Transcripts For DW Nahaufnahme 20240710

Democratic sovereignty or stadiumize the elections and would respond. The bottom line is i told President Putin we need some basic rules of the road that we can abide by. Those comments on the heels of a solo Press Conference of Vladimir Putin who noted the 180degree reversal and described talks as constructive but needled the u. S. He compared his repression of dissidents there to the treatment of the insurrectionists that stormed the capitol. The summit and the remarks by biden a striking contrast to thetime an american leader met with the russian president when trump believed an autocrat who undermined democracy over the assessments of his own intelligence community. It was shocking here and had u. S. Allies questioning whether america was still capable of leadership. I also told him that no president of the United States could key faith with the American People if they did not speak out to defend our Democratic Values. I hold both countries responsible. I think that the United States has been foolish. Reviewed by the rest of the world is interfering with the elections directly of other countries and everybody knew it . What would it be like to engage in activities that he has . It diminishes the standing of a country thats desperately trying to maintain the standing. President putin was extremely strong and powerful in the denial. I said no pfrt can keep faith with the American People if they did not speak out to defend the Democratic Values, to stand up for the fundamental freedoms that men and women have in our view. An american president confronting the other guy is where we begin today. Frmer u. S. Ambassador to rodriguez Michael Mcfall is here and ben rhodes and jeremy bash is here, former chief of cia. Ambassador, take me through what you thought first of what happened in the room. And if theres anything you can tell us about whats not been made public yet. First of all, thank you for the contrast between helsinki and geneva. It is important for everybody to remember what a Disaster Helsinki was and how much of a correction this meeting was. In the meeting itself we just hear the readouts of the two president s. Putin sounded like it was constructive. He liked the tone. And President Biden did basically as well. There werent giant achievements here. When they say, put out a joint statement to talk about launching strategic stability talks, thats just a very first step toward doing anything concrete and restored ambassadors so the ambassador is going back to washington and our ambassador will go back to moscow and putin moved out the ambassador in the first place and i think President Biden said it well in the Press Conference. He wanted to meet with putin directly to try to see if they can cooperate on a few other steps. Syria, iran, other issues came up. But the proof is in the pudding moving forward. So far all they have done is set out aspirations. I think the verdict is still out on whether we can do anything together. One thing that is clearly the russian strategy is to equate advocates for democracy in putins autocracy with the criminal insurrectionists in america. Just talk about that as to me it wreaks of desperation. Donald trump is gone so lets side with the insurrectionists. Feels like lowhanging Fox News Fruit but is that what we are to believe of Vladimir Putin . That for me is most outrageous segment of the Press Conference, like a Greatest Hits but thats the worst lets be clear. Alexey navalny is peacefully exposing corruption in russia to try to bring about democracy in russia and the insurrectionists that stormed the capitol broke the law in the United States to seek to undermine democracy in the United States. So somehow to equate those things is radically wrong and im glad President Biden called him out on that in his conference and very appropriate in my view. Ben rhodes, as a message person i am struck by the messages from both men. I saw Anne Applebalm always looking for seens to strengthen the democracy itself with a proportional response to be expected from putin with more cyber aggression. I wonder if you can speak to what you heard behind the messages and sometimes the real real outputs come out. Thats the same denials that you expect from Vladimir Putin and he wants to basically pocket in his view the win of this summit, on par with thest president , an equal with the greatest superpower and what he did. I think there was a number of things to notice about joe bidens messaging. First hugely welcome to speak up for things that americans and people around the world want to see the american president speaking up for. When navalny was poisoned by Vladimir Putin and nearly killed donald trump wouldnt say his name like Vladimir Putin who wont say navalnys name and now an american president not just speaking about human rights but specifically of navalny. It was a shift to kind of a candor in relationship of the messages of private and biden did an interesting job of setting expectations. He didnt want to overpromise that this one meeting to transform this relationship or somehow change Vladimir Putin. What he did indicate is i laid down the markers so sure Vladimir Putin came out and denied he did them but biden made clear i told him in private that theres a response if this continues and laid down that marker and said, look, well what happens with the russians. Will they continue to do the Cyber Attacks, continue to see the relentless crackdown . And biden setting the table if the balls now in Vladimir Putins court and if he doesnt reciprocate by cushing the excesses in his own behavior there will be responses from the United States but i wont detail them for you so i think biden is setting expectations, deliverings warnings and speaking to the audience of the world that the american president is once again speaking up for basic Democratic Values and basic International Norms and standards. Jeremy, the fact that that is what is new is news in and of itself that we have an american president using his bully pulpit to advocate for human right just lets listen to it. Its not about just going after russia when they violate human rights but who we are. How could i be the president of the United States of america and not speak out against the violation of human rights . We dont derive our rights from the government. We possess them because were born. Period. We yield them to a government. I pointed out to him that thats why well raise our concerns about cases like alexey navalny. I made it clear to President Putin that well continue to raise issues of fundamental human rights because thats what we are. Thats who we are. Jeremy bash, your thoughts on that and everything you saw today . For six decades we have had a b partisan consensus back to john f. Kennedy that the United States was going to continue front first the soviet union and then the Russian Federation on a range of issues strategically containing them and speaking up for democratic small d values. And you saw that in the context of the United States an in the 70s for the right of Em Inaugurates and support of the Solidarity Movement and the lifting of the iron curtain. The crumbling of the Soviet Empire and now in the modern era with one exception which is the past four years. Donald trump didnt stand up to putin. On the contrary, he not only gave him a yellow light, in some cases a green light. He welcomed the Election Interference. He welcomed the undermining of democracy. So many of the Cyber Attacks experienced are because we didnt establish deterrents and the Biden Administration and the west have been playing up and how relieving it is to see that the west is now unified, resolute, strong Nato Alliance to stand up to russian aggression. A strong alinsz to democracies in the g7. The west is unified and i think biden went into the meeting with putin with the wind at the back and the Biden Administration got done this week what it wanted to do. Had the sharpened contrast in democracy and autocracy and further universal values nothing could be more important. Let me just press you on that because youre right. The west is united if you mean President Biden, a majority of americans who support him, and the leaders of nato but the u. S. Is not divided and im certain that someone told President Putin that the insurrectionists were fbi plants. Is he doing the work for him . President biden actually talked about this in europe. I was surprised he went there but asked a question in his