Transcripts For MSNBCW The 20240703

The big surprising Legal Development of the day is that defendant donald trump has decided that the trial in the case of Georgia Versus donald trump should take place in a georgia courtroom instead a Federal Court. That news came after a new York State Appeals Court rejected Donald Trumps lastminute attempt to delay the picketing of His Civil Fraud Trial scheduled to begin on monday, after the judge in that case has already ruled that there is overwhelming evidence of Business Fraud committed by donald trump in lying about the value of real estate, including the value of his New York City apartment. His home. Which he claimed is 30, 000 square feet when it is actually one third that size, 10,000 square feet. Which is big. People with 10,000 square foot apartments in new york dont need to project they have a bigger apartment than that. But thats donald trump for you. The most surprising legal news of the day, occurred at 3 45 pm in georgia, when Donald Trumps Criminal Defense Lawyer notified georges Fulton County judge, scott mcafee, that donald trump will not be seeking to remove his case to Federal Court. Tomorrow is the last day that donald trump could have filed a motion to remove his case to Federal Court. Standard legal procedure would simply be to not file that motion. Defendants are under no obligation to tell the court what motions they will not be filing. But in the one page, socalled, notice to the judge. Donald trumps lawyer wanted to include this message to the judge. This decision is based on Donald Trumps well founded confidence that this Honorable Court intends to fully and completely protect his constitutional right to a thorough trial and guarantee him Due Process Of Law throughout the prosecution of his case in the Superior Court of Fulton County, georgia. This is the first time in any of the cases against him that donald trump has decided not to use what could at least be a delaying tactic, even if he did not succeed in removing his case to Federal Court. Special Prosecutor Jack Smith is telling judges in florida and washington, d. C. , that donald trump is deliberately trying to create unnecessary delays in those cases. Jack smiths response to one of the trump Delight Maneuvers and the florida case, in which donald trump is charged with violations of the espionage act and obstruction of justice, jack smith revealed some of the classified documents in that case are so sensitive there is nowhere in florida that is safe enough to store them. Jack smith wrote, quote, there were five charged documents that the defense scif is not currently authorized to store. The owners of four additional charged documents have since requested that those documents not currently be stored in the defense scif, and as a result, on september 26, the classified Information Security officer removed those documents from the scif. The government understands that the classified Information Security officer is working expeditiously to find a location in florida that can store these nine documents. Defense counsel has the necessary ratings to review these documents, and in the meantime, these documents can be made available in the washington, d. C. , area for defense counsels review. Leading off our discussion tonight, harry litman and Senior Legal Affairs columnist for the washington times, also amy lee copeland, a Criminal Defense Attorney and a former georgia federal prosecutor, and bradley moss is with us, a National Security attorney. Harry litman, let me begin with you and the big surprise. Donald trump is not going to attempt to remove his case to Federal Court. Which has two meanings. Hes not even going to attempt to delay his case by trying to remove it to Federal Court. What is your interpretation of the surprise . It was a surprise for me and many others. A few things, lawrence. First, the delay might not have worked very well, anyway, if you look at mark meadows. It looks like the 11th circuit will make quick work of it. He had a long shot, it doesnt deter him. There are two things going on. The first is, in a way that trump thinks about the world, hed rather have the state Court Republican judge who is standing for election next year before the people of georgia, then the Federal Court obama appointed judge in the Removal Proceedings in that case. Which i think he hasnt been very happy about for starters. Second, even if he did testify, and my axiom one is he will never testify, he still would have to show his hand somewhat to break the burden of proof in a removal proceeding. You have to give a little indication of what his defenses were, and with such a long shot of winning, that cost, i think, struck him as not worth paying. So those were the two reasons i think he decided, after which until the very end, as you mentioned, to stand on on the removal attempt. Emily copeland, other than the judge, is there a reason from Donald Trumps Defense Perspective why they might not want to go to Federal Court . Sure, lawrence. There is the television in the courtrooms that are available in state courts. The other thing that struck me about Federal Court is that