do want to stand up to russia, they do support u.s. assistance to ukraine. johnson can't wave them away or ignore them. he can't disrespect them. this is his attempt to show them he's listening and going to put a vote out. the problem is, in this slimming and tiny majority which is going to fall to a one- vote majority this friday when mike gallagher leaves they are already two members of the republican conference on the record saying they will vote to depose him if this comes up. audrey taylor greene is not triggered, she's dangling the piece of paper and it's clear that ukraine eight is a redline. this is the kind of thing that could trigger that. >> thank you very much. that is all in. good evening. only you and elizabeth warren could make a breakdown of the tax code must watch tv. >> that's very generous.

would donald trump's hush money case now in jury selection what is normally a difficult and painstaking process on its own has some extra pressures on it. case in point. >> my plea is to the people of manhattan that may sit on this trial, please do the right thing for this country. everybody is allowed to have their political viewpoints but the law is supposed to be blind and no respecter of persons. this is a trashed case, there is no crime and if there is any potential for a verdict they should vote not guilty. >> that was republican congressman and vice presidential short list are byron donald yesterday despite having no involvement in the case he was using his platform to try to influence the jury from outside the courtroom. conservative media personality did something similar. a step further writing to his followers that if you're a trump supporter in new york

city who is a part of the jury pool, do everything you can to get seated on the jury and then refuse to convict as a matter of principle, dooming the case of you hung jury. it's the most patriotic thing you could possibly do. the patriotism is questionable the legality is not. this case is not about politics whether you love trump or loathe him, no one should be trying to tamper with the jury. this case is about whether or not donald trump committed a specific series of crimes. given who the defendant is the worry that someone could be seated for the jury with a strong bias one way or the other is real. that is why what is happening in court this week the process of jury selection is so important. today, the first seven jurors were in panel. four men and three women. to our attorneys, one is a software engineer, when is a teacher, one is a nurse and one is in sales.

they told those jurors to plan to be in court for opening statements bright and early next monday morning at 9:30 a.m. before this case can begin, 12 jurors and six alternates have to be in. seven jurors being impaneled means that jury selection is only a third of the way done. yesterday when the first 96 jurors were called into trump's courtroom they were all asked simply do you think you could be impartial in this case? more than half of them said no. that half was sent home. that is the point. at the core of jury selection is a process that is questioning jurors to make sure the people who actually make it into the final jury can be impartial. the point of jury selection, the point of all this in this case in particular, more than normal, is to separate the politics from the case. today, trump's defense team question jurors about their past social media posts. the team believe they showed anti-trump bias. it showed from very direct

trump indicted in documents case no one is above the law to a name posted by ager's husband in 2016. maybe those individuals do have strong feelings about donald trump, but also feel strongly in a court of law they can put aside those feelings and evaluate evidence without bias. trump's legal team doesn't have to take the chance. they believe could be biased. the prosecution has the same power. one of today's potential jurors told the court he has read it multiple trump books and not from trump himself. prosecutors could strike that if they believe he might be to bias. they don't have to but that is the process. ultimately, they did. the other x factor in this of course is trump himself. not only did the prospective jurors have to pass trump protesters and a sea of press to get into court, not only do they know that this case will be watched around the world, when they actually get in the courtroom they are seated just feet from the former president.

today, our colleague interviewed ager who was struck about what that was like. >> what was it like answering questions including some about donald trump as he is sitting 30 feet from you. >> it was odd. it was such an interesting experience because i had never seen him in person before. you see someone blown up so larger-than-life on the media for so many years. to see them in person is very jarring. you get the sense that it's like this is just another guy. also he sees me talking about him which is bizarre. >> the defendant can see the jury shouldn't be an issue in a normal trial with a normal defendant but this isn't normal and it's not a normal defendant. while a juror was being questioned trump said something no one outside the courtroom

could hear in the direction of the juror. the judge scolded his legal team for saying i will not have any jurors intimidated in this courtroom. i want to make this crystal clear. joining us now, formerly with the attorney's office as well as a former federal prosecutor. former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst, thank you both for being here. we were told to expect in this process could take two weeks. michael cohen has repeatedly said he believed it could take as many as three. are you surprised it's proceeding this quickly? >> i think it's proceeding as quickly as any other. what a lot are surprised that is how this is moving along at a pace very similar to other trials. the only real distinction is this defendant is somebody that most people know. this defendant is somebody where the crime is known. this is a different case because the jurors walk in and know the defendant is. the process is the same and judge marchand is experience.