Press Conference about the political dynamic in the United States and he said those that are advocating for insurrection and antirule of law, antitruth dominate a Political Party but they dont represent the American People writ large and i think he is right about that and can credibly say that the United States of america stands squarely in favor of democracy, of human rights, of the rule of law and that this is something we have to work in our country to perfect and work on and export to the world to be united on. Ben rhodes, this is the topic of a book you have written. Having the majority of americans that won by a 7 million vote mar. Margin is accurate. You have an alignment now, more public and striking than any other point between the american right and Vladimir Putin. How do you deal with that . I think its the central challenge. I think Vladimir Putin represents the darkest place that this strain of nationalism can go. I profile a young woman whose father was Asass Nated In The Shadow of the kremlin. I talked to navalny. Yet at the same time faced with that authoritarianism you have an embrace of the similar messaging from the American Public party, essentially a similarity between the brand of politics of putin and the disinformation and misinformation that we see shaping how so Many Republican elected official behave and supporters act, most extreme case january 6. The most important thing joe biden needs to do to defend democracy is make sure that democracy survives here in the United States to make sure that we are guaranteeing basic rights like the right to vote in the United States to have the standing to talk about that around the world so its important to deliver the messages on The World Stage and the world is watching the democratic example and at the end of the day Ronald Reagan put it this way. We are a city on a hill. People are looking. The most important job to do to deal with Vladimir Putin is actually when the plane gets back to the United States not the Summit Meeting but that American Democracy thrives. Ambassador you talked about this being the most outrageous part of what putin said after the meeting. I just found this. Let me play this. This is putin on the insurrection. The list of political opponents jailed, imprisoned or dead is long. Navalny asked for an end to corruption and russia has outlawed that organization calling it extremist and prevented anyone who supports him to run for office. What are you so afraid of . Translator okay. Once more, let me reiterate what was already said about various socalled foreign agents. And about people who are positioning themselves as the nonsystemic opposition. You didnt answer my question, sir. If all the political opponents are dead, in prison, poisoned doesnt that send a message that you do not want a fair, political fight . Translator as for who is killing whom, throwing whom in jail, people came to the u. S. Congress with political demands. So ambassador, just illustrates your point but i think it cant be conveyed directly enough that he is saying what is being poured into the minds of millions of americans. There is a complete message alignment, the idea that their antifa or fbi plants. What do you do on The World Stage to sort of quell anxiety about that alignment in message . I want to give a shout out to the american journalists in the Press Conference. Me too ann simmons from the Wall Street Journal asking a tough question in russian takes bravery, believe me. By the way, on the really fundamental question but the idea of two Press Conferences and chatter of biden is not standing up to putin, i think it played to our advantage in that they got to ask direct questions to mr. Putin and if theyre up there they bat the back and forth. This was a much better form and praise the american journalists in the room for what they did today. On the point we talked about this. The battle between democracies and autocracies is not just between states. It is within states. It is a within russia. Yeah. It is within the United States. As you were just talking to ben about. Also within italy and france. And that is a serious struggle and it is striking to your point that the same Talking Points that autocratic forces in america use are exactly what Vladimir Putin was discussing today. Even black lives matter saying theyre insurrectionists. That is dangerous and im optimistic. I think as President Biden said the majority of the American People support Democratic Values and the majority of the people in the world looking at gallup and other Opinion Polls support democracy but remember in this fight the autocrats dont need a majority to win. They play by a different set of rules. Right. Yeah. Jeremy, you kicked this off. I think thats the point of all of this. Of course an american president stood up for america. The last guy didnt seem to do that ever. That makes it news. Our democracy is weakened by the fact that half the country is echoing the things that the other guy said after that meeting and i wonder if you share the ambassadors optimism. I do. We will be united again. This spasm of ideology in our country is temporary and aligned with putinism. The antitruth forces. Whenever an american president sits down with the russian president i root for team usa. In 2018 we took one on the chin and today was a Refreshing Change Marching Down The Field in a businesslike fashion and put some points on the board for democracy and the values. And thats what i think should give comfort to people around the world watching and hopefully continue to unify our country. Jeremy bash, ben rhodes, ambassador mcfall, thank you for starting us off. President bidens kritdings slamming the summit with putin before touching down. How that stacks up to where they were on relations over the last four years. Turning to other headlines today, nearly two dozen republicans voted gerps honoring Capitol Police officers saying january 6 wasnt an insurrectionist. The prosecutors are saying that the lies are still out there in the minds of the defendants. The Criminal Investigation into trump orks cfo appears to head into the final act. Will it lead to a sequel starring the former president . All those stories and more when we continue after a quick break. 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Breaking in New York Times, learning that today that Garland Justice Department has taken a most Concrete Step yet to erase four years of gross politicization of the power of the United States Justice Department. The story will sound familiar. Bill barr investigating an exNational Security adviser john bolton. The problem for the barr doj is always this. A career National Security official reviewed the manuscript and had testified to the opinion zit that there was no Classified Information, clear ds it. Ellen night, a former senior director at the National Security counsel that conducted that review of the book. Heres what the lawyer writes. Quote, upon the First Reading it was apparent that the manuscript contained classified nmpgs and to take a Review Process in recent memory at the nsc. She gave it to the acting director. The 20year Classified Information expert. Who to that point had not been involved in the review. He carefully read the manuscript to confirm that it no longer contained any sensitive or Classified Information. He had that letter before publishing that book. A lawyer was involved in todays breaking new just lets read from the New York Times account of this development. The headline, barr rebuke from the Garland Justice Department, the Justice Department has closed a Criminal Investigation into whether the disparaging memory disclosed Classified Information according to two people briefed on the matter. Lets bring in Frank Figliuzzi and charlie sykes. Im sorry to throw Breaking News on both of you but if theres a story you can handle better than anyone its this one. Frank, explain how it got out the gate. When the process of removing any Classified Information was one attested to by career National Security officials, the barr doj seemingly proceeded with a Criminal Investigation anyway. You kind of answered the question by the content of the question. By that i mean this could not have happened if both the white house and the doj were in on it. Right . So the white house could be upset that someone published a book about the Inner Workings of National Security discussions in the Trump Administration but to go Scorched Earth and try to block it from being