someone tells you who they are, believe them. so folks are bleechbing trump on contraception, on apportion, on the authoritarian power grab he and his maga extremists who control congress and republican state legislatures intend to enact. we are going to tell that story. we're going to win as a result of that story. >> the confidence i can feel it. >> bring it on. >> bring it he says. president of the center for american progress action fund, patrick, it's great to see you. thanks for your time tonight and your enthusiasm. that is our show for this evening. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. we had the greatest economy in history, and i was getting calls from the other side. i call it the radical left, but left leaning to put it mildly democrats, can we get together? because everybody had the best they've ever had. african american jobs were the

best in history. asian american the best in history. hispanic the best in history. women, people with a diploma, people without a diploma. >> donald trump yesterday making false claims about his economic record and the unemployment rate during his administration. we'll have more from his rally in the south bronx in just a moment. also ahead we'll explain why ohio's republican governor is calling a special legislative session to make sure president biden is on the ballot this fall. and louisiana will soon become the first state to classify abortion pills as controlled dangerous substances. we'll go through that legislation and its possible impact in november's elections. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this friday,

may 24th. i'm elise jordan in for jonathan lemire. we'll start this morning with the race for the white house and donald trump's rally in new york city last night. after spending weeks in lower manhattan for his criminal hush money trial, trump traveled uptown to the bronx to make his pitch to an area of predominantly black and latino voters. there trump claimed that the remaining israeli hostages gaina both of whom he said are possibly deadwood still be alive if the 2020 election wasn't stolen from him. he also complained about being in the news too much. haha, and claimed migrants were overtaking public spaces while speaking from a public park. >> many of the hostages that you're waiting for and everybody's waiting for, those hostages many of them are dead. many of them are dead. and it's a horrible thing. it's a horrible thing but many of those hostages are dead.

some will be alive, but many of those hostages are dead. it's a very serious, horrible thing. a lot of people say to me today the toughest business people, people that you know about, could i ask you a question? how do you do it? i say do what? how do you get up in the morning and put your pants on? i'll explain it to you someday. so tired of politics. i'm od'd. you know what that means? i'm od'd on politics am. trump, trump, all different stories, trump. they're driving us crazy. right now you don't have public spaces, they're occupied by migrants in tents. they're coming from so many places we don't have any idea. in many cases we don't know what the language -- you have languages people don't even know about. and we're not just talking about south american countries. we're talking about countries

from africa. i think they're building an army. they have 29,000 people over the last -- i think they're building -- they want to get us from within. i think they're building an army. this is not -- you know, it's interesting. did you see them? they all have tents. they all have gas fired stoves. i mean this is not like an illegal immigrant. this is they're building something -- they have something in mind. they cannot stay. we will immediately begin the largest criminal deportation operation in our country's history. >> donald trump is now trying to fund raise off of false claims suggesting president biden authorized his assassination during a search of his mar-a-lago estate in palm beach, florida, nearly two years ago. the ex-president sent out an e-mail yesterday members of his mailing list with the headline biden's doj was authorized to shoot me. trump and his allies have pointed today a recently

unsealed court filing which describes a policy statement outlining the standard operating procedure by which the fbi is authorized to use deadly force if deemed necessary during any situation when a search warrant is executed. it was not unique to the fbi's search of his mar-a-lago property and it actually is intended to limit the use of deadly force. attorney general merrick garland yesterday called trump's allegation, quote, extremely dangerous. >> that allegation is false, and it is extremely dangerous. the document that is being referred to in the allegation is the justice department's standard policy limiting the use of force. as the fbi advises, it is part of a standard operations plan for searches, and in fact it was even used in the consensual search of president biden's home. >> we're following some new developments this morning in the

