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Running mate. Ill ask him this morning. Plus challenging biden, the new Special Counsel appointment fuels more criticism from republicans. If he were a republican he would have been in jail a long time ago. Biden is also facing critics from within his own party on his capacity to serve. Ill talk to democratic congressman dean philips of minnesota who is actively calling for more primary challenger to biden. And red alert. That vote in ohio is pretty sobering. Ohioet voers deliver a victory to supporters of Abortion Rights and offer another warning sign for republicans. If republicans are just focused on one issue theyll have a bit of a challenge. Support for legal action for abortion is winning inside red and blue states from kansas to kentucky to michigan. Will it be a motivating factor for voters in 2024. Joining me for insight and analysis are. Politico mriback coauthor eugene daniels. Republican strategist brandon buck. Is imoen sanderstownsend, former spokesperson for Kamala Harris and betry woodruff swann. Welcome to sunday, its Meet The Press. From nbc news in washington the longest running show in television history, this is Meet The Press with chuck todd. Good sunday morning. In case you needed another sign that the 2024 a good sunday morning. Gn in case you needed another sign that the 2024 campaign will be shaped by legal dramas in courtrooms in washington, delaware, miami, and new york, rather than door to door in the state of iowa. We got a reminder again. Merrick garland announced it david weiss had now requested Special Counsel status. And hes going to get it. After a plea deal collapsed in court a few weeks ago when a federal judge granted hunter biden immunity. The appointment of mr. Weiss reinforces for the American People that the department is committed to not just accountability, but sensitive matters. President biden son could face this while people are trying to keep the focus on Donald Trumps legal problems. The two are hardly comparable. Donald trump is for overturning the 2020 election and for holding onto military documents. President biden has not been charged with any wrongdoing. So far Hunter Bidens alleged crimes are two months of not being taxes, who his it attorneys have said he has since paid. And lying about a gun purchase. President bidens handling of the case has raised questions at a time when voters already have doubts. At his age and clinical standing. Biden brought his son to a state dinner just two days after the plea deal that has since collapsed was announced. And he has repeatedly defended him. Even though hunter biden himself has pled guilty. First of all, my son has done nothing wrong. I trust him, i have faith in him. Did you encourage him to take the plea deal, mr. President . There are three special councils actively at work involved in this president ial campaign. Jack smith, named in november to oversee the Criminal Investigation in trumps handling of documents and his attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Robert was named in january to investigate classified documents found in President Bidens home. And of course david weiss. Its also a bit hard to understand. Even the language garland used, announcing his appointed friday, emphasizing independence, accountability, almost the exact same phrases that he used one appointing jack smith nine months ago to oversee the trump case. The legal calendar will continue to overshadow this political calendar. Trumps lawyers were in Court Hashing out the details of what he is allowed to say publicly about the generous sixth case. In an effort to protect witnesses with documents he is about to receive. Prosecutors in georgia, where trump is likely to be indicted a fourth time in the last year, have indicated they plan to present their case to a grand jury later this week. Still, Donald Trumps rivals are going to the motions in a traditional campaign. Even as he leads them nationally by more than 30 points. And the legal dramas just lot out the sun. He has a dominant lead despite just visiting the state six times. This weekend they pose with food on a stick at the iowa state fair. Despite going through the motions of campaigning against him trumps rivals have passed up numerous opportunities to criticize him for his 78 felony counts. They jump at a chance to comment on hunter biden. It just seems to me that they are going to find a way to give him time to have a soft treatment. Why did it take two years to do this . Why did they say hunter biden and not the biden family . Why did the suddenly come up when it was a pay to play conversation . I dont trust it with the American People and neither does the department of justice. Joining me is Chuck Rosenberg. Chuck, youre going to be a regular on the show at this point. Explain this to me. Why did the Attorney General choose to make david weiss Special Counsel . The same rational he used for Donald Trumps Special Counsel clearly applies to here. And he had described david weisss running room that he had the ability to make his own decisions in the case. So i give him this extra title . It seems somewhat cosmetic to me, chuck. Are there additional tools that he did not have before . What are those tools . At