Democrats in BATTLE MODE as Trump exploits servile Republicans

Summary

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The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Episode: Democrats in BATTLE MODE as Trump exploits servile Republicans
Date: August 21, 2025
Host: MSNBC
Summary by: Podcast Summarizer AI

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on escalating tensions between Democrats and Donald Trump’s GOP, as Trump pushes aggressively partisan policies and tactics from the White House—with Texas at the heart of a national fight over democracy, voting rights, and authoritarian overreach. Host Alicia Menendez (with Jen Psaki away), joined by guests like Andrew Weissman, Dan Goldman, Mihaila Plisa, and Sen. Amy Klobuchar, explores the ongoing battle over gerrymandering, DOJ weaponization, immigration crackdowns, the survival of democracy, and the growing pushback from Democrats and grassroots Americans.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Texas Gerrymandering and the Fight for Democracy

(00:49 – 06:45; 27:15 – 34:31)

• Texas Republicans Pass Trump-Backed Election Maps:
  Massive protests erupted in Texas as Republicans pushed through new congressional maps intended to lock in GOP power. Polls show Americans oppose the plan by a significant margin, but Texas Republicans press forward to fulfill Trump’s demands.
  Alicia Menendez: “They do not support what Texas Republicans are doing…giving Donald Trump what he has demanded.” (00:49)

• Political Prisoners and Democratic Defiance:
  State Rep. Nicole Collier was held in the State House for refusing 24h surveillance. Democrats hunkered down in solidarity and broadcast from hiding, risking felony charges.
  Rachel Maddow: “Representative Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office.” (03:02)

• Democrats as Movement Leaders:
  Texas Democrats’ resistance sparks a nationwide coalition, inspiring similar action in California and New York.
  Mihaila Plisa: “Texas Democrats have started a nationwide movement, and we're taking the fight to the bad guys. We have to fight fire with fire.” (29:16)

• Legal and Political Path Forward:
  Despite the maps’ passage, Dems vow to fight in courts (likely under the Voting Rights Act) and at the ballot box due to the unprecedented, racially targeted gerrymandering.
  Mihaila Plisa: “We have to take this to the court, and I feel very confident that these maps will be found unconstitutional…But then we take the battle to the ballot box.” (30:06)

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2. Trump’s Authoritarian Tactics & DOJ Weaponization

(05:11 – 21:19)

• Use of the Presidency to Erode Democracy:
  Trump is accused of weaponizing federal agencies: ordering the DOJ to target Democrat-favored fundraising platforms, seeking voter records for potential purges, attempting to eliminate mail-in ballots, and investigating political adversaries (e.g., Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook and AG Letitia James).
  Alicia Menendez: “Trump is using the powers of the presidency to hack away at our democracy in ways that we've never seen before.” (05:11)

• The ‘Quiet Part Out Loud’:
  The administration’s overt partisanship marks a break from past norms.
  Dan Goldman: “The veneer of nonpartisanship is so far gone, it seems quaint to think back…It's a joke. This is a massive partisan, personal vendetta by Donald Trump.” (11:37)

• Weaponization of DOJ and Law Enforcement:
  New tactics include unconfirmed loyalists like Ed Martin pursuing adversaries, alarming legal experts.
  Dan Goldman: “This is the most egregious politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice that I can recall in history.” (15:44)

• Republican Compliance:
  GOP leaders, holding congressional majorities, are described as wholly subservient to Trump’s will with “no end in sight.”
  Rachel Maddow: “Republicans in Congress have no end in sight. They will just lay down for him to do absolutely anything that he wants to do.” (11:37)

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3. Pushback Against Trump’s Immigration Agenda

(22:44 – 26:30)

• Grassroots Resistance in D.C. and Beyond:
  D.C. residents successfully turned away ICE agents, chanting, “ICE, go home!”—a microcosm of nationwide pushback.

• Legal Victories in Immigration Detention:
  Civil suits compelled the federal government to relinquish secretive, lawless jail practices at the Everglades Facility.
  Alicia Menendez: “That, my friends, is pushback working.” (24:07)

• State and City Leaders Defy Threats:
  Blue-state governors and mayors stand strong against Attorney General Bondi’s threats to prosecute for ‘sanctuary’ policies.
  Boston Mayor Michelle Wu: “Unlike the Trump administration, Boston follows the law. And Boston will not back down from who we are and what we stand for.” (26:26)

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4. The Epstein Files, Delay Tactics, and Cover-ups

(17:53 – 19:59; 32:44 – 33:55)

• Trump Attempts to Halt Disclosure:
  Federal judge denies Trump administration’s attempt to keep Epstein grand jury testimony sealed; panel argues these are efforts to obscure connections and protect powerful allies.
  Dan Goldman: “Donald Trump is clearly covering up for something and someone and maybe many people—there's reporting that he is in the Epstein files.” (18:29)

• Epstein Files as Political Leverage:
  Texas Dems introduced a symbolic amendment (tying map enactment to Epstein file release), which Republicans refused to debate.
  Mihaila Plisa: “They know that their king is on these lists. They know that he's in there and they know that it's really bad.” (33:06)

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5. DOJ, FBI Leadership & Concerns Over Politicization

(19:59 – 21:39)

• Unprecedented FBI Leadership Moves:
  White House appoints a second Deputy Director, seen as a sign of distrust and potential political control.
  Andrew Weissman: “This is just clearly a sign that they were not acting in the best interest of this particular agency, but more importantly, of the public at large.” (20:14)

• Doubts About Fired Officials:
  Concerns that Dan Bongino, despite scandals, is not fired due to having leverage over Trump.
  Rachel Maddow: “It makes you think that he has something on Trump that they do not want him to reveal, which he may do if he is actually fired.” (21:20)

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6. California’s Counterplay: Gerrymandering to Fight Gerrymandering

(27:20 – 29:16; 34:05)

• In response to Texas, California Democrats move to redraw maps to favor their party—President Obama signals support, framing it as a necessary defensive strategy.

