giuliani in court, under oath, testifying in front of that grand jury in a georgia investigation where, by the way, he's a target. we're live in atlanta on that. and on the other person also ordered to testify, here's a hint, it's somebody else with one degree of separation from donald trump. also this hour the final stretch before the blockbuster thursday hearing in florida. a judge set to decide if the remaining secret search documents for that mar-a-lago search should become not secret. with new reporting today on the legal powerhouse the former president is trying and failing to put together. plus, the blockbuster mea culpa from the cdc, the overall proposed today after what the agency's own director said was a botched response to the covid pandemic. i'm hallie jackson wait lot to get to here in washington. good to be with you. we're joined by former federal and state prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst tolly ferheyi weinstein. talk about this rudy giuliani court appearance and your expectations from what he might be saying to that grand jury

today? >> well, hallie, if he has any sense and if he's learned anything from his own law experience in law enforcement and someone who has put countless witness into the grand jury himself he should only say one thing, after saying his name he should take the fifth in response to every single question. as you said, he has been notified that he is a target of this investigation, and statements that he makes can be used against him. >> we are looking -- i want people to see -- the left side of your screen, a live shot, what are those reporters and cameras doing right now, we're not 100% sure but this is the door rudy giuliani may be walking out. it looks like there's some activity there. we don't know, like, just to pull back the curtain a little bit of what it's like on the ground there, it's not always clear what entrances and exits people will use, if it's going to be above ground, et cetera. we'll keep an eye on this as we're having this conversation.

i think blayne alexander is in the crowd looking to see, presumably, if giuliani is going to come out here. if you've just told a witness -- you talked about this a little bit. we know giuliani is a target of this investigation, if you know this, your attorney knows this g to speak to a grand jury, your advice would be basically don't cooperate. tell us more about that and the strategy and the thinking behind it. >> sure. and so in this case, hallie, the judge asked the prosecutors to let mr. giuliani if, in fact, he was the target of an investigation so that he could plan his trip to atlanta. he was talking about how hard it was to get down there. but this is something that prosecutors sometimes do, federal prosecutors, as a matter of policy, even if not asked to do so by a court because it puts the target on notice. it tells him that they've made a subjective judgment that there is substantial evidence that he has committed a crime. this means that he has -- his

rights, again, mr. giuliani knows all of this because he spent so much of his career in law enforcement -- a right to take the fifth in the grand jury and not to incriminate himself, a right to seek counsel, and it's also good for prosecutors to make this kind of notification because it means that he can't complain later and say, i didn't realize that you could use my statements against me. it also sometimes functions as an invitation to cooperation. it says look, you're in a lot of trouble, we have all this evidence against you, perhaps you might like to help yourself and get out of it. now, mr. giuliani has not really given indication of what he is going to do, but it would be totally unreasonable for him at this point to do anything other than take the fifth, unless he already has some kind of agreement with prosecutors and we have no reason to believe that he does. >> i want to go to the aforementioned blayne alexander i believe is with us now. tell us what it's like where you are and the expectations today.

>> you know, hallie, i think that certainly there is a lot of expectation leading up to this, and as i'm waiting here right now, we are waiting for rudy giuliani to come out likely any minute. he's been in there the better part of six and a half hours, so we know this is lengthy testimony an that's all we know, hallie. of course, this is secret by nature. he's been testifying behind closed to the grand jury. i really think his entrance in and of itself was one of the most interesting parts of the day. there are a number of entrances here at the fulton county courthouse. he chose the most public of entrances. typically to this point we've seen almost all of the witnesses go underground, do anything they can to stay away from reporters and awaiting cameras. he did the opposite, and he went up the courthouse steps behind me, walked through the throng of reporters and cameras and went inside. so as we are expecting him to come out likely any minute now, we're certainly going to pepper him with questions and see what he will say, what he may not say, about the proceedings

today. now, just a quick note coming into this, we do know that his attorneys already made it clear that he didn't want to address any sort of conversations between giuliani, between himself, and the former president. he said he would likely invoke attorney-client privilege there. the other question is, now that he's coming into this, not as a witness, but as a target, what does that mean for the other questions that he was asked, the other questions that prosecutors wanted him to answer? as we talk about that, though, hallie, we're also focusing on another person, we're focusing on the next steps of this d.a.'s investigation, jen ellis, the former legal adviser to president trump has been ordered by a judge to appear. that's going to happen next week on the heels of senator lindsey graham also being ordered to appear. all of these things together certainly shows that this is gheegts a new phase of the d.a.'s investigation here where he's really working to hear from some of the closest people in the president's inner circle. >> standby, because you've spoken with the district

