good afternoon from washington, d.c. welcome to alex wood reports. i am in for alex. we begin with the race for the white house. we are 85 days away from election day. we are just eight days away from the democratic national convention. this weekend, both -- out west. new today, we are learning some of the big names expected to speak at the dnc. two sources tell me they

include president joe biden, former president barack obama, former president bill clinton, and former secretary of state hillary clinton. here is harris campaign co- chair cedric richmond . >> part of what we are going to do of the election is now that vice president harris wants to be a present for everyone and she does not believe like donald trump that we have to divide america and that we can lift up black and brown and white people all at the same time. also new today, president biden opens up for the first time about why he left the race and endorsed vice president harris as the party nominee. >> it was a neck and neck race. what happened was a number of my democratic -- thought that i was -- and i was concerned if i stayed in the race, that would be -- i can't even say how old i am, it's hard to get out of my mouth. how -- it didn't happen.

and i thought, it was critical issue for me still. it's not a -- >> one critic, who previously said there was no energy at the top of the -- democratic ticket wondered why it takes so long. >> it could've done this a year ago and they could've avoided all of the backlash they are receiving now. there was no primary, the people didn't decide this. there was a clue that the party through. it's like, you know. you could have avoided this year ago because we all saw this way back when. meanwhile, -- trying to turn up the heat on harris. they say it's time for vice president to answer questions on immigration and the economy. >> we always knew this will be a close election. whoever the democrats chose to put up against president trump,

but the more the american people learn about kamala harris, the less they are going to like her. reporters in place covering all these new development. we start with julia jester. she is tracking the harris campaign from delaware. great time there on the beach i hope. how is vice president harris reacting to the new string of polls showing her leading former president donald trump in several states? >> reporter: well, yamiche , president biden is here for the weekend relaxing. but vice president harris has been doing a battleground blitz for the past week. she has hit pennsylvania. wisconsin, michigan, arizona, nevada, and we are starting to see some numbers shake up the race in recent polls. the new york times and siena put out a poll of three critical states. pennsylvania, wisconsin, and

michigan, showing harris up 50% to 46% in those states among likely voters. now while this clearly reflects a changing dynamic of the race, it's worth noting that those are all within the margin of error. it's still tight. she was in las vegas last night, a state, nevada is a state where a new poll in nevada came out, she's up 47- 45%. this trend line is seemingly in her direction but she does not want to take anything for granted. here is what she had to say from her rally remarks last night. >> we know this will be a tight race until the very end. so let's not pay too much attention to the polls because we have some hard work ahead of us. but we like hard work! hard work is good work!

>> reporter: now harris is not just banking on poles to show her strength, she is also touting the crowd size, her campaign pushing back a bit on former president trump alleging that they are using a.i. to show inaccurate crowd sizes, but you can see the energy on the ground, you can see the massive crowds that she has been amassing at these events. her event in phoenix, the campaign claims there were 15,000 in attendance so that would make it likely the largest political event in arizona history and in her event in las vegas, there are roughly 12,000 people there and law enforcement actually had to turn away people in line due to the extreme heat. by the time they close the doors, they said about 4000 were waiting in line, so you are looking at poll numbers, you are looking at crowds, a lot of energy, the republicans

are saying this is the honeymoon period. she has yet to sit down for a formal interview with the press and even republicans this morning on the sunday shows are saying you know, more americans get to know her, the less they might like about her, but for now, they are writing is high of the high poll numbers and large crowd sizes, yamiche. >> you can really feel and see on the democratic side is a lot of enthusiasm there. the question of course is how long does it last. thank you so much. and here is jillian franken. she's in bozeman montana. jillian, what's the latest from the trump campaign this weekend? >> reporter: well, yamiche, posting overnight and into this morning, touting a $28 million fundraising -- nbc news is

