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mobile savings are calling. visit xfinitymobile.com to learn more. doc? good morning. it is saturday, june 8th. today on velshi, we are following breaking news out of the middle east. the idf said it carried out an operation in central gaza and rescued four hostages alive. according to the idf, those rescued our 25-year-old noa argamani, 21-year-old almog meir jan , 24-year-old andrey kozlov , and shlomi ziv. all four are said to be inside

israel and in good medical condition. you may remember one of those rescued hostages, noa argamani -- there she is -- being kidnapped on october 7th on the back of a motorbike separated from her boyfriend pleading for her life. new video released by the spokesman shows noa argamani being reunited with her father today. her mother had been petitioning various governments for the release of her daughter. we will bring you much more on this development shortly, plus the latest on the delicate talks aimed at ending the war in gaza, and latest turmoil within benjamin netanyahu's cabinet. but first, we turn the page on a dangerous new chapter in american politics and the struggle over our fragile democracy. in the nine day since a jury convicted donald trump on 34 felony counts, the republican party has made it clear it will

stand and live by it presumptive nominee regardless of the dangers he poses to democracy itself. republicans will not be passive bystanders either. many are actively helping the twice impeached, multiply indicted ex-president help the self-serving objective of his bid. retribution. the gop this information machine switched into high gear . the speaker, mike johnson, called the former president's trial a purely political exercise. others throughout terms like kangaroo court and show trial but make no mistake this is all in service of undermining the verdict to pave the way for the next stage in donald trump's assault on democracy. republicans are letting all americans know once and for all that you are either with trump or against him and if you are against him, you should also know they intend to use the

powers of the government against you. of course, all of this messaging starts with donald trump himself who has been talking about retribution for a long time but especially since he was convicted. >> it's a very terrible thing. it is a terrible precedent for our country. will the next president do it to them? that is the question. it is a terrible, terrible path they are leading us to and it is very possible it is going to have to happen to them. >> "it is very possible it is going to have to happen to them." he railed against alvin bragg who brought the case against him and the judge who oversaw the case, juan marchand, but he's not the only one he is targeting. on thursday trump set his sights on members of the january 6th committee, the bipartisan house panel that thoroughly investigated the insurrection at the capitol and

issued a criminal referral against him. in a long post on truth social, he made baseless allegations the committee destroyed evidence and called for their prosecution. he wrote, "indict the unselect j6 committee for illegally deleting and destroying all of their findings." trump's ramblings wouldn't matter if this were happening in a vacuum. the reason he has become such an urgent problem for this country, so many republicans in positions of power and authority give him credence and show a willingness to push his vengeful agenda to the brink. florida senator rubio long mocked by trump, now reportedly on the shortlist to become his residential candidate has adopted trump's language following the conviction. in a post, he implored supporters to "don't just get angry, get even." meanwhile, mike collins was

more direct. " time for red state ag and das to get busy." the former white house physician and election denier made a similar plea during an interview. "i will encourage my colleagues and anyone i have influence over as a member of congress to aggressively go after the president and his entire family." meaning the current president, joe biden. last week the alabama senator tommy tuberville escalated the rhetoric even further. >> the american people need to wake up. this is a war on our constitutional rights, our constitutional republic. this is not as much about donald trump as it is about the people in the country. i don't call them republicans or democrats anymore. you are either for our country or anti-.

>> these comments are dangerous on their own. that's the kind of language that could stoke violence, especially against far right groups. in a lengthy feature this week, reuters reported the proud boys are standing back and standing by, recruiting new members and according to reuters, some say they are preparing to emerge once again as a physical force for trump. end quote. trump's persona is not just a ploy to get elected. it is a promise. he and his allies are openly talking about this now and no one should be under the illusion they will exercise any sort of restraint if they regain power. joining me now, staff writer for the atlantic and freedom of professor at the university of history and author of the field of blood. david, let me start with you. in one of his first postconviction interviews,

