or expand your office and take on whatever comes next. find out how american express cards and services can help prepare you for growth at open.com. good morning, and welcome to "politics nation." earlier this week, i traveled to washington, d.c., to meet with attorney general jeff sessions together with other national civil rights advocates. we voiced concerns about a range of issues, including the trump administration's revised travel ban and restrictions to voting rights. sessions did not give us much, but he did promise to review the

federal inquiry into the police death of eric garner, the unarmed man who died while being subdued by new york city police in 2014 with a choke hold. we were meeting with him before the new video came out that really brings some new light to the michael brown case, a case i was also involved with seeking fair and just review, new video that really brings to light that very possibly police did not share all they had, this new video and the storm that preceded what happened that led to the death of michael brown, but we'll see about that. but it's true, i opposed jeff sessions' nomination very vigorously, but the meeting was constructive and cordial. we were not hostile, but we

showed our holy indignation. all this happened the day after hud secretary ben carson appeared to liken slaves to immigrants who choose to come to the united states. carson praised the work ethic of immigrants before implying slaves who came to the united states work harder than others. so, i start this show with a question -- is the trump administration doing enough to improve race relations in our country? joining me is a white house correspondent and washington bureau chief for the american urban radio network, the author of "at mama's knee: mothers and race in black and white," and yamish alcinder, a msnbc contributor and a "new york times" national reporter.

let me start with you, yammish. we've seen overnight, since the meeting of civil rights leaders, five of us, six of us, had with the attorney general, that we've seen the dismissal of 46 u.s. attorneys, asked to give their resignation, according to published reports, preet bharara would not design, so they fired him. and we also see this tape that came out. if you remember in the michael brown case -- and i know in detail because i did a lot of the original rallies, i even preached his funeral -- they said in the michael brown case that he had gone and robbed some cigarellos out of a store and they showed video of him pushing a store owner, which they used to dispel the whole movement that anthony shahid and others

underground had started "hands up, don't shoot," i got in a day and a half later it was already resonating with all of the young people there. now this new video says he was really exchanging, allegedly, some marijuana for the cigarellos and that there was no robbery, which really changes the perception of the public, if this video is correct, and maybe even grand juries. we don't know what was presented. on whether or not he was aggressive enough to have reached in for a cop's gun, because he apparently, if this video's correct, was not involved in a robbery right before. >> well, i mean, this goes to the heart of the michael brown case. i spent months in ferguson, and we talked to people on the ground there. the idea of this news that, this perpetuated news that he had robbed this store really did change, i think, the character of the protests. >> absolutely. >> people were still upset, people were still saying that he should have gotten a fair trial,

even if he had robbed a store, that the sentence is not death and that you should still have a say. but this idea that now this -- >> and the police did have this info, because they were saying that they were looking for someone who robbed the store. but if it was an exchange, there was no robbery at the store. >> and then it begs the question, okay, so why was this police officer then following him, telling him to get out on the street? why did this exchange even have to happen? this, of course, goes to the heart of all these cases when it comes to police violence. why did eric garner have to get stopped, all these people? why did trayvon martin have to get stopped? you think about these cases, and it comes down to, do people feel as though just being a black male is why they were stopped? and that, of course, goes to a civil rights issue. >> which is why we all go in, to say that these questions have to be raised, which is why the family -- in this case, the family called me. you know, and that is why, april, we meet with sessions. >> yeah. >> who we vigorously oppose, but

he's the attorney general, and these issues have to be put front and center, even if you're forcing him to say no. and then at the same time, when you look at what has happened over the last 24 hours about the resignation of 46 of the u.s. attorneys, not unusual for a new administration to bring in their own u.s. attorneys in districts, but the way it was done -- >> yes. >> and these u.s. attorneys are looking into cases from civil rights, as we're talking about here, but all the way across the board, what happens to those cases? >> well, reverend al, you've hit the nail squarely. and the two points that i want to deal with, one with the u.s. attorneys that have been fired, particularly the one in new york. that one is very interesting, because this u.s. attorney has met with the president before he was president, and he was assured. and now look at what happened.