if metal winds, they might all win and go to Federal Court. It may not have been in his best strategic interest to do this. You know, meadows likely isnt going to win, almost certainly wont win. But if he did, it looks like the whole case would go up with him. But it would be unnecessary for mr. Trump to attempted testify with this. Yes, in state court, he will have televisions. The state Court Proceeding is gummed up for a minute. The trial starting october the 23rd, that will take four months according to the d. A. s office. So once you get into late february, there are all sorts of conflicts that start arising with other schedule trials, and the georgia uniforms period court rules have conflict rules where the state cases balance with federal cases. That might be another way he can kick this can down the road even longer. Bradley moss, whats your reaction to donald trump deciding he wants to stay, or is going to stay, whether he wants to or not, in the Fulton County District Court . I certainly think part of it was the subtle relegal Writing On The Wall but he saw what mark meadows went through, he knows what the 11th circuit is likely going with this. And he certainly doesnt have to get on the stand and testify, which mark meadows had to do, which donald trump would almost certainly need to do in order to make such a bid. I think there is another aspect to this. Donald trump knows that the federal cases arent going to be televised. This is the only one that might be televised if it now stays in the georgia local court, Fulton County. He can make a Media Spectacle out of it, and what does donald trump love . He loves Media Spectacles. He is the king of cable television. Hes the king of reality tv. If anything, he sees a political benefit possibly there, even if he knows hell probably get convicted. And brad, on this issue of there is no place in florida to look at these nine documents in the case, and jack smiths pleading in this explanation to the court, uses the phrase, owners of these documents. That presumably means and todays like the cia or the defense department. What was your reading of that . Yeah, so this is going to get a little nerdy for a second, but give me some leeway here. These documents, theres only three levels of classification, and most certainly, there are all these classified top secret level. But beyond, that there are not a lot of levels of classification, but theyre a lot of compartmentalize things of storage and handling and dissemination controls. Thats what we think about it stis, department of information, think of staff, special access programs, and there are Program Amateurs and program Security Officers within the relevant agencies who decide who can have access and how these documents can be stored. So with the scif in d. C. , almost certainly that was built with his premise in mind for these kinds of documents to always be there. But wherever this florida scif was where theyve got all the other documents, thats a temporary fixture no doubt, wasnt likely set up for this, and the program Security Officer probably said, im sorry, im not signing off on it. You want to see them . Come back out here it is easy, weve got them for you. Harry lippman, so much for the idea that these documents werent classified. They are so classified, you cant even leave them overnight in florida. You know, just looking at them, you could turn the stone. This whole level is a whole different category to make. Brandon vaughn crack, who really knows this stuff here, said that its very interesting, the Intelligence Community, and youre totally right, the owners here being the cia, the people who have these documents, are amenable to having them used in the trump trial. Sometimes, entire trials are scuttleds because Intelligence Community say dont do that, so here they are, and thats pretty remarkable. The second thing that matters here, lawrence, is that hes not charged, trump, with anything having to do with the level of sensitivity. Its just that they were National Defense classified documents. If for any reason, unlike an espionage case, where the content really matters, so if for any reason, there some unfixable opposition about that, they can just throw them out. But for now, were talking about some really seriously breathtakingly sensitive documents, for sure. Amy lee copeland, if the trump theory about stain in judge mcafees courtroom is based on judge mcafee having been a member of the Federalist Society and theyre betting that he is a republican judge who will lean their way, how would you assess that bet . Lawrence, he was a former ita in the Fulton County District Attorneys Office to. And he was championed out here by a Governor Kemp in this role. He was head of the office of inspector and general and for one of the agencies in the state. As a georgian, we all know the Governor Kemp is no friend of president trump. President trump called him a moron in a speech in december of 2020. And the governor of the state of georgia has repeatedly said that hes testifying in this, this is going forward, he has tried to calm down senate calls for fani willis to be taken off this