The Beat With Ari Melber 8/28/2024 | MSNBC BREAKING NEWS Today 28 August 2024

The increased prison population in this country we have to have a drug policy that says that we have got to treat that issue as a substance abuse issue as a public health issue as much as anything that's how she broke it down and again it's interesting to see it then some of those positions have gotten more support in the recent years but that was back then now then Harris entered National politics and she emphasized those reform efforts more than what I'm calling the tough on crime part of her record and that's pretty standard by the way politicians emphasizing the more popular thing in their history rather than tough or debatable calls some of which might not age well but as part of our report here I want you to keep in mind something we kind of know I bet you know it in the back of your head the environment around what we think is good Justice Fair justice has been shifting after Decades of both parties talking about being tough on crime with Democrats demanding more prison more capital punishment and a larger War on Drugs against that long running backdrop the BLM movement grew and scrutiny on brutality and discrimination grew and shifting politics emerged about prosecutors with Democrats even competing over reform to that end when Harris was running in the last presidential primary season we actually spoke to her at a Justice Conference which in a sign of an effort towards reform conversations was held in former prison and she then rebuked our us prison system as a failure if we want Healthy Communities if we want to be true to the values of redemption we have to agree that the the incarceration system of America is one of the greatest failures of public policy in our country the goal should be healthy communities because healthy communities are safe communities that's what she was saying in that election cycle and that emphasis put Harris at home with most Dems and really more balanced than most other politicians consider as I mentioned the top Democrats backed very harsh policies in Clinton's 94 crime bill that includes three strikes and you're out and those harsh drug penalties those are some of the very crackdowns the party is now pushing to roll back and yet the people who supported that as you see on your screen included not only President Clinton but one of the party's top figures on the Judiciary Committee at the time Joe Biden so for legal liberals concerns about Harris's da record are as a factual matter they are smaller than the politician she just replaced and wouldn't make much sense to be mad at her for incremental reform say for not full-blown Progressive reform of harsh laws when the literal recent alternative was according to those critiques worse politicians who were all in on the crime Bill like Biden and Clinton again I'm just telling you the history now politically you have election analysts who say Harris has a strength here that she can now run on being a prosecutor and as kamla the cop which quote doesn't sound so bad in 2024 now everything I've just told you is about her service as da substantively that is part of why she has so much experience politically it may help her draw on both the tough and reformer experience and factually again both parties have tapped prosecutors as promising leaders and candidates for many decades we could show you other prosecutors turned Democratic candidates like Amy glober or Senator Blumenthal nothing unusual about this same playbook for Harris and there are few signs that party liberals even if they would want more reform that the party's Liberals are going to suddenly hold kamla Harris to a higher standard than all those other prosecut ERS who've run as Democrats now that's the da history there's more in 2011 Harris went on to be the top law enforcement official in California she won the AG race and then oversaw these policies targeting criminal organizations her tenure saw a drop in violent crime but her new role also gave her experience farther from just individual trials and local crime it added a whole bunch of other topics and challenges and she embraced some of them using that post to back equal rights for same-sex couples to adopt and famously instructing State clerks to issue those same-sex marriage licenses hi this is De you you must start the marriages immediately now as I mentioned the top of this report people often lump all of Harris's legal work together but it's a little more complicated or at least there were phases she served for over a decade as a Prosecuting lawyer inside the DA's office office as you see on your screen then she Rose to be da herself then she was Attorney General of all of California now that we should mention is more government experience than many national candidates have had when they approach the White House it's more time in government than Carter or Obama had when they first ran for president or then say JD Vance right now if we're talking about experience or what type of candidate you're looking at and who's on a fast track now the AG portfolio was also wider as I mentioned than the DA's office that's why KL Harris took on that key National role battling Banks over mortgage abuse after the financial crisis that's why she clashed with billionaire Banker Jamie Diamond she recounted this in her book how he was yelling about his shareholders and she yelled back basically quote