we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for. that does it for "the weekend" this saturday morning. we've had a lot of fun. tomorrow, be sure to join us as we have the co-chair for the biden/harris campaign and the chair of the democratic national can midi. be sure to follow our show on social media at the website and "velshi" starts right now.

>> i have an hr complaint. >> can we count on you for potato salad? >> you are crazy. do you make potato salad? charles, you have a good show. >> i appreciate you guys and thank you at home for joining me. today on velshi , what is behind the alarming new revelations from donald trump worldal? it may be an understatement but there is a lot going on and we will get

into what you need to know about the sizable slice of the american electorate that does not care. plus, donald trump doing everything to appeal to working- class minority voters, one of my favorite star wars quotes, it is a trap. if you don't believe me, i have invited two republicans of colored to join me and break it down. velshi did not leave us alone without an episode of his beloved fan club. this week, he is in conversation with a group whose work to defend democracy and motivate women voters includes their very own chapter of the book club. you don't want to miss this conversation. velshi starts right now. good morning. it is saturday, may 25th and i am charles coleman jr. filling in for my friend and colleague, ali velshi . we have a lot to

talk about. you may have heard that donald trump's social account shared a video that included a reference to germany . one of the fake newspapers declared that donald trump would preside over the creation of a unified reich. this is a term associated with hitler's time in germany and they said it was created by a random account and reposted by m a staffer who did not see the word. the post has been deleted but it is not the first time that donald trump or his team have said or reference something linked to the nazis. not second or third or fourth time, in march, his former , chief of staff alleged in an interview that donald trump once told him that hitler did good things.

last december, donald trump said immigrants are poisoning the blood of our country. critics have pointed out that hitler used similar language to talk about immigrants. in 2017, he said that there were very fine people among v those who took part in the white nationalist unite the right rally in charlottesville. the list goes on and on. donald trump has been criticized for years about his dog whistles that have turned into full throated bullhorns to white supremacists. but they hit keep on coming. you have to consider his recent remarks about terminating the constitution and only being a dictator on day one of a possible second term. none of this is the kind of thing you want to hear the only president in american history who is actively tried to thwart the peaceful transfer of power. donald trump has given americans plenty of reasons to c doubt his commitment to the

constitution and to democracy. even though all the red flags are there, he is still the republican party's presumptive nominee and it seems like nothing can loosen his grip on his base of loyal supporters. david graham joins me from the electric and susan, staff writer for the new yorker and co-author of the book "the divider: donald trump in the white house 2017 to 2021. " david, there were stories about how the donald trump campaign is basically more professional and more disciplined, and then they go and post this video and blame it on a random account online. is this something that is a careless mistake or does it tell us more than we need to know about the campaign they a are running? >> i think it is maybe both. i see this clip and it looks like it is coming from the template you can find online. i am not sure we can read as

much into the template but this is the sloppiness you don't expect from a presidential campaign or somebody running for the presidency. we have seen him post these random user videos and say, we s did not look at that. time and time again they come from people who have a long history of posting bigoted and racist language. even if it is sloppiness, not no much excuse. susan, i want to ask for your help in terms of my memory. i don't always remember things the right way but maybe you can help me. in the same week this has happened, nikki haley said she will vote for donald trump in november. i could have sworn, she was the candidate during the primary who said that donald trump was problematic, donald trump was chaos, that we needed to get away from him in terms of the gop and the party and its future.

what happened? or am i misremembering the rhetoric we heard in the state e of iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina? >> [ laughter ] your memory is good, donald trump has not become more hinged in the last couple of months since nikki haley called him on his, she said he was a diminished person and unfit for the presidency when she suspended her presidential campaign, she declined to endorse them or -- but nikki haley has been consistent in her hypocrisy on the subject of donald trump, she was against him and then for him and serve in his administration, she was against him but came out too quickly against him and now for him, she was against him but clear maybe it was not going to work so she was for him again, then against him and now she is for

