Morning Joe - Morning Joe 7/15/22

Episode Date: July 15, 2022

DHS Inspector General accuses Secret Service of deleting text messages from January 5th & 6th

A live picture from Bethlehem and the West Bank as President Biden turns his attention to the Palestinian people. We are awaiting a joint news conference with Biden and the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas. The pair is meeting right now behind closed doors. Before arriving in the West Bank, the president announced a number of initiatives to support the Palestinian people, including new funding for a hospital network in East Jerusalem. We'll be monitoring this news conference expected to begin any minute now. We're also following

developments with the January 6th investigation, including a new report this morning that accuses the Secret Service of deleting text messages related to the attack on the Capitol after they were requested by oversight officials. And new reporting that all but confirms Donald Trump will run for president again. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It's Friday, July 15th. With us, we have White House Bureau Chief at Politico and the host of Way Too Early, Jonathan Lemire, and Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and associate editor of The Washington Post, Eugene Robinson. Good to have you both on board with us this morning. Joe, we're going to be looking at obviously what's going on abroad with President Biden and his meeting with Mahmoud Abbas. But

let's begin with the Secret Service being accused of deleting text messages that could be critical to investigating the events of the insurrection. How could they be deleted? In a letter this week to both the House and Senate Homeland Security Committees, the DHS inspector general writes that after his office requested full electronic records for an evaluation of the Capitol attack, the Secret Service deleted a significant number of text messages from January 5th and 6th of 2021. Now, this letter was obtained by NBC News after its contents were first reported by The Intercept. Meanwhile, the Secret Service is denying that the messages were deleted with malicious intent. Oh, really? Oh, really? Well, yeah. They also denied what

everybody inside the White House is saying about Donald Trumping at Secret Service agents and choking them and grabbing a wheel. It's interesting. You have the facts. You have the reality. And then you have the Secret Service denying that reality. This is the second time now in a week that that's happened. And you even have a D.C. cop now saying, yeah, yeah, what what we heard Cassidy Hutchinson testify about happened. I was at the motorcade and heard the traffic over the radio that this was happening. So, again, I'm really wondering. I know that Trump politicized the Secret Service. I'm just wondering who's willing to go to jail lying through their teeth for Donald Trump. Well, in a statement, a spokesman may end up going to jail. Who in the Secret Service wants to go to jail lying through their teeth for Donald Trump. Well, in a statement, a spokesman may end up going to jail.

Who in the Secret Service wants to go to jail? A spokesman claims some of the data that was lost during a pre-planned device replacement program that began on January 2021 before the DHS probe into the insurrection even began. Now, he also notes that the Secret Service has been fully cooperative with the DHS investigation. But hold on. Just let's take that down because it's nonsense. ordered copies of those text messages and said they deleted them after the inspector general ordered them. So Secret Service wants us to believe the inspector general's lying. Somebody's lying. Somebody needs to be hauled before Congress to testify.

It seems like a huge stretch at best. Let's bring right now NBC News correspondent Julia Ainsley. She covers the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security. So, Julia, help us out here. We've heard reports, many reports, that Donald Trump politicized the Secret Service agency, moving friends and allies into high positions. And so over the past couple of weeks, we've had testimony from Trump insiders inside the White House talking about this incident, about Donald Trump choking a Secret Service agent, grabbing the steering wheel.

Now we've heard other people say, yes, that happened. Now we're hearing DC cops saying that that happened. But the Secret Service, off the record, denies it. Now we have this, an inspector general says, hey, give me all your text messages. Give me all your electronic communications so we can figure out what happened on January the 6th. And the IG says they deleted the texts after the request. What can you tell us? That's right, Joe. So the timeline here, you're spot on and that's critical because anyone who has ever had their records requested or subpoenaed knows

that it's when you have that request that you need to immediately preserve all of those records. Now the Secret Service is saying that they were doing this program that started before the request where they were replacing all of their devices. That was ongoing and so that is why these messages, at least some of them, we don't know if all of them were deleted and couldn't be handed over to the ig the ig also said in that letter that it was lawyers at the secret service that came in between that request in the time where they ever even responded further delaying and probably diminishing some of the information that they could have come

