← The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Lawrence: Trump, a 'humiliated clown' who always pretends he never backs down, backed down again
00:43:22
Tonight on The Last Word: The stock market is calmer after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told investors a trade war is not “sustainable.” Also, the White House says Donald Trump “strongly stands” behind Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Plus, three prosecutors on the Eric Adams corruption case resign rather than admit to “wrongdoing.” And Democratic Rep. Haley Stevens launches her Senate bid in Michigan. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, Andrew Weissmann, and Rep. Haley Stevens join Lawrence O’Donnell.
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- [00:00]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Auto insurance can all seem the same.
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Rachel Maddow
Until it comes time to use it.
- [00:04]
Lawrence O'Donnell
So don't get stuck paying more for less coverage. Switch to USAA auto insurance and you could start saving money in no time. Get a quote today. Restrictions apply.
- [00:13]
Rachel Maddow
Usaa.
- [00:16]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. New episodes of all your favorite MSNBC shows now ad free plus ad free Listening to all of Rachel Maddow's original series, Ultra Bagman and Deja News. And all MSNBC original podcasts are available ad free and with bonus content including why is this Happening? Velshi Band Book Club, and more. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts.
- [00:46]
Rachel Maddow
Now it's time for the Last Word with the great Lawrence O'Donnell. Good evening, Lawrence. Good evening, Rachel. We are running a little bit behind in preparing for this show. So I wasn't in this chair, like, about, I don't know, seven seconds ago. So here we are. We're gonna try to, try to. Do you want me to tap dance a little bit? Give you a chance to, like, find your highlighter and, like, settle in? You know, you might have had to if I didn't run when I was told to run, but here we are, and now everything's fine, ready to go. Of the two of us, I am the one who is always late, and you are the one who never is. And I have never seen you. I know. I know. So I know this is kind of a serious, like, this is a wrinkle in the force. I get it. Yeah. It leaves me completely disoriented. I just. But we'll see how it goes. Well, maybe, you know, could be better, could be worse. We'll find out. This little interregnum here, I can hear you. I can see you, like, settling out, like everything's getting to be normal. It's a regular toss. We're just about to have a regular night. Here you go, Lawrence. So helpful as only you can be at this moment. Rachel, thank you very much. Thank you, my friend.
- [02:01]
Lawrence O'Donnell
You got this.
- [02:03]
Rachel Maddow
Thank you. Thank you. Well, once again today, Donald Trump backed down. Once again today, the man who always pretends he never backs down, never backed down big time. Donald Trump said repeatedly today, and it seemed desperately, quote, I have no intention of firing him. And he was not talking about his unqualified and incompetent Secretary of Defense who shared battle plans with his wife and others. The same Secretary of Defense who promised to stop drinking if he became Secretary of Defense. Donald Trump said nothing, nothing today about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth. He did not defend Pete Hegseth today. He did not attempt to deny any of the reporting from the New York Times and NBC News about the ways that his secretary of defense shared battle plans. In fact, no one in the Trump administration, including Pete Hegseth himself to this day, to this hour, to this day, this minute, has ever attempted in any way at all to explain, defend, or deny specifically what Pete Hegseth has been accused of doing in sharing battle plans. Hegseth has insisted the information, the details of battle plans were not classified. There was a time when a secretary of defense getting caught leaking sensitive information could have, among other things, rocked the stock market and sent it into a downward spiral. But the stock market has no time to worry about an unqualified and incompetent secretary of defense who may or may not have stopped drinking. When Donald Trump is directly destroying the stock market in bursts of economic policy dementia that have created the most uncertainty, uncertainty the American economy has ever seen, and I mean ever seen, because the uncertainty is based entirely on what will one person's whims be tomorrow or the next day or the next week or the next month or the next year. A year is the minimum planning horizon for economic planning and economic decisions in business or in our personal lives. And after destroying the stock market with tariffs that are actually illegal because Donald Trump has imposed them in violation of laws that control the president's use of tariffs, Donald Trump decided that now would be a good time to attack the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, who became the chairman of the Federal Reserve when Donald Trump appointed him in Donald Trump's first term. President Biden then reappointed Jerome Powell. And on Monday, in