donald trump claimed he never said, "lock her up," which is amazing to me because we've all seen the video and we've heard it. it is a bald-faced lie and it happens over and over again and is a prime example of how donald trump and his allies are trying to rewrite history using tried and true examples of just repeat something and people will come to believe it. >> that's right. it was so shocking, i had to check my memory. did he really say that? of course, he did. not only did he say that, we know that he asked the attorney general to go after clinton and recused himself and it didn't work but the fact he didn't lock her up wasn't because he didn't try. when we see apologists for trump saying oh, this is just rhetoric, we need to remember it is not just a promise he will do it next time. he, in fact, has already tried to do it. >> joanne, one interview caught

my attention this week. let's listen to it together. >> i don't want to see what happened in germany years ago happen here in this country. >> reporter: what do you mean what happened in germany? >> all of the things that started world war ii. witchhunts and brainwashing people. >> so that is suggestive that all of it -- none of us want to see what happened in germany happen here, but that's the lies and insult and spin working to confuse voters about who actually stands for the constitution in this country and what's really at stake in this election. that woman and i share a lot of use but i don't think we are coming to the same conclusions about what's going to prevent bad things from happening in america. >> no, and that is part of the ongoing campaign of lies and now threats. think about the degree to which that woman has absolutely no understanding of what happened with the nazis and world war ii

. brainwashing and the words she is throwing out our words of the trump campaign and have nothing to do with germany. we see that a lot with the word fascism being tossed around with no meaning at all. people have a sense it is a bad word so we will throw it out and we will attach democrats to it. it is part of this ongoing firehose of lies. the problem at this point is -- again, it is rhetoric and also a promise. it is kind of a win-win for trump because on the one hand he is saying bluntly this campaign is about me and my ego, right? i want power. people have done bad things to me. he is using that to fuel the emotion of his supporters because his whole campaign, that is all it is, hate and rage and fear and that is what he keeps drumming up. on the

side of the people who oppose trump, we hold ourselves hostage sometimes by saying oh, no, what will his supporters do if he is saying this and we bring him to court? what happens? maybe we should hold back and that is another negative impact of what he is saying and doing. i hate the word bully, but that is what bullies do. they intimidate people with language they may never have to follow through on although you said at the opening, ali, i don't think he will follow through . >> this is a very good point, david, part of this is just the fear. vladimir putin did this in russia. you don't have to jail all of the people who don't like you, just some of them and it starts to scare other people. this retribution goes well beyond -- let's go to hillary clinton. he was her principal political

opponent in the race for president. the retribution he talks about now is about all enemies. prosecutors, jurors, judges, political opponents, journalists . they have made clear that if you -- what tommy tuberville said, you are either with him or against him and if you are against him you are against america and bad things may happen to you. >> that's right. the comments you cited in the opening are not that specific. there is no evidence for it and it makes no sense but you have other republicans saying just go after a democrat, whoever they are for whatever reason. that is intended to create the kind of fear you're talking about to create paralysis. >> the chair has suggested alvin bragg testified before

the committee. he said yesterday he is willing to testify but won't do so before donald trump's sentencing because they are in an active trial at the moment. tell me how this works. i suppose we can all look at this weaponization subcommittee and say it is legitimate but there are people who are trying to make it more legitimate. how do you think about things like this? this is not a weaponization on the government, it seems to be a committee weaponizing government. >> well, right. in a sense by promising they want to bring alvin bragg before this committee. you could even say although it is a formal committee it is part of the attack on, the undermining of, the erosion of the rule of law. that is part of what we are seeing now. well, it is a show trial and it wasn't right. it is corrupt and it's bad and doesn't count for anything. well, it was a fair trial by the rule of law and according

to those rules, donald trump can appeal what happened. by making these challenges, part of what's going on is the undermining of general belief and faith in the fact there is a shared standard, a rule of law under which we can appeal to it and hope we will get some form of justice. all of us, regardless of what we think, regardless whether we like or dislike donald trump, it is a talking point democrats could be using in a democratic america, you can have whatever ideas you want and we may not like them but you can have them. maga america -- >> i will ask you both to stand by. i want to go to paris. president biden was in france for the 80th anniversary of d- day. president biden is speaking right now about the rescue of the four hostages from gaza. let's listen in briefly to president macron and president biden will be speaking

momentarily. >> we need all stakeholders to ensure parties come back to their senses regarding iran. we know the same thing, there is an all-out escalation and unprecedented attacks against israel. operations of regional destabilization and of course, the iranian nuclear program. both countries are determined to bring pressure to counter this trend and this was demonstrated recently enough a few days ago by jointly adopting a resolution at the international atomic energy agency. the same determination is there. we do not wish to apply double standards and that is why we coordinate our efforts in africa, the crisis in sudan, the democratic republic of congo throughout the region and over and beyond this.

