tv Velshi MSNBC February 12, 2022 5:00am-6:00am PST
5:00 am
we received a lot of response to "all boys aren't blue," banned in at least 15 states. velshi starts now. good morning, it is saturday, february the 12th. i'm ali velshi we begin today with a pair of convering mysteries, one involving a series of missing logs, call logs. and the other involving a continuously clogged presidential porcelain throne. we'll get to number two in a second. nbc learned that the white house records obtained by the select committee investigating the january 6th attack on the capitol do not include any phone calls to or from the insurrectionist former president during the hours long period after he spoke at a rally which served as a sort of battle cry for the charge on the capitol. that, of course, is impossible, because it's known that trump had a number of calls with
5:01 am
republican lawmakers during that time frame, including with the house minority leader kevin mccarthy and former college football coach turned alabama senator, tommy tubberville, who both professed they talked to him during that time. it's unclear why those calls are missing. no evidence as yet they were tampered with, but there's some speculation that the failed former president might have taken calls from his or someone else's cell phone, bypassing the official channels. if you want to get a sense for the twice-impeached ex-president's disregard for recordkeeping laws, look no further than the fourth book by maggie haberman, which reveals the former president's pension for flushing or attempting to flush torn up bits of nontoilet paper down his toilet was a problem that on more than one
5:02 am
occasion workers had to be called to not only plunge but fix the presidential loo. let's not forget the documents that made their way to the ex-president's florida golf resort. that includes the letter that barack obama left for his successor, and the love letters, using the former president's words, that kim jong-un sent to him. however, the documents might reveal more than our former leader's relationship with a murderous dictator. two people tell "the washington post" that some of those documents in the mar-a-lago cache are marked classified, others marked top secret. the department of archives asked the department of justice to investigate the matter and the house oversight committee said it is investigating. however, it remains unclear if the former president is going to face any legal consequences. though in an ironic full circle
5:03 am
turn of events he could face a similar probe to that that hillary clinton faced regarding her emails. joining me now is jeremy peters, a reporter with "the new york times" and nbc political contributor. now the author of the new book "insurgency, how the republicans lost their party and got everything they wanted". i was speaking to the impeachment manager of the second impeachment of donald trump, he's on the january 6th committee. he said everything they're getting puts texture and granularity on the larger picture that the committee knew about donald trump's culpability for the january 6th events. >> as if we needed further evidence than his speech that he gave that morning when he said come march with me on the capitol. right. this is all kind of led to the same end point, the same tragedy that we all kind of watched
5:04 am
unfold on television that day. i think what's most remarkable, what continues to be one of the most remarkable aspects of all of this, ali is what i detail in the book, which is the willingness of republicans to try to vanish this down the memory hole. i mean, there is one scene in particular in my book on january 6th with a very pro-trump congressman, former white house physician, ryan jackson, who was so fearful of his life that he took off his tie so the rioters outside the house chamber doors if they broke inside couldn't strangle him with it. you don't hear that type of account of the events of that day from republicans anymore, unless they're adam kinzinger or liz cheney. it shows you the level of denial and delusion that has really
5:05 am
become part and parcel of trumpism. if a fact is inconvenient, it's not discussed or rewritten out of the history books or revised altogether. >> i want to explore that a little bit more with a quote from your book in which you say, this is from your interviews that you conducted with the president. he made it clear that he -- this is trump -- sees himself as the sole figure responsible for the political and popular success the gop had during his time as the party's leader. he's not interested in talking about which republicans might do well in 2024. in his mind, there will be no succession because he believes he will avenge his defeat in 2020 by running and winning in 2024. this is a question we put to a lot of people about whether they think donald trump is something in the rear view mirror or very much the future of the country. your interviews with him seem to suggest that he's running. >> right.
