reams) let's pretend for a second that you didn't let down your entire family. what would that reality look like? well i guess i would've gotten us xfinity... and we'd have a better view. do you need mulch? >> welcome, everyone, to what, we have a ton of mulch. eamonn. tom's ticking time bomb. his associate meeting with special counsel's office in a new investigation just opened to efforts to overturn the 2020 election. plus, absolute chaos. that's how one democrat described the house judiciary committee hearing this weekend to republicans doubled down on unproven conspiracies. and, gop hijacking. the annual defense budget bill is chock full of amendments to address right-wing cultural grievances. a member of the house armed services committee -- and will get her reaction to

some of tommy tuberville's blockade on military proposals, a move that leaves this country less safe. i a. am michael steele in for my good friend ayman my heady. be careful. if you're claustrophobic. tonight, we begin with the walls closing in on donald trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. as investigators at this federal state livers move toward the final stages of their probes. now let's start with the special counsel, jack smith's inquiry. according to reporting for the new york times and cnn, federal prosecutors recently sat down for hours, apparently, with both trump's son-in-law, jared kushner, and his former longtime aide hope hicks. and nbc news confirms that

prosecutor spoke -- former white house communications director alyssa according to the times, what could the commission was asked quote, a according to four people briefed on the matter. that line of questioning suggests prosecutors are trying to establish whether mr. trump was acting with corrupt intent as he sought to remain in power, essentially that his efforts were knowingly based on a lie, evidence that could substantially bolster any case they might decide to bring against mr. trump. also, in recent months, jack smith's team as interview the secretaries of state for pennsylvania, new mexico, and michigan. all three states were targeted by trump and his team in his efforts to overturn his election loss. that, is in part, according to cnn reporting. that brings us to the efforts of individual states to hold these election deniers accountable. this week arizona journey general chris mays announced that her office is ramping up its criminal investigation into

the so-called fake electors scheme in which republicans allegedly tried to reverse of the states election results by signing and transmitting paperwork falsely declaring donald trump the winner. and in georgia, a judge seated to granaries week that are likely to be tasked with deciding whether to bring election interference charges against trump and his allies in that state. fulton county district attorney fani willis has said she plans to announce charging decisions during superior court term that just began. and surprise, surprise. that was not welcome news to trump, who just filed a petition into georgia courts seeking to, one, disqualify fani willis for investigating him for election interference, and to, quash the final report of the special grand jury that would recommend indictments in the matter. joining me now our cynthia asked me and msnbc legal analyst and former prosecutor, former congressman david jolly, msnbc political analyst and

former congresswoman, don edwards, and msnbc political analyst and washington post columnist. cynthia, let's begin with you. this is grist for the middle for prosecutors looking at this. what are the implications of jack smith's team reaching out to all of the secretaries of state around the country? does that say something about the idea of his investigation taking a wider scope than we first thought? >> i think we thought for a long time that the january six investigation was going to be pretty broad because we're trying to bring in the whole fake electors, it appears they're trying to bring in the whole fake electors scandal. here's something that is important, and i think our viewers need to understand. as jack smith does these interviews and he asks people like jared kushner what was the president thinking, he doesn't have to prove that the president absolutely knew he had lost and he has evidence that the president said to 15

people, i know i lost, and all of this other things happened. that is not the corrupt intent that is required. the intent is that he knew the intent is that he knew what he was doing was illegal when he set up a fake electors scandal. he knew what he was doing was illegal when he sent armed people up to the capitol to interrupt the official proceeding of the counting of the votes. he knew pence didn't have the power when he tried to pressure him into overturning the election. that is the intent that he has to prove. and to the extent he can prove that trump was telling people that he lost the election, okay, great. that's icing on the cake. but let's not require jack smith or leave our viewers with the belief that jack smith has to prove more than he already has to prove. because, remember -- and then i will be quiet for a second -- we already know that the attorney general told him he lost the election. all the credible lawyers in the justice department told him he lost the election. all the credible lawyers in the

