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tv   Andrea Mitchell Reports  MSNBC  March 1, 2024 9:00am-10:00am PST

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puppet did to support repression in my country. i truly believe that the american people deserve to know what this spy did to undermine america's national security. >> for more than 40 years. thank you so much for being with us this morning. very much appreciate your time. >> thank you so much. that wraps up thehour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," donald trump's legal trials. the former president in federal court in florida where his lawyers and the special counsel's seem are debating when his classified documents should begin. what could be a blockbuster afternoon inside a georgia courthouse. time for closing arguments that
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could determine whether fulton county d.a fani willis stays on the case. a final farewell to alexei navalny in russia. loved ones and supporters risk arrest to honor the opposition leader as vladimir putin further tightens his grip. ♪♪ hello and thank you for joining us. i'm anna cabrera in for andrea mitchell. this hour, new developments in two of the four cases facing donald trump whose legal team has taken a strategy of delay. trump in the courtroom today. the trial schedule is a key part of this hearing. the case has been bogged down by pre-trial motions from donald trump's attorneys demanding
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access to sensitive material which jack smith wants to keep sealed for security reasons. trump is facing 40 criminal charges in the document case, including being part of a scheme to delete security video at mar-a-lago. closing arguments are set to begin in fulton county, georgia, in a battle over whether d.a. willis will be disqualified from the case there over her relationship with a member of her group. and hanging over this, the decision of whether he has immunity. lots to discuss. we have team coverage.
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yasmin vasiljevs and lisa ruben and joyce vance and paul butler. donald trump's attorney has been trying to have this trial pushed back. what are we learning so far today? >> you mentioned at the top that they are arguing over motions. you ended on the supreme court. those are two perfect ways to begin and end. that's because of what's happening in the courtroom. the only thing they are talking about right now is the date. they are not talking about necessarily the jury questionnaire. all they are trying to focus in on is when this trial is going to go forward. one of the arguments in which the former president's attorneys is making as we speak -- the latest notes we got in -- is the immuity case with the supreme court heard on april 22nd. the argument being made is, they cannot decide on a trial date until they decide on immunity.
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the motion filed by the former president's attorneys. in addition, they are arguing about what's happening in new york and the hush money trial on march 25th. the judge asked about the schedule in new york. trump's attorneys relaying it's likely to go on for six weeks, the former president to be in court every day, but off on wednesday. this is a schedule we know well. it indicates -- i love to hear the other attorneys talk about this -- as to whether or not she's coordinating with the judge in new york. if she's asking about the trial schedule in new york, it's likely she doesn't know about the trial judge up in new york. i would say there's no coordination with the new york judge on this case. the argument made by the trump attorneys -- that's been going on the entire morning -- is trump has too much on his plate. he is running for president of the united states. it's a primary calendar. he will be inside a courtroom
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for six weeks. who knows what's going to happen with d.c. and what's going to happen with the supreme court. this should get pushed until after the election. >> stand by. lisa, want to get your reaction to the argument we are learning trump's team is making that we can't set a date here until the supreme court weighs in on immunity. >> i think i predicted that to you at 10:00 this morning that that would be their argument. they did make a submission last night where they proposed a trial date of august 12th. they proceeded that with a host of arguments as to why it would be inappropriate to set any trial date at all, not only before the election, but in the year 2024. >> could they set a date? >> i think they could set a date. some of the reasons that they have given are more legitimate than others. i do think that to the extent that the former president has a
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presidential immunity appeal, that rests on the president being immune not only from liability but from the burdens of trial. i don't particularly think his presidential immunity defense, especially as applied to the mar-a-lago case, is good. if it were, that would be a good argument for holding off. even if, for example, you were to find that he has some immunity or even an immunity defense in the federal election interference case, the way in which he argues immunity for mar-a-lago is tortured. he says he is immune from prosecution for willfully retaining the documents at mar-a-lago after he was no longer president because he was lawfully in possession of them as president and, therefore, it emanates from an official agent. that's a more attenuated argument than the one he is making in the federal election interference case. going back to your original question, am i surprised they are saying there's no reason for a trial date? not at all. i expected them to do this all
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along. >> we can't ignore the legal and political collide in this case. really in all of the cases. kristin welker did an interview with nikki haley and asked her about the trials before the election. take a listen. >> i think all of the cases should be dealt with before november. we need to know what's going to happen before the presidency happens, because after that, should he become president, i don't think any of it will get heard. >> joyce, can trump's team just delay, delay, delay, delay, delay? how likely are we to see this trial, the mar-a-lago case, or the d.c. election interference case, or the georgia case before the election? >> as to mar-a-lago, trump's team can delay as much as the judge will permit them to delay. look, paul will agree with me on this, i think. as a prosecutor in virtually every criminal case set for trial, there are a lot of pending motions.
