tv Alex Wagner Tonight MSNBC March 14, 2024 9:00pm-10:00pm PDT
9:00 pm
that is the introduction and sharing the family story. so i mark my speeches, every single one. >> thank you so much. >> you are so good. >> thank you. >> president biden and harry to take us off the air tonight. on that note, i wish you a good night. tomorrow, stephanie is back with a special nightcap episode. she will be joined by a panel of student journalist sf from around the country. you have to turn into this, 11 p.m. eastern and you can see me and my cohost and michael steele every saturday and sunday on the weekend. grab a cup of coffee and join us at 8:00 a.m. eastern right here on msnbc. for all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you so much for staying up late i will see you this weekend.
9:01 pm
the news that donald trumps one criminal case, one criminal case that was likely to go to trial before the november election may be delayed. manhattan district attorney, alvin bragg hush money case was set to go to trial on march 25th, less than two weeks today but now that date is in question. trumps legal strategy, in all of his cases, has been to push them off as long as possible, preferably until the month of nephew where a. but today is not coming for a trump, or at least not directly. today, d.a. bragg's office consented to a 30 day delay in the start of the trial but not because d.a. bragg needs another month. the issue at hand is a new trove of records that were turned over by the feds, the u.s. attorney's office for the southern district of a gap. tens of thousands of records. specifically, 31,000 pages of records at the u.s. attorney's
9:02 pm
office just handed over to bragg's office yesterday. now, the d.a. specifically pens this newest delay on trump, saying that trumps legal team waited until just two months ago to request this massive trove of records from the u.s. attorney's office. don't get me wrong, i am sure trumps legal team is using every opportunity that exists to create delays in this case. that is what they do. the d.a. bragg's office and the u.s. attorney's office know that. and one of the reasons this appears to be happening so late in the game is because the u.s. attorney's office requested repeated extensions that trumps side consented to according to d.a. bragg. when the new york times asked the u.s. attorneys office for comment on the delay, the office declined to respond. the fact that this latest delay might be the responsibility of an arm of the justice department would be a big deal
9:03 pm
on its own, but this case is not alone. this delay would seem to fit a pattern. just hours after merrick garland was sworn in as attorney general, he held a private thing to get up to speed on what he promised with his highest priority, bringing to justice the people responsible for january 6th. and then, more than a year passed. witnesses in the fake electors scheme told the washington post that they assumed the case was dead, because no one at the doj was contacting them. remember, trumps infamous call to georgia terry secretary of state brad raffensperger, the colbert pressured raffensperger to find him 11,000 votes. he witnesses to that call in early 2021 told the washington post that no one at the fbi contacted them until 2023, two years after the fact. what was happening in the department of justice at that time?
9:04 pm
thanks to great reporting from the washington post, we know that the answer to that question is not much. . internal debate in heated arguments over this choice. but for more than a year the justice department policy was to go after the little guys and work their way up. as one former justice department official told the post, you couldn't use the t work, meaning you could not mention trump. the way the washington post reports it, the department of justice was so worried about looking like they were prosecuting donald trump for political reasons that they gave trump treatment no other american would get. they effectively ignored him despite the fact that he was at the very center of this plot. it wasn't until intrepid reporting and the house january 6th committee started unearthing troves of evidence and forgetting trump and his top aides in the january 6th riot which, doc, it wasn't until the all that started coming out publicly that the
9:05 pm
justice department actually began investigating trump in earnest. ultimately, the fbi did open an investigation into trump, the guy at the beating heart of everything until 15 months after the capital attack. key witnesses, in the meantime, deleted emails. ended also said the actual prosecution of this case back more than a year. and now the window of time in which the case could make it to trial before the november election is so small it seems nearly impossible that the american public will get a ruling before they have to vote for president. we saw a similar delay coming from the department of justice in the mar-a-lago classified documents case. remember that form that trumps lawyer signed on his behalf in june of 2022? the client that trumps legal team had performed a delegate search and it turned over all the classified documents.
