. >> looking ahead to attorney general merrick garland who is set to appear before one of your committees, the house judiciary committee for the first time on thursday, with the topics ranging from january 6th to texas abortion law and the assaults on voting rights, what do you want to ask the attorney general? >> so that is a great question, alex. a lot also depends on what the people before me ask the attorney general. >> good point. >> so i do have a thousand questions i would like to ask merrick garland, so it will depends on what is asked before it gets to me. >> i would suggest, though, those topics are among those consideration, those three that i rattled off? >> yes, absolutely. >> okay, what about "politico," which is predicting a tense and contentious hearing especially with republicans likely to dig in on the hot button issues like the ones around vaccine mandates and crime in major cities. are you preparing for gop fireworks? something you've certainly seen before. >> i'm prepared that radical republicans are going to continue to be extreme and say dangerous things. for exampl

if you think back to when mitch mcconnell said that merrick garland couldn't be appointed to the supreme court because it wasn't fair to appoint him in the same year that the president was going to be leaving office, and then, of course, he turned around a few years later, after lecturing america and pointing his finger at us and lecturing on the virtues of when scotus's should be appointed and then turned around and put amy coney barrett in within 60 days. if we don't reform the filibuster, we need to do 50 votes just for this, because what's happening right now, redistricting across the country, how black and brown communities are being trampled over and how in states like texas, where they're debating redistricting right now, trying to tie these black and latino districts into yurl districts where there's been no growth. voting rights in this country are being set back right now and states where republican legislatures are dominating the redistricting process and you've already seen these egregious anti-voting bills that republicans keep throwing up and the american public's face and

part of the reason that biden named merrick garland as attorney general is because he wanted someone there running the department, who would be totally apolitical and who hadn't ever been part of his political -- of biden's political ambitions. biden put garland in place at doj, specifically so that he would help the department reassert its independence from political institutions. and that -- the result of that is, the result of that project, moving forward, effectively, is this uncomfortable moment, where biden, at least in the justice department's view, overstepped by suggesting a particular prosecution should take place and the justice department succinctly, firmly, and politely pushed back and said, the president's allowed to say what he wants to say, to paraphrase doj, but we're not going to be deciding how to bring cases or who to bring cases against based on anything that the white house tells us. >> which given the last four years, five years, almost, is refreshing. betsy woodruff, thank you, my friend. >>> suing donald trump. he has been trying to dodge tomorrow's depositio

the question for merrick garland is, is that what the rule of law means to him? and i don't think it is. >> you're the lawyer. i have to say allegedly, allegedly defrauding his supporters. steve bannon, you know -- >> allegedly. >> yeah. he is a real mench. i can't see him doing that. look, the law -- part of what is so maddening, right, this has been true from, the you know, the earliest days, like, this is a guy who skated his whole life. he wriggled out of stuff. "the new york times" ran a 10,000 word piece accusing him of criminal tax fraud, you know, in black and white. there is multiple criminal investigations. one in fulton county. there is one in the manhattan district attorney's office. what's been impeached twice. he whipped up a violent insurrection in front all of us which we all saw. bannon has been pardoned saying i am going to get away with it. the law isn't that super clear, or is it? what controls here? that is the worry, too? what a court does with this and whether the house has the power that they want tro have and believe they should have here

they have proven time and again, that they are getting away with, it in the question for merrick garland, is is that with the rule of law, means to him, and i don't think it is. >> you're the lawyer that allegedly defrauding his supporters. steve bannon, he's a real -- we've got a situation to, where, look part of what's so maddening here, is. it's been true since early's stays, this is a guy skated as well. life is wiggle out of stuff. the new york times ran a 10,000 word piece basically accused him of criminal tax fraud. in black and way, another thing the new york times says lately, there's multiple criminal investigations in there's one in fulton, county there's one in the manhattan district attorney's office. he's been impeached twice. he whipped up a violent insurrection, in front of all of. us which we also. here's bannon who's been part, and saying i'm going to get away with. it the lie here is that it's super clearer is? it won't controls? you that is really the worry, two-way's report does with all, this is whether the house is essentially the power that they want to have and b

garland's department to decide what's next for stephen. congressman gerry me raskin who's a democratic artisan in maryland, who issued that subpoena to steve bannon last month. today's vote came down, roughly where i thought it was. the way if i had to give over under, probably a few more republican votes than i would've guessed. what did you think? >> yeah, there are definitely more republican votes than i was expecting. given that kevin mccarthy was whipping the vote very hard, to try to get everybody on the side of not issuing the criminal contempt referral from bannon. so, i was pleased that there are both a number of people on the republican side who had voted to impeach donald trump, also in this group, but there are also some new ones like nancy maze from south carolina who is my counterpart on the oversight subcommittee on civil rights and several liberties. she just said she believes in the rule of law, and how can congress, with a straight face, go forward in ever issue is subpoenas again, if we're not gonna see anybody else subp

