>> nbc's lester holt with that exclusive reporting there. that does it for us for this hour of msnbc. nicole wallace and "deadline white house" pick up right now. hey there, everyone. it is 4:00 in new york. i'm elycea muden dez in for nicolle wallace. republican primaries today going to give us a big glimpse into where the gop is headed, whether the party will go all in on pro-trump extremists and conspiracy theorists. three of the ten republican members of congress who voted to impeach donald trump for inciting the january 6th insurrection facing primary challengers today including peter meyer of michigan who's the only freshman republican member to vote to impeach. as well as butler revealed that donald trump sided with the mob

during a call with house gop leader kevin mccarthy while the capitol was under siege on january 6th along with congressman -- the three had been facing trump's wrat. republicans in two of those states, arizona and wisconsin, set to make their picks for statewide offices in the next few weeks. arizona today and wisconsin next tuesday. amid a rift between donald trump and mike pence that dates back to january 6th. "the washington post" reports, quote, two gubernatorial candidates in arizona and wisconsin backed by trump will face-off this month against those endorsed by former vice president mike pence. who split with trump after refusing pressure to reject the results of the 2020 presidential race. but make no mistake, this year's

republican primaries have been shaped in large part by who donald trump is endorsing. and competition for his endorsement took a surreal turn last night when trump endorsed eric in the missouri primary. just eric, no last name, you know, like beyonce and dona. turns out there are two erics with serious shots of winning the missouri senate primary, eric greitens and eric schmidt. both are claiming to have trump's endorsement. a source tells nbc leaving off the last name was intentional. let's get to nbc news correspondent shack belaruser on the ground in byron center, michigan, covering the primary race between congressman peter meyer and trump backed john gibs. what are you hearing on the ground there? >> reporter: some are telling me they waited until the very last

minute to make those decisions we can expect things in michigan to be close and unpredictable. one thing you hear from the candidates a major factor is the endorsement of former president trump. we know statewide former president trump issued a late endorsement friday endorsing tutor dickson. dickson telling me yesterday his endorsement would be key if she is victorious in that primary to take on democratic governor gretchen whitmer. then there's where we are right now, which is michigan's third congressional district represented by peter meyer. meyer is one of the ten house republicans who sided with democrats in impeaching donald trump for insurrection at the capitol. he's facing trump backed john gibbs. he says president trump won here in michigan, biden did not win

in 2020. and someone who says that because of trump's endorsement that he believes he'll be victorious tonight. you put all those factors at play we know we're expecting the result later tonight, and we expect it to be unpredictable with candidates saying it'll likely be close and it'll come down to the wire. >> shaq, you got a chance to speak with john gibbs, what did he tell you? >> reporter: i spoke with myers and gibbs. i want you to listen to what he told me and a gaggle of reporters after he came out to vote. he claims that president trump won in the state of michigan, and he was asked about his confidence in this election now he cast his ballot, and i want you to listen to a little bit of that exchange. >> on the issue of election security are you prepared to accept tonight's result if they don't go your way? >> we'll see what it looks like. if it's obviously the election is on the up and up, there'll be no problems. >> reporter: his confidence in

the election will be determined based on the results he told me a little bit earlier in that exchange that he believes the margin is going to be so wide and so large that it won't matter and he doubts that he has about what takes place. one thing i should note here in the state of michigan you already have the secretary of state's office come out and say and warn voters i should say that it may take a while to count all those ballots especially because there have been more than a million requests for absentee ballots in this state. so that takes longer to process, so she said things may change. it may take late into the night until we get a final result. and she warned folks not to listen to misinformation as they see those results coming in. wait until that final result is posted by the state. >> i was going to say important to set those expectations on a night like tonight. shaq, final question. talk to me a little bit about the role democrats have played in this republican primary. what have the candidates said about that. >> reporter: yeah, you see democratic groups putting money

into both races. the race to take on gretchen whitmer and the race here in this congressional district sending over $325,000 in this primary race here, and spending about $2 million in ads against tudor dickson. that's something candidates have commented on, republican candidates saying democrats are meddling here. you have peter meyer saying this is democratic hypocrisy, saying if they're boosting his primary opponent who has those baseless claims about the 2020 election, they're doing a disservice to democracy. tudor dickson saying the ads and money spent against her shows that democrats are fearful of her and the general election. i'll also make a note here that in this state this is one where there's an open primary. so i've talked to a handful of democrats who came out and took a republican ballot to participate in that race because they say the republican candidates that been endorsed by

trump are too extreme. >> shaq brewster, thank you so much. charlie psyches, editor at large in the bulwark, yamiche alsinlder joins us in just a few minutes. before she comes, guys, i want to ask you about this race in michigan, what you make of it. charlie? >> well, first of all, the fact any democrat would spend money on a trump backed election denier is in fact hypocritical and also dangerous. if this is an existential threat to democracy they should not be taking a chance that he would win in a year like this. this is going to be a real test. the three congressional races hitting the trump backed candidates against the republicans who voted for impeachment are as you said in your introduction a real indication of where this party is because in places like

michigan, in places like arizona it's not just whether or not voters will back somebody endorsed by donald trump. it's whether voters will back candidates who have bought into trump's big lie, the most extreme versions of his election denial, and that could have long-term consequences for politics in two crucial swing states. >> i want to bring in yamiche alcindor out in missouri for us. talk about donald trump's endorsement of eric, no last name. what is he trying to do here? >> well, alicia, this is just a confusing baffling race here. it's the missouri senate republican primary. you have a crowded field of candidates who are running to try to replace roy blunt who's retiring from the senate as a republican. former president trump had said he was going to endorse some time yesterday one of the candidates in that race. there were two erics and a vicky. he put out this statement that

said i'm going to endorse eric, all caps, but no last name. that has led to even more confusion in this race. so you have eric schmidt who is the missouri attorney general. he is someone seen as somewhat of a moderate even though he was trying to sue to stop mask mandates to go into effect in the height of covid. he's attacked right to try and get the support of former president trump. and then you have eric greitens. he is facing claims of sexual abuse, of domestic abuse. both of those erics have put out statements saying they were the one endorsed by former president trump. they were on twitter saying, they've said it in person. it's really, really confusing here. we're told former president trump is doing this intentionally. he wanted to make this vague so whenever eric wins is the eric he would be supporting. both erics here in some ways echoing the language of former

president trump. so there really is this sense both of the erics are trying to be as much of a trump-like figure in the state. we should note former president trump is wildly popular in the state. this is a state where voters are really, really liking former president trump. but i did talk to some voters who say they're a little alarmed by the amount of influence and power former president trump is slg in this race, in their state. they say candidates should be more focused on middle class voters, more focused on economic issues and not focused on trying to chase the endorsement of president trump. one thing i have to there is a third erring in this race. you can't make it up. he's not a leading candidate, but i have to mention him because it's notable his name is also eric. >> you couldn't write it better. jake, i wonder what you hear from republicans in december about how they feel about trump's endorsement power.

is it something they worry about? what are they saying about all these races? >> a republican primary it's helpful, obviously. that's not helpful when you endorse somebody without a last name which is basically buffoonery, but to be honest with you republicans here on capitol hill are really worried if eric greiten were to win this primary. they believe he is somebody who could lose the seat for republicans. i'm a bit baffled to be honest why republican leadership didn't put more money into this race to sink eric greitens. republican leadership and their super-pack at times taken hard against candidates who they don't think can win elections. if greitens wins his close allies and inner circle believe they'll not win this election. maybe that's a sign they don't believe mr. greitens can win.