whitehouse said he lost the election. his cybersecurity person told him we lost the election. his campaign manager told him he lost the election. everybody told him he lost the election. so, just because jared kushner has gone to the grand jury and, after he collected his two billion dollars from the saudis and said, no, i thought he really won. that doesn't a, make it credible, or b, make -- smart grand jury process. >> and so -- i want to pick up on that point that cynthia raises, what do you think the secretaries of states are saying to jack smith, and will be telling jack smith in that vein. >> i think that they can share with jack smith what was happening in their states, what was happening with elections officials and election workers. they can share the impact of this false narrative on their state and their ability to both count their votes and to have their electors seated. so i think there's a lot to be shared. it's interesting that jack

smith was talking to a number of secretaries of state and also other election officials. and i really think they sort of crossing the tees and dotting the i's to make sure that he has everything that he needs and, i think, as we cynthia said, it's not a question of proving that trump, in his mind, knew everything that would take place. it's more making sure that you can bolster the story. and i think, right now, jack smith is tying up the loose ends to bolster his case going forward. >> so, david, there is the law, right? and then there's the politics. chris christie said this week there is no silver bullet to take out trump. but that the collective weight of all of this legal troubles that he is having, instead,

will make the voters weary og trump, get tired and want to move on. i don't know about you. show me the evidence about that. because it seems to me, with each indictment, with each new allegation, his numbers go up not down. >> that is exactly right. aspirational thinking from chris christie, and probably, quietly, from every other candidate, from mike pence to run, desantis, tim scott, nikki haley and others, that somehow donald trump's legal travails are ultimately going to sink his campaign. we simply haven't seen it. so, michael, i think where we sit today, there is not a single legal fact to emerge in any of the donald trump matters, from alvin bragg to mar-a-lago to j 6th to fani willis, that will change the trajectory of the gop primary. i think the only political question -- the only question that might have political impact -- is whether or not there is actually a trial, at some point, where donald trump is facing a loss of liberty, and at this point, it's really hard to see -- cynthia with no best -- it's really hard to see how a trial would occur, and a verdict would be rendered before, say, mid march, when the gop primary is actually all summed up.

so, worst-case scenario for donald trump is that he is able to push some of the trials into next summer if he's already secure the gop nomination, in the political question before the american people but about donald trump's liberty, or best-case an area for donald trump, he pushes all the files off until after next november. >> cynthia, i would like you to comment a little bit on this process that david raised. but i also want to get your reaction to what is happening, what came out of arizona this week. a lot of focus has been, of course, on watching fulton county down in georgia, with baited breath, waiting for fani willis and her team to take action. but it did come as a bit of a shock the decisions out of arizona. what do you make of the attorney general's actions there as well? >> two things. the first is that we have the scheduling conference that is coming up in the mar-a-lago case, which will determine -- should set some form of a trial date, which will affect the political scheduling, which will affect the timing of the

trial in the primary schedule. and my guess would be that judge aileen cannon sets the trial data sometime in february, and then when the trump people ask to have it postponed, she goes ahead and kicks the can down the road. she has put a jersey on, in this case, which i think is inappropriate for a federal judge. but the jersey is on. and until she takes it off, it appears to me she's going to do his bidding and kick that can down the road as long as he wants, i hate to say it. that's one thing on the scheduling on that. i do think it will be indictments this summer in other jurisdictions that will not have such a judge who is biased, but that case won't go to trial. those cases will take at least a year to go to trial. and so they will not be in the primary calendar as well. so that's what -- i don't think we are going to see a trial, david, before the republican convention. that is one thing. when it comes to arizona, the attorney general really didn't have much of a choice. because the prior attorney

general had a sort of, had played fast and loose, had an investigation, then he had the investigation, then he gave a fake answer about -- the interim report about the investigation was. so really, she had a moral and political obligation to clean up the record in arizona. i don't think she had a choice. and she is going forward, albeit very slowly. my guess would be that the january 6th investigation encompasses, also, everything that she would end up finding, and will learn the information through the january 6th investigation. but i do think she is doing the right thing. i don't think she had a choice. >> all right. panel, stick around for me. after the, break we will discuss the new defamation lawsuit against fox. this one from a trump supporter who claims the network ruined his life. (vo) it's time to switch to verizon. sadie did. and now she has myplan. the first unlimited plan that lets her choose exactly what goes in it. now she gets to pick only the perks she wants and saves on every one. all with an incredible new iphone.