donald trump criminal hush money trial with closing arguments set to begin on tuesday, and jury deliberations to follow soon after. the judge in the case ruled yesterday that the manhattan d.a. office will not be punished for a last minute document dump that caused the trial to start later than originally planned. judge juan merchan rejected the defense request prosecutors be sanctioned interest releasing a flood of nearly 200,000 pages of evidence just weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin. the documents were from a previous federal investigation into the matter. at the same time new york's appellate decision has upheld judge merchan's decision not to recuse himself from the case. trump's defense team was seeking the judge's recusal base on his daughter's work for consulting with democratic clients. joining us now to break all of this down is msnbc legal analyst danny cevallos. danny, thanks for coming in today. are there any surprises with the

appellate court ruling that judge merchan does not have to recuse himself? >> no. the recusal standard is generally pretty high. after all, judges are political preachers. they're involved in the political process. they are lawyers and politicians who just wear a black robe. after all, that's what they do. whether in the federal system when you're appointed realistically people understand even if you're appointed you have to do some politicking. and if you're an elected judge the same thing has to happen. especially in a county like manhattan, they're involve in the political process. we don't know what the numbers are at the courthouse downtown, but the odds are you're going to get a democratic judge. now, if you're out in grailing, michigan, or deep iowa maybe you get a lot of republican judges in a particular courthouse, but the standard for recusal is high. that being said, this is very

unique situation with a defendant who has been more politically polarizing than any defendant in american history. so it is a unique decision to have to make, but i'm not surprised that there was no recusal orequire under justice merchan. >> well, it's a holiday weekend monday, day off for memorial day. then tuesday, it's going to start to be these closing arguments. what do you predict we're going to see from the prosecution on tuesday? >> well, the prosecution we know exactly what they're doing. i mean they proved, i believe, beyond a reasonable doubt elements of their case. what those payments were characterized as and what donald trump believe they were, that is probably the defense's best defense. very quickly what i think you'll see from the defense. >> -- exactly. that's where i was going to go next. >> what i think they'll see is

point to the empty chair and say where was allen weisselberg? why didn't the people call him? what were they afraid of? and i have to say throughout the trial i felt the prosecution laid out a pretty clear-cut case. where started to have doubts was during the charging conference, an event that people don't normally care about. but it was during that that i started to realize that if the lawyers are struggling so much to decide on what are the mental elements standards and some of the other things that the jury has to be instructed on, if we the lawyers are struggling with these novel concepts in a novel-type prosecution then what will the jurors do? by that i mean words like someone makes or causes a false entry. did donald trump cause it, or was it just expected snd did people do it because they thought that's what he wanted? does that constitute causing that false entry? some of these difficult legal concepts are challenging even for lawyers to understand. and this is novel application of this particular law.

so even though the prosecution may have the facts very well laid out, i think the defense is going to exploit in the jury instructions or whatever they end up being the challenges of understanding the requisite mental element trump needed and what did he do? what did he make or cause? people were paid. it's sort of the legal concepts i think the defense has in their favor. the factual side very much in prosecution's favor. number one, there's no doubt about the transactions, and number two the whole thing looks fishy. and that's great for the prosecution because when things look fishy juries are more inclined to find in favor of the prosecution. >> well, now let's talk about the jury because pretty soon their job are going to kick into high gear. what are the jury instructions going to be, and how do you see that process proceeding? >> everything. and charging conferences for me

are the least stressful part of trial because i know they're the entire case. we all focus on, hey, did defense attorney todd blanche raise his voice before lunch monday with michael cohen? okay, that was interesting. it was dramatic. but deciding the instructions the jurors get far more important than a moment at trial where a defense attorney tries to go on the attack against a cooperating witness like michael cohen. who cares? when the comes to the jury instructions it's the most boring and terrifying moment of a trial altogether because you are deciding the words that are going to be spoken to a jury by the judge because the judge is one they trust more so with justice merchan because of how even-tempered he's been with the exception of the witness robert costello. and who can blame him because, look, judges get frustrated, too. this is very key moment. whatever the jury instructions end up being, we're going to

pour over them. it's the jury instructions. >> this case continues onward hopefully to a conclusion soon. danny cevallos, msnbc legal analyst, you'll be back for mortgage. thank you so much. still ahead former president trump is claiming that he can get russia to free imprisoned wall street journal reporter even gerschkovich if he's elected in november. what the kremlin is saying about that. plus the latest from the middle east as israel looks to be expanding military operations in rafah. those stories and a check on sports and weather right when we come back. sports and weather right when we come back.

