Updated
Summary
1/6 panel enters crucial phase of investigation. Boris Johnson announces resignation as British PM. Biden honors 17 Americans with Medal of Freedom. RPTS: Former Japan PM Shinzo Abe shot at campaign event. Abortion bans take effect nationwide.
Transcript
LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Presidential Medal of Freedom honorees Sister Simone Campbell gets tonight`s “LAST WORD”. THE 11TH HOUR with Stephanie Ruhle starts now.
STEPHANIE RUHLE, MSNBC HOST: Tonight, as the political power of one controversial leader suddenly disappears, efforts to challenge the legitimacy of another kicks into high gear. Then two weeks after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, the ability to obtain an abortion is simply going away in some states. We`ll ask one state lawmaker about what happens now.
Plus, with the next mass shooting lately, just days or even hours away, we talked with a big city police chief about how the bitter politics over the Second Amendment is playing out among law enforcement. As THE 11TH HOUR gets underway on this Thursday night.
Good evening once again, I`m Stephanie Ruhle. The investigation into how we came this close to not having a peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 election is about to enter a critical phase. Tomorrow, the committee carrying out that inquiry, sits down with a key witness Trump`s former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone.
Testimony from last week`s hearing revealed that he raised red flags about the efforts to try and keep Trump in office were dangerous. Also, there are reports that a week from tonight, the committee will hold what is expected to be the final hearing in primetime TV, but so far, the committee members are not officially confirming this.
And hearing scheduled for Tuesday, lawmakers will focus on far-right groups that attacked the Capitol on January 6.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ZOE LOFGREN, (D) CALIFORNIA JANUARY 6TH COMMITTEE MEMBER: We will be connecting the dots as people know and as Mr. Raskin I think is indicated publicly, we`re looking at the connections between the various extremist groups. You know, this wasn`t just an event that unfolded. It was planned. Who did the planning and who were they connected with? How did it unfold? And I think we will be connecting dots, there`ll be new information that has not yet been learned, I think it`ll be worth watching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: And as the January 6 panel digs for more evidence pointing to Trump`s direct role in the interaction, the former guy will be campaigning for candidates and raising cash.
Tomorrow while lawmakers are grilling his former White House Counsel, guess where he`ll be, the state of Nevada at a rally for GOP candidates for Senate and governor.
And the Washington Post now reporting that Trump has found a new line of work. He`s now giving speeches to supporters who pay to see him. The Post says this new venture allows Trump to raise money that doesn`t have to go to his political action committee. What does that mean? It means he gets to pocket the cash for himself.
Meanwhile, we are tracking the fallout from the dramatic announcement from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson that he is stepping down as conservative party leader. Johnson resigned under pressure from his own party after a series of scandals.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: It is clearly not of the will of the parliamentary Conservative Party, that there should be a new leader. The herd instinct is powerful when the herd moves, it moves. How sad I am to be giving up the best job in the world. But them`s the breaks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: Them are the breaks indeed. We`ll have more on Boris Johnson and what this means for the war in Ukraine just ahead.
While back at home, it was a day of celebration at the White House, President Biden honoring 17 Americans with the Medal of Freedom, the nation`s highest civilian honor for their service, and for their sacrifice.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: The Fourth of July week reminds us what brought us together long ago and still binds us, binds us at our best. We strive for what we strive for. We, the people do what we can to ensure the idea of America, a cause of freedom shines like the sun to light up the future of the world. That`s the soul of our nation. That`s who we are as Americans. And that`s when we see an extraordinary, extraordinary group of Americans up here on this stage that I have the honor to recognize today with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, our nation`s highest civilian award.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: With that, let`s get smarter with the help of our leadoff panel this evening. Jeff Mason joins us, White House Correspondent for Reuters. Before that he worked across Europe covering the E.U. And look who is back with us, Andrew Weissmann, former FBI General Counsel, and former Senior Member of the Mueller probe. He is now a professor at NYU Law School. And tonight marks his official return to MSNBC as a legal contributor.
[23:05:11]
Let`s also welcome former Florida Republican Congressman Carlos Curbelo, who was a member of the Republican Congress conference for two years during the Trump presidency.
Mr. Weissmann, it is your first night back, I want to welcome you. And I can tell you, many, many viewers have been writing in, calling and wondering where are you? When are you coming back? So I want to officially welcome you, you have been missed.
ANDREW WEISSMANN, FORMER FBI GENERAL COUNSEL: Thanks so much, Stephanie. Great to be here.
RUHLE: Now let`s get to work. Let`s say you were in that investigation room with January 6 committee. What are the top questions you would ask Pat Cipollone?
WEISSMANN: I think the main thing to remember, and obviously this is, you know, a field day for anyone whose is in that room is that this is not just about what happened on January 6, and obviously there are a lot of questions there about following up on what Ms. Hutchinson said. You want to know what was going on about the crowd, about danger, about them being armed about whether there was danger to Mike Pence. And what President`s view was about going to the capitol and about whether he really was indifferent to danger to the Vice President to the United States. That`s one topic.
But the other thing you really have to keep your eye on is all the other prongs of the conspiracy that the committee has laid out, which is what was going on at the state level calls to Georgia and other states, they slate of fake electors, how that was put together. And what was going on at the Department of Justice, where what the President wanted to do was to get rid of the acting Attorney General to put in a flunky, who was going to say that there was an open investigation into fraud. So you want to ask about all of that and find out what Pat`s view was and what he articulated to the President. What did he say about whether those things were legal or illegal?
RUHLE: What does that matter, what he articulating?
WEISSMANN: So if you were — so if you are at the Department of Justice, and you are trying to figure out what the President`s intent was, if you have your counsel saying this is illegal, do not do it. And so remember, Ms. Hutchinson said, make sure he does not go to the Capitol, because if he goes, we`re going to face all sorts of criminality. You want to find out exactly what Pat Cipollone said, because it would really help the Department of Justice in deciding whether there is a criminal case out there to be brought against the former president.
RUHLE: And remember, Trump might want to say that Cassidy Hutchinson is low level, he didn`t know or she wasn`t connected. Can`t make that claim about Pat Cipollone.
Jeff, so next week, we are expecting one, possibly two hearings, how might what the committee learns from Cipollone tomorrow, determine what happens next week?
JEFF MASON, REUTERS WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Steph, I think it`s it starts with what he — what he may or may not confirm from what Cassidy Hutchinson said. And that will lead to the next round of questions that they use for the hearings next week. One person who may be testifying next week is a former Deputy Press Secretary for President Trump, who has been very critical and resigned on January 6, after the erection. So it would — we`ll see what she has to say and what he — what they end up getting from Cipollone whether or not he chooses to confirm what she said in her testimony whether or not he goes further, or whether he leaves the fit as others have done, or tries to be very careful in his testimony.
RUHLE: OK, and that`s the thing, Andrew. And Carlos, I promise I`m going to get to you, are we putting too much weight on what we`re going to hear from Cipollone everybody in their brother connected to Trump loves to claim executive privilege or loves to plead the fifth isn`t Cipollone, the one guy who actually has a case to make around executive privilege, he was the actual lawyer?
WEISSMANN: So I think he has a possible argument about attorney-client privilege. But that has previously been rejected when that was raised in the connection with the Ken Starr investigation involving Bill Clinton. And so I don`t think that`s going to go very far. And with respect to executive privilege, that`s a privilege that the current president needs to assert, and the current president has not asserted that. So those are all things that could be litigated by Pat Cipollone. But I don`t think that are going to really go very far in this instance. And I presume that there`s already been an agreement, at least in connection with the interview tomorrow, as to what topics are fair game and what are not, if Pat Cipollone is served with a federal grand jury subpoena. Those issues could come back and need to be litigated in federal court.
[23:10:00]
RUHLE: Carlos, I want to ask you about Cipollone`s own words because during Trump`s first impeachment we heard Pat Cipollone himself give a very robust argument against overturning an election, when he asked the Senate not to vote to remove Trump from office. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAT CIPOLLONE, FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL: They`re asking you to tear up all of the ballots across this country, on your own initiative. Take that decision away from the American people. So I asked you to defend our Constitution, to defend fundamental fairness, to defend basic due process rights, but most importantly, most importantly, to respect and defend the sacred right of every American to vote and to choose their president.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: Maybe I`m naive, is he under no obligation to now stand by the same idea when he testifies tomorrow?
CARLOS CURBELO, FORMER FLORIDA CONGRESSMAN: He is, Steph, and look by many accounts, Cipollone is a man of integrity. He`s a man of the law. Obviously, he did stand in the way of the former president and politically, his testimony even if he doesn`t say a lot, but if he says anything at all, that undermines Donald Trump the way Ivanka Trump did, the way Bill Barr did, and so many obvious ways, then this could be another big hit politically to Donald Trump. We`ve already seen his numbers suffer as a result of these hearings. People are really understanding, connecting the dots coming to terms with what happened on January 6 of 2021. And if Cipollone says anything that undermines Trump that reveals that he believed Trump was lying and trying to steal the election in the way he described before the United States Senate, I think will see that as another big blow to Trump. I think you`ll see even more Republicans, perhaps quietly, but certainly moving away from the former president.
RUHLE: Take me there, take us there quietly, because you are the person still talking to those Republicans inside the GOP. Do you believe these hearings are putting a real dent in their plans for the midterms?
CURBELO: Definitely, Steph. I mean, so many congressional Republicans, even before these hearings, understood privately that Donald Trump is a threat to the Republic, that he has lied over and over again, that he`s totally unreliable and cannot be trusted. As this information becomes public, as the Committee continues interviewing Republicans who are very close to the president, some who remain loyal to the president, who are at the same time, making it clear that the President was lying, that this was all, just something extraordinarily dangerous. Republicans are moved more and more every day to shift away from former President Trump they understand there`s real peril there. And some actually really do care about the country and know the dangers that Donald Trump represents for the country.
RUHLE: Andrew, do you think there are any real attempts on the committee`s part to sit down with Ginni Thomas and hear what she has to say, even if she doesn`t want to cooperate? And how important is it?
WEISSMANN: I do. I do think it`s, frankly, a little bit of a sideshow. You know, if I were there, I am not saying that her role, and the issue of Clarence Thomas, and whether he should recuse himself is not a serious issue. But I do think it`s important to keep your eye on the goal here, which is evidence about a plot to overthrow a democratic election, even frankly, at the expense of the life of the Vice President of the United States. And it`s hard to see anything is more important than getting all the facts about that plot out. So I do think the Ginni Thomas thing is important. Obviously, the recusal issue is very important, but I do think it`s secondary to the main issue here.
RUHLE: I want to turn to Boris Johnson. Jeff, you were covering the E.U. You covered Boris Johnson. What is your take on all of the — all of what has happened, especially given his relationship with Trump, what`s your reaction?
MASON: You know, what`s interesting about that today is Boris Johnson very much like Trump is someone who normally traditional rules just did not apply. So when ministers start flying away, or people from his cabinet started leaving, my initial thought was this does not spell doom for Boris Johnson. Of course it did, and that`s because the system over there is different from the system here. He knew needed parliamentary support, he needed support from his party, from his cabinet and it just eroded.
[23:15:06]
Trump and Johnson were very similar, are very similar in their sort of bombastic style. The two of them got along pretty well. I watched them interact together. They were kindred spirits in some way. And I think that in the end, maybe part of what became Johnson`s downfall, no longer have seen as this charismatic leader who was funny and had a funky hairstyle, but became a little bit more of an — moving in the autocratic direction and telling lies and things like that, that the British people and his cabinet and his own supporters just did not accept.
RUHLE: Well, they`ll soon to both be unemployed grown men they can hang out together.
Carlos, I want to share with Dan Balz of The Washington Post wrote when he said the resignation of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is a testament to the power of elected politicians to hold their leaders accountable. It is a lesson that has been lost on the Republican Party officials, as they have weighed repeatedly how to deal with former President Donald Trump. Is that about right? Is there a lesson that Republicans here can learn from the Conservative Party in England?
CURBELO: What an example from British Conservatives saying we refuse to follow someone who is unfit to lead. They have demonstrated that you are not hopeless, you`re not helpless. Just because you`re a Republican. You do not have to follow Donald Trump. There are Republicans who have survived primary challenges this cycle against Donald Trump. It can be done. It`s good for your integrity, and it`s good for the country. So I do think that Tories across the pond, Steph, have provided a great example to Republicans in the United States and showing them that there is a better way, that if someone`s unfit to lead, you don`t have to follow them, you can find someone else.
RUHLE: Gentlemen, we`re out of time. But before we go, I — Andrew, I need to ask you what I think is the most pressing question this segment. What in the world kind of animal is sitting behind you on what appears to be a bed? It possibly looks like a skunk what is that?
WEISSMANN: That is my incorrigible dog, which is an English, Cocker Spaniel .
RUHLE: And what is his name?
WEISSMANN: . who has a mind of his own. Ennis (ph), so —
RUHLE: Ennis.
WEISSMANN: Sorry, he just goes wherever he wants.
RUHLE: Listen, I`m thrilled that Ennis was on with us tonight. And I`m sad that he`s sleeping through the show because you did a bang up job. So Andrew Weissmann, Jeff Mason and Carlos Curbelo, thank you all for being here this evening. I appreciate it.
Coming up, more on what Boris Johnson resignation means for the U.K. and NATO`s response to the war in Ukraine. What President Zelenskyy is saying about the Prime Minister`s stepping down.
And later, legal battles underway as states move to ban abortion. We`re going to talk to a Louisiana lawmaker about an important hearing her state is having tomorrow that could determine if clinics can stay open. THE 11TH HOUR just getting underway on a night with some serious news to cover.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:23:00]
RUHLE: As mentioned, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson just announced his intention to step down today after surviving a vote of no confidence just last month. But before we dig into that we do have breaking news right now out of Japan. Reporters reports that former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot at a campaign event.
With us tonight, I want to bring Gillian Tett. She`s the chair of the Editorial Board and Editor at Large for the for the Financial Times. She has spent her career reporting all over the world from London to Russia and Brussels. You`ve reported in Japan, do you know anything more about this breaking news?
GILLIAN TETT, FINANCIAL TIMES EDITOR-AT-LARGE: Well, I don`t know exactly what has happened. But what I can tell you is that Abe, Prime Minister Abe is a remarkable man. And he was the youngest ever Prime Minister in Japan. He`s the longest serving Prime Minister in Japan. And he really has dominated Japan`s political scene for a very long time, giving birth to so called Abenomics, which was a set of reforms economic policies. He is a fairly right-wing conservative Prime Minister who`s been arguing for a long time that Japan needed to bolster his defense policies. So he has been controversial.
We don`t know exactly what happened tonight. I very much hope that it`s not what appears to be in which was an attempted shooting. But if it was, the paradox of Japan is that it has some of the toughest gun laws in the world. But unfortunately, it does have a long, dark history of political violence in the middle of the last century and the early parts of last century. So let`s hope that we`re not seeing a recurrence of that kind of unpleasant violence again.
RUHLE: But how rare is it to see sort of gun violence like this, you know, in modern times in Japan, unfortunately, it`s something we hear a lot about here?
TETT: Very, very, very rare, indeed. I mean, it`s worth saying that, you know, back in the dark days of Japanese history, in the first half the time 20th Century which I wrote about in a book number years ago, there were a number of assassinations of political figures, so it`s very much part of Japan`s history in the past.
[23:25:09]
But, you know, that hasn`t been the case for many, many decades. In Japan, for the most part, is the place where gun violence is very rare, when there have been outbreaks of violence has often been stabbings and things like that. So it`s a fundamentally different type of culture in relation to guns to not just America but most other G7 countries as well.
RUHLE: We are going to keep monitoring the situation and as we get any updates, we will bring them to you again, reports out of Japan. NBC has not yet confirmed that former PM Shinzo Abe has been shot. He was at a campaign event. He is running for office again. We don`t have any sort of status on his health right now. We`re going to continue to monitor this and we`ll keep you up as we get more information.
Gillian, let us turn though, to why you were originally here before obviously, this news broke. And let`s talk about Boris Johnson. What does his departure mean for the U.K.?
TETT: Well, it`s both good and bad news. It`s good news because, you know, we at the Financial Times have been amongst many commentators saying for a long time, that there needed to be a shakeout of the leadership in Britain. Because Boris Johnson has been losing confidence for a long time, there`s been a series of scandals. He`s been seen to be lying, deceitful, and generally not having the kind of character and credibility you would expect of a leader.
So the good news is that he is now going finally, and I heard you discussing earlier in the program, the contrast between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump in the sense that there actually is a mechanism in Britain to remove a leader when a party starts to lose competence in him because of scandals.
The bad news is that has taken a very long time. And that if there was ever a good moment to lose a leader like this, it`s not now, because you know, Britain is currently played with the highest inflation amongst the G7 countries, the lower the projected growth rate, is struggling with Brexit. It`s struggling with all the geopolitical fallout of the war in Ukraine, et cetera, et cetera. And so it desperately needs strong leadership and stability. So let`s hope that whoever comes forward will provide that. But unfortunately, the mechanism for choosing the next leader is likely to be quite convoluted. So there probably will be a period of limbo.
RUHLE: You know, who else needs strong leadership, NATO, Great Britain, the U.K. is no longer part of the E.U., but they are part of NATO. And that NATO Alliance has proven to be massively important. And fortunately, very strong over the last few months since the war in Ukraine broke out, what do you think this could potentially mean for the war and NATO support of it, or support of Ukraine, excuse me.
TETT: It`s very striking that some of the strongest messages of regret about Boris Johnson departure have come from Zelenskyy and other members of government, because the reality that Britain has been probably the staunchest defender of Ukraine, apart from Lithuania and Poland in the last few months. It`s been very strong, both in standing up to Vladimir Putin in Moscow and also in terms of supplying the arms it can supply. Of course, it doesn`t have the resources of America. But Britain has been absolutely at the forefront of trying to help Ukraine and brought America into helping Ukraine as well.
Now, it`s striking that the support for Ukraine is felt pretty much across the board amongst the British political leadership. And if someone like Liz Truss, who`s named as a potential replacement for Boris Johnson were to come in, she is potentially even more outspoken in his support for Ukraine than Boris Johnson.
But the fact you`ve got this kind of turmoil is something that, you know, it`s not just a case of Britain could do without right now, frankly, NATO and the rest of the European Union could do without right now, because there are really serious geopolitical issues and economic issues, right across the region. And having this limbo in the U.K. is not helpful in any way whatsoever.
RUHLE: Well, Johnson didn`t say when his resignation would take effect. Do you think he could stay on until the next PM is established? Or is he so ticked off, so embarrassed, so fed up? Is he going to say you wanted me out, boom, I`m gone?
TETT: Well, I`ve known Boris Johnson for, you know, a quarter of a century since we were journalists together in Brussels, and the one thing I`ve learned is to never underestimate him, and to never know what on earth he`s going to do next. And so the reality is that we simply don`t know. I would imagine that he probably wants to hang in there for a while particularly because there is going to be probably quite a protracted process of trying to find the next leader.
[23:30:10]
But there`s probably also people who are saying right now to embrace strongly, you know, let`s play a straight back to use a wonderful cricketing term from England and just get on with it, you know, leave the pitch, you know, you have been bowled out again to be using cricketing terms.
Dominic Raab would be the person who would step in if Boris Johnson was to go. He`s a very steady pair of hands, who has a high degree of support right across all respect, right across the party. He`s indicated he doesn`t want to replace Boris Johnson. So in many ways, he would be a good caretaker. But it`s worth pointing out that Britain used to be famous for having a rather boring, stable political culture. It`s now starting to look a bit more like Italy right now, because it`s not a series of Prime Ministers. And if there wasn`t interim prime minister, you`d be facing a situation with the fourth or fifth leader since 2016, which once again, is not what people want to see right now when they want a time of stability.
RUHLE: Gillian, thank you so much for joining us, for helping us cover the breaking news. And for your expertise on Boris Johnson, who many moons ago, your fellow journalist with in Brussels, still you can, I appreciate you joining us.
TETT: I know, you never know what Gillian end up doing. Thank you.
RUHLE: You never know. And again, we are still following the breaking news tonight. Japanese broadcaster NHK reporting former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was shot while making a campaign speech ahead of Sunday`s parliamentary election. He was campaigning for a candidate not for himself. NBC has yet to confirm that report.
When we come back a patchwork of abortion trigger laws have forced clinics to close just weeks into a post Roe world. In Louisiana, a key hearing tomorrow could determine if clinics there can stay open. We`ll talk to a Louisiana lawmaker about all of it when THE 11TH HOUR continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:36:43]
RUHLE: Tomorrow marks exactly two weeks is the end of Roe versus Wade. Since that Supreme Court reversal restrictive new regulations have been enacted across the country. Down in Mississippi the very last clinic offering abortions has now shut down for good.
In neighboring Louisiana arguments will be heard in district court tomorrow over whether that states, three clinics can stay open. With me now to discuss is Louisiana State Representative Mandie Landry. This is a lot. This is a huge hearing happening in your state tomorrow. What`s at stake?
STATE REP. MANDIE LANDRY, (D) NEW ORLEANS: Everything for the poor women in the state. As some of you may know if these three clinics close or when they close, the closest state for women and pregnant people in Louisiana to receive an abortion will be Illinois, it`s about 700 miles away. And as we all know, women seeking abortion care, they have a lot of financial issues. They have children at home. There`s so much at stake for them and so many concerns. And we`re really concerned down here in Louisiana.
RUHLE: Are you anticipating a special session to try to override if the court blocks the trigger ban?
LANDRY: Definitely. Whether if this Court decides tomorrow that a preliminary injunction should issue which would keep the clinics open. And definitely — I definitely think the speaker and the president or the governor may call us into a special session. Even if this goes to an appellate court, I can see them doing that just so we can have the issue finalized. As you all know abortion, abortion has been the number one issue in Louisiana for so long, we have more abortion laws than any state in the country. So I think that the anti-choice movement wants to get this nailed down as soon as possible.
RUHLE: Is this what the state of Louisiana wants? Tell me what the people there — you just said it, you`ve got so many laws down there about abortion? Is this how the people of Louisiana feel?
LANDRY: Not so much anymore. I mean, opinions have been changing according to polls in the last few years. What we have at stake here is the Louisiana right to life and the Family Forum. They have so much money and so much political power, and they hold a lot of power over elected officials in this state. Polls in recent years have shown that when you frame the question, you start asking about exceptions for rape and incest or life of the mother or first trimester that many more people are actually pro-choice than they realize. We only have about 20% of the state that thinks that abortion should be illegal in all circumstances, which while that`s higher than other states, it`s still pretty low.
RUHLE: Well, right now there are no pro-choice women in your state Senate, you just said it right there, the money that is behind these elected officials is huge. You`re the only pro-choice person running for State Senate, is that a really risky political move for you?
LANDRY: Not for me, from New Orleans, I`m fortunate to live in a blueberry in this state, as we call it to represent a very progressive district in a very progressive city. I was elected on a strong pro-choice platform in favor of gun safety measures, in favor of legalizing marijuana. And as you noted right now our state Senate, we only have five women in it, and all of them are anti-choice and that`s what made me, I`m going to run and try to be in the Senate to be the only pro-choice voice.
[23:40:07]
One of these trigger bans that just passed a few weeks ago, when it passed through the Senate not one person even asked a question. They just passed it through without any opposition. And, you know, that`s — we can do better than that, for sure.
Well, you`re holding a Q&A with people in your state about the Roe decision. I think tomorrow, what are you expecting? That`s going to be like? On Monday, excuse me.
LANDRY: I`m doing it Monday. Yeah, I wanted — you know, I`ve been getting so many questions. I`ve been doing a lot of Instagram stories. I get DMs all day, emails. People are confused about the litigation as they should be. It`s confusing. So I was going to — I`m going to see what happens tomorrow so that I can explain it better on Monday, as you might have seen this week, our Attorney General filed a writ with the state Supreme Court trying to get them to intervene. All of this confuses people. And this is kind of the point of the anti-choice movement, to make it confusing to scare doctors, to scare people who are pregnant, to scare them from getting the care they need. And we have to make sure that people understand what`s going on, so that they know where to turn.
RUHLE: What is happening to people who need care. As I mentioned before, the last abortion clinic in the state of Mississippi has now closed. That`s your next door neighbor. So what is it like down there and your whole region?
LANDRY: So Louisiana only has three clinics down from about 12 or so 10 years ago. And what we`ve seen in the past several months since Texas has their vigilante law, is the wait times and Louisiana clinics have been for a while between two to three weeks, because we`ve had a lot of women seeking care from Texas. So what you`ve had has been a lot of people who don`t see a doctor until they`re much further along in their pregnancy. So what that — what happens there is what was originally a medication abortion becomes a surgical abortion. So now what we have with the three clinics, I think what they`re trying to do is they`re trying to see everyone who has appointments right now, trying to get them through the door as quickly as possible. And anyone new who might need abortion care who suddenly found themselves pregnant, we`re encouraging them to make an appointment in another state, because we just don`t know how long the clinics will be open.
RUHLE: But to go to a state 700 miles away, that is just not feasible for so many people. You said it earlier, many women who seek abortion services live at or below the poverty line, your state and neighboring states that are looking to put more restrictions in place, are they offering any additional financial to support to these women who are now going to have to take on the massive financial burden of carrying a pregnancy to term and then having a baby in this world, which is massively expensive?
LANDRY: Not yet that`s for sure. We — Louisiana still has a 725 minimum wage the same as the feds, as you noted, we have so many more people who live at or near the poverty line. I`m hopeful that next year will pass, you know, pass some bills that that will help this population. I`ve worked a lot on maternal health measures and have been successful in passing bipartisan maternal health measures. But we need so much more than just a handful of maternal bills. As you noted, we need to get a lot of health care but a lot of economic support for this population in particular. And, you know, Louisiana has one of the worst maternal morbidity rates in the country. And I`m just worried about everything at this point. All these numbers are going to get worse in the next few years.
RUHLE: All right, then. Thank you for joining us tonight. I appreciate it, Representative Mandie Landry.
LANDRY: Thank you.
RUHLE: We`ll be right back after a quick break. We got a lot of news to cover tonight.
[23:48:26]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How are your officers doing?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Devastated. This is our community.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Highland Park`s Police and Fire Chief say many of their staff were in the parade, their families lined the sidewalks.
JOE SCHRAGE, HIGHLAND PARK FIRE CHIEF: We had a couple of firefighters. They knew their families were right there where this shooting was happening. So they didn`t know whether or not they picked up a family member.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: Their families were at the parade. The Highland Park tragedy was the 309th mass shooting in the United States this year, just this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
So let`s discuss with retired Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best who spent more than 25 years with the department. She`s also an MSNBC Law Enforcement Analyst.
Chief, I`m so glad you`re here tonight. I want to get law enforcement perspective, are the existing state gun laws enough, enough for police to do their jobs?
CARMEN BEST, RETIRED SEATTLE POLICE CHIEF: Well, Stephanie, we need more. I don`t think it`s a secret. This is you, just mentioned we`ve had over 300 mass shootings this year alone, 22,730 people died this year alone for gunfire, 900 children, under the age of 18 died for gunfire. On that Fourth of July weekend, 220 people killed by gunfire and another 570 injured.
So, we know that we need more. It`s not a one size fits all answer it needs to be more legislation, more you know, laws they help us keep the iron pipeline down, more laws regarding those guns, you know, more red flag laws and ways to enforce them.
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It`s going to be a comprehensive, you know, answer to make sure that we can reduce the gun violence. And it`s really an epidemic levels right now. So we need all hands on deck in every way. And yes, stronger, more stringent laws would be helpful.
RUHLE: Beyond the laws, though, the police have the tools to combat increasing gun violence. I mean, the killer was on a rooftop in Highland Park with a high powered rifle when law enforcement was all around, and people keep saying why aren`t police doing more? Do they even have the tools to do more?
BEST: Well, there`s no question, you know, we`re outgun in that regard. You know, and the fact that a kid under the age of 21, can go get a firearm or go get an assault weapon, which is better arm than most police officers. You know, quite frankly, it scares me, you know, I was a police chief and a major city, and the thought that, you know, someone could harm themselves 18-year-old with better weaponry than most officers have, it`s a very scary thought, you know, and I just don`t believe that young people should be able to, under the age of 21, should be able to just go buy an assault rifle. I don`t know why anyone would.
I started in the military. You know, we were trained and we knew how to use a rifles. And we still have very stringent rules around when and how we carry them. I can`t even imagine why my neighbor would need to go get an assault weapon, and actually have more firepower than most police officers, or have a magazine that can fold, you know, dozens around so that they can kill multiple people. If you can`t hit animal or a deer or whatever you use hunting for, in your first two or three rounds, get another hobby. This isn`t the thing for you. So I feel like the officers truly are outgun in many ways. And it makes us less safe.
RUHLE: It makes us less safe. And we are hearing that from a woman who spent her career in law enforcement. Carmen, thank you so much for joining us tonight. I appreciate it.
BEST: Thank you, Stephanie.
RUHLE: Coming up, from portraying a dying NFL player to the dad of an elf, we`re going to remember the great, great actor James Caan, when THE 11TH HOUR continues.
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JAMES CAAN, ACTOR: What are you going to do? Nice college boy, huh. They want to get mixed up in the family business now you want to go on down a police captain, because he slapped you in the face a little bit, huh? What do you think this is the army where you shoot them a mile away? You`re going to get a post like this but I`m being applauded friends all over United Cyber League suit. Come in. You`re taking this very person.
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RUHLE: Bada Bing. The last thing before we go tonight, remembering a legend. His career spanned six decades for James Caan probably is best known as Sonny Corleone in 1972`s The Godfather. Caan died yesterday at the age of 82. He was born in the Bronx to Jewish-German immigrants and grew up on the streets of Sunnyside, Queens. He played football from Michigan State but eventually moved back to New York and studied at Hofstra University. He never graduated, but did discover his love of acting.
In the 1960s he began taking roles on TV and then in movies. There was his early work in the John Wayne Western El Dorado in 1966. Then in TVs tear jerker Brian song, where he acted alongside Billy Dee Williams. The roll landed Caan a best acting Emmy Nomination. When he became Sonny in The Godfather, Caan put his own spin on the character, drawing from his days hanging around tough guys in Queens, spitting in disgust and an FBI agent, throwing money down after breaking in FBI agents camera and improvising the iconic expression, Bada Bing. It all earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Years later, in 1990, Caan worked with his friend Director Rob Reiner on a film adaptation of the Stephen King book, Misery, with Kathy Bates. And in 2003, he became known to younger audiences for his role as Buddy`s father in a Christmas favorite, “Elf.”
As for his life outside of acting, the New York Times writes in his prime, Mr. Caan had a man`s man reputation that he savored. In interviews, he strewed four letter words like birdseed. He earned a six degree black belt in karate. And he roped steers on the rodeo circuit and managed to boxer.
In his later years, Caan, was active on Twitter, often posting photos from his films, and always signing off with the phrase “End of Tweet.” He posted this just last month, calling Marlon Brando, the best end have tweet. Married and divorced four times. Caan lives behind five children and four grandchildren. Just last year, he told CBS he never wanted to stop acting.
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CAAN: I can`t take it easy. What`s to me, I enjoy working. I love to work with good people. I have more fun when I`m working, having a lot of laughs and I get respect sometimes.
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RUHLE: Sometimes. Well, we are sending much, much respect and gratitude tonight for this incredible actor and his long, successful career. James Caan, gone at 82.
And on that note, I wish you all a very good night. From all of our colleagues across the networks of NBC News, thanks for staying up late with us. I will see you at the end of tomorrow.