← The Rachel Maddow Show
The Rachel Maddow Show
Trump reportedly keen on law at root of disgraceful chapter in American history
00:42:50
Rachel Maddow shares the amazing, historic story of how former Senator Alan Simpson and former Representative Norm Mineta partnered on hearings into the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, and why Donald Trump's reported plan to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which was used to justify Japanese internment, is raising alarm.
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Rachel Maddow
Comcast Business helps retailers become seamlessly restocking, frictionless paying favorite shopping destinations. It's how nationwide restaurants become touchscreen ordering, quick serving eateries and how hospitals become the patient scanning data, managing healthcare facilities that we all depend on. With leading networking and connectivity, advanced cybersecurity and expert partnership, Comcast Business is powering the engine of modern business powering possibilities. Restrictions apply. TaxAct knows small business owners can sometimes use a little help with their taxes. That's why TaxAct has expert assist a team of live tax experts ready to answer any questions you may have. Think of them as your own personal sidekick. Not like one of those funny talking animal sidekicks, more like the super smart nerding out on tax code and business casual attire sidekick, but just as helpful and lovable tax act. Let's get them over with. Thanks to At Home for joining us this hour. Happy Friday Night. Really, really happy to have you here. I've got a story we're going to lead with tonight that I don't think you've heard anywhere else. We are going to start tonight in Haddon Township, New Jersey. H A D D O N Haddon Township. It's pretty close to Camden. It's also pretty close to Philly. But it's a very, very New Jersey place. And I mean that in the best possible way. We have been watching one particular community story unfold in Haddon Township, New Jersey the last couple of weeks and I want you to see this story and what's happened here over the last couple of weeks because I think it tells you something about where we are at right now as a people and as a country. In Haddon Township Saturday, an outpouring of support both sides of Haddon Ave. Lined with people all here to stand behind the Eminette family, owners of this local restaurant, Jersey Kebab, after parents Jalal and Aminah were arrested by ICE Tuesday morning. It's been truly a rollercoaster of feelings for the last few days. Their son Muhammad says his mom remains in ICE custody. His dad was released with an ankle bracelet while they are closed until further notice. He was here cooking free food for the community that has showed his family love, filling their store windows with notes and raising hundreds of thousands of dollars. This shows me like this is not okay. It just saddens us. ICE released a statement Friday. While they did not share many specific details about the case, a spokesperson did write in part, as with any non citizen in the US without lawful status, ICE officers make enforcement decisions on a case by case basis to focus on the greatest threats to homeland security. Muhammad says his parents have no criminal histories and, and he says they are not threats known here to give back. I think it's obvious. It's clear that they're a pillar of the community. They're a model. With Ramadan now underway, Muhammad says his family's sole focus is on securing his mom's release from ICE custody. The situation, the court case will go on, but all we're worried about is just having our mom by our side. In the meantime, the community says they will continue to show support, many writing letters on the family's behalf. We're going to stick with them no matter how long this takes. In Haddon Township. Siobhan McGurl, NBC10 News. We're going to stick with them no matter how long this takes. So that was starting a couple weeks ago, these protests in Haddon Township, New Jersey, over the mom from the beloved local Jersey Kebab shop being arrested by the Trump administration. Turns out that was just the start. One by one, community members had their handwritten letters notarized and tucked in an envelope to send to the court. The goal is for the judges, the politicians, and anyone locally with influence and power to know that the community stands by this resident. Isis Williams is the president of a group working to bring inclusivity and equity to their community. Members set up a letter writing campaign Sunday on behalf of M and A mnet. We are a loving environment in this town. Dozens of people packed into a yoga studio just down the street from the kebab business. Emil's a great, great person. Runs a great business here on Hat Nav that we eat at frequently. Has done a lot, especially through Covid, caring for members of the community, all hoping their words of experience with the M nets would make a difference. Their business is a beloved establishment that brings both delicious food and beautiful culture that enriches the community. Again, this is Haddon Township, New Jersey, and I'm telling you, that wasn't the end of it either. Watch this. Here in Camden county, we take it as a personal attack on all of us in South Jersey, a gathering of support for a family facing uncertainty. The really only thing we wish we could have is our mother by our side. Randy Teague is the