that is mr. stone's on the record denial. we wanted to bring it to you as a matter of our reporting. we have ms. hutchinson's story under oath and mr. stone's denial online. you can always find me online at ari melber. thanks for joining us. "the reidout" starts now. tonight on "the reidout" -- >> live them or hate them, the proud boys aren't going anywhere. we're here to stay. >> oh, no, they're not going anywhere, former proud boys leader enrique tarrio said in an interview last year, but a bunch of them will be taking their far right extremism to prison, including tarrio, who just a short time ago received a very long sentence for seditious conspiracy. also tonight, new reporting

that special council jack smith is looking into trump's fund-raising off false voter fraud claims. as some of trump's codefendants may be getting ready to throw trump under the bus. plus, the extreme gerrymandered maps that helped republicans win the house are now rapidly getting struck down by the courts. alabama is just the latest state to feel the judge's wrath. good evening. i'm jonathan capehart in for joy reid. we begin tonight with breaking news. the former national chairman of one of the most prominent neofascist white supremacist militia groups in the country is going to prison. henry enrika tarrio was sentenced just a short time ago to 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy in connection with the january 6th attack on the capitol. that is the longest sentence in any january 6th case so far. but notably less than the 33 years prosecutors were asking for. judge timothy kelly told the

court, quote, i don't have any indication that he's remorseful for the actual things that he's convicted of. tarrio is the last of the five proud boys defendants to be sentenced. other leaders in that group as well as the oath keepers are facing sentences between 10 and 18 years in prison. all of which is considerably less than what the prosecutors asked for. now, even though tarrio was seen the night before the insurrection in a capitol hill parking garage alongside stewart rhodes, he wasn't actually at the capitol on january 6th. he was at a hotel in baltimore. the proud boys leader was arrested days prior for his actions at another pro-trump rally where he burned a black lives matter banner that he stole from a d.c. church and was ordered to stay out of the city. still, prosecutors today called tarrio's behavior a calculated act of terrorism and warned that

the proud boys came dangerously close to succeeding in their plot to use violence to overturn the 2020 election, telling the judge, there was a very real possibility we were going to wake up on january 7th in a full-blown constitutional crisis with the federal government in complete chaos. that is what revolution means, and that is what he openly perused, and that is what he very nearly achieved. and it didn't take rifles and explosives. joining me now, frank figliuzzi, former fbi assistant director for counterintelligence and msnbc national security analyst. and andy campbell, senior editor at the huffington post and author of the book, we are proud boys, how a right-wing street gang ushered in a new era of american extremism. frank, andy, thank you both very much for coming to "the reidout." frank, your reaction to not only tarrio's sentence but also the

sentences of all these high level proud boys and oath keepers who have gotten far less than what prosecutors asked for. >> yeah, there's good news and bad news with these sentences of the proud boys. that is that they're stiff, severe, but often as with enrique tarrio today, under the guidelines range for federal sentencing guidelines. particularly interesting to me is the fact the judge, judge kelly today, as he's done before with proud boys, has allowed what's called a terrorism enhancement. that is, while we have no federal law against terrorism, if you committed crimes and they're terrorist related, you can get dinged for that at sentencing with an enhancement. he allowed that to happen, but yet he came in under the guidelines, which would have started the discussion at 27 years. so i'm not satisfied that these are severe enough, but they do send a message to people like

tarrio and others who are contemplating violence on behalf of their ideology. >> so given what you just said, frank, so then the terrorism enhancement made no difference in tarrio's sentencing, did it? >> well, it's possible. i can't get inside judge kelly's head, but it's possible without allowing the terrorism enhancement we would have seen an even lower sentence. that is possible. the judge is allowed to go below sentencing guidelines or above if he or she wants to. the concern here that i'm having is, this judge seems not to understand that what tarrio did should be listed in the dictionary next to the definition of domestic terrorism. we defined domestic terrorism in the law, and it is what tarrio did. it's the use of force to intimidate or coerce a civilian population or a government or its conduct for policy or

political ideology. that's what he did. he's a terrorist, and he will spend more than two decades in prison. >> well, sure, he'll spend more than two decades in prison, but now, i'm sitting here agreeing with you, frank. why are they getting sentences that are les than what prosecutors are asking for, given what they're accused of doing, and also given what we watched live on television that fateful day? >> you know, i think what we're seeing very interestingly, is similar issue to what law enforcement and the intelligence community was wrestling with in the days and weeks prior to january 6th. that is the seeming inability to see ourselves as a threat, particularly a terrorist threat, right, our own american citizens, and now it seems to me this problem has now fallen on the bench. the federal bench, that's also looking at this going, i don't know. nothing really blew up. i'm not sure. this doesn't look like a bombing to me.

