that haley has been getting putting together in iowa and elsewhere resembles the coalition that marco rubio had in iowa back in 2016. so haley, if she is going to have a surprise showing here, a really strong showing, it's not just winning or doing well in those rubio counties, showing inroads in the rural places, with low concentrations of college degrees where rubio didn't register at all, and where the voters who are gravitating towards her or not many number so far. >> steve is back on tonight, nine eastern with exclusive new poll results from nbc news, at the des moines register. katie -- will join him as well. that's going to do it for me on this saturday edition of alex -- reports. see you again tomorrow at one pm, for the next edition. for the next edition welcome to the beach weekend. i'm ari melber, let's get right into the headlines. >> this post holiday period is also known in politics as the campaign homestretch. we are three days out from the start of the 2024 race in iowa, and we are seeing the candidates talk taxes, abortion,

and some late breaking criticism of donald trump. >> let's cut taxes on the middle class, and simplify those brackets. >> donald trump is running for his issues, haley is running on the donors issues, i am running on your issues. >> ron doesn't defeat biden, trump's head to head with biden. monday matters. your voice matters. i trust you. >> i think there's two america first candidates in this race, donald trump and myself. >> donald trump was president for four years, he did not make a dent in the administrative state. >> i know why you are excited, no more commercials after four days. >> haley, referring to the multi multi million dollar onslaught of ads that's been greeting islands. >> she made a joke, desantis has become a joke. >> don't believe a thing nikki haley says. >> ron desantis, losing and lying. >> haley even opposed trump's wall. >> haley disparages the

caucuses and insults iowa. >> now, the intense wrangling between those two candidates reflects a bet about this republican electorate. the bet is that supporters of former president trump are pretty decided. but any anti trump vote is more up for grabs with new dynamics, as governor christie dropped out this week, and the parties anti trump wing, which does exist, is eyeing now haley as a possible alternative to trump, they could rally around. there are reports of the ever ephemeral momentum going her way. there is a hope that a strong iowa finish for her could propel her in the next several states, and at least pause or slow this narrative, or reality, of the gop treating trump as a kind of air apparent before he's then actually tested in actual voting races around the country, which is what a primary is supposed to be. the anti trump republican elites are also trying to avoid the very obvious game theory style mistakes of 2016, when a

splintered field meant there was never a chance for a single trump alternative to emerge. iowa is full of traditions. this year, it's a little different, for a reason we've actually been flagged for you and our coverage just a little earlier this week, and which is now getting a lot more attention, and can't really be avoided if you have any experience in iowa, meaning you live there or you are following scenes like this. the climate change heiresses stream weather is going to take a bite out of the traditions this year. i was our bracing for negative 20 temperatures monday, it will be they say, the coldest iowa caucus ever in 50 years of doing these things. candidates already canceling events today, as the snow is falling. >> i know it's going to be cold, i know it's going to be not the most pleasant. we don't know where the turnout going to be, it could be much smaller than what it's been in the 16 cycle. we are asking you to caucus for us, and bring as many people that you can.

>> bring who you can, it is slippery when icy. so it's going to be cold -- and it will be a race with a former president running. that's something that republicans have not seen much since the days when republican teddy roosevelt, after the white house, ran against his party on a third party ticket. do you remember that? if you're keeping track at home, -- be lighters for anyone who can remember the name of that party, i don't know how we could authenticated, petal give you a second to guess. he was running in the bull moose party, the bull moose party, against his fellow republicans. the point is, you have to go back a long ways to find former presidents running for office, a former president of any kind will bring more fame and statue than other candidates. it can help them, it could also lead to a kind of distorted pulling, because the republican electorate is going to remember the former president more than any of the new options. and as i mentioned, if some of them do well enough, that dynamic could change. but we are a long way from

