tv Ayman MSNBC March 4, 2023 5:00pm-6:00pm PST
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and attorney melissa murray. so be sure to tune in tomorrow. we will be here 6 pm eastern right, here on msnbc. that's all the time i have for today, i'm alicia admin and us, now i handed over to my colleague ayman wilkie dean, hello, amen. >> hello alicia, i had a quick question for, you it's not a question i expect you to answer in the next two hours. but do you ever do your show just the way that you are wrapping up and then say, how in the world did we as a country get to this moment? how did we get to the point where you're describing a woman taking this abortion pill or the debate that we're having in this country around it or democracy, or voting rights? >> i think about that all the time and also think about the fact that there were so many people who tried to warn of this moment and they were told that they were being radical that they were being hyperbolic. and we sit here today, living with the consequences. >> and we're watching what is happening in places like florida and saying oh, that is
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a crazy republican state legislature. of course they're not gonna pass that. that's never gonna happen in the country, and then before you know it, you look back at something like roe v. wade being overturned and you say, here we are. let >> me tell you one more thing that strikes me, which is, this is something that is happening in texas, and it would be easy to say, that's only gonna impact texas. no. there was a decision that's going to be made in texas that impacts you regardless of where you are. >> exactly. >> and that is why we can't afford to take our eyes off that ball. >> we can talk about this for two hours, but we won't, alicia mendes, always good to see you, my friend, and enjoy the rest of your evening. good, evening and welcome to ayman tonight. conspiracy central. house republicans have been accused of faking their new weaponization committee. and new allegations against fox raise questions about its future and what it means for our democracy. then, student debt is on the docket, and we're gonna break down the supreme court hearing. and a special women's history month panel, three state attorneys general from across
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america on the fight to protect reproductive rights and your right to vote. i'm ayman mohyeldin. let's get started. let's go back to the beginning of last month for a moment, when congressman jim jordan gaveled in the first hearing of house republicans newly established weaponization subcommittee. yes. it is called the weaponization subcommittee. he spoke of a political faction taking over intelligence eases and seized with the help of, quote, dozens and dozens of whistleblowers and jordan vowed to expose and alleged deep state plot aimed at silencing conservatives with in the federal government. now, thanks to a new bombshell report from democrats on the house judiciary committee, the public is getting a better look at those so-called whistleblowers. while jordan promised we would
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hear from a roster of brave intelligence community veterans, the three witnesses that he has produced thus far are allegedly nothing more than conspiracy pushing disgruntled ex employees, surprise surprise. those three men, all of whom have either retired, resigned, or been suspended from the fbi, have failed to demonstrate any firsthand knowledge of wrongdoing at the agency. this according to that report. although jordan has repeatedly referred to these witnesses as, quote, whistleblowers, this does seem to be the case because none of them have provided evidence that anyone broke a law or violated a policy. they do not beat the legal definition of whistleblower. and things get worse when you begin to follow the money as to who is behind these witnesses. two of those witnesses testified that they received
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financial support from none other than kash patel. remember him? trump loyalist, former official in the ex presidents administration? patel even helped one of them find a job after leaving the fbi. the democrats report says that, quote, there's a strong likelihood that kash patel is encouraging the witnesses to continue pursuing their merit-less claims. and in fact, he is using them to help propel his vendettas the fbi, justice department, and biden administration on behalf of himself and president trump. in a statement out today, jordan spokesperson called the democrats report, quote, beyond disappointing. but what is more interesting is what that statement did not include. any dispute of the democrats's accusation. the only conspiracy that has been uncovered by jordan's subcommittee thus far is not a plot targeting conservatives but one carried out by conservatives. so it's no surprise that
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subcommittee member matt gates issued this threat at cpac. >> it is no longer time to go back to the old low energy paul ryan days of fake oversight. these are the jim jordan marjorie taylor greene met gaetz days. [applause] and if the democrats are going to obstruct our investigation, then i am calling to remove the democrats. >> let that sink in for a moment. that is a sitting republican congressman threatening to remove members of the opposition from their committee assignments, paving the way for his party, a party that his continuously pushed lies and baseless conspiracies, to have absolute unchecked power in that committee. joining me now to discuss this and more, hayes brown, writer and editor for msnbc daily and
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renata moriarty, former prosecutor legal affairs columnist for politico. gentlemen, good to have you with us. where will start with you. your reaction to the so-called witnesses in these whistleblowers. tell us, first of all, what it takes to secure federal whistleblower protection, and why jim jordan's roster seems to not reach that benchmark. >> well, a whistleblower is somebody who has identified a violation of law for policy and they're providing information and evidence that relates to that violation in these folks aren't doing that. really, a lot of what we have seen described is standard law enforcement practices that i think you could call into question but would need to call into question in every case, for all sorts of defendants, rich, poor, democrat and republican, and really what they're trying to do, i think, is use this as a way, i think
