surprise. when everything in your life cost more, you don't feel good about the economy. and when the tool the government uses to slow rising prices, makes it more expensive to borrow, but we don't like that much either. and tomorrow, we are gonna find out if the fed plans to raise rates again and they likely we'll. on thursday, we get gdp numbers. likely going to show a second quarter of decline. also not great news. but it doesn't mean it's a full blown recession. why? because there is other things. there is good news. we got low unemployment. steady job growth. and a high rate of savings. the economy is not all good, the economy is not all bad. but we have in this giant country of ours is a complicated economy. and that is the truth. and on that note, i wish you all a very good and safe night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late with us. i will see you at the end of tomorrow.

ll see you at the end of tomorrow >> we have got breaking news to get to tonight. the washington post just out with his brand-new reporting. justice department investigating trump's actions in january six criminal probe. we'll get the details from carole lettig one of the reporters who broke that story an expert legal guidance on what it all means. but first, let's remember how we got here. today washington for only the second time a federal judge sentence a january 6th rioter to more than five years in prison. 63 months, it is tied for the longest sentence ever imposed on a participant in the capitol attack. and it's not hard to see. why in screenshots take it from officers body cams in january six, the sky is seen swinging a pull out of police officers so hard it snaps into on the officers riot shield. so the new guy finds another

pull and start swinging that one at officers. the officer he hit with the first poll, the one he hit so hard that it stepped into, that was capitol police sergeant alkaline o'connell. he gave emotional testimony about the horror that day before the january six investigation. today he sent his at that rioters hearing, saying he suffered mental and physical injuries from the attack that forced him to leave the police force. after the guy with the poles was arrested, he said he attacked the police officers that day because he believed donald trump's lies about the stolen election. after all, the then president sent a mob to the capitol to fight like hell. that was the last time that president trump donald trump's made and needs a big speech in the capital. he knew they were armed and sent them to the capital, and then he sat by and watch tv for hours while they stormed the place and attacked police

officers, even as his advisors and own family members begged him to do something to stop it. it was galling to hear the donald trump would be returning to washington, d. c. today to give the speech just a mile and a half from the capitol. it is maddening enough to think that he could just show's face in the capital. but it was particularly galling to hear him say this in the speech. >> police officers are heroes performing a great public service at great personal risk. we must uphold our duty to protect our police officers, our great police officers. they have to become our heroes. they are mine. >> police officers need to become our heroes, they are mine, says the man who routinely describes the january 6th rioters as great persecuted patrons. who routinely said he will pardon the january six attackers who injured nearly 150 police officers, smashing

them with polls, spraying them with chemicals, and crushing them in door ways. trump once again repeated the lie that fueled on that violence, that the 2020 election was stolen from him. but also today in washington as donald trump was back in town giving his first d. c. speech since january the 6th, we heard from the man who is in charge of prosecuting the more than 150 people charged in connection with january 6th. he may possibly at some point think possibly call prosecuting donald trump himself. attorney general merrick garland sat down for an exclusive interview with and he sees lester holt. >> you said in no uncertain terms the other day that no one is above the law. that said, the indictment of a former president, perhaps a candidate for president would arguably tear the country apart. is that your concern as you make your decision down the road here? do you have to think about things like that?

>> we pursue justice without fear or favor. we intend to hold everyone, anyone who was criminally responsible for events surrounding january 6th or any attempt to interfere with the lawful transfer of power from one administration to another accountable. that's what we do. we don't pay any attention to other issues with respect to that. >> well, on the heels of those comments from the attorney general, we have brand-new reporting tonight that suggests the justice department investigation may indeed be heating up. this is just out tonight from the washington post. quote, justice department investigating trump's action in january 6th criminal probe. quote, prosecutors who were questioning witnesses before a grand jury including two top aides to vice president mike pence have asked in recent days about conversations with trump,

his lawyers and others in the circle who sought to substitute trump allies from certified electors in some states that biden won. the prosecutors have asked hours of details questions about conversations trump had in december 2020 and january 2021. his count is pressure on pence to overturn the election, and when instructions it trump gave his lawyers about sending fake electors and sendin electors back to the states. some of these questions focused directly on trump's efforts to focus focus on the fake elector effort. they also received phone records of key officials and aids in the trump administration including chief of staff mark meadows. the degree of prosecutors interest in trump's actions has not been previously reported, nor has the review of senior trump aide's phone records. >> this is a major escalation when we depart we know about the justice department's investigation. that investigation may finally be gaining steam. last month, many agents in