the edges, yes. He can bring charges in other districts on his own signature. But frankly he could not have done that if he wanted previously two. The word here is, cosmetic. It doesnt change the tilt of the earth. So the motivation here for the Attorney General, is he worried the cases against trump will look biased . There seems to be a drumbeat to the point the Special Counsel can investigate at least hunter biden if not the biden family. Mr. Weiss and the Special Counsel has the authority to take the investigation where everything ought to go. There is a problem i think, generally, with the Special Counsel regulations. And theres another problem that worries me even more. I dont think mr. Biden, or mr. Trump for that matter, should be treated any better or any worse than any other person under investigation. They both deserve to be treated fairly. Whatever you may think of them they deserve to be treated fairly. Special councils will bring an intense focus on just one or two people. So what youre saying is they are not being treated the same way others would be treated by the Justice Department. That worries me. To appoint a Special Counsel in Attorney General has to find extraordinary circumstances. He keeps finding them. Quite a few. Which makes me think its becoming rather ordinary. Weve had five special councils in the last six years. I dont mean this in any way against those individuals. They are principled people and were doing the jobs they were asked to do. Rather, i worry institutionally whether having some a Special Counsel under so many sets of external circumstances corrodes the department. It seems to undermine the whole rationale of appointing a federal judge. The whole point was to take politics out of this and he is essentially conceding he is too biased to overseas cases. Thats what it looks like. I know thats not what hes saying. I think its a great point. Goes to a larger issue. The design of the department of justice, chuck, the design is that it be staffed by career people. The political layers are extraordinarily thin. The fbi has 40,000 Men And Women. One is a political appointee. Every department has at least one political appointee. Very quickly, arguing for what he can and cannot say. The judge, what is the stick . How is she going to enforce any pendency . Moving up the trial date seems to be an interesting stick that she chose to use. You think thats effective . The shorter the period between now and the trial date the less damage you can do speaking publicly about the case. She is in a tough spot. He absolutely has a right to campaign and he has First Amendment rights. On the other hand, you cant interfere with the Fair Administration of justice or tamper with witnesses. So she has to watch this very closely. But its not an easy thing for her to do. Chuck rosenberg, thank you for joining us this morning. Mr. Rosenberg, thank you, sir. Mr. Vice president , welcome back to Meet The Press. Let me start with your and reaction to the Attorney Generals decision to appoint david weiss, who was an appointee of the trump and pentz administration. His decision to make him a Special Counsel in the hunter biden probe. Do you approve of that decision . Let me say, chuck, im running for president because i think this country is in a lot of trouble. I think joe biden has weakened america at home and abroad. But frankly, the pattern of the Justice Department during our four years in the white house and sense has undermined Public Confidence in equal treatment under the law. While i welcome the apartment of a Special Counsel, which is of course appropriate and is a minimum where the Attorney General has a central conflict of interest. Im also comforted by the fact that congress is going to continue to do its work. Im confident that House Republicans will bring forward the facts in this case. The American People have a right to whether or not President Bidens family benefited or that he himself benefited when he was serving in the job that i had as Vice President of the United States, in a financial way, from foreign nationals. I am hopeful that Special Counsel david weiss will do his job without fear or favor. I have confidence that jim jordan and the others will do their job for the American People. I couldnt help but notice you had said that the Justice Department, even in the 40 the four years, didnt seem to conduct investigations fairly. Why do you think this is . This is a bipartisan problem that youre identifying. It started in 2016 when james comber gave Hillary Clinton a pass that no other american would have gotten. What weve found out sense is the truth about what was going on during the mueller investigation. I lived through that for 2. 