MSNBC "Hardball with Chris Matthews" - Transcript: Bundy Standoff

Interview

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With us now is Democratic congressman Steven Horsford from Nevada. He represents Cliven Bundy`s congressional district -- and Jon Ralston, host of "Ralston Reports."

And Congressman, I`ll just start with you. I mean, this is your district. These are your constituents. Not all militia members, apparently, are your constituents, but the people in this community certainly are. And I just wonder -- how -- we lose sight of it sometimes just by focusing on the militia presence. There`s a whole community here.

How has that whole community been dealing with this?

REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D), NEVADA: Well, many people in Bunkerville and the surrounding area in Moapa Valley and Mesquite feel terrorized by these outside armed militia groups. They are not from our community. They`re not from Nevada. They`re coming here.

And they actually have set up kind of a military police state, where individuals who live in the community have to go through their checkpoint in order to get to their house.

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KORNACKI: You have checkpoints set up from this militia?

HORSFORD: The militia groups have set up their own checkpoints. And so the people who live there actually have to go through those checkpoints to get to their home. We have people I met with yesterday who told me that their kids can`t walk around the corner from their house to their school because there`s armed militia in the hills. They tried to go to church on Sunday, and there were armed militia in and around the church because Cliven Bundy was there. They want them to leave so that our community can go back to normal.

KORNACKI: So what`s happening with local law enforcement? I mean, there still are police out, right? I mean, if there`s checkpoints being set up, I mean, the cops can do something about that, can`t they?

HORSFORD: Well, this is part of why I met with the local elected officials yesterday, including representatives from the sheriff`s department, so that we could get a resolution. But what we need first is for these armed militia to leave our community, to leave the state of Nevada so that we can solve our own land use issues on our own.

KORNACKI: No, I understand that, but with these checkpoints and everything -- I mean, so what did the sheriff`s -- what did the sheriff`s department tell you? I mean, what -- what -- are they planning to do anything about it?

HORSFORD: Well because this is information that we have just received -- it was actually through an e-mail to my office from a constituent -- we`re now working with those agencies to try to see what can be done. But most importantly, we need Cliven Bundy to tell these armed militia to leave Bunkerville and the surrounding communities.

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KORNACKI: So, Congressman, you were starting to talk about this a few minutes ago, the idea that he needs to stand down, he needs to get the militia to stand down.

I guess my question is, look, every respectable politician in America is running way from and media figures running away from Cliven Bundy, but the militia that`s gathered there seems sort of immune to all of that, seems sort of to not even want to admit that that`s going on and is perfectly content, the way I can tell, to just sort of camp out there indefinitely.

How -- you need Cliven Bundy`s cooperation here, it seems. If the plan is that you have got to get the militia to stand down first, Cliven Bundy is the only one they is going to listen to, isn`t that right?

HORSFORD: Well, and it does seem that way.

Based on some of the accounts that I saw prior to the escalation of this situation, it was actually the Bundy family that called for these armed militia to come to the community in the first place. And that`s why we need him to tell them to leave. That`s what the residents of Bunkerville want. That`s what the surrounding community wants.

This is a very small community of only about 1,200 people. They`re law-abiding. Some of them are ranchers. As Jon said, they have paid their grazing fees. Where they are permitted to graze, they have done so. They have cooperated with local, state and federal agencies. And Cliven Bundy needs to do the same thing. He`s a lawbreaker. He`s not a hero.

KORNACKI: Boy, I -- it`s so hard to see. He`s got his heels dug in so much here -- to see him finally saying, hey, to the militiamen, get off my property, but I guess that`s what it`s going to take.

Anyway, thank you, Congressman Steven Horsford, Jon Ralston.

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