>> colic invited today to become the first congress in the history of united states to hold someone in contempt for complying with our demands and their target is the attorney general of the united states. attorney general garland gave us the special counsel report on president biden in full. he made the special counsel available to us in committee for hours of testimony where he answered all her questions and provided the full transcript of the president's voluntary five hour interview with the special counsel, all 250 pages of it. the whole world can read president biden's interview and his answers on edited but that's apparently not enough. now they want to hold the attorney general and content are not turning over the audiotape of the interview that we have the verbatim transcript of. and why is that important? in case you lost the thread of this madcap, wild goose chase, america. remember this is an impeachment investigation. do they think the holy grail of the 118th congress and evidence of a presidential high crime and misdemeanor is lurking in the pauses or the background clearings and sneezes on the audiotape? of course not. they know there is no high crime or misdemeanor to be found because they have spent the last 17 months and millions of taxpayer dollars looking for it and it simply does not exist. they literally don't even know what they are looking for anymore so why do they want it? well, they are hoping in the five hours of president biden's testimony they can find a mispronounced word or phrase or a brief stammer which they can then turn into an embarrassing political tv attack ad. get it, america? that's what this is about. and holding the attorney general of the united states in contempt is one more useful distraction from the complete and devastating implosion of the biden impeachment probe, which of course, was the number one priority of these talented leaders. >> congressman jamie raskin on the floor of the house yesterday after that contemptible. i went to read briefly from attorney general garland statement. he said it is deeply disappointing that this house of representatives had turned a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon. today's vote disregards the constitutional separation of powers, the justice department need to protect its investigations, and a substantial amount of information we have provided to the committee. this committee has the transcripts you know what's in here. chapter and verse. obviously they want the audio so they can cut it up and use of her partisan means in an election year. >> or johnson was asked about this yesterday and said this is a very serious matter and in the same breath calling into question the january 6 committee investigations and that's the group that needs to be investigated. there you have it. is this going anywhere? >> no. it doesn't appear to be but i think the important thing for people to pay attention to is this is a preview of what is to come if republicans maintain control of the house of representatives. none of this, to paraphrase jamie raskin and attorney general garland, is on the level. requesting the transcript that's already out public a. it was five hours of testimony pick remember he gave a message machine gift and some of the lines included in his announces of the report where he suggested joe biden wasn't with it and he was old and that's what the jury would think. they got that gift from him. this is about politics. but it's also a preview of what will happen if they republicans control the house because this is not tradition. this is not how it's supposed to go. is not justification for this but it doesn't matter to them. what they are doing to alvin bragg. they are trying to make it sound like they will subpoena him to get him to testify before the house which is just not traditionally through democrats and republicans how it's ever happened. they don't care about that or the separation of power or the justice department's independence. >> in playbook this wording has reporting about how the hours after trump was convicted in new york you call speaker mike johnson and said we have to overturn this. do what you can. johnson said he would try. he has talked about even the supreme court this is part of a larger piece. this is the house of republicans and republicans in the senate to a lesser degree but largely still there doing donald trump's bidding and symbolically trump is going to the hill today to meet with a lot of them. they are it seems like the newest arm of the trump campaign. >> yeah. and i'm glad you brought that up. we've seen the house of representatives controlled by republicans acting like an unofficial campaign on for donald trump since he announced his re-election. they are grasping at straws to help this man get re-elected. and if they had more things to proactively put out there that they like about donald trump, it would not have to be scraping the barrel to find things about president biden they can weapon is against him to try to convince voters that trump is better pickup but they don't have a proactive agenda a forward-looking plan for people to share, because they are too busy focused on biden. i also think what jen said is an important reminder. this is a preview of what will happen every day and it will be times 12 is donald trump is re- elected and republicans maintain control the house and take control of the senate. we are annoyed by the pettiness and the congressional tools weapon i that we haven't seen in years with contempt of congress and other things. this will be a daily, multiple times a day situation if trump is re-elected and republicans maintain control of the house. >> senator, tell me. why in the world would republicans vote against a bill that most republicans, especially republican women and young families who are republicans who are conservatives, for a procedure that provides life, provides, you know, hope for parents across america? why would republicans oppose that? >> i think it's a supersmart question because we now know this is not about protecting life. this is about controlling females. this is about controlling bodies . this is about controlling the extent to which people can make their own choices about their own families and when in the circumstances under which they will