still working to confirm those numbers. he also expressed a willingness to debate harris three times in september and i do want to be clear here, he has posted this on social media. we are still working to confirm all these details, but he says the first will be september 4th, hosted by fox news in harrisburg, pennsylvania. that's a town we seen him rally in multiple times just the cycle. the next will be september 10th hosted by abc news in philadelphia, and that one is the only debate we know so far that vice president kamala harris has committed to participating in. he says the third will be september 25th, september 25th hosted by our very own nbc news, and i do want to be clear here, nbc news is not commenting on that debate or on the former president's posts. now overall, the trump campaign strategy has been to criticize harris, saying that she is willing to participate in media interviews or answer questions from media. meanwhile, senator j.d. vance has been blanketing the airways on the sunday shows this morning, calling harris week on immigration, casting her as week during the biden administration. here is more from one of those

interviews. >> the first thing you have to do is to stop the bleeding. stop the open border, get kamala harris out of there and actually reimplement the remaining mexico policy. rebuild or finish donald trump's border wall and you do that and you stop the bleeding. you are going to have to deport some people. if you're not willing to deport a lot of people, you're not willing to have a border when there are 20 million illegal aliens in our country. >> reporter: anduntr yamiche, for former president donald trump, a common line we hear from him on the trail is that if elected, he plans to conduct the biggest mass deportation operation in american history. we often don't hear a ton of details about how he's planning to conduct that. it's a common refrain on the campaign trail in these last few months. yamiche? >> is certainly an issue that they are going to keep on hammering when it comes to immigration and the border, so

thank you so much for all your reporting. 20 me now is democratic congressman from california, a member of the foreign affairs and judiciary -- is also a harris campaign surrogate. thank you so much, ted lieu, for being here. they are calling for mass deportations. last night, vice president harris addressed immigration, calling for strong border security and earn to pathways to citizenship. is this positive proposal do you think going to win a lot, especially among many independents and even moderate republicans when it comes to sort of voters trying to get back? >> thank you for your question, yamiche. i have the honor of working with kamala harris when she was attorney. i was in the state legislature and attorney general kamala harris one after transnational games, human traffickers, she was tough going after these -- and as president, she's going

to do the same thing. that's a stark contrast to donald trump, who killed a bipartisan border security bill because he thought it would make joe biden look good and so that is a contrast we have going into november. >> congressman, as we start talk about policy, the vice president also said she's going to release her full policy platform this week with a focus on the economy. of course, you are part of the campaign as a campaign surrogate. you are also a member of the progressive caucus. what areas in this plan will the progressive side in particular be looking at for here? >> kamala harris has repeatedly said in her speeches that she is going to work on lowering costs, lowering drug costs, making sure that housing is more affordable, -- price gouging. under the biden and harrison ministration, we've had an incredible record of grading jobs, of gdp growth, of having the stock market hitting highest, but costs are high and that's why kamala harris is

going to work to reduce costs and, as president, that's going to be one of her main focuses. >> and as you talk about some of the campaign i want to zoom out a bit. harris allies have been telling you for weeks that that they believe she can do better in places like georgia and north carolina and we party seen her campaign leading into the states, but just yesterday, representative jim clyburn, who you know very well, he told me he believed ohio and florida could also be competitive, so is there a plan by the harris campaign to put more resources in places like florida and ohio, and does the campaign really believe that those seats can actually be one? -- won mark >> kamala harris and tim walz are amazing candidates. amazing people. had the honor working with both of them and that is shifting with the map looks like because american people see the stark contrast between kamala harris and tim walz wine to protect reproductive freedom and making sure that we are defending democracy. compared to the former president of the united states, donald trump, who is really going bonkers off the edge into dementia land. he's now fantasizing that all these rallies -- had are not

real and that somehow, air force two is not real and that the rally there was not true. i think the american people realize that donald trump is not suited for office in any way whatsoever. >> yeah. that's definitely a push back because i have been to some of those rallies. they were big and they were not sort of doctored photos but that being said, as we mentioned, senator j.d. vance has been on multiple morning shows this morning, repeating his criticisms of tim walz's military record. take a listen. >> i'm not criticizing his service, i'm criticizing the fact that he lied about his service for political gain. i served in the united states marine corps and you know this. and there's a lot of things that i'm proud about. i've never lied about what i did or overstated it because it would be beneficial to me in an election. i think that's what tim walz did. that's what i was criticizing and yes, i do think it's scandalous behavior. >> you are a veteran, of

course. what you make of j.d. vance, who's also a veteran, criticizing tim walz who is, again, a veteran? >> -- let me first say, tim walz is totally normal and not weird in any way, and is ranking member, he fought for veterans by voting for funding for military, by making sure the veterans get the benefits that they deserve. i know that j.d. vance is routinely voting against veterans in the u.s. congress and these are just desperate attacks from a republican campaign that knows that they are flailing. what he did is he served 24 years honorably in the military. he was retired honorably and when veterans served retire, the proper response is thank you for your service. >> that is definitely one way to put it and definitely a push back on the criticism there. as we learned at the top of the

show, the democratic national convention in chicago is just over a week away and pro- palestinian protesters are excited to show up possibly by the tens of thousands to oppose the biden-harris administration approach to the war in gaza. i wonder, does vice president harris leadership her policy position here? are the really plans to shift, given the pushback that she's been getting? >> democrats have a big -- we really respected freedom of speech so we respect the right of people to protest. and i know this is in stark contrast to donald trump, who said that he would deport pro- palestinian protesters. >> i mean, that's definitely going to be a big issue there. i will definitely be watching to see how the campaign feels, but thank you so much, congressman . >> thank you. next, something happened this week for the very first time in history. we will dig into the impact it might have on the presidential race. we are back in 90 seconds. seco. get nfl sunday ticket from youtube tv on us... and a great deal on galaxy z fold6... for a total value of twelve hundred and fifty dollars.

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for more than a decade farxiga has been trusted again and again, and again. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ask your doctor about farxiga. we have new reaction to republican vice presidential nominee j.d. vance's comments, -- childless cat ladies who don't have a stake in the country's future. senate republicans blocked a -- age child tax credit senator vance missed that vote. now, today, democrats are taking aim at him in the gop for failing to deliver its profamily messaging.

>> we are the ones trying to get the child tax credit expanded and j.d. vance couldn't be bothered to show up in the senate and before and republicans have blocked that from being expanded. so if you want to talk about promoting children, promoting family, put your money where your mouth is. same with a lot of other policies. i don't know, paid family leave, something that tim walz delivered in minnesota, something that the biden harris administration sought to deliver for the american people. right now, americans are blocking it -- republicans are blocking it but they constantly change their tune on but they haven't. 20 me now is -- garcia, the chairman of the league of united latin american citizens pac. so, domingo, -- for present, the move is the first time in the groups 95 year history that is backed a presidential candidate. so why did your group decide to break with the tradition in this election and endorse the harris-walz ticket? >> this election has kind of --

benchmark in american democracy, when we see bizarro, weirdo ideas, the next president, trump, he said -- the ex-president trump says he was going to deport 14 million people, that he was going to use the army to look out for these immigrants, and when he's talking about abolishing the department of education, education is really what brings a lot of people like me that come from working-class families to be able to get an education and move forward. and what we are seeing, fear mongering coming from the ex- president trump, using them as medical pinata's to beat us and hit us in a way to just get votes from the far right and the worst american, i think, -- but uniting america, but bringing people together. being inclusive. and in a bipartisan way to

solve the problem, as opposed to just building walz and deporting them all. >> yes. what i hear from you is you are really interested in notch the candidate, but really the policies she's talking about. in las vegas last night, vice president harris promised work to eliminate taxes on tips paid to service industry employees. take a listen to some of what she said. >> and the culinary union, as everyone in nevada knows, they have helped lead the way in our country for workers rights and workers dignity and it is my promise to everyone here, when i am president, you will continue our fight for working families of america. including to raise the minimum wage and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers. >> now former president donald trump has also made that pledge, but when it comes to

