROUND, HAVING SURROGATES THERE, BUILDING UP CAPACITY, SMALL BUSINESS LEADERSHIP. WE'VE SEEN THESE THINGS HAPPEN. IN LARGE PART THAT'S BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN WALL-TO-WALL COVERAGE OF THIS TRIAL. I THINK FOR THE CAMPAIGN IT MATTERS TO HAVE THIS TIME FRAME BECAUSE FINALLY THERE WILL BE SOME AIR AND SOME WIND SPACE FOR THE BIDEN CAMPAIGN'S EFFORTS TO ACTUALLY MAKE NEWS. >> WHAT DOES BEING MORE AGGRESSIVE THEN LOOK LIKE? >> IT MEANS TAKING IT TO THE STREETS. IT MEANS TELLING THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT HIS POLICIES ARE, HOW THEY'RE GOING TO IMPROVE THEIR LIVES. IT MEANS TAKING THAT HBCU SPEECH THAT HE GAVE AT THE MOREHOUSE COMMENCEMENT SPECIFICALLY TO BLACK PEOPLE, TO TALK TO THEM ABOUT HBCU INVESTMENTS, BROADBAND, TO TALK ABOUT THE INVESTMENTS IN HEALTH CARE, TO TALK ABOUT THE THINGS HE HAS DONE TO MAKE THEIR LIVES BETTE
