let me return to judge garland. judge garland: thank you mr. chairman and members of the judiciary committee. i am honored to appear before you today as the presidents nominee to be the attorney general. i would like, first, to take this opportunity to introduce you to my wife, my daughters, jesse and becky, and my son-in-law. i am grateful to them, my entire extended family that is watching today on c-span, every day of my life. the president nominates the attorney general to be the lawyer, not for any individual, but for the people of the united states. july 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the department of justice, making this a fitting time to remember the mission of the attorney general and of the department. it is a fitting time to reaffirm that the role of the attorney general is to serve the rule of law and to ensure equal justice under law. it is a fitting time to recognize the more than 115 thousand career employees of the department as law enforcement agencies and their commitment to serve the cause of justice and

>> oh, garland was devastated. >> but garland's not cowed, and neither is roy.s have enough grit left in their boots? and why does it take so long for roy jr. to open roy sr.'s locked gun safes? >> i think that was one of his final practical jokes on me. >> next -- two strange inheritance stories come together. >> here's another quiz question for you. the .405 winchester was a favorite of which american president? the answer when we return. got another update from school. how's that...is that better? ♪ well we have a safety net. we'll be ok right? ♪ we'll be ok right? ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ so you're a small business, or a big one. you were thriving, but then... oh. ah. okay. plan, pivot. how do you bounce back? you don't, you bounce forward, with serious and reliable internet. powered by the largest gig speed network in america. but is it secure? sure it's secure. and even if the power goes down, your connection doesn't. so how do i do this? you don't do this. we do this, together. bounce forward, with comcast business. it's time for the ultimate sleep number eve

let me return to judge garland. judge garland: thank you mr. chairman and members of the judiciary committee. i am honored to appear before you today as the presidents nominee to be the attorney general. i would like, first, to take this opportunity to introduce you to my wife, my daughters, jesse and becky, and my son-in-law. i am grateful to them, my entire extended family that is watching today on c-span, every day of my life. the president nominates the attorney general to be the lawyer, not for any individual, but for the people of the united states. july 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the department of justice, making this a fitting time to remember the mission of the attorney general and of the department. it is a fitting time to reaffirm that the role of the attorney general is to serve the rule of law and to ensure equal justice under law. it is a fitting time to recognize the more than 115 thousand career employees of the department as law enforcement agencies and their commitment to serve the cause of justice and

isenator whitehouse: welcome, judge garland. judge garland: thank you. senator whitehouse: people have said it is not the legislature's business to metal around in a prosecution. at the same time, we have oversight responsibilities. in your opinion, was it appropriate for congress to ask the doj to give an honest look at investigative matters? judge garland: senator, i know of your lung experiences as a prosecutor, including some of it which overlapped mine. i have been respectful and appreciative of it. you ask it that way, it is always possible for anyone to ask about matters like this. the department has to be very careful with respect to the congress and, in the same way, it has to be careful with respect to the white house, that no investigations get started just for partisan -- and i am not suggesting that is what you're asking -- but we have to be careful about this. sen. whitehouse: after the fact, once the investigation has closed or concluded, is it appropriate in the exercise of our oversight to ensure an honest look was taken? judge garland:

judge garland: no. sen. lee: you believe efforts to purge voter rolls of people who have died or left the state in question or to require voter identification are racially discriminatory and an assault on voting rights? judge garland: this is when i cannot answer yes or no because you are asking about motivations of individuals, some of whom may have discriminatory purpose and some of whom have no disco in a tory purpose. sen. lee: i think that answers my question because what i'm asking is without knowing more than that, is there anything about those comments or support for those additions that in and of themselves would make that person a racist? or an assault on voting rights? judge garland: there is nothing about the comment itself, but there is such a thing as circumstantial evidence, obviously. if there is an enormously's proportionate impact of things people continue to propose, it's not unreasonable to draw conclusions of that, but the mere fact of the statement, no. sen. lee: do you believe republic