mayor in Haddon Township, where Jersey Kebab is located. We consider this situation maybe somewhat different than some of the other ones that we hear on TV where there's criminals and rapists and so forth coming into our country. They came in here legally and they're trying to stay here legally. This Family is a family that embodies the very best of Camden County. And now they're torn apart by this broken immigration system. It is time to stand up for good people. It is time to stand up for humanity. These folks do not deserve this. These folks do not deserve this pushback. It looks different everywhere. It involves all kinds of people in all kinds of places, and it takes all kinds of forms. Don't let anybody tell you that pushback doesn't matter, that it doesn't work. Amina Eminet is back home for the very first time in two weeks. The love and all of those messages continue to pour out here at her restaurant. She tells us today all she wants to do really is be with her family and come back to Jersey Kebab. I'm so happy now. All smiles for Amina Eminent. Just moments before the grandmother met with the media, she emerged from the ICE detention center in Elizabeth, New Jersey, to her waiting family. Hugs and flowers for the woman who's grabbed the hearts of many in her Haddon Township neighborhood. She has one thing on her mind right now, that she wants to spend some quality time with her children and her grandchildren first. And then afterwards, she wants to return to Jersey Kebab immediately. Her son Mohammed, it translated for her. Ameena was quick to thank everyone for standing behind her family support that, you know, the community has shown for us and, you know, how they protected us and almost like put like a protective chamber around our family during these times, you know, it made her very emotional. She wants to return to Jersey Kebab immediately. It's all footage and coverage from NBC 10 News in Philadelphia. One community, as her son put it, putting a protective chamber around this one local family, getting together, meeting in person, writing letters, rousting their local officials and getting them to make some noise about it, getting them to hold a press conference about it, getting the local media to cover it. People showing up in person, protesting in person, and they just kept doing thing after thing after thing. And it worked, at least for now. For that family, it's obviously the most important thing in the world. But for this town, it also showed this town that all those things showing up and writing letters and roasting your elected officials and holding press conferences and getting the local media involved and protesting, showing up in person. It works. It matters. Haddon Township, New Jersey, this week in 1942, there was a boy Scout troop in Cody, Wyoming. And if you've ever been in boy scouts or if you've ever had a kid, or in my case, a brother in Boy Scouts, you might know that the big day on the calendar is, say with me now, Boy scout jamboree. In 1942 in Wyoming, a Boy Scout troop put out a call to all the nearby Boy Scout troops in all the nearby towns that they should get together to do the Boy Scout jamboree that year. You know, which is like, you know, merit badge stuff and tying knots and digging ditches and making campfires, pitching tents and camping out. It's all that stuff. But in 1942 in Wyoming, when this one troop put out the call for the jamboree, the other Boy Scout troops in the area did not respond, or they said no. Only one local Boy Scout troop in Cody, Wyoming, said yes, they would do it. The reason everybody else said no or they didn't bother to answer is because the Boy Scout troop that put out the call for the jamboree was the one inside Heart Mountain, behind the barbed wire at the internment camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming. It's basically a concentration camp where Japanese Americans had been forcibly relocated by the US government at the start of World War II. You know, Guard towers, barbed wire, soldiers with guns, policing the perimeter, the whole thing. But that one Boy Scout troop from Cody, that's the one local troop that agreed to come to Heart Mountain to do a Scout jamboree with the other Boy Scout troop there of Japanese American boys. And they did all the jamboree stuff, they did the merit badge stuff. They tied knots, they set up tents, and they matched boys up from the two different troops. There were two particularly rambunctious, sort of, you might call them rowdy boys, one from each troop, a kid from Cody whose name was Alan, and a kid from Heart Mountain who was named Norman. And those two particularly rowdy kids, they ended up putting them together. They camped together in the same tent, and they very quickly came up with a scheme together because, see, there was this other kid from the Cody troupe who Alan really didn't like. He said he was a bully. He really didn't like that kid. And so he enlisted his new tent mate, this kid from Heart Mountain, Norman. He enlisted him in a plan. They thought that rain was going to be coming that night when they were camping out in their tent. And so the two of them, Alan and Norman, who had just met, they very carefully dug a moat around their own tent with a channel that led off the moat and downhill, and the channel was aimed right at the tent of the kid who was the bully. And then in the middle of the night, sure enough, the rain came