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[Applause] this guy still in power after the most greatest intelligence failure maybe 9 at least since 911 they're in a war I mean what do you what do you want the reason they're in a war is because they get kept getting Inge going on and he was trying to take over the Judiciary with all your rightwing trying to pull over pick I mean I worked in Israel I've been there any number of times 61 people in Kessa can do anything want why is this guy still there why am I looking at him and all he's trying to stay in office so kicked his ass out of jail okay this gu is a good point they're in the middle of a war so you know what they would do with an incompetent General in World War II it far so he didn't say quite like James Carville did but President Biden offered his harshest criticism yet of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu warning that Israel is starting to lose international support because of its military campaign in Gaza he made those comments during a fundraiser in Washington yesterday Biden's suggested support from Europe and the United States is waning because of Israel's quote indiscriminate bombing he also described netanyahu's government as the most conservative in Israel's history saying the Prime Minister quote doesn't want anything remotely approaching a two-state solution that Netanyahu needs to change while meanwhile in Israel shortly before the president's remarks Netanyahu said he would block Biden's post-war plan to have the Palestinian Authority take over Gaza in a statement net who said quote after the great sacrifice of our civilians and our soldiers I will not allow the entry into Gaza of those who educate for terrorism support terrorism and finance terrorism and I want to ask a question out of that quote if you're so sure of that Mr Prime Minister then why were the gates left open for these terrorists to run in and wreak havoc all over Israel and it took eight hours for you to respond if you were so clear on Hamas wanting to kill Jews 365 days a year every minute of every day why in the world weren't you ready and why were you supporting funding to go to Hamas it makes no sense and actually to carville's point I just question at this point what he would do to stay in power because he has done a number of things in his government leading up to the war to stay in power that many say are naked moves that are just completely corrupt to stay in power now he's in a war oh you can't move him now cuz we're in the middle of a war what next well this is exactly when they need new leadership they need new leadership and the White House knows this because you have a guy whose very political existence has been centered around security and so this is a guy that oversaw the greatest failure uh of of of intelligence in Israeli history led to more deaths because of his Intel failure of Jews at any time since the Holocaust he knew that this attack was coming for a year they had the plans in his government for the year written down how Hamas was going to do it they knew this was coming for a year and not only did they do nothing they had a meeting in Doha netanyahu's people in DOA in September less than a month before these attacks took place and the qataris asked netanyahu's government does Netanyahu still want us to send money to Hamas and netan Yahoo's government said yes what come on yes please keep sending money to Hamas keep funding Hamas the the Israelis the Netanyahu government had been in on Doha funding Hamas you know we sit back and we're like oh my God what in the world is cutter doing they're supposed to be our Ally and then we find out in the New York Times two days ago that actually it's Netanyahu who's telling Hamas to keep funding keep funding Hamas so Israel to keep funding Hamas Israel to keep funding Hamas so and and and by the way we still haven't gotten an answer from anybody in the government on why after 911 it took 3 minutes for our First Responders to get there after a school shooting in Nebraska it took three minutes to lock the school down five minutes for the cops to have the place around at 10 minutes to shut down the entire town and that's a story Across America there is no answer they have no answer they have no and this whole thing I will worry about that no no this is what we keep keep getting told a guy that was so incompetent that he allowed the worst killing of Jews since the holy cost he knew the attack was coming for a year and did nothing about it he told cutter to send hundreds of millions of dollars to Hamas weeks before the attack and then when the attack came he didn't do a damn thing for eight hours while women were getting raped while con goers were getting butchered while old women were were being taken hostage live on Facebook while young boys uh were were seeing their parents shot dead and this is that Yahoo's government this Richard H this whole security argument doesn't work and and James Carville is exactly right it's something that I keep asking myself and go oh we can't do anything till after the war you have a guy that allowed this to happen it was on his watch he asked Doha to fund Hamas his government waited eight hours to to to go down and answer the calls of women being raped and children being gunned down and he's saying oh well we got to get through the war no he's incompetent and the Israelis don't even like him they want him out the question is when are they going to get the guy responsible for the worst killing of Jews since a holocaust out and bring in responsible leadership that the United States can work with uh the sooner the better but not necessarily soon Joe it's one of the incentives BB Netanyahu has to continue the war is he continue to make the argument we can't change horses in the the the middle of it so the real question but but but but but we're here we're here because of him Richard I understand make any sense it's kind of like if I said I burn down my house and then I go in are you burned down your house yeah and then as it's burning down I'm walking in and I'm throwing some buckets on there and you go let's get the fire I go Richard Richard let's take care of your burning house first before we call in the fire department but Joe what this is about is right now he's got a majority in the Israeli knesset in their Parliament and these people agree with him on one big thing they do not want a Palestinian State they want the settler movement to continue they like the status quo they couldn't care less about Gaza they just want to fence it off what