does mitch mcconnell -- mitch mcconnell can say that, but that doesn't follow mitch mcconnell. >> how about leadership? how about some leadership in the republican party, the likes of which moved richard nixon out of office. barry goldwater, the 1964 nominee of his party, to be president of the united states led a delegation of republican leaders to the oval office. and sat across from richard nixon who asked him, how many votes do i have, senator goldwater, if there is going to be an impeachment trial? and goldwater turned to him and said mister president, you might have half a dozen, and you're not gonna have mine. let's see mitch mcconnell do that. >> bob, do you imagine mitch mcconnell ever doing that? that's just not the way that politics works anymore, is it? >> bob, do you think that's the way? is that a realistic idea? >> i think you lost his audio. >> it just seems -- i get what you're saying. there's a really historic precedent, but if you look at the leaders today? >> there is historic precedent on january 8th when mcconnell and the speaker, mr. mccarthy, got up and said th

i mean, that's very -- >> that's very mitch mcconnell. >> -- mitch mcconnell.candidates who are necessarily simply backed by the former president or aligned with the former president. he's fine if they are, as long as they are also -- can perform well in the general election. and that's the real challenge. we are in a moment right now where they're hoping to get dave mccormick in pennsylvania. there's another candidate in montana named tim she hee who they're pushing to get into the race. there are different primaries in -- playing out. there's an ohio primary that could get pretty bloody as well. so, a number of states where that candidate quality issue could hurt them. and you have the problems at the top of the ticket that could spell disaster for republicans. that's why mitch mcconnell is focused to get the right candidates. >> and they're already having trouble, once again, in arizona. there's no candidate in michigan, another battleground state. and wisconsin, mike gallagher, congressman, seen as very much of a rising star, this week announced he's not go

mitch mcconnell, dead silent.ot even read the indictment. how is that even acceptable for his constituents that the former president and republican front runner is facing criminal charges. chuck grassley, he didn't get a round of reading. what else he could be reading this weekend? >> if i'm not mistaken, senator grassley is in his 90s. and the voters of iowa had been sending him there for decades at this point. and these guys, like him and mcconnell, you know, they have been there so long. they are so out of touch. they just believe they can get away with everything. you know, look at the way mcconnell handled january 6th to make this, you know, sort of speech indignation, and turn around and kill every attempt we need to actually impose accountability for it. everyone is going with their standard playbook at the moment. but these are not standard times. and the clips you showed as we came in of bill barr, finally, after all these years, stepping up and doing the right thing, to me, that is mirrored in the electo

. >> brian: and mitch mcconnell. >> rachel: no question, mitch mcconnell.uld have merrick garland on the supreme court if not for mitch mcconnell. maybe the only good thing mitch mcconnell ever done. >> steve: you mention bidenomics, out of nowhere, it was announced msnbc would get an exclusive interview with the president of the united states yesterday afternoon temperature tied up the traffic significantly, because they wanted him to talk about bidenomics. not one question, according to jacqui heinrich was asked about bidenomics. >> rachel: we just talk the about it last segment, americans would safe $21,000, under joe biden regulations, it will cost american families $60,000, of course he doesn't want to talk about it. >> brian: strange thing. >> steve: he should be asked about it. >> brian: 33% of americans think the economy is good, the president's economy. not so much if you listen to hunter question or wanted questions about bidenomics, to make the president talk about it, you were frustrated because it didn't come up. nicole wallace did say goodbye,

we've heard nothing from mitch mcconnell. heard nothing from -- the number to republican in the senate. but both of them made no secret that they wanted to put donald trump in the rearview mirror and they think is a cancer on the party, and they think it's time to move on. but they've been sitting this one out so far. only a few voices have really spoken up in the republican party condemning trump in the wake of this indictment, most notably mitt romney who put out a strong statement. i'm watching how the elected republicans are reacting to this, and most of them are rallying to the president side. >> mitch mcconnell's play all along has been that he's not been a fan of donald trump. but he stepped aside and waited for democrats to take him out. here we are with the department of justice. it has nothing to do with politics. harry, we keep looking at these 49 pages and saying how damning this, is the evidence that they've compiled, but jack smith did get a blow today in the judge that was chosen. alien kalin. can you speak to

