0:00

When it comes to teaching kids and teens

0:02

about money, practice makes perfect. That's

0:04

where Greenlight comes in. With a

0:06

debit card and money app of their

0:08

own, kids learn to earn, save, spend

0:11

wisely, and invest. Parents send instant money

0:13

transfers, create custom chores, and automate allowance,

0:15

while kids track their spending, set savings

0:18

goals, and practice money skills they can

0:20

use today and for life. Get

0:23

one month free when you sign

0:25

up at greenlight.com/podcast. Tonight,

0:29

with just days to go until jury selection

0:31

in the Hush Money case, Donald Trump is

0:33

working overtime to delay the trial. We'll get

0:35

into all the day's legal developments in

0:38

this case and more. Then

0:41

Donald Trump dodges on a national abortion ban

0:44

as the Biden campaign releases a powerful

0:46

new ad. Plus, President Biden's

0:48

new student debt relief plan would

0:50

impact millions of Americans. What

0:53

it means for student borrowers and the

0:55

presidential race, as the 11th

0:57

hour gets underway on this Monday night. Good

1:00

Monday evening. I

1:07

am Stephanie Ruhle, live from New York City, and we

1:09

are now 211 days away from the election. Tonight,

1:14

special counsel Jack Smith filed his brief to

1:17

the Supreme Court as it prepares to

1:19

hear arguments about Donald Trump's claims of

1:21

presidential immunity. Smith

1:24

argues that even if the justices decide

1:26

presidents do have

1:28

some level of immunity for certain official

1:31

acts, the prosecution should still go ahead

1:33

with the election interference case. Meanwhile, as

1:35

of this moment, Donald Trump's

1:37

first criminal trial, the New York Hush Money

1:39

case, is set

1:42

to begin one week from today. Can you

1:44

believe that? You will believe that Trump's lawyers are pulling

1:46

out all the stops to try and make sure that

1:50

that does not happen. Trump's

1:52

team argued today that the case should be delayed while they

1:54

fight for a change of venue and

1:56

fight against Trump's partial gag order. Less

2:00

than two hours after they made those very

2:02

arguments, the judge denied the motion to delay

2:05

the case. We have seen this

2:07

last minute long shot before from his

2:09

team. His attorneys tried the same late

2:11

change of venue tactic last year to

2:13

delay the civil fraud trial, and appeals

2:16

court refused to delay the trial and

2:18

slapped down the request. Meanwhile,

2:20

there are huge questions tonight surrounding the

2:22

$175 million bond Trump posted to

2:27

appeal the civil fraud case. According

2:29

to the Daily Beast, the contract

2:31

says, Trump would pay the money

2:33

if he loses the appeal, not

2:36

the company itself. Every

2:38

expert out there says that this

2:41

completely negates the entire reason why

2:43

someone would secure a bond. In

2:45

the first place, on top

2:47

of that, the report says the little-known

2:49

company that provided the bond is

2:52

not even licensed in the state of New York. With

2:54

that, let's get smarter with the help

2:57

of our lead-off panel tonight. John Allen

2:59

is here, senior national politics reporter for

3:01

NBC News. Katie Benner, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter

3:03

for The New York Times, and former

3:05

New York prosecutor and civil rights attorney,

3:07

our friend Charles Coleman. Charles, you are

3:09

here with me, so you get the

3:11

first question. What do you make of

3:14

Jack Smith's brief tonight? It

3:16

seems like he's getting emotional almost. Well,

3:18

I think that he's responding in a

3:20

very strong manner to this notion of

3:23

blanket presidential immunity. I

3:25

think that you pointed out one of

3:27

the strongest parts of his brief, whereas

3:29

he gave the Supreme Court an out

3:31

to basically say, look, you do not

3:33

need to rule universally that the president

3:36

may not have any sort of presidential

3:38

immunity regarding criminal acts committed while in

3:40

office or potential criminal charges. In

3:44

this case, when you're talking about a private

3:46

actor who worked with private individuals to affect

3:48

a private outcome that would have essentially

3:50

denatured the entire United States government, that

3:52

absolutely cannot stand. So I think that

3:54

that carve out that Jack Smith made

3:56

in his brief was brilliant. because it's

3:59

going to give the Supreme Court enough

4:01

breathing room where they may not necessarily

4:03

have to rule entirely against Donald Trump.

4:05

I still think that they're going to

4:07

rule against him, but this was the

4:09

icing on the cake that I think

4:11

made them or is going to give

4:13

them enough room to find for

4:16

Jack Smith in a way that everyone can live with. Katie,

4:18

what do you think? Yeah,

4:21

you know, I would largely agree with that.

4:23

Also, I think that the question of whether

4:25

or not this was within Trump's, the scope

4:27

of Trump's duties when he was president, the

4:29

idea that he was seeking out election fraud.