the middle of the morning trading session on Wall Street, Donald Trump decided to attack Republican chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell. In a social media post that left the stock market reeling under the expectation that Donald Trump was going to fire the chair of the Federal Reserve or at least try to. And on Monday, Donald Trump said, quote, there can be a slowing of the economy unless. Mr. Too late. A major loser lowers interest rates now. So there was the president of the United States doing two things that no president has ever been stupid enough to do before. One, predict a recession, and two, blame it on the chairman of the Federal Reserve who he was publicly insulting. The trouble for Donald Trump is everyone on Wall street thinks Jerome Powell is good at his job. And everyone on Wall street now realizes that Donald Trump is much worse at his job than they ever expected him to be. Donald Trump's tariff dementia was bad Enough. But then came the trading day yesterday that the Wall Street Journal labeled the Fire Jerome Powell market route. That was the Wall Street Journal headline on Monday night. Donald Trump was, in relatively polite language under the circumstances, basically being accused by the Journal and others of being a dangerous fool in the Wall street news media for attacking Jerome Powell. And so today, the day after a disastrous day in the stock market, attributed 100 to a statement that Donald Trump made in the morning. Donald Trump, the man who made a living on TV saying, you're fired. Donald Trump, the president who has fired more cabinet members and more White House chiefs of staff than any other president in history. Donald Trump, who has fired people he is not legally allowed to fire. That same Donald Trump pretended that everyone at the Wall Street Journal was just crazy to think he would ever try to fire someone he's not legally allowed to fire.
- [07:34]
Mikey Sherrill
Clarify, you have no intention of firing.
- [07:36]
Rachel Maddow
Jerome Powell because your economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, a few days ago said that you and people in the White House.
- [07:42]
Mikey Sherrill
Were studying this idea of possibly doing that before his term ends.
- [07:45]
Rachel Maddow
Do you have any plans on doing that?
- [07:46]
Mikey Sherrill
None whatsoever. Never did the press runs away with things?
- [07:51]
Rachel Maddow
No, I have no intention of firing him. I would like to see him be a little more active in terms of his idea to lower interest rates. This is a perfect time to lower interest rates.
- [08:04]
Mikey Sherrill
If he doesn't, is it the end?
- [08:06]
Rachel Maddow
No, it's not.
- [08:07]
Mikey Sherrill
But it would be good timing. It would be.
- [08:09]
Rachel Maddow
It could have taken place earlier, but no, I have no intention to fire him. I have no intention to fire him. I have no intention to fire him. Saying it as many times as he could say it, he could have said, I have no legal authority to fire him, because he doesn't. And Jerome Powell knows that. Which is why Jerome Powell has said publicly that he knows he cannot be fired and would not leave if Donald Trump ever tried to illegally fire him. So there is one person in America more powerful than Donald Trump tonight, and that is Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, and Donald Trump knows it. Any Federal Reserve chair would be more powerful than any president on matters involving the workings of the Federal Reserve and the setting of interest rates. Every president before Donald Trump has always known that they have no power over any of that. And so now the humiliated clown, Donald Trump, who has been the subject of some of the finest economic editorial writing the Wall Street Journal has ever done, has decided that it's time to back down and desperately assure Wall Street, I have no intention of firing him. Assure Wall street of exactly one thing. That's the only thing he wants to assure them of, and that is that he will not fire Jerome Powell, who he now implicitly acknowledges is more powerful than he is. Unfortunately for Donald Trump, the country and the world, that's not enough to stabilize the stock market and stabilize the American economy, which was already sliding toward an increased chance of recession before Donald Trump threatened Jerome Powell. It's been doing that every day, thanks entirely to Donald Trump's illegal and unpredictable tariffs. Donald Trump's Treasury Secretary, who obviously does not have enough or possibly any influence over Donald Trump, thereby making him the least effective treasury secretary in history, admitted today that the Trump tariffs are a complete disaster. Disaster's not the word he used in a private setting with ultra rich investors hosted by JPMorgan Chase. So understand that the richest people in the world were given access to the Treasury Secretary's thoughts today. While no one in America who has already lost a job to Donald Trump's tariffs is allowed to know anything about what the Treasury Secretary might be thinking about any of this, treasury Secretary Scott Besant told the ultra rich investors who spend their day trying to figure out how to get richer. No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable. The current status quo he was