5 years when we were rebuilding our military, cutting taxes, unleashing American Energy, securing our border. All the while we had fbi agents that were falsifying documents and pushing a political agenda within the Justice Department. Its one of the reasons why tell people that if i have the privilege of being president of the United States we are not just going to have a new Attorney General and fbi director, but im going to clean house on the whole top floor of the Justice Department and demand that we have Men And Women who are respected on both sides of the aisle as people of and integrity who will apply the rule of law equally to every american. Look, i want to get to the indictment on the former president here. And a specific point having to do with the electric scheme. Earlier this month he told a colleague of mine here that you didnt know a lot about the efforts to secure fake collectors until after the fact. It was interesting. In your book you brought up the fake slate of electors on generator. In your book you said this. I asked her a direct question, are there any alternate electors from any state . She told me there were not. I mentioned that i had heard that some alternate electors had been sent from several of the disputed states. This was on january 3rd. What can you tell us about what you knew about the scheme on january 3rd that prompted you to ask this question . I had heard what was being talked about in the press at the time, chuck. What i thought was important. In January Of 2017 i took an oath to support and defend the constitution of the United States. The constitution says states certify elections. There were irregularities in half a dozen states around the country that change the rules In The Name Of Covid Point we challenge those in 60 court cases. Once the courts had reviewed those and the states certify them i wanted to make sure that we were operating on january 6th in a way that was consistent with the constitution, consistent with the laws of the country. Thats the reason i sat down with the parliament and looked through the process. I was determined to hear the objections that republicans were planning to bring, chuck. And many did bring. You remember democrats brought objections to electoral votes in the last three elections that the republicans prevailed with. Under the law. I asked the parliamentarian very directly, chuck. I asked her because i was hearing rumors. I was reading in the newspaper that there were alternate electors. Was anybody in the white house telling you this . She said there was not. I dont recall that. I just remember hearing it. I wanted a definitive answer whether or not the polymer parliamentarian received any electoral votes. She did not. So as you know, we actually change the language as those Electoral College votes were recorded. Chuck, i told you many times. I said it many times at the iowa state fair. I had no right to overturn the election. The constitution is quite clear. As Vice President i was to preside over a joint session of congress. The says it shall be opened and shall be counted. I did my duty that day. Donald trump had said this week that he never asked you to disregard the constitution and that he never said you were too honest. Are either of those things true . You can check his tweets on the day of, the day before. The president was quite clear and quite public that he thought i had the authority to either reject or return votes to the state. Do stand by that he said you are too honest . Know basis. I do, chuck. Its a part of dialogue that happened between the president and me. And that was related i think to a bogus lawsuit that was brought to force my hand to have a federal judge say that i had the right to throw out votes. Look, there is no idea more un american than the idea that one person could choose which votes to count for president of the United States. The American People know, as i heard from dozens of people at the iowa state fair, chuck. The American People know the presidency belongs to them and them alone. No one person has ever had that authority or ever should under our system. Were you surprised that mark meadows was not listed as a Co Conspirator . Because you had told me, and you mentioned in your book, you thought he was leading the former president down this path on Election Interference and all of the people that he was bringing into the room. Did it surprise you . Chuck, i dont remember saying anyone was leading it. I dont remember there being a group of crackpot lawyers that were in the oval office that quite frankly should not have been allowed on the ground. You didnt tell me that the Chief Of Staff you had said in various ways. Im happy to repeat it. The Chief Of Staff is supposed to be a gatekeeper and make sure people are getting into the oval office and have the credibility to be there. Frankly, this group of lawyers that were allowed to counsel the president and tell him what his itching ears longed to hear is that i had some right to reject votes or return votes to the state. There is no basis in that in history. Look, chuck, our constitution is more important than any one man or one mans career, including mine. I took the stand i took that day because of that oath that i took. I couldnt be more encouraged, chuck, as one person after another. Not just in iowa this last week but in New Hampshire the week before. More and more americans are coming up to me and expressing their radiation for the stand i took. I chose to keep my oath for the constitution that day. If a president of the United States i always will. You are very careful in what you talk about, whether donald trump is a nominee and you can support him again. If you thought he violated the constitution how can you support donald trump again for president . What ive said is im happy to