a place where you can make a difference i leave knowing that to be true >> taking stock of her time in office >> domestic terror attack, a volcanic eruption, a pandemic. but >> the territory can christchurch humbled her, sh said, and she will now work to combat violent extremism i just 37 years old, she was new zealand's second younges leader in more than 150 years. she was the second world leade after pakistan's busier buto t become a mother in office, making headlines when sh brought a three month ol daughter to the u.n. general assembly but today was about gratitude, about imploring her colleagues to do more on climate change and most powerfully, about leaving the door firmly open >> you can be anxious, sensitive, kind, and where you heart on your sleeve you can be a mother or not you can be a nerd, a cry, or a hug or

you can be all of these things and not only can you be here you can lead just like me. >> setting a legacy she hope will be followed molly hunter, nbc news >> a nerd, a crier, and a hug. or jacinda ardern, reminding u all that we all have what it takes to lead. and on that beautiful note, wish you all a very good night and a happy passover to thos who celebrate. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late wit us i will see you at the end of tomorrow >> if you are a superstitiou person, as i am, then maybe yo are familiar with the notion that bad things happen i threes for, example you might get a flat tire and spill coffee all over yourself, and then sprain your ankle all in the same day

or if you're donald trump, you might get arrested on stat level charges, and grapple wit a major setback in a federal investigation, and then be forced to face the specter o an ongoing fraud investigation all in the same week the bad things range but let us start at trump's ba news at the federal level. we learned late this afternoon that trump's vice presiden mike pence will in fact testif before the special counsel's grand jury investigating january 6th. trump, and even pence himself, they had tried and failed to block that testimony in a statement today, an aid for pence said pence wil comply with the subpoena he will comply with a subpoena federal judge in d. c. ruled that pence does have som constitutional protections allowing him not to testify on matters related to his rol presiding over the senate on january 6th. as the new york times points out, the judge ruled that penc would still have to testif about any potentially illega acts committed by trump on january 6th or on the days leading up to it we already know a lot abou what pence was doing in th senate that day. he was evacuating the building

for his own safety fielding urgent phone call from a loading dock. presumably, trying to ignore the chants outside to, han mike pence the fact that his conversation with trump are now fair game legally speaking, is a ver huge deal here the second bad thing for donal trump, the special counsel's criminal probe into trump' handling of classified materials the mar-a-lago documents case it is pretty clear trump considers this a bad thing las night at his post arraignmen victory rally. trump was fixated on tha mar-a-lago investigation he called jack smith a radical left lunatic, and a bomb thrower. he made a public spectacle o wrestling with his potential guilt. >> we were negotiating in very good faith proper way in order to return some or all of the documents that i openly and in very plain sight brough

with me to mar-a-lago from our beautiful white house. >> openly and in plain sight that does not make it, oh, wai a second trump apparently has reason to be worried about all this. we now know the doj is focusin in on trump's allege obstruction down at mar-a-lago and that trump's former secret service agents are reportedl testifying friday before a grand jury as part of that investigation. the new york times reports trump is particularly spooke that his attorney, eva corcoran, was recently ordered to testify before the specia counsel's grand jury evan corcoran is someone who like mike pence, was in th room where it happened multiple times and then some. he had direct contact with trump after trump received a subpoena to return those white house documents, evan corcoran knows a lot and has now said what he knows under oath so, we have the vice president agreeing to testify on the

january 6th probe, we have the president's personal attorney, testifying in the classified documents investigation, now well, we have this donald trump arraigned i manhattan court, pleading no guilty to 34 felonies. there is something laid out in the da statement of fact here, the da's document accompanying the indictment, that has lef me with more questions tha answers. it concerns this man former trump organization chie financial officer, allen weisselberg, who's currently set to be released from rikers island two weeks from today. from pleading guilty to decade-long tax evasion scheme in exchange for a lighte prison sentence in the tax fraud trial of the trump org last year, weisselberg testified, he pleaded guilty and he helped manhatta prosecutors secure a guilt verdict on 17 tax frau charges. very important and all that. mr. weisselberg is a key