they want to do is avoid a two-state solution they want to continue to populate the West Bank they do do not want in any way to meet the Palestinians halfway so what was interesting about yesterday is we ripped the Band-Aid off a little bit the the administ the Biden Administration and Netanyahu essentially it's clear we see things fundamentally different as to where this needs to go the plan for Israel right now is a prolonged occupation they have no alternative to Israel being in Gaza open-ended because they don't have anyone else to hand authority to so run the place Richard if the president of the United States asked you what do we do do we keep funding Netanyahu to let him continue bombing indiscriminately without trying to to figure out a a a less painful way because and conveniently you can avoid the charges against him I talked to people in this Administration I talked to people in the Trump Administration I talked to people and just like you in the Obama Administration and every Administration and they all say that we prop up Israel we prop up especially Netanyahu he's incompetent uh and so we prop him up so how how long does the United States prop Netanyahu up not Israel we support Israel but how long do we prop up Netanyahu uh as as he damages not only Israel's reputation across the globe but damag is ours I agree and the Biden Administration has to be really careful here cuz we're beginning to look like enablers we begin to look feckless we criticize Israel every day we get ignored every day what can we do let me suggest three things and I'm comfortable with particularly with one one is in the UN we can stop giving Israel pretty much an unconditional veto why isn't the United States introducing resolutions of its own that it believes in secondly we've got to look at how what kind of Military Support do we give Israel now Israel faces real threats Iran and other places but do they necessarily need certain types of ordinance that when used in Gaza kills an awful lot of civilians maybe not third and most important Joe here's what I would do I would right now have the United States not wait for Netanyahu I would take the Diplomatic initiative 30 odd years ago the United States under George Herbert Walker Bush we convened the Madrid peace conference I would do something like that now I would have the United States working with the Arabs working with the Europeans maybe even bring in China I would have an international effort right now to talk about how do we secure Gaza and how do we restart a diplomatic process in the Middle East you'd invite Israel to it but basically tell the Israelis we are going to get going with diplomacy because this ain't working what this is is a warning shot that having a vacuum of diplomacy is dangerous we are going to get going we want to do it with you but if need be we are going to launch this as as as required that I would basically take the initiative Jackie alaman a lot going on on Capitol Hill today uh a vote on potential impeachment inquiry into president Biden and then also will Hunter Biden testify or won't he yeah M and just to put a cap quickly on the Israel conversation if there is one upside to the delay in getting through any sort of funding and foreign aid package it is that Democrats are delaying the inevitable wave of backlash that's going to come when they do provide Aid to Israel without the assurances and conditions that Joe just suggested Democrats be demanding but pivoting to what's actually happening today uh the the vote the house floor vote to finally formally authorize the impeachment inquiry that speaker Mike Johnson's predecessor former speaker Kevin McCarthy had unilaterally directed to occur is now going to to hit the house floor um we are expecting near unanimous support from House Republicans some of whom were previously reticent to get behind this impeachment inquiry but speaker Johnson has rather strategically especially in comparison to uh his predecessor speaker former speaker McCarthy actually positioned this more as a way to bolster The house's legal hand when it comes to uh enforcing subpoenas and and fighting certain legal battles with regards to continuing this inquiry but at the end of the day we need to be very clear house investigative committees Republicans who have been working on this investigation into the Biden family finances have not found any direct link uh about any of the evidence that links back from these uh purported nefarious business deals to President Biden so as um house members are going to authorize this inquiry again there are still some who see that they do not see any sufficient evidence to actually go ahead with formal impeachment proceedings simultaneously uh Hunter Biden is scheduled to appear on the hill today as well for his uh closed door deposition he is not expected to uh participate in that since he had put forward this counter off offer after a subpoena was issued for him to appear behind closed doors and said that he would only testify publicly James comr who had all but dared uh Hunter Biden to come in either publicly or privately to testify rebuffed that offer and said that they needed to go ahead with a closed door offer um so you know while this impeachment authorization is happening um it is definitely strengthening House Republicans legal hand to maybe go forward and hold Hunter Biden in contempt of of Congress you know I mean of course they don't want it to be public no way because you're going to you look like idiots it's going be Green Acres you're going to find out that Arnold the pig is probably the best questioner up there Arnold the pig may even be their legal counsel okay I mean so they don't want they don't want this to be public because every time they do they just they just they completely make fools of themselves and and also impeachment it's never helped anybody it's it's only helped the presidents that are being impeached that's it's it's at what point and will they figure that out we figured that out yeah we impeached Bill Clinton back in the 90s he left with a 60% approval rating that was that was something wasn't it no it it was and and it's it just all you do is help the presidents that you're impeaching but um I guess we should I guess we should thank the Republicans for helping Joe Biden The Washington Post Jackie alaman thank you very much for being on this morning it's great to see you and new 2024 polling shows a neck-and-neck race between President Joe Biden and former president Donald Trump according to the latest numbers from Reuters and ipsus Trump