-The president is arguing in court
that Congress can't investigate him
as Republicans wage a war on reproductive rights.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪
-This week, it really feels like we're seeing
one threat after another
to our system of Constitutional democracy.
The president is vowing to block all subpoenas from Congress,
his lawyers are arguing in court
that Congress doesn't have the power to investigate him,
the White House Counsel told Congress this week
that Trump would refuse all demands for records
and testimony related to the Mueller report,
and Trump is turning the justice department
into a political weapon.
At this point, the next "National Treasure" movie
is just gonna be two hours of Nick Cage
trying to tape the Constitution back together.
[ As Cage ] I'm still missing a piece!
[ Laughter and applause ]
[ Normal voice ] Earlier this week, for example,
Trump said he would resist all Congressional requests
for documents like his tax returns
because he thinks Congress
shouldn't be allowed to see them.
-Why continue to block these House Democrats
who are looking for information?
-Because they are asking for things
that they're not entitled to.
I could ask them, I assume, if they ask me,
I could ask them for the same kind of thing.
They wouldn't want to do it.
-Yeah, they would.
In fact, several Democratic presidential candidates
have already released their tax returns
because they have nothing to hide.
Do you think Elizabeth Warren has a side hustle
selling hotels to Russian mobsters?
[ Laughter ]
At most, I can see her running a B&B
that serves breakfast way too early.
"Be downstairs at 4:30
because the Cream of Wheat goes fast!
The Trump administration is even refusing basic requests
for information about big banks that have scammed customers.
Yesterday, for example, Warren grilled Joseph Otting,
the Comptroller of the Currency during a Senate hearing.
Now, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency,
or OCC, is charged in part with
regulating banks like Wells Fargo.
Warren asked Otting to release information about the bank
which has had a series of scandals.
Otting refused.
Let's just say it did not go well for him.
-Will you commit to publicly disclosing
the OCC's evaluation of the
"competence, experience, character, or integrity,"
of the next Wells CEO.
-I will not.
-Why not?
-'Cause it'll be confidential supervisory information.
-It's confidential if you make it confidential.
The point is, you have the legal authority --
-At this point in time, I do not have plans to release
that information publicly.
-And what is the reason that you don't have plans?
Why are you keeping this secret?
-As you indicated, it's my prerogative.
-Okay. And our job is oversight here.
-Senator Warren, no one has been more tougher
on Wells Fargo than myself.
No one has been more outspoken.
-You mean at the OCC? That's a low bar.
-I would disagree with that.
I find it insulting that you would make that comment.
-Good.
-Oh!
What do you even say in response to that?
"I'm insulted."
"Good! I'm glad you're insulted."
"Well, I'm glad...
that you're glad that I'm insulted."
[ Laughter ]
It's such a simple, yet effective burn
that all you can do is slink down in your chair
and hope she forgets you're there.
[ Laughter ]
The president is arguing that he can't be investigated
or subpoenaed, and that Congress isn't entitled
to information about him, and then there's the fact
that Republicans in Alabama passed an inhumane
and blatantly unconstitutional anti-abortion law
essentially inviting the Supreme Court's
conservative majority to overturn Roe v. Wade.
If fact, last night, the governor of Alabama
signed the bill into law and actually admitted
that it was unenforceable.
-The most restrictive abortion law in the nation
is now in effect in the state of Alabama.
The governor of that state signing the bill yesterday,
which bans all abortions unless the mother's life is in danger.
Doctors in Alabama who perform an abortion,
if convicted, would face up to life in prison.
-Planned Parenthood and the ACLU
are challenging states who have restricted abortion
saying lawmakers are passing these bills
only to benefit their parties.
-They know and say publicly that these laws
are blatantly unconstitutional, and they don't care.
-Tonight, the governor here says
while she signed the abortion bill,
she also knows it is unenforceable
because of Roe v. Wade.
-Think about that. They passed a bill
they know is unconstitutional, and they don't care.
Can you imagine how Republicans would react
if New York and California passed laws
just banning all gun ownership?
The NRA would send out an all caps e-mail,
saying "Tyranny is here,"
Trump would tweet something like,
"Gun grabbin' libs, not nice!"
with a bunch of weird exclamation points,
and Sean Hannity would scream so loud,
the screen in your TV would crack.
Well, probably not your TV, but your grandpa's TV.
[ Laughter ]
And it will not shock you to learn
that some of the men voting for these bills
have absolutely no idea how pregnancy or reproduction work.
Take Republican state senator Clyde Chambliss,
who was asked about the fact that the bill does not provide
exemptions in case of rape and incest.
Chambliss said that abortions could only be provided
until the woman is known to be pregnant.
Okay. Already, what?
Is this some kind of ancient Alabama riddle?
[ Southern accent ] The buffet is all you can eat --
That is, until you get to the restaurant.
[ Laughter ]
Chambliss also said...
[ Cheers and applause ]
He also said, "I'm not trained medically,
so I don't know the proper medical terminology
and time lines, but from what I've read
and what I've been told, there's some period of time
before you can know a woman is pregnant.
Wait. You're not medically trained?
Because... you [bleep] nailed it, dude.
[ Laughter ]
Did it really not ever occur to you
to look into the terminology and the time lines
before voting on this bill?
It strikes me the only time lines
these guys think they know is you have sex,
and then nine months later, a stork shows up.
In fact, that comment was so dumb,
Planned Parenthood actually had to issue a fact check
on its Twitter account.
"When asked if this bill makes an exception for victims
of incest, Senator Chambliss said,
'Yes, until she knows she's pregnant.'
Again, that would mean that that person would have to get
an abortion before they know they are pregnant.
That's not a thing."
It's not.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I mean...
Who was this guy's sex-ed teacher,
a pole cat in a beer helmet?
But, of course, this isn't about protecting life.
If that's what it was about,
then Republicans would invest money in maternity care,
parental leave, universal pre-K, or any number of policies
that would actually help families raise children.
What it's really about is depriving women
of their basic human rights.
And Chambliss basically gave the game away
when he was asked why the bill wouldn't apply to eggs
fertilized through IVF.
Chambliss said "The egg in the lab doesn't apply.
It's not in a woman. She's not pregnant."
Dude, you just admitted it --
"It's not in a woman, so we don't care."
You said out loud
the thing Republicans pretend they aren't doing.
You're like one of those guys selling fake watches
on the street and admitting it's fake.
It's not a Rolex, it's a Polex,
and the numbers are out of order.
[ Laughter and applause ]
Now...
these anti-abortion bills passed by multiple states
are blatantly unconstitutional.
In fact, the authors know these bills will get overturned
in the lower courts. That's the point.
They want them to get to the Supreme Court.
And they're doing this now because they think they've
finally got five conservative justices on their side
with the appointment of Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
You remember him,
the bad guy from every '80s teen movie.
He looks like he should be telling Michael J. Fox,
"A werewolf can't play basketball!"
Of course, during his confirmation process,
Kavanaugh repeated all the usual nonsense
about how he'd be a fair and impartial judge.
And honestly, for the life of me,
I just can't figure out what would make Republicans
think Kavanaugh is on their side.
He's always been pretty, you know, balanced.
-Since my nomination in July,
there's been a frenzy on the left
to come up with something,
anything to block my confirmation.
The behavior of several of the Democratic members
of this committee at my hearing a few weeks ago
was an embarrassment.
This whole two-week effort has been a calculated
and orchestrated political hit,
fueled with apparent pent-up anger about President Trump
and the 2016 election,
revenge on behalf of the Clintons,
and millions of dollars in money
from outside left-wing opposition groups.
This is a circus.
[ Laughter ]
-I mean, holy [bleep]
That guy is a Supreme Court justice now.
Can you imagine what his questions
during oral arguments are like?
"I saw Hillary Clinton outside my house last night
digging through my trash
as part of a left wing conspiracy
to steal my identity and make a mold of my face
so she can wear it as a mask and rob a liquor store."
This guy accused...
[ Laughter and applause ]
This guy accused the Clintons of orchestrating
a secret revenge plot with money from left-wing opposition groups
to destroy him, and now he could be one of the deciding votes
on everything from whether Congress can investigate
the president to Roe v. Wade.
He sounds like he's auditioning
for a talk show with Alex Jones.
-They're demons.
They're frickin' interdimensional invaders, okay?
I'll just say it. Make fun of me all you want on CNN or wherever.
But everyone already innately knows this --
These people are not frickin' humans, okay?!
Hillary Clinton is a goddamn demon.
Excuse me taking the Lord -- It's not taking it in vain.
She is a demon damned to hell!
Excuse me.
[ Laughter ]
-I like how he says "Excuse me"
at the end like he just sneezed.
For Alex Jones, an outburst like that is just involuntary.
[ As Jones ] Joe Biden is a secret lizard
who smells like sulfur!
Gesundheit.
[ Normal voice ] Of course, throughout
his confirmation process, Kavanaugh repeated
all the usual lines about how he would supposedly respect
Roe v. Wade as settled law.
-Senator, I said that it's settled as a precedent
of the Supreme Court.
It has been reaffirmed many times
over the past 45 years, as you know,
and most prominently, most importantly,
reaffirmed in Planned Parenthood versus Casey in 1992.
I understand the importance of the issue.
I understand the importance that people attach
to the Roe v. Wade decision,
to the Planned Parenthood versus Casey decision.
I don't live in a bubble.
I understand.
I live in the real world.
-Man, it's so weird to see someone who's capable
of losing his [bleep] like that suddenly calm and measured.
It's like seeing a crazy guy in the subway screaming,
"Rats controlled by the government are spying on us!"
And then he turns to you and says,
"By the way, that jacket looks fantastic."
[ Laughter ]
Kavanaugh was lying about Roe v. Wade,
and we know he was lying because he said
the exact opposite in an e-mail
when he worked for the Bush administration.
-Somebody leaked to "The New York Times"
and then to NBC News this e-mail
written by Brett Kavanaugh in 2003
in which he argues explicitly that Roe versus Wade
is not recognized to be settled law
because the Supreme Court could very well overturn it.
"I am not sure that all legal scholars refer to Roe
as the settled law of the land at the Supreme Court level
since Court can overrule its precedent.
And three current justices on the Court would do so.
-Man, I'd love to hear
Kavanaugh's explanation for that.
[ As Kavanaugh ] Hillary Clinton snuck into my office
wearing a mask of my face and typed that on my computer
to frame me!
And Alex Jones is right, she's a demon from hell!
Excuse me.
[ Normal voice ] Our system of Constitutional democracy
facing one threat after another.
Congress should be able to investigate the president.
Women should be able to make choices about their own bodies.
I can't believe I have to say that,
and if you're offended by me... -Good.
This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Cheers and applause ]
♪♪