Nicole Wallace (1:41)

Indeed. Hi again Everybody. It's now 5 o' clock in New York. You heard from the former president. We've got a lot of work to do in saving this democracy of ours. At an event held last night by former senior staffers of the Obama administration, former President Barack Obama made a special surprise appearance as well as his first public comments since Tuesday's overwhelming election victories for Democrats. The former president made sure to let everyone soak in the winds.

Scott Galloway (2:09)

It was good to see progressives get off the mat. It was a good reminder that it turns out that the American people are paying attention. They don't want cruelty. They're not looking for people on the top trying to entrench themselves in power. They believe in community. They believe in treating people with decency and respect.

Nicole Wallace (2:51)

That is our friend and colleague Alex Wagner right behind him there. He also had some pointed instructions for his own party. Listen to this.

Scott Galloway (3:01)

Your task is going to be not.

Nicole Wallace (3:04)

To.

Scott Galloway (3:07)

Impose litmus tests. We had Abigail Spanberger win and we had Zoharan Mandami win and they are all part of a vision for the future. Our job is to say that we want everybody engaged and we want to have a conversation about how to make sure that every person in this country is treated with dignity and respect and there are ladders of opportunity and that there's the possibility of community and that we're getting along not in some cliche phoneyed way, but in a genuine, deep way where we recognize, yeah, we have differences and yes, there are fights that are going to have to be fought, but that deep down there is something core in us that we have in common that is extraordinary and that America at its best leans in to this notion of e pluribus unum, that out of many can come one. That's the conversation that you need to have. That's the conversation that these guys need to are all about. I love them. I love you.

Nicole Wallace (4:31)

Now, this wasn't just sort of a political celebrity sighting. He wasn't just there as one of the biggest and most popular figures in the Democratic Party in the broader pro democracy movement. He was on the field. He lent his time and voice to Prop 50 before it was as popular as it ended up being. Tuesday night he also hit the road and campaigned for Abigail Spamberger and Mikey Sherrill. And now he's sort of calling out the pro democracy side and the Democratic Party and addressing the necessary next steps to embrace this big tent that was ushered in Tuesday night and make sure everyone that fits under it works toward more positive political outcomes because everyone is needed in these political fights ahead as the current administration pushes its anti Democratic agenda and tries to change the rules of the game. Senator Chris Murphy emphasized how his party getting out there rolling up their sleeves and fighting the tough fight was critical to Tuesday's Democratic sweeps.

Ryan Reynolds (5:30)

I do think a significant part of Tuesday, maybe why the margins were as big as they were, is because Democrats didn't stay home. They turned out and they turned out because for the first time they're seeing a party fight and they are hopeful that this opposition party is strong enough that if they join it and they join up with us, they can save democracy.

Nicole Wallace (5:57)

The fight ahead for Democrats is where we begin the hour with some of our favorite experts and friends. MSNBC senior contributing editor Michelle Norris is back with me at the table. Democratic strategist and professor at Columbia University, MSNBC political analyst Basil Smichel is here. Basil? I mean, we cover President Obama's political appearances because he makes the argument that more effectively than anyone and he pulls together sort of the intellectual and the gut around any campaign. But to see him, you know, on stage the week of the victories was an important, I think, push forward because I think after Tuesday, again I don't think anyone wants. I think people have the opposite feeling of wanting to take a victory lap. They're anxious that it won't endure. And I think him sort of telling people how to make it build on future successes was important.

Scott Galloway (6:50)

Well, there's nobody better in the country to cut through the noise and aggregate our collective sort of feelings and attitudes about what's happening right now. So it's important that being such a great communicator that he's out there doing that and kind of reflecting on what needs to happen next. So two of the points that he raised is one of the things that I want to hit on. The first is that is talking about how there are young people involved. It's so important that young voters go out and see leaders that reflect their interest and reflect their journey. And that's what we saw in multiple contexts. And also it wasn't top down. And you know, I've always talked about this just being hyperlocal. And there was a great article about Zoram Ondani a couple of weeks ago in the New York Times about how he was going to all of these restaurants in New York City and essentially acting as an influencer for them. Because what it did was it showed the diversity of New York and why we shouldn't be afraid of diversity. But it also addressed how New Yorkers like get their food every day. You know, I get my bacon, egg and cheese in the morning and I make a decision about whether I want Chinese, Jamaican for lunch or something else for dinner. It's just, it's how we live. It didn't seem scripted, it didn't seem rehearsed, it seemed authentic. And that's more of what we need. Not the top down, but the bottom up. And when you want that sort of elevated speech and moment to give us a check in terms of where we are nobod than Obama to do it.