i don't get it. and they're not understanding the reality we're living in today, which is that the domestic terrorism problem is here to stay. we have an insurgency in the country that needs to be dealt with, and it does match the definition of domestic terrorism. >> andy, you quite literally wrote the book on the proud boys. talk about who exactly enrique tarrio is, and where did his influence come from? >> right, enrique tarrio has been the proud boys chairman since 2018, when their founder stepped down. he got involved in politics around the same time as trump rose in miami-dade county, florida. and it was there that he met people like roger stone, trump's top confidante, and also members of the proud boys. he realized that through the proud boys he could put a violent edge to his political grievances.

that's exactly what the proud boys do for a living. and so he took the mantle here and realized that if the proud boys are seen as a fight gang on the street, they're going to dissolve pretty quickly. so he wanted to make them more of a political monster. and sure enough, like you said, am proud boys probably aren't going away because a lot of them have been running for office as enrique tarrio told them, and even as their leaders sit behind bars today, the proud boys are mobilizing at rapid clip. they're taking local seats at school boards and local republican committees in florida. they're really trying to go for something more politically legitimate here, and enrique tarrio was a big part of making that happen for them. >> i want to pick up on your quote here, turning the proud boys into a political monster. tarrio delivered a statement to the judge today before he was sentenced in which he said, and i quote, i am not a political

zealot. when i get back home, i want nothing to do with politics, groups, activism, or rallies. you buy that? >> well, tarrio between jail stints talked to me on the phone and told me that going forward, he would lie directly to anyone asking him about his involvement with the proud boys or the national organization. so he's a self-described liar. but again, his affect and the proud boys' affect through january 6th on american politics, judge kelly hit the nail on the head. he said this week, that day broke our tradition of peacefully transferring power which is among one of the most precious things we had as americans. notice we said had, we don't have it anymore. that's a really important point, the way that the proud boys affected american politics going forward is they have dissolved the trust and safety element of our election process. and so we are in a new crisis following january 6th, one that's not going to be tamped

down with these sentences. >> andy, i'm picking up on what you just said, you talked to enrique tarrio a couple times. just wondering, how do you think he's reacting to his sentence? >> i mean, i think every proud boy who got sentenced over the last week did some element of crying on the stand. some of them saying they regretted their actions and that they were kind of caught up in the moment or argued trump made them do it, but these are guys who are very good at projecting themselves as legitimate people, and normalized citizens, but in reality, they're excited about what they did, all of them celebrated in the immediate aftermath. tarrio said two hours after the january 6th rioters stood down that he would do it again and he would have kept the capitol if he were there physically. i think they're sad about the sentences and i also think they

and their proud boys members who aren't in jail today are still excited about what they were able to get going. >> and to that point, frank, i want to show people and remind people of a very notable moment from the first 2020 presidential debate. watch this. >> are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups? >> you want to call them -- what do you want to call them? >> white supremacists. >> who do you want me to condemn? >> proud boys. >> stand back and stand by. >> and so frank, two quick questions. how much do you think that message from the then president influenced the proud boys to do what they did on january 6th, and do you think that the sentences that have been meted out to the proud boys will dissuade people from acting on what the then president said in 2020? >> so we don't need to engage in

congenkture as to what the trump statement stand back and stand by for the proud boys, some have told us what it did. it increased membership and empowered and inspired them. they saw that as kind of a call to action. whether trump meant it or not really doesn't matter. that was the effect that it had on them. as for severe sentences, again, it's a good news/bad news scenario. i liken it to my work in international terrorism during my career because with al qaeda, for example, when you take the head off the snake, when you either imprison or neutralize international terrorist leaders, that's a good thing. they can't direct and coordinate, command and control, but what happens to the group is they become decentralized and morph and transform into something else. and that's what's happening to the proud boys. and andy mentioned it, you're talking about people now running for office, going local as they say. pta meetings, board of ed meetings, election volunteers.