two countries with a sense of leadership with a chance to challenge our time, especially those touching the most vulnerable countries and we hope to achieve a fairer international order. that is the meaning of the paris people . also initiatives for a more efficient tax system. we are stepping up the exit from coal energy. indeed we are mobilizing our efforts on global health and indeed we will be involved in mobilizing the conference in paris. that is what lies behind this proposition of the olympic truth imposed by the u.n. just a few days ago. on the economic front, we are both concerned about china's unfair trade practices which

bring about overcapacity. this is of such importance to the global economy we have to act in a coordinated fashion. during my visit in december of 2022, i explained the consequences of the inflation reduction act on the european economy and we discussed this again -- >> that's the president of france and president biden speaking. we will get to president biden in a moment but i want to get back to david and joanne because this is relevant. it's the 80th anniversary. president biden's speech was very interesting because it was pointed about democracy, about the defense of democracy. certainly a speech about the world because volodymyr zelenskyy was there and the pressures on democracy around the world but it sounded like a speech directed at americans to say democracy is always worth fighting for. democracy is worth dying for, he said, but

it is always worth fighting for. it almost sounded like a message for americans to take all of these years and decades since normandy. >> that's right and you would think these are ideas unobjectionable. you talk about the importance of democracy and defending it, yet you see republicans reacting to this as if it is beyond the pale to stand up for democracy in a place like this when, in fact, this is the message we should be taking from world war ii and d-day. >> joanne, i want to ask you and i may have to interrupt you to get back to the president but i want to talk about the role of political violence. it is not new. it has been around for a long time in america, since the beginning of america. we are worried because some of the rhetoric that comes from donald trump and those who support him, it straddles the line. they could always go back and say i didn't mean bloodbath to mean bloodbath. i meant tariffs on chinese

cars. we are straddling that line more and more often now. >> we are and another thing worth noting, ali, violence and politics have a long history in the united states. but what we are seeing now, people at the highest reaches of power talking the kind of talk, using the kind of rhetoric. as you say, walking a line here , it becomes increasingly difficult if not impossible to say oh, well that is just political rhetoric. part of the trick, the strategy of using the kind of language as you just suggested is on the one hand you say what you mean, you threaten an insult and when someone calls you on it, you say no, it was a joke. really back in. that is not what i meant. it is out there and it is being normalized and those who want to hear that talk have heard it . >> this is the point, david, people who want to hear that

talk have heard it. we want to hear what we want to hear. i said in the intro that we are seeing a resurgence in the proud boys and they are currently doing well with recruiting at this point. therein lies the problem. i'm not sure we are heading for civil war. i'm not sure republicans like tommy tuberville when they say they will go at it but we have seen criticism of institutions and people have taken it on themselves to engage in acts of violence. this is an actual, real concern in america. >> yeah. when we see trump say things like if i'm sent to jail, we are not saying he is going to do something about it. we've already seen people get excited and respond, so the message gets out without having to be specifically and personally calling for violence. he knows what he's doing. >> standby. i want to go back

to paris. president biden is speaking. >> it is an honor to be here in normandy. it was a moving experience to be here today. it was a moving experience for us, for the whole delegation. you know, france was our first friend. it remains one of our best friends. this week we affirmed that friendship in a deeply meaningful way. but before i begin my remarks, i want to echo president macron's comments welcoming the safe release of the four hostages in israel. we will not stop until all hostages come home and a ceasefire is reached. it is essential to happen. together we marked the 80th anniversary that saved europe and the incredible heroes.