talking about is the Trump worldwide tariff regime. No one thinks the current status quo is sustainable. That's the way a guy who looks like this says this is crazy and out of control and has to be stopped. The desperate players on Wall street were thrilled by CNBC's reporting today of that leaked quote from the treasury secretary. But the Wall Street Journal would like to hear more. In tonight's Wall Street Journal editorial titled up the Down Trump Tariff Escalator, the journal writes, if Mr. Bessant knows what Mr. Trump's real China and trade strategies are, everyone would love to hear it. Because so far it looks like ad improvisation. If Mr. Besant can move markets merely with comments that a trade truce is coming, imagine how they'd respond if Mr. Trump simply called the whole tariff thing off. The Journal pointed out the job losses, just some of the job losses that are already happening because of the Trump tariffs here in the United States, the 800 or so Volvo employees at three different U.S. plants that will be laid off in the next 90 days. The International Monetary Fund slashed its U.S. and global economic forecasts, warning that tariffs were ushering in a new era of slower growth. Goldman Sachs chief executive David Solomon said uncertainty was too high, holding back corporate decision making and keeping asset prices under pressure. And the iif, a finance industry trade group, said the US Faced a likely recession later this year, a likely recession thanks entirely to the idiotic whims of a president with economic dementia. Elon Musk is one of Wall Street's biggest losers these days thanks to his public support of Donald Trump's policies and thanks to Donald Trump's tariffs, which hurt all automobile companies, including Tesla. After the stock market closed today, Tesla released an earnings report that came in much lower than expected. The Wall Street Journal reports that Tesla's income quote slid 71% in the first quarter as the company struggled to overcome competitive pressure overseas. And a reputational hit from chief Elon Musk's polarizing role in the Trump administration administration. Tesla as a company actually blamed Donald Trump for its troubles. Wall Street Journal reports Tesla said that shifting trade policies exacerbated by the administration's tariff regime are stressing supply chains while adding to the automaker's costs. Tesla sales are down around the world thanks largely to what one analyst has called the brand destruction that Elon Musk has delivered to Tesla by his association with and support of Donald Trump. A CNBC poll showed how that brand destruction in the United States has hurt Tesla's ability to sell to the very people who were the most enthusiastic customers for electric cars and Teslas. Liberal Democrats were the buyers, especially in California. That made Tesla a successful business and pushed the Tesla stock price up to the point where Elon Musk became the richest person in the world thanks to the buying power of liberals who are now trading in their Teslas, selling their Teslas and in many cases just giving them away, as Sheryl Crow did in donating her Tesla to NPR for them to turn into cash to support the truth telling mission of National Public Radio. 47% of Americans have a negative view of Tesla. Only 27% have a positive view of Tesla. 52% have a negative view of Elon Musk, with only 36% holding a positive view. The poll shows that a majority of Republicans have a positive view of Tesla, which is not very helpful to Tesla because most of them would never even consider buying any electric car. While the overwhelming almost unanimous feeling among Democrats is now negative on Tesla but positive on electric vehicles, which seems to indicate that liberal Democrats who want to continue buying electric vehicles will be buying their electricity vehicles from Tesla's competitors, competitors that are now gaining increasing share of the market against Tesla. Which could be why Elon Musk promised Wall street today to start paying more attention to Tesla and less attention to destroying the American government as we know it. With Elon Musk strengthening his public association with Tesla, if that's possible. That could result maybe in even fewer sales of Teslas among enthusiastic electric car market buyers, which in this country is dominated by Democrats. It must come as a big surprise to Donald Trump and Elon Musk tonight that their sales event in the driveway on the south side of the White House for Tesla, the most revolting commercialization of the White House in history by the two most extreme vulgarians ever to stand in that driveway was a complete and utter failure. And so tonight, Donald Trump and Elon Musk are now the prohibitive frontrunners for the Worst Car Salesman of the Year award this year. Leading off our discussion tonight is Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota. She's a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Rules Committee and the Commerce Committee, and she is the top Democrat on the Senate Agriculture Committee. And Senator Klobuchar, as I rattle off your committee affiliations, I was trying to think of one. Is there one that isn't, that doesn't have an interest in these tariffs, including even the Judiciary Committee's interest in whether or not they're legal?
