weekend. i'm chris hayes. let's get right to the week's top stories. it is here, well, almost. here on monday, republicans will cast their ballots in the iowa caucuses. it'll be the first time since the january 6th insurrection that voters will see donald trump's name on the ballot, and a whole lot of those voters are going to support. and they are going to say, yeah, yeah up, we want a guy that tried to steal the last election and is now facing years in prison for doing it. he's already been a very weird campaign for a lot of reasons. i, mean we started with a huge field of candidates. remember that? most of them have either dropped out or faded into the background before the votes are cast. they get winded out fast. when they are cast in three, days voters will be braving snow and sub-zero temperatures in what is expected to be the coldest caucuses ever, which is saying something. there's been a lot of cold caucuses. despite the cold, leading challengers nikki haley and ron desantis are dutifully charging across the state trying to drum up support.

they will most likely still lose i polling is any indication, we don't know. they could lose by a historic margin to a front runner, who, let's be, clear has spent more time in court attending his civil fraud trial this week than he has in the state of iowa. even if now it feels inevitable we've come to this, it was not inevitable. it really wasn't. there was a time in winter 2020, one after january 6th, when donald trump was being impeached for inciting the capitol insurrection, his approval rating hit an all-time. low it looked like very well be sent to do a period of political exile. then he came back, the 2022 midterms, the elections worked out poorly for most trump endorsed candidates. he backed losers in a ton of winnable races and there seemed to be a daunting wherein us in the republican party that he was politically toxic. in 2024 could be a wide open race for republicans. all those folks gotta because if i was beautiful. not now.

trump is polling at 54%, or 30 points ahead of haley. his closest challenger, not even close enough to say it's not even close. the only poll that matters is the one on election day, as we like to say here. but there is already a lot of discussion about sort of how we got here. on the threshold of this moment. and there is a lot of factors that have brought us to this point in which trump is leading by 30 or 40 points. there is the terrible, i mean truly almost historically terrible campaign of ron desantis, who once looked like a formidable challenger. there is the growing desire in the republican electorate for authoritarian politics. that is fueled by this ever sort of radicalizing conservative media industry. there is, of course, the complete personal cowardice of republican leaders, who could have voted to convict trump during impeachment and we wouldn't have this problem. it would also have brought interference to trump all along. all those factors are here. but one factor on the eve of this first contest, there is one factor i think does not get

enough play. that is the tools of -- the coercion, the threats of, violence trump and maga movements employ that are constantly shaping the space in which the race is itself contested. i talked yesterday about this, the bomb threat at the home of the judge in trump's civil trial, and how it was not an isolated incident. it wasn't just business as usual. from the maga bomber to the cincinnati fbi shooter, remember that? a guy showed up at the fbi after indictments, the death threats, the fake emergency calls against investigators and prosecutors in the past week. judges, election officials. there has just been a constant stream of threats of violence and actual attempts of violence against people that have tried to hold donald trump to account. the intimidation hangs over all his endeavors, it's a big part of his strength. but the place where this kind of politics is the most effective, the most acutely present is within republican party circles.

for people who exist in that world, inside the republican party, inside professional politics, harassment and threat of violence is much more intimate. >> there were members who told me that they were afraid for their own security, afraid in some instances for their lives. >> i have colleagues now traveling with armed escorts out of fear for their safety. many of us are altering our routines, working to get body armor, our expectation is someone may try to kill us. >> the threats are constant. and they have increased. i even heard a voice mail this morning that we got last night threatening execution. that seems to be the normal thing nowadays. just threaten execution. >> again, that all happened. not a long time ago. it's regrettably easy to forget how the republicans who voted to impeach or convict trump were, they thought at least, and i think credibly kind of putting their lives at. risk at least their family safety and themselves. certainly there peace of mind was put at risk.

