that will do it for me this hour. i'm phillip mena. hope you to you tomorrow morning at 6:00 eastern. now i'll make way for alex witt. >> are you sure you don't want to stay? there is so much to talk about. we will legave something for yo tomorrow morning. good morning from msnbc headquarters here. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." a second woman accuses the lieutenant governor of sexual assault. mr. chairman, i see your five minutes is up. i have not talked to the president of the united states about the special counsel investigation. >> fireworks on capitol hill. the big take away from friday's testimony. making it official. two big names getting ready to announce this weekend that they are running for president. but new developments in the political crisis with virginia's

top three leaders. mounting calls for lieutenant governor justin fairfax to resign after a second woman accused him of sexual assault. meredith watson says fairfax raped her when they were students and friends at duke university in 2000. fairfax says the accusation is false and part of a smear campaign against him. among the calls for his resignation, democrats in the house and senate in virginia. saying fairfax should resign. he can no longer fulfill his duties. and a delegate is talking possible impeachment. >> i cannot stand by silently while the lieutenant governor is facing multiple allegation of sexual assault. i believe these women. he needs to resign immediately. should the lieutenant governor fail to do so, on monday, i intend to introduce articles of impeachment on lieutenant

governor justin fairfax. also, more democrats cred criticizing matthew whitaker. he told the committee he has not interfered with the mueller probe and not shared the information with the president. he was less direct when asked about this. >> are you overseeing the witch hunt? >> congressman, it is inappropriate for me to talk about an ongoing investigation. >> you would not oversee a witch hunt? >> can you say right now, mr. president, bob mueller is honest and not conflicting? >> congressman, i'm not a puppet to repeat what you're saying. >> also, today, new developments in the battle with amazon ceo and publication associated with president trump. federal prosecutors reviewing claims by the owner of "the washington post" jeff bezos who alleges the parent company of

the "national enquirer" tried to blackmail him. and senator elizabeth warren is expected to announce she is running for president. and tomorrow, amy klobuchar is expected to make her announcement. we will have more in minutes. first, julia pmanchester is with us. this is a happy coincidence. julia to you first. i want to start with virginia. you have the top three democrats all engulfed in scandal. that includes the attorney general because he has admitted to wearing blackface as an under graduate. the reaction from lawmakers, particularly democrats to the back-to-back revelations. any surprise with the reactions? >> absolutely not. i think democrats feel that they really need to connect with their voters here and the fact of the matter is in terms of mark herring and ralph northam, they would not be elected if it

were not for african-american voters in virginia. this is the way of condemning the past behavior. in terms of justin fairfax. we saw the drama with supreme court justice brett kavanaugh and those hearings and acti accusations against him. he was more on the conservative side. they need to take these accusations seriously. also, we are living in the age of me too. it makes sense in the democratic party is really trying to appeal to the women. it is a party of women. this is their way of appealing to those two groups. what makes this all so awkward is that if these three officials resign, that would leave the governorship to the speaker of the house of delegates who is a republican and actually defended what many call racial gerrymandering at the supreme court. democrats are put into a box. i think this is them trying to really appeal to the voting groups that put them in office

last year. >> you know, kevin, to julia's point she made there. political implications. virginia has been trending blue. has been doing so for a decade. it will be off the table in 2020. are democrats worried and if so, could this cost the legislature this move? >> you know, i was speaking with democratic strategists all week who work in virginia. essentially what they said is, you know, voters at the ballot box will decide in november what direction they like the state to go in. that doesn't excuse the behavior of their elected leaders now. so, it would appear that governor northam is going to continue to fight through this and try to get through this and really is banking on the quick news cycle as a way to carry forward. that said, virtually every democrat and republican calling

on him to resign. questioning his leadership ability to navigate through such a divisive racist scandal. so, i mean, this is just become for lack of a better term, an absolute mess. >> oh, please. that's the appropriate term for sure. julia, northam says he will not resign. what about the other two? have we gotten any word or indication they would even consider doing that? if one does, does that then topple all three potentially? >> well, not yet. however, we are seeing a lot of senior democrats such as senior democrats in the senate like tim kaine calling for the resignation of justin fairfax yesterday. you are seeing a lot of prominent african-american leaders calling for mark herring's resignation. i would say if one resigns, that would lead to the other one

