joe, i thank you for being such a great, loving husband and loving father. i love you so much and will love you forever. >> that's all for this edition of "dateline." i'm craig melvin. thank you for watching. >> welcome to the show, i'm zerlina maxwell, coming up after congressman matt gates mocked a 19 year old abortion advocate, she used the attention to raise more than 1 million dollars for abortion funds. thanks to matt gates and many americans seeking abortions will be able to get them, and get helping for them. more government text messages from the crucial days around the january six insurrection are now found to have vanished according to the washington

post. the latest missing records are from two officials inside of the trump administration acting homeland security secretary chad wulf, and acting deputy secretary ken cuccinelli, we will get to all of those stories and more throughout the course of this hour, but we start with the latest efforts of the united states to win the release of wnba star brittney griner from a russian jail. russia's foreign minister now says he is open to talking to secretary of state anthony blinken about the u.s. proposal for russia to belize griner and former marine paul whelan in exchange for the release of a russian arms dealer named victor boot. russia gave no indication of whether they would agree to that offer or for the timing of when the foreign minister might be able to talk to anthony blinken. griner's trial on charges of having to vape cartridges of hashish oil in her luggage is expected to wrap up next week with a verdict, according to

her lawyers, they say that griner's had a doctor's prescription in the united states for medical cannabis and that she had never planned to bring it to russia and use it. in the trial, that took place this week, we're griner was kept in a literal cage, the basketball star, an olympic champion, explained that she has packed in a hurry and unintentionally carried the cartridges inside the luggage is. upon landing in russia, she testified that she never was read her rides when she was detained, take a look. >> my rights were never read to me. no one explained any of it to me. another point i got my phone and i contacted my spouse, my sports agent, and my clubs team translator. that flight was gone, so i definitely knew i was being detained. and i kept asking if i could leave or what's next?

it just was wait, wait for results. >> terry jackson, executive director of the women's national basketball players association joins us now. first of all, thank you so much for being here today. >> thank you, zerlina, for the opportunity to talk to you. it means that we can get her name in the news and we keep folks aware of this case, thank you for having me. >> of course. i want to start with the news of the prisoner swap proposed by the united states and the biden administration, what's your reaction and argue maybe a little bit more hopeful now and optimistic that she will be able to come home safely? >> i'll be honest with you, zerlina, any news that we get about this case makes us hopeful, it shows us that there is some forward movement, some progress, some things happening. we've been getting photos and visuals, seeing images gives us

some peace. knowing that she is okay, seeing that she is okay and hopeful that she is coming home to a soon. you know, i don't know the specifics of what is being discussed again we're just hopeful for it. we just want to show biden and his administration that they have our complete support and the support of so many organization that have mobilized around us to do whatever it takes to get pg home, to get paul whelan home. we want to see it happen and we want to see it happen soon. >> it's so interesting and you should mention paul whelan and eugene, i believe another person who is being held abroad in russia, and the idea that it leads me back to always is that these are americans. these are our folks and i think that there is something that unites all of us around this

idea that we want to get our people back safely. brittani is on the cover of time magazine and now we know that the highest levels of the u.s. government, as we've mentioned, are negotiating this release. do you think that she is finally getting the attention that she deserves? in the beginning of the story, when the arrest was first in headlines, i was like, i feel like there isn't enough attention and i want to know why? how are you feeling today about the fact that she is on the cover of time and everybody's eyes are on this story, making sure she gets home. >> that cover of time magazine 's inspiring. it just takes my breath away, the cover is magnificent, there is a beautiful photo and an incredible story that talks about britney griner, the person, so much more than the athlete, there are so many layers to who she is and now the world gets to see that, read that. i am very hopeful and inspired

also by the momentum and i just want to be honest and for all of your viewers, yes, there was an intentionality around being quiet at first, and as i have said in recent days, it's go time's, and i am so, i'm encouraged by the momentum and i just pray that it continues and again i want to say, as i've said in the top, you making space in your show for this story and others just keep that momentum going, that's what we need right now. we need folks to stay engaged, aware, to go to the website, signed the petition. yes, at this stage, that still matters. we that is what we need right now. >> one of the things we have discussed on the show as we covered this is the fact that griner is gay, she is a black woman and she is held inside of a country that is notoriously