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promoted this information discourse where there is essentially, if we can have some witnesses moving their lips on the stand it lends credence to these false attacks by trump on the fbi and the doj trying to reduce trust in our system in order to, frankly, discredited investigations into him and his own wrongdoing. >> it's not like anyone can just be a whistleblower. like you said, you have to identify wrongdoing on the part of a government agency or individual you can identify. you can't be just like hey i'm a whistleblower because i saw something that absolutely is not a violation of the law and i have a theory or a hunch that the agency is doing something wrong and i want protection. i mean jordan is attempting to use these witnesses to prove some vast left-wing conspiracy at the fbi, but the trio are prolific conspiracy pushes in their own right. they're endorsing bogus theories related to january six,
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the covid vaccine, the validity of the 2020 election. when even called repeatedly for the dismantling of the fbi. another suggested that it would be better for americans to die than to have any kind of domestic intelligence program. at least from what i have seen, these folks look like they are pretty nuts. are these men trusted patriots that jordan wants to have in front of the american public? >> i mean here's the thing, i feel like and we're foolish enough to actually try to put these men on revelation is -- in front of a live in front hearing, for example. of the if they were actually going to take that step hearing irrationally after this report for democrats, the into this questions -- stuff i feel like we as i would not be feel like seeing the same thing as with the the same thing january 6th committee, where they knew this is what we were gonna say because of all the testimony they you had. where the panel was able to control the narrative. say is a lot what we see as my panel instead is a lot of leading questions from republicans who is able to resist try to validate, or at least get into the open, some of the voting has weirder claims about what organization trying to they have, versus
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validate these democrats trying to push can be back and say -- ask questions about evidence and facts some year's organization which, apparently, is these witnesses don't disaster this have. so i will think that the -- is a special we are scraping the bottom of the barrel here because all they have, is where everything i've seen so apparently far that this is the so composition the committee has pointed to such, as yard gain on here is what is wrong is with the fbi. former fbi fbi agents -- only varying >> wrongdoing or misconduct or breaking the, law the vibes are bad. the vibes are no longer as deeply conservative as i want them to be. we are doing things that i don't believe that the fbi should be doing which, if that's the case, that's fair. if they relate to that reason, that's all right. but that's not the same as saying there's a deep conspiracy run by the left wing to make the fbi, i don't, know suddenly woke, suddenly pro left-wing agitators. they're not -- >> the fbi's the institution that comes to mind when i think
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of a sanctuary of left leaning politics in this country and progressive politics in this country. and yet the funny thing is, can you imagine if they just brought these folks to a committee where people like dan goldman had a shot at them? i -- remember what we saw last time they brought people who were lawyers, like jonathan turley, and how he was dragged through this committee and ultimately got embarrassed by the democrats when the questions his credentials on some of the things he was claiming. and you have one republican familiar with this subcommittee telling rolling stone, clearly there is good room to grow and improve before more public hearings. he said the work so far has been, quote, very much amateur hour. adding that airing the stuff on live television would make us look like morons. and republicans are hoping this subcommittee will actually be the must-see tv that they wanted to rival the january 6th committee based on the evidence that we have seen so far in these folks. can the republicans get there with these witnesses? >> yeah, i don't see, that
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human. january six was an investigation of monumental moment. in american history. where we had a harm -- armed mob stormed the capitol. it was obviously a moment of great weight. but it put out a focus -- i think that's what the republicans lack here. when i've watched any of the footage of any of the testimony has been an unmoored discussion on all sorts of right-wing, fox news propaganda. essentially, it's a way of getting thompson airtime on fox news by airing all sorts of grievances all over the place. and really there's no focus, and there is really no meat there. i'm old enough to remember the meat commercials. there's no ultimate meat to the bones to any of these allegations. it's easy to talk about all sorts of conspiracies and use a lot of big words, and then get
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the witnesses to say the same thing. but ultimately wears the evidence, i think that's weber look waiting. for >> we have a lot more to discuss. after the, break we are going to tackle conspiracy pressures in the gop umbrella. fox -- fox -- do they have stylish beds at great prices? whoo, this bed is dreamy. you're kelly clarkson? yes. and you're in our bed? yes. what about five star dining sets? sorry i didn't have a reservation. you're kelly clarkson. i love your work. thank you. find just what you need at wayfair! even a personal sauna. oh! can we do the wayfair song? yes you can. wayfair! ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ wow. it'd be better if you did it. introducing new sweet and savory crepes. whether you like the flavor of cinnamon bun after sunset. or prefer to wake up to a little eggs and bacon. day or night, it's always time for crepes.
