The Weeknight 5/22/26 | 🅼🆂🅽🅱️🅲 Breaking News Today May 22, 2026

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[00:00:00]Everyone and welcome to the week night.

[00:00:01]I'm Sloan Sanders Townson with Michael Steel and Luke Russard in for Alicia.

[00:00:06]Breaking tonight, Republicans are terrified. They're skipping town and bailing on votes as the backlash to Donald Trump's slush fund grows. Senator Ed Marky is calling for the president's impeachment over that fund and joins the table in a moment.

[00:00:19]>> Then, Democrats are launching an investigation into the president's prisonto pardon pipeline for his allies and friends. Senator Peter Welch and Congressman Dave Min are here to discuss their new oversight initiative. Also ahead, Steven Cobear's last laugh. The late night host is set to say goodbye tonight and he's going out swinging, calling out the people and politics that essentially helped push him off the air.

[00:00:47]But folks, let's begin tonight with this breaking news. Mitch McConnell just joined the growing list of Republicans calling out the Trump Justice Department's quote slush fund. In a brand new statement, McConnell writes, quote, "So the nation's top law enforcement official asking for a slush fund to pay people who assault cops?

[00:01:08]Utterly stupid, morally wrong. Take your pick." McConnell's jabs come after the Senate got it GOP ditched a plan to start voting on a bill to fund Trump's im immigration crackdown today. That plan fell apart when several Republicans appeared ready to back amendments pushed by Democrats to block the $ 1.8 billion fund. But instead of confronting Trump now, guess what? Senators are kicking that can down the road until they return to DC after Memorial Day recess next month. Also new today, Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick introduced a bill, bipartisan bill to stop the Trump administration from using your tax dollars to fund the payout scheme.

[00:01:56]Here's just a snapshot of the mounting GOP blowback.

[00:02:02]>> But I think it's stupid on stilts. Why?

[00:02:06]because it will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially um compensate someone who assaulted a police officer uh admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, and now we're going to pay them for that. That's absurd. The American people are going to reject this out of hand.

[00:02:29]>> This is a debate that needs to be had and will be had, Caitlyn, on the floor of the House, and it will be voted on.

[00:02:33]Uh this is not a unilateral executive decision. If you're dealing with appropriated money, that's got to come through us.

[00:02:39]>> People are concerned about making their own ends meet, not about putting the slush fund together uh without a legal precedent. We are a nation of laws. We do better when we are a nation of laws.

[00:02:53]>> You know what? Um, you know, Senator Mark is coming in just a second, but the founders, he his argument is that what this fund is an impeachable offense. And I'm like, well, what did the founders say about all of this? Let me go look. So, I checked the Federalist paper and one of the famous lines out of the Federalist paper number 51 is, "If men were angels, no government would be necessary." The founders definitely believed that unchecked power would be dangerous. They definitely believed that they could not just trust an executive to do the right thing. They were definitely concerned about how money could influence what was going on in our government.

[00:03:28]>> I said to you guys earlier today that I think outside of times when he's imposed direct suffering on people, this is the worst thing he's ever done in both ad in both administrations. And why is that?

[00:03:40]He's simultaneously managed to say that Congress no longer has the power of the purse. He is trying to uh give a payment to a paramilitary group that supported him and ransacked the capital and brought insurrection to these United States. Uh trying to get rid of judicial review here. Also the corruption about giving uh no chance for the IRS to investigate anybody close to him or his family. So it's just a wham bam all over the place of awful. And I would say this is when you take into consideration the level that he's willing to go right now where they're building a bunker, there are troops on the streets of Washington DC, you now have this fund to pay this paramilitary force that supports him.

[00:04:27]>> It makes me very afraid for the midterms because >> it we've been saying it. I'm just saying.

[00:04:33]>> No, no, you're you're right. Uh but here's the bottom line.

[00:04:37]I I love Mitch McConnell came out today.

[00:04:39]>> Yeah. But I could not help but remember Mitch McConnell also stood there and called out Donald Trump on January 6th >> and then puked up the impeachment. Did not hold it down. Did not stand with the American people. So >> could have got rid of him then.

[00:04:54]>> Couldn't got could we don't we wouldn't be we wouldn't have to to have to be dealing with stupid on stilts to quote the senator. Um so I I I understand it.