resigning. however, i do think that democrats realize, like i said before, if all three of the officials resign, it will go to a republican and the will of virginia voters in a way, is essentially supplanted, if you will. it is interesting to see how all of this will play out. i think democrats are walking a fine line in terms of public relations right now. >> guys, we will switch gears and have you back in a moment. kevin, i'll have you for that. the hearing on capitol hill. matthew whitaker appeared before the white houhouse committee on. we have kelly o'donnell with the details on that one. i mean fireworks like everywhere you looked and heard, kelly, it was extraordinary. >> reporter: i have seen lots of hearings. this highlights, alex, what it

means to be in divided government. democrats running the committee. house judiciary committee. the republican official, acting attorney general who is days away from being out of that job. matthew whitaker. he went there voluntarily. he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else in the world. it is still not over. jerry nadler says he wants whitaker back for a sworn deposition to fill in the gaps from the testimony. one complaint from the democrats is they felt whitaker was trying to run out the clock with flowery answers and giving background and not directly responsive to the questions or not providing kinds of answers on certain topics with respect to the russia investigation they wanted. to give you a taste of what it was like in the hearing room, here are the back and forth moments from friday. >> have you ever been asked to approve action to be taken by

the special counsel? >> mr. chairman, i see your five minutes is up. i don't know if your time has been restored or not. >> mr. attorney general, we're not joking here. your humor is not acceptable. >> at the request of the number of people, the committee will stand in recess for five minutes. >> i get five minutes for lunch? >> reporter: you get a sense of testy atmosphere there and frustration on the part of democrats that this is their constitutional duty of oversight. there can be debate of the questions. one question that whitaker was offering he would not talk about the con varversations with prest trump. where the executive branch and the president is entitled to have conversations with advisers that remain inside the executive branch and not subject to congressional over sigsight.

there are area where is the acting attorney general needs to provide answers. some of the things he said, he made no changes to the management of the special counsel investigation and removed no funding from the special counsel investigation. in his past private life, he had been a tv commentator. he said one way to deal with the investigation, which he then called a witch hunt, was to starve it of funding. why is he almost out the door, alex? william barr, the permanent choice, is expected to be confirmed by the senate this week. alex. >> kelly at the white house. thank you. we will see you again. julie and kevin are back. kevin, other than realizes that matthew whitaker can throw down attitude, did we learn anything new? >> no. i was on capitol hill yesterday. i was struck by the pure spectacle the hearing had become.

the first two take aways are with what happened with william barr's hearing. administration floated the idea that bob mueller's investigation may never been released to the public. that was an attempt to get that into the national dialogue. yesterday, i was also struck by matthew whitaker's doubling down that the justice department believes that the sitting president cannot be indicted. obviously that is up for debate. there are legal scholars who disagree with that. that is his assertion under oath. >> okay. julia, what about concerns that whitaker may have tried to influence the mueller investigation? did he do anything to alleviate concerns? >> in the eyes of democrats, i would say he did not do anything to alleviate the concerns. he dodged questions. he cannot comment on the ongoing

investigation. i would say he did not alleviate. it is amazing, alex, how the hearing, whether it is republicans during the obama administration and the first half of the trump administration are democrats in this current term have turned these hearings into political spectacle as a means of trying to get attention for themselves and going after their political adversaries. i think matthew whitaker is interesting because he was constantly on the tv circuit going after the mueller probe and defending president trump. that makes this very interesting. it makes it interesting because he was reportedly in talks to take ty cobb the former spokesperson for the trump administration on the issue of the mueller probe. that complicates things. >> it means he will likely be out of this job within a week or so confirmation, kevin. does that mean he would still come back for questioning or are

there more things they need to know from him? >> yeah. we see that time and time again. what is interesting about the congressional hearings is the spectacle. let's not forget people can percenta perjure themselves. ala roger stone. michael cohen also testified saying that would no longer happen. note the congressional hearings will lead to charges. >> julia and kevin. good to see you guys. jeff bezos fights back in the battle could kill a deal over hush money to the former "playboy" model. "playboy " model. y, vis are crea. ( ♪ ) so, every day, we put our latest technology

and vast expertise to work. ( ♪ ) the united states postal service makes more e-commerce deliveries to homes than anyone else in the country, affordably and on-time. (ringing) ( ♪ ) the future only happens with people who really know how to deliver it. but allstate helps you. with drivewise. feedback that helps you drive safer. and that can lower your cost now that you know the truth... are you in good hands? take your razor, yup. up and down, never side to side, shaquem, you got it? come on stay focused. hard work baby, it gonna pay off.