start a family. this is a bill that enshrines an statute the right to ivf. 85,000 babies were born using this miraculous procedure a couple of years ago. i can't imagine if you consider yourself pro-life to be anti- this but that's what they mean by pro-life. what they mean by pro-life is we want to control and legislate what happens inside the body of half of all americans. >> senator. i wanted to ask you about the republican bill. i think what they are trying to do here is muddy the waters a bit. they're trying to protect ivf too but there are specifics and that will, if i read it correctly, that is usually lamented. in vitro fertilization is only protected if you have medicaid funding, many states don't have this peer what are the other things people should understand about what was so problematic about the bill? >> it's super narrow, is the first thing. and a lot of states that have declined medicaid expansion are already those conservative state so it lines up with their ability to block ivf in the states and we think this should be a federal right and it goes to essentially the theme of democrats over the next five or six months, which is we were protected fundamental rights and freedoms pick your freedom to control your own body, your freedom to vote, and your freedom to move around and freedom of economic mobility. it's clear to me republicans are terrified about ivf and contraception , which is why they're trying to create cover. everybody understands that right now republicans are about to vote no on this because the susan b anthony list told them to do so. >> democratic senator brian schatz of hawaii. keep us posted. thank you. >> i want to get your take on this, church, is this in the bible or scripture? where is this coming from that is related to the actual religion evolved? >> i talked about this before. i mean, from the birth of christ through 1980, southern baptist church was pro-choice. i mean, there was nothing revealed over those almost 2000 years that made southern baptist church and other mainline protestant church go pro-life. they did for political reasons. again, if you are actually interested in history and actually interested in the facts, you can trace it back, as i said, to richard vickery and jerry falwell and conservative activists deciding they needed to be to jimmy carter, who was a southern baptist democrat, and they were going to use abortion to separate democrats from the southern baptist democrat, and so they did. paul wyrick, also. this was planned. they said were not only going to make it a political issue, we are going to make it a religious issue. and so, they started a process that, now, get to say, it makes life much harsher and more frightening for 10-year-old victims of incest and victims of rape. >> families are desperate to have babies. >> families desperate and we know about this. my family knows about this personally. families desperate to have babies. this was -- i grew up in the southern baptist church. i think this is an extreme view for the convention to take on the whole. i will just say, if there is such value for life then, i think, the southern baptist church should have a very, very harsh, direct statement on the death penalty. on war. again, they can do that. i know there are other people of faith who are pacifists who value life to such a degree that they believe that even more is a sin. and i would just say again, as i said here before, the bible, the new testament, the gospels, the teaching of jesus christ should instruct christians to do what they believe. should instruct in areas where jesus was silent and areas where jesus didn't talk about, for instance, abortion. this is the lie the hard right will tell you. this is a lie. the heart rate will tell you this is a contemporary issue. it's not a contemporary issue. it was an issue in ancient rome. it wasn't issue even aristotle talked about. hundreds of years before the birth of jesus christ. so this was an issue that jesus did not talk about. even the catholic church, not to get too deep into this, but this is important for the catholic church over the centuries. went back and forth over saying abortion was okay through the quickening. it was back and forth and back and forth when humans decided how they wanted to interpret the gospel of jesus christ. but to claim jesus is against this and jesus is against ivf , that's just -- there is no scriptural basis for it. again, people can use the scriptures to instruct, but please, please your -- leave your self-righteousness at home and get out of my face with it. because if the southern baptist church was passing resolutions in the 1970s that they were pro- choice, are you telling me that my grandmother is in hell now? my mom and dad are in hell because they were practicing members and went to church four times a week and brought us to church four times a week because everybody before 1980 when richard vickery and paul wyrick and jerry falwell cynically decided to use this as a political issue? that somehow though southern baptists are lost? it's a lie. morning joe: weekend will be right back. detect this: living with hiv, robert learned he can stay undetectable with fewer medicines. that's why he switched to dovato. dovato is a complete hiv treatment for some adults. no other complete hiv pill uses fewer medicines to help keep you undetectable than dovato. detect this: marnina learned that most hiv pills contain 3 or 4 medicines. dovato is as effective with just 2. if you have hepatitis b, don't stop dovato without talking to your doctor. don't take dovato if you're allergic to its ingredients or taking dofetilide. this can cause serious or life-threatening side effects. if you have a rash or allergic reaction symptoms, stop dovato and get medical help right away. serious or life-threatening lactic acid buildup and liver problems can occur. tell your doctor if you have kidney or liver problems, or if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. dovato may harm an unborn baby. most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. detect this: you could stay undetectable with fewer medicines. ask your doctor about dovato. 