he's been picking jurors for years and he's moving along. i think the most important thing he came out of today's jury selection is he's not going to allow social media posts to be used as a litmus test for bias and to get people off the jury. that is why i think the defense is in a much more precarious position going to the second half for more than half the jury has to be picked because they will clearly soon run out of these challenges and be left with jurors that they most fear which are educated, politically democratic jurors that are going to not be able to get kicked off this jury because of their social media posts. they are going with a disadvantage into the second half. >> i think that's really a great characterization because today and yesterday both sides had all of their strikes. these are the strikes the lawyers can use to remove

jurors who they just don't like that they have a bad feeling about so long as they don't violate any constitutional protections, race, national origin or gender in doing that. now they have far fewer of those strikes. they will have to guard them cautiously because as you pointed out they are only about a third of the way there. i think what we are seeing develop and i think it's important to protect the identities of these jurors. there's a lot about them from these questionnaires they've answered, but by and large these do look like people who have committed to be fair, who have committed to judge the case on the evidence they hear in the courtroom. it doesn't look like a jury that leans strongly for either side at this point. i think that's a good thing, something that should give us confidence. >> give us your reaction to that moment when judge merchan admonished trump's attorney about that audible reaction to something a prospective juror was saying.

>> this is not happening in a vacuum. this is not a defendant who got excited and made an utterance. this is someone who has a long track record of using the microphone that's strapped to his mouth to insight his followers against other people. this is someone who was the president of the united states and may well be again. the notion that he would do anything that even encroached intimidating is absolutely unacceptable. i'm surprised the judge didn't stop in the moment and admonish donald trump personally. he showed great restraint by waiting and telling the lawyers that it couldn't happen again. this is an issue that this judge will inevitably face whether it's the ruling next week, trump's conduct. this cannot contain himself. he will not be able to behave.

the judge will have to decide what to do about it. >> to the point of not containing himself the identity of these jurors should be kept private and yet we know donald trump is not a defendant who plays by the rules. do you need to be nervous about the sharing of your identity and what is it the court can do to protect those jurors? >> it's hard under the circumstances to look somebody in the eyes and convict them of a crime. i think all of the jurors coming through police officers and quartered off blocks of the courthouse this morning and walking through this on their way to jury service. i think at the end of the day it's going to be that much harder for jurors to convict, not that they won't, but that will weigh on their minds. a lot of people don't realize in new york state in 2020 there was a new bail reform act that was passed that hamstrings what judge merchan can do with regard to the violation of a gag order. what i think people don't realize is i've seen commentary

saying throw him in jail for violating the gag order but the judge is limited in what he's allowed to do for violation of a gag order. the conditions of bail can be tightened but he cannot revoke avail based on the violation of a condition of release are violating the gag order without mr. crum being charged with a separate crime. he could presumably be charged with contempt of court or with witness tampering but that would require a separate trial. i think that's why the prosecutors have asked for a pretty weak slap on the wrist of the thousand dollars per violation of the gag order because there's really not much this judge can do about it. people are outraised about all the threats of physical violence weighing on everyone's mind but the reform act really hamstrings what the judge can do in the situation.

>> how does all of that work? is there a subset of trumps team that is calling these individual social media sites? >> it seems likely trump would be using a jury consultant. this is someone who specializes and would be giving them advice, looking at issues like jurors body language, background, answers to questions and obviously in this day and age their social media is a rich field to come through for information. my understanding is new york state law permits lawyers to do that so long as they don't do anything that would result in having contact with a potential juror. it's fair game to look at someone's facebook page. we saw that happening today with surfacing of material that caught trumps lawyer suggested to the judge that those should