meet the criteria for the upcoming republican president ial debates. Im incredibly proud that more than 40,000 americans have supported our campaign and made it possible for us to qualify for the debate stage. In fact, chuck, i think im actually going to qualify for the second of april we get to the first one. More americans are seeing that my consistent, conservative record, my years as Vice President , my years as a governor here in indiana, my ears as House Conservative Leader for 12 years are really just with the nation needs. This is no time for distractions. We need leadership on day one that will be able to provide the team and the vision to turn this country around. And i can. Do you consider yourself a maga republican . Im incredibly proud of what we did for those four years. You Better Believe it. After eight years of the slowest recovery since the great depression, eight years of being under barack obama and joe biden that saw Military Cuts that hollowed out our military, eight years of liberals on our court under the trump pentz administration with maga americans we literally didnt make America Great again before the pandemic struck. You feel like you are a maga republican . Im a christian, conservative, and republican in that order. Ive always said that. Those are my values and my ideals. I really believe the agenda that im looking forward to taking to the debate stage is the agenda that will bring this country all the way back. Or not, i want to ask you one question about something you did this week. He rolled out an energy plan. The Wall Street Journal i think is complementing you by characterizing it as a drill, baby, drill. Do you accept that as a compliment and do you think the government should play a role in trying to find Renewable Energy to replace fossil fuels at some point . It doesnt sound like you think the government should play that role. Yes. Look, Gasoline Prices jumped back up this week. Dear member two dollars a gallon . I do. We unleashed American Energy. It was an all the above energy strategy. We achieved American Energy independent in three short years. Joe biden launched a war on energy on day one and shut down the keystone and dakota pipelines. Gas prices are up 60 . Electricity prices are up 25 . We laid out a vision following on my plan to tackle inflation. We Live Television this last week. Not just to achieve energy independence. Thats one of the things that your colleagues over at the Wall Street Journal neglected to mention. I also believe not only can we achieve American Energy independence again, but i believe with the right policies Going Forward we can reclaim our role as the leading producer of energy in the world by 2040. It will take leadership, it will take a commitment to American Energy independence on day one of the presidency that i be privileged to serve in. We will fight to restore that American Energy strength and leadership and dominance in the world. Former Vice President mike pence, sounds like you have a night at home, which is rare on the campaign trail. Im glad you did. Be safe on the trail and we will see you on the debate stage. Thanks so much, chuck. I appreciate you having me on. When we come back he wants President Biden to have more competition to win his partys nomination in 2024. Meet Dean Phillips of minnesota. He joins me next. How can you sleep on such a firm setting . Gab, mine is almost the same as yours. Almost is just another word for not as good as mine. Save 50 on the sleep Number Limited Edition smart bed. Plus, 36 month financing on select smart beds. Shop now only at sleep number. [ Tires Screeching ] jordana, easy on the gas. I gotta wrap this commercial, i think im late on my payment. Its okay, the general gives you a break. Yeah, we let you pick your own due date. Good to know, because this next scene might take a while. For a great low rate, go with the general. So, youve got the power of xfinity at home. Now take it outside with xfinity mobile. Next scene might take a while. Like speed . Its the Fastest Mobile Service around. With the best price for two lines of unlimited. Only 30 bucks a line per month. Thats hundreds in savings a year when you wave bye to the other guys. All on the most reliable 5g network nationwide. You really shouldnt walk out the front door without it. Switch today at xfinitymobile. Com. Welcome back. President biden currently faces two minor democratic challenges. Robert kennedy jr. He has a famous name but he is a lawyer and he has been boosted by people like steve bannon and maga donors. Then there is a selfhelp author and was on the debate stage briefly in 2020. Cornell west is vying for the green party nomination. Joe manchin is flirting with an independent run. And now Dean Phillips is calling for a more competitive democratic primary, saying voters dont want a coronation, they want a competition. Phillips, in his third term representing minneapolis, i will tell you little about him. He lost his father in vietnam. After Business School he joined a family business. He went on to help build a top selling gelato brand and also opened pennies coffee, a small business. He has denounced the no labels attempt to fill a thirdparty ticket. But he has called for serious democratic challengers to President