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finally come back to haunt the network. and ironically, it's coming from a trump supporter who once considered himself a loyal viewer. ray epps, a trump supporter who became the focus of right-wing conspiracies after you process it in d. c. on january 6th, has filed a defamation lawsuit against the network and former host tucker carlson for claiming he was an undercover fbi agent who helped provoke the riot that day. the lawsuit argues carlson launched a years-long campaign spreading falsehoods that destroyed the life of epps and his wife. here is just some of the coverage. >> the mysterious figure called ray epps -- >> so, who is ray epps, by the way? ray epps it's one of the only people caught on camera, that day, encouraging others to break the law. did ray epps -- contact with any government agency? -- whether ray epps has had any --

in the period before january 6th. >> the lawsuit also says that fox refused to attract its claims well after fox knew definitively that they were false, and that this evidence of what is legally known as actual malice means epps deserves punitive damages. of course, this comes on the heels of fox's settlement with dominion voting systems, which cost the network -- $787 million for spreading lies about the company's role in the 2020 election. epps just hired one of the lawyers in the dominion case to represent him in his case against fox. oh, it gets juicy. let's bring back my panel. cynthia, let's start with you on this one. dominion was able to prove, through emails and text messages and a whole bunch of other things, that fox knowingly lied to their viewers on their coverage of the election. what do you see here? do you think that that plays out for epps the same way as it did for dominion? >> it is kind of interesting

the way it's played. he actually piggybacks on the dominion suit. because he says, i went to the january 6th because i had been lied to by fox news about the election. so, he pulls in the dominion, basically, settlement, and piggybacks his case on that. and then he has a lower standard. it's much easier for him to prove the defamation. because he is not a public figure. so, he has a lower standard of negligence and not actual malice. and he still has an opportunity to get punitive damages. so, it's a pretty interesting lawsuit. because there is so much video evidence of tucker carlson going on and on and on about he somehow was involved with the fbi and orchestrated january 6th, and there is absolutely zero evidence that that is true. and this poor sop of a guy has basically lost his business, lost his home, headed to another state, been threatened

repeatedly, so he's got a story to tell. fox -- added to their troubles. they are already looking at the 2. 7 billion dollar lawsuit from smartmatic, and now they have this little additional trouble. >> so, david, the thing that is interesting to me is that it was not just fox and tucker carlson making these claims. you had individuals like ted cruz, marjorie taylor greene also making epps a target. >> yeah. >> this guy is a die hard trump supporter, whose life has been destroyed by the very right-wing conspiracy theories that he was out promoting. shouldn't this be like a cautionary tale for republicans and loyal fox watchers that, guess what? yeah, they could come for you, too? >> you are exactly, right michael. a cautionary tale for different reasons -- politically, republicans are showing that they are not focused on the economy and health care and transportation

and ladders of opportunity, like joe biden are, and so they are out of step with the american people. but for fox news, politically, for their financial stability, i think what dominion ushered in, in this question of actual malice, and we saw the 800 million dollar settlement, has really ripped open, if you will, the opportunity for others to go at fox news -- so, rays epps is following a similar trajectory to saying as -- look, as cynthia, he doesn't have to be actual malice in the case of rays epps -- but i will -- hear on saturday night, michael steele -- this -- i think, hunter biden crushed fox news financially. i think what dominion showed us, the discovery involved in dominion, is that actual malice has occurred within the editorial decisions of fox news. dominion got an 800 million dollar settlement.