racist and anti lgbtq plus, does that increase, maybe, the worry around her physicals safety, her emotional safety? how do you feel when you see the images that you are seeing right now on the left side of the screen of the cage? it triggers me in a very visceral way. how does it make you feel? >> it triggers all of us, zerlina. to know that britney griner's and lgbtq member, that she's black, a woman, all of that, in this region of the world, it puts us on edge, yes it does. we stay hopeful. seeing these images, like i said, it's a mixed bag, right? it allows us to see her and to somehow connect with her since we haven't seen her, but in this cage, behind those bars,

no, that does not make us feel great, idol. it doesn't. but being able to see her continues our hope. i lean in every time i see these photos just so i can read her face, her emotion. if i can figure out how she's doing. we are mindful that her physical, mental safety are something that we will continue to care for when she is back, and we can't wait until she is back, to wrap her arms around her. >> can't wait for that moment. terry jackson, thank you so much for joining us, starting us off today, please stay safe. coming up, a new attack in the war in ukraine is causing both countries to blame the other for what happened, we will discuss the latest attack up next. up next riders! let your queries be known. uh, how come we don't call ourselves bikers anymore? i mean, "riders" is cool, but "bikers"...is really cool.

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into its six month on friday, dozens of ukrainian prisoners of war were fear dead as moscow and -- nbc news has not been independently able to identify claims of either side. ukraine's president floated near zelenskyy visited a court in the odessa region and expressed hope that grain exports could begin after

months of being shut down, this comes after the un brokered a deal with turkey to open the ports and get the gray moving again to countries that are suffering from food shortages. such a horrible thing going on right now. helping us to understand it all, joining us, u.s. ambassador to russia, former u.s. ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul, he's also an msnbc international affairs analyst, ambassador, before we get to the war in ukraine, i want to get your take on what's going on with the prisoner swap, and this idea that this could be a possible way to return britney griner and paul whelan back home safely. we learned today that russia's foreign minister is open to talking to blinken after the proposal was apparently put on the table a couple of weeks back. what do you make of all of this? >> i think it is very encouraging, victor boo to the criminal that they want to get out of the united states, they've been trying to get him out for years, even when i was ambassador under president obama. this is some of that they

really want. i think he has intelligent connections, and remember vladimir putin is a former kgb officer. he doesn't want to leave him here, he wants to bring his comrade back. the fact that secretary blinken is talking about it openly suggests to me that there is a deal to be made, he wouldn't be doing that otherwise, i just hope that they have the other american that doesn't get mentioned as often mark focal to the list. all these americans are innocent, let's be clear. victor boot is a bad, bad criminal. three innocent americans against one criminal, is better than two for one. >> one of the things -- in the analysis, i've actually grown to understand in a comprehensive way the timing of her arrest. we talked about the war starting six months ago, and right around the beginning is when the reports of her arrest surfaced, because she had flown

to russia to begin her season. can you talk a little bit about how this could be viewed as a strategic move by russia, because they wanted boot back as you said, paul whelan, you know, there had been previous discussions about trading him for paul whelan, was taken britney griner a high-profile person they could take to make the swap real? >> you know, that is an interesting question and i don't know the answer to it, right? i don't know exactly what they were thinking, she was stopped right on the border, right? it would have been very coordinated to be asked strategic as you're suggesting, once she was detained, i'm sure the ideas of trying to finally get this high profile american for victor boot crossed their minds, because again, they have been thinking about ways to get victor boot out literally for a decade. >> it's really helpful in understanding what is happening to get all of that context in

