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it's 11:00 eastern, and 8:00 a.m. pacific. i am ana cabrera in for josé diaz-balart. garland's appearance comes as house republicans recently advanced a bill to hold him in contempt of congress for not handsing over the audio recording of special counsel robert hur's interview with joe biden. >> i will not be intimidated and the justice department will not be intimidated. we will continue to do our jobs free from political influence and we will not back down from defending democracy. >> joining us now, ali vitali from capitol hill, and you have been monitoring this all our, and a federal prosecutor and nbc

news legal analyst also joining us. for those who are just joining us, what stands out to you so far from what has unfolded so far? >> think i the point we ended last hour making is the one we should take into the next part of the hearing. i expect the hearing to get back under way in the next few minutes, because jim jordan is a fast walker between here and the hearing floor, and so we will pick up at that point. the multiple players you are seeing at play and the questions the attorney general is fielding from both sides of the aisle, and it harkens back to what i saw yesterday when the former top doctor for the administration, dr. dr. anthony fauci was testified, and you saw republicans on the attack and democrats giving him space to set the record straight, and now

the top lawyer for the biden administration, attorney general merrick garland, and we're watching house republicans question him on everything from the prosecution and most recent conviction of former president donald trump, and we are watching them question him over january 6th, something the attorney general himself brought up in opening remarks which can be characterized as defiant, especially from a man who has been mild mannered in the role despite how partisan his posture has been viewed view the lens of the republicans here on capitol hill. looming over the testimony is the fact that the very committee he's testifying before, the house judiciary committee is one of the two that recently voted to hold this attorney general in contempt of congress. that is over his refusal to turn over the audio recordings of joe biden's interview with special counsel, robert hur. the attorney general continuing to defend that decision even as

republicans press for that audio recording, and the argument, of course, from the administration is it's executive privilege and could have a chilling effect on future prosecutions, and nbc news is in the group arguing for the sake of transparency. when we come back, ana, and it didn't take long for this to get contentious in the hearing room, and you can imagine as we continue to go down the line, you will see republican members prepared to continue layering on the attacks of the attorney general, and it will be interesting to watch some of the dynamics from the democrat members, too. one of the leaders of the january 6th committee is likely to bring up some of the key points there and allow the attorney general to defend the ongoing prosecutions of january 6th insurrectionists.

you have congresswoman dean and escobar, both members who were in the house chamber on january 6th. again, i don't think we can remind of this too infrequently, just the way the insurrection and the way january 6th looms over the way this congress operates. it has for the last several years. these kinds of testimonies where the 6th is still a central piece of conversation and debate, it's a good reminder in the ways that that is a filter for a lot of the way these members do their jobs and come to work and present their lines of questioning of the attorney general. >> you did such a thorough way of describing that conversation. the republicans tried to hammer home a connection that garland would have in the conviction against trump by the manhattan d.a., in which he repeatedly pushed back. there are a lot of americans who

believe their republican officials on this. what is your response to that and reaction? >> you know, my reaction is that state district attorneys are generally pretty fiercely independent. i mean, they are prosecutors in a sovereign, in a state that is separate and apart from the federal government. i was a federal prosecutor my whole life and i could not tell a state district attorney, commonwealth's attorney or state attorney what charges to bring and what charges to decline to bring. there were times when i would coordinate with them if i were prosecuting somebody they may have had an interest in for a state investigation, but i couldn't control or direct, nor would i even suggest how they should go about making their prosecutorial decisions. this is all political theater, pure and simple. ana, as you say, there are

people that i think, either fall for it, there are audiences for that disinformation that the federal government controls state prosecutions, or maybe they just confused by the all the nonsense that some folks intentionally throw into the mix designed to confuse. the state runs its own prosecutions completely apart and independent from the justice department and federal government. >> thank you for that fact check. stay with us. ali vitali, thank you and please keep monitoring. in washington, president biden is set to make his most aggressive move on immigration, and he will sign an executive order to close the border if crossings get to 2,500.

