[inaudible conversations] good morning the subcommittee will now come to order. Welcome to everyone that is here in the hearing room. The chair now recognizes herself for an opening statement. According to dhs National Survey on drug use, 44 million americans reported using cannabis in the last year. Thirtythree states now allow the medicinal use of cannabis and in the district of columbia have legalized for adult use. State laws and federal policy are 1000 miles apart. The federal governments still strictly prohibits even restricting legitimate medical research. Widespread availability of cannabis is the purpose of the hearing to examine the pressing need for medical research of cannabis and the chemical compound with cbd being one of them. Half a century ago the congress listed cannabis as schedule one substance including heroin heroine, lsd, and ecstasy. Schedule one drugs have no medical value in high potential for abuse. Scheduled to drugs such as cocaine and vicodin even schedule
like so many other local election workers in 2020 he was harassed and threatened as he did his job faithfully. he did not bend. he did not bow. he did not yield to the political threats and pressure. he he s so trusted by both political parties that the new democratic governor of pennsylvania, josh shapiro appointed him as pennsylvania s secretary of state, a republican to ensure that the integrity of the election. that s a high compliment. [ applause ] his character and his commitments speak volumes. we the people. that s what we also see in mr. benson. twice elected secretary of state to save the right to vote and have that vote counted fairly. that s what she did in 2020, when she oversaw a record number of michiganders turn out in that election only to find an armed mob an armed mob outside of her home on christmas eve and she and her son were decorating their christmas tree inside, but she refused to back down. she had done her duty. she had kept her oath full of integ
move in the middle east this morning. he began a meeting with the prime minister of israel just a few moments ago. we re following that. a news conference is set to begin in about an hour. we ll be monitoring. of course, all of this happening ahead of tomorrow s unprecedented, direct flight to saudi arabia. good morning. a lot to cover this morning. welcome to morning joe. it is thursday, july 14th. joe is off. later this hour, we ll speak with capitol police sergeant gonell, who was forced to retire after the injuries he sustained by the pro-trump mob on january 6th. he s testified before the committee. on tuesday, he embraced one of the rioters and accepted his apology. ahead this morning, former oath keeper spokesman jason van tatenhove, who testified before the committee on tuesday, will also be our guest. he broke from the group in 2017 and is now speaking out about why. willie. a lot to get to this morning. let s begin with the latest on the january 6th investigat
that the panel having accumulated a veritable treasure trove of juicy details on the trump coup plot, that trove growing by the day, as more and more witnesses testify before the committee. tomorrow investigators will hear from a prominent stop the steal conspiracy theorist with deep pockets and that would be the overstock guy in the words of former white house counsel pat cipollone and his name is patrick byrne and the former ceo of overstock.com. the former furniture industry executive joined lawyer sydney powell and rudy giuliani as well as former national security adviser in the oval on december 18, 2020, days after the electoral college certified that joe biden had won the presidential election. while many of trump s legal advisors had accepted that he had lost the election, byrne and others were pushing an idea that the president could use the national guard to seize voting machines. byrne s oval office access appeared to agitate those staffers hoping to redirect trump
news analyst to help provide clarity on the issues at stake. chuck rosenberg is a former u.s. attorney and senior fbi official and yamiche alcindor is our nbc news washington correspondent. chuck, first, we noted at the top of this, this was not a criminal proceeding. it s not even an action against a president. so, let me ask you here. what legal bar is there? what s being watched right now at the justice department as they consider whether to charges could emanate from this? well, you re exactly right, lester, it s not a criminal proceeding. it s not even really a legal proceeding. there are no rules of evidence. there are no rules of procedure, at least ones that i m familiar with as a prosecutor. there s no judge. there s no cross-examination. our justice department officials watching this? of course they are. it s important to us as americans but it s also important to them as folks who may bring additional charges against additional people. all that said, this is a bi