first took power ten years ago. i got left than a minute left,, and i want to check in the brain your list after what we saw last night having been up most of the night, the divided states of america. >> >> besides that is only number. a keep in mind, ali, this list is on the basis of impacts, imminence, likelihood. the fact that the united states is that fourth on the list in place it's really not as much of a risk factor. the idea of a constitutional crisis hitting the united states in the near term is really off the table now, especially given the fact that the secretary of state and governor positions that could have been won by people who were prepared to break a 2024 presidential election, all of them lost. that actually shows a level of resilience. that's the self relying on this list this year, and i'm glad to talk about. it recalling to have one of the, jocelyn benson, the forefront of that effort to hold democracy on the show tomorrow. great to see you. thank you, and thanks for a little bit of good news, even

in a list that is about the top risks. the founder of that eurasia group. straight ahead, republican mark sanford, former south carolina congressman and governor and presidential candidate, helps us understand what's happening inside the gop following a bitter speaker bottle and what it means for the future of the american democracy. another hour of phil she begins right now. >> and good morning. it's out of the, january the 7th, ending up in the east, 6 am in the west. i'm ali velshi. as the old saying goes, if i don't succeed, try, try 14 more times until you do. that's the attitude kevin mccarthy is bringing with him into the new year as he was finally declared the new speaker of the house after four days and 15 attempts. republicans appeared optimistic as the house reconvened at 10 pm last night for the 14th ballot. things quickly devolved as that vote appeared headed for failure, which led to a lot of scrambling and conversations on the republican side.

tensions spilled out in the open as florida congressman matt gates exchanged words with mccarthy and with other lawmakers on the house floor. at one point, representative mike rogers of alabama watching appear. he confronted gaetz, shouting. he had to be held back and let away by one of his colleagues. the house was seconds away from a adjourning for the weekend until monday at noon, when gaetz approached mccarthy. look at. that. the appeared to strike a deal of some sort on the 15th ballot. mccarthy finally became speaker, with a vote of 316 to the 212 that the democrats hakeem jeffries got on all 15 of those ballots. mccarthy took his oath of office, his first active speaker was to swear in the rest of his colleagues and officially convene the 118th congress, four days after the term was scheduled to begin. it's no coincidence, by the way, the stalemate over mccarthy speakership happened against the backdrop of the second anniversary of the january 6th insurrection. the group of six hard-liners who held out voting for mccarthy until the very last

ballot, and they didn't, by the, way they just voted present, they are election deniers who supported donald trump's big baseless lie about a stolen election. five of the six of them continue to object and vote against the certification of the votes on january six, 2021, even after the mob ransacked the capital and endangered their lives and their coworkers lives. in creating a stalemate for the speakership, gaetz and his colleagues took the opportunity, once again, to stall government and wreak havoc during a transition of power, a vulnerable period for democracy. in doing so, they forced mccarthy to make deals and concessions in a bid to drag the republican party further to the right. this is, literally, only the beginning. but 118th congress has barely begun, but the cracks in the gop have already been exposed. in the coming days, we're going to learn more about the deals that were made to get mccarthy elected speaker. the battle continues next week. the house debates the rules package that some republican numbers already expressed concern about. nothing can happen without that

rules package being in place. it's the rules for how congress runs. beyond that, it's anybody's guess. republicans have set their focus on launching frivolous investigations into things like covid's origin, the so-called woke ideology. mccarthy actually said that last night. many of which mccarthy highlighted during his first speech as speaker. but if last week is any indication of what, or if this last week is any indication of what the 118th congress is going to be like, there's going to be a lot more dysfunction ahead. joining me now, eugene scott, national political reporter for the washington post. good morning to you, eugene. i was looking forward to this conversation with you because i've been in it. i finished at two in the morning when this happened, and i haven't yet process what we are supposed to make of this. whether this was an anomaly, a bad, week and the horse's stone, or whether this is a taste of what we're going to get in this congress. only time will tell whether this is an anomaly. these are individuals who have been very vocal,, again in

their lack of support from mccarthy even before this. week they have ideas about what the gop agenda should be, that they believe conflict with where he is philosophically. we should expect that to repeatedly be an issue moving forward. also, the idea that all of this will be swept under the rug. that this might be just it's also not likely to be that case. when you consider how frustrated so many of the more, not necessarily established republicans, but certainly supporters of mccarthy have been this week, but the name-calling and expressing their disappointment and frustration with the holdouts. >> let's talk about what got achieved. in his piece of, mike mccarthy said, i never give up. it might be true, but he gave stuff up in order to get those six holdouts to vote present. they didn't even vote for him. and while nothing structurally changes in what he offered them,