character in trump world, he worked for the organization fo nearly 50 years. the previous manhattan da, c vance, was scrutinizin weisselberg in connection to fraud claims levied at trump and his organization by none other than michael cohen and that vast criminal probe the one started by cy vance, that appears to still be open. the new york times reported in february, prosecutors were dangling more charges agains allen weisselberg in an effort to get him to cooperate in the hush money payments case that's the one alvin bragg issued an indictment for yesterday. it is important to remember, this larger fraud investigatio is arguably a broader and more consequential investigatio than the hush money payments case it involves allegations that trump and his business inflate and deflated assets in order t get more favorable insurance and mortgage rates so, weisselberg's potentia criminal exposure here is very much alive issue as it was first reported right here on the show, with wnbc, weisselberg has parted way with the lawyers who represented him during the trump organization investigation.

weisselberg reportedly now has a new lawyer, someone who is also not coincidentally paid b the trump organization if allen weisselberg is gettin out of prison, he's getting ou of her acres in two weeks, why does he need a new lawyer? that news stuck out to me, remember, in the federal probe into the hush money payments allen weisselberg was grante immunity in exchange for his grand jury testimony this is the case that resulted in michael cohen going t prison in the unsealing of th statement of facts in alvi bragg's case against trump yesterday, we learned that deeper extent of allen weisselberg's alleged handed that scheme. the da lays out in detail that weisselberg was involved i discussions about how much money to pay stormy daniels, and how to pay her prosecutors laid out that cohe spoke to weisselberg about quote, how to set this whole thing up and that allen weisselberg played an integral role an figuring out how to reimburs michael cohen. the document also alleges, weisselberg memorialized these

calculations, and handwritte notes on the copy of the ban statement that michael cohen had provided well ellen lacewell bergholz over the statement of facts in this case, why wasn't he charged? after all, the only immunity h had concerning the hush mone scheme was from federa prosecutors, not the da' office, not alvin bragg. so, could prosecutors use alle weisselberg's allege involvement in that hush money scheme as a leverage to ge allen weisselberg to cooperate on, other broader an ongoing criminal investigation int trump world? because that would be very very problematic for donal trump. problematic on the level of hi vice president and his lawye testifying against him like i said, bad things they happen in threes joining us now is suzanne craig, pulitzer prize-winning investigative reporter for the new york times, and catherin christian, former specia assistant da in the manhatta

district attorney's office thank you both for being here. thank you for sitting with m as i went on that extended jake and i guess, catherine, let me start with you i think i was really struck by allen weisselberg, has loome in the shadows as a person o great importance here. did you think it was odd tha he was so prominent in a shadowy way in that effectiv summary of alvin bragg's case? >> i didn't think it was odd it's factually accurate. he did all the things. to not include it, people wh know the facts would say, wher is this going to go? >> but to not get charged? >> it's not odd. i'm not gonna speculate, he' 75, he's currently in rikers island, he's getting out soon. he was convicted, he's already testified on behalf of the da' office it could be argued that he didn't testify that great, h didn't hurt the defense, h

didn't hurt the da's office. so, i'm not gonna speculat about whether or not someone i cooperating. it sounds like - it quacks like a, duck i sounds academic. he does have a new attorney, he's about to get out. and he is a part of th statement of facts that were issued yesterday, it should no be surprising that it's statement effect >> sure, it's not so the fac that he's include in the statement effect, the fact tha he is charged and that h remains a person, potentially, of great interest i would love to get your thoughts on this this broader investigation tha was begun by cy vance is not over alvin bragg's office has bee very clear >> people don't believe that but they should. so, people who are upset yesterday, and i'm not talking about people who are politically upset. who said that all there is this is the entire case. i have said it's not over ye that the investigation i continuing just wait, just wait there might be another chapter so, i think there will b

