good afternoon, i'm lindsay reiser in for yasmin vossoughian. we have a lot to cover for you today including breaking political news. the arizona democratic party taking action against one of their own. senator kyrsten sinema. fallout also from bombshell new reporting involving a draft executive order that would have had donald trump ordering the military to get involved in his effort to overturn the election. the january 6th committee is also turning its focus to a fake elector scheme and rudy giuliani. we're also keeping a close

eye on the ukraine border where some experts say an invasion is imminent. from a picture of a teacher taping a mask to a student to a mother's threat to bring guns to her school if kids are forced to wear masks. the debate over covid and schools boils over. plus, later this hour, the man whose case led to the legalization of gay marriage is announcing a major new chapter of his life as he takes on politics in ohio. he joins us live. we'll begin with the breaking news out of arizona. the state democratic party's executive board has voted to censure senator kyrsten sinema over her support of the filibuster. in a statement, the board characterized her protection of the filibuster as, quote, a failure to do whatever it takes to ensure the health of our democracy. senator sinema issued her own response to the vote telling nbc news via spokesperson that, quote, she has always been honest about the where she

stands. with me to discuss is nbc news senior political reporter sahel kapur. this is a rare rebuke from her party. the censure passed, according to your sources, by a unanimous vote. and then her statement. it says she has always promised arizona she would be an independent voice for the state, not for either political party. so does this censure hold weight, or does she almost wear this as a badge of honor like she's a maverick who bucks her own party a la the late john mccain? >> she certainly sees herself as another john mccain, and i have to tell you that compares a serious flaw which is that john mccain never had a falling out with the arizona republican party the way sinema now has with her democratic party. that was the secret to his success, why he was so untouchable, so unbeatable in arizona over 30 years. he had the strong support of the arizona republican party and a unique appeal to independents. now this censure vote which i am told by two sources in the meeting was unanimous is extraordinary and rare.

it's a statement of intent from the party that it does not have confidence in senator sinema going forward. and i'm told this goes back about a year ago when the beginning of the biden administration, when sinema came out strongly in favor of the filibuster. she voted against the minimum wage in a very public thumbs down on the senate floor that wrangled activists. she forced democrats to rein in pieces of president biden's "build back better" package including tax hikes on upper earners and corporations, as well as some prescription drug saving reforms. and this was simply the last straw that the aez democratic party no longer believes it can support her. again, a rare, extraordinary move by the state party. >> and you know, there have already been rumblings about her primary challenge, and particularly representative ruben gallego who will join us, that he may challenge her come 2024. how does all of this complicate her political future considering that win over martha mcsally wasn't necessarily by enormous

margins? >> well, for the simple reason that she is up for re-election in 2024. at least her seat comes before voters. and in order to even compete in the general election, she needs to win the endorsement of arizona democrats, you know, to even make it to the general election. last time around in 2018 she had strong support from arizona democrats. they did see her as a moderate. they didn't expect her to be another elizabeth warren, but many activists, you know, according to the state party vice chair i spoke to, feel betrayed and are shocked at the way senator sinema has operated in the senate. they talk about how they -- knocked on doors in 100-degree weather in august of 2018 and hoped that she would be with them on big priorities. on many of them she has been. the state democratic party, remember, did praise her for her support in passing president biden's american rescue plan, for her work on the bipartisan infrastructure law. but they said the issue of voting rights was essential to the health of democracy, and they drew a line there.

they said her vote to preserve the 60-vote threshold which effectively dooms the freedom to vote act and the john lewis voting rights advancement act is not acceptable to them. sinema still has at least according to some polls last year a real appeal to independents. but none of that's going to matter if she can't secure her own party's nomination for re-election in 2024 if she chooses to run again. lindsay? >> all right. original reporting there from sources. thank you so much for breaking that down for us. at 4:00 p.m. congressman ruben gallego weighs in on the censure and also whether he plans to challenge sinema directly. now to that bombshell new development in the january 6 committee's investigation after they got hold of more than 700 pages of documents that the former president tried to keep secret, including visitor logs, handwritten notes, speech drafts. perhaps the most shocking among these new documents, an unsigned draft of an executive order obtained by "politico" from the national archives that would

