Secret SCOTUS Recordings, Trump's Christian Values, Biden Verdict Watch
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Voters 50 and over have the power to decide elections. So candidates who want to win need to talk about the issues they care about. Learn more from our latest polling in Pennsylvania at aarp.org slash PA polling. Overnight, Duncan's pumpkin spice coffee has sent folks into a cozy craze. I'm Lauren LaTulip reporting live from home in my hand-knit turtleneck that my Nana made me. Mmm, cinnamony. The home with Duncan is where you want to be.

It's Tuesday, June 11th, right now on CNN This Morning. One side or the other is going to win. Secret recordings of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito discussing politics and ethics. Donald Trump promoting values to Christian conservatives and facing his New York probation officers all on the same day. Jury watch in the Hunter Biden trial, how the Biden family might impact the verdict and this. You're not staying, sir?

the Georgia congressional candidate who just walked off the stage in the middle of a debate. All right, 6:00 AM here in Washington, a live look at the US Capitol on this Tuesday morning. Morning, everyone. I'm Kasey Hunt. It's wonderful to have you with us.

Samuel Alito's private beliefs apparently exposed in a secretly recorded audio tape. The conservative Supreme Court justice seeming to endorse a fight to, quote, return our country to a place of godliness, end quote. It was a liberal activist and filmmaker who secretly recorded the justice and his wife at a Supreme Court Historical Society dinner earlier this month.

People in this country who believe in God have got to keep fighting for that to return our country to a place of godliness. I agree with you. I agree with you. Important to underscore, during that dinner, the activist misrepresented herself. She claimed to be a religious conservative.

The executive director of the Supreme Court Historical Society issued this statement on Monday, saying, quote, we condemn the surreptitious recordings of justices at the event, which is inconsistent with the entire spirit of the evening. Attendees are advised that discussion of current cases, cases decided by current sitting justices or a justice's jurisprudence, is strictly prohibited and may result in forfeiture of membership in the society.

Earlier in the conversation, the activist told Alito that she didn't think that the right could negotiate with the left. Here was his response. One side or the other is going to win. There can be a way of working, a way of living together peacefully, but it's difficult, you know, because there are differences on

fundamental things that really can't be compromised. It's not like we're going to split the difference.

A little hard to hear. There are panels here. Molly Ball, senior political correspondent at The Wall Street Journal. Megan Hayes, former special assistant to President Biden. And Matt Gorman, the former senior advisor to the Tim Scott presidential campaign. Welcome to all of you. Molly Ball, this, of course, I think underscores the pressure that Alito is under at the moment in our highly charged political environment where the justices are about to decide whether or not Donald Trump is immune in the January 6th.

Clearly, he's in a situation where he is responding in the affirmative to someone he is encountering at a party. And yet the remarks are still illuminating in terms of how he thinks about things. Yeah, I mean, I think, as you said, on the one hand, we've all done the thing where someone approaches you that you don't know and you just kind of play along, right? You just sort of say you're agreeing with whatever it is that they're saying. On the other hand, it's no surprise to anyone that he's a conservative.

And that he does view society as somewhat corrupted by a lack of godliness. I wouldn't be surprised to hear him say any of those things in a judicial opinion, for example. So it's all pretty broadly consistent with the judicial philosophy and the political philosophy that we know that he subscribes to. I think also the fact that the

this recording is coming out tells you that increasingly the Supreme Court is being treated as another political branch of government. People are sending trackers after them basically like they would with a political candidate monitoring their every utterance and looking through it for

potentially damning or politically useful bits of audio that can be used against them in what's essentially become a full-time political campaign. And that, I think, as we and others have reported, has contributed to a very high level of tension and division on the court itself that's made it increasingly difficult to function. - Yeah, speaking of division on the court itself, I mean, in this highly fraught moment that we find ourselves in as a country, where there does seem to be this kind of looming

about violence. Certainly we have had more violence in our politics in recent years than we had seen in other modern campaigns with what happened on January 6th.

John Roberts was also approached by this activist and he approached this very differently and it underscores a little bit of the tension on the court as Molly was just touching on. Again, John Roberts appointed by George W. Bush, he is the Chief Justice. He is also a conservative but has carved out a much different kind of role for himself

on the court. So when he was approached by this activist and some of these same themes of godliness, the question I believe was, is the U.S. a Christian nation? Here's how John Roberts responded.

