22% dropped worldwide in hiv testing. there is nothing that says just because you are in one pandemic, another outbreak will happen because healthcare system that remain overwhelmed across the world potentially miss the next sars-cov-2 pandemic. >> always a pleasure. thank you so much for joining us this saturday night. our premiere show. still, so much to get to. more than 700 protestors were expected in d.c. to support those arrested for their roles in the january-6th insurrection. far fewer than those that actually showed up. law enforcement and the media seem to actually outnumber the demonstrators. but regardless of turnout, did the rally goers get what they wanted by drawing attention to their cause?r i am going to discuss that tonight with my saturday-night panel.

plus, the met gala is known for its stunning outfits, sporting outfits by influencers. so why is everyone freaking out about aoc's dress? and one person that wasn't in attendance at this year's gala was artist nicki minaj due to vaccine requirements. but things quickly spiralled out of control after she posted a string of tweets that included virus and vaccine misinformation. we're going to break down what happened, and the conversation surrounding celebrity accountability. i'm ayman mohyeldin. let's get started. all right.t. so the anticipated right-wing rally in washington, d.c., clearly did not go as planned. i mean, the number one rule in any good movie, obviously, is do not return to the scene of the crime, folks. today, just a few-hundred demonstrators showed up to

support the more than 600 people charged in connection to the january-6th insurrection and those in attendance appeared to be outnumbered by the media and a heavy police presence. now, of course, this lack of a turnout was actually to be expected.co all week long, social media posts were circulating that even the event was actually a trap being set up by the fbi to capture some of these folks. that didn't stop, though, one person, former-president trump,o from voicing his support for their cause. and continuing to whitewash the insurrection. plus, the silence from gop members of congress leading up to the rally shows that they are actually still afraid to cross trump. so, what does today's dud rally tell us about the base of the b republican party and where it goes from here? well, even though few people showed up, it's clear. the election-denial wing of the gop holds a strong position within that party. from trump's calls to justice for ashli babbitt, to calls to release the name of the capitol policeman that shot her. and of course, the big lie.

the relentless allegations of voter fraud. yesterday, trump sent a letter to georgia's secretary of state demanding that he acknowledge him as president. over in california, you had the recall election this week. you had conservative radio hoste larry elder's campaign falsely claiming fraud before the vote was even counted. so what can we do to break this cycle before it becomes a habit leading into the midterms? let's get right into it with our saturday night all-star panel. helen hong, comedian and actor on the netflix series "never have i ever." and regular panelist on npr's wait, wait don't tell me. nbc daily columnist and michael steel, former chairman of the republican national committee. it is great to have all three oa you with us this evening. helen, i want to start with you. how do you view what went down in d.c. today? it's estimated as i mentioned only a few hundred people showed up. is this embarrassing for trump?

or are they going to be able to write this off? >> i'd like to start by giving a slow clap to you, ayman, for your first saturday-night show. >> thank you. thank you so much. >> and this was basically the volume of the crowd that was at the rally today.me this was it. and, you know, i don't know why we keep spending time, energy, and money on coddling this small percentage of disgruntled, insane people. like, i live in the state of california. we just spent $300 million on a recall election that was essentially a giant pacifier for a bunch of whiny babies. now, as someone who has a literal 4-month-old baby living in this house, give me the $300 million so that i can buy and -- a bunch of actual pacifiers for my new baby, please. >> all right. we will see what we can do about that. we will definitely try to get you some -- some pacifiers seat there.so but i guess the -- the point,

helen, is that they actually have a hold on the republican party.es i mean, at the end of the day, yes, we are talking about 400 people that showed up today. that's not a significant number. but the silence from the republicans and the members of congress who didn't even want to talk about it this week tells ut you that they're afraid of being caught in the anger of these folks. >> you know, the same -- i -- i -- i prescribe the same thing that i do when our baby in this house gets a little too fussy. maybe, we just let him sit in their own poop for a minute. you know? you know, if you are making all this -- try sitting in your own poop for a minute and, yeah. tr >> the problem is someone's going to have to clean that up at some point. michael -- i got to ask you this, michael. earlier today, my friend, yasmin vossoughian, spoke to the ia organizer of that rally. here -- here is a little bit of what he had to say.he and obviously, we all saw ha january 6th unfold so i want -- i want you to watch this. >> many innocent people, we believe, were swept up and have been overcharged