down, the moat filled up and then the channel off the mound, the moat worked, and that downstream tent got inundated with all the rainwater from Alan and Norman's moat. And the bullies tent collapsed, and Alan and Norman collapsed in gleeful laughter at the prank they had pulled. And having pulled that off, Alan and Norman became lifelong friends. That was a very unusual Boy Scout jamboree at Heart Mountain internment camp in 1942. More than 40 years later, in 1988, that little kid, Allen from Cody was now Republican U.S. senator Alan Simpson of Wyoming. And that little kid, Norman from Heart Mountain, he was now Democratic Congressman Norm Mineta. And together in 1988, they convened bipartisan hearings on the legally, strategically and morally disastrous decisions that led to 120,000 Japanese Americans, some of them citizens, some of them not, being forced out of their homes and forcibly relocated into prison camps. Alan Simpson and Norm Mineta drafted the 1988 Civil Liberties act, which was signed into law by a president named Ronald Reagan. And that said that the internment of Japanese Americans in this country, which had been done under a law that dated back to the 1700s, rarely used legal authority. That law, signed By Ronald Reagan, 1988, the Civil Liberties act, said that the internment of Japanese Americans had been based on racial prejudice and war hysteria and a failure of political leadership. 1988 Civil Liberties act formally apologized on behalf of the United States of America to Japanese Americans for what we had done to them. And it paid them reparations just to try to make it right. The legal grounds for interning Japanese Americans in World War II was something called the Alien Enemies act of 1798. That was only the third time it had ever been used in American history. It had been used in the War of 1812, it had been used in World War I, and it had been used for Japanese internment in World War II. Last night we started to see headlines like this one at the Wall Street Journal. Quote, Trump to invoke seldom used wartime law from 1798 or this one from CBS News. Professor says Trump's plan to invoke Alien enemies Act of 1798 sidesteps immigration laws. And then inevitably, because of the history of that law, we started to see last night headlines like this from the ABC affiliate in San Diego. In this case, Japanese Americans react to Trump's plan to invoke Alien Enemies Act. And then this morning we got the news that Senator Allen Simpson of Wyoming died today in Cody, Wyoming, where he was from. He was 93 years old. President Donald Trump gave a speech today at the U.S. justice Department, which itself is a rare thing for a president to do. In that speech, he was expected. White House sources had made clear to lots of reporters that President Trump was expected to announce at that speech that he is going to invoke, invoke the Japanese internment law. He is going to invoke the Alien enemies Act of 1798, which again, has only ever been used three times before in our country and always in wartime. And the last time we used it, men like Norm Mineta and Alan Simpson and freaking Ronald Reagan ended up moving the nation to apologize for it, to call it a stain on our national honor and not only to formally apologize, but to pay reparations for what we have done. Trump wants to do it again, according to multiple White House sources, in speaking with multiple reporters, at multiple agents, multiple news agencies. That said Trump didn't announce it at the Justice Department at his speech today. And he might have meant to. Who knows? His speech went completely off the rails. He started giving what sounded like orders to Justice Department officials in the room that they should go after a government watchdog group crew that has brought lawsuits against his administration. The Justice Department should act against them somehow. And for something. He started to say that the Justice Department should go after CNN and should go after MSNBC and should go after a whole big list of people he sees as his enemies. So his speech, who knows how much of that was written and how much of it was just him being moved in the moment. He got so wound up about telling the Justice Department individually to go after his enemies today that maybe he forgot the part about let's rerun Japanese internment. But presumably that's coming. I'm assuming that it'll come in some midnight or 4am announcement or some misspelled all capital letters, truth, social post or something. We'll see. Today there was a big protest in Washington BY and for US veterans as Trump moves to fire 83 people who work at the VA serving our veterans. It was actually a really big turnout today in Washington for that veterans protest. Thousands of people turned out on the National Mall for that. They chose today for this protest, March 14, 314, as a reference to Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which is where it says that you're disqualified from holding office in this country if you have engaged in insurrection against this country. And there were more protests by veterans and by people supporting veterans, not just in D.C. today, but in St. Louis, Missouri, at the VA Medical center there, and in Madison, Wisconsin, at the state Capitol there, and in Concord, New Hampshire, at the state Capitol there and in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and in Bismarck, North Dakota, and at the Arkansas