ALSO – EXCLUSIVE WITH SEN. RON JOHNSON: “AN AWFUL LOT OF US CONCERNED” ABOUT PRESIDENT’S NATIONAL EMERGENCY DECLARATION

PLUS – EXCLUSIVE WITH DNC CHAIR TOM PEREZ: CONGRESSWOMAN ILHAN OMAR TWEET WAS “WRONG” AND “DIVISIVE”

FEB. 17, 2019 – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D-N.Y.) said Amazon’s decision to pull out of plans to build a second headquarters in New York is “an example of an abuse of corporate power,” during an exclusive interview on Meet the Press with Chuck Todd.

“I have no problem with my fellow progressives critiquing a deal or wanting more from Amazon … But the bottom line is, this is an example of an abuse of corporate power. They had an agreement with the people of New York City.” He continued, “Amazon just took their ball and went home. And what they did was confirm people’s worst fears about corporate America … I think it’s going to frustrate people all over this country to see a company treat a neighborhood and city like that.”

De Blasio called Amazon’s decision “arbitrary” and said, “We had an agreement … I say there is plenty of money in this world, plenty of money in this country, but it’s in the wrong hands and we’re — and Amazon is making my point for me. What they did was arbitrary and unfair to working people.”

When Chuck Todd asked de Blasio if he plans to run for president he said, “I have not ruled it out but I’m going to take this message nationally any way you slice it because this is a moment, Chuck, it’s an urgent moment.” Watch the full interview.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, said he is concerned that President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency is presidential overreach but stopped short of saying it was unconstitutional. “I wish he wouldn’t use it in this case,” Sen. Johnson told Chuck Todd during an exclusive interview from Munich, Germany. “But I understand his frustration.”

“I think Congress, past Congresses have given any executive, any administration way too much power. And this would be another expansion of that power. That’s why you see an awful lot of us concerned about this.”

When asked if he will support the president’s national emergency declaration, Sen. Johnson said, “I’ll decide when I actually have to vote on it,” saying it depends “how quickly this money is actually going to be spent, versus what he’s going to use.”

Sen. Johnson also called Democrats in Congress “hypocrites” for not supporting President Trump’s push for a border wall saying, “Democrats in Congress have supported this in the past. They just won’t support it now because it’s President Trump.” Watch the full interview.

During an exclusive interview, Tom Perez, chair of the Democratic National Committee, responded to Sen. Johnson’s concern about President Trump’s national emergency declaration saying the Senator “understands that it’s unconstitutional, but God forbid that he would say something against Donald Trump.”

When asked about Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) recent use of anti-Semitic tropes on Twitter, Perez said he is “heartened that Congresswoman Omar apologized because what she said was wrong and it was divisive.” He continued, “The difference between Democrats and Republicans is when we see people within our own ranks do things or say things that are antithetical to our values, we are not reluctant to call them out. On the other side, unfortunately, they are enablers.”

When asked about the growing field of Democrats running for president, Perez said he welcomes a large field and that the DNC’s role is “to make sure that every candidate who runs gets a fair shake.” The DNC announced this week that NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo will host the first Democratic presidential primary debate in June. Watch the full interview.

Chair of the Center for African-American Studies and James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor at Princeton University and NBC News Contributor Eddie Glaude Jr., Los Angeles Times Columnist and National Review Senior Editor Jonah Goldberg, POLITICO National Political Reporter Eliana Johnson, and The Cook Political Report National Editor Amy Walter joined the broadcast’s roundtable for insight and analysis on the week in politics. Watch the full panel.

Read the full transcript of Meet the Press this morning and follow the show on Twitter and on Facebook for the latest.

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