working at recology is more than a job for jesus. it's a family tradition. jesus took over his dad's roue when he retired after 47 year. now he's showing a new generation what recology is all about. as an employee-owned company, recology provides good-paying local jobs for san franciscans. we're proud to have built the city's recycling system from the ground up, helping to make san francisco the greenest big city in america. let's keep making a differene together. i can not believe two full hours have gone by. time flies when you're trending. thank you so much to twitter for riding with us. i will be back tomorrow for the sunday show, so catch me there. but now you want to stay tuned

for the beautiful, amazing, alex witt. >> you're so cute. can i say two quick points. on the 22 hours until we get to see you again, that's great. and keyshawn johnson, whatever you do with him, i'm in because he's a usc trojan. love the guy. >> i didn't know that. >> oh, huge fan of his since the '90s, oh, please. anyway, just saying. okay, that was fun to watch. see you tomorrow. >> thanks, alex, see you tomorrow. and a very good day to all of you. welcome everyone, to "alex witt reports." developing this hour, the near total ban on abortions in texas has been temporarily reinstated following a federal appeals court ruling late last night. more on the expected next move from the justice department. earlier today, former texas state senator wendy davis warning the impact this decision could have nationwide. >> it's going to have a ripple

effect across our state and across the country when other states begin to copycat this law, if it's allowed to continue to be in place. >> meanwhile, new fallout from senate majority leader chuck schumer's speech slamming republicans after congress advanced a short-term debt ceiling extension. the speech appearing to frustrate democratic senator joe manchin who was seen putting his face in his hands. it comes as democrats try to work together to hammer out an agreement over a social spending package to pass alongside a bipartisan infrastructure bill. earlier today democratic lawmakers stressing the need for party unity. >> all of us need to do fewer soundbites for cable and get in the room. congress means coming together. we can disagree, but i wish we could get in rooms and talk to each other the way that i used to see it happen. i think that's what's got to happen. it is going to happen this month if we're going to get this bill done. >> i think that we should stop

making a political football out of everything. >> also new remarks today, chinese president xi jinping vowing to gain control of taiwan peacefully rather than use military force. the new comments calm a week of tensions after that week before china and taiwan sparking international concern. earlier this week, the biden administration reiterated its rock solid commitment to taiwan. donald trump is gearing up for a rally at the iowa state fairgrounds in des moines. fueling new speculation over whether the former president will mount a 2024 bid for the white house. so we're going to go beyond the headlines for you with nbc's lauren eagan and julie tsirkin and robert costa. lauren, we're going to start with you and the new developments first on the texas abortion ban. so where do things stand right now? >> reporter: yeah, federal appeals court ruled late last night to reinstate that texas

law that bans abortion at six weeks. that's before most women even know that they are pregnant. this ruling came last night just 48 hours after a lower court had ruled to block that law in response to a case filed by the biden administration. the doj has until tuesday at 5:00 p.m. to respond to this latest ruling from that federal appeals court, so we're going to be keeping an eye on that as we go into next week. as we continue to watch sort of this legal back and forth between the courts. now, there are some advocates for abortion access who are arguing that while it's great that the justice department and the biden administration are stepping in, it is simply just not enough. listen to what one texas state lawmaker had to say about this earlier today. >> basically we've got a five-alarm fire in texas, yet we have no hope from the feds. i appreciate the doj stepping in, but the reality is that we

absolutely should have had federal protections a long time ago. we should have made sure that we codified roe v. wade and we didn't. and so now this is where we are. we're in this space where courts are now trying to reinterpret and somehow overturn what has been the law, what has been the well-settled law for at least 50 years. >> hanging over all of this, alex, is the december case that the supreme court is expected to take up on a mississippi law that bans abortion at 15 weeks. abortion rights advocates are saying that the threat to overturn roe v. wade is real and it is imminent, alex. >> for sure. thank you so much for that. let's go to the new developments in the house select committee on the january 6th investigation into the attack on the capitol. the white house authorizing the national archives to turn over document s covering all communications related to donald trump's activities that day. the decision formally blocking an attempt by trump to withhold

