President say, 100 of first female black Vice President s. Its important what he has highlighted. It speaks to a concern that folks have about the support of hbcus, 16 billion is not cheap. Simone, thank you so very much. Its a pleasure to see you. Catch simone saturday and Sunday Morning at 8 00 a. M. Eastern as she cohosts the weekend right here on msnbc. Andrea mitchell picks up with more news next. Right now on Andrea Mitchell reports, President Biden trying to fire up lagging support from black voters, speaking at the National Museum for African American history on the anniversary of the Brown Versus Board Of Education decision and facing an uncertain reception when he delivers the Commencement Speech at moorehouse. Sparks fly between Marjorie Taylor greene and aoc. How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person. Oh, girl, baby girl. The trump Hush Money Case moves closer to Closing Arguments and going to the jury, how much impact will the showdown between Donald TrumpsDefense Lawyer and Michael Cohen have on the outcome . Good day, everyone. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. President biden trying to fix what could become a critical problem in his reelection campaign, a serious dropoff in support from black voters. A lagging enthusiasm for mr. Biden, especially among young black men in Battleground States who helped put him in office. The president just wrapped up those remarks at the national African AmericanHistory Museum in d. C. , one of the most popular museums. He declared black history is american history. The president marking the 70th Anniversary of the Brown Versus Board Of Education case. A Landmark Supreme Court desegregation case. The president met yesterday with families of the plaintiffs in that case at white house. This sunday, he is speaking at the commence ment for Moorehouse College in atlanta, followed by an naacp dinner. We begin with monica alba. The president Making A Push to clear a voting block ahead of his reelection block. Talk about that and the president s Commencement Address. Reporter this is a flury of events thats meant to target this key demographic of voters that delivered the white house to then candidate joe biden four years ago. They were crucial in the primaries and in the general election. This is after speaking that erosion of support from black voters. A response to that. The president throughout his administration has been very focused on black voters and trying to make really key Infrastructure Investments and cancelling student debt, issues that would appeal to that sector of the population. He has fallen short on other major promises. Many black voters, they cite concerns about the economy or the lack of Voting Rights protections that the president had been trying to work on during the beginning of his term, that he was not able to complete. Thats why you are seeing all of these different events that will culminate on sunday with the president addressing the morehouse commencement. We have seen indications from students and faculty that they are worried about the president s handling of the war in gaza and they dont support the u. S. Position. There may be sort of protests there. We know the white house sent down their head of public engagement, Steve Benjamin, to speak with them. In the end, faculty will bestow an honorary doctorate. But many voted against that. President biden is set to deliver the big commencement at morehouse college, a famous college. Joining us now is the former secretary of homeland security, jeh johnson, who gave the commencement there in 2014 and a graduate from there. You heard the president s speech there. He could have a mixed reception at morehouse on sunday. They sent Steve Benjamin down to try to talk to students and Faculty Members who might be protesting. A lot of concern about the gaza war and also things that have not been delivered to the black community. Andrea, thanks for having me. Im a graduate of morehouse college. I graduated 45 years ago this weekend. I gave the Commencement Address there ten years ago. I have been in situations myself where ive had to deliver a Commencement Address over protests, objections. Im going to go Out On A Limb and say my prediction for sunday is that there may be some noise, there may be some objections, but overall, i think the president will receive a very respectful reception and things will be fine. A morehouse graduation in the black community is really special. Family all want to be there. I had 38 Family Members show up for mine, even though i had ten seats. Everyone shows up. Parents, grandparents, aunt from philadelphia, cousins from chicago. They all want to see their graduate walk across the stage and shake the hand of the president of the united states. They will be unhappy if something disrupts that. Why do you think the president is having a problem with support . Its clear in polling from black people. They helped put him over the top, a critical win in the primaries, of course, with South Carolina and jim clyburn. Black women, black men, theres a lack of enthusiasm. Is it age . Is it gaza . Is it not delivering on certain things for the black community . Andrea, i think that to address, its