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[00:00:00]And he's along with Jonathan Capehart and Anthony Coley, who's in this morning for Jackie Alemany. Congress returns from their Memorial Day recess this week. There's plenty of unfinished business. As MSNBC now reports, Senate Republicans are preparing for a showdown over President Trump's $1.776 billion so-called anti-weaponization fund, which is part of a roughly $70 billion immigration enforcement reconciliation package.

[00:00:27]Very confusing. It's unclear how GOP leadership plans to navigate the descent over the fund within their own party after previous concerns that some Republicans would support Democratic amendments blocking the proposal, effectively gutting the fund.

[00:00:42]Trump, of course, is likely not happy about all of this, especially since he gave a self-imposed June 1st deadline, that's tomorrow, for the GOP to pass the reconciliation package. House Speaker Mike Johnson probably won't be thrilled either, and he's got his own hands full.

[00:00:58]The House will revisit a war powers resolution aimed at reining in President Trump's military operations in Iran, which was previously scrapped after GOP leaders concluded they didn't have enough votes to defeat. It's expected to pass with a handful of Republican defectors, though.

[00:01:15]Joining us now at the table, Michael Schnall, MSNBC now congressional reporter, and Scott McFarland, chief Washington correspondent at Midas Touch and host of Scott McFarland Reports.

[00:01:25]Thank you both for joining us so much.

[00:01:27]Your first time, Scott. Thank you for waking up with us.

[00:01:30]Um I There's so much in what we just said, but at the heart of it, Michael, is that the GOP still doesn't have their act together when it comes to passing bills. You wrote about this this week.

[00:01:43]Um Senate Republicans seem to think, you say, it's on Trump to find the votes for the fund if he wants the money.

[00:01:49]"They were the ones who created this," a senior Senate GOP aide told MSNBC now on Wednesday. "It is very clearly a problem with our members, and our members believe it is theirs to fix.

[00:01:59]>> That feels like as accurate as it can get. Donald Trump is the one that created it, and he creates a lot of problems for them. So, sir, you go find the votes.

[00:02:05]>> Remember, this was supposed to be the easy immigration and border patrol package, right? They took it out of government funding. They said, "We're going to pass this $72 through reconciliation, call it a day, and move on." And then, just a few days before they were supposed to finish this up and send it to President Trump's desk, that's when the president came out with his anti-weaponization fund, completely throwing a wrench into this entire process, upsetting a lot of Senate Republicans, and making them feel like they couldn't move forward without doing something about this. Cuz remember, we're going to go into what's called a vote-a-rama, which is this unlimited amount of time for debate, when Democrats can bring up as many amendments as they want. Chuck Schumer said the very first amendment he'd bring up, again, for the immigration package, would be blocking this fund. And then, you have vulnerable Republicans, some of those Yolo Caucus Republicans that we now see untethered, that they may feel like they need to support something. It could hamstring the entire package. So, because of that, Senate Republican leadership said, "Okay, we're going to cut this short, go to recess early." But, they still haven't figured out a way out of the box.

[00:03:04]>> So, the issue of germaneness matters here, too, right? Because it sounds like this anti-weaponization fund is relevant to the Senate Judiciary Committee. So, I'm curious, based on your reporting, that only requires like 50 votes. I think it's 50 votes, right?

[00:03:20]>> It's 704 now.

[00:03:23]>> [laughter] >> This anonymous quote that you Michael, this you this anonymous quote that Eugene just referenced, right? It ended with, and I read and I quote here, that our members still believe it is theirs, the White House's to fix. Personally, I don't think this one is fixable. I'm curious to see what you have to say. I think of this as the red line um that Senate Republicans are just not going to cross. And listen, more often than not, they bend, right? But, if you think back to the first part of this administration, even before he was sworn in, he really wanted Matt Gaetz to be attorney general. And they drew a red line, they said, "Hell [clears throat] no." And I think this is one of those hell no moments.

[00:04:03]>> their last red line, WASN'T IT?

[00:04:04]>> [laughter] >> NO, I I MEAN, SIR, LOOK, IT'S NOT YOUR usual suspects who are just upset about this, right? It's a lot. Take it from Ted Cruz himself. He was on his podcast last week. He said Todd Blanche was at a meeting with Senate Republicans. Of about the 45 who were in there, at least 20 were pissed. He said it was one of the most fiery meetings that he's seen.

[00:04:23]You bring up the good point about germainness, and I just spoke to another Senate GOP aide who said that because a Judiciary Committee is involved in this, anything relates to the weaponization fund would likely be germane, meaning you would only need 50 votes to get over the finish line.

[00:04:37]>> Right.

[00:04:38]>> Meaning that if you have a couple Republican defectors joining all 47 Democrats, you can actually block this thing, and that is the crux of the problem here. Because again, I was talking to one of these aides, and they said, "We can come up with some sort of amendment that's a compromise amendment among Republicans.

[00:04:53]Maybe it doesn't block the fund altogether, but it says January 6 rioters can't get money from it. It says Congress will have a little bit more say in who's on the commission overseeing this fund." That's all fine and dandy, but then what is going to stop some of these YOLO Republicans, >> YOLO here it is.

[00:05:09]>> moderate Republicans from going and supporting a stronger Democratic amendment that says you need to block this thing. If enough of them do it, that could be the entire ballgame. That is this this sort of balancing act right now that Republicans are dealing with that they can do something that their conference agrees with, but what's stopping those few Republicans from supporting a Democratic amendment as well?

[00:05:30]>> [clears throat] >> I'm here for the YOLO's.

[00:05:32]Um, speaking of the the crux of the problem, Scott, I mean, we wouldn't be talking about any of this were it not for the president suing the IRS for 10 billion dollars um over over the IRS audit. The New York Times has reporting um that came out yesterday, an inside look into how we got how we got here. And they report behind the scenes the job of addressing the vexing prob- vexing problem of how to settle the suit fell to a tight-knit group of of lawyers, all of whom had allegiance to Mr. Trump. The discussions were so closely held that some senior White House officials told others that they were blindsided, learning of them only once the agreement was nearly complete.

[00:06:16]Uh and we should also note that among the lawyers in the tight-knit group, Boris Epstein um was one of them. Officials in the department run by Todd Blanche. Um and remember, Boris Epstein was a client of Todd Blanche's when he was in the private sector. And Todd Blanche was also the private attorney of Donald Trump when he was in the private sector briefly. Um so Scott, you covered DOJ for a long time.

[00:06:48]Please explain to the viewers just how unusual it is to have the president of the United States sue an agency that technically he controls.

[00:07:01]>> Not only is it unusual, it's unprecedented. And this is a big problem for the administration. This slush fund's about to collapse. I'll tell you right now. It's got political problems which Michael masterfully described. It has legal problems, too.

[00:07:14]There's a judge in Florida who has questions about what you just described and the other components of this slush fund. And she has ordered the case reopened and she wants to hear what went on here. She wants to hear what's behind this case. Why was there a suit with no adversarial party? Why was somebody suing himself? And what became of this fund? How did this fund grow out of the lawsuit? She has questions. She will demand answers. The Department of Justice or the Trump administration will have to answer questions. I see all kinds of pitfalls legally.

[00:07:46]>> Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, one more thing on this. Other part of this deal, it's not that's outrageous, not just the slush fund, but the Trump, his businesses, his family have been What's the word I'm looking for?

[00:08:01]Absolved No longer in under investigation by the IRS.

[00:08:06]>> they they can never do it again.

[00:08:08]>> Is it is part of this settlement?

[00:08:10]>> Never I mean Can I get that deal?

[00:08:13]>> But let's put aside the fact that if I were ever to you know, just you know >> I want that deal, too.

[00:08:19]Let's put aside the fact that we're in the middle of a cost crisis and taxpayers see themselves on the hook to pay out people they don't even know, people who may have beaten cops. There's also the issue >> Not may have beaten cops. They beat cops. We all saw it.

[00:08:32]>> They may qualify.

[00:08:34]The money being sent to people who are convicted crooks doesn't land right with taxpayers. What's more, people getting special perks from the IRS are absolved of future IRS audits.

[00:08:45]>> That's the word I was looking for.

[00:08:46]>> That doesn't land well with taxpayers right now. It's a terrible time. The optics are awful. That's why this thing is as unpopular as like chicken pox.

[00:08:54]Nobody likes this. It's not just the Yolo Caucus. You can't find a senator who likes this thing. That's a problem.

[00:09:00]>> Is this the moment then where Republicans are finally going to find a still spine? They keep we could talking about this Yolo Caucus. There's people like you have when you look at Cassidy, thank you very much.

[00:09:13]You have Cornyn also. And then there was already Mr. Tom Tillis who was already a part of that. So that's three. You can add in probably Lisa Murkowski in that.

[00:09:22]Maybe Susan Collins depending on what it is. Rand Paul who has never really been a big fan of Donald Trump.

[00:09:28]>> Joni Ernst?

[00:09:29]>> No, she's very Trumpy.

[00:09:31]Very Trumpy.

[00:09:32]>> I don't see it.

[00:09:34]I don't see [laughter] it. But so that's more than enough to most things. Do you see them actually doing it? Because the benefits may outweigh or may not outweigh the problems for them that end up coming from Donald Trump.

[00:09:46]>> Yeah, I mean I don't see why they wouldn't at this point. Look at someone like Tillis, Cornyn, and Cassidy. I They mean they literally have nothing to worry about. They are completely untethered from Trump. Not to mention they've been burned by Trump. I mean John Cornyn tried for months to get that endorsement. He thought he may have gotten it and he didn't. So they're untethered from the situation. The only thing I will say is that by Senate Republicans saying the ball is in the White House's court, they are waiting essentially for the White House to say we're not going forward with this or >> What does it say that they're not? What does it say that the White House legislative office is not trying to lead on this when they know this is what Donald Trump wants.

[00:10:20]>> making a really big issue for their members. I was talking to a member of the House last week, a vulnerable member who called me up and said, "We're really nervous about this. Like what is going to happen with this fund? We can't support this. This is not going to play well in our districts." Not to mention the fact that we're what? Almost 5 months away from the midterms.

[00:10:36]>> Um Michael and Scott, hold on. We're going to keep this conversation going uh about the YOLOs and whether they'll find their spine to come before the last break. But Anthony, you wanted us to jump in um with some thoughts about YOLO.

[00:10:50]>> Yeah, what? Specifically about >> Specifically about this $1.8 billion slush fund. I I think the problem that we're seeing in Congress and the court is not just that they did it, but it's how they announced it, right? It looks like they gamed the system, right?

[00:11:05]>> at the Tom Blach congressional hearing on I believe it was what? Month Tuesday Monday before the caucus and then the next day or the same day but hours later it comes out and then so I mean what's your take on that? I That's That's what I think, but you guys are on the ground on the hill doing the hardcore reporting. They're pissed because they tried to [clears throat] game the system.

[00:11:25]>> Let me go on for a little bit of reporting. In the next 24 hours, by tomorrow morning there will be Senate proposals to gut this thing that are announced. They're coming back to town. They want to be heard on this. Senate Democrats wanted to kill this thing immediately as the week begins while they seem to have public outrage on their side. So, we will find these things out tomorrow as they're flying back to DC.

[00:11:46]They want to jam up Republicans indefinitely because they know it's unpopular, not just in its composition, not just in how it enriches people who beat cops, but what you just said. The back door way they tried to sneak this thing through. I mean, this was not done on the up and up. It wasn't done transparency or transparently and that further pisses people off.

[00:12:07]>> Mhm.

[00:12:08]>> So, I just wonder um I know we've talked about this already, but given what Scott said and Democrats um putting out amendments possibly tomorrow or try to gut this thing, will Republicans do publicly what they're saying behind the scenes to the likes of the Wall Street Journal saying like, we don't like this trying to urge the White House to get rid of the fund?

[00:12:34]>> I think we're likely going to and the only reason why I say that and you know, it comes with the caveat that we don't usually see Republicans willing to go against the president, but this is something that they are so pissed off about, right? This is something that they really think is a problem back home. They don't believe in it personally and if it just festers and it continues, they're going to get to a situation where voting begins, Democrats introduce an amendment and they're going to be put on the record about it anyway.

[00:12:58]So, I think that you they in a sense, Senate Republicans would rather do the back door dealing with the White House and even some public pressure beforehand than when they're put into a corner and have to vote on amendments.

[00:13:08]>> Scott, I want to move over to the house a little bit because they have their own issues, right? The they have the thinnest of margins. The conference over there when it comes to Republicans is historically unruly, especially for Mike Johnson. They have to deal with this Iran war powers resolution when they get back. How do you see him navigating that?

[00:13:27]>> And let's add to the mix they have attendance problems. They have a narrow majority and as Michael >> They're not going to work.

[00:13:33]>> Not everybody's showing up. So that margin sometimes actually is zero or invisible. The war powers vote was about to collapse on them. They were about to lose it and I think they want to figure out how to absorb that shock before they put the vote to the floor. Um by the way, Republicans are leading or at least are part of the team putting up an anti-slush >> fund bill. They now have nine co-sponsors as of this morning and that number is going to grow tomorrow, too.

[00:14:00]I I think they're going to have to figure out a way to accept losing a war powers vote or they're going to have to avoid having it all.

[00:14:05]>> What does Donald Trump do to Mike Johnson if that happens?

[00:14:08]>> I don't think >> [laughter] >> Mike Johnson can worry about next week or next month. He is the I think he's worried about getting through the day.

[00:14:16]>> Yeah.

[00:14:16]>> I think that was the Kevin McCarthy >> hour or two.

[00:14:19]>> Survive the day.

[00:14:20]>> So you guys have you guys both mentioned attendance issues. I want to drill down on one particular absence. Congressman Tom Kean Jr.

[00:14:28]from New Jersey hasn't been uh hasn't cast a vote in what? Two months?

[00:14:33]>> Swing district, too.

[00:14:34]>> Swing district. What's going on there?

[00:14:36]>> Yeah.

[00:14:37]>> He says he has an illness. His office has said he has an illness, an undisclosed illness and that he'll be back to work soon. There was a local New Jersey reporter who got him on the phone and said he'll explain everything once he's back. Not disclosing again what the illness is, where he is, what's going on. I mean, it's such uncommon thing. It's so unprecedented thing that we're watching and by the way, this is a member of Congress who is elected and gets paid to represent the people. If he's not in Washington taking votes representing his constituents, it's a very bizarre situation.

[00:15:08]>> In the Senate, we've had a little bit of history with this. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, Thad Cochran in Mississippi kind of went missing for stretches of time. They were senior members of the Senate but they were not in front line purple states.

[00:15:20]>> Right. Right.

[00:15:21]>> Mhm.

[00:15:21]>> Um Scott, since you're here at the table and a former CBS uh news employee, I would love to get your thoughts um on this headline from the AP from Thursday on CBS replacing um the 60 Minutes executive producer calling for new approach. CBS News leader Barry Weiss replaces executive producer um naming outsider Nick Bilton, a long-time technology journalist and documentarian, as the show's new leader.

[00:15:50]What does that signal to you about the direction that CBS is going in?

[00:15:55]>> Point of personal privilege, I worked with Cecilia Vega, who has been fired. I adored working with her. She was a a north star for so many of us who in how she did her job.

[00:16:05]This is provocative. I mean, you're you're you're making big changes to something that is wildly successful. Um, that means you better do it right. Uh these changes they're making are incredibly high stakes. Um it is a not just a a lion of broadcast history, 60 Minutes, but it's a really high-functioning, highly successful, highly lucrative operation. Uh they better get this right, whatever they're doing.

[00:16:29]>> And it's >> It It also just shows that it's possibly more about putting your stamp on CBS for for Barry Weiss than it is on actually figuring out how to make the like make it a a profitable news organization, right? Because at the end of the day 60 Minutes is not the problem. 60 Minutes is doing all the things just like you said. Everyone's still A lot of people are still watching 60 Minutes.

[00:16:52]It's some of the other shows that she should probably be focusing on instead.

[00:16:55]>> Here's the the good news for them is this show still goes on after NFL football on Sunday in September when it comes back. There will be an audience that samples it. Guarantee you that. A huge audience will sample it. They better get it right.

[00:17:08]>> I just better hope that um 60 Minutes doesn't go the way of the CBS Evening News cuz woo, that's a roller coaster when it comes to the ratings. Michael Schnel, Scott McFarland, thank you both very much for coming to the weekend. Still ahead, while most of his predecessors have looked to eliminate actual or the appearance of conflicts of interest related to the presidency, Donald Trump has no such compunction.

[00:17:32]We'll discuss it next with Norm Eisen, who had been a general pattern by presidents to voluntarily take steps to eliminate both actual conflicts of interest and even the appearance of conflicts.

[00:17:44]Famously, Jimmy Carter placed his family's peanut farm into a trust.

[00:17:49]President Barack Obama avoided refinancing his Chicago family home because of the optics since he was regulating the banking industry.

[00:17:59]Instead of following the the precedent set by past presidents, Donald Trump has gone completely in the other direction with an ever-growing list of actions benefiting himself, his family, and his allies.

[00:18:11]Just look at the headlines from just this week, including Dell Computers winning a huge Pentagon contract after Trump had been hyping the company and reportedly purchased between $1 million and $5 million in Dell stock. The Trump Organization says that outside brokerage firms made the trades with no involvement from Trump, his family, or the organization.

[00:18:36]There is ProPublica's reporting that the White House intervened to get a $620 million deal a company tied to President Trump's adult son, Don Jr.

[00:18:47]Of course, all the parties involved are denying the story or not talking at all.

[00:18:53]And there is the New York Times' reporting that the contractor working on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations, who didn't even have to bid on the project, and who Trump said was chosen because the contractor had worked on the swimming pool at one of his golf clubs, that guy got a contract that has an allegedly inflated profit margin.

[00:19:15]An Interior Department spokeswoman defended the contract's cost to the times, claim- claiming it was necessary to expedite the completion of the project ahead of the country's 200- 50th anniversary. He is the man who told President Obama he could not refinance his home.

[00:19:45]>> [laughter] >> So, he knows a little bit.

[00:19:47]>> He knows a little bit.

[00:19:48]>> So, you you you know a lot about this, Storm. I mean, I was sort of gobsmacked in the latter part of last week when one thing after another came out where the president lost in court, um, where judges are pushing back. But, I mean, the the the scandals here, I just wonder, why don't you think Washington is just ablaze in fury over the president literally just >> have marked an inf- flection point.

[00:20:27]>> Really?

[00:20:28]>> Both with >> both our case, then with wonderful partners, and then on the $1.8 billion fund, the judge in Florida, very sternly written order, uh, reopening that case and investigating what went on there. Again, that's a big win for us and our partners. So, it's not only what Donald Trump is doing, it's the pushback. And like with the Epstein files, >> this $1.8 billion fund, this Kennedy Center case, has gripped the attention of the country.

[00:21:04]>> One of the things that, uh, you when you come on here, you always bring a lot of um, uh, optimism that it's going to work out.

[00:21:12]>> of all the >> [laughter] >> THE FREE COFFEE.

[00:21:19]>> AND AFTERWARDS [laughter] AFTER YOU LEAVE I'M like I'm like he's so he he thinks this thing is going to work out but you were right. You came on here and said for for both of these cases that you guys were going to prevail we're going to they'll probably appeal and they'll keep going. But one of the things that I'm curious about I'm curious This is my theory of the American people is that and probably people in general people are probably fine with and they are able to ignore um you know alleged corruption when things in their life are going fine, right?

[00:21:49]Y'all were screaming from the rooftops about the emoluments clause during the first administration, right? Where he was having foreign entities stay at what was the Trump Hotel in Washington, D.C.

[00:21:59]and at other properties around the country.

[00:22:02]No one really cared. It didn't break through with the American people but this seems to be breaking through and that's part of that is because gas the the the average of gas is like 450 or something and continues to climb and doesn't seem like it's going anywhere.

[00:22:15]They're watching as their health care costs continue to continue to continue to get high. They're looking at the ways in which they have to make a decision between food and gas some days. And as you're looking at how the American people are taking all of this in, right?

[00:22:31]How do you think they're feeling? What are you hearing? Cuz you talk to people.

[00:22:33]>> Uh well, the uh polling but also the more anecdotal evidence both suggest that Donald Trump is at historic lows in his popularity and I think you hit on the iron triangle that um that is trapping him now, Eugene. Living crisis in this country from the gas pump to health care costs.

[00:22:56]It is tied directly to the corruption and to the competence crisis. So, take the Iran war. We went to war, now we're fighting to get back TO THE STATUS QUO, AND THAT IS hitting all of us in the pocketbook. I was shocked when I went uh to the gas pumps. And people will, when I was in the White House tormenting everybody with making that >> Very annoying actually.

[00:23:25]>> and laws and the Constitution.

[00:23:28]Um when I was there, um the political side of the house said, "Watch gas prices over the summer. That is the single strongest indicator of performance in an upcoming election cycle." So, there is a cost a much broader cost of living crisis, but it's driven by the cost of these corruption scandals. That's a tax that every American has to pay, and there's so many it piles up. It's breaking through, and then the sheer incompetence.

[00:23:59]Uh and I think that explains it's an important determinant in Donald Trump's low popularity.

[00:24:04]>> So, we have about 45 seconds. I want to go back to both of these cases that you guys just won in court on Friday or one in the next round of questioning.

[00:24:14]I think we are seeing the district at the district court judge level, people who are standing up for the rule of law. I do worry about as these cases go through the federal judiciary and perhaps make its make make their way through the US Supreme Court, that the US Supreme Court is going to be a backstop for perhaps this case and other cases. What's your take just about the state of the judiciary in this context?

[00:24:40]>> I think I on certainly plenty to dislike about the Supreme Court's jurisprudence, but on some of the most important rule of law anti-corruption cases, the Supreme Court does the right thing. National Guard case, remember? We represent cities around the country on that matter. Supreme Court stopped Donald Trump. We were just in court on the birthright citizenship case.

[00:25:09]>> Uh or the Still waiting for that ruling.

[00:25:10]>> We think we're going to win that case.

[00:25:12]We have an injunction that has stuck.

[00:25:14]The Supreme Court didn't touch it. Fed Governor Lisa Cook, that's another one of our cases. This outrageous pattern of criminalizing uh your opponents innocent, did nothing. We think we're going to be successful there. So, I think on some of these, I think Kennedy Center on the $1.8 billion fund, those will Those wins will survive higher court review.

[00:25:40]>> Mhm.

[00:25:40]>> Norm Norm Eisen to God's ears. Norm Eisen with his optimism, as always. We thank you. And that little little notebook Y'all don't see me. He always has a notebook full of all the [laughter] wins that he's >> I need to get A BIGGER NOTEBOOK WITH ALL THESE WINS.

[00:25:55]>> EXACTLY.

[00:25:56]BEFORE the break, this programming reminder. Tuesday, the battle for control of Congress continues as voters head to the polls in six pivotal states, including California. Join Rachel [music] Maddow and team for analysis throughout the night. I'll be there with Ali Velshi breaking down real-time results. Special coverage begins Tuesday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern on MSNBC.

[00:26:17]But up next, deal or no deal? It's unclear when or even if a potential deal with Iran will be announced as Trump keeps rolling out the same talking points over and over. I have my boy over here, Jonathan, who's rolling his eyes already. Former Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes joins us next. You're watching The Weekend.