hi there, everyone. it is 4:00 in new york. hanging in the balance this afternoon, the fate of the some 100,000 innocent ukrainians civilians who for weeks have fought to survive a brutal, medieval raurn onslaught. there was a fragile hope earlier that the evacuation of mariupol would be allowed to move forward but after promising reports of buses carrying civilians away, ukrainian officials accused russian forces of blocking and some cases stealing humanitarian aid. red cross said the team was unable to reach the city and

would try again tomorrow. remember every day, every hour for that matter makes a difference. people in mariupol have endured inhumane conditions for weeks now. the operation amounts to a high-stakes, large-scale rescue mission as authorities met again today for talks. this time by video. the effectiveness of a negotiation so far for an open question, there are conflicting reports on progress. the kremlin saying this week that the plan to withdraw troops from the area around kyiv, a regroup as the pentagon described it. ukrainian officials say it's partially under way. still though fighting continues across the area as ukrainian forces reclaim some territory. sky news colleague alex crawford was allowed into irpin and filed this report.

>> reporter: still far from safe. and we were taken into the town at speed with armed guards. this is the closest the russians got to the capital. just a few kilometers away and faukt some of the most savage street battles. in parts of the town there's hardly a building or home untouched. ukrainian soldiers are still very much on alert here. >> stop! >> reporter: we're waved through and worried about a mine or trap the russians may have left behind. and this is what is left of much of irpin. what terror must have been felt by those in the apartment blocks after shell after shell raining in, heavy ar tillty, too. the place is littered with unexploded ordinance in playgrounds, nowhere was off limits and no mercy shown for

residents. all their lives altered beyond comprehension. those remaining still showed incredible defiance and fortitude. alex crawford, sky news inside irpin. >> there's another major development this afternoon. a regional governor in russia close to the border today is accusing the ukrainians of launching an air strike with helicopters flying very low to target an oil depot inside russia. nbc news confirmed this video of the fire and not yet verify when's responsible for it. ukraine's foreign my ministry said he could not confirm the reports on the country's responsibility. ali arouzi is joining us. i want to take these two

developments separately and first ask you what your understanding and what the ukrainian government's understanding is of this redeployment around kyiv. >> reporter: hi, that's right. they're deploying the troops from kyiv and keeping the bulk there. there's heavy fighting as we heard from the sky colleague alex crawford. not a safe place in and around kyiv. when i spoke to the mayor of chernihiv he said some troops left the kyiv area to go to the donbas. but there's still dug in heavily around kyiv and the fighting continues there. heavy shelling and heard reports that the ukrainians have reclaimed some of the villages around kyiv and chernihiv. they have re-established some vital supply lines as they keep that ferocious fight against the

russians going and admirable to see. even though the focus to the donbas region they haven't left kyiv and chernihiv alone whatsoever. the fighting continues because they don't want to give up the areas and dug into the defensive positions there and probably maintain them. british intelligence said today that the ukrainians had made some successes around chernihiv and around kyiv pushing back the russian troops and reclaiming the villages in the districts but not significant. so there's still a lot of ground for the ukrainians to fight for. >> in mariupol, we have been talking almost since the earliest days of the war about the human calamity and the suffering there. tell me the latest on the humanitarian rescue efforts. >> reporter: it is again continues to be a disaster. the red cross said that it's essential to get many of the people up to 170,000 people that

have been hemmed in by the russians there out of there. tens of thousands of lives are at stake and couldn't get them out today. we heard some reports managed to get out in private cars, the goodwill of other drivers to get out of there but those are people willing to risk it by themselves and apparently the russians let them out and convoy of buses meant to go in to bring people out and those convoys supposed to carry a lot of much needed humanitarian aid into mariupol and the russians didn't let them take it in. it's unconscionable. aid, food, water. nothing they have in mariupol. the russians wouldn't allow it into the city. defies understanding why they wouldn't let civilians, women, children, elderly get the essential supplies so people are dehydrated in mariupol and most

vulnerable, pregnant women, elderly people are not getting it. red cross is clear that the russians said that this aid is not allowed to go into mariupol or let people out. no aid in. no people allowed in. crisis carries on to grow in mariupol and similar situation in chernihiv. >> another big, big development to ask you about and very much a developing story but if it is true that the ukrainians crossed into russia it would be the first known incident of an operation carried out inside russia. tell me what you know. >> reporter: that's right. the ukrainians are not saying anything. denying or admitting. if it's accurate this would be the first time they have entered into russian air space and hit a target and really big for morale

for the ukrainians. russians saying the two helicopters flew in and flew back to ukraine but the ukrainians are quite skilled at this. they know how to do this. this is a difficult mission to do and they have been conducting this in the donbas region for years. flying very low. meters above the tree line at night to strike strategic places and fly back but it is a very dangerous mission. they fly low to avoid air detection systems and then susceptible to the shoulder launched missiles and flying at night is very perilous because they're flying with the lights out. don't want to be seen and could hit back. so it is a dangerous mission and honed the skills on doing this over the years in the donbas region and that would be huge for morale here in ukraine and

it would show that they still have a functioning air force that can conduct strategic strikes in those places. and just to quickly fill you in. >> please. >> reporter: i spoke to the mayor of chernihiv today. that is a mariupol in the making. it was heart breaking to listen to him today. he said the russians blown up bridges. taken up the roads leading into chernihiv so again no aid can get in to their place. funneling in small amounts of aid to the besieged people through the river on private boats and that they're being guarded by the ukrainian army. i asked the mayor, do you think this is the beginning of an assault on chernihiv? he said, yes. this is the beginning and bracing for an assault and devastating. he said 60% of the private houses have been destroyed and

about 20% of the apartment buildings there. >> shocking. 80% of the dwellings that civilians live in. amazing. you have joined us every day this week and i'm grateful. there are no fridays in a war but thank you very much. joining the coverage former cia director john brennan is here. and tom nick capitols is back, writer for "the atlantic." i want to ask about this reporting that i asked about there at the end. if it's true that the ukrainian air force launched this low-level -- flew at low levels to attack a russian depot, director brennan, tell me the significance of ukraine moving inside of russia to launch a strategic attack. >> after five weeks of the russians pummeling the ukrainian

territory the ukrainians are demonstrating they can take the crisis into russia and demonstrating military capability to avoid russian radar and air defense systems and a signal this can get worse for the russians. it is bad for them in ukraine. but the ukrainians have not yet acknowledged that they did carry out this attack. i have a question if this is authorized by president zelenskyy. like the president of ukraine is commander of the ukrainian armed forces. i think that it may have been directed from the top but also i can understand why the ukrainians want to hit back against the russians and as was said this is a tremendous boost to morale. >> my question for really both of you is, i have spent 40 days trying to understand what the

russians think of what is happening, what the country is doing in ukraine. i accept all the reporting that inside russia there is still support for putin and sizable amount of support for what putin described as a special operation. tom, what does this become? how's it not a war if now the two countries engage in a war attacking each other inside the other's borders? >> i think the most important thing to understand is that the russians have completely lost their political purpose from the outset because this war was supposed to be a quick, lightning strike that was going to collapse the government in kyiv. they were going to have a big parade and replace the government. once that plan fell through there wasn't any other plan and at this point there isn't one ukraine operation that the russians are carrying out but several. there isn't a unified theater commander in this place.