Since I've been here 20 years, there have been quieter times. But the idea that the court is in the middle of a lot of tumultuous stuff going on, that's nothing new. The Civil War, we did that during Vietnam. People were getting killed. I was there in Vietnam. This is all right. I mean, it's not all right, but it's not like it's as dramatically different people as... It's a common thing. People with their own perspective think this is so extraordinary. I don't know.

So the Christian Nation question, Roberts actually responded that he has Jewish friends, Muslim friends who might disagree with that. He went on to talk about it a little bit. But Megan Hayes there, he was saying, he was talking about other cataclysmic periods in our history, the Civil War, Vietnam, basically saying that we're going to be all right in the end. What is your kind of view of all of this and the way it's unfolded? But

particularly this kind of difference between Alito and Roberts here? Yeah, I mean, I do think that we're going to be all right. Our democracy is built to survive, and hopefully it will survive regardless of who wins the election in November. But I do think that there is a difference here, and I think that there is a difference if you listen to Alito's wife and how she responds. And her reactions to some of the questions that she got are also extremely stark. And so it just goes to show how these justices are thinking and how they are forming their opinions. And it is quite different, and it is kind of jarring when you hear their responses.

Let's listen to a little bit of what Martha Alito, also who was approached by the same activist. Again, here's a little bit of what she had to say.

You know what I want? I want a sacred Heart of Jesus flag because I have to look across the lagoon at the pride flag for the next month. Exactly. And he's like, oh please don't put up a flag. My heritage is a dream. You come after me, I'm going to give it back to you. And there will be a way, it doesn't have to be now, but there will be a way they will know. Don't worry about it.

Okay. She also said that Justice Alito doesn't control her at one point, but she does seem to admit there that he did ask her not to put up a flag in this case. We definitely know who put the flag up. I mean, look, this whole thing, I saw it on Twitter, the...

person, Lauren Windsor put up, this is gonna be a big undercover story. She tweeted it out, teased it out before it came out. And then when it came out, I'm like, this is what this is? I mean, this was the same person that was the one reported by The Intercept who sent the kind of Democratic activists to Charlottesville dressed as neo-Nazis with tiki torches to kind of stand outside the Glenn Youngkin event

with the Lincoln Project. So I guess I'm not surprised by this. But I will say that, you know, I think a lot of what Molly said is right. It's also just his religious philosophy. He makes no kind of bones that he's a devout Christian. I was at church over the weekend and a lot of those same themes, it's let country, but more about the world and sin and godliness.

Those same themes are kind of prevalent at church. I'm really not surprised. - I mean, I think that the piece of it that really I got caught on was where he seems to go on and say that there may not be a way to resolve these differences ever, which I suppose is part of what you're saying. - I mean, it's, again, I think we step back from the politics of it. I think the way that Christians look at it is sin and whatever, faith, right? I'm not putting it very eloquently. The priest did a better job in his homily over the weekend.

But no, I think that is more of the way that he was talking about it. For me, again, he's about Christian. I don't really see what the big thing is. Megan? But these people, I just think our Supreme Court justices sort of need to rise above this. And I agree with Molly that we've all been in a situation where you just nod and say, but he went further. And then when his wife's comments, it just shows that like,

They're not viewing themselves as above and making laws for our country. It was his faith. It was not about politics. And also, she was goading him. She was the one that introduced godliness into it. He's just agreeing, yeah, I agree. These ideas weren't germinated on their own. She was leading him on this. 100%. I don't agree with what she did. I think it's terrible, and I think both sides do it, and I think it's awful. I don't think we should be putting people in a position. It gets a lot more on you.

I mean, we haven't talked about Procter & Gamble since 2009. Rightfully so, I'm fine, but the amount of media saturation, I've read that New York Times is covering this now. It's ridiculous. We would never do this if it was James O'Keefe and Procter & Gamble. That's not true, but I just think that- When was it? 2009, we haven't done it since. Since 2009.