case. So, i understand that he may have the chops on paper that make him seem like a great choice and make them seem sympathetic to mr. Trump. I dont think thats gonna be how it plays out in reality. I think is gonna be very fair and very impartial. Here we go. Bradley moss, we havent seen anything. I havent seen anything with judge mcafee that could indicate hes leaning trumps way. No, not at all, he seems to be very fair and evenhanded. Watching the, which has been nice to see, these televised and audio transcripts and recording of these hearings, seems to be very sensible. I havent seen anything yet to make me think he somehow got it in an agenda. His rulings, even to the extent that he gave access to the grand jurors for chesebro on powell, its very limited in scope in the access they had. As far as i can tell, this is not going to help him, its not gonna help donald trump, is not gonna help chesebro, powell, or any of them at this point. And harry litman, this leaves donald trump with a jury pool in Fulton County that 70 voted for joe biden. Yeah, its a worst jury paul. So to me just shows that he really did see some advantages. By the way, i totally agree that mcafee has been completely professional. But the question is how does trump see it . And he can be pretty, sort of, kneejerk about these matters. One other quick point about mcafee. Hes up an election for 2024. I think that plays to his advantage with Georgia Voters for pressure on mcafee. I think mcafee has been exemplary today. Amy lee copeland, does the judge run in Fulton County . That is where he runs. He runs in Fulton County. And i think Fulton County is large enough that it is its own judicial circuit. So it will simply be the voters in Fulton County who will vote for him. And those Fulton County voters were overwhelmingly biden voters in the last president ial election . They were. The statistics i read where 70 to 80 for the president. So they are overwhelmingly, it is a good word, maybe an understatement. Bradley moss, and we look, open harry lemon, thank you all for starting off a discussion tonight. Thank you, have a gunning. And coming up, today, the Speaker Of The House was shamed, publicly shamed, by the youngest member of the House Of Representatives, Maxwell Frost, in yet another demonstration of Kevin Mccarthys utter incompetence and rank powerlessness as Speaker Of The House. Congressman Maxwell Frost joins us next. Salonpas, makers of powerful Pain Relief Patches for 89 years. Believes in continuous improvement. Like rounded corners that resist peeling, with an array of active ingredients. 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Speaker of the house to be so deservedly disrespected by the youngest member of the House Of Representatives. An Impeachment Inquiry is a grave undertaking that is supposed to be in response to evidence of a crime. On september 1st, to speaker Kevin Mccarthy said that he would not launch a fake Impeachment Inquiry, a sham Impeachment Inquiry. But then on september 12, just 12 days later, he completely changed his mind. They said, you about to lose your job, and they said, you will remove you as Speaker Of The House. And that scared him so much that Kevin Mccarthy, the Speaker Of The House, the United States of representatives, third in line to the presidency completely caved, due to the threats of people within his own caucus. This is is a fake impeachment and it is based on desperate political calculation, not any evidence. The fake Impeachment Hearing that republicans held in the House Of Representatives today, which has not been authorized as an Impeachment Hearing by a vote in the house, went very badly for republicans. Here was their star witness. I do not believe that the Current Evidence would support articles of impeachment. Here is representative jasmine crockett, a house freshman from texas. As i prepared, i said what is the crime . Because, when youre talking about impeachment, youre talking about high crimes or misdemeanors. And, i cant seem to find the crime. And honestly, no one has testified of what crime they believe the president of the United States has committed. But when we Start Talking about things that look like evidence, they want to act like they blind, they dont know what this is. These are our national secrets, looks like this looks like more evidence of our national secrets, say on the stage at maralago. When were talking about somebody that has committed high crimes, and at least indictments, lets say two counts related to unauthorized retention of National Security doll documents, seven counts related to obstructing the investigations, three false statements, one kind of conspiracy to falsify the nine states, conspiracy to rip from a United States, two counts related to efforts to obstruct the vote proceedings, one count and conspiracy to violate civil rights, 23 counts related to forgery or false documents, eight counts related to soliciting, cut 91 count spending right now. I will tell you what the president has been guilty of. He is unfortunately been guilty of loving his child unconditionally, and that is the only evidence that they have