I gave it right back your shareholders my shareholders are the homeowners of California you come and see them you talk to them about who got robbed she told them she played hard ball it may or may not have won when you're in the middle of a legal case you got a lot of lawyers you got a lot of negotiation but you don't know who's going to back down on that one as you see on your screen the banks backed down big time she won $18 billion in settlements for people who were harmed by All That Wall Street Mal feance it's the kind of victory that matters for people even if it is far a field from some of the debates and attacks you might have heard on her record as a prosecutor and it also quiets certain debates about whether you were tough enough on the banks or smart on crime or all these other things when it works it works and she emphasized that at the time as a result of 13 months of intense discussions sometimes battle we have delivered to California 18 billion dollar in relief for California's homeowners that's what the history shows KLA Harris was a public service lawyer and then she was the da herself and then she was the attorney general and across that time while a lot of other people were talking about this stuff or doing politics about this stuff or critiquing others about this stuff she was actually doing this stuff if you look at the whole record as I showed you some of it might not have aged as well some of it was certainly tough on crime even though that might for some people in the general election be a good political thing that's up to you as a voter but she was doing it the whole time and so now as we gear up for the general election that really officially kicks off next week it seems her role across all those phases of her Public Service career is something that she and her allies think she can stand on now we're going to get a special perspective from a Democrat who also went from prosecutor to politics breaking barriers as a former prosecutor who became mayor of Chicago Lori lighfoot my exclusive guest when we're back together in 90 seconds F when you host your bathroom can feel like a revolving door keep things fresh with FaZe small spaces it's an outlet free air freshener that fights odors for 45 days so even after every flush you know your bathroom smells amazing hi glad everyone's here let's get started um when they want to squeeze up let me share my screen okay um sorry about that I'm excited to share the they want a squeeze up deliciously squeeze up introducing Allison's black psoriasis she thinks her flaky gray patches are all people see otla is the number one prescribed pill to treat pla psoriasis over otla can help you you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking with no routine blood test required doctors have been prescribing otla for over a decade otla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis don't use otla if you're allergic to it serious allergic reactions can happen otla may cause severe diarrhea nausea or vomiting some people taking otla had depression suicidal thoughts or weight loss upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur with clear skin girls day out is a good day out live in the moment ask your doctor about OT Tesla KL Harris has experienced as a prosecutor back in the spotlight and we're joined by a federal prosecutor who went on to her own political career as the former mayor of Chicago Lori Lightfoot welcome it's my pleasure uh we just looked at the history what does it say to you well I think what it says to me is that kamla Harris has um an understanding of how to serve people um to balance the tough on crime which every prosecutor I think has to have with making sure that it's done in a way that is fair um that there's no racial profiling or discrimination but really delivers for the people who are the victims whether it's violent crime whether it's Fraud and Abuse by uh corporations Banks I think she's got a very strong record not only of uh performing but Del delivering on behalf of the people when she was a DA and uh obviously when she was the attorney general for the most popular state in our country we went through the facts uh as you know politics may or may not relate to facts um but how important yeah how important do you think it is for her campaign to tell those stories in other words I'm trying to inform viewers and voters and they make up their own mind um but the clash with the banks the many things she's done the fact that she was in that office doing Public Service I mean the Obama campaign made a lot out of his choice to pursue Public Service rather than money uh coming out of Harvard um I'm not sure that they've hit that point as hard although it always tells you something if if someone didn't just chase a check when they were 25 yes well I think there's a couple of different uh currents that the campaign needs to maintain uh con Harris is still introducing herself to the country and having the campaign really focus on her background her story uh with her uh single mom who raised her and her sister um but also talking about her time in public service because as she said she's only had one client and her client is a people but understanding that and defining herself because obviously her opponents in the Republican side are going to try to Tar her with a soft on crime two liberal San Francisco all of that but I think her record uh tells a very different