disproportionate to the way they have been treated in the past. o >> you feel the people that stormed the capitol, that walked into the capitol -- >> the exact same way the people who did that with alexandria ocasio-cortez and the same people who did it with kavanaugh. or >> but alexandria ocasio-cortez, they didn't break windows. they didn't storm into the capitol building. >> we're not talking about people who broke doors and broke windows. look the people who did that with kavanaugh knew they shouldn't be there, too. they had to be arrested and dragged out. they were not turned into le t domestic terrorists. >> michael, what do you make of this whitewashing of -- of -- of history here? you -- you have the organizer here and you have others who are calling these people political prisoners. and i'm like, guys, i'll take you to some countries to show you what real political om prisoners look like. these guys are not political prisoners. >> well, first, let me -- allow me to echo helen and congratulate you, my friend. >> thank you, michael. >> i am so proud of you. proud of your work. and it's exciting to see it result in this opportunity. >> thank you so much.

>> oh, absolutely. look. you know, helen put her finger on it. babies do what babies do. they cry. they poop. and what you witnessed in that interview was a little bit of w crying, and probably some pooping. so what do you do about that? you just let it be what it is. what else is he going to say? what else is he going to do? there is no -- there's no there, here. right? there's nothing but ether and noise. it's just -- it's just -- it signifies a lot of nothing right now. and i agree with helen. i think we pay a little bit too much attention to some of this. um, let the -- let the fbi -- the, you know, security forces, local police officers. they're monitoring this. january 6th was a wake-up opportunity -- um -- for a lot of our law enforcement officials around the country. to pay closer attention to this -- this form of domestic terrorism.

the next move, and i think the citizens of this country have to be very clear about this that our, you know, congress has to federalize, codify this idea into law. that, yeah, u.s. citizens can be terrorists against this government. it can be terrorists against its fellow citizens and we need to call the thing what it is. and so, you know, you can put on a nice suit. and you can have a nice red tie on.ca but we know, behind that -- huh? >> where do you think you got that look from? that chris white shirt and the red tie. >> where else? where else? you know? >> it's -- it's the dear-leader syndrome, i think. >> right. exactly., call the thing what it is. um -- citizens are much more alerted to this now, around the country. certainly, we are here in our nation's capital. um, and i -- i think that we begin to see the air fall out of this a little bit sooner because a lot of folks out there aren't going to risk the kind of

jail time and other things that can come from this activity once it's classified for what it is, domestic terrorism. t >> all right. dean, so you are up next. y you got to find a way to talk about poop in this segment, as well.to since you complete the trifecta. children's poop. but let me -- joking aside -- i -- i want to take a little piece of what you wrote for nbc think, which i thought was verya provocative. you -- you write this may be the most dangerous pro-trump rally we've seen, yet. despite what we just saw there from those pictures. you go on to write, quote, this is what a budding fascist p movement looks like. it should send a shiver down the spine of all who believe in our democratic republic. so obviously, you know, our esteemed colleagues there were saying focusing on it a little bit too much. you are saying no, it's the o exact opposite. it's a budding fascist movement. explain. >> first, thank you for having me on to correct those two. second, congratulations on your new show, my friend.

and all part of our muslim takeover of the media and it's working so well. don't tell anybody. ali velshi, you, mehdi. you know, this is it, my friend. it is the muslim boy band i always dreamed of.e look.re i wrote my article. first of all, helen and michael, i wrote an article to get on here. okay. did you? no. in my article, it's very clear. let me be serious here. >> she has a 4 month -- she has a 4-month-old. >> right. i get that. all right? and i love helen. as i know from this article, forget the rally. there was a cbs poll from last month. 55% of trump supporters view january 6th now as what? as terrorism? no, as an act defending freedom. folks, another poll shows of all republicans, 51% strongly disapproved of january 6 attack in january. that's down to 39%. as they realized it was their own people doing the attacking, the gop's no longer against it. you know, michael's write.s