9:06 pm
thanks, yet again, to extensive reporting in the washington post, we know that it is almost that point is almost where the entire classified document investigation ended. it turns out there was a months long fight between prosecutors who had evidence suggesting that trump and his lawyers might not be telling the whole truth. prosecutors who wanted to search mar-a-lago and the fbi. the fbi wanted to take trump and his lawyers at their word. they did not want to touch donald trump. the objects were too controversial. that infighting delayed the actual search of mar-a-lago for months. of course, when mar-a- lago was ultimately searched, fbi agents found more than 100 classified documents, 18 of them top-secret. by the fall of 2022, prosecutors were reportedly ready to charge trump based on what they had found. it looks like a very straightforward case. but they did not charge trump.
9:07 pm
before they could, trump announced he was running for re- election. and the calculations within the department of justice changed. once again, the department deferred to trump and his political realities. to avoid anything that might even look like political prosecution attorney general merrick garland appointed jack smith as special counsel. smith worked really quite quickly but ultimately he didn't charge trump until june of the following year. that set back the prosecution timeline another eight months. now, the classified documents case is currently scheduled, scheduled to go on trial on may 20th but that date is widely expected to be bumped back. potentially delayed, that trial just past november election and missing that he date by a matter of months after being delayed for nearly a year by, yes, judge cannon, but also
9:08 pm
indecision, infighting, and the passing of the case to a special counsel at the department of justice. >> looking back now, do you think that it took too long to bring these cases, maybe? please georgia prosecutors follow the fax and there are cases when they felt like they were ready. please so we already know that one of the reasons trump might not face accountability before the election in either of his federal criminal cases is because of the department of justice dragged its feet and fought internally and was cautious to a fault. but now, tonight, we learn that even in a state level prosecution, in d.a. bragg's new york state hush money case, the most likely case to see trial before the november election, even in that case, it looks like the justice department may be playing a very real role in delaying justice. joining me now are former fbi counsel andrew wiseman and nyu law professor alyssa marie.
9:09 pm
together they are the authors of the brand-new number one, not bad, guys, new york times best seller, the trump indictment, historic charging documents commentary. congratulations on this. it is not the holidays but it is not too early to buy copies for every person in your family and we will talk about that in a second. i have to get your opinion on what is happened here in the new york hush money case because on the outside, yes, i understand trump is doing everything he can but what is going on here with the department of justice and their ability to get the d.a. and the defendants that the documents they needed in a timely fashion? >> self-inflicted wound. it doesn't look good, especially when we are making a decision on da fani willis, even if there is a decision not to disqualify her, the combination at the very least, this is a massive stir up. prosecutors, really poor judgment not to have turned everything over a year ago when the d.a.s office outstretched
9:10 pm
for information. if you got inculpatory information you have got to turn that over. if you got! tori information coming to turn that over. it was just a bad decision. i'm very focused on for this isn't going to be fatal to the case. there will be a trial. i'm very fixed on what the information is. one thing to note is that the d.a.s submission today said that there is still more to come. so it is worth knowing, they do not yet know, neither side, not the d.a. nor the defense knows exactly what the full scope is. i think that there could be information that is additional by michael cohen, remember, michael cohen pled guilty there and prosecutors had publicly said at the plea hearing how much they distrusted him. they were very much fighting with our office, the special counsel's office, we were saying he should get credit, you were saying no he shouldn't. they could be more information about that. there could be more information about allen weisselberg because reading the tea leaves it appears that allen weisselberg may have given information to
9:11 pm
the maybe even testified to a grand jury. >> and he has already pled guilty to perjury? >> exactly, but there could be more complications there. there also could be discussions about the theory of the case, of the federal campaign. why do i say that? because if you remember, less go back in a time machine to when bill barr was the attorney general that was fighting with the acting u.s. attorney, audrey stratus saying that you essentially should get rid of the case and she pushed back. so there could just be a whole massive material, and that is what i'm keeping my eye on, what is the information and is it going to be something that is really meaningful, exactly. >> but i don't fundamentally understand, and this is according to d.a. bragg, he asked for a lot of this material last year and did not get it. and then trump asks for it in january and so far, 103,000, i think, is the count, pages of
9:12 pm
documents have been turned over. i mean, what might possibly account for that? >> i think one thing you have to understand is although all of these u.s. attorneys offices are part of the federal department of justice, the prosecutorial offices working under the department of justice, they all enjoy a fair amount of autonomy. the district of new york is also colloquially known as the sovereign district of new york. and they take that sovereignty quite seriously. so yes, they don't always play well with other offices, state- level prosecutions. they are doing their own thing, quite a lot of the time. this may be one of the situation. i think the thing to take from all of this is that this delay is not necessarily alvin bragg's fault. he definitely asks for this information a year ago, it wasn't forthcoming. now it has been disclosed and apparently is an avalanche of documents with more to come. and he has done the right thing which is to concede that there should be a delay. he has pushed back on the defendant's request for a 90
9:13 pm
