>> we know you have a lot of choices for morning news, thanks for joining us on fox & friends. >> thanks for joining us everyone, we will see you tomorrow. >> i will see you on the radio. >> sandra: chaos in cities across the country overnight, protests turning violent in tempe, arizona, with objects thrown at police there. officers responding by using pepper spray to break up the crowds. good morning and great to be back with all of you this morning, good morning tracy, i'm sandra smith. >> and i'm trace gallagher. violence surging in portland as the city marks its 56th straight night of unrest. he is expected to lay into protesters while defending the federal response in portland. mayor ted wheeler tweeting this

about federal forces in his ci city. joanne hardisty and i are calling for an immediate meeting with the department of homeland security leadership on the ground in portland, and with acting secretary dhs wolf to discuss a cease-fire and the removal of heightened federal forces from portland. >> sandra: fox team coverage, william la jeunesse has an exclusive look at what federal agents are facing on the ground in portland. john roberts has more on his highly anticipated appearance and to select or ted cruz will be joining us and just moments with a plan to bring back u.s. cities under siege. but we begin with william la jeunesse was on the ground in portland for us. hey, william. >> we just spent the last 12 hours inside of that court house and we want to bring that perspective. what's it like to be a federal agent on lock down inside of this pitch black courthouse with an overwhelming crowd outside trying to burn it down, shooting

these massive fireworks that hit the plywood doors and explode. everyone has on a gas mask, helmet, flak jacket and your protection. critics say these feds are stifling free speech but they say no one is preventing them from protesting. the peaceful protesters had left and the agitators and rioters were there. they sent fire to draw the agents out and then they pelt them for with cans, boxes and bottles. these guys don't want to be there, they are doing their job. >> that's kind of the general -- but we are leaving until we know this building is safe. >> some of these were some of the items that were brought to a peaceful protest. in acts, hockey sticks, bolt

cutters, and garden sprayers. this is what it looks like last night from the other perspective, outside the fence. it hijacked the message from the blm. the lobby and the mayor to stop this, some of the feds i talked to think they are turning a corner you guys mentioned berating the feds as being in occupy, they mainly will have a way to broker the deal and bring this to an end. >> sandra: we will see how it goes. >> trace: meantime breaking today attorney general bill barr will make its first-ever appearance before the house judiciary committee in just under an hour. she corresponded john roberts is like for us on the north lawn

with more on what we can expect. john? >> trace, good morning. a lot has happened since then particularly with the russia gate investigation that will give the attorney general a lot to chew over in the house judiciary committee, and his opening statement almost from the beginning, he takes on what he terms as the bogus russia gate scandal. he says they've attempted to discredit me by conjuring up a narrative that i'm and simply -- and he goes on to say, based on the law and fact without any direction or interference from the white house or anyone outside of the departments. the need for police reform, he also stresses though the importance of supporting police forces and fighting crime saying the threat to black lives posed by crime in the streets is a

massively greater then any threat posed by police misconduct. as you mentioned at the top you will also take on the protests in portland. but certainly there are a lot of documents that have come out that have suggested that the trump campaign was in fact being spied on and that general michael flynn may have been set up in that january 2017 interview that he had with peter strzok and a on the other fbi agent. committee members so if they decide to go down that rabbit hole, barb will likely unload everything he knows about this. >> trace: 55 minutes away. also mark meadows and steven mnuchin heading over for more negotiations with the speaker of the house on coronavirus and the bill there. >> this is called the heels act as a poster of the 3 trillion dollar euros act that was passed

by the house back in may. this one is $1200 payments and paycheck protection and reduce the unemployment from $600, up to $200 per week. that also led liability protections for doctors, nurses, charities, businesses and schools. $15 billion to child care facilities to get them open so parents can back to work. $26 billion for vaccine development and $25 billion to hospitals and medical providers. also in the bill is $1.75 million and apparently mitch mcconnell, you mention

that mark meadows and stephen nguyen, including unemployment insurance running out at the end of the month. so something has to move here. the president by the way will likely have a briefing at 5:00. i was about to say coronavirus briefing but it will be about a lot of things so the present likely weigh in on all of this later on today. just another day here at the white house. we call this one tuesday. it's the one john roberts live on the north lawn. >> we saw violent protests in cities overnight. first to "the wall street journal" editorial board, i'm sure you've already seen it. a weekend of urban anarchy. these were not peaceful protests despite what many in the media claim to. it was a deliberate event on public and private property.

local officials are allowing this disorder to occur, and it it that is the worse it has been likely to get. >> i do, and i've seen growing violence, and we are trying to tear down society. what you and i don't have a right to do is hurt somebody else. you don't have the right to assault somebody else. to firebomb a police car and the loot and destroy a small business to murder a police officer? sadly we have seen all of that in riots throughout the country, and that has been facilitated

and even encouraged by democratic politicians who have made a very cynical decision not to allow the police officers to protect physical safety and protect property. he ordered the police officers to pull back and they are letting their cities burn. i've introduced legislation that's called the reclaim act which says, if you are injured and if your property is damaged during a riot, and the local officials have made the deliberate decision to withhold police to protection where you can see that city and see that municipality and get triple damages. in addition any city that refuses to provide police to protection during a riot is denied eligibility for federal funds. it's wrong and it's endangering people's lives and it's denying the basic civil rights that every american is entitled to a >> sandra: you wrote and wrote "the wall street journal" about,

and your words, these radicals hate the police. we are expecting bill barr to speak at the top of the hour and he appears before the house judiciary committee this morning. it is expected label these protesters anarchists, what do you expect from that testimony this morning? >> if he describes them as anarchists, that would be exactly what we are facing. there is a national antifa organization and others are affiliating with a group called black lives matter which is founded by and run by open marxists. people are calling for a marxist government in the united states. we are seeing radicals in portland. every single night they are physically assaulting the federal courthouse, they are trying to burn it down. they are trying to level it. in the federal police officers

are doing their job of stopping terrorists from burning the courthouse to the ground. and that democratic politicians are just standing back. he reported at the top of the hour how the mayor of ted wheeler said we want to federal officials out. well apparently what he saying then is go ahead and burn the courthouse to the ground, the federal official should ignore the effort to stop violent acts of terrorism. >> sandra: from one problem to the other, this is the big debate happening on capitol hill. as you just heard reported as well as the top of the hour, steven mnuchin the treasury secretary, he's expected to meet with nancy pelosi this morning. what does that tell you about something getting done? here are some of the details of the senate g.o.p. heels act. it includes $200 weekly federal

unemployment benefits, more ppp, and it's a trillion dollar package. he sounded pretty optimistic that something could get done, are you? >> i certainly hope that bill doesn't pass, it's a very bad idea. number one we are going broke. our national debt is over $26 trillion and we are literally bankrupting our kids and grandkids and too many republicans, a trillion dollars as a whole lot of money and it sometimes called stimulus education. it wasn't designed to stimulate the economy, it was a relief

legislation designed to give emergency short-term loans to get people through the height of the crisis. we are at a very different point now. and that they are just starting to open up and just opening, and lifting job killing regulations to help those small businesses survive and thrive and i will tell you that the fundamental choice here is, do we want people working or not? what you incentivize your get more of and what the democrats want is they want to incentivize and they want to pay people not to work. our objective should be maximizing the rewards for working and getting people back in the workforce and i believe the election in november is

going to turn on that question. if we are back at work donald trump wins, and if the democrats exceed their objective, they want tens of millions of people at home alone unemployed, broke and ticked off because they think that's how they elect joe biden in that an article in a bad outcome. >> sandra: obviously democrats would disagree with that message but to your point about people needing relief, individuals, families and businesses with the 330 or so seconds i have left, based on what you said there and based on this meeting happening later this morning, what are the chances that something advances by end of week? >> unfortunately i think republican leadership has been prepared to make the bill even worse. democrats want to shovel cash, trillions of dollars largely going to their friends and that's what nancy pelosi wants. i think the bill leadership role that will only get worse and worse, it's a mistake and they are solving the wrong problem.

we need to be getting people back to work not just printing money or borrowing it from chi china. >> sandra: senator ted cruz, thank you for joining us. we will have more coming up later this hour including those riots in portland. acting customs and border protection will describe pushback from democratic mayors over the show a federal force. so staging for that. >> trace: a carjacking ends with a shoot out with police and at least two officers were hurt. plus attorney general bill barr set to testify on capitol hill. he's expected to lay into some of his biggest critics. republican congressman doug collins will be in that hearing room and he joins us with a preview, next. >> bill barr's commitment is to the rule of law and defending the constitution. the democrats have been out to get him ever since a year ago, a year ago in april when he used

the word spying and hearing in front of the united states end. stay safe with safelite. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪

>> we are going to do some further investigation but it's against our policy in most cases. there are certainly some exceptions when someone is in grave danger. >> sandra: the officers were rushed to the hospital and suffered nonlife threatening injuries and the suspect is reportedly in critical condition. bill barr is trying to clean up politics from the right and administration work for political reasons i went after the trump campaign. here is a rule of law and for that he's getting attacked by the democrats. that's what's going to happen tomorrow but bill barr will do a great job. lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are gearing up for a heated hearing when attorney general bill barr goes before congress the first time in a year. today's testimony is his first time ever before the house

judiciary committee and it set to begin an hour from now. republican congressman doug collins will be there any joins us now live. at the top of the show we play this remarkable video taken from keith braley our photographer from both inside the federal courthouse in portland and outside. i want to play this sound bite from the chair of the judiciary committee get your response on the inside. >> this is happening across the whole country. >> that's a myth that's been spread only in western d.c. >> so antifa is a myth, we have correspondence on the ground i would beg to differ in today congressman collins it appears that attorney general barr is about to lay into that myth. >> i hope he's getting ready to lay and because of sad right now.

when i have a chairman of the judiciary committee was calling a myth the only thing he can see on tv it questions my ability for chairman nadler to continue to try the judiciary can be if he so willing to turn a blind eye because of his personal animus toward the president of the united states which is being oddly transferred to bill barr. what we have to understand is this has become an obsession with chairman nadler and speaker pelosi and others for the last 19 months when we'd seen attack after attack after attack. we ignore the obvious from the thugs and the antifa and of the groups are going after our federal facilities in portland. they seen it in seattle and this has got to stop. lawlessness has to stop and if it doesn't start there i think bill barr will lay that out very clearly today. the democrats will have to figure out why they support this anarchist activity over law and order for the cities. >> trace: what's the democrats focus, do you think? will they go after bill barr for for sending federal troops into

cities like portland, not federal troops by federal agents into cities like portland, what's the scope do you think for this hearing today for democrats? >> the unfortunate part is that, yes, everything. they've tried so many times to throw everything on the wall and we will see more of it today and it's a pathetic sight when they will not acknowledge the very thing, they tried it and failed. they brought in john dean and everybody else and in fact the last time we tried to get bill barr here he said he wasn't coming because they pulled a stunt of staff trying to question him and they brought chicken to the hearing. i think they will try anything they can today to score political points because unfortunately it seems like jerry nadler is more concerned about being a political ar arm d the dnc than he is being a chairman of the committee. >> we know the attorney general will come out swinging. he said ever since i made it clear that i was going to do everything i could to get to the bottom of the grave and abuses, many of the democrats in this

committee have attempted to discredit me by conjuring up a narrative that i am simply the president's factotum which disposes of criminal cases according to his instructions. judging from the letter inviting to this hearing that appears to be your agenda today. it's not like it's going to sit there like a wildfire, he's going to fight back. >> and good for him, he needs to. he's been attacked and brutally mischaracterized and lied about, it's time for them to lay things out. i have no doubt that bill barr is above anything that democrats will throw at him today and it's time to set the record straight, it's time for the judiciary committee to come face-to-face with reality. they are going to pout and sulk and say they tried to win but bill barr gives them the truth. >> the republicans are outnumbered, what your goal, what do you want to achieve? what's the message you want to come out at the end of the day?

>> i want to make sure we are continuing on what many of us started which is find the real solutions behind behind the corruption and making sure that durum is still coming forward. we want to make sure that those investigations are taking place and if bill barr is continuing to make sure that the doj, and i think those are the kind of things we are going to focus on. and also making sure that he's responding to portland and other places so that we can protect our cities and protect our lives. mayors and governors failed to protect their citizens we need to know that president trump competent bill barr will. >> trace: thank you sir. >> sandra: confirmed coronavirus cases could finally be slowing down in one hard hit state so what is behind the change? plus some potential good news in the race for a vaccine as congress prepares for a fight over a new stimulus bill. maria bartiromo will be here to weigh in on the stakes for the

economy as the markets open moments from now. >> president trump: it's under operation warp speed we shave years off of the time it takes to develop a vaccine, in some cases, many years. and we've done it while maintaining the fda gold standard for safety.

>> trace: new data shows the coronavirus of bacon slowing down in arizona, florida and texas. texas paused its reopening plans last month but there were still 675 covid-19 related deaths yesterday and that's partly because the state has changed the way it is reporting the numbers. casey stegall is live in dallas. >> it important to point out that all of those deaths did not occur within a single day but what it did show us is that the pandemic has been deadlier here in texas than previously thought. just as you said, the state is changing the way he reports that

data in the past. deaths due to covid were reported by regional and local health officials to the state and now the state will get that information from death certificates and they say that will speed up the process because the texas department of health says that death certificates must be filed within ten days of a fatality. they will have faster information and more accurate information when it comes to demographics. the new method shows that 5,713 texans have died since the pandemic began and while the number of hospitalizations are down across the state, doctors call it a small victory but it doesn't mean let your guard do down. >> i'm super nervous and worried that people will relax and we still have way too much covid in

our community for that to happen. >> the number of infections is also on the decline. that's after a period of many days where more than 10,000 were coming in and health officials are attributed to bars being closed, better social distancing practices and the use of masks. there's been a state mandate here for mass since the beginning of july. >> trace: thank you. >> president trump: phase three already, that's phase three clinical trials the final stage before approval. there's never been anything like this in terms of speed or anything close. the second vaccine is likely to enter phase three in the matter of days. >> sandra: president trump

plotting coronavirus vaccine. at the dow is dipping a bit, as wall street expects that contentious talks to go on. republicans and democrats should be what happens in the next round of release. markets have opened slightly to the downside as we begin a brand-new trading day but there seems to be growing optimism that we are getting closer to what we are hearing. >> our efforts have been deep and wide and at this point we are in the final stages for low dharna and pfizer in terms of taking a look at its impact on humans, and we are still expecting that it won't get to market until a year and/or early next year. but all of this optimism and

having the pharmaceutical sector work together with governments is driving markets. there are other things going on this morning and that this is the beginning of a two day federal reserve meeting which will likely takes center stage tomorrow. and of course that stimulus package that you mentioned which is over a trillion dollars as the democrats and republicans get together today when they come to an agreement. there's a lot in there to discuss. a >> sandra: mitch mcconnell's own words they need more help. and that's wage replacement which will be up from where it is. nancy pelosi called that too complicated but mitch mcconnell supports it. more ppp for small business, $16 billion for testing and $105 billion for schools, can they come to an agreement on this? >> i think so, i think the

republican bill that we are hearing about, that's not much different than what had been circulating. in terms of that, the states cover 50% of lost wages in an unemployment situation so the state will cover 50% and steven mnuchin's idea was that the federal government kicks in an additional 20%. nancy pelosi says it's complicated because you have to come up with whatever 70% is. that's certainly a partnership between the states and the government. there is wide expectation that the bill will be signed into law by the time they have to leave again. at some point you will probably see this bill go higher in numbers because the democrats

bill our three and a half trillion dollars but not much higher. and it looks like we will be falling short of that. the potential for new spikes going into flu season and even though we do expect that we will have a fourth stimulus package into laws. >> we see in these small businesses have to shut their doors and for those that have been able to survive just, it's important to get more help. here's a susan collins on new assistance for business. >> those with revenue lots of 50% or more compared to last year would be able to receive a second ppp loan to sustain their employees and to help cover certain overhead expenses.

>> sandra: so we are left to wonder what these lawmakers are able to work out and what they will be able to send over to the house, and what will happen this week. >> don't forget there was still money left over from the ppp program which is why people like rand paul and ted cruz are saying we are not finding it into law. the agreed-upon end results will ensure that the struggling companies and the smaller companies get access to that company, not everybody and certainly not big businesses, many of whom had to give it back last time because it was just allocated to bradley. i think they will come to an agreement and the ppp money has been helpful but there are some industries that will not be defamed. they will have structural change and they will have to invest in a lot of safety precautions, and of course within those industries there are many

companies that won't make it out of this. >> sandra: maria bartiromo, thank you for that. we've got some breaking news to get to trace. what are we hearing about the upcoming hearing? >> the house judiciary chairman jerrold nadler has been in a car accident this morning but the accident is not serious. we are being told he was not hurt in the accident but he was on his way to the general barr hearing. we believe the attorney general is either on his way or is at the capitol. we do not yet know, and so jerrold nadler was in a car accident, again he was not hurt, he was not driving the car and it was serious enough that it will delay the start of the bar hearing. we will find out when the hearing begins and we of course

will jump in. >> sandra: this is fair to say this is the second delay because he was expected to appear and to sell that hearing is expected at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. we are now getting word to repeat the news from just a moment ago that jerry nadler, the chairman of that committee was driving on his way to the hearing and he was in a car accident. he was not driving the vehicle at the time and we are told he is not injured. he's in route to the hearing, and they were swinging into the protesters calling them anarchists. this was a highly anticipated appearance by bill barr but that will not be happening at 10:00 a.m. all we know right now is that that will be delayed, as we get

more information and we will bring that information. >> is kind of a hybrid hearing and what you have is some members that will be there in person. that's one of the first times, and attorney general bill barr. if you were just saying he will come out, he will come out swinging and he will make a very forceful case to the things that he so passionately believed in including the commutation of roger stone's sentence. the dropping of the charges against michael flynn and the federal agents being sent into some of the cities around the country to protect federal buildings and in the case of chicago, to help lower the astounding crime rate there. will they go after him or will they make more of the statements about what they think he's doing

