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tv   Weekends With Alex Witt  MSNBC  May 18, 2019 4:00am-5:00am PDT

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tions, or have flu-like symptoms or sores. don't start humira if you have an infection. ask your doctor about humira citrate-free. here's to you.
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good morning from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome, everyone. migrant detainees on the move. why they're being flown to another state. abortion flash point. another state passes sharp restrictions. the move just days after alabama made abortion a felony at any stage. why is it $8 in australia? >> a big pharma exec taking the task over skyrocketing drug prices and the bewildering briefing over the iran threat. how things took a confusing turn. developing this hour, though, how the administration
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is facing the overwhelming flow at the border. officials are planning to fly up to 135 migrants three times a week from texas to holding centers in california. and "the new york times" reports this could be expanded by sending asylum seekers to process centers throughout the united states including along the border with canada. just yesterday with detention facilities overwhelmed hundreds of migrants arrived in san diego from texas and the administration now says it's released over 180,000 family members since december. >> we've gotten very tough on the border. we have a catch and a release where you catch and then you have by law release or you have to take them to a court. what country has a court system where someone walks into a country? other countries they take them -- >> does this new plan have details that would change that? >> tremendous details. it's got a very fair asylum system. the asylum system is a disaster right now. >> a republican congress
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representing the largest portion of the border with mexico says the president's new immigration proposal is not enough. >> what mr. kushner and his team laid out is really only two planks of the immigration system. there is nothing in there about daca, about asylum fixes, about guessworker programs or seasonal working programs. we need to be addressing the humanitarian crisis we're dealing with at the border right now. this plan doesn't do that. >> meanwhile the attorney general facing backlash after again siding with the president casting doubts on the legitimacy of the russia investigation. william barr says he insists it is necessary to investigate the investigators because the special counsel did not cover the possibility officials may have abused power. >> i've been trying to get answers to questions, and i found a lot of the answers have been inadequate, and i've also found some of the explanations
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i've gotten don't hang together. so in a sense i have more questions today than i did when i first started. if we're worried about foreign influence for the very same reason we should worry about government officials abused their power and put their thumb on the scale. >> democrats argue you are the president's attorney now. >> they don't know what they're talking about. >> meanwhile the president repeating a claim on twitter his team was spied upon. >> are you comfortable using those words witch hunt, hoax? >> i use what words i use and it was an investigation, but i think if i had been falsely accused i'd be comfortable saying it was a witch hunt. >> this raises the stakes for the highly anticipated testimony from the special counsel which may now not happen until next month. "the wall street journal" is reporting negotiations for robert mueller's testimony have been stalled partially over whether the president's
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assertion of executive privilege would limit what mueller is allowed to say. and house democrats are vowing to consider enforcement action a.g. barr missed wednesday's deadline. meanwhile the treasury secretary missed yesterday's deadline. he argued per the advice of the justice department there's no legitimate legislative purpose to see the tax information. that's an asorgz the chairman of the ways and means committee is ready to fight in court. >> we will likely proceed to court as quickly as next week. i have meticiously followed the advice of council and i intend to stay with that. i think that is the best policy and indeed the best strategy. it's understandable you can have an idea but the implementation of the idea is important. i don't see that right now as an option. i think the better option right now is to proceed with the court
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case. also this morning a warning for u.s. diplomats to commercial airliners flying over the persian gulf because they say there is a chance of planes being misidentified because of tensions with iran. alli, with a welcome to you, let's get to what you are hearing about all of this from your post there in tehran. >> the commercial airliners have the risk of being misidentified amid heightened tensions between the u.s. and iran. and it further underscores one of the many risks in this region, in this dangerous game of brinksmanship between iran and america. now, these risks and tensions also have a knock on effect on commerce and tourism. the persian gulf is one of the world's most important ports for the passage of oil.
