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tv   Alex Witt Reports  MSNBC  May 18, 2024 12:00pm-1:01pm PDT

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now today's other top stories. the man accused of attempting to assassinate the slow back prime minister. called him a lone wolf.
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he is in stable condition after being shot multiple times. employees at two mercedes-benz plant in alabama voted not to unionize this week. there five days to object to the legitimacy of the vote but if there are no objections, the union must wait another year before holding another election. and police footage catching the moment scottie scheffler was detained at a traffic stop before he was arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer. the golfer was detained for a few hours but did make it back to play in round two of the pga championship. moments whether the jury was buying any of what donald trump's defense was saying in court this week. a good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters new york. welcome to alex witt reports. it is 3:00 p.m.
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here on the east coast and high noon at west. decision 2024 and the contenders on the campaign trail on both coasts. president biden is attending campaign events in atlanta right now. tomorrow he will deliver a commencement speech at morehouse college. donald trump is getting ready to address and an ra convention in dallas just over an hour as he campaigns before his criminal trial resumes on monday. last night at an event in minnesota he falsely declared that he won the state in 2020, despite democratic presidential candidates caring that state for more than 40 years. and an upside down flag flew outside the home of supreme court justice samuel alito in january 2021. days before biden's inauguration. congressional democrats are calling for him to recuse himself from all cases related to january 6 and donald trump and also for a code of ethics for the top judges. >> as a judge you're supposed to avoid not just impropriety but the appearance of impropriety which shows a necessity of an enforceable judicial code of ethics. there is enforcing judicial
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cord code of ethics for every member of the judicial system other than the supreme court. understand you have new reporting about the president's commencement address tomorrow. >> reporter: we do. i should mention that the president just arrived at his first campaign event here in atlanta since he arrived this afternoon. this is an event at a local black-owned business. restaurant where the president is engaging with some volunteers and supporters there, talking to them about helping to build his campaign effort here in the atlanta area before he goes to morehouse in before he comes here to morehouse college smile to deliver the commencement address and we are learning the present has been preparing for it for some time now. we have somebody of the president arriving here in atlanta earlier today and immediately meeting with several morehouse alumni, men who graduate from this school,
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including senator raphael warnock and the mayors of birmingham and montgomery, alabama. this is something the white house has been doing, reaching out to morehouse alumni to understand what the president needs to say when he comes here. afterword of his invitation got out there was some resistance to the present coming here among students and faculty, particularly because of the war in gaza and the president's support of israel. the university, the college, has been able to meet with steve benjamin, the director public engagement last friday. he spoke with students and faculty about the concerns and about what they wanted hear from the president. they said they did not want to hear a campaign speech. and analyst for msnbc who you spoke with early today is also a morehouse alum, professor princeton eddie cloud, who talked about being contact by the white house. >> i think president biden has to speak to this generation directly. cannot speak pass them. he cannot assume that they're
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not informed. he has to speak to the fact that these young folk across the country are clamoring, are calling for, and holding him to account, and clamoring for an idea of a country that is consistent with their moral values. >> reporter: as we understand it from the white house official, they will be specifically geared toward the 400 plus lack men graduating from morehouse college. this will not be a campaign speech. he will talk about some of his accomplishments from his perspective with how he has delivered for black students and the black community at large. he will talk about his hopes for these graduates and their futures as well. we understand there has been some effort on social media encouraging the graduates to