wrong versus asking questions? we will find out more about that in the coming minutes. so we believe the hearing is on but not before 10:00. the one we are getting word that he was not injured in that accident and simply at the hearing will be delayed until they can begin. lots of questions expected from house lawmakers, and this is a highly anticipated appearance that is expected potentially in the 10:00 a.m. eastern time hour and we hope to learn more in the coming minutes as we get that news and we will bring that to you. trace meanwhile, expect questions from lawmakers on the prosecution of michael flynn and the pardon of roger stone. how the bureau of prisons has handled the pandemic with prisoners and who made that clicked on mike mccaul to clear lafayette square. these are all potential questions and grilling from

lawmakers who are expected. some showing up remotely and it's expected to be on its way, it's expected to be four or four and a half hours so they could be a slight delay but we do not know yet. >> you talk about the length of this and this is four or four and a half hours because you have 40 members of the house judiciary committee clearly controlled by democrats. each member will get 5 minutes to either question or make statements to the attorney general and then the attorney general will of course, this whole thing is now in flux because it was supposed to start in 17 minutes and our understanding was it's unclear

if that's the hold and it might delay this until tomorrow, we don't yet know what we know it's not going to start at 10:00. we are still waiting for information from the local d.c. authorities to give some kind of information about how serious this car accident was. we are told right off the get-go that it is not serious, we don't know the details of it and we don't know who's at fault and we don't know exactly where it happened, we hope to find that out coming up here in the next few minutes. you can see the room is empty and you can see members of congress. you have the house judiciary chair right now in video, and he's the one that said, when jerrold nadler came out on sunday and said he thinks anti-for being in portland and being in seattle, it's a myth that is propagated in d.c. and of course our correspondence on

the ground there would beg to differ because they have seen it firsthand and they know exactly who and what they are dealing with. >> sandra: jerry nadler that chairman of the house judiciary committee who was slated to hold us hearing with ag bill barr at the top of the hour, we are getting word that it has been delayed now because the committee chairman was in route to the hearing and all we know is it was involving another vehicle. we do not have a new start time to the hearing yet. but when you go to what you've heard from jerry nadler himself ahead of this hearing, as you know some democrats have suggested trying to impeach bill barr over accusations he's politicized. nadler himself said his committee may very well initiate impeachment proceedings. in his words, i think the weight

of the evidence and what happened lead to that conclusi conclusion. >> remember he said first it wasn't going to happen because there was no way he was going to get through the senate and he knows that. so he knows that he's there's no way he's going to get to the senate. but he knows now, maybe this could get to through the house and resonate a little bit. let's bring in gillian turner, inc. we are hearing reports of maybe an hour. what are you hearing from your end? >> what we are hearing right now is that bill barr himself is probably going to show up sometime around 1015, and this is all very fluid.

it involved at the vehicle that he's been writing in, and nadler himself is fortunately not harmed. we expect a hearing should go forward once it starts a little bit later, exactly as members have been planning for weeks. >> trace: at gillian turner standby. you see the room there on the left in the picture of the judiciary chair jerry nadler on the right, the lower right-hand corner and it's good to, it's very fortunate that he was not hurt in the accident but again, he's a congressman and has to still maybe go through the paperwork, there are police on the scene that he might have to go through all that, that might take a while the actual scene. as sandra was alluding to earlier it will be a different hearing altogether because we will have he's called in and

canceled twice on this congress, obviously, one of the cancellations taking place during the pandemic, and the lawmakers, the clear point is we really want to sit down with ag bill barr and grill him with questions. >> especially sandra, the democrats. they been chomping at the bit to question bill barr since march which was when his hearing was originally scheduled to take place. today was finally the day and as you mentioned some of the members will be here in person and some will be staying remote because of health concerns, because they are taking care of their own sick family members and constituents. the attorney general will stay

towards lawmakers in this hearing and, he has never done president trump's bidding. this is the heart of the matter that has really at hand attorney general barr has been take a listen to house speaker nancy pelosi. sorry sandra, we were going to play a sound bite there from nancy pelosi. she said, "it's quite self-evident that in all of his actions, he has not acted in the people's interests, whether it was in lafayette square out in front of the white house, in portland, or whether it was in the ukraine. he was misrepresenting things to

the american people. exercising independent judgment to make whatever call i think is right. he's going to go to bat for the u.s. police car across the country. they have not been politicized and not been racially predisposed to defend one population and it was tragic, and that kind of an instance here today is actually very ra rare. >> gillian turner if you could stand by for us as we await the beginning of this hearing, it was expected at 10:00 a.m. eastern time but it's been delayed now we are told because

of a car accident that jerry nadler, the democrat from new york has been involved in, he was not injured. it still expected that this hearing will go on this morning but we just don't know when yet. it's going to be a hybrid hearing, some will be be appearing in person, some will still be remote as we work our way through this pandemic. jim jordan is the ranking members, and that happens in the days leading up to this highly anticipated appearance. >> he went after him saying, look. and what he was going on to say, this is a guy that was his

second trip. this is the way he believes law and order to operate. there is no politicization in this thing, it's interesting because we have this juxtaposition and congress members will bring up that they believe that bill barr is for all intents and purposes a fixer for the president and a lot of these republican say, the same people who were complaining now that bill barr is a fixer for president trump didn't say a word back when eric holder, and there is a little bit. it will get heated today, no doubt. there is room on both sides of the aisle, whether you are

remote or in the room and bill barr gets a chance to respond. >> he has been known to say exactly what is on his mind. we still anticipate that happening this morning, ag bill barr is expected to say in his opening statement, call those demonstrators that are hurling objects at police anarchists. so you will expect a lot from him on that. they come out swinging when it comes to william la jeunesse and

keith really spent the whole night to give us the vantage point of what it's like inside the building as protesters come towards that fence, and so we have great video from inside the courthouse, a perspective from inside the courthouse as well as out in the crowd. not only just the video that we are seeing, but the interviews of the federal agents that are actually inside. they will absolutely back away from the courthouse as well. >> sandra: saw two big items,

there is more from him in that hearing room. but also on capitol hill, we are talking to ted cruz, doug collins and others. it was unveiled, mitch mcconnell touted this as a way to help the american people get through this pandem pandemic. they are coming to an agreement by end of week. mark meadows, that's potentially coming together and what does it tell you about negotiation. so as we look at that empty hearing room, that is not delayed? >> talk about the coronavirus stimulus bill, we know the $1200 check per person, it will be in

there, it kind of goes down until you get to 99,000, and it was 600, there's a little bit of bumping heads there. >> sandra: absolutely. we are going to take a quick break and that hearing is still expected to continue and we will have a live update from capitol hill correspondent chad program. >> tech: at safelite, we're committed to taking care of you

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>> sandra: the top of a brand-new hour and this is a fox news alert, you are looking live on capitol hill where hearing is expected to begin seconds from now hosted by the house judiciary committee. the chairman of that committee just moments ago we learned was in route to the hearing, and it jerry nadler from new york was in a car accident. we are hearing he was not injured in that accident and it involved another vehicle and he will eventually be making his way to the hearing room. we are not getting word from john roberts of the white house that that could begin sometime this hour. this is a highly anticipated appearance >> this will be the

highest watch hearing of the year here, because they wanted to have the attorney general bartley in enlightenment march, and now they really want to have them in because of everything that's happened over the past couple of months. think about protests in the streets, think about the pardon of roger stone, think about what happened in lafayette square. there is a cornucopia of questions that house democrats have for william barr and the fact that they wanted him in back in march and the fact that this will be delayed just a little bit longer. it's going to happen probably around 1045 or 11:00. and, and the big underlying question in all of this is

russia. how the justice department went about that, that touches the michael flynn investigation and that touches roger stone. expect a lot of questions about how the federal government has responded to these protests, sending in forces to places like portland and washington, d.c. we looked at some of the early remarks from the attorney general last night and that was obtained by jake gibson, our man over the justice department. and if you look at the remarks, he continues to assert that this is making the streets safe. something else i should note, he talked about democrats basically just taking him on saying he was doing all of the president's dirty work. he flat out rejects that in his testimony. we will hear a lot of questions about that, but the hearing will take place despite the delays from march due to coronavirus and despite the delays today due to the traffic accident.