they said that that was a delay and that they clearly are slapping the Secret Service hands in that. And, Joe, you mentioned, of course, the Secret Service role in that very salacious conflict that we heard about from Cassidy Hutchinson. But there's also another piece of the Secret Service was critical in on January 6th, and that was their responsibility to protect the vice president. And we know that it was Pence himself who defied Secret Service agents and said, I'm not getting in the car. Now, if he had actually complied with the Secret Service, he would have been taken away from the Capitol and wouldn't have been in the position to certify those election results. In other words, actually giving victory to the insurrectionist. So that is another reason why DHS IG would have wanted these text messages to figure out why Secret Service

acted in that way, what kind of threats they perceived that day, and how that led to that decision where they thought they needed to get the vice president away from the Capitol. All of this is critical just in the very day-to-day rigor of the DHSIG being able to oversee this agency, an agency that'ss a lot of questions about what did the Secret Service know? What was it planning for and expecting before this insurrection even took place? Joe, is that it's just absolutely remarkable. What can you tell us about? Because we we've heard a little bit about it. We're after Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony. There was some talk about how Donald Trump had politicized the Secret Service.

What can you tell us about that side of the story? Well, it's definitely one that we know that has been drilled down on. It's something that as soon as investigators at this House Select Committee found out from Cassidy Hutchinson about that back and forth, that everyone's tried to get more of a direct account, because as you remember, Cassidy Hutchinson was really relaying what she had heard. But we know there were police scanners, there were people there. But of course, Donald Trump had a policy of trying to put his own people in the place of security. We know that the Secret Service director just announced his retirement after 25 years. Someone who had served through many administrations would see himself

as apolitical. But there were a number of people working for the Secret Service who were security details appointed by Donald Trump himself. That is key in determining exactly what happened that day and who might be complying or not complying when the select committee or now the inspector general is trying to get answers in terms of Donald Trump's actions that day. And then also the law enforcement response, which is such a key part, whether you're talking about Capitol Police, other parts of DHS. We reported here at NBC

that CBP, Customs and Border Protection, were actually uniformed and armed, ready to go, but were kept waiting in the basement of the Reagan building during the insurrection that was happening just blocks away. A lot of questions about law enforcement response, Secret Service being pivotal, and the fact that they were responsible for the president's security that day would have known his every detail, every movement and request. And also, of course, protecting the vice president as a mob was chanting that they wanted to hang him, Joe. I can't even believe I'm saying that. Yeah, I mean, Julia Ainsley, it's extraordinary that the Secret Service, an organization that largely had remained outside of politics for so long,

has been pulled into this. But Carol Lennig wrote an entire book about sort of the politicization, in some ways, of the Secret Service. So how much did Donald Trump have to do with that? Because it does play into what we're talking about here, that he did bring some loyalists in, that he had people close to him who are perhaps more loyal to him than they were to the organization. Yeah, you know, that's part of the reporting I want to flesh out just over the course of this day is to understand the timeline to see we

understand that you know as soon as the dhsig requested those those text messages many of them were deleted but how much of that was the secret service of the trump administration and how much of that was actually non-compliance under this administration as well it's unclear exactly when that would have happened but very clear that that, yes, the Secret Service did get politicized under Donald Trump. It's under new leadership now. We've, of course, still had some problems, some scandals under this administration as well. It's a very large organization. And when people look back at the history of the Secret Service, they have to remember it actually started under the Treasury, because one of the Secret Service's jobs is to protect against counterfeiting

money. A lot of people forget about that. But when DHS was born after 9-11, they brought Secret Service into the fold. And many people would argue that since that happened, it hasn't been as well policed, as well regulated, and has been able to really grow into an agency that can have a lot of problems within its ranks and could be very easily politicized by the man in charge. But we should point out, of course, that it was security who did eventually deny the president's request to turn the car to the Capitol that day. NBC's Julia Ainsley, thank you so much for your reporting this morning. You know, Joe, for any any of anyone who's been following the threat to our democracy

and just how close things came on, it's been following these threat to our democracy and just how close things came. It's been following these hearings. It really is jarring to think about all the different moments that could have gone a different way. And also to hear these accounts of how unhinged Trump was at the concept of losing, he literally couldn't accept it. He could not accept the concept that we work in a democracy with an election. Sometimes you lose elections. And then now you hear that he's having dinners with private donors. He's coming to Washington in the near future. And he's talking about a potential 2024 run. Right, well, you go back. January 6th will follow him wherever he goes. I know we're going to be talking about that story in a second.