4:31

You know, what's so interesting is we saw

4:33

it at the district court level, Judge Tanya Chukkins, she didn't

4:35

want to rule on that question at all. And

4:37

so I think we can expect at the

4:39

hearing in a couple of weeks to hear

4:41

the Supreme Court justices ask a lot of

4:44

questions about whether or not this was in

4:46

the scope of Trump's duties, the acts that

4:48

he's accused of doing. Because again, to Charles's

4:50

point, what Jack Smith is saying is let's

4:52

not argue about presidential immunity. Let's argue about

4:55

the acts on the table. And if you're

4:57

trying to stop the peaceful transfer of power,

4:59

that is certainly against what it means to

5:01

be president of the United States, but it

5:03

means to uphold the Constitution. Now, one thing

5:06

the Supreme Court could do that would slow

5:08

this down quite a bit is they

5:10

could actually send that question back to

5:12

Judge Chukkin to rule on at the

5:14

district court level, setting off yet another

5:16

wave of decisions and potential appeals. Oh,

5:19

boy. All right. Let's talk about the Hush

5:21

Money case, because that is set to kick

5:23

off next week. Today, Judge Marchant sent both

5:25

parties a letter about how jury selection is

5:27

going to work. Katie, anything stick out to

5:30

you? Well,

5:32

you know, a couple of things. First of

5:34

all, again, this idea that the jury is

5:36

going to remain anonymous to everybody, but the

5:38

counsel, but the lawyers and the

5:40

defendant is still, again, extraordinary to me that this

5:42

is the sort of measure that one has to

5:45

take in New York. Generally speaking,

5:47

you see this happen in gang cases

5:49

where the jurors could be threatened, where

5:52

they feel that they could be at

5:54

risk for participating in our system, in

5:57

our legal system. So that's quite extraordinary.

5:59

Then again. the sorts of questions,

6:01

you know, this pushback that New York

6:03

cannot be impartial. It's

6:05

so clear in this ruling and in

6:07

other comments, this is not the issue.

6:09

You can have a very blue democratic

6:12

area of the country and still

6:14

find 12 people who

6:17

are qualified to serve on the jury. You do

6:19

not see the Justice Department saying, we don't want

6:21

the documents case to happen in Florida because Florida

6:23

is a state that leans red. It is

6:25

really saying that we have no faith in the legal

6:27

system that we can't find 12 jurors.

6:30

So again, the strong motion saying, yes, we can

6:32

find the jurors and also we're going to have

6:34

to ask them a lot of sensitive questions

6:36

about their feelings about Donald Trump, whether

6:39

or not they participate in any extremist groups

6:41

in the United States, their feelings about campaign

6:43

finance, that is to be expected. And it'll

6:45

be interesting to see how people answer. Charles,

6:48

at what point will Trump's

6:50

lawyers run out of ways to try to

6:52

push this trial? Like do you think it's

6:54

starting next? Are you and I going to

6:56

be sitting here next Monday night talking about

6:58

what went down in court? What's your bet?

7:00

I think there's a strong chance of that. Yes.

7:03

I'm going to say, I'm going to say, yes, I

7:05

think that there's an important caveat. And with that, I've

7:07

got to take a point of personal privilege right here

7:09

in this chair. Oh, I feel

7:11

a flex. I feel a little bit of a

7:13

flex because I talked about the fact that a

7:15

change of venue motion was likely coming way,

7:18

way back when the indictment first dropped.

7:20

And here we are, even though the

7:22

motion to delay the trial was denied,

7:24

they are still arguing for a change

7:26

of venue. And that could be something

7:28

that we could see a delay, but

7:30

he is absolutely running out of different

7:32

ways to try to delay this thing. But I

7:34

want to speak really quickly about this notion of

7:37

jury selection and judge Marchant's letter. After

7:40

you did that, I told you so, Dan. Yeah,

7:42

there you go. Okay. Okay. Jury

7:44

selection is undoubtedly one of the most important

7:46

parts of any trial. 70%, if not higher

7:50

of your trial is one in loss with respect

7:52

to your ability to choose a jury. What

7:54

does Marchant did with that letter that stuck out

7:57

to me that is really important? Is that he

7:59

said, look, for For any juror who self-identifies

8:01

themselves as unable to serve, we're not even

8:03

going to interview them. What that does is

8:05

that significantly cuts down the amount of time

8:07

that it's going to take in order to

8:10

choose a jury. For a trial like this,

8:12

it's unprecedented. You're talking about a former president

8:14

of the United States of America finding a

8:16

fair and impartial jury in his home state.

8:18

It's not an easy dance. And so when

8:20

you're talking about people who already don't want

8:23

to be involved and already don't want to

8:25

go to jury duty, if he's already decided,

8:27

look, we're not even going to interrogate those

8:29

people regarding those reasons. He is being very

8:31

serious about I'm cutting the fat and I'm getting

8:33

directly to the people who are going to be

8:35

here and we're going to voir dire those people

8:38

and you're going to have to make some decisions.

8:40

That is a very big deal. He's

8:42

starting with that. Let's do this. All right, John,

8:45

up until now, Donald Trump seems to

8:47

like to go to court. He goes into court.

8:49

He goes to the courthouse steps. It's like he

8:51

does his own little rally there. Will

8:53

this time be different because he cares

8:55

deeply about his image and now he

8:57

is going to be cooped up in

9:00

a courtroom for weeks with

9:02

his dirty laundry being dragged out,

9:04

aired out. Are the people wanting

9:06

his campaign ready for how Donald

9:08

Trump could react to this? Yeah,

9:11

I mean, the emotional duress of sitting there in

9:14

that courtroom for six weeks. And as you point

9:16

out, having his dirty

9:18

laundry is something that I'm not

9:20

sure anybody knows how Donald Trump will react to.

9:22

But we know that he lashes out when

9:25

he's angry. We know that he lashes out when

9:27

he's uncomfortable. And one of the other things that

9:29

we know about Donald Trump is that

9:31

this is the kind of trial, this

9:34

particular one that probably gets

9:36

out of most emotionally, right? This idea that

9:38

he's going to be out there embarrassed publicly,

9:40

not just minute by minute in the courtroom,

9:42

but through the news coverage of this over

9:44

the course of again, six weeks

9:46

of sitting there and listening to the most

9:48

salacious details of his life. I'll be

9:50

in New York next Monday. If

9:52

there is not a delay, I do not.