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stand up during the president's remarks tomorrow and turn their backs on him as a form of protest as i spent a lot of debate about whether we would see something tomorrow. the expectation we have heard from faculty and students here is that it will be a peaceful dignified ceremony and if there's any protest, it might be in line with what i just suggested there. there will not be a large dramatic display during the graduation ceremony because this is something that students and faculty here want to maintain the morehouse tradition, as we have been told come tomorrow when the president speaks here. >> thank you for that. by the way, we were showing a split screen of one point of president biden. he is a a tea room not far from you in atlanta at a campaign event. that was what it was about. let's go to the other side the political world. jillian frankel is in texas were former president trump is set to deliver marks at the nra conference later on today. preview those remarks for us. what to expect? >> reporter: it is a busy three day weekend for the former president between his sons high
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school graduation florida yesterday in the minnesota gop dinner last night, today he will be right here in dallas, texas, speaking at the national rifle association's annual conference. this is nothing new for the former president. we have seen him on an nra stage a couple of times in the past but ptc might be getting the nra's endorsement which would not necessarily come as a major surprise given that the organization endorsed him back in 2020. what you to hear from a few voters attending today's events. take a listen. >> it is all political. i think joe biden -- the democratic party's doing their best to bring him down however they can. >> oh but just about every politician and person of his importance pays someone to kill fake stories, because there lots of fake stories out there
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and people make money giving them. >> reporter: one thing we are certainly going to be listening for today are any comments trump makes about his new york criminal hush money trial. notably, did not same thing about it last night at the minnesota gop dinner and if you to the former president you know it is a bit odd. the trial is winding down, closing arguments could happen this week. we will certainly be keeping an ear out. for more on donald trump's criminal trial in new york i'm joined by the former prosecutor and former criminal defense attorney. you have politics reporter from axios. sophia, michael cohen spent over seven hours under cross- examination. donald trump's team spending much of that time trying to paint him as a liar. the word "lie, was under 50 times on thursday alone. how effective was that strategy? >> i think it was somewhat effective as at least. they spent several hours
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walking through his past lies establishing that he has lied before repeatedly including under oath and also, shows what could be a motive. they showed that michael cohen wanted a job at the white house and he could not get it and that perhaps michael cohen speaking out now is a form of revenge and then they get into this call that michael cohen testified about this time and it was this october call that lasted one minute and 36 seconds and the defense lawyer said that michael cohen was lying. the crescendo of cross- examination thursday, that was one trump attorney accused him of lying about october 24 call to the phone of trump's security chief. he had testified that he spoke with trump directly on that call but blanche jones the
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story and cohen wavered saying he believed he spoke with trump that day. did this exchange undermine the rest of cohen's testimony or was him lying at him? do that overplay his hand? >> i believe when cohen said he believed, he spoke to trump. that was problematic because the prosecution has the burden. they have to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt and that case in part hinges on the account that is trump georgia do -- directed him to pay stormy daniels. >> to the can is hard to recall the specifics of a conversation among many conversations from eight years ago? >> is a problem on direct examination he said he spoke to trump and updated him about the stormy daniels call. or the stormy daniels matter.
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cross-examination he was confronted with the test that he sent to keith schiller before he took place and in that text, talked about a 14- year-old prankster. nowhere in the text did he talk about stormy daniels. had a conversation on the phone with keith schiller the last all of 96 seconds and then he said we talked with the stormy daniels conversation and the prankster. and the defenses are going to the jury, how could you have done both and 96 seconds and why did you not mention on direct examination. why didn't it come up in the grand jury testimony provided. looks as if he is making up a lie in the moment. that is problematic. >> how can prosecution clean this up on redirect? >> that will be difficult. they will make it seem like there is nothing there there. data conversation with him about the 14-year-old prankster and then handed the phone to
