very good day to you all from msnbc world headquarters in new york .welcome to "alex witt reports." breaking news from baltimore, pivotal day as major efforts are underway to clear a path past the sunken francis scott key bridge. we are now awaiting a news conference from maryland governor wes moore. when he

gets there, we'll take you there as well. but on the cleanup and investigation following the death the collapse of the bridge earlier this week, we hope to get some news from the governor. now, let's go to msnbc's julia chester, 20 from baltimore. julia, as we await this update, i know oakland arrives to begin this very dangerous task of clearing up the wreckage. what can you tell us about the efforts? >> alex, you can see a little bit behind me, the site of the bridge, and one of the cranes in the distance, which are pretty much standing by to really get working. there is a whole category of equipment heading to baltimore, including 7 floating cranes. the navy is providing 4. 1, overnight, another, set to come here monday. in addition to 10 tugboats, 8 salvage vessels, 9 barges and 5 coast guard boats. they are sparing no resource to get this done. it is a challenging, unprecedented salvage operation

, made particularly difficult by the conditions in the water and the fact that they don't want the ship to capsize. it's crews, still on it. there's one humenay problem that's causing concern for the -- the agent had to say about a difficult situation in the operation. >> if a drone goes into the zone, it's going to disrupt operations off the bat, because we have federal, state, and local resources towards to drone as to what is going on and who it is. number two, it is a safety issue to any aircraft. a fixed wing rotor in the area, number three, the parties our ability to do what we need to do at the site. not knowing what the drones are and whether or not they are a threat, it does impact the entire operation. we can't have that. >> reporter: guys, i think that camera position is present on

nbc's julia chester. i thank her for the report nonetheless. nonetheless, we will be hearing from governor wes moore as soon as he takes to the podium. it was scheduled to start a couple of minutes ago. they have been starting late and other information. we'll get you there as a gets underway. dozens of news with passengers injured, some hospitalize with the usf amount flight suddenly had to relent. the united flight was forced to make emergency landing last night. let's go to nbc's jordan love is from newark airport in new jersey where the flight was headed. george, let's talk about what happened there, this incident, and the condition of the passengers. >> reporter: good afternoon, alex. the flight, ending up here after refueling after it had to be diverted to stewart international. that's where a small army of ems was waiting for the passengers that were essentially tossed around during this turbulent this flight left for tel aviv, already delayed commitment to land here, in newark. of

course, that did not happen. they experienced high winds, turbulence up there. very, very forceful and just smoke among the 300 passengers on this flight, one described some chaos in the cabin, says, pilots did a great job in terms of keeping people calm. so did the crew on board they said, there were people, children, the elderly that were visibly sick. you know, they were just not feeling well. they got nauseous. they were being moved around into some pretty, pretty rough air. once they were able to safely land at steward, then they were attended to by ems. we are told, in all, 20 or so individuals were checked out. seven of them, going to the hospital to be checked out. one person had to actually deplane. through all this, alex, measly, no serious injuries. first responders, speaking to our affiliates, here is what they told them. >> 320 people on the plane.

we evaluated about 30 people, transported 7 to the local hospital for observation. no serious entries or ailments. most people want to get checked out at the local emergency room. >> reporter: the airline, in a statement, saying the faa will investigate, of course, noting this was a boeing plane, which we know has made a lot of headlines in recent weeks, but we can't associate any of that with the turbulence. this could happen to any airline at any point, alex, but the bottom line here, obviously, comes as there is a very busy jumping to the travel holiday and shakes the confidence of anybody at any airport across the country now thinking about getting on board the flight s nevertheless, this could have been more serious. people could have been hurt, but somehow, through all that very, very rough air, suffering them some kind of injury, but thank you, number series, alex.

