again we've got former attorney general eric holder here to talk about the effort to pass the voting rights bill. attorney general holder will be here after we just learned about the truch justice department apparently violating rules that were set during eric holder's tenure about not pursuing reporters to try to find their sources. we'll talk with him about that. he's also here at "the new york times" first to report this weekend that trump's white house chief of staff mark meadows pressured the justice department personally and directly that they needed to go investigate the conspiracy theories about supposed election fraud after trump lost in 2020. there's clear black letter justice department policy that expressley prohibits the white house pressuring the justice department on something like that. that's a policy that was set in writing by eric holder when he was attorney general and supposedly still in place today. despite the trump white house trying to get the justice department on board with their efforts to undermine the last election. a lot to talk to him about. eric holder

i'm not surprised by that. >> eric holder, former u.s. supporting the voting acts bill. come back anytime you want to be here. >> take care, rachel. >> we'll be right back. stay with us. stay with us ♪ welcome back ♪ ♪ to that same old place that you laughed about ♪ ♪ well, the names have all changed ♪ ♪ since you hung around ♪ ♪ but those dreams have remained ♪ ♪ and they've turned around ♪ ♪ who'd have thought they'd lead you ♪ ♪ (who'd have thought they'd lead you) ♪ ♪ back here where we need you ♪ ♪ (back here where we need you) ♪ ♪ yeah, we tease him a lot... ♪ welcome back, america. it sure is good to see you. [ footsteps] [ suspenseful music ] ♪♪ hey, you wanna get out of here? ah ha. we've got you. during expedia travel week, save 20% or more on thousands of hotels. just book between june 8th and 12th to plan your escape with expedia. expedia. it matters who you travel with. my psoriatic arthritis pain? i had enough! it's not getting in my way. joint pain, swelling, tenderness...much better. my psoriasis, clearer... cosentyx works

i think about former attorney general eric holder who is obviously -- who served under president biden he told me about two or three weeks ago that he believes that i those bills don't pass that elections as we know them will not -- will not be the same. and so you have one group that really believes in those type of stakes. but you have a group of elected officials particularly in the congressional black caucus that are uncomfortable with h.r.1 and that specifically around these provisions around independent -- redistricting committees and trying to target gerrymandering and spread out districts and draw them more equitiabl in those states. you might wonder why it makes them uncomfortable but in the southern states gerrymandering has packed black voters in certain districts and given rise to black representation in some of these places and made these folks very comfortable with the way that their districts are drawn and the way that they will not be primary or pushed on the electoral front. that's made some people uncomfortable, so much so that we know that eric holder had to come to

because that's what they deserve. >>> former attorney general eric holder is with us. thank you for sticking around, sir, appreciate it. when you hear mitch mcconnell say you don't need the john lewis act, it's already in the law, states' rights, how does that sound to the ears, to your ears as the only black attorney general that this country has had? when you hear him say it and the way he says it, what does it mean to you? >> when i hear somebody talking about states' rights and denying people the right to vote, that takes me back to a very bad place. it takes this country back to a very bad place. that's where republicans are trying to take this country, to a very bad place. the assault on our democracy, what they're trying to do to our electoral system is reminiscent of what we saw during the jim crow era. what we're seeing now is the greatest attack on voting rights since the jim crow era. you know, this is a nation that's been generally on an arc. we have always tried to expand the number of people who had ability to vote, from simply white men who own property,

let's get the take of eric holder, former attorney general, on what's happening right now. it's good to see you, sir, welcome to "prime time." >> good to see you too. >> so the january 6th report. they get the buy-in by keeping trump out of it. what does that mean to you? [ inaudible ]. >> trying to whitewash things as best they can, doing only what the minimum is involved. i mean, the reality is that the report, even with that, is useful because it identifies some systemic failures, failures to share intelligence. but there is a clear need for a january 6th commission that would have the ability to look not only at what happened but also to determine why it happened and cast a wide net, as we did after 9/11, not only to figure out what happened on 9/11 happen. same on january 6th, why did it happen, who was involved, who should be held accountable. and so that's what we need. i understand what senator peters had to do to get this report out today. that's unfortunate. it says a lot about the republican party. and the leaders in the republican party who have made the determi

eric holder put these rules in place. just give us some insight into whether the reporting says how much of this was trump? and how much of this was barr? like, who was the driver of this quest for reporters' e-mails not just at "the times" but at these other outlets as well? >> from our past reporting, we know president trump was obsessed with leak investigations. and on to networks like your own, like cnn. and so, we sought both attorney general jeff sessions and attorney general barr pay special attention to these investigations. they personally briefed the president on them multiple times we have reported. this is how important they were to the former president. so when you say how much of this was trump? and how much was the attorney general? it is really, all, stemming from donald trump. >> yeah. and how did -- you know, just as a "new york times" reporter, this obsession with "the times." i can still recall some of the interviews. that get printed out where you see all the ins and outs of what he said where he is l