do you remember this? we learned this a few months ago. senator mitt romney revealed he had to spend $5,000 a day on protective services, security after january 6th. in fact, as he later revealed to -- in a biography of romney, one republican congressman confided to romney he wanted to vote for trump's second impeachment but chose notoet out of fear for his family's safety. when one senator, a member of leadership, said he was leading towards voting to convict, the others urged him to reconsider, you can't do, that romney caught someone saying. think of your personal safety, think another. think of your children. the senator eventually decided they were right. this extends past people that are at the upper echelons of political power, past politicians or public officials. more than just and they have been subjected to this. election officials and even rioters, just people with opinions, conservative writer and trump critic david french has recounted how they went after him. >> in individual calls, i say

i'm sorry but i've been asked by the trump campaign to make sure that david knows that this would be really bad for him. the assault on my family have been overwhelming just as a writer. i have a multi racial family. and so they have gone after my youngest daughter in the worst way imaginable. >> that was back in 2016. today, french, who are still a conservative, strongly and staunchly conservative and also anti trump, wrote in the new york times things are even worse. quote, eight years of bitter experience have taught us that supporting trump degrades the character of the quarter. never before have i seen extremism penetrate a vast american communities so deeply, so completely, and so comprehensively. i'm going to tell, you this is all stuff that is sort of on the record undocumented. for every example of, this there is stuff and not on the record. people discuss about their security decisions, which they can talk about publicly, for obvious reasons, anytime they are in the crosshairs, they are dealing with a security issue.

-- this is particularly true for people whose life's -- constituents or conservatives and neighbors who are trump devotee, so this extremism, this acceptance of coercion, political violence to the threat thereof of terror, of just insane harassment as a tactic. it is really powerful. i think it is fair to say, i really believe this, and that it is completely subverted the ability of the republican party themselves to genuinely run a free and fair election within their own party to choose their own nominee. because not only is there this ever-present threat, you know, everyone in the upper echelons of the party also understands that donald trump will never accept defeat. you are having a contest with a guy who is he going to accept a feat? they understand it because of january, six but they understand it before. that they understand it be because of 2016. when trump lost the iowa caucuses and reportedly pressured state republicans to

invalidate the results. does that sound familiar? he ran around afterwards saying it was rigged. take a second to imagine what it would look like if nikki haley or someone else actually were to start beating donald trump for the nomination this year. if we started seeing some surprises, right? that has happened before in american politics. it is almost impossible not to imagine a situation in which you end up with a scene that looks like january 6th outside the republican national convention. right? if trump starts losing, what is going to happen? play that out. they all have, they all understand what they are dealing with. it's under those conditions. those are the conditions under which we are having this contest, this election for the republican nominee. whatever happens on monday in iowa and later in new hampshire and south carolina and super tuesday, you just cannot separate trump's performance from these ever-present, deeply ominous, anti-democratic

threats of harassment and violence. it is just a central part of what donald trump stands for and how he and his movement pursue political power. miles taylor served in the trump administration as a national security official. he resigned in june of 2019, since left the republican party. he's the author of blowback, a warning to save democracy from the next trump. he joins me now. miles, i want to talk to someone who is from the world of conservative and republican politics, because every time i've talked to folks in that world who themselves have come out against trump or post trump, the stories they tell me about the proximity of this kind of, you, know it is one thing if people are mean to you or say nasty things to you. that is just life. but something more than that. the stories i've heard are pretty chilling. i wonder what you think about the general thesis, this kind of a invisible force really does exert some real pressure on the sort of basic shape of this contest. >> of course it does.

i remember something alex vindman once told me after his testimony. when we are comparing notes about how he wished more people had testified in trump's impeachment, he said, miles, intimidation works. and he is right. it works. and they know it works. trump knows it works. i was really struck by something, chris, in your opening remarks tonight about how a lot of these votes are facing threats. and they don't talk about it on the record. anwhen i talk to a lot of people who've been in these circumstances and they don't even go into the detail of how serious it is. i think it is important, though, when people are willing to share those things. i will give you an example, chris. just last weekend, i had to buy another gun. because we are worried about threats from maga stalkers and concerned we have not armed ourselves sufficiently in every circumstance we might be in. and that is years after i came forward against donald trump. and it is still happening. why? because they are so fearful of

this messaging from conservatives against him. they are worried it will deny him victory. but more so than that, chris, we've seen trump re-post videos, these messianic videos, where in the videos people claim he is our savior. that's how he has radicalized supporters. do you think they are defending some kind of messiah. that is beyond what people do when it comes to backing their political candidates. and it explains again this messianic level of violence people are worried about. and certainly. people within the party have opposed trump feel bubbling just under the surface. >> to the point about -- your personal experience was just striking, it sounds awful. and that sort of intimidation works. i do think it is the most effective in this sort of internal discipline function. if you look at judge chutkan or jazz smith or judge engoron, all these, people i don't think they will be intimidated. what it is is it's a hassle for them.