judge garland: no. sen. hirono: have you ever face to discipline or entered into a settlement related to this kind of contact? sen. hirono: no. -- judge garland: no. sen. hirono: considering that we just had a president who did not think the rule of law applied to him i am gratified to hear that so many of my republican colleagues are asking you whether you as attorney general will follow the rule of law, and of course you will. i want to get to the consent decree. i don't think you have been asked about consent decrees about. in the justice department civil rights division -- as described consent decree as "most effective at ensuring accountability transparency and flexibility for accomplishing institutional reforms. despite their effectiveness, they trump administration was openly hostile to the consent decrees. attorney general jeff sessions issued a memo that drastically curtailed their use and brain -- bringing police departments into compliance with the constitution. the reason the trump administration

judge garland: of course. i don't know any of the facts, but i guarantee that someone with a conflict of interest will not be the person running investigation of any kind. >> this question about the durham special counsel, for the record, the president of the united states in the white house, when they reported their policy on the future of the u.s. attorneys, they made two exceptions, if i remember correctly. one was for the delaware u.s. attorney in second was for, in this situation with durham, the administration is clearly committed publicly to allowing durham to complete his investigation. i don't know that any additional comments are needed beyond that, though you've been asked many times that question. in terms of attorney general barr, we do remember that he wrote an unsolicited memo questioning the legitimacy of the mueller investigation before he was under consideration for the office of attorney general. i don't know why the other side keeps returning to this, but i think your position is consistent

judge garland is a consensus pick. as even senator graham acknowledged the senate should be deferential for the president's cabinet nominees. we look to swiftly confirm judge garland given the events of january 6 and being able to respond to these events. i hope republicans will consent now to notice a hearing for february 8. it would show real bipartisanship and fairness. under our committee rules, we can still notice the hearing with less than seven days if my republican colleagues on the senate judiciary committee agree to do so. we need to get an attorney general confirmed and there is no justification for any further delay. while on the subject of confirmation, the senate has confirmed alejandro nicholas mayorkas three different times. when you listened to the republican leader, you may not get that fact. he head the agency he is nominated by president biden to lead. he was d.h.s. secretary and chief operating officer, handling counterterrorism, cybersecurity, border security, emergency management and other critic

judge garland is that person. he has been endorsed by a wide swath of organizations from the fraternal order of police to the national action network. i think again, when you are listening to this hearing, even lindsey graham who i think was a little brash in some of his questions made it very clear that he intends to support merrick garland. that's very important in moving forward and getting the confirmation taken care of. >> stand by, if you can. professor, also, stand by. we are following breaking news from the u.s. supreme court. the high court just declining to block a new york grand jury from getting access to former president trump's tax returns. pete williams has been following this story. pete, what does this mean for the manhattan district attorney's investigation? when might they see those returns? >> quite quickly, i would think, craig. the deal here was that -- remember what happened. the president last year went to the supreme court and said, i'm a sitting president. you can't subject me to the gran

let me return to judge garland. judge garland: thank you mr.irman and members of the judiciary committee. i am honored to appear before you today as the presidents nominee to be the attorney general. i would like, first, to take this opportunity to introduce you to my wife, my daughters, jesse and becky, and my son-in-law. i am grateful to them, my entire extended family that is watching today on c-span, every day of my life. the president nominates the attorney general to be the lawyer, not for any individual, but for the people of the united states. july 2020 marks the 150th anniversary of the founding of the department of justice, making this a fitting time to remember the mission of the attorney general and of the department. it is a fitting time to reaffirm that the role of the attorney general is to serve the rule of law and to ensure equal justice under law. it is a fitting time to recognize the more than 115 thousand career employees of the department as law enforcement agencies and their commitment to serve the cause of justice and pro