Nicole Wallace (8:18)

I think there's also something reassuring, Michel, that he's not going anywhere. I mean, he clearly has no interest in being part of the day to day news cycle. Right. I mean, we take him, we've asked, but that he's going, he sees this moment because there are a lot of people who say they see the moment, but then their actions don't match it. They're not in the fight, they have their reasons, but they are not out there fighting alongside people who are engaging in the media moment the way the crooked media folks there are. And they are former staffers, but they're very much trying to sort of address One of these deficiencies in the pro democracy side, they are. They have a media company they're trying to address. I just interviewed Jon Favreau and Tommy Vitor, and they're trying to sort of make up gains in the podcasting space and in the YouTube space, and they're trying to fix some of the structural hurdles to protecting democracy. And I think the president showing up isn't just, I see you. It's, you know, I'm not going anywhere until we get through this.

Alex Wagner (9:20)

He's saying, I want to be of use. Public service is in Barack Obama's DNA, and optimism is his natural resting state. And that's a very good thing for the Democratic Party. He is the most competitive person that I have ever met and also the most confident person that I've ever met. And those are two things that the party could really use right now, both the competition and the confidence. And he is staying in the game in part because he really likes this, because he's being invited, because he's really good at it. And I think there is a real focus on young people. We have to remember that if you were 8, 9, 10 years old, if you're, you know, when, when Donald Trump first entered the scene, you have grown up with a very abnormal brand of politics. So you're used to someone who wakes up with a hot gust of retribution every morning. You're used to someone who engages in name calling. You're used to someone who appoints people based on loyalty and not merit. And we may think that those things are abnormal or abhorrent, but they're a group of young people. This is par for the course for them. And so when he steps onto a stage, he reminds people what competence looks like. He reminds people what compassion in leadership looks like, what courage looks like. And he's also for people who've been around in politics and remember, you know, his administration, he's also a rudder for people who feel lost in a sea of distraction and toxicity that's coming out of the White House. And so he is here to stay. And I think you're probably going to see a lot more of him. The midterms are very important, and he understands the role that he can play. And that's a good thing for the Democratic Party.

Ryan Reynolds (11:05)

Yeah.

Nicole Wallace (11:05)

I mean, these are the motivation numbers. This is the gap that's opened up for Republicans motivated to vote in 2026, in the midterm elections. Democrats 71%, Republicans, 60%. This is probably a little troubling. Independence, just 42%. But to the point you and Michel both made. One of the things Jon Favreau said to me when I interviewed him for my podcast this week was that the conversation with young people is to tell them that it didn't always suck this much. It wasn't always this awful. It wasn't always masked federal agents disappearing people off the streets and these horrific videos of people being ripped apart from their families. It wasn't always a crypto scam on top of a bold are on top of a gilded Oval Office.

Scott Galloway (11:52)

Well, that's a really important point because going to Michelle's point, I always try to center my students, and a lot of them have vague recollections of Obama's presidency. So this is a moment where they're like, is this politics? Is this what it's supposed to be? And Obama's the one to really be able to bridge the divide between his, the folks that elected him and these new voters now. Because if you remember, one dynamic that we saw in 08 was young people taking their parents and grandparents to vote for Obama, not the other way around. And I think this is a moment where as the Democratic coalition shifts, it moves and it's being altered a bit. I think you're seeing a very similar dynamic that you have a lot of young people saying, look, I know what you were used to, but this really is the way forward. There are going to be some problems and changes going forward. Yes, but this is the path that we have to take forward if you want to, to get us engaged. And I'd also add a quick point. Towards the end of the New York mayor's race, there was a tremendous amount of Islamophobia. Cuomo went full Trump on this thing. And it's Barack Obama who had to take all of those arrows when he was running and when he was president, all of that racism, all of the attacks against him and Michelle, not just.

