hi, everyone. it's 4:00 in new york. i'm claire mccaskill in for nicolle wallace. as nancy pelosi draws an unprecedented red line against the republican party's attempts to distort and distract from the investigation into the january 6th insurrection. pelosi just this afternoon rejecting two of five of mccarthy's picks for the january 6th select committee. congressman jim jordan and congressman jim banks. both of them voted to overturn the 2020 election result even after the riotous mob stormed the capitol on the day of the insurrection. both issued statements maligning

them. the jordan calling it, quote, impeachment three against the disgraced ex-president. pelosi announced her veto in a pointed statement today saying in part, quote, with respect for the integrity of the investigation with an insistence on the truth and with concern about statements made and actions taken by these members, i must reject the recommendations of banks and jordan. she added the unprecedented nature of january 6th demands this unprecedented decision. in response mccarthy is pulling all of his picks from the committee. rather than choosing two more,

mccarthy saying in a statement, quote, unless speaker pelosi reverses course and seats all five republican nominees, republicans will not be a party to their sham process and will instead pursue our own investigation of the facts. of course we must point out that the republicans had the opportunity to support a complete bipartisan effort in which pelosi would not have had veto power over any of their picks. mccarthy and his party opposed that effort, which then failed in the senate. a point stressed by congresswoman liz cheney, the sole republican remaining on the committee. cheney tore into mccarthy for helping conceal the truth from the american people. >> the american people deserve to know what happened. the people who did this must be

held accountable. there must be an investigation that is nonpartisan, that is sober, that is serious, that gets to the facts wherever they may lead, and at every opportunity the minority leader has attempted to prevent the american people from understanding what happened, to block this investigation. the idea that anybody would be playing politics with an attack on the united states capitol is despicable and disgraceful. >> the latest standoff on capitol hill over january 6th is where we start today. joining us now democratic congresswoman madeleine dean of pennsylvania, an impeachment manager during trump's second impeachment trial and a member of the judiciary committee. also with us anna palmer, founder and ceo of punch bowl news. and david plouffe, former obama campaign manager and an msnbc political analyst.

congresswoman dean, you have been in the trenching as the congress has tried to hold president trump accountable. now this inis your regular that he birthed, what is your reaction to what has happened today both to speaker pelosi rejecting some of mccarthy's picks and then the response by mccarthy to pull out the football and go home and say that the republicans will no longer participate? >> well, senator, it's an honor to be with you today. thank you for inviting me. today was an important day and i support the speaker's decision this is a serious matter and requires serious people. we know the two whom she disqualified had disqualified themselves in their words and votes and actions. mr. mccarthy has lost all credibility. he deputized one of his members

to come up with the independent commission which we did and then he pulled the rug out from under him today. i thought the same thing, he's taking his ball and going home. he never wanted to participate in this investigation of the truth and the facts. it's about patriotism. the not about politics. it's truth over lies and cover-ups. the speaker made the right decision. they will go on without them. we will get to the facts and the truth. >> hannah, take us behind the scenes. it certainly looks like after listening to liz cheney a that she and pelosi are marking lock step. was she involved in making this decision? and what really pushed pelosi to say, hey, we're not going to let jordan and banks in this

committee room? >> i think it's important to understand that liz cheney certainly doesn't speak for republicans or kevin mccarthy. she's so out of step with where the house republican conference is at this point. the important thing, i think it was a stunning decision by speaker nancy pelosi, the fact jim jordan and jim banks were nominated by kevin mccarthy to be on this was not surprising. it's something we have been talking and reporting on for weeks. the fact she was saying we are not going to have this turn into a political witch-hunt, a back and forth partisanship. i've been talking to republicans today, though. they say in some ways pelosi really played into the hand of kevin mccarthy by the fact she decided they weren't going to be on this committee now it allows ken mccarthy to say this is partisanship. not saying that's true but the talking point will come forward with republicans in the coming

days. >> it's interesting because, as i mentioned, what's really fascinating about this is that kevin mccarthy ran into a brick wall today, but it's a brick wall he built. he and mitch mcconnell decided to tank a truly bipartisan commission. the only reason nancy pelosi had the power she used today is kevin mccarthy gave it to her. what about the whole issue around banks and his trip to the border and the talk that he was appearing in photographs for people who participated in the insurrection? do you think that weighed in in terms of the outrage of other members that pushed pelosi to this? >> of course. i think when you look at both mr. banks and jim jordan and the statements they've made and the vote that they took following january 6th, they clearly didn't feel they could be two members who wanted to get to the truth. nancy pelosi had strong support

to take this action. she doesn't do things like this lightly. the bigger question the role that liz cheney plays. she's so key to this. because she was named by nancy pelosi, nancy pelosi doesn't need kevin mccarthy here. she did need him to have that bipartisan commission go forward to have that fair, same number of republicans as democrats on the committee. this time because kevin mccarthy said they weren't going to do it, he made his bed here, and nancy pelosi saying we have a republican, we have a quorum, we're going forward. >> a lot of republicans say this plays into mccarthy's hand, pelosi rejecting these members. they can write off this committee as partisan. on the other hand, for his politics, what is your take on how this impacts him going forward? they're going to have the videotape.

he will have people randing and raving. they don't really have witness that is would play into any talk ing points they're going to put forward. no one will be telling him what's going on in terms of the investigation within the committee. has he made a mistake not replacing these two members with other trump loyalists? >> i think -- let's talk about 2022. you've run in off-year elections. everyone was revolted by what happened and wants it to be investigated. the democrats can say we gave them multiple opportunities and they won't because they were complicit. so i think this is like if you look at what's happening in our country today. we have a climate crisis that is spiraling out of control, hurting lives, hurting our

economy. you have so many unvaccinated people out there, largely because republicans are afraid to say it's safe. and then you have people trying to suggest january 6th was a bunch of tourists at the capitol. you've got this echo chamber that the republicans created for themselves on fox news and brightbart. their happy little place they think that's the rest of the country views things. it's really not how the rest of the country views things. when operating, they don't think democrats will be tough enough. nancy pelosi did the right thing today. you can see them howling because they didn't expect it. in the medium to long term i think terrible for kevin mccarthy who makes jell-o seem firm in his faithfulness to the

constitution because, again, the talking point back is easy. they have had many opportunities to do it. they're afraid of what will be found. many of them instigated, organized and are supporting it and still lying about what happened on january 6th. >> visual is so powerful in the world of politics. a week after the insurrection kevin mccarthy spoke out. january 13th, within days of when those police officers were attacked by trump supporters. >> it doesn't mean the president is free from fault. the president bears attack. he should have immediately denounced the mob. these facts require immediate action by president trump. quell the brewing unrest and

ensure president-elect biden is able to begin his term. >> so, jell-o in full display. somebody who can't decide what his beliefs are, where he stands. liz cheney had strong words about him today as to whether or not he would deserve to be speaker of the house were the republicans to be successful in the mid-terms. she had some plain words to say about that. >> mccarthy wants to be speaker next year. do you think he deserves to be speaker in the aftermath of his actions here? >> i think that any person third in line must demonstrate a commitment to the constitution and the rule of law. minority leader mccarthy has not done that. >> congresswoman dean, how is mccarthy viewed within your

house of representatives by his fellow republicans? i know there's a critical mass of people who are afraid of donald trump, him being one of them. is there anyone that you talk to on the republican side of the aisle that is embarrassed by the hypocrisy he has demonstrated in this whole incident? >> well, i won't speak for the republican conference except bu leader. he showed some firmness, some resolve and since then has liquefied. he's a failed leader. i think this will backfire on him. the american people deserve better not just the republican conference. the american people deserve a leader who stood by his own words and said we must get to the bottom of this.