this is in a way almost worse because you don't necessarily know where to find them, and they don't look like they're about to commit violence, but it could be even worse because what they're about to commit is an attempt to steal democracy away from americans. that's the concern. >> stealing democracy under the guise of law, following the law. frank and andy, thank you both very much for coming to "the reidout." up next on "the reidout," trump's white house chief of staff pleads not guilty to taking part in a plot to overturn election results in georgia amid fresh signs that trump's codefendants are already starting to turn against him. "the reidout" continues after this.

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. donald trump and his 18 codefendants in the georgia election interference case were scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow in a fulton county courtroom. but all of them have now waived that right and have entered pleas of not guilty. and while all of them have followed trump's lead in waiving their court appearance, it does not appear that all of them are showing their unwavering support for him. politico reports that some have already begun placing the blame at the feet of the twice impeached, four times indicted on 91 counts former president. including three of the georgia fake electors, shaun still, kathleen lathem, and david

schaefer who have asserted their actions were taken at trump's direction. and trump's former white house chief of staff, mark meadows, used his hearing last week to downplay his role, including in the infamous phone call with georgia secretary of state brad raffensperger, especially compared to trump's role. meadows' lawyer pointed to his client's limited speaking role on the call and in court asked raffensperger, quote, he didn't make a request that you change the vote totals, mr. meadows himself? correct, raffensperger replied. and in pure trump fashion, the famed grifter is continuing to fund-raise not only on his mugshot but also on the fact that he isn't even appearing at tomorrow's arraignment, all while continuing his attacks on fulton county district attorney fani willis. joining me now, former u.s. attorney barbara mcquade, professor at the university of michigan law school. and msnbc legal analyst.

and tia mitchell, washington correspondent for the atlanta journal constitution. thank you both very much for coming to "the reidout." barb, let me start with you. how likely it is we'll see more of the codefendants point the blame at trump? >> i think we're going to see quite a bit of this, jonathan. it's milder and we'll see things like i was acting at the direction of the former president. i was just following orders. my job is to do what he asked me to do. i think, though, those defenses are likely to fail because following an illegal order is itself illegal. but one other point to remember is in addition to the 18 codefendants in the georgia indictment, there are 30 unindicted coconspirators. those are people already signed up to cooperate against donald trump. so often we see that cooperators as the trial date nears increase in number. so among those 19 people on the defendant list, i think we can see a paring down of that number as more agree to cooperate and

cut themselves a deal to get lenience in their sentencing. >> you know, tomorrow, judge mcafee will hold a hearing to consider the motions by chesebro and sidney powell to sever their trials from the other codefendants. legally, could the judge say to everybody, whether they have asked for a speedy trial or not or severance or not, you're all going to trial in october? >> he could in theory but i think it's unlikely. that's because he wants to make sure that the defendants all get due process. and i think the request to have additional time to prepare for trial seems reasonable. october strikes me as quite quick. a defendant has a right to a speedy trial but is not required to have a speedy trial. they are required to sufficient time to get their defense together. the government, of course, also has a right to a speedy trial, so a judge has to balance those interests. it seems motorcycle leerily the likely outcome is to sever the

cases, allow those who want the speedy trial to go to trial in october and for the others, set another trial date, maybe see how this list gets pared down based on guilty pleas and set a trial date more reasonable for the remaining defendants. >> so tia, as we all know, fulton county d.a. fani willis, she brought a rico charge. that's why all 19 of these folks are jammed into this one case. but if judges grant the motions to sever these cases, is the d.a. prepared to try not one big case but say three, four or 17 individual cases? >> i think if we were to ask d.a. willis if she had to do it all separately could she, i think she would say yes. you know, she's said all along that she's taken this very seriously and tried to be as thorough as possible, as deliberate as possible.