brought forward. And honestly, i hope and pray that my parents love me half as much as he loves his child. Until they find some evidence, we need to get back to the peoples work, which means keeping this government open so that people dont go hungry in the streets of the United States, and i will yield. Joining us now is democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost of florida. Hes a member of the House Oversight committee. Congressman, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Viewers of this program that you hear when you were early in your candidacy for the house, and then also when you won your seat. And today, if it was a real Impeachment Hearing, wouldve been quite a historic moment, you wouldve become one of the very few Members Of Congress in history who have actually participated in impeachment proceedings. But this was really Something Else. 100 percent. This was a fake Impeachment Hearing. Fake Impeachment Inquiry, which is based on no facts and absolutely no evidence. And what we went through in my Question Line was the fact that, on september 1st, the Speaker Of The House, Kevin Mccarthy, came out and said no, absolutely not, theres not enough evidence to get into an Impeachment Inquiry with the president United States. And just 12 days later, 12 precious days, he completely changed his mind and decided basis of the biden Impeachment Inquiry. We were supposed to get facts and evidence that help lawyers in that direction, but all we got was more questions, more conjecture, more allegations, and absolutely no evidence and no facts. And this is a very important and serious thing to illegible the president. Is it worthy of impeachment . And we dont get that today. In the House Of Representatives that i grew up watching, it was inconceivable that the youngest member of the house or any member of the house with any seniority, would ever publicly take on a speaker. And in those days, the speaker really was all powerful. We are watching the weakest speaker in history. We are. We are. And he did this to himself. I got sworn in at two a. M. On a Saturday Night because the Speaker Of The House did not have the confidence of his own conference to be elected as the Speaker Of The House of representatives. And what did he give up to get into this possession . He gave up a lot of the powers that hes supposed to have. And because of that, were getting to a point now where the Freedom Caucus and the far right of this caucus, are calling in the favors and commitment that he gave them himself. And thats why Kevin Mccarthy is the weakest speaker we have seen in the House Of Representatives. He cant get anything passed, in this appropriations process, he cant get anything passed to keep the government from shutting down. And its very unfortunate. I dont want to be the person. I dont want to be someone who saying this, especially in the hearings as serious as what we have this morning. But its the fact. And we have to say it how it is. A republican staffer said this is an unmitigated disaster, referring to the hearing that you were in today. The other unmitigated disaster that Kevin Mccarthy is steering the country toward is a Government Shutdown. What will the Government Shutdown mean for your constituents . Its not a good thing. Essential Government Services will be slow. We already know that there are backlogs as far as passwords are concerned. Those will can continue to go. 20 million children could lose assistance as far as Food Assistance is concerned. So there are real impacts here with the Government Shutdown. By the end of the day, when the government shuts down, it means that congress did not do its job. And one of the most important jobs of the United States congress is to pass a budget. And so, this goes back to what we were just talking about. This is one of the weakest speakers that weve seen in the history of our country. He cant even get his own conference together to pass the bills that we need to pass to ensure that we from the government. I can tell you that in Kevin Mccarthys first term as a member of the house, he never had a moment that the news media noticed in any way. He is just with his incompetence, with his partys incompetence, handing you these opportunities to display to the country who they really are. They are. And its unfortunate. Lawrence, we dont want to have these moments. We dont want to be in Oversight Committee for six, seven hours handing the republicans, handing the republicans of the committee, exactly the facts. Because they dont have any. We dont want to be in that situation. But the fact of the matter is that the government is about the shutdown in two days. Theyve launched Impeachment Inquiry with absolutely no evidence that ties the president of the United States to a crime. And it is our job on that committee to bring up the fact that they dont have the facts. And its unfortunate. We dont want to be the situation at all. We want to be focused on passing a budget, so that way people have the resources they need in this country. Its no surprise to me that confidence in the United States congress is at an alltime low. Because someone like Kevin Mccarthy, the republican conference, theyre running the show now in congress. They cant get their act together. And so my hope is that we can come together, we can pass a budget, and we can move on with the work of the american people. Congressman Maxwell Frost, as you know, ive seen many more congressional hearings that i can possibly count. What you did in that hearing today was a credit to your constituents and the country is lucky to have you there. Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on. Thank you. Coming up, a very quick look at the silliness of last nights republican, socalled, debate. And i mean a quick one. And we will show you the movie scene from which nikki haley stole her biggest line. But first, some Guitar Diplomacy from the Secretary Of State. [applause] [applause] the first inkling that something was wrong was i started to notice that i couldnt do things without losing my breath. I couldnt make it through the airport, and every like 20 or 30 yards i had to sit down and get my breath. Every Physical Exertion seemed to exhaust me. And finally, i went to the hospital where i was diagnosed with afib. When i first noticed symptoms, which kept coming and going, i should have gone to the doctor and told them what was happening. Instead, i tried to let it pass. If you experience irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or lightheadedness, you should talk to your doctor. Afib increases the risk of stroke about 5 times i want my experience to help others understand the symptoms of atrial fibrillation. When it comes to your health, this is no time to wait. Salonpas, makers of powerful Pain Relief Patches for 89 years. I would like to take this salonpas, makers of powerful Pain Relief Patches for 89 years. Opportunity to thank all of our viewers who joined me in not watching the republican socalled debate last night, and stuck with this program instead. Here in 40 seconds is everything that you missed. Were gonna call you donald duck. As the u. N. Ambassador, you literally bring it tim. You brought 50,000 on curtains in a 50 milliondollar subsidized location. Curtains, do your homework, tim, because obama bought those curtains. Its in the press. Its the state department. You sent them back, youre the one that works in congress. You hung them on your curtains. They were there before i even shut up at the residence, and you are scrapping. I have respect for every man and women on the stage because put your hand down for a moment, would you . Every time i hear you i feel a bit dumber. Nikki haley stole what became the most famous line of the socalled debate from my dear friend and College Classmate jim downies unforgettable performance in the Motion Picture classic, billy madison. Mr. Madison, what you just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things ive ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. And coming up, President Biden was introduced to an arizona audience today by the wife of his good friend, republican senator john mccain, who died in office in 2018. The president delivered an important, hard hitting speech against donald trump and in favor of democracy. Thats next. Only when i see flakes. Then i switch back to my regular shampoo you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. Hes right, you know. Is that tiny troy . 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It is my true hope that it will also serve as a motivation to inspire a new generation to take on the mantle of public service. And to fight for the worthy causes they believe in. Just as john did. President biden began with his memory of the day. John mccain met his wife cindy when he was on a senate trip with joe biden. And then the president said this. Two weeks ago, i thought about john as i was standing in another part of the world, in vietnam. Excuse me if i, it was an emotional trip. I was there to usher in a 50 year arc of progress the two countries, pushed by john, and i might add, another john. Former Secretary Of State, john for massachusetts, won the silver star as well. Once at war, we are now choosing the highest possible partnership, made possible through johns leadership. I mean this sincerely. Think about it. While in hanoi, i visited a marker depicting where john had endured all the pain. Imprisoned five and a half years, Solitary Confinement for two years, given an opportunity, an opportunity to come home if he just said a couple things. He was beaten bloodied, bones broken, isolated, tortured, left unable to raise his arms above his shoulders again. As i stood there paying my respects, i thought about how much i miss my friend. And its not hyperbole. From the bottom of my heart i mean this. I thought about Something Else as well. I thought about how much america missed john right now. How much america john was needed by america and his foresight and vision. Very few of us will ever be asked to endure what john mccain endured. But all of us are being asked right now, what will we do to maintain our democracy . Will we as john wrote never quit . Will we not hide from history, but make history . Will we put partisanship