day delay. he has requested a 30 day delay to go through these documents. but he has prioritized the rates of this defendant to have an opportunity to review these documents against him, review the documents that may have information about those who testify against him and present the most vigorous defense that he can and that is exactly what he should be doing. plea yeah, and he is the one saying a 30 day delay would be fine by me. i can do the final today but i can also take it when i have had time to prepare for it. well, one of the things i don't understand, andrew, is he makes note of the fact that the feds effectively said we need another delay, mr. trump, in terms of getting you this material. repeatedly asking for extensions. all trump wants to do is delay this thing. what would account for, first of all, they were after this material last year, then they ask for it again in january and then they still say we need more time and now it is the eve of the trial beginning effectively and they are still
9:14 pm
not done giving documents. how is that process? does that seem plausible to you how does the process work that it might be so greatly slowed? plea one thing that i don't think happened is i don't think that justice was involved. it could be, but i just don't think that is the case. i agree with melissa that offices can, in a lot of circumstances, particularly in the southern district of new york, decided that does answer your question, it just deals with merrick garland somehow part of this. as we have discussed, issues in terms of the speed or lack thereof on, with respect to the attorney general. i do think this was something i would immediately jump to have. it is hard to know how this could happen. i can tell you that my reaction and friends who either had worked in the d.a.s office or worked at the district attorney's office all had the same reaction which is not something i can say on air. >> on this family program. >> and because it is either just
9:15 pm
a colossal blunder or just such a wrong view in terms of the judge called here, in terms of what needs to be done. the idea that it sent clearly took alvin bragg buy supplies. at the very least, if you thought you had a huge cache of documents you would call up the d.a. and say you know what? we just found, or something. it is clear that did not happen. to me -- >> that is part of it, too. donald trump has been saying throughout all of these investigations, and now these indictments, that all of these various law enforcement officials are working in tandem. this is a collusive effort to selectively prosecute him. this makes clear that that is not the case. the southern district of new york is not working. clear wildly dysfunctional, not correlating anything. please complete this function but certainly not the collusion that he has applied. >> a great defense, of course.
9:16 pm
>> so dysfunctional that they can be colluding. but andrew, i got to push back a little bit. i'm not suggesting that merrick garland was the puppeteer of dropping one thousand people piece of the paper but i do think this is a week where robert hur has gone to the hill with this highly controversial report that the white house said , that i think a lot of folks, not even just democrats say, was filled with just out of school commentary about president biden's mental acuity. the mere appointment of robert hur was a subject of debate and went he came up, just so political in nature and not to the support of the current optic occupant of the white house. it all serves to paint a picture of a justice department that seems hopelessly concerned with how they are going to be perceived on the right. please so i agree with that i am just trying to be sort of judicious about it, taking each
9:17 pm
set of circumstances at the same time and looking at them to give them fair weight. i agree with you. i think that is a small p political decision. to not have criticism, so you appoint someone who is a republican. i think that is a massive mistake, i think it buys into the idea that special councils can't act out of principle. and if you coin drop her, that is what you get. i think that is absolutely right to be critical of that decision and i think it is important because i think it deals with sort of what would happen next to kind of coordinate the milestones to say you know what? this is what you get if you don't actually back your people and thinking that anybody, judges, prosecutors, jurors, witnesses will act out of principle. i just think in the situation, i don't know what was motivating the southern district of new york. i just don't think they would have coordinator this. i do think merrick garland, he may make wrong decisions but i
9:18 pm
do not see him trying to slow this down by saying, do not turn inculpatory information over to prosecutors and escalatory information. the prosecutor is gone want to know both of those and it is going to feel like he has an obligation to turn over both of those things to the defense. plea but i think to alex's point, though, merrick garland should have been writing all of these prosecutors in these u.s. attorneys offices. to get this done, right? so there is, i think, a failure of leadership here. >> it doesn't have to be nefarious to be problematic. he is in charge and they report to him. this needed to be done, the defendant had a right to this information for why did it take so long? so no, i agree that this fate likely falls with the office but the book ultimately stops with merrick garland. >> i agree with that. i think the chances that merrick garland and he may have
9:19 pm
been reading at the same way we did. and of course, he runs the office, ultimately he is totally responsible. but at the u.s. attorney's office, the idea that this would not be turned over, i am pretty sure that the extent that they didn't know it may just their reaction is just the same as all of ours which is you have got to be kidding. >> you have got to be kidding is my refrain for this block of television tonight. andrew and melissa, please both stay with me. i have questions about so many more topics. i should note that tomorrow night, this is so awesome, 10:00 p.m. eastern, andrew and melissa will be cohosting a live msnbc special on their books, the trump indictments, and that is tomorrow night at 10:00 p.m. eastern, right here on msnbc. we have a lot more ahead tonight, including vice president kamala harris and her words of warning to blue states where abortion is still legal, be very, very concerned. but first, the judge and donald
9:20 pm
trump's classified documents case ruled against the former president today but does that mean the case will go to trial anytime soon? that is coming up next. next. everyone say, “space pod.” cheese. [door creaks open] [ominous music] (♪♪) [ding] meanwhile, at a vrbo... when other vacation rentals are just for likes, try one you'll actually like.