5:06 am
i'm really glad you asked that question because my answer, frankly, is the same it was when i first spoke to him a year ago. i spoke to him more than once for the book over the course of several months and my answer didn't change. and that was, if the election were tomorrow, i think trump would run. of course, the election is not tomorrow. based on my conversations with him, though, the sense of anger and detachment from reality seemed to grow from the first time i spoke with him in january until the late summer, and you can hear it getting worse and worse. you know, i heard him speak in january at a rally outside arizona, and he has, it seems, talked himself into this idea that he's somehow the victim of this grave injustice. and, you know, whether or not that's still powerful for his voters i think is an open question. but it is perfectly fitting with his appeal as a populist figure
5:07 am
in the republican party. because the people who voted for him, tend to be the types of people who have voted for conservative populist candidates all along. they think that they are one presidential election away from losing their purchase on social, political, and cultural power in this country. and that's what trump is effectively telling them, by saying this election was stolen. they stole this from you, let's take our country back. i heard that from him. when i spoke to him, it didn't really click at the time and i'm not sure that i believed him when he said this, but he said, you know, trust me, this fraud, this election in 2020, it's bigger than the wall. and i think that's what he's done for some of his followers, not all of them, of course, but for a lot of them, stop the steal, ali, is the new build the wall. >> it's a remarkable story. it keeps evolving. jeremy thanks for your great
5:08 am
reporting, thanks for the book. jeremy peters is a reporter for "the new york times." and the author of "insurgency". joining me is representative hank johnson of georgia, a member of multiple committees, including oversight and judiciary, also the secretary for the black caucus. i didn't think you and i would ever be discussing whether or not your committee is going to take up discussions about documents flushed into toilets. but it seems like you have a full plate of stuff you have to deal with now coming out of this investigation. >> well, thanks for having me, ali, the more we learn about what went on during the trump administration is -- it's additional fodder for investigations and not political investigations, but these are really important investigations to get at what exactly occurred during the trump administration. and we can't do that without
5:09 am
having adequate records. and if the president is chewing up records or flushing records or tearing up records, it's a violation of the law. that is something that the house oversight committee is charged with investigating. we are the committee in congress that has the authority, and, in fact, responsibility, to investigate the operations of the federal government, both legislative, judicial and executive branch. and this falls squarely within our jurisdiction. >> i want to ask you a question, i was sort of -- jeremy peters was just getting to, particularly with the way donald trump is campaigning now, or at least looks like he's campaigning, he does these rallies surrounded by people who are all stop the steal, election denying, big lie candidates. tell me what matters more here, the big lie and what led to january 6th or the manifestation of it in the states, including your state of georgia in which
5:10 am
every week there is some new development that feels like the effort to fend off voting restrictions is just full-time work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. >> yeah. it's all important, ali. and it seems to be all coordinated, too, from local, state, to federal. and even international now where we have this movement of truckers up in canada which threatens that phenomenon threatens to occur here in america. it appears to be an orchestrated movement that transcends local, state, and federal and now national boundaries. it's a threat to democracy and freedom everywhere. georgia has been ground zero for this threat to our voting rights. you know, georgia, the georgia
5:11 am
legislature was in session at the time of the insurrection. and in response to the big lie, georgia's republican-controlled legislature immediately went to work passing a raft of voter suppression bills, and those bills have been extended upon and modelled by other states since. and so, we -- it's ironic that we delivered a 50-vote senate to the nation and at the same time turned around and offered the nation examples of voter suppression laws that have since been adopted. so much crazy stuff is going on, ali, it's really ridiculous. >> does that frustrate you and other people in georgia, to say, we showed you how this could work, how you get people out to vote. we did it so well we got two democratic senators and created
5:12 am
a 50-vote senate. and the senate won't move? they won't say thanks for reintroducing us to democracy, georgia. >> i tell you, we did our part in georgia. both of our senators elected at that time, democrats, delivered a 50/50 senate. and what we have to do around the nation, just as states have duplicated what georgia did in terms of voter suppression laws, now the voters of that state have to get out and do what georgia did in 2020 -- 2021 actually. and elect more democratic senators from those states so that we can kind of take the nation's fate out of the hands of one or two democratic senators who tend to not go along with the democratic program. that's what we have to do is elect more democratic senators.
5:13 am
and we have to retain the house of representatives in order to get anything done beyond 2022. >> including that january 6th commission, which republicans have vowed to shutdown or at least recalibrate if they take control of the house of representatives. democratic representative hank johnson, thank you for joining us, good to see you. >> thank you. just a month and a half into 2022 it's shaping up to be a detrimental year for voting rights. i'll discuss that more with jim clyburn. the state has ordered the evacuation of personnel from the embassy in kyiv ukraine. we'll discuss that in minutes with senator tim kaine, a member of the senate foreign relations and armed services committees. e e and armed services committees.