the president bears responsibility. he speaks out of both sides of his mouth and is more concerned with his own political future. i want to remind people january 6th was like no other day. when the speaker today in her statement said this is an unprecedented decision, i was there in the capitol during the insurrection. we were taken out with gas masks. we were held, and i had the chance to talk to liz cheney when we were held for hours in a safe room. while hundreds were being beaten, more than 100 mrorts were seriously injured, while five people wound up losing their lies and mrs. sicknick in her grief went to the senate, went to leaders to say, please, please investigate this with the independent commission. the sniffling of senator mccarthy and saying he'll set up a new commission is just a

cover-up. what is he afraid of learning about the truth and the facts of what led to january the 6th, what happened on january 6th, what did the president do and what did he fail to do? what did others do to either aid or abet this? what's he afraid of? what i'm afraid of we will not learn from this and we will have history repeat itself. our democracy is at stake here and leader mccarthy needs to get out of the way. >> i believe the american people are on the side of nancy pelosi. we have polling from cbs that says 72% of people say there's more to learn about the attack and then we have 67% saying that the attack on january 6th was trying to overturn the election. 56% said it was an insurrection.

and then you have the folks down there, the trump folks listening to the echo chamber, think it was all about defending freedom and patriotism. big majorities, david plouffe and anna, politically speaking, that are all for getting to the bottom of what happened and learning everything we can learn about that frightening day for the united states of america. what do you think, anna, the impact of these -- anna and david. i'm sorry. to anna first. anna, what do you think the impact of this polling will have on the messaging war that has been kicked off today in a major way? >> it lays out the reason nancy pelosi wants us to move forward, why she was pushing and unable to get the republicans to agree to that. once these hearing get under way

it's going to be wall-to-wall coverage. that will dominate the entire political conversation and you will not have a single person to push back. what about when mark meadows is called to testify? other figures that might not have that white house privilege. this is going to be the political moment for the next several weeks and months and republicans aren't going to have a say there. i think that will be something we will have to look back and see how does mccarthy figure out how to push back on it when they aren't participating in the process. >> with that in mind, david, can the democrats go too far here? can they push too hard in terms of subpoenas and demanning testimony from elected officials? could they lose the american people on this? >> i think they should be as aggressive as they can on process, hear from everybody they think they need to hear from.

not put too much spin on the ball. ask questions and get the facts out there. i think mccarthy clearly -- claire, you just showed those poll numbers. very few issues enjoy that much support this is one of them. mccarthy suggesting we forget it, appealing to the maga base. i think anna is right this is going to be clips bouncing around social media, enormous television coverage, print coverage. just be aggressive about getting the right witnesses. i think there should be few speeches. just a lot of questions and let the story get more deeply told here. you can't he is scape the

visuals. he seems like a different person there than today. you don't care about politics. this was a seminal day in american history. our democracy remains under attack that is one of the significant roots in the soil. so we have to find out what happened. who is responsible. i think there will be a lot who don't want their role exposed. >> congresswoman madeleine dean, thank you so much for being with us, anna palmer, as always, thank you for starting us up. david plouffe, lucky for us, is staying with us. when we come back, republicans stoking the flames of misinformation as the states and districts they live in are exploding with new coronavirus cases. ignoring the drive to vaccinate more americans and instead publicly spreading lies and fear mongering. plus, republicans rejecting a

vote to debate a bipartisan infrastructure bill. they shook hands with the president over. why the excuse from republicans doesn't add up. we'll talk with a member of the bipartisan group, senator john tester, coming up. and the biden administration says it's not giving up on the fight to protect voting rights. are republicans removable on the issue? vice president kamala harris is going to try. we'll speak with one of her senior advisers. all those stories and more when "deadline white house" continues after this. don't go anywhere. after this don't go anywhere. the first 5g, and now we want to be the first to give everyone the joy of 5g by giving every customer a new 5g phone, on us, aha! old customers. new customers. families. businesses. in-laws. law firms. every customer. new 5g phones when you trade in your old ones. and if you're not a customer, we'll help cover the cost to switch. just ask wanda. she's been with us since... (gasps)... now. upgrade your phone. upgrade your network.

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variant now accounting for 83% of cases in the united states. several states have or are recommending mask mandates and major corporations like apple are delaying their plans for a return to in-person work. it is now clearer than ever that there are two americas in two very different pandemic realities, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. a new "washington post" analysis lays out the scope of the crisis ripping through unvaccinated america. the national case rate for unvaccinated people is roughly the same as the unadjusted case rate was more than two months ago and is rising. the national adjusted hospitalization rate has climbed to a point last seen in april and the death rate is comparable to may's unadjusted figures. let's be clear about where the problem is festering most. i feel this in my home state.

unvaccinated america is now essentially synonymous with red america. "the new york times" reports today the political disparity in vaccine hesitancy is stark. the kaiser family foundation reported at the end of june that 86% of democrats had at least one shot compared with only 52% of republicans. an analysis by "the new york times" in april found the least vaccinated counties in the country all had one thing in common. they voted for donald trump. joining our conversation is dr. patel, and an msnbc medical contributor. david plouffe is also back. welcome to you both. let's talk about what's going on in my home state, doctor. it is heartbreaking for me to talk to my friends who live in southwest missouri, particularly those friends who are involved

in health care. they're watching this massive outbreak knowing it could have all been prevented. and it is so frustrating for them to have to work this hard to save lives when all they had to do was take a vaccine. can you talk about how bad this is right now and how worried should the parts of the country that have higher vaccination rates be right now? >> yes, thank you so much, claire. this is not just -- and also missouri is not just the only state where we're seeing the following scenarios, patients diverted, not able to get inside because they're overwhelmed with covid patients. not enough doctors, nurses, trained techs to operate some of the equipment and then even more distressing, claire, i've had friends, i think you and i both know some doctors in common, and

they said even in the icu they've had patients who said i wish i had gotten the vaccine. is it too late? it's just heartbreaking all around. the other uncomfortable thing we have to talk about is that we don't know short of a mandate how to really convince people who might just be really reluctant despite what we're talking about to get vaccinated. that's where i think all americans, republicans, democrats, the like, we have an obligation to talk about this as much as possible to convince people to change their minds in any form necessary. >> it would be terrific if all the republicans who hold elective office would take about an hour to go on social media and all of them say i was vaccinated. i was vaccinated. my wife was vaccinated. my children have been vaccinated. it is a real abdication of duty and even worse the people lying

about what's going on. in my state i have jason smith, a congressman, who is busy trying to figure out if he can win a trump-fueled primary for the u.s. senate next year. he said the biden administration wants to knock on your door kgb style to force people to get vaccinated. we must oppose forced vaccination. and then marsha blackburn, big government in control. these are just lies, an effort to use community volunteers and community public health workers. local people knock on doors to provide information about how someone can get the vaccine easily and safely. doctor, can you see areas where