judge garland is a consensus pick as even senator graham has acknowledged. the senate should be deferential to the president's cabinet nominees. that is particularly true for national security positions. there is a greater urgency to move swiftly to confirm judge garland given the events of january 6 and the justice department's role in responding to these events and other national security threats. i hope republicanswill consent to a hearing for february 8 . it would show real bipartisanship and fairness. under our committee rules we can notice the hearing with less than seven days if amy colleagues on the judiciary committee agreed to do so . we need to get the attorney general confirmed and there is no justification for any further delay . while on the senate confirmation the senate has confirmed mister alejandro mayorkas three different times. when you listen to the republican senate leader this morning you may not catch that fact area he previously served for seven years at the agency he's now nominated by president biden to lead. most recently he serve

judge garland saying that is inappropriate.re you confident this will stop, political bias in intelligence probes against an opposition candidate? >> no. i'm not confident. i think the system, let me be very clear. i don't think it is just the biden team now politically coming in. i don't think that they're the only ones to blame here. i think the system, let's face it, i went up against a lot of fbi officials and other intelligence officials to try to get them to understand what the truth was right in front of their face, and we have an overclassification problem. we have a problem in washington where they really work hard to protect their own bureaucracies. this is a system that is protecting itself. the fbi needs massive reform. and i say that knowing full well that there could be consequences for me saying this but i have to tell you that i have looked at people who want reform within the fbi, and rank-and-file are asking for it. they are trying to get to the bottom. they know that the system is, is really a lousy system wh

i think everything changed today forrl merrick garland. i think most people had gone into this thinking, you know we voted for him in the past for judgeship. but when he was grilled to be the attorney general, i think he made some missteps and gave us insight to how he would decide on issues, i think that creates a lot of uncomfortableness for g.o.p. senators. elizabeth: the republican senators would agree with you, fell he was putting space in between. what they want or -- really you have to get to the bottom. drilled down to d what happened. watch dogs justice department found 17 eomissions and misleadings and violations. you know, i would like you to listen to senator grassley. you are right, rick, he was explicit and also wondering, are you going to make the durham probe public. >> i don't want is a return to the obama years, i don't want an attorney general who bragged about being a wingman and those were his words to the president. that was arrogant. -- eric holder, describing himself. i don't want a justice department that abuses fi

welcome to judge garland.ment to be attorney general of the united states. welcome the public at large, most of them very remote, not the large crowds we normally have when we have an attorney general nominee before this committee. i have a longer statement that i'll put in the record, and i've still got plenty to say even this morning. i, of course, congratulate senator durbin on his new role as chairman. he has already referred to he and i getting acquainted on the administrative oversight subcommittee, and working on what now is badly needed law when agriculture's in bad shape by passing chapter 12 agricultural bankruptcy legislation, and i look forward to working with you in the future here. and i also want to express my admiration for senator feinstein, the previous democrat leader of this committee. she and i have worked closely together during the years that -- >>> i promise we will dip back into that in a moment. but we've got other breaking news out of washington, d.c. the u.s. supreme court declining

judge merrick garland is getting his hearing. president biden's nominee for attorney general denied such a hearing when president obama nominated for him for the supreme court. is testifying on the first of two days of confirmation hearings before the senate judiciary committee. judge garland has assured senators that he will lead an independent justice department as the people's lawyer, not the president's. garland asserted his first priority is to prosecute those involved in the january 6th insurrection at the u.s. capitol. the nominee is getting praise from democrats and republicans. evan perez has following this. it's a key position in any administration, but given the politicizing of the doj that trump did, people are really talking to him about what he is going to do. >> yeah. that was one of the -- that was a question we heard from republicans, which is, how do you restore the justice department to make sure it is not political? i'm not sure that is what they were going after. that is an important theme of what merrick gar