eric holder is a much better mind on this stuff than i am. d.c. statehood, presidential tax returns, campaign finance, take it all out. gerrymandering matters more than all of it. >> it certainly does. if i ever agree with anything you said, gerrymandering matters more than anything. listen, these restrictive voting laws around the country, they matter too. >> that's the john lewis act. >> yes. do you see these districts and -- >> they're all like that. 95% of gop-held districts in the house are white majority places. and, look, again, for too many people when they hear anything like that, they're saying, there it is, they're antiwhite again. i am white. i'm not antiwhite. i have no problem with there being white majority districts. we're over 50% of the country. i'm saying a reason that 95% of those districts are white majority is because of how they're engineered. it's a mistake. it's not why america is about. >> why is it engineered that way? >> advantage. >> you're selling something to the american people that the majority of american people a

yes, he's talking to eric holder's group. a favor for a friend, menning younger voters.nd one are potentially the handful of republicans in theory are trying to balance the demands of their party against their long desires that are more centrist. i think he is also talking to the democratic caucus. not about ending the 60-vote filibuster and replacing it with a simple majority but about the idea that there could be a compromise. some kind of a space between 50 votes and 60 votes that doesn't do away with the filibuster but makes it so voting reform can pass. i think it will be a difficult one to make but they're trying to figure out if and how they can do it. >>> a tragic ending for children on already faced so many challenges. we'll have the latest on this highway pileup in alabama. some officials are calling at this time worst crash they have ever seen. >>> and a suspect is arrested in the murder of an american student in russia. that story ahead. new budweiser summer patriotic cans are here to give you a red, white, and bud upgrade. collect all three limited-edition d

eric holder changed the rules on how we can think about going after reporters' information and essentially it eliminated it. i didn't happen after holder changed that policy. so the fact that they did it so many times in the last few years of the trump administration is absolutely mind-blowing to me. and the last point i leave you with is, let's remember, as a point of context, this is the same group that is still yelling and screaming, trump is still yelling and screaming to thire seek fisa coverage over a former campaign foreign policy adviser who had been -- >> carter page. >> that's right. and now let's -- and this is the same group that so offended by that, but they're actively pursuing the records of members of congress and the media to pursue some leak conviction fantasy. >> you read the reporting for yourself at home and you backtrack it. start with this understanding. they were looking at these guys for breaches of national security. but trump, there couldn't have been a breach because there were no contacts that were in any way damning. why would you have people looking for leake

would seem to be a very clear violation of justice department policy, as former attorney general eric holder explained to us here last night in our interview with him. very clear justice department policies that are on a serious issue. that is justice department officials breaking justice department policy, misbehaving in serious and substantive ways. what do you do about that? what is merrick garland, now in charge of the justice department, doing to clean up the behavior of his agency under its previous leadership? to find out what happened, to make sure people get in trouble for having done that so it doesn't happen again, so it doesn't become a de facto president that future corrupt presidents will use. what did merrick garland do in response to the revelations of that misbehavior by a justice department official when it came to seeking reporter sources? what did he do? at least for a while during the biden administration, the justice department kept doing it, kept seeking the reporters' records and not telling the news organizations what they were doing. at least for a while. at least u

but, you know, here's president obama and eric holder holding a national tele-town hall on it today callede." here's "the washington post" editorial board saying democrats should change the filibuster to pass the voting rights bill with only their votes. that is not a "washington post" editorial board kind of position, but they feel like they're up against the wall. and here's indivisible again pulling out all the stops asking people to turn up the pressure in every state in the country, again targeting your own senators, your own member of congress. they have been effective at changing the odds in congress. tonight on the eve of senate finally taking up the voting rights bill, it's worth checking in with them to get their prognostication on how this is going to go. joining us now is ezra levin. co-founder of indivisible. mr. levin, it's nice to see you. thank you for making time. >> great to be here, rachel. >> what do you think is going to happen tomorrow? >> i think we're going to see us get off to the races tomorrow. look, we are not headed towards a brick wall. we're headed towards a

