NBC's Mark Murray On Trump Encouraging Russia To Hack Clinton's Server: “Stunning” And “Jaw-Dropping”

Director Rob Reiner: “Off-The-Charts Crazy. We Are In Crazy Land Here.”

From the July 27 edition of MSNBC's Democratic National Convention coverage:

Video file

TAMRON HALL (HOST): Is this what will fuel Hillary Clinton's support, those who actually are still Bernie Sanders supporters and may have been reluctant to get behind Hillary Clinton, are happy to vote against what we just saw? 

MARK MURRAY: Tamron, there's no doubt that the opposition to Donald Trump is going to be one of the forces that motivates a lot of Hillary Clinton's voters in November. But I just -- let's just talk about the press conference itself. Just jaw-dropping, stunning press conference that he made. The biggest headline was that Russia, if you're listening, I hope you've hacked into Hillary Clinton's missing emails, and there will be a reward for you. And just to think that there's a presidential nominee who is asking a foreign power to search another candidate is -- I've never seen it in my lifetime. And just stunning. 

HALL: Just quickly, also, just a couple of fact check things here. The ties with Russia business dealings. On one hand Donald Trump says he sold property and does sell property to Russia, which we don't know if that means individuals or government. His son has indicated there are business dealings with Russia. What's the fact here?

MURRAY: Look, Tamron, the facts are that we do know there have been investments from Russia into his business organizations. Now, Donald Trump saying, “Look, I haven't actually invested in Russia,” but there is the argument and reporting that Russia has invested in him. Again, there is a very big circumstantial situation right now that everyone is kind of piecing with, but right now, you know, the Russia headline, what he actually instructed to do, to me is the biggest takeaway here.

HALL: There are more things to fact check from. His position on minimum wage, which he's not owned what he originally said, which was not supporting minimum wage. The laundry list goes on and on. I know you're going to fact check a lot of this. But Rob, last night we heard Bill Clinton refer to cartoon versus real. Is that what Bill Clinton was referring to? 

ROB REINER: Well, yes. We talk about somebody coming from a reality show. Running for president is not a reality show. It's actual reality. And this man is the single most unqualified person ever to run for president in my lifetime. I mean, just to hear what you just said, we had an entire presidency taken down in the '70s over Watergate, and that was a break-in to the national Democratic headquarters that didn't amount to anything because they didn't get anything. Here we have a break-in to the Democratic national headquarters where everything is stolen, and there's a conceivable connection to the Trump campaign. That to me is just off-the-charts insane. I can't even believe we're having this conversation here. I mean, this is off-the-charts crazy. We're in crazy land here. 

[...]

HALL: Katy Tur is with me. I want to bring her in. Katie, I'm sure you've not had a chance to check the response, though, but it has been pretty rapid and in some cases stunning, Donald Trump telling you to be quiet when you ask him those questions. You're not making it personal. You're a journalist, and you've been covering the campaign from the beginning. You have tough skin, but on the day after we saw 102-year-old woman on the floor applaud the first female nominated to a major party, there you are being told to be quiet by the nominee. Again, I'm not asking you to make this personal. What, though, were you asking him?

KATY TUR: Tamron, you know, don't worry about me. I'm not very good at being quiet, and I won't continue to be quiet in any way, shape, or form. But I was trying to ask him about if he had any qualms about encouraging Russia to hack into a system or to release emails for anybody in this country regardless of whether it's his political opponent. Does he think it's a good idea for a foreign government, China, Russia, anybody, to be involved in American politics in any way or to be involved in anything to do with American servers, American privacy when it comes to emails or any other security, bank accounts, anything. Donald Trump said that he did not have qualms about that. He said he wants to see those 30,000 emails. A remarkable turn of events or a remarkable comment even from Donald Trump himself, who has said remarkable comments, had remarkable things to say throughout this entire campaign. 

REINER: Nixon was brought down over this.

TUR: But it is one that will certainly raise eyebrows and is already raising eyebrows with security experts and American officials who believe that any encouragement whatsoever by a foreign government into American life or politics should not be encouraged in any way, shape, or form. You heard him did not come out and say that he was going -- he refused to come out and say that he would tell Putin to stay out of American politics. He would not do that. Instead we got from Donald Trump an encouragement for those who may or may not have those emails to release them. 

Previously:

Trump Draws Media Criticism For His Connections To Russia After His “Downright Frightening” Statements On NATO

“NATO RIP”: Journalists Horrified By Trump Waffling On Security Guarantees

David Gregory: Trump Suggestion That Russia Hack Clinton's Email Server Is Like “A Child Playing With Matches”