this kind of outreach would work, and do you feel doctors are doing enough to proactively reach out to their patient base and try to convince them to get the vaccination? i think ministers and doctors may have a lot more power than they republic lies they have. they realize they have. >> david knows this as well. if you see someone you know and trust, a neighbor, a friend, even someone who works at the store, a familiar face, they can be more influential. doctors do play a role. doctors and nurses alike. i think there's more we could be doing proactively. claire, we're at our wit's end. we're now dealing with the increase in cases trying to balance how to get people into the clinics to get vaccinated but at the same time there are so many questions coming up that even we need better answers for how to get our patients. we're now getting questions, i'm

getting them about boosters. we're trying to do all of this in real time. we need everyone's help. i think ministers, anybody who can reach people, especially younger people, the majority of the people i see who are unvaccinated tend to skew on the younger side. for me many females who are concerned about pregnancy and fertility. you're right. the lies have been legitimized by the silence of the republican party. and i am desperate to find anybody who has the bravery to stand up. some of your former colleagues have done that, senator mcconnell and others. we need a lot more to do that. >> yeah, david, both mitch mcconnell and sean hannity have kind of stepped up the last couple of days and tombly said that vaccinations, the science of vaccination works and it's safe and get vaccinated and quickly get vaccinated. does that change the political landscape at all? does biden need to do anything

differently than he's done in terms of addressing this new outbreak that is primarily happening in areas of the country where he doesn't have a lot of political heft? >> no, i think what the biden administration should do is just put the facts out there. to your point, claire, there are two americas. the most effective spokespeople are your neighbor, your friend, your cousin. and we are seeing in some states vaccination requests going up. some people who can say i didn't want to get it but i'm scared of delta. steve scalise, a full maga stalwart finally got vaccinated and talked about it. that's helpful. ron desantis today with a pretty strong -- i'd like to say, claire, that's because covid cases and numbers are on the rise. there are polling numbers bouncing around republican

circles, they're paying a price for this. just a little political math, claire. people over 65, over 80% of them are vaccinated. they vote. they outperformed their muscle in midterms. those people want their kids, their nieces and nephews to be vaccinated. i think you will see real erosion with people over 65 who have gotten vaccinated, who know it's safe. those who are out there pedaling these lies trying to suggest that the vaccine is not safe or folks don't need to take it. the tragedy is we have enough vaccine, we're lucky in this country, to provide shots to anybody who wanted them. we could have largely been free and clear of the pandemic, but it's dragging us back. we're going to pay the price and pay the health care costs of the unvaccinated, more mask mandates, more freedoms pinched

because of the unvaccinated. more real maga types, more people doing what you said, which is even if they say i wasn't going to do it but now with delta i am, that's what we need. >> thank you so much, dr. kavita patel, and david plouffe. republicans and the bill forgetting how common the situation is. i will get some help from the senator with an inside look at what is really going on. s reall. if you're 55 and up, t-mobile has plans built just for you. switch now and get 2 unlimited lines and 2 free smartphones. and now get netflix on us. it's all included with 2 lines for only $70 bucks! only at t-mobile. vo: the climate crisis is here. berardelli: these temperatures are almost unbelievable even for a meteorologist. vo: and the solution is here too: clean energy. like wind turbines

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action on capitol hill today on a major plank of the biden agenda. the senate took a procedural vote to begin debate on the bipartisan infrastructure deal. that vote was tanked by republicans. every single member of the gop caucus voted against moving forward. their excuse? a refusal to vote on an unfinished bill, even though process votes like this happen all the time. >> in other words, no time is lost by adhering to a simple principle. we're not going to the bill until we know what the bill is. >> there's no bill. it's empty. it's a shell. it has no details tied to it.

>> this is a whole new low. >> joining us now, democratic senator john tester of montana, a member of the bipartisan group who agreed on the deal in principle last month this could go either way here. i've never got tone ask you questions on camera before. i will try to remember you're my friend and not put you on the spot. but what's going on? you and i both know they have been shell bills we've proceeded on before, and we certainly know there's hardly any bills that get through a motion to proceed that don't have massive changes in them before they get to the finish line. it's called manager's packages, putting in a substitute bill. how close are you and what is really going on behind-the-scenes here? i was surprised nobody even said we're willing to start to debate to get the clock running.

>> look, you're exactly correct, claire. we do this all the time and it's not like this bill isn't known by anybody in the senate who wants to know about it. the changes we've made over the last week, some are significant but most are minor tweaks. everybody will know exactly what's in it right to the dotted i and crossed t by thursday or friday. but the end game here is there's only so many legislative days left before we leave for august and we come back in september. there are not that many legislative days either. and i think chuck schumer wanted to get this bill going because he wants to see it passed. he was trying to push the envelope and, by the way, we got a lot of stuff done we wouldn't have otherwise. we need to continue to work and move forward. i think there will be another vote on this bill. or a shell, which ever it may

be. i think we'll work hard to get the thing across the finish line. this country needs a significant investment in infrastructure. not only for rural states like montana and states like your home state of missouri but the entire country. to add one more thing, claire, the whole world is watching. we've been in gridlock, you know this -- you've lived it here in the united states senate. this is the first time we've been able to have a bipartisan bill that's the biggest in my lifetime. and i think that's a good seen. we need to get it done. otherwise it means nothing. >> you have a group of republicans you've worked with and the president referenced those republicans and their support for the deal that was made at the white house. let's hear what the president said about that. >> whatever different views some might have on current price

increases, we should be united in one thing. the package of the bipartisan infrastructure framework, which we shook hands on. >> so all the republican senators that were there, and all the hand shaking that wentd on, is mcconnell trying to peel them off right now? is he trying to tank this because he is so desperate to have joe biden fail at everything just like he was back when obama was president? or are all those republicans that stepped up to be participate of this negotiation, are they going to stand with you when the moment of truth comes after the bill text is finally finished? >> i do not know what the minority leader has in mind. i hope it isn't to tank this bill. i can tell you with the five republicans in the group of ten, five democrats and five republicans, those republicans have been solid. another group of 22 that have

been solid. i think we'll have enough votes for this. and, look, there are plenty of excuses people can look to vote for and against bills. i think there will be a good vote once we get the language out there, no more excuses. we might lose some democrats, and we're certainly not going to get all the republicans. i think there will be a good bipartisan vote to move this forward. if it didn't, if that doesn't happen, i think shame on us. this is an opportunity to get something positive done for the united states of america. >> okay, tester, like the sun coming up in the morning, mitch mcconnell wants to play political games with debt ceiling. i notice he -- how many times do we go through this song and dance? just to explain, which i know you would do, also, the debt ceiling doesn't spend any new money. all it does is pay the bills for things that have already been

spent. what is he doing here? there's no way that mitch mcconnell is not going to support the full faith and credit of the united states in terms of our economic system. why is he playing game on debt ceiling right now? >> i have no idea. i don't know why we ever play games with debt ceiling. this has been a vote that always in the past has been done without any question. if you default on your debt we have a big problem. there isn't a person that serves in the united states senate that does not know that china wants to replace us as a premiere economic power in the world f. we default on our debt by not passing the debt ceiling bill we are giving them the keys to the world economy. we have to wake up, do what's right and not what's politically expedient which happens so many times whether it's on vaccines or on debt ceiling.

