as new revelations are
reverberating across the
political landscape after the
third public hearing on the
January 6 attack, a framework
for new gun regulations is
beginning to splinter as
senators try to turn their
agreement into a detailed plan.
That brings us to an analysis
from the associate editor for
the Washington post and a
columnist.
Welcome to you both.
Nice to see you.
Let's start with the talks in
the senate.
A bipartisan group of senators
have been close.
They say they have a framework
when it comes to gun violence
prevention.
This is led by this Murphy of
Connecticut and John Cornyn of
Texas.
Just yesterday John went and
walked out of those talks saying
it is fish are cut bait.
I don't know what they have in
mind.
I am through talking.
Could the talks fall apart once
again?
>> Yes, they can.
Come week seven I sat here on
Friday saying they're happy to
be talking.
But I will believe it when I see
it.
When we go from talks to press
conferences to passage of the
bill.
The fact that senator Cornyn has
walked away from the table is
the least surprising thing.
There were a lot of things on
there that Democrats thought we
could not get as part of the
framework.
The fact that senator Cornyn is
done talking, what is the issue?
Does he have a problem with the
boyfriend loophole?
What is the proposal?
We have to keep in mind if
Democrats put forth all the
stuff they wanted, and assault
weapons ban would be and.
The fact that senator Cornyn is
walking away from the table,
quite sadly, it is more of the
same.
>> The reporting is it is
closing the boyfriend loophole.
Keeping guns away from domestic
partners.
There is a lot of stuff in here.
There is funding for school
safety and mental health.
Red flag laws.
>> I agree, this is an
incremental bill.
What is in their, my fear is it
would not do enough.
You would still have some
difficult problems.
It does matter that Mitch
Mcconnell has at least endorsed
an approach like this.
That gives permission to a group
of senators in more purple
states and some of them running
for reelection that they want to
have something to say about a
problem.
A huge moral problem.
We need to remember the context
here.
The murder of children.
I think corning -- senator
Cornyn looks bad.
>> He also got booed.
He was speaking at a republic
improve -- convention in Texas.
What does that tell you?
>> This was a pretty hard-core
argument.
There is some risk in any deal.
My concern is we were moving on
a deal toward criminal justice
reform and it fell are.
I am afraid that might happen.
>> We want to move onto to the
January 6 committee hearings.
It was another big week.
Three hearings behind them.
Three more to go.
Share the moments that stood out
for you.
There was a lot of information
in these hearing.
You remember this moment.
He had been advising Mike pence
that he could not do what he
wanted to do, which was throw
out the election results.
>> I would've laid my body
across the road before I
would've led the vice president
overturn the election.
On the basis of that historical
precedent.
>> Why did that moment stand out
to you?
>> He is a giant.
Among conservative lawyers.
His reputation, I am trying to
think of the liberal equivalent.
You do not get more senior and
more revered than that.
The fact that he says he would
have thrown himself in the vice
president's way to stop him from
doing that was pretty
incredible.
The other thing he said that we
did not show is that he had a
warning that Donald Trump and
the folks who follow him present
a clear and present danger to
American democracy.
This is not a liberal Democrat
who is talking.
This is a tried and true died in
the wool conservative jurist who
is ringing the alarm about this
scheme that they had come up
That they were trying to get
vice president rents to go --
vice president pence to go along
with.
He said January 6 was a
rehearsal for what we could see.
>> I found it interesting that
most of the people who testified
were Republicans.
You recall a moment that stood
out to you where we heard from
the chief counsel to the vice
president.
We learned a lot about what Mike
pence was doing.
How he was down in his secure
location.
Here is a moment in which Greg
Jacob was talking about what
happens.
>> Does it surprise you to see
how close the mob was to the
evacuation route that you took?
>> I could hear the rioters in
the building while we moved.
I don't think I was aware that
they were as close as that.
>> His life was in danger.
>> That is something we should
not get used to.
We had a moment where there was
a mob intends on harm.
Fed and pushed by the sitting
president of the United States
against his most loyal
lieutenant.
It was nearly a thing.
This could have been the murder
of the vice president.
How would American politics have
responded to such a thing?
One thing that came out in the
hearings during this as it was
happening, president trump was
tweeting pressure tweets
attacking the vice president for
lacking courage.
As this was happening.
That indicates to me a reckless
regard for not just his
political future but his life.
This is a president I think we
learned again that it is the
most dramatic example.
This is not just a corrupt
politician.
This is an evil man.
I think that is important as we
come around to the next election
where he is the Republican front
runner.
That is a dire situation.
>> Another moment that stood out
to me was John Eastman sending
messages and the committee
shared that he emailed saying he
decided he should be on the
pardoned list if that is still
in the works.
What was your reaction when you
heard that?
>> My mouth was agape.
You only ask for a pardon if you
know or feel that you have done
something wrong.
I would never ask for a pardon.
What have I done?
.
But he knew that he knew from
the beginning.
What he was proposing, this is
public television, I almost went
there.
He pushed it.
>> We still have three more
hearings to go.
There has already been so much
evidence laid out by the
committee.
Do you see a world in which at
the end of the hearings they
wrap all of this up and there is
no action from the department of
justice?
Is that a possibility?
>> It is a definite possibility.
The department of justice made
some noise this week saying we
would like the transcripts you
have.
There is a parallel
investigation going on.
The doj is looking closely at
these hearings.
Which I regard as a good thing.
There will be tremendous
pressure on Merrick Garland to
do this.
It will be a very tough choice
for them.
It would set a precedent of
pursuing criminal charges
against former presidents that
we never really had before.
>> Do you think Mike pence
should testify?
>> I would've loved to hear him.
She has tried to get away from
his own actions.
He still sees a pass to the
presidency.
>> Three more hearings to go.
Had this weekend is juneteenth.
Is the second time in our
country's history we're marking
this day as a federal holiday.
I want to ask, how are you
reflecting on it?
>> I am reflecting on the fact
that there are school districts
and states that would make it
difficult to even teach what
juneteenth is about.
Simply because some parent is
offended that the word slavery
is used.
That people were enslaved and
worked for free at were tortured
and all sorts of other things in
the creation and building of
this country.
We just saw in Buffalo African
Americans were targeted.
This gives us an opportunity to
talk about this nations
foundational wound that we still
don't talk about.
We are at a moment in this
country where juneteenth might
be a marker on the calendar with
no explanation about what it
means and why it is important
that we commemorate that
holiday.
>> Let's hope we do not waste
that opportunity.
Thank you so much for being
here.