>> sandra: as soon as we get an update on jerry nadler's condition and situation we will bring that to our viewers and also what time the potential hearing will begin. meanwhile, give us the specifics of how this hearing is going to work. some lawmakers will be present and some will appear virtually. as far as the chairman and the ranking member, and they can get more people in the air and space them out. this hearing will have a lot of attention anyway, and a lot of members regardless because of the high interest in bar. you will probably even have a members here with the services going on in the capitol rotunda,

and so again, high, high interest of the highest order. we had the sessions with attorneys general, i think about the senate judiciary committee hearing with jeff sessions, and this was in june of 2017. that was as high profile i hearing as you will ever get on capitol hill in this rivals th that. >> sandra: chad pergram, standby. when that hearing begins we will get to the white house. >> trace: let's bring in chief correspondent john roberts because you have an idea of when this thing might happen and you get a little bit of a word for that? >> they said they've been told that it should be a delay of about 45 minutes or so which will push it back at 1045 and with been given a little more

leeway at 11:00. the attorney general is coming out on offense. however it's unclear given the format of the hearing today, we'd seen this many times in the past, and in a lot of cases, that's just how much the attorney general will be getting into the issues. and, he invited me to this hearing and the president will also talk about what has

happened in america, post the george floyd killing in minneapolis. the black lives matter movement and all the protests we seen across the country. we will defend the federal response to what's going on in portland, with the attempted vandalizing and maybe even burning down of the courthouse. in terms of the black lives matter movement and what we have been seeing in terms of the new level of awareness about the plate of african-americans and the police, that's a threat to african-american lives. that is massively greater than any threat posed by police misconduct. the leading cause of death for young black males as homicide, every year approximately, the vast majority of them are around

90% and are killed by other blacks mainly by gunfire at each of those lives matter. that will me be delayed by 45 minutes or maybe an hour, should the democrats be taken down the russia rabbit hole, you will see them, the ranking member of the judiciary committee congressman jim jordan will probably travel down some of those roads as well from a republican perspective. but again, given the five minute per member format for today it will could be difficult for him to expound on some of these issues. >> right. at 40 members, 5 minutes each. i'm just curious, scheduling. on days like this, the calendar is clear, is there a chance that maybe this thing pushes back

from 11:00 into the noon hour and maybe they push this to early in the day or later tomorrow or maybe a swing over today or tomorrow? >> i think they could possibly split it over two days, and it doesn't seem the traffic mishap but chairman nadler was involved in was serious to the degree that it was going to significantly, and i mean by hours, delay this hearing. you come in 45 minutes or maybe an hour late you still have plenty of time across the day to get 5 minutes and per member. >> sandra: thank you. she brought us the news a moment ago, gillian turner is live on capitol hill. and the latest here, that's just

outside of that. the latest word is confirming what john roberts said and we are expecting this hearing to start within an hour. we are chatting about the hearing getting pushed to tomorrow and this is still very fluid. we plan on the attorney general arriving here in capitol hill, and we also think that based on the format, it's going to go on for about four or five hours, give or take some breaks. we have a chance this morning to take a look at what the attorney general is going to say on the very first thing, and when it comes to criminal justice he has been fair. he's been impartial and he has never done president trump's bidding. from all week to all month relay, including house speaker nancy pelosi that he has

proven over the year to be more loyal to president trump than to the american people. keep in mind the attorney general is supposed to serve really as the american people's attorney. and he expects me, and he's also going to bat before the nations police officers. he's going to say that despite the black lives matter protests that have erupted across the country, the police force has remained nonracial, and nonbiased. they've maintained a sharp focus and despite the killing of george floyd on memorial day the

fact is that such events fortunately are quite rare. this is all part of the push he is making on capitol hill today for law and order. they are looking for any opportunity in this hearing to really drill down on that. >> sandra: gillian turner, please stand by for us on capitol hill as we await more news and it this hearing could have been at 10:45 a.m. eastern time, about a half hour from now. joining us now is former house oversight committee trey gowdy. if you could just react to the news of jerry nadler's accident on the way to the hearing and on the delay of that and we will ask you about your expectations from bill barr. >> well i hope he is okay. there are 30 something members on the democrat side including a

vice chair, and i hope he's okay and from what i hear he is fine. there are plenty of chairpersons that have not been present when the hearing was gaveled in. believe it or not i get to be a chairperson and you can start without us. >> well we do hope he's okay. we are told that he has not been injured so they are trying to accommodate his arrival. of course he is the chairman of that committee. we are anticipating bill barr's opening statement, other major u.s. cities, he is expected to label them anarchists and expected to take on democrats and the mueller report, and as you know in the past he's expected to label it russia ga gait.

in the way the democrats interacted with him two decades ago when he was a nation's top law-enforcement official, and now all of a sudden he's an acolyte of the president and as a bidding for the president, he is the same bill barr. he's a real lawyer and he takes his reputation very seriously. one other thing i think he's going to do is come up the democrats are concerned with police misconduct and why have you not called michael horowitz yet? jerry nadler has yet to call michaemichael horowitz who founo dozen instances where the nation's top law enforcement department did not meet our expectations. at least be fair about it

>> sandra: my guess it will be there is the smartest person in most of these exchanges, and he is not prone to anger. but yes. the purpose for the members is to create a youtube moment. my guess is jimmy will go with russia and how family predicated if at all that investigation w was, they will also ask nadler why have you not called michael horowitz. if you are really concerned with police misconduct, if you are

really concerned with police violating people's rights, why have you not called michael horowitz who is the inspector general of the pardon of justice? i guess is jimmy will ask nadler that on camera and i hope every member ask nadler. >> sandra: we know democratic lawmakers will be appearing both in person at virtually for this hearing this morning and, you are looking live at the hearing room, which is beginning to see more people over the past hour. the hearing was supposed to start at 10:00 a.m. this morning, we got an update about 20 minutes ago that he was involved in a car accident, in route to the hearing. and that was last reported by our own john roberts of the white house, this hearing is expected to begin still at 10:45 a.m. eastern time this

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context i've been told by multiple sources here, 1045, 1045. the translation in congressional time, there's always out wrinkling congressional time and that probably means 11:00. so probably about 11:00 is when they would start. a lot of people have asked is there any chance that they could stretch this out over two days,

and, we captured yesterday with the tech executive jeff bezos and mark zuckerberg, that was for john lewis to light and stayed i in the capitol rotunda. that continues with his body being on the east portico and out of respect, they canceled most things on the house side of the capital except for the hearing with bill barr. why? because democrats really want to hear from bill barr. it was exacerbated over the summer seeing what happened at lafayette square, george floyd protests in federal response in the streets, those are some of the questions the democrats ha have. the fact that bill barr, and it was canceled back in march. there was no way that they were going to cancel this today after this traffic accident involving jerry nadler. they will have this hook or crook at the end of the day, it's going to happen. >> trace: i was just curious,

we heard trey gowdy saying earlier that you don't need the chairman to start the hearing, is there a chance that if jerry nadler was delayed even further they could start without him? >> jeremy gaudi is 100% correct, but there's another wrinkle in this. you are doing a hybrid hearing amid coronavirus where people are beaming in. you have to play traffic cop and figure out who is on which screen and when and whose time is it and you really need the chairman to play that traffic cop. it's exacerbated when you are trying to do this remotely i made at the covid-19 pandemic, it's hard to run these hearings these days with half the people here in the room and half the people beaming in from their offices. >> not to interrupt you but we saw that bill barr has now walked onto capitol hill.

and it was a big facility is not used are a lot of big events until recently it's dead set in the center of the building between the house and the senate and there would be waiting rooms that they could move the attorney general into. usually they would have this hearing across the street in the rayburn house office building which is where the house judiciary committee holds its hearings and that's where a lot of its markups were. they did use a different facility during the impeachment hearings, and the impeachment markups. that was the second biggest hearing room on capitol hill now and again they use this facility because of the pandemic. it has more technology, it's

much larger in the can spread people out and that's why these hearings look so much differently. this will be bill barr's first appearance in this particular hearing room, teresa. >> trace: social distancing hearing room. the hearing room is big so they can keep everybody part and some people will not even being in the room. they will be remote video it in. so bill barr is in the building and it appears we should be minutes away. >> sandra: this is his first testimony before the house judiciary committee, although the chairman of that committee as we reported was involved in a car accident. delaying the start of this is chief white house correspondent on roberts. john, you are getting more information, around 1045 or 11:00 they anticipate this hearing to begin? >> i think it will get done today. certainly attorney general matt nadler could get this done but, ask yourself realistically, what are the chances of the chairman would allow everything to start without him first opening of the

proceedings with what, no doubt, will be a lengthy and appointed statement. attorney general barr will make his own comments as well and i have here his reinstatement. but we do not know is if you will read this as a opening statement or if it will be submitted for the record, sometimes they are just submitted for the record he does go into some detail and talks at length about what's going on in portland and other places across the country. he says in his written testimony, in the wake of george floyd's death, violent writers and anarchists have hijacked a legitimate to senseless havoc and destruction on the current victims. the current situation in portland is a telling example. what involves nightly or on the federal courthouse cannot reasonably be called the protest, it is by any objective measure an assault on the government of the united states. he says largely absent from the seeds of destruction are even superficial attempts by the rioters to connect to their

actions to george floyd's death or any legitimate call for reform. then he blames the media as well and elected officials saying remarkably, the response for many in the media and elected officials for organized assault has been to blame the federal government. so he will make the case, of what the federal government terms of those officers there, william la jeunesse and a remarkable piece of journalism spent the night last night to get the perspective of their side of the story. the attorney general will say what they are doing there is absolutely legitimate and absolutely called for because god forbid what will happen if those officers were to vacate the area. on a nightly basis, those writers tarry down the fence if they put down around the

courthouse. and i think a lot of questions are being asked now as to why the democratic mayor of portland ted wheeler who was also the police commissioner has allowed this to go on for more than two months unchecked. i've seen a lot of protests across the country and around the world frankly whether it be the wto in seattle or the g8 protests and genuine, italy, that same year, whether it was the occupy wall street protest as well. i have to tell you, i have not seen anything like this in portland that has gone on for so long unchecked in the face of what seems to be, according to some people at least, apathy on the part of the leadership of the city of portland and the city to try to be able to do anything about it. >> as we saw in the opening statement, we expected that

attorney general and we anticipate his opening statement which could be beginning in the next half hour or so. john roberts will stand by for us as the breaking news comes in. >> house judiciary committee jerry nadler involved in a car crash forcing a delay of a much anticipated testimony from attorney general bill barr. the latest when our panel returns, coming up. but some say our states should just go bankrupt. text fund to 237-263 to tell congress to fund our essential public services. afscme is responsible for the content of this ad.