minority leader mitch mcconnell, it was a statement they came out late last night from the white house and this is what president biden had to say last night. he said both parties vot to protect the hard-earonom progress we haveade and prevent a first-ever default by together they trata once more that america is a nation that pays its bills and meet its obligations and always will be. no one gets everything they want in negotiation but i bipartisan agreement is a big win for the economy and american people. we are expecting to hear a lot more from the president tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern. expected to speak about the legislation in any address from the oval office. this morning on the "washington journal," we want to hear from you, your reaction that the senate vote last night and the winding path that this bipartisan agreement took to get the prison biden's desk. to do so, the phone lines are as usual, republican party -- split by party, here's the republican line, (202) 748-8001. democrats are (202) 748-8000. and independence are -- independents are (202) 748-8002. we will start wit

it took mitch mcconnell a long time to be elected speech or. -- to be elected speaker.o have navigated this with remarkable ease. can you explain why he got such a difficult process to be elected and now that he has there it seems like he is able to wrangle all parts of the party to get what he needs to happen? andy: i think we need to give mccarthy some credit. i think he's sold to his conference and said first, we have to pass something to get it into negotiation, the fact that he is able to pass something pass their plan earlier this year and got them into the negotiating room and everything they negotiated on was on the republican side of the table. mccarthy needs to be credited to do that. i think there are some murmurings about some of the far right members wanting to vote to vacate the chair. we will see how that plays out. they should be happy. republicans got a lot more than if they had thrown a tantrum. alix: if everyone is unhappy it was probably the right thing. in the market there is an unresolved situation on how much the treasury will issue and where alon

>> yeah, mitch mcconnell is probably the most worried about that.cause it makes his job much harder if he's in the minority, right? this is something we heard from him then, and this is also what my colleagues reported we heard from republicans in 2022. they would not come on any television channel and say it. but they knew, and they were worried about what was going to happen as donald trump was endorsing these candidates and donald trump endorsed candidates were going to win. now we can actually get him possibly being extra on the ballot. for them, that's even worse. i will say, to go back to ron desantis for a second, but he also campaigned for blake masters, adam laxalt, joe day in colorado, he also endorsed don bullock and herschel walker in georgia. all of those candidates lost. it's not just about his policies. he's also choosing some of these candidates who end up losing. the culture of losing is not just donald trump's to carry on his back. for republicans. it's as you say, these candidates who are seen by the majority of folks in the state

. >> it's also pretty unusual for mitch mcconnell and chuck schumer to work so seamlessly together. but mitch mcconnell has been signaling for months this thing is going to get done, this thing is going to get done. >> this thing is going to get done. and for mcconnell, he really farmed out the negotiations to his house counterpart, speaker kevin mccarthy. in large part, that's because mccarthy had the more unruly task here, hurting cats in the house right now is a lot harder than doing it on the senate side of this building. both sides have really thin margins. but the house side, of course, is the more difficult task. and that is why we saw mcconnell give mccarthy the keys to these negotiations. several weeks ago, it was the core for members of congress, plus biden, in the white house hammering these deals out. but as soon as we watch to get whittled down to a smaller group of just mccarthy and his top aides and allies as well as top negotiators for the white house, that's where we really started to watch this deal come together, steph. that's not to say there wasn't consternation

mitch mcconnell, this is your moment. let's hear from you tonight. >> i would say that this is not about donald trump ultimately. this is about the united states of america. this is about whether the constitution is still real. this is about whether many american can expect the due process of law. make no mistake, if merrick garland can send in a swat team to the homes of pro-life catholics to terrorize them, if he can call parents domestic terrorists and if he can jail or try to jill biden's political opponents, he can do anything. that is what this is about. that's not what we are fighting for. >> do you also share my concern that this is a warning shot fired across the bow by the fbi and doj to anyone? ron desantis? anyone like him that has more of a populist point of view, not an establishment point of few and a shot at the presidency. don't get too close. watch out. we will come for you. we will never stop until we relentlessly pursue you until you give up. that's what i think is going on here more than anything. i t