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and this morning the insurer warned of increasing risks. it's also a very busy hub for air travel. dubai, which of course is in the persian gulf is one of the world's third largest airports. it's the third largest busiest airport in the world. but this warning shouldn't be seen as hollow. there have been a history of miscalculations and misidentification in this region with devastating results. during the iran-iraq war of the '80s a commercial iran air flight from tehran to dubai was shot down. the aircraft was destroyed and all 290 people onboard were killed. apparently the crew onboard the cruiser had incorrectly identified the airbus as an attacking f-14 tomcat. so everybody is very alert to any possible dangers of those
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sort of incidents happening while tensions continue to simmer. >> so, then this is good news particularly relative to that because there are several reports today that are quoting u.s. officials as saying they are seeing some signs of a deescalation of the tensions in the persian gulf. what are you hearing on that front? >> well, alex, that's also very hard to gauge. these tensions seem to go up and down like a yo-yo. i mean, one tweet, one loading of a missile on a boat can suddenly heighten tensions. then we may see, you know, missiles being off loelded from a boat or the president saying he doesn't want conflict. the tensions seem to ratchet up and down on a moment to moment basis. today in tehran things have been fairly quiet. the rhetoric we were just noting in our bureau hasn't been very fiery. and then in the moment that i was waiting to come on with you, the newly appointed commander in
quote
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chief of the revolutionary guard who's very hard line, harder than his predecessor who wasn't exactly soft on america just said today that america's power is like the twin towers. it looks strong, it looks stable but it can be brought down with one hit. so i'm sure that will heighten tensions through the course of the day. >> well, that just sent chills down my spine as you relate that. thank you. joining me now reporter for the hill and dave levienthol. look, the president has denied any conflict within his cabinet on the issue of iran, and then you have ali's report and you hear what's going on from the ground there, the heightened tensions, the fact it goes up and down, up and down on a moments notice. where does the truth lie? >> well, it's really hard to tell at this point, alex,
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because we're actually seeing a lot of inconsistencies with how president trump has handled the situation as well as other situations during his administration in the past. we'll see the president send out these very bombastic tweets suggesting there could be some sort of armed conflict in the future. but then we hear reports he's backing down or he'll say he doesn't want an armed conflict. we hear people like administration officials like john bolton who have been very much, you know, pushing for some sort of potential confrontation in the persian gulf and obviously john bolton has pushed for similar action in the past. we know he's very much of a hawk on this issue. but, yes, there's so many inconsistencies. if we look back to the president's action with north korea. he was always, you know, threatening in tweets to go after north korea or push back. and we see he's tried to get together more with kim jong-un. it's very hard to tell where the
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mr. president is on this issue because it seems he's being pulled in several different directions. that's made a very hard for congress to gauge the issue on this, because ultimately they control the purse strings in terms of armed conflicts with the u.s. and where they go. so it's really creating a lot of frustration up and down pennsylvania avenue. >> absolutely. okay, let's move to the topic of immigration, dave. here's how two top house democrats are reacting to the president's latest plan offering from thursday. here it is. >> there should be comprehensive immigration reform and not immigration reform that is based on exciting and inciting those people who have negative thoughts about others coming across our border. i think it is -- some of that is very racist. it is not keeping with what this country is supposed to be all about. >> the word they used, merit, it is really a condescending word. they're saying family is without merit. are they saying most of the
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people that would come to the united states in the history of our country are without merit because they don't have an engineering degree? >> you've heard republican criticism as well. you heard congressman will herd a bit earlier from morning joe. what audience is the president targeting with his plan? >> like we say with a lot of things the president is targeting his base. to go back for a second on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform, this has been something that's been one of the most elusive aspects of debate here in washington, d.c. not for years but for decades. if it was easy, if you could get it done it would have been done a long time ago when we actually had some relatively close calls where comprehensive immigration reform seemed to be a hair's breath away from becoming reality and ultimately it dematerialized. don't expect that comprehensive immigration reform is going to be a thing. never say never, but it seems highly unlikely at this point
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it's going to be a reality, and we can expect a lot of pugilism of the sort you just showed right now. >> yeah. julia, there's a "new york times" op-ed which lays out why liberals are wrong to reject the president's immigration plan writing in part, quote, unlike his previous proposals this one would not reduce the total number of immigrants allowed in. by proposing no immigration cuts mr. trump has conceded the fundamental liberal premise america needs immigrants. it's only a question of how immigrants are selected and how. do you think democrats risk completely shutting this one down? >> i'm not really sure. i think on this issue obviously the two parties are very dwieivd on how to go forward. and i think although there may be some potentially concessions in this i think the democrats are staunchly against the president. i think that's for purely political reasons at this point. the president has very much used immigration as a tool to really
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rally his base, and his base doesn't want to see any sort of compromise on this issue. and to dave's point i don't see there's going to be much of any movement on this issue ahead of an election because we know how the president likes to rally up his base. and he almost seems disinterested in trying to get more swing voters on this issue. so i don't see democrats really trying too much to come to the table with president trump on this issue because they know how volatile he's been on this issue before and really where his priorities lie, if you will. >> yeah. so moving to this topic with you, dave, attorney general william barr this week is vowing to probe the origins of the russia investigation. look, he says he's not acting as the president's personal attorney, but, dave, is he giving off that perception? do you understand why people can interpret it that way? >> certainly if you're a democrat or liberal you're likely to believe exactly that. he's not only giving off that
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perception but that perception is reality. he's the attorney general of the united states. he's going to sensibly be the attorney general of the united states for a while. he serves at the president's pleasure, and he seems to be pleasing the president quite a bit especially relative to jeff sessions, his permanent predecessor who displeased the president quite often. so william barr is obviously kind of walking a very close, tight parallel line to what the president wants and what the president says he wants. and hey, if he wants to go ahead and start rehashing issues that happened in the 2016 election that is at his discretion to do, and expect him to go ahead and do it, alex. >> okay, thank you guys. good to see you both. a ceo gets grilled on why a drug that costs $8 in australia costs $2,000 here in the u.s. congresswoman debbie is going to join me to talk about this coming up. s going to join me to talk about this coming up.