trump's first republican campaign, when he came down the escalator in the headquarters of a company, now found to be a fraud. he is facing hundreds of millions in potential fines, about 6000 times the average american's salary, is what trump could be fined in a matter of weeks. and at this time, trump's more angry, more defiant, more experienced, and more indicted than his first race. this defendant slash candidates spend the bulk of the last four days in his iowa home stretch, not on the campaign trail, not in the early states. no, he was in court, and those court hearings, are not exactly dry, unintentional or boring. they broke through, with headlines. and we mentioned this in our coverage, as we wrap the week -- and want to emphasize this. they broke through with headlines so bad, even by the standards of republican politics and maga and fox news these days. headlines so bad that trump had to spin away or lie about them

in his big fox town hall this week. and that was capping a very rough stretch by any measure, because most americans oppose political assassinations, and legal claims that their leaders should hypothetically or otherwise have a license to kill americans. >> cod a president be ordered seal team six to assassinate political rival, who was not impeached, would he be subject to criminal prosecution? >> extraordinary legal arguments. and the judges have really pushed the lawyer see how far these positions go. >> can a president get away that question -- in court >> you would have to be, and would speedily be you, know, impeached and convicted before criminal prosecution. >> he could get seal team six to assassinate somebody for him. >> the president could take a page from vladimir putin's playbook, using the u.s. military like a squat of hitmen. >> the chig thing is,

that's not just a bumbling attorney, that's what donald trump believes. >> if he were impeached and convicted first. >> so your answer is no. >> my answer is qualified yes. >> that's ridiculous, that's absolutely ridiculous. i mean, we need to use some common sense here. you can't go and kill a political rival. >> in the authoritarian future that he is clambering for, he gets to do anything he wants, wielding unparalleled power in the presidency, and zero repercussions. that's not a president, it's a dictator. >> his lawyer went much further, claiming that as president [laughter] >> i know, it's ridiculous. >> as president, he pretty much has free reign to do whatever he wants. >> wow. and as we deal with these situations as a country, there can be nervous laughter, there can be denial to tune it out. but if we've learned anything from history, including the last six years, ignore and

laugh it off at your peril. the question here become's were we listening to a closing argument for the iowa home stretch? or, a nod towards the arguments for closing down american democracy, and replacing it with a system where presidents steal elections and kill within community, and then pardon americas convicted, seditionist traitors, and then when the outcry comes, well the leader's lawyers and hacks will say, that's old news. we told you the plans. the people voted him in, they voted him for this. and i said lawyers and hacks, because there are some people serving as lawyers for the president, and every person in this country, defendant or not, criminal defendant or not, is entitled to council as well as

advocacy, including donald trump. that's what lawyers are supposed to do. the hack you just heard, who dishonored himself as a lawyer, wasn't doing legal advocacy, and he wasn't saying anything and that any honest legal expert would describe as advocacy that would help his side when. he was actually saying things antithetical to the known law, contradicting what trump's lawyers had said in the impeachment process and elsewhere. because as a hack, he wasn't really practicing law this week. he was trying to please donald trump, and throw red meat to the base, and live in the outside courtroom arguments, about who is tough, and who is autocratic, and who can take over, and who can kill. so, i understand the instinct to look away, or give it time, or even laugh it off. these are all types of coping mechanisms. but we're not just in the home stretch of 2024's i will race coming monday. we are in a pitched battle over

the future of american democracy, laid against all of the normal -- weather and otherwise of campaign season. back in a moment with more of the beat, weekend. the beat, weekend. en it strikes and prevent migraine attacks, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. ask about nurtec odt. [coughing] copd isn't pretty. i'm out of breath, and often out of the picture. but this is my story. ( ♪♪ ) and with once-daily trelegy, it can still be beautiful. because with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open for a full 24 hours and prevents future flare-ups. trelegy also improves lung function, so i can breathe more freely all day and night. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems.