leads Biden by two points 38% to 36% among all adults that is within the poll's margin of error Reuters adds quote in the seven states where the election was closest in 2020 Wisconsin Pennsylvania Arizona Georgia Nevada North Carolina and Michigan Biden had a four-point lead among Americans who said they were sure to vote but when Robert F Kennedy Jr is on the ballot Trump's lead over Biden expands to 5 Points 36% to 31% while Kennedy Nets 16% of the vote Reuters also notes that when RFK Jr is an option Trump takes a five-point lead over Biden in the seven swing States previous L mentioned Reverend l a lot of moving Parts there but uh some good news for Joe Biden but some real challenges ahead what's he got to do he has to now make the campaign about people voting for their own interest not just this contest between two older men uh between Trump who's clearly corrupt and Biden I think that the more it is a personality contest the more it'll be neck and neck but when you point out the women women are that their interests are to be served or not served in the outcome of this election after the decision on Ro versus way you point out to uh the black community where you need big turnout about the U affirmative action killing and Dei that's being demonized you have people like uh Amman uh attacking a black University president saying she's a Dei choice or or choice that was not qualified when you have people unemployed at at disproportionate rates people will come out and vote for themselves and I think they must transition this race to have people deal with their interest not choosing between two political figures Claire fascinating to look at the Battleground numbers inside this new Reuters poll there's been so much consternation a new poll comes out every day people ride this roller coaster of polling but in this poll anyway uh Joe Biden does well a four-point lead in the states combined of Wisconsin Pennsylvania Arizona Georgia Nevada North Carolina and Michigan the states of course that will decide the presidential election so just a reminder to pause your Panic every time a poll comes out because um they're all very close and frankly within the margin of eror if you look state by state yeah I think um frankly the thing that is most interesting to me about this polling is the third party mischiefs that the Biden campaign is going to have to deal with um you have no labels naming a candidate most people don't realize this they're not naming a candidate because they can get on ballots easier as a party without a candidate name uh and then you have this RFK thing uh the Biden campaign is going to have to do a gut check here and decide when they have to begin informing lowi information voters that RFK Jr is a conspiracy nut um he is you know in the same category as many of the others that see um you know big boogey men behind every door that aren't there including someone who doesn't believe in real science so it is um I think important that the Biden campaign begin to plan on what they're going to do in these six swing States if they have both a No Labels candidate and RFK on the ballot yeah you can't impeach a president because you don't like him that's not how this system works we're in a constitutional republic There Are Rules here there are standards you don't get to make that decision the voters in this country do and we have an election coming up and about 11 months let the people decide don't put yourselves in their place you don't have the right to do it I hope and pray that future congresses can and will exercise greater restraint that was uh house Speaker Mike Johnson five years ago yesterday criticizing democrats for introducing their first articles of impeachment against then president Donald Trump but today 11 months before an election speaker Johnson is scheduling a partisan vote on an impeachment inquiry into President Biden joining us now Democratic Congressman jonaus of Colorado he's a chair of the democratic policy and Communications committee and sits on the house rules and Judiciary committees so wow what a difference five years makes and what do Republicans have to put on the table for impeachment oh good morning uh it's good to be with you and the answer is nothing they know that this process will be an utter waste of time it's another example of the extreme and misplaced priorities that House Republicans have pursued and I think the most Salient question one must ask is why why pursue this path it's pretty clear to me and I think to most Americans that this is an active political retribution being done on behalf of Donald Trump as the country knows president Trump was impeached on a bipartisan basis for his conduct on January 6th for inciting a violent mob to storm the capital and disrupt the Electoral College proceedings and ultimately subvert the peaceful transfer of power and as you know I served as a prosecutor during that impeachment that impeachment was bipartisan and president former president Trump has been singularly focused ever since on exacting retribution and unfortunately the sick of Fant of his in Congress including the speaker are all to inclined to pursue that path and to help him pursue that path so that's what this vote today really is all about boy does that clip that we just showed capture this moment these Trump years where you have the now Speaker of the House back when it was Joe Biden when it was Donald Trump we were talking about having one standard for Trump and a different one now of course here um chairman Cole of this committee says we are here to determine a process now not an outcome so effectively as you know Congress and what Republicans are saying we're just asking questions we just want to open it up and see if there's anything here here as they continue to say across committees including the oversight committee there's a lot of smoke here we just want to see if there's some fire what do you make of that argument I think it's an intellectually dishonest argument Willie unfortunately look the vast majority of Republicans in the Congress have already made their decision as to whether or not they believe President Biden should be impeached and by the way they have no cogent answer or explanation as to what crime they are investigating they have yet to offer any kind of rational explanation or cogent explanation of a constitutional connection to the the standard for impeachment the high crime and misdemeanor that they apparently believe uh that the president has committed it's a baseless inquiry it's one that's been devoid of any transparency