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[introspective music] recipes. recipes written by hand and lost to time. are now being analyzed and restored using the power of dell ai. ♪ a slow network is no network for business. that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet. we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile. and existing customers could even get up to triple the speeds... at no additional cost. it's ultimate speed for ultimate business. don't miss out on our fastest speed plans yet! switch to comcast business and get started for $49.99 a month. plus, ask how to get up to an $800 prepaid card. call today! in an interview last week before hunter biden was found guilty on three hetero gun charges, president biden said that he would not pardon his son if hunter were convicted. yesterday the white house press secretary was asked by reporters at the president plans to consider commuting the sentence. >> i have not spoken to the president about this. and what i'm saying is he was asked about a pardon. he was asked about, he was asked about the trial specifically, and he answered it very clearly, very forthright . as we know, the sentencing hasn't even been scheduled yet. i don't have anything beyond what the president said. he's been very clear about this. it's been a white house official added to nbc news that any conversation about hunter biden sentence would be premature since there is no sentencing date yet. official pointed to president biden statement released after the verdict in which he said he would respect the judicial process as it moves forward. you write in your recent piece for the washington post titled how much should hunter biden's conviction matter? what is your view of this? are we playing word games with committing a sentence versus letting him go entirely? what's going to happen here? >> as president biden has been clear, he's not considering a pardon, he says, at this point. that would be a political bomb to throw into the 2024 election and would change things if you were to announce that now. the commutation is different. it will reduce the number of years he would be sentence but would not overturn the convictions that the conviction was staying intact. but i don't think the american people have time or interest in nuance. either situation will be politically urbanized by the right. what is interesting is whether and how the hunter biden trial can bring an opportunity for character to come into the presidential contest. for presidents to look at the candidates and consider policies or politics but who they are as men and people in fathers and family man. this is something that gives president biden an opportunity to empathize with americans who have loved ones who are addicted to drugs or have been addicted and remind people he has the capacity to consult someone in a moment of need, unlike what we've seen from former president trump. >> some people close to donald trump have told me there was disappointment in his camp that hunter biden was convicted, thinking and not guilty verdict would've been a huge fundraising opportunity and what are played more into his two tiers of justice argument, although he is trying to do that somewhat awkwardly. hunter biden and his conviction , fair or not, and donald trump's conviction, are going to be part of the presidential debate which is two weeks from tonight. if you were in your old job in counseling president biden how to approach that moment, what would you tell him to do in terms of the trump guilty verdict in his own son? >> i would say interims guilty verdict he can't hold back in that sense. the key for him is going to be how does he talk about -- he can use convicted felon or calling whatever he wants the key is you're trying to appeal to the base of the party that is unhappy and not energized yet. what you need to engage them. they probably want president biden to wear a t-shirt with donald trump behind bars. he won't do that. and you have to appeal to independents and some who have indicated in recent polls they may be willing to come to the fight inside. you have to think about how you will talk about in a way that appeals to both. part of that is connecting this to donald trump being about himself. running to keep himself out of jail and beau biden is fighting for the people who are watching as part of the message. in terms of hunter, i was feeling for the press secretary because i'm sure they'd told you you can't answer this question and that's where she was. he will have to answer that question when he's in a press conference today. part of this is there is a human side of what hunter biden has gone through. millions of families in this country deal with drug addiction or are impacted by drug addiction. president biden, remember that leaked text message about him texting his son in 2019 before he ran for president basically saying i love you and i'm thinking about you. that is a dad. that's a human response. that is who joe biden is. his character is a think about his son and love his son, while at the same time respecting the rule of law. that is the opposite of what trump does pick the character piece could be a big part of this and it's why in reporting it has been suggested that trump doesn't even want to necessarily talk about this and a number of republicans have been quiet. we will see if that changes in the debate. >> there is not a good comparison here. one you look at donald trump and you look at hunter and you look at the charges against the two. one is running for president of the united states and the other is a recovering crack addict, i mean, again, there is no comparison. and as we talked about, joe saying i won't pardon my son. what about commuting the sentence? it's crazy that were having this conversation when you look at the fact that donald trump is promising to pardon people that were, i think, convicted of crimes a january 6. talk to the police officer families responsible for the death of four officers. >> he calls them hostages until republicans and frothing fox news host want to talk about that and actually be shocked and consider it a problem that he wants to pardon those who rioted and defecated on the capital and tried to kill people at the capitol. until you can take a second to talk about that in a real, honest, factual weight -- and by the way. add in a sprinkling of the billions he got from saudi arabia. unless you w