garland, the attorney general targeting parents at school board meetings, some on the left calling them domestic terrorists, meanwhile, there were a real terrorist gathering in the wake of the fall of afghanistan so seeing is believing, what is the truth here? >> absolutely, those are all great points and it's important to remember as you know starting next year, every week that passes, we get closer to next year's elections so every week that we get closer, more and more democrats are going to wake up and start speaking acknowledging reality which is that there is a crisis and it does cross everything. for example, joe biden just now in his remarks talked about how he wants to lower child care costs for families. everybody wants people to have lower child care pair that's not the issue. the issue is how do you get there and the credibility problem comes in if you're going to lower the cost of child care the way you lowered gas prices and the price of meat at the grocery store, no thank you. americans don't want lower prices like that, they want actual lower prices. >> anita: i want to

on the doj aspect peter brought up, i cover the department of justice and a spokesman for merrick garland after president biden said he believes defying subpoenas should be prosecuted, anthony coley said the department of justice will make its own independent decisions based on facts and law, period, full stop, end of quotation. >> sandra: all right, david live at the white house for us. >> john: keith kellogg, former national security advisor to president trump and vice president pence. you served alongside colin powell. panama was a deployment you had a lot of contact with him, your thoughts on his passing? >> he was an american icon. two great stories. i was assault brigade commander. we were taking out targets and that night after i had come back from taking targets, i was called by the general and said, your dad died. it was pretty emotional moment. we had gone through a lot. 10 days later colin powell came down as chairman of the joint chiefs and started questioning intelligence officers and talking about the invasion. colin powell stopped him and looked at me and said, tell me abou

"mcauliffe was also asked about merrick garland's october 4th memo addressing recent school board protest that virginia has been ground zero four. mcauliffe responded "listen, i believe the attorney general of the night states to make their decisions. i had no knowledge of it, they will make their own decisions, we want to keep our schools say." today republican candidate glenn duncan said this. >> he's losing it, he knows his race is slipping away from him. >> mcauliffe walked off after 10 minutes of an interview. >> john: a new monmouth poll came out today. 46-46. as an old colleague of mine once said, this is kick tight. >> sandra: thanks, john. this controversy has spread far beyond virginia. many other places in the nine states are dealing with this. our next guest has been looking at the study of critical race theory in her kids classrooms. as well as math mandates at her children's colorado schools. molly lamarr has three children in the cherry creek school district in denver. molly, i know you have four kids. three in school. i know you have been actively involved in the school bo

merrick garland is not going to do an inspection. he was asked if he would and he said, it was noncommittal but it looked like a note to me. >> john: because it was a local issue. if you think on the subject of his son-in-law, and he said look i welcome a review of this in the department of justice, i got nothing to hide here. how about it. murray and i, good to talk to you and thanks for your perspective on things. >> sandra: thank you miranda. let's bring in colorado congressman ken buck just questioned -- the judiciary committee and as you know the house is set to vote on the ban and contempt of congress. we do expect hearing will reconvene in the next few moments but, you just had the chance to question him, and specifically you asked about a special counsel for hunter biden. he was the exchange, listen. >> will you appoint a special counsel to investigate hunter biden? >> for the same reason i'm not able to respond to investigations of the former president or of anywhere else, i'm not able to discuss any investigations pending o

merrick garland directed the f.b.i. to investigate parents over school policies and vaccine mandates and critical race theory and vaccine mandates. 17 attorneys general blasted the feds for stepping on parents rights. >> the attorneys general across the country, some of us, we're the first line of defense and maybe the last line of defense against this creeping and running socialism that we have. >> this is extreme overreach by the biden administration and i'm proud of these parents for standing up for their young people. for caring about their children enough to have their voices heard. >> dana: jonathan hunt has more on this. hi, jonathan. >> good morning. a scene being repeated across the country in the past few months. parents on both sides of the vaccine mandates issues and both sides of the argument over teaching what some call ethnic studies, others critical race theory passionately arguing their cause and some sometimes crossing a line. >> we know who you are. we know who you are. we know who you are. we can fin

attorney general merrick garland on capitol hill as we speak. lawmakers will grill him on everything from immigration and the border crisis to abortion laws, covid mandates and his threats against educators. i'm dana perino. bill hemmer is off today. good morning trace. >> trace: i'm trace gallagher. the nation's top law enforcement officer appearing for the first time before the house judiciary committee facing tough questions from both sides of the aisle on a long lils of hot button issues. committee member mike johnson told us earlier about some major concerns. watch this. >> millions of americans and all of us, all the republicans on this committee deeply concerned that president joe biden and attorney general merrick garland have weaponized the justice department. inserting the d.o.j. into culture war matters and using it to attack republican-led state initiatives. eroding constitutional norms along the way while they try to push these far left policies. >> trace: david spunt is live at the justice department with more. good morning. >> goo

