so... i know you and george were struggling with the possibility of having to move. how's that going? well... we found a way to make bathing safer with a kohler walk-in bath. it has the lowest step-in of any bath. it has handrails, a wide door, and textured surfaces. so it gives you peace of mind. and you would love the heated backrest - and the whirlpool jets - and the bubblemassage. and, it was installed quickly and conveniently by a kohler-certified installer. a kohler- authorized dealer walked us through every

step in the process and made us feel completely comfortable in our home. and, yes, it's affordable. looking good, george! we just want to spend as much time as possible, in our home and with our grandkids. they're going to be here any minute for our weekly spa day. ooh, that bubblemassage! have fun! stay in the home and life you've built for years to come. call 1-800-986-5068 to receive one-thousand dollars off your kohler walk-in bath. and take advantage of our special offer of no payments for eighteen months. a good day to all of you, welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. we're going first to the breaking news, president biden and the first lady landing at heathrow airport after meeting

with queen elizabeth. president biden said he has invited the queen to the white house. >> we had a great talk. she wanted to know what the two leaders that i am about to meet with, mr. putin, and about -- about xi as well, and we had a long talk. she was very generous. i don't think she would be insulted, but she reminded me of my mother, in terms of the look of her and just the generosity. i said, man, it's been a long time. she said, maybe we can stay longer. we can hold the cars up. she was very gracious. >> the bidens stood on either side of the queen as the u.s. national anthem was played, and the president participated in

the inspection of the honor guard. he was walking there across the windsor castle courtyard. then they made their way inside for the meeting and tea time. the royal family tweeted out a photo of the trio inside the state apartments, the meeting lasted just a bit over half an hour. and andrea mitchell joins us, you had a great, big interview with antony blinken earlier. let's talk about his observations, and we're just getting a push alert as well. i want to quickly if i can ask you what came out of israel,

specifically inside the knesset, that vote that prime minister benjamin netanyahu has been officially removed from power, to be replaced by a right-wing lawmaker. talk about that, too. >> let me start there with the breaking news. i was just there two weeks ago, before brussels, and the uk, and before i was in turkey, the week before that, i was in israel covering secretary blinken's trip there. i've been talking to people as well about this, and bennett is in a very unusual coalition to say the least. this is a coalition of bennett, very conservative, very religious, more right-wing, they say, than netanyahu. who has aligned himself with a

centrist, he had more votes, but he needed bennett's votes to get the 61 needed to have a majority to oust netanyahu after 12 years. in his previous term as prime minister, he had been in recent years a divisive figure. they've had four elections in the last two years, they couldn't reach a majority. he tried to keep on, but finally after calling it a fake election and using a lot of trumpian terms, he had to concede that he didn't have the votes. it's a very fragile coalition. he can challenge the new coalition, which is going to be led by bennett, even though he had so few votes. but he was the critical glue holding it together. and he will be prime minister for two years, then will turn it over to the centrist for two

more years. who has more popularity throughout the israeli public. it's believed that because they're so unlike in terms of their view of the palestinian state, that there will be no national political diplomatic decisions made in terms of returning to the two-state solution, or all of the things that netanyahu backed away from with the support of donald trump. so they will not resolve the palestinian issues, but they have some arab-israeli members, so it's a very mixed group. and it's going to be hard for them to stick together. there have been public warnings from their domestic security organization that there have been terrible right-wing threats against the lives of the two coalition leaders.

but they will focus on domestic issues, the economy, the pandemic, and all the other challenges to israel. that's my israel report for now. but they're all heavily guarded because we all know what happened tragically back in the '90s to rabin. >> one more question about netanyahu. do you expect he will return to a sense of power or leadership at any point in the future within israel, given the fact that it's almost as if you could have seen this particular vote coming, with his failure to build a coalition after four elections, and he's facing allegations of corruption and a trial as well? >> i think you should never rule him out. he is such a survivor, and no

one plays politics in israel better than netanyahu. but he overplayed his hand in this case. and the tensions that led to the gaza conflict still exists. the same groups of palestinians are being denied permanent residency, there are still marches, there will still be a court decision on the lands, so all of those tensions remain. it's a tinderbox. and with that all happening, netanyahu could force a vote of confidence at any time, if he gets enough people behind him and try to return to power. >> okay. let's next tackle the topic of the queen, being that you have met the queen and you've spoken about that. talk about what you take away from this meeting with the