published you got to have the ag in on it and prosecutors and thats how it was allowed to happen. This is another case of trying to silence somebody. No matter what you think of john bolton this is an effort to silence a man who simply wanted to tell his story and trump didnt like the story and brought in the doj to do his bidding. Today gar lands doj is saying enough is enough. No criminal case and by the way it appears from this reporting john bolton can likely get the proceeds from the sales of his book. This feels like its about the tip of the iceberg that is showing us that underneath is something uglier, charlie. Bolton is not an ally of the Trump Administration but if this is about factless, Baseless Tritd call retribution, what do people think he did to swalwell and schiff . For you, charlie. It is that charlie, you are frozen. Can you hear us . I can hear you now. If theres a theme to the news today it is that normality is newsworthy. An International Summit and the Attorney General basically saying that we wont use the power of the federal government to ignore the laws and suppress speech. This is a rogue administration and we knew this. Whats becoming more clear is how far the abuses of Law Enforcement would have gone on this administration if there had not been pushback occasionally. Donald trump is sitting in the oval office and issuing orders to the Justice Department to harass and punish critics. This is the abuse of power you dont want do see and others would have resisted so it is refreshing to see that were kind of reverting to the norm that the president of the United States should not be able to crush his opponents in the way that donald trump tried to crush many of his critics including john bolton. I want to bring into our Conversation A Reporter who broke this story at New York Times, washington correspondent mike schmidt. What do you know about the Review Process for this bolton case by the Garland Justice Department . When the Garland Justice Department came in they sort of looked at this case as they looked at a range of other matters that the trump barr Justice Department had done and sort of evaluated it. Similar to the Carol Lawsuit Decision that was made last week. They looked at the decision and they realized that a lawsuit allowing a lawsuit to move forward would could potentially expose some wrongdoing on the side of the Trump Administration and the Justice Department but that was no reason for essentially a meritless suit to move forward and willing to put this matter behind them and to reach this deal and the most important two major aspects here for the bolton. The first is that he gets to keep his money from the book. The government will not try to recoup that money because of how the barr Justice Department said he didnt follow the prepublication Review Process, the way the book was reviewed for Classified Information. The second thing is that the Criminal Investigation has been closed. We know as of last fall the barr Justice Department was looking at whether bolton had broken the law by disclosing the classified details. With Trump Classified details in his book. And now, bolton being told by the Justice Department that that has been closed. What does it say that this Justice Department looked at the facts and didnt think the facts measured up to a standard to criminally prosecute john bolton . Were facts manufactured by the barr Justice Department . It feels like a pretty clear rebuke of the most sacred powers of the United States Justice Department, Criminal Investigations and prosecutions. Well, it certainly is a significant reversal of the position that the barr Justice Department took. Perhaps one of the biggest that we have seen since the since garland has come in. There have been a lot of questions of what garland is going to sort of back up and go along with that had begun under barr and this is one of them that they put an end to and if you think back this is a wide ranging by the Justice Department. Used both civil and criminal powers to examine bolton. They tried civilly to initially stop the publication by going to court and then the Criminal Investigation was opened. Mike, stay with us. Frank, i think as we seek to understand how the Garland Justice Department is going to in effect decontaminate all of the tentacles that the barr Justice Department inserted into i believe it was a snenszing phase when he got involved with former trump allies. Repealing prosecutors. Barr went on cnn and huffed and puffed. A weird mix of a one time ally turned truth teller i wonder, i want to come back to the idea of as were beginning to have reveal of what went on at the trump era Justice Department what are the concerns of what was done to people higher up on the enemy list like adam schiff . I think we are only just beginning to learn the depth of what was done outside the processes and that i think is a major factor in how doj is assessing this. Was there something that was extra procedural outside the typical process or not . Thats what we call a clue. So, for example, in the bolton case as you have now clearly stated he went through the prepublication review and it can be arduous and take months but when youre dub youre done and the white house was satisfied. Heres the clue. As soon as says youre done and then pass it by this guy and then All Hell Breaks Loose thats the clue we are outside the process and so i think thats what merrick garlands doj is looking at but at the heart of this question is the question of accountability because well find this stuff out and in the bolton example find out that someone at the white house grabbed it away from the Career Professionals and made stuff up about Classification Levels and someone at the doj went along with the filing of a Criminal Investigation. Thats my concern, my question. Because the message has to be sent that this is not an established precedent anymore. Only way to set that counter is to hold people accountable. I dont really see that. Can john bolton personally sue these people . Could doj say they were not operating within the norms and regulations . Very, very difficult to do. Charlie, im thinking of this really important point frank just made. A career National Security official did the job. Reviewed the transcript. Found Classified Information. The manuscript went through the process of removing that. I worked in the bush white house. There were a lot of books. I cant think of any that werent scathing. Never an effort to stop them from being published. The goal is to stop Classified Information from being revealed. This to me is a story of the subversion of the Career Officials who did their jobs. This official read the book. Found classified stuff. Had bolton took it out. Had no classified stuff. Stamps it. Bill barr called Career Officials at doj preschoolers. He would never leave it to them. How much of this is about you think of coal knell vin man. Career professionals subject matter professionals constantly abused and subverted by the likes over bill barr and donald trump. Exactly right. This is not about john bolton. Right. Look at what we had witnessed. We saw four years of a coverup and stonewalling in realtime. In broad daylight. This was an administration that did not want to be held accountable, that was withholding information from congress, that in fact refused to cooperate and then silence and then if not silence intimidate and then discredit whistleblowers, internal critics. This was the norm, the policy of the administration and it flowed from the oval office which again this would have been an occasion not just for congressional investigations but serious considerations by congress about how to strengthen the protections for whistleblowers and the ability to investigate the executive branch. This was we talked about the breaking of norms and everything and maybe same oldsame old after a while but seeing how it worked in this administration and the one thought i cant shake is what a trump second Trump Administration would have been like i know. With someone like bill barr as Attorney General or somebody even worse than bill barr because if there is a second Trump Administration you know that this will be one of his priorities and that he will find somebody even worse than bill barr who will reward his friends, protect the friends, pardon friends, obstruct justice, stonewall and then harass and threaten his critics because that is the way this administration did business. Sure thing. I think thats