multiple states with some surge search warrants without scheme. that included john eastman and trump department official jeffrey clark. last week, two top aides to former vice president mike pence testified to a federal grand jury, the two highest ranking former highest ranking trump official known to cooperate with prosecutors. we have this new reporting from the new york times that has included some damning emails among those trump officials regarding that they fake elector scheme. we're remember how that scheme was supposed to work for -- purporting to be the real and to a collectors for that state, claiming that trump won their state when he did not. and they said these fake elector certificates to washington with the hope that on january 6th, 2021, mike pence would use them to overturn biden's win and hand election to trump. when we talk about this plot,

we shorthanded as the fake elector scheme. now, republicans involved in the plan have maintained there is nothing problematic or illegal about it, that what it was all above board, in the electoral certificates were totally legit. but the emails obtained by the times reveal that even the lawyers and the trump campaigne officials referred to the electoral certificates as fake. this is an email to trump campaign officials from a lawyer helping to own organize the pro trump campaign in arizona. quote, we will just be sending in fake electoral votes to pence, so that someone in congress can make an injection when they start counting votes and start arguing that the fake vote should be counted. he then followed up with another email, quote pps, alternative vote is probably a better term than fake votes, followed by a smiley face emojis. the emails show that everyone involved was reporting details

of their fake electoral planning to trump's personal lawyer rudy giuliani and atleast one case to trump's white house chief of staff mark meadows. a brings all this activity that is under investigation very, very close to donald trump himself, which may help explain why as the washington post is reporting tonight, the justice department january six investigation is actively looking into trump's actions. joining now is carol leonnig, investigative reporter at their washington post, who is the lead on this piece of bombshell reporting tonight. carol, thank you for being with us tonight. i'm sure it's been a very busy day for you. your reporting says the doj is investigating trump's actions as part of its criminal probe into the attempt to overturn the election. it's clearly not something that happens overnight. can you walk us through your reporting on how this particular angle on the doj investigation has come about? >> yes, happy to do so. my colleagues and i learned some really interesting things

about that roadmap of what i call team trump investigation. as you know, very well, the department of justice began almost on january 7th investigating the attack on the capital, starting with the rioters who breached the building and stormed the capitol, who assaulted law enforcement officers, who broke in essentially, they were a mixture of trespassers and seditious conspiracies according to the department of justice. but the criticism of merrick garland, our attorney general and also the department of justice has been the glacial case with which it has turned its attention to another potential crime. that is, the way that donald trump and his allies appeared at least on the face to be using fraudulent information to block and overturn the election results. to block our wonderful sacred tradition of the peaceful transfer of power.

what we learned is that at least starting in early spring, the department of justice started to sway its attention fairly forcefully towards team trump. we've seen a series of subpoenas that deal with fake electors, but more recently what we have learned in the last few days, the last few hours to be fair, is that in april, the department of justice obtained sought and obtained phone records called data logs if you will, for a series of trump aides, allies and senior officials in the white house. those phone records included the calls back and forth between all sorts of aides to trump who were with him on january six, people who were with him and overhearing what he was saying and taking orders from him after the election until january 6th. they also include his chief of staff, mark meadows, which is probably the most senior person whose records have been obtained.

that's in april, before any january six hearings had taken place. in the meantime, what we have learned is that they are asking most of their questions, at least so far about donald trump. the questions overwhelmingly are, what donald trump tell his lawyers? but donald trump say to you? what did donald trump say to mike pence? and those are questions asked in a very serious and formal environment of a grand jury. a grand jury that is preparing as part of a criminal investigation for the possibility of charging people with crimes. >> so, carroll, in your peace you described two tracks of investigation in your report. attract leading to potential's seditious his verse each arduous and in obstruction of an official proceeding on the one hand and another related to fraud regarding the fake electoral scheme. do we know which track the justice department's gathered more infamous evidence and

information, and is leading predicting one way or no they're, can we tell from their question? >> there are three different offices burrowing into these specific tracks. i don't know the answer to your question, i sure wish i did. but i would imagine they are steaming full steam ahead on all of these tracks and obviously, based on the grand jury witnesses who were brought in, the fake electors piece is perhaps further along than any other. keep in mind that when the justice department considers conspiracy, conspiracy can be an agreement between any number of people to try to accomplish some nefarious scheme using fraud knowingly, intentionally defrauding people around them. the public, maybe an executive branch agency. using this agreement to try and execute this scheme. but to be charged with this crime, you don't have to accomplish it, you just have to have that corrupt agreement.