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>> sandra: attorney general bill barr arrived on capitol hill just a moment ago appearing for the first time before the house judiciary committee. and that's in route to the hearing room. he was not driving that vehicle, but jillian, we are hearing 1045 and then 11:0 11:00 start and we hearing in some circles of this could be delayed entirely. >> there has been some speculation that this hearing because it will take quite some time today would maybe get delayed or stretched out over the course and then the pandemic

broke out, and this is us of situation where a lot of folks on both sides of the aisle are now chomping at the bit to get a shot at attorney asking the attorney general questions, that's football time that make it stretched out, and we are looking out at 10:45 a.m. start, the hearing itself barring breaks will probably take about four or five hours to enfold over the course of the day. the attorney as soon as the hearing gets underway we will notify you. >> sandra: and an update from

a reporter at the white house john roberts, it's about five and a half pages long. he will read the written statement at the hearing and not just enter it into the record which is always a question. we expect a lengthy opening statement from attorney general bill barr when this hearing is underway. gillian turner keep us posted, we will get back to you as the news comes in. >> trace: the hearing room is filling up, that's a good sign, and chaos in oregon during the 61st straight night of protests. the u.s. marshals service reportedly sending more federal agents. and let's bring in he has been embedded with federal agents at the courthouse. >> let's incite this pitch black

federal courthouse. you got people launching commercial grade fireworks heavy gear and eye protection and ear protection, you can't take it off because there's no ventilation in there. they are setting fires outside and if you don't go out to put out the fire it gets bigger. if you do go out you get pelted with rocks and bottles, bottles of and, it's a horrible situation. no one is stopping them from protesting outside the courthouse, they say don't burn down the building, they don't have any interest. this is a building you paid for as a taxpayer, 200 million in the 90s. he paid the salaries of the

judges inside and of the marshals to protect them. we spoke to one deputy last night and here's what he had to say. >> by no means is this a peaceful protest. it starts off the night like this, but then opportunists are using peaceful protests to take over and to kind of start an anarchy. and those are lasers that and have caused retina damage to three different agents. the loud speaker 21 times they want people to stop and go away, people are camping and out the

feds to go home. i will say this, mayor ted wheeler wants an emergency meeting with dhs possibly coming up with some kind of an end to the violence in the next few months. >> trace: i>> president trump: d as bill barr gives much awaited testimony which is happening this morning and we know as of now it we are told it should have been very shortly. please stand by and we will be right back.

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show more of you. >> trace: and we know attorney general bill barr is in the building but not yet in the hearing room, but others are. it was supposed to begin in 90 seconds and it doesn't look like that will happen, but let's bring in fox news congressional correspondent chad pergram.

>> what we are waiting for outside now is the hearing. that's they want to talk about the russia investigation, and that's sending in federal forces in response to the george floyd protests. who gave the order to clear up lafayette square? this was back in early june. we have questions for bill barr. that's hearings on capitol hill because of john lewis lying in state and that emphasizes why this is so important for democrats to forge ahead with

this hearing to hear today. >> chadha, we will get back to you. >> sandra: thank you. that's a live look on capitol hill. we will see what the future holds, and we await the fate of this hearing because we just don't know if it will begin moments from now or get delayed entirely. as far as the attorney general's concern to you his opening statements, and he expected to come out swinging. >> and he is going to push back and we will see at the very opening, he wants to establish right away. there is no telephone wire from

the white house telling you what to do. it's a very appropriate predicate. the independence of the attorney general, the independence of the justice department from white house influence. >> as far as he how he begins the opening statement, as you know by now is expected to tell that committee that the president has not inappropriately intervened in justice department business. how do you expect him to make that case, not just obviously an opening statement. how do you expect him to make this case when he's questioned by lawmakers. >> he can rely as good lawyers do in the process. general flynn was not just suddenly the subject of largess by the attorney general sitting

on the fifth floor, rather what bill barr did was entirely appropriate, and go outside of the department to a an a united states attorney who had been unanimously confirmed by the senate. i want you to take a fresh look at this, and take a report back. i'm not getting telephone calls telling me what to do. >> sandra: is also expected to dig into the violent protests

that again continued overnight, and take on the criticism of the administration actions and the scenes of destruction are even superficial attempts or any legitimate call for reform. he is expected to light up the room when he comes out moments from now. >> i think any person with good will cease the distinction between protests and we think of dr. king, let's keep it nonviolent and let's keep it loud to we want to get everyone's attention and appeal to their sense of justice and fairness.

portland is a very tragic -- it really it's a disaster but why are the federal troops there they are there to protect federal property? it's entirely appropriate. i think bill barr will aggressively say we are going to restore order especially in a city where federal interest and federal property are within danger. >> obviously the use of federal forces and u.s. cities as we just discussed, and who made the call to clear lafayette square. what do you expect to hear on that front i think we will learn something that will be and you want to take the appropriate action. we will see exactly how aggressively he defends that because you know, there are those and it is one of those

sort of ticklish situations where the attorney general wants to spare the department head himself in being involved in what is being seen as political. >> sandra: ag bill barr has arrived with the hearing, still awaiting jerry nadler. the chairman of that hearing. and he was in a minor car crash, some will be on remote and some are live, and though he is in the building and it looks like they are getting very close to this happening. and we will bring it to you live next.

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>> they have tried so many times just to throw everything on the wall and we will see more of it today. we will not acknowledge the very things, and we have tried and doug collins that joined us earlier ahead of this hearing that was supposed to happen this morning. it's delayed now. chairman as we reported to you this morning was involved in a car accident in route to the hearing. we have not gotten an update from him or his team yet but he has still expected to make his way to capitol hill to the hearing room and we are told that 1045 is the next anticipated start and that obviously has not happened. the house committee for the very first time, a highly anticipated

appearance where the lawmakers were expected to give him a grilling but that was not before he first comes out swinging, trace, as we have seen and his opening statement. >> trace: i think jim jordan was out there on the left, kind of hard to tell because a lot of them were wearing masks, several members of the house judiciary committee and it's kind of hard because we don't know how many are going to be in the room and how many are going to be remote. there are 40 of them and they each get 5 minutes which is why they believe this will go for four and a half hours and of course, we have seen that the attorney general bill barr is in the building and he's on capitol hill, saw him walking through the corridors but he has not yet entered the room. they have kind of trained of the camera on the shot of the place where bill barr will actually sit and testify. he will have an opening statement and of course the judiciary chairman jerry nadler will have an opening statement and that in itself will encompass at least the better

part of the first half-hour of the same. >> sandra: is you just heard from ken starr on this program moments ago laying out how exactly he believes that bill barr will defend recent actions when it involves federal forces and u.s. cities, handling of the coronavirus pandemic and u.s. and federal prisons. there is a long list of hot topics that lawmakers are expected to bring up with bill barr in that room. as you know, the last appearance which was to be his first appearance was expected in march and that was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. so here we are in a much different environment, lawmakers amassed the attorney general's and it is sort of a hybrid hearing which will be happening with some lawmakers present physically. others will be appearing remote but it is the chairman, jerry nadler, that we are now waiting on to arrive now with

jim jordan the ranking member in the room. so we will see if this began shortly. >> trace: if there's a big push to get this thing moving and they kind of cleared the calendars. there's a lot going on on capitol hill, we talked about the sad passing of congressman john lewis who laid in state in the capitol rotunda, so there are events going on that are critical on capitol hill and this is one that they wanted to get to. it will be pushed until late today and it will be a split half day today at half day tomorrow. they want to get this thing going, they don't look like they are going to the notes. some are leaning back in their chairs as if to say, well we are waiting. the attorney general himself who is in the building is not yet in the house or in the seat ready

to go, and again, we don't know how many are actually going to be in the room and zoomed. >> sandra: many of us have had a chance to dig into fiery words, he's also expected to react and respond to the series of nightly -- of the nightly violence that we have seen, 61 straight nights in portland where you now have objects being hurled at police. it is expected to lay into those demonstrators as anarchists and he will likely face a lot of questions on the use of federal forces on the part of it the administration by the democratic lawmakers in that room. they can't wait to get at him, they've tried many times and this is the day. we will take a quick break -- >> the question is come up with a fire questions at the

attorney general or will they make the statement aimed at the attorney general and not let him respond? >> sandra: we are not going to take a quick break because it looks like we are going to get started. it is the top of a brand-new hour and this is a fox news alert, the attorney general is now under oath and about to be under fire as bill barr testifies for the first time ever before the democrat controlled house judiciary committee. there was drama even before it started, chairman jerry nadler got into a car accident in route to the hearing. welcome back to "america's newsroom," it's one of those breaking news mornings here in america. >> trace: chairman nadler is okay, and that accuses democrats

of trying to discredit them since they started to discredit them. that's not the only hot button topic that will be raised today, and he is expected to raise questions about protests rocking the country. the use of federal forces as well as the controversy over the roger stone pardon. let's bring in gillian turner. >> trace, this is probably the most hotly anticipated testimony of the summer or maybe the entire year, it's been rescheduled for the second time now. this morning it was originally going to kick off in march but then the pandemic came out. this is really the biggest post coronavirus pandemic hearing on capitol hill and democrats are chomping at the bit to get the bite at attorney general bill barr. we have a whole spate of accusations lined up that they are going to throw at them.