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have you seen any threats by iranian backed groups in either syria or iraq against coalition forces? have you seen any threat indication? >> no, there's been no increased threat from iranian backed forces in iraq and syria. we're aware of their presence, clearly. and we monitor them along with a whole range of others. >> you heard it there. a frank assessment from a british general this week. he's second in command of the u.s. led coalition fighting
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isis. joining me now katie bow williams, senior national correspondent with defense one. she wrote this article you're about to see, a bewildering briefing on the iranian threat that leaves more questions than answers. katie bow, with a welcome to you. so you picked up on this as it was happening this week. are you any less confused this morning? i mean, explain to us where we got to where we are. >> i'll tell you, this was like watching two different briefings in one. i think there were a lot of reporters in that briefing room scratching their heads about this. this is the deputy commander of the u.s. led coalition to fight isis. he's talking to us from baghdad, and at first he gets up there and says we've seen no increased threat from iranian backed militias or iranian maligned mulishes in either iraq or syria. and understandably reporters in the room said wait a minute that doesn't tally with what we've
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been told by the trump administration. but as soon as he was pressed on it he refused to restate what he had said in the beginning and he sort of started denying he'd even said it in the first place, and it all got very muddled, and by the end of it everybody was very confused. you know, is there an increased threat level, have you raised the threat posture in that theater or not? now, it got even weirder later in the day because u.s. central command, which is the part of the u.s. military that's responsible for the middle east issues this extremely unusual statement basically cracking this general for this -- this british general for saying what he said. they outright denied basically his assessment of things and say this doesn't line up with the threat level we see. the u.k. then issues their own statement, and their statement was also very hard to parse. so the question really at the end of it day became who was telling the truth here?
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how serious is this threat? has the threat level been raised or not, and that's the question that's getting asked across washington on the hill and elsewhere right now. i think at this point the consensus seems to be there was a real threat, the threat was real. the question is was the u.s. response to it that we've seen over the last few weeks the appropriate response, or was the u.s. overreacting? >> okay, and what do you think is the answer to that question because we have to say what preceded the british general's comments was the fact the u.s. was expediting warships to the persian gulf. >> so one thing i think i would note about the expedited deployment of the uss abraham lincoln and the b-52 bombers sent to the region in and of themselves these steps weren't particularly unusual particularly with the "uss abraham lincoln," it was already on its way to the region.
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so if you just look at the actual actions the u.s. military took, they're not that unusual. they're something we do in the region all the time. what was unusual was the rhetoric associated with it, the sort of increased warnings. pompeo, the secretary of state sort of dropping everything he was doing to go to europe to try to rally support around this iranian threat. so, you know, at this point it's still kind of an open question. i was on the hill this week talking to lawmakers who have been been briefed on the intelligence behind -- behind this elevated threat posture and behind some of this rhetoric. and their responses have been a little muddled. we're not really -- it sort of depends on who you've talked to and how they interpreted the threat. >> that's the hill discussion. what about overall? is there a consensus where u.s. allies stand and how skeptical they are? >> u.s. allies still seem to be very skeptical. i think one of the most significant things we saw this week was the spanish navy had a
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frigate that was traveling with the "uss abraham lincoln" and it cut out. >> and that's unusual, a move like that? >> it was explicitly tied to sort of what the u.s. was saying and doing. i thought that was a significant moment this week. and then i think on top of that you also saw senior u.k. officials and other senior european officials explicitly in public statements on the record saying what we want to see is maximum caution, not maximum pressure. they warned they were worried about the risk opan accidental military conflict, so that also i think was fairly notable. particularly coming from the u.k., which, you know, in military conflicts dating back to world war ii the u.s. has been able to rely on. >> thank you for the perspective. appreciate it. >> my pleasure. a surge in migrants means a
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a new wrinkle on immigration today. a rare move by the trump administration now flying undocumented migrants from texas to california. he's at the white house with details on all of this. a most curious move, mike. let's get to some of the details. what do we know? >> reporter: the trump administration is now taking immigrant detainees from overwhelmed facilities in texas and flying them to san diego where they could soon be released. and with talk now of expanding the flights to other cities around the country local officials including some republicans are up in arms. on friday hundreds of immigrant detainees arrived in san diego. officials say flights like these will now take place three times a week with each flight carrying around 130 people. the flights will continue indefinitely. once on the ground the detainees are fingerprinted have processed.
