the stench of desperation republican plans to spare president biden are failing,

and this week was a most embarrassing charade yet. plus, stopping another santos congressman ricky torres joins me to discuss this legislation that would block politicians like george santos from lying to voters, and the hit swell they just keep on coming. fox has been slept with another defamation lawsuit, we've got the details of their latest legal debacle. i'm ayman mohyeldin let's get started. this week after four months of endless investigations, weeks upon weeks upon conspiracy arnold fox cameos, and countless promises of seismic revelations of a soprano asked biden family criminal enterprise, james comer and his republican allies from the house oversight committee held a crop press conference to announce, wait for it, nothing. nada.

zilch. no evidence connecting president biden to any wrongdoing whatsoever. all of that work and in unity produces five-page memo showing no specific allegations of a crime committed by biden, or any of his relatives. in other words, it was a flop and that's good news for two reasons. one, we obviously don't want to then vice president to be tangled in criminal activity, and to, it makes this yearlong smear campaign against joe biden harder to continue. and that was the whole promise of the push to control the house back in house back in 2022. 2020 republicans, if you remember. vowed to use their majority under evidence of wrongdoing. in essence, they wanted to take down president biden. they failed so spectacularly indicates just how little there is there. this statement from the democrats on the house oversight committee pretty much sums up the situation as best it could. quote, once again, chairman

comer has failed to provide factual evidence to support his wild accusations about the president. he continued to bombard the public with innuendo, misrepresentations, and outright lies. recycling baseless claims from stories that were debunked years ago. as republicans use their oversight powers to advance this tiresome and aging smear campaign they refuse to honor their public commitment to investigating former president trump. and that last part is particularly key because, while it is tempting to just revel in james comer's flops. the truth of the matter is while republicans are of chasing wild geese critical investigations into potential wrongdoing or not being carried out. we can in just a few for you. when will james comer perhaps investigate jared kushner's firm receiving two billion dollars in investments from saudi arabia less than six months after leaving the white house, despite objections from committees within the saudi

government. when will james comer investigate the timing of china 's approval of three preliminary trademarks for ivanka trump's brand in april 17 which reportedly occurred on the same day that ivanka and her father dined with chinese president xi jinping at mar-a-lago. here's another one, when will james comer investigate the hundreds of llcs president trump used to evade taxes, conceal loans, and high potential conflicts? will the oversight committee investigate possible business interference or interests influencing donald trump's presidency? look, there are certainly potential criminal activity carried out by president. the only problem is, it's not the president republicans actually want to investigate. joining me now are barbara mcclain, msnbc legal analyst, former u.s. attorney in michigan. and law professor at the university of michigan law school and former senator barbara boxer. it's great to have both of you with us. barbara, is it just me or did

james comer's press conference this week seem like a giant nothing burger. by any legal definition it was all innuendo, no evidence. >> it was really strange to announce anything at this stage because they didn't really have anything to announce. ordinarily when, in my practice, when we conduct a press conference it's because we had something very significant we wanted to announce and we wanted to frame it for the public as the news came out so that someone else didn't run with it it seem like it just was a reminder of what they were doing there is really no evidence about anything that they have found they simply stated the allegations that they continue to explore about the sort of vague connections to foreign governments without really finding anything in fact they conceded that they had no evidence about joe biden so it seemed to me more like about keeping the issue in the news than it was about sharing any particular information. >> senator boxer i'm reminded

of kevin mccarthy back in 2015, that infamous interview when he went on fox and let it slip that the republican investigation into hillary clinton's not really about getting to the bottom of anything but they were designed to damage her poll numbers. is this the republican playbook because it seems like this is the latest version of that? >> absolutely, but more than that i've been in politics for so long and the oldest political game in the book is deflection. they don't want the voters to look at the record for example under trump 3 million jobs actually 2. 9 million jobs lost. biden just in the first few years, 12 million jobs created. they don't want people to look at that they don't want people to see that their terrible budget would drive us into a recession and their plan to repeal the inflation reduction act would lose us 9 million

jobs. they don't tell people that they want to take away women's rights. they don't want people to look at that. 61% of folks opposed them. same with guns. so it's the oldest political trick in the book. it's called deflection, there is no there there. i mean president obama had the toughest, strictest, ethics guidelines. joe biden was vice president and this president has also carried very tough ethical guidelines over to this administration. >> barbara, republicans are justifying their investigations into biden by saying there is a legislative purpose but they are looking into tightening ethics laws. but there has actually been no real action on that front because the truth is anything they do, even if it was ill intentioned but successful, would probably implicate donald trump in some ways. and they don't want to really do the. they do not want to actually

tighten control of ethics around donald trump. >> i think the last thing donald trump wants, if he should have a future presidency is anybody breathing down his neck looking at his finances, looking at deals that jared kushner's doing with the saudis, looking at deals that ivanka trump is doing with china to get patents on her line of goods. they don't really want that. but, the purpose of a legislative purpose is really given a very broad definition so even if it ultimately does not result in any sort of legislation, as long as they can kind of tossed out that incantation and say that this could lead to new legislation they likely are acting within their powers. it's a very broad power and is one that is used frequently, in the situation it is not being used properly. >> senator listed just a few of the investigation that the oversight committee, it was good intentions could actually open into trump and his family if they were serious about

doing their job. how do you think democrats should convey to voters the double standard here or at least the the absurdity of what the republicans are trying to investigate if biden. but absolutely abandoned when it comes to trump world and trump kids whether it's ivanka trump a as i mentioned the trademarks in china or jared kushner and the dealings that he has been making with the saudis since leaving office office. i don't have to explain to our viewers what the trump administration did for the saudis while they were in office. . >> i think people hate hypocrisy. i think they get it. republicans are making a huge mistake all they want people to do is for people to focus over here instead of over here. where their lives and the quality of their lives are at stake. i can't take this enough. when you look at just this whole debt ceiling battle, which is looming.

again, it's very clear what they are trying to do. and that is forced these draconian cuts that are going to hurt veterans. they are screaming, oh no, we are not going to -- know -- this is what the third parties are saying as they look at it. they don't want the american people to look at their own lives and connect the dots to quote unquote the grand old party, that's what used to be, now i call it to get our permission party. you've got to get their permission as to who her to marry, what books to read -- you've got a call mitch mcconnell i guess if you are pregnant. this whole thing is absurd people can't stand it. and that is why they are doing this. you can have a new definition of hypocrisy. i look at the way republicans are reacting over this thing. >> many words come to work -- pathetic is a good word. later on in the hour we are going to see you. coming up, democratic

congressman richie torres of new york, the man behind the brilliantly named act stopping another non truthful office seeker, aka the santos act joins me to react to the federal charges that the new york republican is now facing. but first, my friend richard lui is here with the headlines. >> some of the stories we are watching for this hour, today marks one year since the top supermarket massacre in buffalo new york. the city held a moment of silence to mark the moment when a 19 year old white gunman opened fire at a majority black neighborhood killing ten people and wounding free others. church bells rang out in honor of the lives lost. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy continues his diplomatic tour in europe seeking to bolster military aid for counteroffensive against russian forces. so lewinsky met with german prime minister olaf scholz in berlin amid later made a surprise visit to france as he discussed military needs with french president emmanuel macron. and cyclone mocha making landfall in myanmar and bangladesh.