[00:05:05]I I I get it. But here's where this in my estimation plays out. It's important to note that they're kicking this down the can. They could have dealt with it today. They could have sided with the Democrats and gotten behind the legislation to kill it to just put this to then go on break. No, they decided, let's kick it down the road. We'll be back in a month. So, you think they'll slide it in later?

[00:05:28]>> They'll sl baby boy. This is absolutely >> trying to Okay, what can we do to give him what he wants?

[00:05:34]>> Give him what he wants later. We'll get past the We'll deal with the noise.

[00:05:38]There won't be as much noise. They'll forget about it.

[00:05:41]>> We've been We've seen this movie before, America. We've seen it before. Let's bring in Massachusetts Senator Ed Marky.

[00:05:47]As Simone mentioned, he's the first Senate Democrat to call for Trump's impeachment over the slush fund, calling the president, quote, latest impeachable offense.

[00:05:58]>> Senator, the latest impeachable offense.

[00:06:00]I'm wondering what you think the the first impeachable offense he's he did in this uh second term was, if you want to weigh in on that. But secondly, weigh in on the conversation we were just having.

[00:06:11]Do you believe your Republican colleagues are um earnest and honest in the statements we're seeing from them today? Or do you believe, as we kind of do at this table, that they're going to come back in June and go along to get along in some way, shape, or form?

[00:06:27]Um, look, um, it's an impeachable offense. What Richard Nixon was impeached for that he did in private, Donald Trump is now doing in public on steroids. This is a complete impeachable offense. That was the very thing that our founding fathers were concerned about uh in ensuring that we had a president with checks and balances and not a king uh who could compromise our government. So this is exactly what the founding fathers what the constitution was meant uh to protect against. And um Republicans right now realize that this is political kryptonite. Uh this is something that is creating an outrage across the entire country. Uh and whether it's Senator McConnell or Senator Cassidy or Senator Collins or Senator Tillis or Congressman Fitzpatrick, this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the rebellion against this. So they might be able to call time out on the field right now for 10 days before we come back. This is not going away. This is just going to build.

[00:07:31]It's a $1.8 billion slush fund. And again remember it also includes a provision which precludes any further cases being brought against Trump, his children are his allies for tax violations. So this is this is an impeachable offense. It is corruption.

[00:07:52]It is the high crime and misdemeanor uh that in fact the constitution anticipated and we are not going to allow them to escape. The Democrats are going to insist we have votes on the House and Senate floor.

[00:08:07]>> Senator Marky, one of the scary things about this slush fund is how it's being constructed to really take care of those who did the worst of the worst, those who invaded the capital in the name of Donald Trump to try and overturn a free and fair election. Uh, a January 6 prosecutor spoke to our own Laura Baron Lopez in an article she put on our website. Quote, January 6 prosecutors and officers see Trump's 177 776 billion fund as a signal. The former prosecutors said the prospects and members of Oathkeepers and Proud Boys receiving substantial payouts alarmed him. Quote, "Think about how much weaponry they could purchase with that. Think about how much money that they could use to recruit other people and recruit them with the message of look, if you commit crimes in the name of Trump, you're going to be pardoned. You're going to be enriched." How feel fearful are you, Senator Marquy, that this is a payment to a paramilitary group which Donald Trump could rise up at a moment's notice and say, "Look at Minnesota. You're not going to be accountable for anything if you kill someone in the street." And by the way, here's money for you at the end of the day. And thank you, Luke, because this is basically signaling to Oathkeepers, to Proud Boys, to those who were down in Charlottesville, they were good people on both sides, says the president. It's not only a payoff to them for past actions. It's almost an invitation for them to commit future actions as well because the president will protect them. The president will pay them off. the protect the president will ensure uh that they are given immunity. So this is creating the conditions in which the worst in our society are being empowered by the president uh to endanger our constitution to act with impunity and to have no guardrails, no protections whatsoever. And it starts with the Proud Boys. It starts with the Oathkeepers, but it extends so much further beyond that because that is what Trump's base really wants. They want to be protecting these people who are basically acting unconstitutionally and Trump is try to create the conditions where they will be protected. In fact, it's so bad the judge in this case was thinking of dismissing the case because he believed that she believed that it just rire of collusion and the IRS had big problems with it. The Department of Treasury official quit when this fund was announced. So, the president wants to wall out the judiciary and the Congress I believe that the judiciary has to use their sewers powers to come back and relook at this case and the Congress must act. We need hearings. The Republicans are going to try to run, but they're not going to be able to hide.

[00:10:50]We're going to make them accountable.