be struck for cause. that's very important to trumps team. they don't want to waste those strikes they have. they want to see the judge remove jurors they don't want on the jury for a cause that there's no limitation on the number of jurors who can be removed for that reason that is why it's so important the judge drew that line today saying i'm not going to let you go to social media endlessly, it's not possible that anything on social media is grounds for a four cause strike. it has to be actual bias against her client. >> at the same time you have social media stars with their calls for people who support donald trump to actively get themselves on the jury. how much of a concern is that for the court? >> it's a concern for a lot of cases on both sides. this is a notion called jury notification where a juror might take into its own hands whether somebody should be convicted of a crime based on

whether the crime was convicted or if it should be illegal in the first place. there's been a lot of history about the last hundred years of juries that have nullified but in this case you're not running the risk of it. the real risk is trump is going to wind up with a jury pool he doesn't like because he's really pulling from people that don't meet the demographic of what he's looking for. you wind up with a lot of democrats, well-educated people and i think it will skew the other way. while they call for it i think it's unlikely. >> how are you trying to correct for that? >> you use these preemptory is in an important way. you use them strategically to try to bounce off the people you don't like. there's not much they can do. i don't think they will be able to call and we should hope there is a jury that judges based on the facts that is fair to both sides. i don't think there's much they can do to prevent it. >> he made the point that you were struck with the fact that donald trump is sitting there on his own just as attorneys

not really a circle of support around him. how unusual is that? >> it is unusual. you'll often see a family pull together or friends show up in court to support the defendant. that could still happen in this case. the courtroom is very crowded when a jury is been selected so perhaps we will see members of his family show up to support him as these proceedings get underway. it's a very stark picture of a former president in a courtroom with none of his children, without his wife, surrounded only by just a couple of a.i.d.s. and his secret service detail. >> to say nothing of the nodding off. do you think he will testify? >> i think it's unlikely because it's unlikely any defendant testifies what i think what we really need to watch for is what people were calling those boring housekeeping things before the jury was selected. there are two hearings that need to happen. that's where the prosecution can cross-examine and un-charge

acts he has been convicted of or that he's had adverse ruling on. the judge delayed ruling on that and i think we have to watch that closely because the rulings there might tip it one way or the other. >> you had judge merchan to expect opening statements monday. what are you expecting? >> what we will hear is prosecutors will lay out the case for the jury. you don't get to argue your case , you can't argue the case in opening statement. you tell the jury what you expect the evidence will show and you begin to explain the theory. this case is a little bit collocated because prosecutors will prove the misdemeanor crime of falsifying business records and then they will have to prove that the crime was committed to aid in or the commission of or to conceal another crime. that's how it becomes a felony. they will talk about campaign finance and tax charges and as

you can tell from my explanation this gets a little bit complicated. they will have a task in front of them to explain how that will work to the jury. from the defense, obviously we will see the primary theme that they will stick to throughout this jury. they will say the prosecution has failed to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt and they will tell the jury as you hear the evidence throughout this trial always pay attention for that. they don't just have to give you evidence, they have to give you compelling evidence, proof beyond a reasonable doubt or you cannot convict. >> thank you both so much for getting us started. coming up, house republicans did their darndest to put on a front but do not be filled. evidence that the chaos caucus persists is later. the supreme court arguments today in a case that has the potential to offend the constitution of january 6 the writers. more on that right after this break. our wi

. but did you know we can take care of your insurance claim? that means less stress for you. >> woman: thanks. >> tech: my pleasure. have a good one. >> woman: you too. >> tech: schedule today at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ when you have chronic kidney disease, there are places you'd like to be. like here. and here. not so much here. farxiga reduces the risk of kidney failure which can lead to dialysis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪♪ farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract or genital yeast infections and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis.

when you have chronic kidney disease, it's time to ask your doctor for farxiga. because there are places you want to be. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ 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. ♪♪ [ metal groans] sure, i can hold. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty liberty liberty liberty ♪ ghostbusters: frozen empire. in theaters now.

there are over 7 million us businesses on tiktok. my name is dana bellefeuille, and my husband and i own the village bakery. our mission is to employ people with different abilities. tiktok is allowing us to show what acceptance looks like. this is a community of just complete and utter love. it's the people that lift you up when you're down. people on tiktok do that on a daily basis, and i've never found a community like that ever. keep tiktok. ♪♪ imagine a future where plastic is not wasted... but instead remade over and over... into the things that keep our food fresher, our families safer, and our planet cleaner. to help us get there, america's plastic makers are investing billions of dollars to create innovative products and new recycling technologies for sustainable change. because when you push for smarter solutions, big things can happen.