that information based on executive privilege. it comes as trump orders four of his former aides to defy the committee's subpoenas for documents and depositions. the select committee responding in a statement writing in part, while mr. meadows and mr. patel are so far engaging with the select committee, mr. bannon has indicated that he will try to hide behind vague references to privileges of the former president. joining me now is robert costa, national political reporter with "the washington post," latest book co-authored with his colleague bob woodward "peril" is at the top of the "new york times" best sellers list, which i tell you if you could hear me, thank you so much. let's start with the documents from the national archives. first of all, what kinds of documents are we talking about? what could committee potentially learn from them? >> these are documents that are in the hands right now on the national archives and the biden administration because they're currently in power has said to

the national archives they're not going to assert executive privilege over these documents. that does not mean the situation is over, president trump, the former president will fight this in court. >> okay, but let's talk about what's in them? i mean, what possibly could they get for them? what kind of documents are you talking about? phone records, is it transcripts? text messages although i don't think the president texts that much, does he, to his subordinates? we know he tweets when he can. >> there are so many unanswered questions about president trump and bob woodward and i spent nine, ten months trying to answer as much as possible. what we found is that the story of january 6th was not actually just about that rally that day with president trump on the lectern, it was about president trump actively and aggressively mind the scenes using the pressure points of power on senators and congressmen, on vice president pence, on the department of justice to coordinate a full-fledged attempt to overthrow the election, to throw it to the

house of representatives where he knew he could likely win another term. in finding out more details about that pressure campaign, we found some of them, woodward and i discovered the eastman memo by that conservative lawyer john eastman sketching out what many people are calling a guide book for a coup, but there's likely more and that's what the committee wants to find. >> when you look at what the president was doing, you're talking about that which you discovered on this very day january 6th. there were all those reports of him sitting in the white house just outside the oval office, sitting in front of a television watching all of it play out. is that the time frame that you focused on trying to get the information like with whom he was communicating, what he was saying? have you gotten more clarity on that? >> we've gotten some clarity in our book about the president was at times idle inside of the west wing watching television, but he wasn't a passive person. what we really want to find out as reporters and the committees

likely wanted to find out is who was he calling on the 6th, but also who was he calling on the night of january 5th. january 5th is so critical. that's when he meets one on one with pence and brings his advisers into oval office, and says to them late at night what else could i do. if the committee could find his phone logs, more details about what trump did on the night of the 5th, we'll have a better understanding of his direct role in trying to stoke what happened on the 6th. >> 100%. regarding those subpoenas, the committee says it is swiftly considering advancing a criminal contempt of congress referral to witnesses who defy the subpoena or try to run out the clock. based on the rest of that statement, it seems to be referencing at least steve bannon. if meadows and pateleare engaging so far, scavino was served with the subpoena on

friday. how about you, roberts, are you hearing anything on this? >> what's interesting, these two specific men, dan scavino, the social media director for trump and steve bannon, the former strategist their subpoenas include references to the book with woodward, to our book "peril," and why is our book included because scavino and trump are in scenes with trump talking about how to focus on the 6th. and that's what the committee wants to learn more about. what were they saying to the president, and the question for the committee now is will they expand this investigation, and will they take dramatic steps to try to compel testimony. congress does have powers to try to pursue civil or criminal contempt. on what have of the house of represent tufs. representatives. >> the revelations, the reporting, your reporting from "peril" has sparked several

major headlines since being released. you have general milley's phone calls to china amid the concerns over donald trump and what he might co. you mentioned mike pence, he was calling dan quayle asking whether he could overturn the election and then that wild eastman attorney memo on how trump could retain power, in your words basically stage a coup. did you expect these topics to grab the headlines? and i have a follow-up question about the flip side. >> well, as a reporter, you never know what's going to become a headline. you just try to pursue the truth as much as possible. but that china call, the two china calls between general milley and general lee are very important, you can't forget them. woodward and i were talking recently, and we realized that the national security component of this, we wonder is the january 6th committee going to look into this as well? because january 6th was not just a domestic political crisis. our book shows it was a national security emergency, and we

wonder as reporters, will the committee do more to go into that corner of this big important historic story. >> so what has not gotten the attention that you thought it might? i mean, do you want to make a case for that right here now? >> there is a major question about what else was going on inside of the oval office and who around president trump was using power to try to keep power. the efforts of bannon have gotten a lot of attention, but bannon was one of dozens of people around the president actively working to try to stop this election from going to biden on the night of -- on the day of january 6th. and the other part of this book that's really important is we show president biden in full dealing with senator manchin at times having very tense expletive-filled conversations with him because the biden agenda right now is at a crucial moment, and it's in part because of these tensions with senator manchin and sinema, and we detail how those tensions began.