that being said, that would not be her wish. that would not be her preference. i think she probably knows at this point, especially with those who asked for a speedy trial, that she won't be able to prosecute all 19 together. maybe she knew that all along. and i think they're prepared for perhaps going in groups. but if they decide to do them all individually, that would become very cumbersome just from a logistics standpoint, but i think she would be prepared to roll with whatever came her way. >> you know, barb, today, ken chesebro, this afternoon, he filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against him completely, and saying any illegal actions he may have taken would be a violation of federal law, not state law, under the supremacy clause that charges against him are invalid. i'm no lawyer, but that seems

like a hail mary pass. i mean, your thoughts on this. is that even going to stand up? >> i don't think so. i think for those defendants who were federal officers at the time they engaged in the conduct that's alleged in the indictment, i think they have got a plausible argument here. i think ultimately it fails because what it looks at is if they are acting solely within the four corners of their job description, then they are entitled to governmental immunity, but to the extent they were acting beyond the scope of their authority, even mark meadows, if he's doing campaign activity, instead of doing his job as chief of staff, he doesn't have that defense. and so for someone like kenneth chesebro who was not even a federal official at the time of the alleged conduct, i think that defense is much less valid. now, it does say or people acting under their direction, so maybe he's latching on to that language, but i think it fails not only for kenneth chesebro

but even though who were actually federal officers at the time of the conduct alleged in the indictment. >> you know, tia, i'm sitting here thinking about the actions that special counsel jack smith is continuing to do in his cases, even though indictments have been handed down. he's still investigating. the fund-raising angle. i'm wondering, in fulton county, even though she's got this big rico case, is she, is d.a. fani willis still continuing to investigate, run down leads in this case and might we see more indictments down the road? >> i mean, i would never say never because i am not on the inside. but i will say that the indications from the fulton county case is that they did a lot of their homework in advance. remember, they had that special grand jury that talked to witnesses, kind of went very wide as we have seen with looking at the case from all

aspects. so when the regular grand jury, when fani willis brought potential charges and asked them to indict and they did, those 19, it's really the fulton county case is already very broad. you're talking about election interference, but in very different ways, with false testimony to legislative hearings, the -- the abuse toward the election workers, the breach of the machines in coffee county. so i think fulton is pretty broad, but again, i'm not on the inside so i'll never say never. >> and barb, one more quick question to you. jury selection in the trial of former white house aide peter navarro for refusing to testify to the house january 6th hearings started today. and navarro claims trump authorized him to ignore a subpoena from congress, and "the new york times" writes, describing mr. navarro's defense as, quote, pretty weak sauce.

the judge emphasized he presented no written communications or even a smoke signal that would bolster his contention. i still don't know what the president said, judge meadows said, i don't have any words from the former president. i don't think anyone would disagree that we wish there was more here from former president trump. mr. navarro's lawyer replied, now, given navarro is prepared to face prison for trump and trump is nowhere to be seen helping navarro, what do you think trump's other codefendants should take from this case? >> yeah, so peter navarro is essentially begging donald trump to step in and say yes, i want to exert executive privilege here, you were doing this for me. instead, he's getting crickets, complete radio silence. i think it demonstrates what we have seen again and again. with donald trump, loyalty is a one-way street. so i think other defendants should take note that if they're looking for donald trump to offer some help, that help is

unlikely to be coming. >> barbara mcquade, tia mitchell, thank you very much. up next, the courts step in to defend democracy against republican attempts to gerrymander its way to perpetual political power. we'll be right back. wolf: don't mind me. i'm just the flu. (coughing, sneezing) i'm quite harmless, really. and when people ask, “but aren't you linked to dangerous flu complications... ( coughing, sneezing.) ...like pneumonia, heart attack, and hospitalizations?” (coughing, gasping.) ...i just say, “but i'm just the flu.” (sniffs) (elevator dings) it's him! who? i'm just the flu. fight the flu with higher-dose flu vaccines from sanofi. they're proven to provide better flu protection than standard-dose flu shots in older adults. they've even been shown to better protect against flu-related complications. don't get fluzone® high-dose quadrivalent... ...if you've had a severe allergic reaction to its components... ...including egg products, or after previous dose of flu vaccine.

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house republicans are working with one of the narrowest majorities in u.s. history, and it would be even closer if not for aggressive republican gerrymandering in southern states. including alabama, florida, georgia, and south carolina. in june, alabama was repudiated by the u.s. supreme court for drawing a congressional map that violated the voting rights act by diluting the power of black voters. the decision that could also impact the other states i mentioned. recognizing the threat to their slim majority, republicans in the alabama legislature ignored the supreme court's directive and submitted a new map that for a second time failed to create two majority black districts as demanded by the courts. today, a three-judge federal court panel rejected the new map and ordered a special master to draw up new districts for the state. the judges wrote, we have now said twice that this voting rights act case is not close. and we are deeply troubled that

the state enacted a map that the state readily admits does not provide the remedy we said federal law requires. we are disturbed by the evidence that the state delayed remedial proceedings but ultimately did not even nurture the ambition to provide the required remedy. late this afternoon, alabama's attorney general announced he would appeal the decision directly to the u.s. supreme court, and here's why. in july, the alabama political reporter news site reported that alabama republicans with the help of speaker kevin mccarthy intentionally ignored the court because they had intelligence that justice brett kavanaugh would be open to rehearing the case. joining me now, the president of the national democratic redistricting committee and cornell belcher, democratic poll sister and strategist and msnbc political analyst.

thank you both very much for being here. john, what exactly does this mean for alabama? >> thank you so much. so when attorney general holder founded our organization, it was founded on democracy and fairness. that's what you're seeing play out in the courtroom today. and the exciting thing is that for alabama, black voters for the first time in many years are going to have the ability to elect a member to congress of their choice. and that's not something that they currently have. so we're facing a new reality on the precipice of this next election cycle that currently has been barred by republican gerrymandering. >> but, i mean, and that's great. that is the glass half full view. but the supreme court told them, don't do this, go back and do it again, and they said no. i mean, you guys, your whole job is to anticipate these sorts of things. is that something you anticipated? >> that's right, and i think the reality of what you're asking is that we do find ourselves in an era of perpetual redistricting.

many people think of redistricting in cycles or ten-year cycles, after the census, it happens shortly thereafter and we're facing a reality where changes are happening very, very quickly, and frequently, and our cases are not going to stop because republicans continually block fairness. >> and you know, cornell, i get stuck on this point that the supreme court said alabama, do this, and alabama said, this is 1960 calling. we're not going to listen to you. >> well, you know, this story connects to the story that you were just covering. there is a lawlessness and a i don't give a darn about the rule of law that is permeating through particularly the republican party right now. and in a way that you can clearly see. they don't care actually what the courts say. you are going to have to make them disenfranchise african

americans. it's also a story as old as the south. right? my father used to say, as a southerner, you know, blacks and whites can always figure out ways to get along in the south. blacks just couldn't have power. and the moments that blacks waucht to have power, that dynamic begins to change. so this has been a defining issue for i would argue american history since world war ii where african americans and people of color try to fight to get franchised, try to fight to get political power, and those playing tribal politics trying to block them from getting political power. >> fight for political power that is guaranteed to them by the u.s. constitution. how quickly, john, will we see, say, these alabama maps and maps in other states -- >> louisiana, florida, georgia. >> how soon will they be in place for the 2024 presidential election? >> we do anticipate that relief. it's critical we get it, because

again, as you noted previously, these are constitutional realities. we tell our kids when they go to school that they liver in a democracy, that values the vote, and right now, in alabama, there are individuals that their vote doesn't count. insuring that is critical. >> so i read from this story in the alabama reporter where, you know, it's this strategy. they have this intelligence that justice brett kavanaugh wants to reconsider this case that they were ignoring because the whole goal is to invalidate section 2 of the voting rights act, which would completely just -- it would no longer be in existence. and what's interesting here is as they write, a plan concocted by d.c. based attorneys and championed by alabama attorney general steve marshall, the same person who today is filing to get this alabama case directly

to the u.s. supreme court. >> yeah, i think that we're going to continue to see them throw everything against the wall. that's something we have been anticipating, and been preparing for. i mean, we're not backing down. this is going to be a long, complicated fight. but we're here for it. that's the exciting part. >> we also have to acknowledge that the fix might be in. i mean, given what you have seen happen, would you be surprised if in fact the fix is in and they know if they get this case back to brett kavanaugh, he's going to do their bidding. i wouldn't be surprised. i think when you look at where the majority of americans are right now on their respect for the supreme court, i don't think any of us would be surprised by it. >> as the story goes on to say according to sources, alabama attorney general steve marshall is the main driver behind the non-compliance strategy. then, there are bigger implications here than just alabama districts or even

compliance with the supreme court. we're talking about control of the house of representatives. how concerning is it, cornell, that the speaker of the house is part of all this? i guess it gets to what you were just saying. when you said the fix was in, i guess that's what you were getting at. >> the fix is in. look, they had -- the republicans just had, and look at all the data, it says they just had an electoral that was as republican as they have had in a long time, and democrats picked up senate seats and photropens to a draw, which was supposed to be a tsunami election. they're not going to get a better election than they just had and they barely took the house by a narrow margin. if come 2024, and we see normal sized turnout and see people of color engaging, and we see voting maps that are not rigged, the republican party, they're no longer a majority party. they haven't been a majority

party in some time. when was the last time a republican won the majority. they're no longer the majority party and they know this. that's why i argue the fix is in. >> infix is in, but as cornell said, people get out and vote and they come out and vote, as they did in the 2022 midterm elections, you can stop the red wave. you can stop these efforts. but is that reason enough -- i mean, basically, do you get to sit back and relax because these gerrymandered districts are being knocked back by the courts? >> no. we haven't been sitting back and relaxing for a long time. i think the reality is, we're going to have to fight every step of the way because of all of the barriers republicans continue to throw up. and cornell, you're completely right. republican party currently is becoming uncomfortably comfortable with minority rule. and that's a situation that we're dealing with in alabama right now. as we noted, they came forward with a map that they were unable

to provide even a semblance of a reasonable map given the supreme court order. and so what we're moving forward into this reality, we need to continue to fight every step of the way because they're simply not going to back down. >> just reading what the court said, it's like a rhetorical spanking. >> deeply troubling. >> deeply troubling. the state's doing what -- anyway. thank you both very much for coming to "the reidout." coming up, house republicans want to hold the u.s. economy hostage again. this time threatening to shut down the government unless they get a laundry list of things from a whole lot of things including an impeachment inquiry into president biden. more next. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ what do we always say, son? liberty mutual customizes your car insurance... so you only pay for what you need. that's my boy. now you get out there, and you make us proud, huh? ♪

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make more of what's yours. the u.s. senate returned to work today for a potentially chaotic september. the most important agenda item is funding the government to avert a government shutdown, but republicans are instead focusing on launching an impeachment inquiry into president biden. the republican controlled house isn't back until next week. given them just 11 working days before the end of the fiscal year on september 30th. congresswoman marjorie taylor greene says she won't support any government funding measure until the house votes to formally begin a biden impeachment inquiry.

and now she's playing the victim, after the white house condemned her threat, warning republicans not to let the, quote, hard core fringe of their party force a shutdown. joining me now, charlie sykes, editor at large of the bulwark and msnbc political analyst. charlie, great to see you. marjorie taylor greene complained the white house attacked her and tweeted a list of demands, including everything from impeaching president biden to ending the support for the war in ukraine. it seems like you've even got kevin mccarthy dangling impeachment as an alternative to a shutdown at this point. how do republicans pull this plane out of a nose dive, charlie? >> you ask that as if they want to pull the plane out of the nose dive. this is a deeply unsearness from a governing perspective. but what she's asking for is not a negotiation. she's asking for ransom because she has a hostage, and the

hostage, of course, is kevin mccarthy. and kevin mccarthy will give her everything that he feels he has to, but we're now in the theater of the absurd, tying a government shutdown to the impeachment of joe biden. of course, these are not the same things. and serious grown-up members of congress would understand all of this. but in many ways this is kind of a gift to the white house because they could not ask for a better foil than marjorie taylor greene. >> well, that's true. among the other things she's asking for is defunding special counsel jack smith's office, among a few other things. so you know, charlie, there are some republicans who are against the idea of impeachment. some have noted there's no evidence, and others called it, quote, impeachment theater and a distraction from real issues. so can this backfire on mccarthy inside his caucus?

>> well, of course. just thinking of the conversation we're having right now where he's being held hostage by somebody demanding all of these things that are on their face absolutely absurd. and of course, impeachment is not about evidence. it is about theater. and the question is, you know, >> they are willing to die on that hill? to say instead of actually doing the nations business, keeping the lights on, protecting the economy from a crash, we are going to go through this kabuki theater of impeaching joe biden as a way to protect donald trump. and we'll have to see. but what we do know is that kevin mccarthy cannot say no to too many of the marjorie taylor greene's because his margin is just so thin. so we're going to see what kevin mccarthy is made of. i say that rhetorically because we know exactly what he is made of.

>> [laughter] j e l l o. let's move from the house to the senate. the secretaries of the army, navy, and air force warn, alabama senator tommy tuberville to stop his block of military promotions on a new op-ed for the washington post, writing, it is putting our national security at risk. each of us have seen the stress this hole is inflicting up and down the chain of command. there's a domino effect, up ending the lives of our more junior officers as well. looking over the horizon the prolonged uncertainty and political battles over these military nominations will have a corrosive effect on the force. according to the washington post, 301 positions have been blocked over six months by senator tuberville, including the leaders of the army, navy, and marine corps, and the next chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. charlie, what's it going to take for republicans to start pressuring tuberville to drop his blockade?

>> this is stunning because it is still out so outrageous. every democratic senator was doing this to our armed forces, or nadler national security in this way, you would have the entire republican party with its hair on fire. it's amazing to me that mitch mcconnell is letting tommy tuberville hold the u.s. military hostage this way. i am and i'm also, some would puzzle, haven't gotten a good answer to this, why the democratic majority does not hold up or down votes on these nominations. but there is no question about it. that op-ed please is truly remarkable, because these are not political appointees. these are the leaders of our armed force, and they are making an appeal to a political party that used to be or used to claim that it was the party of a national security, that had the back of the u.s. military. and this is just another data point of how far the republican party has gone, from its roots. not just the roots from the

reagan years but just a few years ago. absolutely inconceivable imagining a republican party of john mccain, for example, tolerating this kind of behavior. >> it truly is stunning. but one person you didn't mention in all this, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, the republican leader in the senate. where is he? >> this is an excellent question. mitch mcconnell is a very powerful leader. he knows how to keep people in line. this is a huge embarrassment, not only to his caucus, but it is an issue of putting country before some petulant political prank like this. again, i don't know the answer to that question. there ought to be a lot more focus on mitch mcconnell. why are you allowing your caucus, a member of the republican minority, to be able to hold the military down in this particular way? it's extraordinary. it really is. >> mitch mcconnell says he doesn't support the hold, so

the question remains, why won't he stop it. charlize sykes, thank, you as always. we'll be right back. right back. upfront cost. sometimes you need a second opinion. [coughs] good to go. yeah, i think i'll get a second opinion. all these walls gotta go! ah ah ah! i'd love a second opinion. no. i'm going to get a second opinion. with innovation refunds, there's no upfront cost to find out. so why not check like i did for my small business? take the first step to see if your small business qualifies for the erc.

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when will we elect leaders with the courage to stand up for us? instead of a bunch of belize and cowards who only do what their party says. when it's bull -- i call iqbal --

what i do is fight for justice for real people, because that's what tennessee deserves. i'm not afraid to stand up to anyone when it comes to doing what's right for tennessee, especially marshall blackburn, and that's why i'm running for senate. >> that is tennessee state representative gloria johnson, announcing her bid for united states senate. if nominated, the democrat would face republican senator marsha blackburn, who's running for a second six year term in next year's general election. johnson is one of the tennessee three who protested in the state capital for gun reform this april. but she wasn't expelled like her two black colleagues. jon jones writes much more about johnson's run in our readout blog. if she wants to become the first democratic senator in tennessee since hour, she will need to energize democrats like never before.

read about that and more at msnbc.com slash readout blog. and that is tonight's reidout. all in with chris hayes starts now. h chris hayes starts now. >> tonight on all in -- >> the proud boys, the proud boys stand back and stand by. >> a dramatic reckoning for a top trump foot soldier as a federal judge throws the book at proud boys leader enrique tarrio and another proud boys makes a pardon plea from prison. >> oh i know he'll pardon. i believe that with all my heart. >> then, all my the trump 19 enter not guilty pleas as the defense strategy chaos erupts in fulton county. plus, echoes of trump in texas, where the impeachment trial begins for the states robe eternity general. >> attorney general, ken paxson is absent and therefore please not guilty.