today the supreme court heard arguments on a case that could determine the future of many january 6. that issue is a law prohibiting the obstruction on of an official proceeding.

the statute the justice department used it to prosecute a quarter of the january 6 writers have been charge with their role in trying to stop the counting of electoral votes. one of the charges brought against him by special counsel jack smith in his federal elections case. lawyers from one of the insurrectionist this argues the statute was not meant to apply to circumstances like the insurrection. the government argued that generally six attack was precisely what the proceeding looks like. there was one exchange between conservative justices. >> so we have had a number of protesters in the courtroom. let's say that today five people get up one after the other and they shout either keep the january 6 insurrectionist is in jail or free the january 6 patriots and as a result of this, our police officers have to remove them forcibly from the courtroom. would that be a violation? >> i think it's different than

if they had stormed into this courtroom, overrun the police, it required the justices and other participants to flee for their safety and done so in clear evidence of intent to obstruct. >> what happened was very serious i'm not equating this with that. >> joining us now is a former acting assistant attorney general for national security at the u.s. department of justice and cohost of the prosecuting donald trump podcast. good to see you. your sense of how the justices received these arguments today and if they gave any indication of which way they are leaving? >> we heard i think different concerns expressed by multiple different justices and it's really kind of hard to count noses at this point. you played an excerpt of trying to set forth a hypothetical to suggest that this application of the statute is too broad and could apply to something that i think solicitor general very

very well rebutted by saying that's not it at all what happened here. this is not about the kind of violent attack on the capital with intent to disrupt the peaceful transition of power that happen here. nevertheless, cases are decided based on how the law might apply in other situations. i think the solicitor general went on at various points to the argument to point out that the minimalist types of things would not be covered because there is corrupt intent requirement and other requirements that mean it has to have been a serious intent with that corrupt intent, knowing your conduct is wrongful to actually disrupt, obstruct an official proceeding. at the same time, we saw other justices including justice kagan, push pretty hard on the defendant's counsel. mr. fisher's counsel suggesting that how could the clause being applied here which says otherwise obstructs influences

or impedes any official proceeding, how can that mean anything other than otherwise doing it in any form? he argued it had to be limited to altering records or destroying records. those justices said that's not in the statute, otherwise means otherwise. then you had other justices suggesting isn't there a middle road here maybe? even if the other was a clause maybe it doesn't apply in its natural form to a violent attack who could it apply where there was an effort here to preclude documents, those being the electoral college votes, the certifications, to be transmitted to the vice president to open for counting for congress to count them and tabulate the votes and certify the election. even if you want to limit this to documents or records is there a way to do it? it's hard to read right now.

it's between the chief justice and justice kagan about how they think the statute should apply. i do think it is important and you're probably going to go there next to say that whatever happens in this case does not necessarily dictate what will happen in the jack smith case brought against donald trump. >> you can't be taking our producers jobs. i have to admit that as a nonlawyer the fact that the word otherwise does the word in the statute that took up so much time today was surprising. to your point about donald trump the lawyer for the january 6 defendant argued his client didn't obstruct and is doing so requires manipulating evidence or a document in some way. this is how we frame that. take a listen. >> this statute prohibits operation on specific evidence in some way shape or form.

attempting to stop a vote count or something like that is a very different act than actually changing a document or altering a document or creating a fake new document. >> he's obstructing evidence. >> he's saying they are creating a fake document. if the justices agree with that interpretation would that mean trumpet could still be charged over his role in getting fake electors to submit fake documents? >> i think the answer is yes. all the devil is in the details of what the court would say but one part of the multipronged scheme that underlies two of the charges in the jack smith indictment, this same charge obstructing official proceeding, the other conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. one of the major parts of that scheme is the electors scheme. this is a scheme between mr. trump as alleged and others to

