mostly for policy point of view, people are hurting. we got to deal with infrastructure, with climate, with the high cost of prescription drugs, expand medicare for dental and hearing aids and vision, et cetera, et cetera. but you want to hear something else, from a political point of view, as you well know, chris, history is against us retaining the house and senate. last 21 elections -- >> got to move fast. >> -- 19 cases the opposition party has won seats. we can't lose seats. if you want to gain control of the house and senate, do something bold to help working families. >> senator bernie sanders, thanks for make time. this is it. "the rachel maddow show" starts now, good evening, rachel. >> solar power is emanating from your visage, you're a celestial body right now, radiating goodness.

>> that's kind of you to say. it's mostly the solar array. but i'll take it. >> well done, my friend. all right. thanks to you at home for joining us, happy to have you here this monday night. we start with news first broken by rivals across town at cnn. cnn today obtained audio of a 2019 phone conversation between rudy giuliani and an adviser to the president of ukraine. in that conversation which took place in 2019, mr. giuliani can be heard pressuring the ukrainian government their president must publicly announce a sham investigation into some alleged wrongdoing by joe biden. if that sounds familiar, then president trump made the exact same demand of the president of ukraine three days after this call happened. july 25th, 2019, conversation,

trump famously told the ukrainian president he must quote do us a favor though. he wanted president of ukraine to announce a bogus investigation into joe biden, the democratic presidential candidate that trump most feared running against in 2020. until newly elected president of ukraine announced these bogus investigations into joe biden, trump said that unless and until he did that, congressionally approved u.s. military aid to ukraine would be put on ice, would not come through until zellenski did what trump needed in 2020. in making this extortionate play against the president, trump refused to grant him something he was desperately seeking at

the time, meeting at white house. ukraine at war with russia then and now. it was desperately important to ukraine they get u.s. aid and whole world could see that the united states of america was on ukraine's side, standing with ukraine in their conflict with russia. trump held all of that back, no, no, no, not unless you help me in my domestic re-election campaign by smearing joe biden. that call happened between trump and ukrainian president july 25th, 2019. hair raising nature of the call alerted by anonymous whistleblower, set in motion first of two impeachments of president donald trump. but before tonight, before cnn published this today, we had never before heard the call that rudy giuliani made three days before trump's call, in which

giuliani made clear these were the stakes. laid out the groundwork for the call between the two presidents. rudy giuliani and top adviser to ukraine's president. this call took place three days before trump's one-on-one call with ukraine's president. and this all came after giuliani had spent months meeting with secret sources in ukraine trying to dig up dirt on joe biden himself. secret sources giuliani was meeting with, u.s. government has identified them as active agents of russian intelligence services. getting dirt from russian intelligence, demanding that ukraine use that as basis for announcing sham investigations into biden and he and trump made clear they would get nothing they needed unless they helped trump out. such a sordid thing, and we've

been through a lot last few years but this remains unspeakably craven thing. now we've got the audio which speaks for itself. before i play it, note that nbc has not independently obtained this, it is cnn's audio, but contents match up with previous reporting about the content of the call and transcript of it obtained by buzzfeed news. listen. >> what we need from the president to put an honest prosecutor in charge to investigate and dig up the evidence that presently exists and any other evidence about involvement in the 2016 election and the biden thing has to be run out. >> run a political hit on my

opponent, maybe then you can get your money and white house visit. >> if he can make a statement at the right time he supports a fair, honest law enforcement system and these investigations go wherever they need to go, run by honest people, that would clear the air really well and i think make it possible for me to come and make it possible for me i think to talk to the president and see what i can do before making sure whatever misunderstandings are put aside. maybe even -- i kind of think this can be a good thing for finding a much better relationship where we really understand each other. if he could say something like that on his own in conversation, it would go a long way with the president to solve the problems.