9:55

I don't have a bet on the over under

9:57

on it starting on Monday, but. If

10:00

it starts on Monday, I'll be there in the court in

10:02

New York. And, you know, I don't

10:04

think we'll ever have seen anything quite like this in terms

10:06

of a former president or one

10:08

who, to your point, cares so

10:10

much about his image. So I actually think, you know,

10:13

of all the things he's facing, this is the most

10:15

likely to A, go to trial and B, to really

10:17

get it under his skin personally. So the

10:19

other question is, is the judge ready, Katie? Judge

10:22

Marchand is about to face one

10:24

of the most challenging defendants in

10:27

U.S. history, not to mention every

10:29

single eyeball when it comes to

10:31

people across this country and even

10:33

on the world stage. With

10:36

what we have seen so far, what are you expecting

10:38

to see from him when the trial starts? So

10:41

this is a really good question, especially given the

10:43

fact that Trump has now basically said that he

10:46

would love to be put in prison. He's saying,

10:48

listen, I'm actually going to slow out your rules

10:50

because I want you to put me in jail.

10:53

Whether or not he actually decides to go through with that,

10:55

whether he in the end decides that he wants to spend

10:57

a night or two in prison is, you

10:59

know, we don't know. We can never really know what's

11:01

going on his head minute to minute. But

11:04

he has basically threatened the judge and said, I'm

11:06

going to threaten your authority every step of the

11:08

way. So this is going

11:11

to be, in many ways, a

11:13

picture of what's to come if any of these

11:15

federal cases come to trial. We'll see

11:18

Trump under tremendous strain. We'll see him watch

11:20

parade of his former allies, including people like

11:22

David Becker of the National

11:26

Enquirer, people who had helped him possibly

11:28

see their testimony come to court. We're

11:31

going to see people he feels betrayed him. Yes,

11:33

to John's point, there'll be a lot of emotion.

11:36

And he is now said he's going to push

11:38

the law to its limits and push the court

11:40

to its limits. I don't know

11:42

that any judge is actually prepared

11:44

for that moment. And we could

11:46

see things that we never imagined,

11:48

including Donald Trump campaigning from a

11:51

jail cell and potentially working

11:53

to his advantage. Well,

11:55

he'd like it to. Or it'll work

11:57

with his advantage with his base. But

12:00

remember, he needs a lot

12:02

more than his face. Charles, let's talk about

12:04

Donald Trump's bond that he got last week

12:06

while he appeals in this fraud case. OK,

12:08

$175 million from this company

12:11

in LA, the guy who runs

12:13

at Hanky, basically a subprime auto

12:15

lender, like a payday lender for

12:17

cars. The way this is

12:19

supposed to work, the underwriter, this company

12:21

in LA, they pay if Trump loses

12:24

the appeal. But when people

12:26

look at the details today, they don't. Donald

12:28

Trump would be the one to pay. So

12:31

what was the point of this bond to begin with? The

12:33

point was to buy time and get Leticia James' office

12:35

back. But what we have seen now that they have

12:38

gone through the contract and looked at the details. A

12:40

fraudulent contract from kind of a

12:42

sketchy bond guy for a

12:44

case that was all about fraud? Correct.

12:47

The irony, right? And so now Donald

12:49

Trump has put Leticia James in a

12:51

very precarious position because she has to

12:53

make the decision as to whether she

12:55

wants to undergo a bond source hearing.

12:57

And what that typically means is they

12:59

will go into detail and examine the

13:01

legitimacy of the source that is being

13:03

provided to establish this bond. If

13:06

in fact that is done, it's not going

13:08

to help the AG's office from a time

13:10

perspective because it's just going to delay that

13:12

further and further down the road and it's going

13:14

to allow him to do what he wants to do. If

13:17

she does not make that move, then Donald Trump

13:19

sits with this fraudulent contract and allows that to

13:21

cover the $175 million that's necessary to sustain the

13:23

bond. So

13:26

he is essentially playing checkers again while

13:29

other people are trying to just get

13:31

an honest answer and hold him accountable.

13:34

My goodness. All right, John. So

13:36

the guy in LA is a subprime auto lender.

13:38

That's how he got rich. Over

13:40

the weekend, there was a big

13:42

fundraiser for Trump in Palm Beach

13:44

co-hosted by John Paulson, who became

13:46

a billionaire betting against subprime just

13:48

before the financial crisis. Tell

13:51

us what went on at this event. You've got

13:53

reporting because Trump had a special message just

13:56

for that billionaire crowd, a much different

13:58

message than he has. when he's out

14:00

there at rallies. Right,

14:03

campaign officials said he raised $50 million from

14:06

a group of 117 people, many

14:08

of them billionaires. And what he told them, among

14:11

other things, was that he was promising to keep

14:13

their taxes. Whoa, this is a huge contrast with

14:15

Joe Biden, by the way, who has said he

14:17

wants to increase taxes on the rich. Trump

14:20

is saying that he is gonna get in and extend

14:23

the Trump tax cuts for 2017. You'll

14:25

recall this was particularly good

14:28

tax breaks for many

14:30

of these billionaires who have sole proprietorships

14:32

or what are called pass-through entities. I don't

14:34

wanna get too nerdy with this, Stephanie, but

14:36

you know very well

14:38

how the very wealthy are

14:41

able to reduce their tax burden through

14:43

some of these structures of their businesses. Many of

14:45

those folks in private equity and

14:48

hedge funds were at this dinner with

14:51

Trump. And we remember, if we

14:53

look back at recent politics, just how outraged

14:55

Republicans were that say Hillary Clinton would go

14:57

speak to a group of Wall

14:59

Street executives, none of whom

15:02

were donating a million dollars to our campaign,

15:04

it's certainly not $50 million in a night,

15:06

and not release a transcript. NBC

15:08

News asked Donald Trump's campaign for a transcript.

