this morning on world news now, political showdown. attorney general eric holder gets in the middle of a fight between congressional republicans and the white house. why this election year confrontation could go down in history. it is thursday, june 21. from abc news, this is world news now. good thursday morning, i m paula faris. happy to have my friend, john. and like i said, i ll never forget your name, my husband s name. there you go. i thought i was special. you re my work husband tonight. i am john muller, in for rob nelson. we re going to get right to it. we ve got a fight involving the attorney general. and we ll go to pennsylvania where the jerry sandusky sex abuse trial could wrap up today with closing arguments and the
this morning on world news now, closing arguments in the jerry sandusky sex abuse trial begins in just hours. the jury gets the case without hearing testimony from the former penn state coach. it s thursday, june 21. from abc news, this is world news now. good morning, everyone. i m paula faris. so glad to have you back this morning, john. thank you very much. i m john muller in for rob nelson. we re going to bring you that courtroom drama from the sandusky case in just a moment. and them the drama on capitol hill where the attorney general eric holder, he s in the middle of a political fight involving congressional republicans and the white house. if he s found in contempt of congress, it would be the first time that an acting attorney
point, partisan politics and a sitting u.s. attorney general cot in the cross fire. eric holder is in copenhagen this morning. yesterday a house committee voted to recommend citing him for contempt of congress for not turning over documents from that botched fast and furious gun operation. you will remember that program allowed guns to end up in the hands of mexican drug cartels and is connected to the death of at least one u.s. law enforcement officer. those documents are now off limits to republicans and everybody else because the president has invoked executive privilege to keep them under wraps. it brings us to joe jons live from washington, d.c. this morning. good morning. good morning, soledad, the contempt issue moves to the full house of representatives as early as neck week. holder is the first obama administration official to be held in contempt by congressional committee. the point man on all of this for the republicans, of course, is chairman darrell issa. he ta
that if we take the right policy steps, if we re doing the right thing, then the politics will follow. and my mind hasn t changed on that. jeff mason, reuters. where s jeff? right here. thank you, sir. my question is about syria. did president putin of russia indicate any desire on russia s part for assad to step down or to leave power? and did you make any tangible progress in your meetings with him or with chinese president hu in finding a way to stop the bloodshed there? thank you. well, these were major topics of conversations in both meetings. and anybody who s seen scenes of what s happening in syria i think recognizes that the violence is completely out of hand, that civilians are being targeted, and that assad has lost legitimacy. and, you know, when you massacre your own citizens in the ways that we ve seen, it is impossible to conceive of a orderly political transition that leaves assad in power. now, that doesn t mean that that process of political transition i
and also a friend of his, a woman who has known him for years and says he s a saint, we ll actually talk to her. we ve got some tough questions for her to answer. we begin though tonight with raw politics. president obama heading home tonight from the g 20 sum et in mexico. where the economy is concerned, this summit could have a serious impact on jobs. here s some of what the president said tonight about the economy, about syria and political sniepg from the romney campaign. markets around the world have been asking if we re ready to do what is necessary to hold together. european leaders here in cabos had made it clear that they understand the stakes and pledge to take the actions needed to restore confidence, stability and growth. let me be a little more specific. first our friends in europe clearly grasp the seriousness of the situation and are moving forward with a heightened sense of urgency. he welcome the important steps that they have already taken to promote growt