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trump and talked about stormy daniels. both could happen in 96 seconds. the problem with that is what they first approached the situation in the direct. why did have to come out on cross-examination? so, michael cohen for his part appeared calm but the defense played the jury a clip from his podcast which presented him in a different light to saying revenge is a dish best served cold suggesting he was seeking revenge against trump. how to these that moment to attack cohen? >> her to put in the bigger picture. the defense is also said that michael cohen makes a lot of money out of speaking out and so does stormy daniels. that is an effort to paint these two witnesses as unreliable and with the
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specific motive and by having the jury really listen to michael cohen, they are hoping that hearing his voice and the emotion in that, that it will show perhaps michael cohen's truer motive. >> he is supposed to leave the stand at some point on monday morning and then it is up to the defense to decide whether to present new witnesses. they have left the door open for donald trump to testify. it seems like that would open an entire can of words. what questions could the prosecution asked him on the stand. >> you really see defendants taking the stand because it is so risky and defense attorneys are risk-averse. he's not going to take the stand to matter how may times he says he's willing to. is a front row seat to what a cross-examination looks like and like cohen, he would be subjected to cross-examination by the prosecution and they would annihilate him. donald trump a smart. he's not a smart as he things
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he is was smart enough to know not to take that route. >> trump could be considering politics, right? as he decides whether or not to testify. what you think is going through his mind as he makes these considerations? >> based on my reporting a what i know about how the campaign is operating, the campaign, and at this point, trump himself is really deferring a lot to his lawyers in terms of what to do in this case, as well as how he messages about it. i know that he does trust him and it will be up to his defense lawyers whether or not he testifies. it will not really be up to him. >> there is a chance the defense will call a witness who is not donald trump. they have discussed calling an expert that would discuss campaign finance law. and what could the testimony bring to the defense's case? >> i think cohen had told costello that he thought stormy daniels was extorting trump by
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speaking out, by wanting to speak out about this and this guy could bring more to that extortion arguments but i think someone else who could be really interesting is if we heard from keith schiller. he will probably be saying -- the bodyguard who was on the other end of this call. i think that is a possibility. i don't know if either of those will happen, but keith schiller could be a really interesting witness. >> bob castillo claims that he repeatedly denied having evidence. he was a former federal prosecutor from the southern district of new york. he represented rudy giuliani as well as steve bannon. would he be a credible witness? >> we remember that the defense
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does not have to put on a shred of evidence. the prosecution has its burden. they do not. the bench should stop earlier had and i think they made some major blows to the prosecution's case on thursday. i think they should keep riding the wave and honing in on cohen's lies and inconsistencies, possibly showing that he lied on the stand in the face of this jury. if they just keep riding that wave i don't think the need to open up another can of worms by calling someone to the stand because they have to be subjected to the cross- examination from the prosecution. >> and the judge advised lawyers, be ready to make closing statements on tuesday. what goes into preparing that? >> closing arguments are really important. you want to take your case for the prosecution, they want to argue that all of this brought out salacious details. we don't need to worry about
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that. what you need to focus on are these 11 invoices. the 11 checks. these documents were donald trump is falsifying these records in order to disguise the reimbursement that he paid to stormy daniels. that is why we are here. with the defense wants to argue is cohen is a liar, liar, liar. he is their star witness. the whole case rides on michael cohen and connecting trump to the documents. he has lied before. he lied on the stand. there is no way you can believe him and we feel so confident that the prosecution did not prove their case that we don't need to say anything else. use your common sense. that is what they will argue. >> i bet you are right. thank you very much for your time. next, a story of the supreme court justice. the upside down flag. the explanation he is giving for the whole thing. we are back in 90 seconds.