does your customers connecting to the wifi ever slow down your business? yes, it does slow things down. aggravating. it's a nightmare. so our gig-speed network is fast. and we go beyond fast by making it easy to create separate networks for your business and your customers and even control how much bandwidth each of those gets. so your business won't miss a beat. this is a big game changer. this is the new wave, and whoever doesn't get on, i think they would be left behind. just one more way we go beyond at&t. right now get fast, reliable internet and add wifi pro for a low price. comcast business. beyond fast.

more trouble brewing this morning for the "national enquirer" after jeff bezos accused the publication of blackmail. we have geoff bennett with more. >> reporter: amazon ceo jeff bezos is turning the tables on the tabtabloid. he is offering e-mails from ami that threaten the release of embarrassing photos of him. he is trying to hunt down the source. for ami, alex, this could be the

least of its problems. this morning, a new twist in the battle between the tech titan and tabloid. federal prosecutors are looking into ami, publisher of the "national enquirer" broke the cooperation agreement. according to a source familiar with the marrtter. the hush money payments that ami commit no further crimes. now jeff bezos, the boss of amazon, is accusing the tabloid of extortion and blackmail. bezos posted e-mails sent from representatives for ami to his attorney in an attempt to stop his investigation into how the publication obtained text messages between him and the woman he is dating. bezos claims the tabloid demand a public statement saying they have no knowledge or basis to suggest the coverage was politically motivated. if he refused, the "national

enquirer" threatened to publish more photos. legal action that could put the deal with the government in jeopardy. >> ami's behavior is reckless and possibly criminal. >> reporter: nbc news has not independently reviewed the e-mails. ami saying it believes it acted lawfully in reporting the bezos story. and describing having been in good faith negotiations to resolve all matters with bezos. bezos explaining his decision to speak out writing, of course i don't want personal photos publis published. i won't participate in the well known practice of blackmail and political favors. i prefer to stand up and roll the log over and see what crawls out. now "the washington post" reported that bezos's long time private security consultant is

looking into lauren sanchez's brother may be behind the leak of the photos. he is said to be a supporter of president trump. the president, alex, has repeatedly attacked bezos, amazon and "the washington post." >> thank you, geoff. joining me now is legal analyst danny cevallos. danny, the definition of federal extortion. does this conduct from what we know about it fit into that? >> it could, but not easily. the traditional view of extortion is a demand for property or money or bag of cash in exchange for not hurting the person or physical harm. modern statutes expand that to damaging someone's reputation. you look at the thing demanded. ami did not demand a bag of cash. they essentially demanded and to be specific, ami demand bezos or

"the washington post" coverage of how ami covered bezos. if you are not confused, you don't understand what is going on here. what was the thing demanded? the favorable coverage a thing of value defined under federal law? probably. it is not easy analysis. it is not as easily detailed like a bar of gold. it doesn't do so easily. it is not a slam dunk. >> let's go with something we know already is in existence. ami is under a non prosecution agreement with the southern district of new york. could this be a breach of contract? >> it is standard language in non prosecution agreements that the defendant commit no future crimes. after all, the government doesn't want to get in the business of giving people a license to impunity. this is standard language.

if ami committed a crime, then they can violate that non prosecution agreement. covering jeff bezos is probably not a crime. taking photographs of jeff bezos in public and publishing them is not a crime. however, that demand that was made just within the last couple weeks, for something in exchange for not releasing those photographs, that could be the key. if that fits within the definition of the federal crime and the doj determines that, they may decide that non prosecution agreement is null and void. that could be a problem for ami and mr. pecker. >> how about another line of attack here? the tabloid and pecker, they already admitted to same campaign finance violations that cohen was convicted of. can they be prosecuted of that now? >> the non prosecution agreement is a shield of immunity. if the doj, the government

decides that the non prosecution agreements is no thlonger any good, the shield vanishes and anyone who committed a crime, in the eyes of government, can be prosecuted. that is standard language. they heavily favor the government's position so if the defendant or person given immunity goes astray and commits a ncrime, the full force of the government will bear down upon him or her. >> here is another extraordinary angle. that is that bezos has suggested the ami chairman may have financial interests with the saudi kingdom. "the wall street journal" report being that they have been trying to strike an alliance with the western media. how is this likely that the saudi government is behind all of this in some fashion? >> there could be influence there, but there is also the

defense that ami and the "national enquirer" is an independent body of journalism. just as they say jeff bezos doesn't influence "the washington post." aim's demand reflects the misunderstanding that jeff bezos makes the editorial decisions for "the washington post." the key is if there is a saudi connection, what level of connection is there with ami and then from there, the next link over, is to what degree did ami have a relationship with the trump campaign and privilege th provide them support. positive journalist results is a thing of value. we may get into campaign finance issues with any payment came from a foreign government. the fight for the tax returns goes to congress.