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7. Foreign Policy: Trump, Putin, and Ukraine

(34:31 – 41:42)

• Trump’s Putin Summit and Global Response:
  Trump attempts a “grand bargain” over Ukraine security using a NATO-like coalition, but Russia refuses to relinquish veto. Amy Klobuchar: “Russia cannot have veto power...The idea is you set the boundaries, you set the agreements…but Ukraine must have its own security set.” (36:07)

• Humanitarian Concerns—Ukrainian Children:
  Klobuchar pushes Congress to repatriate children abducted by Russia, citing the moral danger of treating children as bargaining chips.
  Amy Klobuchar: “Kids have to come home first, because otherwise you send a message that kids can be a bargaining chip in some kind of agreement to end any war.” (38:24)

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8. The Threat of AI Deepfakes in Politics

(39:47 – 41:42)

• Klobuchar describes personal experience with AI-generated deepfakes and the urgent need for regulation and labeling. Amy Klobuchar: “Once, even when they know it's fake and they see you saying this stuff, it alters their perception of you and that's what we're going to start seeing in our democracy.” (40:33)

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9. Good News: Local Journalism Revival

(41:47 – End)

• A dozen local papers in the Midwest are saved by new buyers after a mass closure—underscoring the importance of journalism for civic health.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• Rachel Maddow, on dignity under duress:
  “Representative Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office.” (03:02)

• Alicia Menendez, on Trump’s disregard for democracy:
  “He’s vowing to end the use of electronic voting machines in the very same week that a right-wing news outlet was forced pay $67 million to the makers of those voting machines for spreading baseless falsehoods about the reliability of their technology.” (05:11)

• Dan Goldman, on the Republican Party’s drift:
  “The days where Michelle Obama says when they go low, we go high are long over. It is time for us to fight fire with fire.” (15:44)

• Amy Klobuchar, on legislative defense of democracy:
  “If some rules of the road aren't put in place, Congress has to stand up...we must go much bigger...labeling for some of these that might be protected by the Constitution, but they should at least say digitally altered.” (41:42)

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Timestamps for Crucial Segments

• Texas protest & Rep. Collier’s resistance: 00:49 – 04:34
• Trump’s authoritarian methods summarized: 05:11 – 07:42
• Panel: DOJ weaponization & Ed Martin discussion: 10:49 – 15:44
• Epstein files & cover-up discussion: 17:53 – 19:59, 32:44 – 33:55
• FBI leadership shakeup analysis: 19:59 – 21:39
• D.C. grassroots pushback & legal wins on immigration: 22:44 – 26:30
• Texas Rep. Mihaila Plisa on gerrymandering & national pushback: 27:20 – 34:31
• Amy Klobuchar: Russia, Ukraine, & deepfakes: 34:31 – 41:42
• Closing good-news segment on local journalism: 41:47 – 43:38

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Conclusion

This hard-hitting episode dissects a perilous moment for American democracy: Trump’s GOP and state allies openly rigging the rules, weaponizing federal power, and daring the opposition to stop them. Yet, from Democratic statehouses to local community protests, from courtroom victories to new organizing strategies and even the rescue of endangered newspapers, the fightback is visible and growing. The message: the battle for democracy is national, urgent, and far from over—and demands that Americans in every city, state, and background pay attention and take action.

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Transcript

[Rachel Maddow]

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[Alicia Menendez]

Download Today I want you to take a look at this the scene inside the Texas Capitol today. Protesters flooding the chamber to oppose a Trump backed plan to rig Texas congressional maps in order to keep national Democrats from winning back the U.S. house of Representatives. For the past week, everyday citizens of the Lone Star State have been showing up to make it clear to their legislators and to the rest of this country that they do not support what Texas Republicans are doing. And those Texans are standing up for a broader nationwide coalition of people who oppose this Trump backed plan. Polling from Yuga found that across the country, Americans oppose Texas map rigging plan by a 19 point margin. But Texas Republicans don't seem to be concerned with the opposition to what it is that they're doing or how history will remember them or this fight for our democracy. No, they're concerned with one thing, giving Donald Trump what he has demanded. And if the march toward autocracy required a more vibrant illustration than the National Guard dispatched to Washington D.C. texas Republicans today offered us this taking actual political prisoners. For three days now, State Representative Nicole Collier has been locked inside the Texas State House Chamber. She is there because she has refused Republicans demand that she be under 24 hour police surveillance. During that time, she's been communicating with the outside world as we do in the modern age via video calls. But today Texas Republicans decided to even that it was just it was too much freedom for the duly elected representative. I want you to watch what happened when Representative Collier joined a zoom call with the National Democratic Party from the restroom of the building where she is imprisoned.

