← Deadline: White House
Deadline: White House
"Difficult to use superlatives"
00:41:17
Nicolle Wallace on the Trump Justice Department inching ever closer to former President Barack Obama's national security team and its stewardship of the probe into Russia’s attack on the 2016 presidential election.
Loading summary
Transcript85 lines
- [00:00]
A
Avoiding your unfinished home projects because you're.
- [00:03]
B
Not sure where to start.
- [00:04]
A
Thumbtack knows homes so you don't have.
- [00:06]
B
To don't know the difference between matte, paint, finish and satin or what that.
- [00:10]
A
Clunking sound from your dryer is.
- [00:12]
B
With Thumbtack, you don't have to be.
- [00:13]
A
A home pro, you just have to hire one. You can hire top rated pros, see price estimates and read reviews all on the app.
- [00:19]
B
Download today.
- [00:21]
C
Ah, DSW Earth. Place of the humble brag here. The shoes are so good no one would ever know how little you paid if you didn't go telling everyone that is. And with never ending options for every style, mood and occasion, all at really great prices, they'll definitely give you something to brag about. So go ahead, stock up on fresh sneakers from your favorite brands or try those boots you always secretly knew you could pull off. Find the shoes that get you at prices that get your budget at DSW stores or@dsw.com Let us surprise you. Hi there everyone. It's 4 o' clock in New York. It is challenging to find the right superlatives to do Describe Donald Trump's politicization of both the immense power of criminal investigations and the complete takeover of the Department of Justice's prosecution decisions. But if one stands out as the most dangerous to current US national security, it is the one inching ever closer to former President Barack Obama's national security team and its stewardship of the probe into Russia's attack on the 2016 presidential election in this country. MSNBC was the first to report today that the Department of Justice is preparing to issue a series of grand jury subpoenas as a part of an investigation into former CIA Director John Brennan and the probes by the CIA and FBI into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Yes, we are here again. Nine years later and Trump is still keeping the Russia, Russia, Russia hoax conspiracy theories alive because should be obvious, he's now able to manipulate the Department of Justice at the highest levels. According to MSNBC's reporting, the investigation is being supervised by the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida. That person, of course, is a Trump loyalist. He's working in consultation with Justice Department senior staff in Washington, D.C. we should note that for his part, Director John Brennan, who's an analyst here at msnbc, has denied any wrongdoing and his conduct has been investigated in exhaustively he spent nine hours with John Durham himself and no wrongdoing has ever been uncovered by anyone. MSNBC reports this quote the Florida based inquiry comes Two years after a special counsel appointed by then Attorney General Bill Barr concluded a lengthy and exhaustive investigation that found no criminal wrongdoing by Brennan or any other major figure connected with the Russia election interference matter. That special counsel investigation, led by Trump ally John Durham, ended with just one conviction, a guilty plea from a low level FBI lawyer. As for the central conclusion of the Obama intelligence community, of which Brennan was a part of, that Russia worked to interfere in the 2016 election to aid Donald Trump, John Durham did not challenge that conclusion in any way. Neither did Marco Rubio when he was a senator and, and when he was the senator who led the Senate Intelligence Committee's equally exhaustive investigation into Brennan's role in the same matters. Now, when it comes to any potential new evidence that maybe Marco Rubio or John Durham missed, here's what Director John Brennan had to say about that on this program. A few months ago.
- [03:45]
B
I was interviewed.
- [03:46]
A
By John Durham himself, along with his.
- [03:47]
D
Investigators for, I think, close to eight hours.
- [03:50]
A
And they were able to look at all of the documents, all of my emails and other types of things, and they reviewed it extensively. And I think Bill Barr said that it appeared as though CIA stayed in its lane. And so again, it was very surprising that this is happening now. I don't think there's any new evidence.
- [04:11]
B
That'S been uncovered at all.
- [04:12]
A
I have tried to answer every question I have been asked, whether it be by Senate or House members or John Durham or others, fully because I want to make sure that people understand exactly what the Russians were doing to try to interfere in our very, very solemn domestic election system.
- [04:33]
C
That is where we start today with some of our favorite reporters and friends. MSNBC justice and intelligence reporter Ken Delaney is here. He's the reporter who had this scoop. Former assistant special agent in charge at the FBI and MSNBC national security and intelligence analyst Michael Feinberg is back. Also back with us, former top official at the Department of Justice, MSNBC legal analyst Andrew Weissman is back. Ken, take us through what you're reporting.