it is disruptive, bad for their families. but it's not going to stop them from doing what they are doing. i think there are people in republican politics where it will. i think the romney point about, it i think that again, i don't want to take away from the fact that trump genuinely has this organic, this real appeal. i think he would be probably winning even without this aspect of his politics. but again, this aspect of the politics colors enough that, like, i just think it is difficult to disentangle his ability to reclaim his position as front runner from that force that is sort of just offstage. >> chris, it doesn't stop people from coming forward. i agree with your point and that folks who've already come out, there they are out there. but i've had folks in the backyard sitting around the bonfire that were senior trump officials, who have not come forward, who have said, i just don't know if i want to go through what you guys have gone through. it works. the intimidation works.

unfortunately, because of donald trump, this is going to be a historic election, chris. but for all the wrong reasons. historic because the political polarization is at historic levels. the disinformation is at historic levels. the attitudes towards political violence, as you pointed out, are at historic levels. the volume of threats from extremist groups around the country are at historic levels. and we are also seeing direct threats to public officials and absolutely historic levels. i can backup every single one of those things with statistics. this is an unprecedented election in terms of the fear and division and violence. i would agree with you. i worry it could boil over should donald trump not get what he wants. we already have precedent for. that and we are seeing an intimidation bubble up within the republican party. today i saw videos of ron desantis being mercilessly mocked and stop all the way up, almost to his hotel room in iowa and it wasn't by

democratic operatives. it was by trump operatives and pro trump operatives who seemed to almost want to walk into his hotel room with him. that is pretty menacing behavior. we haven't seen things like that in american elections before. we are going to see what the voters say about, at least the voters, the small percentage of islands that participate in the republican caucus, which is a very, very small number of people in the absolute terms. but we will see what they have to say. miles taylor, thank you for making time tonight. >> primetime weekend continues ahead, with lawrence o'donnell. ith wrlaence o'donnell (christina) wanna know the secret ingredient to running my business? (tina) her. (christina) being all over, all at once. (tina) all the time. (christina) but my old network wasn't cutting it. and that's not good for baking. or judging. or writing. so, we switched to verizon, the network businesses rely on. with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business.

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the supreme court this year will be one month from right now. on february 8th, this supreme court will hear oral arguments in the case of donald j trump versus not -- which is the title of donald trump's appeal to the united states supreme court, of the colorado supreme court decision banning donald trump for the presidential ballot in colorado, based on section 3 of the 14th amendment, which was enacted in 1868. section three of the 14th amendment says, no person shall be a senator or representative in congress, or elector of president and vice president, or hold any office, civil or military, under the united states comp, or under any state, who, having previously taken an

oath, as a member of congress, or as an officer of the united states, or as a member of any state legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any state, to support the constitution of the united states, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. but congress may, by a vote of two thirds of each house, remove such disability. former federal appeals court judge michael luttig, who was appointed to the court by republican president george h. w. bush, believes section three couldn't be any clearer. >> the supreme court is not -- wrong to decide this case. and it will likely look for every legitimate way possible, legitimate way possible, to avoid deciding whether the former president is

disqualified. >> there are very, very few, if any, off ramps that would allow the supreme court to avoid decision in this case. indeed, i believe there are none. section three of the 14th amendment simply could not be any clearer, that the former president is disqualified from the presidency. >> as we continue tonight's combined law school class and history class, we are joined now by david -- professor of american history and african american studies at yale university. he won the pulitzer prize in university for -- fredericton glass, profit of freedom. he is also the author of several other books including race and reunion, the civil war in american memory. and eric -- is joining, us columbia university history professor. he won the pulitzer prize in history twice for his books, reconstruction, americas unfinished revolution, and the