story uh particularly that $8 billion dollar that she delivered for the residents and homeowners of California when many were willing to settle for much less she was the person who led uh the attorney generals um at this difficult time uh to really hold out for more and demand more from the banks and a part of the storyline is frankly did a better job than what we saw at the federal level where the demands of the big Banks was much much um more Tinder gloves and letting them get away with a lot of the harm that was done to the people during that time yeah the drug war and these crackdowns have also proven uh to be negative for the safety of many communities because they've cut off so many people even after serving their time uh from re-entering society and unless someone has a life sentence uh we all have to deal with them when they come back every lawyer knows that a lot of people in communities know that uh when I got to interview as I mentioned at that former prison which was a Justice uh panel she really spoke quite uh movingly uh about how you should remove um the efforts to further punish people after they get out if we want them to get jobs and get educated take a look we've got to end the federal bans on federal support going to folks for everything from snap to to to to college loans and and student loans to housing all of these bans make the the the education we can offer meaningless if when people come out they don't have access to the resources that help everybody else Lori yeah look fundamentally this has going to about be about safe communities and I think with the perspective of time and distance from the height of the crack EP epidemic when I was a a federal prosecutor what you know is that Public Safety is about creating an ecosystem an environment where the public is protected and there's lots of different levers that you can pull certainly the hard power of locking up violent dangerous habitual criminals but the fact of the matter is is you said people are coming home and how they spend their time during incarceration to get them ready or not for coming home what happens to them upon re-entry and what communities do to help support them so that they don't become a recidivism a statistic all of that thing is important and as a prosecutor particularly a local prosecutor you can't ignore the realities on the ground in the communities that you say and you're sworn to serve yeah uh it all makes sense and really interesting to get your perspective you've walked a a related path Lori lifeford thank you thank you uh we have a lot coming up in the program including all that new interest in Jack Smith's revised Trump coup indictment and as we get close to the general election that really kicks off officially next week Donald Trump tapping New Blood to shake up his campaign we'll be right back K Harris entered the candidates will now face off in their first ever debate in two weeks and while Trump had rebounded from setbacks and legal wos his own former AIDS have started saying he's been off balance or needs to be energized ever since Harris upended the race Trump has just brought back some AIDS from his 2016 team including his ex- campaign manager Cory lowski Trump's first campaign manager lowski ran the beginning of that 2016 race and navigated a bruising primary he was seen as an Insider Ally as well during the first term and a national magga voice on air with stins at one americ News Network as well as CNN there are Trump AIDS who come and go lewandowski's new return shows a loyal and high-ranking official back in the fold and representing the 2024 campaign and he is my guest tonight thank you for being here I appreciate the opportunity to come on absolutely uh we have the debate to talk about plenty to get to but let's begin with the big news this past week RFK Jr endorses Trump uh as a campaign official my question for you is does the Trump campaign see this as a meeting of two people who agree or strange bedfellows who disagree on key issues well look RFK uh probably would have been the Democratic nominee had the system been not rigged against him and he had an opportunity to have a voice in the process I think he would have beat Joe Biden very honest with but then he went out and decided to run as an independent realized that there was no path for him to be successful there and when it specifically when it comes to the issues that are most important to him he decided he looked at both of the candidates and said Donald Trump is the best candidate to lead going forward so on Friday night of last week we had a massive rally in Glendale Arizona yep RFK was you know supported at a a a response I'd never heard from anybody else that Donald Trump had introduced before it was amazing the crowd was so invigor ated and what I think it also does RFK brings a special subset to the campaign those moms and women 25 to 40 years old who are concerned about their children and the vaccines and the food that they're being ingested by the government and the mandates that the government has put on some of those products are coming now to the Trump campaign disproportionately because they support the belief that RFK is going to help fix that problem going forward okay so you're saying the Trump campaign views him positively on that uh we also got a peak into uh their conversations before the endorsement in a July phone call I want to play some of that this is Trump