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immigration and custom enforcement officials will then decide to retlees them to the public. officials say the texas facilities are overwhelmed. in both march and april more than 100,000 undocumented immigrants crossed the border over the span of a month, numbers not seen in more than 12 years. last night president trump said he might bus detained immigrants to sanctuary cities. >> we'll bring them to sanctuary city areas and let that particular area take care of it. they're always saying they have open arms. let's see if they have open arms. >> reporter: but officials now insist the decision being where to transport migrants are not political and they would not specifically target sanctuary cities. in florida the trump administration was considering the release of hundreds of migrants in broward and palm beach counties each month, two democratic strong holds.
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the response was swift from both sides including the newly elected republican governor of florida, a staunch trump ally. >> i don't think this should happen in florida. we have a lot of fish to fry in our own state with our own citizens. >> reporter: and it's not only florida republicanerize upset about this possibility of sending detainees to south florida. broward broward democrats are suggesting if it happens the detainees should be housed in trump properties there. >> joining me now michigan representative debbie dingell. let's get right to the this associated press report which says border patrol is considering detroit as one of the other cities to fly hundreds of migrant families for processing. have you heard anything about this, and what's your reaction to this plan in general? >> i have -- i don't know the specifics of the plan. i know what mike just reported, et cetera. but some of our border and custom patrol agents, some of
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the law enforcement -- i don't want to get anybody in trouble -- have asked because they are concerned. look, we've got to stop playing games with immigration. we need to have a comprehensive immigration reform. and the political shots doing this, both sides have got to figure out how we're going to come to the table, keep this nation safe, address the humanitarian issues, make sure we've got labor for where labor is needed and stop playing games. and that's what all this is. it's another political game. it's been two decades and we cannot deal with one of the most pressing problems addressing this nation. >> it is a tall order to put together a comprehensive plan, which explains why this is something that's been lobbied back and forth, you know, for decades at this point. i want to take a listen to texas representative will heard who gave our colleagues on morning joe a look at just how urgent the situation is at the border.
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>> last month 109,000 people came into the country illegally. the month before that 103,000 people. and for all of 2018 it was 400,000 people. border patrols is oesh whelmed, i.c.e. is overwhelmed, customs is overwhelmed. >> does border patrol have no choice but to send people to other cities? >> well, i think -- i know they're overwhelmed in texas but i think other communities are also being overwhelmed, which is why what's it going to take to get this together? what's it going to take everybody thinking this is something i can score a political point on, and understanding we've got to do something that overhauls this system. and, you know, there's so many complicated issues of this. we don't want to let gangs into this country which is what everybody wants to throw out, but there are real humanitarian issues and in the meantime farmers need help, the hospitality industry needs help.
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construction -- we don't want to take jobs away from americans but there are jobs that have to get done. and we've got our daca kids who are americans in every way. >> the president did not address that on thursday with his plan. >> he did not. it's going to take some great people on both sides sitting at the table and telling all of our leaders time to lead. >> here's another hot button issue as we move to missouri. that's become the latest state to pass the most restrictive abortion bill. it's followed right in the foot stem of alabama. you've got eight states contemplating restricting them right now. >> and people -- in fact michigan did it on monday as well so they've begun a ballot initiative here in michigan. you know, i hate this subject but it is a woman's right to choose. i believe these decisions are best between a woman, her doctor, her pastor, her
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minister, and it's not ours to interfere in. but cutting off women to getting good health care and rather prevent the pregnancy to begin with is one of the issues. what's happening now is taking issues that's been talked about for decades backwards. it's a very troubling move that -- i met somebody last night. i don't want to -- who had a very difficult medical situation who told me a horrific story. you know, when a woman is already in a very, very difficult state making difficult decisions, i don't belong in it. her doctor, her priests and she do. >> let's listen to what kevin mccarthy said in response to alabama's abortion bill this week. >> it goes further than i believe, yes. i defend my pro-life position in
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my whole political career. but in my whole political career i also believed in rape or incest of the mother. our republicans have voted in this house. that's what our platform says. >> were you surprised at all to har this from him? is it hopeful for you now that those people who opposed the bill, the top republican in the house says this one goes too far? >> you know, i think this is a difficult discussion, period. actually the discussion that i had last night with this woman fell into that category, so that's what we need to understand what's happening in the states. but why are we doing this? why are we seeing this movement? it's so difficult. it just tears women apart. and it's an individual's decision. but we do want to protect life. i could never have one. but it's not my decision to make for another woman. this is -- it's hard for all of us.