smartmatic months wants theirs. rays epps wants there's. who have a talk with more than anybody else? i guarantee you discovery of fox news editorial notes and conversations -- against hunter biden, the most judicious irony of all this would-be of hunter biden, joe biden's son, is the one that cripples fox news financially. >> put a pin in that one, folks, where the hunted becomes the hunter. [laughter] -- i love saturday night. donna edwards, you would think fox would be, i think, a little bit more careful after epps sued them for defamation. but the next day -- the next day the network had on republican congressman troy nehls who had just insisted that the fbi should arrest epps during a judiciary hearing. fox has to know what his it is doing here, right? >> -- they better get out a really big checkbook. because they're going to pay heavily. rays epps was a private citizen. we heard fbi director christopher wray on capitol hill this week talking about this conspiracy, and dismissing it as though the fbi has planted people out in the crowd

to try to rile them up. he said it was completely ridiculous. it was embarrassing that as the chief law enforcement, christopher wray was being asked these questions in the first place. but with respect to rays epps, this was a guy who was a true believer. he was a die hard believer. and he has been dragged through the mud. and fox is going to have to pay. >> donna edwards, i want to stick with you for a moment, because i want to circle back to the conversation we had in the last segment, and reporting that jared kushner and alyssa farah and hope hicks-- gotcha moment, this law for trump. is there any reason that you would think these people, given their connection and relations, would turn on donald trump, would offer up incriminating, detrimental evidence to the prosecutors against trump. i don't know where people think that somehow they are going to get the smoking gun from any of

these individuals. >> no, i don't think so. and i will tell you, i think that between the january 6th transcripts, and now the testimony before grand juries, that jack smith has a lot to work with. he's got them on the record in a couple of instances. if it turns out that this goes to trial, he might have them on the record again. and there is every likelihood that if there is some slip up, that they could be in real trouble. so, i think that right now there is no smoking gun. it is about putting the pieces together to develop the case. and i think that is what -- he's doing, is doing it very methodically, covering all of his bases, and making sure that there won't be any surprise down the line. >> so, cynthia, fox has settled lawsuits related to lies about dnc staffer seth rich and dominion. the network has also been

forced to pay fired producer abby grossberg -- being coerced into providing false testimony related to dominion. do you expect this latest lawsuit to end the same way for fox? >> i would expect that it's a settlement, and i'm sure that donna edwards is right, they bettter get their checkbook out. does seem to be the way it is going and it's not just fox. tucker carlson is being sued individually. so, we will see if that does not inspire him to be a little bit more on. as i would doubt. it my mother always that people don't change after they are four and i would guess tucker carlson -- >> just a little bit older than four, i think. david -- >> or not -- >> tucker carlson hosted a presidential forum in iowa with a roster that included six prominent presidential candidates. during the forum, former vice president mike pence said, quote, i have never used the word insurrection. over the last two years i have

never used that. it was a riot that took place that day. that is the same mike pence whose life was in grave danger on january 6th. how alarming is it that carlson is still able to get these folks to come out and say the craziest things when it comes to january 6th? and of all the people who should know better, it is mike pence. what is going on with his going along with carlson on all of that? >> yeah, look, i think it demonstrates that tucker carlson's ideology and his command of the party is very real, more real than mike pence. i think the two takeaways from iowa's faith and family conference is this growing narrative, number one about ron desantis. is he the governor that hates gay people? that is just a question that is in the information space, that is his identity. secondly, this experience of mike pence was interesting on two fronts. by suggesting first that, as the senate president he didn't have a choice, and he needed to

certify, and secondly by suggesting that it is right to defend ukraine and fight back against the encroachment of vladimir putin, mike pence on those two issues was run out of iowa. he was run out of town. and i think, for you and i, michael in particular, that is a time stamp of today's republican party. tucker carlson is the vessel and the message for it. but what we saw in substance was a republican party that looks nothing like it did 20 years ago. >> cynthia alksne, former congressman david jolly, and former congresswoman donna edwards, thank you all so much for joining us tonight. up next, i will be joined by congressman hank johnson of the house judiciary committee to discuss that insane hearing with fbi director christopher wray, filled with right-wing conspiracies. how are folks 60 and older having fun these days? family cookouts! [blowing] [dice roll] ♪ playing games! [party chatter] dancin in the par—!