>> i guess that is good news. it is terrifying when you go through extreme turbulence like that. so glad, at least, not many people were injured, and those that were, doesn't seem to be too serious. thank you, george, for that at least.let's go down to position 2024. the biden/ayres camping, announcing more than 100 new offices in key battleground states. in contrast, the biden campaign, the rnc is closing offices and cutting staff, leading to no ground in states that could decided election. knew how to nikki haley boaters. new remark about haley from trump and those who voted for her in the gop primary. take a look. >> she has gone haywire. >> nuffer trump anyway. >> how do you bring nikki haley boaters back in? >> i'm not sure we need too many. >> meanwhile, former president trump, getting new backlash afterimages he share on social media show president biden tied up in the back of the pickup truck. the former federal judge says trump's various gag orders may need to be expanded. >> what happens with trump is

he is violating norms no one thought they even had to tell him not to do. so, the picture of president biden, no one had to say, you know, don't threaten the president of the united states as part of these proceedings. that's the problem. almost as if everybody's gag order has to be, don't threaten anybody in public. president biden, turning to a new strategy, getting under trump's skin with personal biting and often sarcastic broadsides like this one from thursday's new york city debate. >> at long last, sir, have you no chip shot? >> look, i would be happy to play. i told him once before, remember, he came into the oval before he got sworn in. i said i will give you three strokes if you carry your own bag. >> nbc main character buck is joining us from washington.

gary, welcome. what is the latest on all this campaign activity? >> alex, 219 days until election day in case you were counting there. if president biden spent the last week raising some serious cash, trying to court nikki haley boaters, yes, to try to get under donald trump's skin. the thursday fundraiser you saw the video from there, liz olson, -- lizzo sang with colbert. some people spent over $500,000 on tickets. the folks from radio city music hall were not people on the edge, those people were wondering whether or not they should support the president in november because these type of people that he really needs to reach out to. the nikki haley boaters, perhaps. this is what he had to say at the fundraiser thursday. >> a real inflection point in history. things are attending. this guy denies there's global warming. this guy wants to get rid of not only roe v. wade, which he,

in fact, brands about having done, he wants to get rid of the ability of anyone, anywhere in america, to choose. all the things he is doing on so old -- speaking of old -- and, you know, little old and out of shape anyway. >> knowing former president trump, there's nothing he likes less than a tax on his appearance an attack on his finances. this is something that president biden thinks can help him in the next coming months, using humor, but also using personal attacks the former president trump is also using towards the current president. alex? >> okay, gary, thank you so much for that and a chuckle i got. appreciate that. meantime, a remarkable rare interview from a sitting federal judge about donald trump . what he says on social media, and how that leads to threats against judges and their families. there's nobody better to unpack it with then goal of "the

guardian, dungeon joyce lents, former u.s. attorney. we are weeding the news conference with the very latest from baltimore and the efforts to clear a path through the fallen bridge we are back in 60 seconds. they might be too. see you. i won't let me moderate to severe plaque psoriasis symptoms define me... emerge as you. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 4 months... ...and the majority stayed clearer, at 5 years. serious allergic reactions may occur. tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge as you.

emerge tremfyant®. ask you doctor about tremfya®. 10 minutes past the hour. we're going back to you, julia. i'm sorry your shot froze on us. i know you had more to say about the pace with which they are going to try to at least clear that harbor and the area around the bridge. we are waiting -- i will tell everyone -- the news conference you see, everybody, the lower- right corner of your screen, the governor will be taking the podium. what do you know about this meeting and what they hope to get done? >> the top priority, alex, is clearing this channel. so much depends on it, on a personal level, finding those four victims who are believed to be somewhere in those dark waters that divers have not been able to access. the more debris cleared, the more likely it is that authority's can

bring closure to those families on a macro level, getting ships back in, getting the port back up and running, which, on a micro level, affects thousands of workers, here, in the community, you have 1000 workers directly at the port, up to 140,000 jobs tied to port activities. so, whether you are a small business owner that serves beers at the end of ships for these port workers or you are a shipping company that's uncertain of how these reroutings will affect your business, it is a top priority. it is one governor wes moore and local maryland officials have been stressing the need for federal funding, arguing that this is not just about maryland, this is not just about baltimore, this is about the nation's economy. it is of the utmost importance. it is going to take several weeks, if not months, to clear this channel before anything is back up and running, and the number just to get rebuilt, and president biden vowed to pay for that, which, in today's

congress, is going to be an uphill battle. so, that is why maryland officials are really trying to make the case for funding here, in baltimore, alex. >> yeah. again, we are awaiting the news conference from the governor that should take place any moment now. you know, looking at the safety issues there, i'm sure the governor will address it as we now look at the live shot behind you and a shot of the harbor. you can see how fast the water in the current is running right now. that, alone, create safety hazard for those who have to clear the area, let alone go for the recovery of those four bodies that remain in the water. anyway, julia, thank you so much for that. we appreciate you staying on site for us. we have a news to get to, starting with april. shaping up to be a very busy month for donald trump, including the start in the first of two criminal trials he could potentially of this might be selected before the november election. april 15th, trump goes on trial in the hush money case.