180 brave men -- they happened to all be men at the time -- who came back to normandy this week with pride and a sense of devotion. i don't think anyone who got to meet them, shake their hands, or hear their stories will ever forget their stories or the look in their eyes or the pride in the work they did. you can see the remembrance of their lost comrades at the same time and the fact is i know i won't forget it. i want to thank president macron , the people of france for making our heroes feel so welcome because you can feel it. you can see it. we will never forget what they did. this week we have shown the world once again the power of allies and what we can achieve when we stand together. that is what the relationship between france and the united

states exemplifies. you know, we see it in ukraine. our countries are standing with ukraine as they fight off aggression. yesterday i announced $225 million in new assistance to ukraine, the sixth package we have provided since we signed the national security legislation earlier this year. i wish we could have done it when we wanted to six months earlier, but we got it done. $61 billion in additional aid to ukraine. i commend france and our european allies for their leadership as well. the eu has provided over $107 billion in assistance to ukraine since the war began. because we know what happens if putin succeeds. it won't -- you know, putin is not going to stop at ukraine. it is not just ukraine. it is about much more than ukraine. all of europe will be

threatened and we will not let that happen. the united states is standing strong with ukraine with our allies, with france. we will not walk away. and around the world, france and united states are working together to strengthen france's security. in the indo-pacific, we stand for transparent governments as well as fair economic practices . in the middle east, in north africa, we worked on peace and stability like food security and to counterterrorism. an existential threat of climate change which is just growing greater, we are working together to accelerate the transmission of net zero. it is an existential threat to humanity including nuclear weapons if we do nothing on climate change. i could go on. every day the french people and american people are connected

in countless ways, through economic ties, collaboration of science and technology, educational exchanges. the reason we don't have more americans coming, we are afraid they won't come home. this is an incredible country. a beautiful country. you know, the fact is these cherished ties between our family and friends continues to grow. the bonds between our nation are strong, fast, and rooted in the most important elements, shared values. that is true today as it has been since the very start . in a few weeks the united states will celebrate the fourth of july, our day of independence. that would not have been possible if it were not for france coming to our aid. you stepped up when we needed help.

that is what the fourth of july is all about. it would not have been possible without the french support. today i proudly stand with france and support freedom and democracy around the world. that is what this spectacular week is all about. mr. president, we will continue to talk. you have become a good friend and i appreciate your cooperation and insights. thank you. thank you. thank you. >> thank you, president. >> thank you. >> mr. president, could you discuss the russian assets today? >> president biden and president macron of france leaving the press conference in paris. president biden was in france to celebrate the storming of the beaches in normandy in which he delivered an impassioned speech about democracy not just then in world war ii but in fact today. he has faced criticism from some people who think that was a politicization of something. i don't think you will find it

all that political. four hours ago israeli defense forces said they rescued four hostages from gaza. you are looking at the first images of those guys -- hostages all alive. they were reunited with their families at a gaza hospital. more than 150 people were killed at a refugee camp overnight not far from where the hostages were rescued. we don't know if there is a connection between the two events. we will get the latest as this story develops. michael cohen, former fixer for donald trump, joins me to talk about donald trump's latest campaign of retribution. . ...or crab cracking, you're cashbacking. cashback on flapjacks, baby backs, or tacos at the taco shack. nah, i'm working on my six pack. switch to a king suite- or book a silent retreat. silent retreat? hold up - yeeerp?

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on october 7th. 25-year-old noa argamani, 21- year-old almog meir jan , 27- year-old andrey kozlov and 40- year-old shlomi ziv were rescued from two separate locations in gaza. israeli officials say all four are in good medical condition and have been transferred to a medical center within israel. this is them arriving back in israel moments ago. you may remember noa argamani from the disturbing video of her abduction on a motorbike on october 7th. a video was released of her voice begging for her release and for her fellow hostages. noa has been united with her father . her mother is terminally ill. she has been besieging governments around the world to get involved in seeking the release of her daughter. the prime minister's office released these photos of all four former hostages

