the occupation of crimea brought putin was pure profit. >> masha gessen, great reporting on this in "the new yorker" right now. it is always a pleasure. thank you so much. >> that's it, the "the rachel t tuesday inside. the "the rachel maddow show" starts with ali velshi at the anchor desk. chris, good to see you. and thank you for joining us at home at this hour, if you're a regular viewer of this show, then will you probably recognize this. this quite nutty thing that happened at the state capital in lancing, michigan, back on december 14th of 2020. a group of 16 michigan republicans, came to a side door at the state capitol and tried to get in. inside the capitol at the time, michigan was going through a final process in which the state's presidential electors were sent up to the electoral.

joe biden and kamala harris won the election in 2020. that meant the electors for biden and harris were casting their votes in the electoral college inside the michigan state capitol that day. but these republicans that i just showed you were trying to get in because they said they were real electors for trump. >> the capitol is closed unless you have an office here to conduct business today. or if you are taking part in the electoral college process. anybody else in that? >> we are electors. we are electors. >> the electors have been been inside. but not all. >> the capitol is closed. all 16 electors have been identified. but these are the gop's -- >> these are the rest of the electors. >> i'm sorry, i understand but it's -- the capitol is closed. >> the michigan republicans did this at this time it kind of

seem like play acting. they were acting out some fantasy of a trump victory. but those michigan republicans did not disburse after they couldn't get into the state's capitol, they created and all of them signed a forged document claiming to be an official state from the slate of electors from the state of michigan. and they claimed that they were the state's duly elected and qualified electors. and they sent that fake certificate to the united states senate and to the national archives as though it was legitimate. republicans did this in a number of different states that day in what we now know is a scheme orchestrated by the trump campaign and trump allies in the government to try to falsify the election results and keep donald trump in power. the plan was ultimately when vice president mike pence presided over the certification of the election in congress on january 6th, pence could use these fake slate of electors to overturn the election results

and declare donald trump the winner. as we know, mike pence declined to do that. and just last week, pence said that donald trump is, quote, wrong, to say that pence had the power to overturn the election. but the more we learned about the fake electors scheme it's clear to learn how well the ground had been cleared for mike pence to overturn the election of donald trump or the violent mob that stormed the capitol january 6th had managed to pressure pence into doing it. for instance, those fake republican electors in michigan why were they trying so hard to get into the state capitol that day. it wasn't because they wanted to play act being the electors. michigan's law actually said that the state's presidential electors must meet inside the capitol on december 14th. they wanted their fake board of votes to appear legit enough, they need to get inside the capitol and cast their votes

there. and sake some simplies to prove they were actually inside like the law said they had to be. but look at the forged certificate that the michigan fake electors submitted to the united states senate. quote, we convened and organized in the state capitol in the city of lancing, michigan, at 2:00 p.m. eastern standard time on 14th day of december 2020. that was the required language but it was a lie. they never got in. making the certificate fraudulent in more ways than one. they were lying in the middle of lying. wild the broad scheme has come into focus in the recent weeks, how the scheme was organized the actual nuts and bolts has remained amystery. but now a reporter in michigan has made a major advance on how this all went down. craig logger of the detroit news has obtained an email sent to rudy giuliani both of whom are

investigating voter fraud. the emails are update on the fake scheme in michigan. crucially, in these emails, this lawyer is telling the trump campaign that he's been working with one of the fake michigan electors. this is one of the emails it was sent by this lawyer his name is kenneth chesebro. he sent the email on december 11th, 2020. three days before they needed to cast their votes. you can see that rudy giuliani is copied, as well as another official from the campaign. quote, mr. kerik, thank you for your call, attached are the memos which should help the michigan people get up to speed on some of the reasons why we're having all of the votes on the elect stage. last night i emailed to marion sheridan grassroots vice chair a

pact of materials to use for voting. marion sheridan was one of the fake electors. three days later she would sign that he was dual elected and qualified. two days after that email, he sent another message that included a seven-document package for michigan including a check list for voting. the email said he would leave it for kerik to determine who should receive these materials. now, the fake michigan elector that this lawyer claimed to have sent the material to would not answer any questions from the detroit news. rudy giuliani didn't respond. and saying kerik probably received such an email but he doesn't know the lawyer. but those letters that the lawyer was forwarding to officials and at least one michigan fake elector, we've seen what we believe to be the

