and he gives me nuts yes. but -- >> does leather watch with him >> she is still rocking al over europe. now, you don't talk about th dead i wasn't crazy about pinky >> wow we just broke some news that can henry winkler, thank, yo thank, you thank you for spending time with us. i'm so grateful. >> and on that pretty amazin out, i wish you all i ge night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late i'll see you next week >> good evening and thanks for joining us this hour happy holidays tonight, we start back in may. it was a monday night just after 8:30 eastern time, whe news broke that shook th 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 mus be over rolled, justice alit writes an initial draf circulated through the courts. that headline change everything and it certainly changed the course of the midter elections. and that moment, the stakes of the upcoming november election they skyrocket it it gav democrats over a month and a half a head start to start campaigning on that issu before the opinion was hande down in late june. and on june 24th, the suprem court struck down roe v. wade. the law of the land for nearly 50 years, they stripped away reproductive rights fo millions in this country just six weeks later, the firs test of abortion rights at the ballot box came in kansas. voters in kansas headed to the polls in early august to vot on a constitutional amendmen that would strip away abortion rights from the stat constitution in kansas, of all places voters rejected that republica effort people overwhelmingly voted to

protect abortion rights in the state's constitution it was not even close. voters in kansas rejected th amendment by nearly 60%. the turnout for that electio soared it was the largest turnout for a primary in the state's history. but beyond kansas, that primar changed the entire midterm election landscape it gave the democrats bona fid momentum until that point, al expectations were that the party was headed for traditional and sizeable midterm losses in congress but that night in kansas expectations shifted voters were engaged, we ar showing up in a way that was largely unseen in modern political history. and then there was the special election in new york's 19t congressional district democrat pat ryan campaigned o abortion rights, he even released his first ad that highlighted reproductive right minutes after the supreme cour overturned roe

pat ryan labelled his campaign as a referendum on abortio rights that strategy worked coupled with that, democrats headed into november wit significant legislativ momentum in congress there was the american rescu plan, and the infrastructure bill there was the sweeping gun reform legislation, the firs in decades the president biden signed thi after roe fell in early august, biden signe the landmark bill protecting veterans who were exposed to toxic burn pits. democrats fought a long battle to get that one past they did it. the same week that president - he also signed the chips and science act, a investment into chip manufacturing that is already started attracting business to u.s. soil. and then there was the inflation reduction act. president biden's massive an signature bill that invested hundreds of billions in climat change and health care fighting inflation and setting a corporate minimum tax rate that bill that democrats passe into law is the larges investment combatting climat change ever. it was against that backdrop

that democrats headed into the midterm elections. and yet, in the closing week of that race questions about the economy an inflation, and crime, they seemed to cloud the midter landscape. despite the utter insanity o the republican field, with candidates like kari lake an doug mastriano, the polls go really uncomfortably tight there was finger-pointing an questioning about the democrat strategy and whether the party had focus on the wrong issues. expectations once agai reverted back to historica patterns and then got worse. but as it turns out, the message had been the right one the candidates had been th right ones against precedent, the democrats did a lot better tha expected they outperformed al predictions. this great so-called red wav never materialized instead, republicans squeake out a nine seat majority in th house. the democrats not only held on to the senate, but they gain a

seat with raphael warnock' victory in the georgia runoff. at the state level, democrat just knocked it out of the park they flipped four stat legislative chambers also the pennsylvania house. they reelected michiga democratic governor gretchen whitmer, giving democrat control of all three bodies in that key swing state it is the first time the party had full governing control i michigan in nearly 40 years. democrats offended off republicans from having supermajority in wisconsin and in kansas by defying the odd 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 o the house and republicans ar eager to exert their power whenever and wherever possible what can even get done with divided congress joining us now is former missouri democratic senato claire mccaskill and mark,