talking to RFK take a listen I agree with you man something's wrong with that whole system and uh you know and it's the doctors you find remember I said I want to do small doses small doses when you when you feed a baby Bobby uh a vaccination that is like 38 different vaccines then you see the baby all of a sudden starting to change radically I've seen it too many times and then you hear that it doesn't have an impact right uh given that statement and what you just said is is Donald Trump endorsing RFK Jr's vaccine conspiracy theories this is someone who is as you may know but I'll remind everyone RFK Jr has said that Co itself was made to Target quote both Caucasians and black people uh that he quote won't take sides on 911 uh that the ca control CIA controls the American Press uh whatever your press criticisms I I haven't heard you take that position um how much of this should we understand to be the Trump campaign's position uh and can you tell us what role RFK Jr would play in health policy we're hearing reports he could be involved in the transition team well RFK Jr has been someone who's been very steadfast in making sure that when it comes to the decisions that affect your body you get to choose and what we saw was government mandates whether you're a government employee at the local level the state level or the federal level being forced to take an injection in order to save your job and RFK was against that by the way I think a lot of Americans were against that I'll jump in I'll let you finish as you know Cory I'll always give you time you're talking about policy and and you were referring to something that's that is true there was a wide National debate about government requirements uh I would just mention I asked you though about rfk's actual conspiracy theories are you going to tell me that you and Donald Trump think Co itself was hatched to Target people by race or or are you going to reject that part of his agenda Ari I'm not here to answer questions for RFK Jr he's a big man he can do that on his own he's been on television number of times to answer his own questions what I am here to tell you is that he has a microphone to an audience who's very concerned that the government mandated vaccines into their children and themselves in order to keep their jobs and there's Real Americans who lost their jobs and their livelihoods because of what the government did to them and I think when it comes to RFK specifically those moms who have young children they're very concerned about what is being injected into their children whether it's through the food supply or through these vaccines and RFK has an opportunity to go out and talk about the fact that he was right the government should not have had to mandate those we don't know the full impact of what was mandated by the government on the long-term repercussions that it could potentially cause so we're very much in line with RFK on that position all right I got your answer on that uh we have the headlines about you uh you're not the whole focus of this interview uh but you were a big figure in 16 then as as people know in politics happens on a lot of campaigns you were you were replaced you're back here it says Donald Trump's bringing you back some people I'll give you time to respond view that as a sign that he thinks something was wrong that he needs the old 16 team or he needs to shake it up uh I also want to mention we have the debate coming uh Trump as you know has complained publicly and vifer usly about many debates including this one um but it looks like it's on uh so the two-part question uh Corey is one are you back because the campaign needed a change that there was some problem uh with the with the campaign or the team as of last month uh and second what should we expect in this debate is it really on are they still squabbling over the mics why does Donald Trump so worried about the mic rules well first and foremost I'm back because the president asked me to be not because there was any concern with the leadership of this organization they have done an amazing job look at what they were able to accomplish uh in a competitive Republican primary field the the largest success at any candate in modern history has ever had and not just that before I ever joined this campaign they drove the Democratic nominee out of the race something that's never been done before and for the first time in American history Donald Trump's goingon to have the opportunity to be two Democratic candidates for president he did Trum I'll ask you Trump did fine in that debate as you mentioned that history does he miss Biden sometimes it seems like he'd rather be running that race look I think Calo is an easier Target to be very honest with you I think she's going to be easier to beat she she is saddled with the Biden administration's policy she has flip-flopped on what she believes and what she doesn't believe and as it relates to the debate Ari you know just remember when the criteria for this debate was set it was set with the Biden Harris campaign not just with Joe Biden she agreed to all of the terms specifically as it would have pertained to a vice presidential debate which she had agreed to and that meant you stand at the podium there are no notes required and no notes allowed and that we have the microphones off she wanted to change that criteria because she went from being the Vice Presidential nominee to now the