- [18:13]
Amy Klobuchar
Every member of the Senate is hearing about these tariffs, as I have over the last few weeks. And as I was listening to your description of all the havoc that's been wrought and the fact that, by the way, the Dow is on target in April to have its worst year since 1932 in the Middle of the Great Depression, I kept thinking of the fact that the woman I met, Noah Tanna, named Beth Beinecke, who runs a little company called Busy Baby, that was Minnesota's Small Business of the year in 2025. She's not at that investor conference. She wasn't invited by JP Morgan. She was notshe didn't have the phone number of the president like Tim Cook of Apple did. And I'm, you know, all these people can have their insider information, but her business is going down the tubes because of this, because she relies on imports. Or the soybean farmer who told me that his margins are so slim because of the last thing Donald Trump did that greatly reduced their market. Their business went to other countries were buying soybeans from Brazil. And now they're going to lose the last part of it and aren't going to be able to make it. These are people that aren't in those Wall street rooms. And it just goes to show, it is the small businesses, it's the small consumers, it is the small farmers that are just getting completely screwed by this right now. And it is not legal. That's Right. But they are going to be roadkill on the way unless he immediately reverses his policies, as my Democratic colleagues and I have called on him to do.
- [19:50]
Rachel Maddow
You know, I doubt that you will be able to be running against the Trump tariffs in the present tense next year in the Senate campaigns because just as a matter of political survival for the Republican Party, he's going to have to completely back down on the whole regime in order for them to even begin to hope to survive the campaign season next year.
- [20:19]
Amy Klobuchar
Lawrence, who knows what he's going to do. And the problem with this is even if he reverses them, which of course, many of us have been advocating for, bringing up bills winning votes in the U.S. senate on the Canadian tariff front because it was illegal. But despite all that, people are losing market. Now. I was just up in Two Harbors, Minnesota. They are down visitors from Canada. If you look at the national statistics, 70% of the vacations from Canada have been canceled because they're pissed off. They don't want to be called the 51st state. They're taking American products off their shelves. This has to end. So the problem is, even if he reversed them, the havoc it's wrought, the $4,000 tax on every family, including $200 for groceries, will not end. And then you've got the other problem. He's taken. They have taken their eye off the ball of what the American people want. They want us to be working on bringing down costs on housing and expanding housing opportunities. They want us to bring down the costs on childcare, healthcare. They are doing the opposite with the chaos that they've created. And every time he threatens to fire Jerome Powell, which, as you so well point out, he can't do because it has to be for cause, which has been defined as criminal contact or malfeasance by the courts. Every time he does stuff like that, he just eats away again at the safety net that has made this country so strong and our economy so strong. So I don't see any sign they're reversing ground, but I see a lot of signs that people who were supportive of him or thought, maybe I'm going to get a change, maybe he's going to do something at cost, are looking at this going, this is not what I bought into. This is not what I want. And they're starting to show up, some of them in very quiet ways behind closed doors and saying, wait a minute, this is wrong. I don't want to see this. That's what's going to matter in the midterms.
- [22:18]
Rachel Maddow
We're going to look at a Senate campaign in Michigan at the end of this hour that is a Democrat running straight against the Trump tariffs because as Elon Musk has discovered and probably knew ahead of time, even American car manufacturers will be forced into very significant price increases because so many of the parts they use are imported in building American cars right here in this country and in Michigan. And that this is going to be harmful for the American auto industry.
- [22:53]
Amy Klobuchar
It is. And that's why you saw, for instance, the steelworkers union against the Canadian tariff thing that he smashed them with because of the fact that all of these supply chains are interrelated. And he has not looked at this as say, let's do some targeted tariffs, let's go back into the usmca, a trade agreement that he actually initiated and start negotiating on dairy or some of the other things that could be negotiated to help American dairy farmers. That's not what he came out with. He went all with his shock and awe across the board tariffs. And everyone is roadkill when you look at what's happening to small businesses and farmers and yes, automakers and most importantly, the people that work at those companies who are now starting to lose their jobs like you just talked about, Lawrence, when it came to Volvo and some of the other auto manufacturers from other countries that have decided to set up shop in America, they did that because we're in an international trade situation and people are going to start losing their jobs.
- [23:58]
Rachel Maddow
Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, thank you very much for starting off our discussions tonight.
- [24:04]
Amy Klobuchar
Thanks. It was great to be on. Thanks, Lawrence.