so important. This is about the Career Official whose professionalism was subverted by trump and barr. Mike, thank you for joining us with the reporting on the fascinating Breaking News story. Frank and charlie are sticking around with us. Up next, the dangerous reality that some in this country unable to add many it. January 6 what it was. An insurrection. Oh yeah, we gotta take off. You downloaded the Td Ameritrade mobile app . Yeah, actually im taking One Last Look at my dashboard before we board. And you have thinkorswim mobile so i can finish analyzing the risk on this position. You two are all set. Choose the app that fits your investing style. Good morning, mr. Sun. Good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. Im gonna grow big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. What happens when we Welcome Change . And im gonna eh, eh, eh. We can make Emergency Medicine possible at 40,000 feet. Instead of burning our past for power, we can harness the energy of the tiny electron. We can create new ways to connect. Rethinking how we communicate to be more inclusive than ever. With app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps Companies Navigate change. Faster. Vmware. Welcome change. Monitor, check and lock down you money with security from chase. Control feels good. Chase. Make more of whats yours. I think this is a new low for this crowd. They now are part of the insurrectionist mob. They brought enormous dispute and dishonor on themselves not honoring the brave men and women who defended the capitol of the United States. Everybody in it but also defending the symbol of democracy in the world, not just here in the United States. Shameful moment. Shameful is one way to describe what happened yesterday. The house passed a Bill To Awartd gold medals to honor that protected the seat of the democracy from the Armed Insurrectionists in january. 406 american lawmakers voted in favor of the legislation. But again shamefully 21 lawmakers republican lawmakers did not. These are their names. On your screen. One of them is named paul gosar called the Insurrectionists Peaceful Patriots and spent tuesday grilling fbi director wray over the officer that shot a woman trying to leap through a capitol window. Gosar said that the aufrss were lying in wait for her, an execution. Its a distortion of events to whitewash the events of january 6. Joining the conversation is scott mcfarland. Scott, tell me about the reaction to this not being a unanimous vote to reward the men and women who gave with their bodies so that american lawmakers didnt giver with theirs. Reporter there was a lot of frustration but not surprise. Among the 21 some of the most ar dant Trump Supporters and one is andy harris, the only republican in the delegation from maryland saying this otherwise commendable resolution is hijacked by Speaker Pelosi the push the claims that january 6 is an armed insurrection. Harris gave me a Written Statement with quotes around the word insurrectionist. So charlie sykes, we are not only ones calling bs on the insurrection caucus. These are the tweets. Kinsinger first, youre sick, paul. Ashli was manipulated by people like you. The real criminals are the liars abusing people for political power. Cheney adds this, january 6 as the violent mob advanced i was here gosar and helped him open the gas mask. The Capitol Police led us to safety. It is disgitsing to see gosar lie about that day and smear the men and women that defended us. Look. There is no bottom for these folks. You used the term whitewash. We need a stronger term. This revisionism of what happened and on the right you have all these multiple narratives that it was a peace. Protest. They were just tourists. Okay. There were a few knuckleheads. It was violent but it was antifa. Right . It was brave patriots and now moving to suggest ma maybe a false flag operation that was designed by the fbi. The Dishonesty Mingles with the crazy here but the overall theme is to try to make people forget and down play what happened and what we saw in realtime with our own eyes. And it is interesting that this sedition kauai cause would vote against this resolution and shows you how it is a litmus trest on the trumpian right that you have to deny not just the reality of the insurrection but deny the harrowism of the men and women in blue and should underline the irony they claim that Blue Lives Matter and yet coming down to this particular moment theyre not willing to stand with the Men And Women In Uniform who laid their lives down to protect a temple of democracy. Frank, you know that they know its bs and theyre lying to they should supporters. If they thought there was any chance that as the facts are revealed to reveal that antifa had anything to do with this or the fbi why wouldnt they be pushing for a commission to investigate . Yeah. This is about preservation of power. They will do whatever they need to do to be reelected to stick with the base as long as trump is the primary influencer of their party. Thats what will happen. I cant from the National Security perspective cant let the opportunity go to not point outthat, as recently as today, Vladimir Putin at his Press Conference regurgitated the very same message that we have u. S. Congressmen send, which is that the people that breached the security at the capitol were simply looking for their political voice. They were simply looking for some political solutions. Vladimir putin said that today at his Press Conference and these members of congress who refuse to honor the bravery of the Capitol Police officers, who protected those members of congress are echoing the same thing as putin. Its becoming difficult to understand the difference whether the message started in moscow or the message is coming from the gop, but it is one and the same. Isnt it interesting, nicolle, that the very same members of congress who will look the other way when a Police Officers is accused of beating our murdering a black person through an excessive use of force and will vote against any attempt at police reform, will immediately call it an execution if a Police Officer protecting 9 democratic symbol of our country has to use deadly force against a white domestic terrorist. It seems something is incongruous there. Well, and its beyond incongruous and Hypoand Charlie used the word ironic. Let me ask you, scott. I mean, do the Law Enforcement officials themselves have any theory on why the republicans dont want to reward them for sacrificing their bodies . One was mutilated with a flagpole, within lost a finger. People had Heart Attacks and we are tased. The officers who are speaking out including Michael Fanone is questioning how this is possible, how any member of congress can question what happened that day, but to add to what frank said, some of this is man testing itself in the criminal cases. Stephen randolph was allowed freed from jail by the judge. The attorney used the phrase event to paraphrase what actually happened that day. Ultimately that was part of a successful argument. She secured her release until trial. Its amazing. Scott, thank you so much for staying on this story and for spending time with us. I want to turn now to the Pressure Building on the expresident through the investigations based in new york. Donald trumps longtime chief financial officer, Alan Weisselberg could be facing charges as soon as this summer. People with knowledge of the matter are telling New York Times that the manhattans District Attorneys Office appears to have entered the final stages of a criminal Tax Investigation into weisselberg. Theyre investigating whether he failed to pay taxes on thousands of dallas of benefits that trump and his family paid to him. Prosecutors it is reported have obtained weisselbergs tax returns. Is this about charges weisselberg or running up against its against a brick wall. Getting him to cooperation. This could be a bit of both. Heres what i mean by that. The fact that the reporting is indicating theyre getting closer and closer to an indictment, perhaps even in the weeks oar months ahead, is a clue that they havent gotten him cooperating yet. He just didnt roll over. He didnt say, yeah, you got me, lets not even continue with the grand jury. Thats one thing. But it is not at all unusual to have to go through the drill of getting 9 grand jury indictment, sometimes potential operators until you show them that indictment and say its over, were going to trial on this, sometimes you dont