[00:10:52]>> I Senator, I I I can't begin to express to you how vexed I am by this particular action by this administration and how much it really ticks me off because it goes to the heart of everything both Simone and Luke and yourself has said.

[00:11:08]But sir, I have lived through 10 years as have you and America of Donald Trump and his BS and the response of Republicans and their BS to Donald Trump and the fact that I firmly believe at the end of the day what will play out here despite your calls for impeachment, despite whatever minations and vexing and and and you know sort of you know grappling with this that that we see coming off of Capitol bill that this can gets kicked down the road. We're back here in the middle of June when Congress has returned and we are a month or three weeks behind this storyline. Um, and Republicans give him what he wants because they control the House despite what Democrats may do there and they control the Senate despite what Democrats may do there. So, how does this call for impeachment resonate seriously um when you know that there's nothing you can do now, maybe later if you get the House and the Senate. And Donald Trump actually today spoke to that. I'd like to play just what he had to say about >> control of the Senate and impeachment.

[00:12:25]>> Are you losing control of the Senate, sir?

[00:12:28]Are you losing control of the Senate, Senate Republicans?

[00:12:31]>> I really don't know. I really don't know. I can tell you I only do what's right.

[00:12:34]>> Do you think if Democrats were to take control of Congress again, they would immediately begin the impeachment process?

[00:12:39]>> I think if Democrats took control of the Congress, I think that uh and let's say took control of the country. Uh I think that this country is finished.

[00:12:51]So, that didn't answer the question directly, but he's equating any efforts of impeaching him to ending the country.

[00:12:59]Um, how do you narratively convince the American people that would then bring the res the the pres the pressure on members of the Senate and the House to impeach?

[00:13:11]Um, this is an impeachable offense. Um, what Congressman Fitzpatrick, a Republican, is saying is that like the Epstein vote on the floor of the House of Representatives, they're going to bring it out and they're going to win, too. Fitzpatrick will win on that vote on the floor of the United States House of Representatives. And we're going to find a mechanism in this uh budget that we're going to be considering as soon as we come back. Well, we're going to force all the Republicans to vote on this $1.8 billion slush fund as well. and we're going to have the votes on that as well.

[00:13:44]We can already see four, five of the Republicans. We only need 60 total. Uh and I just think that everyone understands that there's a bill that is coming due for all of this activity that Trump is engaged in. And the bill is going to be paid by Republican House and Senate members on the ballot this year.

[00:14:01]They're going to be the ones who pay the price. And increasingly, they're going to revolt because their own their own uh political futures are tied to it. Uh, so so far I agree with you, Michael. It's been invasion of the body snatchers. You you look at them, they look like the same people and have been petrified to move. But I think going forward uh you can actually see that many of these members right now are just uh echoing uh Chris Kristofferson. Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose.

[00:14:33]And whether you're Tillis or Cassidy or McConnell or others, they all realize right now they've got to break free and they're going to be the leaders that are going to open up the pathway for other Republicans unless they want to lose in a landslide this fall.

[00:14:48]>> Well, maybe because beef is up 16%.

[00:14:51]Okay, the people are paying attention.

[00:14:53]Senator Ed Marky, thank you so much for kicking us off tonight. Stay with us, folks, because we are going to continue this conversation about corruption with two Democrats who just launched an oversight effort to examine pardons that look like blatant abuses of power by the president. Senator Peter Welch and Congressman Dave Min will join us. And later, there's a lot of hand ringing and confusion, frankly, over today's release of a DNC report on the 2024 election.

[00:15:19]You know, Donald Trump has always claimed to be tough on crime. Listen to this moment on Morning Joe. Back in 2015, >> you were a tough on crime guy. You have been a tough on crime guy, notably in the 80s and 90s. Have you had an evolution like a lot of the country has on this? Have you rethought some of your positions on this at all?

[00:15:36]>> No, I'm tough on crime.

[00:15:37]>> Okay. What about sentencing and and drink?

[00:15:41]I I really am. I'm tough on crime and we have to stop crime.

[00:15:46]>> Michael Steele was on that panel. I'm sure he had thoughts.

[00:15:49]>> I did. You know, it turns out that Trump only cares about crime when it is not committed by a friend or an ally. If it is, he seems to think those individuals should be rewarded. The New York Times describes it as the prison to pardons to payouts pipeline. And the Trump Justice Department's new slush fund already has elated January 6 riers, well, they're musing, quote, this is what they're saying, on how they might spend a government payout. Among the ideas being kicked around by the New York Times is new cars, new houses, paying to get their names off Google and underwriting political campaigns.