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and what we're seeing in the states is deeply disturbing, and all its designed again is to stir up more trouble. >> yeah. i want to turn to a house hearing on big pharma in which the ceo daniel oday was grilled on how the drug manufacturer could charge $1,700 a month for an hiv prevention drug. it was discovered through taxpayer research. let's take a listen to this exchange. >> so the list price is almost $2,000 in the united states. why is it $8 in australia? >> truvana still has patent protection in the united states and in the rest of the world it is generic. >> we the public, we the people developed this drug, we paid for this drug. we led and developed all the grounding patents to create prep, and then that patent has been privatized despite the fact the patent is owned by the public. we refuse to enforce it.
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there is no reason it should be $2,000 a month. people are dying because of it. >> jaw dropping. almost $2,000 a month here versus $8 a month in australia. how can the government better protect consumers from situations like this going forward? >> yes, we have to do something about it. and i think my colleague did a very good job in asking those questions. >> sure did. >> we have heard about the epipen, insulin -- the thing i'm trying to educate people about right now is the inhaler, the purple inhaler you see children use is $800. $800. and you get a mother -- this is how i found out about it but i've been talking to people all over the place since then. a mother of two that's working two jobs still at the poverty line and has a child with asthma. it doesn't -- and the generic drugs -- or it's not generically offered here in the united states.
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people with aids are often the ones who can least afford that kind of medication. we have to do something about the cost of drugs in this country. it's not a partisan issue. republicans and democrats are hearing about it across the country. and these are lifesaving drugs, and we've got to go in and do something. these companies will alter a molecule and keep something still on patents instead of put it into generic. we've got to do something at the very least medicare can go in so we can lower the cost to consumers. but when the cost of insulin, the cost of asthma medicine and the cost of this aids drug, but every day the cost children and adults are using are so prohibitive people are making the choice between eating or taking their medicine. >> it hits republicans and democrats alike. we've got to get on the same page on this. always good to talk to you, my
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friend. we're just getting started this saturday. at the top of the hour it's up with david gura. >> joe biden's deputy campaign manager joining us. looking forward to talking to her about what to expect. and we're going to air my interview with democratic governor jay insley. his entire campaign centers on what he calls the campaign crisis. he was in davenport looking at the damage caused by a record setting flood there. and the governor says as the world deals with more natural disasters the u.s. has to make real commitments to move to clean faerj. so far it's not translating to high poll numbers for the governor. we're going to get into that disconnect. >> i'm glad you are. the push to get robert mueller to testify in a house hearing, that takes a new turn. hearing, that takes a new turn staining be done...
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do you believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witch hunt against anybody? >> i don't -- i don't believe mr. mueller would be involved in a witch hunt. if you were the president i think you would view it as a witch hunt and hoax because at the time he was saying he was innocent and being falsely accused. i think if i was being falsely accused i'd be comfortable saying it was a witch hunt. >> attorney general william barr there backing down from his
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claim back in january, now echoing the president's claims special counsel mueller was involved in a witch hunt. and a new op-ed in "the washington post" argues while the president, quote now has an attorney general, the united states no longer does. joining me now msnbc legal contributor katie fang back from the last hour. let's get to this topic because barr interviewed confirmed in that same time frame here that he is investigating the investigators into something the president has certainly called for. if his concerns were legitimate there was indeed misconduct, shouldn't he have the findings first? what's your take on the validation of the term witch hunt? >> it's what i call a pandobar citing. he pretty much is running around echoing the surrogate speech to it being a witch hunt, which makes you scratch your head. if the mueller report according
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to trump vindicated him and indicated no collusion or obstruction, why is mueller a witch hunt? it's not logical a complete 180 from earlier. let's be clear there's no three investigations into the investigation. bill barr needs to stay out of this. he has an inspector general and then he randomly appointed another u.s. attorney to look into this. fundamentally you have people that can conduct the investigations, and put them to the american public. but also we still haven't seen the unredacted portions of of the mueller report. let's see the mueller report and then let's see what the underlying evidence was in the mueller report and then we can see whether or not there was something that ran afoul of propriety. but to suggest it was done inaccurately or improperly is complete from barr. it really stretches the imagination. >> let me read that line that the president, quote, now has an attorney general and the united
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states no longer does. how does this apparent partisanship by the a.g. hurt the department of justice's credibility? >> we have to be grateful there are several employees at the doj that take their oath seriously and they are following the rule of law. the attorney general of the united states is the highest law enforcement officer in the land and a.g. barr is not doing that. we've all heard trump was looking for his roy cohn. he has found his roy cohn in bill barr. and it's very disheartening to suggest now the highest law enforcement officer in the land can go and conduct partisan investigations just because he feels like it. and so it's a very kind of sobering day that we sit here and we have an a.g. who now is viewed as being the personal counsel to donald trump and not the attorney representing the people of the united states. >> katie, thank you for breaking it down for us. the battle over abortion rights and the impact it could have in 2020. nd the impact it cd have in 2020
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amid backlash by democrats and concerns from some republicans over alabama's near total abortion ban. that means no zepexceptions for rape or incest. joining me the consecutive director for angieies liz. on the law it offers no exemptions for rape or invest significants. do you think that is damaging for the president in 2020? >> absolutely. i think in issue the lawmakers lost their collective minds and i think it's heartless and cruel. i think it's a loser for the republicans and i hope they ry. >> what do you think will drive the gop base to the bulls or what about democrats? what about independents, where do you think they lie with you
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politically? >> i couldn't agree more. this is definitely a loser for republicans. this is a health care issue. we saw what happened in 2018. republicans lost the house in health care alone, really fueled by the government's attempt to strip health care more broadly. we just had this in addition to week to all of the massive extreme abortion bans sweeping across the country these republicans have been trying to push through for years. we saw 183 republicans vote against lowering prescription drug prices, they have an assault on women having and it's a complete loser in 2020. >> what about those democrats who are really latching on to this issue, including elizabeth warren, gillibrand, cory booker, all saying they will allow abortions if elected. how do you say this influencing and shaping the 2020 race? >> i think the 20 race was
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looking pretty good for republicans based on the fact the economy is strong and donald trump seems to have settled in to the presidency. but this issue has the potential to blow it up for the republicans. i mean first of all, they were winning this war if you want to call it that on abortion, in that abortion rates were down. we now have advanced to the point where we have plan b and other technological resources for women, which have made abortions legal necessary for women who have unwanted pregnancies. so why they would come in and shoot themselves in the foot by coming in with something that sounds so draconian to not allow a woman who is raped to have an abortion or a woman who has been the victim of incest to have an abortion, it has the potential to send women flocking in droves to the democratic party whereas before the issue had pretty much died down. >> do you think -- go ahead.
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>> i think they're trying to exploit the fact they have now just kavanaugh in the supreme court. well, i don't believe justice kavanaugh or justice roberts or even these purpose portedly republican supreme court justices are going to come in and overturn roe v. wade. so it's all for naulkno naught g to cause them the election. >> should it give the president enthused about and salrally beh? >> i think this is a losing legal battle, i agree with that, and losing political battle. you have leadership and most, if not all of the democratic presidential contenders have come out strongly condemning these abortion bans but you're seeing real leadership from the folks you mentioned, senator dp gillibrand and warren and booker. health care shouln't hadn't be
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predicated on which zip code you live in. that is hurting women and families and will drive people to the polls to support democrats, including independents you mentioned. >> i'm afraid that's all we have time for but we will certainly continue this conversation. i'm sure we will. coming up -- bill de blasio, does he really think he can win the white house? he can win the white house? i don't keep track of regrets.
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that will do it for me on
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"weekends with alex witt." i will see you at noon eastern. stay where you are. it's time for "up with david gura." this is "up." i'm david gura. this morning the battle lines over abortion rights from alabama to missouri, a wave of new restrictions hit states across the country. the bill's backer banking on the supreme court to take on the issue while the women try to hold the lines. >> we are under attack and will not stand for it. >> a nine wiationwide assault o women's rights. >> a new filing sheds light on how donald trump's team pried to put pressure on michael flynn while attorney william barr remains focused on investi