the president is facing backlash from within his own party, and joining us now, nbc news white house correspondent, monica alba, and julia ainsley in mission, texas, near the border. monica, what do we know about what is in the executive action? >> this is an executive action that really would be the most sweeping and most aggressive when it comes to giving the president the authority to temporarily shut down the border if there are more than 2,500 daily encounters or crossings with migrants crossing illegally to seek asylum in the united states. effectively right now, the numbers are already well above that. on average, there are 4,000 daily crossings according to the department of homeland security officials. this could begin almost immediately when the president does sign it, which we expect will happen sometime this afternoon. the administration is already really bracing here for legal

challenges, and this is a provision that in some ways would have been part of the larger bipartisan border bill that was ultimately torpedoed by senate republicans at the urging of former president trump, and that would have given him congressional authority to do this, and now he's going the lateral route and could face more hurdles, and because it's such a challenge and the white house wants to come out and the president will say today likely that they are doing everything they can to try and stem the flow of illegal migration while noting some important humanitarian carveouts that will be part of this, we expect, for instance, for unaccompanied minors crossing the border alone or for victims of human trafficking. >> what is the reaction you are observing there at the border, and how exactly would this be

implemented? what does it mean to shutdown the border? >> reporter: behind me is the rio grande, and behind that is the mexico river and we have seen migrants cross this river. just a couple years ago we were down here, and next to me there was a tented parking lot where people would come to be screened for covid when they were fighting the title 42 restrictions that were in place, and for right now it's quiet, and things have been relatively steady even though you usually get a seasonal uptick this time of year. along the border, what this means is that people will not be able to cross places like this rio grande river behind me and come in and claim asylum, and they could only do that if they go to a legal port of entry, and one thing i want to point out

when we talk about closing the border. we are not talking about closing commerce or people driving back and forth in traffic lanes or presenting themselves for asylum at ports of entry, but it's all about people crossing illegally. still, because of the international right to claim asylum this country has followed for so long, since world war ii, we are expecting legal challenges as monica pointed out. i spoke to two border patrol agents in the area today, and they are worried about unintended consequences, the carveouts and if they will have to keep people in custody longer while they determine whether or not they are eligible to be sent back and whether or not mexico will agree to take back all the migrants that won't be eligible. anytime there's a new policy, there's a fear if the numbers get too high it could cause

chaos and confusion more than giving a solution. >> we will talk to one congressman later this hour, but california senator padilla told punchbowl news that president biden is paralleling what the trump administration tried to do unsuccessly. >> how does the white house respond to this criticism? >> according to my sources, this is something the white house has been aware of and they have been in conversations with the democratic allies who have very high concerns. what they had to ultimately do is take what the previous administration, what the trump years in office did on immigration, had to look at that and make adjustments to it and that's going to be their main argument. they are going to try and approach this in a more humanitarian manner than the president's predecessor. this is certainly in contrast

with what candidate joe biden promised to do if he were elected to office. he wanted to roll back all the immigration policies that were who restrictive at the time, and within the bipartisan border bill democrats already made so many concessions, so many changes, things that the party had not been completely aligned on that they felt that really was the way to signal to the president's allies and lawmakers that the president was really serious that inaction was not an option here and something needed to get done. >> monica alba and julia ainsley, ladies, thank you so much. stay with us for more on this. democratic congressman from texas will join us and we will ask what he thinks about biden's border plans. up next, we will go to wilmington, delaware, where opening statements are underway

in the trial of the president's son, hunter biden trial. and president biden's blunt answer when "time" magazine asked him if prime minister benjamin netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political purposes. we're back in just 90 seconds. every shot is an opportunity. and success requires drive, resilience, - wow. - get it there. and sometimes luck. but what if luck had less to do with it? what if we had the tools to help us practice smarter, the insights to gain an edge, and the data to inform our strategy? taking our games from that... to this. yes sir. kpmg performance insights are transforming the game for the entire lpga tour.