Presidential nominee we all agreed to what it was why she want to change it would she want to be the same height as Donald Trump she wanted notes the fact that she continues to hide from the media and the countdown clock is finally on for her of when she's going to sit down for her first national media debate should be appalling to every journalist in America that has taken her 20 plus days to sit down and do an on camera interview do you feel that you guys are now good uh on an agreement and on the mics for the debate I think everything has been settled and we look forward to this opportunity Yeah you mentioned K Harris she has a new ad today today uh hitting you guys on something that Donald Trump used to talk more supportively about and now has distanced himself from the Heritage Foundation related project 2025 this is a new ad take a look detailed plans for exactly what our movement will do it's called project 2025 a 922 page blueprint to make Donald Trump the most powerful president ever overhauling the Department of Justice giving Trump the unchecked power to seek Vengeance what is your campaign's position on Project 2025 number one and number two if you're going to tell me what Trump has started to say which is that he's not involved in this thing uh then why do so many parts of the Republican platform overlap with 25 and we can put examples on the screen for you including as I think you know abortion uh streamlining doj purging uh nonpartisan public officials Etc look Ari it's very simple president Trump has said he has nothing to do with project 2025 believe the project has been closed that was a project of the Heritage Foundation and there are a lot of groups out there on both the right and the left who come up with policy initiatives and policy ideas but it doesn't mean that the candidate's going to implement them look as we know the Camala Harris campaign is riddled 60 employees from the center for American progress are there they believe in taxpayer funded reparations they believe in transgender surgery without notification for minors does that mean that the Kamala Harris campaign supports everything that cap endorses maybe it does considering she's got 60 people over there and has called their leader one of the finest leaders so if that's the case and we're going to hold candidates accountable for what uh outside organizations on both the right and the left are doing then we have to hold everyone accountable and I haven't heard as anybody asked Camala Harris I know she hasn't sat for an interview but I don't think the cap 60 staff or people are going to be asked about tomorrow or the next day when Dana Bash is there because she support if she supports their ideals then she should have to answer for them and I don't think that's what's going on here well you know Cory we have no idea uh what Dana Bash will ask but uh on the abortion issue which is very important uh we'll put it put it up uh okay you're you now on behalf of the campaign are saying that 25 isn't yours but the current GOP platform um has a a 14th Amendment effort uh to try to give what they sometimes call quote unquote fetal personhood or basically would be synonymous with a National Abortion ban uh and project 2025 uh tries to also go after as you know abortion rights even women's right to travel if they want to move in and out of their state which people are allowed to do I don't know if you support as on behalf of the campaign policies that say a man or a woman can't leave their state for a certain reason that's a big Liberty Crackdown what do you say to people who can read these two things and say okay uh Trump and the platform are basically 25 on abortion look I I know nothing about project 2025 I've never read their document you say it's 900 plus Pages I've never read it I can speak on behalf of the president I'm certain he's never read 925 page document that project 2025 put out but I will say this President Trump did what the American people overwhelmingly wanted when it came to the issue of the issue of life he returned it back to the states by appointing pro-life judges at the Supreme Court who overturn roie Wade and now every state gets to decide what their respective state looks like as it relates to the health of of the mother the whether it has exceptions or not because they're doing at The Ballot Box Ari and listen we've seen States like Kansas take the same position as much more liberal states and then and but listen we're an amazing democracy we're an amazing melting Po and what takes place in one state happen Kansas went against Trump went against your campaign uh Trump has been hiding on what he's going to do on the Florida state rule uh which is up and he lives there are we going to get a position from him on that look if the president wants to weigh in I'm sure he'll weigh in at The Ballot Box like every American gets the opportunity to do I think we've got 16 states that have this issue at The Ballot Box the voters get to decide how they're governed that's how the system is supposed to work that's exact there's no there's no dictator in this system so let the people go decide what their state let me let me push back and I'll give you time Cory I hear what you're saying um but if Donald Trump puts people in the Supreme Court who overturn 50 years of precedent and then all these States including as you mentioned more conservative States like Kansas organize and