>> we know mitch mcconnell said, we know mitch mcconnell left the mcdonald trump part of the republicanthe same polls that are starting to come out now that have shown overwhelmingly republican voters think this is political, people are out to get donald trump. there have been two years and years of groundwork laid to make this case. it's overwhelming that's where the republican voters are. he doesn't see a lot of upside in that. i will experience going back to access hollywood, this is the same thing. after that, i was working for paul ryan at the time. we came out, they said forget this guy. and we realized no one was standing behind us. because the voters weren't there in that continue to be the case. this is travel politics, you know that. when people see that their guys being attacked they will rally behind him. it happens time and time again, no one should be surprised by the civil. this is where republican politics are now, mitch mcconnell goes this is not where his voters are now, he doesn't want to divide his comrades by being the one guy saying let's get rid of him. >> it may

well, i don't claim to have had close working relationship with mitch mcconnell. he he has been very effective in gaining the support of the republican senators for the leadership that he there. but to my mind, he's he's focused on. as much republican as he possibly can. there there in the senate. john mccain was also a very partizan on some things, but i think was was really more focused on issues than than on party and, you know, i say in the book that i, i believe his vote to vote against the of the affordable care was a statesman like type vote and had added greatly to his legacy. what was your relationship with senator when it came to public lands specifically in the west? well, we we had our disagreements and but we tried to work them out. and in some cases, we able to well he he of course you had particular views on some of the public land issues that were going in arizona and. those would come before the energy natural resources committee that i was chairing. and so we would i had to oppose him on several things that he wanted to do. but as i say we tried

but mitch mcconnell, this is your moment, my friend. let's let's hear fromtonigh you tonight.t. >> i would just say that this is not about donald trump. ultimatelys no this is aboutout the united states of america. this is about whether ricathe constitution is still rl in this country. this is about whether any american, any american can expect the due process of law. ce, if merricktak garland can send a swat team to the homes of pro-lifes to ter catholics to terrorize them, if he can call parents domestic terrorists, if he can jail or try to jail biden's political opponents, he can doca whatever he wants to any american. that is what this is about is whhting and that's now what we're fighting for. >> and do you also share my concern that this is a warning fired across the bow by the fbi and the doj to anyone and ron desantis, anyonee fbi like him, who has more of a populist point view, not an establishment point of view, has a real shot at the presidency. don'establis and at too close. watch out. we will come for you and will. >> we wi

. >> joyce, i'm going to have to interrupt you because mitch mcconnell is taking questions. >> going on for six months, going to be going on for a year longer and i'm simply not going to comment on the candidate. we've got a bunch of them and i'm just simply going to stay out of it. >> house appropriations chairwoman said she's going to mark up the spending bills of the fiscal year 2022 levels. should house stick with the debt limit deal spending levels and could this lead to an impasse in getting the government funded this year? >> he's saying he's simply not going to respond to any questions about this ongoing case and that's going to be his practice. even though he is the republican minority leader of the senate now being asked about the debt ceiling deal and the appropriations process. back to david jolly now. david is a former republican congressman, no longer a republican from florida. talk to me about the way you see mitch mcconnell and other republicans not being willing -- or defending the former president. the beginnings of some crack in the republican senate leadership wit

both chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell are pushing for a speedy resolution. for that to happen, the bill needs more than 60 votes to overcome any filibuster attempt. they also need to make sure that no amendment gets 60 votes because if an amendment were to pass, the whole thing would have to go back to the house again. so for leadership to review, yes on 60 for the bill, no on 60 for amendments. and lauren fox is up on capitol hill in the middle of it all for us. your attention now turns to the senate, lauren, what are you seeing? >> reporter: yeah, that overwhelming vote last night in the house now sends the momentum to the other side of the u.s. capitol where we are waiting to see whether or not republican and democratic leaders can come together on some kind of time agreement that means unanimous consent of all 100 senators who have to agree to advance this bill expeditiously. that is the huge question, how quickly are they going to be able to move, are they going to be able to salvage the weekend, are they going to be able to make sure that they do not h