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murdoch, calling on the network to stop spreading misinformation about the 2020 election and to publicly recant it's endorsement of the big lie. the letter comes amid a bombshell deposition admission from murdoch, in which he acknowledged that some of his network hosts did in fact indoor's election lies on air. the deposition was included in a new legal filing from dominion voting systems. just this week, as part of his defamation lawsuit against the network, the same filing describes how rupert murdoch provided jared kushner access to confidential information about then candidate joe biden's debate strategy back in 2020. murdaugh also let trump son-in-law preview the biden campaign's tv ads before they were public. hayes brown, renato marriott, e are back with me now. you know, forgot for years, journalists have been vilified by the republican party and by
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fox. they have been painted as biased, as corrupt for simply reporting the facts during the trump years and now can anyone continue to take fox seriously as a news organization after these revelations. hayes, i will start with. you i don't even use the word news to describe fox. but can anyone in this country still be under the illusion that fox is engaged in good faith reporting. >> i think that there are some good journalists at fox news who will put the truth out there. but they are doing so in an environment where they are being discouraged from doing so and that is a shame. it's against journalism. i feel like one of the more striking things about this whole setup is how afraid of their own viewers fox news has become after years of selling them trump, of selling them the conservative grievances. they looked upon what they had couldn't created like doctor
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frankenstein himself a were horrified by, we're afraid of it, and left these people abandoned and rejected them rather than trying to correct course and make things better with them. instead of saying okay, we let you down the wrong path, here is what is actually happening, the instead doubled down because they were afraid of losing the viewers and trying to keep their corporate edge against a news organizations that were telling the truth and on the right organizations like newsmax et cetera who are even more willing to push these conspiracy theories. they felt caught in the middle between those two things and they chose the wrong side. >> zero not, oh you're the lawyer here. defamation, as i understand, a defamation claims, they are notoriously hard to prove. and yet the fact that we have gotten this far along in the dominion lawsuit is quite remarkable.
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do you think dominion has a winning case on their hands here? >> they certainly have a very viable case. i think fox news has to be concerned about that. the reason that the defamation is so difficult to prove is that when you are when this involves a public figure, and all these remember matters of cub public return, you have to prove that either fox news knew that this was false or that they were active with wrecked of reckless disregard for the truth. this is so high of a burden. it actually looks like they -- >> i was gonna say, with the text messages -- >> it's a shame. you know, was hayes talking a moment about that saying some reporters were doing their job, the journalist was doing her job and reporting on the truth was being called out by tucker carlson, we fire this one, and right? that was his reaction. and today the new york times is saying barren, miranda cullen who were supposed to be these hard news journalists, not the
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opinion tapes, we're saying that they should reverse the call because it was unpopular with the trump campaign and the trump followers. the trump fans. so essentially these are people who and their anything but journalists. more like the wwe. >> i think the wwe was more has more clout than fox news. >> people beginning to be journalists. >> what's the play for democrats, hayes. the letter might be the first time they have labeled fox as propaganda. however, we have seen -- go down this road before, cooler than at work with some lawmakers even boycotting it. but sooner or later they tend to make a return. is this time different? what should democrats do en masse in dealing with fox? you have people like bernie sanders who will go on occasionally or may maybe a p.j. buttigieg uncertain shows,
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but does that hurt or help fox? >> i think that at this point it helps fox more than it helps democrats. don't give a. wrong i appreciate talking to -- and the idea behind that, in the spirit behind it, i really do. but when you look at how the network overall is attempting to frame it, one of the things it is most fascinating, we have brought up that there is this bias that you see conservatives talking about in terms of other media outlets. they accuse people who work at this network of being in the dnc's pocket. we would never see the level of coordination that you're seeing in these filings between actual journalistic outlets and the trump campaign. i imagine the shock, if you heard about the made a major network giving the biden campaign -- before the air. it would be a scandal. rightly so. so the fact that fox news has
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been so blatant in its hypocrisy here, democrats, i think, should be fine calling it out. i don't know there's much more they can do right now. they should let the iv see handle this and deal with that. it should keep the rest message going. but if there's any direct action they should say besides what schumer jeffries have done, i'm not so sure. >> okay hayes brown, renato mariotti, i appreciate your insights this evening. the latest on biden's plan to forgive student loan debt for millions of americans and what happened when the administration defended that plan before the supreme court. we're gonna tell you about that. that to ensure we don't pay more than men for the same thing because women's razors are just razors. here, healthier happens together. a ballet studio, an architecture firm... and homemade barbeque sauce. they're called 'small businesses.' but to the people who build them there's nothing 'small' about them.
