here, but we will be watching his work on the weekends that is tonight's last word, the 11th hour starts now. >> good evening, i'm chris jansing, and tonight the president making some news, reacting to the rising inflation numbers he also told nbc news is lester. holt in a wide-ranging interview, his take on the chasm in his administration and democratic governors on rolling back covid restrictions. you will hear it all just ahead. but first, there's a major update tonight on major news about the former president. the washington post reports some of those records trump improperly took to mar-a-lago when he left office more than a year ago, not only classified, some were marked top secret. the post says quote, it is not precisely clear who picked up the classified material at

mar-a-lago, or how they got there in the first place. trump was very secretive about the packing a boxes and did not let other aides, including some of his most senior advisers look at them. according to people close to him. the house oversight committee is investigating trump's handling of official records. then there's this development, she writes this, quote, staff in the white house residence periodically discovered wads of printed paper clogging a toilet. >> when engineers went into go and see what was happening, there are clumped up lots of paper apparently notes or documents, it's not clear exactly what it was, it's not clear why it was happening, but they believe the former president was putting stuff in the toilet and my understanding is it wasn't an isolated in some incident. >> and a statement, trump

denied her reporting saying, quote, another fake story, that i flushed papers and documents on a white house toilet, is categorically untrue. meanwhile, nbc news has learned that white house records obtained by the january six committee don't show any calls to or from trump in the violent hours following his speech that day. he calls the panel of the time now, as for the current president, one of those will challenges his administration is facing us soaring inflation numbers. it's coming at the fastest pace in decades, up seven and a half percent in the year. joe manchin, who sided inflation when refusing to support biden social programs, today called on the white house to take action. >> this inflation is real, it's harming people. it's 7. 5%, and it continues to increase, it's not decreasing.

the administration has to do -- we all have to work together to get our financial house in order. >> the administration is also keeping a close eye on russians moves across to clean. according to nbc news, our u. s. military and intelligence assessments shows militia military to take nine different routes into ukraine in a full scale invasion. russia is also conducting military exercises with its close ally, belarus. it's the latest stage in the military buildup in ukraine's borders adding to fears that moscow might soon invade its neighbor. and the pentagon says it sees no signs vladimir putin is ready to negotiate. >> he's exploring additional military capabilities available to his use, should be able to do that. no sign of de-escalating touches. no signs of sitting down seriously and negotiating a path forward. that's alarming to the west and the nato alliance, and have to treat this seriously, we have to look at it pragmatically. >> there was also this warning

today from the state department. >> let him or putin should understand that body bags will come back to moscow as well, that the citizens of russia will suffer because their economy will be completely devastated. >> and his exclusive interview with nbc news, president biden had an urgent message for americans still in ukraine. >> american citizens should leave now. we're dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. it's a very difficult situation and things can go crazy quickly. >> there's much more of that exclusive interview coming up. but with that, let us bring our lead off speakers. shannon pettypiece, sam stein, veteran journalist and white house editor for politico, and heather long, an economist columnist at the washington post. great to have you all here. sam, we're hearing reports of what was going on at the white house on january 6th regarding the phone calls.

we're hearing about official records, possibly some that were top secret. taken to mar-a-lago and retrieve by the national archives long after trump left office. what's going on with this administration? >> the fairly broad question. look, i don't think donald trump was a stickler for compliance -- >> he was when it comes to hillary clinton, he was when it came to nancy pelosi! >> he gets an opportunistic stickler for compliance of government laws. what's coming out now is very damaging for trump. it shows a concerted effort to try to conceal what was going on, or suggest -- to conceal what was going on on january six. and with respect to the records that he took with him to the white house, if you talk to experts, it's a clear violation of governor potentials. trump has never been one to

abide by the loos that he insisted everyone abide by but the question now becomes what form of punishment that comes with these things or even an investigation that comes with these acts obviously, you referenced the history here which is the lead up to the 2016 elections when talk was by jailing hillary clinton for using a private server that -- this question goes to the january six committee, and also to attorney general merrick garland was difficult questions ahead in the days and weeks ahead in respect to trump. >> shannon, the biden administration was supposed to be a contrast, the adults in the room. and with these details, they are. but, the biden white house is grappling with all these issues from covid, to inflation, of course, russia threatening ukraine. how does the white house convince voters that it has a handle on all these things? >> well, the white house has been trying to sort of improve their messaging strategy. one of the ways they've been trying to do that is talking