9:21 pm
♪(sung) limu emu and doug.♪ hello, ghostbusters. it's doug... ...of doug and limu. we help people customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. anyway, we got a bit of a situation here. uh-huh. uh-huh. mm-hmm. sure, i can hold. only pay for what you need. ♪(sung) liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ ghostbusters: frozen empire. in theaters march 22. starting a business is never easy, but starting it eight months pregnant... that's a different story. with the chase ink card, we got up and running in no time. earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase with the chase ink business unlimited card. make more of what's yours.
9:23 pm
her uncle's unhappy. with the chase ink business unlimited card. i'm sensing an underlying issue. it's t-mobile. it started when we got him under a new plan. but then they unexpectedly unraveled their "price lock" guarantee. which has made him, a bit... unruly. you called yourself the "un-carrier". you sing about "price lock" on those commercials. "the price lock, the price lock..." so, if you could change the price, change the name! it's not a lock, i know a lock. so how can we undo the damage? we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for.
9:24 pm
donald trump has vanished delay his -- trump was doing his best to do the same thing in his classified documents case. that is where trump lawyers have been arguing that the charges trump violated in the espionage act, that the charges trump violated with the espionage act are too big, that trump as a former president can't be held to a standard and
9:25 pm
consequently, the charges should be tossed out. judge eileen cannon responded a few hours later saying that trump's legal team had some arguments warranting some serious consideration should not dismiss the charges in question. cannon, did however leave the door open for trump to raise the issue again, with jury instruction other appropriate motion. the proverbial can has been kicked down the proverbial road back with me now is andrew wiseman. andrew, my am i reading that right? that this is eileen cannon just punting on this call and what does that practically mean? >> i think you're absolutely right and i think it is important that people not say that oh, she ruled for the government. this is the worst possible decision for the government that she made today and like why? so if she had said to the
9:26 pm
government, you know, you win i will see if that is great for the government, it means she thinks it's right and what would happen is trump convicted, he could appeal that. if she had said to the government, you lose, the government gets to appeal that. and go to the 11th circuit. that is the 11th circuit were judge canada has not been reversed not want but twice, what she is trying to do is avoid, at all cost doing anything that allows the government to go up to the 11th circuit because what can they do? they can remove her. so this is saying, oh, i think there are serious issues that donald trump is raising and i think this is really a matter of quite some concern. and you know what? i'm going to decide this later. and so it is denied without prejudice to renewal. that just means that there is no decision. plus, she put in the little bonbons of like, oh, this is a
9:27 pm
serious issue. that is really the worst possible thing for the government because they have no recourse now and she then can just push this off if they cannot appeal it at this point. >> trump can continue to bring it back up and slow the case down, is that right? plea by the way, it is because there are so many more motions, the other thing i just want to point out the irony of this idea that this is a vague statute. there are scores of people, scores of people, including during the trump presidency, who have been prosecuted for this. the indictment itself, in paragraphs 23 and 24, point out donald trump's own statements about these laws saying that they need to be enforced more, not less. he wanted a higher penalty for them now that he is a defendant, suddenly these laws are vague and no one can understand what is going on. that argument has been denied by everyone that is in sitting in jail has lost that.
