talk to and show me some love. rainn wilson adding i'm at a cross roads and frankly could use some support. elmo talked about it on the "today" show. >> you asked everybody how they're doing. how are you doing? >> thank you for asking. you know, elmo is really happy. and elmo is glad that he got to talk to a lot of people. and see how they're doing. it's important to remember that we all have a lot of feelings and that's okay. if you're feeling sad or worried or confused you can talk to someone you love and trust, and it's good to talk about it. >> that's a really important message, especially for today's young people. just one-third of teenagers say things are going well for them. elmo has been capturing the attention of children for decades, including some who are now part of "the beat" team. senior producer arielle mccoy was on sesame street as a child.

you see her there advancing another message, the importance of good sleep. now, she's all grown up, over 30 years later, elmo and sesame street still at work showing us a little support can go a very long way. "the reidout" with joy reid is up next. tonight on "the reidout" -- >> and we can't just continue to open the border. by the way, we can't pass a bill that possibly would make it harder for trump to do his job. >> they're not even trying to hide it. the republicans' top priority is not securing the border. it's helping donald trump return to the white house. also tonight, president biden is greeted in michigan by pro-palestinian protesters. the mayor of dearborn who recently turned down a meeting with biden's campaign joins me tonight. plus, nbc begins its new deciders focus group series. pennsylvania women who voted for

trump last time talk about what they're thinking now, after trump's supreme court overturned women's reproductive rights. and writer, producer, director ava duvernay is here to discuss her new movie, origin, which examines racism and social inequality in a unique way and it's getting rave reviews. and we begin tonight with the undeniable reality that the modern day republican party, to paraphrase pree trump era conyea, dut nas care about the american people. that's not meant as an ad hominem. but the unfortunate truth is why there are individual republicans here and there, the michael steeles that care, the party writ large keeps telling us every day that they as a party don't care. just yesterday, we got yet another example of just how little respect this party has for the people they supposedly represent and for every

american. when iowa senator chuck grassley who was first elected to the united states senate in 1980, and who is the senate's most senior member, glibly told reporters that he doesn't want to pass a bill extending the federal child tax credit which would pull millions of american children out of poverty, because it would make biden look good. just listen to him. >> passing a tax bill that makes the president look good, mailing out checks before the election, means that he could be re-elected and then we won't extend the 2017 tax cuts. >> now, i know that was a little hard to hear. let me reiterate what the 90-year-old senator said. he said he's not inclined to pass a bipart zn tax bill which includes a $1600 child tax credit for roughly 16 million children in low-income families because he doesn't want to mess up the chances of re-electing

donald trump and their plan to give corporations and the wealthiest americans yet another giant tax cut. i don't have to tell you, republican priorities are all wrong, when they're bragging that they're okay with hurting 16 million low-income american kids in order to give a single manic florida retiree, donald trump, the job he wants. donald trump, who was found liable for sexual assault, who is accused of stealing our national secrets, lying to the fbi, and orchestrating an insurrection that came very close to ending our democracy. that donald trump. look, i have been telling you for a long time this is what the republican party has become, but repetition is the mother of all learning. and republicans are repeatedly telling us they that just don't care about anyone not named donald trump, and of course, their own power. and senator grassley is not an outlier. he is the norm. look at republicans and their posturing on immigration.

they have spent years telling us that we must change immigration laws to stop an immigrant invasion. it's a catastrophic emergency. yet now, with the biden administration and democrats delivering a proposal with everything that's been on their wish list for a decade, as soon as tomorrow, they say no, we can't address this issue because it just might help biden. >> i think we need to demand fix it, solve it, and i tell you, there's only one way to solve it. that is to throw joe biden out of office to elect donald trump in november. >> why would i help joe biden improve his dismal 33% when he can fix the border secure it on his own. >> this invasion is insane. we need four more years of donald trump. >> okay, it's not me. it's them. just think about what these men are saying. they're basically telling the american people that can't, rather won't, do the jobs they were literally hired to do by their constituents because the

