>> good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome to alex witt reports, i am erin o'hearn in for alex witt. and we begin with breaking news. north korea firing several cruise missiles overnight. the second launch this week. that country remains silent on the whereabouts of an american soldier who fled across the border. nbc's matt bradley is in seoul, south korea, at this hour and matt, can you tell us the latest? but >> yeah, erin. so, we just heard earlier today that north korea fired these missiles to the west into the yellow sea. not to the east, which was what we saw earlier in the week. but as you mentioned, this is the -- launch this past week. now, from the north korean

perspective, this is in reaction to the united states parking a nuclear capable submarine here in south korea. so, they consider that a provocation. in fact, they came out just last week and said that, you know, this meets the criteria for something like a nuclear escalation. now, all of this rhetoric, all of this sort of saber rattling comes as north korea has remained anti early silent about the fate of private travis king. now, if you remember, only a couple days ago, we are now on day five of this diplomatic crisis. private king dash across the border with north korea, shocking the world, and causing a lot of questions from washington. we heard from washington a couple days ago, various officials saying that they are trying their best to check on the welfare and the status of private -- who's now been missing and hasn't been heard from. now, my colleague, andrea mitchell, actually interviewed the secretary of state, anthony blinken, and here is what he said about private king. >> we are very concerned, of course, about his well-being,

we would like to know his whereabouts. we communicated to north korea, seeking that information. there are certainly concerns, based on what we've seen in the past and the way that north korea has treated those it's detained. >> now, i've been speaking with some experts who have been dealing with north korea for decades. they said that they don't expect private king to be released anytime soon. they expect north korea will want to get some kind of use out of it, namely a propaganda victory. they were probably want to try him out in front of state television, use him, a uniformed u.s. soldier, a serving u.s. soldier, to tell their people that this young man wanted to go to north korea, try to use him, again, for propaganda value. so, we are not really expecting him to be released anytime soon, but the real issue here, erin, is that we haven't heard anything from the north koreans. they've been entirely moot and it's only until we get some kind of acknowledgment from the

north korea that even have custody of this private will we know a little bit more about his fate, aaron? >> yeah, in this case, the silence is very scary. thank you so much, matt bradley, for that report. also developing this hour, donald trump's 2024 campaign and his pending trials set for a collision course. the high stakes criminal trial over trump's federal indictment for allegedly mishandling classified documents now set for may 20th of next year. that is less than two months before the republican national convention. and the former president, bracing for a possible third indictment. this time involving a special counsel investigation into the events leading up to the capitol attack. now, earlier today, a former adviser to the house january six select committee weighed in on how strong that case might be. >> my guess is there's data out there specifically phone records, emails, and other things, that we didn't have the authorities factually process, that are being used right now. so, for me, it's not a surprise

either because i knew that there were other things out there. millions of lines of data that had not been made public. so, i do have some confidence, based on what we have seen, that this could be quite damning when all the evidence comes out. >> also new today, vice president kamala harris speaking out against florida's new standards for how black history will be taught in schools. the approved curriculum includes teaching students that some black people benefited from slavery. the vice president with the strong response. >> in the state of florida, they decided middle school students will be taught that enslaved people benefited from slavery. they insult us in an attempt to gaslight us, and we will not stand for it. >> meanwhile, the courts will now determine the fate of a new congressional map just signed into law by alabama governor,

kate iv. the republican controlled legislator passing a new map that includes only one majority black district, despite the u.s. supreme court ordering the state to draw two. state lawmakers on both sides of the aisle reacting. >> if you have a candidate that's well funded and well organized, up it's an opportunity district, anybody can win it. >> ultimately, we leave here with this. zero plus zero, which ultimately equals no results for which the court directed us to come here. >> and we will discuss this and more with the reverend al sharpton in our next hour. but we begin now with a new trial date for the trump documents case. joining me now is ryan reilly, nbc news justice reporter, and author of the upcoming book's addition hunters, how january 6th broke the system. and charles coleman coleman,