and the classic example, as you mentioned, mitch mcconnell.uldn't hold a trial for somebody who did something while he was president, or who was impeached while president. and then, he said after he voted on that technically false, legal claim, he said, we all came along in this country. it was like the greatest thing he ever said. and here we are. and now, you should be saying, see, that's what i was saying. that's what i meant. >> and if he broke the law, he should be treated like any other american, or any other person who did -- >> which i thought as a conservative, that was our point, or one of our points. you know, it was all bs. sorry -- >> it's gamble, that's okay. george conway, thank you. we'll be right back. >> we're on cable, -- we're on cable, - in my ozempic® tri-zone, i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. ozempic® provides powerful a1c reduction. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in

notably no reaction from senate leadership including chuck schumer or mitch mcconnell., i mean, it's absolutely notable, poppy, although it's not that different than what we saw in the last round in which they wanted to wait for more information about what the charges were. they wanted to see the full indictment before responding. but in the house of representatives, a swift response to this news last night, including from republican speakers, kevin mccarthy, the house speaker, he tweeted quote, today is indeed a dark day for the united states of america. it is unconscionable for the president to indict the leading candidate opposing him. joe biden kept classified documents for decades. i and every american who believes in the rule of law stand with president trump, and i want to put that statement in context of the week that the speaker has had in the house of representatives. that's because his house of representatives, the floor of the house is really held hostage by a flank of conservatives to his right who argued that they were unhappy with the deal that mccarthy c

>> this entire process gives us a pretty interesting window into the role mitch mcconnell is playing in all of this. he was essentially hands off. he is usually the guy sitting at the table. he's part of the horse trading. he's intimately involved in every detail, and this time around he essentially handed the responsibility over to kevin mccarthy and gave kevin mccarthy his full support and faith that he'd be able to get it to this point. now mcconnell will pick up the ball and encourage his senate colleagues on the republican side to supply chuck schumer enough votes to get to that 60-vote threshold. what we've seen time and time again with mcconnell is, yes, there are a relatively small faction of conservative republicans that are not necessarily fans of his. some of them challenged his leadership. ultimately he controls the senate, especially in the republican side, and he will be able to marshal the votes necessary to get this over the finish line. certainly there may be some senators that he lets slide. some he asked to take a tough vote, but there's every indication that they

it was over at mitch mcconnell's house and it was shut down.k about ethics, we want to say this is wrong and people should know better, but the supreme court should know better. they should lead by example on how ethics, behavior should be in this country. when you sit up there and you catch clarence thomas having his home bodily billionaires and alito is on private jets, that has nothing to do with racism, it is that wrong -- it is dead wrong. let's try -- let's stop treasure quick this. because their policy, because nobody told them they shouldn't do it, it is ridiculous. if we want to improve how this court runs, we need to get our head out of our behind, whether you like it or not. that is the bottom line. my view is -- my view of the supreme court is garbage until we start electing people in congress that is going to hold the court accountable for the way we want them to act. host: you and others interested in this issue of ethics at least can go to our website, go to our video library, the search engine at the top of the website and put i

host: referring to mitch mcconnell, what have the talks been like between the majority leader, senator schumer, the minority leader senator schumer, -- with regards to the urgency to pass this bill, the need to get it done as soon as possible, the need for senators to pass amendment requests, to get them on the table quickly, vote on them, then you'll back the time they have been granted as a result of the amendment. they have been on the same page -- we expect they would be at a 60 vote threshold. host: we're talking about the outlook of the debt limit agreement. it could come as early as today in the upper chamber. your thoughts on this, the debt limit deal. what the prospects are for the senate, democrats dial-in at -- republicans first this month, republicans (202) 748-8000. democrats (202) 748-8001, and independents (202) 748-8002. texans as well, include your city and state, at -- texts as well, include your city and state at (202) 748-8003. and tweet at c-span wj. there are progressives as well. senator bernie sanders is one of them. any more? host: -- guest: only a few, the one