uniting with their family members. the gaza health ministry is reporting this morning at least 210 people were killed at the nuseirat refugee camp . we do not know whether these incidents are related. negotiations to release the rest of the hostages in exchange for possible ceasefire are still underway but there is little news in terms of any progress. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken will travel to the middle east to put pressure on israel and hamas to accept a deal. meanwhile the war cabinet is expected to announce his resignation from the government . that was expected to happen today but we are understanding that may not happen possibly as a result of this hostage rescue . back in may, he was considered to be a moderate in israeli politics and gave netanyahu an ultimatum to

present a postwar plan for gaza by june 8th. if not he would withdraw from the government and take his political party with him. he was expected to make that announcement in a speech later today. his resignation would not think prime minister benjamin netanyahu's coalition but would destabilize the government and provoke political crisis in israel. joining me now, international correspondent matt bradley. matt, we have a lot to cover. let's start with benny gantz and his resignation. i assume it hasn't happened yet and it may not happen today as a result of all news in israel is probably all about the hostage rescues right now. >> reporter: yes, ali. it is a particularly bad time to resign from the government unarguably the most successful day into israel's incursion into the gaza strip since there was a peace deal in december. this is what benjamin netanyahu had been saying all of this time and had been treated with

increasing skepticism, this idea israel can pursue its primary military goal in the gaza strip which has been stated over and over again, to destroy hamas while at the same time freeing those remaining hostages. 80 could still be remaining alive. throughout the last eight months of the war, these two competing imperatives have been seen as increasingly at odds with each other. now it looks as if benjamin netanyahu has new wind in his sails. he can argue he will release the hostages and destroy hamas. what he isn't able to do is do that without killing tons and tons of palestinians in the gaza strip. 36,000 people killed according to the ministry of health. again, according to the hamas run health authorities in gaza, most are civilians. it looks like new emphasis behind this and benny gantz will probably not be resigning tonight because of this . not

just because this is something we have been hearing on the streets of tel aviv, actual him a literal cries of joy. you can see people clapping and cheering for what happened. to say the war isn't going well on the day when it finally appears to actually be turning in israel -- at least in benjamin netanyahu's favor. >> talk to me about what impact this has on the deal. president biden has put back on this deal. other deals have faltered. antony blinken is heading back to the middle east. i even heard qatar is saying they are getting ready to cut hamas loose if they don't agree with the deal, so there seems to be a lot of coordinated international pressure on israel and hamas to come to a deal. i don't know how today's activities affect that, but absent that, where could we be on the negotiation side? >> reporter: well, look, these

negotiations have been the same for months. both israel and hamas are both more or less very, very apart from each other and not a lot closer from where they were from the beginning. some concessions have been made and they are talking about things in the beginning stages -- and it is unclear exactly where this idea of negotiating toward the permanent ceasefire. hamas though is saying they will not accept any deal unless it includes a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of israeli troops. they say it's a nonstarter but like i was saying a moment ago about benny gantz and his threats to resign from the war cabinet, this is a great day for the israelis. they are able to say and benjamin netanyahu can say he will continue his military operation and free those hostages which is something a lot of negotiations were based on the idea those two were at

odds with each other and they couldn't achieve those goals at the same time with the same military operation in the gaza strip so i wonder if this will make the israelis more reluctant to sign on to any long-term plan, or one that might be seen within israel and especially within benjamin netanyahu's right-wing cabinet as being a stop to hamas or somehow allowing them to get off scott free without having to give up all of the hostages. this could actually make the israelis harden their positions. at the same time we are talking about pressure on hamas as well. we are seeing that from the egyptians but remember how this was laid out weeks ago. president biden essentially put the cart before the horse. he announced he was trying to push ahead by forcing the israelis hands and as we have seen over and over again, increasing signs of tension and public discord between the biden administration and benjamin netanyahu and his people, so this could be

another falling out point. again, i've got to tell you, when it comes to these negotiations, ali, they don't look much closer today than they were ever in the past, ever since that round of fighting and the release of hostages and prisoners back in december. >> i've been covering the region for a very, very long time. another thing i want to talk about in the next hour, israel has other fronts going on in the west bank, increasing tensions with hezbollah in the north, something you know a great deal about to come back to me in an hour and let's continue the conversation. matt, thank you. we will be discussing in the next hour the widening conflict. four coming up, y chief justice john roberts appears to have completely lost control of the court at the worst possible time. plus, michael cohen will join me at the top of the hour