former brooklyn, new york prosecutor and an msnbc legal analyst. thank you both for being with us this afternoon. ryan, i will start with you. what is the significance of that start date for the classified documents trial? how exactly did judge cannon come to that date? and will it stick? >> it wasn't really what either party wanted. the special counsel want to -- set this for december, while the trump campaign wanted to kick this past 2024 and basically have the 2024 campaign stand in for the jury here, deciding where this case is going to go because, of course, if donald trump does get elected president, well, okay, all of a sudden that november 2024 gate is out the window. and in that case, very quickly goes away as soon as -- the oval office and directs his appointees at the justice department to just missed the pending case against him. so, essentially, what they settle on something that's smackdown in the middle of this really primary fight, that's a really critical window.

-- means that essentially the trial would and right before they actually got to the republican national convention. so, i think that, you know, it very does quickly become issues with a counter and given all the other things that donald trump is facing becomes very difficult to actually get that to move forward because i think, you know, when they originally were going for that december date, they knew they were going to have to be a little bit of wiggle room there because frequently, these court dates are kickback for one reason or the other. it gets sort of anticipate some sort of future discovery issue, what have you, that comes up down the line. these days can get kicked back. so, when you move it to me, you're really talking about even if that doesn't hold, that that could move even further down the line, then you really just basically in the middle of the primary campaign, but the general election, at that point. >> yeah, so, she laid out that schedule and basically, there is criteria that has to be met as well, in order to stick to that date. correct? >> that is right, yeah? there's a number of days that will come in an intermediate process, you know? there will be a number of deadlines they will have to face, so it does get the

process rolling, for sure. and it moves toward a trial, but i don't necessarily know. i wouldn't necessarily set that date in stone. >> okay, charles, i will turn to you. trump's calendar is starting to fill up. what are we looking here? does it include the two other potential indictments that could be coming, including the special counsel's probe into the events leading up to the january 6th attack? so, if trump ends up being indicted in that case, could a trial take place before the mar-a-lago trial? >> well, erin, it's very possible, but what we're looking at most likely is that the federal cases are going to take priority over any of the -- matters. so, whereas fani willis and fulton county is likely going to proceed on her own track and not be concerned about what's going on in the federal or the sea level, for example, with alvin bragg here in new york city, at the end of the day, his defense team is still going to move and try to basically convince the courts that everything should track his federal case. most likely, they're going to

move to have everything track his first federal indictment around the mar-a-lago documents because that's for this way and for this out. so, this is where the significance of judge cannon's ruling becomes even more important because his attorneys are going to rely on that in trying to create a benchmark, and every other jurisdiction, all the other cases should track this one, even as, for example, the january six indictment or the indictment around election interference and obstruction. all of those things might be easier to -- chronologically. they are still going to argue that, look, this is for us, we're talking about may, 20, 2024. understanding that that is likely going to get pushed further out beyond that date. so, there's still going to argue that everything to track beyond what judge cannon just said. >> okay and ryan, former nypd commissioner, bernie kerik, is meeting with the special counsel's team next month. and this comes after former trump white house aide, william russell, appeared before a grand jury this week. we also now have learned that

former trump lawyer, rudy giuliani, also met with jack smith's team earlier this year. so, what kind of information could these witnesses be offering to the special counsel? and how critical may they be? >> in the case of will russell, we actually got a little bit of a peek into that, which was really interesting because first of all, his attorney was representing another january 6th defendant or rather a january 6th defendant in court, who was actually scheduled for his what turned out to be conviction. so, that lawyer was actually late to that hearing because of this ongoing questioning behind closed doors, which normally is typically secret, and we don't hear a lot about. when that attorney general blamed the judge, basically asked him to explain why he was late, and the lawyer laid out stanley -- laid out that his client was being asked questions that raised questions of executive privilege. some later reporting over here at nbc news indicated that he