[Andrew Weissman]

I've been really buoyed by the conversations I've had with Democratic governors throughout this.

[Amy Klobuchar]

Country and all of our Democratic elected officials.

[Mihaila Plisa]

Sorry, I have to leave.

[Amy Klobuchar]

They said it's a felony for me to do this.

[Mihaila Plisa]

Apparently I can't be on the floor or in the bathroom. Well, you told me I was only allowed to be here in the bathroom. No, hang on.

[Alicia Menendez]

Bye, everybody.

[Amy Klobuchar]

I've got to go.

[Andrew Weissman]

Hey, that. That's.

[Rachel Maddow]

That is outrageous. And first of all, let me tell you something. Representative Collier in the bathroom has more dignity than Donald Trump in the Oval Office.

[Alicia Menendez]

I get the Republicans are obsessed with who gets to use which bathrooms, but it is telling that this is how Democratic elected officials in Texas are being treated right now. Texas Democrats have not bowed to those kinds of threats. Yesterday, several Democrats decided they too would reject Texas Republicans police state ripping up their agreements to submit to 24 hour police surveillance. Hunkering down in the Capitol with Representative Collier. One of those Democrats is going to join us later this hour. But all of this, all of this has led us to today when Texas Republicans passed their rigged election maps out of the Texas House. The bill now moves to the Texas Senate where it's expected to pass and it's going to be signed into law by Texas Republican Governor Greg Abbott. Here was Texas Democratic leader, House Leader Gene Woo just before the final vote.

[Rachel Maddow]

This is the future right here.

[Andrew Weissman]

If you do not act now, what.

[Rachel Maddow]

Texas looks like, this process, this division, this partisanship, and most importantly, leaders who simply do not give a damn what you need or want anymore. If you do not stand up today and push back, the American dream will be dead. And our democracy will fall.

[Alicia Menendez]

Our democracy will fall. As big as Texas is, this fight, it is so much bigger. Earlier tonight, Senator Jon Ossoff of Georgia represents a state that knows a thing or two about what happens when a President Trump demands that a sitting governor just find a few more votes. He made the stakes crystal clear.

[Rachel Maddow]

They are trying to lock in one party rule in the United States in large part because he's engaged in so much outright malfeasance and abuse and corruption that he can't afford to have a Democratic House that could investigate his misdeeds.

[Alicia Menendez]

Donald Trump, already the only president in our nation's history to try to overturn the results of a legitimate presidential election. He was already the president who pardoned the violent rioters, who broke into our Capitol to overturn an election. And now that he is back in office, Trump is using the powers of the presidency to hack away at our democracy in ways that we've never seen before. He's ordered his Justice Department to investigate the main platform Democrats use to fundraise for elections. He's allowed that same Justice Department to seek voter records from 19 states, what looks like an attempt to purge voters from the rolls. He's demanded a new census to erase the political power of communities with high concentrations of immigrants. And with a little nudge from Vladimir Putin. Trump has vowed to end all mail in voting across this country, which accounted for nearly a third of all votes cast in the last midterm election. He's vowing to end the use of electronic voting machines in the very same week that a right wing news outlet was forced pay $67 million to the makers of those voting machines for spreading baseless falsehoods about the reliability of their technology. And he's pushing even more Republican controlled states to rig their voting maps, just like Texas. Now, technically speaking or Democratically speaking, none of this should matter for Donald Trump, a man who is constitutionally barred from seeking another term in office. But Trump has signaled over and over again that he may attempt to stay in power anyway. Recall that this was how he was campaigning for office just a year ago. Get out and vote.

[Rachel Maddow]

Just this time you won't have to do it anymore.

[Alicia Menendez]

Four more years.

[Rachel Maddow]

You know what? It'll be fixed. It'll be fine. You won't have to vote anymore.

[Alicia Menendez]

While many in Trump's own party have tried to dismiss those comments, Trump has not stopped entertaining the idea of ending American elections altogether and remaining in office. Just this week, Trump sat down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose country has had to suspend its elections amid a brutal war, and said this so you say during, during the war you can't have elections.

[Rachel Maddow]

So let me just say three and.

[Andrew Weissman]

A half years from now.

[Alicia Menendez]

So you mean if we happen to be in a war with somebod, no more elections.

[Andrew Weissman]

Oh, I wonder what the fake you like this idea.

[Alicia Menendez]

During that same meeting, Trump took a coalition of America's Democratic allies on a tour of his wall of fake campaign merch, showing off hats that say Trump 20, 28 and four more years as though Trump were eligible to run for president again. Now all this comes as Trump is increasingly targeting other authorities that can check his power. Just the past two weeks, Trump has used a little known housing agency within the federal government to investigate his opponents for so called mortgage fraud. Two weeks ago it was New York Attorney General Letitia James who successfully brought a civil suit against Trump for his fraudulent business practices as well as Democratic Senator Adam Schiff, who led one of the two impeachments against Trump, served on the January 6 committee. Now today, that same agency has set its sights on on a new target. Lisa Cook, the first black woman to serve on the Federal Reserve Board and a symbol of the Fed's independence, which Trump seeks to hack away at. It's just the latest in a long line of examples of Trump's attempt to seize more power and cow his enemies into submission. So as you watch what is happening today in Texas, as you watch the attack on mail in voting, as you watch the DOJ go after Trump's perceived enemies, as you watch the militarization of one of our nation's greatest cities, be sure not to miss what is happening in your peripheral vision. Texas Senate Democrats filibustering in the name of democracy, state AGs defending fair and free elections, Lisa Cook saying she's not going to be bullied into stepping down and Washingtonians stepping up to defend their own city. Keep your eye on them too, because they are answering the fundamental question of this moment. As Trump and his allies, as they prepare to rig our democracy, its how should Americans respond? Former senior FBI official Andrew Weissman and Congressman Dan Goldman. They are here to weigh in too. In just 90 seconds.