it's the stuff in between, the people who will be on various committees, the influence they are going to have, that could change the flavor of this congress and affect what it could actually get done. >> that's true. when you think about that freedom caucus or far-right republicans or supporters of trump and what is that they want to change when it comes to economic policy, foreign policy, you should expect that to show up in so many of these subcommittee conversations, but even some of the larger committee discussions about what policies should be as we move forward. one of the major changes, obviously, will be the influence that these individuals have when it comes to mccarthy. they will be able to move forward with calling a vote to have him removed from his position in the future with a smaller number, significantly smaller number, just one than they had in the past. so none of us should be surprised if not too long in the future, we see any of these

individuals expressed their frustration with mccarthy's leadership and seek to go in another direction. >> last night was not hakeem jeffries that. he is not the speaker of the house. but it was his first major speak. i have to say, in a crowded, busy night that was about something else, his speech caught my attention. let's just play a little bit of it here. >> we are right, we are black, we are latino, we are agent, we are near if american. we are christian, we are jewish, we are muslim, we are hindu. we are religious, we are secular. we are gay, we are straight, we are young, we are older. we are women, we are. man we are citizens, we are dreamers, out of many, we are one. that is what makes america a great country. [applause] and no matter what kind of haters are trying to divide us, we are not going to let anyone take that away from us, not now, not ever. a bit of what lin-manuel miranda think going on.

there he kept going for a long time, by the way, without a script. an impressive showing, some say a little bit wasted, in the middle of the night on a night that wasn't his, because he had to hand over the gavel to mccarthy, but what you make of hakeem jeffries first big performance? >> i think jeffries is thinking long term. what i saw was a pitch to americans who have been disappointed and frustrated with the republican party this week. trying to present to them and make them know there is another option. one of the main attacks against democrats from the gop is that it is not a party for rural americans, or conservative americans, or question americans, or people with more traditional ideas about what life should be like. i think what jeffries tried to do in that particular moment is communicate to those people actually, if you feel like you want a party that is operating without chaos and that's a high view of diversity, including some groups that maybe you don't see as often as the face

of the democratic party as you may like, come over here and give us a try. it was a. pitch it was a pitch to grow the party, to expand the party, and to get support for the party heading into 2024. >> it wasn't wasted, because most of the nation was watching this very, very closely last night. so they got there for a lot of people, that was their first real taste of what hakeem jeffries is as a speaker. eugene, good to see you, my friend. thank you as always for joining us. eugene scott, a national political reporter for the washington post. i'm joined now by mark sanford, former republican congressman, former governor of south carolina, the author of two roads diverged, a second chance for the republican party, the conservative movement, the nation, and ourselves. mark sanford also ran for president against donald trump. good to see you again. thank you for being with. us i have 4 million questions for you. i kind of want to clear the deck for the rest of the show. it's just a little bit of the baby you respond! what you saw last night was part of a movement you were involved in a long time ago. tell me what's on your mind

about what's happened this last week with this far-right group of republicans. >> well, you know, yeah. am i far right or was i fought right? i don't even know what that means now, because the idea far right back then is a long way from far right right now. it has become something of a cult of personality, the freedom caucus, which is separated from a group of guys and gals focused on sort of fiscal policy and having our financial house in order to a trump fan club. i don't know what far-right is these days. to begin with that premise. as he was on the right, and they opened up several fall rooms to the right of him. >> [laughter] exactly right. i think that what we're seeing is more of what we've seen really since trump put some

kind of kerosene on the fire, if he will. there was always a far-right movement, as there's always been a far left movement. but it has metastasized in sort of cancerous form during the trump era into something that i don't quite recognize, as you alluded to. a lot of us don't recognize that. and where that goes, i don't know. i think it's troublesome. i think anything that happens once every hundred years or so ought to wake everyone of us, and that is what happened last night, as we had ballot after ballot to try to find speakership. >> a lot of people point to the slim agility republicans won, except it's the same majority that was in the last congress. nancy pelosi also has members of -- had members of her democratic caucus who were left of where the mainstream is, and, yet somehow, managed to work that out and never had this sort of thing. she had challenges to her speakership, no question.