and so some of these i think -- trying to second guess what the russians are doing, some russian units fighting to stay alive to hold the position because they don't know what to do and clearly carrying out orders to punish the ukrainians for defiance if they can't hold the territory and some of it is just confusion. they don't know why they're there or how to get out. waiting for more detailed orders and replacements that aren't coming and this is a hot mess from beginning to end. when you ask what kind of war is this, for ukrainians it is self defense to restore the sovereignty and protect the borders. for the russians, who knows what they're thinking? and whether vladimir putin even understands what kind of war he is fighting at this point. >> tom is getting at the most

cogent analysis of everything this week from intel reporters and pentagon reporters but what isn't clear to me is does it put putin back on the heels and suggest that possibility that he fabricates a pretense to exit or make him more dangerous? >> probably all of the above. this is a messy and confused battlefield and fair amount of evidence the russians trying to deal with the situation that unfolds in a bad way for them so therefore i'm sure that putin and other senior russian officials trying to figure out the way ahead and why they send signals about negotiations and cease-fires and trying to reorient the forces and resupply them. i don't believe that putin has given up on actually taking over ukraine but that doesn't mean that he has to now deal with the reality on the ground because he

never anticipated at least in my mind that after five weeks this would be the situation in ukraine. i think he thought this would be a fairly quick exercise and be in control of most of ukraine by now. >> i want to read the reporting that builds into the analysis you have offered about the lack of a battlefield commander based on our analysis. the lack of a unifying military leader in ukraine meant that russian units are in sync. they have been plagued by poor logistics, flagging morale and between 7,000 and 15,000 military deaths. it is also contributing to the death of at least seven russian generals as officers are pushed to the front lines to untangle problems that western militaries would leave to more junior officers or senior enlisted

personnel. as astute as the intelligence has been on the russian question, is the russian military worse than anybody thought or is it just a trial that even the best gel can't predict its outcome? what is your read on this? >> it's a little of both. i don't think anybody observing the russian military would have bet on completely staggering levels of incompetence like we are seeing now but it also tells you that the whole russian military system, command and control, the way they train, the relationship between the officers and enlisted people is just dysfunction at every level and reading those figures, what a staggering amount of losses in five weeks. incredible. there's a reason that countries like the united states, i taught our military officers for 25

years. we emphasis jointness and coordinating our air, ground, sea operations. this is a bunch of -- you would think that all the units from ukraine are from different countries. can't speak the same language and it is really remarkable. i think the heart of the flaw, two. people around putin didn't want to do this and nevada really planned for it despite years of putin saying he wanted to do it and the inability to tell the boss the truth and to have reckoned with this early on to say this is going to be harder. he said do it. they stumbled into it and now the middle of a complete mess. >> director brennan, to tom's point, this figure of 7,000 to

15,000 military deaths, there's a nato estimate if the numbers are close, i think 30,000 to 40,000 russian soldiers that have been -- it would include killed, captured or injured. i wonder if in your mind with your understanding of sort of a pressure point where they are and are not in russia, is there a figure where the cost is so high to change the support of putin in russia or framed on an autocratic country that doesn't have the same sort of value for life? >> i think all authoritarian regimes have a breaking point. yes, putin has a tremendous monopoly of political power inside russia but if you bring together the losses on the battlefield and the russian soldiers killed together with the economic pressure it is facing internationally in terms of sanctions and then the

demonstrations and protests in russia and if there's a bloody confrontation between security forces and russian citizens on the streets i think that combination of pressures does raise questions about the continued viability of the putin regime but i do think the humiliation and the destruction of a large part of russian military and demonstrated that it didn't have that battlefield experience. for better or worse, the u.s. has been able to integrate the capabilities. the russians never faced such hostility. they walked into crimea. syria advising and taking long-range strikes and never had to confront a determined and courageous military like they face in ukraine right now and so therefore they're figuring out how to salvage something from a

debacle for them. >> tom, the role of propaganda and the close eye on the prime time hours i don't consume a lot but i knew what putin is telling the country and his military is that they would be greeted as liberators. they would feed them meals and be grateful they were there. not only did that not happen in the whole of ukraine but doesn't appear to have happened in many ways that are public facing in the contested donbas region. how does that protend for how this ends? >> you know, we want to believe that body bags and returning soldiers that tell what's going on will affect the home front. part of the problem is that the average russian citizen is so cynical and so distrustful of

anything that all stories are true and all stories have false and may well be that a lot of these -- we are seeing reports that a lot of mothers having to bury their sons are angry at the ukrainians because they believe that somehow the ukrainians were the aggressors in this. what i think is the -- going back to director brennan's point about the stability of the regime i think you get a strong division of opinion of older russians that support putin and basically shrug and believe or not believe anything they're told and younger russians who know how to get on the sbefr net and follow the news and in touch with each other. that this is -- you could look at it as a last gasp of the russian or soviet past and the people that know what's going on if they have a chance are the

russian future. for now i wouldn't bet on public discontent immediately making putin pull back. i'm worried he'll lash out and do something dramatic to shore up the home front and to put some spine into his men out in the field. >> i have to ask for the last word whether that explains the real public concerns about whether or not he would use a chemical weapon. >> well, i don't think he wants to escalate with chemical or tactical nuclear at this time trying to still win the war. if he does do that, it would be a potential indication that he is is pursuing a reckless path going forward. it is very worrisome from the stand point to escalate and i think the united states and nato could not stand idly by while he

uses these wmd capability inside of ukraine. i'm glad to hear that the united states and nato or planning for that even though not a likely course. >> two of the smartest people watching the horrors in ukraine with us, thank you so much. when we come back, learning more about jared kushner's six hours spent chitchatting with the january 6 select committee and the new comments this afternoon from the attorney general on the criticism he's hearing on the pace of the investigation. a stinging rebuke of the new voting law from a judge calling it unconstitutionally and will it be a turning point for other state's laws? we'll go back to lviv for the late oes reporting on the

success of the ukrainian resistance. all those stories and more when we continue after a quick break. stay with us. n. ♪ f travel i've d my share, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ ♪ i've been to: pittsburgh, parkersburg, ♪ ♪ gravelbourg, colorado, ♪ ♪ ellensburg, cedar city, dodge city, what a pity. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere, man. ♪ ♪ i've been everywhere. ♪ ♪ ♪ we believe there's an innovator in all of us. ♪ that's why we build technology that makes it possible for every business...