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homestretch, as the question of democracy -- are over all of this. and let me tell you we're going to do right now. moments away, steve kornacki, our nbc news national correspondent, will give us the numbers, the, fact the breakdown as he is known for. first, i want to take it to rachael -- a drake university professor of political science, author of the iowa caucus. and first rachel, i am curious what you want to tell our viewers nationally about how all of this is playing out, and some of the points we mentioned in the introduction. the usual, the unusual, and the stakes, with questions about democracy itself. >> well thanks for having me. this obviously, 2024 has been a

caucus cycle unlike any that we have ever seen. we have president trump of course leading in the polls from the very beginning, we have other candidates really competing for second place. they are trying to contrast their candidacy with the other candidates who are vying for second place, but they haven't really taken a lot of swings at donald trump. and then of course, we have this 13 inches of snow that's falling in iowa right now, negative 25 wind chills that we are expecting on monday night. so turnout is going to be a major factor on monday night. and i expect actually, if you look at the people who are most likely to be affected by that, i think you are thinking mostly about rural populations, older voters, the population centers tend to be a little bit more moderate, in their voting. so i expect if anything, it is going to favor nikki. >> that is an interesting point. there has been much debate about how that would shake -- . before i bring steve in, we

heard haley there talking about taxes, leadership, a brief reference to this very controversial comments by trump's lawyer, who i mentioned. one of the -- issues in the home stretch? >> well, one of the mythologies of the iowa caucus is that there can be dramatic shifts late in the game. and so, the candidates right now are really hoping to drive that final momentum, get that shift at the very end. and they are doing that largely by taking big swings at each other. and both of them are really arguing about, fundamentally, the issue of authenticity. ron desantis is making his final pitch about the fact that nikki haley is backed by a group of corporate donors, arguing that her priorities are really those of her donors. while you see nikki haley, instead, really focusing on the idea that ron desantis is desperate, and will say whatever he asked to say, and hasn't been a strong leader, and isn't really distinguishing

himself on the campaign trail. his campaign spent a lot of money and had a lot of turnover. and so, they are going back and forth, but they are trying to really take personal appeals here, to say to iowa voters, you can trust me more then you can trust them. that is a question of authenticity, and here in iowa, voters expect to know the candidates. so these sorts of personal issues, questions of trust, questions of authenticity, they play really well in these final days, particularly as you are trying to motivate people to come to your events and go off to the caucuses, in very cold, icy, snowy weather. >> yeah, the iowa perspective and how that is ongoing to shake up. and obviously, the weather of all this. we appreciate your reporting, rachel caufield, and stay warm. now, we go out to the big board, we're steve kornacki has a breakdown. steve, what can you tell us here friday night going into the final weekend? >> well, it's a couple of things. first of all, a little shameless plug for our news

organization, the final nbc news des moines register poll is coming out this weekend. this is always most anticipated pre caucus poll. -- it's one of the most highly regarded pollsters anywhere, and she's been doing it for a long time in iowa. so stay tuned for that, i can show you where things stand. this is our last nbc news des moines register poll, a few weeks old now. but it is the story we have been seeing all year so far in the run up to these caucuses. donald trump, with this wide lead, nikki haley, who has moved close to ron desantis over the summer, perhaps a battle for second there. and you see christie on here, obviously has since dropped out of the race here. but these have been the -- looking for so far. we will see in the final poll if there is any movement, any late surprises, anything that flags for us to look out for on monday night. but one of the questions that is pending monday night's, what comes next here? and obviously you talk about desantis, the stakes for him, he is basically going all in on iowa, it seems. he really needs a dramatic showing here, given the time he

has invested, given all of the endorsements he has received, the voters he has pursued there. nikki haley is an interesting story, because he she is trying to get second place around santa's. but what she wants is momentum for new hampshire. because what's notable is that compared the iowa polling with the average in the next state, new hampshire, the first primary state. and look at this, very different. trump is leading, we've had much of new polls out. haley, this is as close as we've seen in a state poll, where donald trump is facing anywhere. it's in new hampshire. and a big reason for that is, haley is really tapping into independent voters in new hampshire. chris christie you see here, he was before he dropped out, also tapping into independent voters. so haley obviously hoping to pick up those christie voters as well, and give trump a run. the theory being, if she could upset trump in new hampshire, she could take the race next to her home state of south carolina, and maybe make this thing a game. but one thing to keep in mind with haley, look at the profile of the iowa republican electorate. this is from the last time around in 2016, the new hampshire republican electorate, and the south carolina