State Capitol and at the airport rotary in Hyannis, Massachusetts, today, and at the Massachusetts State Capitol in Bost in Tallahassee, Florida, and at the Ohio State House in Columbus, Ohio. Veterans protest today all over this country at a very difficult town hall for Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards in North Carolina last night. One man identifying himself as a veteran was thrown out of the room at the congressman's insistence and cheered loudly by everybody else in the room after he shouted at the Republican congressman. You don't get to. You don't get to take away our rights. When Republican Congressman Andy Harris showed up in Cambridge, Maryland, last night to give a speech, he was greeted with this big 3D milk carton, as if he's a missing kid on the milk carton. Also greeted with a lot of outraged constituents from his own district in Maryland. People demanding that he meet with them, that he do a town hall. Something to answer for what Trump and Republicans are just doing to dismantle the federal government. This was the protest in Bay City, Michigan, today as local people turned out to greet Vice President J.D. vance when he showed up in town to do a speech at a local plastics factory. The fact that he was at a plastics factory explains signs like this one. Wrap Vance in plastic shipped to Russia. This is a protest outside the Tesla dealership in West Bloomfield, Michigan yesterday. This was Navy Captain and US Senator Mark Kelly today in Washington, explaining that today he is selling his Tesla. Hey, folks, Mark Kelly here in Washington, driving to work for the last time in my Tesla. When I bought this thing, I didn't think it was going to become a political issue. Every time I get in this car in the last 60 days or so reminds me of just how much damage Elon Musk and Donald Trump is doing to our country. Talking about slashing Social Security, cutting health care benefits for poor people for seniors. It's one bad thing after the next. He's firing veterans. I'm a veteran, so I have a really hard time driving around in this thing. So I think it's time for an upgrade today. So this is gonna be my last, last trip in this car. There's some things I really liked about it, there are things I didn't like about it, but that doesn't matter. What matters is, you know, doing the right thing. I think it's time to get rid of it. You know, Elon Musk kind of turned out to be a. And I don't want to be driving the car built and designed by pushback looks different everywhere. It involves all kinds of people in all kinds of places, and it takes all kinds of forms. Can't win if you don't play. We've got big Justice Department news tonight. We've got truly unsettling news tonight about a volcano. And the volcano isn't the worst of it. We've got news about a big protest, a big national protest being called for Saturday, April 5th in Washington, D.C. we'll have details on that ahead of you tonight from one of the organizers. We got a lot to get to tonight. Stay with us. 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. The administration doesn't necessarily want to be questioned on any of its policy. I think what we are seeing is prob 2025 in action. This is it coming to fruition. Main justice subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad free listening and bonus content. In the early 14th century, a mighty emperor is given a holy task to seek forgiveness for his terrible crime. He has to make a journey like no other. Join me Luke Pepra as I tell you the story of Mansa Musa, the rich, richest man who ever lived and his adventure that would change the world. Hear his incredible untold story over six action packed episodes on this Is History Presents Empire of Gold, available wherever you get your podcasts. MSNBC presents a new original podcast hosted by Jen Psaki. Each week she and her guests explore how the Democratic Party is facing this political moment and where it's headed next. There's probably both messaging and policy issues, but as you look to kind of where the Democratic Party is, do you think it's more a messaging issue, more a policy issue? The Blueprint with Jen Psaki subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad free listening and bonus content. One of Donald Trump's first acts upon being sworn in as president for a second term was to appoint a new U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. his name is Ed Martin. It quickly became clear, clear what made Ed Martin so appealing to Trump for this term. Ed Martin was at the US Capitol on January 6. He said it was great, said it was like Mardi Gras. He later served as a defense lawyer for several Trump supporters who were charged with attacking police officers during the attack on the Capitol that day. Once Trump named him U.S. attorney in Washington, the top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. Mr. Martin immediately set about demoting and firing federal prosecutors who had worked on January 6 cases. He also honestly tried to indict Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, an effort so outlandish, he apparently couldn't even get Trump Justice Department officials to sign off on it. Ed Martin also tried to get one top prosecutor in his office to order a bank to freeze billions of dollars that had been dispersed by the Biden administration in a federal grant. That prosecutor resigned rather than follow that order. From Ed. Ed