let's never forget to pay attention to the current president as well as the former one. >> i know, we absolutely do. having said that, i do want to ask you about given your familiarity with trump and all those in his orbit, particularly after this book, do you think that donald trump's 2024 talk is just a money making endeavor for him? do you think he's really going to run? >> our book shows that he is getting briefed right now by pollsters like john mclaughlin, and he's being told the voters love his grievance message inside the republican party. he has political standing unlike anything we've seen before. he wants power back. in fact, his former campaign manager brad parscale says privately in the book to others, if he runs again it will be to get an army for trump back at his side and it will be for vengeance. this is someone who's fully comfortable with power after four years in the presidency. he clearly wants power back. and maybe people thought 2016

was a branding exercise, but now you have a former president who wants power and knows how to use it. >> do you have sort of a drop dead time by which he would have to make that announcement and make it utterly official? when do you think that would be? >> he could drag it out for a long time. in fact, some of my republican sources who are close to ambitious governors, to a form er vice president, to senators who want to run, they feel like they're being suffocated politically. he's out there taking all the oxygen inside the republican party. they don't have any way to get around that. trump does not feel any pressure to announce. this is not just about red versus blue anymore in this country. our book shows this is about a bigger question. what's the fate of american democracy? >> yep, that is the question for sure. robert costa, thank you for posing it for us. i think it's a conversation we're going to have to continue having with you and others. co-author of the book "peril" ask thank you much for the great conversation. >> thank you. also today, there's growing concern that those global shipping delays and supply

shortages could last well into the holiday season. nbc's molly hunter is joining us from london. how is this going to affect all the shoppers over the next few months? >> yeah, alexs not just shoppers. it's going to affect all of us. it's going to hit your detergent, your electronics, and it's happening as some parts of the world are vaccinated, keen to start spending money, and there's this lopsided recovery going on. the supply chains just can't keep up. take a look. >> shoppers are bracing for a holiday season like no other, all because of snarling global supply chain issues. >> you're seeing a shortage of supply, of things that are needed to prove products through the global supply chain including workers, empty containers, chassises available space on vessels, workers here in the states for drivers and warehouses. >> add to that surging prices of raw materials, sky high freight prices and delays like this week at the port of los angeles. it also means a shortage of

component parts like microchips making gifts like play stations, computers and phones expensive and hard to find. factor in inflation and all of it driving up prices. >> you could spend like maybe 120 in groceries. now it's for like little things, you end up paying like maybe ten items, and you're coming at like $200. >> toys to clothes, gadgets, furniture and car parts. >> reports from goldman sachs show that hasbro and mattel are already raising prices. our colleagues at cnbc tracked down care bears made in china where manufacturing costs are up 25% since january. once in the u.s., moving the bears by rail cost 225% more than in 2019 and trucking rates are up 91%, which means it just got a whole lot more expensive for care bear maker basic fun. for now, retailers say buy early and be flexible. >> shop now, take a look online.

maybe you need a little more time than normal, but i feel confident in the american retailer. >> reporter: now, in addition to heightened consumer demand and consumer spending, global energy shortages combined with labor and transport shortages have basically combined to create this perfect storm. as for those holiday gifts i'm asking my loved ones for their wish list way early so i can start my shopping today or rather tomorrow when i get off the air. >> thank you very much. we still need you for a while yet. okay, good advice i'm doing the same. we're going to talk to senator ben cardin on where all of this is headed next. headed t ♪ after we make grilled cheese, ♪ ♪ then we're eating grilled cheese. ♪ ♪ because it's time. ♪ ♪ yeah. ♪ ♪ time for grilled cheese. ♪ clerk: hello, how can i? sore throat pain? ♪honey lemon♪ try vicks vapocool drops.