what has to happen? what lesson can mccarthy take from nancy pelosi, or is this just a different beast entirely? >> i think it's a different beast entirely. with due respect to democratic friends, there has been at times more coalescing, more of a tighter bands. part of it is the base. you have a union base, where people used to teaming together and say all right, we're all in this boat together. it's a more fracturus direct electorate that goes on the republican side. we have small business people, a lot of independent minded farmers in that group. you end up with some of the recipe that led to tonight, last night. but i think it's going to be a mess. why anyone would want to be speaker right now, with this then a majority, i don't know. it would be an almost non governable entity, i think, unless something amazing happens that i don't see. >> you talk about back when you

were part of what was the right to the republican party. a lot of emphasis on fiscal stuff. are you worried about the positions that some of these guys have taken about, i mean, this is a bad year to play with the debt ceiling, right? all those other gears and we talk about not raising the debt ceiling, interest rates were essentially zero. the net effect is not raising the debt ceiling would be a hit to america's credit, and increase in interest rates. this could actually exacerbate a recession, if we have one, this year. but more often, more importantly, if bad things happen to the economy because republicans to this, that's going to hurt in 2024 for republicans reelection chances. >> it will. i think we are going to go into an amazing financial -- it's been a long coming. i think the fed and frankly, fiscal policy out of d.c. has kicked the can down the road. there is a day of reckoning coming that you cannot spend more than you make forever, as

an individual, as a business, or even us a government. and we have been sort of walking on water for a while there. but these tea leaves are going to come home and i think it's going to be sooner rather than later. so, i think a recession is coming. i think, to your point, this culture mastic's in washington around that ceiling could spark something we don't quite know where it leads. i think we are in dangerous water overall, financially, and i think there could be spark points that come out of washington, given the debt ceiling, and frankly, a number of other debates that will come up related to fiscal policy. you ran against donald trump. what does that look like to you right now? donald trump's influence waning, or strong, will apparently, donald trump was dripping last night and they have contributed to the idea that those six no votes for votes against kevin mccarthy became present votes, which allowed him to win. tell me about your thoughts about donald trump and his presidential ambitions. >> well, let's first let me

politely correct and yeah. in a technical sense, i ran against trump. i knew i had no shot. it was not about running about trump, it was about trying to highlight that, deficit, and government spending i think is going to prove incredibly problematic in our country in trying to get that injected into the debate. i did that in 30 days, and moved on. but to your point, i think donald trump's hold is waiting. i think kevin was an incredible suck up when he gave credit to trump for putting him over the top, but that's not what most of us saw. trump was very coy about whether he was going to support kevin or not support kevin. i don't think that is the kind of teammates that you want in the world of politics. you want someone who is there with you and not play in coy. mark sanford, good to see you, my. friends thank you for joining. yes mark sanford is a former republican representative of

south carolina, former governor of south carolina, and, as you point out, for a little while, was a presidential candidate. thank you for joining us. we've got more of this conversation coming right up after the break. i'm joined by a friend of the show and longtime republican, michael steele. don't miss. that then, the january 6th attack on the capital was marked by anti democratic violence, but also acts of heroism, including one congressional aide, brennan leach, who literally carried the electoral votes through the capital. in a few minutes, i will speak with her about her experience that day. plus, democrat chris mays, what the attorney general race in arizona by a razor-thin margin. 280 out votes. but now that she's in office, i'll speak with her about how she continues to plant defending democracy in her state. you're watching velshi. g velshi create something new? our dell technologies advisors can provide you with the tools and expertise you need to bring out the innovator in you. okay everyone, our mission is complete balanced nutrition. together we support immune function.

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everyone should have it and now a lot more people can. so let's go. 15 ballots later, we got a the digital age is waiting. speaker of the house. republican kevin mccarthy of california, the former rnc chairman and they msnbc

political analyst michael steele. you must have just slept in that chair. >> and in. >> on tv lightly -- fight >> you must have flopped in yours. >> i've been watching you all week. i don't know what kind of ours are keeping, you've been on everyone show all the time. you are one of those rare people we have for sometimes, it's, like mike has been on the law. i want more michael. so, we want you back because your analysis on this is remarkable. largely because you have been involved in this, and you were involved in the republican party at the highest levels when this thing started to happen, this movement i just talked to mark stanford about. it started to have. it metastasized into what we saw last night, which -- it's cost kevin mccarthy some of his actual leadership, right? he goes into his speakership week. >> oh, absolutely. i wouldn't say it's actual leadership, it's all of it. i don't know how he governs with this. i think what we have witnessed