about selling the thing they have done and talking about the things they're going to do. but as you mentioned, there are no briefings that overhang everything they want to talk about what they've done. like, infrastructure. because, as you noted, you still have a pandemic that is going strong and many parts of the country, despite case numbers going down. you have a renewed debate going over masks. seeing blue governors breaking ranks with the white house and the cdc when it comes to lifting mask restrictions. of course, you have those inflation numbers at 7% which, in a way, wipe out at least some of the good news on the unemployment front that we got earlier this week. and then certainly the impending threat of ukraine. i think every white house, every president, deals with president that are factors that are outside of their control. certainly, as you noted, there's three big ones right there competing with the agenda

of what the white house wants to talk about, which is prescription drug prices, infrastructure, clean energy, expanding broadband those are the items the white house one on the agenda. those are the things they think will help democrats in the november. there's a lot of competition right now for attention broadband in that white house. >> heather, we did get this sign today that, at least, some people read it as inflation not being temporary. and it may not just be a byproduct of the pandemic. yes, wages are going up, but i think that's what's 5. 7%, compared to inflation which is seven and a half percent. whatever information was in today's labor department reports that can offer us some real sense of what this economy is right now and where it's headed? >> the big problem for the white house is this report really showed that inflation is spreading across categories. not only did the white house try to say for months that this

would be short-lived, but they also tried to say it was limited to energy, these types of things that would hopefully get sorted out eventually as the pandemic would fade. but what we saw today was really troubling because inflation is spreading to more and more sectors. electricity prices are the high fastest growth in prices there in 16 years. restaurant prices are rising. grocery store prices, not just meat prices, bakery goods, very much everything except ice cream in tea. and the one i'm troubled by, and i think it's gonna be a big problem for the white house, is these red prices are rising. and that's obviously the biggest part of many peoples -- budgets, particularly lower income families. you cannot just not have a few dunkin'donuts coffees and be

able to pay your rent when it's rising at such a rapid rate. so we are learning that there is not a sign that this is going to end anytime soon. and that we see this continuing to spread out to more and more areas. >> some, obviously, and the white house knows this, big problem for them, they problem for democrats in the midterms. but there's also this new poll out from cnn with some more concerning data, given that we are in an election year. 56% of respondents say they have little to no confidence that american elections reflect the will of the people. it was 40% in january of 2021. do we have a handle on what is happening pinning among voters. are democrats prepared to deal with this? >> it's a tough question to answer, i mean, some of that skepticism about the process is being fed by donald trump. but some of them is a reaction from democrats to a slew of laws being passed in republican run states. biden, to a large degree, suffered a crisis of confidence

that voters have in him and that spans across issues of democracy, it was a foreign policy, and of course, it was of the economy. some of it is related to covid. but some of it is not -- it's about his economic performance. yes, inflation is the cloud that hangs over all of this. you feel, ultimately, that you are worse off financially under this presidency. there's very little incentive to go on and vote for him. joe biden's hitch to voters was, not just that he would be confident, but that he would return the country to a state of normalcy. and across the board, things don't feel quite that normal. i suppose the fact that ice cream prices have gone up is a nice little solace, but that's not gonna get you through the day. and i think voters are gonna put their frustrations on democrats unless something to his. around the big problem is, they have very few lovers. especially on inflation, to turn things around. biden is at the wings of the fed and other sort of macroeconomic factors that you can't control.

>> so, shannon, biden, as you pointed out, as we've been covering, they made a reset. they want him to go out more, they thought he could talk to the american people. but as some just said, when you have the reality that your snacks of your super bowl party are gonna cost more. if you're going somewhere else to go to super bowl party, the guess will cost more, and the rent where the party is going to be held is more. it is being held in about a plus for democrats? is he an acid or a liability? >> one of the questions i heard outside advisers allies of the president when it comes to the debate, and what's the message should be when the president is out and about, how do present economy to people? do you try to convince them that it is better than they think it is by looking at other metrics, like the unemployment numbers, like wage gains, as you noted, even though they are not always keeping up with inflation?

to try to look at the positives and sell those and try to convince people the economy is better than it actually is or do you risk looking like you are out of touch with white people are actually feeling in the real lives when they get to the end of the month, and is a negative balance in their bank account? there's two different camps on this side. the white house seem to be straddling them. and this inflation issue, as someone heather noted, it's a real challenge for them because, at some was pointing out, there's not much they can do about it. they have tried to say that this build back better legislation would benefit citing some economists, but that's like long term kind of. it's probably not going to make things worse, it might make things better sort of situation. it's not a quick fix. there is a fed, and we heard the president come out and try to put pressure on the fed to do things, but we heard that from former president trump as well.