the vast majority of it has been behind closed doors unfortunately uh so again I think this is symptomatic of the way in which Republicans have pursued uh their power here in Washington over the course of the last 11 and a half months and it's a shame because there are real challenges facing the country that we ought to be working together to address Congressman theose shopton here uh talk to me about the fact that you were involved in a committee that was dealing with really trying to stop the process of a transition of power of really overthrowing a government that have been elected and now we have this uh proposed uh inquiry into something that is basically a fishing Expedition hoping to come up with a fish are we making a mockery of these kind of congressional inquiries that could come back uh to haunt us where Americans don't take any of the inquiries seriously because we go through these performative kind of inquiries rather than dealing with things that are real dangerous to our laws or dangerous to the stability of government Al I think that you articulated well the false equivalency that unfortunately my Republican colleagues have been parting here at the C Capital right they have conceded that this is a political exercise on their part and there can be no comparison to the actions of former president Trump in terms of attempting to subvert the peaceful transfer of power and the responsibility that the Congress had on a bipartisan basis to vindicate the Constitution uh in terms of the impeachment against former president Trump back in January of 2021 uh clearly as I said there's no evidentiary basis to proceed in this instance they know that to be the case and again not to belabor the point but it is a sad State of Affairs because there are other priorities we should be pursuing I mean in the last 11 months House Republicans attempted to shut down the government twice they almost caused a catastrophic default on our national debt they vacated their own speaker the only thing they've done of substance is expel George Santos which of course they needed Democratic votes to accomplish they are not focused on making the American people's lives better or easier and it's a deep contrast a stark contrast with house Democrats under leader Jeff putting people over politics trying to lower costs trying to grow the middle class trying to build safer communities so I hope uh that some Republicans will ultimately see the writing on the wall and realize uh that this is not a plausible or prudent path for the country uh and perhaps join us in addressing some of these challenges that I mentioned Democratic Congressman Joe nus of Colorado thank you very much for coming on this morning we appreciate it president volodimir zalinski and his visit to Washington yesterday which seemed to fail to sway enough Republicans to deliver more aid for the fight against Russia President Biden announced $200 million worth of pre-approved Aid that will go toward Ukraine's war effort but Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell said yesterday it will be practically impossible to get a supplemental funding deal done before the Christmas holiday during a news conference with seninsky President Biden called out Republicans for holding out holding up the aid package this host of a Kremlin run show said Well Done Republicans that's good for us that's a Russian speaking if you're being celebrated by Russian propagandist it might be time to rethink what you're doing history history will judge harshly those who turn their back on Freedom's cause all right joining us now National Security Council coordinator for strategic Communications at the White House retired rear Admiral John Kirby thanks for coming back this morning Admiral um at the end of the day uh do you really think Republicans are going to stop the funding of of of of Ukraine's war effort against Putin there's so many people we've heard from chairman McCall Mitch McConnell also has been a supporter on the Senate side side so many Republicans have actually supported this do you think we get there in the end I think we will Joe yes and look there's some tough negotiation still ahead here but uh but the president's confident that there's enough bipartisan support in both Chambers speaker of the house as well uh to continue to support Ukraine uh they all realize what's at stake here we've got a small number of Republicans in the house which absolutely won't support Ukraine just on the face of it uh but the negotiations over over the Border will continue that's right that's right yeah yeah and and and it seems that the White House is more than willing uh to meet Republicans halfway or even more than halfway on on Border negotiations uh but but word out from the New York Times unnamed Republicans saying they're going to push uh the president to the wall and even if he meets them halfway they still May reject it for political purposes what can you tell us about that well I won't get into negotiating here in public those comments are deeply unfortunate the president has said and he continues to say Joe he's willing to sit down and negotiate in good faith uh and uh and to explore both border security issues but also border policy and immigration policy he's willing to to talk about all those things uh but obviously he wants that to proceed in in good faith and obviously if it's a negotiation I don't need to tell you this that means compromise that means not everybody's going to get everything they want president understands that he's willing to have that conversation uh and we're again we're we're pursuing those negotiations with that in mind I want to move to Israel Admiral at this time yesterday uh some things have changed President Biden has now said Netanyahu needs to change uh we have been talking about the impossible to explain response time to October 7th and the support that Israel gave to have the uh funding go straight to Doha funding yeah Doha funding to Hamas uh Hamas terrorists that they say want to kill Jews 247 it's a circle of questions that don't get answered and it appears President Biden is asking for more how does he want Netanyahu to change well we what we want to see is that the intent that the Israelis have put forward particularly with civilian casualties is m is matched by results and we know that they are definitely trying to be more precise and more targeted but it doesn't always come out that way uh on the battlefield we are obviously we're going to make sure that they continue to have the weapons and the tools and the capabilities