take a listen to something that we have from bill barr's opening statement. we got a hold of this last nig night. he rates his opening statement in this hearing, the president, he says on the contrary that he has told me from the start that he will exercise independent judgment to make whatever call and this is all part of bill barr's ml to prove to the american people that he has always been fair and just and he and his staff have long insisted that he is here to do the bidding and that is what he was doing. he would have to answer questions about lafayette's square and what happens there on the day that protesters alleged that law enforcement officials released teargas on them while

they were protesting as part of the blm protests. it's going to have to answer in this case has been brewing here in washington. that includes house speaker nancy pelosi says that his interference, bars interference to get this case kicked out of the criminal justice system shows his political hand. another thing he's going to have to answer to is the roger stone case. roger stone essentially being let off the hook. this has largely to do with the attorney general bill barr, but sources close to the attorney general told fox news this morning that his number one mls hearing is today, to support president trump in his claims that "law & order" must be restored to american city streets and he is -- one of the

things, regardless of what people may think it has not been politicized and he also says that while the killing of george floyd, 11 white people were killed by police. gillian turner as a news breaks, we just got an update on timing. you are telling us now, as you see it's 11 oh 4:00 in the nation's capital come at the hearing will start at 1110. team coverage on attorney general bill barr's testimony continues. john roberts has more details it looks like it will up again this

morning. we will see it in its entirety, and it's not too far off schedule. another thing that popped up as the president and twitter and his son don jr., donald trump jr. had his twitter account partially suspended and he is not allowed to tweet, retweet or like or follow anybody for the next 12 hours because of a tweet that he put out yesterday. regarding research i hydroxychloroquine and zinc or erythromycin isn't not any kind of treatment for coronavirus. for the screenshot the tweet requires deletion because it violates our rules, sharing this information on covid-19 and the account will have limited

functionality for 12 hours. it was a video of dr. houston cella emanuel who is from nigeria originally saying it's not an effective treatment for coronavirus is "fake science." at the same time the president is continuing his feud with twitter and so many topics that are negative about him make the trending session. so many trends are about me and never a good one and they can look at everything they could find and make it a spot as possible and try to make the trend really ridiculous, illegal and very unfair. twitter declined to comment about the president's complaints but turning out by the algorithm, based on you, and your interest in your location. the president as we watch the chairman, jerrold nadler can

come in and pointed out that the president suddenly this morning as trending number one with a hashtag trumpet kills texas. this is a fund-raising effort by the political action committee midas touch which is producing political videos that trolled president trump. so the president may have a legitimate argument in that he is being censured. so keep following this, and we will keep you updated. >> sandra: stayed with me for a second because we just captured the moment that he entered. so he has arrived and we expect him to enter the hearing room shortly. the hearing could be and he

knows what attorney general barr is planning to stay, sometimes when i's response comes from congress the written statement is entered into the record. i think the president would be there, watching the attorney general appreciative of the forcefulness with which he will defend the department of justice's policies, particularly what's going on in portland and other cities across the nation. and he will be watching to see where jim jordan who is a ranking member of the committee takes the attorney general in terms of the russia gate investigation. that's a bogus russia gate scandal. so watch for the fireworks to fly today over the next four hours.

>> that's a key piece of what you are about to hear from the attorney general, the controversial deployment of federal agents and cities where there has been unrest that's a hard-hitting hearing that i think i mentioned this morning which has been highly anticipated. >> the house judiciary will come to order. the chair is authorized to declare resources in the community at any time. welcome everyone this morning to the hearing. as many of you know i was in a minor car accident on the way in this morning. everyone is fine, except perhaps

the car. but it did cause a significant delay. i think the attorney general and members for their patience and flexibility and we will now begin. before we begin, i want to acknowledge, i want to note that we are joined by the distinguished majority leader, the gentleman from maryland, mr. hoyer. he has recognized the need for the executive branch under both parties and we appreciate his presence today as we question the attorney general. before we begin i would like to remind members that we have established an email address and distribution list dedicated to circulating exhibits and other written materials that members want to offer as part of our hearing today. if you'd like to submit materials please send of them to the email address that has been previously disturbed it to your offices and we will circulate the materials to members of staff as quickly as we can. i would also remind all members that guidance in the office of

the attending physician, face coverings are required for all meetings such as this committee hearing. i expect all members on both sides of the aisle to wear a mask except when you are speaking. i will now recognize myself for an opening statement. thank you for being here mr. barr. according to the congressional research service this is the first time you have appeared before the house judiciary committee. both during her first tenure as attorney general 30 years ago and it during your current service in the trump administration, welcome. 150 years ago last month in the aftermath of the civil war congress created the department of justice. we did so with two missions in mind. first, we wanted to replace the system of party spoils with the core of professional government attorneys. yes, these attorneys would be supervised by the attorney general and yes, the attorney general would be remaining a political appointee

but the department would rely on a foundation of professionals dedicated to the impartial administration of the law and an unbiased system of justice. second, congress established the department of justice to enforce the nation's first civil rights laws after the civil war. from that moment on, it became the department's responsibility to ensure the right to vote and to use the stem the tide of systemic racism. now not every attorney general has given full expression to these two goals. i'm certain that every administration has fallen short of those promises in some way over time. but today under your leadership, these two objectives are more at risk than at any time in modern history. you're a 10-year has been marked by a persistent war against the department's professional core and an apparent attempt to secure a favorites for the president. others have lost sight of the importance of civil right laws.

but now we see the full force of the federal government brought to bear against citizens demonstrating for the advancement of their own civil rights. there is no precedent for the department of justice to actively seek out conflict with american citizens under such flimsy pretext or over such petty purposes. 150 years later we are again at a pivotal moment in our nations history. we are confronted with a global pandemic that has killed at 150,000 americans and infected more than 16 million worldwide. we are coming to grips with the face of a rights struggle long swept under the rug, if not outright ignored by our government. we are as a nation witnessing the federal government turned violently on its own people. and although responsibly for the government's failure to protect and that belong squarely to

president trump, he could not have done this alone. he needed help. in your time in the department, you have aided and abetted the worst feeling of the president. and that left us deeply concerned about the department of justice, and they flooded the streets of the american cities against the wishes of the state and local leaders of those cities to forcefully and unconstitutionally suppress dissent. second, at your direction department officials have downplayed the effects of systemic racism and abandoned the victims of police brutality. refused to hold abusive police departments accountable for

their actions and express open hostility to the black lives matter movement. third, in connection with the white house, the department has spread disinformation about voter fraud, failed to enforce voting rights flaws and attempted to change the census rules to defy court orders on the subject, all an apparent attempt to assist the president's reelection. fourth, at the president's request, the department has amplified the president's conspiracy theories and shielded him from responsibility by blatantly misrepresenting the mueller report and failing to hold for an actor actors accountable for their attacks on our elections. undermining both national security and fifth, again and again, you personally have interfered with ongoing criminal

investigations to protect the allies from the consequences of their actions. you replace them with less qualified staff who appear to be singularly beholden to you. the message of these actions send is clear. in this justice department the presidents enemies will be punished and his friends will be protected, no matter the cost. no matter the cost of liberty and no matter the cost of justice. finally and perhaps most pernicious leave the department has placed the president's political needs over the public health by challenging stay-at-home orders in the states hit hardest by the pandemic. the department's persistent efforts to get the affordable care act will make recovery that much harder. these actions come at a price. real damage to our democratic

norms, the erosion of the separation of powers and the loss of faith in the administration of justice. in the hands of president trump president trump the department of justice that adopts a dangerously expansive view of executive power and it demonstrates a willingness to shield him from accountability represents a direct threat to the liberty and safety of the country. and we were warned. at your confirmation hearing, professor neil can cup testified, and i quote, public confidence as a rule of law. it depends on an attorney general who cannot do whatever he wants with the justice department. william barr's views of the presidential power are so radically mistaken that he is simply the wrong man at the wrong time to be attorney general of the united states. again, this failure of leadership comes at great cost. this administration has twisted

the department of justice into a shadow of its former self, capable of serving most americans only after his it has first served to those in power. this committee has a responsibility to protect americans from that kind of corruption, mr. barr. we have a responsibility to ensure the justice department and its attorney general administer justice equally and fairly. and this is why this brought us to this hearing room today. we want to give you a chance to respond to these questions and we hope and expect you do so in a clear and forthright manner. and our country deserves no less. i now recognize that a ranking member of the judiciary committee, the gentleman from ohio, mr. jordan. >> spying. that one word, that's why they are after you mr. attorney general. a few months ago, april 10th