memos, or at least some version of them. "the new york times" published two memos in which he sent to a campaign lawyer in wisconsin in november and december of 2020. one memo outlined all the specific steps that fake electors would need to take in each of the states where the trump campaign was planning the scheme. and all of the potential hurdles that fake electors would need to overcome. the memo noted, for instance, that, quo, michigan is specific about the location in which electors must meet, which could be a bit awkward. end quote. well, yes, indeed, that was a bit awkward, wasn't it? although we've seen these memos before, these emails reported by the detroit news are the first concrete evidence we have seen of the coordination between the trump campaign and the fake electors on the ground. here's a trump campaign-connected lawyer, putting together all of the materials the fake electors in

michigan would need to pull off the scheme, claiming to be going up the chain to the trump campaign. here's the thing, to overturn the election in michigan is still not over. trump supporters held a rally on the steps of the michigan state capitol today, demanding that the republican state legislature order a so-called forensic audit of the 2020 election. that election, if you're keeping score at home was 15 months ago. today's crowd heard from a state senate candidate whose advocated showing up to polling places armed for the next election. and a governor who suggested that poll watchers unplug voting machine. another governor candidate said if arrested he'll arrest and prosecute anyone sending out absentee ballots. one reporter wrote, quote, these forensic audit rallies at the

michigan capitol seem to be getting considerably smaller but the conspiracy board is getting bigger. it's not just michigan, of course. in arizona for example, the trump-endorsed republican candidate for secretary of state has just introduced a measure in the state legislature to set aside the results of the 2020 election in certain counties. the measure doesn't look like it will get far. but if he is elected to secretary of state, he will be in charge of arizona's elections. this guy. it's not just the top-level state jobs, the secretary of state and governor the stop the steal advocate has their eye on, trump members are earning local judges and inspectors in pennsylvania and urging to apply for jobs in election offices in colorado. then there is wisconsin which rolling stone this week called ground zero for the maga effort to steal the next election. quote, republicans convinced

trump won, are pushing to decertify his 2020 loss and lay the groundwork to overturn the next election if it doesn't go their way. end quote. wisconsin republicen cass are to push to take over the state elections potentially putting it in the hands of the republican legislature. they've also spend hundreds of thousands of dollars funding the investigation into the 2020 election run by a guy who said the election was stolen and who have hired former trump officials to be his investigators. and the thing to know about wisconsin is they've got an election coming up, one week from today. primaries that could have huge implications for the midterm elections later this year and the 2024 presidential elections. because next week's elections are for local offices all across the state. and stop the steal election conspiracists are running in a

number of them. elections are run by nearly 2,000 clerks at the local municipal level. which means that local elections in wisconsin can have an outsize impact on how elections are actually run. and with one week to go until those elections, what ares withes democrats when i say democrats, both big "d" and small "d" democrats people in favor of democracy are doing, to protect that democracy in the state of wisconsin. joining us, the chairman of the wisconsin democratic party. good to see you, thank you for being with us. we tried our best to explain the complexities, the differences in wisconsin that our viewers may have in their own state. the stop the steal advocates at the local level is disconcerting for a number of reasons. >> absolutely. i'm so glad you're covering this and i'm glad to be with you. wisconsin was the tipping point in 2020, it's the state that

handed the presidency first to trump, i'm sorry to say, and then to joe biden. and 2022, we're going to elect our governor who ultimately certifies the election in november. if governor evers is re-elected he will continue his vow to protect the right to vote and make sure the elections are secure. the republican running, rebecca clayfish refused to sign bills that would put the state legislature in charge of deciding who won. and what happens in november in that all important governor's race will be shaped by what happens in wisconsin in the local spring elections. you have people like melinda eck who organized the stop the steal protests, outside of green bay, the third largest city, running on a state stop the stealers in that city. the primary is coming up in one week and we're organizing the living daylights out of these local races, they're often

decided by a few votes. if you get on the votes in green bay you it help turn out the voters to make sure the stop the steal team doesn't take over that city cities l city's city council who has see norm his control over the administration and a dozen other things. >> you make an interesting point for local candidates, i'd be looking for candidates with schools, roads, garbage collection, why would anybody care for stop the steal candidate but your point is valid, turnout is very low, so the ability to win an election can be with very few voters. >> this is the thing, wisconsin voters come down to a hair. it came down to less than one percentage point. the governor's race in 2018, governor evers was elected with a 1.1% margin. that's two or three voters per