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one of the worst weeks any american politician has ever had. after the doj charged him with seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering campaign funds one count of theft of public funds and two counts of making false statements to the house of representatives. santos's bad week wasn't just bad for him, it was also quite honestly bad for our democracy because these are political crimes that we are talking about. msnbc's jessica levinson points out that if politicians can make crimes to get or keep power then we can no longer trust our government to function. so it's not just enough for

santos to be punished if he is found guilty, because the crimes that he is accused of could actually undermine our entire political system. so we must ensure that others can't attempt to do the same. my next guest, democratic congressman richie torres of new york introduced the santos act earlier this year which require congressional candidates to file additional weather -- file their employment backers with the f b c. any candidate that knowingly and willfully lies about that it information will be fined and serve prison time, or both. congressman richie torres of new york, joins me now. congressman, it's great to see you again, they were coming back on the show. tell us a little bit about this legislation. you and congressman dan goldman introduced it. what kind of support isn't getting in the house since these charges were made? >> so far it only has support with democrats because

republicans are intent on protecting george santos. but i find it outrageous that a federal candidate for public office can blatantly lied to voters without facing repercussions so i introduced the santos act to stop future non truthful office seekers which requires federal candidates to disclose under oath their employment education in military history so that candidates who do lot of voters can finally be held accountable. if you are a voter you should have the ability to compare what a candidate has said under oath versus what a candidate claims on a campaign trail in the hope is that will enable early detection of liars like george santos. >> what's incredible it is such a no-brainer. you would think republicans would totally get on board because they would simply say we do not want candidates whether they are democrats or republicans to lie about their qualifications to the public. >> look republicans are intent

on protecting george santos. for me there are only two acceptable outcomes. other george santos resigns which he refuses to do or, house republicans some of the courage to expel george santos and the reality is that house republicans refuse to expel george santos because kevin mccarthy needs george santos to remain in power and is going to protect him at all costs. speaker mccarthy said that george santos is entitled to a presumption of innocence. george santos pleaded guilty to theft in brazil so my question to my republican colleagues is are you ready to expel him? >> speaking of kevin mccarthy the charge santos is facing of those crimes only political figures can commit. i talked in the intro about how these alleged crimes can undermine our democracy. do you think kevin mccarthy and his republican colleagues understand that? do they care or is it just as

you said only about keeping power? >> the decision to protect george santos is not driven by principle it's driven by raw political power. even the majority of republicans in the new york congressional delegation have called upon george santos to resign. so there is no reason for republicans to protect him and one of the critical functions of congress's oversight and we should ask ourselves a simple question. can george santos be trusted to oversee federally funded programs like the unemployment insurance program which he is now accused of personally defrauding. the answer to that question is obviously now. >> we'd be my question more broadly speaking is where does the system fail with george santos? you are talking about how to fix it going forward but i guess how did we even get to this moment where you have somebody who is now, somebody bought his own admission a criminal in brazil and possibly potentially one here if he is convicted. how did we get to this moment

with this guy? >> i think the fundamental issues that we have no longer a functioning two party system. the republican party is no longer a normal party. the far-right of the republican party inspired an insurrection against the u.s. capitol and inspired the longest speaker vote in 150 years and is threatening to default america. george santos has to be understood within the context of the republican party that has become a cult of personality around donald trump. when your standard bearer is a fraud like donald trump and charlatans like george santos will end up following. i see george santos in the context of the trouble vacation of the republican party. >> that's a fair point. let me get your thoughts on immigration if i can. you've got the covid era title 42 border policy expiring friday which allows the u.s. to expel migrants without considering them for asylum. president biden campaigned

against donald trump's coup cruel border policies but we haven't seen quite honestly any significant immigration reform in decades. from both parties, let alone from this president. what does the biden administration need to do to help these people, many of whom are escaping terrible situations and want to better their lives. >> president biden is doing the best he can with in a broken system that he inherited. the fact is that democrats are committed to fixing our broken immigration system whereas republicans would prefer to demagogue the issue of immigration. there are right-wing demagogues that donald trump and tucker carlson who built their careers around our broken immigration system and have a vested interest in keeping it broken because it benefits them politically. ultimately, a solution can only come from congress and democrats are willing to rise to the challenge and we expect republicans to do the same. >> congressman, real quick, before i let you go. who came up with the name desantis act? i think that's brilliant, i

gotta admit. . >> i have to give credit to our legislative director. i consider it the most brilliant acronym in the history of congressional bills. if there's only one good thing that comes out of the santa's time in office it will be that there was this act that will forever live called the santos act. >> on my gravestone it was a tormentor of george santos. >> congressman richie torres of new york, it's great to see you again, thank you sir, appreciate it. >> absolutely. >> fox news can't just catch a break. the network is facing two new legal challenges, i'm going to explain those after a break. moving forward with node- positive breast cancer is overwhelming. but i never just found my way; i made it. and did all i could to prevent recurrence. verzenio reduces the risk of recurrence of hr-positive,

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insults from anchors at the network. her attorneys say fox's coverage of her was, quote, cheap easy entertainment untethered from the facts and that fox chose to deliberately lie about her. fox has not responded to her request for comment. this comes as former top rated host tucker says he will be launching a new version of his show on twitter amid reports that he plans to go to war against fox. carlson has accused the network of fraud and breach of contract and his lawyers are saying the do not compete contract in his contract are no longer valid. if that weren't enough, media organizations like the new york times are now asking the judge from the dominion lawsuit to rule whether fox improperly redacted text messages and emails that were introduced as evidence. the request comes as some media outlets gained access to the original unredacted documents and found the region for their redactions to be dubious at best. let's bring back my panel,

barbara mcquade and barbara boxer former senator from california. barbara mcquade, what do you make of this lawsuit from nina jankowicz. have the flood gangs opened at this point? are we going to see a lot more of these after the successful dominion lawsuit that ended in a settlement? >> i think when you see some other entities successful in a lawsuit it does empower people to think maybe they can do the same. but it's going to rise or fall on its own evidence. the kinds of statements that they made about miss yankovic's seem like the same kind of things they were saying about dominion voting machines. baseless claims about their about her they have harmed a reputation. the discovery process will be what matters. it's not enough that they say fold things about someone. when they are a public figure or public official as she is you must show actual malice and of course in that dominion case we saw lots of things. that means that fox knew that

these claims were false or that they acted with reckless disregard as to their falsity. so she can find similar emails that dominion found in their loss to where it is clear that they are saying one thing privately and a different thing publicly than she too can prevail so we will have to wait and see what the evidence is. >> senator boxer, what do you think of fox's move to keep the redacted files in the dominion lawsuit from going public. tex obtained this week shows carlson and top producer dustin was talking about threatening fox staffers to stop their negative trump coverage after the 2020 election. are they worried about credibility or something more here? >> if these email messages and text were helpful to them, believe me they would be out there. so the first rule is, you know, don't let anyone see something that could be damaging. they are trying to just put it all in a box and i think they are in trouble. their slogan fair and balanced

is such a joke. because this woman is saying that not only are they unfair but they put her in danger. and i agree with the good lawyer professor there barbara that in discovery there may be some proof here and if there is there going to be in trouble all over again. >> barbara, tucker carlson's lawyers trying to argue that this twitter move wouldn't violate his contract with fox by saying that they breached it first. could carlson be opening himself to legal troubles with this move? it is a risky move on his part? >> we'll certainly anytime you initiate a legal conflict it does open yourself up to all kinds of things in discovery, to depositions, to sharing of documents, email messages and text messages. he may be gambling that fox already has of those communications so maybe he

isn't so worried about that. but it seems like this is one of those places where he is using the strategy of the best defense is a good offense. i didn't reach the contract, you breached the contract. therefore now that it's all of i can do whatever i want to do. so i don't know if that's going to be a successful strategy in the end. it will matter what the language of the contract is. some contracts, the media doesn't consider social media to be a direct competitor so that language will matter. but this idea of if you breach first and i get to do whatever i want, it's an aggressive strategy, i don't know whether it will be successful. >> i guess, senator, it's not a surprise, maybe it is a surprise that he ended up on twitter. the way twitter is going under elon musk it is more of a right-wing echo chamber since elon musk took it over. if carlson were to host a show on twitter how dangerous could it be given that it is very unlikely elon musk would try to rein in his extremist views, based on what we have seen in the last couple of months with

twitter under his leadership. >> i see it on my own site, ugly stuff. horrible stuff that i am sure was brought before so i won't even go into it or give it life. but it is bad. and you know tucker carlson, he's a professor of hate. i don't how he got this way, you have to have a shrink tell you how he got this way. but he is dangerous because he feeds into the worst instincts of people and he encourages them not to be afraid to think things that are harmful to the society. racist things and anti-women and it's a very dangerous kind of philosophy so legal issues aside and i am not a lawyer i can't say whether he has a like to stand on. i just hope he doesn't get on to any platform that doesn't

help our country or our kids. >> barbara, fox recently sent a cease and desist letter the premier to media matters over their publishing of the behind the scenes video of carlson making offensive remarks. they are also demanding dominion conduct an internal probe in regards to the leak carlson text. how much weight to these demands letters carry? >> they could. if it turns out that these things were the result of some sort of preached by dominion of a protective order that they received in litigation, i think that dominion might pay tension to that. once these are out certainly the harm is already done, you can't even ring the bell once things are in the public domain. but i think that to the extent these were governed by a protective order in discovery and someone is feeling to violated that protective order they could get some relief for that. all of these things, i think there's a sense that it was damaging and truthful than the

words to see it. but when you are party to litigation there are certain rules we need to play by so if dominion has breached any of those orders then this could be an effective strategy. >> barbara mcquade, former senator barbara boxer, thank you to both of you tonight greatly appreciate your insights throughout the hour. coming up, democracy, voting rights, abortion access are all on the line in north carolina. the states attorney general john stein joins me after the break on his efforts to take the right wing, takeover of his state, stay with us. what are you going to do with it? i could use a new sign. with t-mobile for business, save more than $1000 versus verizon. and with our price lock guarantee, we'll never raise your rate plan. ever. (wheezing) asthma isn't pretty. it's the moment when you realize that a good day... is about to become a bad one. but then, i remembered that the world is so much bigger than that, with trelegy.

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versus more which reinstated a strict photo i. d. policy and community success initiative which upheld the states felony disenfranchisement law. if any of those cases south from italy or that is because the first two were already decided by the court just a short time ago but when republicans gained a 52 majority on the bench in the 2022 midterm elections gop lawmakers asked for a do-over even though none of the facts surrounding those cases had changed. in a scathing scathing dissent to harper one of the courts liberal justices called out her colleagues for their, quote shameful manipulation of fundamental principles of our democracy and the rule of law. she went on to write, quote, i look forward to the day when committing to the constitutional principles of free elections and equal protection on the laws are upheld. and the abuses committed by the majority are recognized for what they are. permanently relegate-ing them to the annals of the courts

darkest moments. i have no doubt that day will come. here to discuss this, north carolina attorney general josh stein, a democrat. he's also running to be the states next governor in 2024. attorney general stand, it is great to have you back on the show thank you for making time for us. talk to us about the implications here. what do these decisions themselves mean for voters in your state for those that may not know? >> it's a pleasure to be with you. we are in a troubling moment here in north carolina. we are at the center of our fight for freedoms whether it is reproductive freedoms or folks folks voting rights we had a big win last year. us along with the governor and some plaintiffs argued to the supreme court of north carolina that partisan gerrymandering violates our state constitution and a number of other rights. free election, equal protection, and others. and the court agreed and struck down the old maps which were highly partisan and gerrymandered.

it would've produced a congressional delegation of 10 to 4 or 11 to 3. the court ordered them to draw new maps, the court came up with maps and we have now a delegation of seven democrats and seven republicans which, we are a 50/50 state. the only thing that changed from that decision in december to today's there was an election and two new justices were seated in north carolina supreme court. so the republican legislators petition the court to get that decision reconsidered. that was a radical request because usually when courts reconsider decisions that they've made it's because there's been a change in the law for the u.s. supreme court or some severe factual misunderstanding by the court in need of correction. neither of those things happened. the only thing that happened was two republican justices took their seats. it is an absolute offense to the rule of law that they have thrown out the old decision and now empowered our republican super majorities to engage in

the most brazen partisan gerrymandering here in north carolina. >> you have a better sense of the polls of voters in your state. what do voters in north carolina make of this blatant partisanship of the court? how do they see this impacting their democracy and do they share the concerns that you've outlined? >> there's no question that voters are incredibly concerned. they not only throughout these voting cases, they threw out a public school financing case that ordered the legislature to finally uphold our constitutional mandate to ensure that everybody has a basic education. the court just threw it out. folks are incredibly distressed, and they realize that this court is completely shaken our understanding of what the rule of law is meant to be. >> you said you are concerned about the freedom and you said this is an assault on freedom. how worried are you about the state of democracy in north carolina? >> unfortunately we are always

at the center of voting rights struggles here in this country. and the fight is still going on. we know that there are still going to be some ugly maps that the general settlement produces. but the senate has been unconstitutional because of the maps the last go around. we have been fighting these fights for a decade and a half and we will keep fighting. there are so many of us here in north carolina who care fundamentally that the power belongs to the people. that we as individuals have the power in this government, not the politicians and that people should choose their representatives, not the other way around. and we're going to keep fighting until we win. >> let's talk about two things you mentioned, the 12-week abortion ban passed by the state legislator was just vetoed by the democratic governor roy cooper. but as you also mentioned the republican super majority may be able to override his decision if they get enough

votes. talk about that process and what the outcome might mean for women in your state. do you believe there will be any republicans who may develop a conscience before that vote and actually not vote with the super majority? >> we certainly hope so. i was with the governor and about 2500 other north carolinians on saturday when he vetoed that bill. there are four republican members of the legislative house and senate who in their campaign in 2022 said that they did not want to restrict women 's reproductive rights here in north carolina. obviously this is a dramatic reduction to peoples freedom and restriction on their ability to make decisions for themselves. we are urging every north carolinians to contact every republican member of the general assembly and urge them to respect people's fundamental freedom and sustain the governor's veto. we are not naive, we know it's

a long shot, but we are going to fight and flight and and urge folks to reach out to the members of the republican legislator. >> let me ask you a political question if i can, as i mentioned you are running for governor. you are republican one of your republican opponents is the current lieutenant governor mark robinson. this is a man who has brutally smeared school shooting survivors. he is called the lgbtq people, quote, filth. how do you feel about having a man like that so close to the governor's mansion. what do you plan to do about it? >> well i am troubled that he says these things that are so hateful about other human beings. it's absolutely contrary to the way a leader is supposed to be. you are supposed to represent every north carolinians. those you agree with and those you disagree with. he does not do that. i am incredibly troubled about the prospect of his becoming governor because he has made it absolutely clear that he wants a total ban on abortion in north carolina and if he wins the governorship along with a willing legislature that could

be the next step of what happens in north carolina. so i am all in to win this race because i want to be there for the people of north carolina and make sure that they have the right to live their lives the way that they want and not have republican politicians in raleigh dictate how they go about their lives. >> north carolina 20 general johnston, always a pleasure, thanks for your time. after the break turkey's authoritarian president is facing the biggest political challenge ever after millions voted in a landmark election today. when you break it down for you, stay with us. goes to wayfair for gardening basics that... aren't so basic. the entertainer... her place might look expensive. don't let it fool you. and me, the lounger... i get just what i need with a tap on the wayfair app.

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president recep tayyip erdogan 's 20-year leadership is in that question tonight. balance of the high stakes election are still being counted. the current tallies have erdogan at 34% and his main challenger kemal kilicdaroglu at nearly 45% according to the election board with neither candidate reaching the 50%

threshold. they're now likely headed for a runoff vote at the end of the month for the first time in two decades erdogan faced and united opposition. led by kilicdaroglu who vowed to bring turkey back from the brink of autocratic rule. democracy had been backsliding in the country as erdogan consolidated all branches of government under his authority. for more on the implications both nationally and globally i'm joined by steven cook collin's former policy fellow from the cardio on foreign relations. it's great to have you back on the show. a lot of high stakes drama i think in turkey and people waiting to see what may come. we thought we might have had a result by the time this show was on the air. tell us what we know. erdogan spent 20 years shaping turkeys image. talk about the stakes here for americans watching this and what makes this election so important. >> well this is the super bowl of turkey elections at this

point. erdogan has been in power for 20 years and there was a real sense that the united opposition would be able to take him down. perhaps even in a first round. but as you pointed out, right now at least the supreme election council with its preliminary results is suggesting that both of them fell short of the 50% needed. so we are going to a runoff two weeks from now on may 28th and it's going to be as high stakes and actually quite dangerous going forward. erdogan can be expected to pull out all the stops in order to put himself over the top. and that includes instrumentalizing the entirety of the state apparatus. that is what is happened, he has been in power for 20 years, the state is essentially in his hands and he can use it in order to go after his opponents, and you can be sure that he will. the stakes are extraordinarily high and there is a belief under many that if erdogan

remains in power the democratic practices that remain in turkey will be under mind. >> let me ask you about that, the weaponization of the state or the instrumentalize asian of the state for the elections and future democracy, erdogan's main challenger kemal kilicdaroglu accused the ruling party of demanding recounts, delaying results in opposition strongholds like istanbul. from what you have been seeing tonight, what you've been seeing in the run up to the election. has this election been free and fair? will the results, regardless of who wins, feel, will people feel confidence in their outcome? >> the turks that i've been speaking to and once it i trust the most don't believe it will ever really know what the true result was because they believe that it is possible that kilicdaroglu actually won. but that's exactly what i'm saying, that the instrumentalize asian of the

supreme election council which is made up of justice development party, thus president erdogan appointees in the run up the election the state put pressure on twitter and said you are going to have to block certain turkish twitter users otherwise you are not going to be able to operate in turkey. there are loads of scores of these running up to the election in fact one of erdogan 's would have been primary challengers in this election was banned from politics on trumped up charges. so he has clearly sought to clear the field ahead of him. so that they can claim that today was free and fair. but the allegations of interference and counting of the ballots themselves mars these results and as i said it's very unclear whether we will actually know what the true results are. >> let me ask you, broadly speaking in terms of turkey's role here on the world stage, it is a nato member obviously one of the world's top 20

economies. erdogan himself is a key ally of vladimir putin even though he has kind of had to walk that fine line between what the west is asking of him and what he personally wants to do. how could the results of this election shake up the world order? >> well certainly if erdogan winds we will see a lot more nato ally that is a line himself with russia in a number of areas. he's working relationship with vladimir putin has helped grain come out of ukraine that feeds the world. but if the opposition candidate kemal kilicdaroglu wins there will be somewhat of a change in the relationship, at least a change in tone. he won't see the working relationship with putin as a wedge against nato. i think that kilicdaroglu and his team are more committed to the idea of turkey being in the european union and being a responsible member of the west. >> steven cook, thank you so much, i greatly appreciate your time tonight. we will be speaking to you again in the weeks ahead i'm

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travels to puerto rico to see all the ways the island and its people have influenced american culture, and how america has influence theirs. >> it is incredible how

sometimes culture can disappear, but a few people can bring it back to life, and has a whole new existence. >> when you talk about one boss, we have the drums and the exit of two roles. we have one that keeps the groove going, we call that boulee of or. we also have primo, he's the one who provides notes on the drum. there is also baytieh, the place where we play. >> beaty, yes. >> beaty is basically the center of the community. anyone from the community can come learn and play. >> so it's open, it's open to everyone. >> thank you for making time for us, until we meet again, i am ayman mohyeldin. t again, i am ayman mohyeldin am ayman mohyeldin >> i'm craig melvin. >> and i'm natalie morales. and this is "dateline." >> our hearts break for this money.