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it's really, really helped me tremendously. prevagen. healthier brain. better life. there's been so much criticism of the justice department around the january 6th investigation and a lot of people trying to pressure the department to either work faster or veto investigate specific individuals. how would you respond to that pressure and to those critics? >> look. they t only pressure i feel and the only pressure that our line of prosecutors feel is to do the right thing. that means we follow the facts

and the law wherever they may lead. >> attorney general garland this afternoon. a news conference related to gun trafficking but a question there and responded to it about criticism coming from a lot of parts of not just washington but congress, both parties. the new justice department isn't moving fast enough coming to crimes committed potentially around the january 6 insurrection. as we said not just reporters asking and heard from members of the house select committee pushing for doj to act. that committee met yesterday with one jared kushner and today learning more about that meeting. kushner, the highest ranking trump official interviewed so far. sources tell nbc news that kushner the first trump family interviewed by the committee cooperative, friendly and did

most of the talking opposed to lawyers. with his interview in the book questions swirled about who the committee might interview next. nkz reported that the ex-president's daughter is in talks to appear voluntarily as well. joining us is jackie alamani and miles taylor is back. executive director of the renew america movement. it wasn't knowable at the time but turns out that monday's opinion, ruling by a federal judge in central california was just ignition fuel for the committee's case, pressure on doj and for this larger argument they're making. let me read from the opinion that started the week.

i don't have it. here it is. judge carter says if eastman and trump's plan worked it would have ended the peaceful transition of power under the constitution. that is the reason for liz cheney's role as vice chair, the animating sort of cause of her departure from the good graces from the current republican elected leaders in washington and got a turbo boost from judge carter this week. >> that's how i view this week especially seeing the work of the committee kick into full gear but i think this putt the fuel in a lot of lawmakers' fire as they are determined to close up the loose ends. people like ivanka trump, jared kushner, dan scavino and try to wrap up the work as they

feverishly moving to try to get to public hearings in may and this ruling that we saw from judge carter helped amplify and support the pressure campaign that some lawmakers have been waging against the doj to speed up the work to take a more aggressive posture and keep up their side of the bargain as people basically told them and more or less the words of do your job, as well. i do think the committee also can view this as good news on both fronts from the federal courts and from the doj as we reported a few days ago that the doj is expanding the criminal investigation into rally planning and while they're less aggressive they are moving along. >> i want to read from your great reporting today where the

1/6 committee is spending the money. the committee is already spent $2.5 million on pace to spend $9.3 million by the end of december with moe costs general rated by expenses and payments to outside contractors and korkt an analysis of the latest available disburse. reports, veteran congressional investigator said because of the staff of 50, former u.s. attorneys and noted the hiring of providing investigative services in disbursement reports. they have no allusions that they are capable to hold donald trump criminally accountable but the committee is operating as a high caliber investigative body.

explain. >> yeah. i do want to clarify that reporting is from my colleague tom ham birg every. what we have heard from individuals who have cooperated with the committee and to have worked with them say it's a highly professionalized around the clock operation and very impressed with the way the investigators and lawyers are functioning. they were hired and brought in months ago and who have previous jobs in well paying private sector big law firms and used to the pressures and the time constraints and the time lines. we heard from people they get emails from sometimes 2:00, 3:00 a.m. so there is a -- seems to be at least as we flekted in some of the timestamps of the emails an urgency of the work and desire

to get things right and the more they find out throughout the course of the investigation the more urgent the work is. of course, we don't know the full extent just yet and on purpose as they try to keep as much information as possible in a tight hold to try to put it on display for the american public come the public hearing phase of this investigation. >> you have been in the room, miles taylor, with jared kushner on multiple occasions. what is your sense of how useful he would be to this committee as a witness? >> i think it is interesting you started by noting that jared is the most senior witness so far. i would be willing to submit in some ways the most senior witness he will have period. and heres why.

make no mistake. jared was one of the closest people around the president. not just by virtue by marriage to his daughter, a last person in the room with the president would be jared kushner so it's very interesting to me that you have a side by side of some advisers like jared willingly going forward to cooperate with the committee and then peter navarro refusing to do so. there's something interesting to zoom in on. why are some willing to do this and some not? probably suggests some intent behind the individuals involved with the efforts. i suspect jared sees the engagement as innocent relatively and i have got to say that jared would put on the hat of secretary of state or attorney general or secretary of homeland security, whether cabinet secretaries liked it or not. he played the roles in the room with the president rather the

people with the role and it is interesting to find out what he said but the fact that others close to the president are willfully obstructing the investigation refusing to cooperate. we saw today them release a text message to mark meadow suggesting that navarro argue nized a call between donald trump and folks on capitol to advance the plot. he needs to cooperate with the committee. they're getting very interesting digital data to drive this investigation forward. >> what is your sense of what is or not happening at doj, miles? >> look. i have got to be differential to attorney general garland. look. i understand the public pressure. i understand the frustration. i feel it every morning.

i say has something else happened? i believe the attorney general saying the only pressure is following the facts and the law and how he operated. it is a piece of cake to armchair quarterback the investigation to say these facts but the fact of the matter is we are not in the room with him. i trust they're doing this right and we should put trust in the process and not try to crowd source the investigation with the social media mob. let's wait and see. we have a good attorney general to follow this to the ultimate conclusion. >> if you're wrong we have liz cheney. thank you for spending time with us. a victory for now in florida. the law is essentially unconstitutional says a judge and what it may tell us about the voter suppression laws. stay with us.

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nice suits, you guys blend right in. the world needs you back. i'm retired greg, you know this. people have their money just sitting around doing nothing... that's bad, they shouldn't do that. they're getting crushed by inflation. well, i feel for them. they're taking financial advice from memes. [baby spits out milk] i'll get my onesies®. ♪ “baby one more time” by britney spears ♪ good to have you back, old friend. yeah, eyes on the road, benny. welcome to a new chapter in investing. [ding] e*trade now from morgan stanley. this may go down as a week federal judges clap back. a judge gave a rebuke of republican-led efforts across the country to restrict access to voting. this judge blocked florida from enforcing the bulk of that state's voting law. the governor signed it into law late last year. u.s. district chief judge mark walker in a scathing 288-page

rebuke slammed florida's quote intentional political and grotesque history of discrimination. the parts of the florida law that he blocked include restrictions on drop boxes and voter registration groups and banning food and water while they wait to vote. he said they are so unconstitutional he's blocking the state from making change to the measurings for ten years without permission from a federal court. let's bring the coverage reverend al sharpton and nick corsanedi. nick, just to remind the viewers because we haven't covered this daily the way we did for most of 2021, between january 1 and december 7, 19 states passed 34 laws to restrict the right to

vote. georgia, florida, as well. notable in florida was that desantis went out after the 2020 election calling the state a model and then proceeded to pass the georgia-style voter suppression law. explain. so what happened in florida which we realized in 2021 is the state legislature capitalizing on the mood of former president trump's continued questions and false allegations about the 2020 election to pass a law that made a bunch of changes to the state election code and probably give them slight partisan advantages. voter registration drives. immediately challenged as the laws were in 2021 in the federal courts and for some reason in florida it moved faster and saw yesterday was a judge basically taking an argument made across the country that these

republican legislatures sought to gain a partisan advantage and at times used laws to target communities of color to achieve the advantages. judge walker went through the history of targeting black voters with new laws. pointed out voter purge and early voting in 2004 and 2008 with black voters up to half of early voters and then cut it. recently florida voters passed a ballot initiative to allow former felons to get the right to vote back and then the legislature seeking to halt that by adding anyone that didn't feed the fees couldn't vote and brought it up to the new bill and a thing he looked at is voting by mail. black voters in florida voted by

mail at 20% but not 2020 election voted about 40% so he used that and said the new law to get rid of drop boxes and voting in person and became irrelevant and said that those restrictions followed a pattern of targeting black voters in florida and why he ruled against them. we saw that argument in georgia and in other cases around the country and so while this decision is likely to be appealed and possibly overturn id by the 11th circuit i think the groups took hope in this ruling seeing that, all things being equal if florida ruled against this possibly the same might be true in other states. >> let me establish a couple facts. was there fraud in florida in