precinct in the state. if you look at a smaller city, kelly rue is one of the electors, she was just subpoenaed by the january 6th committee and she's running for re-election. running against her is a candidate is a poll worker who believes in free and fair elections. so these races could shape whether voters are turned away. whether someone has an error on their absentee ballot, they get a phone call to fix it. state wide outcomes in wisconsin can shape outcomes in 2024. we want to stop the coup in. 2024. >> i want to underscore this point. you're saying this, in "the new york times" you were cited saying if you want to fight for the future of american democracy, you shouldn't spend all day talking about the future of democracy, these local races that determine the mechanics of american democracy are the

ventilation shaft in the republican death star. these races get zero national attention. they hardly get local attention. turnout is often lower than 20%. which means people who actually engage have a superpower. the point you're making tonight, the point that our viewers have to hear, wherever they live in the country, particularly if they live in wisconsin, is that you've got that superpower. literally registering to vote. literally showing up to vote. attending school board meetings. attending city council meetings and knowing who's on the ballot could be the mechanism for saving democracy in this country. >> absolutely right. i want to underscore something, no matter where you live in the country, you can join our virtual phone banks. we're calling voters all this weekend. we'll be calling them through the primaries on february 15th, if you go to wisdems.org slash volunteer, you can sign up. and volunteers across the country can make those reminder

calls. we don't need to persuade hardcore trumpists. if we remind people who voted for joe biden in 2020, that there are elections coming up in the next few weeks, that can make all the difference. if they vote this spring, they're definitely voting this fall, you're throwing out ron johnson and re-elects governor evers. right wing talk right now in wisconsin is pushing the slate of candidates like melinda eck in green bay that are opposed to democracy. and we need to organize harder than they are. we have to care about it more. whoever works harder in the elections wins. there are not millions of dollars of tv ads. it's person after person, making phone calls. when it gets a little warmer, knocks on doors. that work will determine what happens in democracy at the local level. >> i'm going to pause and leave it there, ben, thank you for making it so strongly.

we appreciate your time. much more ahead as democrats figure out how to defeat republicans at the local level. new signs tonight that in washington republicans are turning on each other. a new report has really as on the january 6th investigation is investigating. the reporter who broke the news joins us right after this. news joins us right after this.

if anyone knows about resilience, it's athletes. but today team usa isn't the only team being put to the test. businesses are facing mountains of their own. and just like our athletes, they're rising to the challenge. relying on the nation's largest gig-speed network

and the world-class secure solutions from comcast business. for today's olympic winter games and every day after, we'll be there, keeping businesses ready for what's next. comcast business. powering possibilities.™

they met up in a parking garage, almost as if they were cost playing account deep throat." on january 5th, the day before the attack on the capitol, there was a random meeting between twos. most radical extremist groups in america. the proud boys and the oath keepers. we've known about the meeting for a while now. no one involved is forthcoming about the purpose of that clandestine meetup but now we know the fbi is trying to figure it out. reuters has reports that federal investigators are looking into that meeting between the two extremist groups which took place 24 hours before members of the both groups orchestrated the attack to overturn the january 6th. part of the complicated granular work that has to be done is to really understand how these kinds of extremist groups

operate. because until that shoe-leather work is done it's just kind of like pulling up weeds. more and more threats from more extremist groups will keep popping up. you have to dig deeper. you have to pull the whole thing up by the root. and the tandem, of the team of the fbi it seems like there's another team doing just that, reporter ben collins at nbc news is an extreme expert he operates in among the weeds and he's out with fresh reporting how investigators on the january 6th investigation of congress are trying to piece together the origin stories of the two extremist groups in hopes it will shed light on the capitol riot. quote, the committee's investigators are zeroing in on events between meetings between oath keepers and proud boys. those events include covid lockdown protests, counterprotests to some racial justice demonstrations, armed

protest activity, and stop the steal rallies that occurred prior to january 6th twurn. the investigators of the inquiry are separate into two teams. the red team is concentrating on the events that took place on january 6th. and then there's a whole separate team, the purple team, looking into how these anti-democracy fangses formed in the months before january 6, and how they evolved in the year since. and the goal behind this is straightforward, quote, the goal, according to several of the investigators who spoke with nbc news is to determine whether these earlier events were proving grounds, opportunities to network or places to encourage one another to cross red lines into future violence. joining us now is nbc senior reporter ben collins who coves disinformation and extremism. he broke this today. thank you for being with us, ben, what kinds of things are