- [24:07]
Rachel Maddow
Thank you. And coming up, the secretary of defense who promised to quit drinking if he became secretary of Defense, has not denied the new reports accusing him of deliberately leaking battle plans, including to his wife. Mikey Sherrill would have been court martialed when she was a Navy helicopter pilot if she did that. Now she's a member of the House Armed Services Committee and she will join us next.
- [24:35]
Lawrence O'Donnell
The last thing you want to hear when you need your auto insurance most is a robot with countless irrelevant menu options, which is why with USAA auto insurance, you'll get great service that is easy and reliable, all at the touch of a button. Get a quote today. Restrictions apply. Stay connected with the MSNBC app bringing you breaking news and analysis anytime, anywhere.
- [24:58]
Rachel Maddow
All the stories that we're covering are.
- [25:00]
Mikey Sherrill
Live and happening as we speak.
- [25:02]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Watch your favorite shows live.
- [25:03]
Mikey Sherrill
What's happening right now is a hostile takeover of the US Government.
- [25:08]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Read live blogs and in depth essays and listen to coverage as it unfolds. Go beyond the what to understand the why. Download the app now@msnbc.com app Sir David Frost, he gave us a front row seat to history.
- [25:25]
Mikey Sherrill
What I'm interested in is conversation, not an interrogation.
- [25:28]
Rachel Maddow
He was the person to be interviewed by.
- [25:30]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Now we discover his most iconic interviews.
- [25:34]
Rachel Maddow
Welcome, please the Beatles, Muhammad Ali, Jane Fonda.
- [25:37]
Lawrence O'Donnell
One of the greatest interviews of all time. MSNBC Films presents a six part documentary series, David Frost Versus beginning Sunday at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC.
- [25:55]
Rachel Maddow
We have new, important reporting tonight from NBC News on Donald Trump's thoroughly unqualified and incompetent and immature Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. NBC News reports. Minutes before US Fighter jets took off to begin strikes against Iranian backed Houthi rebels in Yemen Last month, Army General Michael Eric Kurilla, who leads U.S. central Command, used a secure U.S. government system to send detailed information about the operation to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. The material Kurilla sent included details about when US Fighters would take off and when they would hit their targets, details that could, if they fell into the wrong hands, put the pilots of those fighters in grave danger. But he was doing exactly what he was supposed to providing headquarters, his superior, with information he needed to know and using a system specifically designed to safely transmit sensitive and classified information. But then Hegseth used his personal phone to send some of the same information Korilla had given him to at least two group text chats on the signal messaging app, three US Officials with direct knowledge of the exchanges told NBC News. The sequence of events, which has not been previously reported, could raise new questions about Hegseth's handling of the information, which he and the government have denied was classified. Pete Hegseth included his wife in that group chat. Sharing classified information that way can be a serious criminal offense. Pete Hegseth has not denied that he did share that information on these group chats, but the secretary of defense has claimed that the detailed information about when the fighter jets would take off and exactly what they would do was not classified. That information has always been classified since even before fighter jets were invented. The New York Times is reporting tonight, quote, Mr. Hegseth's inner circle of close advisors, military veterans who, like him had little experience running large, complex organizations, is in shambles. The discord, according to current and former defense officials, includes screaming matches in his inner office among aides, a growing distrust of the thousands of military and civilian personnel who staff the building, and bureaucratic logjams that have slowed down progress on some of President Trump's key Priorities such as an iron dome for America, missile defense shield. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal business. Pete Hegseth did an interview at his last workplace this morning where he got the introduction that he did not want but might soon be accurate. Here to set the record straight, himself, former secretary, the current secretary of state, Pete Hegseth, former host right here on FOX and friends. Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Mikey Sherrill of New Jersey. She's a member of the House Armed Services Committee and a candidate for governor of New Jersey. Thank you very much for joining us tonight. And let me begin with what would have happened to you if you had shared battle plans, attack plans like this when you were a pilot?
- [29:50]
Mikey Sherrill
Well, Lawrence, like everyone else except Ptegseth, evidently I would have been court martialed and drummed out of the military. This is absolutely ridiculous. And you know, there's two things that are problematic here in my mind. One is the complete incompetence that Pete Hegseth has shown and continues to show. And we're seeing all the reporting coming out of the DoD right now. But the second piece that's so concerning is this complete lack of accountability in the military. We inculcate this sense of accountability and responsibility because you're responsible for people's lives. In fact, when you're a plebe at the Naval Academy, you learn the five basic responses, one of which is no excuse, sir, this sense that you have to take responsibility for your actions. And what we see here again and again and again is Pete Hegseth trying to avoid any sense of accountability, but he should be fired. So he needs to man up and actually resign right now because he can no longer protect our national security.