another chapter. it's an investigation, clearly the da's office is not going t talk about the pending investigation. i think there will be more t come >> how do you read all of this susan, in terms of the cas that was laid out yesterday, i the context of a potentially broader investigation that was continued from cy vance? >> the weisselberg thing i really important, i think yo can feel the heat in his cel right now and rikers he is not gonna walk out o records and just have this end i think what prosecutors are looking to do, as got two more weeks left, he is potentiall facing insurance fraud charges that could be brought agains him. i think they're using th pressure of that to get him to cooperate. not just on the larger cas that we've talked about abou the valuations with the trum organization when they nee that loan, they go high on valuations, when they go int the tax man, they go low very much want his cooperation on that i believe that they're working on that. secondly, i believe, depending on how things go for allen weisselberg, if there is a

level of cooperation, you coul see it as a witness. in the stormy daniels case, we don't know right now where things are at, but the trump organization is paying his bills. he is 75 years old i just don't think anyone of u can really, except for him understand the effect of, he would be doing if the insuranc case goes ahead against him -- it's theft over 1 millio dollars, it's hard time. i think he's got some decision to make right now. about what is going to do, i would not necessarily, if i wa betting, i'm not sure i woul bet. we would see him in the stormy daniels case i don't think the odds are low i think his cooperation, i that other case which is ver significant when they were filing false bank records, that's where they really wan his cooperation i think it's important to say there's more. there really appears to be mor going on here than people ar

potentially giving the d. a. credit for at the stage of the game >> oh, definitely. >> in terms investigation. >> that's what's frustrating t watch. it's not just more going o with the manhattan da, you'v got all these other cases goin on around the country, i think when we look back and we judge this we're gonna forget all th daily debate about the merit of the single case it's gonna fit into a larger picture. >> can we talk a little bi just because, to give this president case its due diligence, what's going on her in terms of the tax potentia fraud piece of the hush mone case can you talk to me about how - >> actually i think instead of tax fraud it's false filings with the new york state ta authority. that's a crime to file a false instrument it's a fancy way of saying filing a false document. that contains fals information. if you read the statement of facts, and i think da brag glossed over it a little bit i his press conference, and then there was miss

characterizations of tax, it was the not that complicated the hundred $30,000 that was reimbursed to michael cohe that he gave to stormy daniels he was paid back double that >> we have a graphic, can we please bring it up as you're explaining this. i think it helps there we go. >> so, he was paid, basically, double that. and did not list it as a expense, he listed as income for his tax, which you might say, that's silly. he's gonna be taxed on it. in fact, he was. but by giving him that extra money he actually made a profit he got back his $130,000 plus more money that's where that comes from. >> i have a little bit of different spin on this >> let's hear it >> we don't see the words ta fraud anywhere in this >> very clearly. >> we also don't know what michael cohen actually did o his tax return, we know that the payments were made to him, they came to $420,000. there should've been grossed up, so tax could be paid up.

we don't actually know what he did. but i think the more important thing when we look at this, th tax allegations are no straight tax fraud, a lot of people think that the trum organization had a legal fee they put on the tax return we reasonably, for three reasons, that that did not happen one, alvin bragg could'v alleged it, and he didn't. secondly, the new york times i 2020 we got a trove of tax return information in that was w2s and payrol information and othe information that led us to believe that there was not a bright light payment to michae cohen. we don't see it coming up in his w2s. >> so, they don't file for >> the third thing, with the trump organization lawyers they have said that it wasn' filed. it doesn't, in this case necessarily matter it was filed with the ta authority, the reason why, there's a books and record violation that they have, they show that they conspired on th books and records to disguis it as a tax payment.