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former president donald trump claims he's the only one who can get vladimir putin to release american journalist evan

gerschkovich from a russian prison. he said so yesterday on his social media website writing in post if he wins the election gerschkovich would be released before he even assumes office. trump added, quote, putin, president of russia will do that for me but not for anyone else, and we will be paying nothing. gerschkovich has been wrongfully detained by the u.s. -- by the ussr government since he was taken into russian custody on espionage charges in march 2023. asked about trump's post, a spokesman for the kremlin told reuters that vladimir putin has, quote, naturally not had contacts with donald trump. it appears israel expanding its operation in the southern gaza city of rafah. the idf says it's now fighting in neighborhoods near the heart of the city. this comes after -- about three weeks after the israeli military

first pushed into rafah carrying out limited operations against hamas. according to the united nations more than 800,000 people have left the area. the move comes as the international court of justice is expected to rule today on a request to order israel to halt its operation in rafah. the court, however, has no enforcement power and its rulings have been ignored in the past. meanwhile, cease-fire discussions are set to resume at an undisclosed location in europe this weekend. israel announced yesterday it will send its negotiators. sources tell "the new york times" cia director bill burns will also head to europe for the talks. it's not known if egyptian or qatari mediators will be there. it's official. israel prime minister benjamin netanyahu will address a joint session of congress. house speaker mike johnson made the announcement during a speech marking israel's independence

yesterday. >> and tonight i'm happy to announce something else to you, that we will soon be hosting prime minister netanyahu at the capitol for a joint session of congress. yes. this will be a timely and i think a very strong show of support to the israeli government in their time of greatest need. >> johnson had given senate majority leader chuck schumer a deadline earlier this week to sign the invitation for netanyahu. schumer then agreed to it despite opposition from some democrats. it's not known yet when the israeli leader will address congress. republican governor mike dewine of ohio is calling in state lawmakers for a special session next week to ensure president biden appears on the state's ballot this november. ohio election law requires political parties to certify the presidential ticket by august 7th, but the democratic national

convention where biden will be formally nominated doesn't actually start until august 19th. in the past such issues have been addressed with quick legislative fixes, but some republicans have balked this time around. >> this is simply unacceptable. ohio is running out of time to get joe biden, the sitting president of the united states, on the ballot this fall. failing to do so is simply not acceptable. this is a ridiculous, this is an absurd situation. >> still ahead we'll turn to sports with the latest playoff action in the nhl and nba including the 40-point show put on by the celtics superstar jalen brown against the indiana pacers when "way too early" returns. ana pacers when "way too early" returns.

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pacers led by 2 after the first quarter, and then in the second quarter celtics scored the first 17 points of the period. brown knocks it down. he's got 40. >> well, he knows how to shoot a three-pointer. jalen brown reached the 40-point mark on that step back three at the end of the fourth quarter to match his career playoff high and lead the boston celtics to a 126-110 blow out win over the indiana pacers in game 2 of the eastern conference finals. the top seeded celtics now take a 2-0 series lead on the road to indianapolis for game three on saturday night. and tonight the minnesota timberwolves will try to get even against the dallas mavericks in game 2 of the western conference finals. turning now to the stanley cup playoffs and last night's third round opener in dallas the

edmonton oilers took game 1 of the western conference in double overtime. conner mcdavid scored the game winner just 32 seconds into the second period to secure the 32 victory. the stars now have lost the opener of their last seven playoff series going back to 2022. game 2 is saturday night in dallas. in the eastern conference the florida panthers play the new york rangers again at madison square garden tonight after shutting out the rangers in wednesday's opener. the louville metro department police chief says the department is taking, quote, corrective action against the officer who arrested world number one scottie scheffler before the start of the second round of the pga championships last friday. during a news conference yesterday the chief said that detective brian gillis violated

department policies by failing to activate his body cam during the incident. new video of scheffler's early morning arrest from a roadside pole across the street shows his car being stopped by a police officer who apparently makes contact with the vehicle. according to the arrest report by the officer he tries to drive around traffic and was told to stop by police. it states the golfer refused to comply and he wept forward dragging the detective to the ground. that moment does not appear to be captured in the video. scheffler faces multiple charges including felony assault of a police officer. his attorney says he will plead not guilty at the arraignment on june 3rd. time now for the weather. let's go to meteorologist angie lassman for the forecast. what do we have to look forward to? >> it's going to be pizy because it's memorial day weekend.

that's how it shapes up as we gear up for the unofficial start of summer, we're still dealing with this active pattern especially around the midparts of the country and that's going to stay that way here for not just today but the next couple of days as we do have severe weather expected. today, though, that line of thunderstorms is going to be slicing across the midwest. chicago to dallas is where we'll watch for all the impacts on the board. chicago, st. louis, dallas, those are the spots i'd really watch if you're traveling with some likely delays. as we head to tomorrow your showers still scattered for the east and severe weather for parts of the central plains and tornados, damaging winds and large hail possible as we get into sunday and parts of the ohio valley, mississippi valley, tennessee valley. and big picture look for memorial day not what we want to see across the east and rain and thunderstorms so quite soggy. out west sunnier and warmer and

see sunshine for parts of the gulf coast at least, but it will be quite warm. we'll see triple digit feels like temperatures for folks there, so we've got it all on the table this weekend. >> and i'm worried about the hurricane season. >> thank you, angie, for that weather report and have a nice holiday weekend. still ahead lawmakers in louisiana have approved legislation that classifies abortion pills as controlled dangerous substpss. we'll talk about that and how the issue of reproductive rights will impact november. we're back in a moment. nt sold for only 50 cents. this ipad pro sold for less than $34. and this nintendo switch, sold for less than $20. go to dealdash.com and see how much you can save. camilla tried the new scent of gain relax flings and it changed everything. (♪♪) hey dave, don't knock it 'til you smell it. new gain relax flings.

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welcome back to "way too early." it's 5:30 on the east coast and 2:30 a.m. out west. i'm elise jordan in for jonathan lemire. the louisiana state senate has passed a bill that would weclassify two abortion inducing drugs as controlled dangerous substances. the bill passed 29-7 and now heads to the governor's desk for signature where it is likely to be signed. the measure would make louisiana the first state in the nation to include the two abortion pills in the same category as depressants, opiates, and other drugs that could be highly addictive. the bill makes possession of the drugs without a valid prescription punishable by fines, jail time or both. pregnant women would be exempt from those penalties. in response president biden issued a scathing statement criticizing maga republicans for passing the bill and blaming donald trump's policies for the

bill's existence writing in part, donald trump says that women should face some form of, quote, punishment for accessing reproductive health care. trump says the cruel laws endangering women's lives are, quote, working brilliantly. joining us now is congressional reporter for the new republic, grace seagers. just how much of a factor will it be? >> well, i think it's going to be a huge deal. looking at this louisiana law, it is very interesting because abortion is already banned in louisiana in most cases with very few exceptions, so this represents the latest escalation in restricting abortion rights, but we also see that abortion is going to be a major issue not

only for the presidential race, for senate elections but for state elections as well. so for state officials, for state supreme courts in particular, this is going to be really big because we see a patchwork of abortion restrictions across the states depending on where you live. >> you mention in your latest article that the battle over abortion rights has moved to the state supreme court level. and what kind of attention have those local races been receiving? >> right, so state supreme court cases are huge because since dobbs which overturned roe v. wade and cept the issue of abortion to the states different states have been the ones deciding abortion restrictions, and we have seen a lot of supreme courts weighing in on the legality of that. we also have major state supreme court races in swing states such as arizona, ohio, michigan. and now we're seeing a lot of outside investments, so planned parent hood and the national

democratic redistricting committee just teamed up for a campaign to maintain democratic ideological majorities in several state supreme courts. so this is not just going to be a huge issue for voters, it's going to attract a lot of outside money. >> it is going to be huge in the fall for sure as it is already now. congressional reporter for the new republic, grace seagers, thank you for coming on. still ahead we'll go live to cnbc for an early look at what's driving the day on wall street after the dow hit another low for the year. plus the justice department sues the parent company of ticket master over alleged anti-trust violations. we'll dig into the potential impact on the live entertainment industry next up on "way too early." n "way too early. bridge, which looks open right now. >> yeah. aaa

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time now for business. for that let's bring in cnbc's arabile gumede live from london. so stock futures are slightly higher this morning after the dow tumbled more than 600 points yesterday notching its worst day of the year, so what can we expect today? >> yeah, elise, good morning to you. look, the market is certainly just in a pretty much wait and see territory, right? the interest rate cycle has been the one that really has been more important to the market. now question marks around when the federal reserve and jay powell will actually cut interest rates. and without that being in place, the market has actually been taking a bit of a hit, but you did see the stocks like nvidia managing to move significantly higher. that gained 9% then yesterday on the back of it saying, well, the outlook for the chip market and the semiconductors as well as

a.i. looks pretty good. plus it beat on its earnings outlook, and it's also had a 10 for 1 stock split. significantly that is a very clear and important move. 400 of the 500 stocks on the s&p 500 actually went down yesterday, so will there be a recovery? that looks to be the case for now as well as futures turn a little bit higher. >> squon that note the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits fell last week as layoffs remain historically low. what does that mean for the labor market? >> yeah, so that's -- it's pretty much a weird one because good news or bad news ultimately means good news for the market, right? so the anticipation is that there will be a tighter or more difficult jobs market in order to see growth. you've seen 215,000 jobless claims then as well-being claimed last week. that just means ultimately you're getting a tighter job market, which could ultimately

push the fed a little bit as well. another data point that could push the fed to cut interest rates a little later on. unfortunately, though, you have to look at that data in and amongst all the other data that comes out whether it be cpi inflation, pce inflation, housing data as well plus today's durable goods numbers as well as jobs data as well. >> here's a bit of news from yesterday. the justice department is suing to break up live nation, the parent company of ticket master. what prompted this groundbreaking lawsuit? >> yeah, so the department of justice actually says that live nation, the owners of ticket master, of course, who own at least 250 different venues, they manage around 60% of artist concerts, et cetera, saying they're actually main taping monnaupalistic behavior and doing so, unfortunately, in a very harmful manner. saying they're using illegal tactics in fact to maintain monopoly over the industry. on the other side, though, live

nation said it is absurd to think that would be the case and that the dace case by the department of justice actually igflores issues that raise the price of tickets and creates monopolies like this. one, an increase in production costs, artist popularity, and they've also cited scalping as a big part of the equation here. it's definitely not a case shut and done but one that will definitely have a big impact on the concerts and music market then once it is settled in time. >> definitely, definitely. thank you so much cnbc's arabile gumede live from london, thank you. still ahead our next guest says when the u.s. pulled out of afghanistan, it left secrets in the desert. one of the reporters behind an investigation into the disappearances of more than 300 afghans will join us to discuss the findings and the alleged

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a string of progressive losses in the portland area is reinforcing a view within the white house that president biden needs to stand apart from the far left stance on crime. earlier this week progressive district attorney mike schmidt lost his re-election bid to a tough on crime challenger nathan vasquez. politico reports joe biden's aides this week argue the results serve as validation of their long running concerns that crime and an imigation crisis at the southern border risk overwhelming the president's case for re-election. the white house is banking on an idea that voters will reward them for public efforts to crack down on immigration and boost spending on law enforcement. and perhaps as importantly that the liberal forces that so

effectively move the party away from those in 2020 won't punish those who come in november. president biden reportedly backs the tougher stance personally warning his advisers about the ramification of not securing the border and cracking down on crime. joining us now white house correspondent for politico and "morning joe" contributor eugene daniels. so the administration is trying to balance a tougher stance on crime while not completely alienating progressives. have they seen backlash from their party on this, eugene? >> they've seen progressives for quite some time at this point. there was kind of a perception from progressives when the first chief of staff at the white house was there that they had like a best, best friend. that was something he had

cultivated over his years, many years in d.c. and since he's left, they felt like they had a little bit less of a friend as we've gotten closer to the election. you have seen president biden's kind of moderate streak come out more, right, but that's also because there's just less action happening in this building behind me here, right? there's less action happening on capitol hill, so the push and the argument that he's been doing all of these progressive things and bills kind of no longer holds, and that's something that aides have always pushed back on, as a matter of fact, saying that no one forces joe biden to do anything, and at heart he's trying to be in the center, find the center especially on issues like crime and immigration because they're balancing the need and the push for criminal justice reform, which they continue to still work on and making people feel heard and tackle -- tackle the

crime that people feel like is rising though we're seeing numbers that aren't in line with people's feelings about it. it's about perceptions and really a right-wing push to say president biden doesn't care about crime, and we know that's not true. and he was during those democrats who during the 2020 election never said anyone should defund the police. we kept saying we need to fund the police and progressives balked at that and still balk at that to this day. >> and yesterday the senate failed again to pass the bipartisan bill, and it wasn't really a surprise, but this time some of the cosponsors of the bill actually voted against it. what was their reasoning not to vote for the bill they wrote? >> like senatorlaferred from oklahoma who was kind of the main pusher of the bill when it came out the first time said he felt democrats were playing politics and didn't really want to do this bill.

but remember because we're all old enough to remember a few months ago when that was why republicans didn't want the bill to go forward because former president trump came out and basically made clear he did not want joe biden to have a win on immigration, is and so they didn't want the bill to pass the house. they didn't want this bill to become law. and what you're seeing for years is that immigration continues to be an issue that when it gets closer to the election, republicans don't want to seem to work on because it was a useful cudgel for them in general elections. it was something they did in the mid-terms, as a matter of fact, and also in general elections. and the white house is quite frustrated, right, because this was a bill earlier this year that they were very interested and excited about having it come to the floor because they want people to understand they take immigration seriously. and once again because president biden is trying to be in the center there deal with actual --

the structure of immigration and making sure in their eyes the people that are coming here are here for the right reasons and going through the legal process but at the same time not using draconian laws and moving away from some of the thoughts and ideas of the trump administration when it comes to immigration. >> eugene, this is obviously going to be a huge political football still this season as it always is in congress like you mention, but what is the hope that president biden will get anything done on this issue unilaterally? what are you hearing from the white house about his potential to sign immigration? >> yeah, they're very coy about whether or not he's going to sign an executive order, but those things have been in the works, right? that i been working on what are the things that we can do in this white house? the lawyers in the white house looking at it, looking at how to message these things. at the end of the day, if congress isn't doing anything, they want to be able to say, we pushed congress to do it one

time, republicans backed out. the senate wants to pass it again. democrats really pushed for this to happen. look at republicans, they backed out. then look at what president biden was able to sign on his own because he cares about this issue and knows that you care about this issue. when you look at polling, the white house and anyone who wants immigration reform is in the right because americans know that our immigration system has been broken in many ways for years. it just depends on who you ask, what they mean when they say it's broken. >> exactexactly. i wish they could finally find the policy solution, and they've missed the opportunity over the past couple decades even. white house correspondent for "politico," eugene daniels, thank you so much. we'll be back with more "way too early" straight ahead. coming up on "morning joe," what to expect from next week's closing arguments in donald trump's criminal hush money

trial. plus, why attorney general merrick garland took the rare step of directly refuting trump's claim that the fbi was ready to kill him in his search of mar-a-lago. also ahead, live reporting from beijing as china's military appears to test its ability to seize power in taiwan. "morning joe" is just moments away. mm, hey, honey. looks like my to-do list grew. "paint the bathroom, give baxter a bath, get life insurance," hm. i have a few minutes. i can do that now. oh, that fast? remember that colonial penn ad? i called and i got information. they sent the simple form i need to apply. all i do is fill it out and send it back. well, that sounds too easy! (man) give a little information, check a few boxes, sign my name, done. they don't ask about your health? (man) no health questions. -physical exam? -don't need one. it's colonial penn guaranteed acceptance

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a new investigative report by "the new york times" is taking a look at abdul raziq, a lieutenant in afghanistan considered by the military to be a patriot and a great friend to america. however, to many in afghanistan, he's considered to be america's monster with campaigns of forced disappearances of many afghans. the report uncovers stories that are reshaping our understanding of the man and could change our understanding of why the u.s. lost the war in afghanistan. joining us now, contributing writer for "the new york times" magazine, matt akins. he is one of the reporters of "the new york times" piece on

raziq. thank you for being with us. you have a deep dive in the magazine, looking back at america's complicated relationship with this afghan war lord, abdul raziq. can you talk about who he was and what the partnership with him says about america's war in afghanistan? >> sure, elise. i first met him in 2009 when i was a young freelance journalist, newly arrived in the region. i met him on the border in pakistan, in his hometown. though he was only a few years older than me, he was quite young, he was a powerful border police commander on the border with pakistan, partner with the u.s. military. a couple years later, during the troop surge that president obama ordered, raziq would become a police chief of kandahar. i wrote an article warning about his allegations against him, being involved in human rights abuses, drug trafficking, but the u.s. military, despite these

warnings, partnered with him and made him one of the most important allies of the war. he'd become one of the most powerful men in afghanistan. and he was successful in his brutal campaign against the taliban, but it flew in the face of the promises that the u.s. made to try to win over hearts and minds as part of its strategy there, as well as promises to uphold democracy and human rights. although raziq was an effective fighter against the taliban and became quite popular among many afghans for that reason, it came at a brutal cost. that's something we were able to uncover for the first time, really, going back to afghanistan, traveling through it, interviewed nearly 1,000 people, 350 cases where people disappeared, missing, presumed dead, and this is really a dark side of america's legacy in afghanistan and shows the war was much more brutal than the american public was told. >> you know, in this

investigation, it really shows how the myth of counterinsurgency as a kinder, gentler version of warfare really wasn't -- we weren't able to put it into practice in afghanistan. so, abdul raziq was assassinated in 2018. by august 2021, the taliban were back in power. can you talk about what it was like in afghanistan those final years before the taliban retook power? >> we saw in the last few years a rapid deterioration of the afghan security forces, a kind of internal rot from afghan gov. there's a lot of talk and blame passing about how the u.s. withdrawal cost the collapse of the afghan government. that might be true in the short-term sense, but the real question is, why couldn't the afghan government, after 20 years and hundreds of billions of dollars of investment by the u.s. and allies, why couldn't it

stand up on its own and defeat an insurgency of men that rode their motorcycles in sandals, the taliban? you have to look at internal divisions and corruption within the system itself destabilized and caused infighting. abdul raziq has a mixed legacy. he was very corrupt. he stole from the system. on the other hand, he fought against the taliban. but i think the kind of criminality that he enshrined, because his methods, forced disappearances, executions, were illegal and he needed to work in the darkness, that created an environment where this corruption could flourish. >> thank you so much, matt. i encourage everyone to read your long, deep dive and just to ponder what went wrong in afghanistan and how we can do better next time if we ever have to get into, and hopefully not get into such a war. contributing writer for "the new york times" magazine, matt akins, thank you so much.

thank you for getting up "way too early" with us this friday morning. "morning joe" starts right now. a lot of people say to we today, the toughest businesspeople, people you know about, could i ask you a question? how do you do it? what? how do you get up and put your pants on? i'll explain it some day. so tired of politics. i'm od'd. you know what that means? i'm od'd on politics. i'm od'd on trump. i turn on the television, trump, trump, trump, all different stories, trump. they're driving us crazy! >> that's donald trump complaining about being in the news too much, and something about putting on his pants, during his rally yesterday in the bronx. we'll have much more from that event, which was supposed to be a pitch to non-white voters in deep blue new york city. also making headlines this morning, why