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for the court this week was pretty straightforward. it was pretty simple. the 2003 heroes act, which grants the secretary of education power to relieve student loan requirements during a national emergency, like covid-19, provides the white house with clear authority to address this crisis. but justices gorsuch, kavanaugh, and co-, appear unmoved by that fact, even though trump himself claimed that very same authority to pause student loan payments back in 2020. and let's not lose sight of what is it stake. here is analysis compiled by senator elizabeth warren's office revealed, before the speed republican lawsuits froze the cancellation program, more than 98% of applications came from zip codes where the average income is under $75,000. and about two thirds were from neighborhoods with an average income below 40,000. and more applications per capita came from communities of
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color than from majority white communities. joining me now is wisdom coal, national director of the naacp youth and college division. wisdom, it's good to have you. thank you so much for joining us. conservatives always like to talk about student loan forgiveness in this is white people that are gonna be giving those two loans forgiven for basket weaving or doing yoga or, masters in some unwanted degree. but as we have seen, that is a far cry from reality. >> exactly. the real reality is that it's poor black and brown people that are taking out salons to ensure that they have the pathway forward. we have to really re-shift our mindset in thinking about student and cancellation. we need to think about it as an opportunity to right the wrongs of the past, an opportunity to invest in the future. if education is supposed to be the key to financial freedom, and student loans should not be a barrier for folks to enter that system. >> you brought up an
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interesting point in the commercial break when we were talking, i was asking you if you are listening to -- the and you said i was outside protesting. it's interesting. why did you feel the need to protest? you look at the court in the supreme court, some of the decisions that they have been making, and you want to think that they are so removed from that kind of public pressure, and the sentiment of among americans whether they support that. why did you feel the need to organize and be in front of that court that day? >> we have student debt cancellation is bigger than the supreme court. it's a cultural movement. you ask black millennials were to the dream of, they dream of student at cancellation. i myself am a millennial and if he was oftentimes that we are defined by our debt. we have gen z's looking at us and saying hey, we see them with their mental stress, not being able to become homeowners, business owners, rebuild generational wealth. that's not a reality we want. to make sure we're about to get the coalition of young people as well as organizers who also continue to have debt. at the naacp we just had a
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114th birthday and we had generations of phenomenally talented organizers and individuals who have gone to college and have done amazing things and still have debt years later. this is impacting all of us. it's an intergenerational issue. and so what's actually important for us to bring those entities together to share their stories. we've talked about the research. but we have to hear the people. this is about people. >> what would happen if the supreme court strikes this down. you told me you don't have a lot of faith in a supreme court. what happens next if they do strike this down. >> it's been difficult with the supreme court. with roe, with affirmative abduction. and so we want to affirm that this gets across the finish line. regardless of if the supreme court maze this engine or not, it's not until it's not. we want to be debt free in 2023. and we do that by any means possible. the president still has the power. the president has made confirmations and affirmations about his support for student cancellation.
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it's really about ensuring that it's not just promises that are made on a campaign trail but actually falling following through with plans and policies and implementation. >> why do you think that somebody who follows this closely, why do you think republicans are opposed to helping people when it comes to education? because we help banks in this country. we have bailed out banks, airlines, we are subsidized farmers. but when it comes to education, and as we just talked about there, the fact that it affects communities of color and people who are not wealthy, why do you think they go after education? they don't want to help these people. >> those two things to think about. anytime we do things that are a public good, something that is good for the people, there is a problem with it. but it wants to ppp loans, when it comes to bailing out the banks, they are willing to accept that. and i think it really comes down to our understanding of the value and cost of higher education.