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judges still set trial dates. there's no reason she can't set a trial date, even if she allows for a gracious plenty of time, two months for the manhattan trial to take place, that would still permit her to grand jack smith's request for a july trial date. of course, what trump really wants here -- lisa points this out. it's at the start of the proposal that he filed earlier this week. he says, you can't try me at all this year because of the election. trump really is asking for special treatment. defendants always have jobs. some have job interviews. that's not a reason to forestall trial. it's important that judges treat trump like they would any other litigant. no better, no worse. judge can. >> announcer: -- cannon has shown a willingness to hear his arguments and delay proceedings in his favor. that's less likely the case in new york and -- in d.c. and in
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fulton county where the judges seem more interested in having the trials proceed on a time line that's both fair to trump and fair to the people who are entitled to a speedy trial here. that's an argument jack smith has made. it's an important one. it's not just defendants who are entitled to speedy trials. it's citizens. it's americans who are also entitled to have these claims heard. nikki haley makes the political argument. this is the justice argument. we are entitled to hear this. >> what we are learning, we have gotten a first look at the proposed jury questionnaire for the mar-a-lago case. trump's legal team wants to ask jurors to list politicians they have negative opinions of, to rank their primary source of media consumption.
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prosecutors want to ask, do you believe the election was stolen and ask jurors for their thoughts on the department of justice and the fbi. i believe i read this as a 31-page jury questionnaire, at least what is being proposed. what do you make of it? >> some of the questions are fairly standard. trump also wants to ask the potential jurors who they voted for. that would be extremely unusual if judge cannon allows that question. that would raise more questions about her impartiality. look, this is the first ever prosecution in a federal court of a former president. both jack smith and the defense team are concerned about how much politics will impact. there's been so much media attention to trump and his claims that he is being politically persecuted. i think that's a legitimate
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round that both sides will want to make sure jurors don't have preconceptions. the charges are fairly complicated. there are not a lot of trials that have to do with classified documents. even if people voted for trump or they voted for biden, i think that they can be objective when it comes to applying the very precise and complicated law here. >> joyce, in the fulton county election interference case, in the next hour we will have closing arguments involving this issue of disqualifying willis from the case over her relationship with nathan wade, the special prosecutor on this one. where do you see it headed? >> in georgia, the law says disqualification is appropriate only where the lawyer has an inappropriate financial conflict of interest. that would be something like if nathan wade's payment had been contingent on winning the case,
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or if fani willis was get a kickback from him. it's remarkable to think we are at this point where salacious detail about a personal relationship is being offered up in court because that's really not the sort of thing that leads to disqualification under georgia law. of course, if it should be established -- it hasn't been yet -- that fani willis lied to the court, then it would be appropriate to refer her for bar ethics proceedings or maybe to the state attorney general for consideration. that's not what's going on. >> what about the text messags between this person who represented -- this guy terrence bradley represented nathan wade as his lawyer in a divorce proceeding. used to be his former business partner.
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texting a defense lawyer who brought these allegations against fani willis, how damaging are they? >> they are -- they appear to be more than what's been submitted in the case. however, the evidence has closed. it's not my understanding that the defense will seek to admit more of these text messages today. they certainly raised questions about the veracity of terrence bradley's testimony the other day when he claimed not to recall certain exchanges or said, i don't remember what i was thinking, i don't know what the source of that information was, i was just speculating. read closely, some of the texts that people are pointing to to say that bradley was a liar, for example, read closely, they say things like, do you think the relationship started before she hired him? his response was, absolutely. that can be consistent with list -- his speculating. both of the people who testified that the relationship between them started before both willis
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and wade said it did are people who are disgruntled and upset with one or both of them. bradley fell out with his former client and former law partner nathan wade. why? because he was accused of sexual sexually assaulting someone. willis said, i wouldn't classify her as a friend. that's the epitome of no good deed goes unpunished. both witnesses who are giving testimony contrary to wade and willis are people who have an ax to grind. the judge will take that into consideration when assessing their credibility. >> it's the judge who will make the call on this case. we will bring those arguments live to our viewers since we have cameras in the courtroom. joyce, paul, stick around. i want to touch base with you
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before the end of the hour again. honoring alexei navalny. in the heart of putin's russia, surrounded by riot police, friends and loved ones of the late opposition leader gather in moscow to pay their respects. that's next when we are back in 60 seconds. by migraine, nurtec odt may help. it's the only medication that can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks. treat and prevent, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. relief is possible. talk to a doctor about nurtec odt. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost.