republican electorate. you see that new hampshire is the outlier here. much less evangelical, far more independent voters, and much more moderate politically than the other two states. so if haley does manage to get a big breakthrough in new hampshire, you are looking at south carolina, and it is her home state. but you're looking at a profile, politically, demographically. and -- favor trump elsewhere. >> really interesting break down, and we have to see and keep an eye, steve as you will, over whether all of this is frozen, unintended, all of this action and events going on over the weekend, or whether as we were just told by one i will watch, or the kids to be late breaking changes. my last question is not about the votes and the caucus, steve, it's about you. you are going to be working hard all weekend into monday, monday night, and then onward for the season. what are you drinking, what are you doing to stay energized? do you have a -- in the studio? >> duncan coffee. same as always. i figure why break with the routine now. >> tradition, we need some

traditions that we can all agree on. maybe dunkin'donuts coffee is one of them, in our polarized times. steve, or going to be relying on you a lot, we appreciate you. thank you -- appreciate it. >> back in a moment with more of the beat, weekend. beat, weekend attacks all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion and stomach pain. talk to your doctor about nurtec today.

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migraine attacks, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. ask about nurtec odt. that's what it looked like in the courtroom today. and we also heard from the attorney general, who has been on something of a street here. she already run the fraud finding portion of this. now they are fighting over what potential peddie penalties there may be. the judge also gave donald trump a chance to speak today, not for closing arguments, but require that he would have to comment only on facts and law if he did so. trump didn't stick to that, he went into a kind of a rant, speak for about five minutes, arguing that this was all wrong, and a fraud, and he is the one being persecuted. and then trump actually tried to attack the judge in the courtroom, making a reference to his own agenda. and that was about enough, the

judge then shut him down, and even asked trump's attorney to please control your clients. now most lawyers would say that if you are dealing with a judge who is going to decide whether your company pays five, ten, 100, or 300 million, you wouldn't really want to attack him on the last day, as he goes in to make those ruminate shunts, it doesn't seem strategic. all of this is a bench trial, there is no jury, and the judge as mentioned, ruled on a fraud. again, we can't emphasize that enough. the fraud is already part of this, it's already been established. now then the prosecution presented their closing arguments, attorney general james who you see there leading all of this. and they said today that they were acting with intent, when they manipulated their annual financial statements. did they know it? yes. we have not heard any new facts, they argue, because most of the facts are undisputed. now donald from has discussed the nature of admitting values. this came back in november. and here's what's at stake.

if the attorney general winds these damages, it could be over $300 million, it could also be a ban on trump or his children doing business in new york, short term or long term. we have been covering this today in a big way on msnbc, if you had the tv on earlier, you might have noticed we have been talking about this with andrew weissmann and others in our special coverage for hours, because all of this goes to the two problems facing donald trump just this week. one is the business empire that he has so long bragged about, touted, and recorded to the attorney general, lied about. and weather is going to be hit with major, major multi hundred million dollar fines, and how that is going to affect him, both as a business and as a candidate. he could be forced into things like you can't hide, like having to publicly sell off assets just to cover the costs, or having the court, which again has powers, force the sale of assets, whether he likes it or not. so that is a big one right here. and then on the other side, this week of course trump was in a separate federal courtroom, where he is trying to fend off

a trial that could result in his incarceration. a lot going on. and the fox news town hall last night that came up. trump tried to downplay many of the different things he's done, before, during and after january 6th, including threats designed to rattle the system or poison the jury pool, or scare people in government, where he has vowed retribution. and so i want to show you something today. if you followed our coverage last night, rachel, and our whole team broke some of this town. we talked about it, we reported on it. right now, i'm going to let the evidence do the talking, and show you a contrast that we have prepared for tonight's coverage, which is what donald trump was saying in his softer, allegedly gentler walk back version at the fox town hall. and what he is actually repeatedly said when his lawyers have helped defend and argue for, on the other side of the ledger. because donald trump is both good cop on fox, and bad cop in a lot of other places, all wrapped into one hypocritical, south contradictory package.