the hope here, we've got the misdemeanor, the tax falsification business records and then where it goes fro there, you can potentially elevate that to a felony simply because of th conspiracy intent. >> the intent, to defraud is enough that they don't actuall need to do it. we don't see any evidence, i think the most powerfu statement that there is, was never filed with the tax authorities, alvin bragg did not say it we later down the road, no gonna say it's never gonna happen strong evidence to suggest i think the reason, one of the reasons maybe why, they had an accountant at the ta organization, somebody came in an outside firm, that was lawyer, morgan lewis, a la firm and they write when donal trump became president, they came in and they i wouldn' call it an audit, they look at the practices in the peril and their county department, and w guys gotta clean this up it was a disaster. we saw at a trial where, yes

they were convicted of havin to sketchy accountin practices. >> just to be clear, we're talking about the intent t mess around with this is enough >> well, you need the intent t defraud, and then you need a intent to commit a crime or ai in a concealed crime you don't actually have to commit a crime you just have the have the intent to commit the crime >> i guess, and this is been noted in a lot of outlets today, part of that fraud was payin more taxes than were reall technically do is that right? just because this, in theory if we bring that graphic bac up, this was michael cohen thi was them grossing up, as the term >> if michael cohen claimed it on his taxes remember, he went to jail, and part of it was for failure t pay income tax, we don't have lot of details on the failur to pay income tax. we just don't know what michae cohen did at the other end potentially, yeah, there

could've been an over paymen of taxes >> at the da's office know what he did. the royal we don't, but th da's office did. otherwise, he would not be using him as a witness they would have to know what h did. >> are we gonna find out all o this in the discovery process? >> in the discovery process, clearly, when it goes to trial it's gonna be a direct examination and the district attorney's gonna have to bring out all of mr. cohen's bad acts before he gets cross-examined, it's gonna come out in the direct examination >> well, discovery has to be filed in 35 days >> it's voluminous, it's 6 days they are now, there's a reason it's such a long returning to, they're discussing the - also the request which i'v only seen in violent crimina enterprise cases for protectiv order to limit what mr. trum can actually see alone they're asking that he be in his attorney's office at the time that he sees th documents.

mr. tacopina, yesterday i read the transcript, said hold, o we didn't agree to that. we're going to be in his offic to view the documents. so, i think there's going to b a dispute over that between th defense and the prosecutor >> yeah, donald trump flying back to new york every time he needs to review something. >> or going out to mar-a-lago, we kind of don't think tha way. >> as a new yorker who likes getting around town, keep it i florida. all right, susan craig catherine, christian it is s great to have you both here. thank you both for abiding b my loony, maybe real, theories about what could happen next we have a lot more to get to tonight. what is worse than getting arrested in new york city? getting arrested in new york city while a d.c. appeals cour as to your legal troubles. the other case that donald trump is fighting, that' coming up next stay with us

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country was glued to the television waiting for donal trump to get arrested in new york city while all of tha circus was unfolding down in washington d. c., donald trump was losing another battle. an important one a federal appeals cour yesterday rejected trump's latest attempt to block some o his closest aides from testifying about him to th special grand jury investigating the efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the names here would appea to be big ones former chief of staff mark meadows, former white hous deputy chief of staff da scavino. former director of nationa intelligence, john ratcliffe former homeland security actin secretary, ken cuccinelli. these men know a ton about trump's actions and trump' thinking around the january 6t insurrection and up until now, quite a fe of them have been, shall we say,

elusive in terms of offering u those thoughts under oath. the decision by that federal appeals court in d.c., tha happened around noon yesterday by the afternoon, ke cuccinelli was spotted on hi way to speak to the grand jury not wasting any time cuccinelli's name has not been tossed around as much, as mark meadows name but cuccinelli's testimony could be key here. cuccinelli told the january si committee, he has been asked several times by rudy giuliani and on at least one occasion by trump himself, if dhs had the authority to seize votin machines of the 2020 election. the fact that cuccinelli i being called to testify to the grand jury here, that coul tell us a lot about jack smith 's investigation namely, the special counsel ma be trying to prove that trum went out of his way to den biden's victory, despite knowing that the ideas he wa considering were clearly unlawful to that end, the special counsel is about to get anothe huge piece of that puzzle.