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an intense and emotional scene in moscow as vladimir putin's most vocal critic, alexei navalny, was laid to rest. inside a moscow church, relatives and friends said good-bye. outside, more than 1,000 mourners risked arrest to pay respect to the 47-year-old navalny who died mysteriously last month in a siberian penal colony. >> reporter: this is what the
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kremlin didn't want to see. they would like to suggest he was a western stooge. this image shows that there were thousands of people in this country, as we saw at demonstrations he held over the years, who do support him, who do believe in the sorts of freedoms he represented and who do feel that it is their right to say good-bye to him. >> thanks for that. navalny's wife laying the blame for her husband's death at the feet of vladimir putin, which the kremlin denies. they claim he died of natural causes. joining us now is nbc's chief international correspondent keir simmons. there was an outpouring of support for alexei navalny today. talk about the risk involved with publically showing support for navalny in russia today. >> there was a real risk.
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when you look at the pictures you are showing now and you have been showing in the introduction of people lining the streets of moscow as his casket came by, of people standing, more than 1,000 outside the church. every one of the people you see in those images is running the risk that they could be arrested. they could be fined. we estimate that the fullest extent of the law applied under their arrest or charge could mean a 15-year jail sentence. an extraordinary risk for each and every one of them. we are hearing from the monitoring service -- russian monitoring service that we use often that there are something like more than 60 arrests across russia at this stage. the kremlin had warned russians that any unauthorized gathering to mark navalny's death would be illegal. even those pictures of people standing outside the church, that effectively is an illegal
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gathering. of course, it will take time to understand how many arrests have really taken place and what kinds of incidents they involve. certainly, if you rewind 24 hours, we honestly don't think we expected to see these kinds of images, people calling out, calling navalny's name, calling out about a free russia, accusing the kremlin of being to blame for his death, openly in the streets like that. as you mentioned, an enormous security presence which tells us about the threat the kremlin sees in a day like this. >> keir simmons, thank you. joining us now is michael mcfaul, former u.s. ambassador to russia and a friend of the navalnys. our condolences. what's your reaction to the big crowds who we see turned out today, despite the risk? >> extraordinary. i have a lot of respect for
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those people who came out to honor alexei navalny. it's important for everybody to know putin's government tried hard to not allow this to happen. yulia and her team said, we are going to defy you. that shows you they are fighting. everybody who is there is being photographed. they can expect -- they can be threatened with years of going to jail for being on tv with us right now. that is incredible bravery. for every one of them that is that brave, there's another dozen people in russia, in moscow, who are not as courageous but have exactly the same preferences. >> there were so many obstacles getting to this day. his allies say they struggled to find a hearse willing to carry his body. how big of a threat did navalny
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pose to vladimir putin? >> first, i want to underscore how horrendous it was. they were negotiating with his mother. they were threatening to bury him in siberia, in the north pole, if they didn't degree to -- agree to have a private burial. she took on the regime to say, and i will not accept a secret burial. they are still defying putin. they are doing it because alexei navalny was the greatest threat to vladimir putin. in a free and fair election, he would have defeated vladimir putin back 20 years ago when people weren't completely brainwashed by two decades of propaganda. to this day, i think putin decided he had to kill him because he still feaed navalny.