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working at recology is more than a job for jesus. it's a family tradition. jesus took over his dad's roue when he retired after 47 year. now he's showing a new generation what recology is all about. as an employee-owned company, recology provides good-paying local jobs for san franciscans. we're proud to have built the city's recycling system from the ground up, helping to make san francisco the greenest big city in america. let's keep making a differene together.

a new warning from senate minority leader mitch mcconnell casting doubts over how congress will avoid a federal default in december. this as the house is set to vote

tuesday on the short-term debt limit extension passed by the senate. let's go to nbc's julie circle joining us on capitol hill. welcome to you. we have senators who have criticized gop leaders for not holding out longer against democrats. come december, how can the democrats move forward without republican backing. >> reporter: alex, the senate prides itself on being the world's greatest deliberative body. some may argue they're also the world's greatest procrastinators and that's exactly what they did this week. they punted their problems to december and we're sure to face another issue like we did this week with america at threat of defaulting for the first time in history. now, mcconnell this week extended an offer to democrats. he said, listen, we'll give you those votes that you need, 11 of them, in fact, the mcconnell whip this week, he convinced his republican counterparts to help vote for this bill. he told them we'll give you those votes with a catch. there's strings attached. you have to raise the debt ceiling this december more perm

-- permanently. some in this party criticizing the leader something for for mcconnell who's normally tactful and careful. they accused him of blinking first in this staredown with democrats after raising the debt limit. he sent a letter to president biden saying in part, i will not be a party to any future effort to mitigate the consequences of democratic mismanagement. your lieutenants on capitol hill now have the time they claimed they lacked to address the debt ceiling. we're told the two also spoke over the phone later. come december, democrats are going to face the same choice. they're going to have to raise the debt ceiling through reconciliation, something i'm told they opposed. they agree on two things right now, one, they're unified over not letting america default on its debt, and two, they're not going to do it through reconciliation like mcconnell wants them to. so we have another deadline

coming in just a few weeks, alex. >> okay, julie, that means you're going to stay on the job for us and get every incremental detail along the way. joining me right now is maryland senator ben cardin, a democratic member of the finance and foreign relations committees. always good to see you, sir. thank you for joining me. as we show our viewers off the top here, joe manchin's reaction during chuck schumer's speech, watch this, putting his face in his hands. there are a lot of people talking about it. let's take a listen to what senator manchin said about it after the speech. >> we have to deweaponize. we can't be blaming politics, none of us can, on both sides, and both sides have been very guilt of this. the frustration has built up. and i'm sure chuck frustration has built. >> so how do you read his initial reaction there burying his face in his hands, and do you agree with his position calling out senator schumer?

>> alex, first of all, it's good to be with you. recognize that we didn't get a single republican to vote to raise the debt ceiling even though the spending that cause us to need to raise the debt ceiling was as a result of republican policies on spending and on tax cuts for the wealthy. the debt we have to raise is caused because of the trump administration, and we didn't get a single republican to join us. they allowed us to vote on a short-term extension that we passed with only democratic votes. so this is outrageous that they will not allow us, the democrats to do the responsible thing. it's absolutely correct. we're going to make sure we don't default on our debt, and we're not going to be using budget reconciliation because that process is likely to lead to failure, so we're not going to do that. we'll figure out a way to get this done. we're going to make sure that we don't default on our debt, but i tell you, there is a lot of frustration. frustration that mitch mcconnell will not allow us to do what is

responsible for this country. we're not asking him for his votes. he should vote for it. absolutely, they should, but don't stop us from protecting us. >> but how is that going to happen if you're not able to get any republican votes? you may have to use reconciliation. >> i'm confident that the democrats will be united to make sure we do not default on our debt. i would certainly hope that we'll have republicans who understand that we shouldn't be playing this type of politics on raising the debt ceiling for covering the spending and tax cuts during the trump years. that's just outrageous. so we'll figure out a way. there's different courses that we can take. we're not going to allow a default on our debt. i would hope we have republicans that will join us in this. >> where do all the negotiations stand on the reconciliation package? how are senate democrats working

to find some sort of a price tag that the majority can live with? >> well, there's been really constructive discussions that have taken place, and i know there will be -- they're continuing. we'll agree on a top line number and more importantly, we'll agree on what initiatives need to be included in that to protect american families, to protect our environment, to provide help for health care so everyone has access to health care. we're going to make sure that that's included in the budget reconciliation proposal, and i'm confident that we'll come together and do that along with passing the infrastructure package, both need to get done. >> so do you have a specific number that you're comfortable with? i mean, from -- there's as low as 1.5, i think maybe the top number of generally accepted has been like 2.2. >> alex, let me make it clear, i'm comfortable with 3.5. we're going to pay for it. we're not going to add to the deficit. it needs to be responsibly offset by savings and by raising