- [05:00]
B
Hey, good afternoon, Nicole. So the fact of this investigation is not new. It was actually announced by the White House over the summer and it was reported that Pam Bondi had initiated it pursuant to a criminal referral from the Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard. Remember when Gabbard had a news conference that said she had uncovered evidence of a treasonous conspiracy, including President Obama and others? That's what this is partially about. And it's just, I got to tell you, I'm not sure in my own mind right now whether the folks that articulate the theory of this case actually believe this stuff or whether this is just a technique designed to punish their perceived enemies. But here's what they, here's what people familiar with this case, here's how they describe it. They essentially describe it as a long running conspiracy to violate Donald Trump's civil rights that began with the Russia investigation back in the first Trump administration, continued through the Obama, or sorry, through the Biden administration, and persists to this day. Otherwise, it must persist in some way, otherwise the statute of limitations would have lapsed on these charges. And, and so they link together both the Russia investigation and the Jack Smith probes. And because the reason it's down in South Florida, that was new. That's what we reported today. It's being led by the U.S. attorney in Miami is because the Mar A Lago search took place in that district. And so that's the criminal nexus, we are told. And Jason Quinones, the U.S. attorney down there is an associate, a friend, we're told, of Mike Davis, who's a adviser to the Justice Department and the White House, who's been talking very publicly about what he thinks should happen and his vision of this case, again, a conspiracy against rights, as he puts it, involving, you know, multiple people across administrations. The issue, of course, as everyone on this panel well knows, is there's no evidence to support any of this. You described how John Durham, not exactly a friendly prosecutor to the targets in these cases, looked thoroughly at these matters and was not able to charge anyone. And there's been no new evidence that certainly surface since, even though there's been attempts by Trump administration figures to suggest that newly declassified evidence, you know, cast aspersions on certain things. But that's a fantasy. So it's really going to be interesting to see exactly how this proceeds and whether this case ever gets past any grand jury, whether in Florida or somewhere else. But what we do know and what we have reported today is that they are preparing to issue a series of subpoenas, some of which ask questions about the 2017 intelligence assessment, which again, has been parsed over over and over and no wrongdoing has been found. And in fact, I mean, I reported at the time on the Durham investigation and the pain that CIA officers, for example, had to go through. They had to hire lawyers and go through rigorous questioning by prosecutors, something that no CIA officer wants to experience. And at the end of the day, as you said, John Durham published a report in 2023, didn't lay a Glove on that assessment didn't impugn it in any way. He was critical of the FBI, but but not of the CIA. So where this thing goes is perplexing to all of us. But that's the state of play, as I understand it.
- [08:12]
C
Ken, let me do two things. I mean, John Ratcliffe, now the head of the CIA, ordered another assessment and that assessment also corroborates the actual intelligence, nitpicks some of the tradecraft. And then John Durham distorts those findings. And that's some of the intel referral that they talk about when they talk about a referral being made to doj, Is that right?
- [08:40]
B
Yeah, that's right. There's an app, there was an appendix of the Durham report that was declassified. But I think the way the, the way Trump officials have characterized some of this evidence is just not right. I mean, you know, this is very complicated, but it has to do with some evidence that some emails that suggested that the Clinton team was essentially trying to put out the story of Trump Russia collusion. But Durham himself concluded that these emails were fakes. They were concocted possibly by Russian intelligence, but that's not how they were described by Tulsi Gabbard and John Ratcliffe. And you know, I mean, it just doesn't seem to be on the level. And you're right, the Ratcliffe assessment that he ordered up, it was very careful to say that it did notit was not criticizing the overall conclusion by the CIA and other intelligence agencies that Russia interfered in the 2016 election and did so in a way that seemed designed to help Donald Trump. It had other sort of lesser criticisms of John Brennan and whether he was putting his thumb on the scale, which John Brennan hotly disputes. But yeah, that's what you're saying is accurate.