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why would he need to do this if he didn't fear what navalny and his ideas represented that threatened putin's autocratic regime? >> yulia wasn't there in person at the funeral because of the danger to her. we heard her speak to the european parliament this week. how is she doing? >> obviously, these are tough times. she was out here in palo alto at stanford to be with her daughter who is a student here. i would say, she understands that she's now the face of the russian opposition. she's the leader of the russian opposition. she never wanted to play this role, despite the horrific putin propaganda about her right now. this is not a role she wanted to play. now she thinks she has to, to honor her deceased husband. i have known yulia for a long
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time. she's strong. she's charismatic. she has many of the traits that her husband had. i believe she will be a very strong leader of the russian opposition in years and decades to come. it may take decades. but she's willing to fight for decades until the death -- the murder of her husband is avenged and russia is free. >> officials there in russia say navalny died of natural causes. do you think we will ever know the truth? >> just everybody needs to remind themselves, putin's regime lies every single day. to report those lies as if it's reporting, you have to question what they say every single day. that's the first thing. second, putin killed navalny. that's a fact. how he died is some ways immaterial. he poisoned him. he then came back. he was the one that arrestarres. when they arrested him, he was a strong person physically and
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psychologically and emotionally. he was still writing letters to me when he was in jail. that he died in prison, putin is responsible for that. will we know the actual facts? my guess is no because this is putin's russia. those facts are too damaging to him. >> an incredibly courageous man. back to breaking news from florida where this hearing in federal court on the trump classified documents case is underway. ken dilanian just stepped out of the courtroom because they are on a lunch break. get us up to speed. >> reporter: the biggest piece of news that's come out of this largely procedural hearing so far is that the justice department made the declaration that their policy about influencing an election does not apply to cases after indictment. so it doesn't apply to the
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scheduling of this or any of the other federal trials, federal cases against donald trump. that's important. we didn't know that was the case a few days ago. it was an open question. there's a part of the doj policy manual that says, prosecutors should avoid actions that would tend to influence an election. some people speculated, asking for a trial to be held before an election or close to an election could come under that provision. would that affect the scheduling of this trial here in florida or the one in d.c.? the answer to that was it doesn't apply. the idea,we know about these cases. there's nothing here that's not on the table. the idea it's going to influence the election is really not supported. that said, this hearing today is mainly about scheduling.
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what's remarkable is that donald trump's lawyers have made the argument that this case should not be -- this trial should not be held before the election and that to do so would be election interference. the judge never pushed back against that. it's a contrast with judge chutkan who said, you are just like any other defendant, mr. trump. just because you are running for president does not create special rights for you. this judge in this case is not taking that position. she's entertaining the idea from trump's defense that it's relevant. the special counsel hasn't pushed back either, because they are more interested in making arguments having to do with discovery and scheduling. the special counsel thinks this can go to trial in july. the defense has offered a date of august, but they don't
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believe they can get to trial by august. they think this trial should happen after the election. >> ken, we mentioned how trump was there in court today. i'm curious, as you were observing all these proceedings, what you witnessed with him personally. what was his demeanor like? >> reporter: yes. to be clear, i was in an overflow room watching on video, because once you get in the courtroom, you can't leave. i wouldn't be here if i was in the courtroom. i wasn't able to see mr. trump very closely. he was sitting at the defense table. i wasn't able to see his expressions. jack smith, the special counsel, is in the courtroom, as he has been in most of the proceedings sitting in one of the back rows, not doing any talking. >> okay. thank you very much. the mar-a-lago documents case is in the middle of a hearing. we will check back. recovery effort. negotiators trying to keep cease-fire and hostage talks
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recently, but too many businesses like mine are still getting broken into. it's time our police officers have access to 21st century tools to prevent and solve more crimes. allow public safety cameras that other bay area police departments have to discourage crime, catch criminals, and increase prosecutions. prop e is a smart step our city can take right now to keep san francisco moving in the right direction. please join me in voting yes on prop e. there are still conflicting accounts of what happened in gaza city after a deadly incident during which dozens of palestinians were killed as they waited to get desperately needed food. a palestinian eyewitness telling nbc news that israeli forced opened fire at a crowd lined up to get a single bag of flour
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apiece. more than 100 people were killed and 700 more wounded according to the gaza health ministry. israeli military officials say they were killed in a stampede around the trucks and that israeli forced did open fire later at a specific group which they felt was threatening israeli troops. joining us now is nbc's josh lederman. josh, let's start with the conflicting reports on what happened yesterday in gaza city. what else do we know? >> reporter: we frankly may never know with full certainly exactly what transpired early yesterday morning in gaza city as desperate palestinians were awaiting badly needed humanitarian aid. the dispute centers on the timing of when israeli troops opened fire.