urge and in fact this is what happened that the electors in swing states who had intended to be donald trump electors went ahead and met on the date the electoral college needs to vote, cast their ballots even though he had not been certified the winner in the states, even though litigation there had failed and joe biden had been certified the winner, they then sent their electoral college signed certificates up to the capital to vice president pence and others in the hopes he would count those votes as opposed to the legitimate electro-ballots that have been set by the biden harris electors. even here, if the government is able to prove this conspiracy they have to charge it would involve exactly what mr. greene today admitted, the creation of fake documents. these were fake electoral college ballots. i would remind viewers there are two other charges unrelated to this obstruction of official

proceeding in the january 6 related indictment. that is a conspiracy to do brought the united states and conspiracy to deprive people of their civil rights. even in the event that the supreme court would really go abroad on a ruling that actually could call into question the obstruction of an official proceeding count in the jack smith indictment it would not touch those other counts. people can feel safe in that. >> we always talk about how all of these are on a collision course. today is no exception. thank you so much for your time. still ahead, republicans in the house of representatives are perhaps best known for their dysfunction. what if i told you that today they actually found something they agree on reliably enough to do something about it? they united in order to deliver impeachment articles against homeland security. that story is next.

ual suspects. save on personalized jewelry, original decor - and other things moms actually love. when you need a gift as unique as she is... etsy has it. children are the greatest joy and our best hope for a better future. friends, they are the future. but did you know that millions of kids right here in our own backyard are facing hunger every day without healthy food? it's harder to grow, to thrive, to feel their best. the impact when children don't have enough to eat is tremendous because when you're hungry and your basic needs aren't being met, you cannot learn. that's why i'm here now, asking you to join me in helping end child hunger in america. this is a problem we know how to solve, and we can do it better by supporting no kid hungry for just $0.63 a day, only $19 a month.

you can help provide healthy meals like a good breakfast in class to power kids through their days. breakfast in the classroom contributes to kids being more focused, which leads to higher grades. test scores, and simply just their well-being. ensuring all kids get a good breakfast and other nutritious food is a beautiful thing. it's a game changer and you can help make it happen. when you join me in supporting no kid hungry today, that food is not just food. it's energy, health, confidence, hope and even love. yes, love. so please call now or go online to helpnokidhungry.org, right now. give $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. and when you use your credit card, you'll get this special team t-shirt to show that you're helping kids build a brighter future for themselves. thank you. families are struggling to make ends meet.

these are hard times, but together we can help connect america's kids with meals. so please call now or go online to give. thank you. >> tech: at safelite, we'll take care of fixing your windshield. but did you know we can take care of your insurance claim? that means less stress for you. >> woman: thanks. >> tech: my pleasure. have a good one. >> woman: you too. >> tech: schedule today at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ i hear that music and my feet just start tapping.

my grandchildren, they're sixth generation of dancers. it's what my family is all about. i thought i knew a lot about our irish roots. i was surprised to learn so many more things from ancestry. 1892. oh and here's the boat they came over on. there was a julie healy, a mary healy, this is all their names? yes, yes. wow.

here you, all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment while the house of representatives is exhibiting to the senate of the united states. articles of impeachment against alejandro mayorkas , secretary of homeland security.

>> the managers on the part of the house will proceed. >> today house republicans put on quite a show of unity. you'll remember back in february the house voted on party lines to impeach alejandro mayorkas. this afternoon, that process moved forward. republican house impeachment managers including marjorie taylor green walked shoulder to shoulder through the halls of congress to deliver the articles of impeachment to the u.s. senate. the last time the house delivered articles of impeachment to oust a cabinet member was back in 1876. the secretary bore was accused of trading military posts for profit. now in 2024 what has homeland security alejandro mayorkas done to merit impeachment? republicans say he hasn't done enough to stop illegal border crossings. that is not grounds for impeachment. in reality, republicans are the one who sabotaged border protection just a couple months ago, a fact that dan goldman

printed out earlier today. >> unfortunately, the republicans have put politics over our border security. they want chaos in order to win an election rather than to solve the problems. there was a policy bill, there was a policy change that would have significantly addressed the problems at the border and instead you all on the other side of the aisle sabotaged it where you baselessly impeached this year terry who is trying to solve our problems at the southern border because you want to win it. you don't want to solve the problem. >> a politically motivated faceless impeachment vote congrats to republicans in congress for accomplishing that. don't be full by the play of unity because this is pretty much the only thing republicans managed to accomplish in this 118th congress. funding the