what will it take to get a look? and in honor of the black history month. we reveal she thrives. millie brown helps mothers and families who lost children to gun violence. millie says her greatest accomplishment is touching so many lives and making mothers smile. since 2007, millie helped 1,000 mothers cope with their loss. you can read more by going to msnbcnews.com/shethrives. uh-oh! guess what day it is? guess what day it is! huh...anybody?

julie! hey...guess what day it is? ah come on, i know you can hear me. mike mike mike mike mike... what day is it mike? ha ha ha ha! leslie, guess what today is? it's hump day. whoot whoot! ronny, how happy are folks who save hundred of dollars switching to geico? i'd say happier than a camel on wednesday. hump day!!! get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. get happy. get geico. they seem to be the very foundation of your typical bank. capital one is anything but typical. that's why we designed capital one cafes. you can get savings and checking accounts with no fees or minimums. and one of america's best savings rates. to top it off, you can open one from anywhere in 5 minutes. this isn't a typical bank. this is banking reimagined. what's in your wallet? at&t provides edge-to-edge intelligence, covering virtually every part of your healthcare business. so that if she has a heart problem

& the staff needs to know, they will & they'll drop everything can you take a look at her vitals? & share the data with other specialists yeah, i'm looking at them now. & they'll drop everything hey. & take care of this baby yeah, that procedure seems right. & that one too. at&t provides edge to edge intelligence. it can do so much for your business, the list goes on and on. that's the power of &. & when your patient's tests come back... to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing it's best to make you everybody else...

♪ ♪ means to fight the hardest battle, which any human being can fight and never stop. does this sound dismal? it isn't. ♪ ♪ it's the most wonderful life on earth. ♪ ♪

in power politics and paychecks. the reality of smaller tax refunds due in part to the new tax law. many are getting less back. the average refund in the first week i$1,800. >> if you are surprised by this bill this year, the most important thing you can do is update your withholding.

go back to employer and change withholding. >> some early filers are lashing out. i just did my taxes and paid in and made the same last year. i owe 4,000 more. i voted for trump, but will not be next election. joining me now is representative john larson. the chair of the ways and means social security sub committee. welcome to you on saturday morning. i want to ask about the president's taxes in just a moment. >> good morning, alex. >> i would love to get your reaction to the hearing with acting attorney general matthew whitaker. has he tried to interfere with the special counsel investigation. here he is. >> we followed the regulations to a "t." there has been no decision that required me to take any action and i have not interfered with the special counsel's investigation. >> are you satisfied with that

response? did you think he was overall comfortabfor the coforthcoming? >> that is what we can expect. democrats will do their job and follow the process and demand of individuals that they come to congress and tell the truth. i think you will see more of that and how they respond will be entirely determined. you saw how stilted he was in his conversation. i think they will go back to the talking points. >> all right. the hunt for the president's tax returns. i know your committee held a hearing about the need to know more about the president's finances. what did you learn from tax experts? is your committee closer to getting the president's taxes? >> alex, we have to have

chairman neil who said we will follow regular order. we know this issue is highly contested and end up in the courts. all the more reason that we do that and the committee on oversight had the hearing the other day and is going to make the request. the request can be by law made by the ways and means committee chairman. we will continue to follow that step by step in regular order, which sometimes is painful to people looking on the outside, but knowing this will follow a very strict legal procedure and probably be challenged. you want to make sure you are dotting the "is." we need to follow many pieces of legislation that will also get a hearing. >> okay. let's move on to a topic that

concerns every single american. social security. the social security administration projects that its reserves will be depleted in 15 years by 2034 if congress does not acts. this week, i know, sir, you unveiled legislation to expand social security benefits and expand across the board. are you planning to pay for it by graduately railly raising pax on those earning over $400,000 a year? there are some republicans who would rather cut off funding for other programs to fund social security. tell me how this will go down and what support wilt yl you ge? >> the last time we had a major change in social security, ronald reagan was the president and tip o'neill was the speaker.