Martin. She resigned because she said there was no crime, there was no legal justification for opening a criminal investigation and thereby freezing those funds. She said he was essentially telling her to fake a criminal investigation and she wouldn't do it. Ed Martin, after she resigned, then personally signed and submitted a seizure warrant for the funds in that bank account because he couldn't find anybody else willing to sign it. The judge he submitted that warrant to rejected it because, again, no evidence of any crime. This week, Congressman Jamie Raskin, Democrat of Maryland, asked the Justice Department's inspector general to open an inquiry into the behavior of Mr. Martin as U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C. raskin's letter outlined all the things Martin has done that he says could potentially deserve investigation by the inspector general. The list runs to nine pages, single spaced, in small type. Ed Martin hasn't even been running that office for two months. Democrats in the Senate have also asked for an investigation of Ed Martin from the D.C. bar. And in a development that's surely totally unrelated, I should mention that Ed Martin and Trump's Attorney General, Pam Bondi, are reportedly now moving to try to take control of the DC Bar themselves. They're doing it very stealthily by having Ed Martin's deputy and Pam Bondi's brother run for leadership roles to take over the DC Bar. Good luck with that. I'm sure nobody will notice. Is it the Bondi as in Bondi? Yeah, same last name. You might think that developments like this might create a real sense of turmoil, hunkering down, maybe, or at least a lot of renewed hard work at the Justice Department. Well, let's look at what Attorney General Pam Bondi has been up to in the midst of this mess. You might recall that last week, Trump signed an executive order to punish a particular law firm because that law firm has done work for Democrats. Among other things, Trump's executive order would block anyone from that law firm from entering federal courthouses, which might make it difficult to be a Lawyer in Washington, D.C. i'm just saying the law firm naturally sued, and because the case was so important to Trump, and potentially because it was difficult to find Any career prosecutors who really wanted to defend it. Attorney General Pam Bondi sent her own chief of staff, the Attorney General's chief of staff, to argue the case himself personally in federal court. Bring it in like the biggest guns they got. And her chief of staff just got blown out of court by the judge. The Trump administration lost that with an exclamation point. The judge said Trump's order sent a chill down her spine. She said the whole legal profession was, quote, watching in horror what Trump was trying to do and what the Attorney General's chief of staff was trying and very much failing to defend in court. Pam Bondi and Trump's Justice Department are also apparently trying to launch an investigation into the otherwise totally normal process of funding shelters for migrants in New York City. I say they are trying to launch an investigation there because they seem to be having trouble with some of the fundamentals, like spelling. At least one of the subpoenas they sent out has folks in New York scratching their heads because it went to something called the Hotel Chandler. Hotel Chandler does not host immigrants at all. It's not clear what's going on there with the Hotel Chandler, but a CBS News report does note that, quote, a source familiar with the shelter system pointed out that another hotel with a similar name, the Candler, is in fact a hotel where they house migrants. Asked about the situation with the Chandler and the Candler, a spokesman for the Department of Justice said, quote, we will decline to comment on an ongoing investigation also. Pam, do you. But don't worry about it. When it comes to the really important stuff. Pam Bondi is on it. This went out from her office this week. All caps memorandum for all department employees from the Attorney General, subject ending procurement of paper straws, quote, in accordance with President Trump's direction, the Department of Justice. She's talking about. The U.S. department of justice shall take appropriate action to eliminate the procurement of paper straws and ensure that paper straws are no longer provided within department buildings. Department components. Shall take appropriate action to identify and eliminate any portion of policy or guidance documents designed to disfavor plastic straws. Oh, you guys. The Justice Department's long nightmare is over. Today, Pam Bondi took time out of her busy schedule of vanquishing plastic straw straw discrimination to welcome the President to the Justice Department, making sure to point out to him the most important decor, the picture of him. After which Trump gave a long, long, discursive, rambling, angry speech to Justice Department employees that included basically handing them a handy list of enemies he'd like them to look into Ed martin at the D.C. u.S. Attorney's office. He seems to already have his own enemies list. I mentioned that Ed Martin tried to indict Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer. Chuck Schumer is one of only several people, including several elected officials, all Democrats, who Martin appears to be targeting for investigation. He's also sent a letter to Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia because Robert Garcia criticized Elon Musk, so that got him a threatening letter from the U.S. attorney's office. Democratic Congressman Eugene Vindman this week also revealed that he has received a threatening letter from Ed Martin, this one asking about his personal finances. Eugene Vindman and his twin brother Alexander Vindman have long been targets of Donald Trump's rage and invective for their roles in bringing to light the events that led to Trump's first impeachment. This is the letter that D.C. u.S. Attorney Ed Martin sent to Congressman Vindman. It starts, quote, Dear Eugene, do you always write your business Just Dear quote, I have received requests for clarification of your personal financial disclosures over the past year. I look forward to your cooperation with my letter of inquiry after requests. Thank you in advance for your assistance with this. Please respond by day, month, date 2025. That is literally what the letter says. Day, month, date 2025 only the best people. Washington Post now reports that Ed Martin has sent about 20 of these kinds of threatening letters to public officials and public figures of various kinds. We only know about this one to Congressman Vindman because he decided to go public with it, saying Trump is trying to, quote, intimidate and silence public servants like me, and it's not going to work. Congressman Vindman joins us next. Stay with us. Stay connected with the MSNBC app bringing you breaking news and analysis anytime, anywhere. Watch your favorite shows live, 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 Apple hey everyone, it's Chris Hayes. This week on my podcast, why is this happening? U.S. democratic Congressman Robert Garcia. I think that our party has become too complacent, too respectable, unwilling to say, well, you know, they stoop to this level or they do this or they do that. We're above that. Those days are over. We have to make sure that we are fighting fire with fire, that we're being more aggressive than they are, that we're using pop culture entertainment to reach other voters, that we're doubling down on working class issues, that we're not just leaning into all of our degrees and what we learned at the university and our graduate degrees that we're actually talking to, bringing in and listening to working class people. That's this week on why Is this Happening? Search for why is this Happening wherever you're listening right now and follow 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. I do think it's worth being very clear eyed, very realistic about what's going on here. 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 Democratic Congressman Eugene Vindman represents the 7th district in the Commonwealth of Virginia. This week we learned that he is one of the lucky recipients of what a not lawyer might call a nasty gram and what a lawyer might call a threat from Donald Trump's handpicked U.S. attorney, top federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C. congressman Vindman is one of at least three serving Democratic members of Congress who has received a typo ridden, legally incoherent, frankly bizarre, threatening letter like this from Ed Martin in the U.S. attorney's office. The Washington Post reports that this letter to Eugene Vindman is one of about 20 such letters that U.S. attorney Ed Martin is believed to have sent. Congressman Eugene Vindman, thank you so much for being with us here tonight. I really appreciate you making the time, Rachel, thanks for having me. I call this a Dear Eugene letter and I hope you have me on. Doesn't mean you're going to be the next recipient. Well, you know, I wonder actually who has received them and how many really have gone out. I was very surprised after you went public with this this week to the Washington Post reporting that sources familiar with the matter say that he sent out about 20 of these. We know he's done it to Chuck Schumer in the Senate. We know he's done to Congressman Robert Garcia and to you in the House. I don't know who the other 17 are. I don't know if people are going to go public with them. I also wonder if he's just so poorly executed these threats that maybe he sent them to wrong addresses. I mean, the letter that he sent to you looks like it was written in crayon. I have to ask how you reacted to it when you first opened it up and saw what it was was well, Rachel, when I first got the letter, I thought some unhinged individual got a hold of the letterhead and was just sending a, a letter riddled with falsehoods and, and legally nonsensical things. To me, I didn't realize it was serious until we had phone calls from the office. And I mean, it's, it seems like they've hired a bunch of chuckleheads, but what they're trying to do is they're trying to weaponize government. We've seen this in the intimidation of other civil servants, folks that live in my district, like FBI agents and DOJ agents. It's filled with lies. And the bottom line is it's an attempt to silence, intimidate, and it's just not going to work. It didn't work in 2019. It's not going to work now. When you say that you've had calls following up on this, are these calls from the U.S. attorney's office in, in Washington? Who's calling you and what are they, what are they demanding or what are they asking of you? Well, one of the minions in that office called several times and was very insistent that this is a top priority for doj. We