15:10

We asked him to let us in to

15:13

listen to his remarks. Both of those requests

15:15

were summarily denied. Well, raising

15:18

$50 million is chump change if the

15:20

message to all of them was, you

15:22

will not be paying one single dollar

15:24

more in taxes. Things like pass-throughs, things

15:26

like carried interest will

15:29

be safe if I'm the next president.

15:31

What's extraordinary is you wonder if Donald

15:33

Trump's base who cares so much about

15:35

populist messaging, those very same people who

15:37

judge Joe Biden for having a fundraiser

15:40

across the street from us at

15:42

Radio City Music Hall, you wonder if those

15:44

people are ever gonna find out what was

15:47

said at that party. Probably not, they

15:49

weren't invited. John, Katie,

15:51

Charles, thank you all for starting

15:53

us off tonight. When we return, Donald

15:56

Trump finally clarifies where he

15:58

stands on abortion. his

16:00

angered members of his own party. And

16:02

later, Joe Biden unveils a new plan

16:04

aimed at helping student loan borrowers.

16:07

And polls show this thing's working. The

16:09

11th hour just getting underway on a

16:11

Monday night. When

16:17

it comes to teaching kids and teens about

16:19

money, practice makes perfect. This is where

16:22

Greenlight comes in. With a debit card

16:24

and money app of their own, kids learn

16:26

to earn, save, spend wisely and invest. Parents

16:29

send instant money transfers, create custom

16:31

chores and automate allowance. While kids

16:33

track their spending, set savings goals

16:35

and practice money skills they can

16:37

use today and for life. Get

16:40

one month free when you sign up at

16:42

greenlight.com slash podcast. Today,

16:49

Donald Trump revealed his position on

16:51

abortion, or at least his latest

16:53

position. And it is getting bipartisan

16:56

criticism. NBC News Garrett Haidt has

16:58

all the details. Tonight,

17:01

after weeks of hints, former President Trump

17:03

weighing in on abortion, declining to call

17:05

for a national ban, instead saying it

17:08

should be up to states to decide

17:10

on any restrictions. The states

17:12

will determine by vote or legislation

17:14

or perhaps both. And

17:16

whatever they decide must be the

17:18

law of the land, in this case, the

17:21

law of the state. At the end of

17:23

the day, this is all about the will

17:25

of the people. Also stating his own view.

17:27

I am strongly in favor of exceptions for

17:29

rape, incest and the

17:32

life of the mother. Mr. Trump's

17:34

announcement creating intense bipartisan backlash. Donald

17:36

Trump just endorsed every single state

17:38

ban on reproductive care nationwide. If

17:41

my republicans put a federal ban

17:43

on his desk, he'd sign it.

17:46

Donald Trump is the reason Rose ended.

17:48

If you reelect me, I'll be the

17:50

reason why it's restored. While Mr. Trump's

17:52

former VP, Mike Pence, slamming him for

17:54

not calling for a national ban, writing,

17:56

quote, President Trump's retreat on the right

17:58

to life is a. slap in the

18:00

face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted

18:02

for him in 2016 and 2020. The

18:06

Supreme Court, with three Trump-appointed justices, struck

18:09

down Roe v. Wade in 2022, returning

18:12

the issue to the states where

18:14

some now have near-total abortion bans.

18:17

Others have no restrictions. I was proudly

18:19

the person responsible for the ending of

18:22

something that all legal

18:24

scholars both sides wanted and,

18:26

in fact, demanded be

18:28

ended. Roe v. Wade.

18:30

But just 36 percent of Americans

18:32

support the overturning of Roe, according

18:34

to an NBC News poll, and

18:37

the issue has energized Democrats. For

18:39

Mr. Trump, today's announcement is the latest

18:41

step in a long public evolution on

18:44

abortion. I'm very

18:46

pro-choice. I'm pro-life. We

18:49

will agree to a number of

18:51

weeks where both sides will be

18:53

happy. What? We

18:56

need some explanation. Stan Pfeiffer joins

18:58

us. He is the former White

19:00

House communications director for President Obama

19:02

and co-host of Pods Save America

19:04

and former GOP communications director, Tara

19:06

Setmeyer. She is a senior adviser

19:08

at the Lincoln Project and a

19:10

presidential scholar at the University of

19:12

Virginia Center for Politics. Tara,

19:14

you call this position a cop-out. I

19:17

don't even know what the position is. All

19:19

legal scholars wanted Roe v. Wade

19:21

overturned. What? Well,

19:26

yeah, it's typical word salad from

19:29

Donald Trump because he doesn't believe any

19:31

of it. He doesn't believe in anything.

19:33

He's a nihilist. He's a malignant narcissist.

19:35

So, he believes in whatever I need

19:37

to say to get myself elected, which

19:39

is what is so frustrating for those

19:41

of us who actually have political ideology

19:43

and principles for people who continue to

19:45

claim they have principles support this guy

19:47

because he says whatever he needs to

19:49

say to get elected. Now, the reason

19:51

why he's coming out now is because

19:53

Republicans know the smart Republicans that are

19:55

helping to run his election and his

19:57

campaign this time around recognize that this

19:59

is a very difficult issue for

20:01

Republicans. It is killer for them

20:04

as an electoral

20:06

issue, particularly in swing states. So they

20:08

were trying to find a middle ground,

20:10

but you can't. There's so much background

20:13

where you just saw, I'm glad you

20:15

guys ran that, where you saw Trump's

20:17

hypocrisy and his inconsistency on it, but

20:20

also because you're seeing what's happening in

20:22

these swing states, particularly with Republican women,

20:24

who are very uncomfortable with the Republican

20:27

party taking women's rights back 100 plus

20:29

years. This is not a secret.