Revolt and push back on something that had been set a law at what point do you have to admit on behalf of Donald Trump in this campaign um that this is being rejected by the voters red blue and purple uh and that this wasn't a good idea that this was a Crackdown on rights I mean if you say to me this is the Laboratories of democracy but most of the Democracy including red States says no to you at what point do you then respect that and reflect that in how you govern if you were in a second term and how you deal with the Supreme Court are we we know Donald Trump's been very clear uh when he ran in 2016 he put out a list of potential conservative judges that he would appoint the American people knew what his position was going to be on that and he he was very clear about that now that they've returned this decision to the states I live in the state of New Hampshire we get to vote on it which may look very different what the state of Massachusetts does and so listen why wouldn't we want these individuals who are living in their respective states to have an opportunity to weigh in of what they think is best for them and and look that's how the system works it's not Donald Trump's decision so let people decide and let's go and live our lives yeah all right I got your answer on that while I have you and we've been giving you time uh I do want to turned to something that came up in the last time we did an interview and it's been a few years you're back here on as a representative of the campaign that's a way back machine baby well Cory when you were on here we asked you point blank about these reports that Donald Trump as president had tried to use you as a kind of improper cutout to shut down uh an open Federal probe which is a big deal uh we have some headlines on that and we asked you about at the time and when you went in and were facing uh the house investigation it also came up including our interview uh let's take a listen to that I don't ever remember the president ever asking me to get involved with Jeff sessions or the Department of Justice in any way shape or form ever that wasn't true was it sir I heard that and that was not true was it I have no obligation to be honest to the media because there's just as dishonest as anybody else perhaps I was inaccurate at that time can you stay for the record let me let me ask I'll give you the question I'll give you the question you can get the answer we we heard you on the camp okay uh 2024 now I want to turn to this to deal with it first time you've been back since then do you want to State for the record that what you stated on air was false because people are listening to you about the campaign and why should they believe you if you're lying about other things Ari if we're going down this road are you going to say that Donald Trump had a bandage on his ear just for a spectacle are you gonna say that that was false the guy got shot in the head and you said the only reason he had a bandage on his here I can read you the quote if you want that you said it was just for spectacle so if you want to apologize you're not answering the question Cory you're you're question you take back your statement I know what you're referring to and at the end of the interview we can touch base on that we're going to finish this question I will I will return to that but the question on the table is do you admit now for the record that when asked Point Blank about Donald I said I'll go to at the end and I will I'll do that for you but right now the question you agreed to come on and be interviewed you got time abely now I'm asking you this do you admit that you were stating that falsely at the time because the investigation was about whether Donald Trump was trying to get you to get sessions to shut down a lawful probe Ari if you tell me that you admit that you were wrong that Donald Trump wasn't having a bandage on his ear for spectacle then I'll take you for your word so you tell me that you were wrong so you're I told you I'll come back to that at the end because I will but you're not going to answer the question Ari listen here's the deal man I'm with you to answer questions but you can't ask me something when you're not willing to say that you were wrong too right so ad I told you I'll come back to that I me again the viewers are smarty the viewers SM they understand that having been busted under oath you admitted that you said quote I have no obligation to be honest with the media and so this is relevant because even though I'm being fair and giving you time if you admit under oath that you were not telling the truth it is relevant now and now you seem to be unable to address that I'll play one more exchange from your house hearing take a look so that the reason why you didn't uh admit that the president had asked you to deliver a message to the attorney General about investigations because you knew it was wrong and you were concerned about your own exposure and you didn't have immunity in that interview isn't that correct which interview so you can't give me any other explanation except your concern that you or the president could be criminally exposed based on what you attempted to do on his behalf is that correct I didn't say that I don't recall that particular interview final chance to address this uh the Trump administration had an open investigation then president Trump did ask you to interfere with sessions and you did lie