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charges related to lying about his illegal drug use when he purchased a firearm back in 2018. hunter has pleaded not guilty to these charges. new developments in the last hour, the prosecutor, derrick heinz, revealed to the jury one of the witnesses they will hear from, a woman that had a romantic relationship with hunter. let's get more from mike memoli, and glenn hershner is back with us. >> we were aware we would be hearing from beau biden's wife with whom hunter had a romantic relationship after his death. now we have the identity of the third woman, a sex worker who also had a romantic relationship about hunter biden. jury selection was wrapped up yesterday ahead of schedule, and

now we heard from both sides in opening arguments, the prosecution laying out their case, the facts that they say hunter biden did, in fact, lie, when he filled out the paperwork purchasing a gun while using drugs, and using his last name against him, saying nobody is allowed to lie on a federal form like this, not even hunter biden. abby lowell, the woman representing biden in this case, spoke about hunter biden may have been using alcohol at the time of the purchase but will challenge the facts that he was using drugs, and to quote mr. lowell, he said there's no such thing as a high functioning crack addict, to use his words.

>> we should note, those opening statements have now concluded and both sides delivered their messages. we anticipate witness testimony to begin shortly. glenn, part of the prosecution's opening message is that while drug addiction may not be a choice, lying and possessing a gun is a choice. they also added no matter who you are, no one is above the law. how effective could that be with the jury? >> it will be effective, and the question is, how will the defense go about defending hunter biden? i was trying to read the real time reporting of both the prosecutor and defense openings, and it looks like they have substantial evidence hunter biden unlawful purchased the game by indicating on the purchase form that he was not an addict or a user of illegal

narcotics, and the defense seems to be going for sort of a two-fold approach to defending hunter biden. one, trying to chip away at the evidence saying things like, well, the gun shop sales person, the gentleman named gordon cleveland, viewed himself, his words, as a whale hunter, trying to really push sales on the customers, not surprising, and that's what salespeople do. but then there's some indications that they may have violated their own protocol when they were going through the form that hunter biden was filling out, and for example, box 11, where hunter biden allegedly certificated he was not an addict or user was prepopulated, filled out in advance. now, if he signed the form, he still would have sort of taken responsibility for everything that was on the form, but the second attack it looks like the defense is going for is what i call journal faction.

mr. lowell spent a good deal of time saying hunter biden accepts his addiction and has been using alcohol since he was a teenager and drugs as an adult and he would use the alcohol and drugs to, quote, numb his trauma. in our common experience, most of us have some experience with folks, friends, family, who have addiction problems. i think they may try and win some sympathy for hunter biden and at the end of the day, they may suggest even if the evidence indicates that he may have, you know, improperly filled out this form, it really wasn't a knowing violation of the law because he didn't necessarily view himself as an addict or user at the moment he was purchasing the gun. may not be the best factual argument but may have some real emotional appeal to a jury. >> it may connect. it may feel like something we can relate to. we know a number of these jurors

have family members who have had addiction issues or drug use, and we know these jurors or second amendment families who have guns. thank you. up next, we are following breaking news out of wisconsin where three people were just indicted in the so-called fake electors scheme that was part of the effort to overturn biden's victory. and then pregnant related deaths are higher here in the u.s. than any other high income nation. we will ask a doctor why. harmacd vitamin and supplement brand. in our family there was a passion for glass making that's passed down through the generations. we stood on some pretty broad shoulders to get to where we are at today. on ancestry i was able

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welcome back. new this morning, "time" magazine is out with a new extensive interview with president biden where he is asked if he believes israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political self preservation. the president said, quote, i am not going to comment on that and there's every reason for people to draw that conclusion, and it comes as biden and netanyahu seem to disagree over a cease-fire deal. >> the white house is really walking a fine line here between what it says publicly about netanyahu and what president biden expresses privately. we are getting a look at that in this "time" magazine interview.

you mentioned the comments about acknowledging that netanyahu may be prolonging this war for political purposes, but i want to point to something else getting attention as well. another quote from the evidence when asked if he thought israel committed war crimes. he says, it's uncertain and has been investigated by the israelis themselves, and one thing is certain, the people in gaza and palestinians have suffered greatly and a lot of innocent people have been killed. the president also rejected allegations that israel was using starvation as a method of warfare but he said i think they engaged inactivity that was inappropriate and it seems what his biggest disagreement with netanyahu was, and that's over the solution of a two-state