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our heritage is ingrained in our skin. and even when we metamorphosize into our new evolved form, we carry that spirit with us. because you can take alfa romeo out of italy. but you best believe, you can't take the italy out of an alfa romeo. >> this week, fbi director christopher wray, who is appointed by donald trump, i will remind you, testified

before the house judiciary committee, and explaining the insanity that unfolded -- well, it just doesn't do it justice. so, i guess i will just show it to you. >> when the court says the fbi misled, that is a nice way of saying they lied. >> how many individuals were either fbi employees, or people that the fbi had made contact with, were in the january 6th entry of the capitol? the -- i'm gonna make the assumption that there was more than, one more than five, more than ten. >> i will say, this notion that somehow the violence at the capitol on january 6th was part of some operation orchestrated by fbi sources and agents is ludicrous. >> your job is to review what they do! your job is to protect the american people from the tyrannical fbi, storming the home of an american family! >> i could not disagree more with your description of the fbi as tyrannical. >> you preside over the fbi

that has the lowest level of trust in the fbi's history! people trusted the fbi more when j edgar hoover was running the place that when you are. >> respectfully, congressman, in your home state of florida, the number of people applying to come work for us and devote their lives working for us is up over 100%. >> the american people fully understand that there is a two-tiered justice system that has been weaponized to persecute people based on their political beliefs, and that you have personally worked to weaponize the fbi against conservatives. >> i would disagree with your characterization of the fbi, and certainly your description of my own approach. the idea that i am biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me, given my own personal background. >> that was just a small taste of the cuckoo for cocoa puffs crazy that dominated that hearing. i think congressman eric swalwell summed it up best. >> this hearing has turned into absolute chaos.

i yield back. >> joining me now is democratic congressman hank johnson of georgia. he is a member of the house judiciary committee. congressman, how did you and your democratic colleagues approach this hearing with christopher wray, knowing you would have to contend with so much crazy, the accusations, the unsubstantiated allegations? and i wonder if john durham's time before your committee last month provided you with some kind of a blueprint of how to approach this. >> thanks for having me, michael steele. and we have known all along what the playbook is going to be for republicans during the 118th session of congress. it is not to work on behalf of making life better for the american citizens. but instead, it is to tear down our governments, tear down our agencies.

it's to muck up the fbi and the department of justice in the eyes of the american people, trying to taint the jury pool because they knew that donald trump would have to face justice -- and so, they want to take that jury pool, they want to stoke fear and intimidation in the hearts and minds of fbi employees, witnesses against donald trump, and anybody else, like ray epps. they don't want -- people don't want to have that kind of treatment. and so, they are trying to intimidate people, so that they can save donald trump, get him reelected, and then go about the further destruction of our democracy, which makes no sense to me. but that is what they are doing. >> congressman, over and over in this hearing, we heard republicans musing about defunding different law enforcement agencies across the government. they talk about this all the time now on the campaign trail

now as well. how seriously are democrats taking this rhetoric as we are looking at appropriations and other things that are coming before the congress? >> oh, it is dead serious, michael. they want to do everything they can to disembowel the department of justice and particularly the fbi. they want to neuter it. they want to de-fang it. they want to remove its ability to hold people accountable through the civil criminal justice system. and it is mind-boggling what they are trying to do to our democracy. this is our democracy. this is our government -- government employees are our neighbors. they are our friends. they are people of goodwill. but they are demonizing those people. and they are trying to, actually destroy our democracy

when we've got so many things that we need to be looking at right now. there is rising antisemitism, gun violence out of control. there's artificial intelligence on the horizon, really at our front door at this point. there's so many things we need to be doing to make life better for the american people and create a more secure environment for them and our children to come up in. but instead, these republicans are trying to protect donald trump and reelect a mad man. >> and so, at that point of elections -- and congressman, you know this well, i know it as a former party official -- when americans go to the polls to vote, they expect the party that they put in power to serve their interests, to provide for them, to help them and deal with the big issues that they are concerned about. what did this hearing do for republican voters? and all voters, for that matter, in terms of providing for them? how much of this circus helped the american people at the end of the day?