he is risking an expanded gag order after his attacks on george sean's donna. april 16th, the supreme court will hear an obstruction is to determine whether a january 6th charge against trump will be tossed out. then, there is april 25th, the supreme court will hear trump's immunity appeal for supreme court decisions to come by the end of june, clearing the way then for a full trial at the dc january 6th election case. joined me now, good friends, global, political, stations reported with "the guardian," so bring a birthday. happy birthday to you, my friend. joyce vance, former u.s. attorney, university of alabama law professor. msnbc legal analyst and cohost of " the sisters-in-law" podcast. he will, you wrote about the gag order in the hush money case, the manhattan d.a. wants judge sean to clarify the order and direct trump to medially stop attacking family members. trump argues, the court cannot direct him to do something the order does not require, but the

order includes staffers' family members. does this require clarification now, he will? >> we'll see what the judge says in this instance. the gag order allowed trump to assail the judge himself and the dea, bragg, himself. there is a line in the gag order about how trump is not permitted to attack or otherwise interfere in the work of the court. that includes the court staff. and generally speaking, you know, the court to include kind of full staff to include the judge's family. so, we'll see, i think, just how the judge rules on this. the d.a. says, as far as we're

concerned, this does violate the gag order, and if trump continues to make comments attacking the judd's daughter -- which is what is at issue here -- trump should be sanctioned, and they refer to a very specific part of the new york criminal code that involves dealing pretrial people who are in contempt of the court won orders. >> interesting. joyce, city federal judge, speaking out about the threat judges are facing. here are some of that. take a listen. >> particularly problematic when those comments are in direct towards one's family. we do these jobs because we are admitted to the rule of law and we think it is important, as judges, we speak out and say things in reference to things that, conceivably, going to impact us on a process, because if we don't have a viable court system that is able to function efficiently, then we have tyranny, and i don't think that would be good for the future of our country and the future of our democracy of our country. >> judge reggie walton, doing just that, speaking out. useful is it, though, for a sitting just to do a tv interview like this, joyce?

>> it's ordinarily unusual. judge walton, senior judge, he was bush appointed to that court. he is known for being both in and outspoken. i think it is important to say what he did he didn't cross any ethical widespread we see supreme court justices go out and engage in public speaking. this was really, very much, esteemed number of the federal judiciary ending up for the rule of law and saying something that should not be said, that judges in this country should be subject to threats certainly, should be subject to threats by a former president of the united states. >> from a sitting judge to a former federal judge, nancy coker said this about all last night. take a listen to that. >> this is about intimidating witnesses and court staff invasively undermining an orderly and regular trial. it's a good thing that federal judges have spoken out, and it speaks to how it's ordinary this is, how it's ordinary a moment this is i don't think

the public understand exactly -- not only how unusual this is -- but how frightening and troubling this is, because if we can have orderly trial, we can have trials. >> joyce, what can judge merchan do to keep this trial orderly? >> yeah. i think this is so important, because to be plainspoken about this, how does this land with potential witnesses and jurors in a case? when you see that the judge can't protect his own daughter, when you see, for instance, as all trump did yesterday, retreating a photograph of the kidnapped joe biden and own acts, how can we expected jurors to focus her conscience when it comes to entering a verdict? judges have the authority to protect the integrity of the courtroom proceedings. i think it's time for the judiciary to stand up. donald trump is on pretrial bond in four criminal cases.

those judges have the authority to do something. to this point, the courts have and over backwards to avoid doing anything that would appear political. i respect that i think that that's the right thing to do in many ways, but donald trump is crossing lights that will interfere with the integrity of these trials, and the judges simply have reached the point where they will have to take action. >> yeah. guys, i'm sorry to cause this. we may come back to you, but we are now going to take the news conference we have with marilyn judge -- governor, rather -- wes moore. let's go to the harborside. >> in our hearts, we are thinking about them now and always. [ speaking in a global language ] also, to all people who have offered prayers, i ask this , keep offering them. the families, the first responders, they will continue to need them. our state will continue to need

them. today, with the maryland transportation authority police headquarters, this is where our first responders and personnel gathered the day of the collapse. we set up mission control immediately and got to work right here. we are so grateful to the extraordinary work of our "alex witt reports for police and are thanking all of our first responders, including the extra ordinary men and women of our national guard. this placeholder special significance for us. ms. place, this moment, because in the time of that collapse, work -- and since the time of the collapse -- our work has only accelerated, and we have a series of 24/7 operations currently underway. unified command conducting planning and engineering assessments 24 hours a day.