this week, and even leading up to this week, is one of those elements that, again, metastasized inside the party. that's the thirst for power for the sake of power. this battle was for the chair. i likened it, as you may recall, to the game of thrones actualized, where it was for the seat. who sits in the seat. it wasn't about -- you here, people got up and started talking about all this stuff they wanted to do, but that's not going to happen. there is no policy will for a lot of the things they want to get done. the moderates, such as they exist in the house, are marginalized. that marjorie taylor greene's, the lauren boebert's, the matt gates, and matt gaetz, i don't care what you think about matt gaetz, but he pumps the hell out of this system this week. not just mccarthy, but but 200

author republicans who supported mccarthy. for 14, 15 ballots, 14 and a half ballots, they were weak. and weekend. but for, in that final moment, matt gaetz saying yeah,, okay i will vote present. this thing probably would still be metastasizing, if you will. so, you see this push for power for the sake of power, and now the question becomes, how do you wield that power? who gets to really wield that power, and given how they have stripped bare the speakership, i don't think kevin is going to be that powerful. i don't know how he can be, because all it takes is one disgruntled member to say you know what? i want him out of the chair. >> then, we go through this process again. and we go through this process again. >> in his speech, in kevin mccarthy's speech, he mentioned something that sounds like policy priority. he listed a bunch of things, many of them were investigations.

there was some red meat he threw two conspiracy theorists, but he did mention things over policy. they're not part of his actual agenda, and they're not part of the agenda of the far-right members who tried to prevent him from governing. if you really go in as a speaker with a majority, with an agenda, chances are low you would actually get it done in a divided government. in this particular case, he talked about doing things for the american people that this group doesn't seem to be that interested in doing. >> they're not that interested in doing. i think folks have to appreciate, you know, because we sort of got into this thing or the speaker of the house is an extension of the majority in the house, because they are elected by a majority. but the speaker of the house is a neutral player. it's a neutral figure, supposedly. yeah, the republicans elect bears, but democrats elect bears, but the way the founders looked at this position is this is the guy who gets the car,

the balls, and the stripes. this is the guy who looks out for the best interests of all sides to put forth the best policies. mccarthy does have an opportunity to reach to the white house on some key things. let's start with the debt ceiling. and begin a discussion that is a serious discussion about how they can reach a positive solution quickly, right? this problem becomes, again, because he's yielded that power. to have that conversation! to have the conversation! to this far-right element within the freedom caucus. it will make that much more difficult. he should be in a position where he could put some policy ideas out there for both sides to consider as speaker of the house, not just the party that elevated him, but for both sides, where he could reach to

hakeem and say hey, why don't you and i talk about how we get our caucus together around this initiative? it's amazing to me to just watch someone strip away their own ability and power to govern. >> he said nice things to hakeem jeffries last night, hakeem jeffries look at the republican conference and said where we could find common ground. we will work together. i was talking to eugene scott about the fact that hakeem jeffries last night was, many people's first exposure to him as a public speaker in his remarks before he handed the gavel over to kevin mccarthy. he gave a pretty impressive speech. >> brothers good. that brothers got! when he went through that alphabets of issues? i was -- like >> literal alphabet. he went through 26 letters of things. thank you thought were important. >> yes! i was like okay, what are you gonna do when you get to x, y, and see? but he did.

he managed to pull together. but here is the contrast. in what you heard last night from the minority leader and the speaker, how they are talking about what they are doing, what they've achieved, if you're the democrats, what you hope to achieve as the republicans. and you could see just how stark the contrast is from immigration to health care to education to the economy. but democrats, ironically, oddly enough, ali, as you know, the conversations you've had over the past two years, actually have positioned themselves to be in a stronger position going into this cycle with the president whose numbers may still be below what one would hope, van the republicans are going into this cycle, because they can point to, as hakeem did, this list of

accomplishments that americans are beginning to realize antsy. there's road construction everywhere. there are opportunities still available in the job market. there's 223,000 new jobs created on friday. or, reported created for last month. that's going to be an interesting there and have to watch as well as we go forward. how these two leaders position the argument for their party. you mentioned one of the problems republicans face if they are talking about investigating then investing. that is going to be a real interesting contrast when you have hakeem standing up there going, we just proposed this to help unemployed people. we proposed this to help moms trying to make their ends meet. what have you got? >> yet. we're going to have to see. michael, there's never a time i talk to you, and i talk to you a, lot where i'm not smarter for it. this morning is a challenge, because my brain is not looking -- everything is self preservation this morning.