trying to pressure the feds to do things on an interest rate. and the fed is going to operate on its own. the white house hasn't really acknowledged it until recently how big of an issue this is. they have tried to write it off as just being about cars or supply chains or covid we, and talking about downplaying it and that it was going to dissipate into 2022. well, you know, we are headed well into 2022. to heather's point, it's not going anywhere. so i think that's gonna be recurring theme in the white house is still trying to figure out what's the message there is they are going to land on. >> adding to those concerns, those protests in canada that could pose any risk to the economy, we've already seen that production has been halted at some gm ford plants in the united states. i spoke with the director of the national economic council, he acknowledged that these are very real concerns. talk about the growing risks in

this situation, especially with dhs saying, these protests could move here to the u.s.. >> obviously, they are closing a number of key border transactions in the united states and canada. you noted, it's already affected the auto industry. it's already herding, for a lack of -- those micro chips, they are just trying to get production going in. that's going again with microchips. and they have -- they can't get the parts they need in canada. so this could escalate very quickly. there's also the risk that this will spill over and other parts of the united states or other places in the world. places in europe, australia. so where this goes from here could -- i think it goes back to sam's point, it's another knock against [inaudible] it's another feeling that the situation we're living through is out of control. and that's just hard for the president to really projects that his leadership in

situations like this. >> sam stein, heather long, shannon pettypiece, thanks to you. coming, up soaring prices are making the electorate angry over covid. we have [inaudible] more of lester holt's exclusive interview with joe biden. is it about a disgraced former president that convinces a congresswoman to travel 800 miles from home and beg for votes in front of his building? we will ask the author of a new book about the fractured gop. the 11th hour just getting underway on a thursday night. underway on a thursday night

yep, it's go time on the most reliable network. you get unlimited for just $30 bucks. nice! but mine has 5g included.

yep, even these guys get it. and the icing on the cake? saving up to $400 bucks? exactly! xfinity mobile. it's wireless that does it all and saves a lot. get the new samsung galaxy s22 series on xfinity mobile. and right now, save big with up to $750 off a new samsung device. >> president biden today sat switch today. down with our own lester holt for an exclusive wide-ranging interview in virginia searching inflation, his standoff on ukraine's border, and the pandemic, all among the critical topics they discussed. >> mister president, in recent

days, we've seen numerous governors from blue states rollback indoor mask requirements. essentially getting ahead of the federal government, the cdc. are those governors wrong? >> well, it's hard to say whether they're wrong. this science is saying now that masks make a difference. and there's a relation. but i think there's only one governor drawing back immediately. and most of them are somewhere in february -- and of february, march, april, they said a time limit. i assume it has something to do with the omicron variant whether it continues to dive in fewer fewer cases. because there's a relationship between the number of cases you have in your community and the need for wearing masks. >> you know there is restlessness and leaders -- bowing to -- >> omicron, the variant, all the variants, had a profound impact on the psyche of american people.

>> should children be required to wear masks in schools? >> look, when i got in office, only 61 -- 90% of them are open and they're wearing masks. what's happening is, every day that goes, by children are more protected. we're now on the verge of being able to have shots for children under the age of seven. and young children. so the more protection i have, probably are gonna see less and less requirement for mass. >> but the cdc hasn't changed their guidance on that. the sea question is, with these governors making these moves, does a continue to make the government, the cdc, irrelevant. people will gravitate toward the advice that really fits their worldview, that this

thing feels like it's over? >> well, look, i think it's one thing to say -- to talk about masks, other than to talk about shots and boosters and the like. but, look, it's confusing. it's worrisome to people. we're trying to figure it out. but would've tried to, do i try to make sure that we have all the vaccines needed, all the boosters needed, all the masks needed, all the protection that's needed. >> are you afraid though that some states and cities are moving too quickly to loosen indoor mask mandates? >> you know, it's -- i have -- i committed, i will follow the science. the science says -- it's put forward by the cdc and the federal people. i think it's probably premature but, it's a tough call. >> and i asked about the tense standoff with russia over ukraine. >> what are your plans toward american citizens who are in ukraine and might be there during an invasion? what's scenarios which you put american troops to rescue and get americans back? >> they're, not that's world war. when americans and russian start shooting at one another, we're gonna be in a different world than we've been. and >> not even on the fact of evacuating americans? >> how do you do that?