Biden. Last week he met with democratic donors in new york about the race and potentially entering it himself. Welcome to the press. Good to be with you. You are not interested in being a candidate for president yourself right now . Thats a fair statement what im technically and legitimately doing is representing. Im a representative. I represent what i believe to be the majority of the country that wants to turn the page. Tired of the meanness and Fear Mongering of donald trump. Would like to see joe biden pass the torch. Cemented this extraordinary legacy. You dont want him to run for reelection . I believe its in the best interest for the country. I do believe the majority wants to move on. I hear from way too many people. The news is, the fact is i listen to normal americans every day. This is about how people feel. Its not about whats real all the time. Its about how people feel. People want to turn the page. Thats fair to say. As a democrat i had door joe biden. He saved this country. He can cement his legacy. My real Call To Action is not about me. The Call To Action is to ask the president to pass the torch. There is an external very bench of people ready to go. I would like to see a moderate governor from the heartland, from one of this for states that them democrats wanted. Help me out here . He said a few names that would be great. Josh shapiro. Jamie princeton. Some people have asked me that i not use their name because this institutional fear that might impact them down the road. This is the time to meet the moment. And im doing something that i know is unpopular as a democrat. But im speaking truth, thats my job and my duty to the people i represent. But also to represent the mass majority. I want to say this about democrats, its really important. Joe biden right now is down seven points in four swing states that will decide this next election. He has historically low approval numbers, chuck. There are about 55 of democrats that would like to see an alternative. I can keep going down the list. Everything youre saying we have all heard in private as well. Why do you think it is private . Why do you think this handwringing has only gone public for you . Very simple, people are focused on selfpreservation and not principle. Theres no political reward in the United States right now for simply speaking the truth. Look what happened to my republican colleagues who dared to do the right thing and support the constitution. Support the constitution. The only thing to which we are dutybound. Look what happened to them. It is not good to get out of line, raise your hand, stand up, shout a little bit. We need it more than ever. That is the culture of the institution in washington, d. C. You believe the Hunter Biden News reinforces this . I dont think the president is corrupt. I think the investigation will show that. This is the important part. Its the image. Its what the news will do. We know what era we live in in partisanship. If the attachment to the president. Most people are not watching Meet The Press. Will this happen to a it probably will. And these are the people im trying to represent right now. The people who are sick and tired of this nonsense. We have a duopoly and an Industrial Complex that if they agree on anything its the status quo. I have trouble with donald trump. I dont have trouble with those that are finding a way to change the system. The hardware is fine point the software is a problem. The people with whom we have populating the system. We need to restore faith and in government. It can be done. But we need leaders in the next generation to do so. And im simply expressing the Point Of View that i think is shared by the majority of americans. What can President Biden do to ensure you that he is up to a second term . Im not saying that he is not. Im just saying look at the data. My job is to listen to it. Listen to the data. Can you . I just come from the marketing world. Sometimes you have a product that is extraordinary and meets the moment you think its going to be the next best thing. And then it isnt. The data speaks the truth. The data is speaking the truth right now. If nobody is willing to talk about it before its too late, thats the key. The case against what you are talking about is basically the history of our lifetimes. You go back. The last four sitting president s who had serious primary challenges. We can go back to lbj but also ford, jimmy carter, ronald reagan. But why were they primary . Because people recognize they were weakened and the country was ready to turn the page. We can have a debate on the subject i understand that. I ran for congress. After the 2016 election i woke up the next morning. My teenage daughters were in tears and i promised them im going to do something. I wont be quiet now, five years later, with the same trauma could be afflicting the country of donald trump is reelected. Chuck, its really important that people know this. Im doing just the opposite. If people arent willing right now to have that conversation, to have the discussion. And most important, to present alternatives. How in the world can we look at these numbers and say everything is okay . Hopes, dreams, prayers, i love them. They dont solve gun violence. They dont give Health