we are not treating social security as entitlement, but insurance. you are right. aside from we don't just save social security, we expand it. we expand it so no one can retire into poverty. as you know, alex, more than 3 million women who have worked all their lives and paid their quarters live in poverty today. 2 million men. we want to change that so the new floor for social security makes sure no one retires into poverty. no one is getting wealthy in all this. they ought to have a modest increase and the bill ought to be solvent. >> you are saying that the poverty line, this is placing people at 25% above the poverty line. that is the minimum. >> correct. >> people would be able to survive on social security alone

if that is how their finances work out? >> that's correct. for a number of people for almost 90% of americans, 3/4 of what they rely on, is social security. it is paid for by a contribution and had it been indexed in 1983, we probably won't be having this conversation. we increased that 1% and phased it in over 25 years. if you are making $50,000 a year, you are paying 50 cents a week to make sure that not only do you have a pension plan, but disability plan, spousal benefits and dependent children. also all are part of social security. we also raise the limit. social security, when we first introduced this bill, alex, which was almost eight years ago, we haven't had a public

hearing while the republicans were in control. that will now change. hopefully and by the interest we gathered, a number of republicans will join with us bipartis bipartisanly. the importance here is so you get to explain this to the american people and then phase this in. companies get a tax break for their contributions. members pay a deminimus amount. it will cost you 50 cents a week. i have a starbucks with me and hold it up and say this represents nine weeks of social security payments. >> like this starbucks that i have here? i'm right there with you. especially early in the morning. are you getting pushback if i where? where do you expect opposition to come from, if any? >> the opposition is the other side has always said this is an entitlement and treat it as a tax. we are saying this is an insurance. here is what the insurance

delivers for you. this isdebate. we have not been able to get a hearing in the last eight years. i suspect by the number of republicans that approached me we will have bipartisan support. we already have over 204 people who signed at the dropping of the bill. that's unique in and of itself. we feel confident we will be able to do something that all americans, not democrats, republicans, or independents, know they need. >> more power to you, representative larson. it is something everybody should get hibehind. thank you for your time. >> thank you, alex. it is the latest bombshell to hit virginia politics and reverberating across the political spectrum and it's next. t's next

here we go! discover. i like your card, but i'm absolutely not paying an annual fee. discover has no annual fees. really? yeah. we just don't believe in them. oh nice. you would not believe how long i've been rehearsing that. no annual fee on any card. only from discover.

but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. beauty editors have tried everything. in search of a whiter smile. their choice? crest 3d whitestrips. our exclusive whitening formulation safely whitens 25 times better*. for a noticeably whiter, smile. trust america's #1 whitening treatment.

crest 3d whitestrips. at first slice pizza lovers everywhere meet o, that's good! frozen pizza one third of our classic crust is made with cauliflower but that's not stopping anyone o, that's good!

next battle 2020. another democratic candidate officially enters the race today. senator elizabeth warren expected to announce her bid later this afternoon in massachusetts. mean meanwhile, cory booker is making two stops in iowa today after four stops yesterday. >> we are a nation of decency and kindness. a nation of civic grace. a nation that sees each other and loves each other and works together. >> and the youngest potential democratic candidate making the rounds.

south bend, indiana mayor. pete buttigieg. and former vice president joe biden not in the race yet, but leads the poll of likely voters. that poll suggests that biden is the clear front runner with kamala harris the biggest opponent. and new allegations against justin fairfax. another woman has come forward of charges of sexual assault and more calls for his resignation. let's go to michael viqueira with the latest on the scandals. engulfing the virginia capital, mike. what does this go next? >> reporter: well, alex, you are right. a week ago it looked like he would be governor by now. after a second accuser came forward late last night, lieutenant governor justin fairfax is getting calls from

fellow delegates to step down. >> on monday, i intend to introduce articles of impeachment on justin fairfax. >> reporter: the accusation this time? rape. meredith watson said it happened when they were both students at duke university. a pr firm working with watson's attorney released past electronic messages with friends. including an e-mail dated october 2016 where watson writes, justin raped me in college. this comes after vanessa tyson accused fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex on her. in a statement, he says i deny the latest allegation. it is false. i have never forced myself on