9:28 pm
so this is not a big statute. that puts context. >> how outrageous her decision is. this is one where it took all day and people are like, why is this taking all day? this is something you deny outright, maybe, yes, you want to hear somebody for half an hour, fine. this is one where i really can't say it is just inexperience. over and over again, she has shown that she is not being evenhanded. >> and he is making similarly meritless argument on the presidential records act and say this is they are saying this is political persecution. and she is entertaining hearings on all this, right? >> including the favorite, which is immunity. which i love, because that is when we are, guess what? you were president when this happened and i keep analogizing, this is a bank robber going into a
9:29 pm
bank, robbing it with a gun, shooting the guard, he is prosecuted and he says, judge cannon, i cannot be prosecuted because i legally owned the gun. >> right, exactly. and she is entertaining the argument. >> i can't wait for her to say these are serious issues. >> we are taking serious consideration. doesn't say anything to you that two weeks ago she held a hearing to decide the trial date for this case? and before she has even said that, she is going through this like very tedious series of hearing on these poppycock motions. >> i hope i am wrong but to me the chances that she is going to set a trial before the general election are not even infinitesimal. i just don't think that is going to happen. i hope i am wrong. i hope i have misjudged her and that she is going to take the timeline seriously. but i just don't think that is the case. has the mail trial date, there is not a single person in the world who takes that is going to go forward and she hasn't
9:30 pm
set a new date. and normally that is what you do as a trial judge. you need a date set in stone because you need to block it on everyone's calendars and then everyone works to that deadline. this is real life or you say here is the deadline and everyone manages to that time. she has not done that yet. so the idea that that is going to be before the general election, i hate to give everyone all this bad news. >> but it is theater with a coward in the seat. andrew wiseman, thank you for your time, my friend molotov on the book. it is an important reference in these times, my friend. still ahead, how south dakota governor maybe, just maybe, increased her odds to become donald trump's running mate in indulging in the great trump the tradition of gritch. but first, vice president kamala harris was at a minnesota planned parenthood today with an important message. if you want to stop republicans from coming for abortions, ivf,
9:31 pm
and now contraception, you need to go to the ballot box in november. i will talk to melissa murray and leah lichtman about that, next. that can't retain moisture. new pantene miracle rescue deep conditioner, with first-of-its-kind melting pro-v pearls... locks in moisture to repair 6 months of damage in one wash, without weigh down. guaranteed or your money back! for resilient, healthy-looking hair... if you know, you know it's pantene.
9:32 pm
9:33 pm
(opponent) you gonna move, or what? (marci) oh, i'm sorry. it's a lovely neighborhood. (luke) marci, we've gotta go. (marci) i'm coming! (luke) we've got seventeen thousand more parks to visit. (marci) you wanna give me a hand? (luke) we bring you the best neighborhood info. (vo) ding dong! homes-dot-com. voices of people with cidp: cidp disrupts. cidp derails. let's be honest... all: cidp sucks! voices of people with cidp: but living with cidp doesn't have to. when you sign up at shiningthroughcidp.com, you'll find inspiration in real patient stories, helpful tips, reliable information, and more. cidp can be tough. but finding hope just got a little easier. sign up at shiningthroughcidp.com. all: be heard. be hopeful. be you. it's time. yes, the time has come for a fresh approach to dog food.