second day of confirmation hearings for merrick garland. today's first day of hearings was very newsy, tomorrow should be a big deal. also hearings for javier beccera, and deb holland. she would be the first native american in history if confirmed. i'll see you again tomorrow night. now it is time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence. >> as you know, beto o'rourke is one of the texans who did not go to cancun when the crisis hit, and he's going to join us at the end of this hour and tell us what he's been doing, including with alexandria ocasio-cortez, who showed what a little new york energy could do for texas over the weekend. katie porter will also join us as the covid relief bill speeds towards passage in the house this week. nine committees, nine committees have almost invisibly, although they did it publicly had markups of this bill and voted on it. but, you know, because there was a senate impeachment trial going on, we didn't really pay much attention to that. and now it's pretty much ready to go throu

and how judge garland will respond. also curious to see how the new chairman of the senate judiciary committee responds, what type of questions he would raise. he is somebody who sought out that position and obviously has some pretty progressive ideas in mind so i will be watching all of these folks today. host: viewers can follow the reporting if you go to wsj.com. thank you very much, appreciate your time. guest: thank you. host: we are going to return to our question from earlier this morning, our conversation with all of you as the u.s. approach is a grim milestone, 500,000 deaths due to covid-19. we will get to that conversation in a minute. later on at the top of the hour, we kick off a new segment to get a deep dive a new angle of the response, and we will take a closer look at the fda and cdc advisory boards who are tasked with approving these covid-19 vaccines. we will be right back. announcer: listen to "the weekly." this week, an expert on infectious diseases and one of america's leading epidemiologists talks

i think that's the job that judge garland will have. i think, frankly, in some instances it will be an easy one. it's not going be hard to write the internal ship at doj because that's ha the career employees expect. that's what they want to see. there's a culture they will respond to. the more difficult challenge will be restoring public confidences and kind of letting the american public know again that after four turbulent year the department of justice is really independent and decisions are on the fact and the law and not because what the president of the united states wants. >> if we look at the invest igss that merrick garland will touch in the course of his tenure that run the gam met from the former president of the united states to the current president's son with all sorts of political pressures buffeting him from capitol hill to elsewhere. how do you see him navigating those very charged, highly sense -- sensitive situations? >> great question. we have always, as a department of justice confronted highly charged, quote unquo

this is actually part of the garland story. i remember reading it when he was nominated but not really focusing on it. i don't know all of these details were ever shared. i want to read this from "the washington post." "garland said he initially feared because of reports of additional threats and truck bombs the oklahoma city explosion was just the beginning of some kind of rebellion or war. larry mackie, a prosecutor in the mcveigh case and that of co-conspirator terry nichols said garland encouraged investigators to run down possible connections to militia groups, cognizant the case had greater meaning for the nation. his message, and we certainly understood and believed it and i think ultimately the jury did as well, is we're going to respond to terrorism by relying on the institutions that made this country so great, mackie said. merrick's team and prosecution's theme was we're going to be greater than they are." claire, i think it's just, again, whatever your politics, this is a person who has spent his time prosecuting th

that is for judge merritt garland. we got manu raju.s struck by in this statement from garland is his focus on civil rights and what true equality means. he noted in july of 2020, it was the 150-year anniversary of the doj being formed after the civil war in this country. he writes there in his remarks. the mission remains urgent because we do not yet have equal justice. he goes on to say, communities of color and other minorities face discrimflation in housing, education, employment and criminal justice. how significant to hear him choose to really bring that to the forum in this hearing? >> that will be a priority of the biden administration to consistent with the new president's approach. one of the things that he will also be pressed on through the course of this hearing that will take up today. we will go into tomorrow is about how he plans to pursue what happened on january 6th. we just heard the opening statement from the new chairman of the committee, dick durbin, the judiciary chairman, saying that people involved in what happe

also, confirmation for merritt garland begins in the next hour. states is on the brink of surpassing