have allowed then-president trump to authorize the defense secretary to send national guard troops to seize voting machines around the country in the weeks following the 2020 election. "politico" also reports, quote, the draft order would have given the defense secretary 60 days to write an assessment of the 2020 election. that's suggests it could have been a gambit to keep trump in power until at least mid-february of 2021. joining me now is joyce vance former u.s. attorney and legal analyst. joyce, let's break down the legality of an unsigned executive order. can a draft like this where it's still unclear if the president even saw it be used as evidence, or does the fact that trump never signed it make it impossible to tie it to him? >> well, it's absolutely evidence, lindsay. the question is what is it evidence of. first, there's this sort of threshold issue, is it evidence of political misconduct, or is

it evidence that contributes to a criminal prosecution? that answer is a ways down the road yet. there are a lot of questions, though, that will need to be answered before even the political question can be diagnosed. and you identified the central one -- who was involved with this draft, who wrote it, who asked that it be written, who looked at it, who commented on it, who thought it was a good idea? where did this end up? was it actively discussed? we know president trump never put it into action. why did that happen? did he reject it? did others tell him it was illegal because this is a blatantly unconstitutional measure just for starters -- content of interference by the military in an election would be an absolute non-starter if this were ever challenged in the courts. so lots of questions tied up in this memo, and lot of appearance of improprietor to move this investigation forward. >> how integral would it be in showing that the trump administration wanted to use the

military to overturn the election? you say it can be used as evidence. how integral would something like this be? >> again, it turns on the facts. something that we know is that trump had been lining up some of his supporters in the department of defense even after he lost the election. that was a move that had caused a lot of folks to raise questions. . and in fact, all of the living former secretaries of defense jointly wrote a piece in "the washington post" condemning the use of the military in any connection with an election pointing out we have a civilian-led military in this country and the military doesn't intervene in any sort of election-related disputes. there are also laws like the act that make it illegal for the military to engage on u.s. soil. so there would have been all these sorts of issues to suss out. it is deeply troubling that the former president's allies, maybe the former president, we don't really know, believed that they

had this level of experienced control at the department of defense that could have assisted them in this period of time when it had become clear that trump had lost the election, that this notion of the big lie, of fraud committed during the election by democrats, was absolutely false, was being rejected by every court that considered it, and that trump was looking for other avenues to secure victory. >> and we know that the january 6 committee is calling on ivanka trump to voluntarily testify. a statement from her spokesperson does not address whether she'll cooperate, just says she never spoke at the jan 6 rally. of course the committee is mainly seeking her testimony, what her father was doing as the attack unfolded. but if she doesn't comply, do you see a subpoena in the future? >> the committee hasn't been playing for so far. you know, they have only made a request for voluntary compliance when they've appeared to be willing to back it up with a subpoena if there's a failure to

voluntarily cooperate. i suspect that there's a subpoena in ivanka trump's future. interesting questions here involving enforcement because she was working in the white house as one of her further's advisers. but we've just seen this move from the supreme court in connection with the release of trump documents where they've rejected the notion of privilege causing some form of protection. so the odds look pretty good here for a subpoena. >> all right. joyce vance, good to see you. thank you so much. you're going to stick around for a discussion coming up on rudy giuliani's role in what appears to be a highly coordinated effort to subvert the 2020 election results with false electors. we'll see you in a few. another top story this afternoon -- vladimir putin still sending signals that a russian invasion of ukraine is a very real possibility despite u.s. attempts to stop it. the first shipment of u.s. military assistance directed by president biden arrived in kiev this morning, and the president has pledged more. the u.s. and its allies are promising swift and severe

reaction should the russian troops that are amassed right here where you see along the ukrainian border cross into the country. the latest from matt bradley in london. matt, any progress now being made toward a diplomatic solution? >> reporter: not that we know. those negotiations went right up until yesterday and apparently are going to be spilling into next week. even as the diplomacy kind of reaches something like an impasse, both sides are still arming themselves to the teeth and bolstering their borders. today u.s. help is on the way as the first shipments of 200,000 pounds of lethal american military aid arrived in ukraine overnight. backing up a country bracing for war. near ukraine's border with russia, the tension is palpable. >> like on the edge of something very terrible and scary.