again, in what's expected to be a good republican year, the president's -- the former president's endorsement is modestly helpful. there are plenty of states, alicia, that are just he needs to stay away from. he's not had the discipline to stay out of races where he would not be helpful in a general election. there are states across the country where his -- his endorsement is not helpful, states he lost, a state like georgia, for example. he's proven to be an unhelpful surrogate. but, again, in the republican base in a state like missouri as yamiche said, donald trump is incredibly popular and his endorsement does matter, but not when you endorse -- when you play a game like this which is just really bizarre and too cute by half. >> here's the thing, jake, there's the trump hangover of trump himself, and then there is the trumpism that has just seeped into our politics. so i want to go back to michigan

where you really have the ghost of 2020 haunting this primary. here is what peter meyer said about his primary challenger potentially disputing the results. take a listen. >> even my primary challenger has talked about, you know, the need to have a very large margin because of supposed cheating, and i think that is a very dangerous thing to do to try to cast doubt and undermine. if there are issues every candidate has a right to challenge those. at the same time to cast doubt unnecessarily just as a way of covering in case you lose i think undermines something very fundamental in this country. and it's important that candidates, again, tell the truth and be honest with their constituents. >> jake, there's trumps endorsements, and then there is some instability that he has injected into the pros. and that is a genie you can't put back in the bottle. >> correct.

that is a dangerous thing to have candidates across the country suggest that the electoral process is somehow rigged against them. it is -- it is dangerous and it's also stupid. it's stupid because if you tell people that a process is rigged they're not going to come out and vote for you. so why would people take -- so if you're a republican candidate who wants to bring people out to the ballot box, who wants to get people energized to vote for them, saying that this process doesn't matter and it's broken is literally the worst way you could get people to the ballot box. i don't understand it. it makes no sense. it's just like when donald trump said mail-in balloting, don't do mail-in balloting, go out to the ballot box. people then didn't go out to the ballot box, and republicans like kevin mccarthy were saying and no, no, no, we want people to mail in their ballots. it's safe, it's smart and it's easy. telling people to take part in a process they're terming broken i couldn't think of a more idiotic

strategy than that, and that's what we're seeing across the country. and republicans might find out it's not helpful for them, and they should tell people this process is worthwhile participating in and we believe it's fair, and that's you should go out and vote. >> yamiche, you're doing one of my absolute favorite things to do as a journalist and that is being on the road and have the opportunity to talk to voters. as you're on the road and speaking to people how much does the 2020 election come up compared to something like the price of chicken? how high is it on voters minds? >> reporter: it's a great question. i think that voters are thinking both of the inflation and the economy and sort of just trying to survive and thrive in america, but there are a number of people especially republican voters are focused on 2020 and election integrity. i heard from a number of voters who told me point-blank they believe former president trump won the 2020 election. they believe that it was fraudulent. i tried to talk to them and say

what about all the republicans coming on during the january 6th hearings saying that's not true, actually an election was decided fairly. you think of attorney general bill barr and others who said former president trump was just wrong. they believe in them, they're top of mind for them, they're thinking about them as they're voting. i'll also say other issues are coming up. that of course is abortion. i talk today a young republican woman, 19 years old who's pro-choice who says she's worried her party has gone too far and that women's rights to their health care and privacy needs to be a factor in how they're moving forward now they've had this big win in the supreme court to overturn roe v. wade. the other issue coming up and one definitely republican candidates including the two erics who claim they both have won this endorsement, they both also claimed they talked to former president trump. when you listen to their speeches you hear the echoes of almost 2020 and even i would say 2016 when you think about what they were talking about. yesterday i listened in and they

were talking about open borders, critical race theory and education. they were talking about taking back this country and the country being in a bad state. and really a lot of it was culture wars. voters here have a lot on their minds, but i think the top two issues continue to be the economy, just the way people are living and i would also say election integrity and really election lies. >> charlie, i can't let you go without what's happening in your home state of wisconsin next week. i want to read a bit in the post about the wisconsin governor's race. quote, trump and pence have endorsed different candidates in the wisconsin gop gubernatorial primary which will be held august 9th. while michaels has refused to say whether he would support a gop advert in the state legislature to retroactively decertify biden's 2020 victory saying recently it wasn't a priority.

michaels will face lieutenant governor rebecca who earned pence's endorsement last week. the officials also questioned the 2020 eresults but has called overturning wisconsin's results impossible. charlie, it doesn't seem like much of a choice for voters who live here in reality and know that there was no fraud in the election. >> no, but it is an interesting proxy war not just between trump and pence but between trump's endorsed candidate and former governor scott walker. and much of what's leftf the republican establishment here in wisconsin. and back to jake's point about the impact donald trump is having around the country in places like georgia, arizona, michigan and wisconsin, these swing states. in wisconsin trump had basically turned this gubernatorial primary into a very, very divisive food fight, and he's coming in to have a rally on tim mikeles behalf. senator ron johnson who is very pro trump but who will not be showing up at trump's rally

because he doesn't want to get involved in this fight over the governorship. so, again, from the point of view of republicans they're looking at this year's election thinking we should -- we should have the wind at our back to take over the governorship. but trump's, you know, intervention into this race has really split republicans in wisconsin and made this kind of a referendum on donald trump and his big lie. >> with nothing less than democracy on the line. yamiche alcindor, jake sherman, charlie psyches, thank you all for starting us off. when we come back president biden declaring justice has been delivered after a top figure in the key planning of the nooichb 9/11 was killed by u.s. drones. plus house speaker nancy pelosi arriving in taiwan today despite china's threat of serious consequences saying the world faces a choice between autocracy and democracy. how the surprise controversial

trip is being received. and later in the program a republican leader in arizona forced to reckon with what we have known for months now. there was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election. how that truth impacts those in the gop running on trump's big lie. all those stories and more when "deadline white house" continues after this. do not go anywhere. r this ndoot go anywhere are fighters. that's why the alzheimer's association walk to end alzheimer's is full of them. because flowers find a way to break through. just like we will. join the fight at alz.org/walk (jeanne) with thyroid eye disease, my whole world became about my eyes. i hid my bulging eyes, and double vision made things look like this. but then my doctor recommended tepezza, a prescription medicine that treats thyroid eye disease. with my symptoms under control, things are really opening up. (vo) in a clinical study, nearly 7 out of 10 patients taking tepezza saw improvements in double vision. and more than 8 out of 10 patients had less eye bulging.