said, okay, hold your horses, buddy. We'll respond to you in due course. I was frankly busy with the activities of a representative and sitting in hearings and things like that. And we did respond because ultimately, I take this seriously. Not, not in that it has anything substantive in it, but it's, it's actually an attempt to weaponize government. And that I have a major problem with. And as a member of Congress, and very much in line with what my colleague Jamie Raskin did, we have an oversight role. And so we cannot allow this administration to intimidate and try, try to silence critics, to silence FBI agents and law enforcement. And we must be forcefully pushing back against it. I think Americans of all stripes are concerned about the dynamic that you're talking about. Using the power of the criminal law, using things like the power of the irs, using powers of the government writ large to go after the kinds of enemies list that President Trump frankly rattled through at what was supposed to be a policy speech Today at the U.S. justice Department before it dissol into an airing of grievances and what appeared to be directives to Justice Department personnel in the room that they should go after individually named people in organizations who the president rattled off from the podium today. A lot of Americans, I think, are concerned about where this is now and how much worse it could get. Do you think that Congress has a specific role, has a list of things that can be done to try to push back and curtail the way they see the government as their weapon against their enemies. Yeah, well, 100%. I mean we, we obviously have an oversight role in our committees. And so we asked tough questions for folks that appear from the administration about why they're doing things. I've asked those very same tough questions of the Department of Defense. I said on House Armed Services Committee about why they fired the, the chairman, several senior flag and, and general officers and all of the uniform lawyers. So Mr. Rasking is asking those same questions in the sherry about folks that work in the justice sector. And we can't do is we can't sit back. We can't let them have the space and intimidate and silence hard working civil servants. I spoke to an attorney that is working in civil society and she responded very vigorously to white supremacists and, and skinheads. And if we're going to have attorneys, a black woman in civil society that stand firm against skinheads and neo Nazis, then it's incumbent on those of us that have sworn an oath to the Constitution to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign, domestic, to do at least that. Virginia Congressman Eugene Vindman, a man who's proven over and over again that he can't be intimidated. Thank you so much for your time tonight, sir. I know that you're not intimidated by this. I know that you're saying it won't work, but I'm still sorry that this happened to you. Keep a surprise, sir. It's nice to have you here. Thank you, Rachel. All right, more news ahead tonight. Stay with us. Mount Spur is blowing its top. On Tuesday, the volcano sent up a cloud of ash more than 11 miles high, turning the summer sky. And once the winds caught it, the ash started falling over metropolitan Anchorage, dumping a quarter of an inch of fine silt over this city of a quarter of a million people. Local authorities are warning people to wear protective masks or stay inside. At least three heart attacks have been linked to the fallout. 1992, a volcano erupted in Alaska. It's called Mount Spur S P U R R. It erupted just like 80 miles outside Anchorage, Alaska. That's the kind of thing you remember if you were there or if you even saw news footage of it. That eruption of Mount Spurr. It covered Anchorage, largest city in Alaska, with this choking gray volcanic silt. Anchorage Daily News reported at the time, quote, anchorage wheezes to a halt in clouds of ash. The city was engulfed in a darkness that could be felt and, and tasted. Planes were grounded, local shops were overwhelmed. With people trying to buy air filters or masks. One local resident told the paper, this stuff burns my throat. That was the last time Mount Spurr erupted just outside Anchorage. It was 1992. Mount Spur is obviously very much still there and it is still active. And lately it's been really active. New earthquakes and new emissions of volcanic gas at Mount Spur in Alaska. This footage from March 7th. The reason we have this flyover footage is because somebody is keeping a very close eye on Mount Spur. The scientists of the Alaska Volcano Observatory, in conjunction with the U.S. geological Survey, they are on the case watching and monitoring Mount Spur this week. Wednesday, the Alaska Volcano Observatory warned that another eruption is imminent, that another Mount Spur eruption is, quote, likely within weeks or months. Likely. Helps to be prepared though, right? Helps to know ahead of time. Donald Trump is getting rid of the Alaska Volcano Observatory. Now, the Trump administration, so called Department of Government Efficiency, has listed the volcano observatory's lease for cancellation, quote, as Mount As Mount Spur trembles toward a possible eruption, the Alaska Volcano Observatory's longtime home, Grace hall at Alaska Pacific University, remains on a Department of Government Efficiency list of federal leases to be terminated. The lease is up for cancellation in August and