important for President Biden to talk to black voters not as black voters but as voters. Black americans, like Everyone Else, are concerned about the economy. They are concerned about inflation. They are concerned about their childrens future. They are concerned about health care. They deserve to have the president talk to them like Everyone Else on these same key issues. I think thats the essence of it. In the end, im sure the black vote will come home to President Biden. He needs to talk to black voters as voters, in my opinion. Morehouse also, of course, is in atlanta. The largest city in the swing state of georgia. Biden flipped that, as we know, less than 12,000 votes. Donald trump knew exactly how many votes there were. The war in gaza is dragging down support among all young people. He goes to for commencements. This is the only one aside from the military academy. Yes. Its not traditional in a campaign year. He faced protesters along the road. As you point out, people are not feeling the improvement in inflation and the improvement in the economy and in jobs. Andrea, if i could, i think that morehouse is the perfect venue to try to talk about given its the alma mater of Martin Luther king, talk about the difference between peaceful, respectful protest, which is what dr. King believed in, without hate, without resentment, even civil disobedience, but always remain civil, versus violent demonstrations, spewing hate. I think morehouse is the perfect venue for the president to thread that needle and talk about that issue, given where we are in this moment with everything thats happening on college campuses. I would also recommend, if i could, that President Biden talk to these young men, these graduates, about his own personal story. He is a family man. He is a father. He is a grandfather. He suffered loss. He persevered. Thats a compelling story for these graduates to hear. Speaking of compelling stories, lets talk about your own experience and the importance of the hbcus in the community. In your Commencement Speech in 2014, you talked about coming in and not caring much about your grades. You had a 1. 8. You graduated with a 4. 0. That campus and being there i have heard this from students at other hbcus. I have heard it from friends at howard, which i visited often here in d. C. Theres a spirit, theres faith, theres a feeling of belonging, of achieving. What was it that transformed you from that disinterested young man into a Super Achiever . When i got to morehouse, i had this fantasy that i was going to be a left fielder for the mets. I didnt need to study. I got to morehouse and i remember sitting in my dorm room beginning of my sophomore year. The ambition, the energy, the drive at morehouse is really contagious. The ora of dr. Kings presence, members of the faculty when i was there in 1975, who had taught him. I decided, theres nothing left to do but study. If i want to be a lawyer, go to law school, i was surrounded by these other ambitious students. I pulled it together. My grades went up. I entered morehouse a boy and left a man. Much of what i am today is due to morehouse college. You might be able to see over my shoulder is the president emeritus of morehouse, one of doctor kings mentors and gave the eulogy in 1968. Its history. Its a lot of that. Its your role as a mentor and an example for a lot of other people in this country, a lot of other young men. Thank you. Appreciate that. Thanks, andrea. The capitol clash. Chaos in the House Hearing as debate over releasing a recording of the president devolves into personal attacks and shouting. Thats next when Andrea Mitchell reports is back in 90 seconds. You are watching msnbc. E watchic [ cellphone ringing ] phone call from the boss . Sorry. Outdoor time is me time. I hear that. Thats why we protect all your vehicles here. But hey. Nothing wrong with sticking it to the boss. Ooooh, flo, you gonna take that . Why would that concern me . Because youre. The. Arent you the. . Huh. We never actually discussed hierarchy. Ok, why dont we just stick to letting dave know how much he can save when he bundles his home or auto with his boat or rv. Wait, i thought jamie was the boss. [ laughter ] its funny because im not boss material my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. For one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. One pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. A House Hearing became a verbal food fight last night as members were debating Holding Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to release Audio Recordings of President Bidens classified documents deposition with special Council Robert hur. Do you know what we are here for . You talking about i think your fake eyelashes are messing hold on. Order. Thats beneath even you. Order. Why dont you debate me . Mr. Chairman, the minority did is selfevidence you dont have enough intelligence. The chair recognize mr. Perry. I move to order. Was that a congressional hearing or the Jerry Springer show. Nbc news is part of a lawsuit by the media to force the Biden Administration to release the audio instead of exerting executive privilege. Joining me now ashley parker, New York Times opinion columnist david french