so, there is a very interesting dynamic within this piece, and also the fact that he had the support of senator schumer. so, there's a lot going on here, and we need to see how this flushes out. >> and april, i want you to finish your point. he met -- we were given reports he met with president-elect trump, was asked would he stay on and said he would, and sessions was in the room when they met. >> how about that. >> and then he was told to go down to the lobby of trump towers after the meeting and announced he was asked to stay and that he was going to stay. i just want to make sure the viewers are clear -- >> yes. >> -- what you're saying here. >> so, the devil is in the details when it comes to this, this u.s. attorney in particular, this u.s. attorney who has the support of senator schumer. and you know, word in new york and around that area that it's something against senator schumer for him to be told to

leave or to be fired. and then you have this piece as well. you've brought up something. you hit the nail on this. gwen carr, the mother of eric garner. >> right. >> when there was a change in the administrations, when it went from 44 to 45, not being hillary clinton, but to donald trump, she was very concerned about how justice will play out for her late son, who died in a police choke hold. and again, going back to the facts -- and as you know, you were one of the first ones to point this out -- eric garner broke up a fight. he was not selling luisies at the time when he was killed. so, the facts come to bear. and now the question is, how will this play out, because there's not been any indictment in the police choke hold death of eric garner, so there's a lot on the table. >> there is a federal investigation, no indictment. there is an indictment in the walter scott case in north charleston, south carolina, which i did ask the attorney general about, and it's scheduled to go on fritrial in .

all this, yamiche, you covering nationally from washington for "the new york times" is in the bigger question of race relations and this president. as i mentioned, dr. ben carson making this statement, like slaves were immigrants that came here dreaming of a better life for their children and grandchildren. slaves came here dreaming they would go back home, they would get away from being abducted. maybe later their children and grandchildren dreamed about it, but those in the slave pits were dreaming that somehow these ships would be turned around. but then if you look at that in the context of this is after education secretary devos said hbcus were -- >> school choice. >> -- pioneers of school choice? i mean, it seems like a pattern here of racial gaffes, to say

the least, but also where there's not serious -- probably the sessions meeting was the first time we've even seen them meet with the leaders of the black community that were critical of them and that was not just there for a photo op. >> really i think what we see in the trump administration is a cast of characters that has a very troublesome relationship with people of color, including even those who are people of color. in tomorrow's "the new york times," i can say that i'm writing a story about alex acosta, who had a lot of issues when he was running the department of justice civil rights division. he wrote a letter to a federal judge saying that vote caging, which was people, private citizens challenging the voting rights of african-americans, people of color, that that was something that was part of the balance of voting rights in general. so, this idea is that you really have a lot of people in the administration that continues to say -- that continues to say worrisome things, and that people really don't trust at all, and this goes back to the idea that they're really taking their lead from donald trump, because he goes back -- i mean,

i don't need to tell you that he goes back for years, for decades, all the way back to the central park five with his relationships with african-americans. >> that's when i first marched toward donald trump. i'll have to leave it there, yamiche. thanks so much, april ryan, and thank you, yamiche. coming up, she is one of the sharpest critics of president trump, and for the past few weeks, she has been connecting the dots and exposing evidence showing a link between the president and russian affiliates, during the election campaign in 2016. she has connected a lot of this to. our own rachel maddow is up next right here on "politicsnation." it's over. i've found a permanent escape from monotony. together, we are perfectly balanced. our senses awake. our hearts racing as one.

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that's basically what this whole dossier alleges, that the trump folks were in on it. there were multiple people close to trump, involved in the trump campaign who were in contact with the russian government about the russian government's attacks on hillary clinton while those attacks were happening, while russia was waging these attacks. and overall, yes, we still have to describe this as a sheaf of uncorroborated allegations, but little pieces supporting that bottom-line thesis really keep falling in line. >> president trump continues to deny any knowledge or involvement with russian affiliates during his 2016 campaign. but right here on msnbc, every night at 9:00 p.m. eastern, rachel maddow continues to investigate the trump/russia connections, exposing new details and arguing that every

