← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
How Hegseth's reckless firing spree could backfire on Trump
00:40:38
Nancy Lacore was serving as a vice admiral in the U.S. Navy when she was fired as part of former weekend cable news host Pete Hegseth's anti-diversity purge of military leadership. But now Lacore is a promising new candidate for Congress, winning the Democratic primary runoff for South Carolina's 1st Congressional District while on the air with Jen Psaki, and with control of the House in the balance, Trump may regret Hegseth's crusade.
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America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms, but progress isn't guaranteed. Today. Those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The Freedom From Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs, with we the people. Visit FFRF US MSNOW or text MSNOW to 511511. Text MSNOW to 511511 and keep state and church separate. Text fees may apply.
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I'm Cyndi Lauper with fellow Cosentyx advocate Chef Michelle Bernstein.
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We'll share our experiences with plaque psoriasis with psoriatic arthritis, and Dr. Panico will talk about the possible connection.
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ability to fight them may occur. Like tuberculosis or other serious bacterial, fungal
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or viral infections, some are fatal. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms like fevers, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough had a vaccine
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or planned to, or if inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen serious allergic
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Learn more at 1-844-cosentyx or or cosentix.com
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Cindy
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There's a lot of politics happening. They've already been talking about it. You've probably been following it. There are primaries tonight in Maryland, in Utah and South Carolina, and a bunch of hotly contested primaries in New York, where polls just closed at 9:00pm Eastern Time at the top of the hour. And we're gonna bring you the results from all of those big races as they start to come in. Ali Velshi's of course, at the Big Board. And we're also gonna talk about what it all means for both parties heading into the fall. But tonight we got our first big result already out of the primary to be the Republican candidate for governor in South Carolina. And in that race, Trump endorsed candidate Alan Wilson has defeated Trump endorsed candidate Pamela Everett. Now you may be wondering why were there two Trump endorsed candidates in that race? What is going on there? Well, Trump initially endorsed one candidate, Pamela Everett, but at the very last minute, when it of course became clear his candidate would lose, he decided to endorse the other candidate as well. And if that sounds Completely stupid to you. Well, that's because it is completely stupid. Now, after the race was called, Trump, without a hint of irony, of course, even posted this graphic you can see on your screen celebrating the victory with the words, alan Wilson wins and endorsed by President Trump. And quite a grimacey, frowny face there on Trump's face. The thing is about all of this is that Donald Trump is obsessed with the power of his endorsement and has therefore been trying to rewrite history anytime his endorsement doesn't prove to be all that powerful. This wasn't a one off today. I mean, he did a version of the same thing in Iowa. When his preferred candidate for governor lost Iowa's Republican primary, Trump immediately declared that the whole thing was actually a big mix up, saying, quote, had I been given the proper information, which I don't think I was, I probably would have endorsed the other person. The other person was much more Trump. Okay, then Trump then did the same thing. When his preferred candidate lost in the Republican primary for Georgia governor. He wrote to the winning candidate, congratulations to Rick Jackson, who very successfully campaigned on being Trump and won. He will be your next governor of Georgia. Can't wait. It's kind of the heads I win, tails you lose version of Republican primary endorsements. And the crazy part of it is Trump isn't exactly wrong, because none of the candidates who won without Trump's endorsements were running on an anti Trump platform. They were all running on the same MAGA agenda. They praised Trump, they echoed his policies. One even explicitly compared himself to Trump in his TV ads. Those candidates will be unavoidably linked to him and his toxic agenda in November. And even as Trump's poll numbers sink and his disgraceful behavior becomes harder to ignore, the overwhelming majority of Republican primary candidates still bend the knee at times in an incredibly cringy manner. I am looking at you, John Cornyn. I'm sorry. All to the same failing president. And you'll definitely hear analysis out there say that the same dynamics are playing out in both parties, that partisan primaries are dragging Republicans further to the MAGA right and Democrats further the left. That it's all the same. It's all a part of the same exact trend. You almost certainly hear some pundits say that after tonight's primaries in New York, either it's a sign Democrats should absolutely nominate a Democratic socialist or else for president, or a sign that the Democratic socialist wing of the party is on its way out, depending on the results. But either way, that's a pretty unsophisticated piece of analysis. Because the truth is, the Democratic Party does not have the same problem the Republican Party has, where the only way to win is to be so uniformly the same. The only way to win is to pledge support to one dear leader or one way of governing or one policy agenda. And tonight's Democratic primary elections in New York are actually a perfect example of a party that is not beholden to one single ideology. Now, to be sure, there is a big fight brewing in some