2020 in the presidential election? >> there was no widespread fraud. according to the secretary of stats's office 75 referrals of possible fraud. doesn't mean guaranteed prosecuted cases of case but referrals for investigation. 75 out of i think 11 million. so i think four prosecuted cases of voter fraud in florida. >> there was no voter fraud in florida! no voter fraud in georgia. no voter fraud in 34 states that passed voter suppression laws. the judge brought the goods. your reaction? >> i think judge walker's 288 pages really mirrors what many of us in the voting rights community has been saying.

i work with reverend holmes in tallahassee on this and various other groups in the state of florida but to see a federal judge write it and specifically bring up the issue of race and partisanship is in many wayings a bright light. we know it will be appealed but can't erase a fact that the federal judge said what we have been saying that this is designed and has nothing to do with fraud. only fraud that we can find in florida is that mar-a-lago talking about an election was stolen. that's the fraud in florida. i think that it is clear that this is a battle now that we have won, at least a round in, though the fight is not over. >> nick, you are always on this. your reporting brings that to our attention. thank you so much for spending time with us.

vice president kamala harris aboard air force two this amp heading to mississippi. she traveled with our colleague joy reid and will sit down exclusively tonight at 7:00 p.m. a preview of that sit down and those that may have a hand in inciting the january 6 insurrection. stay with us. that's next. ♪ ♪

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this literally just in. an exclusive interview today with our colleague, joy reid, and vice president kamala harris in which the vice president is calling for consequences for members of congress who helped support the january 6th insurrection. take a look. >> and as we get more information about what happened and who was behind it, we're finding out there were members of congress who were complicit. there were united states senators. you're the president of the senate as vice president of the united states. what do you think should be the consequences for people like ted cruz, people like josh hawley who are now being named as we learn more about those who were actually putting together the plan to overthrow our election? >> i think that what is very much at stake -- i'm going to just make the connection first to the previous discussion and this one. you are absolutely spot on, from my perspective, that this is

about our democracy, and an attempt to weaken the strength of it but also the legitimacy of it, and there are foreign actors that try and do it, and then we have domestic threats, and that's part of what we witnessed on january 6th. and there needs to be, of course, consequence for that. so that is occurring in terms of the process that is about seeking the evidence about what actually happened and who are the bad actors because, of course, yes, they should pay a consequence. there should be accountability. in terms of elected leaders, to the extent that they were complicit in a crime, of course, there should be some kind of response to that. but also, there should be, i think, a continuing discussion about the fact that what happened on january 6th was a concerted attempt to undermine the integrity of our elections system. >> much more, the entire interview with vice president

harris is coming up tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern on the "reidout" with joy reid. the rev is still with us. what do you think? >> i think that it is clear that as we dig deeper into what has happened on january 6th that clearly some of the elected officials, they're not just to have some nebulous consequences. they need to feel the complete weight of the law if there's criminal involvement, they need to face that, and they need to face whatever reprimanding and exclusion or censorship from the senate itself. how can they remain in a body as -- in a democratic elected position when they tried to undermine the democracy and undermine the integrity of what put them in the senate? so, i would be a lot more strident in what i would want to see than what the vice president

said, and i'm sure she can't say all, as president of the senate, she has to respect the rules, but the rules have to be enforced to the full degree that these people may have engaged, if the evidence bears out as it seems to be headed that way, if it, in fact, gets there, they were involved in conspiring or cooperating with people that were committing sedition to undermine an elected office of the president and vice president of the united states. let's not forget, january 6th was not just a day they called a rally. it was a day to certify an election. that is why they chose that day. that is why they behaved the way they did. it was not there to express their anger. it was there to stop the certification of an election, which is tantamount to a coup d'etat. >> and we have a federal judge? california saying just that. congresswoman lofgren said they

have material evidence that members of congress were in on it. would you like to see the 1/6 committee subpoena some of those members, sort of blow through that tradition, i guess, of not doing so? >> i think that they should subpoena them and put them under oath, and if they don't come in, they should be held in contempt and not be able to serve in their duties as members of the senate or congress if they would be held in contempt by a congressional committee. otherwise, they undermine the integrity of the congress. can you imagine if, as we're in this battle with russia over saving democracy in ukraine, if people in russia was doing this to putin? we'd be dancing in the streets. so, how do we look to the world where we have people -- where you have congresspeople sitting on tv saying there's evidence that some of them were involved and they walk away with nothing or a pat on the hand? no. we need to show that we will not

only stand by democracy in ukraine, but that we will enforce it in washington, d.c., and if anyone steps over the line, we will not spare them, just like we will not sit by and allow putin to do it in ukraine. we must be consistent. >> the reverend al sharpton, always great to see you. thank you for spending time with us. the next hour of "deadline white house" starts after a quick break. ne white house" starts after a quick break.

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♪♪ so you felt like you couldn't stay? >> i felt like it's -- while we have this chance, it's better to move, at least for -- until the victory. >> reporter: until victory?

>> i'm sure we will win. >> reporter: ukraine will win? >> i live in ukraine. i like living in ukraine, so i will go back. >> reporter: ukraine is home. you'll return. >> yeah. >> hi again, everyone, it's 5:00 in new york. midnight in kyiv as we begin the sixth week of war in ukraine, among those still in the country and those who have left, a shared belief that ukraine in the end, whenever that is, will win, no doubt among the ukrainian people, and there are signs of progress by the ukrainians as cities near kyiv, irpin and bucha, have both been recaptured by ukrainian troops. bucha's mayor saying, this is a joyful day for us and a huge victory for armed forces in the region. president zelenskyy noted that cities are gradually being freed from their occupiers. russian troops also handed back control of the site of the nuclear power plant, chernobyl, to the ukrainians, after reportedly exposing themselves

to radiation poisoning by digging trenches in the highly contaminated soil there. the head of the international atomic energy agency says he will inspect the plant as soon as that is possible and a large fire overnight at a russian fuel depot about 20 miles from the ukrainian border could mark a significant new development in the war. russian officials say the fire is a result of an air strike from two ukrainian hometowns. nbc news has not independently verified who was responsible. ukraine's foreign minister said he could not confirm or deny his country's involvement either. but if it was carried out by ukrainians, it would mark the very first time that ukrainians have struck russian soil, a target on russian soil, since the invasion began. today, another round of negotiations were held between russian and ukrainian officials. these were remote negotiations that russian foreign minister sergey lavrov said that some progress has been made, but that, quote, peace talks