get the cooperation. By the way, sometimes you have to go to trial until they realize, my lord, i have lost the jury, so theyre going all the way on this. The irony of this is, what are they primarily looking at weisselberg for and his personal taxes . Its the very stuff he got, the fancy cars, the fancy school tuition, to remain quiet and keep his loyalty to trump, thats what theyre looking at. Theres tremendous irony there. Charlie has the word of the day. The ironin irony that the Stuff Weisselberg was given to keep him quiet, is the very stuff that could send weisselberg to jail for the rest of his life. Yeah. I mean, you know, well see whether he flips. I was on your show some years ago and i was completely wrong, said that no way Michael Cohen will ever flip on donald trump, because he was the ultimate loyalist, but you never know. Theres something clarifying about facing a federal indictment, especially when they have all the records. Look, one thing were realizing is the trump organization, you know, has never been subjected to anything like this kind of scrutiny. The prosecutors have all the crown jewels. With weisselberg, they would get the man who knows where every single body is buried. So theres going to be tremendous pressure on him, obviously, to not break, but look, if the prosecutors have him, they have members of their family, this is the way you put together, this is the way you bring down crime families. Youll find that people, you know, know where all of this stuff is, and you put the squeeze on them. Again, i dont want to get ahead of ourselves on this, but weve seen donald trump skate on one thing after another, but if youre donald trump, you cannot be happy about the fact that they are zoning in on this guy, because you know that he knows absolutely everything. Charlie, i had the same feelings about Michael Cohen. I remember his campaign era of interviews, and, you know, trump puts people in extraordinary situations. Frank, charlie, thank you for joining us for the entire hour. Great to have both of you. The next hour of deadline white house start after a very short break. Dont go anywhere. Were just Getting Started. Any. Were just Getting Started spraying flonase daily stops your body from overreacting to allergens all season long. Psst psst all good when i was young nonononono please please no. I never needed anyone. Front desk. Yes, hello. Im so. Please hold. Those days are done. I got you. All by yourself. Go with us and find millions of flexible options. All in our app. Expedia. It matters who you travel with. Keeping your oysters business growing expedia. Has you swamped. You need to hire. I need indeed indeed you do. 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Not only does President Biden have to contend with his russian counterpart on The World Stage, but america is doing a fine job of advancing putins message. We saw in a on full display pointing specifically to jan wear 6th if all of your opponents are in prison or poisoned, doesnt that sends a message that you want a fair political fight . Translator as for who is killing whom, throwing whom in jail people calm to the u. S. Congress with political demands. 400 people, over 400 people had criminal charges placed on them. They face prison sentences. Theyre being called domestic terrorists. Theyre being accused of a number of other crimes. Some people died, and one person died was simply shot on the spot by the police, though they were not threatening the police with any questions. In many countries, the same thing that happens happens in our country. I would like to stress once more, that we sympathize with what happened in the United States, but we have no desire to allow the same thing to happen in our country. President biden responded. I think thats a ridiculous comparison. Its one thing for criminals to go into the capitol, kill a Police Officer, than it is for people objecting, marching on the capitol and saying you are not allowing me to speak freely, you are not allowing me to do a, b, c or d. Its very different criteria. Putins use of january 6th to justify his own policies is something we saw last week in an interview with our colleague keir simmons. What was more frightening was how that narrative was then received, heard, agreed with, i guess, and parroted back to us by rightwing media here in the United States. Last night fox news Tucker Carlson says putin raises fair questions. He also brought 1 6 trutherisming to new heights or lows, positing that some were orb traded by the fbi. Carlsons outrage out claim just the latest from trumps allies to shift blame, as well as being the latest example of the right being in lockstep with putins messages. President biden having to grapple with a party traditionally harsh on russia that has devolved to spreading the same Talking Point we hear from the russian president. Keir simmons is live in moscow with us. Also joining us, rick stengel, former member of President Bidens transition, and pete strzok is here, author of compromise. I do want to start with President Bidens Performance Today about you, rick stengel. Yes, i thought it was a strong performance, maybe im sent mental, but when an american president talk about values, talks about how representing the American People, i have to bring up the human rights of people, because we believe these truths to be selfevident. I dont think donald trump ever talked about values except when he was overinflailing the values of an apartment building. I think biden also showed up this is a practice matter. I dont have this from anybody except my own imagination that look, we have big problems at home. We have covid. We are dealing with china. Russia is a disruptor. Lets make putin more reasonable and more predictable, and by recognizing him on The World Stage, hes doing that. I mean, u. S. russia relations have been on a continuum for practically all of our history between the folks who think you have to crack down on the russians, because thats the only thing they understand, to those people who say we have to recognize them as a world pow fer they feel more selfesteem, they wont be so disruptive. In a way biden navigated those two things. He recognized putin as a leader on The World Stage, stood toe to toe with him, but he also said, look, there will be consequences for your actions, the carrot was the meeting and the stick was saying, look, you know, mr. Putin, you understand we have these capabilities, too. Thats all he had to say. Keir, i want to come back to you. Your interview did more than raise the curtain on what putin was going to say, this whataboutism that we talked about earlier this week, but i wonder if him taking up for the insurrectionists, and is he going to the trump years . Its a great question. We talked about Russian Election meddling as trying to lean into the divisions in the u. S. You can just look at what President Putin has to say. Nicolle, i feel like the big question coming out of all this, is will President Bidens combination of warnings and a personal touch have a real effect on the kremlin. This is an imperfect analogy, and you being such a lovely person, you likely didnt have any issues in high school. For those of us who cant say thats correct the rule was always, if someone is going to get into a fight, they needed to show that they cared less than the other guy about getting hurt, and that they were prepared to do more damage. I think the question with President Biden is, was he able to give President Putin that impression . I think the u. S. Still gives russia the impression that, frankly, it has more to lose in the fight than russia does. That actually, with cyber, could be argued is true. I suspect those threats you heard President Biden make to President Putin, the question in President Putins mind will be, will america really go through with it . Of course, the issue with cyber is the escalation. Clearly and i want it to President Putin in the interview, do you fear that america has the ability, dug in enough to do damage. He said, yeah, i dont fear it, but i suspect it, but the question is, will america really do that . Every time in washington you make a step to show russia how you retailate, you risk escalation. Its that sense with putin that he just doesnt care, as long as he gets his time on The World Stage. Thats the piece i think that needs to be tackled. Until its tackled, you may not change his behavior. I want to briefly address keirs assumptions, i was so wayward that i