CHUCK TODD (HOST): You're taking a very conciliatory tone this morning. I want to play an ad that you guys unveiled last night.
[BEGIN VIDEO]
NARRATOR: It's pure evil. President [Donald] Trump is right. Build the wall. Deport criminals. Stop illegal immigration now. Democrats who stand in our way will be complicit in every murder committed by illegal immigrants.
[END VIDEO]
TODD: Tell me how that helps negotiations today. You're calling Democrats accomplices to potential murderers.
MARC SHORT [White House Director of Legislative Affairs]: Well, you know that that ad is produced by an outside group and not those of us in the White House.
TODD: Donald J. Trump for President is an outside group?
SHORT: Let me talk about --
TODD: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Donald J. Trump for President is an outside group?
SHORT: It's not done -- it's done from a political organization. It's not done from people working inside the White House, but let me talk about the basis of that ad. Today, what we have is we have over 2,500 people on a terror watch list trying to get into our country each and every day. Each and every -- I'm sorry, each year. That's about seven per day, Chuck, that are being apprehended or turned away. We want to solve the problem of immigration coming in, and the threat that it poses to our country. I think that that's a natural debate that we should be having. It's not something that we should say, hey, let's do this at some other point in time.
TODD: But, if you want to solve this problem, is that the way to treat opponents, political opponents here? Let me ask you this: is that ad helpful to you today?
SHORT: I think it's helpful to continue to raise awareness of what the crisis --
TODD: The tone of that ad -- you find the tone of that ad helpful?
SHORT: I think that the data in that ad continues to remind people that there are people coming across our border that --
TODD: Data, not tone. Is the tone wrong?
SHORT: I'm telling you that the data of the ad shows that there are people coming across our border that pose threats to our country, yes.