was being asked questions specifically about donald trump's mindset in that time between the 2020 election and between january 6th. what he actually thought about the election results, whether he knew all of these claims that the interim campaign or is bringing -- hot garbage or whether or not he actually believed them. so, i think that that's really something that they want to highlight, but it doesn't necessarily designate, mean that they're not going to bring charges because, of course, donald trump doesn't necessarily have to know that he lost the election or accept that he lost the election, but has no that he should've -- should've known that. i think that that's what prosecutors can make clear as they're all these officials that tell you -- no chance of these cases going through, that they're courts rejected them, and that the way he was trying to go about this process was illegal. >> okay and charles, your legal opinion, what does it say about the case that people are still testifying? does it suggest an indictment may not be so imminent? >> no, i think the notion of evidence is one, excuse, me

that we've been playing with for a while now and it's important to understand and remember that with jack smith initially indicted donald trump, it was literally three weeks after the target letter was sent that he ultimately -- the indictment. so, the notion of imminence is something that's been exploited quite a bit here. i think that's very clear that with jack smith since the target letter to donald trump most recent one, he knows what he's doing. he's simply dotting his eyes and crossing his t's, and creating a space where there will be no doubt that jack smith, as a prosecutor, in his office, is able to meet the threshold required by law, meaning beyond reasonable doubt, in front of a jury of donald trump's peers, in order to secure a conviction. the notion of an indictment not being sort of set in stone because it's taken this long is really not something that people should be investigating, simply because at this point, when that target letter even been sent, that's a fair indication that his office believes that they're going to be -- moving forward. at that level, you don't move

forward without a prosecution, don't move forward without all of the things ducks being placed in a row, so you know we will be able to do your job and do a job effectively. and effectively means a conviction. >> okay, well, lots ahead of us in the coming months, ryan, charles, thank you so much for being with us today. and tomorrow, one of the key january six committee witnesses with a big revelation about jack smith's grand jury. hear from sarah matthews, former trump white house deputy press secretary, sunday at one eastern here on the alex witt report's. marjorie taylor greene has a surprising starring role in a new video. could she help get joe biden reelected? reaction from congressman ro khanna, next. and later, it looks like a desert and it sure feels like one. there's excessive heat warning right now in palm springs. the high today? get this one. 117 degrees. but there is a tiny shred of good news in nearby arizona. it might rain in phoenix soon,

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try nervive. >> vice president kamala harris and, try nervive pain relieving roll-on. back in washington this weekend after taking on governor ron desantis in his home state. in a passionate speech, she slammed for the republicans and their controversial new black history teaching standards. msnbc's allie raffa is in washington, d.c.. and ali, what are we hearing from the vice president? >> yeah, erin, this was arguably the most full-throated and passionate response to these cultural flash points that we are seeing more and more embraced by republicans. this response from vice president kamala harris. she spoke yesterday in jacksonville without a teleprompter and without ever mentioning governor desantis by name. she blasted these new curriculum standards that were approved under his leadership just two days before her trip to florida. she blasted them as erasing

history, saying that these leaders that she calls extremists are trying to replace history with lies, framing this as propaganda, and misinformation. take a listen to a bit more of her speech as well as how governor desantis responded to it, while at a campaign event in utah last night. >> adults know what slavery really was. it involved rape, it involved torture. how is it that anyone could suggest that in the midst of these atrocities, that there was any benefit to being subjected to this level of dehumanization? >> i mean, i thought it was absolutely ridiculous. it's totally outrageous. you guys can look on the website of the florida department of education, and they got a lot of scholars together to do a lot of sanders and a lot of different things. but these are the most robust

standards in african american history, probably anywhere in the country. >> and aaron, these cultural or issues, whether it be book bans, transgender rights, abortion access, these curriculum changes in florida, these are things that the biden campaign, the biden administration is seizing on. they are positioning themselves as the ones who can protect these rights that they say are actively under attack by republicans. so, we are seeing vice president harris evolve and take more of a role being the public face of that campaign. sort of becoming the administration's de facto rapid responder, going to these areas of the country in the immediate aftermath of these legislative decisions by republicans. we are learning even that this trip to florida was planned with around 24 hours notice. so, i would expect to see much more of her taking on this role, erin. >> okay, allie, thank you. joining me now is california congressman ro khanna, a democratic member of the house oversight armed services and select china committees.