only person who can fix this is a man who failed to fix it when he was president the first time. when republicans had control of the white house, the senate, and the house. let me ask you, do you think that you could walk into your job tomorrow and tell your employer, sorry, i just can't do the job that you pay me to do. do you think you would last long? i would also like to point out the last person to speak, senator tim scott, is a prime example of republicans who are prostrating themselves before trump in hopes of becoming vice president. despite the fact that trump was willing to let the last guy who had the job get hung for disobeying his order that he violate the constitution and break the law. the capitulation of the republican party is so awe consuming that they hate that the american economy is surging and that we have seen record job creation, a manufacturing boon, wage increases and record-breaking financial markets. they are actually rooting for a

market collapse at the expense of your 401(k). just so trump can get elected and he can do what? you guessed it, sign more tax cuts for the super rich. and guess who is parroting trump's message? the aforementioned senator tim scott. >> we want a biden economy? ha, no way in the world do we want a biden economy. we want trump. tax cuts. >> when is the crash? i hope it's going to be during this next 12 months because i don't want to be herbert hoover, the one president, i just don't want to be herbert hoover. >> this cultish behavior implies a profound disrespect for the american people. but like i said, they don't care. because if they did care, they would be actually alarmed at how unpopular their policies are. for instance, voters have approved initiatives supporting reproductive rights every single time they have been on the ballot, but again, why would

they listen to the american people when they can elect donald trump? who according to reports, would find ways to work around congress to ban abortion nationwide. american feminist writer jessica valenti explained it very well in her testimony at a recent reproductive rights briefing. >> the question i get asked most often is why. why would anyone want to deliberately create a world where women are forced to be walking coffins? it is inexplicable until you understand this has nothing to do with families or babies but enforing a world view that says it's women's job to be pregnant and stay pregnant no matter what the cost or consequence. >> ignoring the american people, and insulting their intelligence is a hella risky strategy and one that is already flashing huge danger signs for republicans. a new quinnipiac poll of registered voters shows joe

biden would beat donald trump in a head-to-head matchup and a growing gender gap between biden and trump supporters. more women in the poll said they would support biden over trump in the latest survey with 58% backing biden and 36% backing trump. and yet, they insist on following him like a murder of crows. joining me now is msnbc political analyst and former congressman david jolly. and charles blow, columnist for "the new york times" and msnbc political analyst. i'm just going to start with you, david, and point out that no less than students for life, the anti-abortion group, don't have so many students in it. it's like senator rick santorum and a bunch of older white guys but they call themselves students for life. even they said the following. for decades, the pro-life community has advocated on behalf of vulnerable women and children. we applaud congressional efforts to expand the child tax credit. even they say expand the credit, but grassley says, nope, that would help biden.

your thoughts. >> yeah, so look, congress -- the republican congress has always stood in the way in creating opportunities for all people. creating an economy that lifts all people. the republicans simply do not subscribe to that notion of economic equity, economic equality, or economic opportunity. they see a very perverted economic theory, if you will. i think the question is this, what we do know is these republicans are not going to do anything, even on their own priorities, on a border bill, on immigration, they can't function. they can't govern. so the question is, does joe biden play offense on that theme? this is kind of a new theme for this cycle. a do-nothing congress. does joe biden actually spend resources on tv and use the bully pulpit to run against a do-nothing congress? it was democrats in congress that had to keep the congress open. democrats who had to agree to lift our debt ceiling. it was democrats who had to pass this tax package to help families.

it was democrats and republicans in the senate that didn't want to pass comprehensive immigration and border security legislation. so does joe biden go right at house republicans in front of the american people and say listen, the country is going in the right direction. the only problem is republicans control the house. i need you to re-elect me, joe biden, and kick out the republicans from control of the house? it could be a powerful message. >> and charles, to that very point, because i'm not sure how i feel about the strategy of essentially putting together a deal, a bipartisan deal, and it's been pointing out there were no latinos in the room. but whatever. putting together a deal that basically is just here, republicans. here's all the things you said you wanted on border security for a decade. here it is. take it, and letting them say no, and then jamming that down their throats. i'm not sure i agree with the contents of the deal they're willing to sign, but he is willing to sign it. he's willing to do it, and they're still saying we can't do that because if we solve the problem, we say it's catastrophic and an emergency,