9:34 pm
9:35 pm
9:36 pm
>> harris did something no other vice resident or president has ever done, she visited an abortion clinic. harris traveled to a planned parenthood clinic in st. paul, minnesota to highlight the stakes of the 2024 elections, even in a blue state like minnesota where democrats control all of the levers of state power and where reproductive freedoms are protected, a federal ban would nullify all of that. and the presumptive republican nominee for president, whom harris and biden are running against, has expressed support for a nationwide ban. democrats meant to highlight the stakes here have only strengthened by what is happening elsewhere in the country. in texas, basic access to contraception is now under attack. this week, a panel of appeals court judges upheld a texas law requiring parental consent for minors to obtain contraception. and while this case might be about teens at present, it could also signal a fight ahead , at least one supreme court
9:37 pm
justice has already documented his desire to overturn the right to contraception among the population at large joining me now is neil lichtman, professor at the university of michigan school of law and one of the cohosts of the great podcast, strict scrutiny and back with me is melissa murray, the other cohost, one of the other cohosts of strict scrutiny and nyu law professor. thank you for being here tonight and melissa, thank you for staying just don't ever leave. leah, first let's just talk about this texas decision, right? because i think there is a, some people are saying oh, but this is just affirming general parental consent decree that exists in the state of texas but if you read in the real world, it sounds like they are coming for our contraception here. we absolutely because you could've said the exact same thing when they began their war on abortion access because initially, what they were attempting to restrict abortion, first they adopted laws that required rental consent for abortions and then it was trying to enact laws
9:38 pm
that adopted restrictions on abortion providers and then it was adopting a law that requires special consent before obtaining abortions and it was all part of a longer process to lead to the court overruling roe versus wade and ending the constitutional protection for abortion and now this is the beginning of the same thing happening for contraception, as thompson signaled dobbs they wanted to happen more quickly, it kind of seems like things are happening that way. we kind of feels like clarence thompson to the base layer on the crazy choice, conservatives follow suit. do you think this is ultimately going to be, if not this case, a case about contraception and the supreme court? >> i think it is inevitable the contraception will go before the supreme court because, again, this isn't about simply forestalling abortion. if you wanted to end abortion, you would actually be in favor of expanding access to contraception, to prevent unwanted pregnancies. it is not about abortion, it is not about preventing unwanted pregnancies, it is about controlling sexuality and in
9:39 pm
particular, enforcing a set of gender roles on individuals like women who rely on abortion and birth control as means of controlling their reproductive capacity. and you are right, justice thomas is very much the intellectual genius behind this entire project. he often writes alone on the court, he did not get anyone to sign on to his concurrence in dobbs. it doesn't matter because he has an army of former law clerks who are now eating adderall judges in places like the fifth circuit who hear these players as they go up, listen to what he is saying, read his opinions, and then put them out in their own courts as part of the law of their circuits. that is what we are seeing in the fifth circuit, we have seen it before in the sixth circuit. justice thomas has been shepherding this completely bogus narrative that abortion is linked to the eugenics movement and it has been used as a tool to the african- american community. no one else signed onto his concurrence in an opinion saying that but then it began
9:40 pm
appearing in lower court opinions and then appeared in a footnote in dobbs. so he is the sort of evil genius behind all of this. and when he is done for the night he goes back to his office and strokes a hairless cat and prides himself on what he has done. >> the end of bodily autonomy as we know it in this country. leah, can you talk a little bit about jonathan mitchell who is involved in this case and matthew kaczmarek, the judge whose name may be familiar to some viewers of this program because we talk about him a lot, he has done a great and important amount of work in terms of furthering the conservative agenda through the courts. >> is, so he is a busy guy. he was the judge in the medication abortion case, the mifepristone case that the court will be here in a few weeks. he is the judge that effectively ordered a nationwide ban on the medication abortion. he is also the judge in the title x contraception case. he is also the judge where there is a multimillion dollar lawsuit filed against planned parenthood in his court.