was shipped off to another country. I like the analogy, though. I want to deciding into this idea. I think what putin is saying, putin wins either way in putinworld, because he is an autocrat. I dont know the last three, four president s had a summit with an american president and an autocratic one, where half the country is rooting for the autocrat. Since theres an intersection here between the threats here in the homeland and the ideology being advanced and parroted, what is sort of the National Security picture when thats the dynamic . I think putin clearly understands hes found a faultline in American Society and hes doing the best he can to stir up the the staggering thing, nicolle, just yesterday there was a congressman who asked director chris wray who babbitts executioner was. Those are literally the same words our putins mouth today. Any american who is looking at this saying we are there these extreme members mimicking and parroting the same things were hearing out of an antagonistic putin . The counter to that is, this does present the opportunity to make points about alexei navalny, human rights in russia, to have fantastic american journalistic work holding him to account why each of his opponents seem to fall out of a window or end up dead. There are advantages to this dialogue. You know, i had this thought, rick stengel, to petes point, he was humiliated by these reporters. Shes saying are you so politically impotent and weak that you cant win with your dissidents and political detractors roaming free, you have to have them in jail and poisoned. In some ways that was a more brutal slap in the face than anything that can happen in the diplomatic sphere. I agree. Lets be honest about this now, right . Russia has an economy the size of italy. The economy of texas is bigger than russias. Now that we can travel this summer, are we going to sochi, lennen grad and moscow . I dont think so. The biggest export is oil, vodka and its own people. The population is stagnant. The oil industry is not going to exist 25 years from now. I mean, russia is in a corner. Putin is an upstart, in the sense he wants to muscle his way on The World Stage, get attention, hey, look at me im equal for the big guys, and thats the perception in russia, that russia is back, but its an illusion. Theres no one around the world who thinking that. By the way, i thought biden was smart to point out that, look, putin cares about his reputation around the world. Big countries are not supposed to lie, as he once said. So by putting putin in that spot, by being questioned by american reporters like that, i think it hurts the public diplomacy, and i think thats putin cares about. Keir, did you get any sense from your interview or anything you saw today about what happens next . I mean, this idea that putin is either too powerless over crimes in russia to control the attacks on our meat supply or gas supply isnt really plausible, but do you think he trying to tighten control of the cybercriminals in his country . Does he want more control over when and where the attacks happen . Reporter thats a great question. Im not sure that he does. I think he goes back and concludes, honestly, that his strategy of threaten, attack, deny, negotiate, threaten, attack, deny and negotiate, thats kind of working. I think cyber is part of that there was where in the delegation, who is the author of the idea of Hybrid Warfare in russia. What youre talking about, with the propaganda side, if you like, connecting with the divisions of america, that is part of the Hybrid Warfare strategy. Effectively what that training is, is actually recognizing the u. S. Is more powerful, but using underhand tactics in all kinds of way. You can see it in ukraine in order to get advantage despite your inherent disadvantage. It goes back to the same point i maid, chess about recognizing if you go into a fullscale war, if you like, you would lose, so dont do that, push it to the edge, push it to the edge. I issue, again, i suspect with President Putin is if you can give him the impression he cant push, because hell get really damaged, that may be the leverage that the u. S. Needs. My question today is, did President Biden manage to communicate that effectively enough to President Putin . Yeah, this idea of leverage to me, pete strzok, Max Me Wonder what imnot seeing. He was funneling Russian Administration straight to Donald Trumps personal criminal lawyer rudy giuliani. I mean, they seem to be getting more advanced. The cyberattacks seem to be coming quicker. There was one, two more in the first 100 days of the biden presidency. I mean, are we winning . I dont know. Im very interested to see what the administration does when inevitably, i think we will see moran so manyware attacks. I would not be surprised if we see effective and aggressive intrusions into our government and other systems. Im certain that the Biden Administration has come up with Policy Options how to respond. I suspect the most effective tools are seizing the money. Its anyones guess whether or not it will be effective. They did it quite a bit over the past four years. If anything, it increased. We see a massive harboring the criminal elements whose only rule seems to be dont attack russian or other former soviet states, so all these questions will come to a head, i think, and well see what the Biden Administration does to respond to it. Were going to see that, and were going to see, or at least some of the response of what happens after the russians do that, im convinced. Pete strzok, what happens inside the fbi, inside all the field offices when the most Popular Anchor on fox news accuses the fbi of running an operation to attack the United States capitol on january 6th . Well, i think, unfortunately, we have gotten to the place hearing Something Like that thats so outrageous is no longer surprising. Did you, look, its a crazy assertion. It strikes me as the sort of story, you know, that these crazy views that 9 11 was an inside job, that somehow the government was behind that, in the best traditions of the wild Conspiracy Theories about jfks assassination. Plainly put, theres no way the fbi or anybody else in the government was behind the effort to have an insurrection. And for personalities to babble about this craziness is disappointing. I dont think most fbi agents and investigators pay it much mind, but it is disappointing that a significant part of the population continue to say watch fox news, to give it some credence. It needs to stop. People need to grow up and people need to start telling the truth or some vague semblance of it, instead of this wild, vague conspiracy. Does it endanger the safety of fbi agents, pete . Of course it does. Its beingland to by a group of people who are in some cases becoming radicalized and violent. Even if people are listening to it may not be inclined to work with the fbi, if somebody comes to their door and asks for help. Its a further degradation and corrosion of generally the government. There is an Important Mission of u. S. Federal Law Enforcement and u. S. Intelligence to keep america safe, to look after the National Security of the United States. We have this utterly falls, Reprehensible Battle Coming Out of fox news. That hurts the United States. It damages these various components of the u. S. Government, and it does, it makes us less safe. Just an unbelievable moment. Im grateful to talk to all of you about it. Keir simmons live for us in moscow. Thank you so much for your extraordinary reporting all week long. Peter and rick, thank for you starts us off. When we return there was a moment of tension in the Press Conference. And the absolute subversion and the Pressure Campaign he and his allies mounted against the u. S. Attorney in atlanta who refused to go against it, and author of a profound new book about how america hasnt fractured into two separate countries, but four, and the great reckoning the country in an increasingly postcovid era. Deadline white house continues after a quick break. Dont go anywhere. A quick break. Dont go anywhere. Introducing oreida potato pay. Where oreida golden crinkles are your crispy currency to pay for bites of this. With this. When kids wont eat dinner, potato pay them to. Oreida. Win at mealtime. If you have moderate to severe psoriasis. Or psoriatic arthritis, little things, can become your big moment. Thats why theres otezla. Otezla is not an injection or a cream. 