- [30:53]
Rachel Maddow
Let's listen to what Republican Congressman Don Bacon of Nebraska said about this. He is a military veteran himself. I wouldn't tolerate it. I would hold him accountable and I'd fire him. You can't put classified information, and I guarantee it. If you're talking about when you're launching aircraft to attack Yemen and you do that two hours before the missions, that is classified. We would fire a second lieutenant for doing this. And so as a military guy, this is not a Republican view or a Democrat view. I think it's an American view. So in his military experience and his experience on the Hill, he does not accept this claim, if you can even call it a defense, that that material was not classified.
- [31:46]
Mikey Sherrill
In everyone's military experience, that information is classified. I mean, that is why CENTCOM sent it over classified channels and used the appropriate equipment to transmit it. So to then put it out on a signal chat with the national defense infrastructure, and to have all of them chatting about it on a signal chat is breaking and breaching the rules. But then to go a step further and somehow send it out to your brother and your girlfriend or your wife, I mean, I really. It's like this kind of, you know, sense of this kid playing it, being in charge of our national security and then showing off to his wife, hey, look what I'm doing. I mean, this is really, really imperiling our national security. Not just because it put those pilots at risk, but because right now you have countries across the world making decisions on whether or not they're going to share information with the United States. And with this type of callous disregard for classified information, you know, they are making the decision not to share classified information with the United States.
- [32:55]
Rachel Maddow
Let me just ask you your gut reaction when you first learned about this. How did it make you feel?
- [33:03]
Mikey Sherrill
Well, you know, Lawrence, I'm sitting here as someone who went to the Naval Academy. I graduated in that first class of women who were able to serve on combatant ships and aircraft. And I trace that and the opportunities that I and other people had in our military. I traced that to the fact that I'm in Congress now and Elaine Luria was able to enter Congress with me. I traced that to the fact that one of my classmates was the first commanding officer of an aircraft carrier and the cno, the highest ranking uniformed officer in the Navy was a woman. And I trace that to the fact that the superintendent is a woman of the Naval Academy. Because we allowed women into key roles in our military, they thrived and they achieved the highest ranks. And then they were fired. Some of them people like our chief of Naval operations fired basically because she was a woman. And someone like Pete Hegseth saying these derisive comments about the service of people of color and women, that he just wants a meritocracy because according to him, I guess doing 100 pushups shows that you can run the Pentagon. Well, no surprise to all of us who've served our country, who have worked incredibly hard for the people of this country to protect them, who take our oath to the Constitution seriously. There's a little bit more to leadership than that and to denigrate the service of others and to dismiss the service of so many people who've served so well and to suggest that somehow they didn't achieve the rules, they did because that we weren't a meritocracy. And then to show the fact that he is so incompetent, the blatant hypocrisy, the lack of accountability. That's what offends me the most as I see this service denigrated by so many people who've served so well and suggesting that they shouldn't have a role in our military. And then he somehow thinks that he is modeling what this should look like. That's offensive to me.
- [35:06]
Rachel Maddow
Congresswoman Mikey Sherrill, now candidate for governor of New Jersey, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
- [35:14]
Mikey Sherrill
Thanks so much for having me.
- [35:17]
Rachel Maddow
And coming up, three federal prosecutors resigned today saying they refused to, quote, abdicate our legal and ethical obligations. Andrew Weissman joins us next.
- [35:30]
Lawrence O'Donnell
MSNBC presents Main justice each week on their podcast, veteran lawyers Andrew Weissman and Mary McCord break down the latest developments inside the Trump administration's Department of Justice.
- [35:42]
Mikey Sherrill
The administration doesn't necessarily want to be questioned on any of its policy.
- [35:46]
Andrew Weissman
I think what we are seeing is Project 2025 in action. This is it coming to fruition.
- [35:53]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Main justice subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple podcasts for ad free listening and bonus content.
- [36:00]
Rachel Maddow
Citizens, since we each upgraded to Xfinity.