>> if someone tries to take our freedom again, we will fight back. >> reporter: just over the border, more than 100,000 russian troops are practicing, ready to invade ukraine. this weekend, president joe biden huddling with security advisers at camp david after top russian and american diplomats met in geneva friday, scrambling to stop a war. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken held hasty negotiations with his russian counterpart -- >> if russia wants to begin to convince the world that it has no aggressive intent toward ukraine, a very good place to start would be by deescalating. >> reporter: foreign minister lavrov pressing russia's core demand -- that ukraine never be allowed to join nato, the military alliance meant to defend against russian expansion. the russians say europe and the u.s. are the aggressors. "our concerns are not about imaginary but real threats and facts that nobody's really hiding, stuffing ukraine with

weapons, sending hundreds of western military instructors," he said. both sides agreed to keep talking even as military equipment keeps flowing in. russia sending fighter jets to belarus near ukraine's capital kiev. a rivalry reminiscent of the cold war that could soon turn very hot. so yeah, you mentioned just a moment ago about the consequences that the u.s. has laid out if russia were to invade. but the problem is, you know, the white house is really in a bind because they're trying to keep russia at bay while at the same time managing expectations for the ukrainians and for other european countries. the white house has already tied their hands when they announced that they would not be putting u.s. boots on the ground to defend ukraine. lindsay? >> all right, matt bradley, thank you so much. still ahead, outrage over this photo of a teacher taping a mask to a student at a philadelphia suburb.

just the latest image fueling the mask mandate debate in schools across the country. first, protecting floridians from white guilt. how republicans are spinning legislation that would ban any teachings that make white people people to discomfort. >> no taxpayer dollars should be used to teach our kids to hate our country or to hate each other. [ applause ] y or to hate each other. [ applause ] if you're washing with the bargain brand, even when your clothes look clean, there's extra dirt you can't see. watch this. that was in these clothes... ugh. but the clothes washed in tide- so much cleaner. if it's got to be clean it's got to be tide hygienic clean. here we go... remember, mom's a kayak denier, so please don't bring it up. bring what up, kayak?

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today the new york police department is mourning the loss of a young officer who was killed. another officer is critically wounded. the officers were responding to a domestic violence call in harlem last night when a gunman opened fire. 22-year-old officer jason rivera was killed. 27-year-old officer willbert mora is in critical condition. the gunman is also in critical condition. so far five nypd officers have been shot in the line of duty this month. president biden tweeting a short time ago saying in part, "officers put on the badge and head into harm's way every day. we're grateful to them and their families for their extraordinary sacrifice." florida governor ron desantis is promoting a new controversial bill in his state. the measure is known as individual freedom. its goal is to stop schools and private businesses from making white people feel discomfort when they teach students or

train employees about discrimination. >> you think about what mlk stood for, he said he didn't want people judged on the color of their skin but on the content of their character. you listen to some of these people nowadays, they don't talk about that. [ applause ] >> stephanie stanton is in tampa, florida. democrats are equating this to censorship. >> reporter: yeah, good afternoon to you, lindsay. you know, this bill still has to work its way through the legislature. but essentially governor ron desantis doubling down on banning critical race theory in florida schools. now this new bill, it is called individual freedom. i did obtain a copy of it. it is 18 pages long. it outlines the constituent's guidelines when teach -- state's guidelines when teach being race in schools. there is one small section that has caught the attention of opponents and activists. let me read that to you. it states, quote, that an individual shouldn't be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish,

or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin. opponents of critical race theory say that it is divisive, that it could cause white children to view themselves as oppressors and black children to view themselves as being oppressed. and reaction to this bill, as you might imagine, pretty much falling on party lines. earlier this morning, democratic congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz here in florida issued some reaction to the bill. she essentially called it a nightmare. >> the language in the legislation is bad enough, but where does it stop? do we stop teaching about the horrors of the holocaust which is actually required in florida law because it might make someone feel guilty about their national origin? are we just going try to whitewash everything and not make people feel uncomfortable? how do we learn? how do we mac sure that we raise generations of children into