Shirley Sherrod with Acorn. That was the last time we've ever seen... What about Ashley Biden? Ashley Biden. And I think we all... About Project Veritas. Sorry. Very different. And when there was a New York Times... But they answered, that's the Garrett Ziegler who was sitting in court that clearly... When there was a New York Times article on...

straight reporting, what was in Ashley Biden's journal? I don't remember it. Like there was with this. - I will be honest, I am not in a position of authority on this particular question. But I do think the big picture here, I mean, and I think you guys are actually both in agreement. - Yeah, we are both in agreement. - That what people should do is not act like this.

You know, I just, I think, Molly, to the big picture point, this really underscores even farther just the significance of the moment that we are facing as a country, the role of the Supreme Court in our politics. It's been historically viewed as an institution that's supposed to be above all this. I think, you know, those of us who cover this realize it's been political for a while, but now the country is really starting to see that. All right, coming up next, Donald Trump meets with probation officers while his campaign asks potential VP candidates

if they ever committed a crime. Plus, the dog days arriving early, millions of Americans facing sweltering heat, and this. - This is where I get back in my truck and head back to Southwest Georgia. - The congressional candidate who walked off the stage and went home in the middle of a debate.

I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, host of the Chasing Life podcast. What are some of the social service agencies that have supported you and your family growing up? That's Dr. Robert Waldinger. He's a psychiatrist, a professor, and a Zen master. What kind of relationships actually help us maintain happiness? And what should we do in those moments where we have setbacks and things that don't work out? Listen to Chasing Life, streaming now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Former President Trump had his first meeting with his New York City probation officer. He's got off to a rough start when Trump offered the probation officer $130,000. So you know, stop doing that. The 45th president of the United States and the presumptive Republican nominee for president this time around met Monday with his New York City probation officers. I think, you know.

Spend a second with that. Trump apparently answered all questions in the virtual interview and was described as polite, respectful, and accommodating to the probation officers. That's according to a New York City official familiar with the interview. Trump even told the officers to be safe at the end of the session.

His approach might have something to do with the fact that his demeanor and cooperation could influence the judge's decision on sentencing day. The hearing comes as his campaign moves forward with a more, shall we say, traditional process of selecting a vice presidential running mate. All of them have been asked to submit documents to be vetted.

You're not at that level yet. Well, look, they've asked us for a number of things. I think that a number of people have been asked to submit this and that. Like your taxes or something? You know, I don't know everything they've been asked. But yeah, I mean, certainly like, you know, have you committed a crime? Have you ever lied about this?

"Have you ever committed a crime, Matt Gorman? Apparently not okay for the VP." - I know what we laugh. I know what we laugh. It does make sense why you would ask that. - I mean, it does. - It does, it does. I did the first of that on Paul Ryan when Mitt was selecting his VP. And we're at the point now where you're bringing in not just the candidate, but the family, the accountants, the lawyers, and you are asking, we were just trying to get to the central question. Number one, do we know everything about this person that we need to know, number one, and number two,

If we don't, what is it that we don't know? And trying to get that so the candidate, no matter who it is, can kind of evaluate and make a decision. Because look, let's face it this way, right? We know Trump is indicted on four things, found guilty on one, found three others, right? In the limited space, we don't want a new one coming out all of a sudden that they can't price in, that they don't have an awareness of. It does seem like an acknowledgement that committing crimes is bad, which the president has so far not seemed to want to cop to.

I don't think they have formally conceded that point. But no, I mean, to Matt's point, it's less about any particular deal breaker than about not being surprised, right? That's what the vetting process is for. It's just anything that's in there, the campaign wants to know in advance so they can get

get out ahead of it if that's the case or just again just not to be surprised by something it's one thing to say oh you know this came up in his his first campaign and he had a good explanation for it or the voters didn't seem to care and so it's known part of

someone's bio another thing for it to be you know late October and all the sudden you're finding out that someone was arrested for a felony 30 years ago that they neglected to tell anybody about and it becomes a big news cycle I will just say that it also seems to underscore the difference between Donald Trump and the rest of the political universe where gravity still seems to apply even if it doesn't to Donald Trump alright coming up next Hunter Biden's fate in the hands of a jury we're going to go live to Delaware to cover those deliberations plus

A kite surfer scooped up by rescue crews after being stranded on a California beach. All right, 23 minutes past the hour. Five things you have to see this morning, starting with a debate walk-off. - This is where I get back in my truck and head back to Southwest Georgia because I got two races to win. - Thank you very much. Doug Reardon, you're not staying, sir?