and jeff mason. How emblematic is the chaos on capitol hill as part of the current Political Landscape . Its probably on the extreme end but its telling about a deeply polarized and, frankly, fairly uncivil congress and our politics. One thing im spending time thinking about now, because the biden and trump campaigns are spending a lot of time thinking about it, are the double hater, double disliker voters, that dislike both trump and biden. Its worth noting, they dislike them for specific reasons. They also sort of dislike politics. They are disgusted with washington. When you look at Something Like what you just played, its easy to understand why they feel this way. Yeah. Jeff, President Biden has exerted executive privilege. Whats his reasoning there . We have the transcripts. Its very controversial because of Robert Hur Being Critic and very subjective as describing him as an elderly old man. I think the reasoning is what you said, at least what the white house is saying. They have the transcripts. The broader reasoning, which maybe they are not wanting to say out loud, is they dont want it to be a campaign video. The information that came out in that deposition is public and is clear in the transcripts and in the report, to have a recording and to have his voice going back and forth about this issue keeps it out in the ether the way they would rather not have it. When we talk about the recording, david, you have been writing about the divorce from reality of politics, the party the partisanship. With the campaigns overlooking the persuadable voters, to their detriment and pandering i dont think theres any doubt the impulse right now in American Politics is to solidify your base. Theres a mobilization rather than a Persuasion Paradigm thats dominating much of our politics. Its one of the reasons why a lot of voters feel left behind. The people who dont necessarily feel like they fit completely and totally in one camp or the other. On the republican side, the reach out is abandoned except by the reach out is, if you dont vote for trump, america ends, which is an extreme kind of pitch to voters that can be extremely offputting. If there isnt a counterargument, sometimes the most extreme argument can win. Were in a position right now where both parties tend, by instinct, to appeal to their base to win as opposed to appealing more to that american middle. Its one of the reasons we are in a dysfunctional moment. I wanted to ask you about something that the New York Times broke. In 2021, the Supreme CourtJustice Alito who had the lead on dobbs and other controversial opinions had an American Flag hanging upside down of his house. This is for stop the steal. Alito saying it was briefly placed by his wife in response to a neighbors use of objectionable language on yard signs. Senator durbin wants Justice Alito to recuse himself from cases related to 2020. It shows how politicized the court is. We have a refusal to recuse from clarence thomas. The Immunity Decision hanging out there when a lot of lawyers say it should never have taken this long and it should have been decided quickly when jack smith asked for that. You know, the thing about this thats troubling on multiple levels, this is different from the Thomas Stories, because this is their house, their flagpole. Its not just his wifes house and wifes flagpole. It was up for days. The explanation makes no sense. The explanation is a neighbor said something offensive and now there is reporting that there was a personal confrontation perhaps. A lot of people say offensive things to me. I have been through a lot of personal confrontations, for example, in these last in the trump years. At no point has anyone said, we should do in response to this, fly an extremist flag that i dont believe. That doesnt make any sense. Why would this happen . Why would it stay up for days . Why would a Supreme Court justice allow it to stay up for days even if its only his wifes actions . Theres no excuse for this. At some point when you read some of the defenses, you know if the same facts were occurring, say, at justice kagans house, they would be all over it for good reason. It would be inexcusable. The defenses of alito here just dont make much sense. It was a dreadful, dreadful mistake for this to happen. It comes at a time, ashley, when among institutions that are not respected, congress, politicians, the news media, the Supreme Court is having its lowest Approval Ratings because of perceived politics by the court. Thats right. Understandably so. As david mentioned, there was the Thomas Stories and issues, which worth noting the coverage of that won a pulitzer in Public Service from propublica. By the way, he had lists of people approved we know that the group that has been weighing in on the nominees, he is now challenging joe biden to do the same before the election, to start listing people that he would nominate. Getting into bringing the Supreme Court nomination into the election campaign. Its clever on the former president s side. It made such a difference for him. I think in 2016, there are probably people on the right who may have held their nose to vote for president trump, because they knew that he made promises about the Supr