adults who make sure they don't repeat the mistakes and horrors of the past? >> reporter: and obviously those on the republican side feel very different about this bill. we did try to get some idea about what ordinary citizens here in the tampa area feel about not only the bill but critical race theory in general, and here's what they had to say -- >> i really think that it's important to just teach kids the facts about what happened in history and not go too much into opinions or having teachers influence kids in one way or another about things. >> i don't know much about it, but i don't think the governor should be dictating what goes on in schools. >> i don't think anyone should feel pitted against each other, especially children. but i think that everyone needs to know the history. even culturally and how to

prevent repeating that history. >> reporter: and legislation banning critical race theory in schools is really nothing new. it is either in the works or has been passed in at least 32 states including here in florida. lindsay? >> all right, stephanie stanton, thank you. still to come, a coordinated effort and not a coincidence. the january 6 committee focuses in on the fake elector scheme and its accused ringleader. hey, everyone, ahead on "american voices," a new year, new efforts to pass the president's key priorities. the fate of his agenda in 2022 ahead. plus, from the family business to january 6th, new reporting on the legal troubles facing trump world. you're going to meet a strategist in texas going to extreme lengths to get out the vote. that and much more ahead, 6:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc. 6:00 p.m. eastern only on msnbc.

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welcome back. now reports show the january 6 committee is focusing on trump campaign officials led by rudy giuliani, and the potential involve investment a scheme to put forward illegitimate electors from seven states that donald trump lost in 2020. you might remember in the key swing state you're looking at now, pro-trump electors submitted fake documents awarding their state's electoral votes to trump despite biden's legitimate victory. well, "the washington post" reports that this attempt to overthrow the election was part of a highly coordinated scheme. they also report who was at the center of it. the "post" says, quote, the trump electors gathered in plain sight, assisted by campaign officials and trump attorney rudolph w. giuliani, who said publicly that the rival slates were necessary and appropriate. internally, giuliani oversaw the effort. back with me now is joyce vance,

former u.s. attorney and msnbc legal analyst. before we get into this, i want to get your reaction to an exchange between my colleague ari melber and boris epstein last night. >> the did you ever make calls like that regarding what you're calling these alternate electors? >> i was quoting "the washington post" the last 24 hours, yes, i was part of the process to make sure there were alternate electors for when as we hoped the challenges to the seated electors would be heard and would be successful, part of the constitution and the electoral count act. >> he's essentially admitting to the plan but saying it's legal. what's your take? >> you know, i was watching that as it happened. as a lawyer, you can't help but have a moment where you cringe and wonder why someone like this who's under the microscope is exposing themselves in such a public way, making a recorded statement, acknowledging conduct that they participated in that could very likely be used against them down the road.

but the prosecutor part of me looks at something like that and is delighted to have that confession as it were made on tape. it could ultimately come back to be very important. but i think epstein who, by the way, is a lawyer himself, has not really gone to any effort to hide his involvement in this plan and instead has tried to justify it and legitimize it. >> what's the significance of giuliani's reported involvement in a coordinated fake elector scheme? and the legal implications for the others involved? >> you know, again, like our earlier conversation, this scheme has two components at least. and one is political, and one is whether or not potentially this conduct crossed the line and at some point became criminal, perhaps a criminal conspiracy to interfere with government. the evidence that we're seeing emerge in public is an absolutely fascinating trail, it paints a very clear picture of

an effort to fail completely, to respect the outcome of the 2020 election, and a dedicated campaign to look for any possible path forward to try to interfere with the smooth transfer of power. so i think we're seeing in real time a collection of evidence that will become the story that the january 6th committee will present to the nation in a very compelling fashion when it puts on witness testimony and other evidence as it has promised to do later this year. and again, as you look at this evidence as it comes together, it's difficult to not question whether there was a criminal conspiracy, whether there was an agreement to try to defeat this established government process of turning over power to the winner of an election, and if so who was involved and what sort of consequences they might ultimately face. >> so is this up to also state attorneys general? we know michigan attorney general dana nesal has referred