him again. that is the full number of terms she has made. look, she is fully representative of the republican party today that is essentially immune from anything that donald trump says or does. essentially, the level of partisan activism that, even people who publicly claim to load donald trump, people like us former attorney general, bill barr, or the republican leader in the senate, mitch mcconnell, who have said some of the most scathing things about donald trump, bill barr sold a memoir on the premise that donald trump had asked him to betray the constitution by claiming a false recollection when there was not one. -- rigged election when there was not one. >> susan , if you talk about that linear line in terms of the path that nikki haley and

others have taken in terms of their support of donald trump, let's look at the party. everyone from house speaker ea mike johnson, who is a conservative evangelical, all the way to nikki haley and all points in between, going with donald trump. what position does that put down ballot republicans in an election year where they are in purple districts, where donald trump policies do not play very well? how are they navigating campaign season right now? >> well, one thing i have noticed which is different over the last few years, essentially , the right wing infrastructure , including many republican politicians less fully maga, they are better at dealing with the donald trump problem in parts of america that are not fully trumpified.

they plug their ears, they ignored the inflammatory things he says and does. sometimes you hear joe biden or msnbc talking more about what donald trump a says then you do on fox news or other right wing media. the reason is clear, they have learned they don't have to defend the indefensible. they do what nikki haley does, they say that joe biden is so catastrophic, the democrats are radical marxist communist, that is a political strategy that you see from republican candidates up and down the ballot if they are not comfortable with being a fully member of team maga. >> the old is joe biden's fault defense. 100 center street, jury deliberations which will start in the hush money presidential election interference trial this week.

the trial does not seem like it has affected the presidential race. very much at all so far. how do you think the base of donald trump is feeling? emboldened? concerned? anxiety? where are they on the scale of emotions? >> there is still anger about the trial. i am interested in, it feels like in polling majority of americans think that donald trump will be convicted in this case. i am curious to see that playing out, with a shift opinion? if he is guilty, people may be less likely to support him. i want to see what happens. but i think there will be a lot of anger if he is convicted. this lingering sense, despite the evidence, despite the information that has come out of the trial and what was

already public long before the trial, they will insist he is being railroaded and persecuted. >> susan, one of the things that concerns me is the fact that, now that the proverbial toothpaste has been squeezed out of the tube, it is not going back in. if donald trump loses in november, all of the people part of maga nation and who supported him and believe in this new version of the republican party , they will not snap their fingers and disappear. they will exist. what happens to the remainder of what is left of the americane political discourse? does it devolve, or does it somehow begin to settle? at one point, we thought joe biden is elected and we will return to some level of stability. we clearly see that has not happened four years later. with another donald trump loss, what does that look like on the other side of november? >> i appreciate you flagging

that. with the understandable focus on the possible threats to democracy that donald trump in the white house would pose, e much less attention to the fact that even a biden victory is not the end of the donald trump story in terms of blowing through norms and rules in american democracy. first of all, donald trump has made it very clear, earlier and more vociferously than he did in 2016 and 2020 that he would not accept a defeat. only his own victory would be the only acceptable outcome for him this november. what does that mean? he has used the very same language he did to call forth his supporters after his defeat in 2020. he said that you have to fight like hell if you don't win. it would be a mistake not to take that seriously.

i have been surprised to the extent coverage has not fully ag reflected the fact that one of the two candidates has already said he does not abide by the rules of the system. that was a great mistake that has been made again and again with donald trump, underestimate him, not take seriously the challenges, the direct challenges he poses to the system and he has articulated. any scenario is possible after the november election, even if joe biden wins. i want to say, you don't accidentally have dinner with a white supremacist. >> and kanye west. >> absolutely, you don't actually put out nazi imagery and language, other campaigns don't have repeated problems with "i actually put some of hitler's rhetoric out."

the record of donald trump is so clear, not to buy this bs spin is so important right now. >> a dynamic duo that helped me get started on this fine saturday. thank you both. coming up, the maga wing of the republican party is trying desperately to court working- class minority voters, we will tell you, it is a trap. a hearing in the house, okay with republicans, but then a democrat spoke on the floor about the facts of the criminal charges against donald trump and he did not get the same pass greene got. a group of women in california have formed their own velshi banned book club and ali spoke with them. that conversation and so much c more coming up i am charles