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chief justice john roberts may want to ask himself how many insurrectionist flags are too many for one of his justices to fly. justice samuel alito seems to think flying insurrectionist flags are okay, as long as you can blame it on your wife. ironically it may be the only space in alito's america a woman's autonomy is respected. he is the author of the opinion that overturned roe v. wade. the public revelation of the flag flying over his residence

were flags carried by january 6th rioters and prompted calls for his recusal from two january 6th cases. this is the latest ethics scandal to rock a court facing a crisis of legitimacy amid a historic loss of public faith. the nation's highest court long revered for quietly steering jurists toward increasingly resembles a reality show but it is probably not all that surprising our institutions with maga extremists are beginning to mirror the chaotic world of donald trump, the twice impeached, now convicted former apprentice host. flag gait follows a string of controversies calling into question the court's impartiality including revelations justice clarence thomas and samuel alito accepted lavish gifts from gop mega-donors with business before the court. the justices appear to be doing right by their conservative

donors, refusing to recuse themselves from cases while presiding over landmark rulings that have chipped away at the civil rights of millions of americans. from overturning roe v. wade to chopping down the environmental protection agency's per power to fight climate change, the court has loudly and unapologetically declared war on judicial restraint on its own principle of the court following its own long established precedents. all of this raises questions about chief justice roberts, his role and whether or not he has lost control over his court. roberts has so far refused to meet with members of the senate judiciary committee to address the court's unprecedented ethics crisis insisting the court will police itself. or at least pretend to. on tuesday the senate majority leader chuck schumer criticized robert stating, "justice roberts has in my opinion not

lived up to his responsibility as chief justice on issue after issue." recent remarks from the sitting justices have only served to underscore just how chaotic and unaccountable this court has become under roberts. speaking at harvard university, there are days i have come to my office after an announcement of a case and closed my door and cried. there have been days and there are likely to be more. there are moments i am deeply, deeply sad and moments where, yes, even i feel desperation. that is a sitting justice experience of the highest bench marked by desperation. this is telling, to say the least. so, how many insurrectionist flags would be one too many for a supreme court justice to fly? justice roberts believes that is not a concern for the american public. for more on this, i am joined by a professor of law at the university and msnbc legal analyst and cohost of the strict

scrutiny podcast. melissa, thank you for joining us. some argue chief justice roberts may go down as one of the worst chief justices in history with some legal scholars even calling for his resignation. tell me if you think these criticisms are fair, the criticisms distinct from some of the things members of the court are doing. >> this is a really interesting question. i mean, there are great contenders who wrote the infamous dred scott opinion but i think this chief justice will go down in history as the least capable administrator and that is interesting because he actually started off being quite a capable administrator. it is difficult to separate what it means to be a justice of the court and chief justice of the united states. he's not just a member of the court, he is the chief administrator of the federal judiciary so all of these questions about judicial

ethics, this is right in his wheelhouse and his refusal to do anything about this court and about the lower federal courts where there have been questions about recusal and acts of impropriety and participating in cases where judges have a financial interest and he has done precious little. what he has done is refused congress from writing statutes that might call these courts to account. >> this is an interesting point. he is the chief administrator of the federal judiciary which suggests a different role than most of us are thinking about the chief justice. he did say justices will police themselves. that is paraphrasing. how much control does he actually have over the conduct of justices since the flying of these flags that might be insurrectionist? is it a matter of he can set certain ethics rules, or can he go to alito and say you are

causing problems? >> you can always go to an individual justice. the real issue here is when roberts lost control completely is when this court became a 6-3 conservative majority. there was a period of time after justice kennedy stepped down and roberts was the absolute center, the fulcrum upon which this court pivoted. there were only four really conservative justices on the bench and he was the fifth vote if they wanted a conservative majority and sometimes he went with the liberals often for concerns. with a 6-3 majority, there is always a five person conservative majority and john roberts isn't needed and i think that is not only the substance of the decisions but the way this court is run. >> steve vladeck has written it's not the roberts court anymore and hasn't been since the day justice ginsburg died. the reality is that probably by this time in july you will see