right that christopher wray, the fbi director testified. january 6th is an act of domestic terrorism. that's what we classified it under federal law. everyone involved who attacked the capitol is what? a terrorist. i donald trump incited a terrorist attack like an al qaeda recruiter or isis recruiter. donald trump and others on the right would demonize our community saying we knew who the terrorists were and we weren't turning them in. trump said we cheered in new jersey on 9/11. they are literally defending the terrorists. forget today. trump put out a statement thursday and at his rallies defending the terrorists. and that's today's gop. that's they're using violence to acquire and retain political power. this is fascism in america,

folks. wake up, it's happening here. >> alarm bells are going off for you, my friend. no, i appreciate that. helen, i -- there was another part of -- of this week that u, caught a lot of attention. had to do with the book by "the washington post" bob woodward, robert costas. "peril." it details this really interesting exchange between former speaker paul ryan and trump over what actually happened in charlottesville.ernd trump reportedly blasting ryan for condemning white supremacy. and in fact, said this -- and this was the quote -- these people love me. these are my people. i can't backstab the people whoc support me. and i am thinking like, is he saying the quiet part out loud here? >> yes! that's the thing about trump and that's why so many millions of actual white supremacists laud him and applaud him and hold him up as their dear leader because he is always saying the quiet part out loud. i mean, that's the thing is is there's no shame anymore in racism. like remember when, like, being

called a racist, like the worst thing that you could be called. and be like, oh, my god. you know, if you said like oh that's racist. people were like, i'm so mortified. i'm so sorry. and now, people are just like, yeah, i'm straight-up racist. i'm a straight-up white supremacist.ra you know, fascism? bring it on. and that's the -- you know, to dean's point, i guess that is the -- the more dangerous thing is that trump and trumpism is normalizing stuff that should be deeply embarrassing for humanity and people are just like, nope. i'm a white supremacist. i am a racist. i'm owning it. ait i love it. >> let me ask you this, dean. the -- the -- the trend of tell-all books and these interviews from, like, former trump administration officials and people who had these conversations with trump. it seems like folks are trying to, you know, re-brand co themselves in the post-trump era.es everyone wants to say that they tried to do the right thing after the fact. some are even going so far as to say like, look, i was the only

adult in the room and i had to t kind of make sure everything stays on track. what do you make of it? >> ridiculous. it's like after the titanic sinking going, you know, i saw the iceberg from miles away but i didn't tell anyone. keep it to myself. i was enjoying the buffet. it was great. there was an ice sculpture. are you kidding me? you -- i will not buy these books. you know, bob woodward. you know, bob woodward lost me when he didn't tell us that trump lied about how deadly , covid was, and knew how deadly it was. so i find this entertaining. some of it's truthful. i think of some it's exaggerated for a point.it i give them no credit. i am not buying their books and they are not coming on my radio show. ayman, don't have them on, ot i'm just saying. please don't. >> i won't. don't go anywhere. we are just getting started. got a lot to break down. t coming up, representative alexandria ocasio-cortez arrived at the met gala in style this week, but not everyone is happy with her ootd. plus, france recalling its ambassadors to the u.s. and

australia over a new national security partnership.fr i will tell you what, nothing will spoil a trans-atlantic alliance like a multibillion-dollar arms deal a going south.li but first, richard lui is here with the headlines, hey richard. >> ayman, congratulations to you, my friend. police in north port, florida say they're working with the fbi to find 23-year-old brian laundrie. this comes after his fiancee, gabby petito, disappeared during a cross-country trek last week. she remains missing right now a and investigators identified t laundrie as a person of interest in that case. the man who opened in a fire a san diego area synagogue in 2017 plead guilty to over 118 hate crime charges. john earnest now 22 years old killed one person, and injured several others in that shootingt federal prosecutors and earnest will jointly recommend a life sentence plus 30 years. pr and the notre dame cathedral in paris is now finally stable, and secure enough to begin repairs.re the famous landmark caught fire in 2019, and sustained heavy damage. france's president said he'd

like people to be able to get pl inside and visit by 2024. more "ayman" with ayman mohyeldin right after this. ice t, stone cold calling on everyone to turn to cold washing with tide. now with the help nfs qb matty ice. matty ice who? matt ryan, and i convinced nfl teams to turn to cold. i'm joining the cold callers. that's a million pounds of laundry. the nfl, you guys are filthy! tide can handle it, even in cold. kid is good.