districts in New York City over which faction of the progressive left will represent America's largest city in Congress. In two New York City districts, New York Mayor Zoran Mamdani has backed primary challenges to incumbent members of Congress. That's interesting. Congressman Dan Goldman is facing a challenge from former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. And Congressman Adriano Espaillat is facing a challenge from Democratic Socialist Darieliza Avila Chevalier. And in the open seat to replace retiring Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez, Democratic Socialist Claire Valdez has the backing of Mayor Imam Dani as well, while Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso has the backing of more established New York Democrats. And that's interesting. Those couple of races, all of these races are, of course, somewhat of a test for Mayor Mamdani and the rising Democratic Socialist movement in New York. And they're also a test for more establishment Democrats on whether they are in touch with what Democratic voters are looking for. And these particular races, and this is interesting, too, have all centered on an issue where there has been some movement to the left within the Democratic Party writ large, ending military aid to Israel. But the thing is, not even all New York City primary battles are being waged along the same lines. So look at the race to replace retiring Congressman Jerry Nadler in a district which includes parts of the Upper east side and then the Upper west side. Now, most of the leading candidates in that race have declined to say whether or not they will vote against additional aid to Israel. Most of the leading candidates in that race are not the ones who have been on TV the most, either. That's also interesting. And just north of the city, there's also a hotly contested primary to see who will take on Republican Congressman Mike Lawler. And that is a race where Democrats have a real chance of picking up a seat. Polling and fundraising suggest that the race is a contest between army veteran Kate Connelly and local legislator Beth Davidson. Well, there's another more progressive candidate who is trailing in recent polls. We'll see what happens tonight. Republicans have even launched their own attack ads to try and sink the more moderate candidate in that race. Which isn't obviously something they would have to do if New York Democrats were already inclined to pick the most progressive candidate available to them, no matter what district it is. And it's not like this sleepy district. This is some sleepy district, Mike Lawler's district. It's not like it's a district where Democratic voters are less active than in other places. I mean, we've watched Mike Lawler face chants of shame from angry organized constituents. Remember this? Who showed up to town halls in his district. It's only a district he won back in 2022. The point is just because Democratic voters are motivated doesn't mean they are all being driven by the same ideology. The Democratic party is a big ten party. It's a party committed to democracy and a diversity of viewpoints. A party that can elect very different leaders for very different constituencies. And the Republican party is the party of one unpopular, toxic lame duck 80 year old man. Let's get straight to msnow's chief data reporter Ali Velshi, who of course is standing by at the big board for us tonight. Ally, no, we're already seeing all of us, a lot of numbers out of New York. And I'm hearing we already have one to call. Tell us what's happening.
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Dan Goldman is the first Democratic incumbent in the country to go down to defeat from an outside challenger. Brad Lander has been called as the candidate for New York District 10. Brad Lander, of course, these are all very, very Democratic districts, which means Brad Lander is most likely to become the next congressman. Now I want to just go to the counties because New York 10 has got part of southern Manhattan and part of Brooklyn. Take a look at the spread here. With 36% of the vote in, Brad Lander's got 68.4 to 31% in Brooklyn. And if you go to southern Manhattan, very wealthy part of Manhattan. Brad Lander is leading there as well, 52% to 47%. So that race has been decided. We have called that in the other two districts that are being contested with Joran Mamdani's backing. In District 13, Adriana Espailed has just taken the lead. But it's very, very close. It's a lead of 26 votes with 26% in his. His challenger, Dariel Eliza Avila Chevalier is backed by Zoran Mandani. But we are expecting this to be substantially closer OB than New York 10 was. But this is their two incumbents are being challenged in the third district, which is New York 7, there is no incumbent here. This is Nidia Velasquez's district. She's retired. We got two challengers here. Claire Valdez is endorsed by Zoran Mamnani and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Right now, with 30% of the vote in, she's got 52.2%. Antonio Reynoso, who you were talking about, has got 39.5% of the vote and he's endorsed by the Workers Party. So they're both, they're not that far off ideologically. This is a pretty liberal district, but we're going to watch that one very closely. In New York 12, you were just talking about this. Michael Lasher has taken the lead. You said the leading candidates here, the ones who are going to win are not names most people have heard of. Michael Lasher performing very well on the Upper west side. Alex Boris, also thought as being a major contender in this one, is polling very well on the Upper east side of Manhattan. Jack Kennedy Schlossberg has only got 11% of the vote in now and 41% of the vote is already in. In total, George Conway, former Republican Trump antagonist, coming in at 7.7% of the vote right now. This is thought of and is likely to be a contest between Lasher and Alex Boris again. In all of these Manhattan districts, they have one thing in common. Whoever wins this will probably be the next member of Congress from these districts come November. So we have one call already and it is in New York 10. Brad Lander has won that race. Dan Goldman has gone down to defeat.