solution. >> and president biden has had strong words about what is happening in gaza, and some members of his own party and his base say he's not taking enough action. you touched on this, but talk to us about this line that the president is trying to walk. >> certainly. we have seen it over the last couple of months, haven't we, ana? the week of october 7th, you recall back then the president was very careful in his messaging to israel, and the white house repeatedly said it did not want to tell israel what to do, and just recently the white house has withheld some of the weapons, and he told netanyahu that he warned israel not to make the same mistake that the u.s. did after the september 11th attacks that led to endless wars, and that's a point he has been making but

certainly the rhetoric in that interview has shown the frustration president biden has had with the operation and he has been receiving pushback from his own party. the white house will insist that the national security matters have nothing to do with politics, but it's clear that the president and prime minister netanyahu, that their relationship has become even more strained, ana. >> gabe, thank you for your reporting. now to breaking news this morning. wisconsin's attorney general filed charges against three key people against former president trump scheme to use fake electors to overturn the 2020 election. joining us is ryan riley. who are the people indicted and what do the new charges mean? >> chessbro was one of them and he previously took a plea deal in one of the other cases in georgia. we have seen fake electors charged in several states.

it has been a trend over the last few months, and all of this was in the leadup to january 6th, and these fake electors were going to pretend these individuals were certifying that trump won the election that he loss. and mike roman was involved. it's at the center of the donald trump case itself in washington, which we are waiting for a supreme court decision on where the supreme court is deciding whether presidents have absolute immunity to commit essentially whatever crime they wish to without being charged, and that's what is before the supreme court now and if that case is brought down, that's something we will hear a lot more about. that case probably won't go to trial until after the election,

ana. >> thank you. keep us posted. the biden administration expected to take action today that could effectively shutdown the border immediately. we will talk to congressman greg casar of texas who has been critical of president biden's plan. greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light- headedness can come and go. but if you have afib, the risk of stroke is always there. if you have one or more symptoms, get checked out. holding off on seeing a doctor won't change whether or not you have afib. but if you do, making that appointment can help you get ahead of stroke risk. contact a doctor and learn more at notimetowait.com

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in returning to one of our top stories this hour, this after

president biden will sign an executive action that will allow him to shutdown the border to asylum seekers if illegal crossings reach 2,500 a day, and the border would reopen when they only fell below 1,500. now daily contacts are over 4,000, which means this executive action could shutdown the border immediately. i want to get reaction from congressman casar. he represents part of san antonio and austin. thank you so much for taking the time. how do you view this executive action expected today by president biden? >> i have real disagreements and concerns with this executive action because i think it plays into the current republican talking points. you see, the republican party here in congress tries to cover up its own failures by

scapegoating immigrants. it's the oldest trick in the book, and it points at chaos at the border. it unfortunately created political pressure which has the president restricting the asylum which is not going to work, because it doesn't create new legal pathways for people to migrate here. i think we need an alternative progressive vision for what will work on the border. today i am announcing i am drafting legislation to drastically reduce the amount the united states is contributing to forced migration. if we want to address what's happening at the border, we have to create legal pathways so immigrants don't have to go to the cartels, and we have to help dreamers and long-time families here. third, we need to do what folks

in d.c. don't want to talk about, which is how our u.s. policy is contributing in places like, especially, latin america, starvation and violence that is pushing folks out of their homes in record numbers. >> you mentioned the push factors, which are driving a lot of people to come to the border, and what you just outlined, though, doesn't necessarily address those specifics. how does what you have outlined reduce the number of people who are trying to get across the border that is overwhelming the system right now? >> the congress needs to pass comprehensive immigration reform. short of that, the president has options available and the congress should be talking about those options. that's what is in my legislation. we should look at the outdated trump era sanctioned policies that we have against countries like venezuela that are starving

people in their home countries, and it wouldn't cost us a penny to pull back on those policies and let people economically thrive in their own country, and we should be looking to what is violence in latin american. a huge proportion, often times the majority of the guns and weapons recovered there, especially from criminal gangs are made and trafficked from the united states, so we need to stop contributing and start pulling back on the ways that the u.s. policy is actually pushing folks out of latin america. then, for the folks that want to move, just as people have for the entire history of our country, we need a more legal, safe and orderly system for the people that want to come here, and we have a republican majority house that is blocking that. the president shouldn't cave in to their pressure and instead should be opening up legal pathways on his own, and trying