we have assets on the water enforcing safety zones 24 hours a day. we have assessments on the dolly being conducted 24 hours a day. this is an around-the-clock operation. we are going to wrap up our 24/7 posture in the coming days. i want to give special thanks to al montgomery and the coast guard, who have been working tirelessly the promenade coast guard was here yesterday, and i had a chance to thank admiral fagan for her team's work. we are grateful for them, now, and always. now, today, i will provide updates on the four directive that i have issued to this team. as a reminder, first, we need to continue to focus on recovering. second, we need to clear the channel and open vessel traffic

to the port. third, we need to take care of all of the people who have been affected by this crisis. fourth, we need to -- and we will -- rebuild the key bridge. this morning, i received a briefing from unified command, and i have spoken with leaders all across the state, also leaders in the delegation, leaders from all across the country, and been working on -- who have been working on -- this response. so, first, our recovery efforts. as i mentioned yesterday, we need to do more work on clearing the channel in order to move forward. this is a remarkably complex operation. our focus needs to be on unity of command and unity of effort. conditions in the water make it unsafe for rescue divers. we're not just talking about

weather and wind. talking about debris. we're talking about wreckage. we're talking about pieces of the key bridge that are in the water. one of the mantras in the military that we learned was this, mission first, people always. that's the mindset that we are applying to this work. we are going to move as fast as possible. we are going to ensure the safety of our first responders, and we are not going to compromise one for the other. we are going to do both at the same time. right now, the conditions make it unsafe for rescue divers, but as soon as conditions change, colonel butler has assured me that those rescue divers will be going right back in the water. i also want to remind everyone that this is a

no-drone zone. it is an established and managed throughout the entire airspace surrounding the collapse this is not a game please do not test my seriousness on this. the instructions are simple. they must be followed. all drones are to stay away from the site of the francis scott key bridge collapse, period, end, full stop. second, clearing the federal channel and the opening vessel traffic to the port, for the salvage operation that is this complex and this unprecedented, you need to be able to plan for every single moment. this work is going to take time. we are going to continually assess and reassess this situation. this morning, unified command assured me that the whole of the dolly is damaged but intact , and the army corps and the partners will begin to move forward with a crane operation

today. in the north sections of the key bridge are going to be cut up and removed. ms. will eventually allow us to open up a temporary restricted channel that will help us to get more vessels in the water around the side of the collapse. our friends at tree point atlantic have agreed to help us with the process wreckage from salvaging operations, so the team trade four, i want to say, thank you, again, for stepping up. this is going to take time to clear this section of the collapse. it's not going to take hours. it's not going to take days. but once we complete this phase of the work, we can move more towards and more barges with more votes into the area to accelerate our recovery. as of yesterday, 377 people are actively engaged in response operations in support of unified command. we will

continue to marshal people and resources to ensure that we have everything that we need to do this work as safely, as efficiently, and as effectively as possible. now, i have said this before. i will say it again. i will continue to say this this is not just about maryland. this is about our nation's economy. the port handles more cards and more farm equipment, more than any other port inside this country, and at least 8000 workers on the docks have jobs that have been directly affected by this collapse. our economy depends on the port of baltimore, and the port of baltimore depends on vessel traffic. maryland's economy and maryland workers rely on us to move quickly. it's not just maryland being impacted. i'm also talking that the former in kentucky. i'm also

talking about the autoworker in ohio. i'm talking about the restaurant owner in tennessee. this is impacting all of us, and the nation's economy and the nation's workers are relying on us to move quickly and move together. third, taking care of our people. i have said already. mission first, people always. last night, the small business administration accepted our request to approve a disaster declaration, and that declaration is now in effect. i want to thank the biden/harris administration for accepting our request within a matter of hours. i want to personally thank president biden for his constant support. because of this declaration, small businesses affected by the disaster can now apply for disaster, assistance from the

federal government, and these are low-interest loans up to $200 million. they are going to help us ensure that our small businesses get the cash that they need to pay their bills and to keep people employed. the applications should be submitted online, at lending.sba.gov by december 30th , 2024. i'm going to say will more time , so for those who missed it can hear it again. applications can be submitted online at lending.sba.gov, and they should be in by december 30th of 2024. this declaration also empowers the state of maryland to apply for new federal funding to pay for services and training for impacted workers and wage recovery. i have been briefed by the maryland department that has assured me they are working around the clock to get the application submitted asap.