staff writer at the atlantic and author of thank you fo your servitude donald trump's washington an the price of submission. claire, mark, it is great to close out the year with you. and claire, i just want to start with you first since you are a creature of the senate and know it's contours well. you are someone who has le fierce campaigns yourself, i there anything about the midterm elections that surprised you? >> well, listen, i get tha dobbs was an earthquak politically. i understand that democracy wa very important at the end of the day, this is about candidate quality, i really is. if you look in pennsylvania, dr. oz, if you look in man states if you look at georgia, when extreme candidates wer nominated by the republica party. when trump election denier were nominated, what most of

the states did was, they sai we are not going to go dow that road. that is not what we are lookin for in our elected representatives. as we look towards the nex election, and believe me, a lo of people in the senate ar already doing that, i know i feels like we just got 51, 2 is brutal for us we have montana, we have wes virginia, we have ohio once again we have pennsylvania we have wisconsin, ron johnson just got reelected we can talk about victories in wisconsin. ron johnson is a terribl senator and he just go reelected. and then in arizona, where i was a squeaker and nevada, tha is also a squeaker those states are all up in 2024 it is about finding the righ candidates if there are an open seats, which doesn't look like there is going to be. >> mark, should democrats be dismayed at that assessment? obviously, there was a

coordinated message. there were legislative victories, there is the realit that republicans ran bonkers candidates herschel walker was a bonker candidate, so was mehmet oz, s was doug mastriano, so was don bolduc one would think that republicans won't do that again, so what should democrats tak away from their victories in the last election? >> there is a very clear glass half empty view of this, which is that herschel walker, kar lake, adam laxalt came extremely close. despite all of herschel walker 's herschel walker-ness an terry lake's kerry lake-ness it could've gone the other way clare's right, the math is absolutely brutal. this was supposed to be a very favorable democratic map

they won one seat. on a whole, it is been a great cycle, surprisingly good cycle for democrats. but no, this is not a won race i don't know - i think republicans know how t learn a lesson here. this is not a rational party right now, donald trump is still driving it if he falls in love with candidate x in montana and decides to go all in with hi or her, that is potentiall great news for john or whoever the vulnerable democrat is >> do you think that trump wil hold that sway over th nominating process in terms of the senate in 2024 his record is so abysmal fro 2022 and yet, he has done plenty of things to cause departures fro his loyalists. and yet, we always have to end every sentence with, and yet h still is the center of thi gop. i'm asking you to look into crystal ball, but at thi moment, do you think he stil has the power, the king making power that he did in the las election

>> he had a brutal cycle in the last few weeks, they've not been kind to him but i see what is going on i the media right now, the narrative that trump is losing his grip and how desantis is rising, and trump is going t be history in the rearview mirror any minute. and it kind of reminds me of the democrats, they're gonna have a brutal election i november it was going to be this big re wave i kind of think we have to wai and see. i think right now, desantis is an unknown to most of america. i think republicans are bein fed his name by a lot of peopl who don't want trump but desantis has problems too. it's not like he is not wacky, he is banning books an arresting people on bogu charges who tried to vote, who have fallen apart. all kinds of things that he ha done, they will come front and center he is an extreme guy joe biden is not an extreme guy, he is a middle of the road guy

who won because he is middle o the road if they nominate either trum or desantis, i still think tha the democrats are in a commanding position if the stick to their knitting at the kitchen table stuff. doing something abou prescription drugs, continuing to bang away on th infrastructure victories and working on gun safety and th things that they've gotten done i think -- presidential politics is going to come into play here because we have a president at the top of the ticket every election >> mark, you've reported on ro desantis and his likability, which is actually a real facto when it comes to electing president. but there is also hi legislative record we have covered it all on th show, whether it's the sto woke act, the don't say ga bill, or his fraudulen election police. he has done a lot of stuff tha may play well in florida, whic is a strange laboratory. it is a state like any other but could that become