[00:16:26]Joining us now at the table is Democratic Senator Peter Welch of Vermont and Democratic Congressman Dave Men of California. This month, they announced a major oversight effort into several pardons and commutations issued by Donald Trump that raised concerns over corruption and abuse of power. I almost choked on the issue cuz I'm like, what is going on here? Well, we got Vermont and Connecticut at the table.

[00:16:47]Senator, I want to start with you because I want to I want to sort of >> piggyback off of our first segment uh with Senator Marky and his his effort to call for impeachment because of this this slush fund and what it what it portends and what it really means and how it undermines the foundations of the Constitution. Simone gave us a quick lesson um uh on on what where the founders were on on this. Um, what do you see here as um the the the offramp for Republicans? Uh, you talked to them. Mitch McConnell came out today.

[00:17:23]Very strong statement, right? But as I noted as we began the show, Mitch McConnell gave a very strong statement on January 6, too, but then did the backstroke as fast as he could off of impeachment.

[00:17:35]>> Right.

[00:17:36]>> Right.

[00:17:36]>> This is going to play out the exact same way, I think, on this. How do you see it? I'm not sure about that.

[00:17:41]>> Okay. Convince me, sir.

[00:17:43]>> Well, what you saw today where we were unable the Republicans were unable to even get a vote was that they they declined the invitation by President Trump for them to commit political suicide. And that's essentially what it was because he wanted them to vote on the ballroom. He wanted them to validate the 1.8 billion dollar slush fund. And of course that's in the backdrop on the heels of what David and I u have been focusing on and that is the payforplay pardon issuance where you pay a lot of money you make a big contribution uh you get a pardon and that is a staggering uh lineup of corruption for folks to get behind in the I think the ballroom and the slush fund are very visible and very visceral for everyday people. So, you're seeing a lot of Republicans push back and they resisted even taking up a vote on continuing uh on the appropriations bill.

[00:18:40]>> Congressman Bim, I mean, the scale of the corruption here >> as it pertains to these groups that are racist that engage in insurrectionist activities. Specifically, the leader of the Proud Boys, Enrique Tario, who says he wants a piece of this $1.8 8 billion anti-weapization fund, saying quote in a phone interview with the New Times on Wednesday morning, longtime Proud Boys leader Enrique Tario said that while he hasn't taken any concrete steps yet, he will definitely seek compensation from the money pop, which he described as another promise made, another promise kept by Trump. Yeah.

[00:19:19]>> When you hear something like that, somebody who was sentenced to jail for 22 years by a jury of his peers, who got let out by Donald Trump in the January 6th pardoning, >> do you feel the public sees the level of corruption here that someone who had gone to jail for 22 years, was supposed to go to jail for 22 years for insurrection against the United States, >> Yeah.

[00:19:40]>> is now going to request millions from this fund?

[00:19:43]>> No. It's so horrible. When I I was someone who spent my career fighting for the rule of law, I actually turned down Wall Street to go to the SEC to prosecute corporate fraud to start my career. I was a law professor at UC Irvine in my district uh before coming into Congress. And uh the level of corruption is just so outrageous right now. And I just want to point something out here. Uh these January 6 insurrectionists, a lot of them had previous criminal records. A lot of them were guilty of violent crimes of four.

[00:20:08]And a lot of them since being released by Donald Trump have gone on to commit additional crimes including child pornography, child sexual assault, rape, assault. Uh these are not good people.

[00:20:18]And there are people right now who have gone done the worst things after being pardoned by Donald Trump who are now set to receive millions of payments dollars in payments. Uh and that's just wrong.

[00:20:28]And that's one of the reasons that uh Senator Welsh and I decided that we needed to go after this pardon power.

[00:20:33]Uh, one thing we're considering doing is talking about the doing an op-ed around the pardon power because it really hasn't been researched enough. Uh, but in the context of this settlement, this outrageous settlement, I just want to note something. I taught contracts law at UC Irvine. A settlement is a type of contract. And you can't have a contract when there's no, you don't actually have two parties. And that was what something the judge was pointing out. Uh, this is not a real contract. It is an executive order issued by the DOJ. Uh, I believe it has no force of law. What they're doing right now is stealing $1.8 $8 billion from something called the judgment fund at the Department of Justice. It's meant to settle actual litigation where the government owes money. Uh maybe to settle where there's a real case. Uh this doesn't qualify for any of that. What this is doing right now is giving money as a policy decision to people who did very bad things. Now, if Donald Trump wants to make the case that we should be giving $1.8 billion out to the Proud Boys and J6 insurrectionists, uh he can make that case to Congress, but we are the ones who have the power of the person. He is right now violating the law just as he's done every single day in this administration. And there have to be consequences. Uh we have to reign in that pardon power among other things.