they need to go after Hamas uh but what the president really also wants our Israeli counterparts to start thinking about uh and talking to us about is what's the day after in Gaza look like uh how does governance look like how do we meet the aspirations of the Palestinian people the vast majority of which don't support Hamas and don't feel like Hamas represents them uh so we got to also work on the Palestinian Authority making sure that they can be reformed and revitalized those are the sorts of changes I think the president's really trying to seek here Admiral good morning the president's reported to have said in that donor meeting uh that the bombing from Netanyahu from Israel has been quote indiscriminate Israel would say it's Precision bombing that Hamas puts civilians between it and the bombs that in fact Israel has warns before it's going to bomb gives safe zones to civilians and the rest of it so do you believe that the bombing from Israel has been indiscriminate well it's like I said before and this is what the president was referring to that we know that they're they have good intentions here and they have made efforts Willie to be to be clear in the north they went in with a much smaller Force than originally planned so that they could be more prec place on the ground they have uh published online Maps uh for people to know where where they shouldn't go in in South Gaza that's basically a modern military telegraphing their punches that's pretty extraordinary but while the intention is there and they have taken some actions again some of the results are not commencant with that effort to minimize civilian casualties and we're going to continue to urge them to be more careful more precise going forward Jake Sullivan our national security adviser is is in the region he'll be having meetings tomorrow I believe uh in in tele Eva all to that effect to uh to see what we can do to to continue to help Israel fight this fight but to do so in a way that minimizes civilian casualties Admiral good morning it's Jonathan on the subject of military tactics putting forth by uh the IDF they have tested out uh a procedure that would flood the tunnels underneath sections of Gaza with seawater an effort to chase out terrorists hiding there some have raised concerns though that that also could spell real trouble for any hostages who are being held there what do the White House believe of this plan well I won't speak to Israeli tactics specifically they they should speak to uh the the things they're doing tactically to try to go after Hamas and their ability to command and control it's certainly no secret to anybody that there are hundreds of miles of of tunnels and apparatus under the ground that they use for command and control for restocking restoring for uh uh for harboring uh their their Fighters and it's possible in fact we know that some of the hostages were kept at least temporar L uh in some of these tunnels I'll just say this Jonathan uh we know they're up against a determined foe who continues to use uh human beings as Shields continues to hide under under their infrastructure uh and that presents an added and a special burden for the Israeli military as they try to go after that leadership and and we'll do everything we can again to help them with the tools and capabilities but also urge them as they pursue tactics against Hamas leaders that they do so in a way that protect civilian infrastructure as much as possible and minimizes any risk to to innocent civilian life that might be uh represented with Hamas leaders anywhere whether it's underground or above ground and that includes of course uh the hostages we don't want to see and they don't want to see any harm come to those people Admiral the Secretary General of the United Nations has once again called for a ceasefire I don't believe that the Secretary General of the United Nations has ever called for the International Red Cross to be able to treat the hostages that Hamas is holding and I'm wondering on the hostages and the International Red Cross what kind of pressure is the administration putting on or trying to put on uh Hamas and and to get the hostages seen by the International Red Cross we we've been trying to pursue this uh very very hard Mike and we have been putting a lot of pressure on uh on Hamas through our interlocutors of course with them we don't have Direct Communications with Hamas to allow the Red Cross to have access to these hostages that was part of the original deal when we got the pause in place was that uh that as we got hostages out that the Red Cross would be able to get in to see the hostages that weren't going to be released and that still hasn't happened yet and of course that just opens up so many more questions for the families I mean that having the Red Cross have access to them would tell us where they are how they are what kind of conditions they're being held in uh and it's worrisome to the extreme that Hamas won't allow the Red Cross that access uh because well they must be trying to hide something so we're going to keep pushing for this uh to get that access as much as possible it's really important and back to the issue of a ceasefire again we don't support a general ceasefire at this time uh that basically would leave Hamas and Power in Gaza basically validates what they did on the 7th of October and of course gives them uh a much larger amount of time to restock restore themselves and to and to refit and plan and conduct additional attacks National Security Council spokesman retired rear Admiral John Kirby thank you once again thank you Admiral let's begin this hour though on Capitol Hill where House Republicans are preparing to interview Hunter Biden for a deposition this morning still unclear though if the president's son will actually appear Republicans have threatened to hold the president's son in contempt of congress if he doesn't show up Hunter Biden offered to sit for a deposition but only in a public hearing Republican committee leaders say he needs to be questioned behind closed doors first meanwhile the Republican lead house expected to vote later today to formalize its impeachment inquiry into President Biden House Majority Leader Republican Steve scales of Louisiana said a full floor vote on the resolution will take place later today following yesterday's rules committee vote to authorize the probe four years ago now speaker Mike Johnson argued against a single party impeachment taking place only 11 months before an election but he argues now that's not what Republicans are doing