>> it is so good to see you, my friend. thank you for being part of this today. take care. >> always a pleasure, claire. thank you very much. >> you bet. up next, vice president harris is keeping the focus on fighting voter suppression. meeting today with election workers whose most important role, protecting democracy stands targeted and vulnerable by gop-led bills. we'll talk to her senior adviser on what she learned from them today and what's next coming up. .

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you're the people who make elections happen. we cannot, we dare not, take the work of poll workers for granted. and i think we do. but the work of poll workers unencumbered without intimidation, without threats should be a commitment that we all have. >> today vice president kamala harris keeping the momentum going against the gop-led assault on voting rights with an onslaught of voter suppression bills. harris met with poll workers and election officials about their experiences. the message they want to spread about why election professionals need to be protected and how the bills are putting in danger their jobs of protecting democracy. joining us now is senior adviser and chief spokesperson to vice

president kamala harris. welcome, simone. it's good to have you. >> thank you for having me. i heard some folks calling her claire. oh, no, she will always be senator to me. >> claire is okay. in many ways claire makes me feel younger, simone. we know that's important, right? >> absolutely. >> tell me what the vice president learned today and how will it inform what she's doing behind the scenes to see if we can get this thing moving. >> so today was an extremely important meeting for the vice president, a meeting she requested to have. you heard her say in the opening clip we dare not take for granted the work of poll workers in america. she talked about in that meeting all of the times she went to vote and the poll worker greeted her, helping her out, telling her where to go and what to do. there are threats to voting rights and one is to being able to cast that ballot but the right to be able to have that ballot counted and how wohl

work poll workers are critical to each of those steps. she heard from poll workers and a current election official who is a former poll worker about the threats that they are facing. but, also, the progress that is being made across the country and their own personal experiences. >> "the new york times" explained today in a story about how the gop-proposed restrictions will impact election workers. they said this. both bills would ban 24-hour voting and drive-through voting, prohibit election officials froe ballot applications to voters, who have not requested them, increase the krenl penalties for election workers who run afoul of regulations, limit what assistance can be provided to voters and greatly expand the authority and autonomy of partisan poll watchers. you know, i know how hard it is to find these poll workers.

there is always an effort in churches and community groups in the months leading up to elections. this is not a high-paid job. >> no. >> this is primarily some people who volunteer because they want our democracy to work better. did the people that the vice president met with today feel threatened? did they talk about feeling threatened with criminal prosecutions? >> folks at the meeting detailed their various experiences. one of the former poll workers, now a current election official, was from maryland and talked about what happened in maryland and how they safely and accurately administered their elections. they didn't have many issues, but they as poll workers watched how across the country in places like michigan, in places like philadelphia, in places like georgia, poll workers were threatened. the vice president, what she heard in this meeting today, built off meetings that she's been having all across the country. specifically vice president harris was in detroit last week and met with folks who were poll

workers and election officials who were there, who detailed their own stories about how right outside of the very building that the vice president was having that meeting in on monday was where folks tried to force their way into the building claiming election fraud and saying they didn't trust the votes to be counted. they talked about how they were scared, but also talked about how they have often in elections talk about election security and the need to secure elections but now they have started talking about security for themselves. but they feel undeterred in the charge that they have going forward. so really that's why these meetings are so important. that's why the work that the administration is doing led by the vice president is so important. she has spent her entire career, first as a district attorney in san francisco, then as attorney general of california, then as a united states senator of california and now as vice president of the united states fighting to defend the rights of all people. and the president and vice president are absolutely committed to fight to defend the right to vote on all fronts.

so that's federal legislation, that's in the courts, that's in the streets if you will talking to people, convening folks, and also at the ballot box and empowering voters so that they know that we cannot let up. that your voice is your power. i'll end with something vice president harris often says. she says why are you talking about voting, vice president harris, we just voted. the reality is people are trying to take the people's power. that's because when we vote, things change. folks went to the polls in 2020 and got $1,400 checks. they now have a monthly child tax credit thanks to the work of the president and vice president. we have an administration that is fighting to protect voting rights. this is what happens when we go to the polls. so this is really about ensuring that people know that the president and vice president are not letting up, that they do believe that we need to pass the for the people act and the john lewis voting rights advancement act and that they are doing

everything in their power to continue to elevate this conversation. >> thank you so much for spending some time with us today. we really appreciate it. >> absolutely, appreciate it. always good to see you. >> thank you. when we come back, go big or go home. the olympics in tokyo amid growing covid cases there at the games already delayed a year because of the pandemic. that's next. mic. at's next. (upbeat pop music in background throughout)

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that i should get used to people staring. so i did. it's okay, you can stare. when you're a two-time gold medalist, it comes with the territory. our first lady, dr. jill biden, the leader of the u.s. delegation to this year's olympic games, is now on her way to tokyo. she'll stop in alaska on the way there, in hawaii on the way back, as part of the administration's vaccine push. on that note, there are now 79 people involved with this year's games who have contracted the virus so far. the chief of the organizing committee got people very worried yesterday when he wouldn't rule out an 11th hour cancellation, but we should note the likelihood of that actually

happening is very small at this point. the opening ceremony is on friday, but already today a shocker. the u.s. women's soccer team, the best in the world, lost to sweden in group play this morning 3-0, ending a mind-blowing 44-game unbeaten streak. don't panic, though. in 2008 they lost to norway in the opening round, but won gold anyway. so onward and upward. they'll play new zealand on saturday in what will hopefully be the first win in another years-long streak. we'll all be watching. thank you so much for joining today. that's it for me. the next hour of "deadline white house" with alicia menendez starts right after this quick break. his quick break.

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are you concerned that maybe they will pull out entirely? >> we have a bipartisan quorum.

we can proceed. >> what was it about jordan and banks in particular because nehls also voted to overturn the election. >> that was not the criteria as i told you yesterday. >> what was the criteria? >> read my statement. >> hi, everyone. it is 5:00 in the east. i'm alicia menendez in for nicolle wallace. significant developments on capitol hill today as speaker nancy pelosi announces that she is rejecting two of minority leader kevin mccarthy's picks to serve on the house select committee on january 6th. jim jordan and jim banks. in a statement which you just heard her refer to, she highlighted the investigation's insistence upon the truth and said the unprecedented nature of january 6th demands this unprecedented decision. a decision mccarthy shot back with an announcement of his own that he will pull all five republicans from the committee and pursue their own investigation of the facts. the chair of the select committee, congressman bennie

thompson, has reiterated his mission to follow the facts and leave no stone unturned. in an interview with the guardian, thompson said that he will investigate donald trump as part of his inquiry into the events of january 6th, a day he sees as the greatest test of the united states since the civil war. thompson said that he is also prepared to depose members of congress and senior trump administration officials who might have participated in the insurrection that left five dead and nearly 140 injured. absolutely thompson said of his intent to pursue a wide-ranging inquiry against the former president and some of his most prominent allies on capitol hill. quote, nothing is off limits. with or without mccarthy's picks, the select committee has enough members for a quorum to move forward. as we look ahead to the first hearing next week, four police officers who were on the scene that day will testify to the horrors they saw and experienced. congressman stephanie murphy of florida, one of the other democrats serving on the select