government for a full year took off the fiscal year. bipartisan border deal shutdown. taiwan and ukraine stalled for months. fighting over the ukraine aid bill has become so contentious that congressman greene has been threatening oust speaker mike johnson over it for weeks. until today, greene stood alone apparently no other republicans have the appetite to expel yet another speaker in less than six months until today. kentucky congressman tom massey chose to join forces with green. he promised to sponsor her motion to vacate speaker johnson after he announced a plan to advance those foreign aid bills this week. to recap, solid legislation, infighting, the inability to fund our government or allies certainly doesn't sound like unity to me. we will talk about republican dysfunction in congress next. ♪♪

plateau de fromage! oh la la! don't panic. gift easy with gift mode, new on etsy. >> university of maryland global campus is a school for real life, one that values the successes you've already achieved. earn up to 90 undergraduate credits for relevant experience and get the support you need from your first day to graduation day and beyond. what will we all knowuccess be? that words have power. they set things in motion and make us happy or sad. but there's one word that stands out, because when people say it, lives are changed. it's not a big word. it's itsy bitsy. it's only three little letters. but when you say it, the life of a kid like me can be changed. so what is this special word? it may surprise you. it's yes, yes, yes, yes to becoming a monthly supporter of shriners hospitals for children®. that's right!

your monthly support allows the doctors and nurses at shriners hospitals for children® to give the most amazing care anywhere and change the lives of kids like me and me and me. because people like you have said yes. now i can play football and i can play catch and i can walk. so what do you say? will you say yes? right now? it's so easy. all you have to do is pick up the phone or go to loveshriners.org right now and say yes. when you say yes to giving just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue® blanket as a reminder of all the kids you're helping every day. my life is filled with possibility because of the monthly support of people just like you who called the number on your screen and said yes. yes, yes, yes. your yes is making a difference in my life and the lives of so many other kids like me.

thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you for giving. please call or go online now. if operators are busy, call again or go to loveshriners.org to say yes right away. to me, harlem is home. but home is also your body. i asked myself, why doesn't pilates exist in harlem? so i started my own studio. getting a brick and mortar in new york is not easy. chase ink has supported us from studio one to studio three. when you start small, you need some big help. and chase ink was that for me. earn up to 5% cash back on business essentials with the chase ink business cash card from chase for business. make more of what's yours. hi, i'm janice, from chase for business. and i lost 172 pounds on golo. when i was a teenager i had some severe trauma in my life and i turned to food for comfort.

a friend told me that i was the only one holding me back from being as beautiful on the outside as i am the inside. once i saw golo was working, i felt this rush, i just had to keep going. a lot of people think no pain no gain, but with golo it is so easy. when i look in the mirror, i don't even recognize myself. golo really works. feeling sluggish or weighed down? could be a sign that your digestive system isn't at its best. but a little metamucil everyday can help.

metamucil's psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down and also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic. lighten everyday the metamucil way. feel less sluggish & weighed down after just 14 days. sign up for the 2 week challenge at metamucil.com i am not resigning and it is in my view an absurd motion someone would bring a vacate motion when we are simply here trying to do our jobs. >> speaker mike johnson remained affiant amid growing calls for his removal led by congressman marjorie taylor green. he unveiled his plan to bring three separate bills to the floor that would approve funding for israel, taiwan and ukraine. kentucky congressman thomas massey decided he should lose his speaker gavel and announced

he would join the motion to vacate. as he sat on social media johnson should do what former house speaker date and preannounced his regular nation. so far, johnson has done the opposite. the push to oust mike johnson is gaining momentum and adding to the dysfunction in the house. all white is republicans band together to do the only thing they seem able to agree mann, impeach alejandro mayorkas. joining me now is the ranking member of the house oversight committee and formerly impeachment manager of trump's second impeachment trial. it is so good to see you. i was thinking of the fact two weeks ago we were talking about the fact the impeachment seemed like it was reaching a dead end and then i realized you and i had been talking about the other politically motivated impeachment. the fact we have to choose among them tells you something about republicans agenda here. >> the mayorkas impeachment was the consolation prize for the