how do you find? them i hope that if in fact he's foolish enough to go in, he's smart enough to not do anything that will have a negative impact on american citizens. >> have you told him? that >> yes. >> you've told him to -- that, you know, americans will be aligned -- that americans will be a lengthy can cross? >> i didn't have to tell him that. i've spoken about that. he knows that. it's a little bit -- look, that's why -- whatever asked is, american citizens should leave. should leave now. we are dealing with one of the largest armies in the world. it's a very different situation and things can go crazy quickly. >> on the subject of american citizens, have to draw your attention to that army report, that investigative report, that's come out about the lead up to the withdrawal of afghanistan. it involves many military officials and officers who said the administration ignored the

handwriting on the wall. another described the folks trying to if it and encountered people who were in denial of the situation. does any of that ring true to? you >> know. no. that's not what i was told. >> you are told that they u.s. administration, officials, were prepared? that they knew it was time to go out? >> no -- there's no good time to get out. but if we had not gotten out, the we would've had to put more troops and then. we would have to significantly increase the number of troops and moved back in this war. and there's no way we were ever going to unites ukraine -- excuse me, iraq -- afghanistan. no way that was going to happen. so, this is a much wiser thing

to do. >> i just want to clarify here, are you rejecting the conclusions or the accounts that were in this army report? >> yes i am. >> they are not true. >> i am rejecting them. >> then, there was today's sour headline on the economy. inflation, skyrocketing to 7. 5%. a 40 year high. prices still spiking on everything from used cars, to gas, to food. inflation now costing the american an extra $275 a month compared to last year. >> i think it was back in july, you said inflation was going to be temporary. i think a lot of americans are wondering what your data from mission of temporary is. >> you're being a wise guy with me a little bit. i understand that's your job. but look, at the time, what happened was the -- let's look at the reason for inflation. the reason for inflation is the supply chains were cut off, meaning that the products, for example, automobiles, the lack of computer chips to be able to build those automobiles so they can function, they need those computer chips, they were not

available. so what happens? with a number of cars produced. new cars were reduced, they made up of one point the one third of the cost of official because automobiles went up. so what i did, i went to make sure that we made those domestic. we got intel to build a new facility. a number of organizations are doing the same kinds of things. >> when can americans expect some really from disinflation? >> according to noble or it's, 14 of them that contacted me, and a number of quiet print leaders, it's going to taper off as we go through the year. in the meantime, i'm gonna do everything in my power to deal with the points that are impacting most people in their homes. >> can i ask you where you stand right now in your nomination process for supreme court? when your shortlist looks like -- if you want to name a nominee right here, we'll be happy to hear you. >> first of all, the shortlist our nominees who are incredibly well qualified and documented. >> how many, four, five, six?

>> i've taken about four people and did the deep dive on them. that means throwback checks. and see if there is anything in the background that would make them not qualified. >> is it important that you believe they will get a vote from the republican side? >> i think whomever i -- i think they will get a vote from the republican side for the following reason, i'm not going to make an ideological choice. i am looking to replace george bright with the same kind of capacity george breyer had, with an open mind, who understands the constitution, interprets it in a way that is consistent with the mainstream interpretation of the constitution. >> you watch more of lester's interview with president biden tomorrow morning on today, and in the coverage ahead of the super bowl this sunday on nbc. coming up, juanita tolliver and bill kristol reacting to what we just heard when the 11th hour continues.

>> former president obama met virtually with house democrats this afternoon. punchbowl news reported on the substance of that call. quote, former president barack obama told house democrats on a private conference call this afternoon that the party should take the wins you can get, and said it doesn't help to whine about the stuff you can't change. back with us tonight, a veteran political strategist, progressive candidate and causes.