bidens and the queen. >> well, it's quite remarkable, really, that the president came out and spoke to the group on the tarmac. there are several rules of protocol, you know them very well, you don't talk about what you've discussed with the queen. i can share now that the president has done it, back many years ago, i actually participated in a luncheon in scotland, as a spouse. we were briefed rigorously by the palace that when you go, you talk about dogs, horses, and the weather. dogs, particularly corgis. and we were prepared. as you said earlier, when we were talking in the noon hour, she knows every foreign leader, she's the commander in chief of the military, you saw her reviewing the troops today.

so what she asked, you know, the people at the table, at this very small lunch table, were questions about the economy. and the global economy. and what she according to the president wanted to know about was his upcoming meeting with vladimir putin, and what about president xi? she knows the world, and she's incredibly smart. she knows about these issues, and the fact that he talked about it is pretty remarkable. and that he said she reminds him of his mother, it's very joe biden. >> he's just talking off the top of his head, it's very joe biden. we were all a little bit worried, i thought, uh-oh, should you be talking about this? but he mentioned he's invited

her to come to the white house, and whether or not she will take him up on this, only because of her age. but yet, as you said -- >> she's so curious. she was here in 1976 for the bicentennial, and on the reagan trip to the west coast, there was a hurricane. she was here in 1991, and george bush 41 invited her to the memorial stadium on a very hot day. and the secret service glassed it in with plexiglass. and she was there for a dinner with state officials. and she came back in 2007, by the way, that was when she was

in the rose garden, and the president introduced her, and the podium was so high, all you could see was a talking hat. sometimes protocol on the american side doesn't work out well. check the pictures out. then in 2007, she went to colonial williamsburg. and came to the white house for a state dinner, and there was a return dinner at the british embassy. she's certainly been in america a number of times, and i wouldn't be surprised if she wants to return now. apparently they had a wonderful time with the bidens, so, who knows. >> and before i ask you about tony blinken, you are a treasure, andrea mitchell. your font of knowledge and the way you're able to recall everything, worth the price of admission to get you on the show. but let's get to antony blinken. had a wonderful conversation

with him, what was his takeaway about the tone and substance of this president's trip? >> he and the president have been saying this g7 was the most substantive and important, for years. and it's the first one in two years because of the pandemic. they did produce the billion doses of covid vaccine. i questioned him about the fact that it's not the 11 billion that the u.n. general secretary wants and that many groups say is needed to cure the pandemic. they are also defending what they got on china. it's the first time china was mentioned in the communique, even though it was not as strong against china's abuses, the forced labor, what the u.s. calls genocide against the uighurs, because of opposition from germany, italy, and japan,

who all have growing trade with china and hopes for more trade with china, and are not feeling as competitive and concerned about human rights issues as this administration is. that was a disappointment. although they're not acknowledging that. but they're very firm, they're getting ready for vladimir putin. they don't know what to expect. they're prepared either way if he's willing to be constructive or not. they're going to bring up a lot of things, including cyber. he's made this offer today on state television to trade russian hackers, what they say are non-government hackers, and blinken's point is, the president said, when peter alexander asked him about it, yeah, we'll trade. because we have laws and if they're breaking the law, those

people should be prosecuted, either here or there. but the question is, what more does putin want? and is this just something that he's trying to do to try to get the u.s. to back down on cyber? they're not going to back down on cyber. the president defended not having a news conference, a joint news conference in geneva when we go there wednesday after the summit, with putin, as former president trump did. and the president said that he doesn't want to be judged by the theatrics of it. he said, i'm going to be tough. you know i'm going to be tough. i don't have to perform, i'm paraphrasing, of course. so they're defending the fact that he will not play the game of trying to outperform putin in front of the cameras of the world. >> i'd like to play a sound bite from your interview with antony blinken and get you to react on the other side. take a listen to this, everyone.