i would add one more thing to your good question, which is our understanding is that this investigation is unusual in that it is looking at the potential crimes that are already obvious from the evidence right in front of our faces. the things people saw on television, the things the president said himself, and that's an important thing to keep in mind, the crimes that are potentially obvious. i'll add one last thing -- sorry go ahead no. you ask. >> quick last question before we ran out of time. how much do we know about merrick garland's involvement in? this is something that he's personally overseeing, green-lighting and honest we think the 16 committee as wrap this up? >> my understanding, though i don't know all of the specifics here, my understanding is that he is briefed regularly on this. he has said over and over again that no one is above the law, they're gonna follow the facts

where they lead, but there are a lot of people quite concerned about whether or not merrick garland is as keen to prosecute what appears to be a crime and worried about the precedent, right? it is not a small thing to consider prosecuting a former president. it's not okay ever to prosecute a sitting president according to several legal memorandum. to prosecute a former president is still a very serious matter, one that is never ever been taken before, so there are people worried about whether or not merrick garland wants to be the first person to take that step in history. >> these are historic times. carol leonnig, investigative reporter for the washington post. thanks so much for taking time out, we appreciated. >> honored to be here. >> historic, that was the reaction to the washington post story.

co-editor in chief of just security ryan goodman, also this mark meadows has a ton of criminal exposure, doj could flip him. ryan goodman joins me now. ryan, thanks so much for coming on the show, let me start with a very important question for our viewers. you're a lawyer, you're a law professor. explain the difference between investigating donald trump's actions as part of a probe into january 6th and the election and criminally investigating donald trump himself? >> it's a great question. my best sense is that it's very difficult for them to be investigating donald trump's actions without him either being a subject or a target of the investigation. but it might just be that the reporters are unable to nail that one down. especially if they are talking to folks who are witnesses, or lawyers for witnesses. coming out of the grand jury. all they will be able to say is, they asked us a lot of

questions about donald trump's actions, but they won't be able to say specifically what was the purpose behind that. did the prosecutors think that donald trump is just suspicious in his activities, and it was therefore like a subject of the investigation. or have they moved all the way over to saying, he is a target, we think that he committed crimes, and now we are kind of mounting a case against him. >> so, you call this development historic. you also singled out mark meadows role in this. this -- washington post said over the phone, his phone records taking for review. you say that the doj could flip meadows in order to get him to turn on donald trump. that's the kind of language that we heard during the mueller investigation, in relation to paul manafort, michael flynn. but crime would mark meadows be charged with, or not charged with, as part of any kind of deal to get him to flip? >> so i think one of the ways in which he is very criminally exposed, the very crimes that carol leonnig just outlined out herself. basically hand-in-hand with president trump, he ran points

on some of these issues for the fake electors. he ran points on trying to influence pence as well. and so the issue is that, he has even greater exposure, in some senses more than trump, because there is also evidence in the record from the january six committee, that meadows knew trump had lost. he said that to bill barr. bill barr said he told me. you know trump will come around because he understands that he lost. meadows knew. that pence didn't have the authority to do anything but count the votes. that is from marc short's testimony from the january 6th committee. meadows has a lot of criminal exposure from these very quick crimes. the justice department can say to him, we will strike a deal with you. you flip and cooperate with us. or we can even provide you immunity. and you cooperate with us. and give us everything you know about president trump. the principal on all of these guns. >> and how significant is it in your view, that to penn state,

marc short and greg jacob had recently testified to a grand jury, to a high is how white house officials to do so? >> i think it's incredibly significant. it means the investigators are going straight into the white house. calling to the wall street journal's reporting and cooberated now with the washington post, the questions the prosecutors are asking and asked specifically jacob and short, it's about for example, the january 4th meeting with president trump, that is the meeting with trump's only lawyer to tell him that the plan was legal. in the meeting, concedes that it is illegal for pence to carry out the scheme. and that is what the prosecutors are asking these two very senior white house officials, about. that is really means that this, the prosecution and the exact the investigation is very far along and as peered all the way through into the white house and some of the most important meetings. >> quick last question, 30 seconds left, merrick garland spoke to lester holt earlier this today. we are gonna pasco evers responsible, are you confident