trace. >> trace: attorney general merrick garland faced tough questions on capitol hill on the growing list of issues the justice department is facing including the crisis at the southern border and controversial memo directing the feds to help address threats against educators. he also faced questions on hunter biden's art sales which led to this exchange with congressman ken buck. watch. >> will you appoint a special counsel to investigate hunter biden? >> i'm not able to respond to questions about investigations of the former president or of anyone else. i'm not able to discuss any investigations pending or. >> you work for the department of justice for 15 years and are you allowed to tell us whether you will appoint a special counsel. you may not tell us whether you are investigating or not investigating a particular matter but you are allowed to tell us whether you will appoint a special counsel and that's my question. >> we'll be taking it under advisement. >> trace: congressman buck joins us now. good morning. i saw your art show yesterday and found it very compelling. i talked

merrick garland immediately put the brakes on that and said, no, the department would actually work independently and review evidence. what does that say to you between what the biden administration may want to happen versus what we're seeing with an independent department of justice? >> it will be really, really fascinating to see how the doj handles this contempt referral which we think will happen. the white house has positions on things. they did make a very, very strong point both in nominating attorney general garland, a very solid, non-partisan reputation. and after the trump administration making a point they'll be independent. at the same time he also talked about how it's getting to the bottom of january 6th is critical for our democracy. it is going to be an interesting tension in terms of how these issues are handled. >> susan, last question here on this, do you believe that the commission will subpoena trump? and what are the fault lines if they do or don't? >> i don't believe they'll subpoena donald trump. i think that would just be too much of a circus. and if they can't get to the

garland to delay. >> it is my wishes for the attorney general to decide to expedite the process. we hope that the attorney general sees the importance of moving ahead with this indictment, moving ahead with locking steve bannon up. you can't conduct an insurrection on the government of the united states of america and nothing happen. he has to do his job. >> joining me now, leigh ann caldwell. and also susan page and kimberly atkins. bring us up-to-date. apparently the committee is united behind that. >> the committee is united behind this and they will meet on tuesday where they will vote and likely refer that steve ban nongets criminal contempt charges. that would then go to the house of representatives for a full vote where once again it is expected to pass. and if it does pass, then it would go to the department of justice where the u.s. attorney for the district of columbia would take up the case. now, most people expect the u.s. attorney to in fact move forward with that prosecution. that is when steve ban noncould either be acquitted, he could be found guilty. if he is acq

., merrick garland, to agree to proceed. then they have to go to the courts, get a grand jury convened, and it is a process. >> yes, and the d.o.j. said we're handling it by the book and no political pressure. so even though they say they want to see action here, the doj made it very clear that it is by the book. >> kristin, talk about your view. the president put his finger on the scale on a way that he said he wouldn't. and the justice department quickly came out with a statement saying, you know, we'll do our thing on our own. so we don't know what what he is going to do, but the president, do he did indicate he thinks it should be approved. >> it is great to be back, so great to be with you. he was asked if those that defy asked if he show be subpoenaed and he said yes. jen was pressed on that repeatedly yesterday and she dug in, she swiped away and said yes, he still believes it should belied up to. that it is independent from the executive branch. she said he is not backing away from the very tough comments and it come

attorney general merrick garland testified today and giving to hint as to what he will decide to do. joining us now is joyce vance. if the house refers to bannon has is respected with all republicans going against, is the attorney general going to go ahead and charge him? what do you think the justice department will do? >> it is hard to predict what this justice department right now. what merrick garland has done is committed that doj will use the same principals of federal prosecution that they have used to decide in any other situation whether or not there should be an indictment. whether or not that is evidence to obtain and sustain a conviction. if it the prost kus is a matter of national interest, and and i suppose it is possible that he could, the civil remedy is sufficient. in a case like this where there is just a raw effort for the oversight abilities, this would be the case. >>. >> what about the prosecution? is it contempt? >> thee ratically congress can file a lawsuit and we saw them do that with don mcgann and it was 750 days from the time he was subpoenaed to when he a

if it passes, next steps will be determined by attorney general merrick garland's justice department. as we speak the attorney general testifying before the house on a separate issue. we're going to share with you what he just said a few moments ago when he was asked about january 6th, and steve bannon. also less than an hour from now, president biden, vice president harris will be marking the 10th anniversary of the dedication of the martin luther king junior memorial in our nation's capitol. when it starts, we'll take you there. that's not all we're following this hour. there's a crisis in our classrooms. we simply do not have enough teachers in this country. i'll talk to two folks on the front lines of this issue about why, and how to fix it. also ahead, backlash for netflix. employees staging a mass walkout over the streaming giant's handling of a dave chappelle standup featuring comments about the trans community. we start with a full house vote expected this afternoon on whether to refer former trump adviser steve bannon to the department of justice for criminal charges of conte