Nicole Wallace (13:18)

When he was running. I mean, he was running. Birtherism dominates it because chunk of his presidency dealing with all the BS around.

Scott Galloway (13:25)

The birth certificate and still dealing with the remnants of that today. So he's that voice that can say, I've been through this. This next generation, you're going to go through something similar, but here's how you get through it. Here's how you navigate.

Nicole Wallace (13:37)

Well, I also think it's important that he's making this point about a litmus test, because the worst thing the Democratic Party could engage in right now is to rank any of the wins. They were all fantastic. They were all huge, to borrow an adjective Donald Trump covets more than anything else, and they were all decisive. And the swings for Spamberger and Sheryl, especially among Latino voters, super important to go and understand how to not just sustain them, but build on them.

Alex Wagner (14:09)

Well, that's the danger of a single story. You know, that the Democrats are looking for a single voice, a single person who will represent the party. And that's an important role that Barack Obama can play also. And he reminds me, you know, for someone who watches a lot of espn, he reminds me of a coach talking to after an important victory. You know, y' all did great. This is fantastic. But the hill is still steep. If you want the next prize, you know, you've got to stay on this. And I. And that's an important role for him. Also. Basil said something interesting that I just want to pick up on. If you listen to Barack Obama and Michelle Obama, who's out right now because she's promoting a new, a new book that just dropped. They're also both talking in very subtle ways about the importance of diversity. And one of the things about his election and his time in the White House is he gave America a chance to experience diversity every day and to see it and to see how it worked and to see how it aligned with competence and that it aligned with excellence. And at a time where we have an administration who's trying very hard to take us backwards, that's an important message for people also to, you know, lean into the America that we live in and understand that there's a place for everyone, both in terms of diversity, but also in terms of the diversity at the candidates that we have to offer that he will probably also start to talk about the down ballot victories, the importance of the, you know, the couple of legislators that, that legislators who won in Mississippi and basically washed away a super majority there. What's happening in Colorado, where they passed a measure where every child will now have the confidence of knowing that they will go to school and be fed because they're willing to tax people who are high earners in that state. He's, he's going to try to make sure, I think, that the party understands that, you know, to use that football analogy, that everybody has a role to play in their particular position. And that victory is possible when you understand that it's not just the quarterback, it's not just the running back. I'm. Pardon. You know, I'm not going to stretch sports analogies because that's not my thing.

Nicole Wallace (16:09)

I'll do it for you, though, because I think, I think what's interesting about the point you're making is a good coach doesn't sugarcoat the unsportsmanlike conduct either. And I think what he seems to have called out is corporations and universities not recognizing the moment and not risking anything to save the country. That has made. If you're a corporation and you're successful, most of those stories are only in America stories. Until now. If you're a university and you have the kind of global esteem that Harvard does, you owe something to this democracy. I mean, you owe it more than a pure profit calculation. And Obama seems to have made that argument more forcefully and more publicly than anybody else. Michelle?

Alex Wagner (16:59)

Yeah, and saying do better, you know, why are you doing this? Are you really willing to let this administration dictate your values? Is this the compass that you want to use going forward? And he does make that argument quite well, and he does make that argument with compassion. And he also is very pragmatic. The other thing that we should remember about him is he knows how to throw an elbow, and he does it with a smile on his face. He's always been a happy warrior, but he's willing to sort of take the fight where it needs to go. And I think if we, when we look back at this moment, I think there will be a lot of people, him included, who were somewhat uncomfortable with having to engage in a more pugilistic kind of politics. That was, you know, he's tried very hard to stay away from that. But as I've said before, you know, on this show, you don't bring a rule book to a knife fight. And I think that people are understanding that the rules of engagement have changed, not of their making. But if democracy is in the balance and they have to be able to, they have to be willing to fight a slightly different fight. And as someone who is very tough, both in terms of rhetoric and strategy, we talked about his rhetoric, but we haven't talked about how. How he is very prodigious in terms of strategy and fundraising. Those things are going to be very important as well.

Nicole Wallace (18:15)

I mean, just perfect encapsulation of your point is on the trail for Spamberger and Sheryl. He makes the argument, I mean, he sort of platforms this thing that never mind politicians not knowing what to do with it. A lot of hosts didn't know what to do with it. And that was the image of the AI image of Trump in a crown dumping poop all over the American people. Obama just works it in one of those, not getting sort of mired down in the muck of it. But just saying this guy and it is a really important thing. It's a really important thing to the media to not shave off the ugly edges of Trumpism. I mean, I think we'll debate whether editing out some of his Crassus statements helped launder his image as someone who wanted to grab women in the, you know what I mean? I think if people had heard that as many times as he said it. It's just everything about how Trump has been covered and everything about what Trump does, Obama seems to know how to put it in front of the voters in a way that at least looking at Tuesday and his own record resonates. So thank you, both of you for helping us sift through this part of this week's story. When we come back, there's brand new reporting about a father, a United States citizen who was detained by border patrol in Los Angeles while federal agents drove away with his one year old daughter. It's straight out of a nightmare, but it happened in America. Our colleague Jacob so Roth has been tracking this story. He'll be our next guest. Also ahead, well, Donald Trump is boasting falsely that food prices are down because of him. Real Americans are hurting, actually. Unfortunately, grocery prices are sky high and food banks are running out of food. Donald Trump's been fighting a judge's order to fully fund SNAP benefits will be joined by someone on the front line of food insecurity in our country later in the hour. Deadline White House continues after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

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Nicole Wallace (21:37)

Flags everywhere for Republicans ahead of the 2026 midterms as support among voters key to Donald Trump's 2024 victory is quickly eroding. Washington Post reports this quote across this week's elections, exit polls show Democrats regaining strength with Latinos, sending a warning sign to Republicans who hope to build on Trump's inroads. Last year in New Jersey, the two counties with the highest concentration of Latino voters shifted toward Democrats more sharply than any others. While Donald Trump's abandonment of his key campaign promise to lower the price of groceries certainly contributed to those losses, it's the promises he's kept that may have hurt most of all. Washington Post adds this quote Jose Arango, the longtime chair of the GOP in New Jersey's heavily Latino Hudson county, pointed to the Trump administration's immigration crackdown as an explanation for the shift. Quote, when you start to touch the grandmother who's here for 20 years or the guy who's maybe married to an American family, you're creating an American problem. That alienation is likely to get worse as the cruelty and brazenness of Donald Trump's mass deportation program continues to grow. A federal judge in Chicago yesterday slammed the brutality of the ICE actions in that city, saying officers have unnecessarily terrorized local residents seeking to peacefully protest or document their actions, saying the government is using force untethered to any specific threat. Quote, I see little reason for the use of force that the federal agents are currently using. The judge said, quote, I would find the use of force shocks the conscience. That shock to the conscience isn't just limited to the events ICE is carrying out and responsible for. In Chicago earlier this week, outrage ensued after footage emerged of Border Patrol agents driving away with a one year old little girl, one year old, 12 months old, after arresting her father, who's a United States citizen. I want to bring in MSNBC senior National and political correspondent Jacob Soboroff and senior fellow for the American Immigration Council, Dara Lynn is back with us. Jacob, let me not make the images numbing. Let me put them back up and ask you to take me through these stories.

Scott Galloway (24:02)

I don't know. Let me let the.

Ryan Reynolds (24:06)

Shocks the conscience. Shocks the conscience, Nicole, is the same phrase that Dana Sabraw, the judge in the Southern district of California, California, used when he stopped the family separation policy in 2018. And this video that we're watching right now raises similar questions that that policy raised as it relates to the Border Patrol's ability to care for and treat young children in its custody. And just to reset, let's back up. The father Here is a 32 year old United States citizen. His name is Dennis Quinones. And the Border Patrol alleges that they arrested him, detained him because they found a gun in his vehicle. And when I talked to you on Wednesday, I said to you that both the daughter had been released back to the family and Quinones was released as well. And it turns out that Quinones was not released. He was held overnight at the Metropolitan Detention center here in Los Angeles, but was released yesterday on bond. We have some new video, not just this angle, that adds additional context to this story. And I want to put it up on the screen right now. In a federal charging document, the Justice Department says that the Border Patrol approached quinones from over 100ft or around 100ft away. And you're watching this video from the Los Angeles Rapid Response Network right now that shows that exact thing happening. Quinones. This is the Home Depot, by the way, around the corner from my house. He is in the far, far end of the Home Depot parking lot, about as far away not only from the day laborer center where they were targeting and had arrested five undocumented immigrants, but from the Home Depot itself. And you watch them surround and box in Quinones vehicle right here. Even if the allegations against Quinones are true, that he had a gun in the vehicle and he threw what the Border Patrol says is a rock like object at the Border Patrol agents, it raises very serious questions about the Border Patrol's ability to care for a young child like the daughter of Mr. Quinones. And I want to read to you a statement that his mother, once he was released yesterday, issued to the public to better understand how his daughter was treated by the agents that you're seeing on the screen right now. Let me read from it. She said, when I picked up my granddaughter from the Federal Agents. She had a dirty diaper, a bruise on her face, and was developing a rash. She was exhausted and cried. My heart aches knowing this could happen to others, to my kids or even me. Despite being US Citizens, we're now questioning our safety and feel more vulnerable simply for being Latino. I fear for my grandkids growing up in a country that targets Latinos and profiles dark skinned people. I hope things improve, though it's hard to imagine how it could get worse. What this brings to mind for me, Nicole, is the time I spent in the McAllen Border Patrol processing center at the height of the family separation policy. Those border patrol agents said to me then that they were strained and stressed and struggling because they are not trained as social workers. They are not clinical professionals meant to take little children away from their moms and dads. Yet that's exactly what that policy did. Dana Sabra stopped that policy after 5,500 kids were taken away from their parents. Stephen Miller wanted it to be 25,000, using a process called administrative separations. You are watching those same types of agents. Border patrol agents basically effectuate family separations in the interior. In this case, a US Citizen who was accused of a crime. But that does not negate the questions being raised by lawyers and others about how they are treating not only United States citizens, but little toddlers. Like the one year old girl that's at the center of this story. And this is just the beginning of this story.

Nicole Wallace (27:38)

I mean, Dara, one year old is a baby. A baby baby. What legali mean, I don't want to dive down their alternative reality, but what possible legal framework is there for doing what they're doing to children?

Dara Lynn (27:56)

So, I mean, I think that what we're talking about right now is not really about a legal framework. It's about law enforcement policy where you target, you know, where you staff your people to target folks for arrest is a choice. Who you decide to pull over is a choice. What do you do with them when you've pulled them over is a choice. And a professional law enforcement agent in a situation where there is a child has to make decisions about, okay, do I stay with the child? Do I call? Do I ask the adult who can pick up the child? How do I make sure that the child remains in the care of a trusted adult? Those are things that, you know, if it's a police officer who's arresting a parent or if it's a child protective services officer who has to separate a family, like they, they know that those are the choices they have to Make Border Patrol in this case appears to have not thought that this needed to be a consideration that they went through. They just kind of, you know, scooped the data up first and asked questions later. And that's not how just standard law enforcement practice says you should be conducting your business.

Nicole Wallace (28:56)

There's so many more stories, each one of them blowing up the lives and sense of safety and peace in America for everyone involved with massive blast radius. So I want to go through a couple more of them. I have to sneak in a quick break before I do that. We'll all be right back. We're back. I want to read this to you guys. This is from Reuters. A Border Patrol agent who shot a Chicago woman boasted about it in his text messages, quote, a federal agent named Charles Exum who shot a Chicago woman multiple times, bragged about his shooting skills in text messages with other agents. Records presented at the hearing showed that in a group signal chat with other agents, which Exum described as a support group, he wrote in part, quote, I fired five rounds and she had seven holes. Put that in your book, boys. End quote. In a message to another recipient, Ex im sent a news article about the event, followed by the message, quote, read it. Five shots, seven holes. When Christopher Parente, an attorney for the woman, asked Exum what he meant by those messages, he responded, quote, I'm a firearms instructor and I take pride in my shooting skills. Jacob, we talk a lot about, and I've asked you and Lee Gelernt a lot about how we got to federal agents ending up up in custody of 1 and 2 year olds in the first place. And it requires years of dehumanization, how you arrive at people waving around mass deportation signs. Years of work and dehumanizing asylum seekers and immigrants is required. This feels next level. And I. And I. And I'm angry at myself for being jolted again because this has been going on in full view for so long. But what, what does this tell you about the men and women now working for CBP and ICE and carrying out these assaults on immigrants and American citizens?

Ryan Reynolds (31:00)

Well, the first thing I'll say is I have met many very good men and women who work for Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol, and they signed up because they wanted to serve our country. But what you just read is in line with, with literally decades of reporting about treatment of undocumented people at the hands of some of the bad apples within these departments. And you have to believe that there's a cultural issue here. Correct me if I'm wrong, Dara, but it might be from Francisco. The line becomes a river. There's a lot of reporting about the words Border Patrol agents have used historically, literally to hit migrants over the head with flashlights. I mean, there's a specific word that they use. I don't want to use it on the air because it's so derogatory. This is the way that those types of communications happen amongst some of these agents within the Border Patrol. And like you said, Nicole, we didn't get here overnight. The Border Patrol and the US Immigration policy of the United States of America has been based on deterrence and punishment on criminalizing migrants for the better part of a generation. Whether it was prevention through deterrence during Bill Clinton knowing people would die crossing through the desert as they had to go around the first wave of walls, or George W. Bush exponentially increasing the size of the Border Patrol in the wake of 9, 11, Barack Obama attempting to deport more people than anyone in the history of our country as the president of the United States. And that's why Donald Trump, like that, was able to separate all of those thousands of kids from their parents almost immediately. And Joe Biden continued some of those punitive policies. We have not seen a wholesale departure. What Joe Biden had promised, a fair, safe, humane, orderly system. In my time covering what happens along the southwest border and now in the interior of the country, all of this, unfortunately, is remarkably consistent and why we are watching mass deportation play out on the streets today. Mass deportation, as we've talked about endlessly, is just family separation by another name, the dehumanization of people who come here to seek a better life, largely, and certainly not just the worst of the worst.

Nicole Wallace (33:00)

Dara, what is the. I mean, I think people that rightfully wanted secure borders are now people who have voted in the kinds of people that write to their friends, quote, read it, five shots, seven holes. I mean, that's in a person. Where are we right now?

Dara Lynn (33:25)

I mean, to a certain extent, this was always what mass deportation was going to look like. Jacob and I were both saying this before the election. You know, a bunch of people knew this before the election, that you cannot deport 11 million criminals from the United States because there aren't 11 million serious criminals who are unauthorized in the United States. But that said the other thing about a mass deportation operation, and I understood, I understand, I agree with what Jacob is saying, that the thrust of US policy has been toward deterrence for 20 years. But it's also the case that they have had to scale it up substantially to get the kind of effect that they want. And Jacob, you know, when you mentioned George W. Bush hiring a surge of border patrol agents, what we saw with that was a decrease in the quality of agent because they had to do a lot of very quick recruiting. And it led to increases in the kind of cross cultural abuse you're talking about and increases in the level of corruption. That's what they're trying to do right now, both in staffing up ice and in bringing so many border patrol agents who have not done kind of like street policing and have not usually been in a position where they are confronting a citizen who is in their face to a point where they are acting so unprofessionally. And I know I keep harping on the concept of professionalism, but most, most professional law enforcement agents and Jacob and I have both talked to plenty will say things like don't shoot a, don't aim a weapon at anything you do not intend to destroy. And things like I put seven holes in her is not something that any of them would have countenanced. And so you see this connection between a general thrust of US Policy and the actual steps that are needed to carry it out leading to a lot of people having the color of the authority of the United States government behind them who are not of the caliber that you might expect if you're expecting, you know, the professional agent you see when you're crossing into the US From Canada.

Nicole Wallace (35:20)

And at a political level, if you're at 36% on your signature sort of banner political promise and are packed with your own base of support, these are not the examples that make those numbers go up. This is how you sort of peel off and end up just with a really radical sliver. Jacob so Roth and Darlin, thank you so much for spending time with us on these stories. When we come back on the front lines of America's food shortage under Donald Trump as a judge rips into the Trump administration for allowing Americans to go hungry.

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Nicole Wallace (37:20)

Stores or@dsw.com Let us surprise you. Donald Trump's boasts about the economy aren't just farcical, they're insulting to Americans increasingly reliant on the good and vital work of food pantries across our country. Watch.

Ryan Reynolds (37:38)

Our opponents are offering an economic nightmare.

Nicole Wallace (37:40)

We're delivering an economic miracle.

Alex Wagner (37:42)

It's been really hard.

Ryan Reynolds (37:43)

Really, really. It's been frustrating.

Alex Wagner (37:46)

It's hard because, you know, we go to a couple other food banks, but.

Ryan Reynolds (37:50)

You don't get much.

Alex Wagner (37:51)

You just get enough to make a couple meals and that's it. Because they're running out.

Nicole Wallace (37:55)

So why is everything shutting down? To take away from little kids and the old people, you know, it shouldn't be done.

Ryan Reynolds (38:05)

It is an issue with a lot of people.

Alex Wagner (38:06)

I've talked to several people at the grocery store that are worried what they're.

Nicole Wallace (38:10)

Going to do for their kids. We have the greatest economy. We're the hottest country in the world right now. We're the hottest country anywhere in the world.

Alex Wagner (38:16)

Now.

Ryan Reynolds (38:16)

We're the hottest country anywhere in the world. But we're the hottest country country anywhere in the world by far.

Dara Lynn (38:22)

There's a lot of people who don't.

Alex Wagner (38:23)

Have the assistance and it's hard to.

Dara Lynn (38:26)

Try to depend on other people to help you.

Ryan Reynolds (38:28)

It seemed cruel to me to intentionally.

Nicole Wallace (38:32)

Want to let people go hungry. So there's a lot of mental work that's going into grocery shopping in general. And now it's just a pure panic button that this is the golden age of America.

Ryan Reynolds (38:47)

This is the golden age.

Nicole Wallace (38:48)

The golden age of America has begun.

Ryan Reynolds (38:51)

It's A golden age like you've never seen before.

Nicole Wallace (38:59)

No hidden cameras required, although statements made in public. Joining our coverage, Linda Nejat, the president and chief operating officer of Feeding America, a nonprofit network of more than 200 food banks nationwide. Thank you so much. I imagine you're very busy. Thank you for talking to us.

Linda Nejat (39:15)

Thank you for having me.

Nicole Wallace (39:17)

Just tell me what the sort of face of food insecurity in America is like right now.

Linda Nejat (39:28)

Folks who are facing feeding. Excuse me, folks who are facing food insecurity in America look just like you and me. We have more than 50 million people in this country who last year needed to turn to the charitable food sector for help to put food on the table. They live in every community, in every city, in every county or parish, in every state across this entire country. More than half are kids or seniors. Those who are adults and visiting their local food pantries are overwhelmingly working. The biggest problem that folks are facing is affordability. Not enough money to get through the month.

Nicole Wallace (40:13)

What is the impact on the work, the incredible work work that goes on all the time from food pantries when SNAP benefits are suddenly turned off or turned on and off, and families can't plan for grocery shopping and feeding their families?

Linda Nejat (40:32)

42 million people receive snap benefits. And it's important to understand that for every meal's worth of food that the charitable food sector distributes, the SNAP program provides nine meals. So over these recent weeks, when SNAP benef have been disrupted, that has been absolutely devastating for families who've received those benefits. They have been turning to the charitable food sector. Our sector has returned to the type of mass distributions that we were doing during the pandemic just to try and significantly ramp up the supplies for the increasing number of people who've been turning to us. At our website, feedingamerica.org, we have seen 28,000 people a day looking for help to put food on the table.

Nicole Wallace (41:22)

I get asked by a lot of our viewers how people can help. How can people help? Because I imagine there's some shame that goes into needing food assistance, either because SNAP was turned off or because economic pressures bear down. How can people support your work?

Linda Nejat (41:46)

First, I think it's really important to say for anyone who is experiencing food insecurity, we are here for you, and we recognize that you are strong and resilient and doing all of the things that you need to do to make sure that your family has the food that it needs. If you need help, please Visit our website, feedingamerica.org we'd love for you to visit the food bank locator so you can find help nearby. We're here for you. You please reach out. If you are one, if one in eight people are receiving SNAP benefits, if you are one of the seven who is not, now is the time for you to activate. And there are really great ways that you can help out no matter where you live. You can find your local food bank by visiting our website, feedingamerica.org and when you locate that local organization that you want to plug into, they need your help with funding. They need your help with food donations. They need volunteers, they need your hands to help pack boxes so they can quickly get that food out to families that need it. And if you'd like to lift your voice, you can join the 37,000 supporters of our work who have urged their congresspersons more than 100,000 times to work collaboratively to reopen the government.

Nicole Wallace (43:02)

Just give us that website one more time for people that want to help out. FeedingAmerica.org Linda Najad, thank you so much for your work and for taking some time to talk to us today. One more break. We'll be right back. The United States Supreme Court today met to review a potential challenge to marriage equality. The Supreme Court established a constitutional right to marriage equality a decade ago, but now the justices are considering an appeal from former Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis. If you don't remember her, she's the one who refused to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples after the ruling and gained national attention when she defied court orders to issue the licenses, which was her job she was paid to do until a federal judge jailed her for contempt of court. Three of the four dissenting justices in the 2015 ruling, Roberts, Alito and Thomas, are still on the bench alongside Donald Trump's picks, Kavanaugh, Gorsuch and Coney Barrett. So many Americans are concerned that this challenge might actually open the door to end or threaten marriage equality, taking away rights from millions of Americans and their families. The justices could decide as early as Monday whether they will take up this case. We'll be watching another break for us. We'll be right back. This week's guest on the Best People podcast is a triple threat. A successful entrepreneur, a best selling author and a wildly popular host of three podcasts, he also understands the cross currents and pressures that young men in America are facing better than just about anyone. I think your analysis of the results of the 2024 election is spot on, that it wasn't just young men lured into the Trump adjacent manosphere, but it was their mother.

Ryan Reynolds (44:54)

Almost half of men under the age of 24 are living at home. One in five men age 30 are living at home. One in three will live at home at some point before the age of 25. And all I can tell you is if you're the parents of a struggling kid, your whole world shrinks to that kid. And politically, if you see it as a non health related issue, you just want change and chaos. And I think you're very open to the idea of a strong man and authoritarianism. And the most unstable, violent societies in the world all have one thing in common. They have a disproportionate number of young men with a lack of economic and romantic opportunities.

Nicole Wallace (45:33)

That was Scott Galloway. And you can listen to our entire conversation on the newest episode of the Best People podcast. Just scan the QR code and subscribe to MSNBC Premium if you want to listen right now. And as always, let me know what you think. Tomorrow you can tune in for a Best People television special. My conversation with the co founders of Crooked Media and two of the co hosts of podsave America, Jon Favreau and Tommy Vidor. You can watch that tomorrow at 9pm Eastern. Thank you for letting us into your homes all week long. What a week it was. We are grateful.

Ryan Reynolds (46:03)

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