day a new piece falls into place in that matter. i sat down with rachel maddow to understand this complex story. i want to say this. i don't talk a lot on my show about my personal life, but i am one that watches you every night. >> oh, thank you. >> i've been known to cut speeches because you're getting ready to come on. >> thanks, rev. >> and whenever i'm traveling, i have to watch it. and i've been fascinated. >> rev, i have to tell you, i did not try to do it. i didn't set out saying i'm going to take the trump/russia thing as my beat, you know, that's what i'm going to work on this year. every day i lay out a show that has nothing to do with trump and russia, and then it seems like every afternoon, some new piece of it breaks, some new bit of it falls into place, some new denial falls apart. like, it's weird. i feel like i'm becoming known for my trump/russia coverage right now. i did not expect to be doing this. >> now, give us a summation, because you've brought out things that i have not seen

anyone else from the whole question of the connection of the property in florida back to a bank who a president cabinet member was on the board of the bank. i mean, give us a sort of headline view, so to speak, of what you have been able, and your superb team there, "rachel maddow show," been able to really uncover just following where the trail led. >> yeah, and it really is -- i feel sort of led by the story. i feel like we're just following each individual bread crumb and seeing where they're going. i feel like it's two different tracks. one of it is one that's gotten more attention, which is the number of people close to trump, particularly on the trump campaign, who have unexplained and previously denied, now confirmed, links with russia. that's michael flynn, jeff sessions, all of these different people from the campaign. and so, we're learning more about a lot of stuff that

happened during the time that u.s. intelligence agencies say that russia was attacking our election, going after hillary clinton, going after the democratic party, trying to elect trump president. we now know a ton more than we did on election day about how many contacts people around trump had with russian government officials and people close to vladimir putin while that was happening, and while it wasn't secret, while it was in the news and while intelligence agencies were talking about the fact that it was happening, they were nevertheless talking to the russians. so, that's one track of it. that's really worrying, because the next step in that is not just the question of whether or not they were just in contact, it's whether they were cooperating, whether they were colluding in that attack. >> and, in fact, become part of government with an agenda they were already pursuing for whatever reasons. >> well, yeah. i mean, that's the implication, right? >> right. >> if the russians are attacking our election in order to elect trump, they're not going to do that for free. >> right. >> they're doing that because trump is promising to give them something once in office. so now are we living through that? so, that's track one. the other track is, why did

trump go along with this? why did he even have russian contacts to be following up during the campaign? and that goes a little deeper. that goes into money. that goes into his business life. that goes into this mysterious business transaction that he had with this property in palm beach, which was the most expensive home sale in america, a $95 million home sale. >> the most expensive. >> house ever sold -- >> but he didn't buy it for the -- >> oh, no. he bought it for $41 million, he sold it for $95 million, having done nothing to it but pay it. and the guy who paid him 2 1/2 times what he bought for it is a russian oligarch whose plane mysteriously shows up at trump campaign events right towards the end of the campaign. >> same guy. >> same guy, same tail number. there's a lot of weird stuff there. so, that guy is also a shareholder in a bank in cypress. and another shareholder of that bank is wilbur ross, who is an old friend of donald trump's.

so, that's the business side of it, the background side of it. the question of whether or not donald trump has financial ties to russia, which explains why they were able to get their claws into him in the first place. the other question is whether or not we are currently living through trump paying back the russians for them helping elect him president. >> when you look at ross and the whole connection of he being a shareholder and on the board of the bank that holds these questionable funds, the connection to the one who he eventually got the property from in florida, when you look at thursday night you did a show with tillerson, who trump didn't even know but made secretary of state, but his connections to russia, and even the highest civilian award. i mean, even the most conservative republican should be concerned about this. >> you know, the rex tillerson thing -- i'm so glad you brought that up. the rex tillerson thing, i think it is -- it's almost like it's a partisanship test.

like, if you don't care about what they're doing to the state department because trump's doing it to the state department and you're a republican, check your americanism, you know what i mean? >> right, right. >> check your belief that the united states should be a leader in the world and a force for good in the world. because if you take a 37% cut from the state department, if you fire all the people, not just who obama appointed there, but the people who have been there through obama, through clinton, through george w. bush, through poppy bush, back to reagan, back to carter, the people who are the institutional memory of the state department, you clear them all out -- you've been here 40 years, good-bye, you're all gone. you take the state department's annual human rights report, which is the most important human rights document in the world every year. this year they don't even do an event to announce it a press release -- >> usually it's the biggest thing. >> there's a reason you didn't notice this year when they put it out. the state department has disappeared under tillerson. tillerson has very strong ties to vladimir putin and had no known ties to donald trump before the election. what vladimir putin wants from the u.s. state department is for