that this will go away if this evidence leads him all the way to trump which it seems that it will. >> i guess frankly, i don't. i'm just not sure, i think we have to see what happens. especially because this investigation seems to be have been so slow rolled at the beginning. and it might well be that the reason the justice department is moving out is because a genuine six committee, you know washington post report says that these questions were asked, the last few days, ask ourselves why is that. 18 months after the incident of january six. now last few days. >> it's a very good point. ryan goodman is a former special counsel at the the parnas, vance current co-editor. ryan thank you for your time tonight. we appreciate. it and i just mention the role of the 16 committee and all of. this up next here tonight congressman woman congresswoman zoe lofgren, a member of the january 6th select committee. she will be joining us live to react to this breaking news. do not go away, we are just getting started. are jus getting started.

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the washington post reports tonight that the department of justice is investigating former president donald trump's actions in the lead up to january 6th as part of a criminal investigation. the post cites two people familiar with the situation who say that the investigation is moving on two tracks. first focuses on seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to us obstruct a government proceeding, the kind of charges we've already seen brought against some of the right wing groups involved in the capitol attack. a second is involved with the potential fraud with the fake elector scheme with which trump and his potential allies but on the and said that the election was rigged and votes were fraudulently cast. now news into the former president comes after six weeks of damning hearings by the january six committee detailing trump's role in the plot to overturn the election. joining now is congressman california congresswoman and member of the january six

committees zoe lofgren. thank you for joining us tonight congress chris women. first i want to get your reaction to this watch the story that the washington post is reporting its actions on donald trump? >> i was a surprised as i think you were. obviously, the department of justice doesn't report into the january 6th committee. all we know at this point is but we had in the post article. flores very clear from the evidence that we have presented that the former president bears responsibility. he summoned the mob, he knew that they were armed, he sent them to the capitol to disrupt the electoral count. we know that he was involved in the fake electors scheme. remember when he got on the phone with the corona, raoni make -- the republican chairwoman and then handed it off? he wanted to talk about the fake elector scheme.

his hands are in this and i presume that the department of justice will be thorough and to find even more evidence than we have found. >> some have suggested including my guest in the previous segment ryan goodman, that your committee has helped push the doj in this direction. there's been action because of the hearings. the washington post reports the doj received phone records of key officials in the administration including mark meadows in april which was before the january six investigation began. what do you think your committees role had in this investigation so far? >> well it's impossible to know so far. i do know this, that we have played a role in showing the wide sloths of the american

public now have a better understanding what happened and january 6th in the days leading up to it. roll what role will play in the doj investigation? it's impossible for us to know. >> so congresswoman, by my count at least four of your colleagues, liz cheney, adam kinzinger, adam schiff and elaine luria have all suggested in recent days the trump's conduct as revealed in the hearings, does merit criminal investigation by the department of justice. is your view the same? >> sure. i do think it does merit investigation. now whether there is sufficient evidence to get a conviction, that's for the prosecutors to weigh. but there is certainly much that needs to be looked at in great detail by the department of justice, no question about that. >> so, one issue that has been a point of debate. merrick garland, the attorney general speaking earlier today addressed it, the idea of a criminal referral from your committee to the doj. he said, well it's up to the committee, it's not going to affect their investigation.

some committee members are torn on this. of the change of you on this? should the committee make a definitive statement at the end of your work and these hearings whether there should be a criminal referral to the geology as to what you've discovered? >> we have not had a big discussion on that yet as a committee. as the attorney general mentioned, there is really no statute that provides for a so-called criminal referral. that doesn't mean we shouldn't send a letter and give him our viewpoint. i don't know what the committee will decide but it will be after we get a little bit more evidence that is still coming in. witnesses still being interviewed. and as with everything in this committee, we will have a thorough discussion. it's been a good experience, because we've got members who started with one possession but we listen to each other. we evaluate the evidence. sometimes we are persuaded by

our colleague so there's been no acrimony but we generally reach a consensus and i imagine we will do so in this case. >> last question, we are almost out of time. i have to ask about secret service emails. you said that you do have a quite a few concerns about the secret service. on the way to a stephen colbert last night, your colleague stephen raskin said he didn't buy permit of the secret service somehow inadvertently lost those text messages. i mean, if that is the case, what does that say about our secret service? pretty key security institution. where they, what should people think about their role in the midst of an attempted coup? >> well they are a lot of questions and i have some concerns. not only erasing the text messages, but there is information that we have asked for for almost a year that has only recently been produced, and in some cases, you know, what we got, they knew that we had from another source.