>> i will tell you, michael, i don't think that it persuaded a lot of americans one way or the other. i think most americans understand what the republicans who are in charge of the house are trying to do. they understand that nothing is being done to make life better for them. and the people who they are feeding this red meat to are further empowered to believe in this cause. but unfortunately for them i don't think it accounts for a majority of the american people. and i don't think they've convinced many people to come their way on their efforts to destroy the government and to destroy democracy in the process. and i don't think they persuaded a lot of people to get on the donald trump

bandwagon, which, clearly, they are on and driving, with reckless abandon. >> indeed, indeed. congressman hank johnson thank you very much for joining me tonight. still to come -- republican senator tommy tuberville is single-handedly harming the american military. and the gop? they won't stand up to him. ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪ your best defense against erosion and cavities is strong enamel- nothing beats it. new pronamel active shield actively shields the enamel to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a gamechanger for my patients- it really works.

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mccarthy kowtowed to maga members of his caucus, which added unnecessary amendments on gender diversity and abortion. the amendment on abortion was inspired by the actions of republican senator tommy tuberville. since february, tommy tuberville has been using a hold to block the promotion of generals and admirals, over his opposition to the defense department policy of paying for service members'travel costs for abortions. he promises to keep the hold going until the pentagon reverses its policy. and while a hold can prevent the senate from confirming nominees, it certainly can significantly slow down the process. and it has been effective. to date, tuberville has delayed more than 200 promotions. in a hearing this week, president biden's nominee for chairman of the joint chiefs of staff told the senate armed services committee that these holds will affect military readiness because less experienced military personnel are now being forced to temporarily take up leadership positions.

and, as of this week, the marine corps is currently without a senate confirmed chief for the first time in more than 150 years. if tuberville's blockade continues, as many as 650 military positions maybe vacant by the end of this year. so, now, the white house is turning up the heat on all republicans over tuberville's antics. in a memo first obtained by nbc news white house communications adviser andrew bates wrote, the blockade is, quote, exploiting service members as pawns, and risking brain drain from the defense department and that all republicans should be held accountable for not stopping tuberville's stunt. this week biden went after the gop for in his words, making america less safe. >> i expect the republican party to stand up, stand up and do something about it. it's in their power to do that.

the idea that we don't have a chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, the idea that we have all these promotions that are in abeyance right now, we don't know what's going to happen. the idea that we are injecting into fundamental foreign policy decisions, would in fact, as a domestic social debate on social issues is bizarre. i don't ever recall that happening. >> joining me now to discuss this, marilyn strickland of washington state. a member of the house armed services committee and sits on the military personnel subcommittee. welcome, good to see you. let's start with the defense bill vote. the house narrowly passed a bill that would ban the secretary of defense from paying full or reimbursing service members for abortion related expenses and gender affirming care. what is your reaction to seeing these two attempts to strike down reproductive health care and health care writ large from within the military itself?

>> it is another example of how responsible the republican have become because they are afraid to step of the most extreme elements of the party. in our committee, during markup, we passed a bill 58 to 1. it had broad bipartisan support. with the national defense authorization act, that is typically a bipartisan effort. but after the amendments were added on to it, these were things democrats could not vote for. taking away a woman's right to choose, trying to destroy diversity, equity and inclusion. saying that the military academy should not consider those things when promoting people and letting people get in. so i think people became so contaminated that democrats could not vote for it. >> the ndaa has historically been bipartisan, and i must pass bill.

no one really second-guessed that. this time around, however, it is overloaded with controversial amendments, it's literal. does it even have a chance in the senate at this point? >> the good news is that the senate will take a look at their version and decide what they think they want to pass and something will come back to the house. so the good views is the senate now has it in its hands and they are working on their version of the ndaa. we had a clean version coming out of our committee with bipartisan support. something we were able to come to agreement on and compromise. and then all these contaminants get added to this bill. it is irresponsible. it basically says to service members, we don't respect you. we don't respect your diverse background. by the way, if you are a woman, we don't think you have the right to make personal decisions about your reproductive health care. >> i want to pivot to senator tuberville.