I know he wants to get the nation's attention turned off of January 6th. That's not going to happen. But, you know, it was disturbing in the days after the riots at the Capitol, after the attempted insurrection, hearing about how there were Capitol Hill cops who actually were on the side of the rioters. And of course, we had heard that there were going to be investigations into that. But Jonathan O'Meara, how disturbing and what can you tell us about the fact that these Secret Service agents who, again, secret service uh somehow uh off the record um calling cassidy hutchinson a liar calling everybody else it's i mean it's it's kind of where like you know what are you going to do are you going to believe me or your lying eyes is basically

the message that secret service is saying off the record and now God, the inspector general demands text messages from January 5th and January 6th, which would tell us what the president was planning to do. And they erase them. This is not a bureaucratic snafu. They knew. And by the way, they're smart enough to know. And their lawyers are smart enough to know. When you get a request for records, that's not the time to delete them.

Well, since when do things get deleted? There have to be legal consequences to that. But what can you tell us, Jonathan, about this just extraordinary story about how it appears the Secret Service is trying to cover for Donald Trump? Yeah, this is a pretty dubious explanation of a routine and maintenance there for the Secret Service phones. It happens to be the two days the inspector general was requesting, January 5th and 6th. And I do think that there are some very pro-Trump friendly elements in the Secret Service who remain to this day.

And to be clear, the vast majority of agents perform their jobs adamantly with great profession. It's a very tough job and they do it very well. And executives and officials from both parties say so. But Trump, as you noted, politicized a lot of law enforcement and a lot of there were a lot of police officers, a lot of federal agents. And yes, Secret Service agents were very pro Trump during his time in office. And we know that they came under great scrutiny after Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony. You know, she said that Trump, after finishing his speech at the Ellipse, was in the presidential SUV and demanded to be driven to the Capitol along with the crowds that eventually would become the rioters. And there is video has emerged of him having at minimum what we would declare a animated conversation with agents in the front seats. You

can't see him necessarily reaching for the steering wheel, which is what Cassidy Hutchinson said she was told he did, made clear that it was secondhand. But at minimum, there was a heated exchange in that presidential SUV. And we know then, since then, a number of Secret Service agents have not put their names to it, but have said off the record that no, she's wrong. This didn't happen. It's a lie. And that also defies credulity right now. And I also just want to mention the name Tony Ornato, who was the head of the Secret Service detail of the President Trump, who then moved into the White House in the West Wing as a deputy for operations, a senior advisor to the President. He's someone still in Secret Service now. And he's the one Cassie Hutchinson has said, told him, told her that this exchange,

this heated exchange in the SUV had happened. He also, his credibility has been questioned repeatedly by other Trump officials, repeatedly, including for his misleading recounting of what happened in Lafayette Square Park when President tried to clear it on June 1st after the George Floyd riots in order to have a photo op at a church. So there's a lot of questions right now the Secret Service needs to answer. An agency, frankly, whose credibility has been really damaged in recent years. Well, you know, who knows? Maybe he's close enough to Donald Trump that he wants to commit perjury and go to jail and hope that his buddy will go to jail and meet him there. Because, you know,

Mika, right now, this is beyond outrageous. It's beyond outrageous what's going on with the Secret Service. It's outrageous the lies that they're telling behind the outrageous. There's beyond outrageous what's going on with the Secret Service. It's outrageous the lies that they're telling behind the scenes. It's outrageous, again, that the inspector general says, I ask for these texts. Yeah. On January 5th and January 6th. And they deleted them after the request. And I just I'll go further. And I don't understand an organization that is

involved with the secure, the highest level of security in the United States of America that would just wipe phones and not download the contents and then update them, especially for January 5th and January 6th. You know, you know that people are going to want the text messages and the text exchanges for those two days, two of the most significant days. You know, this this is like actually if there were text messages and emails, this would be like FDR's administration going out to the guy that was running the radio tower saying, please, if you could preserve all of your electronic emails and correspondence from, you know, December 6th and December 7th, 1941, so we can see what happened. And then they destroy him. That's exactly what

happened here. Well, Gene Robinson, your latest column for The Washington Post is entitled Trump and Trump alone turned January 6th into a debacle for our democracy. And you're right in part this. It was Donald Trump and Donald Trump alone who summoned and loosed the mob that sacked the Capitol, threatened Congress and the vice president and imperiled our democracy. That is the powerful message that emerged from Tuesday's televised hearing of the January 6th select committee. And these hearings make clear just how dangerous it would be for the former president to be elected again. There are still dots left for the committee to connect, but the emerging picture is of one man who made the horrific events of January 6th happen. His name is Donald Trump. This matters. And not just for the history books. Trump can't be let anywhere near power again now that we know exactly how he will use it. And and here we have this week, Gene, the former president meeting with

donors, making news of himself by saying, I'll make my decision when I, you know, kind of talking about his decision to run. Look, I think the man seems to get away with everything. And one way he could get away with everything is to win reelection. Right. And I think he believes that running for reelection or pretending to run for reelection or announcing he's going to run, whether or not he actually goes through it, also protects him from criminal prosecution. I think he's—I think that's part of the reason why you hear this—all this flurry of Trump's going to announce, Trump's going to run. I think he wants to make the—look, the January 6th committee is a disaster for him. You know, that last hearing pointed directly at Donald Trump as the author of January 6th. And, you know, as Liz

Cheney said, he's not he's a 76 year old man. He's not an impressionable child. He knew what he was doing. He did it and he got caught. And so I think part of this is that he wants to be able to say it's all political. The committee is all political. The prosecutor, the Justice Department that's investigating is all that's all political. The Fulton County district attorney in Georgia, who's doing a very serious investigation of Donald Trump's attempt to overturn the will of the voters in Georgia is, you know, that that's all political. And I think he believes and this is just my my opinion, but I think it's right.

I think he believes that if he is an active candidate for president, that gives him better standing to say this is all political prosecution, that he can, you know, that this is outrageous, that I'm just being persecuted for political reasons. And I think that's what we're going to hear over the next next month and maybe over the next year as these investigations close in on Donald Trump as, as the news tightens. Yeah, he knows he's not going to win. He knows he's not. I mean, exactly.

He knew he had a chance of winning in 2016. He knows he's not going to win in 2024. He knows that you have an attorney general who many people believe on the left and the right is afraid of his own shadow. So if Merrick Garland is afraid to bring charges of Donald Trump's not running, Donald Trump has cynically concluded that Merrick Garland is too weak to bring charges against a man who very clearly broke the law on January the 6th. And you know, we've been dancing around this whole thing about conspiracy to commit sedition.

January 6th was about treason, treason against the United States of America. And the people who did it, who actually executed it, have been charged. Against the United States of America. He tried to overthrow the United States government and put himself through the use of fascist force understand the need to have justice for somebody who committed treason against the United States. thinking that Merrick Garland will be too weak to follow through on what he has a responsibility to do and prove once again that in America, no man is above the law. Well, Donald Trump may still be wrong about that. We'll see what Merrick Garland and the Justice Department are working on. But the word treason, you're right, people have danced around it and been hesitant to say it. But if that meeting on December 18th in the Oval Office with Donald Trump and Sidney Powell and Michael Flynn and Rudy Giuliani and all the rest of them isn't treasonous by the dictionary definition, I don't know what is. They're sitting unlawfully plotting to overthrow the government, period.

They're trying to stage a coup. And that's that's exactly what we saw. So we will see if Merrick Garland, we know he's watching. We know justice is watching these hearings closely while conducting their own investigation. We'll see. But what a place to be for Donald Trump. The only way to avoid prosecution is to run for president. How about that? Let's turn now to the U.S. Capitol police officer who one of many who heroically defended the Capitol that day, Harry Dunn. Officer Dunn, it's great to have you back

with us this morning. Thank you. Good morning. You know, we had your colleague, a Capitol police officer on yesterday, Ocolino Gannell, Sergeant Gannell, and he went into some detail about what he went through that day, the injuries that have plagued him in the 18 months since, the word he got from his doctor that he couldn't continue his career in law enforcement because of those injuries. You have been sitting alongside Sergeant Ganell in those hearing rooms for the last several weeks. I wonder what it's been like for you to listen to. You know a lot about what happened that day but perhaps didn't know what was going on behind the scenes. That the President and others were not defending you or not giving you what you needed. In fact, we're

clearing a path for the people who came into the Capitol and attacked you. What has it been like to sit in that room and hear that testimony? Well, good morning, Willie. Thanks for having me. It's been eye-opening. I've always had my opinions about what happened that day, and I've had my opinions about the president, but I've always done my job in a manner that it didn't matter who was in office, that I do my job and uphold my oath faithfully. But this committee is

getting to the bottom of actually what is happening, and that's all I care about, the facts. And they're laying the facts clear out on the table for everybody to see, even the people who are supporters of the president. There's nothing that you can deny or if you have or if you want to deny it or want to refute what's being said or what's being done, come under oath and tell your side of the story. But a lot of people are straying from that. So I guess they're silently agreeing with the facts that are being laid out. You know, Sergeant Ganell told us yesterday about the cowardice of many Republicans, most Republicans, which would say on Capitol Hill and the way they've treated him since the attack. I want you to listen to what Sergeant Ganell told us yesterday. In a year and a half since I was injured and they know my injuries,

only Adam Kissinger and Liz Cheney approached me from the other side. I don't hold any grudges, I'm still gonna be respectful to them. But they don't wanna talk to me. I still wanna do my job like I did on January 6th. In order for me to do my job, I don't need to express my opinion. I mean, if they want any more confirmation on that, they could take a look at my injuries as proof that I could do my job and protect them without any political opinion expressed on my own. So, Sergeant Gunnell, are you saying that only Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney among Republicans

have spoken to you, have checked in on you, see how you're doing, to apologize maybe even for what happened that day? They're the only two Republicans? That is correct, sir. Officer Dunn, what's been your experience sergeant canel saying only liz cheney and adam kinzinger among republicans have even spoken to him since january 6. have you heard from other republicans checking on you see how you're doing perhaps even apologizing for what happened that day one thing i want to say about sergeant ganel is um he's a great American individual.

He immigrated here, so he had to actually work to be an American, whereas some people just take it for granted. So the oath that he takes, that he took, means a lot more to him than it does the most average individuals. He's very passionate, and he deserves—he's a hero a very he's a very fine patriot in this country so um one thing i had to tell him is stop expecting yourself from other people um you got to put yourself and understand the type of person that you are and understand that everybody isn't built like you um but as far as the uh other individuals that have reached out to me um people recognize me and uh i i I leave politics out of doing my job. I say hello to them, and I do my job and keep them,

protect the Capitol in a safe, open environment. So I keep politics out of it. I'm not looking for any acknowledgment or anything like that. I'm looking for the Justice Department to get to the bottom of what happened. Have Republicans, any Republicans reach out to you though and said that they're sorry i mean this seems like politics one oh one it doesn't seem like i i i i know i know i when i was there something like this happened i'd

be the first to reach out to you yeah sin talk how you doing what do you need to have a but i mean this isn't hard to have have republicans i've called you to their office or asked to sit and talk. How you doing? What do you need? I mean, this isn't hard. Have have have Republicans called you to their office or asked to sit and talk to you about what happened that day? The horrible things that happened. A lot of them are very cordial. We speak. We talk just in passing conversations. I haven't had anybody like turn their nose up at me or, you know, everybody's cordial and speaks and says hello. But I don't I don't seek getting into conversations about that. They ask, hey, how's it going? I'm fine. How are you doing? Have a good day.

And, you know, keep it cordial and have a good day. And that's I think that's what it should be. A professional relationship. Officer Dunn, what do you want people to know about what happened on January 6th? Because I think it's important to stop and describe it from your eyes. So many people have tried to whitewash what happened that day, downplay what happened that day. Oh, it was just a protest that got out of hand. We know none of that's true, thanks to these hearings from the January 6th committee. But just from your perspective that day, what was it like to stand there and see that mob of people approaching the Capitol and then understanding that they weren't just there for a protest?

It's a couple of thoughts that run through my head. One of the things that first thing that pops in my head that y'all are seeing me and y'all seeing Sergeant Ganel. There are so many other men and women of the Capitol Police Force who fought bravely and heroically that day. And, you know, a lot of law enforcement have been scrutinized for being sympathizers or whatever. People are entitled to their political opinions, but the men and women, majority of the people, they did their job faithfully regardless of any political affiliation. And that's what we need from law enforcement. But as far as like seeing that crowd, it was just something that I'd never seen before. I've been at the Capitol.

I'll start my 15th year in November. And I think it's safe to say I've seen over a thousand protests and nothing to the point of this level of violence, this level of rage. These people were like possessed. I said this before, like possessed zombies. They were possessed. I said this before, like possessed zombies. They were possessed. And it wasn't even there wasn't any rational discussions that could be had with these people. These people you hear there were clips of people saying these people want blood and they they showed it and they drew it. So I'm so sorry for what you went through. And we are so grateful for your service to the country.

And it's not an overstatement to say you helped to save the democracy that day. Officer Harry Dunn, thank you so much for being with us this morning. We appreciate it. Thanks, brother. You have a good day. You too. Thank you. Turning now to the war in Ukraine, where at least 23 people were killed yesterday after

more missile attacks on a civilian location. Ukrainian officials say cruise missiles from a Russian ship in the Black Sea damaged a medical clinic, office, stores, residential buildings in the city of Vinnytsia that's deep into the central part of Ukraine, around 160 miles south of Kyiv. Police say among the dead are three children younger than 10 years old. More than 100 other people were reportedly injured in the strike. Russia, meanwhile, continues to deny targeting civilians, despite a growing number of strikes against residential areas in recent weeks. Joining us now from Central Ukraine

NBC News correspondent Allison Barber Allison what more can you tell us about the attack yeah Mika it is hard to find the words to describe what we are seeing in Venezia Ukrainian officials are calling demanding for Ukraine or for Russia rather to be labeled as a state sponsor of terrorism. This is still an active scene and the numbers are changing but right now we know 80 people are hospitalized, 117 people sought medical help, 11 are still missing, 23 people are dead among them three children one who has now been identified by the regional governor as a four-year-old named Lisa. One horrific photo shows her lying in the street next to a stroller. I can't stop looking at her shoes. They look like shoes that my niece wears. They're so tiny.

They're Velcro straps because she is clearly far too young to possibly know how to tie her shoes. And there they are, splattered with blood. Shortly before the missiles hit, Lisa's mom took this video of her walking along the street and posted it to Instagram. There's also another video, a Christmas video. Ukraine's first lady said that she recognized this little girl because she was at a Christmas event with her. I can't stop thinking about the shoes. But this video, these images from the one her mom I can't stop thinking about the shoes, but this video, these images from the one her mom posted, the ones of her at Christmas, these are the ones that we should remember. A life, an entire future stolen, and for what? What crime could a four-year-old possibly

commit? We were at a hospital in Dnipro just yesterday talking to people who have survived previous missile strikes by Russia. We met one man who showed us just all of the burns that he still has on his body. He has been in the hospital for weeks. He has severe burns up and down his arms, the back of his head, all along his neck. He's 24 years old. He's not a member of the military. He says he was working at an oil depot when Russian missiles hit it. I asked him if he had the chance to speak to the people who did this, what he would say. This is what he told us.

I have no words what to say to them. These are just not humans, the people who are doing this for us. And I would not want their parents and their children to live through something like this. We see attacks like the one we saw in Vinnytsia happen a lot in Ukraine and they are so much more than a headline. The trauma, the pain, physical and mental, that survivors deal with stays long after the rubble is gone, long after we know the final death toll. It is a forever thing. Russia is claiming right now in Venetia that they were targeting a house of officers of the garrison. But we see what they struck. We see the victims, the people that were impacted by this strike. A spokesperson for the general staff of the armed forces of Ukraine says Russia fired five missiles at Vinnytsia. Two of them were intercepted. Three of them hit city center. Mika. NBC's Alison Barber, thank you so much for bringing us those

stories. Willie, you know, the options are very limited, but the strategy to sort of run Russia out and wear them down, I just don't know how much longer Ukraine can take this. Yeah, we had Admiral Stavridis on yesterday saying that's just plain and simple a war crime, and it's war crimes stacked upon war crimes. They're attacking civilian targets, plain and simple. They're going after killing little children, young girls like the one we just saw there. And it will continue. And the United States continues to pledge its support one package after another of humanitarian and military support. We'll see how long we can keep that up. Meanwhile, proceedings resumed this morning at the center of all this in Russia for American basketball star Brittany Griner, who pleaded guilty last week to drug charges.

Members of the press were allowed into the courthouse today. That's the first time that's happened since the trial began. Griner's attorney submitted more documents to the court including around 20 character references from different charities and sports organizations as well as medical records purporting to show a history of injuries that have resulted in severe chronic pain. The defense also submitted a document granting permission for the use of cannabis for medical purposes to treat severe chronic pain that was issued by Arizona's Department of Health and the players' doping test results, all of which were negative.

Greiner also appeared in court yesterday for testimony from character witnesses, including the head of the Russian club she plays for in the offseason and a teammate from that squad, as her defense appeals for leniency in a case that carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison. Greiner has been held in Russia since her arrest at a Moscow airport in February, where officials say they found vape cartridges containing cannabis oil in her luggage. Last week, Greiner's lawyer said she acknowledged to the court the cartridges were in fact hers,

but that Greiner packed them by mistake. The U.S. considers Greiner wrongfully detained by Russia. Her trial is scheduled to resume on July 26th. A case in Ohio is highlighting the deep divide in this country over abortion. Following the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade, police have arrested a man for raping a 10-year-old girl, the girl then having to travel to another state to get an abortion. NBC News national correspondent Gabe Gutierrez has the very latest. At an arraignment Wednesday in Columbus, Ohio, a judge ordered 27-year-old rape suspect Gerson Fuentes held on $2 million bail. It's my understanding she in fact just turned 10 years

old. According to court documents, Fuentes confessed to raping and impregnating a 10-year-old girl. A detective says she then traveled from Ohio, which has banned most abortions, to neighboring Indiana to end the pregnancy. The case has become the latest flashpoint in the national abortion debate following the Supreme Court's reversal of Roe v. Wade. It was first reported earlier this month by the Indianapolis Star newspaper, citing a single source, an OBGYN in Indianapolis. The story went viral. Last week, President Biden brought it up. Imagine being that little girl. Just, I'm serious, just imagine being that little girl,

10 years old. But over the next several days, Republicans, including Ohio's Attorney General, cast doubt on the story. We have regular contact with prosecutors and local police and sheriffs, not a whisper anywhere. Then, after the suspect's arrest, he issued a written statement. My heart aches for the pain suffered by this young child. I am grateful for the diligent work of the Columbus Police Department in securing a confession and getting a rapist off the street. The Wall Street Journal editorial board had also previously questioned the story. Now it's published a new editorial correcting the record, writing, it appears President Biden was accurate. Still, Indiana's Republican Attorney General says he'll investigate the OBGYN who performed the procedure for failing to report it. That OBGYN says in part doctors must be able to give people the medical care they need, when and where they need it.

The case now highlighting deep divisions in this country as states scramble to clarify their own laws from supporters of abortion rights. It's a hard truth to realize that these horrible things are going to happen to children and other people in your state because of the really severe restrictions that are placed. To those who oppose abortion. With so many questions about what really happened, it's a real shame that the Biden administration rushed to exploit this poor little girl situation. Wow. Wow. The whole thing is just crazy. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez with that report. Meanwhile, the state of Texas is challenging the Biden administration's new federal requirement that abortions be provided in medical emergencies to save the life of the mother or a 10-year-old girl. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a new lawsuit arguing the administration's requirement forces hospitals and doctors to commit crimes and risk their

license under Texas law. In a statement, Paxton wrote in part, quote, The Biden administration seeks to transform every emergency room in the country into a walk in abortion clinic. Joining us now, Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General Rochelle Garza. She is hoping to unseat Paxton in November. Good to have you on the show. Explain to us why you feel your opponent needs to be replaced. Well, thank you for having me on. My name is Rochelle Garza. I'm running for attorney general here in the state of Texas. I'm a civil rights attorney. I'm a new mom to a three-month-old

daughter, and I'm angry. I'm running against Ken Paxton because I want to stop what he is doing. This is state-sanctioned femicide that he is advocating for. He is advocating for the intentional killing of women. We need to vote him out before he turns Texas into a war and takes that nationwide. So I'm trying to, you know, comprehend all the different extremes in this case, which really highlights exactly what you're talking about. What would you say? I mean, what is your argument about who and what your Republican counterparts stand for. This is absolute extremism. Taking away rights from women like they did with the fall of Roe wasn't enough for them. Now they're going after all women.

You know, this is just another example of this extreme agenda that we are seeing from people like Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton should be worrying about his own criminal matters. He has been under criminal indictment for over seven years. He's under FBI investigation and has ties to the January 6th insurrection. He should be worrying about those issues instead of attacking women. And Texans aren't going to put up with this because this is not who we are. And we're going to vote him out come November. So it took a while for Paxton to admit that this case even happened.

But he also says he's not trying to take away protections of women in the case of the mother's life being threatened. What do you say to that? Well, that's absolutely not true. What do you say to that? Well, that's absolutely not true. That's that's exactly what he is litigating. He is requesting that emergency services not be provided to women that that need to have an emergency abortion. That is the heart of this litigation. So it's cool what he is doing. And he is lying if he is saying otherwise. Democratic nominee for Texas Attorney General Rochelle Garza, thank you. And we have an open offer in for Attorney General Paxton to be on the show. We'll see if he shows up.

Ivana Trump, the first wife of former President Donald Trump, was found dead inside her New York City apartment yesterday. NBC News Chief White House Correspondent Kristen Welker has details. In the 1980s, they were one of New York's power couples. The brash real estate mogul Donald Trump and his glamorous first wife, Ivana. The former president announcing her death, calling her a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman who led a great and inspirational life. Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we are all so proud of her. Ivana Trump grew up under communist rule

in the former Czechoslovakia. As a child, she was a competitive skier, later fleeing to Canada, then New York, where she met Mr. Trump, becoming a prominent New York socialite and an executive at the Trump Organization, working on key projects like Trump Tower in Manhattan and managing the Plaza Hotel. You're working as a team and you're working on the same thing. Donald owns it and I own it. We own it together. Managing one specific diamond like the Plaza Hotel, I don't think there's anybody better. She would later become a fixture in the tabloids during the couple's very public divorce in 1992, even making a cameo in the movie The First Wives Club. Don't get mad. Get everything. She said recently she was on good terms with Mr. Trump, saying they spoke once a week. It's been a very sad day, guys.

In a statement, her family writing, Our mother was an incredible woman, a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and a caring mother and friend. She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and 10 grandchildren. Ivana Trump was 73 years old. She really has an amazing story as an immigrant coming to America. And she was when the Trump enterprises began a big part of that and part of sort of helping design everything and also that sort of branding technique that Trump uses to this day. When she was divorced from Donald Trump, everyone knew her for saying, don't get mad, get everything. So Ivana Trump, a legacy as a mother, a grandmother, immigrant and a trailblazer in many ways.