aside and put Country First . I say, we must. And we will. We will. [applause] President Biden defended democracy in the speech, something he said he never expected to have to do in this country. And he attacked the new republican antimilitary extremism. One guy . In alabama . Is holding up the promotion of every, hundreds of these officers . Frankly, these extremists have no idea what the hell theyre talking about. Im serious. President biden reminded his audience of Donald Trumps personal attitude towards military service. The defeated former president refused to pay respects at an American Cemetery near paris, referring to american servicemen buried there, and ive been to the cemetery. Referring to them as suckers. And losers. Quotes. Im not making this up. I know we all tried not to remember it, but thats what he said. He called Serviceman Suckers and losers. Was john a sucker . Was my son beau, who lived next to a burn pit for years and came home and died. Was he a Sucker Volunteer into Service Country . The same guy who denigrates john mccain, its not only wrong, its unamerican. But it never changes. Joining us now is arizona Secretary Of State adrienne fontes. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. How do you think that message was received in arizona today . Well, lawrence, thank you for having me. The sincerity of the president s message, particularly as it refers to an old friend, cant escape anyone. And i think folks in arizona, particularly veterans like myself, are thinking deeply about that message, what it means, and why the fight to protect and save democracy from the threats that it faces internally is so incredibly important nowadays. It sounded like he was trying to reach beyond just arizona voters for their attention. But also to those mccain Republican Voters in arizona, some of whom, im sure, many of whom, remember the first thing donald trump as a candidate said about john mccain in 2015. Lets listen to that. Hes not a war hero. He is a war hero. Hes a war hero because he was captured . I like people that werent captured, okay . There he is saying that john mccain was not a war hero. And then we heard what he said about being captured. The president clearly was trying to reach over to that rusty bowers, republican, john mccain republican in arizona. I think he was reaching out to more folks than just the republicans. I think he was reaching out to independents and democrats and anyone who wore the uniform like i did when i was in the marine corps. Bottom line is this. We sent young men and women overseas to fight against authoritarianism. We sent folks to do a lot of things that a lot of other people didnt even bother to volunteer to do, or tried to avoid doing. Their honor, their valor, their courage and commitment, needs to be honored. And what they were fighting for needs to be protected. And that is our democracy. You cant get away from the sincerity of the president s message, the personal nature of it. Its hard sometimes to, its hard sometimes to maintain a cool head when you listen to some folks say some of the things that some other folks have said about men and women in uniform. This speech was billed as a defense of democracy, which it primarily was. Thats what the body of the speech was about. What is the state of health, or the riskiness, of democracy in arizona now . Well, as a recent report by issue one indicates, weve lost a senior Election Officials in 12 of our 15 counties since 2020. And the represents about 98 of our voters. Were gonna have some folks with a little bit less experience moving foward, and human error can move in in those kinds of situations. But heres the good news, at the secretary of States Office we are training good folks, and the folks who are coming in know the kind of atmosphere that theyre coming into. They are nonetheless willing to push forward, theyre willing to take on the risks and the threats in the harassment and do the job. Theyre doing the job for their fellow citizens and for the health of our democracy. So, while it looks a little bit dire sometimes, i think theres hope and im very, very proud to be part of a team thats going to continue to build on that hope and push forward through a successful 2024 cycle. What is your biggest concern as you approach being the Chief Administrator of the president ial election . Well, i think its first important to note that elections in arizona are bottom up. They are run at the county levels. The Secretary Of State doesnt do Bellagio Tabulation or anything of that stuff. We do training, certification, we make sure everyones following the rules. That being said, those folks need help. And then need as much helps possible. But my biggest concern isnt so much the possible issues that could pop up there, its the misinformation and disinformation, its the continuous lies that are perpetuated by even some officeholders in arizona now. That are dividing us one american from another based on no evidence, based on conjecture and conspiracy theories. Thats the most dangerous thing where they are eroding our civic faith in democracy. Unfortunately, our democracy is on