a lot of pieces about how this is amy coney barrett's court and how she will be the real decision that matters. tell me -- interpret that for me. >> so it means with a conservative super majority, again, chief justice roberts isn't needed at all so the real fulcrum of the court turns around those from justices, particularly amy coney barrett and brett kavanaugh, who are often in the center. it's not to say they are not moderate or centrist, but the court has moved so far to the right because of this shift in personnel and addition of a sixth justice that the chief justice is really out in the wind, out in the wilderness. we are seeing that in not only big decisions where the chief justice tried to steer a middle course and didn't have the votes to do it. the five conservatives were like, no, we don't care what you say. they basically said that in the opinion so he's kind of out in the wilderness and has really lost the thread of this court.

it was interesting last week when justice alito responded to senator durbin. he was responding to a letter sent to the chief justice and he responded before the chief justice. sort of an indication we don't listen to this guy and you shouldn't either. >> so what can be done about this? you and i had this conversation and you are so brilliant but i would like a remarkably satisfying answer on this one and i'm not sure you have one to provide. what can we actually do to restore our trust in the supreme court and feel it is a body that operates fairly and if it polices itself, make sure it polices itself well? >> congress can definitely do things. in an election year there are many in the senate who worry their slim majority will make it impossible to actually do anything right now but individuals who are running me to run on the fact this is a court that is chaotic and out of control. more importantly, voters need to understand impeachment was always a way to check. congress

can impeach federal judges, convict federal judges and remove them from office, and they have in the past. in the last five years, we have seen that where we have slim majorities in the senate, impeachment is really a paper tiger and that trickles over. if the chief justice could point to congress and say you could be impeached, samuel alito, for doing this, he would have a lot more purchase with his colleagues. but the fact of our polarization, the fact there isn't a clear majority in the senate makes it a lot harder for congress to control this court and for the court to control itself. >> you referenced things that court can do. the recusal in transparency act, the bill proposed by senator durbin and senator whitehouse, it adds conduct. what do you make of this proposed legislation? >> i think one thing that is

really interesting here, it provides for a counsel who would be available, an ethics counsel available to vet questions before the justices. famously justice thomas said he consulted his colleagues to find out if it would be okay to discuss travel or hotel stays billionaires provided to him. if we had an ethics counsel there would be no need to crowd source this question. you could go to one person to provide a consistent answer to all of the justices with some uniformity and if those recommendations aren't followed there could be accountability. those are basic things. these proposed statutes are not up ending the cart. the fact those kinds of fingerings can change things shows how often things go off the rails. >> yes. melissa, great to see you, as always. melissa murray am a professor of law at nyu, msnbc legal analyst and co-author of the book the trump indictments, the historic charging documents

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coming up in another hour of velshi, we continue to follow breaking news out of israel where the idf has rescued four hostages out of gaza in a daring daytime operation, while the health

ministry says 180 were killed at the refugee camp in central gaza not far from where the hostages were rescued. we don't know if the two are connected. all of this comes amid a ceasefire proposal and as israel deals with attacks from hezbollah to the north. plus, a newly dangerous donald trump has promised revenge against his political enemies. i will be joined next by someone firsthand who knows what the trump retribution looks like. michael cohen is with me in studio. and book bans are on the rise in schools thanks to a well-organized network of right- wing activists but today i will introduce you to a grassroots coalition fighting to protect the freedom to read for all american children. another hour of velshi begins right now. good morning. a saturday, june 8th.

donald trump has been impeached twice and indicted four times and convicted on 34 felony counts and is facing 54 more counts in his three other pending cases. on his third campaign for president, he has only one thing on his mind. retribution. in early 2023, i sat down with an extensive interview with michael cohen, star witness for the prosecution in trump's criminal trial in new york. at the time of our interview, the former president had not been indicted yet and his third presidential campaign had not officially kicked off. his latest book had just come out around that time as well called "revenge how donald trump weaponized the department of justice against his critics." it is partially mmr, partially a warning about how trump would abuse the powers of presidency if you were to get a second term. term. second term. michael cohen explained it to me in stark terms. >> in the event that michael -- trump would come back