9:41 pm
and they're filing these cases before him, in particular, his division because they know, based on his track record, he was essentially appointed to do all the things he is doing now right? making it more difficult, to actually make medication abortion access available for now restricting access to con contraceptive some judges on the fifth circuit pick up on and they go up to the supreme and the supreme court is able to steadily move the law in a more conservative direction even if they don't do everything that the judge does they are still steadily moving the law away from access to contraception, access to reproductive freedom, access to bodily autonomy and so that is, again, what judge put on the bench to do. >> and jonathan mitchell is the guy that came up with the bounty hunter abortion law in texas, right? >> he is a busy guy for the bounty hunter abortion law and texas, which the supreme court allowed to go into effect well before dobbs essentially ending abortion access and the second largest state in the union
9:42 pm
before dobbs did, a precursor of things to come, he is also the lawyer that argue that this obligation of ale before the united supreme court for donald trump. we have talked about. >> 14th amendment case. >> we have talked about this endlessly on our podcast we think he is auditioning to be our next attorney general. >> he has basically made statements to the press indicating that he wants, in the next trump administration, the administration to begin enforcing the comstock act, a victorian era law from the 1870s, now more than 100 signed onto a brief that they say allows them to ban medication abortion without actually having to pass any law. this is a theory that jonathan mitchell says let's not talk about it until after the election >> and he is great at this kind of end run around what the law says, right? please he is great around majoritarian preferences because they realize there is unlikely to be a majoritarian support for a national ban on abortion so even if they are able to get control of congress and the presidency, there will be considerable pushback. but all they need to enforce the comstock app -- act with
9:43 pm
the department of justice willing to prioritize this as an important priority. and they are a business, they will resuscitate this zombie law and they will begin enforcing it, preventing the shipment and commerce of any article that might be used for abortion, and that includes long-acting forms of contraception that they term abortifacients. >> this comes as they are talking about litigating ivf, right? once you have sort of allowed christian nationalism to infuse your party platform to the greek -- the degree that all contraception, which is where life begins, is, should be unlawful and is unethical, then that sort of tate where your priorities are in terms of policy. >> they have opened the door to this because once you start saying states have a legitimate interest in just treating
9:44 pm
fetuses, unviable fetuses as potential human beings, then that doesn't end with abortion, it extends to contraception, it extends to ivf, it extends to all other manners of reproductive health care and that is happening with alabama supreme court decision and honestly it is happening even before dobbs. mentioned treating contraception as abortifacients. hobby lobby versus boardwalk essentially said that some employees were decided to believe and then act on their belief that some forms of contraception were abortifacients and therefore do not have to offer that form of health insurance coverage to their employees. so the seeds have already been planted and they are just weeding for the next republican president in the way that the republican supreme court did in may with basically anything to test the limits of the law and try to bring a federal abortion ban to life without enacting it into law. >> that is why kamala harris is in minnesota today. it could be a blue state, have all the protections you think you need, but it matters who is sitting in the white house. thank you for this chariot ride into darkness. i appreciate your time. still ahead tonight, would you be interested in purchasing a donald trump nft? how about some gold sneakers? what about a brand-new smile?
9:45 pm
9:46 pm
proudly made in tennessee, a safe step walk-in tub is the best in it's class. the ultra-low easy step helps keep you safe from having to climb over those high walled tubs, allowing you to age gracefully in the home you love. and now, back by popular demand, for a limited time, when you purchase your brand-new safe step walk-in tub, you'll receive a free shower package! yes! a free shower package, and if you call today, you'll also receive $1600 off. now you can enjoy the best of both worlds. the therapeutic benefits of a warm, soothing bath, that can help increase mobility, relieve pain, boost energy, and even improve sleep. or, if you prefer, you can take a refreshing shower all in one product! call now! will
9:47 pm
and it began her family's touching story that is still going on today. vicki: childhood cancer, it's just hard. stacey passed on christmas day of 1986. there is no pain like losing a child, but saint jude gave us more years to love on her each day. marlo thomas: you can join the battle to save lives. for just $19 a month, you'll help us continue the lifesaving research and treatment these kids need now and in the future. jessica: i remember as a child, walking the halls of saint jude, and watching my sister fight for her life. we never imagined that we would come back. and then my son charlie was diagnosed with ewing's sarcoma. vicki: i'm thinking, we already had a catastrophic disease in our family. not my grandson too.
9:48 pm
marlo thomas: st. jude has helped push the overall childhood cancer survival rate from 20% when it opened to 80% today. join with your credit or debit card for only $19 a month, and we'll send you this saint jude t-shirt that you can proudly wear to show your support. jessica: for anybody that would give, the money is going towards research, and you are the reason my child is here today. charlie: i was declared-- this will be two years cancer free. but there's thousands and thousands of kids who need help. saint jude, how many lives they do save is just so many. marlo thomas: charlie's progress warms my heart, but memories of little angels like stacy are why we need your help. please become a saint jude partner in hope right now. [music playing]
9:49 pm
business. it's not a nine-to-five proposition. it's all day and into the night. it's all the things that keep this world turning. it's the go-tos that keep us going. the places we cheer. trust. hang out. and check in. they all choose the advanced network solutions and round the clock partnership from comcast business. powering more businesses than anyone. powering possibilities. when donald trump became the republican nominee in 2016 his daughter spoke at the republican national convention.
9:50 pm
the next morning she tweeted this -- shop of angus look from the rnc speech. afterward she spoke with on 60 minutes. they sent an email urging people to purchase the bracelet she wore during the interview. kellyanne conway went on fox news. >> go out and buy a fungus -- it's a wonderful line, i own some of it. go buy it today. you can buy it online. >> that free commercial was a big scandal. the office of government ethics found that kellyanne conway violated federal standards of conduct. republican, jason, is a fox news personality said about kelly i kellyanne conway's
9:51 pm
commercial. >> when she set about buying that product, that was wrong. i called it out. >> there are a lot of ways in which donald trump and his family profited off the presidency. using his tendency to sell goods and services is a uniquely trumped innovation. he kept this up in his current candidacy by hawking everything by trade cards and gold sneakers. other republicans want in on the game. >> hello, i am christine, the governor of south dakota. i came to smile texas to fix my teeth. i chose the team here because they are the best. it has been a gift to be here at smile texas. >> that is the current republican governor of south dakota.
9:52 pm
doing a five minute infomercial for a texas-based dentistry company. apart from being creepy and a total of front to south dakota's dental industry, that video may also have been illegal. yesterday the consumer protection group, travelers united, sued her for potentially violating consumer protection law by failing to as a paid advertisement. it's a remarkable thing for any politician to do it especially for this governor who is on the vice presidential short list for trent. i will talk with roger about the republican parties snake oil problem. coming up next. ould be peyronie's disease, or pd. it's a medical condition where there is a curve in the erection, caused by a formation of scar tissue. and an estimated 1 in 10 men may have it.
9:53 pm
but pd can be treated even without surgery. say goodbye to searching online. find a specialized urologist who can diagnose pd and build a treatment plan with you. visit makeapdplan.com today. choose advil liqui-gels for faster, stronger and longer-lasting relief than tylenol rapid release gels because advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. so for faster pain relief, advil the pain away.
9:55 pm
okay y'all we got ten orders coming in... big orders! starting a business is never easy, but starting it eight months pregnant... that's a different story. i couldn't slow down. we were starting a business from the ground up. people were showing up left and right. and so did our business needs the chase ink card made it easy. when you go for something big like this, your kids see that. and they believe they can do the same. earn unlimited 1.5% cash back on every purchase with the chase ink business unlimited card. make more of what's yours.
9:57 pm
south dakota governor was one of the officials who intended. she congratulated biden in a post online. congratulations to president biden and vice president harris on your inauguration today. then she tried to sell some gloves. it was an unusual congratulations. especially considering the gear is not from the governor's home state. it's from montana. we may never know exactly why she chose to spotlight her gloves in a presidential inauguration or she posted a five minute inferential for a cosmetic dentistry company in texas, but we have a good idea. the governor should feel at home with the party who loves the graft and learned at best from donald trump. joining me know, roger. thanks for being here.
9:58 pm
what did the smile texas video that the governor posted say to you? >> you covered it pretty well. south dakota has introduced a motion for an investigation to see if there was some ethical violations here on her part using the office for personal gain. what is fascinating about this, not that long ago, she actually acted as a dentist in a psa last year as part of a workforce recruitment campaign. to bring more dentists to south dakota. she has passed legislation. to make it easier to make it as a dental hygienist. the ethical questions, you have to wonder if this is a confession that her own programs
9:59 pm
have not -- >> you would think there would be some fallout, not just because of ethical breaches but because chamber of commerce level, she's advocating for people to go to texas to get there smile six. the way there is no shame in the game literally in the age of trump. >> no shame. it's because they were following the lead of donald trump since 2015 when he launched into this. it was a promotional campaign. now that we are seeing that in a systematic way with the rnc welding itself to the trump campaign, just today, they announced, they launched the fundraising for 2024. it allows mega-donors to cut a $800,000 check to this one committee. through a series of transactions, that money,
10:00 pm
hundreds of thousands from each donation, millions of dollars, can be routed back to the rnc through this set up. into its legal account, which can be used to pay donald trump's legal bills. they launched that today. if you want to read how that works you can check out my newsletter. >> the graft and collusion between big money interests and the republican party in the official capacity is appalling. i would recommend everyone read your pc. roger sullivan with the daily beast. thank you for your time. that is our show for this evening. now it is time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening. >> good evening. for anyone out there who has not heard enough from andrew wiseman tonight, he
69 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC West Television Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on