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[Alicia Menendez]

Joining us now, MSNBC legal analyst and former general counsel at the FBI Andrew Weissman and New York Democratic Congressman Dan Goldman. He's also a former Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York. It is good to see you both. Congressman, I want to begin by admitting my own naivete, which is we knew they were going to do a lot of these things that I laid out in that Intro. I was not prepared for them to do it without at least the veneer of respectability, without pretending as though they were doing things in the best interests of Texas voters or all Americans. They are saying the quiet part out loud. This is for political purposes. This is at the behest of Donald Trump. And I wonder if that gives Democrats an opening and an opportunity to go toe to toe with them.

[Rachel Maddow]

Well, this has been a methodical process, a very rapid and methodical process that started on day one. And Donald Trump has consistently over and over pushed the envelope further and further and further. And what he has found is that the Republicans in Congress have no end in sight. They will just lay down for him to do absolutely anything that he wants to do. And so what he now realizes he's emboldened because the Republicans have the majority in the House and the Senate and they're not putting up any fight for our country, for our democracy, for our Constitution, for our rule of law, for our basic way of life. The veneer of nonpartisanship is so far gone, it seems quaint to think back to some of the allegations just last term by the House Republicans about the politicization and weaponization by Democrats. It's a joke. This is a massive partisan, personal vendetta by Donald Trump. And he will stop at no end until he takes over our entire government. And you're right, it wouldn't necessarily have happened January or February. But he has now realized that there's nothing that will stop him because the Republicans consistently roll over.

[Alicia Menendez]

So, Andrew, that is the strategy. Let's talk about some of the tactics, specifically what we're seeing with the Federal Housing Finance Agency director playing a central role in the DOJ opening these investigations. Two weeks ago, it was Adam Schiff, it was Letitia James. The fact that all of a sudden it is now Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Just how novel is the argument that they are making here? What does it tell you this is the tactic they are utilizing?

[Andrew Weissman]

Well, to build on what Dan has said, the idea that this, and you pointed out that this is the quiet part out loud, you know, comparing this to Watergate, where things were uncovered and the country was in shock and Republicans who were in the Senate and in Congress were in shock. Here it is just out in the open, the idea that the president should be the president for all of America. That is just a quaint idea. That is not something that that happens here. And one of the things that's dear to me and I know dear to Dan from his former position in the as A federal prosecutor is this idea that you see Pam Bondi and the use of the Department of Justice to get people to do things that they legally are not required to do. The sending by her of letters to various state officials saying that you are required to adhere to federal policies or we're going to, and this is a quote, come after you if you don't. That is not a lawful thing for the to do, period, let alone for the Attorney General of the United States. I think what it really tells you, for everyone who's listening, is how confident are you that you are truly democratically elected and that you will be elected again if you have to engage in this kind of context. Conduct that is really. I mean, to not use hyperbole is really what happens in authoritarian countries where you really don't have a free and fair election.

[Alicia Menendez]

Now, we are past the point of hyperbole, Congressman. To that point, let's talk about Ed Martin, Trump's special attorney focused on weaponization. I know there's been a lot made rightfully of the fact that he's outside Letitia James, New York City home, sort of stalking around. I thought. What was equally, if not more alarming was his letter asking James to resign as, quote, an act of good faith. That feels to me like once again, they're shifting the Overton window by acting as though that is a reasonable ask to make.

[Rachel Maddow]

Ed Martin wouldn't know good faith if it smacked him in the head. He is one of the biggest political partisan hacks who's incompetent and unqualified and should not see anywhere near the Department of Justice, much less be appointed as some kind of special prosecutor that they're making up. He was not confirmed. He was rejected. One of the very few Trump appointees who the Republicans in the Senate actually stood up to because he is a January Sixer at core. He is an insurrectionist himself. He actually dismissed as interim U.S. attorney in D.C. the case of a client of his who is still a client. I mean, the ethical violations are astounding. And here's a guy who's been rejected for the U.S. attorney position, but that's not okay by Donald Trump. Then he's just gonna be put somewhere else to go after his political enemies. This is the most egregious politicization and weaponization of the Department of Justice that I can recall in history. I do not wanna hear a single Republican say that Democrats did this before. This is payback. That is hogwash. It's absolute bogus. This is disgusting. They are manufacturing allegations that clearly are bogus and have no basis. And he is doing it in such an openly politicized way that the Department of Justice is not supposed to do that is the legacy of the Department of Justice that is being destroyed by Pam Bondi and Todd Blanche right now. And it's time for Americans to wake up and realize this is not normal and it's not okay. And it's getting worse and wor. And there's no question that we as Democrats are going to have to fight tougher, as we're seeing Gavin Newsom do in California. We're in the Senate. We're going to have to really hold the line on the budget. And the end of September, when we're going to have to either pass a continuing resolution or some sort of appropriations bill. The days where Michelle Obama says when they go low, we go high are long over. It is time for us to fight fire with fire.