fiery trial, abraham lincoln and american slavery. thank you both for joining this discussion tonight. professor -- let me begin with you. this case is going to the supreme court, we have all watched the supreme court justices and their clerks eagerly play amateur historian when faced with these questions. when they dig into the 14th amendment section three, what should they find? >> well, i think as -- alluded to, the language is pretty clear, that any person who took an oath of office to the united states, and then engaged in insurrection, and rebellion, is disqualified from office of all kinds, president and all the way down. i think they will find that this was put into the constitution, in order to prevent ex confederates from

gaining power again after the civil war, particularly in the southern states. and in the debates of that time, they were less interested in the presidency, because you could always impeach a president, if you want to. but they wanted to try to make sure that the southern states, if they were brought back -- into the union after the civil war was over, would be governed by people who accepted the results of the war, the end of slavery, equal citizenship for african americans, and that's what they tried to do, to get it into the states to make sure that -- people, as they saw it, were in charge in the southern states. >> professor blight, as you look at it, what would you expect the supreme court to focus on, if they were seeing this from a historians perspective? >> well, i would hope they look

and two segments of history. eric just pointed us to one of them. they need to really read those debates in 1866, over the creation of the 14th amendment. but i would guess they are also going to be looking, if not explicitly, implicitly, at bush v. gore. i mean to me, this colorado decision, it seems to me is going to depend on whether there are five justices who will be good textualists, and do as -- said, read carefully and do what it says. but whether they are truly going to be -- by bush v. gore, which was their step into determining who wins elections, and determines somehow to never do that again. only one member of this court was there in bush v. gore, of course, and that's clarence thomas. now i doubt he is going to be haunted by it. but i really think that is part of what they are going to have to look at. and today, i just went and read

the case, or some of the case, and i read justice john paul stevens's is incredible and unforgettable descent, where he predicted that the greatest winner of that case would be cynicism in the american people, and not trusting judges in the future. i hope that -- john paul stevens's dissent, in bush v. gore. >> andrew weissmann, what was judge luttig talking about their, when he said the supreme court will find, try to find a way to somehow dispose of this case, without ruling on these central meanings of the 14th amendment? >> so, this is what lawyers do. they take something that is seemingly simple, and make it complicated. so, issues that the court can deal with, what is the definition of insurrection or rebellion? what is the definition of

engage or comfort, or aiding or. what is the standard of proof, who decides it? something that professor -- referred to is the president of the united states encompassed within this as. you know donald trump says no it's not -- gonna be driven to know what the historical view is of that. and then there's some state law issues, which are complicated for the court to reach into, because there's supposed to be independent and state court -- under federalism, that the supreme court doesn't reach into. but there are some issues there that i'm sure donald trump will raise, and try to get the supreme court interested in, as to whether this is procedurally done correctly. so there are lots of, as judge luttig said, off ramps. all of those, by the way, except for maybe this issue of an officer, are ones that could lead to further fact finding by the colorado judge. in other words, if the court

says the standard of proof was wrong, or when you define the following definition of insurrection, that just can go back to the trial court for their findings. so, it's not clear exactly how the supreme court is going to do this to get an off ramp that gets us completely done with and gone for all purposes. we >> will be right back. we >> will be right back if you're like me, one of the millions suffering from pain caused by migraine, nurtec odt may help. it's the only medication that can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks. treat and prevent, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. relief is possible. talk to a doctor about nurtec odt.

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one purchased equals one donated. visit bombas.com and get 20% off your first order. late today, mediate released stunning, and disturbing new audio, of trump associate roger stone discussing the assassination of democratic congressman eric swalwell, and jerry nadler. with an nypd cop, weeks before e 2020 election. >> go find swallow, and get th with. it's time to do it. en we'll see how brave the rest of them are. -- either swalwell or nadler has

to die before this election. they need to get this message i'm not putting up with this >> i will note that nbc news has not authenticated or obtained the audio ourselves. and media notes that the audio has been lightly edited to protect their source. per requested anonymity,out of fear of repercussions from stone. stone has denied making these commentsand told mediate beforethey published the audio, thatt was total nonsense. i've never said anything of the kind. more a i manipulation. back with me are cornell belcher, and then -- and george conway. i mean, i throw it out to the group, we are out of the political assassination phase of this hideous video game that we are tracked, in apparently. and i can't believe that i've now talked about political assassinations twice in one bloody week. >> well that is part of the case that needs to be made about donald trump. we say okay well, democracy held during the first trump administration. it was, in part, because there were at least some guardrails

in place. like, there were blinds that even bill barr wouldn't cross, right. well now, he is totally surrounded by people like roger stone, people who will not be a guardrail, people like his attorneys. and that is what is so incredibly jurist about this. another term is not just him hypothesizing about -- on fifth avenue. that was sort of like everyone's like oh, he's joking. no, another term is him full of grievance. he has said what he wants to do, he wants to purge the federal government of anybody except those who are loyal to him. he wants to use and weaponize the doj. we know what he wants to do, kiss whatever he accuses joe biden of doing, is what he actually wants to do. the vision of what the united states will be under a second trump term, without guardrails, is truly frightening. and that is the number one case that democrats need to make. >> and let's not forget that mark esper has said that he did want him to shoot people at protests. let's talk about roger stone for a moment. roger stone is the guy who, in

the summer of 2020, looked at the polls, saw that his guy was losing, that donald trump was losing. and said you know what, we're just going to declare victory, and say we won anyway. so this is the guy who was in on the idea beforehand, that they were just going to lie, because they knew they were going to lose. now you've got him talking with a cop, a former cop, about killing two democratic representatives. will there be any fallout from that? >> well, i don't know. i mean, i don't know what you can do to roger stone. if he is just talking about, it i don't know that it suffices for a conspiracy or anything. you need an agreement to put somebody in jail. but it just goes to show. i mean, this is real, the fact that we can even think it's real tells me tells you a lot of the people who surround donald trump. i mean, donald trump himself is a man without any moral compass. he is a man without conscious, he is a man without remorse, he is a man without empathy. and if the only thing he cares about is himself. and, he is surrounding am shellfish with people, an increasing number of people,

who also lack of moral compass. and that is the point that you are very much absolutely right in making. and, this is the reason why it is going to be much much worse. and so dangerous to the republicans. this is a man who has already talked about -- a man who is -- a man who would stop at nothing to wreak revenge on his perceived enemies. the only criteria is, can i get away with? it >> and again, it is a long con, right. being president was a great money maker for him, and his businesses, some of which were failing otherwise. it is a way for him to stay out of prison, because he will just cancel all the cases against him, throw everyone he doesn't want in jail. but again, we need to, this week we are talking about his lawyer going into a federal court, and saying that donald trump, a president of the united states. i guess he doesn't think that joe biden should be able to, should be able to assassinate their political opponents. and you got his buddy, allegedly, saying he wants to

assassinate members of congress. and again, mark esper, his former defense secretary said he wanted to shoot people, and esper wouldn't do it. >> it's thug behavior. >> it's thuggery. >> and here, here is what i want to say, in a political context of it all. go back to 2004, and when i was doing polling for the dnc, one of the things that was a bedrock of republican party, and something that helped them win the suburbs, especially moderate middle america, was the idea that they were the party of strong values. they were a party of strong morals and values, and even if democrats had -- and issues of health care, the central value that middle america claimed to was this ideal that they were strong values, and george bush was a good man, a strong man, a man of values. he goes to church, right, he loves his wife, those things. i find it hard to believe, and it's not the one thing, julia.

i think it is, as the old folks would say, it's the tide, it's the tide of these things. and i think if you put this case before moderate, middle america, and i still do -- i still have faith in the majority of americans. if you put this to the suburban mom, and wisconsin, that suburban mom outside of atlanta, and look at this. and she is going to say, these are not good people, these are not the values that i want to instill in my children, and my family, that i think that bedrock of voters are going to continue to slowly move toward biden and the democrats, because the republicans have lost. it >> primetime weekend continues ahead with my colleague, jen psaki. colleague, jen psaki things changed for me. breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis.

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a half years, if you can believe, it since donald trump came down that escalator. he is on the verge of clenching the republican nomination again, unless something wild happens. his threats, not just to people, but to democracy, have become more pronounced, and more dangerous. and his party, for the most part, seems unwilling, or just afraid to do anything about it. when i think about who was willing to stand up to donald trump, and how to do it. i often thi of the person standing across from him in this photo. this is actually my twitter profile photo for a while, not in this picture obviously, pointing her finger at him. and that woman, speaker nancy pelosi joins me now. it is great to see you, happy new year. >> happy new year, and a

healthy one to you. >> thank you. so i wanted to start just with january 6th, and the threats to our democracy, and how important it is. because mitt romney, who is a defender of democracy, and has been brave in many moments. but he said recently to the new york times, quote, as a biden campaign theme, i think the threats to democracy pitches a bust. dan january six will be four years old by the election, people have process it one way or another. biden needs fresh material, a new attack, rather than kicking a dead political horse. >> now my view is that this is about how trump will govern, but what do you think, in terms of a central argument, and how central it will be in this election? >> while with all due respect to senator romney, and i do respect him, i think that a campaign is what you make it. and when we talk about democracy, and why january 6th was important, we have to convey to people what it means to them. so i see his point, just in isolation, this is not enough.

but what it means to them. democracy, it's about freedom, it's about, he says, trump says obamacare sucks, forget my crudeness, but i'm just quoting. >> you're quoting him, it's not your words. [laughter] >> obamacare sucks. no, obamacare cures. so he says he wants to undo that, he criticizes the senators who voted against terminating at. and so, this is about freedom, freedom to have access to health care, freedom to have access to health, care in terms of reproductive freedom for women and families, -- and if they will have the families. the freedom of people to be able to have care at home, so that they can have freedom to work and grow their families, in a very productive way for the future. so it's not just about the ideal of freedom, which would be enough reason. our constitution, the congress

of the united states, so there would be enough reason. but you have to translate it to the kitchen table, because this is the truth about what he says is that people make votes on different ways. and i believe they make votes as to what comes to that kitchen table. affordable health care is not about just the health of a person, it's about their financial health, being able to afford health care. what we did in the i.r.a. to reduce the cost of insulin from five, $600 a month, for seniors on medicare, to $35 a month -- and republicans want to overturn that. what we did about the secretary of hhs being able to negotiate for lower prescription drugs, they want to take that to court and overturn that. so this is what it means to you, and your financial security is part of your freedoms. >> so it's about making it real for people. and that is so important,

because people vote that way. i did want to ask, you wrote this powerful op-ed, i re-read it again, about the anniversary of january 6th. and you were there that day, you were so heroic that day, and you outline a lot of what happened. and recently this weekend, donald trump repeated the lie that those convicted for their involvement are hostages. he used the term hostages. and i just wanted to know, what you thought of that, or what your response was, when you heard him say that? >> well, he is a disgrace, let's put it this way. we've known that for a long time. he is disrespect for the congress, for the capital and the rest has been clear. he came to the capitol and gave a presidential of medal of freedom to one of his thug friends, right there -- this is, he talked politics on the floor of the house, we don't do that, it's about policy. and in any event, that's not even worrying so much about what he said. except, that is what he says he

is going to do. and that is what we have to convey to people. >> i am very grateful that you are here with us tonight. >> primetime weekend continues ahead with my colleague, alex wagner. >> still more to come tonight, including some jaw-dropping new comments from billionaire turned social media troll elon musk. comments that link aviation accidents to corporate diversity initiatives. rsity initiatives. we all know that words have power. they set things in motion and make us happy or sad.

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falling off the planes, but at least they are meeting their diversity goals. we can't link at the diversity efforts to what happened, that would take an exhaustive investigation. but it's worth asking at this point. >> i titled the chapter, i e. because this can kill. >> you heard it on fox first.

diversity, equity, and inclusion can kill. that segment last night was loosely about a door plug blowing out of a boeing 737 max 9 plane during an alaska airlines flight last friday. but rather than talking about safety concerns, laura ingraham asked, did this happen? did the doors blow off, because airlines focused too much on diversity? because, maybe the sort of like asking whether the challenger exploded because a woman was on it. this nonsense did not stop at fox. last night, the world's richest man, elon musk, pick up this line of logic, and just ran with it. yesterday, musk replied to this post on x, formerly known as twitter, which claims that the average iq of a u.s. air force pilot is 120, and the average iq of pilots hired from hbcus, which are historically black colleges and universities, is

85 to 90. the post explains that this means that graduates of hbcus are just above what is considered borderline intellectual impairment. first of all, what? second of all, is this someone really guessing the iqs of all of the attendees of hbcus? i mean martin luther king jr. day and to an hbcu, tony morrison went to an hbcu, kamala harris, thurgood marshall, oprah. hbcus are not bastions of internet intellectual inuktitut, quite obviously. also, pilots of all -- also, pilots aren't usually responsible for structural issues on airplanes, they just fly them. elon musk however, just went with it, tweeting. it will take an airplane crashed and killing hundreds of people for them to change this crazy policy of dei-y. he means dei. and do you want to fly in an airplane where they prioritize dei hiring over your safety? and, people will die due to

dei. this is our public discourse now. we have fox news heavily implying planes can crash and kill people because companies hire too many black people. and we have the richest man in the world, the owner of one of the most important global forums for communication, openly and embracing, and promoting paranoid racist theories. primetime weekend continues, just ahead, with my colleague stephanie ruhle. when we come back, next week marks 15 years since the miracle on the hudson. the iconic captain sully sullenberger is here, when our hour continues. hour continues it strikes and prevent migraine attacks, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. ask about nurtec odt. >> woman: what's my safelite story? nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. i see inspiration right through my glass. so when my windshield cracked, i chose safelite.

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-- all the best people. and especially when they think us for what we were able to accomplish that day. >> well it's a good news story, thanks to you. >> and everybody else involved, yeah, it really took everyone involved, my crew, the passengers themselves, the rescuers, the first responders, all of the responders from new york and new jersey. it took so much cooperation. everyone involved had to rise to the occasion, and understand how serious this was, and what they had to do, and make it their mission, to make sure that every life was saved. >> do you remember that feeling,

right, you told my colleague craig melvin that you chose the least bad option. >> yes. >> do you remember making that decision? >> oh absolutely, yes. it didn't take terribly long, probably less than a minute ultimately. i knew intuitively, having flown into new york many times, there were only three options. two runways that might be the nearest, the descending altitude, and lessening airspeed, we did not have enough energy to collide, as far as any runway. and the only other place in this area that was long enough, why do, not smooth enough, even to attempt landing a large -- airliner was the hudson river. >> well given your expertise, and all these years flying, i do have a few other questions. new questions, problems in the sky. obviously, everyone's been talking about, if the faa is investigating boeing, after a door plug of an alaska airlines flight flew off mid flights. would you feel safe, right now,

flying a boeing 737 max 9? would you get on that plane? >> after they've been inspected, which they are going to be. they are not going to be flying until they have been inspected. >> why do you think that happened? >> i think that aviation, like almost every modern endeavor, is a complex system. and we rely, as individuals, on probably tens of thousands of other people every day, without knowing who they are or what function they have performed, that we depend upon. and aviation is a perfect example of that. and so when these airplanes were designed, they met certain standards. and so one of the tests of the national transportation safety board is to do a forensic analysis of this particular aircraft, of this particular part from its inception on the drawing board, or on the computer and the design screen,

through its fabrication, its manufacture, installation on the aircraft, and any -- it may have received. and they will do this diligently, and they will find answers, from which we will learn and approve safety going forward. >> well as long as we are talking safety, last, year it really feels like there is a lot of reporting about near misses at u.s. airports. what do you think is going on with this trend? >> those were really red flags. and, fortunately they were avoided, literally at the last minute. it was the last layer of safety, in almost every one of these instances, that saved the day. and >> that doesn't make me feel good. i don't like the last layer of safety. >> it's not good, and that's why these were so startling, that's where they got the intention of the entire industry, and the regulators. and that's why we are really reevaluating everything we are doing, and looking for anything that we missed. and i also want to say that

it's important to remember, especially when it comes to some of the complaints about humans being sources of error, is that humans are by far the most adaptable and resilient part of any system, and technology can only do it it's been programed to do. >> humans save the day. we know you did it. >> they save every day. >> i am so honored to see you again, such a pleasure. captain sully sullenberger, thank you so, so very much. 15 years, miracle on the hudson. this has been primetime weekend. i'm stephanie ruhle, please tune into the 11th hour, and all of our primetime shows weeknights, right here on msnbc. >> msnbc. >> good evening, and welcome to politicsnation. tonight's lead, caucus countdown. >>