Insurance to americans. And they sure as heck dont change the numbers im seeing right now. I talked to joe manchin. You want him to run in a primary . I want anyone who wants to run, joe manchin, cornell west. You want them in the primary . Thats why we have primaries. That doesnt undermine the likelihood of returning a democrat to the white house. That is the key. Into the primary, my friends. Everyone who is on the bench, meet the moment. Dont wait five years. When you make a decision . You are waiting for somebody. How long will you wait . Waiting is like hopes and prayers. Im actively inviting, encouraging, to some degree im imploring people who are ready to take the chance. You have met with donors. Are they directly going to these candidates . Chuck, if donors and average, everyday normal americans are coming to me of all people you dont think they are approaching those people in much higher numbers . I know they are. I will make the decision once i do my darndest in the next month or so to encourage others to do so. Please. This is an appeal to everybody of good conscience and good character. Lets turn the page. And imagine how fun, hopeful, and exciting it could be. Thanks for coming out. We will see you hopefully at this table. I look forward to it. Before we go to break. At least 93 people as of this morning have died in the devastating wildfire in maui this week. Making it the deadliest Natural Disaster in hawaiis history. Its now the nations deadliest wildfire in more than a century. If you want to help please consider giving to these organizations. The maui food bank, red cross, and the Hawaiian Community foundation. When we come back. The 24 campaign is now clouded by not one, two, but three special councils. Invest getting a seated president , former president , and the president s son. Will the drama overshadow Everything Else . For a great low rate, go with the general. [ Tires Screeching ] jordana, easy on the gas. I gotta wrap this commercial, i think im late on my payment. Its okay, the general gives you a break. Yeah, we let you pick your own due date. Good to know, because this next scene might take a while. For a great low rate, go with the general. Welcome back. National correspondent for politico. Brendan buck, the former advisor to the House Speaker and the former speaks former spokesperson for Kamala Harris. You were in the courtroom when the hunter biden plea deal fell apart. You are covering that story life. Did you think two weeks later you would be covering a Special Counsel . In the courtroom that day it was clear that things were going totally sideways. It was clear that one of the most basic things, Justice Department prosecutors and Defense Attorneys are always supposed to do before rolling out a plea deal, they had not done. What they had not agreed on, according to this court hearing, was just how much protection hunter biden would receive from other future criminal charges from doj. And at the same time, in that told the totally wacky world, they said they were still investigating hunter biden and refused to give any elaboration on what they meant by that. So its not surprising at all that two weeks later, when doj and Defense Lawyers went back to the drawing board, they couldnt change where they were at on just how much the plea deal would limit the Justice Department. That was the key issue. How much continued criminal exposure did hunter face . They couldnt agree on it and its not a surprise that now the doj says they are headed to trial. I cant help but bring up what Chuck Rosenberg said. He said this is cosmetic. Which makes you think that Merrick Garland is so focused on perception that he is not focused on reality. One of the things from garland from the very beginning, part of the actual choosing is that they were always bringing somebody that was going to stay way too far back. Someone that was going to be doing special councils because he was so concerned with the perception. I thought the whole point was to avoid it. That was the whole idea. You are bringing in somebody with bipartisan confirmation here. Exactly. Theres something about the way that Merrick Garland sees it with the four years of donald trump and the doj, he wanted to make sure they couldntevifout anything wrong. Thats what we are seeing with Special Counsel, Special Counsel, Special Counsel. Simone, is this going to harm the campaign more personally . Resident biden, you can talk to him about this. Do you think this is harmful . I think this is something that President Biden is being talked to about. The question is, is it a big roundtable conversation . I would argue to say, no. If you look at the poll right after the plea deal that fell apart, the plea deal that was announced for hunter biden. Americans were pulled and asked, they view this as a personal issue for hunter and not an issue for President Biden. Right now it is not actually affecting the way people are considering voting in 24. Brandon, you cant help but watch all this play out. Donald trump has been trying to bring bidens brand down to him. He goes back to 2018. Hes been desperate. And he did it. It is joe bidens Attorney General the Just Announced the investigation. Its basic politics. Turn your opponents strength into a weakness. One