20:31

We see Trump surrounded by these extremists who

20:34

feel as though women's rights are something that

20:36

they can play around with. And I think

20:38

that that's a very dangerous prospect politically and

20:40

they should be concerned about how women will

20:43

vote in these swing states because that's where

20:45

the election is going to be decided. Dan,

20:47

isn't it also a bunch of nonsense, this

20:49

argument that, oh, Trump just says whatever he

20:52

needs to say in the room, or you

20:54

hear from really wealthy Republicans who just care

20:56

about tax cuts. Oh, don't pay attention to

20:58

what he says, then just

21:00

pay attention to what he does because

21:02

Roe v. Wade was overturned and we're

21:05

seeing abortion bans in state after state.

21:07

So what he says is quite dangerous.

21:11

Well, yeah, I mean, look, we shouldn't believe anything Trump

21:13

says. We should look at what you said. We should

21:15

look at what he does. He overturned Roe v. Wade.

21:17

He said he wanted to punish women. And

21:19

what I think we should pay the most attention to in

21:21

this statement that I agree with Tara was word

21:24

salad, herbal applesauce, whatever you wanna call it,

21:27

is what he didn't say. He did not

21:29

say he would not sign a federal abortion ban

21:31

if it came to his desk. Because

21:33

if he gets elected, we know the most likely scenario

21:35

is he gets elected with a Republican Senate and Republican

21:38

House. We know the House is, at

21:40

least at this very moment, led by someone

21:42

who has one of the most

21:45

retrograde, conservative positions on abortion of any

21:47

one American politics. We know whoever leads Republicans

21:49

in the Senate is gonna support a national

21:51

abortion ban. And if that bill comes

21:53

to his desk, 100% Donald Trump is going

21:56

to sign it. So that, he's

21:58

trying to be too cute by half. too clever, whatever.

22:00

The end result here is where we always

22:02

were, which if Donald Trump gets elected, a

22:05

national abortion ban is a very likely outcome.

22:07

And that's why people have to turn out

22:09

and vote against him. But Dan,

22:11

that's the thing. So it was sort

22:13

of this word salad in a room

22:15

today where there were, where reporters were

22:17

in a position to ask no questions.

22:19

He basically just restated where things currently

22:21

stand. It's as though his goal here

22:24

is to take abortion out of

22:26

the political conversation. But how can

22:29

he ever do that? At this

22:31

point, his core, most loyal base

22:33

are white, evangelical Christians. They are

22:35

the people who put him in

22:37

office who will likely get him

22:39

back in office. They're not going

22:41

to let him be quiet on this issue. This is

22:44

their core issue. Absolutely.

22:46

And I think Democrats shouldn't let him

22:49

be quiet on either. The position he

22:51

took today, which has been portrayed by

22:53

some pundits and people on Twitter and

22:55

some reporters as politically savvy, he's triangulating

22:58

against the far right. That's not what

23:00

he did. What he did today was

23:02

endorse the most extreme abortion bans already

23:04

passed in the law and

23:06

the most extreme abortion bans that are

23:09

being proposed anywhere in this country. And

23:11

so we should call him out on it. He wants to take

23:13

this off the table. He cannot take it off the table. And

23:16

we end, it is going to be incumbent upon,

23:18

he's going to face pressure from the right, but also

23:20

Democrats have to call him out on it every single

23:22

time and restate on it.

23:24

President Biden said the State of the Union,

23:26

which is if you elect him with a

23:28

Democratic pro-choice majority, he is going to sign

23:31

a law to restore Roe v. Wade. And

23:33

that's the choice in this election. It

23:35

wasn't just the State of the Union. President

23:38

Biden again today made his feelings very clear

23:41

in a powerful new ad. I want to share just a bit of

23:43

it. It's

23:46

one of our will-of-boxes. This is

23:48

just filled with some of the things that

23:50

we had gathering

23:53

for her while I was pregnant. Yep. Here's

23:56

your little baby book. This

24:01

is the outfit that she was gonna

24:04

maybe wear home from the hospital. All

24:08

of these. This

24:11

is... The

24:18

blanket that she was in. This

24:21

is the outfit

24:23

that she was in. This

24:27

is the outfit that she was in.

24:36

Kara, how's an ad like that gonna land with voters?

24:40

That is one of the most powerful

24:42

ads I've seen the Biden campaign put

24:44

out ever between 2020 and now. Those

24:48

types of stories telling the real

24:50

storytelling of Americans and families of

24:53

women who are impacted by these

24:55

draconian laws is

24:57

a extremely powerful tool.

25:02

The Journal of American Medicine came

25:04

out and said that 64,000 women

25:07

who have been got pregnant from

25:09

being raped since these laws

25:11

have gone into place in these 14

25:13

states. 64,000

25:16

women and girls are pregnant, were pregnant

25:19

from rape. So

25:21

in these 14 states where you have these

25:23

laws, they are being forced to carry the babies of

25:25

their rapists because they don't have exceptions or they have

25:27

to leave the state to get an abortion. How

25:30

dare the federal government, tell or state

25:32

governments, tell these women what to do

25:34

with their bodies and situations like that.