they looking for that will demonstrate what you report in your reporting, that they're looking to see what they were doing with these other things and what connection they had to january 6th? >> yeah, they're looking for hard and fast connections between groups like the oath keepers and the proud boys and qanon conspiracy theorists that happened the year before the january 6th, that includes state capitol protests in oregon and michigan that kind of prestaged what happened on january 6th. you know, if you look at the one from michigan that ended in the idea they were going to take the governor, it was a similarly violent rhetorical protest. so, they're looking for that. but they're also looking for ideological similarities in these groups. the proud boys and qanon people, they don't necessarily have a lot in common. a lot of proud boys look down on

qanon people. they view them as silly. but on january 6th, they all had to storm the capitol and fight back for president trump. >> some of these have been charged. some of them have been charged very specifically with conspiracy. but not a lot of them are cooperating. is there some idea they can get people like you would in the mob, get people lower down who don't have the resources or the gumption to hold out, to startling authorities what's behind some of these organizations? >> yeah, of course. and some are cooperating, by the way, stewart rhodes, who was a member of the oath keepers last week dialed a video conference. he was indicted by the feds, but he still dialsed into the video conference for the january 6th committee. and he didn't take the fifth. he answer smd questions. there's a lot of tree to shake here. you're going to see that over time. and they also have -- both the

feds and the january 6 committee, they have more hard and fast data that has something to do with people's testimony. it has to do with where people were that day and the day before. social media postings and that. they are going to get to the bottom of this, it seems like, it's just going to take a while. >> this was published in lawfare, the proud boys' role was far for momentum. just one among the 21 accused oath keeper has been charged with assaults a police officer were charged. what's their connection, the proud boys and oath keepers. >> sure. they're two different ideas. oath keepers were created shortly before barack obama took office. to keep an oath to defend the rule on the united states. that's one thing. the proud boys were created during the trump era. the proud boys are like this militant street gang basically,

that was created to fight back what they believed to be leftist violence in the streets. that's why they're constantly in these racial justice protests, trying to stir up more agitation. the proud boys are inherently a more violent group. to get into a physical fight to be initiated as a high-level proud boy. whereas the oath keepers are largely filled with ex-military and ex-police. they had plans, with ear pieces and talk throughout the day and they had this idea for squads to basically bring ammo in, weapons in later in the day that they had stored at their hotel room. the proud boys are basically like a street gang waiting to fight on command. and the oath keepers are kind of the military. >> one of the interesting things in your piece, you talk how the revelations of details comes as

federal law enforcement agencies remain on alert for domestic terrorism. the department of homeland security issued an advisory saying that the u.s. remains in a heightened threat environment fueled by several factors including an online environment filled with false or misleading conspiracy theories of miss, dis, or mall information, or mdm, influenced by foreign actors which is a bigger piece for this which you've been studying for year that is enveloping this current matter. >> yeah, i spoke to some people, on the committee, investigators on the committee, and they are similarly worried about this. and it may end up whatever report they end up producing it will be like a mueller report or warren commission report. but they're worried about the anti-sentiment pushed by the groups that used to be separate proud boys, qanon, they're coalescent. all of them seem to think

there's a new world order out to get them. all of them seem to think that there is, you know, this hand above the united states government that is pushing people down. this is -- you know, the parallels of history of this are very scary. this is the stuff that you get before very grim times in history. deeply anti-semitic. deeply racist. that's how you get to this moment. but all of them are coalescing around this. you see this in europe with the anti-vax protests over there. they're a little more violent than the ones in here. you see that in canada with the trucker convoy right now. this is a global movement of, you know, i think they want it to be called populism. but it's a global movement of anti-elitism, anti-authority, pro-authoritarianism. it's basically aryan. that's what they're rooting for an advantage system that works better for them. >> it's not easily discounted

the way it's spreading around the world. you can't shove it in the corner. i appreciate the reporting, ben collins, a senior reporter for nbc news. we appreciate your time, my friend. coming up next, a growing split on the republican party from january 6th, and what voters are going to make of it come election day. we'll be right back. we'll be right back.