attorney general merrick garland making remarks right now. he's joined by his assistant attorney general. let's listen in. >> at the same time that the federal government was constructing this monument to justice, it was instituting a profoundly unjust nationwide real estate practice known as redlining. redlining is a process by which lenders deny services to individuals in a neighborhood because of the race or national origin of the people who live in those communities. redlining has its roots and programs that were designed to make home ownership widely available for the american people, but that purposely excluded minority neighborhoods from accessing purposely excluded minority neighborhoods from accessing those benefits. much has changed since the federal government engaged in depression era redlining but zrim father practices by financial institutions still exists. unfortunately, redlining remains a persistent form of discrimination that harmed communities. lending discrimination runs counter to fundamental promises of our economic syst

this is congressman adam schiff on merrick garland's reluctance to look back yards. obviously f the d.o.j. chooses no the prosecute, bennie thompson's commitments may not hold. let me show you that. >> look, i think there is a real desire on the part of the attorney general for the most part not to look backward. do i disagree with that? i do disagree with that. and i disagree with it most vehemently when it comes to what i consider even more serious offenses. for example, a taped conversation of donald trump on the phone with brad raffensperger, the secretary of state from georgia, trying to coerce him into fraudulently finding 11,780 votes. because i think so if you or i did that, we would be under indictment by now. >> so, claire, the question is, do you believe that under merrick garland, d.o.j. will enforce these contempt votes in the house? >> it will be interesting to see, first, how quickly d.o.j. acts, and what they do, whether they pursue civil contempt or criminal contempt. if they quickly pursue criminal contempt, we have another problem. that is, there w

todd: attorney general merrick garland getting push back after calling for federal intervention against parents protesting school policies. four members of the commission say he provided no examples of threats to justify federal action, saying we're concerned with what the school board calls threats and they could be classified as political speech. they say the parents are making them proud to be americans and they asked garland to provide evidence of widespread threats against school boards. carley: stacy abrams hitting the campaign trail for terry mcauliffe in virginia, two churches in black communities were among the failed georgia's gubernatorial stop. she says voting is an act of faith. meanwhile, former president barack obama will also stump for mcauliffe in the closing weeks of the state's consistent tested -- contested race. he will join mcauliffe on saturday. todd: santa monica pier, going to be a lovely day, highs in the mid-60s. carley: senior meteorologist janice dean is here with our fox weather forecast. apparently it's going to be a lovely day in santa monica. >> what do

todd: i was promised merrick garland was a moderate. what happened? >> this is nothing -- this is like something you might read about that i read about when i was in school in germany or russia. you know, we had all these riots in 2020 with looting and burning and threats and no investigation. actual violence. here we have parents that just care about what's being taught in their schools whether it's critical race theory or whether it's these mandates that are forcing kids to wear masks. and they are being threatened with if they are angry or want to express their concern. i don't know. i'm shocked. i don't think -- i haven't seen anything like this ever. carley: yeah, that's the main point. i think that the biden administration really made an unforced political error. i mean, attorney general, how many political ads do you think are going to run in the midterm elections where they are about concerned parents being called domestic terrorists? >> look, i have heard so much about this from parents all over my state. they are concerned about this threat

carley: merrick garland grilled by republicans on capitol hill over his call for the fbi to investigate parents. ashley: jackie ibanez joins us as an email shows the white house know about a letter calling parents to mystic terrorists weeks before it was sent to the president. >> reporter: those emails show the white house in communication with the national school board association for weeks before the liberal organization sent a letter calling parents opposed to critical race theory domestic terrorists and asking for patriot act surveillance and yesterday ag garland faced a barrage of questions from republicans on that bombshell memo. >> the national school board association says these kind of threats. >> any connection with the school board letter and 5 days later your memo regarding school board issues? >> the letter was brought to our attention, a relevant factor. >> he denied agree with the substance of the school board letter. >> i can't imagine any circumstance in which the patriot act would be used in circumstances of parents complaining about their children nor can i imagine a

garland won't prosecute the former president. speak of the justice department taking a position that you can't prosecute a sitting president which i also disagree with to say now that is a practical matter, you can't prosecute a former president. doesn't make him against the law? that is a dangerous proposition in the abstract given that trump is already running for president again, it's a more dangerous prospect for the future. spell like that famous line from "breck broke back mountain" just can't quit. but chuck todd is surprised that people are not more outraged by this. it's because this might be a little bit disturbing to the folks in d.c. that are alarmed about january 26 -- january 6, 40% want to hear more, 56% of folks told quinnipiac they know enough already, and boy, i would argue that we have not gotten much at all, right? it has been technically no new information in quite some time. >> will: we know, but that has not stopped you from covering it every single day for the last nine months, so here to react, the host o