25:38

As a former Republican, we always talked

25:40

about individual freedom. And

25:42

in this case, you are taking away that freedom,

25:44

that agency from women because of what? Because

25:47

you want to install these

25:49

illiberal, autocratic, 100-year-old gender roles,

25:52

reverse, repressive gender roles for

25:54

what? Disenfranchising women? And

25:57

this is the party, this is what Republicans are doing and this is

25:59

who they are supporting. So the fact

26:01

that President Biden is making

26:03

these stories real, so the American

26:05

people fully understand, because I'm not quite

26:08

sure, everyone fully understands what the Republicans

26:10

are trying to do here because they're

26:12

being very careful, they're being

26:14

very obvious in some places, but

26:16

very wily in others. Using

26:18

laws trying to go back to this Project 2025, going

26:21

back to the Comstock Act of 1873, and

26:25

using all of these strange and old

26:27

laws to try to take women's health

26:29

care rights away from them. Okay,

26:32

good for the President for doing this, and they need to do more of

26:34

it. Okay, but careful, schmerful. Dan, I

26:36

want to go back to the point

26:39

you just made about pundits today, saying

26:41

Trump is being savvy, threading this needle,

26:43

triangulating it. Savvy how? Look

26:45

at an ad like that. Tomorrow, Arizona

26:48

is going to decide whether to

26:50

enforce an abortion ban from 1864.

26:54

It doesn't matter what Donald Trump told

26:56

billionaires at a cocktail party in Palm

26:58

Beach over the weekend, because you know

27:01

he was not mentioning an abortion ban

27:03

at that party. He can't

27:05

possibly thread the needle while these things

27:07

are happening in state after state. I

27:10

mean, that's exactly right. I mean,

27:12

that's what we've seen in every election

27:15

since Dobbs in 2022, is

27:17

that no matter what their public position is, whether they

27:19

say leave it to the states, whether they adopt a

27:21

15-week abortion ban like they tried to do in Virginia

27:23

in 2023, the same thing happens. It

27:26

comes back to the fundamental fact

27:29

that a Supreme Court with justices

27:31

appointed by Donald Trump, confirmed by

27:33

Republicans, took away a constitutional right

27:35

for millions of Americans, and now

27:37

Republican state legislatures are

27:40

putting in place these bans, oftentimes

27:42

with no exception, and they're not stopping there.

27:44

They're going after IVF. Contraception could be next,

27:46

and that is the fundamental truth, and nothing

27:48

Donald Trump says or does is going to

27:50

change that fact between now and then. Americans,

28:00

but will he get credit for it? We're going

28:02

to break it down. And the 11th hour continues.

28:11

You know, we love talking numbers on

28:13

this show. And these ones are huge.

28:15

During a visit to Madison, Wisconsin today,

28:18

President Biden unveiled a sweeping new student

28:20

debt relief plan, bringing the total amount

28:22

forgiven to nearly $150 billion. Dan and

28:24

Tara are still with us. Critics

28:29

have argued, oh, this is like buying

28:32

votes. Yet those same critics don't say

28:34

that when he cuts taxes for the

28:36

super rich or for corporate America. What

28:38

is your reaction to this move? Well,

28:42

I think this is great news. It's

28:45

evidence that the president is doing everything

28:47

in his power to fulfill a 2020

28:49

campaign promise to help deal with a

28:51

crushing burden of student debt. And

28:54

this was a great announcement. There have been I've

28:56

already done a lot of work. They've already relieved

28:58

billions of dollars. This is a huge step. And

29:01

it's not buying votes. It's fulfilling a campaign

29:03

promise. Parrot Republicans

29:05

are acting like voters just

29:07

don't even care about this.

29:09

But when you look at

29:11

the numbers, 73% of voters

29:13

support student loan forgiveness. And

29:15

that includes 56% of Republicans.

29:17

Is your former party not

29:19

reading this issue correctly? I

29:24

think that they recognize that from the

29:26

constituency that they need, this isn't a

29:28

big issue. But

29:30

for Democrats, it's hugely important to firm

29:32

up that coalition. They need those voters.

29:34

It was very smart, again, of the

29:37

Biden camp to send the president to

29:39

Wisconsin to make this announcement,

29:42

where President Biden only won by

29:44

a little over 20,000 votes in 2020. He needs those college

29:48

students, he needs that 18 to

29:50

30 year old vote to

29:52

get out there and be energized to vote

29:54

for him. It is a campaign promise that he's

29:56

trying to fulfill. And he's been

29:59

thwarted by legal complications

30:01

with it, but most people don't care about that.

30:04

Politics is about perception, and he's trying to

30:06

make an effort to do this. Hopefully

30:08

that, among other issues, will inspire that

30:11

part of the Democratic coalition to get

30:13

out there and vote. That's why he's

30:15

doing that. Republicans, you know,

30:17

they, it's no different than the abortion issue.

30:19

There's a majority of Americans who are pro-choice,

30:21

majority of Americans are pro-IDF, but yet you

30:24

still have Republicans that are going after an

30:26

extreme agenda. This is another issue that they

30:28

just, they look at the polling, they don't

30:30

think it matters for the constituency that they

30:32

need, so they try to, you know, hide

30:35

it in fiscal responsibility and all this. And

30:37

I understand certain aspects of that, but that's not

30:40

really what matters here. It's about motivating people to

30:42

vote, and this is a good issue for that

30:44

18 to 30-year-old vote. Well,

30:47

the way to impact perception is strategic communication.

30:49

Dan, you know this well. Whatever

30:52

Donald Trump says goes viral, in

30:54

part because much of what he

30:56

says is so crazy. But

30:58

at the same time, President Biden

31:01

is doing a lot of constructive

31:03

things to help the American people,

31:05

to help American consumers. Put student

31:07

debt aside, right? President

31:09

Biden gets blamed for the inflation situation that

31:11

we're in. Yet millions of

31:14

voters have no idea all the things

31:16

that he's trying to do to curb

31:18

inflation. How does he start to change

31:20

that, right? News deserts is one thing,

31:22

but from a communication standpoint, how does

31:24

he get the message out, not even

31:26

what his promises are, but what he's

31:29

actually doing? Well,

31:31

part of this is going to be with paid ads,

31:33

right? He had that, you know, he had that fundraiser

31:35

last week. He's

31:37

got the money to do it, but it's

31:40

also strictly for young, the hardest constituency to

31:42

reach is younger voters, right? They're the ones

31:44

who are not consuming news in a traditional

31:46

way that we always have through digital

31:49

websites like the New York Times or watching

31:51

cable news as much, or even being on

31:53

Twitter or whether it's on TikTok. What

31:56

you're going to have to do there is going to be some targeted

31:58

advertising those people, but also he's going to have to. to empower

32:00

his supporters, student to student, person to person,

32:02

to tell those stories about what he's doing.