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was it before or after a chaotic situation emerged that could have led those troops who were there guarding a checkpoint potentially feel threaten and open fire, the israeli version of events? that palestinian witness who spoke to nbc news says before the convoy reached this checkpoint area, israeli troops began shooting at palestinians, killing many of them. israel has released some drone footage of this sequence of events. frankly, it does not make things very much clearer, because that footage does not show the actual moment when israeli troops began firing on palestinians. there's also footage that does show thousands of palestinians gathering around these vehicles and, in fact, in some of the video you can see people on the ground very close to israeli tanks. it's unclear whether they are wounded or dead nor whether exactly what happened to lead to that being the case.
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so this remains very much a dispute as france is now saying that they believe israel was targeting civilians and the eu's top diplomat is calling it a violation of international law to deprive of the food they need. >> president biden was hopeful there could be a deal by monday. then he started to walk that back yesterday. how does this incident now complicate the cease-fire talks? >> an incident like this inflames passions and makes it harder for negotiators to put differences aside in order to create a deal. i think if there's momentum in these talks -- that's an open question -- then that should still probably continue. the question is whether or not the two sides really want to make a deal. you can see each side in this making maximalist statements to leverage negotiations or play to their domestic constituencies. that doesn't tell us where things are in the negotiations.
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it's behind closed doors. the optimism the president expressed monday during his stop in new york at the moment, four days later, we don't see the fruits of what he thought he would see. >> mark, could this push the u.s. to take actions they were not considering? >> i think we will have to now. so much of the hope was that there would be a breakthrough on the talks, which would lead to a cease-fire and then rushing in humanitarian aid. it doesn't look like that's going to happen. some of the reports today are that the talks have broken down, that hamas didn't come to the table, in fact, with lists of hostages who are still alive. so this doesn't seem like there's going to be any breakthrough. what does the u.s. have to do? you will see over the next several days that we will consider air drops of humanitarian aid. also, perhaps opening some maritime corridor, ships off the
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coast of gaza. at times, there are unforeseen circumstances, tragedies like this that can spur change. the status quo can't remain in terms of the humanitarian situation. the u.s. will take some unilateral action with israel's okay. >> it's more desperate there inside gaza. the u.n. saying they have been unable to deliver aid at all in the past week. thank you very much for all of those insights, mark, peter, and josh. up next, humanitarian crisis. a spotlight on the migrant living in limbo along the u.s. southern border as the presidential campaigns turn their focus to immigration. cus n it's handles the heavy lifting, ♪♪ breaks new ground, ♪♪ and most importantly, puts her at ease. you just have to get in the seat. watch your step! that's why visionworks pmakes it simple.
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welcome back. president biden and donald trump put their competinghe border cr visits along the rio grande
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yesterday. advocacy groups say there are problems with both visions. >> folks, it's real simple. it's time to act. it's long pastime to act. >> the united states is being overrun by the biden migrant crime. >> they desperately need more resources, they need more agents, more officers, more judges. >> this is a joe biden invasion. >> join me or i will join you in telling the congress to pass this bipartisan border security bill. instead of playing politics with the issue, why don't we just get it done? >> i call him crooked joe because he is crooked and a terrible president. >> that gives you the sense of the messages from both men yesterday. here with us now is deputy director of the immigrants right project. you know public opinion polls show trump leading on the immigration issue with voters. he has been trying to paint
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migrants as criminals. the facts don't back that up. nbc news did a fact check. it shows violent crime is down in the cities that have received the most migrants. still, disinformation is influencing public opinion. right? listen to the texas residents we caught up with at the border yesterday. >> that's what they are doing now, taking advantage of our country versus what trump had put into place. >> we don't know who they are. they are not being vetted. it's a number one issue. being here and what we see, it is for us. >> i notice a difference between the migrants who are just coming across going, hey, i'm here, pick me up and the ones that are crossing and trying to avoid pickup. >> we are being invaded. that's the way i feel. security is not what it used to be in eagle pass. >> what do you say to those residents who want to see trump policies come back? >> i think you are right. i think the real facts are not
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getting out there. that's on us to make sure that people know. it's very easy to demagogue on immigration and create fear. what study after study has shown is immigrants commit crimes in way less numbers than citizens. report after report going back as well as most recently have shown that immigrants are a benefit to the economy. the non-partisan cbo report just said, immigrants would add trillions of dollars over the coming years. people need to understand the facts and see what's going on. these are desperate people coming. the most important thing is we really create something that will work. there's the humanity part. quick fixes won't work. i've been doing this a long time. desperate people in danger will come no matter what. the key is what president biden said. get more officers and judges. that takes resources so we can have a streamlined procedure.