and bill kristol, author, writer, thinker at politico. and a veteran of both reagan and bush administrations, as well as editor at large at the bulwark. great to have you here. what do you think of the former president and vices that kind of aversion what we heard from some democrats, which is quick, talk about this that we haven't gotten in talk about what we have accomplished? >> i think that's a big part of it. i think the president is also directing them to get additional things that they can't get done, because look he's seen some tough midterms in 2010 and 2014 and he knows that any additional legislators will help democrats going into midterms. so those provisions about back better that all 50 democrats in the senate agree with, that should be something they should put forward. i also think that president obama was signaling to stop fighting in public, because even though we, in d. c., recognize what this is, what happened with build back better 's legislative negotiations, that typically happen, the rest of the country doesn't see it that way. we saw that from focus groups

out of virginia, where voters were saying, they didn't like that and fighting, and that push them away from democrats. so what president obama saying, get what you can get done. and don't argue about it in public. >> bill, in an interview with nbc nightly news, president biden addressed inflation, you heard it i'm sure. saying it's best to taper off in the next year. when you think of his remarks, and if it doesn't get under control, would you expect from republicans? >> republicans will joe biden, maybe a little bit fail -- look, what's the republican argument, they're spending too much money. the way to answer that question is to take one stance and say, it's hard to get inflation under control. but you know what? the american rescue plan passed, so this really gets to president obama's comments, so i think the democrats are just being ridiculous that they passed this huge bill, on a partisan vote, almost every republican, i think only one or two of them voted against it. but the child tax credit and middle income families. -- who said, the family who stacks as he was doing, a couple of kids $5,000 in tax savings this past year.

the family had no idea, unless he pointed out to them, they wouldn't necessarily know that that came from a piece of legislation that democrats on the biden administration pushed, and the republicans oppose oppose. who knows that? and despite that we never even talked about that, there is being defense about inflation, and talk about the chiefs and the cars, take one sentence and say you're gonna get inflation under control, and pummel the republicans for opposing something that passed. >> if you do that, does -- >> don't talk about what hasn't passed, talk about what they passed. >> but even if you do that, and people go to the grocery store, and they're paying 20 or 30% more, they go to the gas pump, and they're paying more. their rent is going up. can you talk their way out of that reality, i guess?

>> no, i mean the reality is reality. it's gonna be -- if it doesn't come down, it will be rough. on the other hand, you can tell people that that in that, they might have more cash than they have been, and the pandemic was a real problem, and we are on top of it. i think the problem is they spent some time sometime denying inflation is a real problem. they can be something, if inflation is gonna be a negative, it's gonna be a negative. you know what? you're not gonna change that. afghanistan is a negative two, you're not gonna change the decisions that were made. but to replace that, or counter that with a positive. just pass the bill, everyone say they can't get anything true because bbb didn't get through. this came through out of partisan vote, a year ago. they had a bunch of events this february and march, to celebrate that american rescue plan, which may have added to inflation, but we've got awful a lot of money to people's pockets, that's why reason we have 4% of employment. that's one reason we have five or 6% economic growth. they don't have a bunch of, you know, advance to commemorate the first anniversary of that, and remind people that each of these events to the republicans

voted against this legislation, i think it's political facts. >> so when it's something else that the white house hopes that they're gonna be able to celebrate is a new supreme court justice. and the president made news on his nominee, telling lester he's doing a deep dive on about four potential candidates, maybe fewer than some people would have thought. the washington post is reporting tonight that he may start doing interviews with those candidates next week. what's at stake for biden with his choice? and what are you gonna be looking for? >> look, it's a historic choice, it's gonna change the face of the supreme court. and i think he recognizes that. and i also appreciate the base at which he's moving. i think the next things i'm looking for our, additional names to start surfacing, even though he didn't mention any tonight with lester. but i do think that he is also gonna be listening to some of the push that he's getting from, especially black members of congress, black women in particular, who sent him a letter saying, okay, there are visitation is good. the commitment to nominating a black woman's good, but make

sure she has a record against combatting racial injustice. make sure she has a record fighting for equity. make sure that she has a record of fighting for workers, because they know that that is going to be critical when she joins other justices like sotomayor, with these dissenting opinions that are likely gonna keep flowing out of the court, and it's still 53. so the next thing i'm looking for is names perpetuating, as well as biden being conscious of these other requests coming from black women in congress, especially if there are no black women in the senate right now will be participating in the interview process, once we get to that face and the confirmation. >> yeah, we got this from kelly o'donnell. he's gonna be spending the week and pulling over a lot of this research that he has, and really getting into the heart of this process and the next couple of days. juanita tolliver, bill crystal, thank you both. coming up, an inside look at the party of donald trump. how republicans are to blame -- and got to where they are today. political reporter jaime peters

will take a look on how the gop lost its -- when the 11th hour continues. the 11th hour continues