of the things that joe biden was elected to do was to clear out the mess in the white house. Bring ethics and decency back. This is clearly an effort to do that. I think the white house and the president s reelection need to take this more seriously. It was very easy for a long time for democrats to say, that stuff thats crazy. They can call it House Republicans stuff. Now its going to be in trial, front page news everywhere. I think they need to appreciate that this could damage him pretty seriously. I want to bring something up about the whole legal thing here is an expert about the indictments. Michigan swing voters, from our friend. Who can tell me what this latest indictment is related to . What event . Who can tell me what this is related to . Without blurting out. Five of you. What is it about . Im torn on the georgia or the documents. Its one of those two. I thought it was about the whole Stormy Daniels scandal. This is something that you wonder, is it almighty . How many voters are like them . They are like just seeing the mud and not the details. Is a real question as to how much the details that continue to emerge in Court Related to trump are going to move where voters are at on these things. There has already been so much of that in relation to the former president. When it comes to the biden side of the issue there is actually a huge potential political and mine for President Biden. Hunter bidens lawyers have told doj that if they bring charges against him of being a drug user in possession of a gun, which is a felony, Hundreds Lawyers have said that they will argue that statute is unconstitutional under the second amendment. That would mean that as biden is running for president someone is arguing to constrain gun rights. Hunters lawyers would be defending him by saying, no, those rights need to be broader. Lots of criminal Defense Lawyers have made that case. But talk about a massive political headache for the white house. The reason is probably worse for the biden folks is because it is counter to the narrative. The narrative is, im a family man who does have a lot of drama. Thats why you chose me. Im here to put my hands on the wheel. Exactly what brendan is talking about. Most voters are not going to understand the differences about the things that are happening. It is Special Counsel. That is the concern. And the biden folks, they have already resigned themselves that hunter biden would be used against them during the campaign. They dont see this as that different. The confusion there is exactly what im talking about. The democrats need to realize that if you dont find this republicans will jump in there and explain what happened and then tie it to the president. They need to be very clear that no evidence was found tying them. What about Dave Phillips . Do you think between hunter biden and this bringing about him do you think something more serious will come up to chuck, its a Call To Action to ask the president to pass the torch. My question is, where were these conversations when there were all of these articles from political to the Wall Street Journal and axials about the president not having announced a Reelection Campaign yet . Wondering if hes going to get in and do it. That would have been the time where folks should air these concerns and grievances. I do not think there is a legitimate appetite for another democratic candidate. We are going to come back. When we come back. Ohio voters delivered a victory this week for Abortion Rights. Yeah, we let you pick your own due date. Good to know, because this next scene might take a while. For a great low rate, go with the general. [ Tires Screeching ] jordana, easy on the gas. I gotta wrap this commercial, i think im late on my payment. Its okay, the general gives you a break. Yeah, we let you pick your own due date. Good to know, because this next scene might take a while. For a great low rate, go with the general. Welcome back. Data download, time a welcome back. Data download time. Yet another win for ye reproductive rights. A plan was defeated that would enshrine Abortion Rights in the state constitution. The ohio vote is the latest example of how, in state after state, voters are coming down on the side of Abortion Rights. And they are not just democrats. Let me show you here in ohio. This is the overall number. 57, 43. Double digit win for the abortion right side. Again, this is a one off. Its not about abortion directly. That referendum will now take place in november in ohio. As you can see here, donald trump won ohio bicycle digits. Vance wanted by single digits. Mike won by 25 points. There is a distinction. Maga, maga, mike is not maga. Its important to understanding the issue of abortion. When you look at the approval of the overturning of Roe V Wade Two Thirds of republicans approved of it. When you look at those that are for and against the trumpet, you can see the divide in the party. Maga republicans approved at 80 . Nontran02 where at 51 . This is how you see it on the map. These are your suburban republicans. These are voters that have been going back and forth on trump for some time. Here is the 2020 vote. Seven counties that joe biden won. When you look at the 2023 Ballot Measure and ocean rights, each one of