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C
Ali Vilshi. Thank you as always. We're going to be checking back in with you. Those are pretty. That was a pretty fast call, I think, from what we were expecting and some numbers coming in. So we'll keep in very close touch with you about all of it. Now, I want to turn to two people who I am dying to talk to about the races in New York. They're people I ask questions about the races in New York all the time. Liz Smith is a veteran Democratic strategist who I should say is also an advisor to the Democratic group the Bench, which is supporting Kate Connelly's campaign In New York's 17th congressional district, along with Morris Katz, who served as a campaign strategist for Zoram Dani's mayoral campaign and is now advising multiple candidates on the ballot in New York tonight, including Assemblymember Michael Lasher, Brad Lander, and Assemblymember Claire Valdez. Okay, I don't know that we were even expecting to have numbers to really talk about quite yet. But we've seen some numbers. Obviously we haven't seen them across the district and they come in at different paces as we know. But Liz, let me start with you. What are you watching for tonight and any takeaways from what we've seen so far?
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So a few things. There's a New York specific story. How big are how long are Mayor Mamdani's coattails? Morris is an advisor to the mayor and I'm sure we'll talk more about that to how much does institutional power still matter? There are a bunch of candidates tonight like Antonio Reynoso, like Adriano Espaillat who had backing of labor of the traditional institutions, Michael Lasher in New York 12, who you mentioned and how much do those institutional powers still matter? And then third, you talked a little bit about New York 17, the one swing district, the one race that will control, that will dictate the control of the House in November. And I'm looking to see what are swing Democrats looking for in their candidates and what does the path to a majority look like? Cuz that path to a majority will run through New York's 17th district, no question about it.
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C
And Mike Lawler, he's not been there that long. I'm just going to remind people he only won that seat a couple of years ago. Let me turn to you, Morris. I mean some of these races you're involved in, some of them you're very closely engaged with. What's your takeaway from the numbers we know so far and what are you watching for tonight?
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E
I mean, I think a lot of people were posing a question about the results tonight in terms of what it meant about the mayor. And I think the fact that we have a call of unseating an incumbent congressman before we're even finished with the first segment says a lot about that. And I think it's that people are incredibly enthusiastic about the work the mayor's done as mayor and about his vision for a Democratic Party that fights for what it believes in, that has principles and convictions and an ambitious agenda to kind of meet the needs of working people. I think what Liz said is absolutely true, that they're seeing a real friction of kind of the the status quo and establishment and a new vision for a party. And so far from the results we're seeing coming in, people are really, really excited about a different vision for a party that is more populous, that is more bold, and that is going to not just take the fight to Donald Trump, but also have a vision for the Democratic Party that extends beyond him
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C
to the point on institutions you were making. I think some people have set this up as really a proxy fight between the mayor and Leader Jeffries. Do you think that is over cranked, Liz? What do you make of that setup?
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B
I think it is a little over cranked. I really see it as the mayor flexing his political capital. He had a stunning win in the Democratic primary for mayor. Full disclosure, I ranked him there and I voted for him proudly in the general election. And he's maintained his popularity, which is not an easy thing to do in New York City. And a really impressive thing about Mayor Mamdani is that he has defied all of the caricatures that people had of him and defied all expectations that people had that he would somehow be anti police, let the city go to hell, and has shown that he has a really good manager and has shown an ability to work with Congressman Jeffries as well. Are they maybe on the opposite side of some races? Yes, but that happens in politics. And Jen, to the point you raised at the beginning of your show, is this is the Democratic Party. We are not the Republican Party. This is not a party that is held captive by a cult of personality that is loyal to only one person, like the Republican Party is to Donald Trump. And we should embrace the fact that, that we are a big tent party, that we can be a party of Zoran Wamdani, we can be a party of Hakeem Jeffries. Maybe we're a party of Kate Conley in the Hudson Valley. And that is a party that can build a durable majority everywhere.
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C
Let me ask you something, because there's no question we don't know yet, Maurice, but obviously the Brad Lander win is significant from Mayor Mamdani's endorsement. There are two other races. Everybody is certainly watching there. You obviously have been an advisor to him, but you've advised Democrats all across the country with a range of different views. I sort of tried to get a little bit ahead of this analysis I could see coming tomorrow, which is that what this means is that a Democratic socialist should be the presidential nominee because they can win across the country. What say you to that?