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people who have a claim can be allowed in. people who don't can be removed. that's a sad fact that we can't take everyone who is in desperate straits. we can't say we're going to close the border even to desperate people. after world war ii, we said we would never send people back to danger without at least a screening. that's what i hear from president trump. that's what he did. i think president biden has an opportunity to say there's no quick fix, desperate people are going to come, let's fix the system with more resources. >> it's not simple. you know that. both parties seem to agree right now that it is all dysfunctional. there has to be some kind of change made. we have heard some republicans saying, well, this president could take executive action. the president has at least talked about reforming the asylum system and taking some kind of executive action that
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would make it harder for claim asylum, that would be able to fast track deportation. he has talked about closing the border once it reaches a certain threshold. your thoughts about those proposals? >> i think closing the border to asylum would be unlawful. i think president biden should back away from that. it's not going to work. it would be inhumane. it will face legal challenges. i think where he is right is to say, we need more resources. you are hitting on it exactly. there is no quick fix. that's what everyone is trying to do, a quick fix with a sound bite. we need to have resources. congress needs to provide more resources. that's the only way the system can be fixed. everyone on both sides thinks, let's make it move quickly. no one thinks seven years for an asylum case is right. it requires resources. there's no easy fix. people are going to come. they always have come. let's have a more streamlined process. i think these quick fixes that
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we are hearing from president biden are going to face serious legal challenges. he ought to focus on getting more resources. >> we know that bill had more resources, $20 billion worth of bipartisan border deal resources. thank you for coming on. it's a conversation to be continued. >> thanks for having me. fighting inequality. the president of the national urban league will join us with the realities for black american america. stay right there. stay right thee you skipped a step. tresemmé silk serum. use before styling for three days of weightlessly smooth hair that frizz can't beat. new tresemmé keratin smooth collection. you always got your mind on the green. not you. you! your business bank account with quickbooks money now earns 5% apy. (♪♪) that's how you business differently. intuit quickbooks. ma, ma, ma—
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welcome back. a new report published today by the national urban league finds all is not equal for black americans. the report says when it comes to economic and social status, black americans are missing about a quarter of the equality that white americans enjoy. the 2024 state of black america report takes a look at how things have changed for black americans as we approach now the 60-year anniversary of the 1964 civil rights act. the report analyzes new data on voting, poverty and incarceration rates as well as president biden's progress on his commitment to racial justice. the president and ceo of the national urban league is joining us now. thanks for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> it's fascinating and important to look at this issue. your report says black americans
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just enjoy 75% of the pie when it comes to equality. why that 75%? what's behind that? what areas are inequal? >> thank you for having me. context, 60 years after the civil rights act of 1964 when the divisions in america, the playing field in america was far more uneven. the first question is, have we made progress since 1964? obviously, the answer is yes. however, parody is still elusive. today, while we have made progress, that parody still rema remains. if we continue the pace we have been going, it's 180 years way. homeownership rates, jobless rates, income levels, wealth ex
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data sets into an index to make it easy and understandable for people to get a sense of not the rhetoric ofity of equality. that's available for free. >> what can be done to then accelerate the rate? you mentioned 180 years at the rate we are going, we will still be inequal if we keep on keeping on. have you been able to identify what it will take to get there faster? >> let me just identify, if you will, before touching that what thwarts progress. in the instant case, we now see a new aggressive backlash. it attacks diversity, equity and inclusion, which is really about economic opportunity. it attacks access to the ballot in terms of voter suppression,
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gerrymandering, voter purges. for example, it attacks tools like the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit which lift people out of poverty. in many respects, there's a policy agenda for minimum wage to a commission on reparations to substantial reform of policing and accountability and the criminal justice system. yes. i think i like people to remember that from 1965, '66, to 1980, after the passage of the civil rights act, after the voting rights act, after the johnson since then there's been progress two steps forward, one step back, and that's the context of today, so i remain powerfully optimistic, but realistic that we've got to resist the resistance movement that is seeking to thwart progress in america. >> we only have about a minute left here, but i'm curious to get your take on just your assessment of the biden administration. i know this is something you