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just over the last decade the higher education has increased tremendously, and if we really believed in an investing in our future, investing in the future, people who could help us solve the most difficult problems in the world, we need to ensure that they have access. and when it comes to that issue, we're just not seeing eye to eye right now. and we want to ensure that people have access. >> generational wealth, interest intergenerational debt, it's crushing if you don't get off your shoulders. it can be painful. >> it's a burden. >> a burden, absolutely. wisdom cole, thank you so much for your time. after the break, three state attorneys general from around the country will join me from a special panel on reproductive rights, election security, and more. y, and more en cold symptoms keep you up, try vicks nyquil severe. just one dose starts to relieve 9 of your worst cold and flu symptoms, to help take you from 9 to none. for max-strength nighttime relief, nyquil severe.
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after advil. feeling better? on top of the worlddddd!!! before advil. advil targets pain at the source of inflammation. when pain comes for you, come back fast with advil liqui-gels. >> new developments in the fight over medication abortion. this week the nation's second largest pharmacy chain, walgreens, announced that it will no longer dispense
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abortion pills in states where republican leaders object to the medication, even if the medication remains legal there. the move comes after nearly two dozen republican state attorneys general threatened walgreens with legal action if abortion pills continued to be distributed in their states. meanwhile a coalition of democratic attorney general are suing the fda for singling out the medication abortion drug mifepristone with excessive regulation. three of the state attorneys general who signed on to that lawsuit join me now, delaware tierney general kathy jennings, oregon attorney general alan rosenberg, and arizona chris mays. and what today i'm gonna get the name of that medication right. attorney general rosenbaum, i like to start with you. this lawsuit that you are co-leading tell us why you are calling for restrictions to be dropped on medication abortion?
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>> well first of all you can just call it midfield because i think that's what a lot of people are referring to it as. and there's also my support paul so there's mifepristone and -- , gold standard for medication abortion. they're also used with regard to miscarriages and other complications of pregnancy. so this is a very important combination of drugs. unfortunately, primarily for political reasons, we believe, the. applied to this drug mifepristone unnecessarily, and we have brought this lawsuit. we have a great coalition. unfortunately it's all democratic attorneys general, but wonderful colleagues, two of whom are with us this afternoon. and we brought this lawsuit because what we believe in is access to health care. and we believe that abortion is health care. we believe that this lawsuit
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will help provide providers and patients to be able to obtain access to medication abortion which has been proven to be safe for the last 20 years. it has been used regularly in every state in the country. and so we are doing everything that we can to ensure access to these drugs and these rams slowed access. they don't prevent access but they are a strategy of the fda which is not required for this drug. it is a proven safe drug. we're proud to be bringing this lawsuit with my fantastical easier today. >> let me ask you about walgreens for a moment. your reaction to their decision to no longer dispense abortion pills in states where republican leaders object to the medication, even if it is up until this moment legal in those states to do so. >> yeah, it's tough, and we are among those states who have actually encouraged walgreens
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and cvs and other pharmacies to continue to offer the medication despite that pressure by republican agents. but you see in that effort by those gop attorneys general to continue to try to limit the access of women to abortion in every possible way they can find. and despite the fact that roe was overturned and it was sent back to the states, they are still making these efforts in states to limit a woman's access to abortion, and that's why these actions by democratic ags largely are so important. we are going to continue that fight going forward, and we have a big texas case coming up, where we are fighting for the access to these two medications. they are so crucial. >> attorney general jennings,
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what are your thoughts on the wall green decision? because it came after, as i understand, this coalition of 24 attorneys general sending a letter to a cvs or walgreens supporting their decision to offer abortion pills in their pharmacies after the fda granted their certification. >> ayman, thank you for having us on tonight. as my colleagues have indicated, we do not support walgreens decision. we hope that by fighting back and by calling out their decision to limit access in all of the states, some of whom do not outlaw abortion. some of whom allow access to abortion. but that means that women in those states where they can legally obtain an abortion, including medication abortion, can't get the necessary medication from their pharmacies.