[Alicia Menendez]

Even Xi has been revising and extending those remarks. Congressman, admitting that this moment is different. I want to ask you real quick, because you talked about going back and dealing with the budget, you're also going to be dealing with these Epstein files. And we had some legal news about that today. You had a federal judge denying the Trump administration's request to unseal the Epstein grand jury transcripts. I don't think any of the three of us find that surprising. In his decision, the judge says that the transcript pales in comparison to the investigation information and materials in the hands of the Department of Justice. We knew that this was a delay tactic. So, Congressman, what now?

[Rachel Maddow]

Well, now it's time to release the files. They've tried two diversionary tactics. One is this grand jury testimony, which Andrew and I could have told anyone who would listen, would be completely useless even if it were released. And this whole idea of the deputy attorney general, who has no idea of the facts of the case, going and spending two days with Ghislaine Maxwell, as if her denying that Donald Trump had anything to do with it would be credible when Donald Trump holds the keys to her jail cell. That's what they're trying to do to avoid having to disclose the Epstein files. And it's not working because Donald Trump is clearly covering up for something and someone and maybe many people there's reporting that he is in the Epstein files. But who else is he covering up for? This was a massive MAGA conspiracy. Massive. And what it's important about releasing the Epstein files is not only to know what Donald Trump is trying to cover up, what the president of the United States is trying to cover up, but it's also to expose the conspiracy theories as being the lies that they are. And so that every person in MAGA world that believed all of these conspiracy theories that Cash Patel and Dan Bongino and Donald Trump perpetuated now can see in the full light of day that it's all false, it's all lies. And so the next time another conspiracy theory comes along, maybe they will start to think twice.

[Alicia Menendez]

Andrew Weissman, let's talk about Dan Bongino, because the co, the deputy director of the FBI now has a co deputy director. That was the big news today. Missouri AG Andrew Bailey, a vote of no confidence. What do you think that is? How unusual is that?

[Andrew Weissman]

Well, I was the general counsel of the FBI. I have never heard of having a two deputy directors, whether under a Democratic or Republican administration. It is a clear sign that this administration picked somebody who they think is unqualified and incapable of doing the job, which is why they're putting in and layering with a second person. My biggest concern is that now you have not one, not two, but three people who will be in the top leadership positions of the FBI. Not a single one was an FBI agent and doesn't have sort of the, the experience and gravitas to be leading that agency. This is not a job that you sort of learn on the job. You're supposed to have that experience and that judgment to keep the country safe. This is just clearly a sign that they were not acting in the best interest of this particular agency, but more importantly, of the public at large. And this is a real sign that they know that that was a failure.

[Alicia Menendez]

Thank you both for helping us.

[Rachel Maddow]

And if I could add something. Elisa. Yeah, please, Quickly, real quick. Just on this, it's so unusual that they wouldn't just fire Bongino and it makes you think that he has something on Trump that they do not want him to reveal, which he may do if he is actually fired. But if he remains in office, he's much less likely to do that.

[Alicia Menendez]

Congressman Dan Goldman, Andrew Weissman, connecting what is happening in Texas to the DOJ to the FBI. Thank you both so much for getting us started. And when we come back, residents of D.C. drive Donald Trump's immigration forces out of their neighborhoods. We're going to look at that and other examples of pushback that is working right after quick break.

[Nicole Wallace]

Saturday, October 11th. From New York City, it's MSNBC Live 25. Join your favorite MSNBC hosts, Rachel Maddow, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brusinski, Nicole Wallace, Ari Melber, Alicia Menendez, Simone Sanders Townsend, Michael Steele, Chris Haynes, jen Psaki, Lawrence O', Donnell, Stephanie Rule, and more. Visit msnbc.comlive25 to buy your tickets today.

[Alicia Menendez]

This was the scene last night in Columbia Heights neighborhood in Washington, D.C. a neighborhood I once lived in, as a massive crowd of D.C. residents booed and chanted Ice, go home. And a group of federal agents. Those agents had been stationed outside of the Columbia Heights Metro station. But as the crowd chanted and mocked and shamed them, they returned to their vehicles and left. All over the country, people are pushing back against Trump's immigration agenda. And in some places, that pushback is working. On Monday, a federal judge dismissed part of a lawsuit against the Everglades Immigration Prison in Florida that Trump calls Alligator Alcatraz. But that piece of that case wasn't dismissed because it lacked merit. It was dismissed because the pressure from the case had already forced the Trump administration to correct the issue. For a month and a half, the Everglades Prison has been an illegal black hole. Hundreds of immigrants were being detained there. But when they tried to get bond hearings, hearings to contest their detention, they were given the runaround instead. Take this man, for example, Gonzalo Almanza. Last month, his lawyer actually managed to get a bond hearing on the books. When they arrived for that hearing, a court staffer told her the hearing was canceled. She told me, the hearing is not moving forward. In fact, there is no hearing.

[Amy Klobuchar]

So I called the clerk of court.

[Alicia Menendez]

And she said the court has no jurisdiction over this matter. No jurisdiction, she says, simply because her client is at the Everglades State run facility. See, federal immigration judges say they didn't have jurisdiction over the facility because it was state run. But there is no state run immigration court system. So the people imprisoned at the Everglades facility, they had nowhere to turn. So a consortium of legal groups like the aclu, Americans for Immigrant justice, they sued, saying, quote, this is an unprecedented situation where hundreds of detainees are held incommunicado with no ability to access the courts under legal authority that has never been explained and may not exist. On Monday, that case finally had its day in court. And immediately, right off the bat, government lawyers started the hearing by saying they would designate the Everglades facility as being under the jurisdiction of the federal immigration court system. Once the Trump administration actually had to answer to a judge for the legal black hole that they have created, they caved. That, my friends, is pushback working. Earlier this month, Trump Attorney General Pam Bondi sent letters to more than 30 sanctuary states, cities and counties across this country, places that are refusing to assist in Trump's federal immigration crackdown, threatening that she would, quote, come after them if they didn't change course, literally threatening to prosecute and imprison governors, mayors, police chiefs with criminal charges if they did not comply. She gave the leaders of those states, cities and counties until yesterday to respond to that threat. And respond they did. California Governor Gavin Newsom said we will not be bullied into relinquishing our sovereignty. Washington state Governor Bob Ferguson said that he was prepared to defend his state from any litigation Bondi wishes to purs and added that Bondi's threat to criminally prosecute state officials embarrasses and disgraces the office of the United States Attorney General. Oregon Governor Tina Kotak said she will fight for the safety and prosperity of every Oregonian from recent immigrants to people who have been here for generations. And Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, well, she had this to say. Unlike the Trump administration, Boston follows the.

[Rachel Maddow]

Law.

[Amy Klobuchar]

And Boston will not back down.

[Alicia Menendez]

From who we are and what we stand for. All across the country, from folks who are showing up on that corner in Washington, D.C. to elected leaders who are saying not in our name, people are outraged how Trump is treating immigrants. And all across the country, people are pushing back up. Next, we're going to take you to Texas, where the state Republicans just jammed through gerrymandered Washington maps at Trump's request and talked to a state representative who spent last night in the Capitol about what happens next. And later, Senator Amy Klobuchar on Donald Trump's dangerous foreign policy. Stay with us.

[Rachel Maddow]

88 ayes and 52 nays. House Bill 4 is finally passed.

[Alicia Menendez]

Earlier tonight, Republicans in the Texas House of Representatives passed their new Trump sanctioned congressional maps that aim to give Republicans more seats in Congress ahead of the 2026 midterms. Despite various efforts by Texas Democrats to block the gerrymandering, including leaving the state for two weeks to deny a quorum, they eventually traveled back to Texas. This week and tonight the maps passed, which means that tomorrow the bill goes to the Texas Senate, where it will likely pass and land on Governor Greg Abbott's desk. But this also means that tomorrow, California lawmakers will follow suit, vote on their own counterweight efforts, a congressional map designed to flip as many as five Republican held seats to Democrats. However, unlike Texas, California voters themselves will have the final say in whether this gets approved. And worth noting, President Obama has endorsed this approach. Yesterday at a fundraiser, Obama voiced his support over Governor Newsom's plan, saying, quote, given that Texas is taking direction from a partisan White House that is effectively saying gerrymander for partisan purposes so we can maintain the House despite our unpopular policies. I have tremendous respect for how Governor Newsom has approached this. He said this is going to be responsible. We're not going to try to completely maximize it. We're only going to do it if and when Texas and or other Republican states begin to pull these maneuvers. Joining me now is Texas State Representative Mihaila Plisa, vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus. It is good to see you and good to have you here. Listen, I know when you all came back to the state of Texas, there was an effort to sell this as a victory. That you're being away for weeks had created a groundswell where California, New York, they were now getting serious about doing the same, going toe to toe with Greg Abbott. Given that this has now passed through the House where you are, does it. Does it still feel like a victory?

[Mihaila Plisa]

Look, this is definitely a victory. Texas Democrats have started a nationwide movement, and we're, you know, we're taking the. The fight to the bad guys. We have to fight fire with fire. And so I do think it was a victory. We knew as members of the minority party that we were not going to be able to kill this map indefinitely. But what we did know is that we had to get the story out. We had to let people know what was happening. And so I'm very proud to be a Texas Democrat, and I'm proud of the nationwide movement that we started.

[Alicia Menendez]

I know that there is the expectation that Senate Democrats are going to filibuster this, that there is still room to at least pump the brakes. Do you feel like there is any rabbit yet to be pulled out of a hat?

[Mihaila Plisa]

Look, I think the battle isn't over. We have to take this to the court. And I feel very confident that these maps will be found unconstitutional under the second section of the Voting Rights Act. So I do think that we have a very good case in the courts. But then we take the battle to the ballot box. I think that Texans, whether you're a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, they are astonished by what they're seeing. Lawmakers being locked in the chamber, having security DPS following us to the, to the CBS to get a toothbrush. This is Untexan, this is un American, and everybody should be paying attention to what's happening.

[Alicia Menendez]

And that is why you were ripping up your permission slip earlier today. Because you and I may be young, but we are too old for that level of supervision before the final Passage. You had Republican state Rep. Katrina Pierson, who's a former Trump campaign aide, she said on the House floor that Democrats are being racist by opposing these maps. She also said that the maps, quote, eliminate gerrymandering in many parts of Texas, which makes me wonder if she knows what it is that she is voting on. Your response to her accusation?

[Mihaila Plisa]

Look, Katrina wants to run in one of these districts that just has been drawn. So that's why she had to make this, this speech on the House floor and say that she believes that these maps aren't racist. Look, these are the most racist gerrymandered maps Texas has passed since the 1960s and the passage of the Voting Rights Act. And everybody knows it. Everybody knows that they've used some kind of AI technology to suppress the votes of communities of color. They're putting high voting Anglos with low propensity Hispanic and African American voters. And so they know what they're doing. This is a blatant power grab and everybody should be paying attention. And really, the Republican Party of Texas should be ashamed of themselves. Look, we never got locked in the chamber when children were killed in schools in Texas. We never got locked in the chamber when hundreds of Texans died because we couldn't keep the lights on because our grid failed during a winter storm. And we never got locked in the chamber when the global pandemic of COVID ravaged our state and our governor wanted to keep businesses open. So this is a blatant power grab. This is our governor bending the knee to Donald Trump. And I think all Texans should be embarrassed by what the governor has allowed to happen in our state.

[Alicia Menendez]

One of the things that was happening earlier today that I thought was interesting was you had an amendment that Democrats introduced before these maps were a pass. If it had been a adopted, the amendment would block the new gerrymandered map from going into effect until there was a complete release of the Epstein files. As you know, Republicans didn't even allow debate on this amendment. That feels to me like them telling on themselves.

[Mihaila Plisa]

Absolutely. You hit it right on the head. Look, these Republicans want to tell us that we broke quorum and we vacated our seats and we did something wrong. No, we did what was given to us by our founders in the Texas Constitution. What D.C. republicans did was walk off the floor because they didn't want to vote on these Epstein files because they know that their king is on these lists. They know that he's in there and they know that it's really bad. They know that it's very bad and it's nothing that they can ever make an excuse for and they want to hide it. And that is what people need to be paying attention. It's not us trying to break quorum to prevent racist gerrymandered maps. It's the Republicans trying to pull the wool over Texans and Americans eyes as to what they're trying to hide.

[Alicia Menendez]

We have less than a minute left. But tomorrow, you hand the ball to California. You tell them to run as far as they can with it. What is your message to people in the Golden State?

[Mihaila Plisa]

I think that they need to fight fire with fire. I think that all, all of us need to do what we can to get in the way. Look, when our constitution was signed, they said, what do we have? And we heard a republic if you can keep it. And I'm calling on all Americans, not just those in California, all Americans. We have to fight for this republic and we must keep it.

[Alicia Menendez]

Texas State Representative Mihaila Plisa, you have had a heck of a day. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us. Talk with us. Coming up next, Trump seems to think his summit meeting was with Putin went really well. But what if he wants what he wants from Russia? Next is facing pushback from Russia. We're going to talk about that and more with Senator Amy Klobuchar. Stick with us. Just days after President Donald Trump wrapped up his summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, his next step toward chasing some sort of win from it, a second summit, this one between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But in the past 24 hours, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov poured a bit of cold water on that notion, telling Russian state media only that any contacts involving top officials should be prepared very carefully. Lavrov also criticized European leaders from meeting with Trump to deter the president from being too conciliatory to Russia. And perhaps most significantly, signaled that Russia would not like to see an international security guarantee for Ukraine occur without their input. Saying that to discuss security guarantees seriously without Russia is a road to nowhere. Joining us now, Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat from Minnesota. Yeah, I know. I agree with that head wag. Because if you have Russia insisting on playing a role in any efforts to guarantee security for Ukraine. I wonder what you make of that when you have the president floating the possibility of sort of a NATO inspired Article 5 like guarantee without the NATO membership.

[Amy Klobuchar]

Well, thanks for having me on, Alicia. Here's the thing with Vladimir Putin is the guy, you can't trust him. Okay. Which is exactly why so many of us wanted to go into this first with a ceasefire, because then that puts us in a better place to negotiate. I am glad this meeting happened. I'm glad the Europeans showed up with such force to give support to President Zelensky. But what you see is Russia now backing down on two fronts. One was the original idea, which wasn't a bad one, of a trilateral meeting with President Trump and with Zelensky and with Putin. And now they're saying, I don't know. And then today you see the very powerful Russian foreign minister saying, well, now we want to be part of a security guarantee. Picture this, right? This is whatever agreement can be worked out and what the boundaries are, which is a big if. We must have what they're calling the coalition of the willing. And today, dozens of countries throughout Europe and elsewhere have agreed to be part of this, which is a good thing. But Russia cannot have veto power, as they've suggested, over how that security looks. The idea is you set the boundaries, you set the agreements, you do everything you can, like you would do to end other wars. But then Ukraine must have its own security set. And since they are not part of NATO, the idea would do to have a NATO type organization, which, by the way, long before Donald Trump said this, the Europeans have been pushing this, the Germans, the Italians, the French and the British for a very long time and have been willing to put up troops, a number of them.

[Alicia Menendez]

So the stakes here, I don't need to tell you, I don't need to tell our viewers, very high. We're talking about the global order, we're talking about democracy. But this is also very personal for a lot of people. You've sponsored a bipartisan bill along with Senator Chuck Grassley, pushing for the return thousands of Ukrainian children that have been taken by Russia. As you know, there's a lot of speculation in the lead up to last week's summit that the return of those children could be among the most likely concessions that would be made. That we were living in a different world at the time where we thought they could possibly be having that conversation. But I do wonder, given that there is the possibility of a trilateral meeting on the horizon, if you think those talks could provide a route to actually get some of those kids home to.

[Amy Klobuchar]

Their families, those kids have to come home first, because otherwise you send a message that kids can be a bargaining chip in some kind of agreement to end any war. And that would then, of course, encourage combatants to steal kids, in this case, just to show you the evil of what Vladimir Putin has done 20,000 kids, some of them sent by their parents in Ukraine who want a peaceful summer. And they say, hey, we'll take these kids in just for a summer camp. And then they don't give them back. Or kids snatched in war torn areas. Some of these are babies. They are never. Right now, they've been gone for years. They don't even remember their Ukrainian heritage. They're basically trying to wipe their culture off the map and wipe their memories of their Ukrainian families off the map. It's an outrage. And I would add, while I appreciate so much that the first lady sent a letter to Putin about kids, this was all good. However, there has been funding from the State Department to pay to track the kids with a nonprofit. That funding was extended through June by the urging of Senator Grassley and I, and then it's been cut and the groups had to resort to crowdsourcing here in the US that's going to get them through October. So if they're serious about tracking these kids, they have to put the funding into making sure, which is a very small amount compared to other expenditures, that we know where these kids are.

[Alicia Menendez]

So I want to take a sort of hard pivot here because you had an op ed that you published today in the New York Times about AI, artificial intelligence, deepfake technology. You give just a great illustrative example about there being a fake video of you talking about the Sydney Sweeney jeans ad. I know you have strong opinions on that and right though I could immediately tell that someone used footage from the hearing to make a deep fake, There was no getting around the fact that it looked and sounded very real. As anyone would, I wanted the video taken down or at least labeled digitally altered content. It was using my likeness to stow controversy where it did not exist. It had me saying vile things. Just give us a sense of how dangerous this could be and how in actually having to work through this yourself, you realize there's not a ton of recourse here.

[Amy Klobuchar]

This took days. It got well over a million views and X would never take it down. And they wouldn't market as digitally altered, which is what Meta did. TikTok did take it down, but X just let it run its course. And the problem is that I saw online a bunch of people think it's real, just saying vile, vile things. And then also there are the studies have shown and this would hurt any elected official, Democrat or Republican, that once, even when they know it's fake and they see you saying this stuff, it alters their perception of you and that's what we're going to start seeing in our democracy. If some rules of the road aren't put in place, Congress has to stand up. I've done a number of bills on this. I did pass one with Ted Cruz about taking down non consensual porn. But there are, we must go much bigger than that in terms of, of having labeling for some of these that might be protected by the Constitution, but they should at least say digitally altered. That'll let people know it's fake. And then some of them are just plain trash. They're deep fakes and they are not protected speech and they should be taken down.

[Alicia Menendez]

Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you so much for being with us.

[Amy Klobuchar]

Great to be on. Alicia, thanks for your good work.

[Alicia Menendez]

Thank you. Coming up, a story of rescue and redemption that puts the lie to the old saying no news is good news. That is next in 2025. It is important to grab onto anything that could legitimately be described as good news, especially when the good news is about the news. Two weeks ago, more than 30 communities across the west and Midwest learned that they were losing their local newspapers. That's because their shared owner, a publishing corporation that once touted itself as the voice of of small town America, abruptly shut down, citing financial problems. Overnight, hundreds of journalists lost their jobs. In the majority of those small towns, they lost their primary, if not their only source of news. Unfortunately, this is an increasingly common occurrence. Roughly two and a half newspapers disappear each week, transforming small towns across this country into news deserts. But today, we have some good news to report. A dozen of those newspapers across Wyoming and South Dakota have officially been saved. Two new buyers stepped up to purchase them. They are set to start publishing again. One of the new buyers said she stepped in because, quote, we believe in the importance of a newspaper in a community. We know that in communities without newspapers that civic engagement goes down. And importantly, that civic engagement also played a crucial role in saving some of the paper. An editor of one of the revived papers specifically credited their significant readership as the reason buyers were able to see enough of an ongoing profitability to purchase them. It's a powerful reminder. Anyone can play a role in ensuring the survival of local journalism and the robust civic life it makes possible. That does it for me tonight. I will see you tomorrow, 7pm Eastern.

[Nicole Wallace]

On the weekend, MSNBC presents the chart topping original podcast, the Best People with Nicole Wallace. Each week, Nicole speaks with some of the people who inspire her the most. This week, she sits down with podcaster John Lovett. The more you can make that big.

[Amy Klobuchar]

Group of pro democracy Americans feel like they're part of one big movement.

[Alicia Menendez]

The more powerful that gets and the.

[Amy Klobuchar]

More success we'll have.

[Nicole Wallace]

The best people with Nicole Wallace. Listen now, wherever you get your podcasts.