5:14 am
5:15 am
are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, wherever you go. gas or abdominal discomfort? taking align can help. align contains a quality probiotic to naturally help soothe digestive upsets 24/7. try align, the pros in digestive health. and join the align healthy gut team up and learn what millions of align users already know. how great a healthy gut can feel. sign up at alignprobiotics.com also try align dualbiotics gummies to help support digestive health. (vo) america's most reliable network is going ultra!
5:16 am
with verizon 5g ultra wideband now in many more cities so you can do more. hey, it's mindy! downloading a movie up to 10 times faster than before. oh, is that the one where the mom becomes a... (mindy) yep! (vo) i knew it! let's work offsite. public wi-fi? no thanks. 5g ultra wideband is faster and safer. and what's this? 5g internet for your home and business? just plug and play. see ya cable! 5g ultra wideband is now in more and more places. verizon is going ultra, so you can too.
5:18 am
we talk a lot about the first amendment these days, it protects citizens from government infringement upon freedoms concerning religion, expression, assembly, the right to petition and the press. let me read it for you. congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievances. it's the very first amendment to the constitution. yet one that is constantly under attack. when i saw this headline this week, it felt like a victory, not just for journalists but for all who value the freedom of the press. aclu minnesota wins $825,000
5:19 am
sediment reforms to end minnesota state patrol attacks on journalists. i'm not quite sure why 231 years after the first amendment was established anyone needs to be suing the police for attacking journalists or why for that matter police in america continue to attack journalists. nonetheless, here we are. a federal judge approved a permanent injuks that will prohibit the minnesota state patrol from attacking or arresting journalists. this stems from the 2020 protests over the police killings of george floyd and dante wright. the aclu says during the protests, law enforcement engaged in extraordinary escalation of unlawful force deliberating targeting journalists. officers fired projectiles as journalists, ordered them to disperse, arrested them and
5:20 am
interfered with the media's ability to observe and document the protests and the law enforcement's response. i was there. i witnessed all this firsthand. in fact, while i was reporting live during what was, despite what you will hear from right wing media, a peaceful protest, law enforcement filed on our position and i was struck in my left leg by a rubber bullet. i'm not involved in this lawsuit, i was not able to identify which law enforcement agency fired on us because the group doing the shooting was a combination of police and national guard nor do i know my crew was targeted as journalists. after retreating from the area we were shot at, we encount erred more police and national guard. we identified ourselves as media to which the authorities said we don't care and fired on us again. the intentions of the heaily
5:21 am
armed officers were clear. my colleague ed o is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. he was producing and filming on may 31st, 2020 when he was attacked by minnesota state patrol. he says at the time that he was with a group of journalists near another rally. demonstrators were giving speeches, everything was calm, suddenly out of in nowhere, minnesota state patrol closed in on the group of journalists and backed them into a dead end. the police sprayed them in the face with pepper spray. ed was hit in the head with what he believes to be a concussion grenade. he said the group was explicit about identifying themselves as members of the press but i learned in another part of town that night, the police didn't care. or maybe they did care. i don't know what they were thinking. the minnesota state patrol released a statement saying in part saying, quote, we learn
5:22 am
from incidents like these and look for ways to make them better. that's why we've implemented several improvements. as a result of the settlement, the minnesota state patrol or prohibited from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists using physical force or chemical agents against journalists, ordering journalists to stop reporting protests, ordering them to disperse or seize equipment. all of these things happened to us. congratulations to the aclu. you just secured rights that are already guaranteed to journalists under the first amendment. don't get me wrong. i'm deeply grateful to organizations like the aclu and others holding accountable those who ignore the constitution and deprive others of their freedoms. but why the hell do we need a lawsuit and an agreement to under score what the constitution makes very clear.
5:23 am
it should never have come to this. this agreement needs to be sent as a warning to police everywhere in the country, freedom of the press is to freedom to bear witness on your behalf, shine a light on and record and report and do so safely on your behalf. i suppose this agreement should be breaking news in 1791. before we had the first amendment. it is not breaking news today. i just hope we get to a place where police understand that we want to live in a country where the police simply don't attack journalists or prevent them from doing their work. we'd like a country in which the police value this important part of the constitution that they swear to uphold and protect. our work as journalists will not stop no matter what impediments police put in our way but it would be nice if they protect our right and your need for us to do our work. t and your need s t and your need s to do our work
5:24 am
hey google. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ - oh...oh. - what's going on? - oh, darn! - let me help. lift and push and push! there... it's up there. hey joshie... wrinkles send the wrong message. help prevent them with downy wrinkleguard. feel the difference with downy. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! (sighs wearily) here i'll take that! (excited yell) woo-hoo! ensure max protein. with thirty grams of protein, one gram of sugar, and nutrients to support immune health. ♪ i see trees of green ♪ one gram of sugar, ♪ red roses too ♪
5:25 am
♪ i see them bloom for me and you ♪ (music) ♪ so i think to myself ♪ ♪ oh what a wonderful world ♪ ready to style in just one step? introducing new tresemme one step stylers. five professional benefits. one simple step. totally effortless. styling has never been easier. tresemme. do it with style. totally effortless. styling has never been easier. meet apartment 2a, 2b and 2c. 2a's monitoring his money with a simple text.
5:26 am
like what you see abe? yes! 2b's covered with zero overdraft fees when he overdraws his account by fifty bucks or less. and 2c, well, she's not going to let a lost card get her stressed. am i right? that's right. that's because these neighbors all have chase. alerts that help check. tools that help protect. one bank that puts you in control. chase. make more of what's yours.
5:27 am
inner voice (furniture maker): i'm constantly nodding... ...because i know everything about furniture ...but with the business side... ...i'm feeling a little lost. quickbooks can help. an easy way to get paid, pay your staff, and know where your business stands. new business? no problem. success starts with intuit quickbooks. new vicks vapostick. strong soothing vapors... help comfort your loved ones. success starts with for chest, neck, and back. it goes on clear. no mess just soothing comfort. try new vicks vapostick.
5:28 am
this morning it feels as though the russian invasion of ukraine could happen at any moment. the u.s. state department has ordered the evacuation of all nonessential personnel from the embassy in kyiv and reports that russia has reduced its own staff. president biden has a call scheduled this morning with the russian president, vladimir putin, but only time will tell how things are going to shake out. just moments ago we learned that secretary of state tony blinken have a phone call with sergei lavrov. according to the state department blinken reiterated should moscow further invade ukraine it would result in a united transatlantic response. i want to bring in tim kaine of virginia, a member of the senate armed services and relations committee, both of which are
5:29 am
important here. thank you for being with us. >> important time, glad to be with you. >> it is. president biden and president putin scheduled for a call this morning, however ahead of that we do not have confirmation of the reporting but the guardian is saying, quote, biden told other nato and eu leaders that the u.s. believes putin has decided to carry out an invasion of ukraine which could happen in the next few days, end quote. senator what do you know about this? what do you know about how far down the road putin's decision may be and what it looks like? >> i want to be careful here because much of what i know has come from classified hearings in the last week in both of my committees, armed services and foreign relations. i can say this, i not only have been gathering information from u.s. sources but i met this week with the eu ambassador to the united states and some eu ministers visiting the united states. and i think the -- you know, just the facts on the ground, the sheer movement of personnel,
5:30 am
equipment, field hospitals, blood supplies into the area surrounding ukraine and particularly in belarus, near kyiv, this is not the eastern ukraine that russia has already occupied, this is posing more of a danger to the ukrainian capital, which is west in the country. these are the kinds of just facts on the ground that are leading president biden and others in the u.s. to conclude that an invasion could well be eminent. >> i appreciate this is sensitive stuff you have information about, thank you for giving us clarity about that. you are on the foreign relations committee, you and other members had a briefing on where iran's nuclear program stands now after donald trump withdrew the u.s. from the deal in 2018. i spoke to chris murphy the other night, your colleague, here's what he told me. >> i walked out of that briefing really concerned. the amount of time right now that it would take iran to get a
5:31 am
nuclear weapon after they made the decision to do so, is frighteningly short, much shorter than the timeline before the nuclear agreement was signed. >> senator murphy was making the point to me that something has to be done here. republicans were happy to pull out of that deal but nobody ever offered an alternative and now things are more serious than they were before the deal was signed in 2015. >> that's right, ali. you rarely have an opportunity, as we have in this case, is to sort of test a theory before the nuclear deal was signed in 2015 and i strongly supported it, iran was a matter of months away from having enough enriched uranium if they wanted to weaponize they could. the deal went into place and all of the intelligence from all of our allies and iran and the iaea, suggested that the breakout with iran went from a
5:32 am
couple of months to a year and we had significant inspections to detect if or when iran decided to break toward nuclear capacity. president trump pulled out of the deal even though secretary of state, national security adviser, joint chiefs of staff told him not to but he's apparently smarter than all of him combined. so we are exactly where everyone predicted we would be when we blew up that deal, iran returned to where they were before the deal and they're closer to breakout capacity. that's why i strongly support the biden administration efforts to convince iran to rejoin the deal, which they are -- they've been negotiaing for about ten months and we sort of think it's going to be critical to reaching a decision, i hope they're able to do that. >> i hope folks understand you didn't have to love the iran deal but if you didn't like it you need to come up with something better. >> last week the house passed
5:33 am
the competes act. it's designed to boost u.s. competitiveness with china and other rivals. that bill is now in the senate. how are things coming along? what's your role in trying to get this passed? >> i think we have a great shot getting the bill done and getting to president biden's desk in the near future, i think february or early march. this is a bill that will enable the american workforce to out compete china or anyone over decades and it has significant investments in key provisions like growing a more robust ships manufacturing industry in the united states so we don't have to rely on other countries. another bill i'm proud of, a bipartisan bill, that i worked on with rob portman of ohio, for the first time would allow students who are pell grant eligible to use pell grants for career and technical training not just college. it's kind of amazing that you can be eligible for a pell grant in terms of your family income but we don't allow you to use
5:34 am
those grants for career and technical training. it has to be college course work. our bill is included in the house version, and i think this would open up huge opportunities for students to get into great careers that are in need and that are high paying, that aren't traditional curriculum. >> i think the interesting thing you point out about this bill is it does have bipartisan support and it's necessary and one of those things when we're not all polarized and in our corners we can be doing. i appreciate the work you're doing on that senator. thanks for being with us. >> thanks. >> democratic senator tim kaine of virginia. i have to be honest with you, i've never been part of a book club until now. here we have launched the banned book club amid the rash of challenges to books about race, sexuality, and the first book is "all boys aren't blue". there's still time to email your
5:35 am
5:36 am
as a professional bull-rider i'm used to taking chances. but when it comes to my insurance i don't. i use liberty mutual, they customize your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. wooo, yeaa, woooooo and, by switching you could even save 665 dollars. hey tex, can someone else get a turn? yeah, hang on, i'm about to break my own record. yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪ (music) only pay for what you need. who said you have to starve yourself to lose weight? who said you can't do dinner? who said only this is good?
5:37 am
and this is bad? i'm doing it my way. meet plenity. an fda -cleared clinically proven weight management aid for adults with a bmi of 25-40 when combined with diet and exercise. plenity is not a drug - it's made from naturally derived building blocks and helps you feel fuller and eat less. it is a prescription only treatment and is not for pregnant women or people allergic to its ingredients. talk to your doctor or visit myplenity.com to learn more. men put their skin through a lot. day-in, day-out that's why dove men body wash has skin-strengthening nutrients and moisturizers that help rebuild your skin. dove men+care. smoother, healthier skin with every shower.
5:38 am
over the last few weeks on the show we've been talking a lot about the uptick in book banning in america. in response we're starting the velshi banned book club highlighting literature and authors who popped up on do not read or teach lists. i hope you had time to thumb through your copy of "all boys aren't blue" because we are speaking with him tomorrow morning for our inaugural interview. the message is crucial, poignant, thought provoking. he starts the first few pages of the book, an author's note, on the why behind the book. he writes, quote, please know that this book was crafted with care and love, but most importantly to give a voice to
5:39 am
so many from marginalized communities whose experiences have not yet been captured between the pages of a book. his memoir tells an honest story for young, queer, black people everywhere. which is why i was surprised to see that so many of the velshi viewers who wrote in with reactions to "all boys aren't blue" are not from marginalized communities at all. take mark strader, he wrote i will never be able to fully grasp what it meansing to be black and gay in america. but i have seen it in the struggles of my friends and coworkers. i have seen the struggle as members of my family came to grips with their own sexuality as they came to age in west
5:40 am
virginia. george has provided a guide to young, black members of the lgbtqiap plus community to negotiating the doubly difficult road of claiming their identity with pride. here's another viewer response from allen schaeffer, who called himself white, wealthy and privilege. i hadn't considered what it must be like to be someone with an identity that puts them in more than one marginalized group, it happens hard enough in one but to have to fight for one's identity as both even against the prejudices from one of those communities towards the other, i can't fathom how uphill a battle that must be in our society. reading and feeling mr. johnson's firsthand account of the struggles and traumas he faced, helps me understand what
5:41 am
it might be like. we're not just using works of banned literature as a springboard for a subversive rant. this is truly for people who want to grow from reading a book. tune in tomorrow to hear from george m. johnson tomorrow. thanks to those of you who already have emailed your stories. i am really looking forward to this. looking for laws in all the wrong reasons. in florida a new bill called the don't say gay bill is making its way through the state legislature seeking to censure how issues are taught in schools. g to censure how issues are taught in covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. i recommend nature made vitamins,
5:42 am
because i trust their quality. they were the first to be fied by usp, an independent organization that sets strict quality and purity standards. nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. (vo) america's most reliable network is going ultra! with verizon 5g ultra wideband now in many more cities so you can do more. hey, it's mindy! downloading a movie up to 10 times faster than before. oh, is that the one where the mom becomes a... (mindy) yep! (vo) i knew it! let's work offsite. public wi-fi? no thanks.
5:43 am
5g ultra wideband is faster and safer. and what's this? 5g internet for your home and business? just plug and play. see ya cable! 5g ultra wideband is now in more and more places. verizon is going ultra, so you can too. seeing blood when you brush or floss 5g ultra wideband is now in more and more places. can be a sign of early gum damage. new parodontax active gum repair kills plaque bacteria at the gum line. to help keep the gum sealed tight. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪
5:44 am
alright. y'all know when they say your home is a reflection of you? well helene found herself in a lamp. no joke. i got a fancy grown up lamp to make me feel like a fancy grown up. mhm. adulting ain't easy. ooh! check this one out. waffles loves her dog bed. we can hardly get her out of it. she's kind of a diva. yes, waffles! living your best life. [woof] i'm telling y'all there's no place like wayfair to make your home totally you. ooh! i want that. unleash the freshness... ♪♪ still fresh ♪♪
5:45 am
fressshhhhhh in wash-scent booster ♪♪ downy unstopables the state of florida once again is taking action to regulate what can and cannot be discussed in classrooms. this time it's targeting lgbtq youth. the parental rights in education bill is dubbed the don't say gay bill by critics. it aims to restrict the teaching of lgbtq issues in elementary schools. the bill says the discussions are not age appropriate for students that young. it's gaining momentum in the legislature. a bill that passed the senate education committee along party lines and governor ron desantis
5:46 am
voiced support for the measure. concerns have prompted president biden to weigh in. he tweeted, quote, i want every member of the lgbtqi plus community, especially the kids who will be impacted by this hateful bill to know that you are loved and accepted just as you are. i have your back and my administration will continue to fight for the protections and safely you deserve. similar laws banning conversations about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools are in place in louisiana, mississippi, oklahoma and texas. critics worry this type of censorship will marginalized children as well as have a chilling effect on what teachers and students can fully discuss. joining me is michelle reigner, in 2020 she game the first black lgbtq woman elected to the state house. thank you for being with us. >> good morning. >> this is not academic to you.
5:47 am
this is not abstract to you. this is actually something that your lived experience informs you about. tell me how you think about this? when parents say it's not that i'm against kids learning about lgbtq stuff, i don't want them to learn it young. >> first of all, it's wonderful to be with you. i'm not hearing parents say that. the bill sponsor of the bill and governor desantis, they can't cite any examples where parents are saying, i don't want my kids to learn about this. here's the thing, they can't cite to any examples where conversations about gender identity, about sexual orientation that are happening in the school aren't age appropriate. so once again, this is the gaslight. it's the gaslight for me. it's the gaslight if you are not a white heterosexual, republican male, ron desantis doesn't want to hear about you.
5:48 am
he doesn't want to deal with you, talk about you. but here's the thing. you cannot erase lgbtq folks. we've been here we're going to be here. >> i have a clip about the bill by of your gop colleagues in the house and the governor. let's listen and talk about it on the other side. >> why is talking about sexual orientation a problem with kids? >> because that's something that parents should be doing. not the -- not school employees. >> we've seen instances of students being told by different folks in school, you know, don't worry, don't pick your gender yet, do this other stuff. they won't tell the parents about these discussions that are happening. that is entirely inappropriate. to get into situations where you're not having the parent, you're hiding things from the parent, you're injecting these concepts about choosing your gender, that is inappropriate for our schools. >> what do you make of that?
5:49 am
>> i mean, ali, it's laughable, unfortunately, but it's on the backs of children. none of these things are happening. we know that parents are the first teachers, we 100% agree with that. but what happens when a child comes in, my wife and i if we have a child and we have a child and that child says, i am proud of my two moms. i'm proud of my two moms. is the teacher going to stop teaching and say we can't talk about that? so once again, these things that the republicans are citing, they're not happening. and here's the thing, we know that lgbtq youth, they are more likely to suffer blame, they're likely to be homeless, commit suicide. so you're farther marginalizing them. and think about the students who live at the intersection of sexual identity or gender
5:50 am
identity and race. what does that mean for them? so, you know, right now you may not know this, ali, i'm running for congress and one of the things i'm focussing on in my race is that if the states won't be the adults in the room and protect our children that and p children then we need the federal government to do what they need to do which is why i am so appreciative of president joe biden making the statement that he made making this kind of discrimination. >> you inadvertently promoted our banned book club because i'm talking to george m. johnson about the book "all boys aren't blue" which is about the intersection of race and sexuality and the difficulty that that poses. thank you and thank you for the work that you're doing. state senator michelle weir of florida and the first lgbtq
5:51 am
woman elected to congress. she is on a powerful and important mission to donate books. the back story here is incredible. ate books. the back story here is incredible you could say it's te steph curry of footlongs. you could, but i'm not gonna. subway keeps refreshing and refreshing and re... once upon a time, at the magical everly estate, landscaper larry and his trusty crew... were delayed when the new kid totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone. age is just a number. and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. why hide your skin if dupixent has your moderate-to-severe eczema or atopic dermatitis under control?
5:52 am
hide my skin? not me. by hitting eczema where it counts, dupixent helps heal your skin from within keeping you one step ahead of eczema. hide my skin? not me. and that means long-lasting clearer skin... and fast itch relief for adults. with dupixent, you can show more skin with less eczema. hide my skin? not me. don't use if you're allergic to dupixent. serious allergic reactions can occur that can be severe. tell your doctor about new or worsening eye problems such as eye pain or vision changes, including blurred vision, joint aches and pain, or a parasitic infection. don't change or stop asthma medicines without talking to your doctor. when you help heal your skin from within, you can change how your skin looks and feels. and that's the kind of change you notice. talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent, a breakthrough eczema treatment. talk to your eczema specialist about dupixent, meet brett from apartment 2b. he's not letting an overdraft alert get him stressed. he knows he's covered with zero overdraft fees when
5:53 am
he overdraws his account by fifty bucks or less. overdraft assist from chase. make more of what's yours. (music) ♪ i think to myself ♪ ♪ what a wonderful world ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ 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,
5:54 am
we'll be there, keeping businesses ready for what's next. comcast business. powering possibilities.™ 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. switch today. every now and then a daunting situation sparks a great idea. meet 9-year-old chloe joyner of missouri city, texas. she's on a mission to donate 1
5:55 am
million books to children across the united states, but in a very interesting way. it started when chloe was 4 years old and was afraid of a police officer who worked in her area. chloe's grandmother did not want her to grow up to live in fear of cops so she arranged chloe to meet the police officer. cloughy and officer barry were fast friends and a light bulb went off in the 4-year-old's friend. from there, a book and a smile was born. the organization began as a way to strengthen ties between the community and law enforcement. five years later it's now expanded its reach. a book and a smile donates books to hospital, shelters and adoption agencies. i am delighted to welcome khloe joyner. she's the founder of a book and a smile. khloe, good morning to you. talk to me, why did you decide that it was useful for cops and kids to be connected through books? >> well, i thought it was useful
5:56 am
because i know that sometimes when cops have to pull over the kids' parents they might have to be a little bit afraid or scared that something bad will happen or something like that, so i wanted to make sure that maybe they felt more safe, that the police officer was nice and they gave them a book. and so -- that's why -- >> i'm sorry to interrupt you. you met with officer barry. what was that like when you met with officer barry. you also were scared of police when you were 4 years old. >> it was pretty fun. they were super duper nice. they had candy and let us know how to get started with the books and stuff. it was really fun. >> and you figured that they were already nice, but if they did this with books what would be the difference? if police and children were -- the idea were that they would be reading them together or that the police would be giving children books?
5:57 am
>> yes. that they would be -- excuse me, that they would be giving children books. ? so you started this with $141. i guess it was change or money you had collected and the plan was to go to disney. did you ever go to disney or did you spend the money on the books? >> i spent the money on books. >> what happened to the disney plan? >> we never went, but you ended up with this really, really successful program. what do you want to do with it now? you want to make it bigger. >> yes, i want to give a million books to a million kids? >> how do you want to get the books to the kids? you want to raise money and then what happens? >> i want to raise money and i want other people to raise up the money so i can buy books or so they can donate books so i can give it to everybody across my -- where i live, and i also -- i'm working them to giving them to people all around
5:58 am
the world. >> that's amazing. i guess you grew up really liking books. what do you read? what kind of things do you enjoy reading? >> i like reading fiction, and i like reading educational books. those are both my favorite. >> that's amazing. what do you want people to do who are watching this right now who are thinking that this is the best interview that i've ever had on my show because you're amazing and you're fun and you're actually solving problems. what would you like people to do to help your project? >> i would like people to go to my website, a book and a smile.org, and i want them to donate some books. >> and what will happen to those books? who are the kids you want to reach them? originally it was kids and police. where would you like them to go? >> different homeless shelters, people in need, hospitals and just all around the world. >> you are -- we are in the
5:59 am
middle of black history month and you want to collect and give away 1,000 books this month on cultural diversity. are you close to that goal yet? >> yes. we just need -- >> go ahead. how much more do you need? >> we just need 400 more books. >> that sounds like a call to action to my viewers and everybody watching right now. we are going to try and get you those 400 more books that you need before the end of february. all you've got to do is go to a book and a smile and make a donation. she's looking ultimately for a million books for a million kids. >> you have made my morning and that of my viewers. thank you so much for what you've done for the last five years. it's amazing. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> my pleasure. she's the founder of a book and a smile.org. don't go anywhere. there's plenty more. the house minority whip jim clyburn discusses the latest in
6:00 am
the rights for voting rights and he sent a letter that the justice department have more in the battle and musical legend, lester chambers and his band hit soj in the 1960s became something of an anthem and the song has another relevance today. another hour of "velshi" begins right now. and you are now looking at live pictures from windsor, canada, the north side -- i'm sorry, the south side of the ambassador bridge. when you're in detroit. canada is south of you. that's the south side of the ambassador bridge on the canada side. police are assembled now and this is a very different situation than it was last night. a court order went into effect at 7:00 p.m. eastern ordering the truckers to disperse. they did not disperse overnight and we are seeing police ready to open the most important border bet
174 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC WestUploaded by TV Archive on
![](http://athena.archive.org/0.gif?kind=track_js&track_js_case=control&cache_bust=1306475040)