we start on capitol hill where merrick garland was on the hot seat, the attorney general was grilled over his doj memo targeting concerned parents at school board meetings, it all started last month when the national school board association sent a letter to joe biden demanding action over what they call violence and intimidation at board meetings across the country but listen to this. new reporting reveals that the ns b.a. had "collaborated with the biden white house before sending a controversial letter calling on the fbi to investigate parents as potential domestic terrorist. "was the biden administration colluding, with the national school board administration, with the white house weaponize the doj to label parents all across this great nation as domestic terrorists? the answers to those questions seem to be unequivocally yes. the justice department and then quickly followed the ns b.a.'s lead a memo saying they would identify and prosecute these domestic threats. but how did the doj reach that conclusion? did they do some type of in-depth research? did they conduct a nationwide

garland would be so silly as to write the memo that merrick garland did indeed write. that i think seem to be on board with the national school board's association. and that really dismayed us. so we thought it was important to write a letter that would point out that these parents are doing what parents are supposed to do. they are caring about their children's education. ainsley: peter, isn't it well within a parent's first amendment right. >> absolutely h this fund mental right to address the government for the redress of grievances it has a chilling effect on the right of these parents to do it. when you have the attorney general inadvocate justice department and including the fbi's national security division to investigate individuals simply expressing concern about ideology and campuses and academia today. some of the violence occurred in loudoun county this is some of the stuff that the progressives understood they touched a third wral critical race theory and some of the other lunacies pervading education. they wanted to suppress that. this is something have yo

>> we are in a dead heat in virginia and education because people like merrick garland and the biden administration have come after and put a target on the backs of the parents and said we and of course terry mcauliffe said we don't have a place in our children's education and i think parents across the virginia, not just fairfax or loudoun county have had enough. we want a say in our children's education. we are the primary stakeholders and our children's education unlike u.s. secretary said we are just important, no, we are not important, we are the primary and it's not the place of the government to put themselves between us and our children. reporter: we have been hearing that from parents all over the state. i want to talk to william who used to be in public school and your mom took you out. what is the climate like on campus? >> we wore masks for longtime. we were out of school and i had some teachers showing me woke videos and it was horrible. reporter: what were those videos like? >> it was degrading to watch. reporter: did you feel attacked and those videos? >> in some sense

and how i thought merrick garland did not dom play yesterday. america dodged a bullet when he did not come a supreme court justice. he had no answer with it. did you ever consult with ethics official about the fact that your son-in-law and possibly your daughter is on panorama as investor or creator making millions of dollars on crt? didn't come up. i'm just investigating parents. excuse me, how could that not come up? he had a nonanswer. how could he be unprepared as the attorney general of the country to answer that? ainsley: 6:12 on the east coast. brian laundrie found dead as the fbi confirms his remains were found in a florida swamp. next a live support with his family's response to rumors they planted evidence at the site. brian: president biden claims he has been on the border despite there is no record he has been on the border. is this a town hall tale? da'da da. ♪ ♪ [narrator] this is steve. he used to have gum problems. now, he uses therabreath healthy gums oral rinse with clinically-proven ingredients and his gum problems have va

merrick garland has done, the department leadership and fbi following through on this is un-american. this is tantamount to sedition. this is not the intended use of the muscle of the american public. you don't feel outrage. i tell you what, dimis is a loudon county parent ground sear of this issue. >> these people are part of the woke nation. they want bruni points from the people. they don't care about the parents or children at all. the fifth-grader just starting to learn how to multiply and divide, that is a bad sign that should be done in third grade. we spoke up. the entire nation is speaking up, tell it to the parents. do not give up. be involved in your parents curriculum. be involved in your school. do not give up. pete: they had an impact. a member of that school board had to resign. the superintendent is under fire for covering up a sexual assault happened because it was a gender bathroom policies. parents standing up, what they're meeting is, not equal justice to your point. you talked a lot about this what happens in countries when they lose the idea of equality under the

garland to issue a memo this past week asking for a task force over this. we'll get to that in a second. what's your reaction to what the administration is doing? >> i think that what they've done is a huge mistake. there is no evidence anywhere that state and local law enforcement have been overwhelmed because of threats of violence or violence against school board officials or educators. obviously, threats of violence and violence, those are already against the law, so there's absolutely no justification for them and they should be handled. the problem is when the department of justice involves itself at the behest of the biden administration, and uses terms like domestic terrorism to describe parents, it is going to have an impact, it's going to intimidate a lot of parents into silence because, again, most people are not hardwired to show up at a public meeting and speak about their concerns at a microphone. that is something that takes courage for a lot of people to do. if you're on the fence about doing it and now you're hearing that you may be labeled

garland, the federal formal judge leading that process which what transparency looks like if we want government to uphold the rules of law. >> shannon: sound like they're trying to stay hands off and let it proceed. >> if we want to uphold the rule of law we need to start at the border where we have hundreds of thousands of illegals coming at the border but the reality -- hunter biden is the greatest example of liberal provision the history of america and this is just another example. >> shannon: leave it there. we appreciate your time. have to leave it there and we will watch that investigation and have faith that we will be handled independently. and tw mention this, the border crisis fox news has of exclusively obtained leaked border patrol documents that show the biden administration has leaked more than 70,000 immigrants into the u.s. in the last two months alone. that includes granting parole to nearly 32,000 migrants since august 6th. a move under federal law that is only to be granted for noncitizens on a case-by-case basis for urgent humanitarian reasons or significant publi