>> sure. >> putin told my colleague that the u.s./russia relationship is the worst it's ever been. who is responsible for that? >> first, that may be the one thing i would be actually in agreement with, with president putin. that's probably an accurate description. the reckless and aggressive actions that russia has taken consistently are responsible. but we're also prepared to have and would prefer to have a more stable and fruitful relationship. i think that would be to the benefit of the united states and russia, and around the world. >> any chance of getting people out of russia? >> their arbitrary, unlawful detention needs to end. they need to come home. i've raised this every time i have spoken to my russian

counterpart. we'll work every single day to get them released and get them back. >> in fact, secretary blinken is determined to do something for americans held hostage in countries around the world. iran, turkey, and other places. and they're working with canada and others on a new initiative to try to do exactly that. >> andrea, thank you so much for your time. safe travels in the next few days. >> my pleasure. >> thank you. let's get a bit more on the g7 meeting, mike, the president, someone you know very well, given all the years you've followed him. he's declaring that america is back. is that how you read it, in terms of the interpretation of everybody there at the g7? >> i don't know about you. i would yield my time back to

andrea mitchell, i want to hear more about her conversation with the queen. but i do think it's notable what the tone of the g7 summit was, to hear that the queen asked him about xi and putin. and the queen has been a collector of information from heads of state, heads of government, for the entirety of her almost 70-year reign now. one of the things that the president was trying to achieve at the g7 summit was a number of deliverables on things like the pandemic, the economy, and ransomware and cyber. but he was also using this as an opportunity to collect the perspectives on especially the european leaders on vladimir putin. and this was all about sending

the message, america is back. the president said that himself when he spoke earlier today with reporters. >> the president said, it's not a problem, global warming, in the past. it's the existential problem facing humanity. i conveyed to my g7 counterparts that the united states will do our part. america is back at the table. america is back at the table. i noticed, there was a lot of coverage of my individual comments made by my colleagues about how we were all getting along together. but the truth of the matter is, we did. i felt a genuine sense of enthusiasm that america was back at the table, and fully engaged. and now i'm going to be heading off to brussels, to nato. and the same, many of the same people will be at that table. and in nato. and to make the case, we're

back, as well. bottom line is, i think we've made some progress in re-establishing american credibility among our closest friends and our values. >> alex, the thing that the white house is really sort of most proud of coming out of this summit is the language of what they call a communique. it's the joint statement after these types of multinational summits. the significance to the white house was the fact that they called china out specifically, by title, by name. something that hasn't happened in a g7 document before, specifically over the human rights abuses and genocide. when the president talks about the importance of our alliances, they feel like they've come away with this with some demonstration of what this looks like and the power of those words. >> mike, thank you.

you were the perfect punctuation point to our discussion with andrea mitchell. >> let's get right to the president's meeting with the queen, what were your biggest takeaways, sarah? >> no faux pas, it went off without a hitch. the queen has been doing this for almost 70 years. when she took the throne, joe biden was 9 years old. between the two of them, they have about a century of experience. and we got something that i don't think anyone bargained for. peter alexander got biden to talk about what he and the queen discussed. he was really forthcoming with details. take a listen. >> i said, i wish we could stay

longer. maybe we could hold the cars up a minute. she was very gracious. >> what was the castle like? >> by the way, she said, i said, we could fit the white house in the courtyard. she said, what's it like in the white house? i said, it's magnificent, but a lot of people. she said, i know, but here, on this end we're going, it's private. the public can go on the other end. >> did you invite her to the white house? >> yes. >> and, alex, we heard biden say he did invite the queen to the white house. the queen is 95 years old, she doesn't travel abroad anymore. perhaps she'll make an exception, but world leaders come to her, and maybe that's the way it should be. >> i was a little taken aback as joe biden started talking about the discussion with the queen, with all the protocol and all

the things that were taken to ensure privacy, but it was all innocuous. sarah, thank you from windsor. new reactions to the bombshell report about president trump's justice department secretly seizing data from house democrats. ghed 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.

president biden on his way to brussels. new polling shows how his first foreign trip as president is being received at home. 52% trust him to do a good job, and 49% are confident in biden's ability to negotiate with putin. and in the u.s., new

reaction to the bombshell reporting that the trump justice department secretly seized information about democrats and their families as part of a probe. congressman adam schiff saying they had no knowledge of these secret subpoenas. >> i'm very skeptical. given the sensitivity of seeking records belonging to members of congress, the fact that this may be completely unprecedented. the idea that that would be done without alerting the attorney general, seeking the approval of the attorney general seems far-fetched. nancy pelosi seemingly coming closer to a decision on how to move forward with an investigation into the january 6th attack on capitol hill. saying what happens in the senate tomorrow could determine whether or not she appoints a select committee.