they dumped hundreds of thousands of documents on us, this morning, that we have asked for for almost a year. so there is some troubling behavior patterns here. i am also concerned about the actions of the inspector general. he sat on this stuff for months, months, and months as well. and now, he has ordered the department to stop the forensic analysis of the phones, which we need. we need that to happen. so there is a lot of questions here. and i hope that we can get answers to all of them. >> we will have to leave it, there we are out of time california congresswoman, member the january six committee zoe lofgren, thank you so much for your time tonight. i appreciate it. >> thank you. >> republican congressman and trump acolyte, matt gates, went out of his way recently to bash mike pence's chance at a presidential run in 2024. the vice president's former chief of staff didn't have any

trouble offering this pretty stinging response. >> well, i don't know if mike pence will go for president 2024. but i don't think matt gates will have an impact on that. in fact, i would be surprised if you were still voting. it's more likely he will be in prison for child sex trafficking, by 2024, and i am actually surprised that florida law enforcement still allows him to speak to teenage conferences like that. so i am not too worried about matt gates. >> ouch! now that pence deputy is the same man who is speaking behind closed doors to doj prosecutors. oh to be a fly on that wall. but why the top figures and pence world don't seem to have a problem calling out trump or his minions, pence himself is taking an entirely different stance. that is next. at is next look what i brought! liberty mutual!

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are both speaking this weekend in d. c., and there seems to be a divide between the two of you on your outlook on with the future of the conservative movement might be. so do you think that this divide extends to the rest of the conservative movement like the general public? and what do you think we can do to alleviate it? >> well i will tell you that i couldn't be more proud of the record that the trump pence administration. i don't know that our movement is that divided. i don't know that the president and i differ on issues.

but we may differ on focus. >> thank you sir, may i have another? that was former vice president pence today answering questions during a speech to young conservatives in d. c.. those comments come less than a month since we've heard this damning january six testimony from a former top aide to donald trump's chief of staff mark meadows about trump's reaction to the mob chanting hang mike pence that day. >> i remember pat saying something to the effect of, mark, we need to do something more. they are literally calling for the vice presidents to be effing hung. and mark had responded something to the effect of, you heard of that, he thinks mike deserves it, he doesn't think they are doing anything wrong. >> he thinks mike deserves it. he doesn't think they are doing anything wrong. since then, we've also heard evidence about how members a pence's security detail feared for their lives that day and were calling loved ones to say goodbye. yet, today, there was mike pence saying once again, that

he and trump don't differ on issues, they just differ on focus. like how donald trump was focused on sitting back and allowing for a violent mob to almost kill mike pence and his security detail. and mike pence is focused on talking about anything else but that? still, while pence might be doing his best to forget about the events of january the six, the people who are around him that they don't have that same luxury. within the last 24 hours, we learned that two of mike pence's senior advisers, his chief of staff mark short, and his legal counsel, greg jacob's, have both now testified before a federal grand jury, as part of the justice department's investigation into january the 6th. as mike pence tries to rehabilitate himself among the dennis about megalopolis some madbouly that he could be the gop nominee in 2024. his former aides are actively cooperating with the federal investigation into 16. so what does that mean for mike pence himself? joining us now is tom lobianco. politics reporter at yahoo news, he was covered mike pence as

time governor in indiana and author of piety & power, mike pence and the taking of the white house. tom, thank you for being here. you know more about mike pence and his inner circle the probably any other reporter, do you think those two aides got mike pence's blessing before testifying for the justice department grand jury? >> yeah, definitely. it is a tight-knit circle, one of the tightest operations i've ever covered. and nothing happens without the bosses approval so my guess is absolutely, nobody has confirmed that, but you know, if you are seeing marc short testify, he is the only person closest to mike pence that mike than karen pence. >> we all know how mike feels about karen pence. and your piece about mike pence and yahoo news, you -- trump advisor keeping tabs on tans who set of the former vice president quote, they are very strategic about when he pops his head up. his path to the white house, if