it's been five days since the national republican party official by don doned the january 6th mob on the capitol calling those attacks, quote, legitimate political discourse with censuring two members for the temerity of what actually happened that day by joining the january 6th committee. but now, we're starting to see some republican senators offer some qualified pushback. >> i think the rnc is -- >> i think all of us up here want to talk about forward and not backward. >> we've got issues that we should be focusing on besides censuring two members of congress because they have a

different opinion. >> they said in the resolution, they wanted republicans to be unified. that was not a unifying action. >> anything that my party does that comes across as being stupid is not going to help us. >> now, each of those republican senators showed some willingness to distance themselves from what is now the official position of their own party. that itself is actually a remarkable thing these days. and it's a message being embraced by the top senate republican. moments after leaving his weekly meeting with republican senators today, mitch mcconnell made his feelings clear to reporters. >> i'm going to give you my view of what happened january 6th. and we all were here. were here. we saw what happened. it was a violent insurrection with the purpose of trying to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after a legitimately certified election. from one administration to the

next. that's what it was. the issue is, whether or not the rnc should be sort of singling out members our party who may have different views from the majority. that's not the job of the rnc. >> well, a person who spoke to mcconnell tells "the washington post" tonight that the republican leaders is, quote, frustrated that the party is focused on the only liability we have when he believes republicans are otherwise well positioned to win in the november midterms but not all republicans agree that the party's official downplaying of january 6th is in fact a political liability. an rnc spokeswoman tells the post outside of the d.c. bubble, our grassroots are very supportive to hold them accountable. josh hawley saying he will never apologize for objecting to

biden's 2020 win. he told reporters today, listen, whatever you think about the rnc vote it reflects the view of most republican voters. joining us to discuss is former rnc chairman michael steele. michael, it is good to see you, my friend. i need you for a fact-check tonight. because on one side, we're kind of excited that a few republican senators said the most observe use thing they could say, right? >> uh-huh. >> to call what happened on january 6th legitimate protest. >> right. >> nobody is going too far out on a limb. it's interesting to see that mitch mcconnell probably went farther than most. that's the most obvious you could say as a republican, that was an insurrection? >> yeah. look, i think a lot of folks are saying thank you, thank you, for acknowledging what the rest of the country acknowledged a year ago. and i get it, i understand a lot of the politics and everything. but this is beyond the politics, ali, and i think a lot of us

appreciate mitch and other republican senators now coming out and stating the obvious, you know, how much damage has been done? how much further have we allowed this rot to continue inside the party? if these comments, if this acknowledgement had been made over the past seven or eight months, do you have a moment like you had with the rest of the clip showing, you know, the craziness of josh hawley and others talking about, well, our base, this is what we want. well, our base wouldn't be in miss space if the leadership acknowledged the facts and truth at the very beginning. >> so let me -- >> after the election. >> so what's the trigger for mcconnell to do this because that is about as forceful as he's been about the issue? there say real debate -- maybe there's not a ton of debate going on in the republican party, but there is one about embracing the january 6th rioters is a liability or

advantage. someone, maybe it's mcconnell himself, someone has decided it's a liability. >> it's a liability, probably reflected in sbeshl pollings. look, mitch is nothing if not calculated. mitch is nothing if not dialed in. and so while josh hawley thinks yeah, this is where the republican base is, it's a very small portion of the republican base that buys into what the rnc did, relative to the potential loss come this november. why is that important? because, yeah, you still need republicans to turn out and vote. you still need them to support your candidates. and you don't want to continue to add fuel to that fire. so, that internal conversation in mcconnell's world is focused on how we navigate the space, clear the lane of debris of january 6th and stay focused on talking about biden, talking about the economy, et cetera. this takes away from that in a

major way. and to the broader question about, you know, this is the only thing republicans has a problem going into november was talking about this, no, the problems are a lot bigger than just this one issue as well. so, there are a lot of other pieces that come together that mcconnell is looking at that now puts him in a position to stand very clearly in opposition to donald trump and the trump wing of the party. >> it's interesting that you mentioned the polling that mcconnell might be relying on. i want to show you a few pew research poll taken between january 10th and 17th, asking americans whether they think trump bears a lot of responsibility for january 6th. one year ago. right after january 6th, 52% of americans thought that trump bore a lot of responsibility for. i would have thought with everything we have learned, it would have gone up, but according to pew, it's gone down. fewer americans think trump was

responsible. what do you make of a poll like this? >> that's the leadership. look, you beat the drum, you create the confusion. you compress the narrative. yeah, people tune-out. they then begin to see everything through a political lens. and this is the risk, ali, i think the biden administration, but more importantly, the january 6th commission has to deal with. it's how do they pull this out of that purely political space. and get the american people to focus on that. what we had happen was real, it was threatened to our democracy. and now people need to account for it. and that's the part that over the next few months is going to be the challenge. that's why those numbers show that -- at 43% versus 52% a year ago, because of the lack of emphasis of just how important this really is. >> why is the rnc out in front of this thing? i mean, you are a former rnc chairman. why did they get themselves in a position where they'd be perhaps

out of sync and having this discussion right now? >> this is what will trump wanted. and they go traipsing down to mar-a-lago. oh, there was no conversation -- yeah, trump is sitting there still orchestrating the terms. bossi is one of his acolytes. and reality is when you have those two inside the building along with all of the trump about coal lights who have been elected chairman and national committee women over the last five years this is the pull that the party is seeing internally. trust me, the mcconnells of the world and others are going to feel that poll -- which is why some senators are retiring. members are retiring, et cetera.

because they don't want to get caught in that any longer. it's going to be a real tug-of-war between now and november. given also, ali, that you have republicans like myself and others who are going to make sure, damn sure, that this pull and this tug happens. because we want this party to move off of stupid and back into a position where it can govern the country, not run it into the ground by upending its democracy. >> michael, i'm always much smarter for listening to you, my friend. >> appreciate it. >> former rnc chairman michael steele. much more to get to tonight. stay with us. to tonight. stay with us and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. so, you can really promise better sleep? yes! you'll know exactly how well you slept, night after night. we take care of the science. all you have to do is sleep. and now, during the ultimate sleep number event, save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed.

plus, 0% interest for 24 months on all smart beds. only for a limited time i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate

starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information.

paul laurence dunbar senior high school invited vice president kamala harris' husband the second gentleman doug emhoff to visit for black history month commemorations today at the school's museum. the d.c. high school was named after the noted poet founded in 1870 as the nation's first

public high school for african american students. dunbar high has many alumni, including eleanor norton. this is her picture from the yearbook. the event was cut short, mr. emhoff was only there for five minutes before his security detail told him he had to go. photographers in the room caught these images of the secret service rushing him to safety owe what the vice president's office called a, quote, security threat. students and faculty were also told to evacuate the building. we later learned that the security threat of the school was a bomb threat. the secret service says it does not believe this bomb threat was linked to the second gentleman's visit. and a d.c. spokesperson says the fbi does not believe this threat right now is linked to several bomb threats called into hbcus, historically black colleges and universities in the past few

weeks but this came hours after classes were disrupted in spelman college after another threat in that school. the campus was on lockdown for four years after investigators did a thorough sweep of the campus. this is the third time that spelman faced a bomb threat. on 17 college and universities that forced administrators to cancel classes and lock down buildings. the fbi says it's identified six juveniles as persons of interest in these threats and is investigating them as racially or ethnically motivated, violent extreme and hate crimes. one of the callers to one of the schools claimed to have ties to a neo-nazi group. and it was against this backdrop today, the southern poverty law center held a digital roundtable with several hbcu president and

with the impact that these threats are having. joining us, lawyer lumpkin, a reporter for "the washington post" following the threats against hbcus. she sustaineded that roundtable today. miss lumpkin, thank you for making time tonight. >> thanks for having me. >> what happens at a roundtable, other than people conveying the fact it's bad, it's disruptive and frightening for the students and faculty. was there any sense of a plan or support that goes out to these hbcus to deal with this? >> right. so, like you said, a lot of these leaders were getting together and just talking about how it's been over the last several days. i mean, it is a really scary time. at this point to respond on any of these campuses, but still, that can really kind of rattle a campus. but at this point, the department of education, dr. rochelle cooper was there, kind of offering support.