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looked into, and it's an election year the what's your assessment? >> we looked at president biden's commitments, his promises, and his performance, and he fares well with significant unfinished business. so i think we have to urge people to look at the facts and look at the record. what did the president promise? he promised an african american woman as vice president. he promised an african american woman on the supreme court. he promised an economy and now the black unemployment rate is about half of what it was the day he took office. so when we look at the facts, the case is that the president has substantially met, but we also recognize unfinished business in a range of areas, so this is a progress report. >> student loans. >> more on student loans, police accountability. >> voting rights. >> voting right, living wage, a commission on reparations. there are a range of things we outlined in the report that we
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encourage the president to double down on, emphasize, and renew his commitment. but let's be honest, his commitments, the fact that he made explicit commitments were historic, and i would give the president a powerful mark in terms of working to live up to those commitments, but there is more to be done. >> and as you mentioned, people can read the full report with a lot more context and just color and texture and just richness. thank you very much for coming in. >> thanks for having me. >> we're just minutes away now from the closing arguments in the bid to disqualify fulton county district attorney fani willis and her entire office from the trump 2020 election interference case for alleged misconduct, and back with us now is former federal prosecutors joyce vance and paul butler. thanks, guys, for sticking around as we get ready for these closing arguments, joyce. i think the biggest question here is could this judge remove lead prosecutor nathan wade and not d.a. willis, or do they both
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come together? are they going to be a a packag here? >> that's a great question, ana, and the important legal point here is that the defense, who's making the argument that one or both of them should be disqualified, that they bear the burden of proof of establishing that each of them has a financial conflict of interest in order to merit disqualification. so while it's theoretically possible that the judge could decide that one but not the other needs to step down, i think it's most likely that he'll focus on this issue of whether the defense has met its burden of proof because at best the testimony has been equivocal, and their big witness really failed to go forward on the witness stand saying that his memory wasn't unclear, that he couldn't say with certainty the date that their relationship started on. so it's very likely that this ends up being a wash, but it leaves a significant blemish on
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fani willis's reputation. >> paul, what will you be looking for as these closing arguments get underway? >> i think the defense will try to introduce those text messages that came out after the hearing on tuesday, but really cast doubt about mr. bradley's credibility. i think the prosecution may try to introduce an affidavit from a witness in california who said that he saw d.a. willis and mr. wade visit a winery where he was an employee there, and she paid in cash money. so that corroborates both her claims that she often paid her fair share when they went on vacation and that she often paid in cash money, and of course, there will be more aspersions on the credibility of mr. bradley. if mr. bradley were actually on trial, i think a jury could well not find him credible. as d.a. willis likes to remind
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us, donald trump and his co-defendants are the people on trial, not the prosecutors source this has been a tacky side show. nobody including d.a. willis has come out looking their best. >> just a quick lightning round ten seconds each, what do you think the chances are d.a. willis keeps this case? joyce? >> i think she'll keep the case. she may face ethics proceedings with the bar, but there's no reason to disqualify her. >> paul. >> i agree as usual with joyce, she's right. the defense has not met its burden of proof. >> all right, thank you both so much. paul butler, joyce vance, happy friday. enjoy the weekend. again, we have those live pictures insides courtroom where this hearing's about to get underway. that's going to do it for us today. i'm going to hand it off to my colleague after a quick break. that does it for "andrea mitchell reports." andrea's back on monday. i'll see you monday at 10:00 a.m. eastern, have a wonderful weekend. "chris jansing reports" with katy tur starts right after this. rts right after this ...with pfizer's abrysvo a vaccine to prevent lower respiratory disease from rsv
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♪♪ good to be with you, i'm ta katy tur bringing you special coverage for the next three hours out of fulton county, georgia, where judge mcafee will hear the final arguments in the fani willis disqualification hearings. what will he decide? the prosecution and the defense here have essentially swichld places for these hearings, with lawyers for the accused 17 co-conspirators including donald trump, acting like prosecutors