>> i'm not gonna have time for retribution. >> i could stand in the middle of fifth avenue, and shoot somebody, and i wouldn't lose any votes, okay. >> and remember this. our ultimate retribution's success. >> i'd like to punch him in the face, i'll tell you. >> no no, i am not going to be a dictator. >> we will treat those people from january 6th fairly. we will treat them fairly. and if it requires pardons, we will give them pardons. >> so, can you say tonight that political violence is never acceptable? >> well of course. that's >> knock the crap out of them, would you, seriously. >> it tells a story. and as we were discussing just within rachel and others last night, the story is actually more complicated than the cartoonish narrative we sometimes hear. you may have heard people say well, the republican agenda is cruelty, or the maga folks like january 6th, they embrace it

now. and that is a part of the story. but that actually treats all of the conservative voting bloc as a kind of a monolith. and if you are treating a voting bloc as a monolith, then you'll probably not very accurate, or quite frankly, sophisticated. because while that exists, and we've covered that extensively, even on fox, donald trump doesn't want to admit his vial agenda. because even vox viewers, he has figured out, let alone the rest of the country if he makes it to a general election, don't find violence, and political violence appealing, for overthrowing the government appealing. basically wantonly supporting a coup, let alone hypothetical assassination, appealing. you kind of, you get lost sometimes. you have to remember, none of that stuff is popular in the main with most people, even though yes part of the republican party, which involves yes tens of millions of people, has kind of super sized and broadened its support for many horrible things. trump's calls for violence have

consequences. the judge overseeing trump's civil fraudtrial actually faced a reported bomb threat, just hours before the arguments ben today. and while that follows a pattern of -- that is not actually correlated wi bombs, it is still designed to rattle everyone. and if not the judge, than his family. and if not his family, then his friends. and you created environment of that kind of violent ar. trump and his team, trafficking that, even as he denies it on fox, let alone the version that you may hear if he becomes the nominee in the general election. we have to take this very seriously, we have to hold him to account, we have to look at the evidence. and trump's lawyers back this up, as mentioned, with the scandal to end all scandals, except the scandal seems to be endless. where you have a lawyer for the former president of the united states, when asked a very basic question in court by serious judge about political assassination, which is something in our country's history, and something that relates to what trump fans are

calling for an jan sixth, what they wanted to do to pence, pelosi, and others. and now, just so everybody is clear, the position of the former president and his lawyer, a position that he clearly walked away from on fox, is a license to murder and assassinate, with no way to prosecute it, and virtually most cases here ithat moment. ordered seal team six to assaine a political rival, who was not impeached, would he be subject to criminal prosecution? >> if he were impeached and convicted first -- >> so your answer is no. >> the answer is no. if you want to know how to cover a court, and we've all gone through law school together dealing with the trump era, what the judge says the answer is is what the court considers the answer. no, there's no way to prosecute that. yes, they want the immunity to assassin. and the judges are very

skeptical of that lawyer, and those claims. it is illegal to murder someone, and it is illegal to use the government to try to murder someone, even if you are a member of the government. i don't know why i have to say that, but here we are. and that was the judges hypothetical. the reality is that hypothetical was served up, of course, in the context of whether or not there will be a trial for trump's attempted coup, and the now-convicted sedition and insurrection or not. will there be a trial this year before the election on that fact? that is one of the biggest questions we've faced. and so, i mentioned this in our coverage, and i want to reiterate it snipe for we turn to some great experts. there is so much noise nowadays, and people will repeat anything, from which you have the internet or reddit or tiktok, and all of those places have all kinds of people weighing in, and that is great sometimes. sometimes you have to fact check it. but this was not some pundit, or some random video musing

about something. this is a very serious judge, the second highest court of the land, d.c. court of appeals. and they are asking this question to check, before we go any further, how serious are these lawyers and their client, the former president, who stands accused of coup was. how serious are they about all of this, in the claims they are making? and the answer was serious enough to admit, in a court hearing, under penalty of perjury, that this includes a license to kill. that is that side, and then there's the other side i mentioned, the fraud trial. a lot going on, which may explain why donald trump is bowing out of any pretense of going on the ground in iowa, and spending many of his days here, in the final week before the iowa caucus, in courtrooms. our special guest -- and -- and forbes editor dan alexander, when we are back. when we are back . with two times more menthol per drop, and powerful vicks vapors to vaporize sore throat pain.