revenue from those who have -- from our millionaires and billionaires. we can get enough and collect our revenues today that we're not collecting. i'm confident that we can get the offset so we're not going to be adding to the debt of our nation. in fact, i think it will allow us to grow out a stronger economy, more employment, and deal with a stronger economy. so i would like to see it as robust as possible, but i recognize that we need to get consensus and have unity among democrats so we need a compromise. that's part of the process, i'm prepared to do that. >> and senator, the ways that you want to get the money, the way you've just articulated you put that together, that i just want to confirm would allow zero -- add zero to the debt? >> that is our game plan. our game plan is to have true offsets, much stronger than you saw in the bipartisan infrastructure package. we do believe that it is our responsibility to make sure we offset for these programs.

>> so senator, everyone's watching this all play out, watching the negotiations take place. look at the tensions. they are front and center heating up between your colleagues bernie sanders and joe manchin. you know, what kind of obstacle does that present ultimately to getting everybody on the same page? >> well, you know we have spirited differences among the democrats. that's healthy. we have a broad tent, we talk about that often that we have different views within our party. i think it's healthy. i think at the end of the day when we come together, we come together with policies that have a much better chance of not only passing but lasting the test of time, being able to get more predictability on the programs including our spending and tax programs. so, look, i understand that bernie sanders has a different view than joe manchin and our caucus, and there are many members who have different views, but we'll come together, and that's a healthy process.

i think joe manchin understands and is committed to coming together as is bernie sanders, as is every democrat in the senate. it means we'll be disappointed by some things that are included or not included. we recognize that, but at the end of the day, we're moving our nation forward, we're helping families deal with paid family and medical leave, to deal with affordable child care, deal with affordable higher education, pre-k, affordable housing, dealing with our environment. these are key issues that all democrats, all 50 in the senate and all in the house agree that we have to get done. >> let me ask you the video, which i'm assuming you have seen, of your democratic colleague, kyrsten sinema being followed into a bathroom by protesters. i want to play for you president biden's reaction to this a bit earlier this week. take a listen to this, sir. >> i don't think they're appropriate tactics, but it happens to everybody from the -- the only people it doesn't happen to are people who have secret service standing around

them. so it's part of the process. >> is that a fair assessment of what part of the process is now? i mean, where do you draw the line? >> no, i disagree with that. this should not be part of the process. that type of interference in privacy should have no place in our community. i've been in public life a long time, and i must tell you i'm proud of marylanders. they respect the limits of when it's appropriate to try to engage and express their views. you don't invade a person's privacy in the way that was done. so i just think that was wrong and it should have no place in american politics. >> let me ask you, sir, about china. president xi jinping vowing to -- peaceful -- this calls after reiterating calls to cut off military ties with taiwan, partly in response to reports u.s. troops have been stationed in taiwan over a year helping to

strengthen taiwan's defenses against any potential chinese aggression. what do you know about this situation and how does it complicate relations between the u.s. and china? >> well, first of all, we should not trust the leaders of china in what they say they're going to do. we have seen already their militant actions in the china sea. we have to protect not only taiwan's ability and security, but also the free commerce in the china seas against chinese aggression. so we have a treaty responsibility with taiwan, and it's in our national security interests to make sure we protect their security. so we're going to continue to do what we need to to make it clear to the chinese that taiwan is off limits, that we're going to protect their integrity, so i am -- must tell you, the best way to make sure china does not

use its military against taiwan is for america's presence to be there on behalf of taiwan. >> in other words, sound like actions speak louder than words from china. okay, sir, senator ben cardin, it's always good to see you. thank you so much for spending part of your saturday with me. appreciate it. so under pressure up next, florida school districts losing the governor's war against mask mandates and feeling the heat during raucous school board meetings. some of them are outrageous. no. nope. no way. but then helen went from no to know with freestyle libre 14 day, now she knows what activity helps lower her glucose. and can see what works best for her. take the mystery out of your glucose levels, and lower your a1c. now you know. freestyle libre 14 day. now covered by medicare for those who qualify.

jts. while cases have increased across all ages, health officials say kids have been testing positive more often than adults. that is due to the highly contagious delta variant, relaxed restrictions and kids under 12 can't be vaccinated. pfizer applied for authorization

of its vaccine of children ages 5 to 11. more than 20 million kids could be eligible to receive the shots in just weeks. students can stop wearing masks in hillsborough county in florida after the district determined students don't need a medical exemption to opt out. parents are now allowed to fill out a form if they don't want their kids wearing a mask in school. let's go right now to nbc's stephanie stanton in tampa where that school district is located. welcome, what's the response been to this new mask policy? >> reporter: well, alex, the response is still mixed here. up until very recently cases were still skyrocketing here in the sunshine state, but it's interesting, it's been an interesting week here in florida for several school boards because the state school board held its meeting on thursday, and during that meeting it announced sanctions against eight local school districts here around the state, among them miami-dade and orange county, which is in the orlando

area for not complying with the governor's anti-mask mandate. now, that means that those districts will be facing fines equivalent to board members' salaries and they were given 48 hours to come into compliance or face those fines. here in hillsborough county, this is one of the counties that was not sanctioned because just last week a few days ago, in fact, they relaxed their mask mandates here, and so they sort of got out of that sanctioning, if you will, but you may recall early on when school started, hillsborough was one of a handful of districts across the state that defied the governor by instituting mask manmandates and school officials say they have no choice because at that point cases were so out of control that they felt it was best to do that to protect their students. now, in nearby pasco county here in the tampa area, the positivity case rate still roughly about 10%, and that school board held a meeting this past week as well, and things got pretty heated by parents on both sides of the issue. take a listen.

>> hudson high has 141 positive cases. that is 10% of the school testing positive for covid in only 18 school days. >> now that we're allowing choices, choose to wear a mask or not wear a mask. >> the people that aren't for masks are -- you know, don't care about anybody, this, that, the other. it is not my job, it's not my wife's job, it's not your job to worry about what everybody else does. >> reporter: and as you can see by those clips, parents still very divided here in the state of florida, and pasco county, by the way, was one of those school districts are where masks have been optional this entire time. now, there is a bit of good news in all of this, alex, because for the first time since july, cases are starting to drop, and here in florida, we're seeing roughly less than 4,000 cases per day statewide, and in fact, i just checked the latest numbers for the previous week, and we are seeing roughly just

over 25,000 cases here statewide in florida, but that is way down from the 150,000 we were seeing on a weekly basis at the height of the pandemic. >> 100%, listen, there can be a difference of opinion -- >> there's a difference of opinion, but at least there was civility this expressing it in the video that she brought to us. that is a relief and a step in the right direction. thank you for that. so it would be a tricky game if it weren't so serious, but if you looked at it as a game, is it political chess or checkers. mike pence and nikki haley they're playing when it comes to donald trump. what they both said this week, and why it can't get much more twisted, at least in one way. we'll explain. plain. ♪ there are beautiful ideas that remain in the dark. but with our new multi-cloud experience,

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there are new details about the extraordinary lengths donald trump went to overturn the 2020 election, a senate report details the, quote, relentless pressure campaigned by the former president in the days leading up to january 6th including near daily outreach to doj officials and a bomb shell meeting where trump threatened to replace the attorney general with a loyalist to investigate his baseless election fraud claims. joining me now, zerlina maxwell, director of progressive programming at sirius xm and host of the show "zerlina" and kurt bardella, democratic committee campaign adviser.

welcome to you both. let's get into this. this report goes on to say in that meeting top doj officials warned of mass resignation if trump were to replace the a.g. with loyalists, including pat cipollone who called that plan a murder suicide pact. what's your reaction, kurt, to all this? >> i mean, i think it just confirms what many of us have known, which was the extraordinary lengths to which donald trump was willing to go to to tank our entire democratic process, that we were on just the edge of the cliff, falling over that cliff of ending the very fabric of what makes our country great. and it needs to be really a wake-up call. like, we've got to stop giving republicans a pass here. this is the most threatening thing to happen to our democracy since the founding of our country, and the fact that to this day, republicans are in

denial. republicans are pretending it didn't happen, republicans are making up an alternative version of history to give donald trump a pass. the fact that donald trump is still the leader of the republican party, it makes it cemented that the republican party is an antidemocratic force in america, that is what their entire platform is, their entire portfolio for the coming elections is that the election was rigd and stolen advancing the big lie that led to january 6th. this is an unthinkable event, but the reality is the true enemy of our country right now is from within, and it is a grave threat that gets graver and graver every day. >> you know, zerlina, that whole pass thing, you know republicans are saying, okay, he tried to do it, but he wasn't successful so that means he didn't do it, and that's why they give him a pass. that's their logic. what do you think of that? >> it's ridiculous, alex. and you know, it makes my neurons sputter out when i think about it because when you think about all of the new information

that we're learning about what donald trump did before, we still don't know what he did during, and then after the insurrection, it's clear that there was a full scale attempt by this president, a multifaceted attempt to subvert democracy. i think even saying he was trying to overturn the elections sounds like some sort of procedure, and it sounds formal. this was basically a coup attempt by the president to stay in power when the voter did not want him in the white house. that's what happened here, and republicans are going along with that. >> you know what nick just said in my ear and i almost started laughing, he said it's like a bank robber going into a bank with a gun and not coming out with any money. okay, it didn't happen. i mean, right, i understand why your neurons are spinning on that one. okay, as we look now to january 6th specifically, the attack on the capitol, we saw nikki haley speak out against trump in the days after the riot, right? but there's a new wall street journal headline that says nikki

haley is embracing trump in her vision of gop future calling trump a friend and saying she would consult with him before embarking on a white house bid but disagrees with him when it comes to the outcome of the 2020 election. how much of a fine line is nikki haley trying to walk, and can that work for her? >> no, it's not going to work because one of the other things she said this week is we're in a class of civilizations, and i want to be clear about what the republican party is doing right now. the demographics in this country are sthifting. that's why georgia went blue, that's why arizona went whether you. republicans are freaking out because their base of voters are not multiracial. their base of voters are white older people who don't want to see changes in this country. and to be clear, those white older people were alive in points in american history when i didn't have as many rights and you didn't have as many rights and kurt didn't have as my rights. they want to keep the power in

their hands. the country is changing, they're afraid. nikki haley, she wants to put a softer, kinder spin on this same racism that donald trump espoused for over four years in the white house and throughout the campaign, and i think that voters would be -- they're going to fall for the okey-doke here i suppose, that's what she wants but i do not think it's going to work. >> let's take a listen to what mike pence said this week about the january 6th riots when he was appearing on fox. >> i know the media wants to distract from the biden administration's failed agenda by focusing on one day in january. they want to use that one day to try and demean the character and intentions of 74 million americans who believed we could be strong again and prosperous again and supported our administration in 2016 and 2020, but for our part, i truly believe we all ought to remain completely focused on the future. that's where i'm focused.

>> interesting this coming from mike pence, and "the washington post" wrote about this moment saying you'd think it would still loom large for pence that rioters chanted hang mike pence after trump inspired them to go terrorize him, but precisely because it was pence's most courageous moment when he finally stood up to trump, he must beg for it to be ignored. indeed, trump still tells audiences pence lacked the courage to participate in trump's coup, compounding the humiliation. what's your reaction to this, kurt? i mean, is pence trying to court any and all republicans ahead of any potential 2024 run? i mean, is there any investigation that those who called for mike pence's hanging are willing to just forget it and move forward? >> they won't because donald trump won't let them, but i think that we've seen two cents then, and this came partly from the costa, woodward book that mike pence wasn't as altruistic as some of us would have liked to believe. he was calling around, even

going to dan quayle looking for an excuse to give donald trump what he wanted. and for anybody out there who has been saying for the last four years -- and i've heard this a number of times -- well, the craziness, it's just trump. it's all trump. that's a different animal than the rest of the republican party. listen to nikki haley, listen to mike pence, listen to ron desantis, listen to marco rubio and josh hawley. this has affected the entire republican party. it is not just about one man, one deranged, crazy lunatic man. this is about the entire party that has gotten willfully and, you know, on board with this entire platform of derailing democracy and trying to whitewash what happened on january 6th. all of this at the heart of it is driven by the reality in this country that by 2035 we will be a majority minority country in america. that the number of non-white people will out number the number of white people, and that has them terrified.