[00:21:35]>> You know, um I was thinking long and hard about this because we all I remember when the elections happened in Hungary and everybody was like, "See, look, corruption. The people don't like corruption. This is a maybe a a foretelling of what could happen here in America if we just pay attention." And I I agree. I don't think people like corruption, but I do think that a lot of folks in America are willing to look the other way if they feel as though they are getting something out of it. Um but right now the American people I mean beef is up 16%, diesel is up 67%. Um these one-third of school districts in this country are cutting budgets literally so that they can keep the school buses running. Um cutting library budgets, all these things because of what the government has done. But then you see folks like Mark Cuban standing behind the president the other day because oh he did this really good thing on drug that I can I agree with him on on drug prices. And so how do you make the case that um what the president is doing is not only an affront to our democracy but illegal and frankly cheating the American people and that this is a five alarm fire when you got folks that you know are essentially in the coalition being like well MAYBE HE'S BAD ON THAT BUT HE'S OKAY ON THIS. I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE NO questions about that other thing.

[00:22:43]>> But you me you mentioned Orban and it was a combination of corruption and decline in their standard of living. In other words, there was a real willingness on the part of people to be if they were upbeat economically, they wouldn't there would be a fight between the two parties. This is compared him getting the 1.8 billion that he wants and and selling pardons is combined with a budget that we're about to vote on that did nothing about health care costs, did nothing about electricity costs, did nothing about food cost, did nothing about gasoline. It was literally just a finger in the eye of folks who were struggling to pay their bills. And then you add to it what he fought for in this budget and was demanding of the Republican senators was the billion dollar for the ballroom and the 1.8 billion for a slush fund. So you combine those two things and what's in it for anyone. And you know at the end of the day uh people really are repulsed at this because Americans are willing to work hard. They don't mind hard work but at the end of the month they want to be a half a step ahead. not two steps behind uh because we've got a government that's spending a billion dollars on a on a ballroom in 1.8 on paying off criminals.

[00:23:53]>> Congressman, I want to I want to um dance with you a little bit as a >> what kind of dance?

[00:24:00]>> Legal legal legal to legal two lawyers though.

[00:24:04]>> Yeah. you know, because I, you know, whether I'm in a Giant or uh at a Target or in in my neighborhood, um I get a lot of people stop and they ask questions and this this issue >> um to your point, Senator, does resonate with a lot of people. They're just trying to understand one fun the one question, the one fundamental question.

[00:24:26]How can he do this?

[00:24:27]>> Yeah.

[00:24:28]>> Yeah.

[00:24:28]>> How can he do this? I I how how is it possible >> that he could actually get away with doing this? Could you help folks kind of understand because you touched on it about this is not a legal contract situation. There's no meeting of the minds between the United States government and uh someone who has a claim um etc. Could you break that down folks because folks really want to understand how the hell does he get away with this?

[00:24:53]>> Well, I think lawyers around the country right now are asking the same question.

[00:24:56]How can he get away with this? And the answer is pretty simple. And keep in mind, I'm a freshman. I've been serving 16 months in Congress, the longest 16 months of my life. But I didn't have this many gray hairs before I started.

[00:25:06]But um you know what I've observed is that House Republicans are all singleisssue voters, and that issue is whether they're on team Trump or not.

[00:25:14]And when you have a Congress that's this feckless, the majority is this feckless and completely decides that they want to look the other way under the leadership quote unquote of what I call meer Mike Johnson because he's not a speaker. He's a meer. and he's out there turning a blind eye to all this and we are Congress we are supposed to assert our authority and they are not doing that and so right now we're very frustrated in the minority uh when we take back the majority and I believe we will take it back in decisive way next year later this year uh we have to uh let people know right now that there will be consequences and that's why it's so important that we do things like this pardons letter that Senator Welch and I did that it's so important that we lay the marker on what we're going to do on oversight so that people are reminded that hey Donald Trump might not be president forever and there may very well be consequences. And I just want to point out this this pardons issue is even more offensive than people are realizing because there are billions of dollars in quote unquote restitution that these white collar criminals like the founder of Binance uh who who was convicted of securities fraud. He was supposed to pay something like $600 million to the victims of his fraud. And that money just got taken back by Donald Trump when he pardoned these people. Uh he pardoned dozens and dozens of people, billions of dollars. Now, so not only are these people out of jail, but the billions of dollars that they owed to victims of these frauds are are now wiped out.

[00:26:28]>> And not even to mention, as we unfortunately have to say, >> well, not as a debt go up, but not only is he willing to do that, but we no mention of the Epstein victims who have not seen any type of acknowledgement, let alone the people he goes after on the Republican side are all the same people who voted to release the Epstein files. It makes you think, right?

[00:26:48]>> It does make you think. Senator Peter Welch and Congressman Dave Men. Thank you both very very much.

[00:26:53]>> After after the break, we're doing the uh you know, we're doing the or going to discuss some reporting. We're going to do the do exclusive to MS now on the Democratic National Committee. That's what I like. We're going to do the do with the DNC. Congresswoman Joyce Batty joins us on the week night. I don't know what >> I'd like some Mountain Dew. I'll have the crab juice.

[00:27:20]>> Committee chair Ken Martin released and disavowed a long- aaited internal autopsy of the 2024 campaign. Let's be clear about what the incomplete report is and is not. It's not about a single candidate or a single race. It was intended for the DNC to evaluate how to improve its role as a fundraising and platform building apparatus. One big conclusion, quote, "Millions of Americans are suffering from poor access to health care, manufacturing, and job losses and a failing infrastructure, yet continue to be persuaded to vote against their best interests because they do not see themselves reflected in the America of the Democratic Party." Joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Joyce Batty of Ohio. She's an associate chair of the Democratic National Committee.

[00:28:09]Congresswoman, thanks so much for being here. Thank you for being here. I'm >> excited to be here. Thank you.

[00:28:12]>> There were lots of there was lots of chitchat about this report today about what it said, about what it didn't say.

[00:28:18]Um I talked to a number of folks today.

[00:28:20]I talked to a lot of state party chairs um who said that um separate from the report they are pleased with the money that they are getting from the Democratic National Committee because they are getting record numbers of cash every single month. And then I talked to some DNC members who were on this um call that uh Chairman, it's our understanding, Chairman Martin held with members of the DNC. And during my conversations, the the members, they raised questions about the finality of the report that was released um uh and whether a more final version of it exists. And then folks also asked why why today? Why not Sunday? Why not Fourth of July weekend?

[00:28:58]>> Why not six months ago?

[00:28:59]>> Why not six months ago? So can you answer the question? One, is this the actual final report or are you aware of any other versions? And then two, why today?

[00:29:08]>> To my understanding, there's not another version. This is the final version. And to the first part of your question, Simone, uh he didn't release it before because as you've seen, if anybody has looked at it or or read it, it's incomplete. It's not totally uh accurate, but it's what we had. I don't think there was anything magical about today versus tomorrow or next week, but I think that Ken was very strategic in deciding to go ahead and do it now. We had Vice President Harris saying release the report. We have 50% of the people that release it. 50% of the people could care less because people aren't calling me about an afteraction or autopsy report. They're calling me about grocery prices and gasoline. And so I think he wanted to just make sure that it did not inter intervene with the momentum that we have now. We're winning in midyear elections. And so I think it was important as we continue to prepare for the rest of the elections. We're 6 months away from November and we have to make sure that we are uh still defending our voting rights, that we're protecting our democracy and we're delivering for the American working people. So, he made a decision to get it out of the way. We can talk about how incomplete, how awful, or what we should have done, but that's not going to help us do what Ken Martin did with the state folks. And the reason you're going to hear a lot of them supporting him, he gave up seats to make sure that we had everyday people sitting at the table in the DNC. No one else had ever done that. He raised $40 million in his first year. More money than any other chair did in their first year. States are winning. We flipped 30 legislative seats. So, you have to look at this is, you know, he's only been here a short period. He didn't make the the things that went into the report.

[00:31:09]Whether you want to talk about the money, whether you want to talk about what's not in there for policy or the platform, >> look, this is what he came to the dance with.

[00:31:18]>> And so, he's doing the best he can with it. And I say we move on and make sure that we deliver the majority in the House. I'm going be a little biased here. Make Hakeim Jeff our next speaker and then be prepared. People are running for president already.

[00:31:36]>> I'll tell y'all one other thing I heard today and I know the chairman as somebody who has actually ran and won and frankly whipped the Democrats when back in the day. I'm like >> I went back to try to pull out Michael's auto because he know what he doing. The other thing I did hear today from a couple of people is that um the chairman seems to have a constituency of one of of one particular group and that constituency is the state party chairs.

[00:31:59]And as when I heard that, I said, you know, that is a part of his constituency, but that's not the only constituency. But there are a lot of people that say there's more to it.

[00:32:07]>> That is his only constitu.

[00:32:08]>> All right. Well, let's hear about it.

[00:32:09]Let's hear. I'll take a little exception to that. I'm just telling you what the streets know.

[00:32:13]>> No, I think he I think you're right that that is his major constituency. But he has gone to great pain to embrace let's say for example civil rights leaders in making sure members of Congress you know at one time people said oh you shouldn't be a chair if you were an elected official he has been over backwards he meets with leader Jeff uh on a consistent basis and so I I think while it may be his background and his majority it is not exclusively to that >> okay so uh I'm going to speak to you not as a congresswoman, but as a member of the DNC. So, so I just >> So, when he offends you and we got to jump across this table, >> I likely will know because I don't understand why y'all can't get out of your own way.

[00:32:59]>> This is a report that should have been released at the time because what I've just heard from you is nothing in that report has changed from the day it was first released to the day. So, if you've changed nothing, if you've not cleaned it up, if you've not made it better, if you've not answered the constituent questions within the DNC, why are you doing this today? And why has the chairman or anyone else in the leadership decided to take away the momentum? We are wasting a segment of this hour talking about something other than the things you leveled up, >> which is what you've been doing and communicating with the American people to move them to the point where you have won 37 special elections.

[00:33:38]>> Yes.

[00:33:39]>> So why are you getting in your own way with a report that don't amount to a bucket of spit in terms of your ability to win this November? We are watching this administration strip mine strip mine the American economy, strip mine the kitchen tables of of the American uh uh people and the party is sitting here talking about a report that no one cares about your own words.

[00:34:07]>> So help me understand why to Simone's first point why not get it out of the way. I wouldn't release a thing at all at this point because it does it furthers nothing for the Democrats when the president and Republicans are s you know what you've done you've given Republicans now something to talk about.

[00:34:26]I don't disagree with you Michael and and that's why in the statement I released I said we it's happened and so I have to take the position whether we should or shouldn't have until reality it's happened >> now I'll go back to agreeing with you and that's why in my statement I was very con very clear we can't let this consume or distract us because nobody is calling us about that and this is why it was important for me to be here to say I don't disagree with you but it's been released 50% of the people didn't want 50%. So move on because we do have the momentum and as soon as we move on and as soon as more of us come out and we don't start infighting, you know something about that within the party, we can continue to raise money. We can get people to feel good. We need to highlight what we're doing and we are winning and we're still on track. Even what the admin this administration has done with the Voting Rights Act. We're still coming back and winning in court cases, we're still fighting. I was just in Montgomery. We had thousands of people, black, white, we had rabbis, we had people of every religious cloth there because people want us to take back our country, our democracy, and the rule of law. And so Michael's not wrong and you didn't offend me as a member of Congress or as a friend. You I don't a lot of panels together.

[00:35:56]>> There are there are some financial problems though with the DNC because Republicans have 123 million debtree right now and the Democrats are about 3 million in debt. So that is something can we ask about it? I mean we got Sure.

[00:36:07]I' I'd rather take from from our back end. Go ahead and address that.

[00:36:10]>> Well, let me just say this.

[00:36:12]>> Do you have enough money is the question. I think we will have enough money. I I'm not alarmed because here's the thing.

[00:36:17]>> Where have you put the money Congress?

[00:36:19]You put the money in the states. That's why it's not sitting in the bank account.

[00:36:23]>> Exactly.

[00:36:23]>> Understand how this work? I got that same crap when I was RC. You had no money. You've raised no money. I raised $192 million. You know where I put it?

[00:36:30]In the States.

[00:36:31]>> In the States. And we won. Now, it would be fair if you said you put the money in. You didn't have good candidates. You didn't have a message. Our message was as strong as it.

[00:36:41]>> How did you win those special elections?

[00:36:43]We rent. We spend the money.

[00:36:45]>> We put we sent the money back and put it on the ground.

[00:36:48]>> I did hear today that those special elections that flipped those Mississippi state senate seats, the DNC gave an extra $100,000 specifically for those >> money in the field. Congresswoman, thank you so much for joining us.

[00:37:02]>> In a moment, Steven Coar's final curtain call on the late show. It's just a few hours away. We'll discuss that on the week night when we return in a few short minutes.

[00:37:13]Finale of The Late Show with Steven Cobear airs in just a few hours. It will cap Colob Bear's 11 years behind the desk and the end of the Late Shows more than three decade run. CBS canled the franchise last summer, citing financial reasons as its parent company, Paramount, sought approval from the Trump administration for its merger with Sky Dance. CBS has promoted tonight's farewell as an extended late show. And if the past few shows are any indication, folks, it will be a starstudded event.

[00:37:49]>> What an institution, Steven Colbear. And we're going to miss him a lot. And he is somebody that I think has done so much for the discourse in the United States, whether it's talking about politics, whether it's talking about grief, but also just getting us to lighten up a little bit about serious things. I want to play something from 2007 on the vaunted institution that was Meet the Press back then in Steven Colbear's appearance.

[00:38:13]>> Many people in your family and you used to be Cole Bert, >> right? Yeah.

[00:38:18]>> You are now Cole Bear.

[00:38:21]>> Yeah.

[00:38:23]>> I would be Russere.

[00:38:25]>> Rouser. Rousair. Yeah.

[00:38:28]>> Okay.

[00:38:29]>> Sesame Street. There are two characters.

[00:38:32]Is this >> Ernie and and and Bert? Ernie and Bert.

[00:38:37]>> Bert T.

[00:38:38]>> Yes.

[00:38:39]>> Then why aren't you Cole Bert?

[00:38:41]>> Are you saying that I don't have the right to drop the T in my name?

[00:38:45]>> Hey, he went on Meet the Press in 2007 in character. And I got to tell you, there's not many people who could make my father laugh about that.

[00:38:54]>> And what an American institution.

[00:38:55]>> Your dad was in the moment.

[00:38:57]>> He was in the moment. But we are so lucky to have Steven Cook there and what they're doing to him is so a shame and I hope some someone will pick him up. He's the best there is. I mean, he is so iconic for these times.

[00:39:08]>> He's very iconic. You know, um Eugene and I talked about this on the podcast this weekend. He said something um that I I feel like I should repeat and he said, you know, two things can be true at the same time. Late night is very expensive to produce and it has been losing money. But also, it does really seem as though given that the president literally put a target on the back of Steven Cobar has called for his ousting and then Paramount quickly followed suit that this is a case of a company bending the knee to the president of the United States. And when that h when one company does it, I think it's a detriment to all of us. What is replacing the Late Show is um um what is it? Comics Unleashed by Byron Allen. Um and my only issue, you know, and I like Byron Allen very much.

[00:39:51]She's a billionaire. Maybe >> is a very capable producer.

[00:39:55]>> He's a very capable producer. But you know what? He did a bunch of interviews that said comedy isn't political and I don't want people to get up there and talk about politics or all of this. I just want them to talk about their lives.

[00:40:04]>> That's his thing. That's >> okay. But our lives are political.

[00:40:07]>> Yeah. No, our lives are political. But I get what he's I get what Byron's saying.

[00:40:11]>> What's he saying?

[00:40:11]>> Well, but basically basically speaking to the spectrum and what he's decided to to do what he does is that's they don't do the political stuff. That's not what Cobar, that's not what Kimmel or any of the of these Johnny Carson was very political with his comments.

[00:40:26]>> Bob Hope was even political.

[00:40:28]Comedy is inherently political. It it is a statement that look but it's not exclusively that and that's what he's saying. You don't have to zero in on that particular aspect with every joke.

[00:40:41]>> He should have used your talking points because that ain't what he's saying.

[00:40:43]>> Well, that's that's what I heard. I understand it.

[00:40:46]>> First guy America who lost his job because the president couldn't take a joke is what Bruce Springsteen said last night.

[00:40:51]>> That's true. Take a joke everybody. We all need to take jokes.

[00:40:54]>> That part and and so hey coar keep doing your thing boo. That's it's all you right now. You going to land someplace.

[00:41:00]You going to be good. Just good. Coming up next on All-In, Chris sits down with House Democratic Leader Hakee Jeff to discuss the corruption.