>> i'm in front of trump tower today, and it's 2015, when president trump announced his run, i was one of his earliest supporters. i actually worked for the campaign and 2016. i worked at seven different states across the country to help get him elected. >> that will be south carolina congresswoman nancy maze, perched on a sidewalk outside trump tower, pledging her devotion to the former president, one day after he endorsed a republican challenger. remember, just last year, maze blame trump for inciting the crowd on january six. so were false claims the election was stolen. with us tonight, jeremy peters, a political reporter for the new york times. and author of the new book, insurgency: how republicans lost their party and got everything they wanted. so much to talk to you about.

today was just the latest example, i think, of what's gonna happen to republicans, if you dare to cross donald trump. and you write about something trump told you. quote, in the defeat, he refused to acknowledge, trump saw the beginnings of his next campaign. this is his new, build the wall. he acknowledges much. there is more anger now than there is ever been, he said. in my opinion, the single biggest issue today is not the border, it's the scam election of 2020. that's the single biggest issue. this is not a person who's building a party. this is a person who, i don't know, it's just in pursuit of revenge. >> yeah, and in pursuit of a cause that is all about him, right? and that's the difference with trump 2016 and trump 2024, right? it's going to be more, less about the people, less about the voters, then it's going to be about him. and i think that's a real

danger, although, i have to say, when he told me that, when he said, you know, i've never seen more anger out there, i was skeptical at the time that he was going to be able to rally his supporters around this cause that was, you know, avenging his supposed disagree of justice, which has been perpetrated against him. but i gotta say, i was at a rally about a month ago, in arizona, and 15,000 people there, and the cold, on a static date night. and the lines that got people the most jazzed up for all about how this was stolen for him. so it's got traction. i don't know where it goes, but he's not giving it up. >> you talk about how he was like the candidate of the people, right? that's what he's told himself as. that was obviously very successfully. but in your book, you ask steve bannon to meet with trump in new york about this possible presidential run, banning trump tower, and starts to explain populism to trump.

here's what you're right. trump seized on one word, a popularist, he has, that's what i am. bannon corrected him, no, you mean populist. trump repeated himself, yeah, a popular wrist, i'm a popular risk. later, it occurred to bannon that while trump surely had intended to coined a term for his own school of political theory, he was unwittingly revealing what he understood politics was to be to him. when he did the apprentice, he was obsessed with ratings. and as a candidate, he was going to be obsessed with being popular. >> obsessed with poll numbers. i mean, it was funny the first time i ever interviewed him, one of the first times, he says to me, we are gonna send you the ratings. and this is before he was a candidate. this is when he was joining with the idea and 2011. i was, why is he sending me that. sure enough, in my email and box, lands all the ratings in the apprentice showing how great it was. but that is, his instinct for knowing what his people want

to. somebody came to me when i was reporting in the book, it's not whatever the body wants, if he's good at. it's what his people want that he is good at identifying. and that's what's been so enduring about his legacy, and i think going back to the stop the steal stuff, it explains to me why so many of these folks have bought into it, because as the story of the book, the story that runs consistently throughout the book is that the sarah palin voter, the tea party voter that became the trump voter, a lot of these are folks who always felt that there was one presidential election away from losing their purchase on social and cultural and political power in this country. and trump has finally given them the feeling like somebody is there, fighting for what they believe in, not only is he fighting for what they believe in, but he's fighting the same enemy is the dating or their's. and that's where the stolen election myth has become. it is avenging, it is a way to kind of claw back, take our

country back. and his language has been consistent throughout the history of the modern conservative movement. this notion of taking our country back is as always been there. trump has really just weaponized it in a way that is threatening our democratic institutions, that i think, it's really on the cost of something very, very dangerous. >> and republicans consistently scrambling through try to take hold of that insurgency, which seems to belong to him alone. >> it does. i mean, this whole notion that there is a successor in waiting for trump, that's another thing that i talked to people about for the book. so, what is trump doing here? is he -- did he groom desantis, or not

grooming -- the idea that he's grooming and everybody is pretty ridiculous, if you think about. in 2019, i posed the question to steve bannon, since you brought bannon up, and that part of the book, i asked him about mike pence, and the possibility that mike pence could be taking a baton from trump. and he laughed, and he said, are you kidding me? trump wants the next guy to lose by 40 points, because he alone could do this. donald trump alone wants to be the guy who did this. and i think that's true. i don't think trump has any interest. when i asked him about that, not only did he deny that mike pence was ever in any danger on january 6th, he kind of brushed it off as, oh, the people who said hang mike pence, they don't mean anything. and i put that in the book, right next to a section about the future of the republican party, which as far as i can see, only has donald trump as its leader. >> jeremy peters, he's gonna stay with me a little longer. coming up, what he reveals in this book, about a defining moment for the new gop, when the 11th hour continues.