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you know, we -- we make it clear again tonight that no matter how long it takes, no matter where you hide, if you are a threat to our people, the united states will find you and take you out. this operation is a clear demonstration that we will, we can, and we'll always make good on the solemn pledge. >> president joe biden's rare evening address last night announcing a u.s. drone strikeover the weekend killed top al-qaeda leader ayman al-zawahiri in afghanistan. two hell fire missiles so precise that no civilians and none of his family members were killed. over two decades al-zawahiri was one of the most wanted terrorists in the world as a mastermind in thousands of killings. u.s. officials began planning

the strike earlier this year when after a two decade search u.s. intel found al-zawahiri had moved from pakistan to taliban backed safe house. on wednesday biden authorized the strike a first since the u.s. withdrew from afghanistan nearly a year ago. frank, i want to start with you. what does the killing of al-zawahiri after two decades mean to national security? >> so first it would be hard to overstate how impressive this strike was both the intelligence side of it, leading up to the precision required to hit this building and not have civilian casualties. with regard to national security, look, i'm sure part of the factors considered in making the strike, executing the strike was the potential for retaliation. but when you weigh the cost benefit analysis clearly there's

not a strong concern about a significant iconic attack against u.s. interests here. but to think wrongly that the death of al-zawahiri means that we're done with al-qaeda or that there september someone waiting in the wings would be mistaken. in fact, most analysts will tell you that there is someone still alive that was on a list created by bin laden as possible successors to him. he's the only one still living that's on that list, and it's a gentleman last known to be iran. and he is ruthless and brutal and actually a far more charismatic leader than al-zawahiri ever was. so the threat remains, but the message is clear the u.s. can strike with force and precision, and we can do it remotely even without boots on the ground in afghanistan. >> that is exactly the point i wanted to pick up on with you, rick, which is what do you make of this argument that this is proof we can do what needs to be

done without having boots on the ground? >> i think it is proof of that. one of the things biden says when we left afghanistan is you could do over the horizon attacks on places to diminish terrorism, and this is a perfect example of it. we have the intelligence, we have the capability. we executed it. the other thing that's important about it is here is a president of the united states who values the intelligence community, the previous guy used to make fun of the cia and the intelligence community. this is something the intelligence community has worked on for 20 years, and there are probably men and women there who have been following zawahiri this whole time. i agree with frank it's not the end of al-qaeda by any means. people forget about al-qaeda versus isis. isis was a more global

organization. >> we believe there were senior members of the haqqani network who were affiliate would the taliban who did know al-zawahiri was in kabul. there may have been other members of of the taliban who did not know. we have already been engaged with the taliban, and i'm not going to preview any further actions we'll take to ensure that the taliban lives up to its commitments not to allow any external prodding from afghanistan. but rest assured the united states will be vigilant on that. >> frank, give us an idea on the region today and what taliban complicity would mean. >> well, i don't think anybody was a true believer in the assertion that the taliban would suddenly, you know, see the light and not either harbor or facilitate terrorism. in fact, i think what may be

going on here and here's the fascinating untold story that we'll just have to wait if ever to find out, there's largely factionallism that's developed, and this network where reportedly al-zawahiri was hiding, this haqqani leader, member, represents a faction. and there might be human sources part of this. likely there are human sources, and maybe it's due to factionalization within the taliban. so this could be a success story in terms of further splitting the taliban. and for those who warrant to align more with western thinking and civilization and those who don't, there also could be human sources with regard to isis who also sees themselves as a competitor. the untold story here is a fascinating story but the region is still quite unstable. the fact we projected this strength remotely is going to help stabilize and secure the region, but the threat will remain. >> what do you make of jake sullivan saying the u.s. has,

quote, already been engaged with the taliban. what does that look like? >> i think that's a good thing. we talked to the taliban during our withdrawal. as frank said the taliban are not going to suddenly become, you know, wonderful progressive liberals. but i think having engagement i mean one of the things they've shown over all these years, again, they are regional, they're practical. they're interested in afghanistan. they're interested in that part of the world, so i think we should continue to talk to the taliban, and it's wise not to tell them in advance we were doing this, but it's wise to keep talking with them. >> frank figliuzzi, as always thank you so much. >> up next speaker nancy pelosi condemned by the chinese government today with her visit to taiwan. it is not the first time she has stood up to that nation. her trip, though, today upping the concern of rising tensions between the u.s. and china. we're going to talk about all of that next. hina we're going to talk abt ouall of that next. you see, son, with a little elbow grease, you can do just about anything. thanks, dad. that's right, robert. and it's never too early to learn

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only from ihop. download the app and join the rewards program today. speaker of the house nancy pelosi became the highest ranking u.s. official in decades to visit taiwan today. after weeks of speculation and inflamed tensions between the u.s. and china. pelosi's trip to taiwan has infuriated beijing who for years has said the island has its own territory. the trip, though, represents a rare moment of bipartisanship

here at home. 26 republicans including minority leader mitch mcconnell released a statement commending their trip saying they're committed now more than ever to the u.s.-taiwan relationship. joining our conversation author and columnist nicholas christoff. rick, i know you have reservations about this trip so i want to ask this question in two parts, which is if you're nancy pelosi, if you are someone advising nancy pelosi, what is the rationale for this trip? what do you think is gained which i know sort of requires you to look at this through a different lens, and from your vantage point why was it mistake? >> it's hard for me to put myself in the speaker's place, which you asked me to do. but i think that, you know, one of the things in politics is you don't want to commit an unforced

error. and there's no particular reason why she has to go. and then in politics the second error is when you do something just in order not to seem weak. that's never a good enough reason to do something. and, by the way, i would not stop her. she's the speaker of of the house, the head of a separate branch of government, but we do have one policy focus right now and it's ukraine. and to somehow get us involved in another part of the world and in some active belligerence that would take our focus away from ukraine is a bad idea, and i think that's what the white house was essentially saying to her. >> as soon as speaker pelosi landed china quickly condemned the trip, announced missile tests around the area in a show of force. what else will this do for relations between china and the u.s. >> china does not want a war.

xi jinping is preparing to have an additional term as the party leader in china. he doesn't want a big blow up, but he does want to send a signal to both taiwan and to the u.s. there will be consequences. we may see more of that. we have seen some military exercises which actually stray into taiwanese territorial waters which is an escalation. i think most strikely for the u.s. we're going to see probably china selling drones to russia that will be used in ukraine. so i think china will pay a price. the biggest danger there's an escalation, china sends fighter aircraft near taiwan, one is shot down and we see an escalation that neither side wants. >> what do you make, rick, of the fact this is being sold as something bipartisan? >> well, just because it's bipartisan doesn't mean it's a good idea. and, again, the bipartisanship

is about being kind of macho and showing you're not going to stand down. i hope and i think nick is right in the sense i think there will be some shadow boxing here. both sides will sort of flex muscle a little bit and then withdraw. i hope that's a happy ending. >> okay. >> can i just add the -- one question is whether nancy pelosi should go to taiwan at all. the other question is right now during the ukraine war. i'm part of her making a trip to taiwan, trying to make clear to china that we will -- that we will resist any kind of attempt to change the status quo. on the other hand, doing so right now when china is in a position to send drones to russia to create problems in ukraine, you know, that creates additional risks. >> well, nick, to your point you were in tiananmen square in 1989 when troops opened fire on the crowd. speaker pelosi mentioned that

today in an op-ed for "the washington post" about why she chose to go to taiwan from her piece 30 years ago i traveled in a bipartisan congressional delegation to china where in tiananmen square we unfurled a black and white banner that read to those who died for democracy in chine, uniformed police pursued us as we left the square. since then beijing's abysmal human rights record, disregard for the rule of law continue. as president xi jinping tightens his grip on power. we chaent standby as the chinese communist party proceeds to threaten taiwan and democracy itself. nick, what's changed since that day? why is the u.s. interest in taiwan so important? >> well, and i should say that nancy pelosi is right on every point she made. i met her in that 1991 visit for the first time. and what has essentially changed over the decades with taiwan is that china used to aspire to take it over but didn't have the capability. now increasingly china does have

the capacity to actually win a war over taiwan. it may not be there yet. in 5 or 10 years it will be, so everyone's preparing for that moment and how we can deter china from taking a step that could escalate and possibly cause a world war. >> you know, rick, i think about everything you and i have talked about over the last few minutes. you've this trip to taiwan, the killing of an al-qaeda leader and the war in ukraine. and i wonder if what we're seeing is a re-imagining of foreign policy on the part of democrats? >> you know that's a big question and it's not a very good campaign issue because no one really votes on it, but the fact joe biden said foreign policy matters we're going to follow what's of interest to the u.s., that's something good for the country. by the way, i think if nancy pelosi wants to reanimate our

relationship with taiwan -- that would be the boulder thing to do than just go there and do some saber rattling. a quick break. we're going to turn back to politics. voters also going to the poll in the state of kansas. they're going to make their voices heard about abortion. the first time people will have their say since the supreme court's decision overturning roe. e supreme court's decision overturning roe.

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melissa, why was it important for you to come out and vote today? >> i have two young daughters that i feel like i need to be their voice. >> so which way did you vote today? >> it's a no. >> what do you think is at stake here today? >> my daughters, their lives, their choices. so -- >> reporter: how many daughters do you have? >> two. >> reporter: how old? >> 12, almost 13, and 1. >> reporter: what do you hope for their future? >> that they have the choice to make for the rest of their lives. >> gosha burns talking to voters at a kansas plals where residents are casting ballots on whether or not they want to amend the state's constitution to permit abortion restrictions from being enacted. let's bring in nbc news correspondent dasha burns live

in gardener, kansas, and michelle goodwin, chancellors professor of law specializing in health law and reproductive rights. dasha, talk to us from what you are hearing from voters on the ground specifically these concerns that voters may not vote the way they intend to due to the amendment being confusedly worded. >> right, even as you talk about what's happening here, the kansas state constitution, it's not a simple sprint forward vote here. and right now this is the epicenter of the abortion battle in the nation right here in kansas. and folks here absolutely are feeling that pressure. they're feeling the stakes and the energy here is high. it's true. folks have had to wade through a lot of confusing information and straight up misinformation here. if you turn on the it be here in kansas you are flooded with ads for both sides of the issue, making pretty hyperbolic claims.

and even the yes or no vote, right, voting yes is a vote to strip the kansas state constitution from the right to an abortion, which then puts the power in the hands of the state legislature which has a republican super majority that then bans abortion as many abortion right activists fear voting no would keep the constitution as it is. so yes is essentially an anti-abortion vote. no is a vote in favor of abortion rights. so that in itself has been confusing for voters. but then yesterday kansasans received a misleading text message claiming a yes vote is a vote to protect a woman's right to choose, which is not the case and the group kansasans for constitutional freedom which is against this amemd slammed this text message saying the coalition behind this campaign is lying to kansasans, but the

coalition denied sending this text message. certainly we talked to voters here who didn't receive that message and were frustrated and generally said it's been a complicated process to figure out which way to vote. take a listen to some of what we heard here. >> that women have the right to make a choice and that they are able to work with their doctors to make the right medical decision for themselves. >> reporter: so did you vote yes or no today? >> i voted no today. >> reporter: was it clear to you -- there's been a lot of different rhetoric and misinformation for folks out there. was it easy to figure out which way yes or no would go today? >> i found it very complicated to try to figure out. we spent a bit of time doing a bit of research and understand what the amendment met and what it meant for our family and our family values. and we tried to make sure we were voting directly for womens rights. >> reporter: elycia, one other

factor we're watching today is just how many people turn out because that turnout is going to be a huge bellwether what we're going to see in the mid-term elections. >> we'll come back to these text messages, these snunangons, but i want you to talk us through the legal background of this referendum. >> reporter: well, the legal background includes the fact that in 2019 in an overwhelming majority the kansas supreme court said that there was a fundamental right for women in that state to determine their own reproductive future. the supreme court in fact said that the kansas constitution starts out with all men are possessed of equal and inalienable rights, which means rights that can't be taken away. and they asked, well, is this declaration more than just words on paper? does this declaration also apply to women? does this declaration reach to

women's equality and their wholeness and wellness of being in the state of kansas? and they said overwhelmingly they do. in fact, there was only one dissent of the justices on the kansas supreme court. and so they said this right allows a woman to make her own decisions regarding her body, her health, family formation and family life, decisions that can include whether to continue a pregnancy or not. and so this being that the supreme court in kansas has said that this is foundational to the constitutional rights of kansas, to people who are in kansas is what now brings the legislature now there to put this referendum out for voters. and so that if voters vote yes just as what was mentioned, then this means that it is an anti-abortion yes that allows

the legislature which is a very hard right legislature in kansas to enact myriad laws potentially that would strip the right to be able to terminate a pregnancy away. and that could also include language that would exclude that for people rape victims and incest victims. >> what i hear from you, professor goodwin, this is just the beginning. dasha burns, thanks for bringing us that reporting. i want to ask you about the lawsuit filed today by the department of justice. we'll be right back. department of justice. we'll be right back. to exercise more, to be more social, to just relax. and eating healthy every single meal? if only it was this easy for us.

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we are back with michelle goodwin. michelle, attorney general merrick garland today announcing that the doj is going to sue idaho over its near total ban on abortions arguing it violates federal law requiring medical providers to offer emergency medical treatment. i wonder how you see this first post-roe litigation going. >> well, it's important litigation because what's difficult to determine is that those states that allow for exceptions if life is at risk, well, how much does one need to suffer? we've already heard cases in the state of wisconsin where a woman bled for more than ten days, where she had an incomplete miscarriage but doctors were really concerned about potential litigation and possible criminal

punishment if they did what would be typical medical advice, which is to right away provide her relief. in the state of idaho what we know is there's been a number of case involving individuals who have gone to emergency rooms that have been turned away. again, doctors fear criminal punishment if they do what is standard for medicine, which is to help people with incomplete miscarriages or who might have atopic pregnancies. and so just -- what we have is the justice department led by merrick garland stepping in and saying that the emergency medical treatment and labor act applies here and that idaho must stop and must provide care for people who are coming and seeking services, seeking health care while pregnant to be able to find relief including if that means an abortion. >> a reminder yet again what we're actually talking about here is health care. michelle goodman, thank you as

always for spending some time with us. up next one of the biggest conspiracy theories of the 2020 election debunked by a republican in arizona. i'm going to tell you about that story next. n arizona. i'm going to tell you about that story next . now, skyrizi helps me get going by treating my skin and joints. along with significantly clearer skin, skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and skyrizi is just 4 doses a year after two starter doses. skyrizi attaches to and reduces a source of excess inflammation that can lead to skin and joint symptoms. with skyrizi, 90% clearer skin and less joint pain is possible. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. with skyrizi, there's nothing like the feeling of improving my skin and joints... ...and that means everything. now's the time to talk to your doctor

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and so our humble team saves the day by working together. on miro. large out-of-state corporations have set their sights on california. they've written prop 27, to allow online sports betting. they tell us it will fund programs for the homeless. but read prop 27's fine print. 90% of 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. over 8,000 ballots in pennsylvania were cast by people whose names and dates of birth match individuals who died in 2020 and prior through the election. think of that, dead people. lots of dead people, thousands. there were thousands and thousands of dead people that voted in different states,

thousands and thousands. >> hi again, everyone. it is 5:00 in new york. i'm aleashia menendez in for nicolle wallacech it was a familiar refrain from the former president that thousands upon thousands of dead people voted in the 2020 election. and like the rest of his claims of election fraud those allegations were false, completely unsubstantiated. it was proven wrong at the time he made those comments and still being proven wrong today. last night attorney general mark burnovich sent a letter addressing the claim dead voters casted votes in maricopa county. quote, after spending hundreds of hours reviewing these investigations, investigators were only to determine only one of the 282 on the lists were deceased at the time of the election. our agents investigated all individuals that cyber ninjas

reported as dead, and many were very surprised to learn they were allegedly deceased. one -- one dead voter. of course mentioning the cyber ninjas so-called forensic audit of maricopa county ballots which this investigation stemmed from. his findings were yet another blow to the cyber ninja's work which ultimately affirmed joe biden's win even more, finding that he won by 360 more votes than the official results showed. his letter also notable for the fact that he was the one to put it out on the night before the state's primaries. his plan is running today in today's senate primary although his campaign has struggled since the beginning when trump blamed him for not doing enough to uncover election fraud. meanwhile trump's endorsed candidate in the gubernatorial race, kerri lake, has leaned heavily. lake has said she wouldn't

recertify biden's victory and wants to decertify it. and also suggested katie hobbs be sent to jail for her perceived role as, quote, the mastermind of the 2020 election. and continues to raise the specter of fraud in her primary race. joining us hilliard from arizona, and also with us eddie glaud at princeton university and msnbc political analyst. maria theresa kumar is here. and with me on set, matt dowd, political strategist as well as an msnbc contributor. i want to start with you. you're out there in arizona right now. give us a feeling on the ground. >> you know, we're looking at a potential sweep of these trump endorsed candidates. if in fact a lot of these trump voters that were new to the political scene here, alicia, in 2020 not only come out for a

mid-term but willing to come out for a primary in the middle of august, that is the question mark. that is exactly what keri lake needs to pull this off. it's not just her but also mark finchem as well as abe humade running for attorney general who's echoed those sentiments as well here. there's a lot of question marks. all the campaigns i talked to there's a lot of ways we could explain whatever result comes out here, but ultimately this is situation i think it's important to note that keri lake is already propagating the idea there is supposed fraud and, quote, irregularities in this primary. we heard donald trump do this ahead of his 2020 election bid, and she's doing that, going around the state suggesting if she were to lose it would be at the hands of her opponent. and one of the the -- last night it was after their last rally got the opportunity to catch up with her and finally be able to

pose that direct question to her. what specific examples, what specific evidence, what specific allegations is she actually referring to? take a listen to part of her answer. >> at what point does keri lake stop and say am i undermining american faith in our elections? you haven't even laid out any fraud -- but what fraud is there, keri? what fraud is there? this is serious. >> do you want to make this about you? >> no, this is about arizona voters in this election. . >> so you know about a crime and yet you're not reporting it to authorities. >> reporter: alicia, that could easily be the next governor of arizona, and i think it's

important to setup the context. you've already got doug mastriano in pennsylvania, potentially keri lake coming out tonight, and tudor and a week from now you've got the wisconsin gop gubernatorial primary where tim nichols is looking to take over for tony evers. and so i think this is a situation here where i think you're potentially looking -- you take those four states here, you're talking about a much different turnout in terms of the certification process on how 2020 would have gone, and you're looking at a potential 2024 certification process that could turn into just sheer chaos. >> vaughn, i tip my hat to you because nothing like shouting questions over the future of democracy over sweet campaign tunes, that letter sent night saying he found evidence of only one ballot cast in the name of a dead person in maur copa county, how is this debunking of a trump

talking point land with republicans there? does it matter it came from a republican a.g.? >> reporter: how about this? i think it's important who it did come from. and this is mark burnovich also learning in the u.s. senate. in the weeks after the 2020 election he came out and said publicly there was no evidence of mass fraud that would have overturned arizona's election and given donald trump the win. then he decided to run for the u.s. senate and donald trump came attacking and knocking him for not proving that arizona's election was rigged. so at that point the attorney general said, okay, i'll open an investigation into arizona's election. and he tried so hard to find fraud. he took the cyber ninja report, tried to work his way through there in order to prove some way that donald trump actually didn't lose by 11,000 votes. ultimately he failed to do that, and you saw that report released last night. i mean, it was sort of a final middle finger to the rest of the republican party here in the

state because mark lost essentially all support that he had coming into 2021. if you look at polling he's about 15%, very unlikely to pull off a win for the senate tonight. and his political career is over, why, because he's unable to prove fraud and at least did not further try to propagate the idea donald trump actually won the state of arizona. >> right, not done, give us what we want, don't give us the facts. >> yeah, i mean that's the virus that's taken hold of america over the last four or five years. donald trump was patient with one of the virus and it's gone everywhere. it's not just in arizona, michigan and pennsylvania, it was in new hampshire. and it's taken hold in new hampshire even though all of their elections by anybody's standards have been accurate. the republican secretary of state of arizona has had to weigh in saying disputing of the election fraud allegations. it is one of the most damaging things to our democracy today that people, that 30% of the country has lost complete faith

and trust in the elections if they lose them. if they win them, they trust them. if they lose them and democracy can't survive with that. >> it was one of the reasons i wanted to make sure you and i were able to speak today about what is happening in arizona because, yes, there are lots of states we're seeing examples of this. but arizona demographically is particularly interesting to me, right? they've got to get through these primaries, but once they do what is waiting for them on the other side in the general? >> this whole idea of undermining the election is a tool the republicans are losing, and i want to be clear it's what the magga republicans are using so it dissuades voters from participating on their side and on the democrats side. and one of the reasons that they're trying to create this doubt -- seed this doubt, alicia, and this is why you have me on, is that one of the demographics in arizona is just

not with them right now. just since the last election. we're expecting an additional 80,000 latino youth to turn 18 years old in arizona. and the reason arizona is at play, the reason that it became a purple state is because of the right-wing republicans making it so hard for latinos in arizona to feel that they were part of this country. if you recall it is the state of jan brewer, sheriff arpaio. while this is a short-term solution, and that is to create this allegations of voter fraud, it is not a long-term solution for the republican party. and they are going to have to compete for voters on policy. unfortunately, we have to make sure that at the end of the day she basically gets stopped.

and do think after the primaries are done what we're going to witness is an increasing number of young latinas and their families coming to the polls and making sure we need to vote for people that will safeguard not just our elections but more importantly, as importantly our families. >> you can run on policy. you can run on vision or just make it nearly impossible for people to vote. i want to read a new report out today by the brennen center for justice. quote, since the beginning of 2021 many states have enacted an unprecedented wave of laws that restrict voting access. at least 18 states including congressional battlegrounds passed 34 restrictive laws that could create significant information gaps for voters and result in misinformation. restrictive changes carry the added risk that voters will mistakenly believe they address real problems of election integrity, confirming or creating false assumptions about widespread voter fraud. for instance, in feeding a disinformation feedback loop around the big lie. it's all about misinformation, a

self-fulfilling prophecy, sowing doubt about how elections are run. the problem is it's hard to pull that back once it's out there, eddie. >> oh, absolutely. it undermines fundamental trust in our democratic process. this is part of the great replacement. there are demographic numbers that suggest and recent evidence suggests that republicans aren't winning the popular vote. so if you can't win the popular election in certain places you rig the terms. so we're going to see how they're going to determine how the votes are counted. i'm reminded something abraham lincoln said on the floor january 1888. what are fever dreams this is bundled lies and fantasies to justify the slaughter, to justify turning the back on democratic prisms, and so we're in a fever dream right now.

there are those who are not good faith actors who are literally trying to undermine our democratic process, and we need to engage them as bad faith actors who are doing that work. >> i want to come back to that idea of replacement theory, i want to make sure i ask you about the time you spent in new hampshire. you had a conversation with new hampshire secretary of state. let's take a listen and talk about it on the other side. >> in recent elections we have heard unverified reports of buses coming across the border with nonresident individuals that proceeded to a polling place. >> the last time we won the primary tremendously. we should have won the election but they had buses being shipped up from massachusetts, hundreds and hundreds of folks. >> the claims are made, but the evidence to back the claims up just simply isn't there. >> do you worry that we've gotten to such a state in politics where if i don't like the result i'm going to say it

was fraudulent. if i like the result, i'm going to accept it? >> certainly that has happened recently. a great thing about new hampshire is that when the election is over it is very easy to request a recount. and they may not like the result but at least they walk away knowing it is what it is. >> what did you take away from this conversation? what did you take away from the other people you spoke with in new hampshire? >> first, this is republican secretary of state who has to do a balancing act. he's had to just to dispute voter fraud that doesn't exist in the state, the republican secretary of the state of new hampshire. the biggest thing i took away from talking to voters up there, and these were swing voters or people concerned and are going to decide it, and new hampshire is one of those states going to decide congress and the u.s. senate because of the swing seats up there is that underlying all their concerns about inflation and the economy and other things, there's a deep fear about our democracy. all you have to do is just touch very, very slowly and not

very -- not very far down under their skin and it rises up, and they're very concerned starting with this idea that nobody trusts the elections or a group of republicans don't trust the elections and are spreading the big lie. and i think that to me is democrats if they're going to run in this campaign cannot miss the opportunity to make a much broader message in the campaign. don't worry about going off in the weeds. voter want to hear how you're going to protect democracy. >> who did those voters hold responsible for their lack of faith? >> they want to hold donald trump responsible but also other republicans who in their minds haven't stood up to donald trump and these are not voters in love with joe biden. it's voters who are very concerned about what's developed in the republican party especially the candidates that have surfaced, but in their mind donald trump is theenf trump wes

big lie and what's taken place has taken hold in the sprised you? >> i think we can't miss the beat on this. when we election too often we take a poll and we look at the top three issues, and that's not what fundamentally these voters are concerned about. and things like roe v. wade and guns and the january 6th commission, they may not bring it up, but deep down under them is this huge dread for their children and grandchildren that may not have a democracy when this is over. >> right, polls were not built to question the future of democracy. i do want to go back to the arizona primaries today because it's not only election conspiracies trump backed candidates are pushing. quote, for months mr. masts has promoted especious theory portraying illegal immigration across the southern border as part of an elaborate democratic power grab and in podcast interviews he's asserted

democrats are trying to encourage immigration so their party can dilute the republican power of native born voters. what the left wants to do is change the demographics of this country mr. masters said in a video posted to twitter last fall. they want to do that so they can consolidate power and so they can never lose another election. in may he told an interviewer democrats, quote, were trying to manufacture and import a new electorate. talk to us about these claims, these false claims and how voters are going to respond to that kind of stoking fear? >> i think what matty was talking about, how a majority of americans understand things are just not right, our democracy is vulnerable. these kind of trope conversations he is pedaling they're so 2010. and people recognize the country has changed, the demographics have changed, and what we need is an individual at the local level and national level that actually brings people together.

one of the reasons i think joe biden was able to come into history and go into the white house and dislodge an authoritarian figure is because it was a multicultural america in georgia, a multicultural america and nevada and arizona and pennsylvania and even wisconsin that came together and said, you know what, donald trump is not right for this country and we need a leader that brings us and this country together. now a challenge for the biden administration and i think the local leadership is basically demonstrate your voting works and that we're back on track when it comes to democracy. i am very interested to see what happens with january 6th, alicia, when the commission comes back in september because i think it's going to draw many more americans into the conversation and recognize how disjointed the republicans are who are in power versus every day either independents and democrats who just want to country to function. so that's what i would look at. and at the end of what he's

saying basically it's a racist trope but everyone hears the dog whistle and no one likes that less than latinos in arizona who happen to be eligible to vote because they are american first. >> everyone does hear the dog whistle, and i think we often make the mistake of talking about disinformation and attacks on our democracy as though they exist separately from racism racism. >> absolutely. we need to tell it truth. there's a piece in the atlantic talking about fear, hatred motivating. the demographic shifts represent an existential threat. and so part of the work we have to do is tell the truth about what's motivating these and understand that history -- our history suggests we standby silently and we descend into indark ages. we've done it before. 53,000 black folks just from my

tradition were killed between 1865 and 1895, how so? because there were forces mobilizing, arguing for, fighting for a white america. those forces are at work again today, and we need to name them for what they are and stop dancing around it and identify it and fight accordingly. >> vaughn hilliard, eddie glaud, maria tracy kumar, thank you all for starting us off this hour. when we return what to watch for in tonight's primary. the one and only steve kornacki at the big board with everything you need to know about tonight's contest. plus there's new reporting on the missing tecs from secret service in the days leading up to january 6th. and a federal judge dealing a big legal blow to the ex-president ruling cases brought against him by capitol police officers injured on january 6th can proceed. what's at stake later in the hour. "deadline white house" continues after a quick break. do not go anywhere. house" contis

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it is primary day in arizona, michigan, missouri, kansas, and washington. with polls just hours away from closing. and with this year's mid-terms just 98 days away, tonight's results may give us a hint about what we can expect for november's general elections. let's bring in nbc news national political correspondent steve kornacki, the one and only live at the big board. >> i think one of the tests this is the single biggest test tonight for this group of ten republicans. these are the ten republican house members who voted last year to impeach donald trump

after january 6th. we've been tracking what ends up happening with them in 2022. you can see a number of them just decided not to run for re-election, not even to try with republican primary voters. but so far before today two have faced primary electorates. the other tom rice in california. you can see he got through his primary while rice lost, a crucial difference between those two, donald trump stayed out of the race in california. he didn't make any endorsements. he didn't get involved, and valadao got by. rice got trounced in that primary. you see today three, three republicans who voted to impeach trump all on the ballot in republican primaries today. and in all of these three races donald trump has made an endorsement. we can show you peter myers, the republican who voted to impeach

trump here in the third district in michigan, he's being challenged in a primary here by a trump backed opponent. if you go to washington state jamie herrera butler voted to impeach. jo kent has the endorsement of donald trump. lauren culp has the endorsement of donald trump. we have yet to see a republican who voted to impeach trump survive in a primary where trump weighed in. there's one more left and probably the biggest one of them all. it's liz cheney out in wyoming that will be two weeks from now, and certainly donald trump has weighed in on that race. >> i'm not sure if you watched the report we did earlier with dasha burns, where you have an oddly worded referendum. you also have forces coming in doing these text messages to voters, additionally

complicating. what are you going to be watching there? >> it's unusual. let's go over to that screen there. it is unusual to have a referendum during a primary. not every state you're going to see this, but that's the primary day in kansas, so one of the variables here in this referendum is exactly who makes up the electorate here. there's that confusion over the wording of the ballot, also who makes up the electorate because you've got unaffiliated voters, independent voters who maybe weren't planning to vote in the republican and democratic primaries in kansas. they can turn out now, and they can get a ballot today that just lists this ballot question on abortion and nothing else. so how many are actually going to show up and do that? that's one of the wild cards in this race, too. again, it's interesting to see here a constitutional amendment that would say the state constitution in kansas does not provide for legal abortion. interestingly as soon as i get this up here, you think of kansas as a very right state. it is, but there is one poll

taken in advance of this suggesting this could be a close race tonight. yes was leading in the poll 47-43, but again it's a very red state. but on this topic this might be closer than this red hew of kansas might suggest. but shortly after 8:00 p.m. eastern we should start getting some numbers, and i think this is one we're going to be watching closely maybe late into the night. >> there's already been expectation setting on when people can expect results to come in, and i wonder if you as you watch all of this how much can you really extrapolate out on what this means for november's elections? >> again, what i want to here as this starts to come in kansas and this is the trump-biden result in kansas. overwhelmingly a 15-point win for trump statewide. a lot of the population centers

actually that's where democrats have their strength and that's where i think opposition will have their referendum, but i am particularly interested sort of this area right here. this is kansas city, kansas, kansas city, missouri. and right below this is johnson county. this is the biggest county in the state, bedroom community, overland park, think of places like that. this is an area that's been swinging towards the democrats over the last number of years. joe biden actually carried johnson county, and i think there's a lot of places like johnson county around the country where democrats have been doing better and better. suburbs, college educated voters, that kind of demographic. what democrats have been saying the overturbing of roe v. wade is going to be mobilizing voters in those areas that weren't engaged in the mid-term election. i want to see what a place like johnson county looks like, what turnout looks like there, how this referendum breaks there,

because if you get surprisingly disproportionate high turnouter that might offer some kind of clue about this issue doing what democrats are hoping it will do for them in november. but you've got to be careful one state as you say a lot of variables here that won't be in place across the country in november. >> with the stakes so high, thank you for making it all make sense for us. steve kornacki at the big board. be sure to tune in to our special primary coverage beginning at 8:00 p.m. right here on msnbc. new developments concerning those missing texts from secret service as top house democrats investigating january 6th are calling it a cover up. back with that after a quick break. cover up. back with that after a quick brea k. you see, son, with a little elbow grease, you can do just about anything. thanks, dad. that's right, robert. and it's never too early to learn you could save with america's number one motorcycle insurer. that's right, jamie. but it's not just about savings. it's about the friends we make along the way.

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costs to promote betting reduce money for the tribes, so they get less. hidden agendas. fine print. loopholes. prop 27. they didn't write it for the tribes or the homeless. they wrote it for themselves. this week growing concerns and new requests from congress about those missing january 6th secret service texts, and reporting from the inside suggesting the dhs watchdog is prepared to push back. politico reports inspector general joseph cafari struck a defiant tone in an e-mail to his work force yesterday as he faces scrutiny about the delayed warnings about the missing texts and his own criminal probe into the matter. citing a tremendous of speculation regarding his office's work and their resilience in the face of this onslaught of meritless criticism. just two hours later the chairs of both the oversight and

homeland security committees again demanded he step aside as i.g. writing in a letter, quote, with grave new concerns over your lack of transparency and independence which appear to be jeopardizing the integrity of a crucial investigation run by your office, the committees have obtained new evidence that your office may have secretly abandoned efforts to collect text messages from the secret service more than a year ago and that your office may have taken steps to cover up the extent of missing records. joining us now a correspondent and msnbc contributor betsey swan and harry litman. you also say the e-mail urges his employees to support one another. what does that say about their concerns about this ongoing probe? >> what we know is that even within the inspector general's office of dhs there are real concerns in the work force about

cafari's leadership. i talked to one dhs official who told me honestly out of concern for retaliation they felt the immediate staff surrounding him at the minimum don't have the competence and experience to be able to manage this really important office. and the dhs inspector general's office is such an important institution. dhs as you extremely well know is huge. it's powerful. having the robust effective watchdog looking over that immense well-funded agency, it's crucial it's operating properly if it aspires to that. the fact there are people within that watchdog's office that feel their boss is incompetent is something that's a real problem. the other thing this e-mail signals is that cafari has zero

intention from his own accord stepping down from his post as dhs inspector general. there are a lot of folks on the hill and probably in the white house too that wish he would gallop off into the sunset. for him to send an e-mail like this saying criticisms are meritless and suggesting what his office is facing is just quote-unquote speculation, that's probably the clearest sign yet he has no intent of vacating his post and that ultimately it's going to be a decision up to president biden whether or not to keep him there, whether or not he can maintain the confidence needed and credibility to do his job. >> harry, betsey as she always does lays the stakes out beautifully. and we already knew previously he knew the texts were missing months before he alerted congress. but the january 6th homeland security are now calling this a cover up. he actually withdrew his february 2021 requests for all secret service text messages

sent around january 6th, that is five months after he asked for it. what do you make of the revelations, the fact they've obtained all this new evidence? >> look, so the more light you shine on it, the murkier it gets. he does discover a text in july where he's saying never mind. he's been deceptive and derelict in his investigation before, and his reputation precedes him. but none of it really matters. do we replace him, do we not? for this specific situation it's 100% clear what has to happen, and he's being foolish to get his back up. he and the ss brass who are at odds with one another must both testify under oath. it's totally straightforward. that's what you do in this situation especially with the stakes so high and they're both sort of playing public relations cards. if the committee can't do it, and it probably can but it's had some troubles, there's also on

oversight by consortium of the specter generals looking into him. what's going to happen and i suspect it will because this is not going away, the department of justice needs to open an investigation which will, "a," have the power to get people to tell the truth. but, "b," more importantly get somebody to rush in fast to try to be someone who doesn't have any criminal liability with doj by telling what happened because this is getting bigger and uglier by the day. it's metastasizing. >> these is what benny thompson and maloney are asking for by monday. all communications related to any decision by any dhs oig personnel not to collect or recover. and the deletion, erasure, unavailability or recovery of text messages from the secret

service. mr. chad wolf, mr. ken cuccinelli in connection with this investigation. we heard where harry thinks it should go. where do you think it goes next? >> item two on that list is particularly important especially of course to capitol hill. they're seeking communications about the decision within the inspector general's office not to tell congress that these text messages had deleted and they'd essentially given up on trying to get them back. that's the kind of decision that drives members of congress totally nuts. and the reason is that totally relies on inspectors general to function properly and to keep an eye on the departments and agencies that are underneath them. when those i.g.s don't tell congress about problems they're running into, congress doesn't know about it and doesn't want to be expected to send in regular fishing questions, fishing expedition trips to figure out what possibly be going wrong in dhs.

ethwhether or not the inspector general's office can meet the deadline these two committees have set of course is a really important question. one would think they would have started collecting documents related to this because there's been so much attention both from the media and capitol hill related to this particular matter. but if monday comes and goes without those documents being produced then i would expect to see congress push substantially harder to get anything that would fit in those categories. >> well, i'll be watching that. harry, i want to make sure i get your reaction to breaking news and two officials involved in the ex-president's fake electors plot were so concerned about the plan they warned it could, quote, appear treasonous. from "the times," quote, kelly ward the chair woman of the arizona republican party, kelly townsend, state senator, were both said to have expressed concerns to mr. trump's lawyers in december 2020. ward and townsend were concerned it could appear treasonous to

vote on monday if there was no pending court proceeding that might eventually lead to electors being ratified as legitimate ones. a trump campaign lawyer wrote the group which included rudy giuliani, wrote the word treasonous in bold. harry, what does that all tell you? >> yeah, so they know exactly what's wrong and why it's wrong. she actually zeros in, they've both been subpoenaed, by the way, so we're going to get them absolutely nailed to the wall unless they take the fifth amendment. the real problem is there's not even a parchment excuse for saying there's -- there's some basis for having the republican slate. they know it's totally bogus. now treason is thrown around a lot. it's not technically treason, but it would technically be the things they're being charged with starting with obstruction, and it's perfect evidence of knowledge, no way of getting around it. you can't do this, it's not lawful. and, by the way, they did it anyway. >> harry, i do want to make sure

i ask you one more question on the previous story that we were on, which there's more evidence today about how what we're talking about is becoming some kind of pattern for march 10th of this year. lawyers, quote, conveyed to plaintiff when an employee suffers from dod or army he or she turns in the government issued phone and those phones are wiped. for those custodians no longer with the agency those message said cannot be searched. and while it's possible particular messages could have been saved into other record systems such as e-mail, do they have a responsibility to preserve those records? >> 100%. they're public records. they belong to us, so that's the first most important point, alicia, the law. you can't just get rid of these willy-nilly. the second point is, you know, maybe it's just keystone cop stuff like the other story. maybe it's nefarious, but there's the possibility here of the kind of broad cover-up that we've seen in other scandals.

the crime here has been serious enough to focus on but we'll see. this is the third agency, dhs, secret service and one other who have all of a sudden said, oops, it dog ate him and the text and this too is not going away and will post date this congress and be a matter for investigation by doj. >> a very big and consequential oops. betsey woodruff swan, as always, thank you, harry, you're sticking with me. when we return a legal decision that today could have big implications for the ex-president. tell you all about it after a quick break. sident tell you all about it after a quick break.

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so you can get going. learn how abbvie can help you save. some breaking news today for the former president adding more trouble to the litany of legal woes he already has in store. a federal judge ruled today three civil cases against donald trump that look to hold him accountable for injuries sustained by police officers on january 6th can move forward. the former president seeked to dismiss the suits citing his actions on 1/6 fell within his presidential responseabouts. the officers are seeking damages from physical and emotional injuries sustained from the insurrection. we're back with harry litman. harry, it seems like the former president, again, trying to use the office of the presidency as a way to get out of the lawsuit.

of course the judge dismissed this. what do you make of the ruling and trump's legal team's plan to continue to use the presidency as a sort of get out of jail free card? >> you know it's the only card they have to play. they will continue to play it, and it all just ups the stakes for a case in the court of appeals. just to take a quick step back, alicia, you may remember many months ago eric swalwell and benny thompson along with a couple officers filed a personal civil suit. it was i say, you, trump, you called your dogs in and they hurt me. and that means you're personally liable. trump at the time said, oh, i was just being the president. and therefore it's really a suit against the united states. i should be out of it. and this same judge ruled then in 112-page ruling, uh-uh, you weren't being the president, you were at best being a candidate. you were trying to get yourself to stay in office. that's not part of the official business of the presidency. so he said i won't let you

dismiss the case, and it's gone now up to the next level where trump is just basically repeated his arguments. fast forward to today, a different suit but the exact same issue. trump again says i'm acting in the outer perimeter, that's from a supreme court perimeter. that's from a supreme court case -- of my duties. the judge says -- it's a two paragraph order. i told you this already. it's the exact same case. and it is the exact same cams i won't dismiss it. now they'll bridge it up to the court of appeals. and the other cases involving the congress members and law enforcement have already been consolidated there. this will control. that process that started probably around the end of the year, there will be oral argument and whatever the court of appeals says goes. based on what they've done before, predictions are hazardous, but i think they'll sustain the ruling against him and another instance in which

trump will have to personally testify and have his fortunes, such as they are, personally on the line. >> harry, also some new developments into the investigation of trump by a.g. letitia james. ivanka will be questioned late they are month and donald trump jr. was questioned early they are week. i woender what that tells you about the state of this investigation. >> it's the same thing. she's going at it very aggressively. again, it's a civil suit. it's by the state of new york, and they are saying your organization was completely improper in how it was run. the court said, you've got to sit for a deposition and answer questions, donald trump. he fought like hell to get out of it, unsuccessfully, and now he's supposed to sit down next month. he's got cards to play, and he'll play them. first he'll say, what do i know? i didn't know anything about how we evaluated assets and whether

we lied or were inconsistent, and then potentially he takes the fifth, but it's again something coming at him personally as a civil suit, so it's of a piece with the other story you just mentioned. >> harry litman, as always, thank you for spending time with us and rolling through this breaking news. a quick break for us. we're going to be right back. to a child, this is what conflict looks like. children in ukraine are caught in the crossfire of war, forced to flee their homes. a steady stream of refugees has been coming across all day. it's basically cold. lacking clean water and sanitation. exposed to injury, hunger. exhausted and shell shocked from what they've been through. every dollar you give can help bring a meal, a blanket, or simply hope to a child living in conflict. please call or go online to givenowtosave.org today with your gift of $10

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back in russian court today as her trial on drug charges nears its conclusion. griner's lawyer says she'll likely be sentenced very soon. her defense team and the prosecution both set to make closing statements on thursday. griner's trial is taking place against the backdrop of what the biden administration has called a substantial deal to seek her release. that would reportedly involve a prisoner swap between convicted russian arms dealer viktor bout and groiner and paul whelan. we'll be watching. back after this. indeed you do. when you sponsor a job, you immediately get your shortlist of quality candidates, whose resumes on indeed match your job criteria. visit indeed.com/hire and get started today. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ we believe there's an innovator in all of us. ♪ ♪

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i'm alise ya menendez. you can watch me every saturday and sunday, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. "the beat" with ari melber starts rights now. >> it's election night in america, and thus we have a special edition of the "the beat" with voters hitting the polls in five states. steve kornacki is break it down lye for us in just moments. you see him there with the first polls closing in just two hours. voters weighing in amidst these very busy times. the issues range from this week's foreign policy breakthrough over al qaeda to the first midterm referendum since the supreme court struck down the roe vs. wade protections. indeed, i can tell thaw issue is live in kansas where republicans are doubling down, pushing that vote that would green light full abortion bans. we're tracking that. the outspoken liberals are fighting off challenges. that's on display, where progressives saw some losses in