32:04

Because that's who they're going to believe, that's

32:06

who they're going to trust. And that is

32:09

why they are opening field offices. I think

32:11

there are hundreds of them open now. They're

32:13

hiring organizers, they're recruiting volunteers. The

32:15

modern way of communication in this very

32:17

fractured media environment is person to person,

32:20

family member to family member within

32:22

people's networks. And that takes time and energy and

32:24

money and organizations. The Biden campaign has all of

32:26

those things. I know they're working very hard to

32:28

get that going. And I think today, yesterday,

32:30

today's event in Wisconsin was sort of the

32:33

starting gun for that effort on student loans

32:35

to persuade younger voters. Tara,

32:37

new topic that the New York

32:39

Times tackled today, corporate America, portions

32:41

of it seem open to a

32:44

Donald Trump second term because they like

32:46

the idea of tax cuts and deregulation.

32:49

Why they put no weight into

32:51

the idea that our democracy is at

32:54

risk. A bank CEO very recently kind

32:56

of scoffed at the idea when I

32:58

talked about our institutions being at risk.

33:01

Do they not remember he didn't

33:03

and still doesn't accept the results

33:05

of the last election? Why wouldn't

33:07

CEOs of Fortune 500 companies whose

33:10

number one job it is to

33:12

be a risk manager, even

33:15

acknowledge that that is a huge risk to

33:17

our country? If we don't have a functioning

33:19

democracy, you will not have a strong economy.

33:24

I agree with you. And I think what happens

33:26

is people live in a bubble. They

33:29

think it doesn't impact them. They have the money

33:31

to leave and go to another country, a non-extradition

33:33

country. The rest of us are the ones are

33:35

going to have to save ourselves from the barges

33:38

on our way to Gitmo if Trump

33:40

gets reelected again and decides he wants

33:42

to. And that's this retribution agenda that

33:44

he keeps bragging about. They're

33:47

so removed from the everyday life

33:49

and impact of what it means. I

33:52

was speaking at an event recently where I

33:54

used the example that democracy is like gravity

33:56

or it's like oxygen. You don't think

33:59

about it. It's just out there. there in the air until you

34:01

don't have it anymore. And I

34:03

think a lot of these CEOs and people

34:05

who are in the elite, they

34:07

don't think that the institutions are

34:09

all that vulnerable because it hasn't

34:11

impacted them directly. They have the

34:13

means to circumvent whatever's coming. They're

34:15

like D.C. Republicans. They're going to

34:17

go along and get along until

34:19

they're thinking it's going to

34:21

be advantageous to them until it isn't. So

34:25

this is at their own peril. And I

34:27

blame people like this for being the enablers

34:29

of why this autocratic march that our country

34:31

is down because of people like Donald Trump

34:34

and those around him. They are

34:36

complicit in this and they need to wake up

34:38

because I've gotten news for them. They won't be

34:40

able to escape it if it

34:42

comes down to this country not having a

34:44

democracy anymore. Good luck with

34:46

that. It's shame on them. Dan,

34:48

I did have the last question for you, but with

34:50

an answer like that, we've got to give it to

34:52

Tara. Good to see you both. Thank you for

34:55

being here. Absolutely. And when

34:57

we come back, basketball hall of

34:59

famer Nancy Lieberman, aka Lady Magic,

35:01

is here to discuss an epic

35:04

tournament and what happens after

35:06

this winning moment for women's

35:08

sports. On the 11th hour, it continues. When

35:12

it comes to teaching kids and teens about

35:14

money, practice makes perfect. That's where

35:16

Greenlight comes in. With a debit card

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and money app of their own, kids learn

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track their spending, set savings goals,

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use today and for life. Get

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one month free when you sign

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up at greenlight.com/podcast. I

35:44

am so excited for this conversation.

35:46

The women's NCAA tournament came to

35:48

an end with South Carolina claiming

35:50

a third title over Iowa.

35:54

The game shattered records. Are you ready for this number? I'm

35:57

your host, Amy Adams. Thanks for tuning in. I hope you have

35:59

a great weekend. Many, even Gamecocks coach

36:01

Dawn Staley, have given Iowa

36:03

superstar, Kaitlyn Clark, the credit

36:05

for drawing so much attention.

36:10

I wanna personally say Kaitlyn

36:12

Clark for lifting up our

36:14

sport. She

36:19

carried a heavy load for

36:22

our sport and it just

36:24

is not gonna stop here on a

36:26

collegiate tour, but when she is

36:28

the number one pick in the WNBA draft, she's

36:31

gonna lift that league up as

36:33

well. I am

36:35

honored to welcome Lady Magic herself,

36:37

two-time Hall of Famer, WNBA coach

36:40

and NBA assistant coach Nancy Lieberman.

36:42

She is also on the board

36:44

of directors at the National Basketball

36:46

Retired Players Association. Nancy, you

36:48

have had one of the most extraordinary

36:51

careers in basketball.