inevitably have to continue, end quote. that's where we begin our coverage this hour. joining us, "washington post" correspondent at large and an msnbc contributor, live for us in lviv. so, i've watched your appearances on another network -- i mean, on other programs on this network, and i just want you to sort of -- it's friday. there is this surreal feeling that alongside the horrors in mariupol and other parts of ukraine, there are a lot of military victories that have this intangible effect of rallying the ukrainian people, of sustaining that bond between president zelenskyy and the ukrainian people under unthinkably brutal assault. tell me -- just take me inside this week in ukraine. >> sure. really, no one expected this to happen. i mean, what we're seeing this week is just astounding. i mean, in the past 24 hours, there have been reports of russian troops being, you know,

basically pulling out of several cities around the capital, kyiv, and you're seeing images of ukrainian soldiers walking into these cities, through this horrific scene of destruction, corpses on the ground, destroyed russian tanks and other military equipment, just this sense of, you know, even as they walk, you can feel the victory for ukraine is tangible. is palpable. no one expected this. i mean, the russians thought they were going to take over the city -- the capital within a few days, but now here we are. >> yeah, i want to read some of your reporting. you write this. in the second month of war, ukraine's frontline soldiers are more confident than they'd expected to be when russian forces invaded. in areas north of the camera, the russian advance has been stopped, while in motion and other areas, ukrainian forces have mounted counteroffensives with american-made weapons such as the javelin anti-tank missile

and pushed the invaders out of some towns and villages. brutal clashes, mostly composed of tit-for-tat aerial bombardment still take place daily, underscoring the war's unpredictable turns. what's amazing from here is that some of -- some of -- everything we know is from reporters like yourself in the country, but some of these places, where we have seen our colleagues, richard engel and others, go have been taken back. they've been reclaimed. i mean, it is so dynamic on the ground. talk about that. >> yeah, definitely. i think there's going to be a lot of questions to be answered now. i mean, one of the big questions all of us had when the russians controlled these villages is, what were they doing there? what were they doing to the civilians? we've heard some horrific stories unfolding from civilians fleeing some of these areas like bucha which, today, the mayor of

bucha declared that it's been, quote, unquote, liberated. so, i think there's going to be a lot of that. there's going to be a lot of -- in the days ahead, people are going to wonder what the russians did, what sort of abuses happened there, how they -- how they were basically driven out of these places as well. so, yeah, i mean, i think the -- certainly the, you know, with the russians, you know, supposedly retreating, i mean, we don't know for sure still. this is all -- it could be repositioning. they could be, you know, sending troops back to the east. i mean, no one believes the war is over here. but what we are seeing today and in the past couple, few days is that the ukrainians were and still are capable of standing up to the russian military, which is one of the mightiest armies in the world, and this has given the ukrainians an inordinate amount of confidence to push on, push forward.

and eventually, at some point, see the russians leave their lands, and so i think just the fact that they have been able to keep the russians out of the capital, kyiv, that kind of positivity is going to carry with them through the east too, especially if the war does pick up in the separatist areas of east and donbas and those areas, which the russians have indicated they plan to focus on. >> former ambassador to ukraine, bill taylor, said on this program a few weeks back that the ukrainian military, because they have been at war in the donbas region and because of the vast amounts of support and training, is the most skilled and the most practiced and the best military in europe. i wonder if you can speak to some of the conversations that go on here about russia's miscalculations, about the weakness in the absence of a military strategy and military leaders on the battlefield. what is -- what does that look like up close, sort of from our

safety of our studios, we can have these theoretical conversations, but how does that manifest on the ground? >> well, from the very beginning, the russians were expecting, i think, a conventional war. they had prepared themselves for a conventional war where they would land, you know, seize an airport north of the capital, kyiv, bring in -- set up an air bridge where they can bring in military equipment, tanks, and just roll in their tanks, call all the military vehicles into the capital and sweep in victoriously and even hold a parade. but in fact, that didn't happen. what the -- what the ukrainians understood was they could not match the might of the russian military, so what they did was resort to guerilla-style tactics. a lot of ambushes. they built trenches. they were fighting from there. in some cities, street fighting where they're fighting from houses and really, i remember one scene just a week and a half ago where you saw a column of russian tanks moving towards the

capital near the town called brovary, and they were out in the open and the ukrainians just started firing anti-tank missiles and artillery from a cluster of houses and taking out a few tanks and just really, you know, destroying that -- stalling that column. they were doing that all over the place, and so that's how they beat the russians, certainly around the capital, kyiv. >> i want to ask about these reports. i know at least from what we understand here, they're a little murky, but there's -- we know that a fuel depot inside russia has been attacked. the ukrainians will not confirm or deny whether or not it was them. we have some video of it. if it is true, and it is ukraine, as far as we know, it would represent the first attack inside of russia. just help us understand the significance of that. >> well, look, if it's true, if it's true that the ukrainians are behind this, then it's a

significant escalation, perhaps. i mean, i don't think russia has been attacked in this manner, you know, in years, if not decades. if indeed it's true. and -- but again, i think you have to -- we have to look at this with a very skeptical eye. i mean, this could be a red flag incident where the russians are using this to -- as a pretext to maybe attack ukraine even more so. as you noted, the ukrainians are neither denying or confirming this. and others suggested that, you know, there's one report that even suggested that it could have been russian military personnel themselves who destroyed it because they didn't want to enter ukraine. there's all sorts of speculation going on. so we need to see what happens, but if indeed this is true, this is a very significant incident

that really, on one hand, it shows -- there's a couple things if it's true. first is that it shows that the russian propaganda is not working, and the russians have claimed that they have destroyed the ukrainian air force and the -- and all systems and if that's the case, we just saw two ukrainian military helicopters enter russian air space and blow this depot. so right then and there, it challenges the russian narrative of what's happening in ukraine. >> i catch all of your dispatches and appearances and it's a pleasure to get to talk to you. thank you so much for making time for us live from lviv. please stay safe. >> thank you, good to be with you. >> joining our conversation, retired army lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, former director of european affairs for the national security council, now a board member with the democracy initiative. colonel vindman, you sometimes shine the klieg lights on the truth of what's happening in a way that makes people

uncomfortable. i think before the war started, you and ambassador mcfaul were serving up difficult truths about what this would look like and what would happen and i want to continue to use you in that way because you've been right again, we do not know who is responsible for the attack of an oil depot inside russia about 20 miles from the border of ukraine. some of the reporting suggests that helicopters could have flown at such low elevations that maybe they weren't detected by anti-aircraft defenses. the ukrainians have not confirmed or denied whether or not it was them. but to its significance in terms of the war, your thoughts? >> well, first, let me thank you for coming on your show this many times, and the runway you give me to provide answers and inform the public. i really appreciate that opportunity. >> thank you. >> with regard to this incident,