her state's case to federal prosecutors. do you think other states will follow suit? >> the reason it makes sense for federal prosecutors to look at this conduct at least in the first instance is because the conduct spans state lines, and it's very difficult for a state attorney general, for instance, to use subpoenas or to find charges that fit the conduct that occurs outside of their state. it's not impossible. it's just unwieldy. the federal government in strong opposition to that has the ability to bring in u.s. attorneys' office was across the country, to use grand juries, to use subpoenas, to get testimony from witnesses, and in a case like this where the conduct appears to span at least seven states, to get a much more clear picture of what was going on, and it's important when you run these investigations to investigate once there's the appearance of criminality because it's important to find out if it, in fact, was criminal conduct and if so prosecuted. it can be equally important to determine that crimes did not

take place. >> all right, joyce vance, thank you so much for joining us on multiple fronts today. we appreciate it. and in new york, another dramatic investigation could be closing in on donald trump. this week new york attorney general leticia james submitted an exhaustive 157-page filing offering new insights into the evidence her investigators have found on the former president and his children, as well as what they may still be searching for. with me to discuss is nbc's anna schechter. what else in your reporting have you uncovered? >> well, the new york attorney general now is trying to force donald trump, you ivanka, and don to comply with the subpoena, provide documents, and sit for testimony. she's interviewed eric trump and other trump employees, and she's made a play to try to force those to comply. they've filed motions to avoid that subpoena. but as you get into the

document, page after page of details going property by property around the world alleging massive overvaluation to the tune of tens of millions of dollars, surprising details, for example the trump tower that you see on screen there, trump's own apartment valued based on 30,000 square feet when it actuality his apartment is 11,000 square feet, and this is all in order to obtain bigger loans from banks, to obtain favorable deals with insurers and the irs. >> when leticia james ran for office in 2018 she campaigned in part on a pledge to hold trump and his organization accountable. but in a new lawsuit, trump's lawyers have characterized her investigation as discrimination motivated by political animus. do your sources say whether that characterization could hold any weight with judges? >> they say it could, and that is in part why she laid out

these details. normally you wouldn't show your hand at this point in an investigation giving out all these details. but she wanted to show that, in fact, this is an evidence-based investigation as opposed to a politically motivated one, and that is in part why she likely included all of these details which have in essence a progress report of the state of this two-year investigation. >> all right. anna schechter, up this for joining us. coming up at 4:00, a deep dive into some of the specific potential crimes contained in this filing. plus, david kay johnston, tax expert and author, joins us for perspective on how trump's children may respond when it comes down to saving their dad or themselves. coming up, mask madness still. nearly two years into this pandemic, why face coverings in schools continue to divide americans. in schools continue to divide americans.

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it's for people 45 plus at average risk for colon cancer, not high risk. false positive and negative results may occur. ask your provider if cologuard is right for you. we're in. welcome back. more than two years into this pandemic and after nearly 870,000 american deaths, masks are still causing controversy in schools across the country. as we found out this week in two

high-profile stories, perhaps now more than ever. here's nbc's vaughn hilliard. >> reporter: this photo of a teacher taping a mask to a student's face the latest incident in the heated debate over mask mandates. we don't know what happened in the minutes before or after that image was taken. the photo circulated on social media in the philadelphia suburb. the school board now responding. >> first and foremost, i would like to extend an apology on behalf of the district and the board of school directors to the stun student who was involved and to his family. >> reporter: the mother of the student issuing a statement addressing the growing controversy. it was read by the district's attorney at the local school board meeting. >> this situation has taken on a life of its own. how this has evolved is exactly what i wanted to avoid. >> reporter: the heated debate isn't just happening in pennsylvania. during a public comment period at a virginia school board meeting, comments from one parent put school administrators and police on high alert. >> my children will not come to school on monday with a mask on.