the line because of that nonsense. Do you have allies on the republican side in arizona . Absolutely. I mean, all youve got to do is look at the results of the 2022 election to see that we have a lot of allies on the republican side of things. You know, my win against one of americas worst election deniers, an oath keeper, in antisemite, a fascist kind of guy, we got a lot of republican votes altogether. All you got to do is just look at the numbers to see that we trounced him on purpose because we called him out. Weve got mark kelly in the senate, katie hobbs in the governor office, chris hayes in the attorney generals office. We all ran against election to nine, ors and we had have republican help. And thats why. 2022, the republicans were barely ahead of independent voters, and democrats run third pace. Weve got a third, a, third and a third. Now, independents outnumber both republicans and democrats. But you look at the way the numbers broke out. We could not have won the way we did across the state without the help of Reasonable Republicans who still believe in the ideals of john mccain and folks like him. Who understand the true meaning of america. That is Country First and politics much, much later. Arizona Secretary Of State adrian fontes, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Thank you. Coming up in tonights last word, senator John Fetterman will explain why he refused to go to lunch today with the rest of the democratic senators. Hint, the indictment of Robert Menendez has something to do with it. Thats next. Started a dog walking business. Oh. [dog barks] no its just a bunny only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. 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Oh hunny bunny, thats so sweet. senior senator Robert Menendez indicated he would attend the closeddoor lunch and for Senate Democrats in the mansfield room, John Fetterman said, unless Senator Menendez coming today to resign, i am not interested in hearing his explanation for gold bars stashed in a mattress. Were past the point of his tough talk and defiance, given the scope and scale of his alleged corruption. John fetterman was not a member of the senate. The first time Senator Menendez faced federal corruption charges and survived the trial with a hung jury, meaning some jurors voted guilty and some jurors voted not guilty. John fetterman had been in the senate than, he would have led the senate in calling for Senator Menendezs resignation, as he did this time when he became The One And Only senator demanding the menendez resignation. And has now been followed by 29 more democrats, who are demanding the menendez resignation. Zero republicans are in favor of Senator Menendez resigning because they believe keeping a corrupt democratic senator in office helps republicans justify their support for the indicted former president who they hope will become president again. New jerseys democratic governor wants Senator Menendez to resign so that he can appoint a democrat in his place. Here is what senator fetterman said today about the menendez lunch. I didnt go to the lunch. I refused to because the only thing, if he had something to say, he is resigning. Thats the only Honorable Exit. Hes gotta go up. Hes gotta go. I cant imagine, you know, how he could possibly explain any of that kind of thing. He had stuff to do in the court, not here among us. He needs to go. Are there questions you can answer for him . Any questions you might want to ask him . Yeah, why havent you resigned already . Its crazy. And right now, its arrogance. This is how many trips to the dance hes had on this kind of thing . You know . And if this kind of, this kind of confronting him at the last time, we wouldnt be having this conversation right now. Its a pattern. And he really needs to decide to resign. Should schumer call on him to resign . Thats the leaders choice, but ive been very clear on how i feel. On that as well. It sounds like Senator Menendez told colleagues and lunch he will not resign. That he intends to be a senior senator showing up here to vote, participating in committee hearings. Do you think its a matter of National Security . You know, [laughter] , this idea that im not going anywhere, you are. Its either going to be an election or its going to be a conviction, or its going to be its not going to happen. Clearly, hes not going to have an Honorable Exit at this point. But its one of those two ways. And election or a conviction. Are you surprised that hes pulling around here . No. Im not. Thats the thing, he feels like thats the only way to handle it because at this point, if a sense of honor, i dont think it wouldve put him in the situation in the first place. Senator John Fetterman gets tonights last world. The 11th hour with Stephanie Ruhle starts now. Tonight, the stark warning from President Biden calling out threats to democracy from maga republicans and donald trump. And the plea for all voters to put the Country First. And donald trump York Civil Fraud Trial Set to start on monday. Plus, in an update on all the federal cases. Then, the rise of book bans. How just a handful of people are reon