about it in public yes AR right listen we've been down this path okay we this is your first time back since the path that that interview was four plus almost five years ago to the day to be very honest with you okay you guys want to relitigate something from half a decade ago and I think what you'd rather have is me talking about what the future looks like for the next president the United States and the policy differences between Donald Trump and let's be straight you're you're you're a clear speak I gave you time I didn't lead with this I gave you time to talk about 2024 you got that time and this is now your your chance to address this and you're not addressing it that's fine that for themselves you're not addressing want respond inter you want me to respond to that I'd be happy since we're on live I'm going to I'm going to respond to you on live air I quoted a New York Times article that said at the convention Donald Trump was his own biggest prop it was a New York Times quote about how he had become how he had become such an important figure in rebounding from what was a horrific assassination attempt Fox News I'm Cory I said I'd address it I'm going to finish Fox News uh many viewers may not know about this but but apparently you do and and some do Fox News which has been caught in defamation ran a false piece falsely stating that I said something else that I didn't say so I stand on that I stand on the New York Times you didn't say this bandage was a prop a spectacle from a candate obsessed with spectacles uh Mr lowski I did not say that that is a false quote what you have is a falely what you have is a false quote and if your thoughts on Mr lowski in the interview well you know we heard the phrase alternative facts this was an alternative world this is an alternative world where Donald Trump is some antia Warrior rather than someone who said the vaccine should be named after him he called it the Trump scene said it was one of the greatest miracles of the ages uh this is a world where Donald Trump never came out in favor of a national ban on abortion which he did in February of this year where he endorsed uh Lindsey Graham's 15we ban where he has repeatedly said that women should be jailed that there should be punitive punishments Meed out by States for this this is a world where the American people wanted Row versus way to be overturned when they clearly did not this is a world where project 2025 was just a random document put out by some who knows what rather than a book WR with a forward by JD Vance's VI presidential candidate with full wording lifted from Project 2025 into the goop platform and then into Donald Trump's own speeches so this is an entirely alternative world that Cory lowski has laid out and it should be of no surprise to us I mean lowski says you can't believe a thing he says he refuses to say whether he's telling you the truth or a falsehood and he just wants everyone else to sort of think hey you know everybody else does it everybody else lies even though that wasn't the case that wasn't the case but you'll play that water bism repeatedly and that's basically going to be the game that we're going to be seeing here for the next 10 weeks yeah there was so much to choose from and we wanted to get him on record he hasn't been on in years the abortion lies seemed really striking I mean if you boil down what he said it was pay no attention to the platform Donald Trump's history as you mentioned 25 and by the way hey go ahead vote us down vote against the Trump position on abortion around the country uh when's the last time you can think of someone running on something while telling everyone hey it's fine just just vote me down in the states no that was never the Trump position that is not the Trump POS the position of the Republican party and that is not the position of the American people who want the constitutional right to Reproductive Rights restored by them by their government that is their position what has happened here is Donald Trump knows he has a very unpopular position he keeps changing it back and forth to adjust to the polls so he can get get himself elected again yeah uh J anduri with a rebuttal up next Jack Smith's refiled indictment when we come back because while it was original Al one of the issues that was charged in the plots overturn the election the Supreme Court says that's an official act meanwhile Justice katoni Brown Jackson has been weighing in I was concerned about uh A system that appeared to provide immunity for one individual under one set of circumstances when we have a criminal justice system that had ordinarily treated everyone the same a rare and fair critique of what has been a controversial Supreme Court decision but like it or not it's the law and Jack Smith is adjusting the case because of the Supreme Court decision that was one update on an important in a sign of an effort towards reform conversations was held in a former prison and she then rebuked our us prison system as a failure if we want Healthy Communities if we want to be true to the values of redemption we have to agree that the the in carceration system of America is one of the greatest failures of public policy in our country the goal should be healthy communities because healthy communities are safe communities that's what she was saying in that election cycle and that emphasis put Harris at home with most Dems and really more balanced