all right. that's not happening. and i will bring every single gun loaded and ready to -- i will call every -- >> that's three minutes -- >> reporter: the police say the mother has since apologized and that the incident remains under investigation. the school district responding to the incident with a statement, "violence and threats are never acceptable or appropriate." earlier this week, governor duncan signed an order saying parents are allowed to choose whether their kids wear masks in school. >> as we battle covid, it's parents that should decide the health measures taken for their children. >> reporter: but already some counties bucking the governor. loudoun county school board voting to keep its mask mandate in place per cdc guidelines. >> i want my kids to continue to go to school. they've been masked all year, and they've been able to stay in school, knock on wood. both of them have been happy to be back. they've been able to learn. >> reporter: in missouri, the state attorney general, eric

schmidt, filing dozens of lawsuits against school districts across the state to stop mask mandates, tweeting, "the calvary is coming #nomaskmandates." >> that was vaughan hilliard reporting. right now want to bring in dr. ujay blackstock into the conversation. good to see you. thanks very much for joining us. let's start with vaughn's reporting there. and give us a fact check. how effective and crucial are masks at stopping the spread of covid? and is there a reason behind keeping kids in masks at school? >> thank you so much for having me. i think it's so important for the public to know that masks are a crucial part of a multilayered strategy that keeps kids safe in schools. masks save lives. and i think even more so recently because we know omicron is so much more contagious than the previous variants people need to understand that covid is airborne. so wearing a high-quality,

well-fitted mask is crucial to preventing the spread of coronavirus. and so i think it's unfortunate that masks have been so politicized and entering year three of the pandemic, people still have doubts about the efficacy of masks. we have a lot of data that shows that even in schools where there are mask policies mandating that students wear masks or are less likely to have outbreaks, children are less likely to be hospitalized. we know that even in communities where mask policies are in effect that they lead to a reduction in cases and in deaths within weeks. so i think it's important for the public to understand that masks may not be perfect, but they are part of this multilayer strategy that's important for containing the virus. >> you heard that woman threatening to bring guns to her school if kids have to wear a mask. are you surprised at the level of anger right now, that emotions are still so raw? >> well, yeah. i think it's part of the culture

that we're seeing in various aspects of american culture. critical race theory, you know, voting rights. and also with masking, i think that unfortunately at the very beginning of the pandemic, masks just like even the virus itself has been so highly politicized. and it's still having conversations about it, especially in schools can be incredibly polarizing. i think it's unfortunate in places like virginia, you actually have a governor saying that students don't need to wear masks in schools or teachers don't need to wear masks in schools when we know that we have copious amounts of evidence that masks are critical and crucial to making schools safer and to keeping kids in school learning. we, of course, want to minimize those learning disruptions, but we can't do it if schools are unsafe. >> doctor, we talked about masks. let's talk about mandates because the federal judge in texas has struck down president biden's vaccine requirement for federal workers and contractors. so without these mandates, how can the president push vaccine

numbers up? >> right. this is so unfortunate. it feels like we're moving several steps backwards because these mandates, we know that they work. we know the business mandate that would have gone into effect would have vaccinated almost 80 million people. so i think it's going to be up to the white house working with state localities and businesses and pushing vaccine mandates in that way. i think also it's important for the biden administration and the cdc to develop some federal guidance around workplace safety, and part of that is really recommending that employers make sure that their workers are vaccinated. we know that that will lead to thousands if not tens of thousands of lives saved. >> doctor, let's end on where we are now with this omicron surge. some cases that first saw the spike, they're seeing a drop in cases now. others out west, down south, they're still surging. what's your expectation for the rest of the country in the coming weeks? >> right. i think we're still a good four

to five weeks into this surge. i think maybe we are seeing a decrease because those initial hot spots, those cities especially on the east coast are seeing a decline in cases. but we also have other parts of the country that are still having an increase in cases. we know that hospitalizations across the country are still quite high, and our health care systems are maxed out. so i do want to exercise caution to the public over the next few weeks that transmission rates are still quite high. and so everyone should really be practicing those mitigation measures that we know work so well. so definitely wear those masks, especially indoor, public places at schools. >> okay, thank you so much. >> thank you. a trailblazer for marriage equality now has a new cause and hopes to take it to the ohio state house. jim obergefell with more on his campaign and visions for helping those hurting economically in the buckeye state. e hurting eco

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welcome back. let's turn to ohio where jim obergefell announced a run for the state house this week. if the name sounds familiar to you, it's because he was the so you it's because he was the lead plaintiff in the supreme court case that ushered in marriage equality in this country. let's listen to obergefell during msnbc's coverage moments after that decision came down on june 26th, 2015. >> i'm overwhelmed, excited, happy, thinking of my husband. i never expected this day to come. john and i never thought we would get married. and to end up here in this place and having accomplished what we've managed to do, it shows you that you can do anything and find the person you love, be true to yourself, and fight for yourself. that's really what it comes down to. >> joining me right now, jim

obergefell, who, if elected would be just the second lgbt person to serve in the state legislature there. jim, good to have you on with us. let's start with your run for the state house. in your announcement you talked about how your family and friends really struggled to find economic opportunities in your hometown of sandusky, ohio. what policies would you push to address this? >> again, lindsey, thank you for inviting me on today. i remember growing up when my dad lost his job at the scott paper company, when it closed. i remember how my family struggled. i remember my parents feared for our family. and i remember eating that so-called government cheese. that has continued to happen. family and friends, my neighbors in this district, they have left this district because of opportunities. for me, one of the most important things to concentrate on, to focus on, is bringing

jobs, well paying jobs and opportunities, to the district. because when someone has a well-paying job, they are not worried about putting food on the table. they are not worried about paying their rent. and they are able to live the life that they should be able to live as a human being. so i will do everything i can to bring those jobs and opportunities back to this district for the people of this district. as well as the state of ohio. >> just this week, the state supreme court rejected gop-drawn legislative maps saying they were gerrymandered. how could redistricting impact your run? >> well, it certainly could have an impact, lindsey. the district orders could be changed. the district number could be changed. and that would impact my signature gathering process. i would have to start that over. but what won't change is my desire to run. i live in perk kins township in

sandusky, ohio, and i will run to represent my home, the people i care about in this community n these communities. so that one thing won't change. i will still run, because it's important to me to do what i can to make the world a better place for the people in this area. >> and why you? why are you the person to get this condon? >> well, i think i have proven that i am someone who fights for his principles, someone who doesn't give up. deciding to sue the state of ohio and taking that case all the way to the supreme court -- that's something that's scary. but it was also something that was right. it was justice and ray long the way, i didn't let anything stop me. the death of my husband, the loss at the 6th circuit court of appeals. i continued to fight because it was the right thing to do. it wasn't just for me and my husband. it was for millions of people

across this nation. so i always fight for what's right. i'm a person of integrity. and i will fight for everyone in my district, because we all deserve the ability to live our lives and to share in society equally and to share in your economy equally. that's one thing we don't have. and i will fight for everyone to enjoy that. >> jim, some states like new jersey are enacting laws to protect same-sex marriage out of the concerns that the supreme court could make an about-face. what's your reaction to this? would you make a similar push if elected in ohio? >> well, i would to say even though we have the right to get married in all 50 states we don't truly enjoy marriage equality because of policies that are proposed, these public businesses that refuse to serve our community, and just everything else that we don't enjoy those non-discrimination protections.

so we don't really have marriage equality. so i think anything that can be done at a legislative level to ensure that the lgbt plus community, that our relationships, our marriages are treated just like every other marriage is important and worthwhile. >> jim obergefell, thank you so much. good to talk to you today. >> likewise. have a great day. >> you too. coming up in our next hour arizona congressman ruben gallego joins me live with reaction to the send sewer of fellow arizona senator kyrsten sinema. and discussing reproductive rights on what could be the last anniversary of roe v wade. be tt be tt anniversary of roe v wade. ♪wouldn't you like to get away? ♪ ♪

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welcome back. i'm lindsey reiser in for yasmin vossoughian. she bucked the party and now the party is bucking back. sear citizen sinema is in the hot seat in her home state of arizona right now voting to descend sewer here. ruben gallego joins us. is he ready to make an announcement right here, right

now? >> and evidence the former president was willing to use the military to help overturn the investigation. new filings this week suggest this may pose his biggest legal risk yet and poses danger for their children. are they willing to sacrifice themselves for their father? we will get to that question later this hour. breaking news out of arizona. kyrsten sinema defending herself from the decision to send sewer here. a spokesman tells nbc news that sinema has quote always been honest about where she stands. the arizona democratic party is defending their decision saying the ramifications of failing to