there, thank you for that. as i mentioned, we're in the six month of this war and in this moment there is really a food shortage crisis, because of what has been happening with the fighting and the military strikes on port cities. presidents ellen's key was at the port in odessa on friday to get ships moving to the countries that actually need food, they've been closed since the beginning of the war, do you think they will get moving in the coming days? are there any signs of relief here? >> there are signs of a relief and in part because the president in turkey help to negotiate an agreement to get the grain moving, the day after he did it of course the russians attacked the port city of odessa, right? they are very difficult people to negotiate with right now. but i'm cautiously optimistic, and including the photos that you're showing right now, president zelenskyy might have gone down to odessa if they did not think that food would be

moving. i want to be clear, sometimes people blame the sanctions, the western sanctions for this food crisis, and inflation as a result of it, that could not be further from the truth. the russians have blocked these ports, the russians are responsible for the food shortage and hopefully now we have a deal to move that food to many countries around the world that need to see it appear in their ports. >> last minute here, i want to get your assessment on the things you are watching in coming weeks in terms of the military situation on the ground. >> i'm watching the battle in a city of the south, the russians took it very early in the war, and now the ukrainians are planning for counter offensive, i can't predict whether they will succeed or not, but again, this is the biggest counter offensive that they have planned so far in the war, that is what i am watching in the weeks and months to come. >> ambassador michael mcfaul, it's always great to have you

on, i learned so much talking to. thank you so much. >> thanks for having me. >> please, stay safe. coming up, there are more missing text messages, i can't even believe this, this time for the two top officials at the department of homeland security. we will discuss up next. up next. ♪ you ain't seen nothin' yet ♪ ♪ b-b-baby, you just ain't seen n-n-nothin' yet ♪ ♪ here's something, ♪ ♪ here's something you're never gonna fff-forget, baby ♪ get a dozen shrimp for only one dollar with any steak entrée. only at applebee's. meet leon the third... leon the second... and leon... the first of them all. three generations, who all bank differently with chase. leon's saving up for his first set of wheels... nice try. really? this leon's paying for his paint job on the spot...

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6th insurrection? well, the washington post is reporting on yet other missing documents, this time from top trump officials in the department of homeland security, chad wulf and acting deputy secretary ken cuccinelli, according to the post the discovery of missing records for the heads of the department, that is in charge of protecting the home land, you know, the country from domestic terrorism and attack, like on january six, you know? increases the amount of potential evidence that has just, you know vanished about the insurrection. feels like a problem. we should also note that the department of homeland security is the agency that oversees the secret service, chad wulf responded to the report on twitter saying keep turned in his phone to dhs, and if any messages are missing, that is the responsibility of the department. ken cuccinelli likewise said he followed all the departments regulation in turning his

government phone, and that it was dhs, not him, who raced messages as part of standard security procedures. as hillary clinton staffer said, my head will maybe explodes, maybe, on air, it will randomly explode. here is barbara mcquade, former u.s. attorney, msnbc legal analyst, barbara, you tweeted this about this report and the missing text quote, i'm beginning to notice a pattern. lay out the pattern potentially and how it could be a problem. >> yeah, zerlina, in a working government, when you work for a large bureaucracy, sometimes there are errors like this, human errors, and at some point the pattern stands up and you begin to wonder whether there is not some intentional force at work here. we have these missing text messages with chad wolf and ken cuccinelli, and cuccinelli is actually somebody who is very

involved in the january six plotting, at least procedurally. we saw it at one of those hearings, he was someone who suggested to mike pence by email, mike pence's aides, that he received a briefing about the electoral's scheme. that is interesting. we have the missing secret service messages and also don't forget we have the missing locks on the white house, the call logs and the daily diary, describing all the things that's happening at the white house that day. fool me once, shame on me, fool me twice shame on me, for me three times? i don't know that anything could be worse than this crime. the cover-up is starting to look like maybe there's something there. >> give us a sense of how unusual it is, even as a part of a migration, turning in your phone, as a government employee, how unusual it is for them to