it is -- it's interesting, but in a way, it's not unprecedented in this war. there have been at least two attacks by my count in which the russians -- in which the ukrainians struck targets in russia. one of them is this milarova airfield to the east of ukraine, and another one was this -- another airfield. they fired rockets at those. this would be the first time that they've actually not used kind of long-range fires. they've potentially employed helicopters, still operating as well as planes, ukrainian planes, operating behind enemy lines. i think there's a -- an interesting bit of signaling here. the ukrainians haven't taken credit for this, but i think this is supposed to break the seal in a much, much more robust way that this war will not stay just simply on ukraine's soil. when ukraine has the capability, they'll punch back. they'll punch back against kind of military targets, operational targets, like these fuel depots, and i think this signal is to

russia, but it's also to the u.s. that, you know, the ukrainians could be responsible in employing their aircraft or the aircraft that they get from the u.s. or unmanned aerial vehicles to go after military targets and not kind of run amok and draw russia into a much, much more kind of aggressive position. i mean, hard to say that because russia's in about the most aggressive position possible, but this is supposed to be a series of messages to the russians, to the u.s., that more of this is going to happen, that the u.s. could encourage this kind of behavior by providing ukraine with the military resources to do this on its own. it's going to happen regardless of whether the u.s. takes action or not. and i think it's meaningful for that basis. >> yeah, and i think, you know, one of the rhetorical traps we get, i think, caught up in, and you always call this out and correct it, is that if this, then that. if someone escalates, then putin

does that. putin -- and you and ambassador mcfaul have made this -- putin's going to do what putin's going to do, and one of the things that he seems to be relying on to maintain support in his country, and i would like your thoughts on this, is the -- one of the central pillars of his propaganda is that this isn't a war. no, no, it's not a war. it's a special military operation. this seems to blow that out of the water and endanger one of the central pillars of his central propaganda. if there are attacks in his country, it is indeed a war. >> well that's, i think, exactly right. this is the only way that the russians are going to feel that they're at war is if you bring some of these close to home. now, russia is a massive country, you know, stretches from the -- almost from the atlantic to the pacific, and i think not all parts of russia are going to feel it in the same way, but these are not remote locations. belgorad is about six hours away, if you're driving relatively quickly, from moscow.

and it's not that far away. i mean, there's a regular commute in certain regards with people traveling to visit family, and this does bring the war closer to home. rustov is a decent size city. it's not outside of the range of where this particular campaign unfolded. these are cities, decent-size cities relatively close to the ukrainian border that are likely to be drawn into putin's war, and this is part of the consequence of putin's action. but i think there's something interesting to be said about the nature of this war. it is not a guerilla war. this is the 21st century war where a lot of these battles will unfold around cities, around population centers. yes, there will be some of these ambushes, anti-armor ambushes, the ukrainians have proven to be masterful at conducting these and destroying large quantities of equipment, but they've also been using a lot of other conventional capabilities. when able, air power,

helicopters, planes. when able, artillery. artillery has been particularly effective in destroying large russian formations observed by unmanned aerial vehicles or by troops on the ground. and that's really what this -- this is kind of a template for war for the 21st century between major powers. i hope we don't have to see many of these, but the features of this war are unique in a lot of ways from other wars, the informational component, cyber, everything else. >> colonel vindman, we covered something that you tweeted earlier in the week, but now that we have you, i want to circle back to it because if it's friday of a war between russia and our ally, ukraine, then we have to talk about donald trump asking russia, our adversary and ukraine's adversary, for help in dirtying a political adversary with the last name "biden," something you know all too much about. you tweeted this. tell me this traitor's security

clearance has been revoked. he openly conspires with the enemy when the u.s. is attempting to steer clear of a war with russia. i want to focus on the openly conspiring with the enemy part of it. are you surprised that even republicans who can be critical of donald trump, and there are about four of them, i'm thinking mitt romney, didn't really call this out for what it is, and it was seeking to do it a special joint operation with vladimir putin of the political type in the middle of a war. what are your concerns, not just about what trump did but of the sort of crickets that ensued? >> well, i think, unfortunately, that's not surprising. he's tamed this republican party. he's got them under firm control. and really, unless they have to, there are only a couple folks, adam kinzinger will speak up, liz cheney will speak up, but there are not that many people that will speak up and criticize this president. to me, a part of that is this --

the president is still plugged in. he still has access to classified information, and that should be under great scrutiny, because he is completely callous with his words and with his deeds. this war is far from being -- from done. ukrainians have been masterful in conducting it so far, but russia is likely consolidating and reorganizing for a limited but protracted and phased campaign where they're going to go after eastern targets and if they're successful there, go after greater targets that may very well put ukraine under threat unless they win every single battle consistently. that's my fear. and in that scenario, the u.s. is likely to get drawn in, and you have the president -- the former president of the united states kind of aiding our enemy in the -- when they're conducting a military war for, again, another political errand. people are tired of hearing, you know, the same old lines from donald trump. i think that's why you see nobody showing up to his rallies anymore. they're tired of hearing about

stolen elections in 2020, all these lies. but he still is kind of looking for opportunities to lash out, and those are harmful to u.s. national security interests and that's really the part that just gets me. if there is a way to muzzle him, to prevent him from doing harm, that would be optimal. of course, we don't live in that kind of society, nor should we wish that kind of thing, but i mean, sometimes, i do. he's a hazard, not just to himself, but he's a hazard to this country. >> colonel alexander vindman, thank you so much for never mincing words here and for spending time with us today. when we come back, the struggle to ease the humanitarian calamity in mariupol. we'll talk about what happens now after red cross relief team was not able to reach those desperate residents of ukraine's hardest hit region and city. plus, the republican assault on gay rights continues across

this country. a look at the new reality for teachers in america, kids in america under florida's newly signed into law "don't say gay" bill. and in a week in the twice impeached disgraced ex-president, as we've been discussing with colonel vindman, asks vladimir putin for political help, we're still not sure where the bottom lies for donald trump. the outrageous story of what he tried to do when the white house photographer went to publish a book, later in the program. "deadline white house" continues after a quick break. white houses after a quick break. we need to reduce plastic waste in the environment. that's why at america's beverage companies, our bottles are made to be re-made. not all plastic is the same. we're carefully designing our bottles to be 100% recyclable, including the caps. they're collected and separated from other plastics, so they can be turned back into material that we use to make new bottles. that completes the circle and reduces plastic waste. please help us get every bottle back.

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we have been working for weeks. time is running out for the people of mariupol. they are desperately in need of assistance, and they are desperately in need of leaving the city if they wish to do so. >> that was a spokesman for the international committee of the red cross after their convoy, the rescue convoy, was again forced to turn back before reaching the innocent civilians suffering in the hard-hit city of mariupol. the convoy was intended to help with those evacuation efforts. 170,000 innocent civilians are estimated to be trapped within that city. almost all of them without food or water or power. the red cross was not allowed to take humanitarian aid with the convoy, and it departed without the medical and other supplies desperately needed by people trapped inside mariupol. nearly 5,000 people have died in the city since the invasion began, including 210 children. the red cross is saying this, quote, we are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents of

mariupol have suffered. joining us now, "time" magazine reporter simon shuster. simon, tell us what you know about the prospects for this dynamic, which feels endless when you consider the human toll. doesn't seem to be a breakthrough in sight. >> tragically, i don't see how mariupol can free itself from russia's clutches at this point. you know, even to the point of getting humanitarian aid reliably in, getting civilians out. this was always a prime target for the russian invasion. it was always, sadly, a kind of military low-hanging fruit for russia. because that city is surrounded already on both sides, even before the invasion, on both sides by russian-controlled territory, and russia was able very quickly to surround that city from the land, from the sea, from the azov sea, and to

bombard it from the air. i have been speaking with people who have made it out of there, and the stories they tell are just, i mean, gut-wrenching. i spoke to one woman for a video piece that "time" produced just last week. a woman who made it out of the theater that was bombed in mariupol, as a survivor, and she's made it out of that city now. i mean, just, you know, with her small child, they've made it to western ukraine and are safe, but there are so many people, as you said at the top of the report, over 150,000 that remain there, civilians, and russia has just signalled very clearly that it is not letting go of that city. it wants to remain in full control. russian forces have signalled the beginning of attempts to establish some kind of russian government there, a kind of puppet government in control of that city or to integrate it into the separatist

russian-controlled territory of the donbas, so they are already sort of digging in politically, militarily, and i just don't see them letting anyone in, whether it's humanitarian workers or anyone who could help those civilians. >> and simon, what is the russian military strategy that incorporates the targeting and the starving and the cruel treatment of civilians, including children? >> it's hard to get your head around that. as just a human being or a military strategist or anyone. but it seems like russia is using these tactics, these really brutal tactics to force the military personnel that are still trying to defend mariupol to lay down their arms and give up. and they're trying to essentially scare the city into surrender. they've used that tactic over

the years in many places, not just in russia's neighborhood but in syria, russia used those tactics against rebel-controlled territory in syria when it started bombing that country in 2015. so, this is just a pretty well established scenario, tragically, and it's playing out now in mariupol. you know, before the eyes of the world. and i just -- i talked to one official from mariupol. he's the former governor of the region, and he said, you know, the one thing that the military forces there are really lacking is anti-aircraft weapons. you know, ukraine has been calling for weeks now for nato and the west to help close the skies. he said in mariupol, that's been especially visible how what happens when the ukrainian armed forces are not able to defend their skies. he said that the armed forces there just don't have the capability to defend against

russian bombardment, russian missiles and so on. that's what we're seeing there. >> simon, i have some nbc reporting and "washington post" reporting about what you alluded to at the beginning of the segment about what people who have gotten out have endured, but why don't you tell me more about what you have reported. >> well, there have been some small convoys of cars that have gotten out. some of them are fairly well organized. you know, there were, now and then, sort of humanitarian corridors that allowed, you know, a few hundred civilians to get out now and then. some of them have now made it to west ukraine and found safety there. you know, they described essentially a complete isolation, so the heat, water, and food was cut off early in the invasion. so, these people were living for weeks without any of those

things, without any way to communicate with the outside world. you know, sadly, my colleagues left, i want to say, about a week ago, the last western journalists with the associated press, these two heroic photographers who stayed there and were hunted by russian forces and still made it out alive, but when they left, there was really -- there were no journalists there to document what was going on. we had to rely on footage and accounts from the civilians there for the most part. and some from the ukrainian forces. so, the story, as we get a clearer and clearer sense of what's happening in mariupol, from these survivors, you know, it's clear that this is a really criminal and horrific destruction of an entire city, civilian population. >> it's horrific. your reporting is so important. we'll look for it. simon shuster, thank you so much for spending time with us today. when we come back, shifting gears to politics here at home

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to allow online sports betting. they tell us it will fund programs for the homeless, but read the fine print. 90% of the profits go to out-of-state corporations, leaving almost nothing for the homeless. no real jobs are created here. but the promise between our state and our sovereign tribes would be broken forever. these out-of-state corporations don't care about california. but we do. stand with us. i've been watching the news and watching these children who are here in these chambers, and they are here to raise their voices. so we're going to see these

kids -- i don't think y'all understand how much courage it takes for these children to show up every day. >> that was one month ago in the florida state senate's first openly gay member, senator shevrin jones, referring to thousands of school children who gathered all across florida to protest the state's so-called "don't say gay" bill, which his colleagues passed that week. earlier this week, the republican governor, one ron desantis, signed it into law, banning, beginning july 1st, classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade or this, quote, in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate. parents will be able to sue school districts if they even suspect that that language that law was violated. the reaction and continued warnings this week give just a glimpse of how damaging this

will be amid an even greater assault on lgbtq rights all across this country. nearly 240 anti-lgbtq bills have already been filed this year. in their federal lawsuit against desantis, florida's board of education, parents, students, educators and lgbtq advocacy groups call the law, quote, an unlawful attempt to stigmatize, silence, and erase lgbtq people in florida's public schools. joining us now is florida state senator shevrin jones, the first openly gay member elected to florida's senate. with me here onset, nick confessore, political and investigative reporter for the "new york times," also an msnbc political analyst. i'm going to start with you, senator. let's start with the kids. that's obviously what moved you in those remarks. just -- i think most of my viewers understand the impact on

kids, but just, with your sort of proximity to where this law was passed and your knowledge and your conversations with kids and teachers there, tell me the effect of the law. >> thank you so much for having me, nicole. you know what? the effects of the law is clear. the trevor project did a survey not too long ago, and lgbtq youth are four times more likely to commit suicide, not because of their sexual orientation but because of how they're treated. it's true that we look at young people today. young people are very prone to affirming who they are. they're very prone, right now, within this day and age, and they're clear on who they want to be. the problem is that what the florida legislature is doing right now is saying that they want to put the hand -- put this health back into the hands of parents. rights that parents already currently have. young people don't have -- many

young people don't go home to structured households and/or parents who will accept them for who they are. there are a lot of parents where children go home to the parents, they retaliate against them being honest. so, the laws that are happening here in florida and across the country not only are they disingenuous, but they're also dangerous. >> and tell me, you know, so much of the republican playbook is focused on state houses, and so much of it, and the voting rights space and other spaces, so much of it is a solution in search of a problem. is that the case with this? were there local -- you just tell me how this came to be. >> yeah, well, what we're seeing right now, nationally, nationally, republicans are going across the country, and they figure, and they realize that their power is in question, and they would rather have a gay

child suffer or worse than have their power questioned. it's all a reactionary response and children are, of course, more vulnerable, most vulnerable than adults and my theory is that republicans react with oppressive and repressive laws the way they do as a means to maintain, quote, unquote, social order, and they do the affirmation of the gay community as a threat. they see that the -- or just any marginalized community, whether you're black, whether you're gay, they see that many within these communities are rising in power, they're raising their voices, and they are -- and the republicans are losing their power. and so what they're trying to do is do anything to say, listen, this is our last ditch effort, and because this is our last-ditch effort, what they do is they discriminate against marginalized people all in the name of parental rights, all in the name of religious freedom. >> i want to share with our viewers the real world consequences that have already come to pass in florida. nbc news is reporting that a teacher has quit after the bill

was passed and signed into law amid complaints from parents. nbc reports this. last month, a group of parents in orlando, florida, demanded consequences against sixth grade science teacher robert thollander. his crime? he acknowledged his marriage at school. a lot of trust is given to teachers, and it made it seem like i wasn't trusted because there's something wrong with me for being gay, he said. it makes it seem like being gay is something vile or disturbing or disgusting, when it's described as making children uncomfortable, knowing that i'm married to a man. it hurt. it's almost unfathomable to me. i live in new york city and understand that in places, this can happen, but tell me what the climate is for openly gay teachers and school administrators. i mean, this is outside the scope of the law. the law impacts how children in grades kindergarten through third are taught, but this was a

sixth grade science teacher. it seems that the law is having a broader impact among teachers and schools and students in the state. >> i think, nicole, you're right. i've heard from educators across the state that they plan to leave the teaching altogether. obviously, the past two years have been very hard on our schools and teachers, and this latest assault from governor desantis and the republicans in tallahassee is just the latest. this is on top of the watershed moment the profession already faces with teachers being understaffed, and underpaid. teachers are the first responders when it comes to a lot of these children. these children who come into our classrooms, many of them go back to broken households. the only structured place many of these young people come to is in the school, is in a teacher's classroom who they can trust. i'll end with this. it doesn't make it any better that at the governor and his

office, they are saying the quiet part loud. the opponents of this bill have called -- opponents of the bill, groomers, which is a code word for pedophiles. they said that schools are socially engineering children. the florida family policy council president called this a "don't turn my son into a daughter" bill. this is all a culmination that is -- that teachers have to deal with, that students have to deal with, that parents have to deal with and the state of florida. >> this bill, this law, this movement is not only happening in florida. i think across the country, 238 bills that would limit the rights of lgbtq americans have been introduced already, about half of them target transgender kids. it's up from 41 in 2018. and i guess my point there is,

this is a political playbook with real consequences. chaste buttigieg said, kids will die. >> we haven't seen a wave of anti-activism since the 2000s, since the fight over gay marriage at the state level and i think there's a reason for it. i think people on the right who are against gay rights were beating a retreat after gay marriage became the law of the land. they saw an opening with crt, that parents were newly aware or sensitized to what was happening in classrooms. some were skeptical. and they've dived back in to relitigate gay rights in a really big way, and the other piece of it, i think, is trans rights, which is a newer frontier in gay rights. it's newer for some people, for some parents, for everybody, and i think that they see an opportunity here to take that as a wedge issue and go back at some of these other kinds of rights that we thought were well established. >> it's so cynical and as we've been discussing with real world

consequences. florida state senator shevrin, thank you so much. nick sticks around. when we come back, what the twice impeached disgraced ex-president tried to do to his own former chief white house photographer who just wanted to publish a book. new reporting is next. to publish a book new reporting is next.

since leaving office, most of the world has had to watch the twice impeached disgraced

ex-president try to monetize what's left of his presidency, selling more merchandise, swindling his supporters, but new reporting in "the new york times" may show the ex-president at his most sort of grifty/trumpy. the "times" is reporting that the chief white house photographer during his tenure, shayla, informed trump aides that she planned to publish a book with some of her best images from her time of covering ex-president donald trump, but as often happens, trump had another idea. according to the "times" report, aides of the president first asked for a cut of her advance given for the book in exchange for trump agreeing to write a foreword and then promote the book and then asked craighead to, quote, hold off on her book project to allow the former president to take ms. craighead's photos and those of other white house staff photographers and publish his own book which is now selling

for as much as $230 a copy. we're back with nick confessore. now, some people might not understand the history of sort of white house photographers. lots of them do. eric draper was george w. bush's photographer and he published a book, and in modern times the most famous former white house photographer. he has a very active instagram account, made a movie and has published a couple of books. this is so quintessentially trumpian, though. >> the photos are public domain, so he can do a book if he wants to make a book, and every president has found some way to monetize their time in office since grant, except for carter. but i've got to say, to weasel in on your own photographer's book deal and then cut her out, just seems like a basic metaphor for the former president. what's yours is mine. this is someone who served him for a few years and took great pictures of him, and it's just

kind of amazing. >> so i have traveled with a white house photographer, and i'm not suggesting anything, but a white house photographer takes great pictures of a president and they take all the bad pictures, too. and i don't know how maniacal this person is, but if she wants to still publish a book and the president has taken all the great pictures, i'm sure there's a lot of bad pictures. it's not the right person to mess with. >> i thought it was fascinating that she had mixed feelings about doing her own book. she thought it would either be taken as an endorsement of the former president or an attack on him, which speaks to the uniquely polarizing effect this president had on america, that even this book of photos became both controversial and a sour business deal. >> which is now totally gone sideways for her. it's amazing. it's a great piece of reporting from your colleague and great to see you here. a quick break for us. we'll be right back. a quicbrk eak for us we'll be right back. *trade givesu an award-winning mobile app with powerful, easy-to-use tools, and interactive charts to give you an edge,

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finally, there are few honors in this country greater than becoming the namesake of a ship in the united states navy. this week, the u.s. navy announced the newest member of the fleet would be named for the late supreme court justice, ruth bader ginsburg, who died in 2020. the "usns ruth bader ginsburg" will be an oil replenishment ship designed to carry fuel to the navy's carrier strike groups. all of the navy ships in the class are named for civil rights leaders, including john lewis,

robert f. kennedy, harvey milk, and sojourn truth. quick break for us. sojourn trut. quick break for us totaled his truck. timber... fortunately, they were covered by progressive, so it was a happy ending... for almost everyone.

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a reminder for all of you on this friday evening. tonight at 7:00 p.m. eastern, vice president kamala harris will be joy reid's guest for an exclusive interview on "the reidout." that's coming up in just over an hour. for another week of shows during these extraordinary times, we are grateful. "the beat with arbimelber" starts right now. >> hi, nicole.

we'll be watching as well. i want to welcome everyone to "the beat." i am ari melber and we begin with new pressure on trump aides for their plots to directly overthrow the election. at this week's hearing to hold trump veteran peter navarro in contempt, there was a vote and since that vote, the committee is continuing the pressure. and that brings us to a text change that was a text written to then chief of staff mark meadows, and it's making waves right now. this was sent on january 3rd, 2021. you probably haven't seen it before based on what we think we know, as this is all pretty new. and that was during the tense and pitched lead up to january 6th, the certification and what would become the insurrection. and here is the text. mark. i'm reaching out, because i have details on the call that navarro helped convene yesterday with legislatures as part of his efforts to get pence to delay certification of the election for ten days.