the small business administration will also be establishing a business resource center on monday. we will get the location information to you as soon as we know more. now, fourth, our rebuild. i said it yesterday. we cannot rebuild the bridge until we have cleared the wreckage. but we are going to get this done. we will clear the wreckage. we will move the dolly. we will rebuild the francis scott key bridge. we are going to do that. because we are maryland tough, we are maryland strong, and you can bet on that. so, in this moment, i'm going to hand it off to senator chris van hollen, and also, in order, we are also being joined by leaders of the u.s. coast guard , the maryland state police,

the maryland department of chest predation, and also here with baltimore city mayor, brennon scott and the county executive, storm pittman. now, i am honored to turn it over to senator chris van hollen. >> thank you, governor. i want to thank you, mayor brandon scott, account executive pittman, county executives, first and foremost, for doing everything you can to support the families of the six individuals, the six souls, that we lost. i know all the efforts you are undertaking to make sure they know that the community and our state stands with them. thank you. i also want to say to our first responders, thank you, not from just what you did at the moment of the crisis, but what you continue to do, and to the

divers who are going to be looking at the wreckage so we can figure out the best plan going forward. as the governor has said, our priority is to make sure that all those thousands of marylanders and others whose livelihood depends on the part of baltimore get back to work as soon as possible. that means, number one, making sure we have the channel open, but in the meantime, doing everything we can to support them and their families. again, i want to thank you, governor, generalissimo, for the past work you have undertaken through emergency legislation to address that. spoke this morning to acting labor secretary julie sue. she is also, as you know, working with the maryland team to do every thing possible at the federal level to support those workers and those jobs as we work to get the channel open and the port open. all businesses -- the governor

mentioned -- the good news from today -- the sba administrator, guzman, very quickly reviewed the state's request, and those are emergency-low-interest loans that will go to support small businesses. 4% over 30 years and a grace period during the 1st year, so small businesses can do everything they can to keep their workers on the job as we work to open the channel. opening the channel -- as you heard from the governor -- that is the number-one priority. i want to thank president biden and his entire team for being laser-focused on helping people in maryland in the aftermath of this emergency. we have heard from the coast guard and we are going to hear from them again. i want to thank them. it was great to join you, admiral, and they're coming down to the coast guard yesterday to see a close-up view of the site, the bridge, the ship, and everything that we needed to address it.

it gave us a close-up sense of the magnitude and the challenge, but we also know that we are up to meeting that challenge, and doing it as fast as possible, and to the army corps of engineers and the navy, and the others being deployed to do this job, i want to thank you, and again, thank you to the biden/harris administration, because the federal government will cover the total cost of clearing the channel so we can get those ships moving again and get the port open. on the building the bridge, again, governor, thank you and your team for such fast work, and thank you to president biden and his team for such fast action. $60 million is already being made available on a quick basis to make sure that we can address the impact on surrounding traffic patterns, from the fact that the bridge has collapsed, and then maryland has also been deemed eligible because they have been

accepted -- into the emergency program at the federal level that will mean that the federal government will pick up 90% of the costs of that program, and senator carr and i will be working very hard with the federal government, congress, and others to make sure we make good on president biden's promised that the federal government will pick up the full cost. i also want to say, ben gordon couldn't be here at this moment. he has been here, day in, day out. he will be back. we were very closely together with the governor's team on the small business bowls, and we will be working together to introduce that legislation on behalf of our delegation. >>, everybody, you are now listening to marilyn's senator, chris van hollen, citing that the other island center, ben cardin, has been there on the scene out there, that

particular event, and preceded by governor wes moore, who spoke, get again, but his directive of the four points being recovery, the four souls that still remain in the water, clearing the channel, opening it up to traffic, taking care of those who have been affected by this, which numbers into the 8000 of port workers who will be affected with this as long as the support stays shut, and also rebuilding the answer scott key bridge. let's go quickly back to julie truster, there on scene with us. julia, what was your big take away? i can say, governor moore made a strong argument for why this is a national disaster. i'm telling you guys, we have had a bit of trouble having this live shot today, unfortunately. it has been a bit of a disaster with it freezing out. nonetheless, we heard the governor, quickly, approved by the biden administration for a disaster declaration, and it is certainly wanted, this, being a port that handles the most car traffic -- shipping of course -- into this country, as well as farm equipment, and he

safely points out, this affects people all across this country. i think we have cleared things up with julia chester. julia, if you are, indeed, back with us, you may not have heard, i made a couple of sailing points that struck me from the governor. how about you? what was your take away? >> reporter: alex, governor moore has been consistent all week long here, in baltimore, that the port of baltimore is a national area of concern. it affects so many parts of the economy, from the ottoman industry, with the most number -- >> you know what? i think we're going to do a three strikes and you are out. there is the third time we have lost this particular shot. we are just going to let julia fix things up, if she can, there, on the scene. for all of you, we were having a very interesting conversation with you with joyce vance. we will take a quick break,, back and finish up that talk about the trump trials after a short break. stay with us.

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loyal reporter and analyst, legal analysts, they have stayed with us through that. thank you so much, hugo and joyce, because we have a lot to get through on the trump trials. we have wrapped up a topic. let me get into this with you, joyce, because the day after the hush money trial starts, the supreme court in dc will start hearing obstruction and community cases related to trump's federal criminal charges. liz cheney, of course, congresswoman and january 6th committee leader, urging supreme court justices to meet this moment. let's watch. >> i think it's very important that the supreme court recognized that what he is doing is a delay tactic. taking action that will result in a further delay in preventing the american people from seeing that evidence in open court is, itself, suppression of the evidence. >> we have heard this a lot, joyce. is it fair to suggest that the print of the supreme court is implicit in the delay tactics,

and will public scrutiny now know the judges and expediting these hearings? >> i think it's fair, alex, for people to assess the delay by the supreme court at this point in time as tantamount to giving trump additional delay. but i'm not willing to go that far yet. we'll hear oral arguments in a pair of cases. one involves the technicalities of an obstruction of government proceeding charge, that's the first one. then, on april 25th, this appeal of trump's claim that he is immune from prosecution as a former president, that will be teed up squarely then. the court has options. we know that this is a court that can move quickly when it wants to. it could decide that immunity's case within days or weeks. that might create some room in the joint's schedule and the district of columbia to try the case ahead of the election. on the other hand, though, the

court could drag its feet, not issuing a ruling until the end of its term, late june or even the first week of july. that would, in essence, mean this case could not go to trial before the election. i think this court will be judged by history, in large part, on how it handles these two cases. >> this is a sobering look, joyce, but hugo in the trump's classified documents case, they told been in, they expect trump to be on trial from april 15th until the end of may. she has yet to set a trial date in florida. the she now try to avoid clashing with the new york dates? does she not consider anything until after the end of may? >> the schedule is going to be really important in the next few months. the joyce's point, quickly the supreme court rules on the immunity question is also going to have an effect. i think everyone has to remember that trump has a few months left for what we are calling his defense rep time on the clock, because if you recall, when he filed his

community appeal, that froze the clock on the case at the trial court level. if the supreme court says, trump, you have no immunity and goes back to the trial court, that's still a couple of months for trump to use up and prepare his defenses for trial. but if there is a trial going on, if there is a trial scheduled in florida by judge kenneth in a classified document case, then, say, that trial is set for late-july or early-august, it may be that trump has managed to block out the dc case from going to trial by scheduling or suggesting and working another trial kit in a classified document case. you have to remember that trump can't be into court houses two at the same time. if he is committed to being in florida, he can't also be in dc. >> i appreciate you guys both sticking around through this, the governor's news conference there. really want the answers to these questions i have post.

thank you both so much. again, enjoy your birthday today, hugo. appreciate you. meantime, coming up next, a look at the arguments this week and the supreme court over the most commonly used abortion medication in this country. plus is safe for use around people and pets. gotcha! zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly.