those urban areas that biden won, there was more spread. More suburban republican leaning counties ended up voting on the abortionrights side. Around cleveland, columbus, toledo. Guess what . We saw the same pattern in kansas. Joe biden only won five counties there. When it was about Abortion Rights you saw suburban counties around wichita and kansas city. Those counties, which nearly went republican in a president ial, and up voting on the abortionrights side. Michigan saw the same thing again, in each of these cases, the metro area spread, if you will. Those suburban counties, they are not trump fans in general. Theyre certainly not fans of the overturning of roe versus wade. The u. S. And iranian governments reached a rare breakthrough that moved prisoners to house arrest. Its the first step in a planned exchange in which the u. S. Will release 6 billion of frozen iranian assets from south korea. More than 40 years ago jimmy carter struggled to navigate the unfolding Iran Hostage Crisis at that time. Joe biden, then a senator on the Foreign Relations committee, joined our broadcast to offer his perspective. The most important thing for the American Public and for the iranians to understand is that the president is cool, calm, and deliberate and logical about the steps hes going to take, showing he is not to go in with a sense of bravado at this point and do whatever to the Man On The Street knows would result in the immediate death of the hostages by some use of Major Military force. There is a logical possession progression and it will result in the release of hostages. Joe biden was just in his second term in the senate. When we come back, the 2024 lessons for both parties on the issue of abortion. We will have the panel next. Goli, taste your goals. Welcome back. Seven states have posted anything in abortionrights falling in the favor of the abortionrights side. Braden buck, a lot of republicans and conservatives are rethinking their stand on this issue. Here is sean hannity earlier this week. I believe in the sanctity of life. But i believe politically that republicans have got to say, as bill clinton once said, i never thought i would quote him. Rare legal, and i would add, very early in a pregnancy. That seems to be where the country is. Maybe im wrong. That vote in ohio was pretty sobering. How many elected republicans share Sean Hannitys view . Probably more than a few. But im not holding my breath that the party will change position. There is a large infrastructure in place. Getting people elected in the republican primary you have to assume a certain position that is much further to the right that a lot of people are. Its clearly a loser for us. But we are a long way out from being able to recognize that and make any change pick thats interesting. Everybody is wringing their hands about biden and trump, no pun intended. Is the trump card the democrat . Everything in 2022, everything for abortion was on the ballot. Voters went and voted in support of codifying those rights into the state constitution. This ohio is in fact a pretty closer a precursor. They will go out and say, we want these rights enshrined in our constitution because people see what is happening. The Vice President has been very vocal on this issue, rallying folks across the country and reminding people that this is about freedom and about being able to make decisions between Healthcare Professionals and you and your family, not politicians. In 2003 they saw samesex marriage propositions, anti samesex in some states. They know that the voters were scared after dobbs. The one thing they have done a good job of is channeling that. They look at ohio as seeing if this is a way to make voters come out. That Republican Debate stage when abortion comes up, im going to be fascinated at how they all try to tiptoe around it all. Thats right. No question. Its one of the Biggest Challenges with the hottest potatoes for this for republican and primary voters. It also raises an interesting issue for governors and State Legislatures as they try to play defense against these Ballot Initiatives. Arkansas passed a law to make it easier to get Ballot Initiatives on the ballot instead of meeting signatures of people from 15 counties. Now you need 50 counties. If you are changing the rules rather than changing your position you will still lose to the voters. It fascinates me. Its really constructive the way the debate played out. If you watch the ads in ohio they were not necessarily about abortion. They were warning that this is about transgender rights. I dont even want to take the issue on head on. What a week. Thats all we have for today. Thanks for watching. We will be back next week. If its sunday it is Meet The Press. President trump, did you intend to overthrow the 2020 election. You know the answer to that. Is there any chance you would take a plea deal in georgia. We did nothing wrong. We dont take plea deals. Its a wise guy question. We dont take plea deals because i did nothing wrong. Its called Election Interference. Thats nbcs vaughn hillyard, aka mr. Wise guy, pressing donald trump on the 2020 election and whether or not the former president would now take a plea deal. It comes as the Georgia Prosecutor will begin presenting her case to a