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and so what we saw in kansas, for example, was that the voters in kansas overwhelmingly voted in a referendum to support abortion rights. and that is one of the states where the republican attorney general has asked walgreens, urged walgreens and cvs, to limit access. that's not right. it's not legal. and we need to make sure as attorneys general that we continue to protect access to abortion. and more specifically, and recently, access to medication abortion. it is used in the majority of abortions in our country. in my state of delaware it's used in over 60% of abortions. and so it's incumbent upon democratic attorneys general to band together, and we have. under the leadership of elon rosenblum and -- ferguson to make sure that
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mifepristone is accessible to as many women who need it in this country as possible. >> attorney general rosenbaum, i want to ask you about it. we can all agree that the space for women's rights are shrinking in this country, and yet you recently launched oregon's reproduction rights half hotline, which is trying to counter that, trying to provide free legal counsel to patients seeking abortion care. talk to us about that step. what kind of reception it his had. what kind of legal advice can be offered in a country or in states that we are seeing are witnessing where these rates are shrinking by the day? >> well, i'm gonna give a shout out to my colleague kathy jennings because we copycat it. her state was ahead of us, along with new york. there are a lot of these abortion rights reproductive rights, really, much more expansive and abortion hotlines now because we want to make sure that anybody who is confused or has questions as a
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place to go to get their legal questions answered and we have had a good response. actually we're trying to get the word out because we're trying concerned we haven't had as graders ones as we should have, but let's face it, if you are in oregon we are one of the states with the fewest, actually no restrictions on abortion. but we wanted to make sure the people weren't confused by dobbs and what the impact of jobs would be interstate. and in fact, we have a task force that is recommending legislation. because even in a state like mine we need to do a lot to ensure access to ensure the safety of the protection of our providers and our patients. there's so much that you have to do, even in a state like this, that it is quite frightening to think what it would be like in a state where frankly we don't have democratic a.g.'s working together the way three of us in the rest of our colleagues are. >> attorney general kris mayes, i was talking to my colleague alyssa mendez in the top of the show, and tell you about how the state may affect rest of
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the country we should ignore them. we have a texas republican lawmaker who just introduced a bill that seeks to ban access to websites that cell or provide information on how to obtain abortion pills. we could say it's hyperbolic, we could see it's not gonna affect the rest of the country, we could ignore it and are on peril, but could that actually happen, we're not just the information itself, hotlines, information website, can become illegal? >> that is the danger. i will just add that i am about to set up a reproductive rights unit in my office comment following my colleagues example to address this very type of scenario. you have a state like arizona that has a republican legislature. thankfully we have a democratic attorney general and a democratic governor now who will stop that kind of thing. but in those states that have
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both republican legislatures and governors, that is the kind of thing that we have to be worried about. and so i have been clear here in arizona that we will never prosecute a woman, a doctor, a nurse, a midwife, for abortion. but we have 15 county attorneys in arizona, and i have been clear also that i will fight any effort by a county attorney to prosecute. we are concerned about what could happen going forward or interference by a third parties against the efforts of a woman to seek an abortion. so those are exactly the kinds of things that we need a strong ags, thinking about being prepared to take legal action in support of these core constitutional rights.
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>> attorney general kathy jennings, i want to pivot and ask you about your efforts to end your states opioid epidemic. you recently secured a staggering 43.6 million dollar settlement from cvs and walgreens for over prescribing dangerous opioids. talk to me about how consequential this settlement is for your state and for people across the country. >> this settlement is extremely consequential. it is the latest round of our efforts across the country on a bipartisan basis to hold accountable manufacturers, distributors, and now nationwide pharmacies for their role in the opioid epidemic. in our state, in our small state, we have several small towns, and in the town of selbyville, a very small town in sussex county, delaware, are southernmost county, there were more pills, opioid pills
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dispensed in that town four times over the population of the town. and that was on a yearly basis over and over. and we had to call a stop to this behavior. and so the settlement brings in much needed dollars for abatement to help people desperately in need to get more facilities set up in our state and to get more access to the care that people need, including treatment and making sure that they are housed and transported. so this money will all be put to those very important purposes. and the need for this money is urgent. it's urgent in delaware. it's urgent across our country. >> attorneys general kathy jennings, kris mayes, and ellen rosenblum. please hang around. we're going to coming up next
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a democracy. attorney general kathy jennings, and i'll start with you. you and attorney general erin forward condemned the threats against nestle, citing donald trump among the bad actors fueling these kinds of threats in this country rhetoric. how are you and your fellow officials protecting yourselves amid this ongoing political violence and rhetoric? >> thank you for bringing up this very important topic. we care deeply about the truth, and when election deniers across this country in so many states suppress the truth, fomented hate, said it was okay, starting with donald trump, said it was okay to overturn a full election, that's when trouble really began. and it has metastasized into hateful action. look what happened to governor