the fbi has put this investigation on the top of their priority list. so there was just a lot of talk about public safety and how the federal government and local state law enforcement is there to support this investigation. but you also heard from the university presidents a little bit of, you know, being patient, obviously, but want to get to the bottom of this to figure out who is making the threats and resolve the situation as quickly as possible. >> one or two, you can discount it. it's now up to 17. we don't know if they're copycats, we don't know if it's the same people. are there any good working theories right now? >> well, it's hard to speculate. at this point, we do know that the fbi is investigating this as a hate crime. and so, clearly, there's reason to believe that these are biracially motivated threats. and i think it's clear based on what the callers are saying when they make these threats and obviously, these institutions

are being threatened. they're all black colleges. we saw at least 16 in the first month of black history month, at the time when these institutions are solid in their history and a bomb threat certainly not a great way to start with what is normally a month of celebration. >> of course, the strain that it puts on the students which you are reporting and you heard the university presidents talking about. what kind of resources are available to students who are, you know, worried where they're going to university where is they're getting bomb threats called in? >> right, the mental health piece of it is a really big part of it, i was in baltimore, speaking to students. it's not even in college right now, there's a pandemic. and now your school is getting threats. at morgan state, officials there are offering mental health services. howard university. last week, the students got a day off, the president called a mental health day, for people to

refresh and take a break honestly. and making sure that counselors are available to students. and then we see a lot of these officials at these colleges saying over and over again, we're here for you, support you, let us know if you need our help. i think people are kind of being a little lenient and just understanding because of everything going on right now. >> yeah. there's already enough stress being a college student in this country without having to worry about bombs going off. lauren thank you for this. reporter for "the washington post," we appreciate your time tonight. coming up next, even though he's out of office for a year now, all of the former president's grifters seem to keep popping up again. we'll have more on that ahead. we'll have more on that ahead.

it's time for the ultimate sleep number event on the sleep number 360 smart bed. what if i sleep hot? ...or cold? no problem, the sleep number 360 smart bed is temperature balancing so you both sleep just right. and it senses your movements and automatically adjusts to keep you both effortlessly comfortable. so, you can really promise better sleep? yes! you'll know exactly how well you slept, night after night. we take care of the science. all you have to do is sleep.

and now, during the ultimate sleep number event, save 50% on the sleep number 360 limited edition smart bed. plus, 0% interest for 24 months on all smart beds. only for a limited time there are some days that nothing can prepare you for. but being ready— it's about how you react. so when new challenges come up, you find a new way forward. when you meet other people facing what you faced, you start a business dedicated to helping them. and after you've achieved all that,

you take on what's next. one more thing before we go tonight, let's call it a trip down memory lane. here's the email that trump campaign manager paul manafort received 11 days after the 2016 election from a chicago banker. subject, quote, steven m., candidate for trump pof perspective rolls in trump order. that is rolls, not the thing in which i put my chicken solid. secretary of army, two, deputy of secretary of treasury, three, secretary of congress.

that email from stephen calk, ceo of a federal savings bank. that is not a pitch email from someone trying to curry favor from the incoming administration, it was, in fact, a bribe. you see in july of 2016, paul manafort who was the trump campaign manager came to stephen calk's bank seeking a multimillion-dollar loan. manafort was deep in debt, he had multiple properties facing foreclosure. he needed the money and he needed fast. he struck a deal with calk. calk ignored the red flags on manafort's portfolio. and ended up approving loans for a whopping $16 million. trump was appointed to the economic advisory council. when manafort needed that multimillion-dollar second loan, this time, calk approved it and

shortly thereafter sent manafort a list of administration jobs that he wanted. manafort did end up getting calk an interview in undersecretary of the army, but he never got the job. he did get decided for that scheme in new york city. he was convicted in july of financing institution bribery and conspiracy. yesterday, nearly six years after the start of that bribery scheme, calk was finally sentence. the department of justice aptly puts the news in its head line bank ceo stephen m.calk sentenced to one year and one day for corruptly soliciting a presidential administration police station in exchange for approving $16 million in loans. in addition to spending 366 days in prison, calk must pay $1.2 million in fines, community service and undergo two years of

supervised release. as for manafort, he, too, was convicted of schemes. he is free, of course, because donald trump pardoned him right before he left office. nice work if you can get it. that does it for us tonight, we'll see you tomorrow, "way too early with jonathan lemire" is up next. ♪♪ the split in the republican party widens. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell denounces the rnc censure-two republicans committee as the chairwoman defends it. the question is the gop rift too far to be bridged? plus, the latest from eastern europe. the president of france said he received assurances from vladimir putin that russia would not escalate the crisis with ukraine. the question is, but what is the kremlin saying? and new york is expected to join the growing list of states ending mask mandates as covid cases fall