political liability the more light is shown on it on national stage >> there's no question about this if you look at pretty much all of the consequential attention getting stuff that he is done, it hasn't worn particularl well he got this attention when h sent the refugees from latin america to martha's vineyard new york, wherever this is taxpayer money when you look, when that thing unfolded, it was not a goo look for ron desantis. i can't imagine florida' taxpayers, beyond the initia speculative look, we owned the liberals here, could be happ about this once these things play out there is this pattern, ver trump-like in some ways, which is that you get this spasm o attention and then once it unfolds, it becomes a bit of a embarrassment. >> his strategy seems to be so deeply rooted in owning th libs, with nothing else as a goal shuttle asylum seekers t points north with no resources when they get there to own the libs on immigration. prevent them from saying thing

about racism and systemi injustice to own the libs an censor their language. this is the stuff that may pla well amongst a very specific slice of an engage gop voter but when it comes to the kin of person that someone wants t sit down and have beer with, i is hard to imagine the meannes and the cruelty that is so animated, plays well with th national voter >> also, in his haste to strip the erogenous zones of tucke carlson or whoever >> did you really have to sa that >> i'm sorry, i withdraw that. is it, okay. but look, he went full anti-vaxxer here at the end of the year he is basically, he wants to investigate people who are studying vaccines at the cdc that is not where the countr is it might be were his rarefie little conservative bubble i florida, or conservative media is, but it's not where the country is so, stay tuned >> clare, what should presiden biden be thinking about in the closing hours of 2022 as w

head towards a divided congress? trump, who is officially running, desantis who's waitin in the wings, and presidential election that starts sometime next year. >> well, i think he has a bi decision to make i don't think that he has made a final decision first and foremost, he has got to figure out if he wants to run again. if he does, and he has to star looking at his record an building a narrative about why the country should trust him t navigate another four years, that is always a tall order. it is not easy to get electe to a second term. i don't care who you are. he has got that in front o him. and then also, he's going to have to manage a crazy tow over in the house of representatives. he's going to figure out i there's anything that mccarthy can get across the finish line that would b palatable to americans it is going to be tough becaus

right now, mccarthy is o bended knee to crazy town. marjorie taylor greene and all the others are the ones who ca make him speaker he can't be speaker withou them so you think boehner had trouble with the freedom caucus you think paul ryan had troubl with the right-wing, you haven't seen anything until yo see what is going to happen in the house of representatives with mccarthy and this ver slim majority, and everyon pushing and pulling to try t be more extreme than the next. >> this just seems like one of those situations where everybody needs to buckle up and brace for impact next year is going to be a doozy in the lower chamber mark, staff writer at th atlantic, and former missour democratic senator clair mccaskill, the greats, thank you so much for being here i closing out the year with me >> thank you >> 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 t explore desantis land. what i found, just ahead

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signed off from the daily so for the very last time, ending his epic seven-year run with the show and just before he left, i had

a great pleasure of sittin down with him for a wide ranging interview. we spoke about the politics of race in america and the extrem 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 new ten-part documentary series, the turnin point. welcome, my friend >> thank you for having me >> it is a pleasure. it is more exciting for me, guarantee than you with your star studded history >> i don't think that's true >> you were sitting ther through that long wind up, and i felt like it was reall important to contextualize wha is happening in this midterm election cycle amid the hectic frenetic pace of campaigns there is something that is a the core of a lot of the campaigning that we are seeing as someone who covers this albeit from a distance, wonder if any of this, if an of the dog whistles or the

explicitly racist language, or just the otherization of peopl of color, whether any of tha surprises you at this point? >> when i look at the buildu towards an election, especiall in america at a time whe people are struggling to mak ends meet, when people are struggling to pay for th groceries. when people are wonderin whether the next paycheck will still be enough to live th life that they've been living, it always triggers an idea, or a moment in time or feelin that i will have whenever an election comes up. the same thing will happen i south africa you are able to get people t 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 make them more inclusive but i've come to realize, i' -- it's an fortunate byproduct as soon as people star thinking that do not have, someone can say that is why yo do not have.

i think we're going to see a lot more of that now unfortunately, if politician do not understand the cause, i is more important in a system, we are going to beach chasing symptom forever. you cannot change opinions o immigrants you can try to do that forever but really what we have seen i time and time again, whe people are struggling, they ar most susceptible to ideas that will otherize other huma beings >> some of these people ar struggling, but others aren't. >> they've been told they are. >> maybe that's what it is the narrative of grievance tha is intoxicating. >> the irony effect in life in america is, the same image can have a completely differen connotation depending on how people want that image to be used for instance, you will see people being arrested and ther will be some politicians who say, see, things are getting better and crime is going down look, everything is gettin better, these people are being arrested and they use that same image t say, well look how man

criminals are out there. it's the same image, just ho you tell the story completel changes depending on wha you're trying to do. >> it feels like we have los the common narrative too >> i think we're moving to a place where politics is no becoming the new religion of america. it is becoming the definin factor when people meet you, that's the first thing that they sa now. are you a democrat, are your republican, this is how i vote i don't if you know if you remember, there was a time whe people talk about that your vote is your secret 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 they lived their lives. now, people live to talk about how they voted i think what it is created i his a world that supersede everything >> is that a bad thing or good thing >> it's terrible it's terrifying. >> the political landscape i so divided, the values inheren in each party is s extraordinarily different that it seems almost irreconcilable to ask someone to forget tha those are someone else's values, you know what i'm saying

>> you know, sometimes makin heads or tails of the american system requires you to start a one point. have your tried to untangle bunch of cords in your drawer, trying to find one charger, yo think you found it, and that takes you to this charger, you go to that georgia that's what it feels lik sometimes looking at america and what is happened in th country. you see it reflected in othe parts of the world, bu american system is unique in the conversations that peopl have and why they have them. what you are seeing about th polarization is, it is jus going to become worse. we don't live in the same worl anymore. we would all meet in one place whether it was for the news, people watching walter cronkit or whoever, people who watch the same news and then argue about it if you are watching, even tv shows, the other day when yo saw that angela lansbury passe away, every single episode i watched 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 there on tv kids in a different world from their parents, and so you have this unshared reality that w are all sitting in everyone is on a train in th subway, no one is reading or experiencing the same thing. other than maybe the dancers but that is about it but i think what that has done is, it is created a hype individualistic society wher we don't realize that we are not living in the same world you can't do anything if you don't agree on the same world. >> when you were going up in south africa, apart from watching murder she wrote, did you think that america had the whole racism thing figured out more than south africa did >> that's an interesting question i had a characterized versio of what america was. i was watching differenc strokes. beverly hills cop, all these movies, they gave me an idea o what america was i don't think it was too far

from what america was trying t be, funnily enough again, everyone was coming together and watching the same thing. maybe there is some sort o world that people aspired to even if they couldn't achiev it what i've learned when i moved to america is, what makes it different to south africa is we are very blatant about what was happening. i would 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 tha you don't have to uncover it >> it's explicit >> we consider people of color black people, indian people, colored people, whoever they may be, we consider them inferior that is why we treat them this way. but in america over time, we know the history of it, but al the time, politicians realized that that wasn't suitable, tha wasn't acceptable in public. they learned how to code the language, they learned how t change it so that people didn'

hear the word black, peopl didn't hear the word hispani or mexican, but they thought it, they felt it that has become more powerfu because instead of fightin racism, you have to try to prove that it exists >> it makes people feel better because they don't have to b explicitly racist. >> some of them don't feel tha they are racist. i think some people go, didn't even think about race >> coming up, my trip to florida to take a look at th lab, governor ron desantis and what he has been experimenting with on race, gender, an education. but first, more from m in-depth interview with trevor noah on his future plans, that is next, we'll be right back ck to tide. one wash, stains are gone. [daughter] slurping don't pay for water. pay for clean. it's got to be tide. realtor.com (in a whisper) if we use kevin's college fund, we can afford this house. the house whisperer! this house says use realtor.com to find options within your budget.

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blocking heartburn before it starts. one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. >> a few months ago, i had the

wonderful opportunity of speaking to someone who know the media inside and out trevor noah, who recentl signed off as a host of th daily show after an epic seven -year run. he sat down with me to tal about how the media has covere everything from donald trump t extremist republicans. those two are kind of similar. we also talked about his decision to leave the dail show and his plans for the future take a look. >> i've really been lucky to embark on, you know, multipl journeys i've had the pleasure of executive producing -- working with fantastic producers and directors,

filmmakers, i've had the pleasure of doing standup in and around america, the rest o the world, i've had th pleasure of hosting the dail show for seven years but you know, at some point, you have to figure out how you want to use your time, where you want to be, and how yo want to spend, you know, you heart beats, as i call them. theyu're constantly going. >> there's a finite number o them >> yeah. and i think covid gave everybody in moment to sit dow and think. who are you? >> yeah. >> who were you trying to be with whom are you spending you time why are you spending it that way? so i realized, i would never want to be in a position where people feel like i'm not givin my all and, so i thought i would give my all until i feel like i eve have a little bit left, but le me take what i have left, an then try everything else tha inspires me. whether it be docuseries, bein in movies, doing more standup, whatever it may be >> you have a perspective on the media that i think a lot o people don't have. and i wonder how you would

grade us at this stage of th game i was talking to rachael maddow, hy great predecessor in this hour, and we were talking abou the responsibility here as journalists. when you have a character like donald trump on one hand, you have to cover some of the things he's saying and doing. but how do you do it in a wa that doesn't give him th megaphone? do you think we've gotte better at this what can we do better? >> so here's what i thin happened i think america has blurred th lines between news and entertainment for so long that at some point, entertainment took over and became the news. and if there's one thing donal trump is always known how to do, it's hard to be entertaining and you look at the very inception, the very beginnin of the idea of donald trum being on the news, there wer campaigns reaching out to cn and saying, i, you need to cover. this is funny, this is great for us i think a lot of democrats hav to look at themselves and say,

why did we encourage this? i spoken about this on my show the fact that there are stil democratic, you know, machines that are funding extreme republicans, basically putting them forward, i think it's gross negligence you know, forget everythin else that you're trying to d in life. it is grossly negligent to say i believe this person's gonn destroy democracy. but you know what i'll do? we're gonna take money tha people donated to our campaigns, and use it to prop them up because i think they'll be easier to beat but are you willing to take th risk that this person may be easier to be you don't remember wha happened with donald trump turned out he was a lot harder to beat than you thought so when it comes to -- i don't grade anybody becaus i'm not a master at this i don't even claim to be but i look at what people coul do differently i think the media learned lesson i think every news outlet said hey, we thought it was a joke, we played with the joke, and how he turned it on us and i don't know if the geni will ever go back into the bottle, but i think the medi can ask itself questions about the wise why? why do we put people on? if its ratings push, just be honest just say

we're doing this to ge ratings. don't hide it, don't add icing to the cake to try to make i seem like it is what it isn't. >> the more explicit, like the are in south africa. >> yeah. just be able to say, this is what it has. we're doing it because it' great for ratings. do it, go ahead. but i think a lot of the time, american news will masquerade, will live in this world of, oh no, this is so important, it's great for ratings. and i understand that challenge, but also acknowledge that ther is a country that is watchin what you are creating. >> we have much more ahead tonight. stay with us

>> by now, you've heard hi name a lot. republican governor of florida and likely 2024 presidential contender, ron desantis. since taking office in 2019, governor desantis has been on crusade against seemingl everything, especially when it comes to public education. if a conversation about student's race or nationalit makes student feel, quote, discomfort, then it can't be taught in the classroom. an inclusive curriculum? nope anything, quote, woke? what if that means nope so desantis signed the sto woke act sexual orientation and gende identity nope desantis signed the so calle don't say gay bill earlier this year, i took trip to florida to hear from students and educators and wha they say on the ground about these new policies and desanti 's efforts to reshape public education in florida

here's what students and a local school board member ha to say >> i think it's frightening ho we already have such limited access to all this information and important parts of history and now we're restricting it even more. it's very scary that there's gonna be more ignorance. >> it's really pitiful to thin that now, kids that are goin into school, younger kids, younger generations, people wh are being made into the future are gonna have no idea what' going on, because we can't pic and choose the past. we can't pick and choose wha to teach in history classes. >> well, the governor thinks you can pick and choose what you teach. >> i guess i wonder, like, are students gonna accept that it sounds like you think som of them are. >> i think that if that's what we're taught from a young age, then that's what we're gonna accept, and start to, you know repeat back to other kids. >> tell me, if you could recount, the experience you've had facing the animated crow of people who are proponents o this anti crt stuff.

you understand in a visceral way the passion that is ignite when you talk about this stuff >> you know, i've had people o my front lawn protesting i've had people send me deat threats. i've had people try to recal me and none of that has anythin to do with crt none of that has anything to d with lgbtq they just use those as tools t target and attack me and truthfully, the reason i feel like i even had to deal with any of that animosity i because i'm a loud, proud, dominant democrat on thi school board >> i mean, i guess what you're saying is, this is basically for a political movement tha is much more about republica power than actually some dee seated emotional belief abou correcting some wrongs i schools. and i guess i wonder, on the other side of the coin, do you feel like you are equipped wit the tools to counter what ha

been a pretty successful multipronged effort to chang the whole system of educatio in the florida public school system >> i hate to be a pessimist, but the reality is, we need th voters to get out and vote if we have these people in office, there is really not whole lot we can do. because they put this into law >> do you hear from teachers who are grappling with the changes that are gonna be in place in the classroom thi fall >> all the time. people asking for answers to how do we implement these laws or these policies? how is this gonna affect m classroom and my instruction and one of the things that's really frightening about these laws that are passed is that the state passed them with n instruction. >> what do you think people wh are concerned about th direction that things ar heading in - what should they be focused on in the months and years ahead? >> i'm just scared about the future of public education her in florida and i'm scared that'll creat this movement across the nation this is a concerted effort t de-fragment public education

to make it unstable in order t privatize education. right? you've got over 9500 instructional vacancies in the state of florida, and we'r starting school tomorrow the fact that we are makin them feel like they ca literally be brought to cour for teaching actual facts abou history, or about real familie that are in their classroom, a the same exact time we have governor that's taking ove what power the school boards have, putting in place essentially school board candidates that he chooses t be on the school board, i mean it's scary >> i also have the opportunity to speak to a florida high school teacher who blew th whistle and state sponsore training to provide to teacher and decided to speak out about what exactly was being instructed here's what she told me abou how the state treats its - trains its teachers abou slavery. take a listen. >> the only thing i can find i the slide, and this entire presentation about enslave

people, it's one slide, and it says less than 4% of slavery i the western hemisphere was i colonial america the number of enslaved peopl increased in america through birth. what is happening here in th slide? >> yeah. so this is a map, kind o showing how the transatlanti slave trade brought enslaved people to both of the americas there's a heavy emphasis tha those people were brought to south america. >> it's a much bigger arrow. >> yeah. and where we are at in north america, you know, our colonie are very small sliver. and that was this heav emphasis that most of ou enslaved people were born here almost to say it was less bad. >> to enslaved children. >> right >> for generations >> to say they were born here, we didn't steal them and bring

them on a boat, is kind of wha it felt like >> sort of making a difference between slaves born in the united states, and those bor in africa, and suggestin somehow that slave - that our moral debt is les because they were born int slavery as opposed to snatched from their homes >> yes that's definitely how i felt they were portraying thi information. >> and also, that less than 4% of slavery in the wester hemisphere was in colonial america. is that to minimize the number of slaves that were here which still numbered in th millions >> i believe so. >> i also traveled to wisconsi to talk to a local elections official there about the threats he and his staff had been facing in the run up to the midterms dane county, which include madison, is one of the two counties in wisconsin wher donald trump demanded a recoun in 2020. to give you a sense of the rol dane county played in the last presidential election, the official i spoke to recently received a subpoena from the justice department special

counsel investigating januar 6th, and donald trump's effort to suppress that election. the subpoena asks for any an all communications with trum and his campaign through inauguration day, 2021 here's what dane county cler scott mcdonell told me about threats to his office. >> when did you start doin this job >> ten years ago >> and, like, what was it like ten years ago, this job? >> it was great. we had the first same-se marriage license done here, we do marriages out on the fron of the steps, and it was fun but it's become sort of darker version of that now i'm worried about my staff i'm worried about the staf across the hall, that's th city clerk's office. there isn't adequate security. this building wasn't set up to be secure. it was set up to be open >> yeah. >> the staff is glad they coul just walk right in that's kind of a problem they didn't have to go through weapons screening. and that's a good thing, that' an open government, but for us you know, you can't just b able to walk in off the street and come all the way back to m office the way - we have stop the steal rallies a block away

and it wouldn't be hard to jus point that down here at ou office so >> have you received death threats? >> i've gotten some vague ones >> what are vague death threats? >> oh, like, you've committe sedition, there's a lot of that but they're just vague enoug that, you know, when you tal to the police, it almost feels like a game of clue. they have to have an iron pipe and a billiards room o something. they have to tell you the time you're gonna attack you. that's been a problem fo clerks around the country. but they're just vague enoug that nothing happens with them >> do you worry about your safety do you worry about the safet of your colleagues >> it's more like russia roulette because it seems like somethin has to happen that ties to thi place. i remember one time th president tweeted about my office but he didn't say anything negative and it felt like a click in th chamber. like you just missed >> i have to stop and note tha this is the county clerk's office and you have plexiglass and panic buttons.

what has happened to america democracy? >> yeah. it's not a good sign >> these are people who ar involved in the running of government and elections like, this requires a totall different set of skills to manage, a, an incredibly stressful situation, but also, resolve it like, that's a lot to ask of a clerk. what is the general emotional, like, tenor of people coming here who are really angry? i would assume they're all kin of, like - >> this office, we haven't gotten much of that. the recount, it was really o full display >> yeah. >> they were closed arms, re face, yelling, not listening >> how responsive has la enforcement been to your concerns about threats that yo may be facing? >> well, they've been helpful. i think part of the problem, though, is that they deal with people getting threatened al day long so when they hear, i got a threat on email from a proto email that you can't trace

it's hard for them to do a lot about it and for them, it's kind of common but, you know, what i try to explain to them is, it's meant to destabilize of democracy. because if people leave wh know what they're doing, who are they replaced by and then what happens? they make mistakes, and it jus continues to fuel the cycle of ah, we have a scandal, see it's all messed up, or it' fraud. and that serves, again, th interest of raising mone online where intimidatin election officials >> we'll be right back [buzz] you can always spot a first timer. gain flings with oxi boost and febreze.

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said goodnight alex wagner tonight ha 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. and while you just see m sitting at this table, there i an army of ridiculously smar and talented people really truly, working behind th scenes to put the show on th air each and every night here at the wonderful people who bring you not only ale wagner tonight, but also the rachel maddow show roll them! ♪ ♪ ♪

that does it for us tonight. thanks for joining us. more ahead on msnbc right afte this >> good evening, and welcome t a special holiday evening of the last word.