it was stacked effectively by mitch mcconnell, donald trump, in order to unstack it and restore balancethink we need to expand the size of the court. >> i want to turn to the student loan ruling, the decision that came down today. i want you to watch how one official from the committee for a responsible federal budget reacted. listen to this. >> the president made an empty promise that he couldn't keep using authority he didn't have. this plan is costly, it adds to inflation, which means it's adding costs for 87% of americans. most of the benefits go to the top half of the public. and again, congress has the authority to spend, not the president. >> so, did president biden, congressman, make an empty promise? >> no, he didn't. i certainly was among many who called on him to try to forgive student loan debt. and i called on him when the decision came out today to use other statutory means. i'm glad he is doing exactly that to fall through on that campaign commitment. there are millions of young people mired in debt. they effectively have a first mortgage before they have a mortgage on a

this is what the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, had to y, the republican leader in the seorths after spear mccarthy invited prison biden to begin negotiating a resolution to the looming debt isis and artant step toward fiscal sanity will finally become law. thanks to house republican sponse bill the act avoids the catastrophic consequences of default and begins to occur washington democrats addiction to reckless spending that grows our nations debt. he went on to say senate passed legislatio will reduce federal spendi by $1.5 trillion, begin to reform th infrastructure permitting process, resend unspent dollars and cut spending at the irs. he says our work is far from over in delivering necessary support to americans armed forces. minority leader mitch mcconnell, it was a statement they came out late last night from the white house and this is what president biden had to say last night. he said both parties voted to protect the hard-earned economic progress we have made and prevent a first-ever default the united states. together they demonstrate a once more that america is

senate minority leader mitch mcconnell said the markets need assurances soon. pete? >> chad, before we get to the senate, i want to get to that in a moment, was there a pile on effect here where people realized the bill was going to pass so more republicans voted against it than we expected? >> yeah, it was interesting when i talked to an awful lot of members. they would say they were undecided. and i've always described this as like the old mikey cereal commercials where everybody would go around the table and nobody would eat the cereal. once they realized, if you remember the commercials back from the 70s and 80s, once mikey started to eat the cereal all the other brothers at the table started to eat the cereal too. the same thing on capitol hill, once they realized they had the votes to pass this everyone said i should vote for that too. also democrats were waiting to see if republicans could deliver their votes. hakeem jeffries said he wanted to see 150 republicans on the board, they were just shy at 149 but democrats carried most of the freight on the floor ton

he was not engaged in the negotiations, neither was mitch mcconnell, the minority leader in the senate. being minority leader, and some ways, is a likely easier task because you don't have control over the agenda, just how you approach opposition. it seems like jeffries negotiated this as well as he could. probably status quo on that, maybe a little more, because he got so many folks and it showed as bipartisan. i think that is something that really matters to the president, particularly as he gives of his reelection bid. he can say, my bipartisanship works. it kind of cues in with all of the messaging that the presidential reelection campaign will be forwarding. host: now that the drama of the debt ceiling over, we have september 30. the house is out all of august. so, what is going to happen? this is a headline i want to show from "new york magazine." "did we just trade a debt default with a government shutdown?" guest: i don't think so. washington tends to get in gear toward the very end. i would not expect that we are going to start worrying about government shutdowns until septemb

that the ex-president has done and also with all of the people like tom cotton, lindsey graham, mitch mcconnellkevin mccarthy, who had a chance and spoke after the insurrection. in ex-president that sat in the white house and watched people get murdered during the insurrection. nobody talks about that. i am so glad that finally there is a semblance -- like the gentleman said he is innocent until proven guilty. one thing the ex-president is really good at, he knows how to play the media. he is the pt barnum, he is very shrewd about that. it is all about victimization. it is them against us. nobody talks about nixon, nobody talks about george w. bush, who sent american troops into a war that should never have been fought. nobody talks about spiro agnew. this is a way of the republicans. i am just glad that this morning, i've been waiting for four or five years where republicans allowed him to get away with. the republican party is complicit by being silent and allowing -- paul ryan had a chance when he was speaker. he did nothing. host: we got your point. these indictments have been alleged in ot

right now senate leaders chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell are reportedly holding private meetings and working the phones and also publicly asking senators not to risk everything that has been negotiated over amendments. >> i can tell you what i hope happens is that those who have amendments when given votes we yield back time so that we can finish this thursday or friday. >> we can't send anything back to the house. that would risk default plain and simple. >> joining us now is senator tim kaine, democrat of virginia. thank you so much for janing me tonight. i know you have not been happy about certain elements of this bill. are you going toen support it i the end when it comes to the senate? >> alex, i have t an amendment filed to block a provision in the bill a completely unrelatedo the debt ceiling that would green light a very controversial pipeline inve virginia that no e talked to us about, no one conferred with virginians about, and they justni dropped it into the j bill. look, we do amendments all the time in the senate. i've had bills redone with multiple amendments a day. i'

still gop leader mitch mcconnell celebrating its passage writing thanks to house republicans effortsl responsibility act avoids the catastrophic consequences of default and begins tok curb washington democrats addiction to wreckless spending that grows our nations debt. now conservatives who voted against this deal were angry it didn't include deeper spending cuts. senator lindsey graham specifically opposed it because it caps defense spending and leader chuck schumer actually took a moment last night to address that. >> i want to also dispell rumor s and reassure our friends across the world about the senate's commitment and ability to respond to emerging threats and needs. this debt ceiling deal does nothing to limit the senate's ability to appropriate emergency supplemental funds to ensure our military capabilities are sufficient, to deter china, russia, and our other adversar ies. reporter: so ashley, the senate got it done just in time to fly out for the weekend. ashley: funny how that works out aishah thank you very much. we do appreciate it. thank you very much. senator bill c

mitch mcconnell says he wants to stay out of the trump charges, talking about it.ck grassley says he hasn't read the indictment because he says he's not a legal expert. now, chuck grassley was the chair of the senate judiciary for years. president biden declined comment on the latest charges against trump and declined comment on the previous charges against trump, which is proper. a sitting u.s. president shouldn't be commenting on a criminal investigation or a trial. biden met with nato secretary-general stoltenberg instead. former president trump pleaded not guilty to 37 felony counts related to his retention of classified documents. he spoke after his arraignment in miami from his club in bedminster, new jersey. >> threatening me with 400 years in prison for possessing my own presidential papers, which just about every other president has done, is one of the most outrageous and vicious legal theories ever put forward in an american court of law. >> now, there are some inaccuracies there. 400 years is not correct. that's not how federal sentencing guidelines work

that was how senate minority leader mitch mcconnell who has been central in pushing the supreme courtow he described this ruling which he's supporting. he said today's ruling makes clear that colleges may not continue discriminating against bright and ambitious students based on the color of their skin. we're hearing this along the lines of republicans who are african american like senator tim scott who's running for president supporting this ruling, as well as others, republicans who are black, also saying that this ruling essentially should -- it was positive in their view. but african american lawmakers on the democratic side, namely the congressional black caucus, questioning the legitimacy of the supreme court in the aftermath of this ruling. so a lot of rhetoric on both sides of the aisle, boris. unclear if any legislative action will happen. the democrats who control the senate are not making any plans to move forward on any legislation. and even if they did, boris, getting that through congress, both chamber of commerce of congress simply, almost certainly wouldn't happen. >>

judiciary committee will vote on your ethics reform bill after the july 4th resets with senator mitch mcconnelllock its passage in the senate. if that does indeed happen, what can be done to reform the court, if republicans did not get on board? >> first of all, continued public pressure and concern is really important. second, we have an election coming up, and if the republicans want to run for election on the fact that they covered up an investigation into billionaires who are given quarter million dollar vacations secretly to supreme court justices, that is not going to be a good look for them, but i think most of all, that body that i was talking about, the judicial conference, that is made up of other judges, not supreme court justices. it only has one supreme court justice on, the chief who chairs it. all of the others are regular judges who note that what the supreme court justices have been doing is wrong, who know that what they have been saying about it is ridiculous and who resent the implication that they might be doing the same thing. they are not, nobody else is doing to stuff, t