>> it would go a long way with the president to solve the problems. these problems you're having, at war with russia and really need to show we're on your side, we can get some distance solving those problems if you do us a favor. those were the calls that rudy giuliani made to the top aide to the president. three days later trump calls the ukraine president, he gets impeached for trying to escort and leverage a foreign government to interfere in our election and help him out against joe biden. rudy giuliani is now the subject of ongoing criminal investigation by federal prosecutors in new york, reportedly dealing with his dealings with ukraine ahead of the election. we don't know if that call is implicated or not. federal agents raided rudy

giuliani's home and office. seized 18 electronic devices per federal search warrant. we continue to await news of what will happen next regarding rudy giuliani, president trump's former personal lawyer. as for ukraine, the president never did announce a bogus investigation into joe biden. they did get military aid once the plot was supposed and forced their hand. as for the white house meeting, ukraine never got that. but timing of this audio, this is consequential, cnn publishing the call, hear how the previous administration mugged that country. telling them they wouldn't get anywhere in relations with the u.s., a call between presidents or white house meeting unless

their president agreed to help president trump in his election effort, announced they were investigating trumped up allegations against joe biden. on the day we get to hear the audio of rudy giuliani's part of the campaign, today president biden was on the phone with president of ukraine. he's about to leave on first foreign trip as president. going to europe, g-7 meeting, geneva for one-on-one with vladimir putin. ahead of him leaving for the trip, we're seeing how he's setting the stage for it. putin of course sees his greatest enemies in the world as us, nato and nations like ukraine, which used to be part of the soviet union. i think so of it as rightfully russian and his, that's why he keeps taking pieces of it. putin thinks ukraine and georgia

and belarus and former soviet states should be all back inside some new version of the soviet union under his control. called the dissolution of the soviet union the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century. talking about 20th century, there's a lot of competition for geopolitical catastrophes in that century. but former soviet states, putin hates any inkling that "a," they aren't his anymore, and particularly they might ally themselves with the west, might want to be democracies, god forbid. hates they see their future as linked to america and western world instead of just dependent on russia. that's his perspective. hates and wants to undermine us and nato and former soviet states that don't act like they're still russia's to play with, ukraine foremost among

them. if you know that's where putin is coming from, ahead of this putin and biden meeting, how does the u.s. prepare, knowing those are putin's priorities, things that most aggravate him and he most wants to make mischief about in the world? in preparation for meeting with putin, president biden hosted head of nato at white house. secretary general. hello putin. also held a call with president of ukraine, after which announced that president biden has finally invited the president of ukraine to visit the white house this summer. thing that trump administration would never do for ukraine, president biden is going to do that now. and that call with zelensky and hosting of the u.n. chief all happened in the lead-up to the

meeting with putin. last things biden is doing here, pointedly intended to make as clear as possible to putin, u.s. isn't going to do anything they want and we'll stand by alliances like nato and ukraine that putin enjoys undermining. stark contrast with the previous administration. russian side, how are they preparing to meet with joe biden? one of the things is they're making it as clear as possible that russia has no aspirations to democracy, putin will hold on to power and crush all opposition by any means he wants and he believes he's free to do that in even the most egregious, performative, evocative terms because who is going to stop him? as president biden on the phone with president of ukraine, russia moving alexei navalny from a prison hospital where he

nearly died to the penal colony they indefinitely consigned him to. just in time for navalny's birthday, law banning societies in russia, open russia was forced to dissolve itself as the kremlin designated it as illegal. and he's committed the grave crime of helping run what is now described as undesirable organization. open russia advocates for russia to be open and democratic, essentially outlawed and leader in prison. arrested another promising opposition figure, dmitry gudkov. arrested, after he got out, warned he and his family are

liable for arrest again. he's fled to ukraine. made a posting on facebook, explaining why he left. remaining in russia i cannot be effective in an environment where any political activity leads to jail terms for politicians themselves, for supporters and family members. about his decision to flee to ukraine, this is not a defeat but tactical retreat he said. so russia goes to war against our ally ukraine, under the previous administration president trump uses that as leverage against ukraine. holds up military aid and signs of support for them unless and until they agree to cough up something he can use against joe biden in 2020 election. ukraine doesn't do it. russia decides they will intervene in our elections again in 2020 to help trump again. but it's not enough, joe biden beats trump and now we're in this incredible, clarifying

moment. ahead of putin's first meeting with biden, he locks up every opposition figure in the country he can lay hands on. ahead of biden's first meeting with putin, biden embraces ukrainian president, welcomes him to the white house, and hosts nato leader. black and white, night and day as the two leaders prepare to meet. president biden has published op-ed in the "washington post" about his forthcoming trip. on wednesday i depart for europe on the first foreign travel of my presidency. stacked with meetings with many of our closest democratic partners, group of seven, nato allies, leadership of the eu, before concluding by meeting with vladimir putin. in this moment of global uncertainty, this is realizing america's renewed commitment to allies and partners and

demonstrating the capacity of democracies to meet the challenges and deter the threats of this new age. says quote this is a defining question of our time -- can democracies come together and deliver real results for our people in rapidly changing world. where the institutions that shaped the last century prove their capacity against modern-day threats and adversaries? he concludes by saying i believe the answer is yes and this week in europe, we have the chance to prove it. can democracies deliver real results for our people? can the democratic system of government show it's up to meeting the moment? president biden has articulated this over and over this is our job in the world to show that democrats can do. to show that democracy isn't a quaint but defunct means of government too messy to do

things countries need to do in modern age. that's case made by rising ato becies and authoritarian governments around the world, most loudly by russia and china. president biden trying to be loudest voice against authoritarians in the world and biggest example why the authoritarian model is wrong and not as good as democracy at delivering for its people. the problem with this is we do actually need to be a good example of governing ourselves in order to win this argument. our democratic system of government actually does have to do stuff that's good for the country in order to win this argument in the world and that is not necessarily happening right now. here's now national security adviser jake sullivan put it at white house briefing after president biden made call to the president of ukraine.

>> question on voting. for the people act. if it is not past, is it a national security issue? >> i would say the basic notion of democratic reform and voting rights in the united states is a national security issue. we're in a competition of models with autocracies and trying to show the world that american democracy and democracy writ large can work, can effectively deliver the will of the people. to the extent we're not updating, refurbishing and revamping our democratic procedures to meet the needs of the modern moment, we're not going to be successful making that case to rest of the world, there is a national security dimension to this. >> there is a national security dimension to this. united states in a competition of models with autocracy. trying to show the world that democracy writ large can work

effectively to deliver the will of the people. there's national security dimension to this. china and russia and other authoritarian regimes are saying that democracies are failures, can't get anything done, weak and slow and elections are theater and don't give people say in the government despite all the high faluting talk about it. saying that elections are a joke, want to live in a country to meet the moment, have a dictator. it's quicker, easier, actually works. that's their case. us making the counterargument that democracy is a better way for humans to govern themselves is a noble thing. and i think ennobling idea for thinking about our place in the world, but when the rubber hits the road in terms of us setting a good example, we have a couple of real challenges here at home. first and most obvious one is

former president trump and his supporters and party as whole are making it their whole focus in life, what they're doing in politics, to undermine the last election, undermine the idea of elections as definitive statements of the will of the people at all. their most important task right now, litmus task for support for republican politicians by the former president is if he they promote this fiction that president trump wasn't really voted out of office. when cnn posted that audio of giuliani's call to the ukrainian government, reporters said the call was one of the opening salvos in the year's long quest by trump and his allies to subvert the 2020 election and damage biden. lying about voter fraud, attempting to overturn the results and inciting the deadly

assault on the capitol. it's all part of the same thing. if we're trying to show the world that democracy works. free and fair elections are the righteous way for free people to express their views. it's a problem, if one of the major parties decides they reject, deny and defy election results if they don't produce their desired results. after election that produces not their desired result, they try to overturn it, delegitimize it and set about partisan efforts to take over the election process themselves to make it not a technocratic good thing but a thing that republicans control to deliver republican wins. president trump gave hiss big return to politics speech this weekend in north carolina, called the 2020 election a crime. got a big ovation for that. simultaneously in georgia, that state republican party held

their convention, they booed and booed their state's republican governor brian kemp, passed a censure motion against the republican secretary of state because they didn't accede to trump's demand they overturn the election result after he lost to joe biden in that statement that's one of the challenges at home for us making the case to the world for democracy and voting rights and free and fair elections we agree to abide by. that's the challenge. republicans are not sure they're on board with democracy in that way anymore. but on the other side, the challenge is whether democrats are going to be able to do anything about it. whether democrats are going to be able to get something done in this part of governing. whether they can actually do something, effectuate something, deliver reforms to protect democracy against internal threats, to protect democracy and voting rights.

here's something new, something you have not even before, exclusive to us, about to start airing on tv tomorrow, big seven-figure ad buy. national democratic redistricting committee, effort to build up support for the voting rights bill that democrats are having a hard time passing. >> this is power, so is this, you recognize it. but for corporate special interest and billionaires buying elections, dark money is power. billions spent, gerrymandering districts and restricting our freedom to vote. exactly why we need the for the people act, hr-1 to ban dark money, restore districts and protect our freedom to vote. the real power is you and it's time for the people to win. >> time for the people to win, for the people is the term, it's name of the bill.

exclusive to us, airing tomorrow. we're going to speak with former attorney general eric holder in just a moment, working with the restricting committee in effort to get the bill passed. conservative democratic senator joe manchin from west virginia is only democrat in senate not signed on to sponsor the bill and this weekend said he doesn't support it. made it as clear as he ever has in op-ed he published in west virginia paper. he's not making any substantive case against the bill, not laying out things in the bill he's against, he says he's against it purely and only because there aren't republicans who will vote for it. republicans wouldn't vote for covid relief either and he supported that. but apparently on voting rights republicans saying no, regardless of why they're saying no, that's reason enough for him to say no, too. here's something else though

that i don't think you've seen, something senator manchin very much should see, this is new polling that was just done for a group trying to pass the for the people act. they work specifically to get anonymous, dark money out of politics. polled west virginia voters, margin of error plus or minus four points. on the covid relief, which he voted for, wildly popular among the west virginia voters. 64% support in west virginia, that's huge. then they polled on biden's infrastructure bill, american jobs act, another bill that manchin won't vote for unless republicans vote for it too, regardless of why. it's even more popular. covid relief has 64% support. infrastructure bill is even higher.

68% in west virginia, the jobs bill. but now look at this, third piece of legislation polled on in west virginia is for the people act, voting rights bill. it is more popular than covid relief and infrastructure bill. they had 64% and 68% for those two things, voting rights bill has 79% support among west virginia voters, 79%. support among democrats, 81%, independents, 79%. republicans in west virginia, 76%. more than 3 in 4 west virginia republicans support the for the people act. more than 3 in 4 republicans. senator from west virginia, joe manchin, says he's against it. by 21-point margin, they'd be more likely to support joe manchin if he supports the bill,

but he's against it. every component, making voter registration easier, limiting anonymous donations from special interests and corporations, all of it is very popular, way over majority support among west virginia voters but joe manchin won't vote for it because republican senators won't, no matter what their reasons are. also won't change the filibuster rules so democrats can pass that bill and others. even though the minority don't support it. joe manchin is against the tide of his own voters on that. majority said it should be eliminated or changed or don't care either way. nevertheless, joe manchin won't vote to change it at all. again we've got former attorney

general eric holder here to talk about the effort to pass the voting rights bill, also at propitious time after learned about the trump justice department apparently violating rules set during eric holder's tenure as attorney general about not pursuing reporters to try to get their sources. as trump's white house chief of staff pressured the justice department directly to investigate the conspiracy theories about supposed election fraud after trump lost in 2020. clear black letter justice department policy that expressly prohibits the white house doing that. set in writing by eric holder, supposedly still in place today, despite the trump white house apparently violating the heck out of that, trying to get the

justice department on board about undermining the election. eric holder is our guest next, stay with us. uest next, stay with us ♪ don't you agree? ♪ ♪ don't you agree? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ow! ♪

with relapsing forms of ms... there's a lot to deal with. not just unpredictable relapses. all these other things too. it can all add up. kesimpta is a once-monthly at-home injection... that may help you put these rms challenges in their place. kesimpta was proven superior at reducing the rate of relapses, active lesions, and slowing disability progression vs aubagio. don't take kesimpta if you have hepatitis b, and tell your doctor if you have had it, as it could come back. kesimpta can cause serious side effects, including infections. while no cases of pml were reported in rms clinical trials, it could happen. tell your doctor if you had or plan to have vaccines, or if you are or plan to become pregnant. kesimpta may cause a decrease in some types of antibodies. the most common side effects are upper respiratory tract infection, headache, and injection reactions. ready for an at-home treatment with dramatic results?

it's time to ask your doctor about kesimpta. ready for an at-home treatment with dramatic results? hey lily, i need a new wireless plan for my business, but all my employees need something different. oh, we can help with that. okay, imagine this... your mover, rob, he's on the scene and needs a plan with a mobile hotspot. we cut to downtown, your sales rep lisa has to send some files, asap! so basically i can pick the right plan for each employee... yeah i should've just led with that... with at&t business... you can pick the best plan for each employee and only pay for the features they need.

joining us tonight live for the interview is eric holder, former u.s. attorney general, chairman of the national democratic redistricting committee, supporting efforts to pass the for the people act to bolster voting rights across the country. great to see you, thanks for making time to be here. >> thanks for having me, good to see you. >> how is private life treating you these days? >> not bad, miss a few things, comrades at justice department and i miss my airplane, that was nice thing. i was never late. plane always had to wait for the attorney general. >> one of the few things you don't think about with high level public service, do you get a plane. >> just like everybody else now.

>> for the people act, your organization has big ad buy starting tomorrow supporting the for the people act. joe manchin would seem to be the main problem that the democrats have, senator manchin from west virginia, in terms of whether or not they'll be able to get it passed. do you see a path and think will become law? >> i disagree a little bit with what you said, senator manchin, there's issues to work out. but main thing is we have a republican party changing the laws to maintain power. affordable care act was pronounced dead for lack of bipartisan support and it's now law of the land. hoping that senator manchin will understand the dimensions we're looking at. this is beyond a partisan issue,

beyond re-election prospects of anybody. this is about what kind of democracy, what form of government are we going to have. and i would amplify what jake sullivan said, if you look at 20th century, we saw the rise of fascism and communism not because democracy -- not because it was strong but because democracies were not protected, defended as strongly as effectively as they should be. and we should take that history to heart and do all that we can to defend our democracy. >> it seems to me there's a number of clear and present danger, points of clear and present danger now for our democracy. in republican-controlled states everywhere in the country we're seeing very, very aggressive efforts to roll back voting rights and quite worringly to

put partisans in charge of the voting and putting power to overturn election results in hands of partisans. also seeing i think unprecedented interest on the republican side with having partisan third party sham audits and recounts where they're accessing real ballots and voting machines and going back over them without any controls supposed to apply to our real voting system to cast doubt on the results. should the justice department -- whether or not reforms are passed, should the justice department be involved as backstop to stop any of the three components of what we're up against right now? >> yeah, i think the justice department has got to be involved and aggressively involved. that fraudit going on in arizona now might seem for whatever

reason as something republicans want to support for short-term gain, i don't know exactly what it is. but clearly will do long-term damage to our democracy if it raises in minds of people in this country doubts about the effectiveness, integrity of our electoral system. let me be clear, there is no indication that last election was conducted in anything other than appropriate way. record numbers of people got to the polls, had the ability to express their views, were counted in appropriate ways. republican state officials responsible for counting of the votes did their jobs well. trump's attorney general, who i have lots of problems with, indicated there was no fraud in the election. so all of these things they're doing now are counterproductive, within basis and will hurt, harm our hard-won democracy. >> but isn't there something beyond that, though?

knowing that they are hurting our democracy, knowing they are inappropriate and unwise as you described, criticism for them for doing it, shouldn't somebody be stopping them? occurs to me, pam carlin as head of the civil rights division of arizona warning arizona what they were doing was illegal, violation of federal law in terms of the way ballots and voting machines were supposes to be handled, that should be followed up with action, otherwise they're flouting federal law without paying a price for it. >> to the extent there are violations or suspicions, justice department has to be aggressive. sending letter is important,

sets parameters, if justice department is aware of violation of federal law, it should be investigated and stopped, to the extent the justice department has that ability. doj is one of those rare agencies that has the ability to protect our democracy any number of ways. this is one of those times when justice department as i said has got to be aggressive and forward leaning in trying to make sure what is going on in these different states if it violates federal law, needs to be stopped. letters are fine, has to be followed up with action. >> our guest is former attorney general eric holder, if you could hold on, i have a lot more to ask if you can stick with us for quick break. >> sure. >> we'll be right back after this. after this

i booked our hotel on kayak. it's flexible if we need to cancel. cancel. i haven't left the house in a year. nothing will stop me from vacation. no canceling. flexible cancellation. kayak. search one and done. (naj) at fisher investments, our clients know we have their backs. flexible cancellation. (other money manager) how do your clients know that? (naj) because as a fiduciary, it's our responsibility to always put clients first. (other money manager) so you do it because you have to? (naj) no, we do it because it's the right thing to do. we help clients enjoy a comfortable retirement. (other money manager) sounds like a big responsibility. (naj) one that we don't take lightly. it's why our fees are structured so we do better when our clients do better. fisher investments is clearly different. hearing is important to living life to the fullest. that's why inside every miracle-ear store, you'll find better cheers with your favorite fans. you'll find a better life is in store at miracle-ear,

when you experience the exclusive miracle-ear advantage. our team is devoted to your care, with free service adjustments and cleaning of your miracle-ear hearing aids for life. we're so confident we can improve your life, we're offering a 30-day risk-free trial. call 1-800-miracle today and experience the miracle-ear advantage. call 1-800-miracle today and experience ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ hey google, turn up the heat. ♪ ♪ ♪ trelegy for copd. ♪ birds flyin' high you know how i feel ♪ ♪ breeze drifting on by you know how i feel ♪ [man: coughing]

♪ it's a new dawn, it's a new day... ♪ no matter how you got copd it's time to make a stand. ♪ ...and i'm feelin' good ♪ start a new day with trelegy. no once-daily copd medicine has the power to treat copd in as many ways as trelegy. with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy helps people breathe easier and improves lung function. it also helps prevent future flare-ups. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. do not take trelegy more than prescribed. trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. it's time to start a new day. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. and save at trelegy.com. ask your doctor about once-daily trelegy. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

monitor, check and lock down you money with security from chase. control feels good. chase. make more of what's yours. joining us once again is

eric holder, chairman of the national democratic redistricting committee. mr. attorney general, thanks for sticking with us. elegant writing by you in 2009, authored a memo for the justice department for policy that controls communication between the white house and justice department. legal judgments of the department of justice must be impartial and insulated from political influence and you lay out in detail. and as other attorneys general before you have done, laid out restrictive rules about people who can communicate from the white house to justice department in matter of pending or potential criminal investigation. it's still policy as far as we know. but "new york times" headline,

trump white house chief of staff mark meadows pressed justice department to investigate election fraud claims. "times" first to report that trump white house had chief of staff calling the justice department and attorney general, telling him to chase rabbits, chase down the craziest conspiracy theories of how trump was supposedly robbed of his rightful election result in 2020. i have to ask your reaction to that given your role in shaping the policy that's supposed to block that from happening. let me say this clearly, that story is appalling. that sets out a contacts policy, the memo and delimits the people in the white house with the ability to interact with the justice department. given law enforcement abilities, ability to take property and imprison people, has to be

nonpolitical, act in nonpolitical way. one of the ways you wall off the justice department from potential white house influence is have very clear lines who can contact the justice department with any issues. story if correct and no reason to believe it's not, clearly a violation of that contacts policy. both with regard who was contacting justice department and substance of what mr. meadows was trying to get the justice department to do. that goes against everything that every justice department has tried to have in place since the watergate era. republican attorneys general and democratic attorneys general. it's appalling. >> what is supposed to be the consequence when it's broken. one of the things we ran up against in the trump administration is policies, norms, standards and expections,

violates, flagrantly trampled and us learning hard way as country that there's no real consequences of people violating these things. fundamental tenet of what the justice department is going to be but i don't know anything is going to happen for this violation of it. >> one of the things the trump administration did expertly was trash norms and policies. there is no criminal sanction for the violation of the contacts policy. but would hope that people who are involved in government at executive branch would respect the norms. congressional oversight is something that's one way in which they needs to be brought up. would hope with all the other things congress is in progress of considering, would find time to hold hearings of what happened here. what was meadows trying to do with the justice department, and what was the reaction? why didn't the justice

department surface that the white house was trying to do. you can't have people telling you in the white house what you should be investigating and not react to that in some very strong, negative way. so i'd like to see what happened within the justice department. >> let me ask you about recent reporting from the "washington post" and cnn and within the last few days from the "new york times," all similar contours we learned very end of the trump administration in 2020, reporters at all three news entities had their sources sought by justice department action. when their phone records and email records were sought and obtained by justice department, it appeared to be looking for their sources. you at obama era justice department were involved in controversial efforts to root out leaks, things involving reporters. ended up with you setting a new policy for the justice

department that pretty severely restricted the circumstances under which justice department can use its power to seek information about reporters and their sources. wondered if you have followed that current reporting and whether or not you feel that the policy you left the justice department with, which we thought was in effect, was similarly violated in the last days of the trump administration. >> reading the story as it appears, policy we left in place was probably violated. i put it in place because i thought we had gone too far. and concerns raised by the media were valid ones. what i said in the policy is that if you want access to records related to reporters, you should first go to the publishers, people who run newspapers and are in charge of the television stations, tell them you're seeking this information so you can negotiate something or so that people in

media have the ability to go to court to frustrate what the justice department is trying to do, oppose it. doesn't appear on basis of what i read and wouldn't surprise me if they ignored the policy, and it was a good policy, struck a balance between the needs of law enforcement and protection of the press. seems they have violated that policy. i'm not surprised by that. >> eric holder, former u.s. attorney general, now chairman of the redistricting committee supporting the voting acts bill. come back anytime you want to be here. >> take care, rachel. >> we'll be right back. stay with us. stay with us

♪ welcome back ♪ ♪ to that same old place that you laughed about ♪ ♪ well, the names have all changed ♪ ♪ since you hung around ♪ ♪ but those dreams have remained ♪ ♪ and they've turned around ♪ ♪ who'd have thought they'd lead you ♪ ♪ (who'd have thought they'd lead you) ♪ ♪ back here where we need you ♪ ♪ (back here where we need you) ♪ ♪ yeah, we tease him a lot... ♪ welcome back, america. it sure is good to see you. [ footsteps] [ suspenseful music ] ♪♪ hey, you wanna get out of here? ah ha. we've got you. during expedia travel week, save 20% or more on thousands of hotels. just book between june 8th and 12th to plan your escape with expedia. expedia. it matters who you travel with.

my psoriatic arthritis pain? i had enough! it's not getting in my way. joint pain, swelling, tenderness...much better. my psoriasis, clearer... cosentyx works on all of this. four years and counting. so watch out. i got this! watch me. real people with active psoriatic arthritis look and feel better with cosentyx. cosentyx works fast for results that can last. it treats the multiple symptoms of psoriatic arthritis,

like joint pain and tenderness, back pain, and helps stop further joint damage. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if you've had a vaccine, or plan to. serious allergic reactions may occur. i just look and feel better. i got real relief with cosentyx. watch me! feel real relief. ask your rheumatologist about cosentyx. bipolar depression. it's a dark, lonely place. this is art inspired by real stories of people living with bipolar depression. emptiness. a hopeless struggle. the lows of bipolar depression can disrupt your life and be hard to manage. latuda could make a real difference in your symptoms. latuda was proven to significantly reduce bipolar depression symptoms, and in clinical studies, had no substantial impact on weight. now i'm feeling connected.

empowered. latuda is not for everyone. call your doctor about unusual mood changes, behaviors or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens, and young adults. elderly dementia patients on latuda have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor about fever, stiff muscles, and confusion, as these may be life-threatening, or uncontrollable muscle movements as these may be permanent. these are not all the serious side effects. this is where i want to be. talk to your doctor and ask if latuda could make the difference you've been looking for in your bipolar depression symptoms. it was a month ago today a organized crime group based in

russia shut down largest oil pipeline in the usa in cyberattack. the company paid ransom to get it back up and running, but didn't know the company paid that ransom in conjunction with the fbi. so the fbi could follow the money to find the bad guys. this is from the justice department today, quote, on or about may 8th, the pipeline company advised the fbi it was instructed to send ransom payment of $4.3 million to cryptocurrency address -- a million digits. showed the money and fbi carefully tracked that payment as it was traded from one unpronounceable cryptocurrency address to another to another to another, split up, recombined and stopped moving about a week and a half ago. today the fbi seized that money,

and in doing so got most of the ransom money back. part of the reason the fbi released this information today is because the number two official at justice department lisa monaco wanted to say it helps if you tell the fbi early on. we were notified immediately about this attack. because of that, we were able to do something about it, including getting back most of the ransom money. all the other companies hit by ransomware, see something, say something right away, we can help. fbi is not saying how they got the money back after they tracked it down. they need to protect their tradecraft, but this is advancement in terms of understanding what our government is able to do around these kinds of crimes. question is can they keep doing it, consistently do, steal back our lunch money, everyone's lunch money as it keeps getting

taken over and over again by these crooks? watch this space. h this space ♪ na na na na ♪ na na na na... ♪ hey hey hey. ♪ goodbye. ♪ na na na na... ♪ hey hey hey. ♪ goodbye. ♪ na na na na ♪ na na na na... the world's first six-function multipro tailgate. available on the gmc sierra.

did you know prilosec otc can stop frequent heartburn the wobefore it begins?unction multipro tailgate. heartburn happens when stomach acid refluxes into the esophagus. prilosec otc uses a unique delayed-release formula that helps it pass through the tough stomach acid. it then works to turn down acid production, blocking heartburn at the source. with just one pill a day, you get 24-hour heartburn protection. prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn.

tonight, i'll be eating fried avocado tacos. [doorbell rings] [doorbell rings] thank you. ooo... you gonna eat that at lesliepalooza? what? who's coming to that? everyone's coming, everybody. you, her, me, all of us.

when you're born and raised in san francisco, you grow up wanting to make a difference. everyone's coming, everybody. that's why, at recology, we're proud to be 100% employee owned with local workers as diverse as san francisco. we built the city's recycling system from the ground up, helping to make san francisco the greenest big city in america but we couldn't do it without you. thank you, san francisco. gracias, san francisco. -thank you. -[ speaks native language ] let's keep making a differene together. all right, i'm standing on lawrence's real estate so that's going to do it for us. time for lawrence o'donnell with the aforementioned lawrence o'donnell. >> we have something special since the joe manch