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And other key essential nutrients. Its a tasty way to conquer your day. Try centrum multi gummies. Now with a new look. We have significant cybercapability. He knows it. He doesnt know exactly what it is, but it is significant. He knows. Joining us is chris cans of delaware. One of President Bidens closest allies. And as Vice President and president. I wonder what your thought. I think President Biden did what he needed to do, and i think whats unfolded today shows us why we want a president with real experience. I last week with our closest allies getting the wind behind his back so he could go into the meeting strong, with a clear message and clear agenda. What is the prospect of our countrys ability to stop the cyberattack that is we have endured just since january. During that messy transition, the second one on the gas supply, and third on our matter supply. Frankly going back to the 2016 election, we have needed to send a stronger, clearer message, and as President Biden just said in the clip you just showed, we have significant capabilities, both defensive and offensive in the cyberrealm that may well need to be deployed to push back hard. The solarwinds hack, both are very pointed, painful recent reminders of the ways in which putin and putins russia are only going to stop when we stop them. They have imposed similar interference both in elections and in the economy if we did something in the cyberrealm pushing them back, making it clear to russia. Its interesting you raise the election its unfortunately not received a ton of attention today. But this was the first president who went in and seriously confronted putin about it. I dont know if you remember that press he basically did it as a joke, because a reporter asked in front of the cameras. This was a president not just pressing putin about Election Interference, but about Election Interference that sought to smear him and his family, that was so brazen it ran through a sitting u. S. Senator, it ran through rudy giuliani, ran through the whole apparatus of rightwing media. What do you think that was like for this president . What do i think it was right . No, to to have the opportunity dish. He said i see you and i know what you did . Yes, yes. That one. He has lots of experience sitting across the table from folks who needed a strong message. Im confidence he and it may have been given just that extra edge thats needed for it to be heard, believed and responded to appropriately, but as we both know, i think were talking about the same Press Conference it was at the event in helsinki that our friend, the late senator john mccain, said it was just an appalling failure of leadership by President Trump to not strongly stand up for our democracy, to not call out putin for his interference in our election. As you pointed out, i think poib knows what it can lead to, and its long past time for us to send an effective and strong signal to putin to cut it out. The why are you so confident hell change his behavior, mr. President . Im not confident. What the hell when did i say i was confident . Reporter you want in the next six months what i said was lets get it straight. I said what will change their behavior is the rest of the word reacts that diminishes their standing in the world. Im not confident of anything. Im just stating the facts. The president went out of his way to apologize. He said, i owe my last questioner an apology. I shouldnt have been such a wise guy. I just want to give our viewers the whole string of events here. Indicate lan collins said he did not have to apologize, though i do appreciate that, adding that asking a president does not mean it has a negative or positive slant. This also is so different to say, i was too hot and apologize later. Absolutely. One of the things i have always respected by President Biden is that he treats people with kindness, with decency, with respect. He knew that it had been a long meeting. He had had hours, he had done a long Press Conference, and as he was walking off, that hit him the wrong way, he came back with somewhat of a sharp retort. Frankly i think he was clarifying his statement, but if contrast his actions with his predecessor in terms of then promptly apologizing to the reporter and saying, you know, maybe i was just a little too hot, i just think that is yesterday another demonstration of joes Basic Decency excuse me of President Bidens normalcy, his kindness. He knows hes been a little sharper than he needed to. I think this simple sign of respect and decency towards or presses particularly important. We live in a world where the presses under assault in so many ways across so many once. We all know in Russia Press Freedom is under sustained and aggressive assault, and under the Previous Administration there was a combatic, hostile and sometimes personally critical relationship with the press. President biden is trying to show a different approach and standard. I think today he made the right decision in having a separate Press Briefing after the hourslong meeting with President Putin in order to not give President Putin a chance to put his own spin on it or say things that didnt happen in the meeting, as did occur in previous summits, so i think President Biden handled himself well, and once again showed his Basic Decency. Senator coons, always agreed to speak with you. Thanks. When we return, as form of the former guys efforts to enlist the Justice Department to question the election he lost, more of that story is next. Los, more of Atth Story Is Next [sizzling] i may not be able to tell time, but i know what time it is. [whispering] its Grilled Cheese oclock. I brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. Those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks Sighs Wearily here, ill take that excited yell woohoo ensure max protein. 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Why did b. J. Pack resign suddenly . From the moment of the Trump Administrations quest to overturn the election that he lost, there have been theories, and records from unnamed sources. Today, new documents released by House Democrats are filling in some of the blanks, illustrating the incredible pressure that pak was under and suggesting that the Justice Department had honed in on him as an avenue for disputing trumps win. The oversight commit mea wants messages to come in for questions. He told the Atlanta Journalconstitution he plans to do so. So, tia, what was the sense at the time and is there relief now that he can tell the truth about what was going on . Um, i think theres still a lot of unanswered questions. What we still dont know is what that conversation that then u. S. Attorney pak had with his superior that led to his resignation the next morning. Theres a lot of blanks he could fill in if he does meet with the Oversight Committee. What we learned yet did fill in some blanks and made it clear that pak did resign under some pressure. What had be your questions . What was that conversation that sunday night and what conversations did he have between late december and early january, and did Attorney Pak Feel pressure to try to investigate fultz so many county m. Meadows sent medical paul emails, that donald trump, through a personal assistant, sent an email to the acting Attorney General asking them to overturn the election result, understanding what all of them were being asked to do is of vital importance, is it not . I think youre dead on the month. This is almost the last piece of the puzzle that falls into place. We see the pressure at other levels. Heater in atlanta and the Fulton County results were under attack by the Trump Administration. The District Attorney there has an open case on this call to the Secretary Of State where trump tried to get them to fraudulently create enough votes for him to win the election. So, anyway to u. S. Attorney pak, who was forced out by ought accounts, it would be great if the Oversight Committee what call the u. S. Attorney in savannah and get his testimony on the phone calls he had with folks in doj. What led him to jump in his car and drive up to atlanta with two Election Experts in tow . I think u. S. Attorneys in all these areas where there were contested elections need to be questioned under oath about what communications they had with the departments top leadership. Do you see that, joyce, as an extension of the Judiciary Committee work, or does it need to be part of a larger january 6th investigation . That, too is a good question. As long as the House Oversight commit wry is focused on this, it seems like thats a really good place to start, but theres a larger question about resolving the entirety of whether the president went beyond simple statements coral to him on the ellipse,. We learned just this week that he personally tried to use dojs resources through his assistant emailing acting Attorney General rosen. Its an unbelievable chapter of all this. Im grateful to talk to both of you. Thank you so much. When we return or next guest argues that america has become the kind of country we used to think we could save. As we move into a posttrumpl, postcovid world what will it take for a highly divided country to come together again. Dont go anywhere. Come togethen dont go anywhere. Among my patients i often see them have Teeth Sensitivity as well as gum issues. Does it worry me . Absolutely. 