garland of trying to criminalize free speech. dueling demonstrations outside netflix headquarters on the streets of los angeles wednesday as a large group of the streaming giants employees staged a walkout in protest of a controversial comedy special from dave chapelle. end of the company's handling of complaints related to it, that's where we begin tonight's lightning round with the author of oak inc., great to see you. the ceo had been defending dave chapelle at least in the respect that we are about free speech, we aren't going to muzzle people and shut things down. that has changed a bit, here is what he said more recently. him "when i should've led within those emails and the internal discussions with humanity. he said in an interview tuesday evening, i should have recognized the fact that a group of our employees was really hurting. "he was about free speech and now he said he didn't want to hurt anybody, he has heard their requests and their concerns, where does this debate go? i haven't seen it and i think you have. >> ba

merrick garland in the hot seat on capitol hill thursday. republicans on the house judiciary committee peppering the ag over his recent memo focusing on parents and students over their conduct and comments at school board meetings and beyond. the attorney general said he defends the right to free speech and that the parents are not domestic terrorists but that issue and others made for heated moments in that hearing. rick has a story for us. speak out and two and a half weeks after warning of an increase in threats of violence against school administrators, attorney general merrick garland appeared before the house judiciary committee defending department of justice against criticism that the government is unfairly targeting parents. >> when did you first review the data showing the soap called disturbing uptake? >> i read the letter and we've been seeing over time -- >> i didn't asked -- you read the letter. that is your source? >> that letter is a september 30th plea from the national school boards association to president biden. to "inves

i pulled a merrick garland. >> yeah. that's a good -- i'm just going to do that from now on, that's a merrick garland. >> no one is holding a gun to your head, if you don't want to audition for a beauty pageant buried >> greg: there's another idea for a show! gun to your head beauty pageant! so they got to walk in and you have a gun and they've got to do all the stuff, answer the questions, there's got to be a bikini thing, but they have to have a gun to their head! >> and the ones who lose get their internal organs looked at. >> greg: this is already better than that ""squid game"." >> this is so much better than shark tank. >> greg: it is. having said that, i don't think this will work and i'm out. >> those people don't even spend their own money. don't go away, we will be right back. ♪ ♪ battling sensitive skin, we switched to tide hygienic clean free. it's gentle on her skin, and out cleans our old free detergent. tide hygienic clean free. hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin. at t-mobile for business, unco

here's what merrick garland had to say when he was asked about this by the judiciary committee earlier today. >> the house of representatives votes for referral of a contempt charge, the department of justice will do what it always does in such circumstances. we'll apply the facts in the law and make a decision consistent with the principles of prosecution. >> so, pete, how will they make that decision? because as you've been reporting, it's not exactly straightforward. >> no, it's not. i think there are factors to weigh on both sides. on the one hand the committee has a clearly demonstrable need for this. the administration has endorsed that need, saying this was the worst attack on the u.s. since the civil war. the president's claim of executive privilege here is relatively weak because biden has said it should be waived for documents and testimony, specifically on steve bannon as well. this executive privilege anyway applies only to official comp communications. and that presumably what the committee wants to know about was not the president's official business. those are reasons we

merrick garland was unaware of it. how is he unaware of it? they pushed through, they injured a police officer, nobody gives a damn. when the portland courthouse, a federal courthouse was attacked night after night with fire and all kinds of stuff, when the police were under attack, who nancy pelosi called stormtroopers, merrick garland says "well, that is not domestic terrorism because nobody there, it was happening at night." meanwhile, they got your parents. liz cheney concerned about that? not in the least. now we have a big problem in this country, ladies and gentlemen, we have a rogue presidency, we have a rogue department of justice, we have an out-of-control democrat-controlled house. by three votes. the democrat-controlled senate. 50/50. by the luck of the constitution, the vice president breaks the tie, and what do they want to do? what do they say they want to do? fundamentally transform our economic system. well, you have a choice. free-market economic system that you have in free countries, that respects individuals, creates growt