attorney and i want to ask you about that conversation in a moment. when it comes to jenna ellis, is it your sense we will she'll be testifying to giuliani's actions or more on her own role. prosecutors say she was with giuliani at this december 3rd georgia state hearing where lice -- lies about the election were being made presumably. >> a grand jury proceeding is different from a trial. this is an investigation. good prosecutors, once they get somebody into that room who is talking r going to try to get as much information out of that witness as possible, and to go in different directions. i mean, that's what you do when you're investigating. in good faith, you follow the facts where they might take you. so i don't expect any of these conversations to be particularly constrained. >> blayne, you have spoken with the district attorney here. what is your sense based on the reporting that you've done, on what she might be wanting to see as far as a recommendation from this grand jury?

>> you know, she's made it clear she's not going to back down from bringing indictments against anybody who she thinks the evidence shows could be indicted. you know, she's made it clear she's going to do a robust investigation, a very aggressive investigation, and going to cast a wide net. she wants to hear from anybody and everybody who may have had knowledge of the former president's thoughts and actions around 2020. we're seeing now that there's no question it's gone far beyond the initial phone call that former president trump made to brad raffensperger. it's now going into, you know, a rudy giuliani and statements that he made to georgia lawmakers. it's going to jenna ellis and what role she may have played in setting up those hearings. when i talked to d.a. fani willis she made it clear she's going to take her time with this investigation. the grand jury can be convened up to a year. she has really until may 2023 to issue whatever subpoenas she needed to issue, to issue, to bring people in for testimony and let this play out in a slow,

deliberate way, the point that she made to me that she plans to do just that. >> blayne alexander reporting live in fulton county, thank you. blayne, you're going to stay close to a camera. if we see mr. giuliani speaking to the cameras i will come back to you for an update. appreciate. it speaking of things going down in courtrooms and with judges, we're just one day away from a hearing that's going to decide whether or not we'll see what prompted last week's search at mar-a-lago because we know who, what, when, where, but we do not know the why as it relates to the doj's justification for this search formally. the justice department is expected to say hey, we don't want that released, saying it contains highly sensitive information that could effectively mess up their investigation and ahead of that hearing, there's new "washington post" reporting saying that former president, donald trump, is having a tough time finding a legal team to represent him. his former attorney michael cohen telling the "post" a lot of this because mr. trump is in cohen's words, a very difficult client who rarely listens to sound legal advice. i want to bring in the author of

that piece, "washington post" political reporter isaac. good to have you. you write one former trump attorney told him not to tweet about the mueller investigation, to find out he had done just that before he got off the white house property. presumably why some attorneys are declining to be on team trump? >> yeah. absolutely. i mean, the word is out over the years we've seen situations like this before, where trump has been in legal jeopardy and he's been going around to get -- looking for heavy hitters who can help him, and we've learned a lot from the mueller report and the impeachments and all these investigations about what he's like to work with. you know, ordinarily, representing a former president in a complex, high-profile case like this would be the opportunity of a lifetime, but these lawyers are also thinking about the downsides, having a client who -- is he going to pay them. is he going to listen to them? are they going to end up being

the focus of a lot of controversy from being associated with him? he's getting a lot of people turning him down. >> let's talk about who is on his legal team right now and why in the eyes of some of the legal experts you talked with, they are not considered necessarily the like a a-plus team here. >> yeah. some of the reporters he's had representing him and going on fox news and talking about the search warrant, a florida property insurance lawyer who was admitted to the bar in 2014 and never made a filing in a federal case. he has a former host on one america news, the right wing, pro-trump tv network. he's got the head of a three-person law firm with an office near his bedminster golf club who used to be the general counsel of a parking garage company. these are not the people, when your liberty is at stake, these are not the lawyers with protein