win of the party which did not get the joe biden impeachment they wanted and that is why they did this instead. the mayorkas impeachment is lacking the central thing you need in an impeachment constitutionally which is treason, bribery or a high crime misdemeanor. they don't have it. they have policy differences with secretary mayorkas or at best they have a claim of maladministration which is precisely what the framers said you can't impeach someone over. >> look at them, they seem committed. this morning, secretary mayorkas testified as they held their annual hearing on the dhs budget request. earlier he worked on a bipartisan bill in the senate. house republicans tend that. now facing the impeachment. he appears pretty unphased by this process. earlier he said

when i say i'm not focused on the impeachment proceedings i actually mean it. i will say this, that is my hope that my time is not taken away from my work. clearly a disconnect between the amount of things on secretary mayorkas plate, the portfolio he has whether it's the u.s./mexico border, international threats and what republicans want him focused on. >> if you think about it, given this is just a policy conflict at least a dozen republican senators have acknowledged that over the last couple of days. the public is dramatically on the side of mayorkas and the bipartisan senate deal which was blown up at the last minute by maga republicans and donald trump because trump doesn't want a border solution, he wants a border crisis to run against. he's got nothing else in the tank, he's running on empty because he can't talk about abortion anymore because the whole country has so decisively turned against him whether we

talk about kansas or ohio or pennsylvania or florida. they can't talk about that so it is just immigration. he also has vladimir putin breathing down his neck because putin doesn't want $61 billion going to the people of ukraine. really what he's pursuing now is an agenda and it's amazing to see the republicans in the house just following him like lemmings. >> today you had a congressman saying this. in his words, not projecting strength amid the ongoing conflicts and ukraine and israel. >> the world is on fire and history will judge us by our actions. were you chamberlain or churchill? >> how seriously can you take them when that is their posturing and yet their own caucus can't coalesce around a

foreign aid bill? >> i think that was really directed at mike johnson, not joe biden. he's been doing everything in his power to try to dislodge the foreign aid package he sent several months ago. it's mike johnson who is fallen captive to the pro putin when of the party which might be dominant in the republican caucus now but he does seem to extricate himself from it with the succession of single issue bills so we would get an up or down vote on ukraine. of course, the big majority in the house pretty much every democrat and maybe as much as 50% of republicans but certainly 30 or 40%, but we would definitely have a big majority do it. that's what marjorie taylor green and matt gates and the extreme right is so upset about. for all we know it's donald trump who is calling the shots on that one.

>> let me ask because that was the other development the fact that congressman massey joining archery taylor green's efforts. are you hearing more republicans join them? >> well, i've heard there are a couple others in the wings that they've got ready to demonstrate their momentum, but under the maga rules that speaker mccarthy had backed and pretty much the whole caucus was behind any member of their caucus can file a motion to vacate the chair meeting to topple the speaker. it doesn't give the extremists elements in the party reporting directly to donald trump the power to dictate the course of events. it may be johnson is fed up with it and says if you want to vacate the chair go ahead and do it, but i've got to move forward at this point. he has several committee chairs who seem to be determined to get us a vote on ukraine.

they are starting to blow the whistle on how putin's propaganda has begun to saturate the republican caucus and you have members like marjorie taylor green and like matt gates who basically parrot putin's talking points. marjorie taylor green a couple days ago said it was anti- somatic to hold up aid to israel in order to get aid to the in ukraine or the ukrainian something like that. this is just classic putin smear and disinformation tactic against the democratic nation of ukraine. the only nation on earth that has a jewish president other than israel itself. >> a feature, thank you so much for taking the time to be with us tonight. we have one more story this evening. iran's unprecedented strike over the weekend and what it

all means for israel's ongoing military operation in gaza is next. next. hey little bear bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm gonna love you forever ♪ ♪ ♪ c'mon, bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ you don't...you don't have to worry... ♪ ♪ be by your side... i'll be there... ♪ ♪ with my arms wrapped around... ♪ you know, i spend a lot of time thinking about dirt. at three in the morning. any time of the day. what people don't know is that not all dirt is the same. you need dirt with the right kind of nutrients. look at this new organic soil from miracle-gro. everybody should have it. it worked great for us. this is as good as gold in any garden. if people only knew that it really is about the dirt. you're a dirt nerd. huge dirt nerd. i'm proud of it! [ryan laughs]