it will help him. so we have to help the other guy. we have to help trump. make it make sense. >> well, i think what we're looking at is some sort of legislative guerilla war fair effort at regime change. what they're trying to do is to pretend that there is suffering when there isn't and increase actual suffering by doing nothing to prevent it. if they believe they can amp up the suffering, amp up the message of suffering in the country, make people feel bad about an economy that is actually good, make people feel bad about an immigration policy that is not moving forward, not because it can't but because they won't, if they can amp up that misery, they believe that that will redound to a negative effect for president biden and a positive one for donald trump. it is that callous and also that clear. the only question is, how much will american voters buy of this?

how long will you let them not do something, to fix a problem that can be fixed? are you willing to simply wait it out, to endure the suffering that the country will endure for the next 11 months in the hopes that the person that you want to vote for is not convicted or imprisoned. in the hopes that person actually wins, in the hope that you can maintain control of the house. it is an enormous gamble, and we're gambling with the safety and security of the country. and the maga base is allowing this to happen. >> they're allowing it to happen, david, and it's also -- it is probably the greatest magic trick in history, to do a reverse french revolution, where in the united states, the broke people fight for the super rich. harder than they fight for themselves. let me give you an example. donald trump is -- he claims i'm super rich, so rich, i don't

need to go to the big money because i'm so rich. okay, his legal bills. his $50 million in legal bills, he ain't paying them. that's getting paid by his working class supporters. and even his wife's glam, let me show you melania trump. this is melania trump coming out of her mom's funeral, god rest her mom's spirit, in palm beach last month. here she is in her glam, and trump has to get in the other car. she's been there at that funeral. that's the only time we have seen her in months. trump has been in court all over, from d.c. to atlanta. we have not seen melania. she hasn't been on the campaign trail with him. we have not seen her at all. and yet, trump's campaign pacs which take money from working class trump supporters and the maga hats they buy, they have been paying melania's fashion consultant $368,000 a year. that is more money than most

americans will ever earn annually in their lives. his supporters are gleefully willing to give him money to pay his legal bills and to pay for his wife's glam -- they don't get to see her. what is that about? >> it's a cult following, which it's a cultural movement that is not wrapped on the premises of substance or ideology but this following of donald trump. $50 million on lawyers is a lot of money on lawyers. i actually care less that donors might have been duped because i don't think they were. i think they buy this notion that his court cases are part of his politics. i would like to see how the $50 million was spent. i don't know how you can spend $50 million on lawyers. i'm guessing melania got an internet degree in a weekend. who knows what is going on. it's a grift, a graft. we know that. but the important thing is the failure of substance. it is donald trump and republicans that are standing in the way of their donors and

their voters' number one priority, border security and immigration. think about that. all of their xenophobia is getting worse because republicans won't do anything about it. that is kind of the catch here, if you will, for republicans. they are the ones who are insisting on failure. they're rooting against the economy right now. they're rooting for that wealth gap to get larger and larger and larger against their very supporters. they're rooting for the border to get worse. to your point, joy, it is a big deal for joe biden to sign off on such an aggressive border security package. but i think it's because where republicans have lost control of the reproductive freedom issue with dobbs and roe, democrats have actually seen they're not just upside down 20 points on immigration. they're upside down 30. joe biden needs to fix that and he's willing to give republicans a gift, and republicans are saying no thank you. >> the thing is, i get the politics of that, but normally at the end of the day, your self

interest is your belly and your children's belly. republicans locally in these states are saying you can't have summer food money for your kids. iowa governor kim reynolds sees no need to add money to a program that secures youth when childhood obesity has become an epidemic. how are people willing to let their kids not have food in the summer? and they don't punish republicans for that, but trump and his people are saying we only want him back in to get a big old tax cut for the super rich? why is that a good deal for any working class voter? >> because it is what w.b. dubois recognized and wrote about, which is that wealthy planters at the time were panicked that poor whites and poor blacks would come together and they would be a force against them. so they convinced poor white people that there was a currency in whiteness. you might be poor, but at least you were not black. by setting up that kind of

artificial separation, they convinced them to go along with the interests of the wealthy planters. we're seeing that same phenomenon play out again, only now it is 2024. >> and it's also now just including brown migrants. it is unbelievable how that works. david jolly, charles blow, thank you. up next on "the reidout," president biden visits battleground michigan as his administration's full throated support for israel threatened biden's support from arab american and muslim voters here at home. "the reidout" continues after this. ter this

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and i've spent my career fighting poverty, helping people right here in san francisco. i'm also a father raising two kids in the city. deeply concerned that city hall is allowing crime and lawlessness to spread. now we can do something about it by voting yes on prop e. a common sense solution that ensures we use community safety cameras to catch repeat offenders and hold them accountable. vote yes on e. folks, look, we now have in large part because of you and organized labor the strongest economy in the whole damn world. we do. we do. >> that was president biden speaking to autoworkers today in the critical battleground state of michigan. celebrating his recent

endorsement by the united autoworkers union. while that was happening just outside the building pro-palestinian protesters rallied against the president, angry over his administration's actions and messaging during israel's war in gaza. michigan was a state that helped propel biden to the white house in 2020. he won it by just 154,000 votes. but this time around, it may be his biggest obstacle to re-election. as it is home to one of the largest arab american and muslim populations in the country with about 300,000 people who claim ancestry from the middle east or north africa. and while historically that community has overwhelmingly voted democratic, a lot of them are now saying they're ready to abandon biden at the polls this november because of his unwavering support for israel, as it prosecutes its war in the wake of the october 7th hamas attack. and biden's refusal to call for a cease-fire in the conflict that has killed more than 27,000 gazans according to the palestinian health ministry. joining me is the mayor of

dearborn, michigan. and mayor, thank you so much for being here. so just to set the stage for our audience to understand, about 54% of the population of your city, dearborn, is arab american. about three-quarters supported biden in 2020. he got more than 30,000 votes from dearborn alone. give me the temperature of how people are feeling. we know there were protests when president biden visited today. hots the temperature of your community right now, regarding the election? >> thank you for having me on. i think the word i often hear most frequently from my residents is betrayal. we were promised a president who wanted to bring back good moral consciences to the white house, to bring back decency. what we found with the ongoing genocide is a president who is aiding, abetting, and funding the genocide of the palestinian people. i had a resident who came to a council meeting who has lost over 80 family members. what would you tell that individual? >> so i know you previously

turned down the biden campaign wanted neat with you. you didn't meet with them. would you meet with them? do you think it would be helpful for you to deliver that message in person? >> i turned down a meeting with the campaign manager because i don't believe this is a moment for electoral politics. over the course of going on close to 120 days now, over 27,000 palestinians have been killed. these are innocent men, women, and children, over 2 million have been displaced. so for us, palestinian lives should not be measured in poll numbers. if there's a delegation of policymakers of decision makers woo would like to heed the concerns of this community to talk about a change of course, that is a meeting we're willing to take. >> so let's talk about some of the policy changes. i sat in on the economist did a briefing today about this plan that is apparently working behind the scenes. a lot of conversation in the administration about how aggressively to sort of change course or alter the course of what's happening in the middle east, potentially recognizing a palestinian state. you had the biden administration now sanction settlers who are

committing violence against palestinians in the west bank. do those kind of policy changes make a difference in your view to your community? >> what is left of the quote/unquote palestinian state that they now want to recognize? it's been demolished from coast to coast right now. if you look at gaza, over 70% of the infrastructure has been decimated. and so for me, if you want to recognize anything, begin by recognizing the humanity of the palestinian people. there should be nobody who believes that any innocent man, woman, or child should be killed. as it pertained to the settlers, it applies to four settlers and non-american settlers. there are tens of thousands of settlers who are americans. jacob came from new york, flew over, and stole a palestinian woman's home, and he said, i quote, if i don't steal it, somebody else will. my question to the president, what accountability will that person have to face? what consequences would jacob have to face? >> and has the white house

reached out to you? you are the mayor of dearborn. you would think it was a conversation they want to have. have they reached out and said come to the white house. let's have a conversation. >> there's been no invitation to the white house, but there's dialogue happening between individuals about what would a policy conversation outcome look like. from my understanding, the only condition that i have set is i need individuals who can come to the table who have decision making authority and who are open to changing course. if somebody wants to come just to say they have heard from the arab american community and use that as a talking point, i'm not here to be used. >> when we were planning the segment, we knew people were going to talk to you, the biggest question i tend to get when i'm speaking with members of your community, what about the alternative, donald trump. we don't know what he thinks about the situation, but his policies have been deeply anti-muslim and anti-arab.

it seems likely he would allow more violence on the west bank and gaza if he were president. what do your voters think about him? >> i think just to use your language, donald trump would just allow more violence, meaning that president biden allows violence as well. so for me, i understand that trump is a threat to american democracy. but the question should be put back into the lap of president biden. what will you do to earn the trust and respect of your voters. i have run for office several times. the onus is on me to demonstrate why i deserve the trust and respect of the citizens i'm trying to represent. that's what president biden has to show. hue will he change course? all we have seen is a volatile middle east, endless bombing campaigns and it's time to close that chapter once and for all. >> i think you have been very clear, you're welcome back any time. thank you and i hope the white house gives you a call. if you have that conversation, please come back and let us know how that goes. >> thank you for having me. >> of course. and up next, my esteemed

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among the issues expected to play a huge role in this year's election is a woman's right to bodily autonomy. the overturning of roe v. wade angered people, but how will it impact their decision in the voting booth? nbc news held a focus group in the swing state of pennsylvania with that very group, women voters who chose trump in 2020 but do not agree with the supreme court's decision. part of the nbc news decider focus group series. their answers were pretty stark. >> i know i'm a woman and i should have more of a say about it, but honestly, it doesn't matter that much to me, as it might matter to someone else. >> it's not one of my high concerns. >> it's not that important, but i hate to say it, overall, it's probably not going to determine who i vote for. >> it means nothing in the grand scheme of everything to me. i'm going to vote for who i think is going to do the best for my family.

>> joining me now is yamiche alcindor, nbc news washington correspondent. surprising, fascinating stuff. i guess maybe not so surprising. tell me what was found in the focus group. give me more info here. >> joy, this was a fascinating focus group because as we said, this is women who don't agree with overturning roe v. wade, who voted for trump, and who live in pennsylvania. and the headline out of this is they do not believe that trump is to blame for overturning roe v. wade, even though he was the person who put the justices on the supreme court who were able to get roe v. wade overturned and even though he's proudly said i am proud that i overturned roe v. wade. it's really stark. i want to play a moment for you that made me gasp. take a listen. >> by a show of fingers, who would say former president trump is at least partially responsible for roe v. wade being overturned by the supreme court?

so none of you would say he's at least partially responsible for it? >> maybe just a little bit. because of his supreme court nominations. >> now, joy -- >> what? >> what is a very, very good question to that. now, they were twisting themselves into pretzels saying they still support president trump and they were blaming it in part for democrats for the reason roe was overturned. take a listen to that moment. >> we nominated the people to the supreme court who are more conservative, but we could go back and say that ruth bader ginsburg could have stepped off the supreme court earlier and they could have gotten the liberal judge, but she didn't resign. >> so there you have it, joy. they're really pointing to democrats. go ahead. >> you know, it is amazing. they blame ruth bader ginsburg and there are also a lot of

liberals who would say they wish she would have resigned. i think that's neither here nor there. the idea they don't blame trump at all. he did pick the three people who wound up on the court. do they not think he knew that they had an abortion stance that they had? is that it? they think he didn't know what their views were on abortion? >> it's interesting. they said they thought either he maybe wanted these people but maybe didn't really understand what was going on with roe v. wade and didn't know they were going to do this, or they're not taking at face value the fact he's saying he's proud. on the campaign trail, former president trump is saying he's proud, and some of them said really he's just saying that for the crowds. he doesn't really mean it. they're also making light of the fact they don't like sometimes the way he talks about women. some said he was rude, direspectful to women, but they said he's a man of a certain generation. twisting themselves into pretzels to staunchly still support him. the other thing that's interesting is they said abortion isn't a top issue with

them. they said the border issues and the economy and inflation. so that's sort of what we heard over and over again from these women who the majority of them said they will vote for former president trump. >> let me ask you this. were they asked about the e. jean carroll case, about him being accused of sexual assault? >> they were asked about it. and most of them said that they did not agree with the verdict. they also said that e. jean carroll was given too much money. and that they really thought this was really all a publicity stunt. in some ways they were buying into this idea that former president trump is a victim and he's someone who is constantly being attacked by left-wing people and that e. jean carroll is part of this grand conspiracy theory in their head. but joy, i also want to bring to your attention the fact that these women who say that they thought the dobbs decision was decided wrongly, they agree with the idea that a national abortion ban could be in effect. they said they would support the idea of a national abortion ban if it was up to 15 weeks.

if it was 12 weeks or 6 weeks they might not agree with that. take a listen to that sound. >> if all the states were at 15 weeks and it was a national 15-week ban, who would support that? show of fingers. every state had to be at 15 weeks. >> with the stipulations, right? >> yeah, with all three stipulations. those exceptions. so seven of you. okay, seven of you would be comfortable as long as all the states were at 15 weeks. >> i wish we had more time but we're out of time. this is fascinating stuff. thank you for bringing it to us. a reminder, those women are going to vote. make sure you vote too. >> coming up, the amazing ava duvernay joins me to talk about her critically acclaimed thought provoking new movie origin. we'll be right back. all of these signs could lead to worse. parodontax is clinically proven to reverse the signs of early gum disease.

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racism is bound to the history of our nation and continues to rear its ugly head today. but in isabel wilkerson's book, caste she looks beyond raceicism to a worldwide caste system that creates artificial rankings to create groups of people, connecting america's racism to the holocaust and the entrenched caste system in india. ava devernny has taken this groundbreaking work and brought it to live in "origin" following

wilkerson. here's a scene from the film, cutting from the present day to a re-enactment of nazi book burning in germany. >> in germany, memorials to nearly everyone victimized by the nazis and there's no entry sign, no gate. it's just open both day and night. just standing to bear witness. >> 20,000 books were lost that night. books filled with imagination, ideas, and history.

>> leave here, my friends. leave germany. go to your home as soon as you can. you'll be safer there. >> it's worth noting that caste about which i have been lovingly corrected about the pronunsation, has been added to the long list of banned books. it's so good to see you. first of all, congratulations on the film. it's a beautiful film. and it's brilliant in the way it interweaves these different systems, the people who were at the bottom of indian society, the holocaust, and american racism. talk about bringing this voluminous book to life as a film. >> well, thank you for having me. the book is a nonfiction book, isabel wilkerson beautifully weaves together different

moments in history, facts, figures. and so as i was reading it, i was taken by the information in the book, but i was also very emotionally impacted by what i had read. so in contemplating making it a film, the question was, you know, is it documentary, is it narrative? i chose it to be a narrative feature film with actor because that's the form i use to evoke the most empathy. we use the film to portray her life and work. and the film follows her research as she is writing the book, and you go through her personal trials and tribulations and also learn all about caste. >> and the thing that's so interesting is that you start the book and really get to know isabel wilkerson on a personal level, her relationships, her loss. you center a lot of that opening in her growing and really trompatizing connection to the story of trayvon martin, and she and i share that. that boy and the impact that he

had and hearing that 911 call and his death, how that changed her perspective on it. that opening was a choice. why did you make that choice? >> well, you know, isabel wilkerson herself graciously allowed me to interview her and ask any question i wanted for the two years i was writing the piece. it was during covid, so most was on zoom, but there were hours-long conversations in which she was very gracious, very generous in sharing her personal life and teaching me about her research and her very extensive methods to delve deeper in caste. and part of it was the impetus for it, a big moment for her as i heard her share, was the verdict, the day of the verdict when the trayvon martin killer was set free. and that got her thinking about that case and its relationship to race in america, and really wanting to dive deeper into finding there's something else going on here when you have a latino man protecting an

all-white community and stalking and killing a black boy. what is that? is that race, is that something else? so it was a part of the journey to writing the book, is contemplating trayvon martin's death. >> yeah. and what do you want people to take away from this? because we are in this wild era where isabel wilkerson's work is being banned, where 1619 project is being banned. people are passing laws to stop people from reading history and understanding particularly black history and lgbtq history. but it's intense. what do you want people to walk out of that theater with in this time? >> well, it's important for us, we made the film independently, in 37 days on three continents. we broke all of the rules in terms of the ways in which we're told to make this inside a studio system, don't say this, don't press too hard. we were able to freely express what we wanted to and accelerate the timeline of the movie so it's out before the elections

this year. we want to contribute to a conversation that is an urgent matter for folks to raise their voices and talk about books being banned, history being rewritten or completely disregarded, ridiculous statements being made by candidates and politicians that are going unchallenged. underreporting of some of the asinine comments being made on the campaign trail. and so as an artist all i can do is make my heart. i'm a filmmaker, i make my films. the hope is it contributes to a growing national conversation about a resistance to some of these ideas. >> yeah, and by the way, she is brilliant and just that alone should compel you. before i let you go, talk about making the film the way you did, outside the

>> so it's hopefully all of you know, today february 1st is the start of black history month. nico history week began in 1926. the idea came from someone whose parents had been enslaved virginia. despite his humble origins, he went on to earn a ph.d. in history from harvard. he fixated on the idea that black americans need to know their history and contributions to the country to live full lives. if a race has no history, dr. woodson said, if it has no tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thoughts of the world. and it stands in danger of being exterminated. woodson chose february as the

months to celebrate black history, since it's the month when both abraham lincoln and frederick douglass were born. their birthdays were already celebrated in black households. black history month 2024 is being celebrated amidst a literal war on black history and black in lgbtq literature in the u.s., for mentored on behalf, ironically, of what's left of lincoln's political partly, the republicans. in the 1920s, they were in the process of transforming from the party of abolition and post civil war a black and tan reconstruction, into the post 1877 compromise party a big business. as the lily white faction merged to systematically effect blacks and liberal whites in favor of northern industrialists and white supremacists. by the time the backlash against pro civil rights democratic presidents jfk and lyndon johnson drove southern whites into the once hated gop in the late 1960s and early 70s, black voters had all but

abandoned republicans in favor of the formerly white nationalist democratic party, the party flip-flop was complete. 1964 democratic convention in atlantic city, where fannie lou hamer in the mississippi freedom democrats slammed the all white mississippi democratic party, it was a huge pay point when the republican party began its long slow march to absorbing the white vote in the south. exactly 60 years ago. this is my history this is why history is important. it's our story, the story of change and progress, but also the dangers of regression. america is in a period today that is not unlike the anti- immigrant, anti-black early 20th century when women are battling, sadly, along segregated lines, the right to vote. when the daughters of the confederacy, the old 20th century version of moms for liberty, or fighting to whitewash the confederacy, deploy the confederate flag around the country, and make black history and forward leaning american history

disappear. in short, we have been here before, and we made it out. so used to making it through again. so happy black history month to all of you readers. a month it reminds us to remember. and before i go, a quick reminder that my contribution to black memory, medgar and merely, is officially out next week. i'll be on the view monday morning and the cameras show in the afternoon and then the late show with stephen colbert on tuesday. so be sure to tune into all of these. if you like to come see me on my book tour, you can go to msnbc.com, back slash medgar and nearly, and to those of you in st. louis, good news, we have a larger location so more tickets are now available for the february tense event. and that is tonight reidout. all in with chris hayes starts now. >> tonight on all in. >> $50 million of his campaign fund on legal fees. >>