committee spoke earlier on msnbc about the value of what will be discussed in that first hearing. >> i think it's critically important to start with law enforcement because at the end of the day they were as much victims of the attack on the capitol as any of the members of congress or the vice president. so they were on the front lines. they heard the things that the folks who were trying to attack the capitol were saying. they can share with us what kind of preparedness they were given in order to come into work on january 6th. and so that will be hugely important for us to understand. >> evidence presented in the committee's investigation also likely to include some of the body camera footage from officers that day. newly released footage from the justice department's criminal investigation highlights even more of the danger and harrowing moments suffered by capitol and d.c. police. a lot of raging on capitol hill about getting to the bottom of what happened on january 6th is where we start this hour. joining us now, former republican congressman, david

jolly, and tara palmieri. tara, i want to start with you. were republicans surprised by pelosi's decision? >> absolutely. this is unprecedented to remove members from a committee. again, january 6th was unprecedented as nancy pelosi said. but this does sort of open the doors for future say speaker mccarthy or speaker scalise to remove democratic members from oversight committees. this isn't exactly nancy pelosi's favorite use of power to do oversight. she really prefers pocketbook issues because she believes that's what voters care about. now this has become an even igly and more partisan issue because kevin mccarthy has threatened to pull all of his members off the committee and he'll spin it as a partisan attack against the

former president. so i think she's opened the door for an uglier fight. >> david, this is ugly and it didn't have to be this way. republicans had the option of a bipartisan independent commission. they voted against this. this in multiple ways is a disaster of their own making. >> yeah, it is. and understand, nancy pelosi is doing the right thing in this environment. so what i'm about to offer is commentary is within the context that nancy pelosi is trying to do the right thing. jim jordan doesn't belong on that committee. jim banks doesn't belong on that committee. but republicans and kevin mccarthy are not interested in january 6th or the truth, they're interested solely on the political lens through which they can pitch this to the american people particularly going into 2022. what they wanted to do desperately is to be able to painting the committee that will proceed. they said no to the bipartisan committee. but the committee that will proceed is the one constituted by the house. kevin mccarthy desperately wants to paint that as a partisan activity.

kevin mccarthy's picks put nancy pelosi in a box. she had to make a determination, does she allow people like jordan or not? in this case she didn't. by saying no, nancy pelosi now owns the committee. and that is the refrain you will hear from kevin mccarthy. again, it is wrong on the part of kevin mccarthy and republicans. frankly, they should put patriotism above partisanship and should want to know what happened on january 6th as much as democrats do, but that's not how they view this. republicans run on two things or against two things. nancy pelosi and socialism. today plays right into that first point, that they want to run on in 2022. >> and that's why they're screaming their heads off calling her an authoritarian. walk me through some of this because i understand how that may play with and animate the base. who else is motivated by that argument that republicans are making? >> look, i hate to be the republican whisperer in this moment because i think democrats are trying to get to the truth

and doing the right things. but i promise you, the raw political lens on this is that republicans don't care about january 6th and they are making this gamble, which is not only will republicans not run on the events of january 6 in 2022, neither will democrats. consider what happened in the impeachment cycle. democrats did not talk about impeachment. nancy pelosi is the first person to say voters want to hear about main street issues, they want to hear about the economy, about wages, about health care. i think kevin mccarthy knows that going into next november those are the issues that will frame the election. so this is an opportunity for republicans simply to say that washington democrats are on a partisan witch hunt. kevin mccarthy should be criticized for this. liz cheney was right, this is not the proper role of the minority leader. he should be ashamed of his behavior. but he's making a raw political calculus. understand elections are determined by turnout, not by persuasion. republicans are banking they'll get more voters to turn out by running against nancy pelosi's control of the house than they

will anything to do with january 6. >> tara, david just referenced liz cheney who weighed in on the committee and pelosi's decision. take a listen. >> do you think you can still get that nonpartisan investigation you want given that no other republican but yourself will participate? >> i am absolutely confident that we will have a nonpartisan investigation, that it will look at the facts, that it will go wherever the facts may lead. there are three members that the minority leader proposed that the speaker did not object to. she has objected to two members. and the rhetoric around this from the minority leader and from those two members has been disgraceful. this must be an investigation that is focused on facts. the idea that any of this has become politicized is really unworthy of the office that we all hold and unworthy of our republic. >> you personally -- did you personally urge the speaker to take this step? >> i agree with what the speaker has done. >> tara, what does this mean for

the role that cheney plays in this commission moving forward? >> cheney really needs to make sure that she shows that this is not a partisan investigation. she needs to in some way encourage kevin mccarthy to add two other members to the group and not pull the entire republican team from his side of the commission. but it just puts more pressure on her as the soul republican if the other republicans don't end up on the commission. and that is her position right now in congress. i mean she lost her leadership role. this is what she stands for. it's probably all she will do in congress until her next election. so a lot is on her to make sure that this appears to be a credible oversight operation. >> i want to bring in ben rhodes, former deputy national security as visor to president obama and an msnbc contributor. ben, it's very easy to talk about this as if it's all in the rear view, but the threat as we are learning from the doj's ongoing investigation, it is very much still alive and

present. we're not talking about something that happened, we're talking about something that is happening. >> that's right. and it's not only in the kind of ugly politics and the disinformation that we see spreading, if you look at some of these prosecutions that are moving forward, some of these people belong to organizations. proud boys, oath keepers. there's an infrastructure that's supported those who went to the capitol with an intent to carry out violence. we have to investigate that for what it is, which is a circumstance in which there are organizations, there is an infrastructure and a process of radicalization that is ongoing in this country and could lead to further acts of violence. this is not at all looking back at some political purpose. there are very real public safety and national security reasons to understand exactly who was behind what happened on january 6th, what organizations were involved, how people get drawn to those organizations and hopefully what can we do to prevent further attacks on american democracy? >> tara, we know the president

has wanted to stay away from this and put his focus on pushing forward his agenda, as david said. but the white house came out with this statement. the president has made clear that the shameful events of january 6th deserve a full, independent and transparent investigation to ensure something like that never happens again, and he has full confidence in the speaker's ability to lead that work. where does the white house fit into all of this, tara? >> well, it seems to me that the white house doesn't want to put its political will behind this investigation. they know, just like former congressman jolly said, that pocketbook issues are going to drive the next election. i mean it's been how many months now since the insurrection, more than six months, and we still haven't even seen an oversight committee. i don't think the white house is as interested in this. they want to use their political capital right now on infrastructure, on reconciliation. this has become a bit of a sideshow, as important as it is, it's just they don't have enough political capital to spread around right now, not to mention

voting rights, police reform. i think you're going to keep seeing them put out these really strong statements, but are they really going to go out there and lobby and put their juice behind a january 6 commission? i doubt it because they know it doesn't drive votes. >> it may not drive votes but what i find interesting is you still have a lot of americans who feel as though they want not just accountability but more answers about what happened and why it happened. you have this recent cbs news/yougov poll finds there is still an appetite to find this out. 72% of americans say there is more to learn about what happened on that day. what does that tell you, david? >> it says that the proceedings of the committee should go forward. rarely in politics to people do the right thing just to do the right thing, but this committee has been created to just do the right thing. i think we're going to see a lot of important moments from specific committee members. obviously the eyes of the nation might be at liz cheney at

certain points during these proceedings. but at the end of the day and i think it was congressman swalwell who put it in this context. this is probably the first time we did not have a peaceful transition of power, right? we kid kind of think of that as inauguration day might be interrupted. but the reality is the nation suffered a violent attack that was intended power. that happened here on american soil. and to ben's point, there is much that the american people need to know about this, that our intelligence agencies need to know about, that law enforcement needs to know about. at the end of the day we're a free people that get to decide based on the information this committee puts forward who we want to lead the nation in '22 and '24. but this is a moment that the nation must never forget. we're wrestling with one major party that is not only trying to forget it, they're trying to deny it. if republicans don't want to participate, that's fine. the most valuable thing coming out of this committee is not the political impact, it's the truth telling, and that's what the

american people deserve and i hope that's what they will get once this committee begins its work. >> that's critical to a thriving democracy. and that same poll i just referenced, 66% say u.s. democracy is threatened. if republicans can't come to the table for an honest assessment of an insurrection on the u.s. capitol, what does that say to you about the state of our democracy? >> well, that's the problem. look, all these things are connected. the incapacity to have government work in a functional way is tied directly to the fact that one party has become so dysfunctional that it won't even investigate an insurrection on its own workplace. look, the reality here is they don't have to be trade-offs with other aspects of the biden agenda to do the work of this committee. the people doing that work can put their head down and uncover what happened. they can learn lessons. the reality is what we will see when this committee gets its momentum and you start to see hearings and you start to see information coming out, we just

experienced the last couple of weeks the overwhelming response to information coming out in books about what happened around january 6th. if you have a committee with the power of subpoena to follow leads where they go and access witnesses and documents and piece together this picture, that is going to be very healthy for american democracy, very important for national security, and it's going to be part of what voters need to consider as they make decisions about who should be in charge of our democracy. we kep can't just assume that everyone will understand and appreciate the severity of the threat that we faced january 6th and we still face. sometimes we have to go out there and do the work of painting that picture for the public and bringing them along with why we have to deal with some of the radicalization in our midst. i think this is an incredibly important exercise. the proof of it not being partisan is not whether or not jim jordan is on the committee, it's the work. the work is fact based and comes out, people will see this is a serious effort. not because i don't think people are sitting at home thinking this is a partisan thing because

jim jordan is not on it. no, that would be the opposite here. let's let these people do the work. >> let's let them do the work indeed. david jolly, tara palmeri, thanks for starting us off. when we return, reaction from capitol hill and one of the impeachment managers from trump's second impeachment trial, now kevin mccarthy is trying to blow up any opportunity to get to the truth about january 6th. plus the rise in covid cases fueled not just by the delta variant but disinformation about the vaccines. we'll talk to a doctor on the front lines dealing with both. and the arrest of trump ally tom barrack is raising new questions about the extent to which this country's foreign policy under the former guy was up for sale. do not go any wrchlt lt that's why td ameritrade designed a first-of-its-kind, personalized education center. oh. their award-winning content is tailored to fit your investing goals and interests. and it learns with you, so as you become smarter, so do its recommendations.

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. this afternoon house minority leader kevin mccarthy threatened to pull all five of his choices from the select committee tasked with investigating the january 6th insurrection. it was something of a take your ball and go home response to a decision by leader pelosi to reject jim jordan and jim banks, two big lie republicans, as part of that committee. joining us now, democratic congressman joaquin castro of texas, who served as an impeachment manager during trump's second impeachment trial and is a member of the house committee. pelosi took exception to mccarthy's choices. first of all, your reaction to today's news. >> i think the speaker made the right decision. i'm sure for her it was a tough decision. but look, there has been a group of republican members in

congress who since january 6th have been in denial about what it was, an insurrection and attempted coup. some have spread conspiracy theories about who was responsible, whether it was antifa or intelligence agencies of the u.s. government, and people who voted against certifying a fair and legitimate election. these folks, including the ones that she wouldn't accept on the committee, have been super antagonistic to discovering the truth. as you know, there have even been reports that perhaps some members of the republican party in congress were assisting those who were part of the insurrection, showing them around the capitol and so forth. and so you've got to make sure you have people on there who are going to try to get to the truth and not just spin false conspiracy theories and be antagonistic the whole time and keep you from getting to the truth. >> congressman, to your point about being antagonistic towards the truth, i want to read the statement from one of your

colleagues, jim banks. he says we said all along that this was a purely partisan exercise by the democrats and nancy pelosi's rejection of me and jim jordan shows once again she is the most partisan figure in america today. the american people deserve the truth. unfortunately, speaker pelosi is afraid of the facts. i mean you were there in the capitol on january 6th. you know what happened. you lived through what happened. it's not just about getting to the truth. there are a lot of people who felt that they got to the truth during the first impeachment trial, the second impeachment hearing. what they don't feel like is there has been accountability. can you get to the truth? and if you do, is the truth enough or does there need to be accountability for those who took part in january 6th? >> no, you're absolutely right. in the investigation, the hearings that the committee will hold, the goal is to get to the truth, to find out who was responsible, including whether there were members of congress that were helpful are not, and then also just as important make

recommendations so that this doesn't happen again in the future. so it would be an opportunity to do all of those things. but what you can't have on there is people who are in complete denial about what happened and then are trying to stop everybody else from doing their job of getting to the truth, holding people accountable and making sure it doesn't happen again. >> next week the committee is supposed to have its first hearing. can you give me a sense whereof democrats go from here? >> i think we're going to continue our work. we're going to do everything we can to be fair in how we proceed, but also to make sure that the investigation is thorough, to make sure that all the facts come out and the country and the congress learn a lesson from what happened on january 6. you know, we keep talking about an insurrection, but this was an attempted coup. these people were trying to stop the united states congress from

certifying election results that would put a new president in office. that is as serious a thing as you can get in a democracy. we've got to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> congressman, i want to underline the point you're making there about what is at stake. the health of our democracy. i'm sure you've seen the book by our friends phil rucker and carol leonnig quoting general milley as saying the institutions might bend but won't break. i don't know, does this seem to you like a functioning healthy democracy? >> look, i still believe in american democracy, obviously, i'm part of the congress. but it doesn't mean that it's not under threat and that it isn't at a fragile point sometimes. i do think this is one of those points, as joe biden said within the last few weeks. there's so much misinformation out there, whether it's in social media or on other television news stations, such that people who are in denial of

reality or spin conspiracy theories, those fantasies and lies are reaffirmed by what they're going on the internet and seeing and what they hear when they turn to certain channels. that's dangerous for democracy. >> congressman joaquin castro, thank you for spending some time with us. when we return, an e.r. doctor racing to save lives in the face of the delta variant and a rash of disinformation around covid vaccines. that's all next. s. that's all next. millions of vulnerable americans struggle to get reliable transportation to their medical appointments. that's why i started medhaul. citi launched the impact fund to invest in both women and entrepreneurs of color like me, so i can realize my vision and give everything i've got to my company, and my community. i got you. for the love of people. for the love of community. for the love of progress. citi.

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with covid cases and hospitalizations on the rise and daily vaccinations down, experts are warning about the virus and the vaccine misinformation still stunting our progress and readiness against what could come next. in south carolina, a medical center is considering reopening its covid icu that closed four months ago to accommodate a new influx of patients. doctors there tell nbc news that this time around the patients are much younger, without any serious pre-existing conditions, and most of them are still unvaccinated. let's bring in nbc's ellison barber in west columbia, south carolina, where hospitals are seeing troubling jumps in icu patients. >> reporter: this hospital had a designated covid icu ward last year. they were able to officially close that ward about four months ago, but now they're having discussions about whether or not they should bring it back. they had zero cases of covid-19 in their icu last week. within one week they saw eight

patients admitted to the icu because of covid-19. when we were on the floor yesterday, we saw a ninth patient be brought in. almost all of the patients are unvaccinated. all except for one of them. the most noticeable difference between the patients that we saw last year in icu because of covid-19 and the ones we saw this week are their ages. last year the patient that we saw needing intensive care were much older. now they're much younger. one of the first patients we saw was a 26-year-old intubated, getting a plasma exchange treatment because he had multiple organs failing. just across the hall from him, there was a patient in his 30s. next to him, there was a patient in his 40s. all three of them on ventilators. doctors here are really worried about this because they're seeing these numbers rise so quickly. we spoke to one man who was in the icu because of covid-19 for

nearly two months. he was eligible to get vaccinated early in the year but didn't because he said he was a little worried about it being so new and he wasn't convinced that he really needed it. he said it's a decision he regrets almost every single day. he spent nearly two months in this hospital, close to two weeks in icu, some of it on a ventilator. listen to some of what he told us. >> were you able to breathe on your own? >> not at first. they had to turn me on my stomach. i think it was like three times because like the cold and the blood was filling up in my lungs. go ahead and get the vaccination because the covid is for real. like it had me on my dying bed. i didn't know whether i was going to make it back or not. >> reporter: we met another patient at this hospital who is a breakthrough case. she was fully vaccinated but still got covid-19 and has been

hospitalized. she has ms. she says she believes if she wasn't vaccinated, she would be much sicker than she is right now, possibly in intensive care, but she's not. she believes that's because she was fully vaccinated. in south carolina, they have seen cases of patients needing to be hospitalized because of covid-19 increase by 103% in less than a month. alicia. >> nbc's ellison barber, thank you for that report. joining us now, dr. rob davidson, emergency room physician in west michigan and executive director of the committee to protect medicare. dr. davidson, what do you make of the increasing cases and hospitalizations? who is it that needs to be worried? >> i think people who are unvaccinated are the ones that are suffering right now and will continue to suffer. that gentleman from south carolina's story needs to be heard by so many people in my community and communities across the country because that is a person who understands. two months in the icu, even when you survive, is a massive thing

to endure. that lasts for your life. >> dr. davidson, you write and say i don't blame my patients for their refusal. what breaks my heart as someone who took an oath to prevent harm is that my patients choose to abandon the science and evidence that can save their lives. i do blame fox news and other right-wing media outlets for poisoning the minds of millions of americans with the deceptive propaganda they spray into living rooms 24/7. talk to me about what it is that you're hearing from their patients and the damage being done to them by what you call right-wing covid denialism. >> our e.r. like many is offering the vaccine to patients in the emergency department so i have these conversations all the time. many times they just shut me down saying i don't want to talk about it, i don't want to hear about it. i heard one woman say i'm a little afraid of the ingredients. i said tell me what concerns you. well, i don't really know what's in it. of course i don't ask how do you

vote or what do you watch, but i'm in a county that 69% of the people voted for the former president. you know, fox news is on many rooms when i go into them to see patients. and so that kind of thinking, that kind of rhetoric, that doesn't appear naturally. that's being pushed into people and fox is one of the biggest purveyors of this. >> this also took my breath away. someone saying i'm admitting young, healthy people to the hospital with very serious covid infections, wrote a hospitalist in birmingham in an emotional facebook post. this is the part that got me. one of the last things they do before they're intubated is beg me for the vaccine. i hold their hand and tell them that i'm sorry, but it's too late. i mean, dr. davidson, you have that sobering reality. you have what ellison was just reporting and then you have representative steve scalise getting the vaccine this week calling it safe and effective, sean hannity telling his audience to take covid seriously, believe in vaccines. what do you make of this recent

about-face from republicans who have been drivers of misinformation? what does that indicate to you about the seriousness of the situation in this moment? >> listen, that story gave me chills, by the way. i say it's very little, it's very late, but it's welcome. i say anybody who wants to get on board with reality, because that's all we're talking about here. this isn't controversial, it's not partisan, there's no agenda. this is just reality. you get the vaccine, you won't die. you don't get the vaccine, you're rolling the dice with your own life. if sean hannity, steve scalise, anybody wants to encourage people to do that, that's great news. >> i want you to take a listen to what dr. fauci said yesterday on capitol hill. >> when you hear about a breakthrough infection, that doesn't necessarily mean the vaccine is failing because it's still holding true, particularly with regard to protection against severe disease leading to hospitalization and deaths. >> so you have that.

as ellison reports, doctors still say covid cases largely among the unvaccinated. what should we make of the breakthrough cases and what do we see to those who see those breakthrough cases and makes them less likely to want to get the vaccine? >> you know, we just explained it with numbers and with stories. people that get vaccinated and then contract covid have almost no chance of getting extremely ill. almost none of them will die or ending up in the icu. if you're unvaccinated, again, you're rolling the dice. we're talking about risks and benefits. the benefits of vaccinations far outweigh any possible risks. i would just keep plugging along. i'm doing it, my family doctor is doing it every day in her practice. this is our job and we're glad they do it. >> you are approaching this at the individual level which is so critical. there's also the question of the role policy can play. when it comes to convincing people who are resistant to the vaccine, who are hesitant taking

the vaccine, what is your current thinking about the role that the government needs to be playing in convincing them that it is in their best interests? >> yeah, i think the gentleman in south carolina that you had on at the beginning of this piece, those kinds of stories need to be in communities that are resistant. there's still a significant resistance or hesitancy in communities of color. this is not because of fox news, this is because of decades and lifetimes of the medical establishment and the government letting people down. it is understood. but we want to protect folks. and so we need to get the stories into those communities. that's what the government can help us do and other organizations can help us do. >> and your thoughts on a vaccine mandate? >> i think that individual businesses should absolutely do that. i applaud health care systems that are doing it. the one i work for isn't yet, but hopefully that will come soon. once there is full approval, even though i believe the emergency use authorization legally qualifies, but once they get to full approval in the next few months, i don't see any

reason why businesses, especially health care organizations, shouldn't go ahead and mandate the vaccine. hopefully they will do. >> dr. rob davidson, thank you for spending some time with us. when we return, connecting the dots around who actually benefitted from donald trump's foreign policy, now that another member of his inner circle is facing foreign lobbying charges. we'll be right back. ges. we'll be right back.