here the founders of this cour country warned against a single party impeachment for good reason they feared that it would bitterly and perhaps irreparably divide our nation as the next election in 2020 is drawing so close now and their candidates for president are so terribly weak they obviously met somewhere at liberal High command about 75 days ago and convinced Nancy Pelosi they had to pull the trigger I hope and pray that future congresses can and will exercise greater restraint so the moderates in your caucus would say why not exercise greater restraint now well we've shown great restraint I mean there are a lot of people who are frustrated that this hasn't moved faster but there's a big distinction I stand by every word I said in that video there's a big distinction between what's happening now and what the Democrats do those were those are rushed sham impeachments they did it quickly they did not follow any of the procedures that I just described we have three committees investigating this and following the truth where they lead and they have no uh no no option in doing anything else it's Ways and Means Judiciary and oversight and they've uncovered some alarming facts about the Biden family and their dealings smoke no fire joining us now Democratic members of the house oversight committee Congressman Dan Goldman of New York and Jared moscowitz of Florida gentlemen good morning I use that term not as my own but as something that uh chairman comr has used before he said well we see an awful lot of smoke no fire yet but that's why we're opening this inquiry to see if there's any fire behind that door so Congressman Goldman as someone who worked around and advised the Committees around impeachment of President Trump what's your reaction to way the way this is being conducted and do they have a point that we're just asking questions here within an inquiry well in 2019 we brought in 17 fact Witnesses who all hand all had firsthand knowledge of the situation in Ukraine and Donald Trump's abuse of power in this investigation there has not been a public hearing with a single fact witness and every closed door deposition has actually undermined the specious allegations that the Republicans are bringing this is a bogus sham impeachment with no EV Ence whatsoever and the notion that they need to move forward for some sort of procedural reason is completely bunk the Biden Administration has been way more Cooperative than they need to be and certainly far more Cooperative than Donald Trump was when he provided zero documents to the Congressional impeachment inquery in 2019 the Administration has provided Witnesses uh 100,000 and more documents the problem here is not that they don't have the materials the problem here is that they don't have any facts to support their allegations of any wrongdoing by President Biden and by the way Congress in Moscow whats we've heard from Republicans there's a two-tiered system of justice that favors Democrats but it is in fact the department of justice under the Biden Administration that is the one now Prosecuting Hunter Biden no of course we heard that the Department of Justice is Prosecuting Hunter Biden as a coverup I mean I guess the reason Donald Trump has been indicted by the federal government New York and Georgia must be trying to cover up all of Donald Trump's crimes I mean it's obviously totally ridiculous but you know that's they're feeding that to their Echo chamber who believes anything that they say but I want to go back Willie to this this this sham impeachment that representative Goldman talks about let's go back to the beginning Joe Biden has sworn in and within days of his swearing in before a hearing before any documents before any Witnesses before any depositions members of the Republican Party members of the oversight committee that we uh sit on that committee with are filing articles of impeachment within days of President Biden's uh inauguration then they have all these hearings multitude of them and it winds up with the last hearing that we had a couple of months ago which was complete failure theater and their own witness their constitutional scholar their impeachment witness says everything we know the tens of thousands of documents that the White House has turned over something that the Trump Administration never did their witness says it doesn't rise to the level of impeachment it was totally an awkward moment but what this is about at the end of the day is that Donald Trump has 50% of the impeachments in American history and he has 100% of the indictments and Joe Biden has none of that and so they can't save Donald Trump but what they're trying to do is please please the former president by putting numbers on the board on Joe Biden even though there is no evidence of that you just heard the speaker speaker Johnson say that he prays and he Compares himself to Moses by the way but he prays that you know they they won't impeach a president because they don't like him well apparently his prayer is not going to be answered because hypocrisy knows no bounds uh in the Republican majority Congressman Goldman a quick question for you first then a followup have you received word if Hunter Biden is going to appear today to testify I've not he uh received any word I don't think it sounds like what I read in the press the committee has not either and I think his he has been pretty um pretty convincing and pretty certain that he will happily show up and answer every single question under oath but he wants to do it directly to the American people because the Republicans have manipulated their closed door depositions in an egregious and misleading way and he does not want to be subject to that after he has received such vicious attacks from the Republicans Jonathan two of 16 closed door depositions by the Republicans have been released to the public even though they promise to release all of them they cannot be trusted and it's clear that Hunter Brien understands that and that's why he wants to talk to the American people directly and the question then becomes what are the Republicans hiding why won't they let Hunter Biden testify under oath directly to the American people so let me follow up just then if indeed he doesn't show your Republican colleagues have threatened to hold him in contempt of congress what would your reaction to that that be would that be an appropriate measure well it's almost laughable that you have the chairman of the Judiciary Committee threatening to hold someone who is willing to testify in contempt when he himself blanketly