>> no application fee if you apply by may 31st at university of maryland global campus, an accredited university that's transformed adult lives for 75 years. you're not waiting to win, you're ready to succeed again at umgc.edu. 170 million americans find community on tiktok. i'm patriotic, kenny. my scooter broke down. i went into a depression. i posted it to show that kenny's not always happy. within 24 hours, people had donated over $5,000. oh, you're kidding. set up the patriotic kenny foundation to give mobility scooters to veterans. none of this would've happened without tiktok. keep tiktok.

i'll be honest. by the end of the day, my floors...yeesh. but who has the time to clean? that's why i love my swiffer wetjet. it's a quick and easy way to get my floors clean. wetjet absorbs and locks grime deep inside. look at that! swiffer wetjet.

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. the go-tos that keep us going. the places we cheer. and check in. they all choose the advanced network solutions and round the clock partnership from comcast business. see why comcast business powers more small businesses than anyone else. get started for $49.99 a month plus ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. don't wait- call today.

we are awaiting israel's response to the unprecedented iranian attack that took place last weekend. for the first time around lunch to direct mood is a military attack against israel. 99% was intercepted by defense systems and its allies mainly the u.s. shot down dozens of drones and missiles. this was in retaliation for an airstrike earlier this month that destroyed iran's consulate in syria and killed several officers include written -- a high-ranking commander. they are concerned this could escalate tensions further. this is something allies in both israel and iran want to prevent.

president biden urged the prime minister to exercise calm and take the win and that the u.s. would not support any counterattack. today four officials told us that israel's response will be limited in scope and not leave -- likely on iranian soil. cnn is reporting that the israeli military was set to begin an invasion of rafah this week. heightened tensions have put that on hold. this was reported extensively in the middle east. thank you so much for being here. your estimation on whether or not this is? >> if israel responds with a direct attack on iranian soil -- if israel response but the heavier than usual on proxies whether lebanon or syria that

is a missed connection. we have been seeing nothing but escalation in the region for a very long time. we were distracted for a time by what is going on in gaza. now we are distracted on what is going on here. the two different kinds of crises taking place simultaneously. one is a potential regional war that will have blowback for the whole world. there is no corner of the middle east in which you can. and say, that looks hopeful. >> i want to talk about the overlap between these conflicts. first, if in fact israel chooses to hit iran proxies, how then do they fire back? >> they take their instruction largely from iran itself. they do have a certain amount of autonomy. it varies depending on which

proxy. in yemen they seem to have a greater degree of autonomy than, say, hezbollah in lebanon. it sort of depends who you hit and how hard you hit. if you take out a top commander of hezbollah, then has below will feel obliged to respond. hezbollah has stayed out of the fight with israel to a substantial degree for a very long time. immediately after the terrorist attack on israel and 7 october, a big concern was that when israel inevitably responded that hezbollah would enter the fight and that would be the trigger for a regional war. that did not happen, think goodness. the events of last weekend with the iranian attack there's concerns that could be the trigger. what you have is what is called an escalation ladder. people from both sides are climbing up this letter. you can't depend on both sides to

remain rational the whole of the way. at some point one side is going to get off the logical sequence of events and react, overreact and trigger. just because they did not go to war at the last publication does not mean the next one will not be the one that triggers it all. that is the concern. that is why the biden administration as he said is pushing so hard on netanyahu to take the win. netanyahu has an opportunity to say, look, they attacked us. we proved we can defend ourselves. they sent 300 missiles and drones our way and our defense held up. they did not land, they barely scratched us. that can be announced by a good politician.

that can be announced as a victory. if he does that and walks away and focuses, that gives everybody a little breathing space including the biden administration. but he is facing pressure himself, netanyahu. he may be a right-leaning politician but there are people to the right of him. there is substantial support amid ordinary israelis for some sort of retaliation. even if you are not politically active a country that has been threatening your destruction for decades shoots 300 missiles and drones in your direction, you expect the government to do something. >> thank you so much for being with us. that is our show tonight. you can catch me back here on the weekend. now it is time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening. >> that evening. we just got the transcript from today's court session. andrew wiseman and adam klasfeld are here to