Donald Trump, in his infinite wisdom, is apparently set to cancel it because surely that is the right way to contend with potentially disastrous volcanic eruptions near the largest city in one of America's 50 states. Just stop looking. It'll be fine. Meanwhile, a broad swath of the United States is bracing for severe weather right now with a high risk of tornadoes putting nearly 50 million Americans in potential danger. Tonight and tomorrow, the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama is warning residents, I kid you not to, quote, wear a helmet and to make sure your kids are wearing something with your contact information on it in case they get separated from you. This will be a very scary situation for many. We have a flooding threat, very large hail threat, severe damaging wind threat, and the potential for long track tornadoes. This is from the National Weather Service in Birmingham, Alabama. Quote, please don't panic, but be ready, be prepared. Again, these warnings to alert people and prepare them. These are coming from the National Weather Service, which is part of an agency where Doge is reportedly planning another round of more than a thousand firings. Austerity efficiency. This is what it looks like in practice. For weeks now we have seen protest after protest all across the country as Americans have pushed back against this strategy, pushed back against what Donald Trump and his top campaign donor have been doing to the United States and to the federal government. Demonstrations all over the country. Now the activist group Indivisible is planning for a big one. What they want to be a big central demonstration where everybody shows up in the same place. Saturday, April 5, Indivisible is announcing what they're calling hands off, a nationwide mobilization to stop the most brazen power grab in modern history. Joining us now is Ezra Levin, co executive director of Indivisible. Ezra, thank you for being with us tonight. I appreciate it. Of course. Rachel, great to be here. It's been a couple of weeks since we checked in. Tell me how Indivisible has been operating over these past few weeks. I know the President and Republican members of Congress, Congress have started to talk about you as if you are some sort of like foreign terrorist threat or something. We know that you've got their attention. How have things been from Indivisible's perspective? Look, we're going through what's known as a wave moment in organizing circles as Indivisible. We had more local indivisible groups join. These are volunteers start local Indivisible groups in their community in November than any month since 2017. We beat the November month in December, beat the December month in January, beat the January month in in February, it's mid March. We've had over 100 local indivisible groups join. And these are peaceful protesters showing up to make their voices heard in red states, purple states, blue states. So how's it going? Well, the opposition is taking note and criticizing us, so I think it's going pretty darn well. What's the plan for April 5 and how is that different from the other kinds of actions that you guys have been taking part in? So for the last several weeks, we've been hearing from old, old and new Indivisible group leaders, hey, we're all getting together, we're doing these actions locally. But when do we actually really hit the streets? When do we all show up in mass? That's what this is. I want to be clear. This is not just Indivisible. We're partnering with the brilliant folks over at 50:51, with labor, with lots of other folks. But this is an organic, energy fed moment. Anybody, anybody who is watching this can sign up up and register an event in their community to say, look, hands off our jobs, hands off our democracy, hands off our volcano observatories. My God, we need to show up because Doge and this administration is negatively impacting all of us and all of our communities. So yes, there's going to be a big presence in D.C. but it's not just D.C. i want to see this in rural areas, in suburban areas, in urban areas, in red states, purple states, blue states. And it's going to take all of us. So this is an opportunity for all of us to stand up together and demonstrate the power, the people power that is against Doge, against Musk, against Trump. We're seeing all different, I mean, we've been trying to track it on this show, trying all different kinds of protests from all different kinds of people in all different kinds of places. Again, this call on April 5th for everybody to do something together all on that day. Ezra Levin, co executive director of Indivisible thanks for your time tonight. I know you're a very busy man. Thanks, Rachel. We'll be right back. Stay with us. All right, that's going to do it for me on this fine Friday night. I will see you again Monday and every night next week at 9pm Eastern. In the meantime, you can find me on Bluesky. I enjoy Bluesky very much. I do not enjoy any other social media platforms at this point at all. But Blue sky is different and I don't have any connection to them at all other than the fact that I'm a happy user there. But if you're down on social media, give Blue Sky a try. I'm there@mattow.msnbc.com 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 and free, free and with bonus content including why Is this Happening? Felshi Band Book Club and more. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts.