today on velshi, and expanding republican primary field which will reportedly soon include

one person who used to work for donald trump and one person who is willing to speak out against them. spoiler alert, they're not the same person. plus, speaking as a current republican front one or, we have brand-new reporting on two separate investigations into the twice impeached ex president. and will head to florida, they that currently looks every bit the picture of a trumpian dystopia thanks to trump's own closest competitor, governor ron desantis. then i'll call to order today's meeting as a velshi banned book club, featuring a very important book by a very brave offer who's been targeted for his work. not just by a book banners, but by the taliban. velshi starts now. >> good morning, it is saturday during the third, i'm ali velshi. if you can believe, if the iowa caucuses which kick off the republican primary season are only about seven months away. the candidates lining up to be the 2024 republican presidential nominees have been filling up for the past couple

of months, and the fields about to get more crowded over the next few days, with three more republicans expected to officially announce their presidential bids in the early part of next week. on tuesday, the former governor, new jersey governor chris christie is expected to jump into the race with the formal announcement schedule during a town hall event in new hampshire, where he finished in six place the last time he ran for the presidency in 2016. on wednesday, the former vice president -- celebrated 64th birthday by making his presidential bid official, adding -- ending much speculation, and setting up a challenge against his former boss. on the same day, the incumbent north dakota governor, doug burgum, will also announce his campaign during an event in fargo, north dakota, which is 25 miles from the town where he's up. >> now, those three men will join the list of candidates who have already announced, which includes the former president donald trump, florida governor ron desantis, the only two candidates in the hole pilot who are pulling in double

digits right now. the growing slate of candidates in the case that the factions of the republican party remain unconvinced that the two front runners held the race locked up. trump and desantis are polarizing figures who pushed the party further to the right in different ways. the list of candidates challenging them now reflects those two men, have largely defined the gop over the past few years. as governor of north dakota, doug program has followed in the censuses a legislative footsteps, signing into law several anti-lgbtq -- as an acting one of the strictest abortion bans in the entire country. meanwhile, a handful of other candidates previously worked for the trump administration before sharply publicly breaking away from the former president. mike pence served as trump's running mate. he was a loyal vice president, up until january 6th, 2021. when he became the focus of trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential elections and trump literally sent a mob after him. after dropping out in 2016,

chris christie endorsed trump and then headed trump's presidential transition team. he even helped him prepare for the 2020 debates against joe biden, but christie quickly distance himself from trump soon after he began spreading lies about the results of the 2020 election. christy has since become a prominent critic of the former president. and while nikki haley, who served as you an ambassador during the trump administration has kept her criticism of her former boss to amanda's mom and comparison, she launched her campaign by calling for, quote, a new generation to lead us into the future, and quote. at this point in the race for the gop nomination, donald trump is undoubtedly the man to be. pulling many points ahead of everyone else, but there's still an opportunity for republicans to jump into the race and to challenge trump's front runner status. trump remains in real legal peril. he's already been indicted by manhattan district attorney alvin bragg in the stormy daniels hush money case, which will go to trial in march of 2024, right during the primary

season. and new reporting this week reveals that -- justice department special prosecutor, jack smith has recovered in the mar-a-lago documents case is a recording of donald trump making a reference to a classified documents in his possession after he left the white house. trump's attorneys have informed the justice department that they have been unable to find the documents, to which trump refers in the recording. it's unclear whether prosecutors have been able to actually track down the documents themselves, leaving open the possibility that the material remains at large or that the famously blustering mr. trump incorrectly described it on the recording. meanwhile, in georgia, the investigation headed by fulton county district attorney -- has reportedly brought into it scope to include activities that occurred in washington d.c. and in other states. ashingtowillis is expected to md announced her charging decisions later this summer, while smith has a separate ongoing january six investigation on top of the one

about the mar-a-lago case. there is a lot to cover here. joining me now, barbara mcquade, she's a former united states attorney for the eastern drifted -- co-host of the sisters in law podcast at an msnbc legal analyst. also with us is joe walsh, a former republican congressman that also ran for president. he's a host of the podcast white flag with joe walsh, and the of -- f silence, although the world is swelled out. thanks to both of you, good to see you this morning. barbara, let me start with you with the second half of what i was just telling my viewers about, and that is the increasing legal peril that donald trump is in. putting aside whether that hurts him or help him politically, we've had two updates and i want to start with the jacks mitt mar-a-lago stuff and this document that donald trump reportedly is bragging about having -- he concedes that he has not declassified that document, and he shouldn't be talking about it. nobody has seen this document as far as we know. what do you make of this? >> we i think it's a very important piece of evidence,

ali. it's important to remember that no one piece of evidence makes or breaks a case, it all has to be viewed in context. one of the things that i think has been a challenge for jack smith was to prove donald trump's knowledge about the rules of classification. unlike most crimes were ignorance of the law is no excuse, there is a requirement when it comes to -- prove behind -- as a person knew what he was doing was illegal. and so to have donald trump on tape talking about how he cannot disclose calcified information is incredibly helpful. i think it really robust the statements that he's making about how i can declassified just by thinking about it. everyone knows that's wrong. but if he believes that to be true, that could actually be a defense. i think this reporting robots that defense and completely takes that off the table. and so, for that reason, i think it strengthens jack smith case. >> on the recording, he refers to the fact that he had

declassified document, which means whatever he was talking about wasn't because divide. joe, good to see you again after a long time. on thursday on twitter, you reiterated your belief that donald trump is going to be the nominee. you said, quote, i said all along that trump will be the nominee that he was going to be the nominee, that -- was one caveat, that is if he wants to be the nominee. if he's just going to the motions and really doesn't want to, is that he might not get. it but assuming he wants, it it's his. and every indictment will only help him secure the nomination. if you talk with the gop bases, i do every day, you'd agree with me. that's a big question, people say hey, trump's going to be the nominee unless he's indicted. you're thinking, he might be the nominee even if he is indicted. >> elie, good to be with you. yes, singularly, every indictments politically helps trump. oh quibble with your opening presence -- in this regard. the field is expanding, but i don't think it's because of donald trump. it's expanding because of ronda santas.

let me explain what i mean. look, i don't think any serious candidate things they can beat trump. pence, haley, scott, desantis. i don't think they're even trying to beat trump. their hope, ali, is that the justice department takes donald trump out. that's what they're all hoping for, and pence, haley, scott and the others believe that desantis is a really weak number two. so they want to be that number two if the justice department takes trump out. >> let's talk about, let's go back to, that legal peril and how much of it could actually take trump out of the race -- in georgia is investigating, it is sad, possibly racketeering charges. the washington post is reporting that she is expanding her investigation into operations of the trump campaign hired to determine whether or not they could overturn elections in some of the states he challenged. he challenged to vote in. this is intriguing because it's

a georgia special prosecutor, a director prosecutor who is now looking at things outside the state of georgia. tell me what you think that's about. >> well, the georgia we go satcher will permit that, for crimes that were, as long as there's some nexus of the conspiracy that occurred in georgia, you can also look at activity that occurred elsewhere. rico is an umbrella that covers multiple schemes, it allows the jury to hear the full scope of criminal activity, even in georgia there have been multiple schemes. if you can expand it to other states, that becomes more powerful evidence. on the other hand, i do worry that sometimes prosecutors try to boil the ocean and try to bring in so much evidence, that it becomes overwhelming and extends the length of an investigation and can even be overwhelming for a jury to comprehend. and so, i'd like to think that instead of thinking about charging all of this activity -- which he's doing is bringing in additional evidence of knowledge and intense, that the election was free and fair and not fraudulent.

but, you know, at some point you want to tell a prosecutor, it's time to stop investigating and time to charge. r, it'sabout the fani willis is hag this investigations with her prosecutors. >> does the time mean anything to you, joe? we're hearing something might happen with jack smith and coming weeks, we're hearing that fani willis is looking at july or early august. we saw in the manhattan and indictments, that's not even going to be in court for many, many months. this is all going to play out in the midst of the primary season, and even into the election if there are further indictments. does any of that matter to what you believe the voting base the republican party is going to do? >> no, no ali, and i wish the whole country understood this. trump is a victim, he's a victim of the deep state, who's been going after him for seven, eight years. that's what dorner every republican voter says to me. look at this week, ali. the justice department rightly decided not to pursue criminal charges against pence.

on a classified documents, and they probably won't against biden. now, you, me and barbara know that what donald trump did with the classified documents is very, very different and he should and probably will be indicted. but to the average republican voter who talks to me every day, it's all bs. they're going after trump, they didn't go after pence and biden. joe, come on. pence and biden did the same thing. this all just strengthens him, strengthens him along the base. >> barbara mcquade, when we first are talking about these classified documents and we found out that joe biden had some and mike pence had some, there was a lot of conversation about the fact that america classifies a lot of documents. someone argued over classifies documents. there's a difference between is taking some budget review in your top drawer and what it's alleged that donald trump might have done. this document that we're talking about, the recording that they've got of donald trump, since we talked about an attack plan on iran, that seems

to go to a whole different level of the kind of stuff you're not supposed to be having, that a national security breach. does that make a difference what the content of the documents are that donald trump has? are there such things as taking innocuous documents between taking -- would that affect a decision? >> it would, under the law, any type of classified information is treated the same, but the espionage act to be specifically to national defense information. it's separate from classification because that law was enacted during world war i in a time before we had a classification system. the fact that this is national defense information means that it qualifies for coverage under a far more serious statue, the espionage act. it also, i think, informs prosecutors of when they're exercising discretion about whether to file charges. if as you say, it's a more innocuous document. then perhaps they are inclined to decline prosecution in a case like that. when it's something that is so

sensitive, it's something like a war plan, then that could be an aggravating factor that could indicate that charges are appropriate. there's also been reporting, ali, that a number of the documents that were retrieved from mar-a-lago were in the category of top secret, sensitive compartmented information. that means that the disclosure of those documents, by definition, what caused exceptionally grave harm to the national security of the united states. these are very high-level documents, and so again, i think all those things would fall in favor of criminal charges in this case, in contrast to what we know about the pence and biden retentions. >> it is always a good velshi so when you -- friends for the midwest. we appreciate seeing you both this morning. former united states attorney in michigan and msnbc legal analyst, and joan walsh for republican congressman -- 2020 presidential candidate and host of the podcast, white flag with joe walsh. all right, june is pride month,

this year it comes -- and unrelenting attacks on the rights of lgbtq individuals. but, it's actually a losing political strategy to do that. plus, i'm gonna call to order this week sweeping as the velshi banned book club on the agenda is professor -- the return of the taliban, about that earned him more than a ban, but a desert by the government. the debt limit bill has finally reached president biden's desk, as always the devil is in the details. we're gonna dive into those details coming up on velshi. details coming up on velshi. i see this come -- was critical, the stakes could not have been higher. if we had failed to reach an agreement on the budget, there were extreme voices in -- the first time in our 247 year history, and the default on our national that. nothing, nothing was more irresponsible. irresponsible. shelves smart enough to see, sense, react, restock.

♪ so caramel swirl is always there for the taking. [♪♪] if you have diabetes, ♪ it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today.

your bug spray should take out bugs, not keep out people. unlike other sprays that stick around, zevo goes from kill to clean in just seconds, plus it's safe for use around people and pets. zevo. people-friendly. bug-deadly. and for those of you who are

still on social media, in recent weeks you have probably

noticed some extra noise on your feeds. people walking around apartments or, stretching displays of pride merchandise. a false tweet claiming the targets was selling satan seem children's t-shirt, videos of bulldozers destroying piles of anheuser bush product, or maybe your timeline was blessed with the video of kid rock opening fire on cases of bud light with an assault rifle. this is just some of the backlash was thrown at target and bud light for relatively small lgbtq initiatives. with pride month upon, on the far-right hysteria over rainbows and equality is in full swing. but it's all just noise. static, at best. the anti lgbtq hate reading from some corners of the conservative spirit does not reflect the feelings of the american public. glad, the world's largest lgbtq media advocacy organization released its annual exhilarating acceptance study, finding that universally, heterosexual americans

overwhelmingly agree that lgbtq people should live freely. they should be able to live their lives and not be discriminated against. 96% of non lgbtq americans agree that schools should be a safe and accepting place for all you. 84% support eco whites for the lgbtq community. 70% agree that companies should publicly support the lgbtq community to hiring practices, advertising and or sponsorships. well society has come a long way in exempting gay and lesbian people, they're glad study recognizes that there is still work to do when it comes to understanding and accepting trans folks. 50% of non lgbtq americans say that nonbinary and transgender people are new or unfamiliar to them. only 28% of non-lgbtq americans say they personally know a transgender person. it's clear that americans

overwhelmingly support the lgbtq community and its right to exist peacefully, which is why these targeted attacks on the rights of lgbtq americans seems like a losing political strategy. yes, just in the last year alone, republican lawmakers have introduced more than 500 anti lgbtq bills in the state legislatures, according to the quality federation. a majority of those measures take aim at transgender youth, they range from bans on gender affirming care for minors, to not allowing trans kids to play on sports teams that align with their gender identity, two bills that we can or undermine nondiscrimination laws. this is just not popular policy. take a look at the 2022 midterms, you can see that there was a rainbow rave, a record 340 lgbtq candidates won their elections across the country, according to the victory fund, so many candidates with anti lgbtq stances were rejected. americans wants gay and lesbian

a transit time bomb airy people to live their lives, and yet some republican lawmakers are choosing to focus their attention on deciding who looks feminine or masculine enough to use certain bathrooms. shutting down drag shows and taking medically necessary health care away from children. it is all just noise until it gets so loud that the rhetoric turns into legislation that hurts lgbtq americans. might i suggest turning down the volume and listening to the american people, because the loudest person in the room is really the smartest or the strongest. t. travel pass, on. nice iphone 14 pro! cute couple. trips don't last forever. neither does summer love. so, sadie's moving on. apple music? check. introducing myplan. the first and only unlimited plan to give you exactly what you want, so you only pay for what you need. and get iphone 14 pro on us when you switch. it's your verizon.

(woman) oh. oh! hi there. you're jonathan, right? the 995 plan! yes, from colonial penn. your 995 plan fits my budget just right. excuse me? aren't you jonathan from tv, that 995 plan? yes, from colonial penn. i love your lifetime rate lock. that's what sold me. she thinks you're jonathan, with the 995 plan. -are you? -yes, from colonial penn. we were concerned we couldn't get coverage, but it was easy with the 995 plan. -thank you. -you're welcome. i'm jonathan for colonial penn life insurance company. this guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance plan is our #1 most popular plan. it's loaded with guarantees. if you're age 50 to 85, $9.95 a month buys whole life insurance with guaranteed acceptance. you cannot be turned down for any health reason. there are no health questions and no medical exam. and here's another guarantee you can count on: guaranteed lifetime coverage.

your insurance can never be cancelled. just pay your premiums. guaranteed lifetime rate lock. your rate can never increase. pardon me, i'm curious. how can i learn more about this popular 995 plan? it's easy. just call the toll-free number for free information. (soft music) ♪ the subway series is getting an upgrade! the new #19 the pickleball club. who knew the subway series could get even better? me, i knew. maybe you should host a commercial then. sure, okay. subway series just keeps getting better.

when you sleep more deeply,

you wake up more energized. introducing purple's new mattresses our unique gel flex grid draws away heat, helping you fall asleep faster. it relieves pressure for less “ow,” and more “ahhh.” and instantly adapts as you move, without ever disturbing your partner. amazing. sleep better. live purple. save $800 off mattress sets at our memorial day event. visit purple.com or a store near you. president biden is expected to sign into law the high six debt ceiling deal known as the fiscal responsibility act at some point later today. ahead of that sighing last night, president biden used his very first hopeful office address to tout the bipartisan deal, saying that anything short of getting this deal done would have been, quote,

irresponsible. >> it was critical to reach an agreement, and it's very good news for the american people. no one got everything they wanted, but the american people got what they needed. we averted an economic crisis, and economic collapse. we're cutting spending and bringing the deficits down at the same time. we're protecting important priorities from social security, to medicare, to medicaid, to veterans, to our transformational investments and infrastructure, and clean energy. >> now, the steel comes just a few days after june 5th, monday, which is what treasury secretary janet yellen warns that the government would start running out of money to pay its bills. as the president said, no one got everything they wanted in this deal. concessions were made on both sides, but some progressives across the country are decrying a few concessions in particular, including changes to the national environmental policy act that would waive or put limits on environmental impact assessments for new projects.

and new work requirements imposed for people who received benefits from the supplemental nutrition assistance program or snap. for more on this, i'm joined by the reverend dr. william barber, he's a president and senior lecturer for repairs of the breach and the co-chair of the poor peoples campaign and a great friend of the show. reverend barber, good to see you sir, and throughout this entire discussion, i've been thinking about you and your view because you spend most of your time was poor and low wealthy individuals. you tweeted on june 1st, the great contradiction of this that ceiling deal is that while poverty is the fourth leading cause of death, the steel will make it harder to get food stamps but easier to spend money on war. i open with that, sir, because i want to get your views on the steal. >> well, velshi, and that is where we have to begin, because the difference in the conversation about compromise and stopping us from getting into trouble where the country

defaults and what ought to be. now, politicians always compromise and they'll always do it all to be, that's how struggling in this country. we had a civil rights act was 60 for -- so many compromises, we have to come back and try to have a -- 65. we have to look at law meters at this differently, and raises for the country. republicans started out far worse, they wanted to cut everything when they use the debt ceiling to hold the nation hostage. the other democratic president goes and tries to do the best he can, they come out with this deal. we still have to look, it's not about criticizing biden or criticizing mccarthy, it's about saying look at where we are -- look at the moral deficit that we're in. there is an argument in the united states congress that's the way to save the world's economy and the united states economy is to cut food stamps for peopleed it -- and work requirements and add more money to the military.

at the very time, we still have not raise the minimum wage in over 14 years, we have millions of people who work every day for what we call essential workers without a living wage, that poverty is the fourth leading cause of death is -- respiratory diseases and that we have millions, -- here's a moral issue. what if we had started from their? not started with, what can we cut and what we don't have, because we know this notion of scarcity is alive. people break the bank and cut taxes for the wealthy and then say we don't have any money. what if we said, we're going to start this debt ceiling process by first saying how will the final results help us address the issue of the fourth leading cause of death in this country, which is poverty. which means 800 plus people are dying every day from poverty before covid. before covid. something is wrong with our

moral center, where we have to say something is good and people think we can't even criticize, when the fact is we -- so many people. >> i just want to bring this into sharp believe, because you yokosuka people who live in poverty. if you are live minimum wage in this country, in some places that seven dollar and 25 cents an hour. if you are full-time in minimum wage in this country, your wage is $15,000 a year. we keep talking about the fact that in many cases the minimum wage is essentially raised about 15 bucks an hour -- that's $30,000 a year. there are people who work full-time, who are so on food assistance because they can't pay their bills or feed their families was full-time work. this concept of lazy people, matt gaetz calls them count potatoes, we're at a 3.7% unemployment country, we don't have a problem with american side going to work. we actually don't have enough jobs for everybody at this point. >> either that we have a problem in slavery, but full employment doesn't mean good,

hyping jobs. number two, the same people that have this debt ceiling hostage, when they had a chance to vote for the federal wage to be $50, we all voted against it -- 50 million americans who work hard every day. but see, you've got to starch where they start. they actually argue that if you make 7:25 an hour and you make it $15,000 a year, you are above the poverty line as they set it, and that you are in the low middle class. all the numbers are just wrong. the fact of the matter is that before covid we had over 140 million people -- during covid some of it came down because we invested in things like child's -- now all of those things have been -- people just got kicked off of medicaid and -- the last few weeks. our moral focus is so far off, and i heard someone argue that

cutting people off of food stamps is actually good for the poor, but you put more money in military, and then the last thing, velshi, what they do is they raise all these culture wars because they don't want people to actually see that the same people that are attacking the lgbtq community and attacking women and attacking transfer of, guess what america, they're blocking you having 1 million -- there walking you having health care, they're blocking to be a little pill your bills. we must look closer and deeper at this, and anytime somebody attempts to our use that you save the world economy by cutting people off of food stamps, many of them are working, if you want people to be off to some zippy them amid living wage. cut loose and raise more money for war, that is a tremendous moral contradiction. we have to be careful, even in the compromise, what we're setting up people to argue in the future. sometimes what politicians want -- set a precedent and then when

they get full power, they move into even deeper into, which is inequality. that's why i'm on a tour -- at a north carolina, and -- just left tennessee, and the audiences are packed. -- brown people, and all of them are saying, listen, first of all we need to raise the minimum wage to $17 now. not raise it in ten years. and that is says, the nobel peace prize economy says that it won't hurt jobs, it won't hurt prices, we need to do it now, it is a moral travesty that we would do all of this over a debt ceiling, and we have not raised the minimum wage for working for people since 2009. >> it's unbelievable. for everybody who gets outraged, -- i'll do the math for you, that's $35, 000, 360 cents. 35,000 -- there were not thieves. people just want to earn that kind of money. try living on $35,000 a year.

good luck to you. reverend, thank you as always, they tell me you're a man is a cloth, but you're a moral economist and i love talking to you about these things. the reverend dr. william barbara -- and senior lecturer for repairs of the breach of the co-chair of the poor peoples campaign. all right, how high are the states when you're an author, sometimes it's quite literally life or death. today on the velshi banned book club, we're featuring one such book and its brave author. return of the taliban by professor -- chronicles how the taliban regain control of afghanistan you lead to -- the new account examine the rise to power, the control strategy and a profiles major taliban leaders even. before the book debuted in the u.s. -- faced threats on his life from taliban leaders. i'll speak with the author on his important research and the power of the written word. wer of the written word. with smoking fast shipping.

and wayfair deals so epic... you'll feel like a big deal. yes! so get outdoorsy for way less at wayfair. ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ ♪♪ dads are special. fun. inspiring. always there for you. so make father's day extra special with gifts he'll love from weathertech.

floorliners... cargo liner... seat protector... sunshade... ready-to-wash system and cupfone. or our newest product, the golf cart mat. order these american made gifts or a gift card at weathertech.com have a very happy father's day. (bridget) with thyroid eye disease i hid from the camera. and i wanted to hide from the world. for years, i thought my t.e.d. was beyond help... but then i asked my doctor about tepezza. (vo) tepezza is the only medicine that treats t.e.d. at the source not just the symptoms. in a clinical study more than 8 out of 10 patients taking tepezza had less eye bulging. tepezza is an infusion. patients taking tepezza may have infusion reactions. tell your doctor right away if you experience high blood pressure, fast heartbeat, shortness of breath or muscle pain. before getting tepezza, tell your doctor if you have diabetes, ibd, or are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant.

tepezza may raise blood sugar even if you don't have diabetes and may worsen ibd such as crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis. now, i'm ready to be seen again. visit mytepezza.com to find a ted eye specialist and to see bridget's before and after photos. [♪♪] did you know, unless you treat dandruff regularly, it will keep coming back. try head & shoulders shampoo. dandruff is caused by irritation to a germ that lives on everyone's scalp. unlike regular shampoo, head & shoulders contains zinc pyrithione, which fights the dandruff-causing germ and helps prevent it from coming back. it's gentle on hair and provides up to 100% dandruff protection, clinically proven. try head & shoulders shampoo and conditioner. for best results, use with every wash. this has been medifacts for head & shoulders. at least 280 people are dead, more than 800 injured after a

massive train derailment in eastern india. officials are calling it india's deadliest train crash in decades. the railroad ministries grossman so 10 to 12 train cars derailed, causing debris to fall onto a nearby track. the first train then collide with another passenger train coming from the opposite direction. search and rescue efforts continue through the night as first responders climbed on top of my uncle passenger cars to break open doors and windows, to free people who are trapped inside the carriages and beneath the rubble. soldiers and air force helicopters have joined the air for -- right to the crash scene earlier this morning to survey the wreckage, and meet with some of the hundreds of people being treated in local hospitals. we'll bring you the latest on this train crash and recovery as we get them. up next, florida's buckling under a series of oppressive new anti-democratic laws. the man behind it all, governor ron desantis, now officially running for president. the antiabortion crackdowns, the voter suppression, the book banning, the targeting of immigrants and trans kids, that could all be address rehearsal

for what he's planning to do to the whole country. more on that after the break. we after the break we with 20 grams of protein for muscle health versus 16 grams in ensure® high protein. boost® high protein. now available in cinnabon® bakery-inspired flavor. learn more at boost.com/tv

♪ tourists tourists that turn into scientists. tourists photographing thousands of miles of remote coral reefs. that can be analyzed by ai in real time. ♪ so researchers can identify which areas are at risk. okay, if you're watching the and help life underwater flourish. ♪ show last sunday, i said that i personally try to avoid florida as much as i can. i took some heat on social media for that, most of it coming from floridians, i assume. let me be clear, it's not the people of florida with whom i have any beef whatsoever.

it's those in power who introduced and sign oppressive laws that inflict on -- states population. you've gotta come runner who shot from absolute obscurity to popularity, brawling of voters using the same tricks as donald trump, and now rhonda census is running against trump in 2024 on a record of turning his own state into a trumpian dystopia. here's some of what this alternative to donald trump has already done. mid-pandemic, desantis pointed a known critic of the covid-19 vaccine as the surgeon general of the state. soon after, desantis signed a bill banning both mask requirements in schools and employers issued vaccine mandates. in april, desantis signed draconian bill that bans most abortions after six weeks, which is so early that many women don't even know they're pregnant yet. he's pushed a series of measures, allowing parents to override educators and challenge or banned books in classrooms and libraries. desantis signed signatories don't say gay bill last march, banning teachers from teaching or discussing sexual orientation or gender identity

in the classroom. that don't say gay bill triggered an all out war with disney, from which desantis is not backing down. disney's already pulled the plug on a one billion dollar project which would have greeted 2000 more jobs for the state. just last month, he signed a slew of anti lgbtq laws that ban gender affirming care for minors, that target drag shows, restrict the discussion of personal pronouns in schools, and force people to use certain bathrooms. desantis also created an election police force to investigate and crackdown on virtually nonexistent voter fraud. last summer, law enforcement arrested 20 people who had been incarcerated on felonies and voted in the 2020 election after their release. these people had filled out voter registration forms that were approved by the state i received voter identification cards from the state. and now florida lawmakers just signed off on a budget that includes a one point $4 million for an election investigations office. desantis is also taking aim at voter registration.

he just signed off unnecessary restrictions on community organizations that engage in voter registration drives, making it harder for these groups to help people register to vote. why would you do such a thing? but don't worry, he's managed to sneak in a law that ensures that he can run for president without resigning his seat as governor, because to change laws to you can preserve and assume power is what people do these days. a new sweeping immigration overhaul limits and social services for undocumented immigrants in florida. it invalidates drivers licenses issue to undocumented people by other states, and requires that hospitals ask, that except medicaid, have to ask a patient for their immigration status. can you imagine going to an emergency room and having to first prove your immigration status? this is not normal, but it is america in 2023. that might be what america looks like in 2024. n 2024 travel pass, on.

nice iphone 14 pro! cute couple. trips don't last forever. neither does summer love. so, sadie's moving on. apple music? check. introducing myplan. the first and only unlimited plan to give you exactly what you want, so you only pay for what you need. and get iphone 14 pro on us when you switch. it's your verizon. (woman) oh. oh! hi there. you're jonathan, right? the 995 plan! yes, from colonial penn. your 995 plan fits my budget just right. excuse me? aren't you jonathan from tv, that 995 plan? yes, from colonial penn. i love your lifetime rate lock. that's what sold me. she thinks you're jonathan, with the 995 plan. -are you? -yes, from colonial penn.

we were concerned we couldn't get coverage, but it was easy with the 995 plan. -thank you. -you're welcome. i'm jonathan for colonial penn life insurance company. this guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance plan is our #1 most popular plan. it's loaded with guarantees. if you're age 50 to 85, $9.95 a month buys whole life insurance with guaranteed acceptance. you cannot be turned down for any health reason. there are no health questions and no medical exam. and here's another guarantee you can count on: guaranteed lifetime coverage. your insurance can never be cancelled. just pay your premiums. guaranteed lifetime rate lock. your rate can never increase. pardon me, i'm curious. how can i learn more about this popular 995 plan? it's easy. just call the toll-free number for free information. (soft music) ♪

what do we always say, son? liberty mutual customizes your car insurance... so you only pay for what you need. that's my boy. ♪ stay off the freeways! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ ♪ only pay for what you need. every day, businesses everywhere are asking. is it possible? with comcast business...it is. is it possible to use predictive monitoring to address operations issues? we can help with that. can we provide health care virtually anywhere? we can help with that, too. is it possible to survey foot traffic across all of our locations? yeah! absolutely. with global secure networking from comcast business. all right, joining me now is a it's not just possible. it's happening.

regionally, former republican congressman for the state of florida. he is networker affiliated with the republican party -- political analyst, also witnesses respond, give professor of and why you, author of the lucid newsletter and author of the book strongman from mussolini to the president. two remarkably relevant guests to this particular topic. thanks to both of you for joining me. david, last week i got into it with governor kasich about this. are certainly meant no disrespect to the people of

florida or texas at all, actually. i meant it as concern for the people of florida and texas because what warren desantis is doing in florida is dangerous to a lot of real people. it may sound like it's we -- it may energize the base, but if you're gay, if you're a woman, if your trans, if you are an immigrant, if you're an undocumented person, whatever people think about this, their safety and livelihoods are in danger. >> that's right, ali. or if you're allies of those communities, as you clearly are, and i got a compliment you on that monologue you did just before the break. if you ever want to get into politics, we got a governorship raised in 2026 ali, because you nailed florida. but yes, look, i'm not afraid to say that rhonda census is a dangerous person and would be a dangerous president. he somebody who brings the arrogance of donald trump, the paranoia of richard nixon, but the parasite possibility of bill barr. he uses them in a very regressive and dangerous way. his abuse of office in florida

has only been limited by his own imagination, he has truly acted outside of the executive authority of the office, and whether he is acting outside of his authority or within it, your point is such a critical one. what are the qualitative measures he's pursuing. they are the marginalized communities that are already marginalized, where history has left people behind but culture is trying to bring people forward. he's tonight equity to the black and brown communities, to the lgbt communities, but most importantly, i know this is hard to ascertain, but ali, it is easy to call out actions of explicit bias and discrimination, often because of violence around them or there's a hate flight or something. but it's harder to note or the implicit biases. at the foundation of everything wrong desantis has done in these culture wars is to mainstream a platform and normalized the implicit biases, that as a culture we have tried to move past. he has brought them back and made them acceptable. someone in the white house who

would abuse the authority of the office, who has said he would pardon j six convicts, possibly donald trump his self, but with -- executive authority, to reach our nation back 100 years instead of looking forward. >> so this is a hell of a thesis, and it's an important for everyone should really take note of what you're saying. bruce, in fact, where david's are going to take us back 100 years, 100 years ago we still weren't in autocracy, we weren't in place when. david talks about the precise methodology, and talks about when working outside, the confines of his office, he's even more than regressive. it may be taking us down a much more dangerous route. >> it is, and in fact what david has described is what i call in my book right wing counter revolution, where you say you're going to make the nation great again, but you do so by shutting down progress, erecting against any social progress -- you see as dangerous. so that's the counter

revolution. i look at two things in assessing how dangerous desantis is. one is that he's escalated the violence of his rhetoric. his campaign slogan -- florida -- goes to die. this is actually inciting harm against the ever growing numbers of categories of people who he feels are woke. the second is that he's going after a business. the way he's going after business's privilege-ing a fanaticism over economic common sense. it doesn't make common sense if you believe in job creation to go after disney. it doesn't make sense to be harassing the tampa bay sports team and all these other people he's or harassing. so no one who votes for desantis should feel he's not gonna go after them someday, as well. that's authoritarianism. >> david, one of the points you made is that you think that he's empirically more dangerous than donald trump. tell me why.

>> for many, the reasons we're discussing, and it's not to diminish the danger of donald trump. the each present unique danger, and those are the right say, oh look, progressives are people who are never trumpers, would say that about any republican nominee. i wouldn't. we might have ideological concerns about nikki haley, tim scott, mike pence and others, but they are relatively benign, political actors who have demonstrated they will work within a constitutional system. both donald trump and ron desantis have suggested that they have authorities outside of the executive branch. even the less you mentioned, ali, i would add to that that he single-handedly moved the travel and financial records of the governor's office outside the sunshine law. he, was a stroke of a, pin has -- to transfer $80 million from a state campaign money to federal campaign money. what he did with the migrants of texas, he used state resources for no other reason than his own executive pretends,

but outside, arguably, florida law. and donald trump and ron desantis, you have two people who are willing to crush the constitutional norms. donald trump would do it as this belligerent for any rubble headstrong guy who, honestly get stopped by the courts very often. ron desantis was the methodologies of someone like bill barr can actually succeed at it. i think they're both equally dangerous and in some ways around desantis more. >> your take on this, ruth, because again i want to go back to this concept you have talked to me about, that david is talking about. normalizing prejudice against others, -- but then convincing people that that is in their best interest. onvincinso many of the things ye about, people choose authoritarianism. they choose things like this, they lean into people like ron desantis who tells us that they're working on their own behalf. on donald trump side, he announced that he is their retribution. they're going for this idea that you all are safer with me standing between you and those who are threaten your

livelihoods or prosperity. >> yeah, what can happen, unfortunately, it's happened to us, is that when you have somebody who is so toxic, such a loose cannon like donald trump, who has so many legal problems, international money launderer, see serial rapist, et cetera, these people can believe that he's got too much baggage and come to settle for someone who seems, quote, normal, but is actually equally extreme. this happened in the philippines with duterte, who boasted about throwing people out of helicopters. he was too much for some people. who did he end up with? the markers family, the family of dictators. but who seemed more smooth and disciplined -- that's how i see the big picture here, which is very dispiriting for our country. >> let's just look at the republican field at the moment, i'm going to get larger by three people this week. you've got chris christie coming into the mix later on in

the week. he's one guy who can stand up to donald trump on a stage, but if you look at all the others, nikki haley -- mike pence, tim scott, don burgum, they don't even add up to run desantis's numbers. or any of these people potential republican nominees? >> not only because i think there is so much that's unknown, we have yet to see donald trump falter. convictions won't do it, sexual abuse, liability won't do it. but is there such a scenario in which donald trump truly is in trouble, and if so, who can overtake donald trump? the reason all these other candidates are getting in is because they're seeing ron desantis has a ceiling. he is uniquely unlikable on the national stage, and he has not been able to get above 25%. it's a big number. desantis has a juggernaut of a campaign, ali, but in some ways he's inherited the 20 to 25% of the party that's just ready to get past donald trump. they like donald trump, but they're not donald trump loyalist. trump has shown is a good 50 to

60% of the party is still a trump loyalist and sticking with him in 24. i think the other candidates are getting in because they see a weakness and run centers, not a weakness in donald trump, where we stand today. >> i'm sure the two of you are like great in a fun conversation about light topics, i just never had the chance to have that with either of you. one day, one day we will do that. we will celebrate not talking about much -- for the moment, this is an important conversation that i deeply appreciate. david jolly as a former congressman for florida and msnbc political analyst, bruce is a professor of history at nyu and the author of -- strongmen. from mussolini to the president. i'm also a fun guy around the table from time to time, but not often. straight ahead, the latest on the growing republican presidential field we were just talking about. several break names set to enter the race in the coming days. another hour of velshi begins right now. good morning