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the new book insurgency. this is about trump and also the party in general, how it changed. so there is this fascinating new story, new details, about when john mccain picks sarah palin as his running mate. you weren't, quote, mccain turn to his wife, cindy, john, it's a gamble, she said. this made mccain's face light up. well i wish you hadn't said that, he said. mccain, an avid craps player, balled up his fist and blue on it, then shook it like he was about to roll a pair of dice. expletive it, he said, let's do it. >> right. that is -- it's as funny as it is, it's also very telling. because it shows that they didn't really appreciate what they were doing. they knew that sarah palin would be a pretty unconventional pick. they also -- >> she was not romney. >> exactly. but they didn't appreciate how popular she could get, and how she could overwhelm the ticket.

there was a time when -- after when she was announced, she was getting ten, 15,000 people at her rallies and john mccain was getting 200. >> do you see a through line from her to donald trump? >> that's why i called the chapter of the tip of the spear about sarah palin. this is -- someone else used this description of her, someone who works for trump, someone who's that description of her to say that everything he's ever capitalized on, what the voters were -- thought they were lacking in leadership in the republican party, they saw in her first. and it's not just the grievance, although she definitely tapped into that, it was, she had the rights ambience. her followers felt like the people who hated them also hated her. and that is donald trump's biggest strength. it's not as much about him as it is about who people perceive his enemies to be. and those are the same enemies they think they have to. sarah palin is a remarkable figure, and someone who is also very complicated because while we remember her misinformation

and the death panels, falsehood, and the way that she whipped up animosity toward obama in a pretty ugly way, when my book gets into is the way that the mccain campaign and the top strategist in the republican party were writing that script for her. she didn't come up with this all on her own. so they gave her the tools to do this. and when they saw that they worked, they were horrified. but they didn't do anything to reel it in because they really couldn't really back in. >> because she did it very well. jeremy peterson, the book isn't surge unsee. i will be on us with you, i only got through halfway through. it's terrific. congratulations. okay, when the 11th hour continues, we will recall a chilly day in illinois, a very different time in politics.

>> the race for presidency got more interesting today with the official announcement from senator barack obama, he is

running for president. as and, as he enters a democratic field, he pledged to end the war in iraq and gridlock in washington. >> the last thing before we go tonight, 15 years ago today, a 45 year old junior senator from illinois threw his hand into the ring for the highest office in the land. his candidacy was seen as a long shots, but then senator barack obama explains to a crowd in springfield, in a lawyer why he was the man for the job. >> i stand before you today to announce my candidacy for president of the united states of america. and if you will join with me in this improbable quest, if you feel destiny calling and see as i see the future of endless possibilities stretching out before us, if you sense as i sense that the time is now, to shake off our slumber and take our way our fears and make good on the debt we all passed on to future generations, then i am ready to take up the cause and march with you and work with you today, together, we can

finish the work that needs to be done. and assuring a new birth of freedom on this earth. thank you very much everyone. let's get to work! i love you! thank you! >> now, former president obama acknowledge the anniversary on facebook today saying, quote, today, our challenges are as great as any we faced 15 years ago, from disinformation that is undermining faith in our democratic institutions, to the growing effects of climate change, to a lingering pandemic. but my faith and what we can achieve when we work together is a strong as ever. that is our broadcast for this thursday night, with our thanks for being with us. on behalf of all of my colleagues at the networks of nbc news, goodnight. >> tonight on all in -- >> people have nothing to hide, don't bleach.

they will destroy evidence to keep it from being publicly archived as required under federal law. >> well, well, well, it was the man in the cabinet's hat. >> i won't talk about the fact that people have to flush their toilets 15 times. >> tonight, new reporting that donald trump took material clearly marked as classified out of the white house, new questions about an unexplained gap in white house for locks, and why donald trump's reported use of the white house toilet to flush documents could be a big problem in an investigation. >> a republicans desperate attempt survived after trump endorsed primary opponent. how fox news channel is planning to do for the truck protests but they did for the tea party. >> it's not just about canada now. >> bringing the freedom convoy to the u.s. of a. >> and the big take away from leicester holt's exclusive interview with president biden. all in starts right now. >> should