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energy relationship as part of our anti-terrorism strategy. we'll work with them because we have to knock out terrorism. >> that was then candidate donald trump delivering a foreign policy speech in may 2016. those lines you just heard there under new scrutiny after the arhett of top trump ally tom barrack for violating foreign lobbying laws. the department of justice alleges that barrack had those lines inserted at the request of officials from the united arab emirates. prosecutors also say that barrack tried to influence u.s. foreign policy during the trump presidency as well, raising questions about the reasoning behind the trump administration's policies in the middle east. a spokesperson for barrack says he will plead not guilty to the charges. a federal judge ordered barrack detained until a hearing on monday. prosecutors have argued that he is a flight risk given his wealth, his ties to gulf states and his status as a citizen of

lebanon. joining us is mark miller and ben rhodes is back with us. ben, this isn't how you conduct foreign policy, to say the least. as mark mizzetti of "the new york times" tweets, one of the mysteries of trump's first six months is why the administration came out of the gates so hot for saudi and uae with trump traveling to saudi arabia and then going along with the qatar blockade. the tom barrack indictment explains a lot. ben, does it explain a lot to you? >> oh, an extraordinary amounting. look, this was hiding in plain sight to some extent. at the end of the obama years we knew what the wish list was for the uae and saudi arabia, very close allies. some of these things were things that the obama administration had resisted. as soon as donald trump comes into office, if you look at the steps he took, backing that blockade of qatar, taking his first trip to saudi arabia instead of going to mexico or canada as u.s. presidents usually do and then extending forward, supporting mohammed bin

salman even after the murder of jamal khashoggi. escalating support for the war in yemen, the list went on and on and on and it looked conspicuously to a lot of us on the outside like the united states was literally running its foreign policy in the middle east through abu dhabi and through riyadh. and now we know that people who were very close to the president were taking money and boasting about their capacity to get emirati influence into american foreign policy. we also know barrack was not the only one quite close to gulf officials. people like jared kushner were spending a lot of time with the gulf royal families too. so i think this is the beginning of a process of understanding what kind of influence campaign might have informed trump's foreign policy. i think what has to be determined is how frequently and who was violating the law in that effort. >> matt, i'm going to come back to ben's idea of a wish list but

first i want to underscore how unusual all of this is. listen to this from the indictment on the aftermath of trump's may 26th speech. official 4 also emailed barrack congrats on the great job today. official 2 and everybody here are happy with the results. matt, how unusual is this for a political campaign, for an outsider to insert language into a major speech. and might i say with someone who's not particularly good at sticking to the script? >> it's incredibly unusual. i will say most of the people around major candidates for the presidency, you know, wouldn't try to do something like that because they're in it for the right reasons. if they did, they wouldn't be successful because you would have a candidate that had people around him who were vetting the ideas that were coming and looking -- were looking out for people trying to exercise this sort of ill influence. you know, when you step back and look at the case and how the justice department has responded to it, it really is kind of

incredible. before donald trump was elected, it was a law that wasn't all that widely enforced. it reminds me what happened over the trump presidency is what's happened in other areas of the law where the department looks back at statutes that aren't often used and decides there is a whole bunch of criminality going on in this sector and we need to find a law to deal with it. what's incredibly unusual about this is that the justice department had to reig vic rate it because there was such a nexus of criminality around the white house. tom barrack is not the first case to come out in this administration. you had mike flynn and other channels from the uae that were investigated for illegal lobbying and were indicted for other corrupt acts regarding the president. ben, mr. barrack invited senior emerati officials to give

them a wish list of foreign policy moves they wanted washington to take the first 100 days, first year and by the end of mr. trump's term. talk us through what would happen in a normal environment where there was not a nexus of criminality. if someone came with a wish list, what would ordinarily be the response? >> well, i think, first of all, the normal thing would be to pursue that kind of wish list through established channels. that's why there are ambassadors who meet with sitting u.s. public officials and advocate for their country's interests and try to persuade the government, the u.s. government, that it's in our best interests to work with them. i think what's so, i think, dangerous about this is clearly they were not going through official channels. you have someone like barrack who based on the reports was making an enormous amount of money for his advocacy for the emirates, kind of back channeling in this wish list

that presumably was also coming through other channels. if you think that you can make the argument that it's in america's interests to back the broad and comprehensive emerati agenda, then why would you need to spend all this money kind of around the rules, around the norms, to get to people close to the president who can then insert that? it just shows the danger of having someone who operates the u.s. government as trump did in such a corrupt fashion. i mean it connects to other things we saw on the foreign policy of the united states under trump. in the ukraine he's using his own political interests in private individuals like rudy giuliani to effect an incredibly incorporate part of the world in ukraine. here it's the middle east. these are like the centerpieces of america's interest, the middle east and ukraine. these were areas that are corrupted because of the way the trump administration conducted foreign policy with such an

openness to the corruption of money. if you're talking about the gulf states, there's a lot of money there. >> matt, you have said this will rank as one of the all-time worst corruption stories. you are making that declaration and there is probably more we don't know. what are your big questions moving forward? >> let me just say first, the reason i say that, ben pointed out there was more than one channel between the gulf states and the white house. barrack was clearly operating one channel but there's another other channel, broidy and nader who went to jail for other crimes who were operating a separate track to influence the white house on behalf of the uae. the one big question that i have is why barrack didn't get a pardon in the final days of the trump administration. given that everyone with any kind of criminal exposure either who had been indicted or seemed close to being indicted other really than rudy giuliani got a pardon in the final days, barrack didn't get one and i can't understand why. i can think either he had some falling out with the president

that wasn't reported or maybe he didn't want to go admit to the president that he was under investigation. he had to know that he was close to indictment. and really i also wonder if the prosecutors working this case didn't try to hold the indictment and didn't try to just delay the investigation until trump was out of office so barrack wouldn't -- his criminal exposure wouldn't be public and the president wouldn't grant a last-minute pardon. >> i'm so glad we have both of you on because two of the questions that we have circled back to again and again with regards to the biden administration and the work they have to do to clean up the mess of the last guy is what would happen at doj, how doj ben, what does this tell you about the work that's left to be done in this administration when it comes to reestablishing america's diplomatic norms? >> well, i think, look, this question of. it is not a secret. something that may be discussed

around the world. it is important for the united states to establish accountability. you can assure people that the actions we are taking around the world are informed by our interests and values and not something else. i think we also try to set an example for other countries. this is not the kind of behavior we would like to see in other places. united states spend a lot of times and resources fighting corruption around the world and often the most important thing to set an example for how to fight corruption at home. that prevents to happen again in the future. also by reassuring the world that the united states is ruling out corruption at home and showing other countries how to enforce accountability when things gone off the rails like this. >> matt miller and ben rhodes. a historic first for women in our national past time. irst for our national past time of the wa. the “make way, coming through” great...

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thanks for spending the hour with us, "the beat" with ari

melber starts now. >> hey, ari. >> hey alicia. welcome to "the beat." president biden is preparing for a speech, we'll be monitoring that. dr. fauci is here live, as covid rises and new varian posed challenges for the delta variant. we begin with the insurrection. speaker pelosi scored a victory here. earlier this month was july 1st, pelosi made her selection for this important committee. some experienced investigators from within her party and some what unusual move to use democratic spots for a prominent and conservative republican liz cheney. pelosi was powered