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welcome back. the international court of justice has ordered israel to stop its military assault on the city of rafah in southern gaza, warning of a risk where more than 1 million people have sought refuge, saying more than 800,000 people had been forced to leave the formally declared safe zone since israeli forces began the ground operations. the president of the icj that israel did not dispel concerns raised by its offensive while the catastrophic living conditions of palestinians in the strip had deteriorated further. jordan is our international correspondent meghan fitzgerald. thank you for being here. is israel likely to comply with

this order? and what kind of power does this group has to enforce the order they are putting forth? >> charles, good to be with you. it does not appear israel will comply. they have not shown signs that they will stop the offensive. our team on the ground in gaza has seen airstrikes continue since the order. we are talking about a three- pronged order, the court told israel to stop the offensive in rafah , to open the rafah crossing between egypt and gaza to allow humanitarian aid, and ordered israel to provide access to the enclave so investigators can determine if israel is committing genocide. while this is a significant ruling, and binding, they don't have a way to enforce it, the israeli government said that they embarked on a defensive and just war following the attacks on october 7th. it is

acting to reduce as much harm as possible to civilians. but there is no doubt this ruling is a blow to the international standing of israel. it ends a week where three european countries say they will recognize a palestinian state and prosecutors from the top war crimes court call for arrest words for hamas leaders and benjamin netanyahu. the cia director's meeting with the prime minister of carter and the head of mossad. they want to secure the release of the remaining hostages. large protests are expected again throughout the streets of tel aviv. >> that was meagan fitzgerald , thank you. coming up on velshi , in his latest effort to court people of color, donald trump is

rolling out wrappers who also just so happened to be facing indictments for violent felonies. a warning about what is really behind this very insulting bit of pandering coming up on velshi. i am charles, jr. and there is more after a quick break. (vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon.

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an appeal to working-class minority voters. and, in a move that betrays donald trump's cynicism for that group of voters, he invited two rappers to join him. they happen to be charged with violent felonies in a felony gang case but, to be fair, for donald trump, hanging out with felons is not a rarity. roger stone, michael flynn, steve bannon, and even at one point, michael cohen. for donald trump, it is his thing. but the crowd was a far cry from his usual, black, white, latino, orthodox jewish voters, hundreds of people who showed up in maga gear. let me be clear, it is your

choice, you can align with conservative values, or the gop , if that is your jam, you may agree about economic policy or on social values. but i do have a warning for the brown and black folks who are thinking about joining up with his current openly racist iteration of the republican party. i am drawing from star wars, "it is a trap. " a different flavor of the same pygmy tactic that is already -- pick me tactic that has pitted poor white folks who vote for donald trump and his numbers. let's look at white women, the majority voted for donald trump as he openly takes credit for stripping away their legal right to their own bodies. donald trump sold the working- class white folks the lie that he would protect their jobs and lower taxes.

the signature policy of his presidency was a massive tax cut for two? spoiler alert -- not them. not the working-class and not poor people. it was reserved for corporations and the riches of americans. here is my message to black and brown folks, look, you may not think joe is the way, i respect that, thinking that donald trump is prioritizing your interests is a trap. we have seen this movie before from senator scott all the way down to diamond and silk. black and brown folks who cozy up to donald trump do not end up with the favor they are seeking, they end up on the losing end of nearly at -- all the policy decisions donald trump makes. congratulations, you played yourself. joining me is host of the weekend and former rnc chair, michael steele, and a republican

political strategist. michael, thank you for sticking around. you are doing double duty on the holiday weekend. you are the iron man. i want to talk about the rally in the bronx, donald trump brings out these rappers under indictment for a violent felony and pointed to a rapper saying, he wanted to get something. he suggested that black voters are going to identify with his experience of being unfairly treated at the criminal justice system. there is always some level of pandering because it is election season and it would not surprise me to see the democratic side, joe biden, bring out his hip-hop friends to use that among the demographic. but, how do you square what we