merrick garland will need to decide will d.o.j.vestigations, who will handle them and will d.o.j. charge the former president. i believe the d.o.j. has an obligation to fully investigate, get the facts, make a decision right down the middle, no politics without fear or favor. second, d.o.j. has pending investigations into hunter biden relating to his taxes, his financial dealings overseas. my advice about what merrick garland has to do here is nothing. let the prosecutors already working on these cases, do their jobs, finish the investigation. don't interfere, don't influence. let it play out and treat it the same as if it was any other person being investigated. and then third, the durham investigation into the origins of the russia investigation. same approach here. don't shut it down, don't try to squash it or limit it. let durham finish his work. let him issue his report. see where the facts fall, let them fall where they may. bottom line, erica, after four years of politicization of donald trump, by bill barr and others, this

that's the way judge merrick garland will do that.ll make decisions based on the advice he's given and the facts and the law and without regard to political consequences in representing -- i hope people appreciate this. he'll represent the people of the united states of america, not a political party, not the president of the united states or anyone in the government. he is representing the people. >> he is so well-qualified to do that. your background, senator, is in civil rights. what did you make of judge garland's testimony today on civil rights and voting rights for that matter? >> well, i was very pleased with the attorney general nominee acknowledging the problem we have with white supremacist and the growth of white supremacy in this country. it's been denied by that justice department with a few exceptions like the director of the fbi and others. for the attorney general nominee to acknowledge that, he knows the history. he saw what happened in the 1960s. he saw the rise of the militia groups with timothy mcvay and others. th

supreme court, merrick garland finally got his senate confirmation hearing for attorney general.f confirmed, garland will over hundreds charged in the capitol attack. >> this was the most heinous attack on the democratic processes i've ever seen. >> reporter: he'd take over a department beset with low morale and under fire from democrats and the trump administration and republicans for its investigation of the trump administration. >> you do not view your role as attorney general as being joe biden's role? >> i am not the president's lawyer. i am the united states lawyer. >> reporter: after a summer of social unrest, followinghe kiof grgfld a white police officer, garland said civil rights enforcement will be a priority. >> there's no question there's disparate treatment in our justice system. >> reporter: when speaking of his immigrant grandparents, who fled the persecution of jews abroad, garland choked up. >> i feel an obligation to the country to pay back. this is the highest best use of my own set of skills to pay back. >> reporter: president obama tapped him for the supreme

the fact judge garland pledged to prosecute white sup prelimi -- supremacy.markable. >> it was a remarkable moment. you could hear in his voice somebody that spent his entire career devoted to public service and when he talks about pay back, he's not talking about pay back like we've heard over the last four years as in revenge, he's talking about paying back to this country that he is so devoted to. when you look at his resume, it is a resume of public service and i don't think anybody sitting in that room whether they agree with the biden agaena or disagree with the biden agenda could not help but feel for him because they, too, in their own ways, some more than others consider themselves public servants and there is, you know, you can only admire what he was saying there. >> john, the messaging wasn't subtle overall with judge garland. >> never is. >> it never is. particularly this time with judge garland saying i'm not going to be the president's attorney, i'llm going to be the attorney of the united states. what a time to take over as the attorney of the

federal appeals court judge merrick garland is expected to be confirmed. confirmation of another one of president biden picks is in jeopardy. fox news mark meredith has more tonight from washington, d c. starting monday, the senate will hold two days of hearings examining merrick garland's record beliefs and his plans for the justice department. garland previously served at the department in the 19 nineties, back then overseeing some of the country's top cases, including the prosecution of the oklahoma city bomber in 1997. garland was confirmed to the u. s court of appeals for the d c circuit. job he still has today. in 2016 garland was nominated by then president obama to the supreme court. you may remember senate republicans refused to consider garland, though, citing the upcoming election in his opening statement, garland is expected to talk about what he'll work on right away, including prosecuting those people responsible for the january 6 capitol attack. senate republicans say they want to ask garland about his thoughts on the scandal involving new y

merrick garland is no longer one of them.is expected to be confirmed, as the next-attorney general, in very-short order. >> ryan nobles, thanks very much. >>> so perhaps, the most poignant moment of the day. judge garland's response to a question about how his own, painful, family history informed his career and prosecuting injustice intolerance. >> i come from a family, where my grandparents fled anti-semitism and persecution. the country took us in. and protected us. and i feel an obligation to the country to pay back, and this is the highest, best use of my own set of skills to pay back. and so, i want, very much, to be the kind of attorney -- attorney general that you're saying i could become. and i'll do my best to try and be that kind of attorney general. >> i believe your heart. >> what a moment. perspective, now, from cnn chief national correspondent, john king. and cnn chief political analyst, gloria borger. gloria, i mean, the emotion in that moment was -- was palpable. i mean, you could sense the room stood still i

laura, how do you think garland is doing so far? laura coates joining us now. >> i think he's doing exceptionally well. and you hear him and you hear about his background and visions and experience as a prosecutor but somebody who knows a great deal about the justice department and justice in general and you say what a shame that he missed out on the highest court in the land. but as an attorney nominee,ez extraordinary in being able to be as nimble as dana as talking about knowing about the political independence of the justice department and improving the moral and leading it to the line on career attorneys and navigate politically sensitive things and not wanting to address lindsey graham want him to agree and talk about james comey but instead relying about the policies that he believed were part and parcel to being a good justice department and why that was the focus as opposed to former officials. he talked about the ideas of the p opioid crisis. he a wide range of topics and wide aware of the umbrella of things that the depar

host: that was judge garland yesterday.ox news with their headline about those questionings on hunter biden, merrick garland treads carefully on the durham probe. hunter biden questions. they raise this. judge merrick garland, president biden's pick vowed to be mindful of the tremendous responsibility of leading the justice department during his confirmation hearing on monday. they grilled them including john durham's russia origins probe and the hunter biden investigation. john in north hills, california. what is your priority for the attorney general? caller: good to talk down -- good to talk to you. i would like to see them empower a special counsel to investigate the media's collusion in perpetrating a false narrative of what happened on january 6. we know from several new sources that black supremacists and agitators were also involved in the insurrection as they were in the insurrection all summer of 2020. we can see from the new york post the john sullivan was paid $70,000 for his footage of the capitol riot's. that

you see judge merrick garland. he is president biden's choice for attorney general for the united states. the judicial committee going through a two-day hearing. a number of interesting topics about that. we'll take to you the white house in a few moments. the president about to announce some changes to a very important covid relief program, the so-called ppp program. a lot of money is going to big businesses and not mom and pop businesses. also on this busy news day, a former setback on the supreme court. donald trump must turn over to manhattan prosecutors in new york his tax records. his tax records part of the investigation there. lots to cover in the hour ahead. let's begin with what we were listening to. a very important confirmation hearing for the man who will become the next top law official. judge merrick garland, the last 22 years an appeals court here in washington. pledging that priority 1 would be to put behind bars those found responsible for the capitol insurrection back on january 6th. with us to s

also, confirmation for merritt garland begins in the next hour. all of this as the united states is on the brink of surpassing 500,000 lives lost to coronavirus. president biden is planning to lon nor the americans killed by the pandemic with a moment of silence and a candlelight vigil outside the white house tonight. let's begin our coverage with dan simons with the latest on the fallout in the investigation into what happened on that united flight saturday afternoon. dan. >> reporter: good morning, erica. well, the ntsb says the likely culprit appears to be a fractured fan blade that then took out another blade. these are preliminary findings. no conclusions have been made. the regulators want to determine how that uncontained engine failure took place and prevent something like from from happening in the future to do that, the faa is saying all those boeing 777s, they should be inspected, of course, thoroughly inspected before they can fly again. in the meantime, seeing those images, seeing all that debris fly out of the sky, it continue to be

doesn't look like garland will make any improvements any time soon. >> laura: this is how judge garland described the capitol riots. >> there's a line from oklahoma city and there's another line to the battles of the original justice department against the ku klux klan. we're facing a more dangerous period than the oklahoma city bombing. >> laura: we had so much death and destruction. january 6 wasn't good but we didn't have several dozen, more than 100 people killed. >> yes. this is what is really going on out there. there's a narrative in the process and has been built the last several years that republicans are domestic terrorists, racists and all these bad things and they need to use that because donald trump is not there to kick around anymore, so they have to say that all of these people that did this are racist. there's no surprise that garland is saying the same thing. he knows that that is the narrative that has to be put forward and continued in order nor the democrats and the socialist left to hang on to power in this country. >> laura: he also wants to become our nation's ch

, chuck grassley's going to support garland. i mean, it'd be difficult to think of somebody who would have done a better job than garland yesterday navigating the always tricky set of questions that you get as a nominee for attorney general. but as you alluded to, kasie, it seems like the lights are out for neera tanden's nomination to be omb director. tanden, a former head of the center for american progress -- i think she's currently the head of the center for american progress -- came under fire from the left and the right, and basically, everybody on capitol hill for a range of things. she has tweeted a lot of nasty stuff about republicans, so i guess that's not surprising, given that she's a democratic activist. and furthermore, the left doesn't love her because she was against bernie sanders. the center for american progress has taken a lot of corporate money. no one seems to be rescuing her. the white house is standing by her, for now. i'm not sure what they're standing by her for, what they're waiting for. i don't see an

now garland will be questioned on how he plans to lead the justice department. here's his statement. 150 years after it was founded battling exfrtremists attacks o our democratic institutions also remains central to its mission. if confirmed, i will supervise the prosecution of white supremacists and others who stormed the capitol on january 6th, a heinous attack. >>> our law is not the instruments of partisan purpose. >> reporter: judge merrick garland guaranteed impartiality when he accepted the nomination of attorney general one day after the capitol insurrection. >> we made a mistake. >> reporter: this week senate republicans demand garland fully commit to investigating andrew cuomo for not reporting all covid related nursing home deaths in 2020. the fbi has already opened an investigation. >> i'm absolutely calling on a special counsel to look at all things hunter biden. >> senators will raise the investigation of hunter biden. the department of justice has already charged more than 220 people in connection with the capitol attack. >> we fight. we fight lik

judge merrick garland got a confirmation hearing. what will happen if he takes charge of the investigation of the capitol attack? >> i think this was the most heinous attack on the democratic processes that i've ever seen and one that i never expected to see in my lifetime. mercedes-benz suvs were engineered with only one mission in mind. to be the best. in the category, in the industry... in the world. lease the gla 250 suv for just $399 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. last night's sleep, interrupted by pain? tonight, silence it with new zzzquil night pain. because pain should never get in the way of a restful night's sleep. new zzzquil night pain. silence pain, sleep soundly. dry, distressed skin that struggles? new aveeno® restorative skin therapy. with our highest concentration of prebiotic oat intensely moisturizes over time to improve skin's resilience. aveeno® healthy. it's our nature™. tonight, i'll be eating the al pastor burrito from boca burritos right here in aurora. (doorbe

garland sailing so far. nobody's even tried to lay a glove on him. and actually deb haaland as well later this week, nomination for interior, could face tough questions. grit your teeth week for democrats on pennsylvania avenue watching their picks come up to the senate. >> indeed. i should note for those of us in the washington area, we are seeing incredible negative ads about becerra, public interest groups taking him down. he's not a doctor, their big complaint. just now an answer to senator blumenthal judge garland said hate crimes are tearing apart our country right now. sherrelen, in the aftermath of all we have seen in black lives matter and all of the issues about police operations, what more do you want to see from merrick garland as he not only looked at enforcement of the civil rights as secretaries and civil rights office, which not been enforced the last four years, as best i can tell, what more do you want to see from him on that and on voting rights? >> well, we certainly want to see the civil rights division stood back up as an enforc

what stood out today particularly about garland? >> garland has a good reputation as a judge. he has a reputation for integrity. he has a reputation of being relatively nonpartisan as a judge. i will say the hearing was frustrating as it went on today because he basically dodged every question. he refused to answer any question. he answered like a judicial nominee and not like a nominee of an attorney general. so we wouldn't answer whether he would fire durham and he would not make a commitment at all. bill barr when he was mean confirm said he would only fire bob mueller for good cause. i asked judge garland, would you make the same promise about durham? well, i don't know anything about it. he was also asked, will the department of justice continue to process people illegally crossing the border? he wouldn't make that commitment. he said i don't know. i asked him, will the department seek to overturn the heller decision and essentially repeal the second amendment right to keep and bear arms? again, i can't make any commitment on that. it was a really disappointing performanc

supreme court, merrick garland finally got his senate confirmation hearing today for attorney general. if confirmed, garland will oversee prosecution of hundreds charged in relation to the capitol attack. >> this was the most heinous attack on the democratic processes that i've ever seen. >> reporter: he'd take over a department beset by low morale and under fire by democrats for decisions made during the trump administration and by republicans for the investigations. >> you do not view your role as attorney general as being joe biden's wingman. >> i'm not the president's so unrest foowing e>> rep a killinofd by a white police officer, garland said civil rights enforcement will be a priority. >> there's no question there is disparate treatment in our justice system. >> reporter: when speaking of his immigrant grandparents who fled persecution of jews abroad, garland choked up. >> i feel an obligation to the country to pay back. this is the highest, best use of my own set of skills to pay back. >> reporter: president obama tapped him for supreme court in 2016 but republicans blocked th

shannon: merrick garland with new insights into the biden administration and he is in the first to face questions over the press of a grand gender of this white house, josh halley asking if he used last summer's riots as attacks on federal facilities as acts of the mystic extremism or domestic terrorism. a distinction between those attacks and what happened to the us s month primarily because of the time of day that they happened. >> attack on a courthouse while in operation, trying to prevent judges from deciding cases, that plainly is domestic extremism, domestic terrorism. undertake simply on government property at night or those circumstances a clear crime and is serious when it should be punished. i don't know enough about the facts that you are talking about but that is where i draw the line. both are criminal. one is a core attack on our democratic institutions. shannon: with his critics says judge garland knows federal judges in the first were quality should cleanup that statement. present biden's nominee for interior secretary and after initial vetting congresswoman holland is

confirmation hearing garland is a federal appeals court judge. he told senators his first priority as attorney general will be to prosecute the white supremacist and other rioters who stormed the capitol in the insurrection on january 6th. judge garland became emotional as he talked about the hate and immigration his own jewish grandparents faced in the early 100s >> i come from a family where my grandparents fled anti-semitism and persecution. the country took us in and protected us, and i feel an obligation to the country to pay back and this is the highest, best use of my own set of skills to pay back. and so i want very much to be the kind of attorney general that you're saying i could become is i'll do my best to be that kind of attorney general. >> of course, judge garland was president obama's supreme court nominee, but the republican-controlled senate at the time refused to give him a hearing. nbc's garrett haik he faced tough questions. >> reporter: garland took tough questions. this went about as smoothly as you will see garland pif vot

thank you. >> thank you, judge garland. before i turn to my questions, i want to add a few mechanics for the hearing. senators will have eight minutes in the first round of questions, followed by a five minute second round. and i ask members to do their best to stay within their allotted time. we will take a break every once in a while for ten minutes. i'm hoping the first will be sometime near 11:00 at about 12:15 and 12:30 we'll break for lunch for 30 minutes. i beg you to stick with that schedule as you can and be back in time so that we could keep the hearing moving along. so at this point, let me turn to questions. you were sent to oklahoma city, 1995. what happened there was the deadliest act of home grown domestic terrorism in modern american history. 168 people had been killed, including 19 children. hundreds were injured. you were supervising the prosecution of timothy mcveigh and terry nichols who were accused of leading in that destruction. now, if you are confirmed as attorney general, which i believe you will b