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as we await the supreme court's ruling on a case that could drastically strict access to the most commonly used abortion medication, so the court's conservative justices seemed skeptical of the challenge. >> just to confirm, on the standing issue, under federal law, no doctors can be forced to go against their consciences to perform or assist in an abortion. correct? >> this case seems like a prime example of turning what could be a small lawsuit into a nationwide legislative assembly. >> joined me now, mary ziegler, law professor at the university of california davis and the author of several books, including "row, the history of

a national obsession." welcome back to the broadcast, mary. when we last spoke, you said the justices may be looking for an offramp to avoid ruling on the merits, and much of the focus has been whether the plaintiffs in this case had standing at all.let's take a listen to this. >> they're saying, because we object to being forced to dissipate in this procedure, we are seeking an order preventing anyone from having access to these drugs at all. i guess i'm just trying to understand how they could possibly entitled to that, given the injury they have a legit. >> is a profound mismatch here between the claimed injury and the remedy they were seeking. >> first of all, did you expect this? i'm curious, your overall take away. >> i did, in a way. we knew that the court had let the current rules stand while this litigation continues. that is a signal that the court

thought the government was going to win when all was said and done, and it didn't take a detective to figure out why that was likely to be the case, because this was an extra nearly weak case for extending to begin with. be on the mismatch we heard just distraction mentioned in the clip, there was the fact that the plaintiff's injuries were just speculation. right? the idea was, maybe, they should switch overcome locations, then maybe they will go to emergency rooms, and maybe they would encounter doctors who weren't willing to treat them, and maybe, then, these doctors would have to be involved, and maybe, then, they would have gone to security pretty solid justices saying, maybe none of that is going to happen. you can't just sort of invent potential injuries and use that as a way to limit access to this medication. so, i think, it's not surprising. obviously, the court is very conservative, so you can have the verdict and never protect entirely what they're going to do. this is not a surprising outcome to me. >> >> the justices who repeatedly

referenced the comstock act, the city 1873 law banning indecent materials being sent by mail. it has not been enforced in 100 years, but "the washington post" reports, quote, some president biden officials fear thomas would write a separate opinion focused solely on the comstock act, arguing that the law remains viable with providing legal coverage to a future administration that seeks to invoke it. how likely is that, mary, how concerning would that be? >> it's not likely at all. we know that close proxies to president donald trump -- but the official campaign spokespersons -- the people in donald trump's first end, like roger stone marino, the head of a special civil rights department at health and human services, late jean hamilton, who helped to mention here -- the child separation policy office aren't calling on president trump, essentially, if he is reelected, if he would

be a future president trump, start enforcing the comstock act as basically a de facto ban on abortions, not just abortion drugs, but any abortion related item or the receipt of any abortion related item in any state by anyone. again, these are not random people. the antiabortion movement is people who have president donald trump -- what would be president donald trump -- his ear, working closely with him in his post-presidential years. i think it is absolutely a concern.we already know that two of the supreme court justices open to the theory that this is what the comstock act means. not, by any means, a slamdunk. a lot of this is a question raised, i think, serious concerns about whether or not this theory makes any sense at all, you know, but what people in power are going to be attracted to is the law sitting there, waiting for them to try to interpret it this way. >> mary sinclair, going to apologize for the brevity of this conversation.

we have had a breaking news coming out of the baltimore port there, but i do appreciate the impact and the insight you have offered. we'll see you again, for sure. thank you. resident obama just said this about the rock and a hard place that president biden finds himself in. sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does. boring makes vacations happen,

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(♪♪) new today, more weapons on the way to israel after the biden administration signed off on the transfer of the lens of dollars in bonds and fighter jets the past few days. that is according to new reporting from "the washington post." it says that the arms package includes 1800 2000-palm -- pound bombs, capable of leveling city blocks, almost never used in designated block areas out of concern for civilian casualties. last week, the state department authorized the transfer of 20 5f-35a, fighter jets, with engines rough or sleep $2 1/2 billion. officials told "the post" these were approved years