see from the right, given the history and the rhetoric we have heard from donald trump previously, and this new move to trick the minority class working motor into thinking he is for them? >> there is not a serious effort, donald trump, as we talk about on our show a little bit ago, did that rally in the bronx because he is on trial in the bronx at the courthouse not that far away. he was not going back to florida when he had to be back the next day. there is a cynicism i think is important to point out. there are no real solutions offered to the bronx community, the black and brown committee of the bronx, or anywhere else in this country. because there is no real appreciation of what those communities are going through. when you disregard our educational system where you

cannot teach certain things about our history because it offends some white folks. you are not serious. you can trot out some sneakers and say you will protect my right to smoke menthol cigarettes, thank you, donald trump. or you can show up in my neighborhood and bring some rappers who are being charged for 140 counts of felonious actions. and think you are connecting to our community. by standing up and talking about you wanting to get a grill. you are not serious and it is not believable. what happens, this is where it becomes important, how the media conveys this narrative. please stop treating like this is something happening. it didn't. this was just performance art by a man who is on trial for criminal activities. hanging out and bringing before

the community other criminals. and saying, you can relate to this, right? we don't. >> there are a lot of conservative commentators, i will not name all of them, candace owens being one of them , who say there are black voters and brown voters who should be moving to the right because the left has taken minorities for granted. is this the time where that is going to be seized upon, that opportunity will be seized upon by the gop? we see joe biden is struggling to solidify the black vote he will need for a second term. is this a vulnerable spot the

gop can identify and what will they do about it? >> because of my experience within the party and as a young staffer on capitol hill, i would walk across the street to the republican national committee and sit with a former cochair who i will not name. she would tell me that this was the frustration she had. out of her office at the rnc was supposed to be serious outreach to minority communities and it always felt 11th hour to her. as a young person in my 20s, i would appeal to the rnc, why don't you get more asian american voters like me? why aren't you building the base the way the democrats seem to be? the answer was always very not serious, people had a heart for that change but i never saw it. that vulnerability, nobody will seize on it because the rnc has been messing up this effort for a long time the gop will not get this right in less than six months, they are banking on people's frustration with joe

biden but they have nothing to offer by way of even tax credits even -- no talk about asian americans, small business , growing the american dream that people like my parents came here for, prosperity, innovation, competition, to create our own livelihoods and growth off of a base of $80 is what my father came here with. nothing else, no family ties, no outreach to anybody that could help them move up. it was the incentives that the gop would talk about that appealed to people like my parents. for me, a different set of concerns come up what i hear from the right is that white is right. i have a problem because i have given birth to three brown skinned children, i am worried about the future because sitting here in aapi heritage month, where the fastest growing voting bloc in the united

states, this year 15 million asian american and pacific islander will be eligible to vote. i think there are 1.7 million gen-z, the gop has a problem, it does not know how to fix with minority communities. the more that donald trump does this white is right dance, the less they can bank on winning with my community. >> i think the contrast is glaring. you talked about some differences around the number of new aapi americans who will be eligible to vote in this election. an estimated almost 4 million new hispanic and latino voters that will be eligible to vote as well. what i find, you can tell what is serious and what isn't based off of the outreach efforts that are made to that

community. is there a thought, i wonder, that this is a community we really need to focus on because they are persuadable voters? if we grab that community, we don't have to worry as much about the black vote? where does that factor into the gop calculation in terms of where they want to be serious and where they are not? >> the political calculation is very much, to her point, she is right about the political dynamics going forward which have been underway for quite some time, the growth in aapi voters, hispanic voters, black voters, the country is becoming minority majority, but there is no political calculation for that. by either party. which is what you are seeing in terms of the fractionalization within the democratic party with respect to some of his younger african-american voters.

from the republican side, the calculation is straightforward. create enough imagery that brings confusion and doubt. that weakens the prospect of those voters turning out for joe biden in november. they will not necessarily vote for donald trump, but they will not vote at all. you will see much more of this concerted effort in this vein. already concerns at polling places where you see traffic now among hard right conservatives talking about policing polling places. they will be policing in our neighborhoods. because the ideas to set up this imagery that somehow lessens their interest in wanting to engage because they don't want confrontation at the ballot box. there are a lot more calculations going on other than the top line, let's

have 3000 people show up in a black and brown neighborhood, the majority of whom are white at the rally. and say that we are here making inroads and strides in the black community. you are not because you don't address the underlying issues that the black community is engaged around. she laid out some of those. if you are not doing that, what makes you think we will dance with you in the next six months over joe biden? this is the other side of this that needs to be taken into consideration. >> i will say it again, donald trump does not win by addition, he wins by subtraction, only by people staying home. thank you both. coming up, the house of hypocrisy, congressional republicans okay with firing off insults based on physical pairs as marjorie taylor greene did to jasmine crockett , but

they will bring house proceedings to a stop if you mention donald trump's criminal charges. how donald trump and the gop has changed congressional norms and what it means for democracy. we will be back with more velshi . i am charles coleman jr. see you soon. -ugh. -here, i'll take that. woo hoo! ensure max protein, 30 grams protein, 1 gram sugar, 25 vitamins and minerals. and a new fiber blend with a prebiotic. (♪♪) when enamel is gone, you cannot get it back. but you can repair it with pronamel repair. it penetrates deep into the tooth to actively repair acid weakened enamel. i recommend pronamel repair. with new pronamel repair mouthwash you can enhance that repair beyond brushing. they work great together. oh no. running low? with chewy, always keep their bowl full. save 35% on your first autoship order. get the food they love. delivered again and again. (♪♪)

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one of my most favorite things about filling in for mike my friend ali velshi , the velshi banned book club leaves me with great reading suggestions. over the next few weeks, he will be looking at contemporary classics, bestsellers, and crucial books you need to read, including maximum ride by james patterson and tango makes three by justin richardson and peter

parnell. the poet x, and far from the tree. go get your copies. first, we have the meeting of the velshi banned book club. a conversation with two women who created a ali velshi banned book club to the league of women voters . they recognized that the freedom to read is a crucial part of the fight to preserve democracy. do not miss this conversation. the dodge hornet r/t... the totally torqued-out crossover.

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welcome back to velshi on msnbc. i am charles coleman jr. last week's spat between marjorie taylor greene and jasmine crockett spark debate, some of that has little more to do with our penchant for drama, it involved two women in attacks on physical appearance. in contrast, less attention has been paid to the republican silencing of democratic representative jim mcgovern that started when he denounced house republicans for flocking to manhattan to stand in solidarity with donald trump at his hush money trial. several prominent republicans made the trip to new york to deliver speeches outside the courthouse which is a move that is widely seen as helping trump innovating his own gag order

which he has already violated 10 different times. donald trump was reportedly seen editing their speeches during the trial which, for me, is really dumb. on the house floor, jim mcgovern accuse republican lawmakers opposing as props to donald trump and was then reminded to avoid "personalities by the presiding chair." he recited a factual list of the criminal charges against the former president. >> the leader of their party is on trial for covering up hush money payments to a star for political gain, not to mention three other criminal felony prosecutions he is facing. >> apparently , stating the facts and telling the truth was enough to make republican lawmakers lose their you know what. the house was paralyzed for over one hour as republicans debated how to sanction jim

mcgovern. finally, they accused him of violating a house room barring representatives from engaging in personality attacks. the same rule republicans refused to apply just last week to marjorie taylor greene which he personally assaulted congresswoman jasmine crockett. jim mcgovern was barred from speaking on the floor and his comments , the factual references to the donald trump indictments were stricken from the record. this is the first time in his 27 year career in congress that has ever happened, this extreme step of erasing mcgovern's factual comments says so much about the gop today. there has been plenty of analysis devoted to the two women in congress who greenereacted to him and reflect how norms have changed

thanks to donald trump and his maga party. they have made an art form out of flaunting the quorum, gag orders, and the rule of law, transforming the very serious task of legislating into a reality show that thrives on playground insults and wild conspiracy theories. with more on this, joined by a professor of history and american studies at yale, the author of "the field of blood." the irony is mcgovern was gagged for telling the truth about republican efforts to help donald trump evade a gag order one week after they refused to apply the same rule to marjorie taylor greene. with this level of hypocrisy ,

how seriously can the american public take this congress? while has been one of the least productive congress ever. >> important to note, start with the basics, personalities, insults, personal comments have been something you are not supposed to do in congress back to the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, obvious in what we saw last week with jasmine crockett and marjorie taylor greene. you cannot have a debate , you cannot talk about serious issues if people are allowed to snipe at each other in that way. it is for the purpose of governance. that said, it happens a good

amount of the time throughout american history. what normally happens, the speaker of the house, or the person presiding over the chamber says, you suggested this in the set up for our conversation, they will say something like, i remind the member to refrain from personalities in his comments. i invite people to go, look at the congressional record online and search for personal or personalities, you will find that comment repeated again and again. that is the norm. what we saw between marjorie taylor greene and jasmine crockett is a normal sniping moment made more dramatic because there was a racial component any gender component. what we saw with mcgovern was different. look at the record, he made a comment and was told refrain from personalities, what normally happens. and he listed facts and that was objected to.

a member said, ritualistically, you are supposed to say, i want those words taken down, which means i object to the words and want them erased from the record. they talked about that for an hour. that was not a matter of personalities but a statement of fact. that does not fall into the kind of normal thing that typically happens with sniping on the floor of the house or the senate. the fact that mcgovern was talking about the people standing outside of the new york courthouse helping donald trump evade, acting as surrogates to say what he cannot say is the ultimate irony and the ultimate hypocrisy as well. that gag is so jurors and

witnesses can feel safe and the rule of law can proceed. that is a matter of the rule of law and debating that is a >> at the rule of law. we saw these three episodes pretty close to each other, one kind abnormal, one a >> to the robot, one blakely person attacking facts, it stands out and highlights the moment we are in. >> we are in a space where these things can go viral and propel congressman who are basically in relative obscurity to significance of recognizability in terms of name recognition and what happens. people can use that to fund raise, parties, individuals, with that being the landscape of today, is there a concern that this behavior becomes increasingly normalized and

congress turns into something it was not supposed to be with regard to this element being a staple? >> i suppose there is always the risk. as someone who specializes in members of congress behaving badly, there has been a lot of bad behavior over the years. i want to make a spin on your comment, john quincy adams, before social media he was in the house after his presidency when the gag rule against slavery was in play, he was not supposed to present anti-slavery positions, but he banged up against that and deliberately presented positions and things he knew would get him attacked. he did it for the publicity. he did it because he knew that northerners would not necessarily get riled up about the cause of slavery but they would get very riled up about the right of petition been denied, the right of representation being denied, freedom of debate being denied.

so, he knew that the larger meaning of him being silenced again and again has something to do with democratic governance. and he made that point part of why the gag rule went down to its death, because northerners were upset that their rights were being attacked. i mentioned that now because that is one obvious message you could take from what we just solved with representative mcgovern, and, people are not paying attention to the fact that happened, it has meaning multiple ways an important meeting. >> talking about john quincy adams this saturday morning , we did not know we would be getting a history lesson. thank you for being with us this morning. coming up, the truth behind a fresh round of alarming developments from donald trump world. another hour of velshi when we

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i'm sensing an underlying issue. it's t-mobile. it started when we tried to get him under a new plan. but they they unexpectedly unraveled their “price lock” guarantee. which has made him, a bit... unruly. you called yourself the “un-carrier”. you sing about “price lock” on those commercials. “the price lock, the price lock...” so, if you could change the price, change the name! it's not a lock, i know a lock. so how can we undo the damage? we could all unsubscribe and switch to xfinity. their connection is unreal. and we could all un-experience this whole session. okay, that's uncalled for.