- [36:03]
Lawrence O'Donnell
In our homes, the WI fi has been booming. It's fair to say our town has officially become a boom town.
- [36:09]
Mikey Sherrill
Mayor, will I be able to drop into multiplayer gaming battles with low lag?
- [36:13]
Lawrence O'Donnell
The lag won't be an issue, but.
- [36:14]
Rachel Maddow
Your questionable skills may be. And what if I have hundreds of devices on the WI Fi? Purely hypothetical. Seems like a lot, but sure, hundreds.
- [36:22]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Of devices all booming together with the Xfinity Gateway. Yes, friends and neighbors, with Xfinity, the.
- [36:28]
Rachel Maddow
WI fi is booming.
- [36:29]
Mikey Sherrill
Restrictions apply.
- [36:30]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Stay up to date on the biggest issues of the day with the MSNBC Daily Newsletter. Each morning you'll get analysis by experts you trust, video highlights from your favorite shows.
- [36:40]
Rachel Maddow
I do think it's worth being very clear eyed, very realistic about what's going on here.
- [36:45]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Previews of our podcasts and documentaries, plus written perspectives from the newsmakers themselves, all sent directly to your inbox each morning. Get the best of MSNBC all in one place. Sign up for msnbc daily@msnbc.com.
- [37:05]
Rachel Maddow
Today, three of the Manhattan federal prosecutors he worked on the criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned. The prosecutors, Celia Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach and Derek Wickstrom had been placed on administrative leave in February after they, along with the Then Acting Manhattan U.S. attorney Danielle Sassoon, would not follow the Trump Justice Department's order to dismiss the federal bribery case against Mayor Eric Adams, in their emailed resignation today, addressed to the Deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanch, who has also served as Donald Trump's criminal defense lawyer. The prosecutors wrote, it is now clear that one of the preconditions you have placed on our returning to the office is that we must express regret and admit some wrongdoing by our office in connection with the refusal to move to dismiss the case. We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none. The prosecutors who worked in the Justice Department under Democrat and Republican presidents said this. Now, the department has decided that obedience supersedes all else, requiring us to abdicate our legal and ethical obligations in favor of directions from Washington. That is wrong. Serving in the Southern District of New York has been an honor. There is no greater privilege than to work for an institution whose mandate is to do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons. We will not abandon this principle to keep our jobs. We resign. Joining us now is Andrew Weissman, former FBI General counsel and former chief of the Criminal Division in the Eastern District of New York. He's also an MSNBC legal analyst. And, Andrew, the Trump era has certainly led to some very important additions to the collection of noble resignation letters.
- [39:01]
Andrew Weissman
Absolutely. So just the Eric Adams case alone has led to 10 prosecutors, career people resigning. Even one resigning in these circumstances would be extraordinary. It just does not happen. What we saw sort of at the end of the Trump first term is something that we're now seeing over and over and over again. It's a. It's a perfect sort of indication benchmark for the difference between the first administration and the second. And it's a sign of the lawlessness and the callousness. I would note the deputy Attorney general defended his actions by saying that there's nothing unlawful or unethical with moving to dismiss this case. And what I would say to him is, if that was so proper, why is it not just 10 career people resigned, but the federal judge overseeing this rejected the government's request, their motion to dismiss this case without prejudice, to keep a leash on Eric Adams, saying that that was improper. So it's not just the career prosecutors. It is also the federal judge saying that what you are proposing to do here is outlandish and he was not going to tolerate it.
- [40:32]
Rachel Maddow
Yeah, that's exactly what I was thinking about, is that, is that there's a judicial finding here that they really had set up a quid pro quo. Yeah.
- [40:42]
Andrew Weissman
The judge did not actually have to go that far to say that, but he clearly thought that was the risk here. That, that was the, the way in which the government here was seeking to use criminal cases. As I said, if the judge had actually not done what he did, it would have just, if you think what's happening now is bad, it would have, you know, handed a loaded gun to the deputy attorney general and the attorney general in terms of using the criminal law law to coerce people to bend to their will to carry out any and all things that they wanted. And so that was why the judge rejected it. That is why you have so many people resigning. It is, it really is a real benchmark of where we are. If you, if, in case you needed it, in case the Albergo Garcia case, in case the unanimous Supreme Court decisions rejecting what the administration wants to do is not, you know, signal enough for what is going on.