lieutenant general andrew rollins said on monday, tomatoes blockade is irresponsible and dangerous. he points to kareem montague who should now be being paid as a general, but is not because of the delay of the promotion. that is one of many examples. talk to us, about the impact this is having on service members directly. >> to your point earlier, over 250 promotions are on hold right now. it could be up to 640 by the end of the year. it is completely irresponsible. that compromises national security. it compromises global security and and create chaos. but if you come back to what is happening within the republican party today, it started when kevin mccarthy was trying to get confirmed to get that gavel. they allowed the extreme elements to take control of their party and they are not beholden to them. they do not have the courage to stand up to them. this is one example -- >> no, finish your point. >> moderate republicans, people

who have common sense, people who by the way got elected in swing districts, it is time for them to stand up and say this is about protecting the american people. it is about national security. it is about making sure that our military's it's strongest. doing this to light because he once wore about a woman's right to travel across state lines to get access to abortion is just irresponsible. by the way, that right to travel across state lines is protected by the u. s. constitution. >> that pesky little constitutional thing. similar tomorrow has also said these blocks shall have minimal effect on service members'ability to lead. but what does the similar fundamentally misunderstand? >> i don't think he is missing anything. this is very tactical. it is part of the extreme vision of members of the gop who want to have a national ban on abortion and want to insert their personal values on the

greater good. again, this is going to affect military readiness and recruiting and retention. so many different things. creating all this uncertainty in the military ranks is the opposite of national security. the opposite of keeping us safe. the opposite of saying you respect the people who fight for us every single day. >> congresswoman marilyn strickland, thank you so much for your time. after the break, it is only the beginning of tommy tuberville terrible antics this week. you'll never guess what he said about white nationalists. well, yeah, you probably could. but that is next. ♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪ (bobby) my store and my design business? we're exploding. so researchers can help life underwater flourish. but my old internet, was not letting me run the show.

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quote, i called him americans. this week he was asked to clarify those insane comments. >> just to be clear. you agree that what nationalists should not be serving in the military, is that what you're saying? >> if people think that a white nationalist is a racist, i agree with that. >> a white nationalist is someone who believes that the white race is superior to other races. >> that is some people's opinion. i don't think -- >> that's not opinion. >> pardon? >> what's your opinion? >> my opinion, white nationalist is an american. it is an american. >> i'm so glad he clarified himself. after instant outright, tumbled look that ball back, finally conceding that white nationalists are, but definition, racist. he couldn't just leave it there. he had to defend himself, claiming that his time as a football coach somehow, somehow made him not racist.

>> i'm totally against any racism. i'm told that what nationalism they consider racism. i'm totally against that. if it is racism, i'm totally against the. i'm against racism. 110%. i'm a football coach, come on, i've dealt with more minorities in football teams, i've dealt with that all my life. i think i did a pretty good job. >> you've dealt with minorities. hm. that's one step away from saying i'm not racist, i have black friends. here is chuck schumer calling on him to apologize. >> for these another from alabama to obscure the racist nature of what nationalism is very dangerous.

his words have power and carry weight -- with the fringe of his constituency. i urge my republican colleagues to impress upon the senator from alabama the destructive impact of the words and urge him to apologize. >> sadly tuberville and senate colleagues won't step in and stop him. mitch mcconnell refused to mention tuberville when asked about his comments, simply giving a generic response condemning white supremacy. and republican whip john thume said he is not sure exactly what topical was trying to say. let me be clear, senator. i know what tuberville was trying to say. we all do. and you do yourself a lot of favors if you admit you did too and put an end to his insane nonsense. stick around, the second hour of ayman begins right after this. (vo) it's time to switch to verizon. sadie did. and now she has myplan. the first unlimited plan that lets her choose exactly what goes in it. now she gets to pick only the perks she wants and saves on every one. all with an incredible new iphone. act now and get iphone 14 pro

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second hour of ayman. republicans are jumping ship as the florida governor sinks and peoples. even fox news is saying thanks, but no thanks. plus, trump can't keep his mouth shut. it might cost him a second time with a jean carroll. then, another conspiracy bites the dust. crazy theories from the house oversight chairman james comer are getting shot down by trump-appointed u. s. attorney. we'll explain that one. i'm michael steele, infer eamonn. let's get started.