today, former vice president mike pence, who is considere to be the star witness of th january 6th investigation, pence confirmed he will no appeal a judge's ruling that requires him to testify in front of the special counsel's grand jury which means there are going to be a lot of questions for th former vice president, one that he will have to answe under oath for the first tim ever joining us now, nbc news senio legal correspondent, laura jarrett. laura, thank you for being her tonight. as always, good to see you mike pence's team, his spokesperson is saying mik pence feels vindicated by this ruling and i understand in the worl of trump, things are often i the upside down, and up is down, down is up being forced to compel someone 's testimony can somehow see like a victory if you spin i the right way for mike pence what is the logic here behin claiming this compulsion t testify? >> if you think about it, th

judge gave them quite an elegant solution their whole argument had been, he should not have to testify, because on january 6th, he's presiding over the senate, i that role, he should b immunized just like any othe lawmaker would be, therefore he's protected by the speech o debate clause. therefore, should not have t testify at all the judge did not buy, that th judge rejected the idea that h be wholesale immune from testifying he did buy into the idea tha he would have some limited immunity for just january 6th, but special counsel jack smith does not want what happened on january 6th, he wants all th conversations leading up t january 6th. he's trying to get at what was trump's intent what was his efforts to clin to power, what was his efforts to subvert the election, that' all the stuff that happens before january 6th all that stuff is what the judge says >> that's the beef >> but they get the benefit of saying we tried to fight it, w did not roll into the gran jury without trying to fight it

we did it, we got a ruling i our favor on the issue o speech and debate, first tim in history, now we're gonna go testify. now, we're gonna tell our stor we're gonna get the goods. >> is it the most elegan solution possible? >> in so far that everyone winds certainly mike pence get to say, i'm not, i don't kno -- >> donald trump wins >> well, that is very true because january 6th, we know mike pence is on the hill, not talking -- donald trump is not callin mike pence mike pence is talking a lot to donald trump, up until h departs for the capitol. that's the period he has t testify. >> there's all these conversations that get documented in pence's memoir we talked about the wall stree journal op-ed, he's laid out a lot of this story. he hasn't testified in front o a grand jury, under oath, we are gonna have just not anyone but prosecutors probing hi exactly what we are told they're gonna ask anything and everything related to all thes conversations. which is very different than just providing your reflection on those concepts.

>> the fact is, you know, marc short and greg jacob, two of pence's closest aides, hav testified. but that secondary information right. >> yeah, they were conversations only trump and pence are a party to i think even believing there's one on january 6th, in fact. and those are the conversations, i would imagine if i was a prosecutor, i want the grandeu to hear that testimony >> i, mean i think to some degree, people think, oh, we'v heard what mike pence has to say in these interviews on abc or the wall street journal op-ed. i know that i have mor questions. i know a coalition of medi outlets is pressing to get tha testimony unsealed because o its national import. do you think we are going to b successful in any of that? >> those are so hard it's really hard with gran jury issues to sort of breakthrough on that i mean, we saw with what we di as a media coalition just this week >> state indictment, yes. >> federal grand jury, whe it's not even complete its investigation. but maybe it's at the end of it,

but not even completed i think it will be hard to get a successful - there, we'll see >> can you, i know this is reading tea leave's to a large degree, but i know we've had offline conversations abou where we are in the timeline for the special counsel' probe. just, as we are taught t believe, star witnesses come a the end, right mike pence is a star witness he don't get much more inner circle trump than mike pence a a pertains to january 6th. if you're estimating how thi is unfolding, and we're seeing a lot of movement at mar-a-lago, do, first of all, do you think jack smith is going to com forward conclusions in both of these investigations at th same time, since he' overseeing both mar-a-lago and january 6th, to see them o parallel but separate tracks >> it's hard to know exactly how he's gonna roll it out obviously, the mar-a-lag issues appear to be coming to head as well, with all the reporting about all of the texts and emails and evidenc that prosecutors have gathered as part of that. and that other people have

testified in from the gran jury, including secret service agents now so, there appears to be a lo of movement afoot there. but i think as we're keeping a eye on but it's hard to know exactl whether he's going to want t roll all of that out right now or whether he just tries t take the low hanging fruit right. if there's easier things t prosecute and be able to get i front of the grandeur to hav an indictment right away, mayb don't hold those maybe you decide to do those right away it's hard to know what the strategy is. and it is nearly impossible. >> yes >> it's a lock box down -- it >> to get at the heart of this though you keep trying on mar-a-lago, the fact that there is reporting that trump' secret service agents ar testifying in that probe i mean, what, what do we expec a clean -- first of all, secret service keeps being, the secret servic writ large, it dragged bac both into january 6th an mar-a-lago but on mar-a-lago, what is you expectation. or actually, i should say, wha does that tell you about the obstruction case that seems to

be building in that, and jac smith seems to be building a mar-a-lago >> it appears to be centered around that now. you know, it was always hard t know exactly what the theory o the case would be. and we weren't sure exactly, was it just retention of classified documents, was that trump gave a directive t somebody to do something it now appears, based off th reporting that's out there that they're really centered o the activity that happens afte the receipt of the subpoena. and anything in after that basically may. and certainly, evan corcoran trump's attorney, providing al that information that turns ou to be false. it gets turned over to the doj that appears to be, i think, a critical juncture and time period to both keep an eye on. >> i mean, if i'm donald trump and i'm looking around the room, and secret service agents ar testifying, -- is being schlepped back into talk, and evan corcoran, you personal attorney is now, that attorney client privilege ha been pierced - >> it's just such a differen strategy think back to how robert

murrell operated, the othe special counsel investigatin the, the same former president it was so conservative, they never want to take these court fights anywhere, because it wa always, oh, it will be delayed tied up in the courts. , they are moving very fast on those issues, they are wasting no time. it's a completely differen strategy >> because you don't live at 1600 pennsylvania avenue anymore. those are the brakes laura jarrett, thank you for your time, my friend, it's goo to see you still ahead tonight, voters in wisconsin have elected a new justice for their state suprem court, it could be massive change in terms of how politic in the state are run for republicans, they ar already trying to put a stop t it i'll talk to wisconsin senator tammy baldwin about just that, coming up. stay with us oh booking.com, ♪ i'm going to somewhere, anywhere. ♪ ♪ a beach house, a treehouse, ♪ ♪ honestly i don't care ♪ find the perfect vacation rental for you booking.com, booking.

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america that embodies the idea of a swing state, it is th great state of wisconsin barack obama won wisconsin twice before it flipped to trump in 2016, and then back t joe biden in 2020. over the past 13 years wisconsin elected and then reelected republican governo scott walker the state then elected and reelected democratic governo tony evers wisconsin also hasn't on democratic senator, and on republican senator according to the researc center, the state hasn't eve

split between democratic and republican-leaning voters. every statewide election i wisconsin reflects that dead even split then there's this, this is the congressional delegation fro wisconsin. republicans outnumber democrat 3 to 1 same in the state senate and the state assembly, wher republicans have had overwhelming majority for th past decade, despite the fac that the state is evenly split by voters from both parties. i was that even possible it's possible because wisconsi republicans have engaged i some of the most aggressiv gerrymandering in the country. building themselves almost permanent majorities the wisconsin is emily's essentially district 73, a district along the state's western border, when tha includes the greater metro are for neighboring duluth minnesota. the map on the left says wha that district used to look like the map on the right says that it looks like this now after republican stretched the corners of the district to

include more rural conservative areas in order to watertown democratic votes the crystal clear example of the way the republicans have broken democracy to cement minority rule. that might all be about to change last night, wisconsin voters turned out in huge numbers t elect janet per se awaits to the wisconsin supreme court, flipping the one vot conservative majority to a one vote liberal majority for th first time in 15 years wisconsin judicial elections are technically nonpartisan, but protasiewicz ran a unambiguous campaign, and made it clear that she would rule against the heavil gerrymandering maps, the votes to overturn the civil war er abortion ban that message drove wisconsin voters to the polls in droves, and protasiewicz beat he conservative opponent dan kell by 11 points

she outperformed biden's victory in 2020, and governo evers victory in 2022 handedly despite that overwhelmin result, the conservative candidate here, dan kelly, h still found a way to win his very own race for sore loser >> it's the most deepl deceitful, dishonourable despicable campaign i have eve seen run for the courts. it was truly beneath contempt. my opponent is a serial liar she has disregarded judicial ethics, she has demeaned the judiciary with her behavior. this is the future that we hav to look forward to i wisconsin. >> always be generous in defeat the republican party's hostility towards democracy is

on full display here i wisconsin. the voters in that state hav just taken the first towards fixing it, and it all starts with ending gerrymandering if wisconsin can unwind th structural barriers that republicans have put in plac as far as small d democratic rule, then everything from protecting reproductive freedom, to ensuring fair labor laws, t enshrining voting rights, al of that is back on the table i wisconsin. undoing that gerrymanderin could even change who controls the u.s. house by making conservative congressional districts more competitive because of this, predictably republicans are doin everything they can to try and keep janet protasiewicz from taking the seat that she rightfully won i'll talk with wisconsin senator tammy baldwin about th latest scheme from republicans in her state next

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hawaii was too expensive so i brought it here. you know with priceline you could actually take that trip for less than all this. i made a horrible mistake. ♪ go to your happy price ♪ ♪ priceline ♪ >> yesterday's wisconsin supreme court race was the mos expensive state supreme race i u.s. history given the absolute deluge of ads, that was probably prett obvious to wisconsin voters. but i would bet a -- i would bet good money and, lot of it, the very few of those voters can tell that thi election was technically supposed to be nonpartisan >> two candidates for suprem court, two very differen beliefs. >> dan kelly sides with people who want to kick voters off th rolls. he supported trump's attack on our elections. >> the law enforcement's hands are tied with judges like jane

protasiewicz refusing to hol dangerous criminal accountable. >> - she wrote that social security was similar to slavery she wants abortion banned even in cases of rape, incest, an the health of the mother >> janet protasiewicz and he bloodthirsty comrades don' care about wisconsin values, they just care about makin money and killing babies -- >> all of those ads, could easily be for any, race for any, ticket across the country. with voting rights issues an gerrymandering, and abortion access, and other hyperpartisa concerns that can to com before the wisconsin supreme court. this race effectively became a microcosm for our national politics but now just as the people o wisconsin made their choic clear, but under janet protasiewicz by 11 points. just as that's happening republicans are already trying to use their new supermajority in a gerrymandered state senat to impeach janet protasiewicz, to undemocratically overturn the will of the people, whic

also sounds like a bit our national politics, doesn't it. joining us now is republican senator tammy baldwin. senator baldwin, thanks fo being with us tonight. i've got to start first with this announced theory that republicans might try to impeach judge protasiewicz before she has a chance to d the work that she was electe to do. do you a, think that they will be successful, and, b has th republican party in wisconsi always been this openl flagrantly anti-democratic >> it's been that way for wa too long i will say, and i think that's precisely wha wisconsin voters spoke out about yesterday. wisconsin voters said that w want our rights and freedoms back they had to do a lot with th freedom to choose. as you say, they pointed out that it has to do with the ballot box, getting rid of gerrymandering, and all of the other rights and freedoms that have been washed under -

now well over a decade o republican rule, if you would, in the wisconsin state legislature with suc gerrymandered districts. but really, i just have to sit back and take in the magnitude of last night. the voters said crisply an clearly that we want our right and freedoms back. this is a state, as you know that has razor thin margins in most of the statewide races, and janet's protasiewicz one one with 11 points if there are republicans who thought that the voters ha simmered down on abortio rights, they got it wrong. this is a first step with th election for janet protasiewicz, and more needs to follow >> can we parse the results little bit more? it seems like you're sayin that abortion was the bi driver here in terms of victory.

is there a reason that w haven't seen that same, and i' thinking about the midterms, thinking about mandela barnes, why don't we see the same sort of reaction with other democrats who would've protected a woman's rights t twos or enshrines it as th case may be? >> yeah, well, nissa resoundingly last nights - and as you mentioned in th lead up, wisconsin has an 18 t 49 1849 criminal abortion ba with no exceptions for incest, rape, or the health of the mother wisconsin voters said that w want our rights and freedoms and it shouldn't depend on wha the zip code is or what your state is to have those right and freedoms it also reminds us that this i an important first step, and w must go on to pass nationa legislation. the women's health protectio act for example. to not only making sure that this is a national right, bu also to make sure that state

like wisconsin can take th additional steps of taking hurdles and burdens an restrictions on access t abortion care. >> i have to ask, wisconsin is such a curious case in so fa it is deeply blue and red at the same time. how do you account for that, and why do you think tha wisconsin is like that how do you talk to wisconsinites as a whole, give the sharp partisan divides o the state? >> here is the rub, it is abou the gerrymandering that make it possible for you to say tha it is a red or blue state at the same time. frankly, most of the statewide elections have been determined by razor thin margins. 1% in some cases, joe biden wo by about 20,000 votes. and yet the state legislatur is overwhelmingly lopsided lee

lopsidedly republican. this is the same electorate, but the gerrymandering done by republicans last decade, and this is so exquisite that they control two thirds of both bodies that is politicians choosing who their voters are, rather than their congress. we should be deciding wh represents us, and voters do care about representation. and their vote being heard in a gerrymandered state wit both state legislative and congressional districts, the lose that voice and vote >> the importance of gerrymandering, in terms o having a representativ democracy, both at the state level, in the congressiona level, cannot be overstated in this case. it's a big deal for the stat of wisconsin and with th country. wisconsin senator tammy baldwin, we really appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you, it's a pleasur to join you. >> we have one more story fo you this evening hundreds of books have bee pulled from the shelves of florida school libraries thank

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woo-hoo! some books in some of thes libraries, some kids in middle school, some stuff that ha ended up there is incredibly incredibly disturbing stuff. >> in the years since florid governor ron desantis signed the bill into law requirin school districts requiring t review every book available to students in the year since, the florida's school district ha pulled thousands of titles fro classroom library shelves. some of those incredibly disturbing books include roberto clemente, pride of the pittsburgh pirates, a pictur book about the basebal hall-of-famer that mention racism it was pulled because races hi could be considered one of the divisive concepts banned b desantis's law the book was reinstated in

february, but it was now thi children's book, when velm wilma rudolph played basketball, the american gold medalists. it included this description o life under segregation and one teacher complain that it might make white students feel white shamed that book was eventually reinstated after a review. but the next book that could b on the chopping blocks, th courage to be free, florida' blueprint for american survival florida democrats have decided to follow the blueprint that governor ron desantis laid out in his vaguely written curriculum transparency law, and they have complained to 50 counties in the state of florida about the book potentially divisive concepts. for example, desantis uses the word woke 46 times he sprinkles in the phrase gender ideology ten times. he also describes systemic racism, and summarizes the 1 19 project all of that could run afoul of desantis's very own law.

so far, one school distric responded to florida democrats complaints, saying that they don't yet have the book. by my count, that is one response and 49 more to go 49 to go before we might see ron desantis author get a tast of ron desantis, governor. that does it for us this evening. we will see you again tomorrow it's time for the last wor with lawrence o'donnell. good evening, lawrence >> good evening, alex. and i hope my friend carlo clemente in los angeles is watching to know that hi cousin - the book about his cousin, roberto clemente is back on th shelf. >> where it belongs, exactly >> thank you, alex >> have a good show. >> thank you mike pence will never be president, but he will be witness against donald trump mike pence has decided not t appeal a judges order forcin him to testify to specia prosecutor jack smith's gran jury investigating possibl crimes by donald trump leading up to and on january 6th mike pence has already tol much of that story for money