file and background and expertise who have gone up against a federal criminal investigation and won. now he does have a few people who does have that experience who have worked in the justice department and been prosecutors in the past and who have experience in criminal defense, so that's evan corkrin and james trustee, but there's still -- there's a recognition on his team that they need more people with that experience, they need someone in charge and someone who can handle a case, you know, everything from unsealing the affidavit like you were talking about to the national security and classification issues. it's a very complicated case that could go on for a while. >> you know, one of the criticisms of former president trump's legal circle over the years that i had previously covered him, was that at times it was a legal team and at times a pr team where you had the former president's attorneys

doing a lot of television hits, writing things, being out there, being vocal from a public relations perspective. that has seemed to have happened less in this instance. >> he clearly cares about that. that's something he's looking for who he wants out there advocating for him. some of his advisors are also concerned that that leads to people who want the spotlight and want their moment of fame and are not actually going to give him the advice that he needs. that's where some of this is coming from in looking for a seasoned veteran. >> isaac with "the washington post," thank you for being with us. appreciate you breaking down your reporting for us. an update from georgia, we were showing you that gaggle of cameras and reporters outside that exit from the courthouse. our team tells us that while rudy giuliani may have come in in a very public way he has left in a private way. our cameras did not see him leave. he took a different route out. his testimony is wrapped up, but obviously more fallout from whatever he did or did not say. our teams are working on that

and we'll bring you updates. we have updates on the january 6th committee's next move now that former vice president mike pence would consider talking to them if invited. taking the witness stand today in the trial of a january 6th defendant, the capitol police sergeant he allegedly assaulted. we're live at the courthouse. the new calls to bring home a u.s. naval office being detained in japan. his family says unfairly. we're live with his wife who feels abandoned by the biden administration. >> the president sent him to japan, and he needs to come home. this is crazy. this is crazy. 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. -seriously? -denied. can we go back to meeting at the rec center? the commute here is brutal. denied. how do we feel about getting a quote to see if we can save with america's number one motorcycle insurer?

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capitol police officer sergeant gunle, taking the stand in the trial against alleged rioter kyle fitz simmons who faces 11 charges according to documents that include injuring the sergeant and another january 6th news, former vice president

mike pence saying he would, quote, consider testifying in front of the january 6th committee. >> if there was an invitation to participate i would consider it. if any formal invitation rendered to us we would give it due consideration. >> i want to bring in nbc news justice correspondent ryan riley outside the courtroom, senior reporter sahack kapur. in the case, the role that sergeant begunle plays in the trial here. >> that's right. sergeant gonell is at the center, one of the injuries sustained at the hands allegedly of kyle fitzsimmons. video shows him charging the sergeant, he held the shield up showing how he was trying to protect himself and in the tunnel why that was an essential part of this entire operation, why that was so important to keep that tunnel protected because there's a lot of the exits that members of congress

were using to evacuate and some of the secret hideaways they have behind the door which, of course, everyone sees on television during the inauguration. he talked about how this idea that if they had gotten through that tunnel there would have been a blood bath inside because they would have come into contact directly with the rioters. really compelling and emotional testimony from sergeant gonell here who, of course, his career is going to be cut short because of the injuries he sustained on january 6th. hallie? >> have we heard anything or anything from your sources, ryan, about what this moment means to him and about moving forward what could happen next? >> yeah. you know, i've talked to him before he testified before a sentencing hearing when he -- when his shield was shattered earlier in the day but this instance is really important because this is the individual who he -- who injured his shoulder, he says. his shoulder wasn't hurting earlier in the day when he went through some of the more extensive attacks and battles

with rioters that he's described as medieval, but he was talking about the idea he was dragged on to the ground and thought he was going to be pulled into the crowd and how he actually contemplated pulling out his service weapon and shooting the defendant in this case because he was worried he was going to be killed if he was pulled into the mob that also took away mike faknown during this battle when he had a stun gun driven into his neck. it's a really serious and really emotional time, i think, for the sergeant and it's, you know, it's a tough thing for him to do but an important thing for him to do for accountability purposes and making sure that individuals who engaged in this sort of conduct are held to account. hallie? >> thank you for your reporting. let me turn to you, because we heard from former vice president pence making news saying he would consider, in his words, he didn't commit to it, he would give it deliberation, if he got a formal invitation from the january 6th committee to testify. one would think a member of the