ago and the administration didn't have to provide anyone for lawmakers. democratic congressman from new york, welcome, john bowman. happy to have you here. first of all, let's talk about these weapons. given the politics of it and the fact that this was approved years ago, should the administration --, tender things right now, this should the administration have taken that into consideration when approving this? should congress have been notified? >> absolutely, congress should have been notified. forget the politics of it, this is about our humanity, and this is about our morality. we have hundreds of thousands of children starving to death in gaza right now, as we speak. the majority of the american people support a permanent cease-fire. the majority of my district supports a permanent cease- fire. we need a permanent cease-fire we need to bring in hundreds of trucks that are five miles away from gaza right now of aid to

save as many lives as possible. there's a humanitarian crisis. the majority of gaza has already been destroyed through act of collective punishment by this maniac benjamin netanyahu. i am hundred percent with senator schumer. he needs to be removed. he is a blockade to a pathway to peace. we need a cease-fire right now. that's what we should be focused on. humanitarian aid, not weapons. >> i appreciate your comments, and certainly, with regard to the military and eight, i don't think there's anybody who could defy you on that, but with regard to the biden administration saying, we're accessing, we have licensed something, we were able to do -- this was passed -- we can do this, we will send these arms to israel, the politics of that -- he didn't want to get into it for a focus on him at hearing aid -- but there is politics here. how do you feel about that? >> congress should always have

oversight as we are dealing with situations where weapons are being sent anywhere. so, whatever happened years ago was years ago. we're in a different situation right now. again, there's a humanitarian crisis of 2 million people. we have already seen tens of thousands of people killed, 14,000 children, et cetera, et cetera. the focus now should be on cease-fire, diplomacy, and lasting peace, which includes freedom for the palestinian people. >> okay. duly noted there, sir. let's talk about what happened at radio city music hall, just across the street from where we are, right here, the big fundraiser on thursday night. there was some heckling from the audience. there were pro palestinian supporters there, but what was so interesting was what our viewers are seeing here, on the screen, and this is what former

president barack obama, there, of course, on the stage with president biden and president clinton as well. he literally came to president biden's defense on israel policy. here's what i said. i think people, understandably, oftentimes, want to feel a certain purity in terms of how those decisions are made, but the president doesn't have that luxury. so, when you look at a situation like that when we are seeing in gaza and israel, your heart breaks, initially, for a massacre of unbelievable cruelty. it is also possible for us to say, we unequivocally support the people of israel. how do you respond to what president obama said? >> i understand the sentiment, but i disagree. we have to be nuanced in our approach to all of these issues, but we have to root our approach in human rights and our collective unity. the people of israel -- in hundreds of thousands of us are protesting benjamin netanyahu because they want him gone. that's what we see from the people of israel. in addition to that, we have to

hold our allies accountable when they are committing more crimes. i would argue that we haven't held them accountable enough, which is how we got to this horrible condition we are in today. again, it's not about purity, it's about humanity. there are children starving to death in gaza. how many times do i need to say this? we see the images of children starving to death. this is what's happening right now. we need to respond, first, to the humanitarian crisis, and then, a lasting peace is good for israel and the people of palestine. >> i appreciate the emphasis -- the passion with which you are delivering this -- but lest we forget what happened on october 7th. >> never. >> the humanity of that massacre of 1200 jewish people just living as peacefully as they could close to the border. i mean, that, itself, was so reprehensible and barbaric that's something the israeli

people have not forgotten. >> absolutely. we immediately condemned those ats by hamas on october 7th, as we should, but we cannot condemn october 7th and then condone the killing of civilian women and children that's happening right now. history didn't start on october 7th. there was a blockade in gaza prior to that. there was the propping up hamas by benjamin netanyahu prior to that. there is an occupation, military occupation, for decades in the west bank right now as a matter of fact, 400 people have been killed in the west bank, for the palestinians, since october 7th. west bank had nothing to do with what happened on october 7th. right? so, we have to be honest about the entire conversation and not just say, one thing. >> i think it is very fair to say, tensions have risen throughout the entire region, to your point there, about the attacks on palestinians. that has been said.

thank you so much for your time here. we have had so much going on with this baltimore report, live coverage of that. so, we were going to get back to other parts of our show. thank you so much for coming on. >> i appreciate you. coming up next hour, liz cheney, an important message about something that has left her scratching her head. ♪♪ [ cellphone whooshes ] [ sighs ] that's why progressive makes it easy to save with a commercial auto quote online so you can take on all your others to-dos. already did. see if you could save at progressivecommercial.com.