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states does not have immunity, then he will be totally ineffective, because he will be able to do anything, because it will mean he will be prosecuted. strongly prosecuted, perhaps, as soon as he leaves office by the opposing party. so a president in the united states, i'm not talking just -- any president has to have immunity. >> donald trump, on why he thinks there should be -- immunity -- that currently doesn't exist. we are joined by christy greenberg and our friend dan alexander, both of whom were in the courtroom at the fraud trial today. and we will get to the fraud trial. but kristie, your view on what we have seen in these pretty intense sets of hearings all weekend? what the president is arguing there? >> well this idea that if there is no immunity for the president, then it's just open season on political prosecutions, that's just not true. it hasn't been true up until donald trump, because donald trump engaged in unprecedented

crimes. and so, this idea that there is no separations, that somehow these are joe biden's indictments, of course they are not. it is not even the doj's, necessarily. they have a special counsel who is separate, and has his own authority. he went to a grand jury, and of the grand jury voted and found that he had probable, there was probable cause to show that he committed crimes. so there are guardrails in place to make sure that there can't be these political prosecutions. now, will that be the case if trump were to be elected? you saw in the argument during that hearing, trump's lawyer get up and say oh, well then all bets are off to. western district of texas, biden could be charged for mismanaging the border, which is not a crime. but he was very much forecasting what trump would do in office. he said there would be cycles of recrimination that would shake our republic. this wasn't a truth social post, this wasn't something they said on. the >> so why do you think the lawyer legally did such a poor job? is it just pleasing the client? >> i went to law school with

him, he was in my section. and it brought back some memories. >> of? what >> he was all >> he was always like? this >> he wouldn't really answer the question and what kind of talk over the professor. but i think that is kind of his style. >> i mean let's slow down, when we say when, the judge says we have established that your answer is no, and he says qualified yes, and this is just one hearing. imagine if you take him out of it, imagine if you had a relationship with someone, where you said did you pick up the kids from school, and he says, well qualified yes, but the kids are still at school. i mean, this is a very effective tactic, i would say for answering questions. >> right, qualified yes, it was meaningless. i mean the answer was no. well >> it was a lie, and i don't think it endeared him to the judge. and if he's planning for a different audience, or he's thinking our only hope is the supreme court anyway, so i don't even care that i may lose this -- i'm curious your view on that, and then -- >> i do think, look donald trump was in that hearing, so

some of the times where he is raising his voice and talk about political persecution, that was certainly an audience of one. but yes, he is looking forward to the supreme court, and i don't know that he was particularly concerned about how these three judges, who handled themselves quite well, and in -- i don't think he was particularly concerned about how they would receive his response. >> did you guys ever square off in a mock trial or anything back in the day? [laughter] >> no we didn't. no, he was in the federalist society, he was a big textualist about the constitution, and what's in the text. so to see him taking these positions now, that of course there is nothing in the text of the constitution about presidential immunity. there is nothing in the history. so it is very different than the positions he took way back when. you >> know, it almost makes you wonder whether the scalia textual regionalism is a giant -- for a right-wing agenda. but that's a larger question than we have time for right now. but, no certainly not the original text of the

constitution, represented there. dan, you have been very patient, as we have been lost schooling -- to turn back to the fraud trial, which again we have been covering both here, let's play a little bit of these new remarks from attorney general james, while she was concise and spoke out -- with the trial concluded. this was just within the last hour, take a look. this case is about the facts, and the law. and mr. donald trump violated the law. the point is simple, no matter how powerful you are, no matter how rich you are, and that no one is above the law, and that the law applies to all of us, equally, and fairly. >> what did you see in court today? >> well yeah, the most fascinating moment, of course, was when donald trump gave a surprise statement. so the judge said hey, can you abide by my rules, and talk about only relevant facts to the case? and donald trump didn't really answer that question, instead sort of went on a five-minute

long campaign speech, you know, saying that the judge didn't have a very long attention span, saying that the attorney general was politically motivated, all the sorts of things that you thought that he might say. but from a business perspective, the most interesting thing that i heard today was an attorney generals closing arguments, when they basically made the case that donald trump was going to run out of cash, if he didn't get these super low interest rates. and had he paid a higher rate, then he would have either had to cut back his spending, which he was doing at the time, things like running for president which cost him $66 million in the first -- . or he would have had to change his business, sell assets, or something like that, in order to be able to afford his lifestyle and his business. now that was a really interesting analysis, and it was a surprise. >> so that was new to you. did that go to a motive? >> exactly, it went to motive. why would somebody lie about their net worth so persistently for so long? now i've got to say, donald

trump is a one-of-a-kind person. you know at forbes, we have been doing forbes for 104 years, no one on it has ever lied so persistently about the net worth as donald trump. so i think there is something psychological here, more so than just a business motive. but certainly, there are business motives to. and they laid out a really interesting one that hey, this is a guy who was short on cash, and didn't want to have a pay a lot of interest, and figured out a way that he could lower his interest rates. >> christine, and dan, thank you. up next, we look into policy at our nations children, for real. the story, stay with us. stay with us. you need sinex saline from vicks. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement.

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families will lose a safety net to help pay food on the table. during the pandemic, these families were eligible to receive additional food stamp benefits. >> -- it's about time, it's time. it's a struggle out here. >> we really are struggling out here. -- please consider, and think about the children.

>> emergency food benefits from the pandemic helped many, many families. that type of support eventually ran out, within the last few months, experts have said there is a public health crisis facing one in eight households, and food insecurity. now, there are federal programs to address this. republican governors though, in 15 different states, are saying they will not take food money that is set aside for children, in low income families, so they can eat and not go hungry, or malnourished and the federal money was approved and what was a bipartisan deal. so even republicans in washington eventually reached a compromise on this. th amount may, excuse me, may sound sort of small, depending on how you look at it. but it is about $40 a month for each child. and if the state takes that, the children then get that -- and that makes a big difference to some of those families. but, in these 15 states, which

you see on your screen, we will leave it up on your screen, if you're a weather you live in one of the states the republican governors say i see the money, i see that it's relatively needy households that would take these $10 a week for children to eat, and i say no, i won't take it. there is i was kim reynolds, who is in the news a lot today who says well they don't need the funds when, quote childhood obesity has become an epidemic. insulting. or, i was top newspaper, which is not exactly hugely liberal. it's the des moines register, and they say reynolds is completely off base, and that view in that hometown paper, while they are not alone. >> we are talking about disaster levels of food insecurity right now. it just breaks your heart for these kids. >> growing rates of food insecurity, among children in iowa could worsen this summer, as the state is opting out of the summer food assistance program. >> it's really disappointed that we are not protecting our children.

the need is not going anywhere, it's growing, and the decision that the governor made will set us up for more challenges this summer, at a time when the need increases. >> absent any huge policy changes or some big break in the economy that i don't think anyone sees coming, no, we are going to be in a bad spot again this summer. >> that's the view from one of these 15 states. we showed you iowa, because there is so much news about iowa, and the republicans are competing there, and they're spending millions on tv ads, while their partners in policy won't spend $10 a week that's already been allotted for by the federal government. the biden administration is pushing back, as mentiod they reach this bipartisan deal in washington, precisely to get these money to the states. but there is a steep federal collaboration necessary. biden's top official on this says it's sad there isn't really a political reason for not taking money that's already been allotted.

21 million kids, however in the rest of the country, the majority of the states, we'll get these so-called summer food benefits. this is an important fight, it's about policy, it's about ethics. and then apparently, the politics of a bunch of republican governors saying they see some political reason to deny their constituents children money for food. and there you have it. when we come back, obama pollster cornell belcher, my special guest, stay with us. est, stay with us. wanna know the secret ingredient to running my business? (tina) her. (christina) being all over, all at once. (tina) all the time. (christina) but my old network wasn't cutting it. and that's not good for baking. or judging. or writing. so, we switched to verizon, the network businesses rely on. with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon.

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there is a lot going on. and right now, we turn to one of our favorite times here on the beat, fall back. we've got a star studded one for you tonight, -- you might recognize the emmy nominated actor, comedian who famously starred in nbc's community, and has appeared in movies ranging from tropic thunder to -- a black lady sketch show. >> you were the devil. >> yeah yeah -- can we move this along? i'm missing csi. angela, you good >> yeah she didn't have more than -- started lose my mind and my focus. >> is a black lady courtroom. >> i have been sitting in this courtroom for 20 years. and i have never seen. >> i'm sorry your honor. >> no one in this pop in. -- it would be very rare. >> we'll have more fun in the courtrooms, also know her from beyond the view, the top, the real. and she's headed to broadway next, for the musical smash.

how do you top that? well cornell belcher has been around the block, and then sun. he wrote a black man in the white house, he was in obama pollster, not too shabby. vanity fair says he's the post who got it right, as recently as the 2022 midterms, where a lot of people got it wrong. and we appreciate both of you. welcome, how y'all doing? >> good, how are you? >> good how you doing cornell? >> i'm doing well. -- on the show, tonight is popping. >> you said it, you said it. you know, i always give home court advantage, we've got to talk before, but i am so thrilled for your beat debut. cornell -- 's you've been here before, he can go for first cornell, what's on your fall back list? >> well, republicans calling out hunter biden for white privilege. and you may recall this yesterday, when the representative from south carolina -- hunter biden now, for being

sort of encapsulating white privilege. i find this, it's the hypocrisy really, for me ari, that the republicans who by the way, when you look at what their position is, pulling back equity and inclusion programs, going after affirmative action, trying to erase black history. and the entire republican caucus, to me, it is about perpetuating and reinforcing white privilege. so it's really the hypocrisy here, and i think she needs to fall back on her calling out others for white privilege. >> and to your point, as we so often see with some of these political games, do you care about the thing you are saying, or do you only care about when you can foisted on someone else? and it's just partisan. i want to give you time, welcome, what is on your fallback list? >> >> and make sure we got our volume on, can you will hear, can you hear? >> no >> greed and hustle

culture. that's what i want to fall back. i am so tired of people working until they die, everybody has to grind grind grind. i understand -- some shelter and some transportation. but when you have to have it all? when is enough enough, when can we stop stepping on people's backs to get ahead? i mean everybody, the fall back, and just take what you have the happy with it. >> and what have you seen? because you know you work in rooms that people are interested to join right. i mean people love going to see these types of shows, community or broadway. have you seen this evolve over time at all, sort of what peoples expectations are? because we are seeing a rising labor force, labor organizing. >> absolutely. i feel like it's at some point, it became about having everything, instead of having enough. and i think when you need to have everything, you stop caring about other people, and it's crab grab grab, mimi me. and i think we need to be our brothers and sisters keepers. and we stop trying to have, it'll maybe we can share we. have >> yeah, i love that. this is a start of conversation,

i want to continue these, we always say even on the big news days, we want to get people in, and mix it up. and -- i know i believe we spoke, i want. >> september. >> i want to say in the fall, and you said i will do it and you said okay, we were gonna hold you, that so you gave, appreciate that. your beat debut, i hope you come back, cornell belcher, i thanks to you as. well thanks for watching the beat weekend, and be sure to join us weekdays at six pm eastern. for the beat on msnbc. for the beat on msnbc. good evening, and welcome to politicsnation. tonight's lead, kingmakers. the 2024 presidential primary season opens and roughly 4 to 8 hours when