you know, there's a few, i think mitch mcconnell will stay quiet.u'll see, jake, because i've lived this for as many years as donald trump was president, where as a rank-and-file member republican, you're sitting around, probably canceling all your events this weekend, and waiting for somebody to come forward with some powerful nuanced argument that you can use including things like, well, we now have to let the trial take place. and so i think what you'll see best of anybody, the best we can hope for is silence from a few people. but i really don't expect them to come out -- there is really bad, though. it's possible. but it's -- there's the cowardice, frankly, has just been -- again, it continues to surprise me daily. >> that was a word that algeber gonzalez used earlier, about people like -- people who had harsh words for what hillary clinton did when it came to insecure email servers and classified documents which pales in comparison by any measure to this. congresswoman lofgren, in march you said that trump's rhetoric regarding his possible ind

we have not heard from minority leader mitch mcconnell.une. it's important to note that during the last indictment, john, we really never got an answer from mcconnell on what his view was. instead just responding to our colleague manu raju at the time when he returned from the senate after falling that he might have hit his head but he had not hit it that hard, in other words, dodging the question all together, john. >> dodging the question. i'm curious to see as we move forward what the defense will be of this transcript where donald trump seems to be showing others secret classified national security documents. keep us posted as to what you hear. lauren fox up on capitol hill. sara? >> john, we just got this in. former vice president mike pence has called the u.s. attorney general, merrick garland, and demanded that he unseal the federal indictment that we have been hearing about. he has called merrick garland's office and made this demand, saying that he thinks the justice department should release this before the sun sets today. i want

. >> a rare moment of bipartisanship when chuck schumer and mitch mcconnell want their people to do the same thing, which is simmer down and go vote quick. ali vitally, burning the midnight oil with the rest of the senate, nbc news capitol hill correspondent, thank you, ali, for your time and wisdom. >>> that is our show for tonight. we will see you again tomorrow. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. >>> demanded a bipartisan solution. we knew we'd need to come together for a solution like the one that passed tonight, and so i'm happy to stand here passing this critical legislation to support our families, observe vital programs and most importantly avoid catastrophic default. >> that was senate majority leader chuck schumer late last night after his chamber passed the debt ceiling bill. we'll have more on that vote and the continuing fallout in the house over the agreement. >>> meanwhile florida governor ron desantis seizes on a potential weakness in donald trump's third presidential bid while both men campaign in iowa. >>> and also ahead a rough moment for presiden

that all predated mitch mcconnell's of that was luck. some of it was politics, but that's just the fact. the last time a democratic president appointed a chief justice of the united states was 1946. it was a time ago. so that's always been a institution, but it has never been as ideological as it is now in this era. it has been captured. i would say a faction of a faction and is implementing pretty, pretty extreme political decisions is that that movement has wanted. and when you look at the when you look at the rulings that first year full year of the supermajority, those last three major rulings of the term it was the bruin case, the dobbs case, and one we haven't discussed. west virginia versus epa, which was with climate change and really began to curb the power of regulatory agencies in the federal government. that's the abortion and guns and the interests of the fossil fuel industry that that that that is sort of an rnc caucus. and it's a very agenda being implemented by this very political court. michael waldman the is superman th

. >> that sets off a clash between he and mitch mcconnell who thinks more funding is needed.pecially does not want to fund ukraine. doesn't. speaker mccarthy said as the leader he believes it's critically important. the question with mcconnell saying we're probably going to need this money, with other hawks, i'll call them that, saying we'll need this, what is going to happen? >> it's a great question and i think this is also asymbolic of the growing divide between the republican party that is manifesting right now between house republicans and senate republicans. you have a lot more defense hawks in the senate. now, let's take a step back. the white house hasn't actually asked for a ukraine supplemental. hasn't said it will definitely be necessary. we're all just assuming it most likely will be necessary, and that's when this fight will happen. but what's clear is that mccarthy as we speak right now is getting a lot of pressure from his hard right on other issues and so this internal politics is playing a lot. >> the hard right is mad at mccarthy over the debt limit deal and

that all predated mitch mcconnell's of that was luck. some of it was politics, but that's just the fact. the last time a democratic president appointed a chief justice of the united states was 1946. it was a time ago. so that's always been a institution, but it has never been as ideological as it is now in this era. it has been captured. i would say a faction of a faction and is implementing pretty, pretty extreme political decisions is that that movement has wanted. and when you look at the when you look at the rulings that first year full year of the supermajority, those last three major rulings of the term it was the bruin case, the dobbs case, and one we haven't discussed. west virginia versus epa, which was with climate change and really began to curb the power of regulatory agencies in the federal government. that's the abortion and guns and the interests of the fossil fuel industry that that that that is sort of an rnc caucus. and it's a very agenda being implemented by this very political court. michael waldman the is superman th

the fact that mitch mcconnell refuses to say anything, it is normal.he broad consensus is around two themes that we are going to see pretrial. the first is this weaponization of the government against republicans. every republican is on that talking point. today, i think it's a dangerous, one of the very dangerous, one but nonetheless that is their firm talking point. the second, as you will see them start to impugn the credentials of jack smith. donald trump is doing, it you will see republicans amplify that, to talk about some of the high-profile losses, ignore his high-profile winds and look what you referenced just before going to commercial. don't trump tonight is talking a little bit about the law, he is distorting, it but byron donald and other republicans or on the streets today with that same distortion of the law. which suggests that they now know that they need a little bit more than just the weaponization. they need to give a false narrative around the law to back up what they are. saying that can sustain them all the way throughout the tri

promote the bipartisan infrastructure bill at an event in kentucky with senate minority leader mitch mcconnellt's right, america's crumbling infrastructure is going to promote the bipartisan infrastructure bill. [ laughter ] the cdc is warning that a new variant of the omicron strain of coronavirus has nearly doubled over the past week, so it looks like covid is the only thing that's actually doing "new year, new me." republicans took control today of the house of representatives for the first time in four years. well, the first legal time in four years george santos was sworn in today as a member of the house of representatives in the state of new york, and not as he originally claimed pandora [ laughter ] we had a moment backstage. we were like, do we think everybody is up to speed on the george santos story? [ laughter ] it's been two weeks. everybody is with family they're not going to be reading the news every day and now we know. [ laughter ] do you guys know "avatar" came out? [ laughter ] former president trump was reportedly deejaying on his ipad at mar-a-lago last week and played cel

mitch mcconnell was on the senate floor a few minutes ago.fund aid to ukraine, and did not mention the former president, and refused to answer any questions about it. we'll have to see as more senators arrive here today if we start to get more of a sense of where many of them stand, but you point out the comments by senator rubio and senator graham, that follows a textbook of talking points by republicans that have largely rushed to the defense of the former president along these lines that the justice department is unfairly targeting the former president. senator rubio did somewhat get into the actual allegations but for the most part, they just are trying to accuse the justice department of treating donald trump unfairly as a way to provide him protective cover as he heads into this legal battle that he's currently facing. and that can be said along the lines of many republicans in both the house and the senate. the one exception so far has been mitt romney who's a noted trump critic who has said that no one is above the law and that the ch

mitch mcconnell saying this equal to socialism in his book. i thought polling was interesting. the president of the united states cannot hijack 21-year-old emergency powers to pad the pockets of high-earning base and make suckers out of the working families that chose not to take on student debt. mitch mcconnell said the court's decision deal as heavy blow to democrats distorted and out sized view of executive power. so while republicans are saying that they were trying to protect the role that congress has here, the white house is ready to say this is a battle between the rich and the poor. the other question, neil, how much of this is an issue in next year's campaign. the polling was mixed on this. the people that were going to benefit were happier with the plan. the americans that didn't go to college and paid down their debt already, they took out private loans, maybe they wouldn't be as impacted by this and didn't feel the need. the president speaking to jacqui heinrich in the room. she shouted the question, did you fail these people. he said no, pushing the blame on congr