defied a congressional subpoena refused to testify in any way shape or form as Congressman mosit says the hypocrisy knows no end with this Republican party and I dare chairman Jordan to try to bring some a witness willing to testify publicly under oath uh under contempt of congress all right Democratic members of the House oversight committee Congressman Dan Goldman and Jared mosich thank you both very much will be watching Florida among nine states where abortion protections could be on the ballot next year in the form of a constitutional amendment NBC News correspondent Morgan Radford joins us with a look at how this fight is shaping up and it sounds like it's not just Democrats but Republicans pushing to get these on the ballot you've got it Willie it's really interesting because an issue is a constitutional amendment that would protect abortion rights up to 24 weeks and similar measures have been successful in Kansas and Ohio and it's all part of a broader effort to put abortion rights directly before voters at the state level but in order to get this language on the ballot supporters need to gather almost 900,000 signatures by February 1st and although this is a popular position among Democrats as you you mention they say they're also getting help from across the political Spectrum thank you for signing good afternoon at festivals farmers markets even the beach volunteers here in Florida are Fanning out bringing the petition to maang parties and pool parties trying to get one issue on the 2024 ballot a constitutional amendment that would bar any restrictions on abortion before viability around the 24th week of pregnancy or when necessary to protect the patient's health I don't think there's any doubt that when this thing is on the ballot that it will pass Anna hoker leads the Florida Women's Freedom Coalition one of several groups behind the movement from right here in her South Florida home a coalition that she says doesn't just include Democrats by her organization's count of the 1.3 million signatures they've collected thus far more than 150,000 have come from registered Republicans I had one woman say to me you know I was in a room full of Republican women when we heard that roie way was overturned and it was like being at a funeral they'd all been through this battle before they thought it was settled are you both registered Republicans yes yes okay and there are voices behind those numbers Carol Whitmore was introduced to us by the Florida Women's Freedom coalition to say that women can't make this very important decision in their life is atrocious so you will be surprised and you will hear there are a lot of Republicans that support what Jamie and I do her friend Jamie Carter is is unaffiliated with the organization but has signed a petition in favor of the amendment you know there's a a lot of people that you wouldn't think would be the pro-choice um Advocates but they are and I think it's really just having control of our own bodies that's and the government overreach is huge right now what do you all think happens if the Republican party as a whole doesn't see this issue the way that you do I think the national level they're realizing they're not going to win this battle and it's not just women former state representative Carlos laasa and Ed Williamson a prominent local businessmen are also donating time and money to the petition cause both are registered Republicans why do you think it's important that you speak out as men on this issue I expect my privacy rights to be respected by the government I don't want to be forced to be vaccinated and that for that reason I think that a woman's right to choose is fundamental and should be defended Carlos is right and of course the right to an abortion I think is one of those things that the government's got no business uh being into nationally they're not alone recent Gallop Pooles show just 24% of Republicans believe abortion should be illegal in all cases but in a state where Republican Governor Ronda santis won reelection by nearly 20 percentage points then signed legislation that would ban most abortion after 6 weeks political experts we spoke to said the measure is not guaranteed you're going to get a substantial support across party line for this kind of amendment we've seen that even in states that are that are more Republican than Florida is the big caveat though especially here in Florida is that the threshold for constitutional amendment in Florida is 60% and that's a that's a difficult threshold on any issue let alone one that can be quite as divisive as the abortion issue this is something that a lot of people don't talk about but they know how they're going to vote and when you get behind that uh booth and do your thing um we're going to speak up for ourselves we reached out to the Republican party of Florida multiple times via phone and via email and they have yet to respond to our request for comment the state's Republican attorney general Ashley Moody has filed a brief with the state supreme court urging it to keep the question from appearing on the ballot now regardless of how many signatures are in fact collected and as for that six week abortion ban it's still on hold pending a state supreme court decision on Florida's current 15-week ban which went into effect in 2022 but no matter the the outcome if this ballot measure were to pass in 2024 then both laws would be automatically invalidated NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan nobles was there at that briefing uh Ryan what did you take out of that well Willie I think the most important thing that came out of these remarks from Hunter Biden is that he clearly stated in a public forum uh really for the first time uh that his father was not in any way shape or form connected to any of his professional life uh his legal career uh his foreign business dealings even his art uh his art career which there's even been accusations from Republicans uh that his entire art career was just a setup as a way for Biden uh campaign donors to to support him in that way shape or form so he did say that and he said it emphatically but I do have to say that one of the things that Republicans are going to do to counter him stating that on the record is that he's not doing it under oath in a setting in front of these members of Congress that have serious questions for him and under subpoena so there's really no chance that this press conference is going to help him in terms of his efforts to avoid a contempt of congress charge uh and you know just to kind of explain to