MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript "Democrats no closer to Impeachment. "

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REP. JERROLD NADLER (D), NEW YORK: Thank you.

UYGUR: All right. Now, a lot of people are saying that you shouldn"t build this mosque here. Across the country, there"s a Republican out with an ad now in Florida.

You represent Ground Zero. The people of Manhattan have been polled and they say they"re in favor of it.

What business is it of anybody else"s where you"re going to build a mosque in Manhattan?

NADLER: Well, I think the key point is that it"s no business of anybody"s to tell Christians or Jews or Muslims where they can build their mosque or their church or their synagogue. The Constitution grants us religious freedom and protects the right of anyone subject to local laws and ordinances and zoning and so forth to build any house of worship. And the government must protect that right, and that"s what we"re trying to do now.

UYGUR: But Congressman, Harry Reid seems to be backing away a little bit from this. His spokesperson said, "The First Amendment protects the freedom of religion. Senator Reid respects that but thinks that the mosque should be built someplace else."

"If the Republicans are being sincere," he says, "then they would help us pass this long overdue bill to help the first responders whose health and livelihoods have been the devastated because of their bravery on 9/11," I should say. And "Rather than continuing to block this much-needed legislation."

So, there"s two issues there. One, the Republicans actually doing something to hurt 9/11 responders, which I know you care a lot about.

NADLER: Well, in fact, that 9/11 health bill is sponsored by Carolyn Maloney and me, and the two of us have been working on it for eight years. And we had a vote in the House last week, and all but 12 Republicans voted against it. And I find that frankly disgusting.

It says that they don"t really care about helping bind up the nation"s wounds, helping bind up the wounds, as Lincoln said, of him who shall have borne the battle. These people are survivors from the neighborhood, they"re first responders who rushed in, and who are sick because of the toxins that were in the atmosphere. And they need this help.

Now, frankly, I"d be much more respectful of the sincerity of the Republicans who are opposing the mosque in the name of the sensitivities and the feelings of the first responders--or not the first responders, of the survivors--if they would support legislation like this. It seems to me that otherwise, they"re simply being political.

Now, whether the mosque should be there or not is up to the people in that congregation. The Muslims who want to build the mosque there, if they decide to move it, that"s their business, but government should not pressure them to do so.

Now, the Republicans, for the last few days, until today or yesterday, were saying that the government should stop them from building the mosque. Now they seem to be admitting the Constitution--government can"t stop them from doing that, but they want the government to use its power to pressure them to move the mosque. And that would be equally wrong.

UYGUR: Congressman Nadler, let"s talk about the politics for a second.

As you saw there, Harry Reid backing away from supporting the mosque. It seemed like the president did a bit of a flip-flop on Saturday. You"re standing exactly where you were before.

Do you think they"re wrong in backing away from this issue?

NADLER: Well, I don"t want to characterize anyone else, but I think that the president took the position that government has to protect the right of people to build a mosque there or anywhere else. And I don"t think he backed away from that.

I think that it"s up to the people--he didn"t take a position whether the mosque should be there. And I think that"s proper, because that"s up to the people in the congregation. Government shouldn"t tell them the mosque should be there or be anywhere else, but should protect their right to put it over there if that"s what they want to do.

UYGUR: All right. Thank you, Congressman Nadler. We really appreciate you joining us.

All right. Now joining me, David Winston, a Republican strategist and former director of planning for House Speaker Newt Gingrich.

Well, let me, David, read you the quote again of Newt Gingrich. He said, "It"s like putting a Nazi sign next to a Holocaust Museum."

Those are very harsh words. Do you agree with that?

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