. >>> also we're keeping an eye on merrick garland's system before the house judiciary committee on the january 6th insurrection and other issues. >>> meantime the fda authorizes booster shots for the moderna and johnson & johnson vaccines as we learn more about the effectiveness of the pfizer booster shot. >>> and we are live on the ground in haiti, as the search continues for 17 american and canadian missionaries, including children, who were abducted by a haitian gang. >>> and on this latina equal payday, take a closer look at the huge pay gap between latinas and white non-hispanic men. >>> we begin on capitol hill, democrats are once again grappling with how to pay for their multi-trillion-dollar social safety net bill, and arizona senator kyrsten sinema is apposed to raising taxes on the wealthy and corporations to president biden and democratic leaders said is key to funding their reconciliation bill. with me is kristen welker and leighanne caldwell. how does the news affect efforts to get the outline of the bill in place by the halloween deadline for a vote on the bipartisan infr

it's important for folks to remember that no matter what ends up happening, if merrick garland makes the decision to go after steve bannon and we go through the process and he's found guilty, that doesn't mean that he is compelled to testify, right. they're still unlikely to get any information out of steve bannon, so this process is going to go through. and what the house wanted to make sure, especially, those republicans, some of the usual suspects that we've seen voting on bipartisan things, they want to make sure that congressional subpoenas hold weight and power. and that is something that democrats have talked about, like, they have concerns about. you have kevin mccarthy at some point, possibly the speaker of the house, whoever has voted against this, and what does that mean for when he wants an investigation and someone doesn't want to come and talk to some committee or panel that he's created? and that is where these folks are right now. >> eugene daniels and cal perry, thank you for being with me this morning. >>> coming up, we're following several developments in haiti rig

take us inside merrick garland's head, if you can. he would have to sign off on a prosecution. so what's the likelihood of that? >> so i think they could move very quickly. this is pretty open and shut here. there's not much to investigate. the question is whether steve bannon has defied a lawful subpoena. it is pretty clear they had. there is no lawful assertion of privilege from the president. i would expect the u.s. attorney in dc, a long time career doj official named channing phillips, very well-respected by both parties. i expect it would have to be approved by the attorney general himself. the only complicating factor is if the president has gone to court somehow and tried to assert executive privilege to try to either quash the subpoena or in some other way pursue a civil action to block the committee. that might delay the department of justice if it wanted to see how that played out. but i don't think it would have to. if they wanted to move quickly and indict bannon and force the president to try to block that or force bannon to try to block that, they would be well w

. >> the pressure on merrick garland will be intense. and his decision on whether to prosecute will be consequential, not only for bannon and donald trump, but also the future ability of congressional power to call witnesses, demand information and documents, and enforce subpoenas for those who refuse to cooperate. now, if history is any indicator, the doj has historically been reluctant to use its power of prosecution against witnesses found in contempt of congress. and so far, the ag has stressed removing any hint of politics from the doj after the norms destroyed during the trump administration. but the circumstances surrounding the attack on the capitol could push garland to make a move. so will he or won't he? and if he does, how quickly could we see bannon charged? and is it all headed for a cliffhanger at the supreme court? joining us to talk about it are nbc news capitol hill correspondent ali vitali, "washington post" white house bureau chief ashley parker. you've got all the democrats voting for it, expected to, anyway, plus ch

merrick garland mentioned this in his statement yesterday. this is basically a way they deduce whether or not they're going to move forward with prosecution. there's four questions they need to answer. walk us through that and what you expect to happen here, what you expect the answers to be. >> sure. this is just the bible for prosecutors, different questions apply in different situations. but first prosecutors have to be sure that they have sufficient admissible evidence to obtain and sustain a conviction. that question looks like one that they can answer in the affirmative here. betsey references the executive privilege aspect of that question, and if bannon really wanted to assert that in a serious way he would have to appear in front of the committee and assert it question by question that he hasn't done that really influences the calculus here. along with the fact there's an old olc memo that addresses the fact executive privilege could extend to people outside the white house, in a situation like this where the president has already ma

it is a memo that is signed by merrick garland. it is a memo that's gone to the criminal division of the justice department, the national security division, the civil rights division, the executive office of u.s. attorneys, the federal bureau of investigation, as if this is kind of in east german [inaudible]. parents in this country, they are going to spy on you, gather intelligence on you, they are going to track you, and the organizations you belong to, and a special phone number is set up so a teacher or a bureaucrat or union or whomever thinks if you're threatening or harassing them, they will set loose the fbi to come to your home and to interview you. among other things in this memo, loose language, like they are going to look at efforts to intimidate individuals based on their views. they're going to be committing to using their authority and their resources. they have a dedicated line of communication for threat reporting. there's a problem here. the federal government has absolutely no authority whatsoever in the classroom

now the ball is in merrick garland's court. what's your expectation for how quickly the doj will move on this? >> it's my hope and expectation they will move quickly. that they understand the urgency here. and i think there are good signs in what the justice department did with respect to some of the witnesses we wanted to talk to. a former top ranking justice officials. they did not assert executive privilege. they did not assert any kind of work product privilege. and made it clear that they view the public interest in getting all the facts out about that violent attack on our democracy to be paramount. i think that same logic ought to apply here. so it's our hope, it's our expectation, that they will move quickly. >> i want to play for our viewers something that congresswoman liz cheney, the top republican on the january 6th committee, something she said on the house floor yesterday as she explained why steve bannon's testimony in her view is so critical. look at this. >> mr. bannon's own public statements make clear he knew