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capitol riot. alito telling the times and no involvement whatsoever the flying of the flag. it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. this it was there for several days and his wife was in a dispute with another homeowner who, quote, displayed an anti- trump side with an expletive. it offended them and led to an misleading clash between her and the neighbor. were bringing in the former prosecutor. is the my wife did it excuse sufficient to separate him from any concerns about his personal political bias? >> judges should absolutely recuse themselves when the judge's impartiality might
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reasonably, that is the key word, be question. if you know what waving and inverted for lack around that time and around that time i mean on or about january 6, what that means, that you had and inverted flag waving at your home, don't care that your wife was responsible. whatever. did you know about it? >> four days. didn't just go up and down. it was up for days. >> the question is, did you know about it. what message was meant to convey? do you or do you not -- disagree with the message? the supreme court is about to decide key issues in the 2020 election case and trump's claim on immunity. these questions raise reasonable concern about justice alito's impartiality so he would want to distance himself from about as much of this is possible especially given the waning confidence in the supreme court. justice kavanaugh in a recent
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conference talked about how rulings coming out of the supreme court in the 50s and 60s were not embraced immediately. people did not understand it and it took some time. that will be an issue here because decisions coming out of the supreme court, the public will believe they have been bought and paid for and somehow they have been compromised. no one is going to accept the rulings if you have someone who refuses to step aside, no matter what, because under these circumstances, a judge would recuse himself in any other court in the country but for some reason, the code of ethics is different. >> it goes beyond alito should want to do this. the near times reports that the court has warned employees they may not engage in partisan political activity or publicly support or oppose a partisan political organization or candidate which includes displaying signs or bumper stickers or stating positions on social media. i'm going to ask the question but are the ethical guidelines on the court effective? >> know.
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justice clarence thomas is a prime example. he is never stepped aside and he had the same sort of issue concerning his wife as well. he has not recused himself from the docket. apparently the code of ethics at the supreme court is just different. it works differently and it is not doing anything for public confidence in the supreme court which is at an all-time low. any decision they come out within the next month or so will be received in a way that justice kavanaugh described in the 1950s and 1960s. that is where we are at this point. >> is it reasonable? is it a reasonable ask for democrats to demand recusal from the january 6 cases? how common is it for justices to take themselves off the case? >> a currently it is not. we become so divisive in our country now more than ever.
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we have not really had to address this issue as much as we are now. and i think that democrats need. this is a need if they're listening to the public, for them to demand that there is more oversight and that there needs to be a strong code of ethics at the supreme court because they have the power to really change the landscape of the country legally and politically. they are about to decide very key issues in the next month or so. they have a job to do, the democrats and that is not to ask nicely, it is to demand more oversight with regards to the issue. >> thank you so much. i appreciate you weighing in. breaking news about the new threat is really prime minister benjamin netanyahu is facing today. plan from unitedhealthcare. with this type of plan, you'll know upfront about how much your care costs. which makes planning your financial future easier.
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it's t-mobile. it started when we tried to get him under a new plan. but they they unexpectedly unraveled their “price lock” guarantee. which has made him, a bit... unruly. you called yourself the “un-carrier”. you sing about “price lock” on those commercials. “the price lock, the price lock...” so, if you could change the price, change the name! it's not a lock, i know a lock. so how can we undo the damage? we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for. this breaking news in from israel. arrival benjamin netanyahu delivering an ultimatum to the prime minister. the war cabinet member
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threatened to resign if the government does not adopt a new gaza workplan in four weeks. okay, what is the plan that he is demanding and what could a resignation by him mean for how israel would go about conducting the war? >> reporter: it is responding to how they say will get rid of hamas and gaza at but has not laid out a plan for the day after. for who is going to govern the territory of some 2 million people who have been living under hamas rule for many years. this six-point plan calls not only for the gaza strip to be demilitarized. hamas should be eradicated but there should be israeli security control in the future over gaza. some form of international affiliation and dissociation of powers that would have civilian
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responsibilities for dealing with day-to-day life in the gaza strip. the members of the war cabinet have been suggesting basically, you break it, you buy it. they have to have a plan for what is happening next even though the prime minister has suggested it is premature to address any of that until the military goals are accomplished. in the statement from the last hour or so says if you choose to follow the path of fanatics, you will lead the entire nation into a in a bit is that we will be forced to resign from the government. we will turn to the people and establish a government that will win the people's trust. when he refers to the fanatics he appears to be referencing some of the more far right members of the prime minister's government,. people who have really been suggesting that there is no need to discuss
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what is going to happen after, that the goal at this point is to eliminate hamas and the irony is if he were to pull out along with the defense minister and others, it would make the prime minister's even more reliant on the far right members of his very fragile government coalition. could potentially threaten the solidity and future of the coalition and whether the prime minister was able to stay in power. really, the onus is on prime minister netanyahu to respond to this really gambit from a member of his war cabinet who has been a close partner. former rival who has turned partner during the war. to see if he can get his government to adopt something that meets their criteria for what should actually happen once the war is over. >> this is a big deal. this will be a very tense few weeks. thank you. they were ready to rumble and rumble they did. whether we will see more on capitol hill. next.