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E
Well, I would look forward to seeing Liz work for them, but other than that, I think that what Liz said is exactly right, is if we're going to win and what makes our party unique compared to the other side is a big tent. And I think what we have right now all too often is a big tent that is emphasized on the wrong uniting factors. It's a big tent that is scared to challenge the status quo. It is a big tent that is scared to go after APAC or to go after corporate special interests or too hesitant to back working class candidates. What we can have is a big tent that meets the needs and reflects the districts that also opposes the status quo. And I think, you know, whether that's Kate Conley in New York or candidates across the country, you know, I was talking to someone the other day, I was saying I believe we can have a tent that's big enough for Claire Valdez and for Sherrod Brown. And that's a party that brings a lot of people in and that's really exciting. And I think is the in some ways what the mayor has embodied throughout his term here is he's both fighting for bold, progressive solutions like universal childcare, but he's also paved over 100,000 potholes. And we can both believe in a government that is effective, a government that is efficient, a government that meets people where they are and we can dream big. And I think there should be room in the party for all of it. And tonight looks like it's going to be a good step in that direction.
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C
Yeah, it's interesting. I mean, there sometimes is a perception that his election and his governing means it's burned everything down. And actually that's not how he has governed entirely. He's certainly put a lot of change in place, gotten a lot of things done, but that's not been the motto. Liz, let me ask you about, because there's no question that there has been movement on the left. We have seen that even in votes, an increasing number of Democrats voting against providing additional assistance to Israel in the aftermath of the war in Gaza. What do you think the takeaways from what we know now or what could they be from tonight? What are you watching for in that regard?
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I don't think it's even on the left. I think it's throughout the Democratic Party and really across the political spectrum. I think people saw the overreach and the heavy handed response from Benjamin Netanyahu after October 7 and were horrified by it. As much as Israel has been an ally in the past, there's no excusing what he did after October 7th. And I've really rarely seen that sort of shift in perception of another country like we've seen with Israel. And I would just say it really isn't among just the left. And I think for any Democrats running this cycle, running in future cycles, the days of just being A reflexive cheerleader for Israel. Regardless of who leads the country, what military campaigns they're waging, those days are gone. Those days are gone. And as long as Benjamin Netanyahu is in power, the Democratic Party's relationship with Israel is going to be very strained.
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Even if there's somebody else in power and they continue the same policies, we will say, and that's very fair. It's not just one. It's the Democrats in general. Let me ask you, Morris. I mean, Liz mentioned, of course, Mike Lawler's race. This is the race. I mean, these primaries are so interesting, lots to take from them, but that is the race that if Democrats are to win back the House, it's a very viable pickup. What does that race look like? What do you think it should look like in terms of how Democrats run against him? He's been trying to kind of say he's independent of Trump, but he welcomed Trump to the district. There's a lot of dynamics going on there, I should say.
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E
I think you're seeing this across the country where we've talked about Maine before, similar to Susan Collins playbook of it's an inda to claim to independence that in no way is backed up by any fact. You know, Mike Lawler is one of Donald Trump's biggest cheerleaders in Congress from a voting standpoint. And occasionally going on CNN and criticizing him in a cheap, fake way doesn't change that fact. And I think we need Democrats. And I think Kate Conley, if she's the nominee, will be someone who will be able to make this case, who can call out that fraudulence and who are not scared to and who also can call out the corruption. And this is one of the things that bothers me most about Mike Lawler, and there are many is Mike Lawler is a care political operative. The idea that he's anything other than an embodiment of everything people hate about politics, you know, sleazy creature of Albany is a myth. And we need candidates who are able to kind of make that contrast clear and who can't be attacked in the same way. And so I think, you know, Mike Lawler is going to lose because he can no longer hide in this political climate and because I think the candidates we have to go up against him this year are really strong and going to make that case aggressively.
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C
And can I get the last word?
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Go ahead.
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Go ahead, Liz. Yeah, go ahead.
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B
Yeah, so, and that's a Morris really great point. And you know, Kate Conley might not be the type of candidate that you would necessarily work for. But she's not dissimilar in that she brings a completely different background to the table. There is nothing about her that screams politician. She has devoted her entire life to service. She's been in the military. She's one of the first women leaders of special operations, deployed six times, three bronze stars, and her first job in the military was as a military police officer. We know that tomorrow Mike Lawler's gonna go out and try to say she's dsa. She is Zoran Momdani in a costume or something like that. But it's gonna be pretty hard to say that someone whose first job was as a military police officer is some sort of Brooklyn socialist. And her life is devoted to service. His is devoted to politics. And I think as Democrats, we all
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C
gotta say bring Liz Smith, Morris Katz, I will say you both have worked for all sorts of different candidates and continue to. And I think it's interesting to talk about what the qualities are that kind of make winning candidates. So thank you both for being here. Appreciate it.
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Thank you. We're just waiting for a tent big enough for me and Liz Smith.
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C
There you go. Well, I'll invite you to dinner, both of you together. We can all hash it out. Okay, we're gonna like a fine, fine. We are gonna keep tracking these numbers out of New York all hour long. We're gonna go back to Ally Velshi and we're talking about the national for Democrats come November. Senator Raphael Warnock is standing by and he joins me next.
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America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms. But progress isn't guaranteed. Today, those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The Freedom from Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs with we the people. Visit FFRF US MSNOW or text MSNOW to 511-511-Text MSNOW to 511-51-511 and keep state and church separate. Text fees may apply.
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C
We have Senator Raphael Warnock sitting here. I cannot wait to talk to him. But we have a quick race call so I'm going to go to Ali Velshi for more details on that.
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Of the three districts in which Zoran Mamdani has supported a candidate, he is now up by two. In District 70 in New York, Claire Valdez, the Mamdani endorsed candidate, has been declared the winner there by the Associated Press. She will again, by virtue of the fact that this is one of the most liberal districts in the entire country, likely be the next member of Congress from New York's seventh District. As we already told you, Brad Lander was declared the victor In New York 10, defeating an incumbent, Dan Goldman. Dan Goldman is the first incumbent Democratic incumbent who has lost his seat from an outside challenger. Two other incumbents had lost their seats in Texas, but both of them were either challenged by another incumbent or someone who had been redistricted in or somebody who was in Congress prior. We're still watching very closely. District 13 in New York, 62% of the vote in. I just want to tell you something, something interesting here. This is northern Manhattan and the Bronx. The Bronx part of it is being won by Adriano Aspay, the incumbent. Right now he's got 60% to Darieliza Avila Chevalier's 32%. But if you go into the northern Manhattan part of things, she's leading with 50% to 44.9%. Again, there's not enough here to declare who's going to be winning there. And in New York 12, Michael Lasher. This is 73% of the vote in, but it's pretty close. Michael Lasher has 39%. Alex Boris is 35%. It's going to be one of these two, Jack Schlossberger. Bloomberg's still hanging around under 11%. And George Conway has now moved into fifth place there. So it is going to be, as you characterized earlier, one of these two guys whose names are not nationally known. Jen.
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C
Ali Velshi, we're going to keep checking in with you. There's another incumbent member of Congress. Well, I'll be watching Closely there and see what happens. Thank you again. While we continue to pay attention to and cover another election night in America, I wanted to talk about something related, but slightly different. I mean, do you remember, remember how big of a scandal it was when Trump called Georgia's Secretary of State and told him to fine Trump 12,000 more votes after the 2020 election? A sitting president asking an official to help him cheat, to help him win an election he did not win. Now, that call was secret. It had to be leaked to the press. And now Trump is bragging about how he is pressuring officials to help him meddle in our elections. He's blurting stuff like this out at his rallies.
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D
I called up the very powerful, very good U.S. attorney in California and I
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said, do me a favor, take a look.
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D
They're trying to steal that election, too.
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C
Do me a favor, do me a favor. That's an alarming thing coming out of his mouth. Now, we don't know for certain, but we assume that the U.S. attorney in California Trump wanted a favor from was this guy, Bill Sale, who, after Trump started baselessly alleging California's primary elections were rigged, announced multiple election fraud investigations in California. Despite no evidence of any fraud. It's very clear that Trump is trying to breathe new life into the Big Lie. It's clear that he is trying to use his power as president to spread misinformation and fear and suppress votes. But it's also clear that people are not going to sit around and take it. They are fighting back all across the country. Yesterday, a new analysis from the Washington Post found that despite, or maybe even because of Trump, Democratic turnout is up across the country, even in Republican districts. For months now, the Trump administration has been trying to purge voter rolls across the country by using an error prone database to check voter citizenship, purging perfectly legal voters in the process, even though voter fraud by noncitizens is exceedingly rare, to put it mildly. Yesterday, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration from continuing the practice, which the judge said threatened the sacred right to vote. But the fight is far from over. And on another election night across the country, that fight is very important to pay attention to. Joining me now is Raphael Warnock, Senator for the great state of Georgia and author of the new book, the Crooked Places Made Straight. I have right here. It's a little shorter from your other book, but it's still excellent and easy read for anyone.
- [28:13]
G
Great.
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C
Let me start by asking you one of the points you make in this book or that I took away from this book, is that, that we have to look to history and realize a lot of things have happened in history that we've made it through, but also be clear eyed about kind of what is ahead, too. And that's a point you've made in the past. Last week, Republicans in Georgia decided to reject Governor Brian Kemp's call to redraw state's congressional maps, which would diminish, of course, the power of black voters. There was some reporting that suggested they held back because of concern it would generate greater voter turnout in favor of Jon Ossoff and in favor of the governor's candidate. Do you think that's why?
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G
Oh, that's clearly what happened.
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C
Yeah.
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G
They didn't all of a sudden, you know, receive a divine revelation. I can tell you that. They didn't wake up and say, well, we're going to do the right thing. No, the people of Georgia stood up. And as a voice for Georgia, I thought it was important for me to stand there with them. And so I actually left DC in the middle of the week because I thought it was important to stand up in this moment where a sitting president of the United States is, you know, and the Supreme Court has encouraged the governor and others to diminish the power of ordinary citizens. And I was inspired by the ways in which ordinary people were standing up and saying, no, we're not going to let this happen. This is Georgia, after all. This is the home state of Martin Luther King Jr. And John Lewis, who was a member of my church, and Andrew Young. We know who we are. And I tell you, before I got back to Washington, the news had come down that they were not going to do this after all. They were right to be worried that this was going to be a massive voter turnout. In response to this, I've got news for them. Georgia voters are still going to turn out in massive numbers because of what they're. Because of what. What they're not doing. The Trump administration isn't doing a thing to help with these rising costs. The Georgia Legislature met for months while they were in session. They did nothing for these rising utility costs that Jordans are being saddled with the crisis in housing and affordability. They came back into session to prevent Georgians from holding them accountable. It backfired last week and it's going to backfire come November.
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C
One of the points, and I've talked to Senator Ossoff about this as well as Keisha Lance Bottoms, just that they're gonna come back, I assume, the Republican legislature next year and try to do this.
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G
They tabled the issue. I expect them to raise it again for sure.
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C
And we should be pretty clear right about that.
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E
Right.
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C
Of the stakes here essentially in these elections. Let me ask you about another point of pushback that you were also involved in. Cuz last week we also saw the federal government abandon its plans to turn a warehouse and Social Circle, Georgia into a 10,000 bed ICE detention center. Why do you think the Trump administration did that and what do you think the lessons are from that?
- [31:12]
G
I can tell you that Social Circle, Georgia is a town of 5,000 people. It's a red district. Trump has a lot of votes in Social Circle, Georgia. I've got a few. But I promised the people of Georgia that I would stand with them even as I fought for them. I would walk with them them. And it was important for me to show up for the people of Social Circle, Georgia. They were going to build a 10,000 bed detention center across the street from an elementary school. I went and I saw it with my own eyes. This 10,000 bed detention center would have tripled the size of the town. It would have been overwhelming to their clean their water infrastructure, their water treatment facility. They didn't have the wherewithal to sustain this. The mayor learned about it by reading about it in the Washington Post. And so I and others continue to raise the issue. And the word that we have right now is that they are not going to open this warehouse of a detention center, which by the way, they spent $128 million for twice the market rate. The people of Social Circle, Georgia, whatever they voted for, they didn't vote for this. And they made that very clear. I think the lesson is when we shine a bright light, light is a disinfectant. And when we elevate the issue and when the people raise their voices, it makes a difference. It made a difference in Minnesota. No one is, you know, not enough people are saying it. The people of Minnesota made a change there. They made a difference. The ICE left because of the ways in which folks were standing up, ordinary neighbors standing up for each other. People of Social Circle, Georgia pushed back. And when we push back, we're seeing results. And so in this moment, the answer to this assault on democracy is more democracy. The people raising their voices using all of the instruments of protest that make a democracy healthy. And this is how we went ask
- [33:17]
C
you about another piece we've talked about before, which is faith. And this is something that's also interwoven throughout your book. Of course it is. And of course your own history. And you've talked about how it's driven you in terms of how you think about issues from a moral perspective and also how you govern. When you hear people, I know you had some comments on speaker Mike Johnson and you've met with him. When you HEAR People like J.D. vance, whose book came out the same day as yours, I believe, talking about his faith and using it as justification for supporting the policies he supports, what goes through your mind?
- [33:51]
G
I don't know what Bible he's reading, and I think, you know, what we've seen time and time again is that there are those who are people of faith. Christians have often been on the wrong side of history. They've been on the wrong side of the issue. There were many Christians who supported slavery. There were Christians who were silent during Hitler's Third Reich who stated what I'm hearing from a lot of my Republican friends when I remind them that there's some 2,000 verses in the Bible that talk about how you treat the poor. The book says that the one who crushes the poor insults his maker. What Mike Johnson and others have said to me is that this is about personal behavior. No, I think that's a misreading of the scripture and that kind of way of constraining faith so that it's only in the realm of the individualistic and privatistic. That's how you get a Fuhrer in Germany and the church going right along with it. That's how you get a Christian Slavocracy. This is a moral moment in America and we need people of faith and people who claim no faith tradition at all, but are people of moral courage to stand up for the best and the highest in our ideals. That's why I wrote this book. The Crooked Places Made straight. We're the ones to bend that arc that bends towards justice.
- [35:13]
C
Senator Rafael Warnock, always a pleasure talking to you. Always learn so much. Very thoughtful. Thank you for being here.
- [35:19]
G
Thank you so very much.
- [35:20]
C
Okay, we got to sneak in a quick break, but the numbers are really starting to come in right now out of those fascinating primaries in New York. We've already made some calls, but some races are still very tight. Ali Velshi is going to tell us where things stand when we come back.
- [35:40]
A
America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms. But progress isn't guaranteed. Today, those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The Freedom from Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs. With we the people. Visit FFRF US MSNOW or text MSNOW to 511-511-Text MSNOW to 511-51-511 and keep state and church separate. Text fees may apply.
- [36:10]
D
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- [37:15]
C
The numbers are still coming in from primaries in New York and elsewhere. So let's bring back MSNow senior data reporter Ali Velshi who is still at the big board with his Beth.
- [37:23]
D
Yeah, lots happening here. I want to bring you up to speed on a few of the districts you've been following. New York District 12, which is sort of in the middle of Manhattan all the way from the west to the east side, 83% of the vote in and we do not have a call here yet. Michael Lasher is in the lead, has been in the lead since polls closed but Alex Boris is tightening that, that, that his his race a little bit. Only four points separating them right now. Jack Schlossberg in fourth place and George Conway in six place right there. Let's go up to New York 13, which is where Darieliza Avila Chevalier is challenging Adriano Aspaillat who is the incumbent. 79% of the vote is in here. Again, we do not have a call but Darieliza Avila Chevalier's lead is growing by a little bit as day of vote comes in. There's some sense that the day of voters, the advance vote was a little slow here amongst her supporters it seems to have strengthened. So we're watching that very closely and I want to go outside of New York to the Hudson Valley District 17. This is Republican incumbent Mike, Mike Lawler's district. He's thought of as a moderate Republican. This is 35% of the vote in. This is kind of where we thought it would be. Kate Connelly is the strongest performer right now. It's got a lead of about 3,000 votes. She's got 52% to Beth Davidson's 28%. There are a number of candidates in here, but we definitely thought that Connally and Davidson would be in the lead right now. Kate Connelly's got that. That's another one that we're going to be watching very closely this evening.
- [38:43]
C
Jen, Ally Vilshi, they're coming in fast and furious. Thank you for being there and paying attention. Keep us updated. We'll stay in very close touch over the next next 15 minutes.
- [38:52]
H
Of course.
- [38:52]
D
My pleasure.
- [38:53]
C
Okay. My next guest was fired by Trump's Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth last year. So she decided to become a candidate for Congress. We'll talk to her when we come back. We have yet another call to make out of New York. Democrat Kate Connelly has won the Democratic nomination in New York's 17th district and will face Republican Mike Lawler in November. She's a combat veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan, which is kind of a nice segue into my next guest because right now Nancy LaCour is leading in the runoff to become the Democratic candidate in South Carolina's first district. Nancy LaCour is a three star admiral and the former chief of the Navy Reserve who was unceremoniously forced out under Trump's former cable news host turned Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth on a pattern we have seen over this Trump administration over and over again. Now, what we've also seen is that accomplished longtime officials being removed from their posts and then doing something about it like running for political office. Nancy Clore is one of those officials and she joins me now. It's great to see you. So I just mentioned the race hasn't been called yet, but you're ahead. How are you feeling about it?
- [40:12]
B
We feel really good.
- [40:13]
H
I think we'll get it called here shortly. I've got all my supporters here. They're waiting for me. After I'm done with this, hopefully we'll be able to actually address the crowd here.
- [40:23]
C
Exciting. So I want to ask you as a veteran and a longtime military official, what is your response to Pete Hegseth requesting from Congress near roughly $80 billion to cover the cost of Trump's deeply unpopular war with Iran? What do you make of that?
- [40:42]
H
You know, it's unacceptable and it's also predictable. I think that's just the way this whole administration has been running. You know, they think there's just an open checkbook and they can keep doing what they feel like and they're just going to get it all covered. And it's just more of the same from this administration.
- [41:02]
C
You're part of a group of senior military officials. And I just went through your incredible resume, which I'm sure the people in your district recognize as well, who were dismissed by Defense Secretary Hegseth as part of this massive purge of very qualified people. What has been your response to that kind of purge happening at the same time as a major conflict? What should people understand about the impact of that?
- [41:27]
H
It's significant impact. I mean, from the moment it started, you know, it's just sending a very clear message to current service members and future service members, you know, that you're not wanted here. We don't need you in, in our armed forces. And it's even more, you know, damaging, you know, when you do it in the middle of conflict. Right. And that's not just, just damaging to the force, but risky for our whole country. And as you can see, it hasn't
- [41:54]
C
gone so well for people watching who are just getting to know a little bit about you and learning about your background. Can you share a little bit about how your longtime military career brought you and your end by Hegseth, I should say your firing by Hegseth brought you to make the decision to run for Congress.
- [42:13]
H
Yeah, absolutely. It was an abrupt end. I was one year into what is normally a four year job, you know, was notified that I was being relieved effective immediately. I walked out of the Pentagon an hour later. And I, you know, I struggled to figure out what was next for me. But the one thing I couldn't shake was this feeling that I wasn't done serving. I thought I was going to be in uniform serving for three more years and decided there's too much at risk. I can't sit on the sidelines. I can serve differently. And then I launched this campaign for Congress in January.
- [42:43]
C
You are running to represent the district currently held by Republican Nancy Mace. She's run afoul of Trump in recent months. That certainly impacted her own primary race to try to win the governor's seat. But she won that seat while being a very vocal supporter of Trump and the MAGA movement, the one you're running to represent. Why do you believe you can flip this district as a Democrat Well, I
- [43:06]
H
think the fact that every day we turn the TV on and this administration is doing something that harms Americans helps. Right. People are fed up with this administration. And if I focus on what matters to everybody in this district, which is what I've been campaigning on, you know, the cost of living, affordability, whatever you want to call it, impacts everybody. That's not just Democrats. It's Democrats, Republicans, and independents. And if you focus on those things that are impacting everybody in this district, people who are fed up with Nancy Mace as well, she has been a show horse, and I think this district is ready for a workout workhorse.
- [43:39]
C
I've asked other candidates who are running in districts that have been more traditionally red or more traditionally Republican, this question, especially people with a background like yours, how has the war in Iran been playing? How have people been digesting it? What have those conversations been like as you've been campaigning in the district?
- [43:57]
H
Yeah, people come to me in tears. Literally. I walk into events and people come up to me in tears and they're like, you understand this. You need to help us. You know, we want somebody who will push back against this administration. And it is very real for this district. You know, we have a very, very heavy military footprint, a huge veteran population here, and people are just fed off.
- [44:17]
C
I have some news for you that I think you're going to really like while we've been sitting here, because the Associated Press, which is what we go with, too, just called the race for you to be the Democratic nominee. So congratulations to you. I know you want to go talk to your supporters, but I'm delighted to deliver that news to you as well. Thank you so much for taking the time being with us.
- [44:37]
H
All right, Jen, thanks to you. Thank you. Take care.
- [44:41]
C
Okay, we've got to take a quick break, but Lawrence has Senator Jon Ossoff standing by. And we'll be right back. That does it for me tonight. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on Ms. Now. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue sky, Instagram and TikTok.
- [44:56]
A
America is an idea. For 250 years, that idea has helped expand our rights and our freedoms. But progress, progress isn't guaranteed. Today, those founding principles are being challenged by efforts to mix religion and government. The Freedom from Religion foundation is working to protect the Constitution and keep power where it belongs, with we the people. Visit FFRF US MSNOW or text MSNOW to 511-511-Text MSNOW to 511-51-511 and keep state and church, separate text fees may apply.