we have a member of the house committee, and a spokesperson for attorney general eric holder and an msnbc contributor. let me begin with you and i'll give you an open mic for this breaking news tonight. >> it's an outrage against democratic norms. we knew that donald trump had politicized the doj and now we know he weaponized the doj as well. now we must have a full investigation of what happened at the doj. secondly, we must hold those accountable who may have broken the law in this affair, and third, we have to put in guard rails to prevent this from happening again. there are a number of questions that need to be answered with regard to that last issue, and i can go into that if you wish. >> how do you feel about those justice department officials who including that special prosecutor that william barr broughtn from new jersey? >> mr. benvenuto was brought in to specifically investigate, it looks like, members of the committee. why he's still there, i don't know, but at this point, i guess he'll have a lot of explaining to do because there needs to be a full investigation, and he needs

of the house intelligence committee, also matt miller, former spokesperson for attorney general eric holder and an msnbc contributor. congressman, let's begin with you. i want to give you an open mic here for your reaction to this breaking news tonight. >> it's an outrageous trampling of democratic norms. we knew donald trump had politicized doj, now we know he weaponized the doj as well. now we absolutely must have a full investigation of what occurred at doj. secondly we must hold those accountable who may have even broken the law in this affair and third, we have to put in guardrails to prevent this from happening again. there are a number of questions that need to be answered with regard to that last issue, and i can go into that if you wish. >> how do you feel about those justice department officials who were involved in this investigation still being there, and including that special prosecutor that william barr brought down from new jersey? >> that particular prosecutor, again prosecutor, he was brought into basically investigate with members of the committee-y. why he's still there?

the policy that eric holder refine the 2013 isn't perfect, but it's not bad with respect to balancing these competing interests of protecting first amendment principles and enabling the executive branch to investigate crimes. so it's a healthy debate to have. i think we all need to just kind of take a step back now as passions cool and allow department leadership and the i.g. to do their work. >> david lofton and charlie savage, thanks to the both of you. >>> a capitol police officer has been arrested due to the insurrection at the capitol. the criminal complaint crites gps data of cheswick's movements and 30 selfies and text messages sent from inside the building, like this one on the screen. he was stripped of his police privileges earlier this month when the department learned he was under investigation. >>> we have a lot more coming up on the show on "msnbc reports," yes, including that microphone you've been looking at in the last hour. this is a delayed conference even by the standards of an overseas trip. we do expect president biden to address the nato in a minute. >>> up next

obama administration decided to pull back after they got pretty aggressive and the attorney general eric holderthey decided to pull back then. so, yeah, i see the biden administration pulling back more now. this administration says, look, you have to have good investigative journalism. we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that the current attorney general, sensitive investigations, is still going to try to stop what they would consider to be the illegal leaking of classified information or information that they would like to keep secret otherwise. so it's not like this goes away, but the problem with using it to target your perceived enemies is that this becomes a separation of powers argument. that's why congress has to do its job not only to protect their members but to protect journalistings because that's what you saw in the trump administration is that attempt to weaponize a justice department, to use it in a way that we've seen in the past. >> so, yesterday congresswoman marjorie taylor greene, republican of georgia, apologized sort of for her comments that she had made where she was talki

the current version, i think, by and large written by barack obama's attorney eric holder.gulations? that's a pretty important question. >> looks like these investigations were part of the so-called enemies list that trump had, right? >> look, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. i'm not in any way trying to excuse what he did and i'm prepared to believe the worst. i'm just saying let's get some facts this time. >> the book is entitled "the room where it happened." thanks for coming in. >> glad to be with you. >>> coming up, former attorney general william barr called out by critics for doing former president trump's bidding. no, he's not in his room. ♪ dad, why didn't you answer your phone? your mother loved this park. ♪ she did. well, well, well. look at you. you mastered the master bath. you created your own style. and you - yes, you! turned a sourdough starter into a sourdough finisher. so when you learn your chronic dry eye is actually caused by reduced tear production due to inflammation you take it on, by talking to your eyecare professional about restasis®... w

can you imagine a world in which eric holder had known that there was a highly unlikely that any evidencet the scales could be tipped in the election in 2012 and then conferred with harry reid, with senator majority leader harry reid and said but i'm still going to do the investigations anyway. in barr's case, he said he did it just because he knew that trump would ask him and he wanted to be able to say we're working on it. i can't imagine how apoplectic republicans and frankly the media would be if that had been holder and reid as opposed to barr and mcconnell. can you? >> no, i can't. and there's a whole long line of actions and misconduct by bill barr along those same lines. you can imagine if barack obama had intervened in a sentencing of someone who lied to congress to cover up for the former president, what the outcry would be. but that's what bill barr did for donald trump when he intervened in the roger stone case. he made the case against michael flynn go away. these are astonishing actions by an attorney general purely political acts to placate, please the president of the unit

but you know here's president obama and eric holder holding a national tele-town hall on it today calledere's the washington post editorial board who is been quite conservative on this issue saying that if that bill doesn't get republican support, democrats change that filibuster to pass the voting rights to only their votes and that is not a washington post editorial board kind of position but they feel like they are up against the wall. and here's indivisible again pulling out all the stops and asking people to turn up the pressure in every state of the country and targeting your own senators and on member of congress. they have been effective at changing the course of congress in the past against the odds and effective enough that tonight on the eve of the senate, finally taking up the voting rights bill it's worth checking and with them to get their sort of prognostication on how this is going to go. joining us now is as levitz, cofounder of indivisible. mr. levitz nice seeing you. thanks for taking the time. >> it's great to be here rachel. >> what do you think is gonna happen tomor

. >> speaking today along with former attorney general eric holder to members of the national democratic redistricting committee, the former president voiced support of s-1, the for the people act now up for a vote in the senate tomorrow to begin debate. he said he's been trying to stay out of day-to-day politics since leaving office, but this, he said, is different. >> right now at least republicans in the senate are lining up to try and use the filibuster to stop the for the people act from even being debated. think about this. in the aftermath of an insurrection with our democracy on the line and many of these same republican senators going along with the notion that somehow there were irregularities and problems with legitimacy in our most recent election, they are suddenly afraid to even talk about these issues and figure out solutions on the floor of the senate. they don't even want to talk about voting. and that's not acceptable. >> keeping them honest, though there's a strong possibility the democrats will simply accept what mr. obama deemed unacceptable not because most democrat

after the shelby county decision then attorney general eric holder announced the doj would and i quote shift resources to the enforcement of voter rights act provisions that were not affected by the supreme court's ruling, including section two close quote. but there was no wave of enforcement because there was no wave of voter suppression. the obama administration filed 75% fewer section two cases than the bush administration and similarly made little use of the voting rights authorities. therefore, there's no record that merits reinstating the section for coverage formula and section five preclearance regime as previous legislation had sought to do. republicans want every legally cast vote to count. we want robust collection in order country wherever it has confidence in the outcome. i hope today we can have a productive conversation about the vra and how we can best assist state in enhancing voter protections and preserving the integrity of our elections. and i want to thank all of our witness for printed it and i look forward hearing all of the testimony, and i thank you, madam cha

under eric holder to try to reform the use of media subpoenas.oo far with some of them and holder putt in place to try to curb them and use them only when absolutely necessary and i think barr blew through the rules. when i look at doj under garland for "new york times," i think the cnn was one resolved in january. "the times" one continued. i interpret what they were doing as not trying to continue the fight to get the records but trying to kick the can down the road while they figured out what to do, trying to keep the investigation under wraps while they figure out whether or not to continue and this pursuit for journalist records or reverse course. they have done what the trump administration didn't do which is notify the reporters that the justice department had attempted to obtain the email and telephone records so while i think it's legitimate krit simple against the justice department like with neil said with a case of this filing they made last night in the religious discrimination case i don't think it's fair with the media subpoenas. >

supported him becoming attorney general because he said he would pick up where former attorney general eric holdernging lawsuits against voter i.d. and other impediments. i was happy today because we have had meetings this week, me and national action network with seven other civil rights groups with manchin to push for the legislation. you need the legislation so that you won't replace the map. i was in the courtroom for the oral arguments in 2013 when they ruled against it which took the map out in terms of preclearance. you need that done by legislation. which would make it a process that they could have not done a lot of what they're doing in these states to preclear it. absent that the only thing you can do in the interim is to aggressively go after lawsuits which the attorney general did today and reminiscent of history of robert kennedy wanted to deal with the voting rights act of '65. marshall said you have to hire a lot of lawyers to show that this attorney general was serious he said he's going to give christian clark the head of the civil rights division more personnel so it is going to

. >> well, maria, look, remember operation choke point with eric holder and that total embarrassmentnk legal companies. i feel this -- we're going in the same direction, maria. these are he legal companies. if washington and the biden administration want to make banking these companies illegal, our banks obviously will comply but they're legal companies and you see the tensions that's already created including joe biden's state of birth, pennsylvania and ohio and those other states, 15 states that you mentioned, they're already warning our banks, look, the deposits that our banks have of municipality moneys, cities, counties, will be at risk because those monies are safe in an fdic bank. if our banks stop banking these fossil fuel companies in those states and many other states, so that tension's already growing, maria and a the biden administration has got to let the free enterprise system work. look, our industry will fund those new industries that will create the green energies to beat china, maria. we're in a war with china. china is out-spending us two to one right now on green