36:53

How do you feel tonight? I

36:56

feel excited and first of all, Stephanie,

36:59

thank you so much. I love your

37:01

energy and enthusiasm for anything

37:03

we've worked for, for 50 years, during

37:06

this stretch of Title IX. So

37:08

I will as well thank my

37:11

friend Kaitlyn Clark for

37:13

what she's done. You know, it's not

37:15

only what she did, like Dawn said,

37:17

to lift the game up. Think

37:19

about the economic impact she's had,

37:21

not like in Iowa, it's somewhere

37:23

between, 14 and 52 million

37:26

dollars this season and all the sellouts.

37:30

What she did is going to affect the

37:32

new contract that NCAA president

37:35

Charlie Baker is going to

37:37

negotiate. And think about, and

37:39

Steph, think about this. Right now,

37:41

the 32 teams that made it to the

37:43

men's tournament, they were competing for $220 million in

37:48

all that bonus money for your hard work. All

37:51

right, the women got zero. Okay,

37:54

so that has to be adjusted in

37:57

the fiscal year of 24-25. You

38:01

said it right, 18.7 million. Do

38:03

you know what they talked out at? 24 million. Is

38:06

that great? It's incredible. Then do

38:08

you think this will be the tipping

38:11

point? Right, because historically we always hear,

38:13

listen, guys get more resources,

38:15

they get the pay because they sell

38:17

out the arenas, they have the fans.

38:19

That's not the case anymore. You just

38:21

laid out the numbers. So can they

38:23

still make that argument? I

38:26

think that argument is done and

38:29

over. We have star power in

38:31

the arena. We had an

38:34

undefeated team. We have Dawn

38:37

Staley, in which she's done for

38:39

college basketball with her players. And

38:41

congratulations to the Gamecocks for just

38:44

the magnificent season. And

38:46

there's Juju, right? And there's Paige

38:48

Becker. And there's

38:50

so many players that are

38:52

coming after. We

38:56

are a history of great women

38:58

and great players. Now it's

39:00

making economic sense because of everything you

39:03

just said. You can't say, well, ladies,

39:05

we just want to be able to

39:07

do this, but. There's no

39:09

more but. It's an economic

39:11

fact right now. And

39:14

it's going to be worked into

39:16

the collective bargaining with the NBA

39:18

and the W, because now some

39:20

of these superstars are going to

39:23

bring their celebrity, their power in

39:25

the workplace economically to the W.

39:28

And they're also going to be able to

39:30

do that at the NCAA level. We

39:33

women have power. You know this. Everything

39:35

in this house is decided

39:37

pretty much by women, the color, the

39:40

food, where we live. We

39:43

on a global

39:47

world, it's trillions

39:50

of dollars that women account

39:52

for. And with one

39:54

thing, I believe it's as of today, we're 131 years

39:56

away from economic. and

40:00

economic parity with men. It seems pretty

40:02

sad on that note. Sad

40:05

today and tomorrow we change

40:07

that. Nancy, fantastic to see you here

40:09

tonight. Thank you for being here. I

40:11

appreciate it. Thank

40:13

you for being a fan of the game, appreciate it. When

40:16

we return, the great American equities,

40:18

we take a look at the

40:21

excitement across the country. But

40:23

as we go to break, something that

40:25

really excited me, Montana's

40:28

Democratic Senator John Tester

40:30

was not in the path of the eclipse. So

40:33

he and his wife, Sharla, came

40:35

up with their own version, making

40:37

do with what they had, one

40:40

another. Look at this. You

40:50

already know what tonight's last thing

40:52

is before we go, a total

40:55

eclipse across America. Today, tens of

40:57

millions of people got a chance

40:59

to see a once in a

41:01

duration in a generation show. Our

41:03

own Lester Holt has more. It

41:07

didn't matter where you were yet. Wow! The

41:10

reactions were the same. The

41:13

diamond rings! Joy, awe,

41:15

and wonder. A

41:17

shared experience for millions of people today who

41:19

had a front row seat to history on

41:21

the horizon. Just seeing how it got dark,

41:24

that was an experience that, you know, it's

41:26

like unforgettable. I'm glad to be a part

41:30

of something like this. People

41:33

flocked to the path of totality, wider

41:36

than it was in 2017, and

41:38

stretching across 15 states from

41:41

the Pacific to the Atlantic. There

41:43

it goes! In Dallas, Al

41:45

Roker. Yeah! Woo!

41:51

Oh! Oh!

41:56

Yeah! There's

41:58

a bead! There's a bead! And

42:05

in Maine, Kate Snow,

42:07

surrounded by thousands. I've

42:15

done this once before and I got emotional then

42:17

and I feel myself getting emotional now. It's

42:20

just something about it that is

42:22

so incredibly special. I

42:24

think it's maybe the commonality that we're

42:27

all experiencing one thing at the same

42:29

exact time. For

42:32

others, it marked a new beginning. Hundreds

42:35

of couples exchanged vows in Russellville,

42:37

Arkansas, including Michelle and Randy Weller. We

42:39

will always remember our wedding day because

42:41

of that day. And despite concerns about

42:44

the cloudy forecast, the views did

42:46

not disappoint. You can see the bottom

42:48

corner coming out. I think it's

42:50

coming out right now. There you go.

42:52

Right there on the right. Pure

42:57

magic, inviting all of us who

42:59

paused for a few minutes today

43:01

and simply looked up. All

43:05

of us together experiencing

43:08

this one thing,

43:10

togetherness, something we need more

43:13

of. The solar eclipse is

43:15

taking us off the air tonight. And

43:17

on that unified note, I wish you

43:19

a very good night. From all

43:22

of our colleagues across the networks of NBC News, thanks

43:24

for staying up late with me. I'll see you at

43:26

the end of tomorrow. When

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43:36

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greenlight.com. Cast: