program and you are not boosted. please, please, please get boosted. if your kid is not vaccinated, i personally have my kids vaccinated, i highly recommend you do that. that is a huge thing people can do. there is still a lot of low hanging fruit there. doctor anthony fauci, thank you so much for your time. >> fauci, thank yo so much for your time. >> your time tonight. >> good to be with you, chris. thank you for having me. >> that is all in on this tuesday night. "the rachel maddow show" starts with alex wagner at the desk >>good evening, chris, a thanks four at home joining us at this hour. it is hard to believe now there was a time to be able to safely take a hammer to it was one of the i biggest selling points. quote, hammer the hammer of a loaded ivar johnson revolver without the fear of discharge. you take no risk. this gun is so safe, you can literally take a hammer to it and it will not go off by mistake. then there's this one, a gun in

theon hands of a little girl. papa says it won't hurt us, accidental discharge impossible. given the aggressive sensational culture around gun ownership in this country today, it almost impossible to believe that ads forim guns ever looked this benign. here's a little boy who just wants to hunt in rabbits. this is from the early 1900s. the simplicity of the remington action ensures safety and saves repair bills. advertisements for guns in this country look nothing like this anymore. these are the n ads for remingt. the same company that made that ad with the boy and bunny more than 100 years ago. you seemo the silhouette of a soldier here using the gun being advertised. the copy says,un quote, when yo need to perform under pressure, the bushmaster weapon delivers. implying that you, too, can do whatever this soldier can do, as long as this gun is in your hands. how about this one -- this

weapon is tested and proven reliable in the most brutal conditions on n earth. it'sio the uncompromising choic when you demand a rifle as mission adaptable agency you are. it n is, quote, the ultimate military combat weapons system. last one, quote. consider your man card reissued. the fine print reads, if it's good enough for the professional, it is good enough for you. the gun in this ad is a military-style weapon similar to an ar-15 called the bushman 223 rifle made by the company remington. it is the exact same weapon used in a mass shooting at sandy hook elementary school in 2012. that weapon is so efficient, so easy to use, it only took the gunman 264 seconds to kill six adults and 20 more little boys and girls.

in 2014, some of the sandy hook families sued remington, the manufacturer of the gun that killed theirth children in a wrongful death lawsuit. and that case might sound like a no-brainer, but it really was ar extraordinary legal long shot. that's because guns are unlike any other consumer product. companies that make them are protected by a federal law that essentially shields gun manufacturers from accountability, after their products are used to murder people. and so to get around that law, the families suing remington tried out a new legal strategy. they argued that remington was improperly marketing their ar-15 style weapon to civilians. the families argued that remington was telling people that a gun built for military-style combat could and should also be used in everyday civilian right. and in these ads, the ones that

remington would make you a man. the ones that were battle-tested, the ones, according to remington, good enough for professionals, and good enough for you. their lawyer used e an analogy court one that makes their argument incredibly easy to understand. >> can you imagine ford motor company advertising run of their cars to go run over people? who would hesitate for a second to to hold ford accountable for that? >> that makes sense, right. you don't sell someone a pair of shoes on the basis it will help them sneak a bomb on a plane. so by that logic, you shouldn't be able to sell someone a gun oo the basis it will annihilate scores of people in a matter of minutes just like the soldiers in combat do. this case has been dragging on for seven years. and today, remington agreed to a settlement. the company that made the gun

thatth killed 26 people at sand hook elementary school, it agreed todayol to pay the famils of those victims $73 million. that is believed to be the largest settlement ever between a gun manufacturer and the families of the people killed by its product. for the families of the victims, though, this lawsuit was never about money. it was about accountability. it was about getting some semblance of justice after their lovedla ones, their little children, were gunned down. and it was also about information.d as part of any legal proceeding like this n.one, the parties involved are expected to turn over what is called discovery. put simply, discovery is any order or document or communication that can be in any way relevant to the lawsuit. and so with this lawsuit, the sandy hook families hoped to obtain through the discovery process some insight into how these gun companies operate. and how they make decisions

around marketing their products. as aar condition of this settlement, the families are allowed to publicize what they learned from the thousands and thousands of documents turned over by remington over the course of this trial. these are documents that remington has fought tooth and nail to keep out of the public eye. thee families who brought this suit believe that bringing these documents to light will help prevent the next mass shooting. one of these families is the wheeler family. their little boy benjamin was 6 years old when he was shot and killed atsh sandy hook. today, ben's dad, david wheeler, talked about how he hopes today's settlement means more families would not have to do whatou he and his wife did toda. >> we're standing here because ben isn't. he'd be tall, probably with

twosome brown hair, probably lanky, but as francine said, he's 6. he's 6 forever. under a granite stone in newtown cemetery. when you lose a kid at an age like that, six years is not enough time to take all the photographs and videos that you need to last for the rest of your life. one of the reasons ben's not here is because some people made a decision, driven by an increased desire for profits and a fear of a shrinking market

share to focus their advertising on young men.nk to sell them their product. the most intentionally lethal consumer product our species has ever devised. think about this for a second. does honda market their incredibly powerful open wheel formula 1 race cars to young drivers, inexperienced drivers, and telliv them if they buy the product, they'll be able to dominate the public roads and highways? do they do that? do the makers of hunting knives and compound bows imply in their advertising to young hunters that they can turn those weapons on other human beings and that buying them will bring them power and glory? no. but that's what the firearms industry did. they behaved irresponsibly to

make more money. and their corporate partners turned the other cheek.y. today is an example of our system working. an example of the process that whilef lengthy, it makes it clr to the manufacturers of these products if you want to sell it you must do it in a reasonable and responsible way and it makes clear to the banks who fund them and the insurance companies who cover them that there will be a steep priceer for irresponsible behavior. ourbl son ben didn't behave irresponsibly on december 14th. he wentbe to school. and now he's gone. and we're here. because we want to make sure that another father and another motherth don't have to stand he

some day. thank you. >> joining us now is josh that koshkof, he's a lawyer representing the sandy hook families. he was standing over the shoulder of mr. wheeler. thank you for being here. i know it's been an extraordinary day. it's a been an extraordinary almostit decade this struggle h gone on for so long. can you first tell us how the families are at the end of this long road that began with just such unspeakable horror? >> yeah, i mean, i think they're exhausted. i think they're just emotionally drained.ju i wasn't ready for that -- to watch david's speech. if you notice in the background i was a bit of a mess when he was talking. >> i think we were all a bit of a mess watching him speak about

his son. >> yeah, yeah. and it's just been a very -- it's a very difficult -- it may sound oddy to a viewer that th is a complicated time. it is from a straight legal perspective, it's about as pureb i think, result as you can get in this case. i was -- i mean, there's nothing in the result as a pure legal matter the compensation, the documents that is insufficient. like, there was no more money. and wes got the documents. there's nothing more that we can do. but, you know, when you lose a child like they have, or a loved one, and this case has sort of kept them alive, and to see it come to an end is very difficult. and it's also difficult, alex, to look at the money and to think -- to -- it's a conflicting feeling. and so i've just reminded the

families that this is the money -- the money -- the importance of the money is the importance of the impact this could have on change. so, it's difficult. >> that point that the purpose of this lawsuit offered some solace in grief is an important caveat to all of this, right? but i do want to talk a little bit, though, about the strategy. >> sure. >> because you helped represent these families over several years. at one point, last july, remington offered $33 million to settle this lawsuit. and the families rejected that. >> right. >> what changed since then that prompted the settlement offer to be more than double and for you to accept it? >> well, i think that the critical thinking at the time of the offer was -- well, first of all, we didn't have all of the documents that we wanted. and unless we -- the documents were the linchpin of the

resolution. the case never would have settled, no matter how much money they paid, or if we didn't get the documents, period. and so at that time, we were still doing what you pointed out to your viewers as discovery. getting documents and taking depositions. and so, we wanted to complete that. at the same time, there were two other insurance carriers who had not come to the conclusion that the other carriers had. and we felt that the message had to be $73 million, maybe all that you have, but understand this, if remington was still in business, we would not take this money because w it's inadequate. and again, that's not being we want more money. the message being you can't ensure this conduct at $73 million. you know. >> right. >> so it was really important that we got all the insurance carriers on board. but again, it was two boxes that

had to be checked in order for to us acceptd a resolution and that's what happened. >> let's r talk a little bit abt discovery. throughout the process, you placed most importance on the internal documents from remington you that say prove wrongdoing. and now those can be made public. can youth talk a little bit abo what core team has found in thosee documents, and the restf us can see them? we know in big tobacco, the discovery about how big tobacco was lying to the american people or the hazards they had the american public takeds on. that was as explosive as anything else. >> yeah, that's true. but there is a bit of a slight difference. look at the documents you showed your audience tonight. i was just thinking, yes, we are going to to taking it public. this is all coming very quickly. we got to organize everything and figure out a way to do this in a way that's helpful.

because if you dump hundreds of thousands of documents online it can really be difficult to sort of go through them. go back to what you showed and that's the kind of things that are publicly available. you kind of get the idea there was wrongdoing right off the top anyway. you look at the ads and the efforts. remington was very boastful at the time about the market for younger demographic and how they love their weapons. so there's really a lot hiding in plain sight. i'm not trying to duck the question but because we are working on that part of it. but let's just put it this way, that those documents that what you see as the outside of the t puzzle, that's the real color. sand it's pretty chilling. >> well, we look forward to the public w becoming better and better versed with the tactics gun manufacturers and their insurance agencies have been

adopting to getes product into e hands of people who then use them to kill. this feels like a turning point, joshua koskoff. congratulations on the work you have done thus far. you have been on a remarkable journey. this is one of the attorneys representing the sandy hook families. theti end of a road but perhaps the beginning of another. thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you, alex. appreciate it. up next, we have exclusive new reporting about one of the people involved in the fake elector tscheme. the one to get mike pence to use fake electoral certificates january 6th to declare that donald trump had won that election. that exclusive reporting is next.ru that exclusive reporting is next clover does that so i can do this. i didn't know you had dahlias. they're my favorite. they just came in. thank you.

i should do a marketing campaign. clover does that. you're like a mind reader. do you like it? here are the receipts from the other store. cool. thanks. nice. alright, you're all set. oh, could i order online too? you sure can. ♪♪ secure payments, the tools you need, people who can help, we do that. talk to a clover business consultant today.

♪♪ ♪ one of the central questions facing investigators on the january 6 committee was the question of who was responsible

for the multistate fake elector scheme. if you've been watching this show, you have seen rachel's extensive coverage of this issue. our constitution elects presidents via the electoral college. so, after each presidential election, every state convenes a group of electors casting their votes for whichever candidate won in that state. after the trump election, electors in states that biden won convened unofficial electors. in five of those states, those fake trump electors met and signed official-looking -- official-looking certificates, one who falsely claimed they were duly elected and qualified electors. those documents have the same conspicuous formatting. the idea was to get vice president pence to use those fake certificates to declare trump the winner on january 6th

when it came time to certify the results. for months now, reporters across the country have been trying to get answers from the fake electors. about who told them to carry out this multistate scheme. here's what it looked like when an arizona reporter put the question to one of that state's fake trump electors. >> did you have direction from anybody in doing this? was it you 11 yourself doing this? or did someone give you advice on the manner in you can do it? >> so, i'm simply -- i was one of the electors. >> right. >> i'm not in charge of the electors? >> how did you hear about it? >> you would need to ask the party chairman. >> how did you hear about it? >> you would need to ask the party chairman. >> how did you know to show up? >> ask the party chair. >> did you get a phone call from someone? do you not know how you arrived at a place? >> thank you.

i appreciate it. have a great day. >> the other question -- >> that was arizona state representative jake hoffman trying desperately to seem like he really does not know how he ended up becoming one of those fraudulent elects for trump trump. well, today, we have unearthed what we believe to be some exclusive never before seen documents one showing just how involved in the scheme state representative jake hoffman really was. on january 5th, 2021, just one day before the attack on the capitol, hoffman sent an email to three white house staffers. in that email, he attached what he described as a, quote, urgent letter for the vice president. and asked that a copy of it be shared with then president trump as well. here is what that letter said, quot, dear mr. vice president, i write to you on the eastern of the january 6th congress, to

request you that in your capacity as the president of the senate and presiding officer over the aforementioned joint session of congress delay the certification of the election results and instead seek clarification from the arizona legislature as to which slate of presidential electors are proper and accurate." again, this is the same jake hoffman who responded to questions about his role in the scheme by saying, who me? ask someone else. one white house staffer who received the email wrote back, thanks, jake. i have shared the letter with the key member of the president's team. something that might be of interest tole january 6th investigators, i should note, we have reached out for comment to arizona state representative jake hoffman and the white house staffer who responded to his email. we have not yet heard back. how did hoffman and all of the

other fake electors end up together in this big fraudulent multistate scheme? how did it get started? and who in trump's orbit knew about it or was involved in planning it? last month, cnn and "the washington post" both reported that rudy giuliani and several unnamed trump campaign official has a role in overseeing the fake elector spot in several states. in the wake of that reporting, january 6 investigators sent subpoenas to 14 of these so-called fake electors. now, today, the january 6 investigators investigation have issued a new batch of six subpoenas, again, focused on the fake elector scheme. the six include two elected state officials in pennsylvania and arizona, as well as the chair of the arizona republican party. but two of the subpoenas were also sent to the director and deputy director of election day operations for trump's 2020 campaign. and a subpoena to michael roman who served as the director of

election day operations, the investigators wrote, quote, the select committee is in possession of communications reflecting your involvement in a coordinated strategy to contact republican members of state legislatures in former states that former president trump had lost and urged them to reclaim their authority by sending an alternate slate of electors, one that would support former president trump. it appears that you helped direct the trump campaign staffers participating in this effort. joining us now is congressman pete aguilar. congressman, thank you for joining us. i know you've been busy. >> thanks for having me on. >> we have seen public reporting in the last few days that rudy giuliani oversaw this fake election scheme. and today, your investigation revealed it has the evidence that director and deputy director of the trump campaign were heavily involved in this scheme. do you expect those individuals

to testify and provide documents to the committee? >> well, it's a two-prong sword there, we want both the production of documents, as well as their testimony. that's what we've sought out of each individual who's received a subpoena. that's our expectation. and so, we will work with them to achieve that. but, ultimately, this is about getting to the truth. and we feel that these six individuals and those two who had an effort, who played a role in coordinating this effort with the states directly, have something to share. so, we want to make sure we're doing everything we can to seek the truth here. and that means talking to these two individuals and asking them for document production. >> so you're optimistic that they'll cooperate? >> well, it's our hope that anybody who received a lawful subpoenas cooperates. although some clearly in the former president's orbit have chosen to take a different path with consequences. it's always our expectation. and we will continue to work in

good faith to make sure that we seek these documents and get this testimony. >> do you feel at this point that you have a firm sense of who is ultimately responsible for this fake electors scheme? >> we feel that we're making significant progress. but ultimately, what your reporting shows is just the depths to which this has gone. and the silences of millions of votes that this campaign official was asking these states, by silencing these votes and flipping a lawful election. that's exactly what they were doing. and so to the extent that they were using the government, a machinery, around them to execute this strategy, that's what we want to seek to get to. how high did this go? who was involved? those are the things that we feel are important to seek at this point. and we feel that these two individuals, specifically, within the trump campaign, will shed some light on those details for us. >> certainly, the behavior of

someone like jake hoffman who, again, we reached out to comment from and has not gotten back to us, that video will leave you aghast at the fraud, right? on the same hand, one of the people subpoenaed is the fake elector currently running to be secretary of state in arizona. another attended the riot at the capitol and is running for the governorship of pennsylvania. you are in congress. what does all of this say about the state of the country and where we are as a democracy? >> well, it's important to note that we're asking these individuals to produce documents and provide testimony, based on their actions in 2020. we feel that is an important place. their role in this conspiracy is important to us. and so, that's what we're seeking to do. we don't have an opinion on them seeking public office in 2022.

that's not what this is about. but clearly, folks within the former president's orbit, and folks who worked on his scheme, you know, where -- you know, not based in any type of reality. and anyone who is seeking public office should be grounded in reality. and they don't meet that threshold. but this isn't about what their feelings are in 2022. it's about what they knew in 2020 and how they tried to execute a plan to silence the votes and to flip a lawful election. >> yes. being tethered to reality i think is probably job one for any elected official. i do wonder, we're about to enter a more public phase of this investigation. do you expect that the fake electors scheme is going to be a big part of the public hearings? >> well, all of this is putting together a puzzle. and so, we do think that it's a component to this, because these efforts help to stoke

individuals to actually believe that this was -- this was true, that the election was stolen. to the extent that the trump campaign was directly involved or that state parties were directly involved. what they did was gin up public support, and to motivate folks to go to the state capitols and come to the u.s. capitol on january 5th and 6th and join the rallies. and they fanned all of this at the highest levels. so, what we want to do is continue through our investigative efforts, piece together the puzzle, to that whole narrative and that this will be a component of that discussion. >> yes, because you tell yourself you're an elector does not mean that you actually are one. california congressman, a member of the january 6 investigation, pete aguilar. thanks for your time. >> thanks, alex. coming up, as ukraine deals with the aftermath of the cyber attack, officials here worry about what could happen to the

u.s. and cyberdefense systems should russia invade ukraine. that is next. that is next

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russian defense minister reported today that some military units are leaving their positions near ukraine. that would be good, but we have not yet verified that. we have not yet verified that russian military units are returning to their home bases. indeed, our analysts indicate that they remain very much in the threatening position. and the fact remains right now, russia has more than 150,000 troops encircling ukraine and belarus and along ukraine's border. an invasion remains distinctly possible. >> that was president biden speaking to the american people today on the situation in ukraine. he emphasized that a diplomatic path is still open, even as a russian invasion remains possible any day. he also warned that if vladimir

putin did invade there could be rm fictions here at home, particularly the potential for higher energy prices but there are worries on another front as well. a series of cyber attacks today knocked at least ten ukrainian websites offline, including those of ukrainian army, the ministry and two banks. it could not be linked to the russians but there's a reminder that invasion of ukraine could almost certain include a cyberfront. a official told u.s. intelligence russian government hackers have likely penetrated ukrainian military, energy and other critical computer networks to position themselves to potentially disrupt those systems should russia launch a military assault on ukraine. moscow could seek to disrupt ukrainian entities that provide critical services such as electricity, transportation, finance and telecommunications. either to support military

operations or to sow panic in an attempt to destabilize the country. but the report makes clear the concern about these kind of attacks goes far beyond ukraine. quote, should the conflict with ukraine escalate, officials fear there could be broader cyber attacks and retaliation for western sanctions and other moves to support ukraine. the concern is so great that on friday the white house's deputy national security adviser for cyber, ran a tabletop that it might take place with a conflict with moscow. just a few days ago, cissa put up a shields up advisory warning that making sure their systems are as hardened as possible against cyber attacks. if russia invades ukraine with the sanctions russia could seek

retaliation by disrupting systems in the u.s. president biden acknowledged the possibility of cyber attacks in his remarks today. joining us, former cyberreporter to "the new york times" and adviser to cisa, you are also the author of the book "this is how they tell me the world ends: the cyberweapons arms race." nicole, let's first talk about today's cyber attack in ukraine. what do you make of it? is it foreboding, is it a harbinger of things to come? how concerned are you? >> well, i think a number of things happened today. we saw "the washington post" report on the fact report that russia is embedded in a lot of critical ukrainian systems and we also saw denial of service attacks on some of their largest banks that made it impossible for people to get cash out of the atms. and then we saw a disturbing smx

text where ukrainian soldiers were getting texts saying they'll find your body when the snow melts. what's clear here, anything further that happens here is going to involve some kind of hybrid cyberoffensive. and that would either be a precipice to a physical invasion. or for now, it could be russia's way of keeping its foot on ukraine's throats as it dangles a troop withdrawal. but the reason we have to pay very close attention to this in the united states is because there's history here. russia has turned off the lights not once but twice in ukraine. 2015, 2016. they've launched ransomware attacks that weren't really ransomware attacks. they paralyzed the ukrainian systems and those attacks boomeranged back on american

companies. with merck and maersk in the area, in an existential crisis, so we need to be prepared here for some kind of blowback, should things escalate, and should the u.s. get more involved. >> let's talk a little bit more about what potentially could happen here. how concerned is cisa about a cyber attack, and how vulnerable beyond business, electricity grids, gas lines, how vulnerable is the u.s. at this moment, how concerned is cisa? >> well, i don't speak for cisa, just at my time at the "the new york times," i reported that russian hackers are probing nuclear plants. they breached energy companies. i reported on the solarwind attack which is fairly recent where russian hackers used an american company as a trojan

horse to break into major u.s. federal agencies and more than 400 of the fortune 500 as well as some of our electrical utilities. and we still have no indication that those hackers are out of those systems. so, just with that recent history, we have to assume that russia might have access to our critical systems. and we know they have the capabilities to disrupt and destroy those systems because we've seen these series of attacks that have pulled out on ukraine over the previous two years. the attack that keeps me up at night is the attack by russian hackersdismantled the safety locks at a petro plant in saudi arabia. it's clear they have the capabilities and access. what we have not had so far say geopolitical trigger for russia to use these things in tandem in some kind of coordinated way.

but putin has said, should the u.s. get involved in its business, its business, and ukraine, it would cross putin's red line. and i think the most likely way for that to play out here is with a series of coordinated cyber attacks. >> we hope that we do not see that geopolitical trigger pulled anytime soon. nicole perlroth is a former "the new york times" cyber security reporter and adviser to cisa, the super security infrastructure area. thank you for your time. >> thank you, alex. still to come, election conspiracy theorists are runs for office and some are running for positions that would put them in charge of elections. one organization is trying to do something about it. that's next. that's next. edition smart be. plus, 0% interest for 24 months. only for a limited time.

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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. colorado's best known election-rigging spearsist says he's going to run for secretary of state.

the job that oversees the election. she joins the republican primary six days after she was arrested with police officers executing a search warrant about a felony investigation about whether she lied to a judge. peters' smiling mug shot is so good it may make it into her campaign materials. she is knee deep in a couple of investigations. the charges for mixing it up with police officers. there's the felony investigation involving lying to a judge. and local federal investigations into the breach of the security system and voting systems where information was then given to conspiracy theorists. >> you heard that right, the mesa county clerk is running for secretary of state. while at the very same time under investigation for allegedly orchestrating a break-in to access election equipment. authorities say the alleged

culprit's did of hard drives for voting machines with some information being published online on the conservative gateway. vice news reports a die-hard qanon who claims she can time travel is running for secretary of state in the great state of ohio. she claimed this week on telegram, as secretary of state, she would, in all caps, get rid of every single election voting machine. humans will be paid to count the votes live on camera. to be clear. not lizard people. humans. "the new york times" reports nearly two dozen election liars are running for secretary of state across the country to oversee elections. in order to counter this, one group is doing something about it. if you watched the show over the

years, you've heard of the grassroots organization run for something. the group launched five years ago at the start of the trump administration works to recruit and help elect first-time candidates to state and local races across the country. and since their launch, they have recruited thousands of people to consider running and electing 600 local candidates for local offices across the country. this year, they are going after election deniers, ones who want to take control of elections. they're not just focused on big name secretary of state races, they're recruiting candidates for local elections, to box out extremists to secure those positions. and here is why. this is from the group's 2020 plan. quote, these are positions that will determine whether or not democracy survives past 2024.

practicalically, really administrators determine how elections are run. we're planning for both wide and targeted recruitment staffing up to run a cohort program specifically for these jobs. these positions have the bully pulpit. the people who take it can use it for good, to restore faith in the system and bring transparency to the electorate process. or they can use that same bully pulpit to undermine democracy itself. joining me is julia litman, co-founder of run for something. thank you for being here. good to have you. >> thanks for having me. >> let's talk about how conspiracy candidates, qanon, time travelers, so forth, the ones running for re-election posts. do you feel like you need to offer your candidates extra

support or training to combat the misinformation that is out there as part of those campaigns? >> we do. these candidates running for local election in administration positions need every possible resource. they're going to go door to door, talking to voters who are hearing from opposition that is admittedly in many places absolutely crazy. so, they need to be armed with ever possible stool they can access. whether that's good data, good skills to run campaigns. money, support. these races are usually very low and very under the radar. we're going to need to bring them up to the level and make sure they have ever possible resource. >> have you seen greater interest in running in the wake of people who believe in time travel and lizard people? have you seen greater interest in terms of progressives, in terms of running, making sure that these people aren't elected to positions of school board

level or secretary of state level, or are people scared to combat in your orders crazy? >> in 2021, we had 5,000 people telling us they want to run. we set that as a goal for 2022. we have nearly 20,000 people signed up at run and people are fired up about this. especially voting rights. they understand to save democracy, we need to fight for it on the local group. >> we know that your school board is prioritizing school board elections. can you talk to us why you have made that choice? >> we have seen just as crazy people who have run for election run for school boards. ralph reed said 25 years ago i'd rather have 1,000 school board

member than one president. we've seen that with books and maps in the schools. we want to make sure to put 20,000 school board operations on the ballot this year, half of which in november and half that occur at other points during the year, we're doing everything we can to support incredible candidates for the races. >> is there anything that makes it a different crop of candidates than previous years? >> for us, these folks are brave. they see the threats that people are getting. they see how dangerous it is. they see what the opposition is and they're willing to put their name on the ballot. it is inspiring to see a person who cares to elected official to public servant. they're inspiring. >> inspiration in the darkness, amanda litman co-founder and director of run for something. thank you so much for being here. >> thanks for having me. it's rare that the pentagon has to call for backup, it turns

out they don't have their own animal control team. that's next. that's next.

the pentagon is one of the most secure locations on earth. even just to tour the building, you have to make a reservation at least 14 days in advance. then you have to arrive at least an hour in advance to get through all of the security. and the tour itself is led by

active duty military personnel who never leave your side. but arlington now news is reporting that somehow yesterday, this bunny infiltrated the pentagon. the rabbit somehow got all the way to the courtyard at the very center of the building which is a crazy feat. the pentagon is the low-rise office building in the world. it's not exactly that the bunny can hop over the side of the building. and seen though super secure tours that run through the pentagon, those have been shut down because of covid. it's not like somebody snuck the bunny in the building. two weeks ago, a chicken was caught sneaking around the checkpoint area of the pentagon. now, the chicken didn't get nearly as far as the bunny, we don't know if it was planning a coop, or why it was crossing the

road. as to why the bunny hopped over the center courtyard, the prevailing theory is it was dropped by a hawk. at the moment, there's no reason that this is fowl play, but we will follow the story down whatever rabbit hole it may lead. that does it for us tonight. "way too early with jonathan lemire" is coming up next. biden has given an update on the ukraine campaign. the question is somewhere do diplomatic talks stand right now? plus, the state of new york versus donald trump as a battle over the former president's finances heats up. the question is, will a judge force trump to testify? and the russian figure skater at the center of the latest doping scandal claims she took a banned drug by accident. the question is, does new information filed in that case undercut that defense? it's "way too early" for this.