you the way that these Congressional investigations often work uh it is pretty typical for uh Congressional investigators to call Witnesses before them first in a closed door deposition in a setting where there are not cameras where there are not an opportunity for political Grand standing where they can ask very specific questions on very specific topics often these depositions are very lengthy and often very dry and then it is those depositions that then end up setting up the public hearings that's exactly the way the January 6 select committee conducted business when they did their investigation uh into the uh events around the capital Insurrection so that is not out of the ordinary but to the point that Hunter Biden made here just a few minutes ago the chairman of the committee of the oversight committee James comr has said on more than one occasion that he just wanted hunter Biden in front of them and that he was willing to do that behind closed doors or to do it in a public setting and he reversed Course once they issued that subpoena now the question that will linger uh based on the way that Hunter Biden has responded to this subpoena today is how Congress will react now they set the terms of the subpoena Hunter Biden and his lawyers don't get the opportunity to set the terms of the subpoena that's congress's power and the terms of their subpoena clearly stated that they wanted him to appear in a closed door deposition so it is very likely that the next step in this process will be Congress holding him in contempt and that would mean if it and that's something that would have to be voted on by the entire House of Representatives if it passes the entire House of Representatives it would then land in the lap of Mer Garland the the Attorney General to decide whether or not to prosecute that case does it end up going to the special counsil David Weiss that's also a possibility but that would be another legal headache for Hunter Biden on top of the mounting legal woes he's already facing with these multiple indictments the tax charges in California and of course uh the gun charges that he's facing in Delaware so this is going to make his situation that much more complicated and what we saw here today was really this was a public relations effort here to try en counter these Republican claims that they've been making very much in a vacuum without much of an answer by Hunter Biden this was his opportunity to State publicly for the record how he felt about this the way that this was uh this process was playing itself out but to be clear it's not going to change the the potential legal steps that could happen after this or the way that House Republicans are going to respond to the way he is uh responding to their subpena here today Ryan it's certainly also part of a more aggressive PR tactics taken by Hunter Biden his lawyer there Abby L we had him on the show earlier this week and we should reiterate that there has been no evidence at all presented by Republicans that President Biden had anything to do with his son's business dealings but that's not of course limiting the personal toll this is taking on the president or limiting what the Republicans are trying to do with their investigation so give us an update as to where else this is going I know that subpena was also issued to the president's brother where else are they trying to go with this uh this particular probe it's a great question uh Jonathan and the first thing we should point out is that in addition to everything that's happening here with Hunter Biden today there's a significant step that's about to be taken by House Republicans in terms of the overall impeachment inquiry they are set to formalize the impeachment inquiry which was already launched under the former house Speaker Kevin McCarthy without a vote of the house they intend to formalize that today and it does appear that there are enough Republican votes to make that step happen now the reason that that is significant is part of the argument that Abby LOL Hunter Biden's attorney has made as it relates to this subpoena is that the subpoena is not legitimate because it had yet to be formalized for the entire house well they're going to do that this afternoon and part of what they're also going to do is pass a separate resolution that essentially grandfathers in the work of the impeachment inquiry uh which would include the subpoena that they issued of Hunter Biden underneath the banner of this new impeachment inquiry and so uh I don't think there's any doubt that the indictment that was leveled against Hunter Biden last week all the salacious charges that are associated with it uh do does give many of these moderate Republicans that are in Biden held districts a degree of cover to say well I'm not ready to to to vote on articles of impeachment which is a a whole you know additional step but it does give them the ability to say hey look at all this evidence that's out there we need to give and empower our Congressional investigators the opportunity to look into this even more and by formalizing that impeachment inquiry that will give them just more ground to stand on so that is a significant step and then the other thing I'll the point I'll make about that guys is that it also is a political risk though for Republicans right because we know definitively that there are not enough votes for the articles of impeachment if this this now puts the investigation on steroids and if they're unable to deliver that evidence of which they have not Jonathan is 100% right there is not concrete evidence that Joe Biden was in any way shape or form involved in his his son's business dealings or that he used his influence as a political leader to help his business dealings if they're unable to deliver those goods and are unable to push articles of impeachment over the Finish Line in many ways that could exonerate the president and that political move that they're making could backfire so there's a lot on the line today after this impeachment inquiry vote today NBC Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan nobl thank you very much and

Channel: MSNBC

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Keywords: msnbc, MSNBC, Specials, Morning Joe, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski, Willie Geist, MSNBC news, MSNBC live, MSNBC TV, news, breaking news, current events, US news, politics, politics news, political news, elections, morning joe full, morning joe live, morning joe today

Id: xAfa_5zQKck

Length: 53min 17sec (3197 seconds)

Published: Wed Dec 13 2023