than most other politicians consider as I mentioned the top Democrats backed very harsh policies in Clinton's 94 crime bill that includes three strikes and you're out and those harsh drug penalties those are some of the very crackdowns the party is now pushing to roll back and yet the people who supported that as you see on your screen included not only President Clinton but one of the party's top figures on the Judiciary Committee at the time Joe Biden so for legal liberals concerns about Harris's da record are as a factual matter they are smaller than the politician she just replaced wouldn't make much sense to be mad at her for incremental reform say for not full-blown Progressive reform of harsh laws when the literal recent alternative was according to those critiques worse politicians who were all in on the crime Bill like Biden and Clinton again I'm just telling you the history now politically you have election analysts who say Harris has a strength here that she can now run on being a prosecutor and as comma the cop which quote doesn't sound so bad in 2020 4 now everything I've just told you is about her service as da substantively that is part of why she has so much experience politically it may help her draw on both a tough and reformer experience and fact again both parties have tapped prosecutors as promising leaders and candidates for many decades we could show you other prosecutors turned Democratic candidates like Amy glober or Senator Blumenthal nothing unusual about this same playbook for Harris and there are few signs that party liberals even if they would want more reform that the party's Liberals are going to suddenly hold KLA Harris to a higher standard than all those other prosecutors who've run as Democrats now that's the da history there's more in 2011 Harris went on to be the top law enforcement official in California she won the AG race and then oversaw these policies targeting criminal organizations her tenure saw a drop in violent crime but her new role also gave her experience farther from just individual trials and local crime it added a whole bunch of other topics and challenges and she embraced some of them using that post to back equal rights for same-sex couples to adopt and famously instructing State clerks to issue those same-sex marriage licenses hi this is you you must start the marriages immediately as I mentioned the top of this report people often lump all of Harris's legal work together but it's a little more complicated or at least there were phases she served for over a decade as a Prosecuting lawyer inside the DA's office as you see on your screen then she Rose to be da herself then she was Attorney General of all of California now that we should mention is more government experience than many national candidates have had when they approach the White House it's more more time in government than Carter or Obama had when they first ran for president or then say JD Vance right now if we're talking about experience or what type of candidate you're looking at and who's on a fast track now the AG portfolio was also wider as I mentioned than the DA's office that's why KL Harris took on that key National role battling Banks over mortgage abuse after the financial crisis it's why she clashed with billionaire Banker Jamie Diamond she recounted this in her book how he was yelling about his shareholders and she yelled back basically quote I gave it right back your shareholders my shareholders are the homeowners of California you come and see them you talk to them about who got robbed she told them she played hard ball it may or may not have won when you're in the middle of a legal case you got a lot of lawyers you got a lot of negotiation but you don't know who's going to back down on that one as you see on your screen the banks back down big time she won $18 billion in7 Ms for people who were harmed by All That Wall Street Mal feance it's the kind of victory that matters for people even if it is far a field from some of the debates and attacks you might have heard on her record as a prosecutor and it also quiet certain debates about whether you were tough enough on the banks or smart on crime or all these other things when it works it works and she emphasized that at the time as a result of 13 months of intense discussions sometimes battle we have delivered to california1 billion in relief for California's homeowners that's what the history shows KLA Harris was a public service lawyer and then she was the da herself and then she was the attorney general and across that time while a lot of other people were talking about this stuff or doing policy ICS about this stuff or critiquing others about this stuff she was actually doing this stuff if you look at the whole record as I showed you some of it might not have aged as well some of it was certainly tough on crime even though that might for some people in the general election be a good political thing that's up to you as a voter but she was doing it the whole time and so now as we gear up for the general election that really officially kicks off next week it seems her role across all those phases of her public service career is something that she and her allies think she can stand on now we're going to get a special perspective from a Democrat who also went from prosecutor to politics breaking barriers as a former prosecutor who became mayor of Chicago Lori lighfoot my exclusive