>> we could go, i was asked to give it another week. so i'll see by monday if the senate believes they could -- those who are working in a bipartisan way can get three more votes. >> assuming the commission doesn't pass, are you saying by monday, which is tomorrow, you'll announce -- >> no, we'll see what their vote is. it is an option. >> joining me now, i'm curious what you make of the reporting on trump's doj secretly seizing phone records of house democratic lawmakers. can you recall another similar event like this? >> i can't. thanks for having me on. i think it's outrageous. i agree with congressman schiff, there's no way this

investigation could have taken place without attorney general sessions or barr knowing, and if it did, that's another breach that they would be doing. so i'm glad the department of justice and inspector general is looking at it and we can get to the bottom of this. >> for what end game here? does this investigation need to take place with the utmost transparency, to restore americans' faith in a nonpartisan justice department? >> absolutely. this may be just the tip of the iceberg. we've seen through the four years of the trump administration, using the justice department as his own personal lawyer. let's get to the bottom of this, and pass laws to keep the justice department as the neutral arbiter of the law.

that's how it's historically been. >> and with the january 6th commission, speaker pelosi said she will be watching the vote in the senate tomorrow. how do you see the best way going forward to figure out and get to the bottom, once and for all, on the details, as best we can, on that terrible, terrible day? >> i hope the senate comes together and gets the 60 votes necessary to set up an independent commission. as speaker pelosi and democratic leadership gave kevin mccarthy everything they were asking for, yet they still cannot support this deal. it's better to take the politics out of this, and get well-respected individuals on both sides to get to the bottom of this and to the truth of what happened on january 6th. >> do you think any lessons have been learned that anybody will have changed their prior vote when they voted it down? >> i would hope a lot of the

senate republicans are embarrassed about that vote, and heard from their constituents and others. if they can't get the 60 votes, it does fall upon us as house democrats to have an investigation, whether through a select committee or independent commission. >> let's look at the president overseas, which we've been doing the last weekend or so. we've watched the president meet with world leaders at the g7 this weekend, his message, america is back. do you feel it is resonating on the world stage? >> i really do. in contrast with the four years of the trump administration, and the unpredictability of former president trump. i think biden had a great summit. if you listen to macron's comments, he said america is back. and president biden can walk away looking at this as a

success. >> putting on your hat as a physician, what do you think about the decision to provide hundreds of millions of covid vaccine doses, how critical is that, and do you think it's enough? >> it's a starting point. it's a hugely important announcement, showing leadership and it's incredibly important. this is a starting point. as you saw in the comment with president moon from south korea, a decision to start working together to tap into south korean manufacturing capacity. i think we'll have to continue to ramp up. >> congressman, thank you so much. i'll see you again soon. thank you so much. in just a moment, the latest

word on capitol attack suspects that are behind bars. some new twists you may not have heard about before. iant. the visionary lexus nx. lease the 2021 nx 300 for $359 a month for 36 months. experience amazing at your lexus dealer. oh! are you using liberty mutual's coverage customizer tool? $359 a month for 36 months. so you only pay for what you need. sorry? limu, you're an animal! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

u.s. capitol attack suspects are raising new concerns about conditions of the adc jail. we have scott mcfarlane joining us. what are you hearing from the defendants? >> good afternoon. 1 in 10 u.s. capitol defendants are being held in jail, many are fighting to get released, but many are losing that fight. in the early moments of the horror on january 6th, he pled

not guilty, but said he was a victim of a brutal assault in jail. and he asked to be released. but the feds are asking a judge to say no, calling him a danger, and citing his history of convictions for attacking women. but hearings, filings, arguments, and glen kushner says it will need time. >> all of these will be addressed in due course. >> reporter: there are now 39 defendants from january 6th in the d.c. jail, and others filing motions about conditions inside. another one is seeking release, saying he's suffering and

languishing due to lockdowns at the jail, 24 and then 22 hours a day due to covid. he's pleaded not guilty. but several other requests have triggered hearings. issues like this is not new. >> this is the norm we've been going through forever. welcome to the club. >> reporter: he served time inside in the 1990s, and said the facility had poor ventilation and poor cooling long before the insurrection. what needs to be improved and changed here? >> i was saying this before they came here, we just need a new jail. our city is in the process of building it, but it needs to be expedited. >> reporter: any questions have been referred to the u.s. justice department, which has also declined to talk.

another case, a defendant is in the washington, d.c., jail, and saying he is getting substandard medical care. a judge has said no, saying among other things, he seemed rather able-bodied on january 6th at the capitol. >> it's a tough story to report, but thank you, scott, there on capitol hill. my next guest worked with the cia in moscow. what he says are his expectations for president biden's summit with vladimir putin, after the break. break [sfx: psst psst] allergies don't have to be scary. spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. psst! psst! all good

(naj) at fisher investments, our clients know we have their backs. (other money manager) how do your clients know that? (naj) because as a fiduciary, it's our responsibility to always put clients first. . 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. no gaming options isn't an option. now verizon gives you apple arcade on us with over 180 games to choose from. the iphone 12 is going to change mobile gaming. plus you can get iphone 12 pro on us when you buy one, and we'll help cover your costs to switch. only from verizon. over four million people on medicare... made a choice... to take charge of their health care. with an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare. medicare supplement plans help pay the out-of-pocket expenses medicare doesn't...

giving you greater peace of mind. you could also see any doctor, any specialist, anywhere in the u.s. who accepts medicare patients. call today for your free decision guide. ♪ did you know that your clothes can actually attract pet hair? cawith bounce pet hair & lint deguard, guide. your clothes can repel pet hair. look how the shirt on the left attracts pet hair like a magnet! pet hair is no match for bounce. with bounce, you can love your pets, and lint roll less. new reaction from president biden today to questions about his meeting with vladimir putin on wednesday. the president says he's making a genuine attempt to secure better relations. >> this is not a contest about who can do better in front of a press conference or try to embarrass each other. it's about making myself very

clear what the conditions are to get a better relationship are with russia. we're not looking for conflict. the best way to deal with this is for he and i to meet, to have our discussion, i know you don't doubt that i'll be very straightforward with him about our concerns. >> why do you think he hasn't changed his behavior in spite of everything the u.s. has done to this point? >> he's vladimir putin. >> joining me now, john cipher, you're about the perfect person to be talking about this. john, welcome. a couple of things here. i want to reiterate what andrea mitchell got from her interview with antony blinken, confirming that u.s. and russian relations are at an all-time low right now. the goal for president biden to go into this meeting on

wednesday and the approach that he plans to be very straightforward, how challenging and uphill a battle is it going to be for him to make headway with putin? >> i think if the goal is to improve relations, it's a huge uphill battle. putin, as the president just said, is who he is. he's been the same person for 20 years, he's been consistent, he's created an enemy out of the united states to help him domestically. he needs to have a scapegoat to blame for his poor performance on the economy and on covid and other things. and they've said this over and over again, predictability. they want to make it clear where the red lines are, and move away from the theater of the trump era. if we look back at the end of

the cold war, yes, we had a terribly adversarial relationship with the soviet union, but the red lines were clear. and that's what we're moving towards. >> so the cozy relationship between trump and putin, that may not be the case with biden and putin in terms of the optics of that. who benefits from that? does putin want to be seen as cozy with an american president, or was there something about donald trump that would have been to his advantage that way? >> well, donald trump tried to befriend russia and change the relationship to a closer one and it essentially got us nothing. biden will be much more direct and straightforward, maybe even somewhat threatening. but i think that's okay. again, vladimir putin has been through five u.s. presidents now, and he hasn't changed.

nobody, no matter how hard or direct they've been, has changed his behavior. in fact, president biden, when he was vice president, even claims he had several tough discussions with putin. i don't think there should be high expectations coming out of the meeting, but it does set the red lines, what are the things we can work on? >> here's part of the 90-minute interview with putin. >> when president biden was asked whether he believes you're a killer, he said, i do. mr. president, are you a killer? >> over my tenure, i've gotten used to attacks from all angles, areas, under all pretexts and reasons. of different caliber and fierceness. nothing surprises me.

i think this is an expression of overall u.s. culture. >> what do you make of that reaction? >> in the sense that putin hasn't changed over these 20 years, there's no way a journalist is going to get him to open up and say anything terribly interesting. he chose a covert global face-off against the united states and he's not interested in improving relations or looking for a win/win world. he has a zero sum view of the world, anything that hurts the united states, benefits him. he's invested in this for a number of reasons, and some of them are domestic. he has weaknesses at home that he needs to blame on somebody, and having an enemy is pretty useful if you're an autocrat.

>> somebody said that russia, where does it get its leverage with the u.s.? >> its leverage is its ability to disrupt. early on, the russians realized they could use these hybrid methods to cause trouble and disruption with the west. china seems to be our biggest concern and threat, if you will. but they look to compete on the world stage. whereas russia wants to use sabotage, subversion, and disruption. that's its superpower. that's the way that putin has shown he's going to govern and he will continue to govern. i don't expect much of anything that president biden says is going to change that, unless the threats are very specific and we follow through. >> john, thank you so much.

remember, for all of you, you can watch nbc's exclusive interview with vladimir putin tomorrow. trust me, it's worth your time. an interesting lesson about pride and what you didn't learn in school, coming up. can i use apple carplay to put some music on? sure, it's wireless. pick something we all like. ok. hold on. what's your buick's wi-fi password? “buickenvision2021.” oh, you should pick something stronger. that's really predictable. that's a really tight spot. don't worry. i used to hate parallel parking. [all together] me too. - hey. - you really outdid yourself. yes, we did. the all-new buick envision. an suv built around you... all of you. 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.

today, two former attorneys general on the defense. jeff sessions and bill barr are denying any knowledge of the secret subpoenas targeting house democrats and their families as part of a leaks probe during the trump administration. joining me now, alina, how realistic is it? as nancy pelosi said, if anybody knows about it, those two do. >> it's clear that this has happened, and when we've heard

from congressmen swalwell and schiff saying they were informed of this. for them to have been the attorneys general, particularly jeff sessions while this investigation had been going on, 2017 to 2018. for them not to have knowledge is something that i think has a lot of people scratching their heads and questioning the accuracy of that. but we'll find out. this is an extremely troubling revelation and kudos to "the new york times" for reporting it. i think we'll be hearing a lot more about this in the coming weeks. it's clear that congress is going to be investigating that. the inspector general will also be looking into this. i think that a lot of these questions, including how much the attorneys general knew will be public knowledge in the coming weeks. >> if these two attorneys general are speaking truthfully, and saying they have no

recollection, is it possible that they could have been circumvented, that trump laid out his desires, and somebody else could have given it a with? >> it is possible and this is something that i think we need to watch for answers for. but it just seems unlikely, to be honest, that something of this level would escape the attorneys general from knowing about it. i think it's something that -- this is why they want a subpoena. this is why senator schumer and durbin and house judiciary chairman jerry nadler want to subpoena both of them if they don't voluntarily testify -- >> alayna, how likely is it that's going to happen? what's the thought on that right now? >> so it's tough. the senate aspect of it is going to be harder because in a 50-50

senate they need at least one republican from the judiciary committee to go ahead and agree to sign off on the subpoenas. so far chuck grassley, the top republican on the committee, is signaling that he's not planning to do that. he said in a statement that he finds this very troubling, but that the justice department's inspector general already said that he's looking into this, so signaling that he might not support this. in that case jerry nadler in the house can move forward and he doesn't need a republican to sign off on that. and so i do expect that at some level congress will be investigating this and we will see this playing out in a more public forum in the coming weeks. >> okay. there is some new reporting that comes from the hill and it says that trump critics are angry at biden's attorney general, merrick garland, as he's shown a willingness to side in court with the trump administration. have you heard any of these criticisms from democrats on the

hill? >> i have. they're more so privately, to be honest, and among aides and sources that i interact with than i think people are willing to say publicly. but yes, i think a lot of people expected merrick garland to come in and root out what a lot of democrats and progressives in particular saw as corruption within the trump justice department and the increasing politicization of the justice department, something that is supposed to be anti-political and an independent department. they thought that merrick garland would do more to root that out. i think the case, though, is to also be made that the justice department is supposed to defend the executive branch. it's something that we've seen happen in several years and i think that's what we're seeing merrick garland do today. >> alayna, thank you, so didn't to see you. for all of you keeping an

eye on president biden, we're getting a view of air force one cruising to a stop. we'll be right back. to a stop we'll be right back. not all 5g networks are created equal. it's clear to see. t-mobile is the leader in 5g. t-mobile. america's largest, fastest, most reliable 5g network. start your day with crest 3d white

and from mochaccinos to merlot, your smile will always be brilliant. crest 3d white brilliance. 100% stain removal, 24 hour stain resistance to lock in your whitest smile. crest. the #1 toothpaste brand in america. history says: fine jewelry for occasions. we say: forget occasions. (snap) fine jewelry for every day, minus the traditional markups. ♪♪

and giving you one more look at air force one having safely traveled there from london to now brussels ahead of the big nato meeting tomorrow. of course the president has in his rear-view mirror the majority of his first -- well, not a majority, about half of his first foreign trip under his belt having met with the g-7 and the queen of england. that all wrapped up today. nato begins tomorrow and we're all looking forward to the meeting in geneva, the summit between president biden and vladimir putin so we'll keep a close eye on things. but full stop there for air force one at brussels international airport. americans are certainly

celebrating pride this month, this june, but a new series chronicles what has been a decades-long fight for the lgbtq community. pride follows the fight from the 1950s through the 2000s all through emotional stories and images. my next guest is the director of one of those films. joining me is oscar nominated emmy-winning transgender director yancy ford. yancy, big welcome to you. before we get specific to your film, let's focus on this whole series as a whole. how important is it to remind americans what it has been like for the lgbtq for the last few decades? >> it's so, so important, alex. thank you for having me because this isn't history that gets taught in school. this is only history that if you're in the community or had elders who have passed this history down to you.

so it's so important that pride is in the world now because people really need to have the perspective of how long we have been fighting for simple equality, for simple basic protections under the law. and to go back all the way to the '50s and through the aughts and even through today where there were rallies taking place in new york city for career liberation, it's so important because we wouldn't otherwise get this information anywhere else. >> yeah. your film specifically in this series, yance, 1990s, the culture wars. it was supposed to be a new era in the fight for equal rights. why did you want to tell that story? >> it started out protecting the lgbtq community and making sure we enjoyed the same rights as other americans, but what

happened is really an incredible moment where this time for equal rights was recast as special rights for lgbtq groups which included the christian coalition and people like pat robertson and national politicians like pat buchanan who used the term "culture wars" for the first time in a national setting at the republican national convention in 1992. so it was really important for me to tell this story from the political -- from the national political standpoint from that decade so that people can understand that the things that we're seeing now in the culture wars actually started a very, very long time ago. and the playbook was written a long time ago. >> let me also focus on you for a moment. you've broken barriers as a member of the lgbtq community. 2018 you made history as the first openly transgender director to be nominated for an oscar for your documentary

"strong island." just real quick, how did it feel to be the first to mark that milestone? >> it was pretty surreal, alex. i never imagined that i would make history. if that nomination opened the door -- my job is to make sure that that nomination not just opens the door for me but that it opens the door and keeps it open for other transgender directors who need to have their work supported, seen and recognized. it's been a tremendous honor. >> it's been a honor to talk with you, yance. we know everyone can watch this docu-series. for anyone who's interested watch the pride documentary series on fx, also fx on hulu. thank you so much, yance. that's going to do it for me this hour. i'm going to see you again next saturday at noon eastern. my friend, yasmin vossoughian, will continue our coverage, particularly that of the president having arrived safely in brussels, belgium.

she'll pick things up from here. take care, everyone. good afternoon, everybody. i'm yasmin vossoughian. as you saw on your screens as alex was handing off to me, air force one arriving in brussels. the president officially arriving there for the next leg of his foreign trip, the nato part of this trip. it comes amid a flurry of activity today. the president and first lady visiting the queen after a g-7 summit ahead of a nato summit and one-on-one meeting with russian president vladimir putin. >> we're not looking for conflict. we are looking to resolve those actions which we think are inconsistent with international norms. >> so the president had a lot more to say about t