anyone. ever. he calls for an investigation into what he terms a vicious smear campaign and adds, i will not resign. just hours before watson's charge went public. >> do you support the investigation into the allegation against you? >> we will have our say. i'm confident. >> reporter: democrats are lining up to insist he go. former governor terry mcauliffe. black caucus. whereas lieutenant governor, fairfax presides. and as of late friday, several presidential candidates have called for fairfax to step down. including cory booker. >> i just believe it is time for him to step down and resign. >> reporter: alex, as all of this controversy erupting around justin fairfax, what about governor ralph northam? a week ago, we did not think he would last the weekend. he is still in office. he met with his senior staff and

told them i will not resign. alex. >> thank you. mike viqueira. the fiery hearing on capitol hill. the take away from the acting ag's testimony. cting ag 's testimony do your asthma symptoms ever hold you back? about 50% of people with severe asthma have too many cells called eosinophils in their lungs. eosinophils are a key cause of severe asthma. fasenra is designed to target and remove these cells. fasenra is an add-on injection for people 12 and up with asthma driven by eosinophils. fasenra is not a rescue medicine or for other eosinophilic conditions. fasenra is proven to help prevent severe asthma attacks, improve breathing, and can lower oral steroid use. fasenra may cause allergic reactions. get help right away if you have swelling of your face, mouth, and tongue, or trouble breathing. don't stop your asthma treatments unless your doctor tells you to. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection

or your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. haven't you missed enough? ask an asthma specialist about fasenra. if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. (vo) the only network to win in all four major awards is the one more people rely on. choose america's most reliable network on the best device: iphone. get iphone xr on us when you buy another.

the company who invented car vending machines and buying a car 100% online. now we've created a brand new way for you to sell your car. whether it's a few years old or dinosaur old, we want to buy your car. so go to carvana and enter your license plate, answer a few questions, and our techno-wizardry calculates your car's value and gives you a real offer in seconds. when you're ready, we'll come to you, pay you on the spot, and pick up your car. that's it. so ditch the old way of selling your car and say hello to the new way... at carvana. when it comes to reducing the evsugar in your family's diet,m.

coke, dr pepper and pepsi hear you. we're working together to do just that. bringing you more great tasting beverages with less sugar or no sugar at all. smaller portion sizes, clear calorie labels and reminders to think balance. because we know mom wants what's best. more beverage choices, smaller portions, less sugar. balanceus.org you might or joints.hing for your heart... but do you take something for your brain. with an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in clinical trials to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

are you overseeing the witch hunt? >> congressman, it is inappropriate for me to talk about ongoing investigation. >> do you agree the investigation is a witch hunt? >> as i mentioned previously, congressman, it would inappropriate for me to comment. >> matthew whitaker re fusiefus to say it is a witch hunt. joining me now is joe watkins. gentlemen, good to see you both. joe, you first. whitaker used the defense he will not comment on the ongoing investigation selectively. how did you read his decision to apply if when asked if the mueller probe is a witch hunt? >> he should have been honest.

clearly a long history of what he said before being appointed as acting attorney general. he should have considered what he said before being appointed. that is what the members were trying to get at to give them what they wanted. so it was spectacle. it was theater. and it was certainly, he kept most of us riveted to our seats, in terms of watching it. but it didn't accomplish a lot, and he wasn't about to cooperate at all with the members, as they asked him the questions. he didn't want to cooperate. >> for sure, it was riveting. we know no one was leaving their offices. we were glued. and you think, someone who has likely less than a week left on the job might feel free to be a bit more forthcoming so i'm curious what you made of his performance. and do you think he was potentially auditioning for another role? >> that's interesting. what did i make of his performance? the same thing that i do with a

lot of trump administration folks. it's equivocation with a dash of belligerence, where they try to push that through to sort of browbeat others, and feel that they're taking the high road in all that they do, which they clearly do not. do i think he's auditioning for another office? i don't know. but i definitely think he's trying to show his loyalty to this administration. what is interesting to me is what congress-member nadler, the chair of the committee, who is someone i know and have worked with for many years, i'm curious to see what he does, and how he sort of moves forward. to try to get some answers out of whitaker. and the administration. >> well, in terms of looking for a job, we know for a fact that he did try to find another job in this administration, joe, because he admitted to looking for the job of white house legal counsel for the russia investigation. that was something he did back in 2017. of course, we know that ty cobb had that later, and what is your reaction to that?