it's a sign of how deeply and troubled our democracy is. >>> attorney merrick garland helps to contain protesters violent. republicans criticized garland for an october 4th em memo issued. they're asking the biden administration to make action. >> the sometimes over school rules surrounding the pandemic and sometimes over what conservative charged are history that's two lessons -- >> the charge the attorney general repeatedly denied adding of any effect on the curriculum talking or the ability of parents to complain. what we have seen is undeniable and we have seen aggressive behavior by some parent and that goes down to mandates and about masks and critical race theory and the question that comes up to the governor's race that's disposed a lot on education, there is no denying that's ham ng the school board, what about this memo from the justice department set off republicans? >> yeah, it's the republican feeling clearly as we have seen around the country that the parents have the right to protect these man days and have much more influence, why is education has become the number one

police week continues into police weekend this weekend attorney general merrick garland will honor the fallen, president joe biden will do the same saturday at the u.s. capitol. bret. >> bret: david spunt at the doj. thanks. up next, the treacherous journey through central america on the way to the u.s. southern border. we will take you there and we will hear from some migrants who survived it. first, here's what some of our fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. fox 2 in separate cisco, where it's the first day for the city's first responders to be fully vaccinated or risk losing their jobs. the san francisco police association says 120 officers there will be on paid administrative leave. the fire department confirms 41 firefighters are in the same situation. fox 46 in charlotte as south carolina attorney alex marlow is arrested in connection to insurance settlements obtained after the death of his housekeeper in 2018. he's charged with two felony counts of obtaining property by false pretenses. lawyers say the housekeeper's heirs never received money after the fatal

garland, he has launched this partisan lawsuit against georgia and its voting rights. he has this letter out about parents going to school boards. now up the president making this comment. all it does is undermine what little bit of trust had been rebuilt but perhaps this department is going to operate separate and above politics and with its eye, instead, on justice and the law. >> bret: yeah. brit, a little bit of an audible here just in the past few minutes a meeting on capitol hill between senators sanders and manchin and over the weekend. senator sanders wrote an op-ed in west virginia newspaper going after senator manchin for failing to support what he called the human infrastructure bill. what was originally billed as 3.5 trillion and now obviously is getting scaled back. they had a good talk. both of the gentlemen say. but it doesn't seem like this is moving forward, brit. >> it does not. so far, but one has to believe that in the end after all manchin has said he would favor a spending bill a social spending bill just not one as big as the staggering 3.5 trill

expect lawmakers to ask attorney general merrick garland if he will prosecute bannon at a hearing tomorrow. fox has told some gop members will vote yes for bannon because they don't like people ignoring congressional subpoenas. bret? >> bret: chat -- chad pergram. up next, how russia is dealing with afghanistan now that the u.s. gone. >> the american people lost, the afghan people lost. the winners are russia, china and iran. ♪♪ we believe everyone deserves to live better. and just being sustainable isn't enough. our future depends on regeneration. that's why we're working to not only protect our planet, but restore, renew, and replenish it. so we can all live better tomorrow. ♪♪ this isn't just freight. these aren't just shipments. they're promises. big promises. small promises. cuddly shaped promises. each with a time and a place they've been promised to be. and the people of old dominion never turn away a promise. or over promise. or make an empty promise. we keep them. a promise is everything to old dominion, because it means everything to you. >> bret: welcome back to the port

attorney general merrick garland in the hot seat answering multiple questions from republicans about his october 4th memo that directs the federal bureau of investigation working with each united states attorney to convene meetings in each federal judicial district within 30 days of the issuance of this memorandum. >> i think your memo was the last straw. i think it was the catalyst for a great awakening that is just getting started. >> the memo issued five days after the national school board association wrote to president biden about the rise of threats by parents to school board officials writing these heinous actions could be the equivalent of a form of domestic terrorism and hate crimes. >> not in a million years did we dream that one day we would see the justice department treat american parents as domestic terrorists. >> but garland said his memo doesn't use the words domestic terrorism or patriot act. >> i can't imagine any circumstance in which the patriot act would be used in the circumstances of parents complaining about their children, nor can i imagine a circumstance whe

. >> that will more than likely be a topic for attorney general merrick garland, when he testifies before the house judiciary committee next week. meanwhile the white house focused on trying to head off an economic crisis, caused by supply chain disruptions. empty shelves escalating prices for goods, or now realities for so many americans. just ahead, we will have more on what the administration is planning to do about that. meanwhile, we may soon know more about boosters for people who received the moderna and johnson & johnson vaccines, and fda advisory committee will meet tomorrow and friday to decide whether to recommend additional shots. one new study on boosters is now getting a lot of attention, and deservedly so. research from the nih shows the j&j vaccine recipients may fare better, with a second shot of another brand. either moderna or pfizer. we have a doctor, a leading expert in fact standing by to take our questions on all of this. in just a few minutes time. but first, let's bring in our starting line show we. on this wednesday night. the white house correspondent for the pb