it to disappear. what he's getting from donald trump with rex tillerson at the helm is a state department that's disappearing, and that should worry everybody, everybody, regardless of whether you're liberal or conservative, democrat, republican. >> one of the things -- i'm putting my maddow look on -- one of the things that really struck me was when wednesday night you detailed how for some reason, the republican platform, which had a lot of things that donald trump was campaigning against, the only thing they changed related to ukraine and russia. i mean, how mysterious is that? >> see, that's another one, though, where it's been -- i know, it's very serious stuff, but it's been kind of fun, too, to cover it, because it is a mystery that's unraveling. during the convention, i remember covering that. i remember, you know, covering the party platform and democrats are making a big deal out of what's in the platform and republicans are also making a

big deal, but there was this weird thing that trump didn't really seem to care what's in the platform. he has kind of a weird -- he is a weird kind of republican, so it was an interesting story, not the most important story in the world. interesting story that he doesn't seem to care about all of the stuff in the platform that's not in line with what he thinks. the one thing they stood up on, the one thing his campaign fought for was softening this language about russia, about ukraine having weapons to fight against russia. and at the time, we noted it and said what explains this? and trump himself came out and said i had nothing to do with it, i don't know, i don't even understand it. paul manafort who was the campaign manager at the time, said we had nothing to do with this, wasn't us. well, now all these months down the road, now trump campaign folks are admitting, yeah, it was us, and yeah we did it because trump wanted us to do it. and now, politico reported this week that there's a russian citizen who has previously been perceived as a russian intelligence guy, an fsb guy who the fbi is looking into because he went back to russia and said,

hey, i got that work down or i got that platform plank changed. so, are you telling me there's a suspected fsb guy wrote the republican party's platform on russia? >> amazing. >> it's scary stuff. >> can't make this up. >> but it's an amazing story to follow. >> yeah. up next, more with rachel maddow on president trump's first 50 days in office. we'll be right back. what are you doing? getting your quarter back. fountains don't earn interest, david. you know i work at ally.

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the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. the north and the south are mine. all seems beautiful to me. to take advantage of this offer on a volvo s90, visit your local dealer. welcome back to "politicsnation." as we continue our conversation with msnbc's rachel maddow. i asked her overall impression with trump's first 50 days in office. >> putting aside the personality stuff and, like, the chaos and the personnel, if you just look at what they're doing in terms of policy, i think it's been interesting to see that they haven't been able to do anything

successfully on any of the stuff they like to brag about, they like to talk about, that he campaigned on. muslim ban has been a disaster. mitch mcconnell asked this week, is mexico going to pay for the wall? his exact quote verbatim was "uh, no." yeah, who's going to pay for the wall? the coast guard, fema, tsa, or you and me, taxpayers, you know? the thing about the wall, the muslim ban, the health care rollout is an absolute disaster. it's very scary what they're proposing in terms of health care, but politically, it's absolutely dead. i don't think anybody believes that it will ever pass the senate. they haven't tried anything on taxes. remember, they were going to do a $1 trillion infrastructure plan? nothing that they like to talk about, nothing they like to brag about, none of their big stuff is working, or in many cases, they're not even trying to make it work. where they are getting stuff done is stuff they don't like to talk about -- making it easier for mentally ill people to get guns. >> right. >> making -- texas is' voter

i.d. law something they're not working against. >> actually withdrew. >> they're not fighting it anymore. >> right. >> getting out of all those agreements with troubled police departments around the country. >> consent decrees, yeah. >> saying that mining companies can dump waste in streams, saying that oil and gas companies -- american oil and gas companies basically, effectively, don't have to disclose anymore if they bribe foreign governments. i mean, all the stuff that there's no fancy -- there's no big signing statement with the children, you know, parade around the president to show this stuff off. the stuff they're doing quietly they're getting away with a lot. the stuff they like to talk about it they're getting none of it done. >> you and your analysis of their relations with the media. i mean, this whole creating this term "fake news," dismissing anything that is broadcast or print that they disagree with, just fake news, have they succeeded in any way, in your judgment, to intimidate the media in terms of being silent

and not delving in deeply enough on a lot of the issues that concern everybody watching us this morning? >> it's a good question. i don't know. do you -- what's -- i'm going to ask it back to you, do you think that the media -- >> i've got to ask myself, why are we not still hearing a lot about tax returns? why are we not asking the questions that you're raising every night, which is why i was so anxious for us to have this discussion? i mean, the bank thing alone i didn't read anywhere. and i'm like -- when i saw it that night, i just knew it was going to be front page everywhere the next morning, because that's just -- that's objective news. >> mm-hmm. >> and, so, i don't know. are they intimidated? are they incompetent? i hope they're not intimidated, because that's the key to american democracy is having a free media. >> well, i think i feel better about the press right now than most people do, or that maybe people might expect me to feel,

in part because we've seen nothing so far from the department of justice, from the congressional investigatory committees in terms of turning up any of the stuff that we've learned about trump and russia, for example, or trump and his ethics conflicts or trump and his business stuff. that's all come from the press. it's all about investigatory work by the press. >> true. >> and reporters have done not just the lion's share of the work, reporters have done all the work that we've got in terms of everything that's been exposed about trump so far. so, in that sense, that's working. i do feel like trump and his political machine is very good at manipulating the press. one thing they have succeeded at is making the press a good, convenient enemy. every president likes to yell at the press and make a scapegoat out of the press. they all try it. trump's better at it than other politicians are. and i also think he's been very good at being distracting. you know, when something comes up, when the news cycle starts to trend in a way that he doesn't like, he says something else so outrageous that we all have to cover that for a few days. >> right. >> and i think it's the media's responsibility to not get

distracted, to not let him set the terms of the news cycle and to, you know. what we try to do on my show is try to watch what they do, not what they say, not get distracted by sort of shiny objects that they throw out there to try to get us to do things other than what we're focused on. so, it's sort of -- i think it's sort of a mixed bag. i'm proud of the press in the first 50 days of the trump administration, but do i think the press is under attack? absolutely. do i wish the business model of american journalism was stronger and that the media had more resources to fight back against the inevitable fights to come? yeah, i do worry about that. i look at the first lady, melania trump, and her $150 million lawsuit against a blogger and against a newspaper for something that they printed about her that they then retr t retracted and apologized for and she doesn't care. she's going after them for $150 million and her lawyer is the one that put "gawker" out of business. i look at stuff like that and i wish american media, i wish that news in this country had more resources, more support, was

shored up even stronger than it is, because i think it's -- we've seen the first wave of the assault and there's more to come. >> well, i wish we had more time this morning. >> yeah. >> but thank god we can watch you 9:00 eastern every night. rachel maddow, thank you so much. >> thank you, rev. >> thank you. up next, georgia republicans pass a racial gerrymander law to kick voters out of the gop district, but we caught them. that's next. to folks everywhere whose diabetic... ...nerve pain shoots and burns its way into your day... ...i hear you. when that pain makes simple errands simply unbearable... ...i hear you. i hear you because my dad struggled with this pain. make sure your doctor hears you too. so folks, don't wait. step on up. and talk to your doctor. because you have places to go... ...and people who can't wait for you to get there. if you have diabetes and burning, shooting pain in your feet or hands... step on up and talk to your doctor today.

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and now for this week's gotcha. we go to the state of georgia, where house republicans passed a bill last week changing the makeups of several districts to their electoral advantage. and thanks to some statehouse rules and their near supermajority, they were able to

introduce a bill and pass a bill 515 in just three days, which was literally all the notice that one lawmaker had. democrat representative sheila jones. she got the notice that two predominantly white districts were being taken from her atlanta district in exchange for two predominantly black ones from republican rich golic. now, remember, president trump narrowly won georgia in 2016, a and golic's district, which has a sizable black population, went for secretary clinton by nearly 7,000 votes. so, what do you do when the demographic future looks uncertain? well, if you're the georgia gop, you switch out the black, mostly

democratic voters, you don't want for the white, mostly republicans you do. it's called gerrymandering, racial gerrymandering. and on the same day that the bill was introduced, the supreme court ruled that the practice violates the equal protection clause. let's hope the state senate and governor nathan deal got the message. either way, the state of georgia, i gotch you. hi! hey! i've made plans for later in case this date doesn't go well.

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the national football league began free agency this week. that's when players are looking for new teams and organizations are looking to shore up their rosters with talent. but in this climate, even the notoriously apolitical nfl is being pulled into the fray, as outspoken athletes like colin kaepernick and the bennett

brothers are taking strong stands against police brutality and the trump administration, and they're not alone. a bleacher report piece this week questions whether free agents can afford the kind of controversy that may make some team owners look the other way. can political activism cost an nfl player a job? joining me now from philadelphia, nfl national league writer for "bleacher report," mike taneya, and malcolm jenkins, defensive back for the philadelphia eagles, who is also a busy social and political activist. let me start with you, because you are, as i said, a very busy activist and, but you've been involved in many ways, balanced

ways, dealing, going into the community, riding with police, but questioning cases. you've testified before congress, will again. is there a certain level of activism or kind of activism that really impedes the sports career of some athletes, in your opinion, or not? because we notice colin kaepernick, who bowed down during the pledge of allegiance during the last season, has announced that he will not do the same this season, and he's gotten a deal. some are saying, well, why wouldn't you continue it under donald trump when police matters seem worse? so, is there some pressure on people? what's going on, in your judgment? >> well, in my opinion, i feel like, you know, as an nfl player, we understand that the biggest asset that the nfl has

is its image, and a lot of the times when players decide to act out on their own or protest or become active in the communities in ways that don't reflect well on the nfl and fans get upset, a lot of the times that causes a little bit of conflict. but it all comes down to, you know, how valuable you are to your team. if you are a veteran who's, you know, pretty secure, and if you've seen the protests this year, most of the guys who protested had a little bit of security and were your top-tier players that know they can't just be shipped out on any day. but if you're one of those guys who's on the bubble or you're looking for a job or you're a rookie who can be expendable, then it's definitely a risk you take when you decide to open up your mouth and voice your opinions. >> so, you've got to really be a value monetarily, i guess, to the league. mike, let me ask you, does that mean when we see the nfl encourage athletes, be involved in the community, be more

involved with your fan base, they mean be involved, but they don't mean be involved in issues that are considered "controversial." it's according to what the involvement entails, is that what we're seeing? >> i think absolutely, be involved, but don't be controversial, do things that we can promote, but don't do things that might rile up the season ticket base. and it's important to just have a distinction. there's the nfl and then there's the 32 employers. the nfl might say one set of things. and when i was at the super bowl, i heard roger goodell talk about the league being an entertainment league, even when talking about things like the travel ban, he very quickly said we're about entertainment and making people happy. then you have 32 teams, 32 individual owners, 32 different decision-makers who might approach things like political activism with 32 different opinions on what's controversial and what's appropriate. >> but malcolm, people live in the real world in an offseason,

and many of the athletes are reacting to what happens in their own daily lives. they have family members being pulled over a lot by police or a travel ban could affect people, so they're expressing themselves as citizens, which is what the country offers, but at the same time, as mike mentioned, they've got to also wonder, the 32 owners, when i go up, particularly if i'm a free agent, i have to try to make sure that i don't put myself in a way that they will say, eh, too controversial, i don't want them here. >> yeah, it's a fine line to play. and i think every athlete who decides to be an activist, you kind of go into it with that in mind. you know the risk that you're taking whenever you try to change anything or you speak up or do something that is controversial. it's always going to follow you when it comes to looking for employment, and that's kind of the risk you have to weigh when

you decide to take that stand because it costs commitment. and like you said, these are things that most of us are responding to because we see it in our own communities that we've come from or we deal with it on a daily basis. so you really have to individually decide if it's worth pursuing or if you, you know, would rather keep your job security. >> now, mike -- and this is a decision, by the way, activists have to make in any area, but i suppose because it's so high-profile and you're dealing with a lot of money in professional sports, it becomes something that we can see and pinpoint more readily. is there any glaring examples of this? was kaepernick put in a position where his future depended on whether he was going to continue kneeling or not, or any of the others, the bennett brothers or whoever? do we have any glaring examples that we're looking at that people may have been forced to

take different moves? and i'm one that really admired the courage of colin kaepernick. >> i don't think we've seen a glaring example. i don't think we're going to see a glaring example, at least i hope not. the nfl's bottom line is still about making the money and also winning. so, a player at a particularly high level is going to get next opportunities. brandon marshall is an example of a player who was outspoken, who's been with malcolm jenkins at various events, was released by the jets, quickly picked up, a sign that winning is and it mount and there's a certain amount of activism that players are going to agree with, but i think kaepernick will be the litmus test going forward, whether he's picked up during free agency, whether he's still on a roster in september. one of the things about nfl players is there's the contract with the team, there's also endorsements and things like that. you said that it's a high-profile thing. there's a variety of ways that, you know, the marketplace and the nfl can come back and have an impact on these players and potentially make them nervous

about moving forward with their activism. >> well, there's one other factor, the fans and the community and the population. >> yes. >> of those that want to respond to this. and malcolm, we respect you. thank you for coming on this morning. mike, thank you. up next, the last installment of our season on the life of alton mills, who was released after 22 years in jail and is now looking ahead into the future as a free man. stay with us. ion. this is one gorgeous truck. oh, did i say there's only one special edition? because, actually there's five. ooohh!! aaaahh!! uh! hooooly mackerel. wow. nice. strength and style. it's truck month. get 0% financing for 60 months plus find your tag and get $5500 on select chevy silverado pick-ups when you finance with gm financial. find new roads at your local chevy dealer.

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we shall overcome. and i believe it because somehow the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice. this week in "bending toward justice," we turn back to alton mills, a nonviolent, low-level drug offender who was sentenced to life in prison because of

harsh, mandatory minimums. after 22 years, alton's sentence was commuted by president barack obama. "politicsnation" has been following alton since his release last year. it hasn't been easy for him, but today he has a lot to look forward to. here's the final installment of our series. ♪ >> it was heartbreaking. i miss my dad a lot. he missed the daddy-daughter dances, the cupcakes for dad, all the dad stuff that you get to do. >> he missed seeing his daughter grow up. >> she was about 12 or 13. i started to get letters from her. >> i would keep him updated about my grades and all that stuff. then when it came time to leave,

i would always cry, because i didn't want to leave. i thought that my dad would never come home. he called me and he was like, i'm on my way home, baby girl! i was screaming with joy. everybody was looking at me like i was crazy. >> my cell phone rang about 1:45 a.m. in the morning. my daughter on the other line. she was like, daddy, i just had the baby. >> my daughter's name is mariah howell. her actual due date was supposed to be august 30th, but she decided she wanted to come may 26th. >> butterball. that's what i call her, butterball, because she is so fat. >> she is the most quirky, happy, now chunky baby. i didn't think i would ever see dad home physically holding my child. >> it was wonderful. it was wonderful.

i'm definitely going to be there to support her as much as i can, because i didn't have that opportunity with her mother. >> he's just an awesome dad. [ laughter ] >> we're really happy. we feel like we've known each other all this time and nothing has changed. >> today is friday. wednesday i bought her an engagement ring. >> he spent 23 years locked away, so we didn't have any time to waste. >> i think that she will keep him on track. >> i call my dad every two days or so, just to check up on him, just to make sure he's on his ps and qs. >> i have a job. i have a beautiful granddaughter. i have a wonderful fiancee. all the doors are open. i have a bright future. ♪ >> i had the honor of meeting alton in person at the

confirmation hearings for senator jeff sessions in january. as he rebuilds his own life, alton is an advocate for sentencing reform to help the thousands of others just like him who are still serving time behind bars. that's why when we met this week with the attorney general and meetings going forward and we continue rallying, it's because of the alton mills, it's because of new videos on people like michael brown, it's because of eric garner, it's because we need to make sure the system is fair and bald for everyone, not tilted either way, but straight down the middle. that does it for me. thanks for watching. and to keep the conversation going, like us on facebook.com/politicsnation, and follow us on twitte twitter @politicsnation. i'll see you back here next

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hi, everybody. good morning. i'm thomas roberts at msnbc world headquarters in new york. 9:00 a.m. in the east, 6:00 a.m. out west. day 52 of the trump administration. trump's gate-crasher. new information this morning on how that white house intruder got so close to the president. prognosis: poor. republicans at odds in the battle over health care. will the current version of repeal and replace damage the party long term? new word today from several leading gop critics. >> if there is no evidence that any wiretapping took place, will the president apologize to president obama for making such a serious charge? >> i think -- let's not get aheaof oselves. >>o, where's the proof? congress wants to see president trump's