>> i'm not surprised. and you know, the hardest thing in the hearings is to get people to be forthcoming, you are asked questions by members of congress, they is a right to know, and the american public wants to know as well, it is always a good thing when people who are called before congress to testify, just to testify openly and honestly and tell what they know and just tell the truth. and it is always difficult when you get the testy interaction that you got yesterday. difficult to watch. difficult to watch. especially when you try to be funny. >> and there was a testy tenor, you can put it that way, some of it was shocking with the apparent lack of respect that was displayed. let's play, for anybody who missed this, and i will get you to talk about it, some of the more memorable moments of that hearing here it is, everyone. have you ever been asked to approve any request or action to be taken by the special counsel? >> mr. chairman, i see that your five minutes is up, and so --

>> i'm sorry, i don't know if your time has been restored or not. >> mr. attorney general, we're not joking here. and your humor is not acceptable. >> five minutes for lunch? >> just your reaction to that? this is unusual, right? >> it is. >> the tenor of this, and do you think this portends what is coming for the next two years what we've got in store? >> i do. but lord i hope some compromise will prevail, and ha we do get some answers by the administration and folks who come to testify don't conduct themselves in this way. joe is absolutely right. even if there is a divided government, there are people who will come before congress and actually respect the process and respect the hearings, because this is for people, this is for the public consumption.

and we're supposed to be getting to some truth here. even if you disagree with the folks that are questioning you, you conduct yourself in a certain way. i really do hope that this is not something, this is the kind of behavior that doesn't continue for the next couple of years, but you know what? i wouldn't be surprised if it was. >> guys, i want to ask you both about virginia. what a difference a week makes. look at what we were a week ago, focusing on the governor, now focusing on the lieutenant governor, perhaps more. so what do you think of democrat calls for him to resign as a result of a second woman coming forward with sexual assault allegations against justin fairfax. >> this is such a mess. i think everyone should resign. i think justin fairfax should resign. perhaps the attorney general and certainly the governor. you know, what is sacrosanct in the work that we do is that people, voters have faith in the folks that they have elected to govern their lives and if they don't have that kind of faith, if they don't feel safe and secure under these individuals,

there is no reason that they should be in office. you know, the fact that the black caucus has said that justin fairfax should resign, i would follow that lead. but the thing is, should he resign and you have northam in power, you have african-americans looking at him saying have we sanctioned in some way shape or form his blackface standing next to a klamsman. >> and if all three top officials resign, the gubernatorial position falls in the hans of republicans. does this situation require a sense of morality and a certain level of justice, to supersede politics right now in your mind? >> i think this is bigger than politics. i think you're absolutely right, at the end of the day, the people have voted for these folks, and now they've lost confidence in them. and it is just incumbent on the elected officials to do what is right.

and i think the virginia black legislative caucus has it right, in calling for the resignations of folks, especially even the resignation of the lieutenant governor, who happens to be an african-american. they've called it the right way. you've got to be mindful and respectful of people of color. you've got to be mindful and respectful women. and so i think that you're right, i think the virginia black legislative caucus is right. >> i always respect both of your opinions. thank you for joining me. appreciate it. in just a few hours she will make her official 2020 announcement. why some want to see an apology tour from senator elizabeth warren. warren billions of mouths.

billions of problems. sore gums? bleeding gums? painful flossing? there's a therabreath for you. therabreath healthy gums oral rinse fights gingivitis and plaque and prevents gum disease for 24 hours. so you can... breathe easy, there's therabreath at walmart. shaquem get in here. take your razor, yup. alright, up and down, never side to side, shaquem. you got it? come on, get back. quem, you a second behind your brother, stay focused. can't nobody beat you, can't nobody beat you. hard work baby, it gonna pay off. you got this. with the one hundred and forty-first pick, the seattle seahawks select. alright, you got it, shaquem. alright, let me see.

a business owner always goes beyond what people expect. that's why we built the nation's largest gig-speed network along with complete reliability. then went beyond. beyond clumsy dials-in's and pins. to one-touch conference calls. beyond traditional tv. to tv on any device. beyond low-res surveillance video. to crystal clear hd video monitoring from anywhere. gig-fueled apps that exceed expectations.

comcast business. beyond fast. that's a wrap for me on this hour of "weekends with alex." we will see you at noon eastern. stay where you are. it is time for "up" with david gura. david gura well, this is up, i'm david gura, more political turmoil in virginia, as a second woman accuses justin fairfax of sexual assault. now some state democrats are calling for impeachment. if the lieutenant governor does not step down. >> i believe these women. he needs to resign immediately. >> and fireworks on capitol hill. as the acting attorney general appears before the house judiciary committee. >> mr. chairman, i see that your five minutes is up, and