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whitmer. look what has just happened to our colleague and friend, attorney general dana nessel. this is entirely unacceptable. and we can take measures to protect ourselves, but i worry about ordinary citizens who want to express their right to vote. the right to vote is the most fundamental right we have in this country. every other right depends upon it. and it is important for attorneys general, each one of, us to stand up against hate, to prosecute people who commit hate crimes, and to make sure that everyone in our state is safe and secure when exercising that most fundamental right. >> and we know that these threats against -- are linked to right-wing efforts to subvert the elections. attorney general ellen rosenblum, in 2020 or urged by oregon republicans to support
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them in undermining the election. you refused to do. at what tools from your office are available to push back against these kinds of anti-democratic forces? >> right, well, we discovered there actually is a criminal law are against this activity, paramilitary tape activity in oregon that had hardly ever been year used. we're elevating that law. we have been identified as one of, five states at the highest risk for a private military, paramilitary activity with the potential for violence. so we are now moving forward during this legislative session with a bill that creates actually civil enforcement tool against this continuing threat of violence. we also have, i think, the most active hate crimes incident hotline in the country here in oregon. i'm very proud of my civil rights unit. and what maybe not so
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surprising is that we are now receiving thousands of calls and complaints to our hotline. most states don't get that number, and they think maybe they don't have a problem. well guess what, they do have a problem. but you have to provide a way for people to feel, when they are traumatized, when they are endangered, when maybe they don't even have a crime to report, but they have an incident that is hateful, that is antisemitic, that is anti asian, that is anti black, which is anti lgbtq, all of these are targeted. when my sister attorney general dana nessel was targeted for being a jewish attorney general, you can only be imagined i personally felt and reached out to her by text. but truthfully you asked how we are safe, whether we're safe. no. we're not safe. but as kathy jenning said, that's not what is most critical here. what's most critical is those vulnerable folks that we look out for. i consider myself the mama bear attorney general here in
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oregon. now the top cap but the one that looks out for the most vulnerable interstate. and those are the people that are being targeted by these disgusting hateful acts. >> and let me just say for what it's worth, no official, nobody in this country should ever feel threatened. it pains me to hear the kind of pain i hear in your voice about what you end dina nessel and other election workers and officials are being subjected to. attorney general kris mayes, i want to discuss something we discussed last week. would you uncovered the results of the investigation in arizona and to deal with fraud based on the previous attorney general, mark brnovich, who held information from the public. there was no election fraud. no election of election fraud in your state. talk to us about your findings in your move to repurpose
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brnovich's fraud unit to go after -- in your state. >> this was really a troubling situation in which we discovered that my office in january that my predecessor, my republican predecessor had essentially conceal three reports done by our career investigators and lawyers inside the a.g.'s office that completely demonstrated that we have fair and safe and secure elections in the state of arizona that vote by mail is secure, that exonerated maricopa county against all of these crazy claims. and he concealed those documents and did not give them to the people of arizona and frankly to the country. do you remember what was going on in 2022? american democracy was on the line here in arizona.
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and it was sort of like our democratic house was on fire and the former a.g. was standing there with a fire hose and he dropped and walked away. and that's just not okay, and so again, what was so, i think, damaging about the fact that he had a chance to douse these conspiracy theories is that in the same time that was happening, the same time all these conspiracy theories were flying around, our elections officials were coming up under attack. we are experiencing death threats. and now we had arizona earnest iteration in which one third, ayman, one third of all the counties in arizona have seen a top election officials resign because of the death threat. there is an impact on democracy
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from this. >> it's utterly shameful. we can't have a functioning democracy if we don't have these officials doing their jobs safely. attorney general kathy jennings of one and ellen rosenblum and kris mayes i can't thank you for an enough for your time and your insights. we'll be right back with another hour of eamonn. r hour of eamonn r that liberty mutual customizes your home insurance, here's a little number you'll never forget. did you know that liberty mutual custo— ♪ liberty mutual. ♪ ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ ♪ custom home insurance created for you all. ♪ ♪ now the song is done ♪ ♪ back to living in your wall. ♪ they're just gonna live in there? ♪ yes. ♪ only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ a ballet studio, an architecture firm... and homemade barbeque sauce. they're called 'small businesses.' but to the people who build them there's nothing 'small' about them.
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