how bout it? twice the ice! no ♪this was a cold call♪ the best things america makes are the things america makes out here. the history she writes in her clear blue skies. the legends she births on home town fields. and the future she promises. when we made grand wagoneer, proudly assembled in america, we knew no object would ever rank with the best things in this country. but we believed we could make something worthy of their spirit. (vo) this is more than glass and steel... but we believed we could make and stone. it's awe. beauty. the measure of progress. it's where people meet people. where cultures and bonds are made between us. where we create things together. open each other's minds. raise each other's ambitions. and do together, what we can't do apart.

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against her. believe it or not, it claims ocasio-cortez violated congressional rules by attending the high-priced event. tickets to which cost tens of thousands of dollars. since then, it's been confirmed the congresswoman was a guest of the metropolitan museum of art so she didn't have to pay for her ticket. all of this is causing some to ask can people who rub elbows with the rich and famous, also, be socialists? let's welcome back our panel. helen hong, dean obeidallah, and michael steel. michael, i will start with you. this is your crowd. i don't know what -- what was your excuse for not attending the met this year, michael? >> look, dude, i didn't have a dress. >> oh, okay. you didn't have -- you didn't have -- >> i didn't have a dress. >> seriously, joking aside, what do you make of -- of aoc's statement in this? >> what was her statement, again? >> tax the rich. >> yeah -- oh, that statement. oh. okay. so, not much. look.

it's okay. it's a fashion statement. what can you say? it's great. she looked -- she looked great. i hope she had a wonderful time. the -- the political statement on -- on her dress. everyone knows how the congresswoman feels about the rich and what she wants to do to them. um -- you know, if -- if you want to mess up a pretty gown with that, mess up a pretty gown with that. i -- i just think, you know, the reaction by a lot of republicans to the things that congresswoman ocasio-cortez does to me is the more hysterical part of this. um -- and in fact, it's so ridiculous that people now look at those exchanges as ridiculous. they are not -- the complaints aren't taken seriously by a vast amount of the public. the base itself probably goes, oh, and then, you know -- then what? so i just -- i hope she had a good time. >> and -- and the problem for me, dean, is that this outrage on the right. you know, the -- the gop saying

she is a hypocrite. is there -- is there anyone in the -- in this country who does not think that you should pay your fair share of taxes? because the way that i look at that statement, and correct me if i'm wrong, is people are fed up with the rich in this country not paying their taxes. it's not that they should not pay taxes. it's that they're dodging the taxes. they find loopholes. they're not paying taxes, so people want them to pay their fair share of taxes. >> i agree with you. but i love the fact that she trolled the right and upset a lot of trump supporters. because every time we piss off a trump supporter, an angel gets their wings. so she made a lot of angels at that -- that dinner. look, she did it to troll people. clearly, she made that choice. those on the right upset, too bad. she wants to tax the rich. you can be a democratic socialist, and go to this event. you are using it as a platform. she looked great. it's -- i'm a big fan of aoc.

>> but you guys, on the left, you are the snowflakes. you are the ones that get triggered very easily. >> i'm in a safe space right now. if i went to the dinner, i would have had -- my jacket would have said go tell jokes for money. that's what it said on my jacket if i went there. >> howard, i want to get your thoughts on -- i want to get your thoughts on something that i actually think deserves a little bit of praise here at the met gala. you got formula 1 driver lewis hamilton purchasing a table at the event which would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. obviously, he is perhaps the most famous f1 formula race car driver in the history of the sport. certainly, in this current modern era. he used his platform, he bought the tickets and he gave all the tickets to emerging black designers. essentially, literally giving them a seat at the table. is that a better way to make a political statement or to make the right statement at an event like this? >> i think that, both, what the formula 1 driver and what aoc did was fantastic. i mean, this is the -- you know, these are the people in power.

these are the people with the money. you take the message to them. and, you know, aoc. i just got to -- you know, years ago, there was a trend with juicy couture, like, bottoms. where like, all the women were running around town with the word "juicy" on their butts. >> dean has a pair of those, as well. >> if you are going to make the entire world read your butt, let's make it a nice message. you know? let's make it a statement. and aoc's got a nice butt, let's face it. people were reading that butt. and -- and -- and to, you know, everyone else on the panel's point, my favorite part is that this had every conservative talk-show host frothing at the mouth. and like, veins popping in their temples and i was like every time i see a conservative talk show host just like -- like -- like look like they are about to have an aneurysm on the air, i'm like, whatever made that happen,

more of that, please. >> let's -- let's be honest. you know the real outrage is they probably were not invited to the met gala. and they would definitely be going if they were invited, right? >> yes, they would. >> 100%. 100%. >> dean, i got to ask you this, though, because there is another interesting dynamic at play here. you know, tax the rich. we may remember it. it's not too long ago. it actually started with the occupy wall street movement where celebrating or at least acknowledging that it's been ten years since that movement. how much has changed in the last for if you want to call it economic justice in this country? >> first of all, can i just say about lewis hamilton. ayman, next met dinner, you should buy a table for all muslims in the media and have us all sit with you. and so, you are sort of helping us the same way lewis hamilton. i'm just saying. >> you think i make lewis hamilton money? you think i get paid like lewis hamilton? come on, bro. come on, man. i got a gofundme page.

>> we will do that, too. i am not above that at all. and look, is there social economic justice? where? where in this country -- we have more disparities after the pandemic. where billionaires as president biden pointed out this week got richer, we all know this, during the pandemic, and they're paying no tax. there are teachers and firefighters paying more taxes than billionaires. there's been nothing -- our tax code has not changed in any way except for a tax cut for the wealthy in 2017, courtesy of michael steel's perrot, the gop. so you had that going on. that's the only tax change i see. you know, you have the income -- credit -- the credit now for children under the -- the -- the sweeping plan they had. but nothing -- there's no justice. there is nothing been really resolved to close the gap. we need it. tax the rich. like aoc said. >> michael steel, the -- speaking of taxing the rich, you had spacex just completing another first. you got tourism mission to -- to space. this one, i think, all

civilians. what's your take on this billionaire-space race? i -- i know that right after you get your met gala invite, you plan on going to space on one of these rides, right? >> yeah. that -- that -- that's -- that's -- yeah. >> michael steel's perfect week would involve going to the met gala on monday, and then flying to space on friday. >> absolutely. absolutely. that -- that works for me. um, no. i'm -- i'm not a fan. i'm sorry. i'm not a fan of this at all. i -- i think that there are -- that this whole episode is fraught with a lot of problems that no one is paying much attention to. there is a lot of goo-goo ga-ga over the fact this is happening but i think we need to pay a little more attention to what's involved here, what's at stake here. don't mind the -- the private-public partnerships working with nasa. but i really think the fact that you have got this being driven by a very, very small subgroup

of individuals, subset of americans who can afford to do it who will be charging other americans untold hundreds of thousands of dollars to take part in this activity. and please, don't believe this crap that, you know, some -- some blue-collar worker in 15 or 20 years is going to be able to take his family on a weekend vacation to the moon. or a trip around the earth. that ish ain't happening. so, you know, this idea that they're going to be bringing the prices down and this is going to be affordable is crapola. will not happen. this is another sort of one off for very, very high-end, wealthy people who will be able to afford this. i think a lot of the scientific research, a lot of -- of important probative work that should be nasa centered should be driving this exploration, not the idea that we're taking disney world and mickey mouse to space.

>> helen, what do you think dean is going to do first? get to the met gala? or get to outer space? both are long shots. both are long shots. both. >> i'm going to say neither. >> what was that, dean? >> i -- >> i was just going to say, quickly. these guys are so bored with this planet because they've seen everything. there are parts of new jersey i haven't seen yet. okay? i just want to go to jersey. >> i mean, if -- if billionaires taking joyrides in space is not evidence that we need to tax the rich, i don't know what is. by the way, ayman, i -- can i just say i, myself, am wearing tax the rich underwear right now. my bra says tax the rich. my -- my -- my shoes say tax -- like, let's write tax the rich everywhere. if you guys are so rich and don't know what to do with your money so much that you are like, i don't know, just take a joyride in space. >> so, wait. with joking aside and, michael

steele, this is a bit of a serious question. is it the word tax the rich that just triggers republicans because they don't like having anyone who is rich pay their fair share of taxes? or should it be -- should it be close the tax loophole so everyone pays taxes? which you probably can't get that on a dress. >> let's -- let's be a little bit honest about this. where this narrative ultimately ends up. it's a great slogan to put on the back of a dress. and it's a great political statement but that's the wrong statement, and that's the wrong approach. it's not about taxing the rich because you can raise the -- the corporate-income tax. you can raise the individual wealth tax to 39, 40% if you want to. >> yeah. >> guess what? the system is already still have built into it ways to avoid paying that tax. >> yeah. >> so, we -- we increase the taxes on the rich. we lower the taxes on the rich. the only thing that really changes marginally is the degree to which they get to pay that because of all the internal structures that are still in place that allows them to avoid

paying that tax. the tax on the rich that we're talking about here is a tax on investment which doesn't exist. that's -- that's the reality of it. these individuals don't get income like a blue-collar worker does. they get investment income and that, under our code, is not taxable. and -- and to the extent that it is, it's very little. it's under capital gains which was just reduced. so let's be clear about what we're talking about. this idea of taxing the rich is not taxing their income. you have to look how they hold their investments, how those investments grow, what happens as -- in that -- that delta -- the difference. and the other aspects in which they can shield and protect their wealth. >> right now -- >> ayman, like you said, that message is not going to fit on a dress. >> i was going to say right now -- right now a designer somewhere in new york is taking michael steele's word and trying to compress to it fit a -- all

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all right. so an international scandal erupted this week. and no, i am not talking about the one between australia, france, and the u.s. we are going to get to that in just a moment. but this one actually happened after nicki minaj shared some concerns she had been hearing about the covid vaccines. here's what she wrote. my cousin in trinidad won't get the vaccine because his friend got it and became impotent, she tweeted out on monday, adding

his testicles became swollen. his friend was weeks away from getting married. now, the girl called off the wedding. so just pray on it and make sure you're comfortable with your decision. not bullied. to say the resulting furor was intense is putting it mildly. because the original tweet drew nearly-100,000 responses and minaj counter-responses as she tried to defend herself from attacks on all sides of the ideological spectrum. then on wednesday, the story turned truly surreal because you had the health minister for trinidad and tobago respond to minaj's tweet saying this. >> it is, as far as we know at this point in time, there has been no such reported either side effect or adverse event. and what was sad about this is that it wasted our time yesterday trying to track down

because we take all these claims seriously. >> so, did you hear that? the most important part there? wasted time in the middle of a global health crisis. debunking false claims is truly staggering. but it must pail in comparison to the time vaccine skeptics spend trying to find reasons to not get the vaccine. think how much energy is spent as they say, nah, i'm not buying what the fda is saying. i'm going to go do my own research. but in all seriousness, this silly scandal hits on some very important issues because on friday, the metro uk reported that instagram blocked the hashtag natural immunity, though it is viewable today. that didn't stop critics from crying censorship. a social media pr executive told metro uk, quote, that banning hashtags is damaging to our freedom of speech, traditions,

and a very dangerous place if social media platforms start censoring views and conversations. so is what nicki minaj posted the kind of thing that social media companies should flag or even take down? do we really want tech companies to be the arbiters of truth for us? we are going to dig deep into that with our panel coming up, next. and take. it. on... ...with rinvoq. rinvoq a once-daily pill can dramatically improve symptoms... rinvoq helps tame pain, stiffness, swelling. and for some rinvoq can even significantly reduce ra fatigue. that's rinvoq relief. with ra, your overactive immune system attacks your joints. rinvoq regulates it to help stop the attack. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious infections and blood clots, sometimes fatal, have occurred... ...as have certain cancers, including lymphoma, and tears in the stomach or intestines, and changes in lab results.

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so the nicki minaj social media scandal is continuing to develop. on thursday the white house confirmed it offered to set up call between the pop star and answer calls about what she had to say about the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine. and that offer came days after minaj made headlines for a tweet about her cousin's vaccine concerns. back with us, once again, helen, dean, michael. all to join the big conversation about this. i know it was something dean wanted to spend a little time on. so i will start with you, dean. and -- and listen. there is a little bit of a seriousness to be had about this. we are going to get to that. but what do you make of -- of this scandal?

the jokes practically write themselves here but what about the substance behind this story? >> first of all, jokes don't write themselves. it takes some work, ayman. you wouldn't know anything about it but for me and helen -- >> i leave the comedy up to you guys. exactly. >> first of all, go get your advice about a vaccine from nicki minaj. i get it from a doctor and that's doctor dre. dr. dre and his associate snoop dogg who made it very clear ain't nothing but a vax thing. so get vaccinated. listen to your doctor. don't listen to people like this. i actually -- >> listen. ari melber is watching this segment right now and he is rolling his -- his eyes at you, dean. >> look. my ire is really for people -- because nicki minaj in another tweet right after said wear your mask and she is being very sincere. my ire is people who intentionally spew misinformation about the vaccine and, at the same time, say don't wear a mask, no testing, no social distancing all in the name of their freedoms which makes me ask where are our freedoms? our freedom to live free from a virus? but, you know, the situation

here. i think the doctor -- you made a great point earlier, ayman. the doctor, they spent valuable time figuring out if this was true or not which must have been awkward, too. going to people like you got vaccinated? how are your testicles? are they inflamed? no. okay. that must have been awkward. >> helen, i -- i mean, seriously here for a moment. nicki says she is just asking questions, and clearly the white house wants to get her some answers. is it fair to dunk on her? because you have to think, aside from her social-media platform, you know there are hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions of people, around the world who are probably hearing the same kind of bs anecdotes and are probably concluding the same and spreading those same pieces of misinformation. >> it was 100% fair to dunk on her. and can i just say i cannot stop laughing at the idea of, you know, the health officials of

trinidad just running around the country. attention, attention -- >> if you have swollen testicles. >> does anyone know nicki minaj's cousin's friend with the giant balls? anyone? anyone? does anyone know this guy with -- i can't stop laughing about it. but also, the -- the thing she tweeted was so irresponsible. i mean, talk about anecdote. >> it's not her cousin. it's the cousin's friend who lives, you know, 3,000 or what -- however many miles away from her that she doesn't know. she -- has she seen a picture of these balls? no -- i'm going to guess no. you know, she just heard secondhand, thirdhand hearsay and like i am doing my own research. you know, i am not trusting all these like hundreds of thousand of scientists who have spent -- you know, just moved heaven and earth to try to get these vaccines out to us in time. like, forget them. my cousin's friend with the balls. let's listen to this guy. come on, nicki. come on.

>> michael, where do you -- where do you stand on all of this? do you believe someone should be punished for asking questions no matter how unfounded they seem to be? >> not standing on the balls, that's for sure. i just don't even know where to go with this conversation. >> this may be the shortest-lived show in msnbc history. way too much -- >> great opening and closing night. >> yeah. one night and one night only, folks. >> what was your question, again? >> i mean, where do you come down on the seriousness of this? because i -- i -- i say this, again. like, okay, aside from her platform, she is probably expressing her own vaccine deliberation, as my colleague joy reid wanted to call it because i think it's right. everyone has their own deliberative process. hers was to 22 million people and involved outing her cousin. her cousin's friend, i should say. but aside from that, it -- the idea of dunking on someone because they had vaccine deliberations that may not be up

to our standards. >> well, no. yeah, you got to dunk on it because the reality of it is she -- it -- it's not just nicki minaj. nicki minaj has people, and she has access to people. and -- and so, in getting that information, she has access to resources that a lot of her 22 million followers may not have, and probably do not have. so there is an onus. there's a responsibility when you push those 200-plus characters into your phone that when you hit send, what comes on the back end of that will matter. and when you put out information because of your stature, people will take it a lot more seriously. so that responsibility then falls on you, in the first instance, to use the various resources you have around you to

confirm and affirm information. you know, when you get the -- you know, the note from your cousin -- >> yeah. >> -- who has a friend who has a brother who has an uncle who has a problem with his testicles, you may not want to put that out right away. >> you know what? that's -- i will say this, michael. i have heard a lot about nicki minaj this week. that's probably one of the most -- i think one of the best points that i ever heard. was like, because she has access to so many people, she should have done better. i know that dean spends a lot of his time googling stuff and listening to his cousins overseas and that's not a really good source of information. that is not. >> i go with cardi b all the time. that's who i go with. >> hold on. let me play -- let me play for you guys really quickly about the issue of information. i want to play for you -- obviously, yesterday, you had the fda announcing its decision not to approve booster shots for those 16 years of age and up. but right before that, earlier in the day, dr. anthony fauci was on this network with my colleague, craig melvin. this is what he said. watch.

>> are you expecting pfizer-booster shots to be approved? >> you know, i don't want to get ahead of the fda deliberations. the data that i've seen, i believe, strongly suggests that that will be the case. >> all right. i'm not trying to -- obviously, that's dr. fauci. but i am just saying, like, what do you think about that, michael steel, about the information there? you have got the -- the top infectious disease expert in this country saying he expected it to happen. the fda comes out and says no. and -- and yes, i respect that the organizations and there's a separation here. and -- and i am giving you a little bit of time. you only got about 30 seconds but what do you make of the fact they keep coming out saying i expect it to happen and then it doesn't happen? >> all the fun we just had aside, at the end of the day that's the problem. that's why the biden administration is where it is on covid. because of how this -- how there's no coordination of information. there is no coordination of facts. stuff is being put out in the public, and it's creating confusion. >> yeah, i was going to say i --

i'm not sure the white house was happy with that messaging that he would come out and say that he expect today to happen, and then have the decision go the other way. dean obeidallah, helen hong, thank you very much for joining us on this one night an one night only. i'm waiting that are that call. i've got my cell phone right here. thanks, guys. nuclear subs and a diplomatic blowup. we're going break down what has happened between the u.s., france and australia, when we come right back.

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all right. so nothing can spoil a transatlantic alliance like a multibillion arms deal. that's the takeaway after france withdrew ambassadors to the united states and australia. after backing out of a deal to buy french submarines valid at over $40 billion. instead, florida will enter a trilateral security partnership with the u.s. and great britain. included in that partnership, you might ask is a purchase agreement for at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. now france is calling the deal a stab in the back. and the french ambassador to australia said this after he had been recalled. >> i think it's been a huge mistake. very, very bad handling of partnership. because it was not a contract. it was a partnership. first partnership supposed to be

based on trust. >> so the french, to put it bluntly, they're ticked. the french foreign minister told a radio station that this brutal, unilateral and unpredictable decision reminds me a loft what mr. trump used to do. ouch. rule of them. when it comes to having good relations with your international allies, you probably want to do everything you can to avoid having your moves compared to former president trump's, to be honest. this whole dust-up as the united states looking for ways to push back on china's growing influence in the region. the military partnership tween the americans and the australians is seen by some in the west as a god way to push back on chinese dominance in the region, but it could come at a steep cost. australia and china have been at odds now for a few years, and they're in the middle of a trade war that has been bruising for both sides. a defense analyst in australia tells nbc news that china could ratchet up their economic efforts as a result, and this is

the first time ever that france has recalled its ambassador to the united states. so that says something. if there is one reason to be optimistic, the recalled french ambassador to australia also said the strength of their relations between the countries involved should not be underestimated. still, at a time when democracy around the globe can often seem in peril, good relations between some of our strongest allies should not be taken for granted. we'll leave it at that. thank you for making time for us this evening. you can find me on twitter and instagram at @aymanm and make sure to come back at 9:00 eastern. thank you so much, we'll see you sunday. good night. this is how you become the best! ♪“you're the best” by joe esposito♪ ♪ [triumphantly yells] [ding]

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