Georgia congressional candidate Chuck Hand, who was convicted on January 6th related charges, stormed off the debate stage Sunday after a question about a farm bill. Hand is running in a GOP primary runoff next week. New video of boats engulfed in flames over the weekend at Lake Mead in Las Vegas. Two people were injured, 26 boats were damaged, 15 of them were destroyed. The investigation into the cause of that fire is ongoing.

A curious mama bear causing major headaches after breaking into three homes and multiple vehicles near Sacramento. Eventually, she got too close to someone and as you can see, got doused with bear spray. I do hope she's okay. All right, now check out this video. A brazen thief in Columbus, Ohio who stole a package seconds after it was dropped at the door while the driver was knocking. Oh!

Yeah, that's, that's all. Like just, people, don't do that. Police say they're hunting for the thief. All right, I stranded, this one is incredible. I stranded kite surfer rescued off a California beach after, take a look at that, he used rocks to spell out the word help. And get it, get this, it worked. The plea was spotted by a private chopper pilot flying overhead who alerted 911. So there you go. If you're ever on a deserted island, it might really work for you.

All right, time now for weather. Excessive heat settling over the southwest from California through Texas as the flood threat ramps up for parts of southern Florida. Our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, here to break it all down for us. Derek, good morning.

Good morning, KC. So we're focusing in on southern Florida because you're frankly going to get whopped with heavy rainfall this week. In fact, the radar right now showing a band of moderate to heavy rainfall about to enter that busy corridor along I-75 between Tampa Bay southward towards Fort Myers and Naples. We currently have a flood watch in effect. This last right through Wednesday will likely get extended because this stationary boundary is drawing in moisture from the Gulf of Mexico.

and it will send wave after wave of moisture. Flash flooding a real potential right through the week. Fort Myers to Miami, even northward into Fort Pierce. Some of our rainfall accumulation maps pick up more than a foot of rain through the end of week. That would be very localized, but nonetheless that could cause some problems. Now the other big story has been the heat over the southwestern U.S. Over 20 million Americans, including Phoenix to Las Vegas, some authorities there,

warning people to avoid sun exposure from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. tonight. Casey, busy, busy. Yikes. Don't like that. All right, our weatherman, Derek Van Dam. Derek, thank you. See you tomorrow. Coming up next here, the fate of the president's son now in the hands of the jury. Plus, another mugshot for a Trump ally.

Welcome back. The jury in Hunter Biden's federal gun trial continues deliberations today. The defense rested yesterday after Hunter declined to testify in this historic case. It's the first criminal trial against the child of a sitting president.

During closing arguments, prosecutors tried to convince the jury that Hunter was a drug user at the time that he purchased a gun six years ago, saying, quote, Later, Hunter's defense attorney argued the prosecutor's case was similar to a magician's trick, adding, quote,

There is nothing there. Joining me now from Wilmington, Delaware, is Alex Thompson, the national political reporter for Axios, who has been covering this trial day in and day out. Alex, wonderful to see you. How, like, just catch us up with what you saw in court yesterday during these closing arguments. And I want to dig into how the family in particular is playing into this, because my understanding is the jurors were told not to be intimidated by the fact that it's the family of the president of the United States.

Yeah. So yesterday you saw both very lengthy closing arguments. I believe Abby Lowell, Hunter Biden's lawyer, went for about 87 minutes and then the prosecution got two shots at it. And they probably got about the same, about 87 minutes. And, you know, to your other point, you know, the prosecution said if they had not proven that Hunter Biden was a crack addict, then no one is a crack addict.

And it got a little chippy between the two sides. Abby Lowell at one point said that the prosecution had been, quote, enormously cruel to Naomi Biden, Hunter Biden's daughter, the president's granddaughter, and how they cross-examined her. The government came right back and said it was them who put her on the stand that put her in that position. And it was Hunter Biden who, according to text messages at the time,

had been erratic and texting her in the middle of the night and had, you know, I think they put it as said, blowing her off. And so it got very personal. In terms of how the family, you know, yesterday was the most family that we have seen in this trial. You had aunts, uncles, cousins,

their cousins' spouses. It was at least a full thing. And it was interesting that both sides in their closing arguments made

you know made allusions to the family now abby lowell hunter's lawyer has been really trying to you know portray hunter as like a family person um and you know has been referencing the family as as part of that that he is just you know i think one of you whereas the prosecution is basically saying what you just alluded to which is don't be intimidated this is not you know these people are not evidence these people are not really part of the trial

How would you describe kind of the mood among the Biden family members who attended from what you could observe? I mean, what did that feel like?

Yeah, I think they you could see a little bounce in their step after Abby Lowell's closing, you know, having just a a fulsome 87 minute defense from a hunter. You know, when, you know, I think a lot of the family feels he has just been hit day after day after day for the last several years. And I think, you know, I even saw Val Biden, the president's sister, sort of give him a go, give Abby a go get him defense.

right afterward. But, you know, after at the very end, you know, I don't think the family likes being at a felony trial for, you know, Joe Biden's son. And you could tell there were certainly moments, Ashley Biden in particular, the president's daughter and Hunter's sister has been very emotional at moments of this trial, you know, having to leave at some point.

really lots of tears and you can tell it's been harder on some than on the others. Yeah. One of the arguments that came up was about Hallie Biden. One of the attorneys said, quote, Poor Hallie Biden, who had to be dragged through this period of her life again, who understandably did not remember a lot of the details

Was she remembering what she saw that day or dozens of other days when she, too, was using? If you noticed, she could remember what the prosecutors asked her. The prosecutors also gave her immunity, but not so much for any number of things. So that, I guess, coming from Abby Lowell, clearly they felt like they needed to defend other members of the family, too. How did that kind of fit in?

Well, this has been a key part of Hunter Biden's strategy from the very beginning, which is to really try to undermine the credibility of Hallie Biden, who is Beau's widow, who is also his sister-in-law. And the reason is because her testimony is very, very troubling. If you're Hunter Biden, the fact is that she was the one that found the gun. She and when she testified that when she went into the truck, she found crack guns.

cocaine paraphernalia, suggesting that he had been smoking very recently, that she found powder that day, which also suggested he had been using and was the one that he was texting during the period he had the gun in which he said that he was smoking crack.

And this goes to a larger sort of dynamic within both the defense and the prosecution, which at the very end of the day, beyond the facts of the case, I think it will really come down to do you relate to Hunter Biden or do you resent Hunter Biden?

And, you know, the prosecutor, the Hunter's team, it basically wants to make you think he's a family man, that he was suffering from a disease, that he's one of you in Delaware, homegrown. Whereas the defense is saying, no, this is a bad guy. This is a guy that, you know, what, you know, the little guy.

details that he was withdrawing $151,000 in cash withdrawal in just three months, that he was a millionaire, that he was Yale educated, that he gave $800 to his 24-year-old girlfriend to buy clothes for his daughters. You know, these little details that are meant to portray a different sort of person. And that may end up being the difference maker with this jury.

All right. Alex Thompson for us this morning. Alex, thank you very much for that. Megan Hayes, can I ask you, you know, as someone who's been in the Biden family orbit, how this all I mean, as Alex said, the entire family has shown up for him at this trial, understandably. But it's got to be weighing on the president, who, of course, is.

has not made an appearance at the courtroom. Yeah, I mean, I don't think that anybody here at this table would be surprised that Hunter is at the forefront of the president's mind right now. It's an extremely challenging situation. He's a dad, first and foremost. I think he said that in his statement. But I do think that, you know, this is someone who is an addict. He is a recovering addict right now. And I think that the family is concerned. And I think they're showing up to be supportive of him. I think that's what families do, is they show up and support people when in their time of need. All right.

Let's turn now to the 2024 campaign trail where Donald Trump gave virtual remarks yesterday to the Danbury Institute. It is a conservative Christian group. They call abortion, quote, "child sacrifice" and, quote, "the greatest atrocity facing our generation today."

Trump, who just two months ago said abortion should be left to the states, didn't explicitly mention abortion during his remarks. That's an omission that for the presumptive nominee of the Republican Party says a lot about the politics of this issue in a post-Dobbs America. Instead, Trump said this. We are a seriously

declining nation, seriously, seriously, and so sad. I know that each of you is protecting those values every day, and I hope we'll be defending them side by side for your next four years. These are going to be your years.

So Matt Gorman, I mean, he obviously is trying to tell them something that they want to hear. But to not mention abortion at a group like this, I mean, it just shows what a tough position any Republican is in in a world where the protections of Roe means that, well, if you say life begins at conception, suddenly you're threatening everything, including in vitro fertilization. No, I mean, look, I think--

- Abortion's probably the best issue for Democrats and it makes the most sense for them to run on it. And I think it doesn't make a sense also for Trump to give more grist to anything that they're gonna use against them already in a campaign. And I think what this is, I'm more and more convinced that this election is essentially gonna come down to the economy hovering above all and immigration on the right, abortion on the left competing as the single issue, crawl over broken glass type issues for voters and which one wins out.

this last couple years you see abortion went out could happen again immigration been very silly what what happens I think that's gonna tell such a story election well I think the debate that I'm hearing among my republican sources about how they and their candidates should message the abortion issue is very similar to how I hear democrats talking about immigration the question is

do you try to keep it off the agenda and not talk about it in the hopes that you can raise the salience of some other issue, right? So if you're a Democrat, do you ignore immigration and just try to talk about abortion where you feel like you have a better message? There is a school of thought, I think, in both of these camps that says, no, you have to go at it. You have to say to voters, I understand why you think this is important.

And here is my position so that they're not left guessing. So, you know, Republicans have been having this active debate since the fall of Roe saying, we do have to have a message for voters about abortion. We do have to have something to say to them. Otherwise, we're just going to get clobbered. And I think you've seen Democrats on immigration the same thing. A lot of candidates have tried to avoid the issue, but there is sort of a new conventional wisdom on the Democratic side that says if you do that,

you're just gonna get killed on this issue that is important to so many voters. You do need to have some kind of positive message, even if it's not necessarily gonna be popular because in both cases, the parties are on the wrong side of these respective issues. - Yeah, really interesting way to think about it. Okay. The House Rules Committee meets today to consider holding Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt. We're gonna talk about that with a member of the committee, Republican Ralph Norman of South Carolina. Plus, Donald Trump questioning whether Taylor Swift is a legit liberal?

All right, 46 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup. This just in, the plane carrying Malawi's vice president and nine other people has been found. Everyone on board was killed. The plane went missing Monday after it failed to make a scheduled landing.

President Biden is set to address a major gun violence prevention conference in D.C. today, nearly two years after signing the first federal gun safety legislation to be passed in decades. There you have it, Rudy Giuliani's mugshot after he posted a $10,000 bond in his election interference case in Arizona. Donald Trump's former lawyer showing no remorse as he left court.

Can we just say there was no evidence of any of the things that he just said there? Giuliani pleaded not guilty in May to nine felony charges stemming from his alleged role in Arizona's fake electors scheme.

The Port of Baltimore is open for business. The shipping lane into the harbor fully reopened last night for the first time since the Francis Scott Key Bridge was hit by a cargo ship and collapsed in March. Quick work from all those folks.

All right, let's turn now to Capitol Hill, where the House Rules Committee will meet today to decide whether to advance contempt charges against Attorney General Merrick Garland over his refusal to provide lawmakers the audio of President Biden's interview with Special Counsel Robert Herr after Herr found that Biden mishandled classified documents but would likely present to a jury as a, quote, sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory, end quote. The GOP-led push comes just a week after Garland testified before Congress, where he said this.

I will not be intimidated and the Justice Department will not be intimidated. Joining me now is South Carolina Republican Congressman Ralph Norman. He sits on the House Rules Committee, a powerful one in the House. Congressman, good morning. Thank you for being here. My pleasure. Glad to be with you. So the Attorney General Merrick Garland has a new Washington Post opinion piece that's out this morning. And he writes in that piece, quote, "Disagreements about our politics are good for our democracy. They are normal.

What do you have to say to his argument there? Attorney General Garland,

is, let's just say it's laughable what he's taking part in. He's not above the law. He says he's not going to be intimidated. You know, it's very simple what the committee asked for. I don't think he's arguing that he's above. You're saying he's not above the law in the context of the contempt charges around, that you are considering?

What he's not above the law in is when Congress has every right on Article 1 to hold committees that investigates the DOJ and any other agency. And what we ask for is the, since President Biden had an interview with Robert Herr, asking for the audio tapes. Very simple. The audio tapes.

And they initially started back in February 5th, and we asked for the audio tapes, which do exist. And on February 16th, the DOJ, under the guidance of Merrick Garland, said they weren't going to meet the timeline. They extended the timeline. And then finally they came back and said there's no justifiable reason why you need the audio tapes.

Biden has already waived the executive privilege by printing the interview. So we just want the tapes to see if they match up with...

of what's being purported. They redacted several parts of it. So by saying he's not above the law, he's going to be in contempt. We will pass it, I think, in the rules. And we'll hold him accountable like he's doing every other person that's got an R beside their name unjustly out of that. What do you think you're going to learn from the tapes that you can't learn from the transcripts?

The tapes will back up, will either justify what has been the transcripts say or they won't. Do you think that they actually tampered with the transcripts? Is that what you're saying?

We have no idea until we get them. They haven't. That's what Attorney General Garland refuses to turn over. It's very simple. Turn the tape over so we can see if it matches with the transcripts. It either does or it doesn't. Do you think that you have the votes in the full House to hold Garland in contempt?

Oh, I have no idea. We'll see what the evidence is. We'll have testimony today that will probably last six to eight hours. You have a Democratic witness, you have a Republican witness, James Calmer, or it may be Jim Jordan, but one of the two will present what their finding is. But it's very simple. Turn over the tapes that will either validify the transcripts or they won't and let us see it.

Congressman, I want to talk politics with you for a little while. Your state, of course, has famously sharp elbowed, to put it politely, I would say, politics. Nancy Mace, Congresswoman who voted to oust Kevin McCarthy, facing a primary challenge today. Could you underscore, clarify for me who it is you're supporting in this primary? And do you think that Mace is going to hang on?

I hadn't come out on either side. I know both and I served with Nancy. Catherine Templeton was head of DHEC under Nikki Haley, who I like.

I think Nancy will win this race, but I hadn't come out public with either one of them. I get involved in a lot of races, but on this particular one, I decided just to let the low country decide who they want, and Nancy's got a track record, and Katherine Templin has a record of service. So wait, so why won't you endorse your colleague? You're not endorsing Nancy Mace. I mean, that's pretty noteworthy. I mean, as typically, you know, y'all incumbents usually stick together.

Well, I didn't come out against her either. I just said let the voters decide. And, you know, the low countries has a lot of different issues that they're passionate about. And let them decide it. And, you know, I'm from the upstate and I did get involved, am involved with the Timmons Morgan race. I came out against William Timmons. But on Nancy Mace, I just decided to stay out of that.

Sir, before I let you go, we've heard President, former President Trump, obviously he has campaigned. We've heard him say earlier in the show that America is a declining nation. This is something that he talks about all the time. The governor of Pennsylvania, which is a key swing state, he's a Democrat, but he had a different message about what he thinks Republicans should be saying about America. I want you to listen to what Governor Shapiro said, and then I want to get your reaction on the other side. Watch.

All they hear from Donald Trump is a whole bunch of whining about this country. So I got a message to Donald Trump and all his negativity and his whining: Stop sh*t-talking America. This is the greatest country on Earth, and it's time that we all start acting like it. I mean, I gotta say, sir, I'm a patriotic American. Does he have a point?

President Trump, as does the American people, see what's happening to America. He is exactly right. Look at what's happening in this country. Talk to the average voter out there who is very upset with inflation. They're very upset with the 13 to 15 million illegals coming into this country. Would you still call us the greatest country on earth, as many politicians often have?

It once was the greatest country on earth. We're in a rapid decline under the last three and a half years of this Biden administration. Pardon me? It's not anymore. And which country would you say is greater than the United States of America?

Well, unless we get our finances in order, unless we stop spending and printing money, we cannot continue what we have been in the past, which is a shining city on the hill. And it's the direct result of the liberal policies that this administration has continued to put the American people through. Immigration is leading the pack on this. He's breaking the Constitution. He's destroying the values in this country. And I think the American people will show that at the polls.

I still don't have the name of another country that's greater than the United States of America. Congressman Ralph Norman, thank you so much, sir, for being here. I really appreciate your time. My pleasure. All right, let's turn now to this.

Why wouldn't we talk about Taylor Swift when we can talk about Taylor Swift? She apparently has a new admirer in Donald Trump. In an interview for a forthcoming book about the former president, Trump raved about the pop star's looks, telling the writer, quote, "I think she's beautiful, very beautiful. I find her very beautiful. I think she's liberal. She probably doesn't like Trump. I hear she's very talented. I think she's very beautiful, actually, unusually beautiful."

Trump, however, clearly seemed unable to forget his bad blood with Swift over her 2020 endorsement of Joe Biden and throwing into question her political beliefs. Is she as liberal or is that just an act? He asked during the interview. She's legitimately liberal. It's not an act. It surprises me that a country star can be successful being liberal. OK, Megan.

I mean, I think it's creepy the way he continues to talk about how pretty women are that are significantly younger in age, very, very much younger. But that being said, I think that he doesn't want to upset the Swifties. I think we all know what happens when we awake a giant of the Swifties, but I think it's very bizarre. I mean, look, part of why we're talking about her, and Matt, I mean, you know, disagree with me if you want to, but she is actually probably the one celebrity I think that actually has the power to move a significant number of votes. Probably right. Yeah, I think it's a matter of now whether she would ever want to get involved. I think...

I think in 2020, 2016, where I think we talked about this a couple weeks ago, different time for celebrities to inject themselves into politics, become political actors. Very different now. And I'll tell you, Donald Trump, Taylor Swift, it's like the page clicks, like big bang, like two massive forces coming together for this explosion of page clicks and views. Hey, I'm all for it. I'm all for it. But yeah. I just don't think she needs it like...

outwardly get involved. I don't think she needs to go out and be like, I support Joe Biden. She already did that. And then also in her documentary, she's already said where she stands on a lot of issues and went to her family and said, I mean, so I don't think anyone's questioning where she stands politically here. So I mean, I think it's kind of, I don't think she needs to outwardly get involved. But I think that Donald Trump as a celebrity pundit, right, like a celebrity handicapper, he is really encapsulating sort of where she stands in the firmament of sort of pop

culture, right? He clearly has spent more time looking at her than listening to her. She hasn't been a country star for a long time, as my Swifty daughter could certainly tell you. But the idea that people don't necessarily see her as a political figure, and that's why a potential endorsement for her is so powerful, right? Because to her legions of fans,

who just love her no matter what, the things that she says can resonate outside that political sphere. And that's why I think she does have the power to potentially move votes is even though she does have this history of endorsing liberal politicians and taking liberal positions, she is not, I think, pigeonholed as just sort of, you know,

Hollywood liberal, liberal celebrity, and so she's able to speak in an authentic way to her following. - It harkens back to a funny time where Donald Trump was on Twitter talking about Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. - Remember that? - Like 10 years ago, remember this? This is very much like the Page Six New York celebrity gossip world he had spent

30 years in. So this is almost in a way like a very pure version of Donald Trump like gossiping about celebrities. Yeah, no, it's the Donald Trump Maggie Haberman has been covering. Yes, absolutely. All right. I will leave you with this.

Oh, look, she's still got it. Courtney Cox letting the world know she still has the moves that she showed off in Bruce Springsteen's video for Dancing in the Dark. The Friends star joining a social media trend where kids ask their parents to show them how they danced in the 1980s. Cox famously appeared in Springsteen's 1984 music video, jumping on stage to boogie with the boss. Molly Ball, has your daughter made you do this yet? Thank God.

Could you, like, are you better or worse than, wait, wait, wait, wait, let's put Courtney back. Where's Courtney and her dancing? There she, yep, there she is. I mean, honestly, that I think I could do. That might be the limit of my abilities, but that I could do. I mean, I wouldn't look as good as her. I wouldn't want to do it in public, but. I'm not doing that on TikTok, that's for sure. I sure as hell am not doing that either. All right. Thanks, guys. I very much appreciate your time today. Thanks to all of you for joining us. I'm Casey Hunt. Don't go anywhere. Santa News Central starts right now.

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