january 6th committee hearing that would immediately move to deliver an engraved invitation to former vice president mike pence. benny thompson had told our team yes, they're sort of talking about talking to him. talk about the interest level and next steps here. >> hallie, there's a mix of intrigue and apprehension within the committee about this based on my sources. intrigued because this is the first time mike pence has publicly opened the door in any form or fashion to talking to this committee and there's one piece of the push until particular they believe he can help them with in terms of january 6th, specifically a tense phone call he had with donald trump hours before rioters breached this capitol and started chanting "hang mike pence." there's skepticism because there are other witnesses who have spoken to the committee and have simply declined to discuss their conversations with then president trump at the time and it's not clear pence would be willing to break that mold. there's the fact that the committee knows beyond that a great deal about mike pence's story through top aides of his

at the time, including gregg jacobs and mark short. they know the story of the pressure he faced from trump, the fake lectors plot and thought process and getting to no on that. beyond that, it's certainly not lost on this committee that asking a vice president to testify before congress is a nontrivial step. the last time that happened according to historical records goes back to the 1800s. they would want to have their ducks in a row. they're keeping that door open and obviously the compressed timeframe they have over the coming months when they want to wrap up this investigation. it's worth noting mike pence said this in new hampshire where he's toying with the idea of a possible presidential run in 2024. he has walked the line, sought to walk the line, between breaking with donald trump on january 6th and the fabricated claims about a stolen election, but also praising his legacy and defending the work he did. one calculation in the back of mike pence's head, if he does decide to testify f he is asked and chooses to do so, what's in

it for me. >> thank you very much for that. appreciate it. >> still ahead, the bombshell acknowledgement from the cdc on its own pandemic response and the big changes the director is now calling for. plus, the paperwork liz cheney has filed today after losing her house seat and what it means about her political future. the nbc news exclusive with congresswoman cheney coming up in just a second. ngresswoman cp in just a second.

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["only wanna be with you" by hootie & the blowfish] now calling for. now calling for. congresswoman liz cheney will not be a member of congress for much longer after she lost overwhelmingly that republican primary in wyoming overnight 40 percentage points behind harriet hageman was endorsed by former president trump. that was more, bigger margin than what polls predicted. now the ten republicans who voted to impeach then president trump after the insurrection on the 6th four have lost their primary, four have retired, only two are advancing to the general election. so what is next for liz cheney? is it the end of the road? it is not. she hopes. even though former president trump thinks so. cheney can now, finally n his words disappear in the depths of political owe blimium. she spoke exclusively with savannah on the "today" show about her next steps.

>> are you thinking about running for president? >> that's a decision that i'm going to make in the coming months, savannah. i'm not going to make any announcements here this morning, but it's something i'm thinking about and i will make a decision. >> vaughn hillyard joining us live, still posted in wyoming for us, vaughn. talk a little bit, there has been -- well discussion about liz cheney and the 2024 run, and backlash to the discussion about liz cheney and the 2024 run along the lines of what would her lane be and look like. she has actually been more clear about the fact that her goal is not necessarily the white house. it's about bringing together a coalition of which she describes as people from all political spectrums, all political stripes, democrats and republicans and independents, to countser the rise of donald trump. >> right. she said that that includes democrats and independents and if she were to run for president as a republican, democrats and independents are likely, it's

going to be a harder time to convince them to change their party registration to vote for you in a primary here. she had a hard enough time doing that yesterday. i think it's important context, look under the lens if she does want to run for president of the united states here, you've got to look at the reality that liz cheney is going to have to somehow sway the republican electorate of the united states of america to turn against donald trump, turn against election denialism and turn conspiracy theories. she has had the better part of a year and a half to try do that in her own back yard. tom rice, the congressman in south carolina, peter meyer in the state of michigan, jamie herrera beutler in washington state, each losing after voting to impeach donald trump and losing to trump-backed challengers here. i think that is where she's going to have to wrestle with that after eight public

hearings, january 6th select committee held on national television, the republican majority, the republican majority of the electorate here, continues to side with donald trump. take a listen to a little exchange between savannah and cheney here today. liz cheney thought she would be able to turn the tide a little bit more, just earlier this year, and i want to let you hear her response and a little bit of acknowledgement of just how difficult it is going to be for her to do that ahead. >> look, i think the republican party today is in very bad shape, and i think that we have a tremendous amount of work to do. i think it could take several election cycles. >> reporter: and when you're talking about several election cycles that's a recognition that even if she were to run for president it may not be 2024. what is the broader purpose of her goal over the next two years? again, it may be beyond even 2024 but an acknowledgement this republican party has a long way to go to getting back to where it was when her dad was the vice

president. >> vaughn hillyard live in jackson in front of the tetons there, thank you. new today the head of the cdc calling for some big changes to the agency after their covid pandemic response. the cdc, of course, facing real criticism it didn't move fast enough in response to the pandemic, that its messaging has been confusing. now you have the cdc director rochelle walensky saying her agency will work to create what she calls a new public health action oriented culture at the cdc, focusing on accountability, collaboration, communication, timeliness. i want to bring in our chief white house correspondent kristen welker following this for us. it's not just a pandemic. the worst pandemic in a century, you've got monkeypox, criticism from public health officials on that, polio in the waste water and acknowledgement from director walensky the cdc didn't step up in the way it needed to. >> this is an extraordinary moment, hallie, when you think about it, and it comes after the cdc basically launched an

external investigation into its handling of, of course, covid-19 and now the other health crises you're mentioning as well. dr. walensky made the statement that i just want to read to you because i think it really encompasses how she is viewing this moment. she says, for 75 years, the cdc and public health have been preparing for covid-19, and in our big moment, our performance did not reliably meet expectations. so there you have her saying, squarely, we just didn't meet moment on this. just to remind our viewers, some of the moments that were unmet, the cdc would issue guidelines for masks, for example, and then reverse themselves several days later. often their guidelines were put out, and there were a number of questions, things that were open to interpretation, so those are the things that the cdc wants to address moving forward. you laid out the broad perspective and goals in terms of specifically what they are

going to do within that, hallie. according to the cdc they will have large-scale, cultural and operational changes to modernize the cdc, to make them adaptable, faster on the ball, to implement two new internal systems, policies, to enhance communication, accountability, set up new governance structures, share findings and data faster. i think that word faster, hallie, is going to be key because, again, some of the response, the criticism was, was just too low, it lagged behind. and also to translate science to easy to understand policies and develop workforce for future emergencies. and again, you go back to the statement by walensky that they were basically preparing for the unknown, for a pandemic, for covid-19, they now have a name and face for it, but they've been preparing for that for decades and again, the structures they had in place just weren't enough. there was a sense there was too much focus on science and research, which is so critical

to the work of the cdc, but not the response time. now the question, hallie, becomes how quickly will they be able to implement these changes? again, even what i just read, pretty broad. they're not really specifics about what those things are going to look like, what the teams are going to look like, how it's going to be enacted, and i suspect that now the hard work really begins of trying to turn these goals into actionable items, hallie? >> kristen welker on the north lawn for us, thank you. >> coming up next on the show, what syrian government is saying today about where missing journalist austin tice is or is not and how the state department is now in the last hour or so responding. the case of another american not missing but detained abroad. we'll talk to the wife of a u.s. naval officer who is serving a three-year sentence in japan. her message to president biden, next. en, next. pool floaties are like whooping cough. amusement parks are like whooping cough.

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we're following. water levels near the colorado river are close to their lowest point ever and now for the second straight year the federal government is asking to cut back for arizona and nevada and new mexico how much water they take from the river. expert says climate change is only making the 23-year drought there even worse. a prediction from the white house saying updated covid boosters should be available by next month. the new shots will be made to target the contagious ba.5 strain of omicron. and the state department now reacting to that news out of syria today where the foreign ministry says the country is not holding american journalist austin tice who went missing there a decade ago. nbc news white house correspondent cara lee is joining us live in wilmington, delaware, she is traveling with the president, and we heard a new response from the state department about syria. here's what ned price had to say about the regime denying they have tice. watch. >> that statement does nothing to change our fundamental position. we believe, to this very day,

that syria still has the power to release austin tice. that is why we are calling on the syrian regime to do just that. >> carole, help us understand, then, the next steps for the administration. they have been calling on the syrian administration to release tice for years now. >> they have, hallie, and part of what you're hearing from the biden administration is that syria -- the syrian government is not to be believed when it says things like they've never been holding austin tice and their part of what they point to is that the syrian government has never acknowledged that they had austin tice. so that's where you get into this back and forth. we know that u.s. government has had both indirect and direct contact with the syrian government about this, and that there's a lot of efforts behind the scenes to try to secure his release. we heard from the administration that they believe that the syrian government has an opportunity here, that they can

help get austin tice returned home, and we know this has been something that president has made more of a priority. we saw a statement from him last week. that's a statement that the syrian government is responding to, saying that it's not true, but what the president said in his statement is the u.s. is certain that the syrian government has had austin tice in its custody and the president has met with austin tice's parent who have been vocal calling for his release, held for ten years. the president's statement was issued on the ten-year anniversary of when he was detained. this is just one of many, as you well know, hallie, of dozens of americans who have been held hostage or wrongfully detained around the world that have really been pushed to the front of the president's agenda. there's a lot of pressure for him to secure the release of a number of americans. the families have gotten much more vocal. this is just one of those cases. it's been one of the ones that's

been high profile for a really long time, and now you're seeing that there's this back and forth in public between the syrian regime and the u.s. government. >> carole lee, live for us in wilmington, thank you. there's news today of another american, not missing, somebody we know is detained overseas and his new calls from his family to bring him home. around 65 people, including trevor reed, the former marine held in russia for nearly three years, were outside the white house today asking the biden administration to bring home u.s. navy lieutenant ridge alkonis. if you're not familiar with his story, alkonis was convicted of killing two japanese people after his car veered into a parking lot back in may of last year. his family and the u.s. navy, say passed out and lost control of his car after mountain sickness after he and his wife hiked mount fuji. the court disagreed and say he fell asleep at the wheel and should have pulled over. ned price tells nbc news the white house will, quote, explore all options to get alkonis back

to the u.s. >> we're continuing to monitor the situation with the department of defense and our embassy in tokyo to explore all options for finding a successful resolution that is consistent with u.s. law, with japanese law, as well as with existing treaties. >> joining me now, brittney alkonis, wife of ridge alkonis. thank you for being on the show with us this afternoon. >> thank you for having me. >> you were outside the white house earlier today, i know, demanding that the biden administration bring your husband back to the u.s. i know you heard what ned price had to say at the state department there, that there's u.s. laws, japanese laws, existing treaties, et cetera. what is your message to the white house and what are you hearing from them? >> i think i have a few things to say. one, the first and foremost, is that japan is not abiding by the treaties they've entered into, so perhaps we need to be a

little more creative. the second thing i would say is that the proposed resolution is absolutely unacceptable. my husband returning to his home country as a prisoner and as a criminal, when he has done nothing wrong, is outrageous. and as far as what we've heard, you know, we've gotten mixed messaging and i don't believe we have been able to communicate at the level that we need to. >> why do you think that is? >> why do i think they won't talk to me? i don't know. i've tried to speak with people in the navy and i have spoken to them successfully. however, their message has continuously been the same and that is that they represent the navy and not my husband and that i can't assume that what is in the navy's best interest is what

is in lieutenant alkonis' best interest, and so i would like now to speak to president biden. i believe he is truly the only one that can make the decision that bringing lieutenant alkonis home is the best thing for america and is the best thing for every service member. >> the state department spokesperson said that u.s. ambassador to japan is talking to people, including japanese officials, about your husband's case. are you in touch with ambassador rahm emanuel and what is he telling you and what are you hearing from that end? >> so, ridge and i got the opportunity to speak to him just a few days prior to ridge's incarceration. since, i have been able to speak to his staff. we have been told that he cares very deeply about this, that he is monitoring the situation, that he is talking to his japanese counterparts, but i believe the u.s. needs to get a little more aggressive.

>> what would you like to see happen in a situation ultimately, understanding, and i want to talk to you about what your family is going through and understanding, i think, the sentiment that is in japan right now and that there has been around this case and what had happened with the deaths of these two individuals? >> i'm sorry. do you mind restating that? >> sure. sure. i had asked, i know just you can hear me okay, what you would ultimately like to see happen? you have been in touched with the ambassador emanuel's staff and spoke with him prior to your husband being imprisoned having to serve this jail sentence. what do you want to see? >> i want to see him come home. i am not an expert in policy, i have never worked in the u.s. government, i have never worked in the department of defense, but i'm an american. i believe in america. i believe in our administration.

i believe that they are the experts that can figure out a way to bring ridge home without him being a criminal in this country. >> we're showing pictures, as you're talking, i don't know if you can see them, of you and your family. you have three kids. i know you've spoken before how difficult this process has been for you. how are you adjusting to this? what has become now your new reality here? >> it's hard. every day is hard. you know, some days it just -- like today, especially, it feels like an out of body experience. as you can tell i'm very tired. i don't sleep well. it's a full-time job trying to bring him home. it's a full-time job trying to give my kids hope and make them feel secure and help them to understand the situation. they're all at very different ages, so they have different understandings of what's going

on. it takes every bit of effort that i have. >> brittney alkonis, thank you so much for being with us this afternoon as you're here in washington. we appreciate your time and appreciate your perspective. thanks. >> thank you so much. next up, why a growing number of black parents are making a different choice for their kids' education. watch. >> do you want to go to regular school? >> no! >> no. >> not one person? >> for a whole entire day, no. [dog barks] [dog panting] [dogs barking] [dogs growling] [dogs whimpering] (vo) the subaru crosstrek.

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for immune support. boost® high protein. back to school this week, but more and more will be doing it from home with an increasing number of black families feeling like school isn't working for their kids with critical race theory and covid inequities you have more parents turning to home schooling. antonia hilton joins us with more on this. good to see you. >> a lot of black families have been fed up with the school system with pandemic inequities and restricting the way teachers

will be able to talk about history and race in the classroom. it did give many of them an excuse to just walk away. take a look. >> you guys want to meet some animals? >> it may look like a simple summer outing, but these kids are in terhune orchards for a full day of school of lessons and animals. a collective of black families that have decided to home school after the pandemic exposed inequities. >> do you want to go to regular school? >> no! not one person. >> for a whole entire day, no. >> before covid, only 3% of black students were home schooled. in 2021 it shot up to 16%. >> once you do it -- >> brenea fairchild said they're going back. >> i looked at u.s. history textbooks and it's not accurate and not honoring the african-american experience. >> fairchild founded the melanin

village to share school materials and school activities with families like hers. they've served 450 families since 2020. village parents were fed up with schools that had few teachers that looked like their kids, many offend as districts struggled to teach about race and 36 states passed or proposed laws to restrict those conversations in school. >> when you look at the state of schools right now are black kids being served? our current system is not designed in a way to serve black children. her home schooling has 98 families, they include sherice powell. >> black families are starting to realize we don't think this is the right situation. >> we don't have time to be waiting. >> at 15 she asked her mom to

take her out. >> when you transitioned to homeschooling how did you start to feel about yourself? >> i felt more confident. it was just like a -- kind of like a sunshine. the clouds opened up a little bit. >> home schoolers feel that their groups inspire schools to get creative and ensure they're welcoming all kind of learners. do you think the schools are going to listen? the system, does it see what's happening? >> i think on individual scales that yes, there are schools who will. now, if we're talking about the system overall it gets into ing thises that are deeper. i don't want my child to be the guinea pig in the midst of us figuring this out. >> antonia there is a cost factor involved here, right? there is an expense involved here and a feasibility to think about, too. >> absolutely. it can cost several hundred or a couple thousand to get started with home schooling and the reality is this isn't feasible for everyone or accessible to every family and there are couples or single families who

just aren't going to be able to make this work and that's why you see collectives like engage detroit and the melanin village pop up. it's not just having friends and people to hang out with while you do this and it's sharing resources and passing on schools and textbooks that are expensive so families can share the burden and make it easier and make it more accessible to others. >> antonia hilton, thank you. we have news breaking in to us out of south carolina where the supreme court has blocked that state's near total abortion ban. the court put a temporary injunction that would ban the procedure after six weeks of pregnancy. i want to bring in msnbc legal analyst danny seva loss. it figures out this case on the

merits and on the evidence and to reach that conclusion, it had to conclude not only that there was irreparable potential harm, but that the petitioners, while in this case planned parenthood, were substantially likely to win on the merit. so that's no small showing before you can get a court to issue injunctive relief and no surprise here, this is yet another state where the same abortion challenges pre-the end of roe and planned parenthood are now being asserted, but under state constitutional law and not federal constitutional law because dobbs erased that kind of challenge. this is what we'll see more and more of in the future is these kinds of challenges based on state privacy, substantive due process and equal protection considerations. >> danny cevallos. appreciate it. thank you for watching this hour of msnbc and on nbc news now

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