- [09:52]
C
So Andrew Weissman, viewers of this program have been covering this story since before you were available to talk to viewers, to me or share all of your brilliance with our viewers because you were inside the Mueller probe. And so they'll be familiar with these names, but let me just underscore them. Marco Rubio. Now, Donald Trump's at least one cabinet position. He used to have two, but he's at least the Secretary of State. He might also still be the national Security Advisor. He was the chairman of a committee that he as a senator described as this way, quote, no probe into this matter has been more exhaustive. John Durham, this was like the rights. Robert Mueller without any courtroom success, without any actual accomplishments, a single plea deal from a low level FBI lawyer and Then John Ratcliffe. And if he sounds familiar, it's because he worked in an intel job in 1.0. He's back as the head of the CIA in 2.0. And when he got back, when Trump won and wanted to to resurrect this, he had the CIA review all these things that Marco Rubio and John Durham already reviewed. And this is what the CIA under Ratcliffe, under the emboldened Trump 2.0, found. Quote, the ICA demonstrated strong adherence to tradecraft standards. This level of analytic rigor exceeded that of most intelligence community assessments. The DA review does not dispute the quality and credibility of the highly classified CIA serialized report that the intelligence community assessment authors relied on to drive the aspired judgment. So if Brennan is indicted, as Call Me and Tish James have been, there are people willing to take Trump's orders to present one side of an issue to grand juries. And so we should put that out there in the universe of the possible. Three people who could defend him if it goes to trial are Donald Trump, Secretary of State and National Security Adviser, Donald Trump's current Director of the CIA, and Donald Trump's favorite special prosecutor investigator John Durham.
- [12:03]
D
And every member of the Senate who signed that report. So the way I look at this is there's the issue of, of John Brennan. Not only is there no evidence to suggest that he did anything wrong, we are aware of zero evidence there. In fact, this is a case where there, as you point out, there is ample investigations that show he did not do anything wrong. So that's on one side of the ledger. And I think the ledger that we have to be looking at is the Department of Justice 1. Announcing an investigation into somebody is in complete violation of Department of Justice rules. Announcing and leaking that you are issuing subpoenas is in complete violation of FBI and DOJ rules. And I'd like to point out something about the forum shopping. Ken pointed out that this was being done in Florida because that's where the Mar A Lago search was. The Mar A Lago search has nothing to do with, with John Brennan. John Brennan was not in government. If I recall when that search happened. If you were going to look, assuming that there was even a shred of evidence to investigate, you would be looking in the D.C. area. So I'd like to contrast the form shopping of going to Florida that this administration's doing with Carol Lennig's reporting about what Jack Smith did. Jack Smith brought his Mar A Lago case in Mar because he did not want to engage in forum shopping. DC obviously, would have been a better forum. There were people on his team who had said that to him, who thought that's where it should be brought. And he said, no, I'm not going to do that because that's where all of the facts are. That's where the case should be tried. And I'm not going to play games. Compare that to what you're seeing here, which is leaking this information and bringing it in a forum that clearly is inappropriate so that you can hope to get, presumably, Judge Cannon on the case. I mean, you have a real dichotomy in terms of the way in which you're supposed to behave and the way in which they are behaving.
- [14:25]
C
Michael Feinberg, I think they might have looked at that, too, and we shouldn't sugarcoat it because they don't. They might say that Jack Smith didn't get the result they wanted and we might. But let me just underscore something else. Ken's reporting on this is important and adds to our understanding, and it's the reporting around which we base this conversation. But the effort to investigate and prosecute a conspiracy, as Ken said, was announced by the White House. Here's Caroline Levitt at the White House press secretary podium announcing it. Over the past few days, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has unveiled shocking new evidence that former President Barack Obama and top aides in the Obama administration conspired to subvert President Trump's 2016 election victory and undermine the democratic will of the American people while publicly pretending to engage in a peaceful transfer of power. In private, former President Obama went to great and nefarious lengths to try to sow discord among the public and sabotage his successor, President Trump. The new evidence released by the Director of National Intelligence who is here with me today, confirms that the Obama administration manufactured politicized intelligence, which was later used as the justification for baseless smears against President Trump in an effort to try to delegitimize his victory before he even took the oath of office. Literally every line of that is untrue. And I wonder, Michael Feinberg, since we live in a world where it's a little less than it was. But Trump's grip on narrative dominance, at least with his supporters and clearly inside the political appointees at the Department of Justice, is near absolute. What does a statement like that easily disproven, literally through Google searches? What, what does it set off inside what you understand to be today's FBI and doj?
- [16:35]
A
It's going to have a few effects on the FBI and doj. The unhesitatingly immediate jump to spewing lies and dissembling about the truth by the White House essentially means that no FBI agent and no line prosecutor is going to want to work on anything remotely politically controversial. For the sheer fact that a successor administration can target them regardless of whether they did everything right, regardless of whether the case was factually predicated, regardless of whether they had main justice support, a president can now come in and essentially say, well, the facts that you cite aren't true. They could quote Kellyanne Conway and say, we have access to alternative facts and instead of actually trying to get into the truth, we get into some like, ridiculous satire of a graduate literature seminar where we're debating what the truth even means. This isn't how a country, let alone an investigative agency, is supposed to function.
- [17:49]
C
Let me just show you one more piece of publicly facing information about this individual that Ken referenced, Mike Davis on, who he describes as his, quote, Buddy, who's the U.S. attorney of Florida. Let me play this for you.
- [18:06]
A
My good friends Jason Redding Quinones got confirmed as the U.S. attorney in the Southern District of Florida and Miami. And I've been calling for a criminal.
- [18:19]
B
Probe for the last three plus years.
- [18:21]
A
Since the Mar A Lago raid for a grand jury to investigate conspiracy against rights under 18 USC section 241. For these lawfare Democrats, how they politicized and weaponized intel agencies and law enforcement going back eight years to Crossfire Hurricane to take out Trump, his top aides like Steve Bannon, Peter Navarro, Jeff Clark, his supporters on January 6th. I've been very publicly calling for that on your show and 5,000 other media hits for the last three years. There's now a special grand jury that Jason just motioned the court in the Southern District of Florida to open in Fort Pierce that's going to be impaneled in January. I think that sounds like a great place to open up this grand jury. On Crossfire Hurricane.
- [19:11]
C
So, Andrew, I mean, if you mix together Crossfire Hurricane January 6th, the Russia attack on the US election in 2016, and I don't know what else was in there, you don't end up with an indictment of a conspiracy. I mean, these are three totally separate with predication. That's all been investigated and corroborated and affirmed by some of Trump's current closest allies in his own cabinet serving in national security functions. But what strikes me there is he describes having to do 3,000 hits to arrive at this moment where an actual prosecutor working for Donald Trump is presenting evidence to a grand jury. That's not the way it's supposed to work.
- [19:58]
D
So let's leave aside that this may be a violation of the grand jury secrecy. Like how he knows that there is a grand jury that's been empaneled is not something that I think is supposed to be given to somebody who's not in law enforcement. But leave that aside. So let's just take the three pieces. So the Robert Mueller investigation led to innumerable cases where people were convicted either because they pled guilty or because they were found guilty by a jury. January 6th led to hundreds and hundreds of convictions, again, either because people pled guilty or because they were found guilty. And that's in front of judges who were appointed by Democrats and Republicans, including judges who were appointed by Donald Trump and Mar? A Lago. That was approved. The search was approved by a judge. There was ample evidence. Even Judge Cannon rejected a motion that this was somehow improper and vindictive. And so it's hard to see how this is going to get off the ground when you have that record of this isn't just the Biden administration or prosecutors saying it, but you have juries and judges blessing each step of this.
- [21:22]
C
Kendall Anyan and Andrew Weissman, thank you. Michael Feinberg, I have one more for you. The sandwich guy today, I believe, was not found guilty. What does it mean that even the cases they are bringing are not succeeding.
- [21:41]
A
That there is a real loss of credibility for the Department of Justice among the general population of the United States? I'm not advocating throwing sandwiches at federal officers. I was a federal officer. And from what I understand in the testimony of the officer involved, he was very hurt and upset and scarred that there was mustard and relish all over his plate carrier. But look, this is not the sort of thing the Justice Department should be expending massive resources on. The prosecutor in this case prosecuted the Benghazi attack. I do not think we should be using an assistant U.S. attorney of that caliber to go after somebody who lobbed a Subway sandwich at a group of people who were heavily armed and easily could have taken him down if they wanted to. This does not compare to a serious assault on a federal officer, which is something that I point out this president was willing to pardon thousands of people for.
- [22:55]
C
And a jury agreed with you. When we come back, we'll show you how one Democrat on Capitol Hill is beating back the Republican gaslighting over the government shutdown. That very heated exchange. And Senator Jackie Rosen is up next for us. Plus, we'll spend time today honoring the career of Nancy Pelosi, allegedly Slater, who became an icon, a trailblazer and a fighter. She became one of the earliest and fiercest resistors to Donald Trump will look back at some of those moments ahead. And later in the show, the overwhelming victory in California for Prop 50 showing the rest of the country that Democrats are ready and willing to fight fire with fire when it comes to Republican attempts to give Donald Trump more power in Washington. We'll look next to how other states can replicate that momentum. All those stories and more when Deadline White House continues after a quick break. Don't go anywhere. Score holiday gifts Everyone wants for way less at your Nordstrom Rack Store. Save on Ugg, Nike, Rag and Bone, Vince Frame, Kurt Geiger, London and more.
- [23:57]
D
Because there's always something new.
- [23:58]
C
I'm giving all the gifts this year with that extra 5% off when I use my Nordstrom credit card. Santa who join the Nordy Club at Nordstrom Rack to unlock our best deals. It's easy. Big gifts, big purse. That's why you rack.
- [24:13]
A
As President Trump continues implementing his ambitious agenda, follow along with MSNBC's newest newsletter, Project 47. You'll get weekly updates sent straight to your inbox with expert analysis on the administration's latest actions and how they're affecting the American people.
- [24:31]
C
The American people are basically telling the.
- [24:32]
E
President that they are not okay with any of this.
- [24:35]
A
Sign up for the Project 4 newsletter@msnbc.com Project 47. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for early access. Add free listening and bonus content to all of MSNBC's original podcasts, including the chart topping series the Best People with Nicole Wallace, why is this Happening? Main justice and more, plus new episodes of all your favorite MSNBC shows. Add free and ad free listening to all of Rachel Maddow's original series Ultra Bagman and Deja News. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts.
- [25:15]
C
You get paid, you get.
- [25:17]
B
You get a paycheck.
- [25:17]
C
But you walk by, you walk, you get, you get.
- [25:20]
E
I'm donating my paycheck, sir, and I am would happily be on legislation. What do you say to them to give?
- [25:25]
B
What do you say to the staff? What do you say to the TSA workers? What do you say? They are traffic controllers.
- [25:29]
E
What I am saying to you is a Republican shutdown, my friend. You are in control of the White House. You are in control of the House and you are in control of the Senate. And if you went home to a food bank instead of going to Mar.
- [25:41]
B
A Lago does it take 60 votes.
- [25:42]
E
At a gold plated dinner while people are starving? You might see and hear your constituents, sir, you are, you are blind to the suffering of your people.
- [25:54]
C
That was Senator Jackie Rosen of Nevada refusing to let her Republican colleague from Ohio, Senator Bernie Moreno, gaslight her and the country about who is responsible, who has caused the shutdown and the consequences for millions of Americans to lose their access to food stamps as the longest government shutdown in our country's history drags on. In spite of the shutdown, some in the Senate, like Rosen, are still trying to hold Donald Trump accountable in the eyes of the American people. In the next hour, the Senate will vote on a bipartisan war powers resolution aimed to block the Trump administration from, from conducting strikes like the ones we have seen in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific against alleged drug trafficking boats. I want to bring into our coverage Democratic Senator Jackie Rosen of Nevada. She's a member of the Armed Services, Foreign Relations and Commerce, Science and Transportation Committees. Thank you for being here with us.
- [26:52]
E
Well, thank you for having me. There's just a lot going on these days.
- [26:56]
C
Just a little bit. First, tell me what you're able to do, if anything, about what was announced by the Trump administration. A reduction in air traffic control, which sounds both dangerous and logistically nightmarish.
- [27:16]
E
Well, what I can tell you that Donald Trump, and it's his shutdown, like I said to Senator Moreno, and I can talk a little bit more about it. Why we got into that exchange yesterday. But Donald Trump is in charge of the White House. He's actually speaker of the House these days, as he alleges himself, and he's pretty much in control of the Senate. He could stop this shutdown right now by calling a group of Democrats and Republicans together to work on preserving the accessibility and affordability for health care from tens of billions of of Americans who are about to fall off a cliff at the end of this year. Whether you get your health care on the exchanges or through your employer, everybody's health care is going up. People are going to have to make those tough choices in the next few weeks. And Donald Trump, instead of thinking and listening to himself in 2011 and 2013, when he said a real leader would bring people together and a shutdown would be on the president, he's choosing to inflict the most pain possible, eliminating and reducing snap, closing down the airports instead of addressing the issue of health care. This is about people's dignity, their ability to go to the doctor.
- [28:27]
D
Most.
- [28:28]
C
I know it's dangerous to compare Trump to everyone who came before him. But every president that came before him, when they receive a result in the midterms or an off year election that goes against their party, which happens almost all of the time, they use it as not an excuse, but sort of a rationale and a public way to reposition themselves as more conciliatory. For about nine and a half seconds, Trump seemed to acknowledge that the shutdown led to the Republican wipeout on Tuesday night. Did it lead to any negotiating with Democrats in Congress?
- [29:08]
E
Well, I don't even think it's in his personality to give nine and a half seconds of reflection to anything. It's all about him. You saw him say I wasn't on the ballot. That's why everybody lost. He was on the ballot. His policies were on the ballot. People's lives are no better. Affordability is no better for families. Every month people come and they to their kitchen table to pay their bills. They want to be able to afford their rent, afford their health insurance, pay their car payment, maybe go on vacation, whatever it is they need to do. So. Utilities are up, food is up, rent is up. Tariffs causing a lot of that. Our immigration policies are just wreaking havoc in our communities. And now on top of all of that, you're one accident or diagnosis away from something changing your life this fast. And if you don't have health care, you can lose it all in a, in a skinny minute. And Donald Trump is incapable of self.
- [30:04]
C
Reflection that the work that is going on during the shutdown to try to hold the Pentagon accountable for the strikes against what is alleged to be drug trafficking boats in the Caribbean without much evidence, provided that that is indeed who they're hitting. What is the effort intended? Are you trying to increase access to the intelligence being used or to the actual sort of chain of command carrying out the attacks? What is the hope?
- [30:35]
E
Well, I think it's all of that. So I'm grateful to Senator Kaine and all of the other senators that have worked on this. I sit on both Senate Foreign Relations and Armed Services and I can tell you that we get no communication on the Democratic side from this administration. And if you watch some of our hearings, even on the Republican side, they do not have direct communication with either the White House or the Pentagon when it comes to this issue. And so the President is not allowed, of course, he says it can be the president for peace. Where is the peace in just bombing willy nilly boats, fishing boats, we don't know what they are out in the, in the ocean or saying that you're going to invade Venezuela. You need to come to Congress. You need to show us that intelligence. You need to show us a justification for doing what clearly may be a violation of international law. And he can't enter into an unprovoked war just because he feels like it. So this is going to hold him accountable. We hope that this passes. You'll see the vote about 5 o' clock tonight. He needs to come to Congress with any intelligence, anything else he has, it would indicate that these, these attacks are necessary.
- [31:47]
C
Senator Jackie Rosen, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us today. We're grateful. Up next for us, the Senator's colleagues have called it her crowning final achievement. With Prop 50 overwhelmingly passed in California, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi helped usher the win over the finish line. And now she's announced she's stepping aside From a remarkable 40 year career in Congress. But she's not done quite yet. We'll talk about what's next.
- [32:20]
A
MSNBC presents the chart topping original podcast, the Best People with Nicole Wallace. This week she sits down with former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci.
- [32:31]
C
We are a beautiful, colorful mosaic of people and we are exactly what Lincoln said, the last best hope for mankind.
- [32:39]
A
The best people with Nicole Wallace. Listen now for early access and free listening and bonus content. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts.
- [32:49]
B
Hey everyone, it's Chris Hayes. This week on my podcast, why Is this Happening? Journalist Jasper Nathaniel on his experience in the West Bank. It's not just a story of occupation.
- [32:59]
A
Violence and settler violence, but it's about these Americans who are not used to this. They have much more in common with you, me than they do with probably.
- [33:06]
B
A lot of people that we see in Gaza.
- [33:08]
A
And they are now facing this kind of terror that they've never seen before and they're trying to figure out what to do about it. And they've turned to the US Government.
- [33:18]
B
And they've been basically had the door slammed on them. That's this week on why is this Happening? Search for why is this Happening? Wherever you're listening right now.
- [33:25]
A
And follow start your day with the MSNBC Daily newsletter. Each morning, read sharp insights from the voices you trust. Catch standout moments from your favorite shows.
- [33:37]
C
Administration has gone to unprecedented lengths to radically transform America.
- [33:41]
A
Stay up to speed with our latest podcasts and documentaries and get fresh perspectives from experts shaping the news. It's everything you love about MSNBC delivered to your inbox. Sign up now@msnbc.com After 10 months of.
- [34:00]
C
Watching Donald Trump metaphorically and actually literally taking a wrecking ball to America's most prized institutions. It's almost hard to recognize the feelings of hope that have emerged among the Democratic Party after Tuesday's landslide victories for Democratic candidates and Prop 50 as Democrats now allow themselves to imagine that it's all possible that we're still in a democracy, at least for now, and they could take back not just the House, but maybe even the Senate. With these margins, the possibility of a Democratic speaker becoming all the more powerful. After the news today that House speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi will be retiring after this term. She's spending her last months in Congress doing what she has always done, fighting, fighting the good fight, fighting for the legacy of the Democratic Party, fighting Donald Trump. Here she is on California's redistricting measure, Prop 50.
- [34:55]
E
When Texas did what Texas did, people said, oh, we can't do that. Two no's don't make a right. It isn't two no's. It's self defense for our democracy.
- [35:10]
C
Joining our coverage, former senior advisor to President Biden and Vice President Harris, the former mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landris. Here, also joining us by friend and colleague MSNBC senior political analyst, contributing host on Pod Save America, and host of the podcast Runaway Country, Alex Wagner joins us as well. Mitch, tell me your thoughts about Tuesday night and not just looking back, but how you take those gains and implement them in the campaigns one year from now.
- [35:42]
F
I will, but can I just give a big shout out and a hug to Nancy Pelosi?
- [35:46]
C
Of course you can.
- [35:47]
F
That woman has been since I've been a little boy. Her daddy, as you know, and her and her brother were both mayors of Baltimore. And our families have been knowing each other. She is one of the greatest public servants and really one of the strongest speakers that we've ever seen in the history of the United States be juxtaposed to Mike Johnson, who is the weakest speaker that we've ever had. So I just want to congratulate her and thank her for her many, many, many years of service and just wish her Godspeed all the way around. And in that regard, she is as proud as anybody that we, that we swept the field on Tuesday night. I was very happy to see how broadly the win was. And I know that everybody's concentrating on New York and they're concentrating on Virginia and, and New Jersey. But listen, we won in Georgia, we won in Mississippi, we won in Pennsylvania, we won in California. So Democrats, I mean, look, feel good about yourself. We got back to work, we pulled ourselves back up. We started focusing on the things that voters wanted to hear, which was affordability and the ability to help them realize the American dream by understanding that if they worked hard, they would keep more of their paycheck and making their life easier. And we succeeded. And so let's just do more of that. We got a lot more work to do. And we can't just be against Trump, although there's plenty to be against, and we should be very vocal about that. But when you offer an alternative, voters are going to come home, especially if you go see them and you pay them the respect that all of these candidates paid them.
- [37:16]
C
Yeah. Alex on the Speaker Pelosi part, I obviously knew her when I worked for George W. Bush, and he actually had a very productive working relationship with her and relished the opportunity to honor her when she became speaker during his midterms and his second term. But I remember the first time she was on this program and she and I'm from the Bay Area. And she said, you know, I'm actually proud of you now. And she's just this towering figure in politics. And I'd made an ideological journey myself. But she is and remains a towering figure in our politics right now.
- [37:53]
G
Absolutely. I mean, I remember interviewing her, Nicole, and she notoriously loves chocolate. Ghirardelli Chocolate is from San Francisco, her hometown. She notoriously eats, has said on the record that she eats chocolate ice cream for breakfast. And I remember asking her in an interview once, like, so tell me more about your breakfast. And she looked at me and she said, alex, I eat nails for breakfast. I just remember thinking, yes, Lady Warrior, you sure do. I mean, keep in mind, Nicole, when you think about her career, she started her career in public service at the age of 47.
- [38:26]
A
Right.
- [38:27]
G
That's my age. Now. She was a mother of five. She wasn't a political animal. Of course, as Mitch points out, she had the legacy behind her. But this is a woman who, who started out in the sort of most unlikeliest of roles and jumps headfirst into the AIDS crisis in San Francisco, shepherds through landmark health care legislation. The ACA would not have happened without the leadership of Nancy Pelosi and ends with this, just this fight for democracy in the form of Prop 50 in California. Again, another measure that would not have passed without the organizational and fundraising skills of Nancy Pelosi, who has raised $1.3 billion for Democrats. I mean, her tenacity, her stick with it Ness. I mean, she's just there ain't nobody, there's nobody like her.
- [39:14]
C
Well, and I want to, I have to think of brief, but I want to press both of you on how she matches the mood of the base, I mean, unanimously. The thing that the Democratic voter has agreed upon since the morning after the election a year ago is that they want to see fight in Democratic electeds and Democratic candidates. That fight was something that they saw Tuesday night. And I want to ask both of you how Democrats sustained that for one, one or three more years. Alex and Mitch, stick around. We'll all be right back. We're back with Mitch and Alex. Mitch, you touched on it, but I just want to dig a little deeper. I mean, Nancy Pelosi lays waste to the idea that you have to either impugn and indict the failures of Trump's leadership or champion what you're for. She always managed to do both. Wagging a finger at Donald Trump across the Roosevelt Room was one of my favorite sort of key moments. I think she's saying it's with you, it all roads lead back to Russia. But anyone that's interviewed her, as Alex is alluding to, knows that she is so relentlessly on message that if you plan to take commercial breaks and she's not done making her point, which is both and forget about it. So what is, how do you, how do you sort of take that and run with it into the midterms and beyond?
- [40:42]
F
I just think her message is really clear. It's two words both. And number one, she knows that Donald Trump is a bully. He's the most abusive person that's ever sat in the White House. And he will take your lunch money and everything that you own if you do not fight him and stop him. So you have to push him back. The way that you push him back is to win elections. And the way you win elections is to meet people where they are and talk about the things that matter in their daily lives. And that's what all of the folks this week did, and that's why they won the race. But you have to be, you have to do both. And, and she has never shied away from either one of those things. And so you don't have to make the choice. We can do, we can, we can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time in the Democratic Party. And you know, we get, you got to fight hard and you got to fight back and you got to work hard and it will pay off.
- [41:30]
C
I mean, Alex, none other than Marjorie Taylor Greene made some of those very same points today, basically, that she delivered. And the Republican Party of today does not and has not.
- [41:44]
G
Yeah, Marjorie Taylor Greene has been let out of the airlock. Can actually speak the truth. I guess I thought you had to be retiring in order to do that in the Republican Party. But I digress. You know, Nancy Pelosi, if you ever spent time with her, and I interviewed her a number of times, she was always coming from either like a baptism or a town hall or going to a funeral or coming from a wedding. The woman was just, is just a tenacious advocate for her constituents and she knows everyone. And I think that familiarity, that sort of shoe leather almost, she was constantly campaigning. She was always in touch with who she needs. She was always on the phone. She was always, I mean she was just very communicative and she was very engaged with the people. I mean, I hate to sound heavy handed about it, but it was the Pauline politician. And I know we're talking about the extraordinary campaign that's over on Mamdani won. And I think there are a lot of lessons there in terms of how to be in the culture and how to be resonant and how to get young men aboard. But let's also take some time to talk about Abigail Spanberger. Mikey, Sheryl, because those two women did the hard work of campaigning as well and they managed to flip, each of them managed to flip 7% of people who voted for Trump in 2024 over to the Democratic ledger. Mikey Sherrill flipped, I believe, 18% of Trump's Latino voters in the state of New Jersey to get them to vote for a Democratic gubernatorial candidate. We are going to talk about this Tuesday election in a lot of different iterations, but in the context of sort of Nancy Pelosi's legacy and doing the hard and traditional work of, and making a lot of sense to the people that ultimately have to vote for you. I think that there's a lot to learn by all the women that both are in the news this week and had big victories this week.
- [43:25]
C
Yeah. And I mean, just to underscore what you're saying, she did it in 11 months. I mean, Mikey show, I mean those are people that 11, 12 months ago went out and made a very different choice. I mean, and in California voting for Prop 50, those are voters, some of them went out and voted against it a few years ago. So remarkable, remarkable work by those campaigns. Mitch Landrieu, thank you for being part of our coverage today. We're going to keep Alex around a little bit longer. Up next for us, some breaking news to tell you about. A federal judge this afternoon calling out the Trump administration for not complying with his order. I'll tell you what it was. Next, some breaking news to tell you about in the last hour. A federal judge ordered that the Trump administration fully fund snap. That's the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. It's a food assistance program that 42 million Americans rely on to feed their families. The Trump administration had previously agreed to fund 50% and then 65% of the program, which has been without funding as a result of the government shutdown. This afternoon, the judge, Judge John McConnell, called the harm done by this shutdown irreparable, saying this, quote, last weekend's SNAP benefits lapsed, collapsed for the first time in our nation's history. This is a problem that could have and should have been avoided. People have gone without for too long. Not making payments to them for even another day is simply unacceptable. The Trump administration has until tomorrow to comply with that judge's order. Another break for us. We'll look at the Democrats next move after those big wins this week. Mark Elias joins the conversation when Deadline White House continues after a quick break. Stay with us.
- [45:11]
B
Change is coming to this network, but we're still going to be having conversations about the issues that define us as a country. The only thing changing is our name.
- [45:20]
D
Same mission, new name.
- [45:21]
A
MSNBC becomes Ms. Now. November 15th.