to protect people here on his own if the republicans won't help him, and stop contributing through foreign policy to making life in latin america worse. >> a lot of americans believe the republican position on this and agree with what they presented. they had an 18% point advantage when it comes to immigration. how do you explain that? >> we need a clear vision that isn't just republican-liked. right now we have trump saying he's just going to solve the problem and crack down. we know he's a con artist and grifter and know he's not serious about solving the problem. i don't think we can beat the republicans at their own game here, but instead we need a strategy that the american people believe will work, which means, one, working in latin america to reduce forced migration, and two, having legal

pathways so there's order at the border, and protecting folks here. here's what i would say, too often, the chaos at the border that the republicans campaign on is caused by the republicans themselves. i think we need to call them out rather than playing in their own hands. they are currently the arsonists and they point to the firefighters and say it's their fault for the fire, and we need to call them out instead of saying, well, maybe you have a point there, mr. arsonists. >> it doesn't seem like the american people believe the democrats have a handle on the situation. trump has a 30-point edge on this situation over president biden, and it shows latinos point biden over trump, and biden won the latino vote by 20 points in 2020. i want to get your reaction on what is happening in the

oversight committee, and they are questioning merrick garland over his handling over the classified documents. right now garland is testifying there at the judiciary committee, which also voted to recommend he be held in contempt. what do you make of this? >> i was sitting in the oversight hearing on this, and it just goes to show that republican members of congress spend their time here to often just campaign for trump and not solving problems. i think this goes to your prior question, about latinos and immigration. when republicans use their majority here, they use it to gain power. they use it to have ludicrous contempt hearings against the sg attorney general, and the republicans are saying it's a crime because we want the audio book version. give me a break.

it's sad they are using their governing power in that way to campaign for trump. we can't give into that. >> oh, no, we just had an issue obviously with his feed. our apologies and our thanks to congressman, greg casar. up next, we will go back to the courthouse in delaware where attorneys are giving their opening statements and witnesses are about to take the stand. plus, grim new numbers about the rate of women dying here in the u.s. of pregnancy and childbirth-related complications. we will ask a doctor why she says this new report is a wake-up call. i ca n love my skin again. with bimzelx. only bimzelx targets and blocks il-17a plus f to calm inflammation. i can control my plaques, and start getting myself back. bimzelx helps adults with moderate to severe psoriasis control plaques,

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welcome back, and right now inside a delaware courtroom, the prosecution has called its first witness in the criminal trial of president biden's son, hunter. fbi special agency, erica jensen, is now taking the stand. and joining me, ken dilanian. what is the significance of the prosecution's first witness, erica jensen? how critical is she to this case? >> ana, generally in cases like this, the prosecution wants to call one of the investigating agents to set the stage for the jury, to explain the context, how we got here. she's also going to authenticate and bring into evidence certain text messages and other evidence

that will demonstrate hunter biden was using drugs at the time he bought the gun, and we just got through opening arguments and the prosecution said essentially he lied when he filled out the form and said he was not using drugs. what is the defense going to be? he was ready to plead guilty and admit the conduct, right? we are all arguing what are his lawyers going to make? he didn't consider himself as a drug user during the moment he filled out that form. it asked, are you addicted to illegal drugs, not have you been. and the workers at the gun store filled out much of the form on his behalf and he didn't understand what was going on. a lot of that will hinge on the evidence and the witnesses and what they say happened. the form will be introduced as

well. there was drama outside the courtroom, where there was a trump supporters and some called him a nazi and said he should not be there. pregnancy childbirth, that postpartum period is deadlier here in the u.s. the study examined 14 high-income companies, and found more than 14% of the pregnancy related deaths here in the u.s. were preventible. there were 22 maternal births. let's discuss. this is really shocking to hear. what's going on? why is the maternal mortality rate so high here in the u.s.? >> it is shocking.

i think i can sum it up by saying care is only as good as your access to it. the experts who were part of the report and also independent experts have said basically that there's three main factors here that are contributing to these rates. one is prenatal care. we know that you need to have good prenatal care and access to reproductive health care before and during a pregnancy. the postpartum period is important as well. up to two-thirds of the deaths are occurring in that period. paid maternal leave. in countries that have -- industrialized nations where there's paid maternity leave, numbers are higher. i want to point out that postpartum period is important. your care does not end when you leave the hospital after you have delivered the baby.

>> why is the situation so much worse for black women in particular? >> it really has to do with access to care. he would talk about maternity care deserts in the country. up to 2.2 million people who are of childbearing age in this country, between the ages of 15 and 44, do not have access to reliable prenatal care and reproductive health care in general. like many other diseases and illnesses in medicine, communities of proportionately affected. sam brock is here with why flamingos are making their way back to that state. sam? >> reporter: there was a time when florida was teaming with

flamingos, in the 1800s. there's been a change in the winds so you don't just have flamingos like these under zoo care, but they are out in the wild after a chance encounter with a hurricane. we will explain exactly whether they are here to say, and why the science says they could be, coming up next. e says they coul coming up next

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and don's paying so much for at&t, he's been waiting to update his equipment! there's a smarter way to save. comcast business mobile. you could save up to 70% on your wireless bill. so you don't have to compromise. powering smarter savings. powering possibilities. next hour, the former interpreter for shohei ohtani is expected to plead guilty to stealing nearly $17 million from the player. federal prosecutors allege he stole the funds from ohtani and he was linked to an illegal gambling operation with losses amounting to more than $40 million. the u.s. attorney's office says that he will plead guilty to one count each of bank fraud and subscribing to a false tax return. authorities say ohtani, who signed a record ten-year $700 million contract with the

dodgers, cooperated with the investigation and was cleared of wrongdoing. now to florida, where a flamboyance of flamingos have found a new home. they once lived in florida by the thousands but are now usually found in cuba, mexico and the bahamas. that's changing. joining us now is nbc's sam brock from zoo miami. sam, what more do we know about this flock in florida? >> reporter: first of all, i'm impressed you got flamboyance. you have to go back to the 1800s when they were here on a native level. they are at zoos under zoo care. what happened about a year ago is you had the flamingos between cuba and mexico. a hurricane came in and picked them up and moved the flocks to florida and other parts of the united states. people seeing them in wisconsin and ohio. now the real test, will they

reproduce here? if they do, it's a permanent relocation. this morning, flamingos in florida are giving people something to talk about. the slender pink birds known for their bright plumes once lived in the state by the thousands. they could be flocking back to their old stomping grounds. >> florida is ideal. not too cold in the winter. it's temperate. it has large remaining wetlands. >> reporter: according to an audobon survey, at least 100 have been spotted with the largest batch in the florida bay, between everglades national park and the keys. the reemergence redirecting them last fall. >> there's 30 here now. >> reporter: has fans like ron pumped up about the possibilities. >> they went to wisconsin. they went to georgia, alabama. those were out there and said,

we're out of here. the flamingos in florida said, this is kind of nice. >> reporter: he says years of efforts and billions invested in restoring the everglades is making this possible. they were nearly wiped out by the turn of the 20th century, not just because of destruction of their everglades habitat but at the time flamingo feathers were worth more than gold. now their return has captured hearts and imaginations. >> so close, beautiful colors. nice to see. >> reporter: the accidental tourists stunning residents in wisconsin last fall, who saw pinch pop up on lake michigan. >> i had tears in my eyes. >> reporter: restoring the flock back to historic leaves is one of zoo miami's goals. >> if they stay through the winter, that will be huge. >> reporter: it's florida's lottery mascot. there's a push to have it as the state bird. >> come on. it's a flamingo.

come on. >> reporter: it's a travesty. >> we have to get this done. >> reporter: this has been a years' long effort. explain why some members of the florida legislature refuse to allow the flamingo to be the state bird, i do not have a good answer. i can't overstate the importance of the everyeverglades restorat. the time and effort and money gone into restoring the everglades made a big difference. the flamingos have a chance to stay. >> i can tell you had fun putting together that piece. wearing the pink shirt. >> reporter: when in rome or in miami. >> thank you, sam brock. thank you for joining us. you can catch our show online around the clock on youtube and other platforms. see you back here at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning.