georgia. i think what we are talkin about is, when does he actuall go to prison we don't know. and mar-a-lago is the best bet i completely agree with that a man who's out here sayin he's gonna run for president i facing very seriously charges. what he is known for is being mob boss that says, wink, wink not, not he was not winking and nodding in this case >> that is a very good point charles coleman, i learned a lot the table, thank you ver much that is it for this specia edition of all in, i hope yo are having a fantastic holiday have a great night good evening thank you for joining us this hour happy holidays tonight we start back in may it was a monday night just after 8:30 eastern time when news broke that shook the entire country. politico had the once in a lifetime scoop about a draft opinion. supreme court has voted to overturn abortion rights

we hold that roe and casey must be overruled justice alito writes in an initial majority draft circulated inside the court. that scoop, that headline changed everything it certainly changed the course of the midterm elections that moment, the stakes of the upcoming november election skyrocketed. it gave democrats over a month and a half head start to start campaigning on that issue before the opinion was handed down in late june. on june 24th the supreme court struck down roe v. wade, the law of the land for nearly 50 years, and stripped away reproductive rights for millions in this country. six weeks later the first test of abortion rights at the state ballot box came in kansas. voters in kansas headed to the polls in early august to vote on a constitutional amendment that would strip away abortion rights from the state constitution. in kansas of all places, voters rejected that republican effort. people overwhelmingly voted to protect abortion rights in the

state's constitution it was not even close. voters in kansas rejected the amendment by nearly 60%. turnout for that election soared it was the largest turnout for a primary in the state's history beyond kansas that primary changed the entire midterm election landscape and gave democrats bona fide momentum until that point all expectations were that the party was headed for traditional and sizable losses in congress that night in kansas expectations shifted voters were engaged and showing up in a way largely unseen in modern political history then there was the special election in new york's 19th congressional district democrat pat ryan campaigned on abortion rights and even released his first ad that highlighted reproductive rights minutes after the supreme court overturned roe pat ryan labeled his campaign his election victory as a referendum on abortion rights. and that strategy worked coupled with that, democrats

headed into november with significant legislative momentum in congress. there was the american rescue plan and the infrastructure bill there was the sweeping gun reform legislation, the first in decades that president biden signed the day after roe fell. in early august biden signed the landmark bill protecting veterans who are exposed to toxic burn pits. democrats fought a long battle to get that one passed and they did it the same week the president also signed the chips and science act, a $52 billion investment in domestic chip manufacturing that's already started attracting international business to u.s. soil. and then there was the inflation reduction act. president biden's massive and signature bill that invested hundreds of billions in climate change and health care, fighting inflation, and setting a corporate minimum tax rate that bill that democrats passed into law is the largest investment combatting climate change ever. so it was against that backdrop that democrats headed into the

midterm elections. and, yet, in the closing weeks of that race questions about the economy and inflation and crime seemed to cloud the midterm landscape for democrats. despite the utter insanity of the republican field with candidates like kari lake and doug mastriano the polls got uncomfortably tight. there were questions whether the party focused on the wrong issues expectations headed back to historical patterns and then got worse. as it turned out the message had been the right one the candidates had been the right ones against precedent the democrats did a lot better than expected they out performed all predictions. the great so-called red wave never materialized instead, republicans squeaked out a nine-seat majority in the house. the democrats not only held on to the senate but gained a seat with raphael warnock's victory in the georgia run-off

at the state level democrats knocked it out of the park they flipped four state legislative chambers, both chambers in michigan, the legislature in minnesota, and the pennsylvania house they re-elected michigan democratic governor gretchen whitmer giving democrats control of all three bodies in that key swing state. it's the first time the party had full governing control in michigan in nearly 40 years. democrats fended off republicans from having a super majority in wisconsin and in kansas by defying the odds and maintaining control of the governorship in both states. so as we head into 2023 and the start of a new congress where do we go from here? what can we expect from this new congress where democrats will no longer be in control of the house and republicans are eager to exert their power whenever and wherever possible? what can even get done with a divided congress joining us now is former missouri democratic senator claire mccaskill and staff

writer at "the atlantic" and author of "thank you for your servitude" by mark leibovich it is great to close out the year with you. i want to start with you first since you are a creature of the senate and you know its contours well you are someone who has led fierce campaigns yourself. is there anything about the midterm elections that surprised you? >> well, listen. i get it that dobbs was an earthquake politically i also understand that democracy was very important but at the end of the day, this is about candidate quality it really is if you look in pennsylvania, dr. oz, if you look in many states where we won, look at georgia, for example. when extreme candidates were nominated by the republican party, when trump election deniers were nominated, what most of these states did is they said, you know, we're not going

down that road that is not what we're looking for in our elected representatives. so as we look toward the next election, and believe me, a lot of people in the senate are already doing that i know it feels like we just got 51 24 is brutal for us. brutal we have montana. we have west virginia. we have ohio once again we have pennsylvania. we have wisconsin where ron johnson just got re-elected. we can talk about victories in wisconsin but ron johnson is a terrible senator and he just got re-elected then arizona where it was a squeaker nevada, which was also a squeaker those states are all up in 2024. so now it is going to be about supporting incumbents and finding the right candidates if there are any open seats, which it doesn't look like there is going to be. >> mark, should democrats be dismayed at that assessment? because obviously, you know, there was a coordinated message.

>> right. >> there were legislative victories. but i mean, there is the reality that republicans ran bonkers candidates herschel walker was a bonkers candidate. so was mehmet oz so was doug mastriano. one would think that republicans won't do that again so then what should democrats take away from their victories in the last election >> there is a very clear glass half empty view of this, which is that herschel walker, kari lake, you know, adam laxhalt came extremely close despite all of herschel walker's herschel walkerness and kari lake's kari lakenesses it came this close this was supposed to be a very favorable democratic map they won one seat. on a whole it was a really good cycle, surprisingly good for democrats. but this is not a one race

i don't know -- the problem is i don't think republicans know how to learn a lesson here i mean, this is not a rational party right now because donald trump is still ostensibly driving it if he falls in love with candidate x in montana and decides to go all in with him or her that's potentially great news for jon tester or whoever the vulnerable democrat is >> do you, claire, think that trump will hold that sway over the nominating process in terms of the senate in 2024? his record is so abysmal from 2022 and yet, you know, he's done plenty of things to cause departures from his, in terms of his loyalists, and, yet, we always have to end every sentence with, and yet he is still the center of the force inside the gop i am asking you to look into a crystal ball but at this moment do you think he still has the power, the king making power that he did in the last election >> well, he had a brutal cycle

the last few weeks have not been kind to him. but i see what is going on in the media right now, the narrative about how trump is losing his grip and desantis is rising and trump is going to be history in the rear view mirror any minute and it kind of reminds me of all the polls that said the democrats would have a brutal election in november and it would be this big red wave. i think we have to wait and see. i think right now desantis is an unknown to most of america i think republicans are being fed his name by a lot of people who don't want trump but desantis has problems, too it's not like he's not whacky. i mean, he's banning books, you know, arresting people, one bogus charges who tried to vote that have fallen apart all kinds of things he's done that will become front and center he is an extreme guy joe biden is not an extreme guy. joe biden is a middle of the road guy who won because he was middle of the road

so if they nominate either trump or desantis i still think the democrats are in a commanding position if they stick to their knitting and the kitchen table stuff. healthcare doing something about prescription drugs continuing to bang away on the infrastructure victories working on gun safety and the things they've gotten done i think, you know, it all, presidential politics is going to come into play here because when you have president at the top of the ticket every election is nationalized. >> mark, you've reported on ron desantis and his likability, which is actually a real factor when it comes to electing a president. there is also his legislative record we've covered it a lot on the show whether the stop woke act, the don't say gay bill, or his fraudulent election police he's done a lot of stuff that may play well in florida which as strange laboratory, a state unlike any other, but could it become a political liability the more a light is shown on it on a national stage >> no question about this. i think if you look at pretty

much all of the consequential attention getting stuff that he has done, it hasn't worn particularly well. he got all this attention over the summer when he sent the refugees from latin america to martha's vineyard, new york, wherever he did that this is taxpayer money when that thing sort of unfolded, it was not a good look for ron desantis i can't imagine florida's taxpayers beyond the initial spasm of look we owned the liberals here could be happy about it once this plays out there is this pattern very trump like in some ways, you know, you get this spasm of attention and once it unfolds it becomes a bit of an embarrassment. >> his strategy seems to be so deeply rooted in owning the libs with literally nothing else as a goal just shuttle asylum seekers to points north with no resources when they get there to own the libs on immigration. prevent them from saying things about racism and systemic injustice to own the libs and

censor their language. this is the stuff that may play well among a very specific slice of an engaged gop voter but when it comes to the kind of person that someone wants to sit down and have a beer with it is hard to imagine the meanness and cruelty that so and mates these policies plays well with the national voter. >> right also, in his haste to sort of stroke the erogenous zones of tucker carlson or whoever. >> did you really have to say that >> no. >> this is a family show. >> is it okay he went full antivaxxer at the end of the year. he wants to investigate people studying vaccines a the cdc. i mean, that is not where the country is it might be where his rarified little conservative bubble in florida or conservative media is but not where the country is so stay tuned. >> claire, what should president biden be thinking about as, in the closing hours of 2022 as we head toward a divided congress

trump who is officially running, desantis in the wings, and a presidential process that begins sometime next year >> i think he has a big decision to make. i don't think he has made a final decision first and foremost he has to figure out if he wants to run again. if he does then he has to start looking at his record and building a narrative about why the country should trust him to navigate another four years. you know, that's always a tall order. it is not easy to get elected to a second term. i don't care who you are he's got that in front of him. also he has to manage, you know, crazy town over in the house of representatives. he's going to have to figure out if there is anything that mccarthy can get across the finish line that would be palatable to americans it's going to be tough, because right now mccarthy is on bended

knee to crazy town marjorie taylor green and all of the others that are really the ones that can make him speaker he can't be speaker without them you think boehner had trouble with the freedom caucus. you think paul ryan had trouble with the right wing. you haven't seen anything until you see what is going to happen in the house of representatives with mccarthy and this very slim majority and everyone pushing and pulling to try to be more extreme than the next. >> this just seems like one of those situations where everybody needs to buckle up and brace for impact because next year is going to be a doozie in the lower chamber. the greats, thank you guys both for your time in closing out the year with me. >> thanks. >> thank you happy new year. >> happy new year. coming up the one the only my interview with the recently departed host of the daily show trevor noah. his take on race in america, how the media should cover

candidates like donald trump, and what life has in store for him after "the daily show. plus i went down to florida to explore desantis land. what i found, just ahead my a1c stayed here, it needed to be here. ray's a1c is down with rybelsus®.

i'm down with rybelsus®. my a1c is down with rybelsus®. in a clinical study, once-daily rybelsus® significantly lowered a1c better than a leading branded pill. in the same study, people taking rybelsus® lost more weight. rybelsus® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't take rybelsus® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if allergic to it. stop rybelsus® and get medical help right away if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, or an allergic reaction. serious side effects may include pancreatitis. gallbladder problems may occur. tell your provider about vision problems or changes. taking rybelsus® with a sulfonylurea or insulin increases low blood sugar risk. side effects like nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea may lead to dehydration, which may worsen kidney problems. need to get your a1c down? you may pay as little as $10 per prescription.

♪limu emu & doug♪ it's nice to unwind after a long week of telling people how liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. showtime. whoo! i'm on fire tonight. (limu squawks) yes! limu, you're a natural. we're not counting that. only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪

i screwed up. only pay for what you need. mhm. i got us t-mobile home internet. now cell phone users have priority over us. and your marriage survived that? you can almost feel the drag when people walk by with their phones. oh i can't hear you... you're froze-- ladies, please! you put it on airplane mode when you pass our house. i was trying to work. we're workin' it too. yeah! work it girl! woo! i want to hear you say it out loud. well, i could switch us to xfinity. those smiles. that's why i do what i do. that and the paycheck.

on december 8th trevor noah signed off from "the daily show" for the very last time ending his epic seven-year run with the show and just before he left i had the great pleasure of sitting down with him for a wide ranging

interview. we spoke about the politics of race in america and the extreme polarization in our politics take a listen. joining us now is trevor noah host of "the daily show. trevor is also the executive producer of the 10 part documentary series "the turning point. welcome my friend. >> thank you so much for having me. >> it is a pleasure and honor. more exciting for me i guarantee than you with your star studded history. >> i don't think that's true >> you were sitting there through that long wind up. and i felt like it was really important to contextualize what is happening in this midterm election cycle among the sort of, you know, hectic, frenetic pace of campaigns. there is something that is at the core of a lot of the campaigning that we're seeing. as someone who sort of covers this albeit from a distance i wonder if any of this, if any of the dog whistles or the explicitly racist language or just the otherization of people of color whether any of that

surprises you at this point. >> when i look at the build up toward an election especially in america at a time when people are struggling to make ends meet, when people are struggling to pay for groceries, when people are wondering whether their next paycheck will still be enough to live the life they've been living, it always triggers an idea or a moment in time or a feeling that i will have, whenever an election comes up the same thing will happen in south africa, is you are able to get people to think the worst of others when they, themselves, are in the worst position. you know, i used to think that in life we could just change people and make them better or more inclusive or, you know, but i've come to realize it is an unfortunate by product as soon as people start thinking they do not have, somebody can point at somebody else and say that's why you do not have i think we're going to see that a lot more now and, unfortunately, if politicians do

not understand the cause is more important than the symptom, we'll be chasing the symptom forever. you can try and change people's opinions on other people's race, on other people from other country with immigrants or you can try and do that forever. we've seen time and time again when people are struggling they are most susceptible to ideas that will otherize other human beings >> some of these people are struggling but some aren't right? some of these people have -- >> but they've been told they are. >> maybe that's what it is the narrative of grievance. >> yeah. >> intoxicating. >> definitely. the irony effect of life i've realized in america is that the same image can have a completely different koconnotation dependi how people want the image used you'll see people getting arrested and some could say look crime is going down. the same image could be used to

say look how many criminals are out there. how you tell the story completely changes what you would like to do. >> it feels like we've lost the common narrative. >> i think we are moving to a place where politics is now the new religion of america, it's becoming the defining factor when people meet you that is the first thing they say now are you democrat or republican this is how i vote i don't know if you remember there was a time when people didn't talk about that your vote is your secret well i don't want to talk about that let's not talk about that at the table. we don't talk about voting people just voted and then lived their lives. now people live to talk about how they voted and i think what it has created is a world where that supercedes everything. >> do you think that is a bad thing or a good thing? >> i think it's terrible and terrifying. >> how can -- the political landscape is so divided, the set of values inherent in each party is so different it seems almost

irreconcilable to get those are someone's values. >> it seems sometimes making heads or tails of the american system -- have you ever tried to untangle a bunch of cords in your drawer trying to find one charger and you think you found it and then it takes you to this charger and you go to that charger that is what it feels like sometimes looking at america and what is happening because you see reflected in other parts of the world but america's system is unique in the conversations people have and why they have them what you are saying about the polarization is it is just going to become worse because we don't live in the same world anymore >> yeah. >> we would all meet in one place whether it was for the news, you know, where people were watching whether walter cronkite or whoever it was people would watch the same news and then argue about it. even tv shows. the other day when you saw that angela lansbury passed away "murder she wrote". >> every single episode with my mom in south africa. that was a family thing.

how many shows do we have like that, not the shows but how many moments? everybody is watching their own tv kids are in a different world from their parents parents are in a different world from their parents you have this unshared reality we're all existing in. everyone sitting on the train in the subway, nobody is reading or experiencing the same thing. i think what that's done is created a society where we don't realize we aren't living in the same -- >> there is no bridging it. >> if you don't agree on the same world. >> when you were growing up in south africa apart from watching "murder she wrote" did you think america had the whole racism thing figured out more than south africa did? >> an interesting question i think i had a version of what america was. i was watching "different strokes. you know, it was great "beverly hills cop." all of these movies gave me an

idea of what america was i don't think it was too far from what america was trying to be again because everybody was coming together watching the same thing maybe there was some sort of world people aspired to even if they couldn't achieve it what i learned when i moved to america is what makes it different than south africa is we are very blatant about what was happening and i always say as crazy as it is to say out loud, i think the one benefit of the apartheid government's extreme hubris in what they were doing was that you didn't have to uncover it. >> right explicit. >> they said we consider people of color, black people, indian people, colored people whoever they may be, we consider them inferior and that is why we treat them this way. in america over time and wean the history of it but over time politicians realized that wasn't suitable that wasn't acceptable in public so they learned how to code the language they learned how to change it so that people didn't hear the word black. people didn't hear the word

hispanic or mexican. but they thought it. they felt it that has become more powerful because now instead of just fighting racism you have to spend half your time trying to prove it exists. >> it also makes people who are racist feel better because they don't have to be explicitly racist >> i would say some don't even think they're racist. >> coming up my trip to florida to take a look at the lab governor desantis is creating and what he has been experimenting with on race, gender, and education. but first, more from my in depth interview with trevor noah on his future plans, next. we'll be right back. king.com, finding perfect isn't rocket science. kitchen? sorted. hot tub, why not? and of course, puppy-friendly. we don't like to say perfect, but it's pretty perfect. booking.com, booking.yeah.

(phone rings) - hey, kaleb, what's up? how you doing? - hey, i'm good. guess what. i just had my 13th surgery.

- [alec] really? - how are you doing? - i'm doing good. i'm encouraged by seeing how people are coming together to help each other during times like these. - kinda like how shriners hospitals for children is there for us. - i know my shriners hospitals family will continue to take care of kids like us who need them most, all because of caring people like you. - like me? - (chuckles) no, the people watching us right now at home. we hope you'll call the special number on your screen right now. - you'll be making sure our amazing doctors and nurses can keep helping kids like us who need them now and in the days to come. - with your gift of $19 a month, we'll send you this adorable love to the rescue blanket as a thank you and reminder of the kids you're helping with your monthly support. please, call now, or you can go to loveshriners.org.

a few months ago i had the wonderful opportunity of speaking to someone who knows the media inside and out trevor noah who recently signed off as host of "the daily show" after an epic seven-year run he sat down with me to talk about how the media covered everything from donald trump to extremist republicans. those two are kind of similar. we also spoke about his decision to leave "the daily show" and his plans for the future >> i've really been lucky to embark on multiple journeys. i had the pleasure of executive producing this docu series working with fantastic producers and directors, film makers i've had the pleasure of doing

stand up in and around america and the rest of the world. i've had the pleasure of hosting "the daily show" for seven years. at some point you have to figure out how you want to use your time, where you want to be, and how you want to spend your heart beats as i call them they're constantly going. >> a finite number. >> you know, covid i think gave everybody a moment to sit down and think. who are you? who are you trying to be how are you spending your time who are you spending it with why are you spending it that way? i realized i would never want to be in a position where people feel like i'm not giving my all. i thought i will give my all until i feel like i maybe have a little bit left and then take that and try whatever inspires me, docu series, movies, more stand up >> you have a perspective on the media that i think a lot of people don't have and i wonder how you would grade us at this

stage of the game. i was talking to rachel maddow my great predecessor in this hour and we were talking about the responsibility here as journalists. when you have a character like donald trump on the one hand you have to cover some of the things he is saying and doing how do you do it in a way that doesn't give him the megaphone do you think we've gotten better what can we do better? >> here is what i think happened i think america has blurred the lines between news and entertainment for so long that at some point entertainment took over and became the news if there is one thing donald trump has always known how to do it is how to be entertaining you look at the very inception, idea of donald trump being on the news the campaign was reaching out to cnn saying you need a cover this is fun. this is great. this is great for us a lot of democrats have to look at themselves and say why did we encourage this i've spoken about this on my show the fact there are still democratic machines funding

extreme republicans basically putting them forward i think it is gross negligence forget everything else you are trying to do in life it is grossly negligent to say i believe this person will destroy democracy but i'm going to take money people donated to our campaigns and use it to prop them up because i think they'll be easier to beat. are you willing to take the risk you don't remember what happened with donald trump? turned out he was a lot harder to beat than you thought when it comes to the, how great anybody -- i'm not a master at this i don't claim to be. but i look at what people could do differently i think the media learned a lesson i think every news outlet said oh, wow we thought it was a joke we played with the joke and he turned it on us. i don't know if the genie will ever go back into the bottle but i think the media can ask itself questions about the whys why do we put people on? what are we trying to get from this is it a rating push? just be honest

we're doing this to get ratings. don't hide it or add icing to make it seem like it is what it isn't. >> be more explicit like in south africa. >> we're doing this because it's great for ratings. do it and go ahead a lot of the time i think american news will masquerade and live in this world, oh, no this is so important it's great for ratings and i understand that challenge but also acknowledge that there is a country that is watching what you are creating. >> we have much more ahead tonight. stay with us er for freshness that lasts 6 times longer than detergent alone. release freshness with every touch... with downy in-wash scent boosters.

the first time you made a sale online was also the first time you heard of a town named... dinosaur? we just got an order from a dinosaur, colorado. start an easy to build, powerful website for free with a partner that always puts you first. godaddy. tools and support for every small business first.

(pensive music) (footsteps crunching) (pensive music continues) - [narrator] for one in five children worldwide the holidays aren't a time to celebrate. they're just another day of hunger. no family dinners, no special treats, no full bellies. all around the world, parents are struggling to feed their children. toddlers are suffering from acute malnutrition, which stunts their growth. kids are forced to drop out of school so they can help support their families. covid, conflict, inflation and climate have ignited the worst famine in our lifetime. and we're fed up. fed up with the fact that hunger robs kids of their holidays. fed up with the lack of progress. fed up with the injustice.

help us brighten the lives of children all over the world by visiting getfedupnow.org. for as little as $10 a month, you can join 'save the children' as we support children and families in desperate need of our help. this is the perfect time of year to get fed up and give back. when you join the cause, your $10 monthly donation can help communities in need of life-saving treatments and nutrients, prevent children from dropping out of school. support our work with communities and governments to help children go from short-term surviving to long-term thriving. and now thanks to special government grants, every dollar you give before december 31st can multiply up to 10 times the impact. that means more food, water, medicine and help for kids around the world. you'll also receive a free tote bag to share your support for children in need. childhood without food is unimaginable. this holiday season: get fed up. visit getfedupnow.org today.

name a lot republican governor of florida and likely 2024 presidential contender ron desantis since taking office in 2019 governor desantis has been on a crusade against seemingly everything especially when it comes to public education. if a conversation about a student's race or nationality makes a student feel, quote, discomfort, then it can't be taught in the classroom. an inclusive curriculum? nope anything, quote, woke whatever that means nope so desantis signed the stop woke act, sexual orientation and gender identity? nope desantis signed the so-called don't say gay bill earlier this year i took a trip to florida to hear from students and educators on what they say on the ground about these new policies and governor desantis's efforts to reshape public education in florida here is what students and a

local school board member had to say. >> he think it is really frightening how we already have such limited access to all this information, important parts of history, and now we're restricting it even more it is very scary there is going to be more ignorance. >> it is really pitiful to think that now, like, kids that are going into school, younger kids, younger generations, people who are being made into the future are going to have no idea what's going on because we can't pick and choose the past, what to teach in history classes. >> well i think the governor thinks you can pick and choose what you teach. >> i guess i wonder like are students going to accept that? it sounds like you think some of them are. >> i think if that's what we're taught from a young age then that is what we'll accept and start to repeat back to other kids. >> reporter: tell me if you could recount the experience you've had facing the animated crowd of people who are

proponents this of antisorority stuff. you understand in a visceral way the passion ignited when you talk about this stuff. >> i've had people on my front lawn protesting. i've had people send me death threats. i've had people try to recall me none of that has anything to do with crt none of that has anything to do with lgbtq they just use those as tools to target and attack me truthfully the reason i feel like i even had to deal with any of that animosity is because i'm a loud, proud, dominant democrat on this school board >> i guess what you're saying is this is basically for a political movement that is much more about republican power than actually some deep seeded emotional belief about correcting wrongs in schools. >> right >> i guess i wonder, on the other side of the coin due feel you are equipped with the tools

to counter what has been a pretty successful multi pronged effort to change the whole system of education in the public school system in florida? >> i hate to be a pessimist but the reality is we need voters out to vote. if we have these people in office there isn't a lot we can do because they put this in to law. >> do you hear from teachers grappling with the changes in place for the classroom this fall >> all the time. people asking for answers for how do we implement these laws or policies? how is this going to affect my classroom and my instruction one thing that is really frightening about these laws that are passed is the state passed them with no instruction. >> what should people be focused on in the months and years ahead? >> i am so scared about the future of public education here in florida and so scared it will create a movement across the nation this is a concerted effort to

defragment public education, make it unstable in order to privatize education. we have over 9500 instructional vacancies in florida and we're starting school tomorrow the fact that we are making them feel like they can literally be brought to court for teaching facts about history or about real families in their classroom, we have a governor taking over what power the school boards have, putting in place essentially school board candidates that he chooses to be on the school board. it's scary >> i also had the opportunity to speak to a florida high school teacher who blew the whistle on state sponsored training to provide it to teachers and decided to speak out about what exactly was being instructed here is what she told me about how the state trains its teachers about slavery >> the only thing i can find in this slide, this entire presentation about enslaved people, one slide. and it says less than 4% of

slavery in the western hemisphere was in colonial america. the number of enslaved people increased in america through birth. what is happening here >> so this is a map kind of showing how the trans atlantic slave trade brought enslaved people to both the americas. there is a heavy emphasis those people were brought to south america. >> a much bigger arrow >> right where we're at in north america you know our colonies are very small. there was this heavy emphasis that most of our enslaved people were born here almost to say it was less bad. >> to enslave children for generations. >> we didn't steal them and bring them on a boat is what it kind of felt like. >> making a difference between slaves born in the united states

and those in oofr africa and suggesting somehow that our moral debt is less because they were born into slavery as opposed to snatched from their homes. >> yes that is definitely how i felt they were portraying this information. >> and also less than 4% of slavery in the western hemisphere was in colonial america. was that to minimize the number of slaves here which still numbered in the millions >> i believe so. >> this weekend i talked to wisconsin to talk to a local elections official about the threats he and his staff been facing in the run up to the midterms dane county is one of two counties in wisconsin where donald trump demanded a recount in 2020. to give you a sense of the key role dane county played in the last election the official i spoke to recently received a subpoena from the justice department special counsel investigating january 6 and donald trump's efforts to subvert that elect please the subpoena asks for any and all communications with

trump and his campaign through inauguration day 2021. here is what dane county clerk scott mcdonald told me about threats to his office. when did you start doing this job? >> ten years ago. >> twa was it like ten years ago? >> it was great. we had the first same sex marriage license done here it was fun it's become sort of a darker version of that, too i am worried about my staff. i'm worried about the city clerk's office across the hall there isn't adequate security in this building. this building wasn't set up to be secure. it was set up to be open your own staff was glad they could just walk right in that's kind of the problem they didn't have to go through weapons screening. that is a good thing, an open government for us you can't just be able to walk in off the street and come back to my office like you used to we have stop the steal rallies a block away it wasn't just be hard to point that down here at our office >> have you received death threats?

>> i've gotten some vague ones >> what are vague death threats? >> oh, you've committed sedition there's a lot of that. they're just vague enough. you know, when you talk to the police it almost feels like a game of clue they have to have an iron pipe in the billiards room or something and tell you the time they're going to attack for them to listen. that has been a problem for clerks around the country. they're just vague enough that nothing happens with them. >> do you worry about your safety, about the safety of our colleagues >> it's more like russian roulette because it seems like something has to happen that ties to this place i remember one time the president tweeted about my office but didn't say anything negative it felt like a click in the chamber. it just missed nothing happened. >> you have to note this is the county clerk's office and you have plexiglas and panic buttons. what has happened to american

democracy? >> yeah. not a good sign. >> these are people involved in the running of government and elections. this requires a totally different set of skills to manage an incredibly stressful situation but also resolve it. that is a lot to ask of a clerk. what is the general emotional tenor of people who come here and are really angry i would assume they're all kind of -- to this office we haven't gotten much of that. the recount was really on full display. they were closed arms, red faced, yelling, not listening. >> how responsive has been law enforcement been to your kernt about threats you may be facing? >> well, they've been helpful. i think part of the problem is they deal with people getting threatened all day long. so when they hear i got a threat on e-mail from a proton e-mail

that you can't trace it is hard for them to do a lot about it. for them it's kind of common what i try to explain to them is but it is meant to destabilize our democracy. because if people leave who know what they are doing who are they replaced by? then what happens? they make mistakes and it continues to fuel the cycle. of ah ha we have a scandal. i see it is all messed up or it's fraud that serves the interests of raising money online or intimidating election officials. intimidating election officials. >> we'll be right back [clap] now, as businesses we can blame and shame. or... [whistles] we can make a change. [clap] we can make work, work for our communities. create more equal opportunities. [clap] it's time for business to show its true worth. because it's not goodbye, world. it's hello, team earth. [clap]

as americans, there's one thing we can all agree on. the promise of our constitution and the hope that liberty and justice is for all people. but here's the truth. attacks on our constitutional rights, yours and mine are greater than they've ever been. the right for all to vote. reproductive rights. the rights of immigrant families. the right to equal justice for black, brown and lgbtq+ folks. the time to act to protect our rights is now.

that's why i'm hoping you'll join me today in supporting the american civil liberties union. it's easy to make a difference. just call or go online now and become an aclu guardian of liberty. all it takes is just $19 a month. only $0.63 a day. your monthly support will make you part of the movement to protect the rights of all people, including the fundamental right to vote. states are passing laws that would suppress the right to vote. but the aclu can't do this important work without the support of people like you. you can help ensure liberty and justice for all and make sure that every vote is counted. so please call the aclu now or go to my aclu.org and join us. when you use your credit card, you'll receive this special we the people t-shirt and much more. to show you're a part of the movement to protect the rights guaranteed to all of us by the us constitution. we protect everyone's rights,

the freedom of religion, the freedom of expression, racial justice, lgbtq rights, the rights of the disabled. we are here for everyone. it is more important than ever to take a stand. so please join us today. because we the people means all the people, including you. so call now or go online to my aclu.org to become a guardian of liberty. just look around. this digital age we're living in, it's pretty unbelievable. problem is, not everyone's fully living in it. nobody should have to take a class or fill out a medical form on public wifi with a screen the size of your hand. home internet shouldn't be a luxury. everyone should have it and now a lot more people can. so let's go. the digital age is waiting.

one final note before we say good night alex wagner tonight has officially been on the air for just over four months now. it literally, literally does take a village to launch a new show and to put it on night after night. while you just see me sitting at this table there is an army of ridiculously smart and talented people, really, truly, working behind the scenes to put this show on the air each and every night. here are the wonderful people who bring you not only "alex wagner tonight" but also "the rachel maddow show." roll 'em ♪

♪ ♪ ♪

♪

♪ >> good evening, and welcome t a special holiday evening of th