he has one, and the it argues that he does not, it's to do exactly what he has been doing. what do you think that aid meant by that? what is mike pence doing right now? and as you have a chance of being the 2024 republican nominee? i think like i have more of a chance of being the gop presidential nominee than mike pence. >> i mean, the field is open. you might as well. [laughs] nobody is as sure as hell as anybody. >> as it goes with pence, yeah, he does have a chance. but you know, the tension here for him in particular, how does he address this? and you know, another thing that happened today is that they release the title and the cover of this both as going to be coming out, on november 15th. you know, it's about the oath of office, so help me god. it hints at this. and the publisher apparently is counting on him to actually talk about january six. yet he himself is not. again today, he referred to it as quote, that tragic day. and he has not come to terms with this. so with that trump advisor in particular, was referring to, was saying that, pence keeps on

drafting all of this. he keeps on drafting on -- january six. he keeps getting the free attention. and the thing is, he hasn't been forced to talk about january the six. he hasn't been forced to talk about this. the closest that we get, and you know thank god for this student questions, the closest that we get are these students going up there saying hey, what is up? and he kind of gives an answer. or something close to that. more than than we typically get from him. >> yeah. i worry about the state of our democracy when we get conservative students asking the former vice president. tom lobianco thank you for taking time, thank you for taking my questions. >> thank you mehdi. >> far-right conspiracy theorists alex jones's peddled lies about the sandy hook shooting for years, but now a jury will decide how much he owes for the pain he has caused. but that is not all the families of the victims are looking for. that story is next. oking for. that story is next that story is next for all the freshness and softness of home.

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. with angi, you can connect with and see ratings and reviews. and when you book and pay throug you're covered by our happiness check out angi.com today. angi... and done. anne >> listen, if you want to be bamboozled, and lose your first amendment, and lose your second amendment, and it's all that. go ahead. we're having your right to a drawback jury decide if you are guilty or innocent stolen from you. this is a kangaroo court, discipline collection, it's a witch hunt -- >> that was alex jones speaking to the media during a break in his trial today. the far-right conspiracy theorist on trial for defamation and austin, texas. a jury is considering how much jones owns in damages to the parents of some of the victims of the 2012 sandy hook elementary school shooting. you will recall that jones

spent years falsely claiming that the deadly mass shooting of 20 1st graders, and six faculty members, was a hoax. staged by the federal government. in an effort to push gun control and take americans guns away. dust subject and grieving families to threats, and torment, at the hands of conspiracy theorist, who believe that the sandy hook families were lying that their own children were not murdered. neil heslin and scarlett lewis are the parents of jesse lewis who was just six years old when he was murdered. they are expected to testify about the suffering, accusations, and threats they had injured, after jones suggested that lenny pozner's recollection of his son's death was false. the parents of noah pozner have moved a dozen times after jones'followers doxxed them and posted there addresses and other personal information online. they will testify at a second trial in september in austin. also in september, it their a third trial against jones in connecticut, where the families

of eight other victims will testify. alex jones has since acknowledge that this shooting did indeed take place. but now he insists that he isn't responsible for the subsequent trauma of these families have faced. on his radio, online shows, jones has claimed that it is simply his first amendment right to question this tragedy. and quote, it is my right to say it. i can question big pr events like sandy hook, where there are major anomalies. and quote, they are using sandy hook and the victims and their families as a way to get rid of free speech and america. that's the plan. in fact when jones arrived in court today, he had over his mouth a piece of tape that said save the first. along with the plug for his website, of course. alex jones could have to pay the parents of jesse lewis up to $150 million in damages, in this trial. his lawyer fears it could put his and info war business in financial ruin. with a tragedy that would be. and remember, it's just the first of three cases. we will see how the other two cases and september go for him, watch this space.

watch this space fear no food. new poligrip power hold and seal. >> i can tell you that the

secretary is deeply appreciative of the opportunity to meet with shireen's family. not only was she an american citizen, she was a reporter. who's fearless pursuit of the truth earned her the profound respect of audiences around the world. >> that was state department spokesperson, ned price today as his boss, secretary of state anthony blinken was meeting with the family of shireen abu akleh, the acclaimed palestinian american journalist who was killed in may, while covering an israeli military raid, in the israeli occupied west bank. her death sparked outrage across the globe. in no small part, biggest palestinian officials and eyewitnesses accuse israeli military of intentionally shooting abu akleh, while the israeli government at one point claimed that a palestinian shooter killed her. they later said that if the

israeli military, the idf, shot her, it was not intentional. by the way, she was wearing a protective best with the word press on the front in big bold capital letters, when she was shot. on july the 4th, the u.s. state department released a statements about the results of the u.s. investigation of her death. they say the israeli military was quote likely responsible for her death but a badly damaged bullet quote prevented a clear conclusion. finally, the state department found quote, no reason to believe that this was intentional but rather the result of tragic circumstances. abu akleh's families took issue with that statement especially considering that a number of prominent media outlets and human rights organizations as one of the nine nations, were able to conclude from their investigations that the israeli military was in fact responsible for shireen's killing. a couple of weeks ago, when president biden was in the middle east, abu akleh's family was hoping to get some facetime with him, but that never materialized. so they decided to come to washington d. c. to meet with his administration in person,

they were still unable to meet with president biden who was still in isolation as he recovers from covid. but they did meet with the secretary of state. after that meeting, with secretary blinken today, abu akleh's niece, lina tweeted quote, secretary blinken told us that he has a duty to protect every u.s. citizen. we will hold him to this. nothing short of a u.s. investigation that leads to real accountability is acceptable, and we won't stop until no other american or palestinian family endures the same pain we had. joining us now is lina abu akleh, the nays are passing in american journalist, shireen abu akleh, who was shot dead while covering israeli military action in the occupied west bank. lina, thank you for joining us here tonight. we want to start of course, we are so sorry for your loss. how was your meeting about your aunt with secretary blinken today? did you find it productive? >> thank you so much for having me, mehdi. honestly, it was what we expected secretary blinken reiterated the same talking

points. the same points stated in the statement that they released on the fourth of july. there were no promises, no commitments, other than the fact that they would be more transparent with us, moving forward. however, at this point, what we are looking for is meaningful action. but we are looking for is accountability. we express our demands and our concerns. and we ask for an investigation by the u.s., administration, and we ask for accountability. i mean, it's the least thing they can do for an american citizen. >> what does accountability look like? what's specifically would you want joe biden or anthony blinken to do here? >> we would like accountability as in holding the israeli government accountable. starting with holding the shooter, the soldier who pulled the trigger accountable by imprisoning him.

holding the person who gave the order. accountable. and also the entire system that perpetuate this kind of violence, this kind of killing, to be held accountable. there needs to be an end to impunity that the israeli government continues to enjoy. >> and you met with members of congress, today -- betty mccallum and others, 247 it is hundreds of the biden ministration say that there needs to be an independent investigation. do you believe members of congress can put pressure on the government to get this done? >> yes, of course. that is why we are here, that is why we came to d. c.. to also thank them for their continuous support and to continue to ask from them to support our efforts to achieving accountability and justice. and most importantly, not only were we not satisfied by the statement that they released on the fourth of july, and the way that they have been handling shootings murder, but they even

senators and members of congress are also not satisfied. so this should say something. this shows the lack of, the lack of support, the lack of urgency that the u.s. administration has shown the states. >> ten seconds left, just tell us one thing about your aunt, just for our audience, just tell us something about your late aunt. >> shireen was full of grace, full of compassion. she was full of love, and she enjoyed life. she was the voice of palestine, the voice of truth, shireen, at the end of the day, she was a human being, she human ties the palestinian story and we owe it to her to achieve justice. >> again, we are so sorry for your loss, lina, and we thank you for taking time out to speak with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having me, thank you mehdi. >> that is all for me tonight.

we will be back here again tomorrow, i will be back again tomorrow. i'll also be doing my show, the mehdi hassan show on peacock, keeping busy. but now it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell, good evening lawrence. , good evening that we are continuing the breaking news coverage of the washington post report tonight telling us the donald trump was indeed the subject of a criminal investigation by the justice department. it really is happening. >> it's a phenomenal date because he also turned up with lester holt to answer questions about this and then the story breaks. it's a big day in the doj press office i think. >> we all saw with the attorney general said to lester holt today, that he will absolutely investigate everybody, that was his term.