congressman, thanks for being with us. how exactly do you interpret this battle over schooling and what do you think florida's intentions are? >> well, i think americans want to learn honest history. that means understanding our founding, declaration of independence, the constitution, but it also means grappling with the fact that we had to undo 50 years of slavery and 100 years of jim crow. and americans are exceptional, precisely because we teach honestly, i hope that we, democrats, will continue to speak for teaching history fully and honestly. >> okay, i want to switch gears a little bit. republican lawmaker standing by donald trump as he faces a possible third indictment. this time over alleged election interference. i want you to take a listen to this and get your action on the other side. >> it's absolute [bleep] that's my reaction. this is the only way that the democrats have to beat president trump. >> every time they indict him, his numbers go up.

>> why are they doing everything they can to prevent him from being on the ballot in 2024? i will tell you why, because donald trump would win in 2024. >> marjorie taylor greene, not mincing words there. at one, point considered indefensible by many republicans is now being defended, as you just saw. what does it say if republicans can't even hold trump accountable? what do you say to them? >> i tell people i got elected in 2016, the same or donald trump was. donald trump today is stronger in the house of representatives with republicans than he was when he was president. and it is sad to me. this president has had nothing to do with these decisions. these are law enforcement decisions by an independent prosecutor, and the president, biden, there's a reason he is winning, and he's winning in all the recent polls, it's because he's focused on improving peoples lives, their economic life, he's focused on bringing manufacturing back, he's focused on doing the job. ultimately, i think people are going to say, do we really want

a president who's got all these lawsuits? it's going to have the ability to focus on improving our lives and do the job of the presidency? >> yeah, the republicans want the focus to switch over to the biden investigation, two irs whistleblowers testified before the house oversight committee, alleging that the doj probe into hunter biden was mishandled. here is your exchange with one of those agents. >> can you give us a percentage of how often you've said, we ought to charge someone and they've said, no, that may not be a good idea? >> yeah, i would say, i mean, just ball parking, the vast majority of what we do and that is why they're advisory. >> do you have respect for them? >>. they're advisory. >> do you have respect for them? >> most prosecutors >> it's a simple question, sir. do you respect those colleagues or not? >> often, their opinion is not respected by me. >> do you respect them? >> and by prosecutors. >> he really didn't give you a straight answer there. did you leave the hearing

feeling that the standard of evidence required for these allegations wasn't met? >> well, look, i respect mr. chapel, but what i was showing him, what he admitted to, is that he often makes a recommendation to charge people and he's overruled or has disagreement with his own colleagues in the irs criminal tax division. then this is a pattern, this is often the case that agents tend to be more aggressive, than when it comes to the actual judicial process of law enforcement, that there is a disagreement. and, so what this showed, clearly, is that there was no special treatment with hunter biden, that this is someone who has a more zealous view of prosecution in cases that have nothing to do with hunter biden. >> okay and congressman, more on today's breaking news that north korea firing several cruise missiles overnight. but still remains silent on that detained american soldier. how challenging will it be

communicating with north korea and what will be the biggest challenge in bringing private travis king home? >> well, it is a challenge because the lines of communication are not very good. i have a lot of confidence in secretary blinken. i know that he's putting a huge priority on bringing home the service members safely, and making sure that he's treated safely. but i had supported with president carter of where merck to move beyond the armistice, to engage with north korea, precisely so that we can have some kind of diplomatic efforts in situations like these. and i think we really need to look at the type of engagement that can move beyond the 1953 armistice. >> and we just saw a soundbite from marjorie taylor greene and apparently now president biden has found an unexpected messenger for him. take a listen to this. >> joe biden had the largest

public investment in social infrastructure and environmental programs that is actually finishing what fdr started, that lbj expanded on, and joe biden is attempting to complete. programs to address education, medical care, urban problems, rural poverty, transportation, medicare, medicaid, labor unions, and he still is working on it. >> okay, so more than 30 million watched the ad in its first 12 hours online. how strong is this message? not just for the president, but for the party, in general? >> wow, i hadn't seen that yet, but, you know, if she wants to compare president biden to lincoln and george washing ton, that's great. i mean, who wouldn't want to be compared to fdr? one of the most popular presidents who won world war ii and got us out of the great depression, in -- the country, so, that is a fantastic and i think it is true. i think joe biden,

fundamentally, is wanting to complete some of the work of the new deal with an economic bill of rights, bringing manufacturing back, and i'm glad representative greene recognizes that. >> yeah, 30 million views there. the house oversight committee will hear from witnesses on ufos next week. national spokesman, john kirby, had a surprising revelation on ufos and the military, take a listen. >> some of these phenomena, we know, have already had an impact on our training ranges. you know, when pilots are out trying to do training in the air and they see these things, not sure what they are, they can have an impact on their ability to perfect their skills. so, already had an impact here. and we just want to better understand it. >> so, translate that for me. is that a confirmation there are ufos? and do you expect this to be further confirmed, if the answer is yes, in your hearing? >> i have no idea.

i certainly have not seen any information that would lead me to believe this. you know, i did with mike gallagher twitter space with elon musk and one of the points he actually made is that there is no evidence yet in all of these galaxies of alien life or unidentified objects. what that should give us is a -- how rare consciousness in human life is, and how we should actually make this -- appreciate life in peace even more. and so, i'm open to finding out more, but i think the lesson is, let's care about climate, let's care about peace, and let's care about preserving human life on the planet. >> all right, we'll put. thank you, congressman, for being with us today. enjoy your weekend. >> thank you. >> we've been waiting and wondering on capitol hill about a vote that could change what's written in history books about the presidency of donald j trump. we will be right back. j trump. we will be right back. we will be right back. l of the things that you're looking for in a pad, that is always discreet. look at how it absorbs all of the liquid. and locking it right on in! you feel no wetness.

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congressional calendar, republicans are watching and waiting to see if house speaker kevin mccarthy would schedule a vote to expunge donald trump's two impeachments before the august recess. nbc's julie tsirkin joins us now. julie how likely is this vote? >> you said it yourself. for days and it will be occupied much of those days will be occupied by the national defense authorization act. that's that must pass bill congress has to pass every single year. look lack of floor time is a

welcome notice for vulnerable republicans specifically who privately expressed their concerns about what this vote could mean for them. especially those who narrowly flipped democratic strongholds or narrowly won districts that went from biden in 2020. mccarthy though for his part, while he denies a deal was made with the former president certainly supports the idea. watch what he told my colleague brian, noble, this week. >> there's no deal but i made it very clear. from on the floor, when i voted against impeachments, that i did it for purely political purposes. i support [inaudible] deal out there. take the source and you'll realize [inaudible] >> of course, there is no precedent for this. democrats are quick to point out, they're not even sure this is constitutionally sound. but there is a bill that exists that came from mccarthy's number four, at least a phonic, and cardinals woman marjorie taylor greene, to do just that. to expunge that two impeachments after former

president from 2019 and 2021 after january six. mccarthy is going to have to make a choice, right? while he is publicly saying he supports this idea, he knows this could put his members and his speakership gavel with that narrow five seat majority in a bind. so we'll see what happens here, but it's not likely that it's going to happen anytime soon. >> all right. i do want to ask you, julie, about what appears to be the summer of strikes. another story, you've been following related to the labor movement, the actors strike is now in its second week. with the novelty of those pick up lines where you see wearing off. you wrote a big scoop on this. tell us about what you found out? >> not only the strike in hollywood, but u.p.s. is returning to the table next week to the gushy eight with those employees who are on the verge of a strike themselves. that would have the most consequential impact in american history, and look. democrat-controlled senate, democrats in the white house, unions are feeling emboldened as they told the white house to stay out of these negotiations, but yesterday, i reported a scoop as you mentioned, the

national rate labor relations board, the entity that basically governs workplace democracy, ensuring workers unionized, half the rights to collective bargaining, for example. there is a big vacancy that can potentially laps over that august recess, when congress is going to be out of town. i'm told union leaders are furious with democratic leadership in congress for what they say is not prioritizing those appointments to these crucial boards, especially on a summer of strikes like you laid out here. we'll see what happens in the coming weeks with this, but if and wilcox turns on the board lapses, that could be in big trouble for the unions who are looking to the board to have their back and all of this. >> all right, julie tsirkin thank you for that report. it is a collision course for the legal system in the presidential election calendar. next, a new take on the decision this week, that is making a lot of heads spin. ♪ ♪ huh, huh, so did their dog roger. ♪ ♪

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the justice department's classified documents case against donald trump has set a trial date. judge aileen cannon announced the proceedings will begin on may 20th, 2024. rejecting trump's request to delay the trial until after the presidential election. that's bring in peter baker msnbc political analyst, chief white house correspondent for the new york times, and coauthor of the divider. trump in the white house. peter, thanks for being with us. the doj have asked for december

11th. trump lawyers asked for postelection, 2024. she landed at may, 2024. is this a compromise? >> well, it is obviously just geographic, colonel logically, right down the middle. but it's an extraordinary day, if you really think about. it it's going to put this trial right in the thick of the election, right? by this point, 2024, we presumably will know who the republican nominee is, that's when most of the moments are held in the size of primaries, and two months before the republican national convention that will formally anointed that nominee. obviously, it will be the start of the general election season between the republican and democratic candidates. so it, to have a trial, one person who, could in fact be that nominee in the middle of that, is extraordinary. obviously, there is no precedent for that in american history. >> and how will this sort of lay out and affect the campaign trail? and trump's schedule? >> well, it's not even just this trial, there's so many other legal issues confronting

president trump that are going to you know consumers, time and energy. there's a two other possible indictments that may happen. there's a trial in new york over the hush money case. there are civil trials that are scheduled. they're expected to be scheduled in the coming months. he has so many different motions and lawyers and court appearances and so forth, that you can imagine, that will keep him busy, even has he is opposed to be on the trail, holding rallies and we think voters and making speeches and the like. so, it's going to be very complicated, juggling match. on the other hand, he is uses legal trials as a part of his political campaign. so in some ways, the two are merged. he says over and over again, this is a witch hunt, and he uses the prosecutions against him to chin up support among his base, which thinks that he is being unfairly persecuted. >> right sort, of playing the victim role, and you, now a new survey is predicting that if trump is, in fact, the nominee, he will lose swing districts to president biden. this is according to two

pollsters, one of whom worked both on trump's prior presentation, and is now working for super pac supporting his third. what is your reaction to this, considering that source? >> i mean obviously, all polls you have to take with a grain of salt. but what we see consistently, if that president trump, former president trump, obviously, has good support within the republican party. he's way ahead of his rival for the nomination, but beyond, that he hasn't built any support outside of people who already voted for him in 2020. who's going to vote for him in 2024 who didn't vote for him in 2020? that's the big question. so, if you can't build on the space, the only way he wins a general election is by the press the other side. our democratic voters, independents voted for president biden last time around, still going to turn out for the democratic candidate? it's going to be president biden, we assume, at the moment. or will they find reasons to stay home? and so it is an open question. clearly, these indictments and legal troubles don't help them with the independence he needs to bring back to his candidacy,

if he wants to win a general election. for the moment, he's also just focus on the republican nomination. >> turning to president biden's reelection run, this, week he released a new campaign video, with a surprise guest. guess who probably did want to be seen in that video? congressman marjorie taylor greene. let's take a. look >> joe biden had the largest public investment in social infrastructure, environmental programs, that is actually finishing what fdr started, that lbj expanded on, and joe biden is attempting to complete. >> the president has repeatedly talked about congresswoman greene on the campaign trail. she has been called his quote, favorite bogeyman. what is this strategy behind all this? >> yeah, well what's ironic here, of course, is democrats for months have been frustrated that president biden hasn't been able to distill his message to a compelling, you know, single kind of distilled

version of it that would get through to voters. here, in fact, it turns out that marjorie taylor greene has accomplished what democrats have been frustrated the president hasn't been able to do himself! right? he is making these bidenomic speeches and talking about his record and how people ought to support him, but there, and the course of maybe 30 seconds or so, president biden's message is still exactly as he would do it in the best-case scenario, trying to get across the voters. this is what he's up for. he cares about rural poverty and urban problems and fixing the infrastructure and working on medicaid and all these issues that she talked about. she, obviously, sees that as a negative. she's talking to her side of the ideological spectrum. but president biden looks at this is exactly the message he wants to get across the 2024, not the messenger he expected to give. >> yeah, she gave him a nicely wrapped gift. thank you so much for your insight. it may be a dog whistle on full blast, and boy, had a lot of people hear it. these three articles are among the top five most read on the

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you it does contain images that might be upsetting to some viewers. the song and video is receiving fierce backlash over its lyrics and for featuring a courthouse, where a black teenager was lynched. lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are weighing in. >> i am shocked by what i'm seeing in this country. we have people attempting to cancel the song, and cancel jason, and his beliefs, and him and brittany are outspoken about their love for law and order, and for their love of this country, and i'm just grateful for them. >> there's no accident he filmed this on the site of the marie county courthouse, with the race riots happened, and where as well as the 1927 lynching of a young man, who was 18 years old, henry cho, occurred. this song is about normalizing racist violence, vigilante-ism, and white nationalism. those lyrics in the lyrics already make it down the road, i, mean this is a lynching anthem. >> joining me now is shannon

watts, founder of moms demand action for gun sense in america. shannon, thanks for being with us. i think it's important to note that all dean was on stage during the 2017 mass shooting at a las vegas music festival, we are 58 people were killed, and more than 400 were wounded. so, that being said, what was your reaction when you first heard and saw, when you first heard the song and saw the video? also, you took credit for the cmt's decision stopped playing video. how did you have a hand and getting that video pulled? >> you know i came across the lyrics online, and the phone came out in may. i was just shocked to read them. as you mentioned, jason aldean was on stage one hundreds of people were shot and wounded. 60 were killed. and the fact that he would write a song, or at least, sing a song that was written for him, saying that if someone has to regulate guns, they deserve to

be shot? if someone burns the flag, which is an expression of free speech, they deserve to be shot? it was shocking to read that. something a gun violence survivor was singing. so, i just tweeted about it. my tweet went viral. many other people joined in. ultimately, cmt decided not from any pressure specifically from meat reaching out to them, but just because they wanted to do the right thing, and they pulled the video. because when you pair that song with the incredibly incendiary images in the video, this is not an argument about censorship. this is about giving racist violence a platform, and it's also about the fact that aldean it's clearly cashing in on this right wing fantasy of violent retribution. >> and i know you mentioned you tweeted that. cmt still hasn't commented on why, exactly, it's pulled the video. it hasn't responded to nbc's request, either.

but i know when you see, do you think it's a near coincidence he is performing in front of that infamous courthouse? is he trying to glorify, in some way, lynching as many critics he said he? is >> this song celebrates armed vigilantism. the video is clearly an ode to a son downtown. it conflates protests and flag burning and gone by regulation with violent crime. it includes black lives matter protests imagery. in the country, where gun violence is the leading cause of death for young people, and it disproportionately effects black communities, how we talk and sing and write and show videos about guns matters. and given that jason aldean is a gun violence survivors shame on him for cashing in on this file fantasy of retribution. >> you mentioned the lyrics. some of the leader the lyrics, we want to go over, one says,

quote, trite that in a small town. which aldean didn't obviously right, but he recorded. there is several descriptions of crimes being committed, as he mentioned. followed by a warning not to quote, try that in a small town. suggesting there will be violent consequences for those actions. talk to me about the culture of gun extremism and the revenge rhetoric that permeates on the far right, and the cost that permissive gun laws have in southern states in particular? >> well, when you combine lax gun laws by like shoot first, also called stand your ground, or permit-less carry, open carrie, it's not surprising we see simple misunderstandings turned into these horrific shootings of young people. many people of color, we've seen that over and over again this year. someone running the wrong doorbell. someone getting into the wrong car. somebody playing in the wrong driveway or driving into the wrong driveway. this is because mostly men with guns shot first and asked questions later. that is the shameful american

reality. but gun lobby in this country has created, and it's one that jason aldean is helping to promote and profiting from. it's one where paranoid community members, who are heavily armed, and on edge, they feel like they can shoot to kill with no warning. they're entitled to do that. so, this is the logical outcome of lax gun laws combined with paranoid extremism. >> this will likely not be the last conversation we have about this song and video. shannon watts, thanks for joining us. and it was another weeks of whiplash headlines about donald trump. i have a guest who is going to sort through these and makes sense of them, at the top of our next hour. we'll be right back. ight back.

sleepovers just aren't what they used to be. a house full of screens? basically no hiccups? you guys have no idea how good you've got it. how old are you? like, 80? back in my day, it was scary stories and flashlights. we don't get scared. oh, really? mom can see your search history.

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sacramento, where temperatures could hit 107 degrees today. the city set a record high yesterday, records could also be set across arizona, including tucson, where today could be the eighth straight day with temps above 110. but thunderstorms and even blowing dust are possible this afternoon. las vegas is on a hot streak, to. the city could set a record for today at 115 degrees. and in california that tele-valley, palm springs is likely to approach 120 today. the city tied an all-time high for that day yesterday. and the u.s. is not alone in battling the heat. take a look at the temperatures across europe. expected to soar into the triple digits. crews in greece are battling a wildfire, rather, that's been, burning for days. nbc's josh lederman is in athens. josh, how are people they're coping with this unrelenting

heat? i guess we shouldn't be complaining too much. >> that's right, aaron. two words really come to mind. exhaustion and frustration. exhaustion, because people here in greece and southern european dealing with this for just so long. we heard today from the head of greeks, preece's meteorological institute, saying that they, are anticipating this could be 16 to 17 consecutive days of heat wave, which would be the longest heat wave in this country's recorded history. he says this weekend could be the hottest july weekend in some 50 years. so, this is something that people have been dealing with for so long, and really struggling to find ways to safely live in this type of climate. the frustration kicks in, because of how this has really impacted peoples lives. people are being told to stay indoors if they can, to work from home if possible. and here at the acropolis, just behind, me we walked up to the entrance to see whether people

were able to get in, and we saw all kinds of tourists who have showed up. they are being turned away, not allowed, and because that's and other cultural sites are shut down during the parts of the day when it is too hot here. over in the island of roads, a big tourist hotspots, some 1600 people have been evacuated due to those wildfires, erin. >> it's just crazy temperatures. josh, thank you for that. and a programming note, tim heavy, former lead investigator for the house january six committee, joins me shortly to talk about new reporting on mark meadows text messages plus the so-called war room meetings attended by several trump associates. that's coming up in just a few minutes. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> good day from msnbc world headquarters in new york, welcome to alex witt reports, i'm erin no hern in for alex. we begin with breaking news. south korea confirming that