when you hear republicans talk about liberty, freedom, democracy, what they are saying is they want those things only for white people, not for everybody else. >> we'll have you back to do it again, thank you so much zerlina and kurt, for all of you who want to catch zerlina weeknights, do it at 6:00 p.m. eastern on peacock. >> else... i appreciate that liberty mutual knows everyone's unique. that's why they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. [ nautical horn blows ] i mean just because you look like someone else doesn't mean you eat off the floor, or yell at the vacuum, or need flea medication. oh, yeah. that's the spot. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty ♪ my dvt blood clot left me with questions... was another around the corner?

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. a new growing number of advocates and lawmakers this week are calling on the senate to reform the filibuster and this comes as the senate judiciary just days ago renewed a battle over the john lewis voting right bills. let's bring in ben jealous, former president and ceo of the naacp, hello my friend, good to see you.

this was a big week for you. you were arrested during a protest for voting rights outside the white house. first of all, ben, why was it important for you to be there? did you accomplish what you set out to do, and tell me what happened when you were arrested. >> well, going to the last part first, the d.c. city jail really has to deal with the roach infestation. i can't tell you just how nasty it is down there. and a lot of working people getting tortured down there every day. we were there because there has been a year of protests at the capitol outside sinema's office, outside manchin's office, all creating consensus amongst every democrat that we've got to pass these two bills, the john lewis bill and the freedom to vote bill, and what's holding it back is the filibuster. if you look at the history of breaking through filibusters, gets carveouts, it always requires the president of the

united states to breakthrough that, to insist that his party deal with the rules obstacle, that's what trump did to stuff the supreme court with more far right wing conservatives and that's what joe biden needs to do in order to save our democracy. >> so looking specifically at the john lewis voting rights advancement act, it was introduced in the senate tuesday. the assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, kristen clark had this to say. this was said on wednesday before a senate panel. >> recently there's been a resurgence in attacks on voting rights including cuts to early voting periods, burdensome restrictions to register or vote, racially gerrymandered redistricting plans, polling sites eliminated or consolidated in communities of color, eligible voters purged from the rolls and more. i am here today to sound an alarm for the justice department

restoring and strengthening the voting rights act is a matter of great you are general is psy. >> that's a lot of things she ticked off there, none of which are good. does the john lewis voting rights act cover all of them? >> yes. now, the purpose of the john lewis bill is to quite frankly make it possible to stop these fires before they get lit, and the purpose of the freedom to vote act is you really stop the ones that are already in place. so together if one doesn't take care of it, then the other one does. >> okay. good, they work together. i know that, ben, you have called on president biden, really called him out kind of for not doing enough on this issue. you're urging him tell the senate to remove the filibuster as an obstacle, pass voting rights legislation after doing so. if you consider the political calculus, do you think the president's waiting for an opportune time to weigh in or do

you think he's just not prioritizing voting rights as highly as you'd like to see him do it? >> you know, jeez, i hope so. but you know, and they even -- the white house seemed to push out a rumor that he would in "rolling stone" magazine. i wouldn't cancel a rock concert for a rumor in rolling stone magazine. i certainly wouldn't cancel this movement. when the president had courage on voting rights it's because the movement pushed them to do it. there's a big difference between the president saying i agree and this is important and somebody leading the way joe biden has to fix our roads and bridges. and yet in a democracy as important as roads and bridges are, there's nothing more important than the democracy itself and that's why we're pushing so hard. he has to lead on both. >> okay, ben jealous, very good to sea you. often glad we weren't doing a face time with you at the d.c. jail, good grief.

you're awful glad about that too. thank you so much. a deep dive into what caused that southern california oil spill reveals a new disturbing discovery. discovery.

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with a personalized education from td ameritrade. visit tdameritrade.com/learn ♪ a very good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome, everyone, to alex witt reports. we begin this hour with new reaction to the reinstatement of the nation's strictest abortion law in texas. the law had been blocked for two days before a federal appeals court put it back into effect. the department of justice now has until tuesday to file a response, while a house bill to protect women's rights under roe versus wade appears headed for defeat in the senate with skepticism over a senate bill being drawn up by senator susan collins. >> this bill preserves what

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