just delete everything and you can never find it? no archive of it or saved folder somewhere with these messages that can be retrieved, especially when it comes to national security officials, all of this feels really unusual. you've worked as a prosecutor in the government, how unusual is this? >> yeah, you know, i'm still not convinced these are gone, gone forever, certainly from devices, i can remember a time when we went from blackberries to iphones, for example, and they collected everybody's device and told us to backup all of our data because it would be gone and we would have to download from the cloud, the same thing when you get a new device, everybody did that. some things are lost in the transition, i suppose, but the data, the email messages are archived, at least they were at the justice department, they didn't live solely on my device, they lived on the clowned and on backup, servers, so again we're talking about secret service and the department of

homeland security which are the agencies that do this work. criminal investigations. the idea that they can figure out how to retrieve them or back them up, i'm not convinced that that is the case. so, it would perhaps be fourth while to send somebody in there to look around instead of relying on them. >> another question is why it took so long for the committee to be alerted, wolf and cuccinelli said they didn't delete the text messages and if they were missing, the responsibility was with the department of homeland security, but they say that the dhs inspector general did not press leadership of the department for why the records weren't preserved, and they didn't tell congress that these records were potentially gone forever, like gone forever. what is your response to the fact that there seems to be a breakdown in communication here, but a convenient one even? >> yes, when the inspector general first notice this,

perhaps that wasn't the time to trigger any sort of reporting requirement, he is investigating. but once the generous six committee convenes, which was a year ago, last summer, in july of 2021, you would think that this is something that would grab their attention, along the lines of whistleblower laws. there are methods for members of the executive branch to share information with congress as we saw alexander been men do, you would think that this is the kind of thing that would trigger that sort of response, we didn't see that happen, i don't know why. it does seem like an area that the general six committee and even the justice department would want to inquire into further. >> well, we will see what the doj does with this information, but also the committee is working along at a steady clip as well. barbara mcquade, thank you so much for being here as well, always great to talk to, please stay safe. coming up, 19-year-old target of a sexes body shaming insult

ran by matt gates turned the moment into a wildly successful fund raising campaign. i'm telling you, do not mess with these gen z babies. abortion rights activists olivia has raised more than 1 million bucks for women seeking abortions. we will talk to her about that next. out that next the bar in the handle removes unseen dirt and debris ahead of the blades, for effortless shaving in one efficient stroke. you're pretty particular about keeping a healthy body. what goes on it. usually. and in it. mostly. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 high quality products. rigorously tested by us. real world tested by you. and particularly kind... to your wallet.

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this but there is a heated social media war raging between florida republican congressman matt gates and the teenager activists from texas, it all started when congressman gates made these offensive remarks at a conservative youth activists summit last week. >> have you watched these pro abortion, pro murder rallies? the people are just disgusting. why is it that the women with the least likelihood of being

pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions? nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb. >> 19-year-old olivia julianna was one of the many people who were disgusted by the comments and she responded to grown men gates word on twitter, i'm actually five foot 11, six foot four in heels, i wear them so small men like you are reminded of your place. gates shared a photo of julianna with her 1.6 million followers with the caption, dander raised, in an attempt to publicly humiliate her, as opposed to taking offense, she took advantage of the situation and turned it into somebody -- something positive. by raising money for gen z, an organization who will -- she's already raised, wait for it, over 1 million point $4

million in donations, joining me now. you're collecting these republicans like infinity stones, that was a tiktok pose i very much appreciated, olivia julianna, thank you so much for being here. first of all is at 1.4, what is the latest total of your fund raising so far? >> we are rounding the corner to one point $6 million raised in the last few days. >> it is so powerful but you have done in terms of taking what a sitting congressman said about you, a private citizen, and teenager, and we in an apparent trying to offend you, you turned into activism. why did you do that? it's not the first time you've done that. why did you decide to do it this time? >> republican politicians have consistently undermined both my intelligence and the intelligence of organizations like gen z for change, and

first and foremost i am an activist, i am somebody when i have the opportunity to help people in my camp unity, that's where i'm going to do. matt gates, undermining me and attempting to attack me and body shame me into submission has handed me a national platform on a silver platter and we've been able to take advantage of that. turn hatred into health care. people are gonna get services that they need that they may not have been able to get access to before. >> turn hatred into health care. i like that. one of the things i've been thinking a lot about since i first saw the video of him insulting abortion rights activists, including you, is that not everybody is taking women studies class, and no immediately why he is just calling feminist ugly, why that is just sold true about people who are fighting for equal rights, human rights, that you are ugly, so you should be ashamed that matt gates thinks that you are not pretty. like that would make me want to

go sulk in the corner. can you talk about why that is basically, when people are like what's the patriarchy, show them that clip. talk about why attacking you, physically about what you look like, or body shaming is the oldest trick the misogynists ever played? >> i mean, first and foremost, as a 19-year-old, i would hope that matt gates does not think that i am pretty, but patriarchal beauty standards have just been used as a measure to shut people down and demoralized them throughout the years, especially when it comes to women's right. the patriarchy has inherently tied women's value to their appearance, with these incredibly outdated, incredibly fatphobic and classic beauty standards, and gates playing into that is just a republican attempt to push us out of this conversation, when the reality is, they are doing this because they are afraid, they know that women across the country are

mobilizing because they're pissed off about the way that their rights have been stripped away from them. and so, by making these comments, gates is showing what we all know to be true, he doesn't have the intellectual backing or the facts to back up his statements, so he is resorting to playground tactics to try to shut us up, and it is not going to work. >> one of the other things about this that i really enjoyed is your social media posts, because instead of, you know, go in the corner and say i'm sad because matt gates insulted me, you've made hilarious, trolling post on your tiktok at on your twitter, as part of the fund raising campaign. why do you decide to approach it with humor, i feel like generation z really understands how to call out the bs, with humor in a way that maybe our parents don't necessarily understand, that's why they need to understand. explain it to the folks at home. >> when attacks like these are made, it's done because they

want you to feed into the cultural outrage cycle, they want you to get mad and play into this theory a type of the scorned woman that they used to try to push us down. so by responding in the way that i have, for one, i'm sure that i have confused matt gates, extremely, but i've also made people across the country laugh at him which is hilarious, in my opinion. i think that it is something that is uniquely gen z in the way that we use humor to cope a lot with the things that we are dealing with. that's what i've done here. i've mobilized people across the country in doing that. >> i feel agency does have a lot to cope with, speak to the fact that you have climate change, abortion rights, human rights, all the different issues you are dealing with and why you feel a sense of urgency. >> yeah, you know a lot of us gen z, we were born into a world post 9/11, we had to live

throughout our school years with very real events like school shootings and the war on terror, climate change. it's a lot of generational traumas that we had to face together. and when this happened, it has led to an extremely hyper intelligent, hyperactive generation of young activists and young political figures who are ready to fight full force for what we believe to be right. >> olivia julianna, i have really enjoyed all of your tiktok post, but namely the fact that you put all of this controversy towards doing good in the world, if only more people would choose to do that. thank you so much for being here, please stay safe. >> thank you. >> coming up -- thank you. coming up teens in louisiana -- in louisiana juvenile facility are being sent to the notorious prison for adults. we will tell you why after this break. break.

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extreme heat nationwide, one of the last talked about consequences is the thousands of human beings, essentially, being forced to live in ovens. people housed in poorly ventilated prisons in the united states are falling victim to what one lawsuit called cruel and unusual punishment. in texas, for example a report found that the heat index in

some prisons there can exceed 149 degrees fahrenheit. according to the texas tribune, those conditions have led to at least 13 people passing away over the last decade due to heatstroke. additionally, the head of the state correctional officer union says suicide attempts, normally, increased during the summer. adding quote, i don't have love for these people, but incarceration is their punishment, not cooking them to death. which despite years of advocacy groups and lawmakers sounding the alarms over this life or death issue, little has changed. in order to break this down, help us understand what is happening, is carey blake unger she's a reporter covering criminal justice for the marshall project and author of the book corrections in ink, a memoir. help us understand the conditions inside of america's prisons right now. there are headlines all over the country about priests in and heat ways, how does that impact incarcerated individuals?

>> there are at least 13 states that don't have prisoner housing areas fully air conditioned, and especially in southern states like texas where it is consistently over 100 degrees, you have the heat index, you know, up over 120 on a regular basis, that means that it is sort of like a living in enough and, these places are made out of concrete and metal, not that different from enough and. it's bad enough that at this point i have had prison guards reaching out to me to tell me that they are worried that the conditions are inhumane for the prisoners and one person said that she would describe it as living in a tanning bed >> i mean, there's something about when you are so hot and you can't get cool, there is something cruel and unusual about that. we all can relate to that experience. we cannot relate to the experience, all of us, of being incarcerated. can you talk about how it is even a upped in terms of the anti-, when folks are incarcerated, because there are

so few ways in which they can get a fan. they can get air conditioning, they can get cold beverages when they are overcome by the heat. >> well, you can't necessarily go take a shower whenever you want, you can't walk to the freezer and get some ice. you can't open the window for fresh air. all of those usual things that people might be able to do to mitigate extreme heat in the free world are not necessarily available for people in prison. and then when you took into account that there's also probably an infrastructure in a lot of these places and the water regularly goes out in some units. a few days ago, one of the prisons in gatesville, had the water go out for 24 hours -- sorry, for 48 hours, actually. they did bring in water bottles and tankers and portable toilets, but getting access to those things the pence on the staff being able to make sure that the prisoners get access and another problem that has cropped up even more in the past few years is that a lot of

these prisons are extremely understaff, they don't necessarily have the capacity to handle, you know, dealing with these extra mitigation needs. dealing with these extra mitigatio needs. one of the things that you mentioned is the fact that it is happening in many of the southern states. this time of year, it is particularly hard. in states where there is no ac in these prisons one lawmaker is pushing a bill down in texas that says, i do not think we have a money issue, we have a give a damn problem. talk about the fact that lawmakers and, politically, it can be difficult to get movement to solve problems like this, because of the dehumanization of people who are incarcerated, and the lack of willingness legislators have to help people living in these conditions. >> i think that has been a long-standing problem in texas. even one the house, so state house, did support that bill last session. it would have implemented

having air conditioning in all of these units by 2029. that did not make it through the state senate. that has been, you know, a long-standing problem even now is some instances the status spent enough money on fighting lawsuits that it would be easier to go ahead and put in the air conditioning in some of these. i think one of the other stumbling blocks has been that the state does not give reliable numbers. in a lot of different ways, we do not really know how many people are dying in texas prisons due to heat. the state has a track record of misrepresenting the causes of prison or death. they also have a track record of misrepresenting the cost of putting and air conditioning. we do not really have a true sense of the cost of. it they claimed it would be around a billion dollars. that has been called into question, that figure, repeatedly. >> i want to continue talking to you about the story. thank you so much for being here today. i would love to have you back with updates as the summer continues. carrie, thank you so much for

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i've referred to as intersecting dystopia's. we have had a pandemic that has altered many of our lives and livelihoods. we have had a presidency that resulted in a whole attempted coup and brutal attack on the united states capitol. there has also been a war on high gas prices. you cannot buy tampons. many women have lost their bodily autonomy. the list is really long's we can't do it all here. amid all the bleakness, and despair, we have beyoncé. with a new album created with the sole intention of offering us a place to dream and find a scapegoat during a scary time for the world. those are her words, not mine. leon say on friday released her solo album. the first in six years titled, and renaissance. over a cynic steam tracks including the lead single break my soul. i worked out to you today. queen bee transports us to a high energy world filled with dancing, laughter, and ng joy. that is exactly what we need

right now to stay sane. joining me now, to discuss this album, award-winning author and cultural commentator, chris farley. chris, why was this album everything we needed right now? why is it soothing my soul? what is it about this album that is doing that? >> yes, our long national nightmare is over. renaissance is here from beyoncé. i'm glad that you mentioned that you worked out to one of the songs off of this album, already. i keep seeing it described as dance music and how it incorporates elements of dance music, and house music. that is all true. but it is also really great workout music. i think a lot of people will be sweating to the songs. they have consistent beats. they have uptempo rhythms. they have positive messages of. it's exactly what you need when your work out on a machine or

lifting weights, are going foreign. she beyoncé is here to help with not only getting in shape physically but spiritually. it comes at just the right time. >> i love that. as i said at the top, we are living through the hardest time ever. i mean, when i set, some days, and i think about the list of things happening at the same time, i need to work out. i need to get on the treadmill to break my soul and run five times in a row but my soul is not broken. i mean, speak to this idea that the on say is very in tune with not just what we all need, but black people, people of color, people who are experiencing oppression, hardship, discrimination, because that is also coming through and many of the lyrics, and the vibe that she is exuding in this album. >> you know, what is so great about this album is a lot of times, dance music is not about the lyrics. you are there for the beats. you are there for the

metallurgy. you are there for nothing else. what is so great about this album is that not only are the rhythms incredible, and different, and experimental, and involving, but when you listen to a closely you also get something out of the lyrics as well. for her, the lyrics are as critical as the rhythms. that is very rare when it comes to dance news next. she is also someone, i think, who really has a sense of history. not only of the history around her but how she fits into it. years ago i interviewed her when she was near the start of her solo career. before she started becoming that beyoncé we know today. i was shot by the sense she had about the other artists who preceded her. like the supremes, and how they compared to destiny's child. today, when you listen to this albums, like the samples, with the turbulence she has, donna summers, i feel love, she really has a sense of taking

history, and taking things that was once old and channeling them into something that is president. something that feels futuristic. that is what makes this album, i think, so special. it does have a sense of history. it has a sense of a future. you get it all on crack, after track. >> one of the things i also talked about all day long are the different moments throughout american history when oppressed communities, black people, came to get there to dance. if you look at any historical text about music, it is not a coincidence that disco came right after the height of the civil rights movement. can you talk about how this kind of music, and music that you said you dance to, you worked out to, you move your body to, how it can come at a time when historical circumstances are really, really difficult, and people really need a space to be able to feel free and liberated? >> anyone who has ever gone to

see and performance and all that dance is a place where we can take elements of our culture and channel it into meetings, into feelings of safety, into feelings of community. that is, kind of, what's she does here. for a while, in pop music dance was out. i remember way back in the 90s. dance music was considered not serious music. it was rock and roll. it was wrapped. you would think you would not throw a party and dance to that, but it was the stuff critics took seriously and said people were doing meaningfully. . people like beyoncé you are doing something differently here. they are saying now, this is serious news that. this is grappling with the culture. this is grappling with the things we care about. she delved into her status as a woman. her status as a black person. and found some meaning and some

momentum from the. she is doing it here again with this new album, renaissance. she is saying yes, we are living in tough times, i have been two touchdowns for sunnily, you have to, let's dance it out. let's make it means something with their movement. these are great lyrics about being comfortable living in your own skin. she shows that again and again how comfortable trios was not only her spot of, with her skin but comfortable with challenging the times we are in. this is really meaningful dance music and this is not an oxymoron when it comes to beyoncé. it is something she is really making real. >> dances out everybody. that is what we will do. it is the only way we will stay sane. i have to be honest, i do not know any other way. c.j. farley, thank you so much for being here today. i am so excited. >> that does it for me, i am zerlina. you can find me monday through friday on peacocks with msnbc

hugs. be sure to follow us on twitter, tiktok, and more news is coming up right here on msnbc. right here on msnbc one by when they are being called to testify, and one by when they are ready to tell the truth. this is the mystery of the missing text messages deepens. the washington post is reporting that the dhs watchdog scrapped plans to recover secret service text from january six. what is going on here! plus, as donald trump weighs another presidential run