gotta stay awake for another couple of hours. >> that's fine, baby! you're doing fine. >> i'm smarter this morning for talking to. you thank you, my friend, it's great to have you here. michael steele, the former chair of the rnc. he's an msnbc political analyst who is often here for me when i am not, when i hit the road to do some traveling to talk to people. so, we're always grateful for him. well, it's january 7th. the january 6th attack on the capital is one of the most significant days in our nation's history. sadly, a day that was marked by violence, but, also by heroics. people who did their duty in the face of danger, including one brave congressional aide, brendan leach, who literally carried the electoral college votes to the capital. we'll speak to her, right after the break. the break. when they can enjoy the best? eggland's best. the only eggs with more fresh and delicious taste. plus, superior nutrition. because the way we care is anything but ordinary. ♪♪ there's always a fresh deal on the subway app. like this one! 50% off?! that deal's so good we don't even need an eight-time all-star to tell you about it.

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who witnessed the chaos firsthand. earlier in the show, i spoke with the congresswoman, andy custer of new hampshire, trapped in the house gallery as violence erupted just feet away from her. now, you hear the perspective of another person who did their american duty in the face of danger. brennan leach was a 19 year chamber assistant on january the 6th, 2021. you can see her here. she is in the leopard print dress with the white headbands. she was tasked with carrying the electoral ballots from the house chamber to the senate chamber to be counted. that was before the mob breached the capitol. at 19 years old, brennan, along with many other young aides and non elected staffers, and even our own reporters, we're told to prepare for what might happen if these people entered the chamber and got access to them. so, what does a 19 year old do in that circumstance? how did she managed to make it out? brennan leads joins me now. she was the senate chamber assistant in d.c. for a. year her tenure us on the day of the attack. right now, she is a journalism student at northwestern

university. brennan, thank you for being with us. thank you for what you did for the country. i know you probably knew it was an important job at the time. i doubt you thought you were going to make it into history for doing, 200 years, perfunctory duty of giving carrying these boxes of ballots. >> no, absolutely not. first, of all thank you for having me. yeah, no, i mean, it's funny to look back now, i think we are all genuinely very excited for the day. we were told we would have this special responsibility to transport ballots. we were getting dressed and picking outfits like it was the prom together, it was crazy. it goes to show how little we knew about the day. i apologize for the background noise, but we had no sort of sense of where things would escalate and the danger we would face as the day went on. >> let's talk about when that happens. we are looking at these pictures of you carrying them, i believe for carrying them to the senate at this point before you had a sense of where things were going. when did you realize that things were getting real?

>> yeah, i mean, i lived in blissful ignorance most of it. i remember standing by a window towards the back of the capital, looking at a crowd accumulating back there, and kind of making light of. it it looks like a low turnout, little to find, out they were all at the white house, at the rally at the time. it wasn't until the senate floor, you have phones, i wasn't following the news. it wasn't until the capitol police came in, interrupted senator land brackets, and you can't leave the chamber. the capital has been breached. even then, i felt like i was in the safest place i could be, the senate chamber, being stored by protesters was on a magical to me uptime. the real waking up moment was when i heard chants of hang mike pence and four more years on the other side of the wall. i had no prior knowledge of how close they were, and that was definitely frightening. >> i guess, unlike members of congress, or people very familiar with the environment, how familiar were you? what did you think to do?

what were you going to do? somebody giving you guidance about where you are supposed to go or how you are supposed to act or hide? >> yeah, my first thought was, get me out of here. i definitely, at that point, hearing them, thought this can't be as safe as i'm being told it is. of course, capitol police did the best they could to handle extremely rapid escalation of events there that day. it was about probably 20 minutes that we were on the floor before we were told, just leave. run. go the other way. and at that point, it was actually a moment of immense camaraderie. i remember kind of looking towards these figureheads that i look up to so much, and i'm usually just grateful to be around, and all of a sudden, i was running aren't armed with them, asking them what they think, getting questions my way as well. >> let's just get into the granular detail here. you told my producer that at one point, when you were going to flee, someone opened a door to the senate chamber, told you

to run, somebody even took your hands. >> yes. mike very good friend and fellow traver assistant, who is photographed in those pictures, is a college runner. she grabbed my arm, and i felt like that moment, her arm grabbed me, is what i realized the sense of urgency. i had been so shocked by everything unfolding. so, kind of unaware,, again not having any access to twitter or the outside world. there were rumors. i didn't know what was true, and hurt decisiveness and urgency is what really kind of clicked with me that okay, i've got to take this seriously. then, of, course running through the capital, you could see protesters in the building, something i had never seen before. the capital, for me, is my favorite place on earth. i never imagine seeing people like that storming the halls. and it was genuinely terrifying. >> there is adrenaline that goes through you and gets you through it, but you said you could feel your friend shaking with fear. there is real fear.

tell me about when you encountered the thing we're realized god, this could go the wrong way. i was talking to representative annie custer, who said, we thought we might die in there. >> yeah, like i said, when our leaders are the ones we are supposed to look to in moments of urgency or uncertainty, and they are panicking, i think that's really what struck me the most. my colleagues were scared, but to see how senator mcconnell on the phone with his wife, senator klobuchar reading out what she could find on twitter, she was one of the only members who had her phone in the chamber at the time. that was a terrifying feeling. if these people are scared,, gosh what am i supposed to think? i think again, everyone is doing their best in navigating the situation. like i said,, like my colleagues handle shaking. i was just in utter shock. i think a lot of the processing of that they kind of took place after the fact, when i started to put together the puzzle pieces of this crazy timeline. >> what a story. brennan, thank you so much for

what you did. brennan leach is the congressional aide who carried the votes to the capital. all right, up ahead, if you ever thought your vote doesn't matter, chris mays defeated election the number a hamadeh for arizona attorney general by just 280 votes. the stakes were high. very. hi i'll speak with major after the break. the break. getrefunds.com can see if it may qualify for a payroll tax refund of up to $26,000 per employee, even if it received ppp, and all it takes is eight minutes to get started. then we'll work with you to fill out your forms and submit the application; that easy. and if your business doesn't get paid, we don't get paid. getrefunds.com has helped businesses like yours claim over $2 billion but it's only available for a limited time. go to getrefunds.com, powered by innovation refunds. teeth sensitivity is so common. it immediately feels like somebody's poking directly on the nerve. i recommend sensodyne. sensodyne toothpaste goes inside the tooth and calms the nerve down. and my patents say: “you know doc, it really works."

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midterm elections was on november 8th. we did not get results from the final recount until the very end of december. it was extremely tight and consequential for the race for attorney general in arizona between the democratic winner, kris mayes, and the republican election denier, abe dominic. it came down to a margin of just 280 votes, making this one of the closest elections in the state. but the states ever had. in this particular case, democracy was very much on the ballot. you recall, i visited arizona ahead of the election, and they had a chance to speak with kris mayes about what her opponent stood for and what she feared might happen. >> my opponent has said he wants to decertify 20 about 2020 election, so they are dangerous. i think they are a threat to american democracy. we cannot have an attorney general, and this is why the a.g.'s offices and races are so critical. we can't have an attorney general who won't uphold the rule of law and who was literally, in the case of my

opponents, endorsed by donald trump for one reason and one reason only, and that is to be in place in advance of 2024 when he runs for reelection again. and they've made it clear what they are going to do on behalf of donald trump. >> i mayes opponent, who called him, a paula day, who called him a save on the campaign trail, ran a platform of lies. he still. is in, fact he is still not accepting the election results. he continued to try to challenge them in court. in like this, i want to share a tweet of hamadeh's from last may. it said, quote, in a world full of lies and deception, being on this and authentic becomes an act of courage. speak the truth, no matter the consequences. and. quote all the irony. mayes when was a cherry on top of the victory for democracy that took place over the course of the midterms. in fact, she completed arizona's democratic patrick, the governor, secretary of state, and now, the attorney general all beat out there election denying republican opponents. and because mayes won her race in arizona, election deniers

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before the, break we focused on arizona's midterm elections and the historic democratic hat trick that preserve democracy in the state at the end of last year. i'm joined now by one of those winners, the newly elected attorney general of arizona, kris mayes. a thorny general mayes, you've been sworn and so i could call you. that thank you for being with us. i enjoyed our conversation in arizona. one of the take away from that, because i spoke to you and your now secretary of state, and you are now governor while i was there. all of you enjoyed support in your election from republicans who were frustrated by the election denial that had been going on in your state, which is why i was surprised it took so long to resolve your election. why do you think your opponent

who was also a strong election denier seem to have more support than his counterparts running statewide? >> well, you, know as you know, this was a little bit of a further down the ballot race. sometimes that happens, where you get some drop off voting. but in general, our elections in arizona are really, really tight. they are really close. we are a third republican, a third democrat, a third independent. these are closely fought elections. you know, at the end of the day, , though they are probably not going to called me landslide. we got it done. the people of arizona got it done. we talked about, when you are out here in arizona, american democracy ran through the state of arizona. and the people of arizona came through for the country. i really believe that. >> also, arizona and michigan and pennsylvania were canaries

in the coal mine for what happened last night, because all states, you have a valid election deniers. not only election desires, but they talked about the things they would do about the 2020 election and the 2024 election, which he warned about. if you are going to elect someone who is actually saying the quiet part out loud about what they are going to do. but that fights not over. it frustrated a lot of republicans in your state who then voted for you and your other colleagues across the ballot, but it's not over. they just haven't given up in arizona. the election deniers are still at it. your election, still, in the minds of some, litigated. >> my opponent is still litigating the 2022 election. they are making it clear they are going to stick around. they are going to continue to try to slow down our election and our elections. we absolutely have to be vigilant going forward into

2024. this really is about protecting american democracy into the future. these candidates are not going to stop. they are not going to stop trying to undermine and create doubt in the minds of voters about our elections, which are safe and absolutely, very well run. we have to remain vigilant. one of the things i'm going to do as attorney general is we are going to protect our elections officials against threats of violence, death threats, which they received, as you know, during the last election cycle, we are going to make sure we protect the rights of arizonans to access the ballots box, and we are also going to make sure we protect vote by mail, which the republicans wanted to eliminates, but 90% of arizonans choose. >> which republicans brought into place in arizona! this was their thing, as it is in many places around the

country! here's the other problem i see. i'm going to be speaking to joscelyn benson from michigan tomorrow. some people think we dodged another bullet, right? the 2020 election, despite the election than the years, joe biden remains president. the 2022 election, you in arizona prevailed. in michigan, they prevailed. in pennsylvania, josh shapiro prevailed. how do you conveyed to people the urgency of the fact that your opponents are actually getting more sophisticated? they are realizing what fails. they are reeling seeing what the nonsense is, and they are still honing their message. your opponent continues to do this. he continues to go out in media and talk about ballots that were not counted in a fraudulent election. >> we just have to counter them. every opportunity, we have to counter them. we have to get out and talk to rural arizona, we have to talk to republicans, there still are

republicans who voted for us, as you've pointed out. the top four statewide elected officials in arizona are democrats who believe in democracy, and that tells you that arizonans believe in democracy. the independents, the moderate republicans are with democrats on this. we have to -- it is a constant effort, and you know what, ali? the other thing we have to do is we have to make sure that is clear to everyone that is unacceptable to try to steal an election, to try to undermine and overthrow an election. that's what happened in 2020. i've said, as attorney general, i will investigate the fake elector scheme. we just have to make sure what happens in 2020 never happens again. we also have to reach out to republicans. we have to come together, and we have to work on the issues that actually matter to

arizonans. i think when we start doing that, when we start showing that republicans and democrats can work together on critical issues like water, combatting the fentanyl crisis, making sure we prosecute elder abuse and consumer fraud, that is when i think we can come back together as a country. >> i did witness that in the conversations i had with arizona voters there. republicans and democrats were actually very willing to work together. they wanted to put this election the nile nonsense behind them and move forward. kris mayes, congratulations on your election at arizona's attorney general. thank you for joining me. >> thanks, ali. >> and thanks for watching. you can get you back here tomorrow morning. i'll be a little more well rested than i was this morning. eight to 10 am velshi, saturday, you could listen to be the entire show on the go at anytime. subscribe and listen to free wherever you get your podcasts. grab a quick snack, but come right back. my friend lindsey reiser is picking up our news coverage

after a quick commercial break. ercial break

(classical piano music)

- [reporter] one of the deadliest mass shootings in us history at pulse nightclub in orlando. - [barbara] walking into the building for the first time after the shooting, it was crippling, but it had to be preserved. if you are an ally of this community, speak out. there are more of us together than apart. it is the power of love in its rawest form. (classical piano music) >> the honorable kevin mccarthy

of the state of california, having received a majority of the votes cast, is duly elected speaker of the house of representatives. [applause] >>