i'm yamiche alcindor. good night from washington. >> corporate funding from washingtonweek is provided by consumer cellular. additional funding is provided by the ewing foundation. committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. sandra and carl magnuson. rose herschel and andy shreves . the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] (energetic music) ♪ (narrator) parisians had never seen anything like it. it wasn't ballet or burlesque. it wasn't a tribal dance. it was the spirit of an era. it was about laughter, desire, freedom. in front of white audiences, josephine played out her life.

i'm yamiche alcindor.ood night from washington. >> corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> consumer cellular. additional funding is provided by ku and patricia yuen with the yuen foundation, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. sandra and carl delay magnusson. rose herschel and randyies is hrevess, the robert and susan rosenbaum, your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you -- thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.visit ncicap.org] (lively traditional music) ♪ (anthony) we have the best matzo in the world right here. new york city. it's all coming out of right here. you won't nd that nowhere in the world. ♪ the water we use is new york city water, which is the best water in the world. you want jersey water? fine. you buy matzos from jersey. that's on you. we have quality. ♪ we have tourists that come from all over the world to the lower east side

yamiche: trump, legal blows. russia's military woes. >> donald trump falsely inflated his wealth to cheat the system. yamiche: the new york attorney general announces a lawsuit against former president trump and his children for committing fraud. and the justice department can regain access to classified documents seized at trump's home. pres. trump: if you are the president of the united states, you can deal classified just by thinking about it -- can declassify just by thinking about it. yamiche: and russian president vlimir putin issues an ominous threat that escalates the war as ukraine's military makes territorial gains. pres. biden: wherever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe, that should make your blood run cold. yamiche: at the united nations, president biden condemns russia and raleigh's world leaders to support ukraine -- rallies world leaders to support ukraine. next. >> this "washington week." corporate funding is provided by -- consumer cellular. additional funding is provided by the yu

yamiche: good evening and welcome.his week, alarming new reporting from the washington post revealed the fbi recovered top-secret information about a foreign nation's nuclear capabilities during its search of former president trump's home. according to the paper, some documents retrieved were so secret, only the president and a small number of senior level officials have access tohem. on wednesday, former president trump's former attorney general bill barr weighed in on the legal jeopardy trump faces. >> there is no scenario legally under which the president gets to keep the government documents, whether it is classified or unclassified. if it deals with government stuff, and goes back to the government. yamiche: meanwhile, a federal judge appointed by trump granted his request to have a third party known as a special master review the documents seized from his home. the doj has fil an appeal to overturn that ruling. the doj is requesting the judge pause her related order temporarily blocking the government from access

we're back with yamiche.ot more than a formality or a portrait unveiling today. this felt like it had all of the weight of the moment on it, michelle obama spoke to it perfectly. >> certainly, and when you saw michelle obama, former first lady michelle obama, she was really speaking as an american saying part of our country's ability to be the sort of jewel and that sort of continuing democracy that makes people want to come and move to this country is that we hold onto traditions, and we do things in a way that really underscores that, no matter political party, we continue to transfer power in a peaceful way. i think it really was in some ways underscoring that they hope that that will be the case. they hope in the future we will have a political system that is not so partisan that people can't even do traditional things like unveil a portrait. i think when former president trump decided not to hold that and the animosity that he had for democrats in particular, not just about policies but personal animosit

yamiche: while

so, eddie, yamiche says this was a speech for the history books. will history look back at this? >> well, it all depends on what we do. you know, it's an important speech. remember, lincoln gave a speech in 1860 and what happens? we have the civil war. we have folks who reject the basic premise. there's always been this current, this thread in american life where there are those who are not necessarily committed to democracy, they're committed to an idea that ours must remain a white nation in the vein of old europe. i think what president biden did in that moment, it was a stark description, but he kind of created the space for people to choose the country as opposed to a party. so by creating that space, creating that distance, he's forcing -- at least he's giving people an opportunity in my view to choose the country. those people who define themselves as republican, those folks committed to certain ideology they have to choose the country in this moment and that's what i think president biden was doing last night in part. >> kelly o'donnell, ya

yamiche:ws. russia's military woes. >> donald trump falsely inflated his wealth to cheat the system. yamiche: the new york attorney general announces a lawsuit against former president trump and his children for committing fraud. and the justice department can regain access to classified documents seized at trump's home. pres. trump: if you are the president of the united states, you can deal classified just by thinking about it -- can declassify just by thinking about it. yamiche:

yamiche: former president trump lashes out.special master is appointed to review files the fbi seized from his home. the justice department issues dozens of subpoenas connected to 2020 election lies and the capital attack. >> there has been a large volume of information that we pressed hard for the agency to release. yamiche: as the january 6 committee says it has new evidence. plus -- sen. schumer: one party is focused on jobs, that's us. the other is focused on

this is great work by you, yamiche.apologetically completely anti-abortion, but she does seem like she's running a 1990s campaign. crime and big government. are you detecting on the ground in michigan that there is a crime big government voter, there are more crime big government voters when you're talking to folks in the world or more voters who say women's reproductive rights and really our full citizenship is on the ballot. >> my sense being on the ground is women are extremely upset about the roe decision and that's women that are republican or democrat. tudor dixon, while she's on record as saying she supports banning abortion with no exceptions for rape and incest, she doesn't want to talk about that too much. she said it, and she's clearly on the record, but when i was interviewing her, i asked her over and over again, and she wouldn't own up to it on camera. i think the reason that's happening is because she senses that's not really a popular position. you played some sound of jessica leach, who i think is the k

yamiche, jimmy nelson, and our favorite lawyer melissa murray, thank you so much.we come back, john fetterman, he turned down doctor oz for debate, but he said yes to a sit down with us, his first national interview since his stroke three months ago. and later, a another trump endorsed candidate, sarah palin, goes down in alaska. a big upset, as democrats pick up a seat they have not had in decades. we'll ask our political experts to tell us what this means as the 11th hour just getting underway on busy wednesday night. night. insurance policy you no longer need? now you can sell your policy - even a term policy - for an immediate cash payment. we thought we had planned carefully for our retirement. but we quickly realized we needed a way to supplement our income. if you have $100,000 or more of life insurance, you may qualify to sell your policy. don't cancel or let your policy lapse without finding out what it's worth. visit coventrydirect.com to find out if your policy qualifies. or call the number on your screen. coventry direct, redefining insurance. it's time

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here's yamiche alcindor. >> reporter: lifelong republican jessica leach was devastated when the supremecried for weeks. i cried for my daughter. i always considered myself pro life. >> reporter: now she changed her mind and her party. jessica got pregnant at 19 and visited an abortion clinic to weigh her options. she decided to have her son, who's now 17, and says being able to make that choice is something every woman deserves. >> what do you say to people who think your story is an example of why abortion shouldn't be an option? >> i would tell those people that until recently it was always a hypothetical. i would beg them to understand that having these options paved the way for me to be a good mother. >> reporter: in michigan residents will vote on a ballot referendum in november that would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution. >> you're a doctor. >> reporter: incumbent democratic governor gretchen whitmer is also up for re-election. >> what is at stake in this election and in the ballot referendum? >> well, abortion and the right to be a full american citizen with a

>> joyce, i want to go back to something yamiche just said, and i want you to underline it for us. because after cassidy hutchinson testified, we heard that seven, one, or maybe several, members of the secret service were gonna come out on the record, under oath, and refute what she said in her testimony. that never actually happened. how significant is that, right? they put it out there in the conservative media either, but nobody ever said in front of the judge. >> so, it's a flag, it's a flag that they said they would contradict her testimony but no one ever came forward to testify at the committee. that is one of the reasons they will be so interested in going through these new communications that they have. and, you know, cassidy hutchinson's testimony, she was telling congress that facts and stories that had been related to her. so, she wasn't in essence saying this is the truth. she was saying this is what i was told and here is who said it to me. it will be deeply interesting to go back to those people's communications and see what their communications look like on january

yamiche, let me play for you. i did ask them about 2024 and president biden.ake a listen. >> 2024, joe biden, should he run? >> i don't think so. >> i honestly don't think so. >> all nos. >> i'm a bit on the fence because i'm not too sure who's going to fill the spots. >> that's the challenge. >> and i know that was the reason why i voted for him in the first place. it was a safer middle ground to pull us away from the extremism on either side. >> i wanted to play that clip and remind people these really are independent voters. there is this -- in arizona, they really have been turned off by both parties. but the biden situation, you know, i've asked this question to swing voters think he's too run again. >> the key issue will be whether or not them thinking president biden is too old outweighs them thinking that the future of our democracy is on the line. when i talk to voters, even democrats who say biden, he's a little slower, he's a little quieter, i'm not sure if i want to back him. when they know about the state of our democracy, they think that's the bi

no >> yamiche, just from what we don't know. the doj evidence seems a lot more damning than what we saw on the hillary clinton situation. are his supporters really going to roll out about her emails again? >> they are certainly going to do that. and certainly are doing that, stephanie. and i think that crystallization of what is going on here is that line from hallie jackson's reporting when she said, this is not that. that underscores where we are. this is not hillary clinton's email. this is, according to these files, much more serious. that being said, as you know, as jeremy just, said trump's supporters are going to do what trump supporters do, which is rally round him, they're going to want to make sure that people think that he is continuing to be a victim. i am just fresh off of a trip to california where was interviewing some republicans. and actually, the ones that i talked to, they were against former president trump, they were saying that he was problematic, that he is a part from the document issues -- he's lying abo

so, we are fully aware of the issues that are out there. >> we're happy to say that yamiche joins usee you. what other key top lines did you guys hit? >> good morning. i sat down exclusively at the justice department with assistant attorney general kristen clark, the head of the civil rights division, and assistant attorney general todd kin, who heads up the environmental and natural resources division. we had this wide-ranging conversation that comes as activists are marking the 40th anniversary of protests in war warren, california, focused on racial and environmental justice and to that end both officials told me the department is prioritizing the issues through its new environmental justice office, in particular, we spoke about that ongoing water crisis in mississippi with the doj officials telling me they are focused on it and trying to make sure people get clean water. we talked about alabama, because there is a doj investigation into a failing sewage system, a story i did when i went down to alabama, talking to people about how the sewage that is literally pooling in people's

. >>> joining mow for insight and analysis are former democratic senator claire mccaskill, yamiche alcindor moderator of "washington week on pbs. matt foreman and amy walter editor in chief of the cook political report welcome to sunday, it's "meet the press. >> announcer: from nbc news in washington, the longest running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. >>> and a good sunday morning. there's been no shortage of unkind things said about the job of vice president of the united states and many of those things have been said by vice presidents the most famous may have come from the first, john adams i am vice president, he said, in this i am nothing but i may be everything the number one job of the vice president is to be a good number two, to help make progress without making waves, and after 20 months kamala harris is familiar with the position's unique challenges. she was seen as a new symbol of a racially diverse country, but as president biden's approval ratings fell, so did hear's. she's been tasked with some intractable assignments from enacting natio

joining us is ken dilanian, yamiche alcindor, and also with us former prosecutor in the robert mueller russia probe andrew weissmann and former communication advisor brandon buck. what do we expect about the special master hearing? didn't the trump lawyers stumble into opening pandora's box for the government to show the documents, spread them out on the floor, take a picture, raise all kinds of issue of obstruction of justice? >> that's very clear, andrea, that trump's lawyers paved the way for the justice department to deal a devastating public blow as they laid out the backdrop of the case. in terms of what might happen today, you never know what a judge might do. whether she grants a special master, adheres to the doj's conditions that they asked in the event she does do that. they would like it to go more quickly than it normally does. that's really a side show. the fbi reviewed the documents they seized at mar-a-lago. this case, as much as it's about documents, classified documents, it's also about witnesses. what are witnesses telling the fbi about who handled those documents? w

. >> yamiche, jessica is the post poster child for what democrats hope happens in the midterm elections. what kind of polling is there in michigan? before the ohio referendum, the polls put it closer than it ended up being. do we have any sense of the numbers of how many people there are like jessica who might be voting democrat because of this issue? >> it's a great question. we know the numbers are that there's a hotly contested and very tight governor's race and that the heart of that governor's race is the issue of abortion. you have tudor dixon saying she thinks abortion should be in any case, no matter rape or incest, then you have governor whitmer, who's been traveling around the state, we had images of her holding a roundtable saying this is a human right, abortion rights sh and she sees it as a civil right. will's a lawsuit to stop abortion to go into effect in that state. the feeling is that kansas, a red state, if they can vote to keep abortion rightings in their constitution, a battleground state like michigan, the people who are of course the others, they feel like this iss

joining me now, that strategist, ceo of target smart and yamiche alcindor. tom, to you first.ew york upstate race where abortion appeared to have helped the democrat pat ryan win that upset upstate. talk to us about what you are seeing specifically in this data right now, how abortion is changing everything. >> it's really remarkable. as you mentioned, the kansas results were a surprise. i think even to people like me who have studied these numbers for decades. we set out to figure out why. as you said, what we saw was a huge surge in women registering to vote after dobbs when you compared to before. kansas, as you said, 70% of the new registrants were women. in the new york 19 special election, women accounted for 58% of the early votes cast there. that's remarkable. >> what other states -- where is the real impact? presumably in 2020, obviously, suburban women in particular that came out in droves and supported joe biden. republicans felt like they were winning back some of the suburbs with the inflation and economic challenges. all of a sudden, it seems like those folks in

yamiche: president biden takes his message to voters and blasts trump an election denier's. >> people

yamiche, good morning. what did you find in michigan?ates and supporters. life-long republican jessica leach was devastated when the supreme court overturned roe v. wade. >> i cried for weeks. i cried for my daughter. i always considered myself pro-life. >> now she changed her mind and her party. she got pregnant at 19 and visited an abortion clin toik weigh her options. she decided to have her son, who's now 17, and says being able to make that choice is something everyone deserves. what do you say to people who think your story is an example of why abortion shouldn't be an option? >> i would tell those people that until recently it was always a hypothetical. i would beg them to understand that having these options paved the way for me to be a good mother. >> reporter: in michigan, residents will vote on a ballot referendum in november that would enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution. incumbent democratic governor gretchen whitmer is also up for re-election. what is at stake in this election and in the ballot referendum?

later, join moderator yamiche alcindor and her panel for " washington week."e get the latest on the ground in puerto rico as the island works to recover from hurricane fiona. that is "the newshour" for tonight. thank you. please stay safe and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ moving our economy for 100 60 years, bnsf, the engine that connect us -- connects us. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of "t newshour" including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith, the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world, at hewlett.org. ♪ and friends of the "newshour." ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ ♪ >>> hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanp

joining me to talk about is washington correspondent yamiche with an interview about the doj office's ago. and there's so many people there who had been waiting to get clean water. it was finally lift, i think, last thursday. that was seven weeks during which time they had been waiting for that clean water to come out of their taps. i remember the pictures. it was awful to fathom the experience they were having there. what is the doj doing about what's happening in mississippi. >> it's a key question. jackson, mississippi, is the kind of environmental justice issue they are going to prioritize. i sat down with the attorney general, who is the head of the civil rights division, and also an assistant attorney general. together they are overseeing this new renewed focus on treating environmental rights as a law enforcement issue, which is new in some ways. they are putting the power behind the 1964 civil rights act in this. i asked about jackson, mississippi, and the role doj is playing. take a listen. >> the epa is down there investigating what is happening. why is the doj not there yet

nbc's yamiche alcindor joins us now from the white house. you niche, always so nice to see you.oing to be in london? >> president biden and first lady joe biden are going to have a very busy few days as they pay respects to queen elizabeth. they of course left the white house early today, and are now on route to london. their schedules had landed in the next hour or so the vip an hour which will be about 10 pm local time. on sunday they will start their activities honoring the life of the queen. they are expected to pay their respects at the queens coffin on sunday as well as signed a condolence book. then they're expected to attend a reception at buckingham palace hosted by king charles. they are also then supposed to, on monday, attended state funeral at westminster abby that will be held for queen elizabeth along with a number of their heads of state. so this is of course an official visit. the president and first lady will be going there to represent the united states. but queen elizabeth had tea with joe biden and joe biden and they ate together is a tribute trio last year

nbc's yamiche alcindor, joins us from the white house. there are some developments to biden's agenda, what are you learning? >> president biden is going to have a busy few days as he pays for respect to someone he met personally, he knew that the white house two hours ago he's expecting to land in london at the 10 pm hour. he's expecting to go and pay his respects to the queens cup, and he's then expected to sign a condolence book, and then monday he's going to be attending that state funeral for queen elizabeth. he's than expected to be returning to washington d.c.. in terms of the meeting with the heads of state, he is well as british prime minister -- they're expecting to be meeting on wednesday. they're gonna be meeting on wednesday in new york city. as they both attend the united general assembly, but what really needs to be kept in mind is that as president biden and first lady biden make this trip it's a personal trip for them. of course they're gonna represent the united states but they had met the queen and they remembered her fi