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The lincoln family of luxury suvs. In posttrump and increasingly postcovid america, we are given or forced into a rare chance to take a hard look at who we are. The democracy, fragile and unrecognizable, emerging from a pandemic, made in he says the key to saving our selfgoverning nation is equality. A nearimpossible task for this country. No longer Unighed Packer writes this when i say last best hope, dont misunderstand me, america is no longer a light unto the nations. It was always a role that made us appear better and worse than we were. A people divided into warring tribes, the kind of country we need to think we should save. Before life steps up again, we have a moment to ask ourself, what do we have in common . Is there an underlying adhesive . Joining us is george packer, staff write for the atlantic you know, im such a fan of everything you write. I read it this in two sittings. Its exquisitely written, but very haunting. I want to hear from you first, thank you, nicolle. This was a covid book, i started it right before the election. It was a period of dread there was wildfire, storms, people were arming up. There was also the protest s pr the time i finished joe biden was elected president , it felt as if there was some hope. I had wring myself into a very cautious hope. Were so divided. I do think there is a national identity. I think it comes down to equality, which has the driving passion for persons, which has all eluded us, but motivated people serving the be of corporations. They become a class where youre just born into it. Its a cast system, talk about, i mean, when you talk about how we which group is most likely to. Theres too much distrust. They kind of come out of a similar political side. Its the republican parties against the elites, against mitch mcconnell. Just america is a rebellion of the young against their parents i think equaled and selfgovernment are the key Government Challenges for us. Theyre related to each other. We dont feel any sense of shared said zenship. And we watched what togetherfeld said is the art ofself governance. Debate, argument, disgreat, compromise. We failed it. If equal of life and the art ofself government can summon be strengthsened, and i think there are signs they are being strengthened, then i think theres a chance well get out of hole were in and start to being one country again. How do you start that process . You write very personalitily about moving outside of a city into the countries with neighbors on the other side when we dont agree on the facts so set the lifelong republican in charges of our election security, have a constructive conversation about why the republicans lost and what the mandate is for the current president. How do you how do you get out of the gate and do what you are talking about when we live in a postfact country. Yeah. Thats a crucial question because there are some basic norms that are essential that we cant get anywhere. Agreeing on facts, agreeing on rules, accepting rules instead of trying to break them in order to steal elections or overthrow elected leaders. I would say about sexting each other across lines of race and calling out and absently making racial hatred Beyond The Pale is essential and thats something we lost a lot of ground on. Without those things, those are basic ground work for any selfgovernment to be possible. I mean, i think joe bidens Domestic Policy Agenda is a good start because it seems to be focussed less on stirring up our animosities, the culture wars. He doesnt play that game. He is trying to improve life, material life, for as Many Americans as possible, but using government in a positive way. I think thats the start for how to gain some kind of sense of equality given how utterly unequal we have become. On the side of selfgovernment, these are not original ideas. I think National Service would force americans, Young Americans to deal with each other across lines, which we dont have to do now. Now were all silos in our social media bubbles. We hate each other or we play to each other. We try to get cheered by our side at the expense of the other. Yeah. Its so toxic. It achieves nothing. It is just destruction. Why not actually have physical encounters the Way International agencies get bosnians, muslims and serbs to put on a play together. Were at that point where we need deliberate efforts so we have to Work Together and probably locally at first because local problems are easier to solve without getting into the viciousness of national politics, which immediately drives people into their separate corners. I know these are small ideas. Theyre familiar ideas, but we have to start somewhere because were not going to persuade each other. It is not going to be done by berating or telling each other were stupid. It has to be done by seeing actual change and lowering the temperature when we can see that government can actually make some positive difference. Congratulations on having the most productive pandemic out of anyone that i have spoken to on this show. The book is really i should just say, i read the unwinding. It was perfect. This, to me, feels like the next installation. You certainly see around corners. Thank you for spending some time with us. The book is available now. We will be right back. Ight back. And if youre looking for. Good morning, mr. Sun. Good morning, blair. [ chuckles ] whoo. Im gonna grow big and strong. Yes, you are. Im gonna get this place all clean. Ill give you a hand. And im gonna put lisa on crutches wait, what . Said shes gonna need crutches. She fell pretty hard. You might want to clean that up, girl. Excuse us. When owning a Small Business gets real, progressive helps protect what you built with customizable coverage. And im gonna eh, eh, eh. Donny, no. Oh. 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Were monitoring capitol hill right now as we are moments away from a historic vote, one thats being a longtime coming. Lawmakers expected to pass a Bill Making Juneteenth is federal holiday. It commemorates the true end of slavery in this country when the slaves in texas learned about their freedom. The Senate Passed the bill by unanimous consent yesterday. As soon as the house passes it, it will go straight to President Bidens desk. Of course we have to mention the irony here. Just as congress elevates the holiday, there are Voter Suppression bills in state houses across the country that of course disproportionately impact black americans. And, so, the work continues. We will be right back. Dad, why didnt you answer your phone . Your mother loved this park. She did. When traders tell us how to make thinkorswim even better, we listen. Like jack. He wanted a streamlined version he could access anywhere, no download necessary. And kim. She wanted to execute a preset trade strategy in seconds. So we gave em thinkorswim web. Because platforms this innovative, arent just made for traders theyre made by them. Thinkorswim trading. From Td Ameritrade. Thank you so much for letting us into your homes during these extraordinary times. The beat with ari melber starts right now. Welcome to the beat. I am ari melber. Tonight we have new reporting on that New York Times bombshell about trumps top accountant. His former colleague, Michael Cohen, is here on the beat with exclusive reaction. Our top story is President Biden facing down Vladimir Putin today, pressing him over crackdowns and international attacks. I told President Putin my agenda is not against russia for anyone else. Its for the American People. Its not about just going after russia when