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the logic dividing standards of the 118th congress may have hit a new low after a house oversight committee voting session descended into shouting and chaos. favor more behaving of a junior high school cafeteria which get most kids suspended. >> you were here for? >> you know what we're here
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for. >> in one talking about >> i think your fake eyelashes and messing up. >> of a point of order and i like to move to take down the screen's words. that is absolutely unacceptable. how dare you attack the physical appearance of another person. >> are your feelings hurt? >> move your words down. >> girl. baby girl. don't even play. >> oh really? >> follow me is donna edwards. i mean, look. as i welcome you. this seemed to capture the depths to which the oversight panel has sunk during this congress as the republicans tried without success to impeach president biden. what is happening in congress? who is in charge? has to corm phone right out the window for good? >> i look i think this is the responsibility of the majority. they're the ones who set the
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rules. does their job and the job of the chairman to enforce the rules. when they do that unevenly, it breaks down into this and this is not the only committee. it is outrageous on the oversight committee, but these kinds of things are happening on other committees as well. it really is at the feet of the republican majority that controls the gavel. and so, it is really unfortunate. it is not a great display for the american people. but, it is inevitable when you have chairman who have lost complete control of the committee and frankly, speaker of the house was lost control of his chairman. >> after grade this chairman was able to do absolutely nothing to stop this. it went on. dude, intervene and jump in. this happened during the wanting to hold her girl in contempt. despite having the transcript
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of the conversation. let's also note that the 8:00 p.m. hearing was held then because many republicans had spent the day taking a field trip to downtown manhattan to stand in solidarity with donald trump at his trial. is there any reason to expect civility in congress when politically motivated, self- serving behavior takes precedence? >> well, i don't think there is any reason to expect anything differently. i have to tell you, it is -- it is so sad, because i think that the responsibility of senior members is to really demonstrate and to behave in such a way that junior members can observe and follow. that certainly was the case when i was in congress. i learned how to act on the floor in the house and in committee from my senior members both republicans and democrats. and so, you can fully expect that when these baseless
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hearings are going on about nothing and the pursuit of nothing that is in the interest of the american people, that things devolve to this. but again, this is the responsibility of the majority. it is the one responsibility they have because they control every gavel in the house. >> i'm just going to say, i will bet my bottom dollar you do not have to be taught that you don't name call and make a genuine fool of yourself on the house floor or in committee. >> that's true. i learned that in fifth grade or so. >> that's about right. i was a maybe a junior high school thing. so, democratic lawmakers are calling for supreme court justice samuel alito to recuse himself from cases involving the 2020 election. this is falling the "new york times" obtaining the picture of the american flag flying upside down his house in the days following the january 6 capitol attack. at that time, the inverted flag
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has become a symbol for trump supporters who claim the election was stolen from him. how much of the refusal to recuse himself further erode public trust in the supreme court? does this and all move the needle for congress to pass ethics reform for the high court? >> it is past time for those reforms to be part of the governing responsibility at the united states supreme court. this is absolutely outrageous. after a we have supreme court justices who show up at a state of the union message and do not applaud for the exact reason that they don't want to be seen as partisan. and if chief justice roberts really does want to return the respect to the courts that the american people expect and the american people deserve, then it is going to be his responsibility to police the behavior of his members on the court and i blame it on my wife excuse is just not going to work anymore. >> donna edwards.
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it is good to see. come see me again soon. and we have a elevates watch the saturday show with jonathan capehart. he will speak with jamie raskin on all of this capital chaos. that is a 6:00 eastern tonight here on msnbc. president biden and his team intensifying the push for black voters. why some are considering staying home on election day. e! -where did he come from? -yup, with me you can screen at home. just talk to your provider. [both] we'll screen with cologuard and do it my way. cologuard is a one-of-a-kind way to screen for colon cancer that's effective and non-invasive. it's for people 45+ at average risk, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider for me, cologuard. if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer.
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right now, president biden is in atlanta ahead of tamara's commencement address at morehouse college. we saw him speaking with supporters moments ago. this was in a tea room. it was months before the election. morehouse's resident reviewed this street saying the hbcu is made for this moment. >> the history of black people and major black institutions is that we have been able to hold the attention of the society to move it forward. i want biden to say, why in this moment am i speaking at morehouse? >> joining us is austin davis, a surrogate for the biden campaign. it is good to see. we see what the morehouse
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present would like to here. what you think is the best way he can reach some in the audience who may want to or actually do protest his presence there? >> thank you so much for having me. i think it is extremely exciting that president biden will deliver this year's commencement morehouse. given all that is at stake for the future black america, it is so important that president biden is going to speak to the future of black america. the young students here. what you can expect in the president is he will talk about his historic record of delivering for black americans. 60% increase in black wealth since the pandemic. black small businesses are starting at if faster rate and black unemployment is at a historic low. he has a record to talk with the young people and to layout the stakes in this election and where a second biden term will
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take us in terms of black americans. >> you spoke at the national museum of african american history marking the 70th anniversary of the roe versus board of education decision. here's some of what he said. let's take a listen together. >> today the resistance comes in other insidious forms. and extreme movement led by my predecessor and his allies backed by an extreme supreme court gutted affirmative action and college admissions. his extreme maga friends are going after diversity, equity, and inclusion all across america. they want a country for some, not for all. >> what your biggest concerns when it comes to inequality in education today and your fears if there comes another trump administration? >> we have come a long way since the supreme court decision the integrated our schools but we have so much further to go. here in pennsylvania, the
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governor and i are making historic investments in public education last year and are proposing over $1 billion to close the inequity with our schools. i am concerned that a second trump term will only take us further back. it is clear he does not believe we should be investing in black and brown communities. he does not believe we should be helping to create black wealth and he certainly doesn't believe we should be giving the people who are most vulnerable a leg up in our society. president biden has stood with black americans throughout his entire career and entire time in office and has delivered historic victories. i think the contrast is clear in this election. >> based on what you just said, why is joe biden having to fight for this particular constituency? for this block of voters against donald trump and his record? >> let's be clear. don't leave under any scenario more african americans vote for donald trump than in previous elections. the overwhelming majority of
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african americans in the country will vote for joe biden to be our next president. we have seen a lot of dysfunction coming out of washington and folks feel jaded but they know that president biden has been delivering for them and the only one who's actually working to earn the votes of black americans. we've seen him not only make historic investments in lack media than ever before. is open 150 cafi -- campaign offices across the country right here in pennsylvania and he showed up to meet voters where they are. the polls say one thing and pendants will go back and forth but what matters is what is going to happen on election day. i think black americans will overwhelmingly vote for biden. >> oh to bring up the polling in which was found 62% of black voters were actually certain to vote. that is down from 74% and in 2020 so the sense of apathy, so
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using those who do vote, definitely will vote more for donald trump than they do for joe biden, but what about getting to the polls? >> we have to compete and persuade every voter. spend a lot of time talking about polls every month but really the only poll that matters is on election day and we are still six months out from the november election and joe biden has kept his foot on the gas in terms of engaging black americans around voting, talk about his historic record of delivering wins for black americans and tiger what he will do in a second term. that is a clear contrast to donald trump who is not even computer talking about these issues or, frankly cares about issues important to black americans. >> good to see her. come back and see me again soon. the first woman to be added lead the afl-cio talks about the univar in alabama this week.
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her uncle's unhappy. i'm sensing an underlying issue. it's t-mobile. it started when we tried to get him under a new plan. but they they unexpectedly unraveled their “price lock” guarantee. which has made him, a bit... unruly. you called yourself the “un-carrier”. you sing about “price lock” on those commercials. “the price lock, the price lock...” so, if you could change the price, change the name! it's not a lock, i know a lock. so how can we undo the damage? we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for.
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something of a setback for the future of unionized auto factories in the u.s. after mercedes-benz workers in alabama on friday voted not to join the united auto workers union. it would would have added to a string of victories for the uaw including volkswagen workers in tennessee voting overwhelmingly in favor of unionizing last month. joining me now is the afl-cio president. the big question. wanted workers in alabama reject unionization? do you see it as a setback? >> i don't see it as a long-term setback but in the short term, there was a lot of excitement, a lot of momentum pleading into this vote, yes, but this is not a loss, it is a temporary setback, primarily because it is a reminder there is a lot of fear when workers want to form
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a union and the company will do everything they can to keep the union out and they did that with mercedes because they don't want workers to have any power. so if you look at the history of the labor movement. the jobs of autoworkers and steelworkers and nurses, those jobs do not start out as a good paying jobs over time, it took years of fights and organizing along the way and i think that is what is going to continue to happen here at mercedes. >> it may extend beyond the corporate factor that you're describing there because the union laws at mercedes will come as a relief who framed it as outsiders on the community. what is it mean for organizing and especially in the south, organized labor has traditionally been weaker. >> the south is, as we know, in
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the shadow of jim crow and a very strong tradition of busting unions. the right to work south, we call it because of the laws that have kept unions away, to weaken, in particular, communities of color because another racist past of right to work. that is no exception here. we saw the politicians coming out of the woodwork. we saw vicious campaigns to stop the union momentum because as you saw, we saw it a few weeks ago. workers are on the rise in the south. they feel the power and that they deserve better. they deserve dignity, respect, and to be paid and check to. are seeing that wave all over the country and this temporary setback at mercedes is just that. it is temporary.
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>> let's move to the afl-cio endorsement president biden last june. that was the earliest ever endorsement of a presidential candidate. biden has a reputation of being perhaps the most prounion president in a generation but other than that, what inspired this early endorsement? >> we have the most prounion president in our lifetimes with h track record like he has for working people, we knew, what more is there to talk about? we know our members are seeing the results of the change in policies over the last four years. they are seeing the investments in chips and science. and infrastructure. the clean energy economy, creating good union jobs. so it could not be clearer the choice that we have to make here in november, so we endorsed early so we could hit the doors and the phones and start mobilizing and getting the word out to the communities that this election, there is a stark contrast for working people. >> more than 70% of americans say they support organized labor.
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that is a 60 year high. but actual union participation, that is at a modern-day low. just number one in 10 private sector workers carry a union card. you argue that anxiety over ai technology means workers need unions more than ever. ex when we see changing technology as an opportunity to reinvigorate organized labor? >> absolute. as you know, artificial intelligence is invading every workplace, whether it is journalism or healthcare. we are seeing it in auto factories, just like we have been talking about, workers feeling the effects of how technology is shifting the way they do their jobs. and they need a voice more than ever. the need a place at the table to start to help put up guardrails around how technology is used so that it is not simply displacing people, but yet it is a tool to
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help us do our jobs better. to help make them safer. to help free us up to do more sophisticated tasks. but as we know, often employers look at technology as a way to cut costs and make more profits. unions are a tool for workers to collectively come together and leverage their voice and strength. strength. put guardrails around how technology is used, but also help make sure the wealth that is created from all of these productivity gains is distributed widely among working people. wo >> okay, afl-cio president, that is a great title for you, liz schuler. that will do it for us. up next, the beat weekend. wee

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