2019, they said i think spying on a political campaign is a big deal. it sure is. since that day, since that day when you have the courage to state the truth, they've been attacking you. simply stating the truth that the obama and biden administration spied on the campaign. fbi sent an investigator posing as assistant in 2016. they sent a young lady to meet papadopoulos in 2016. they sent someone pretending to be someone else, a person associated with the trump campaign. you know what they call that? spying. one month later, they use the dossier to file carter page.

they took it to the fisa court and christopher steele communicated to the justice department that he wasn't "desperate to get him elected. and there were 15 more lies that they told the court. 17 in total and they are outlined by the inspector general, each and every one of them in his 400 page report. but guess what? chairman nadler refuses to allow mr. horowitz to come here and testify and ask questions about the 17 lies the obama and biden administration told to the secret court. and they did this all without any basis for launching an investigation to begin with. how do we know that? how do we know there is no basis? they told us. they didn't want to tell us but thanks to ric grenell who

release the transcripts of the testimony we now know there was no basis for them to start the investigation in the first place. sally gates and it susan rice, susan rice says i don't recall intelligence but i would consider evidence of a conspiracy. how about james clapper? and she said i never saw evidence of the trump campaign was conspiring. yes, they investigate them. there was never a proper predicate so why did they do it? there was no reason to do it, so why they do it? they told us to. peter strzok august 2016 and asked, its trunk going to win? what's his response? no, no he's not. we will stop it. august. peter strzok says we will trump, october they use the fake dossier to lie to the court but

guess what happens in november? november 8th 2016 the american people get in their way. 63 million to be exact. now the everything changes. we didn't stop him, they won, so now they have to do? he's target number one? the former head of the defense intelligence agency, the guy that's about to become national security advisor to the president of the united states. michael flynn, they can't have him hanging around because he will figure it out. we know they went after him because they told us that, too. that day they interviewed flynn, january 24, 2017, his notes say what? what's our goal, to get flynn to lie so we can prosecute him or get him fired?

think about what obama and biden and doj from what their administration did in the last month, the last month they were in power? january 4th, the agents investigating flynn want to drop the case. obama, biden and rice, they are all in there. january 6th, and he goes up to trump tower. brief president trump on the dossier that they already know is false just so they can link it to the press and the press can get the story. then january 24th, the day they go and set up michael flynn in his interview, guess what else they did it? guess what else they did between election day and inauguration day? yes what i will say. 38 people, 49 times, unmasked michael flynn's name. comey, klapper, biden.

and flynn resides on february 13. now the cover-up is complete. flynn is gone, everything is fine they think until may 92017 when president trump fires jim comey. now they continue to cover up, real simple. he licks his memos with the express purpose of getting a special counsel to investigate something they already know isn't true. and the 30 million cost of taxpayers, and they come back with nothing. and so all they have left is to attack the attorney general who had the courage to state the truth right from the get-go. you guys attack him every day,

every week, and now you filed articles of impeachment against him, it's ridiculous. he had the courage to do what no one else would do with the justice department. sally yates wouldn't call it, chris raced sure a, chris wray wouldn't do it. thank you for getting the politics out of the department of justice that was there in the previous administration and maybe most importantly, we are going to talk about this on our side when questioning. thank you for defending law enforcement and pointing out what a crazy idea this policy is and standing up for the rule of law. in fact we have a video that we want to show that gets right to the point. can we play that video please?

>> i'm clear and how i characterize it, this is not generally speaking unruly. >> people protesters. at >> peaceful protests. >> peaceful protest. >> peaceful protest. >> peaceful protests. >> peaceful protests. >> peaceful protests. >> we would like to think neighbors, friends, coworkers and the community for showing all the love and support that we suffered through the tragic loss of my husband, my beloved husband, david doing. we would also like to thank the metropolitan police department for their hard work and perseverance in this

investigation. as well as the circuit attorney's office. he dedicated his life to the city of st. louis, retiring at the rank of captain after 38 years of distinguishable service. he was the chief for almost six years. during those years he touched so many lives as a friend, mentor, coworker and guardian. his life was taken from me, from us, by an opportunist who had no regards for human life or the law. this didn't have to happen but it must've been god's plan for david. we need to come together as a community and it do better. we need to teach our young people that life is very precious. we has a family will be taking time to focus our attention on

healing which is very important as we move forward. we would like david's legacy to be remembered as a loving husband, father and grandfather, brother, i want to thank you all for coming and god bless you a all. >> oh, sleep oh >> oh yeah, oh, yeah.[barkine

bracke >>

[crowd noise] [screening >> [ch]

>> [chanting]

[crowd noise] >> [crowd noise] >> [crowd

noise] >> well, i hope that mr. jordan will never complain about the length of my opening statement. without objection i am going to insert committees of audiovisual policy into the record of this

hearing. and note that the minority did not give the committee the 48 hours notice required for that policy. without rejection, that will be included in the record. i will now introduce today's witnesses. william barr has served as the attorney general of the united states since februar february 142013, having previously saved in the same position from 1991 through 1993 under president george h.w. bush. he also served as deputy attorney general and the office of legal counsel under the bush administration, served in the central intelligence agency and in addition to significant public service, he also has extensive law practicing.

he received a j.d. from george washington university school of law. we welcome the attorney general and we thank him for participating today. if you would please rise we will begin by swearing in. raise your right hand or left hand. do you swear and affirm under penalty of perjury that the testimony you are about to give is true and correct to the best of your knowledge, information and belief so help you god? let the record show the witness has answered in the affirmative. thank you and please be seated. please note that your written statement will be entered into the record in its entirety. accordingly i ask that you summarize her testimony in 5 minutes. to help you stay within that time there is a timing light on your table. when the light switches from green to yellow you have one minute to conclude your testimony. when the light turns red signals that your 5 minutes have expired. mr. barr, you may begin. >> thank you mr. chairman,

good morning mr. chairman and ranking member jordan, please to be here this morning. on behalf of the department of justice i want to pay my respects to your colleague, congressman john lewis, and i think it especially important to remember today that he pursued his cause passionately and successfully with unwavering commitment to nonviolence. he holds in trust the fair and impartial administration of justice and he must ensure that one standard of justice in the criminal cases are even handled with justice, facts and without regard to personal considerations. i can tell you that i've handled criminal manners that have come to me for decision in this way.

president has not attempted to interfere in this decision, and on the contrary right now he has told me from the start that he expects me to exercise my independent judgment to make whatever call i think is right and that is precisely what i've done. indeed, it's precisely because i feel complete freedom to do what i think is right and inducement to serve once again as attorney general. as you just said to mr. chairman i served as attorney general under president george h.w. bush and after that i spent many years in the corporate world. i'm slipping happily into retirement, and i had no prior relationship with president trump. let me turn briefly to several pressing issues. the killing of george floyd in minneapolis understandably jarred the whole country and forced us to reflect on long-standing issues in the

nation. those issues honestly relate to the relationship between law enforcement and the african-american community. given our history is understandable that among black americans there is going to be some ambivalence and often distrust toward the police. until just last 50 years ago or so, our laws and institutions were explicitly racist. and it was not until the 60s of the civil rights movement finally succeeded in tearing down the jim crow edifice. they are rightly focused on reforming institutions to ensure they better conform to our laws and our aspirations police

forces are more more diverse than they have ever been and there are more black police chiefs and more black officers in the ranks. although the death of george floyd at the hands of the police was a shocking event, the fact is that these events are fortunately quite rare. according to statistics compiled by "the washington post," the number of unarmed black man killed by police this year so far is eight and the number of unarmed white men killed by police over the same period of time is 11. the overall numbers of police shootings have been decreasing. nevertheless, every instance of success excessive force is unacceptable and must be addressed appropriately through the legal process as it's happening now in minneapolis. apart from the numbers i think these events strike a deep chord in the black community because they are perceived as manifestations of the deeper lingering concern and in encounters with police blacks will not be treated even handled

flea. they will be treated with greater suspicion. senator tim scott has a recount of the rough times he's been unjustifiably pulled over on capitol hill and as one prominent black professional in washington said to me, african-americans often feel treated as suspects first and citizen second and i think these concerns are legitimate. the same time i think it would be an oversimplification to treat the problem is rooted in some deep-seated racism generally infecting our police departments. it seems far more likely that the problem stems from a complex mix of factors which can be addressed with focused attention over time and we get in law enforcement must be conscious of the concerns and ensure that we do not have two systems of justice. unfortunately some have chosen to respond to george floyd's death and far less productive way by demonizing the police, promoting slogans like all cops are faster than making grossly

responsiblirresponsible proposao defund of the police. the demonization of the police is not only unfair and inconsistent with the principle that all people should be treated as individuals but gravely -- and when the officers become more averse to risks crime rates. unfortunately we are seeing that now and many of our cities. the threat black lives posed by crime on the streets is massively greater than any threat posed by police misconduct. the leading cause of death for young black males is homicide. every year, approximately 7500 black americans are victims of homicide. the vast majority of them, around 90%, or killed by other blacks, mainly by gunfire. each of those lives matter. it is for this reason that in selected cities where there has been an upsurge in violent crime

we are stepping up and bolstering the activities of our joint anti-crime task forces. finally, i want to address a different breakdown in the rule of law that we have witnessed over the last two months. in the wake of george floyd's death, violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests to wreak senseless havoc and destruction of innocent victims. the current situation in portland is a telling example. every night for the past two few months a mob of hundreds of rioters have laid siege to the federal courthouse and other federal property that's nearby. the writers have become explosive devices. inside of the courthouse, there are a relatively small number of

enforcement personnel charged to protect the courthouse. what unfolds nightly around the courthouse cannot reasonably be called protest, every member of this committee regardless of your political views or your feelings about the trump administration should condemn violence against federal officers and the destruction of federal property. thank you mr. chairman. and i appreciate your listing for me the areas of concern in your opening statement, and i'm looking forward to addressing them all. >> thank you for your testimony. we will now proceed under the five minute rule with questions. i recognize myself for 5 minutes. on july 22nd, you joined the president as he announced the

expansion of the operation legend initiative. let me start that again. on july 22nd you joined the president as he announced the expansion of operation legend, an issue to combat violent crime in kansas city, kansas, city with approximately $61 billion in doj grants. i am confused as to how -- in december of last year you announced that the department would divert over 70 million in grants under an initiative of operational pursuit. places like albuquerque, baltimore and kansas city, correct? at that same press conference that over 200 arrests have been made with operation legend. but you misspoke.

the attorney's office later confirmed that only a single rest have been made under the auspices of operation life. and 199 other arrests were made under relentless pursuit and other programs. while that was correct. think you could be forgiven for being confused, this plan seems to be a little than packing operations the white all the drama? why join the white house of the two who in ounces of gold new operation that appears to be neither bold nor new. understandably americans are very suspicious of your motives. since law enforcement into the cities not to combat violent crime but help with the reelection efforts. the president has made clear that he wants conflict between protesters and police to be a central theme to this campaign. so let me ask you.

yes or no? did you the existing projects in order to assist them in an election year? would you agree with me at least on principle because it was important for the department of justice to it. law enforcement personnel in an effort to assist the president's reelection campaign? >> mr. chairman, in the fall we did not great and anti-crime initiative because we were concerned about increasing violent crime in a number of cities and recall that relentless pursuit. unfortunately, covid intervened in our agents who were detailed for these assignments could not perform the operation so the operation was squelched by covid. so we couldn't complete or make much progress on relentless pursuit. however in the intervening time

we saw violent crime continuing to rise and a lot of that was triggered by the events after the death of george floyd. so we did reboot the program after covid started breaking and we could commit to law enforcement resources to actually accomplish mission which is to reduce violent crime. now i regret that covid interrupted our law enforcement activities but it doesn't obviate the fact that there is serious violent crime in the cities. these police departments and mayors have been asking us for help and we have put in additional federal agents and investigators to help deal with it. >> yes or no, have you discussed the president's reelection campaign with the president or any white house official for any surrogate of the president? >> i'm not going to get in my discussions with the president. >> have you discussed those

topics with him yes or no? >> not in relation to this program. i'm a member of the cabinets and the election is going on, obviously the topic comes up. it shouldn't be a surprise. it's part of those conversations with the presidents, have you ever discuss the current or future deployment of law enforcement? >> in connection with what? >> in connection with what you just said, with your discussions of the president or other people around him, evie discussed the current or future deployment? >> i'm not going to get into that the discussion the president. and you can commit today that

the department will not use law enforcement as a prop. you can't hide behind legal fixtures and it's all out in the open. the president and in most of these cities, and the protesters aren't -- they are mothers and collaboration and looking, and instead use pepper spray and truncheons and now you are protecting fear and violence

nationwide in pursuit of obvious political objectives. shame on you. time is expired. for what purpose does mr. jordan see recognition? >> my time has expired, what purpose does mr. johnson see recognition? >> question for the witness? >> the effort like legend and again, predatory violence like murder shootings which is soaring in some cities. that's a different set of issues. and i just reject the decision that the department is flooded anywhere in an attempt to

suppress demonstrators. and the fact of the matter is, in portland, the courthouse is under attack. the federal resources are defending it from almost two months of daily attacks where people marched to the court, try to gain entrance and have set fires from things, he is explosives, and injured police including just this past weekend, perhaps permanently blinding three federal officers with lasers. we are on the defense, we are not out looking for trouble and if the state and the city would provide the law enforcement services and other jurisdictions still we would have no need to have additional marshals in the courthouse. >> on behalf of hundreds of millions of americans thank you for that clarification, and thank you for being here and thank you for your service today

and your willingness to do this very challenging times. mr. attorney general, we are appreciative. it's not an easy job but it's vitally important. i appreciate what you said in your opening statement today which is what you said in your confirmation hearing, the attorney general has a weak obligation which he holds and trusts, and the democrats have asserted this morning and they continue to say in the media that under your leadership, the justice department has become highly politicized. why is that a totally unfounded allegations? >> it was actually what i've been trying to do, which is restore the rule of law. that's one rule for everybody. i felt we didn't have that previously at the department. i would just ask people, i am supposedly punishing the

presidents enemies but what enemies have i indicted? could you point to one that's unmerited? one indictment. now you say, i helped the presidents friends. the cases that are cited it, the stone case and the flynn case, some intervention is necessary to rectify the rule of law, to make sure people are treated the same. i said stone was prosecuted under me and i said all along i thought that was a righteous prosecution, i should go to jail and i thought the judge's sentence was correct but the line prosecutors were trying to advocate for a sentence that was more than twice what anyone else in a similar position had ever served. this is a 67-year-old man, first-time offender and no violence and they were trying to put in jail for 7-9 years.

i was not going to advocate not because that's not the rule of law. i agree the presidents friends don't deserve special breaks but they also don't deserve to be treated more harshly than other people and sometimes that's a difficult decision to make it especially when you know you are going to be castigated for it. but that's what the rule of law is, and that's what fairness of the individual actually comes to, being willing to do what's fair to the individual. >> by contrast, under the previous administration was politicized law enforcement. they illegally spied on the trump campaign let me ask you one question because my time is running out.

i'm still enjoying what i'm doing and there's the work to be done. i'm still the presidents wing man so i'm there with my boy, that's what he said famously. is that the duty of the attorney general to the presidents wing man? >> i've already described what i think the duty of the attorney general is. >> so you are free to act -- >> particularly on criminal cases, that's required. >> and that specifically what he asked you to do. >> you have no further questions, your time is >> mr. attorney general, it's obvious from the video playing in march, it's clear that the president's playbook is to

divert attention from this catastrophic failure in dealing with the covid-19 situation. in canada, our neighbor to the north, in europe, the virus has been reduced to such a level that people can safely go out and not worry about being infected. but here in the united states, millions of americans have been infected. tens of thousands are dying, and the president needs to divert from that failure. the playbook is to create the impression that there is violence, that he must send in federal troops, and that the american people should be afraid of other americans and trust the president because he's going to send troops to move the american cities. that's how he hopes to win the

election. it's one thing to fight for and task forces. that involves the cooperation of state and local officials, but the governor of oregon and the mayor of portland has asked that the federal agents leave, because the reaction has been in reverse proportion. people are showing up because the troops are there. i would like to say that there's so many of them, most of them are nonviolent. we've all heard about the wall of moms who show up to make sure people are safe. here's what they say. they say they've been teargas, night after night, left vomiting. that they've been shot at with rubber bullets, beanbags, pepper spray. this brutality has created even more demonstrators. i would just like to ask you this.

they indicated your department should prioritize investigatio investigations. has your department started any investigations for the executive order the president issued to? >> which executive order, congresswoman? speak of the executive order that asked for the deployment of the troops to protect the monuments and the federal facilities. >> yes -- >> on june 26th? >> i wouldn't say it was troops, but we have initiated investigations, yes. we have made arrests. of people who have been rioting and taken down -- taking down statues. i think your characterization of portland is completely false. >> we can get into that, but i'd like to ask you a question about surveillance, if i may. we have reports that stimulators

known as stingrays or dirt boxes are being used to collect phone call locations and even the content of phone calls, and facial recognition for cell phones and technology as though there is connection of internet browsing history. what specific authority is the department using for these surveillance tools? >> i really can't speak to those instances. if, they have in fact occurred, i am glad to determine what you're talking about. >> actually, i'm asking about authority. >> i think most of our cyber activities are conducted by the fbi, under their law enforcement powers, to detect and prevent crime. federal crime. >> i think the american public should know that this surveillance technique is not

just about people in front of the courthouse. if a husband and wife call each other and one of the spouses has a cell phone that is within range of one of these, not only have they found that couples conversation can be scooped up using this technology. it's not just about the demonstrating, it's about the privacy of all americans, and it is all being violated for the president's political purposes of trying to create a scene, create a reason, subvert attention from the covid situation. i think it's really very unfortunate, and a disservice to the american people. my time has expired. >> point of order -- >> mr. chairman, point of where to. >> the gentleman will state his point of order. >> can you ask