- [41:48]
Rachel Maddow
Andrew Weissman, thank you very much for joining us tonight. You're welcome. Coming up, Donald Trump stupidly thought or may have thought that his tariffs would help the American automobile industry, but in fact, they are hurting every American car manufacturer. And our next guest, Congresswoman Haley Stevens, is now running for Senate in Michigan. By running against Donald Trump's tariffs, you're going to want to see the video that launched her campaign today. That's next. With Congresswoman Haley Stevens, the Trump tariffs could be the key to Democrats winning back control of the United States Senate next year. Our next guest, Michigan Congresswoman Haley Stevens launched her Senate campaign today by running against the Trump tariffs in the state that built the American automobile industry.
- [42:50]
Haley Stevens
I remember being handed the keys to my first car. I'm Hailey Stevens, and I bet you do, too. That used Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme. It meant more to me than just freedom. It meant I had a piece of Michigan, you know, the Michigan that helped build this country, the Michigan that shaped me. It's not just what I sound like. It's who I am. My dad was a teacher and my mom ran a small business. And when the Great Recession hit and the American car industry faced extinction, I wanted to step up and do something for my state. As chief of staff to President Obama's auto rescue, we helped save over 200,000 Michigan jobs and stabilize our economy.
- [43:27]
Rachel Maddow
The US auto industry turnaround is undeniable. And Haley Stevens, by the way, she was there. She was a critical part of my team that helped the American auto industry come roaring back.
- [43:38]
Haley Stevens
But Donald Trump has a much different plan for Michigan. His chaos and reckless tariffs are putting tens of thousands of Michigan jobs at risk. Donald Trump says he couldn't care less if auto prices rise. Well, as someone who spent my time in Congress fighting for Michigan jobs, Michigan families, and maybe Michigan workers. I couldn't care more. Across the state, I know we're all feeling the hit of higher prices. The same groceries cost more each month, housing's more expensive than ever. But all we're getting is more chaos. What the heck are they doing? I'm Hailey Stevens and I'm running for Senate because just like that day, I got these keys to that old Cutlass. We have the power to chart our own path. I'm proud of Michigan and I'll never get tired of saying it. It would be my honor to fight for you in the Senate.
- [44:30]
Rachel Maddow
Joining us now is Democratic Congresswoman Haley Stevens of Michigan. She's now a candidate for the United States Senate. Thank you very much for joining us on this first night of your Senate campaign. I don't think voters really necessarily understood that the tariffs that Donald Trump was trying to use to protect the American automobile industry are actually harmful to it.
- [44:56]
Haley Stevens
Well, look, Lawrence, this is a really serious moment in Michigan. And I will tell you, everywhere I go, I'm hearing from Michiganders who are concerned about those costs that continue to go up if it's for those big ticket items like housing and certainly the automobile, which Donald Trump said he could care less if it costs more. And you know, we're all also facing a whole lot of uncertainty because of these reckless, shoot by the hip, change by the minute tariffs. And our small businesses, our automotive supply chain, our workers, they're just in the thick of it and they're living through this grave uncertainty. And it reminds me of when I put up my hand to serve as the Chief of Staff On President Obama's U.S. auto rescue, that yes, save General Motors and Chrysler and 200,000 Michigan jobs, but it was also a job where I took those phone calls from worried Michiganders. And now we're seeing that same level of worry again. And it is definitely about the rising costs, the uncertainty coming from the Trump musk chaos agenda. I'm running for U.S. senate, Lawrence, because I want Michiganders to know I have their back. I have always fought for Michigan. And if you don't mind, sir, for anyone watching tonight at home, please go to my website, haley4mi.com I'd love to have you join the team.
- [46:25]
Rachel Maddow
Congresswoman Haley Stevens, I'm so sorry to say we're out of time for tonight. I really wanted to get you here on your first night on the campaign. We're going to need to hear more. Please come back when you can. Thank you. We'll be right back. Haley Stevens, Democratic candidate for Senate in Michigan, gets tonight's last word against the.
- [46:52]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Trump tariffs as President Donald Trump returns to the White House. Follow along as his agenda takes shape with a new MSNBC newsletter, Trump's first 100 days weekly expert insight on key issues sent straight to your inbox. Sign up@msnbc.com TRUMP100.