the economy and other issues, important to latino voters important to your group, white is vice president harris the right choice over trump and weather -- what other issues do you want to hear her talk about when it comes to the things that really matter to your community? >> you know, she's the daughter of immigrants., son of immigrants. just talking about abolishing taxes on -- service employees, i was a poor waiter. -- and a lot of people are in those industries. she gets it. she understands the issues, she understands the problems. she's talking about things that are working day and night, trying to make a living and achieve the american dream and we believe that kamala harris -- >> we lost a little bit -- we are going to try and maybe come back to him but up next, we are going to have an up close look at a dangerous journey to get to the u.s. u.s.

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breaking news , israel ordered evacuations in gaza after it struck a school turn shelter over the weekend. according to gaza civil defense, at least 100 people were killed and dozens injured saturday. it was one of the deadliest days in the conflict so far. the white house released a

statement saying it was, quote, deeply concerned about the development and urging israel to minimize civilian harm. the strike comes as international pressure builds for peace talks. nbc news international correspondent matt bradley joins me from babe ruth, lebanon. what new information you have about cease-fire negotiations especially with all the starts and stops that we have seen? -- >> we've heard from hamas. >> reporter: they are not going to be sending a delegation to those august 15 talks. we don't know where those talks are going to be occurring, either cairo or in qatar. but they really being presented by intermediaries. the -- is kind of a last ditch effort to get those negotiations over the line to bring a measure of peace to the gaza strip -- to free those remaining hostages being held in the gaza strip. the fact that hamas says they will be participating is a major blow, but hamas has said they want to

see that all of the sides just adhere to previous deals that have been proposed here they said that the israelis have put up obstacles ahead during president biden. there's still some hope for this deal and the first interview since he first back down from the presidency. he spoke with cbs news and had this to say about those negotiations. >> on foreign policy, israel's war with hamas is a cease-fire possible before the end of the year? >> it's still possible. the plan i put together, endorsed by the g7, endorsed by the un security council center is still viable. and i am working, literally, every single day to, and my whole team, to see to it that it doesn't escalate into a war, but it easily can. >> you know, he mentioned, joe biden just there. regional war. >> reporter: it's not just

about what's going on in the gaza strip, is not just about freeing hostages and bringing some measure of peace to gaza. they would also -- of the brewing war between here and lebanon and hezbollah and israel and possibly between the iranians and the israelis. they have both out that they are going to retaliate against israel for twin assassinations that occurred weeks ago -- two weeks ago. there's a lot on the line when it comes to these negotiations but we will talk about this for the last 10 months, ever since it began. the last time, it lasted, the peace lasted only for a week and freed about half of those hostages with deals since then have been very elusive. yamiche? >> as you said, a lot on the line, but some hope. thank you so much for your reporting . up next, what we know and what we do not know after the trump campaign says it was hacked .

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now, more on the trump campaign, saying he was hacked by an arabian group -- iranian group. -- on a number of fronts. including a fishing operation to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign from a compromised email attempt from former senior adviser. joining me now is the author of

that report, clint watts, he's the general manager of the microsoft threat analysis center at msnbc national security analyst. so clint, embassy in bee stings -- nbc news has not verified with a hack is coming from. i'm sure there are some things you can tell us but can you connect the dots for us, given what you know? >> yeah, yamiche, i can't comment on the terms of the hack, i can just tell you from threat activity, the report covers three major lines of efforts from what we have seen over the last 3 to 6 months but this is a pickup. is very similar to what we saw with the iranians came in much later in terms of the influence and i -- activity. the first is what you brought up , entering into this conversation. a spearfishing attempt, going after someone on a campaign. i think it's indicative of spearfishing being a major technique is still very prolific -- going after -- the iranian

guard court do this not just a stone in the u.s., they did it to -- in israel, as well. the second thing is the development of websites that they could use, to try and sow discord in the u.s., and potentially try to cede stolen or hacked information. that's the key component of this. you would stage those websites about now if you wanted to do election activity going into november so both of these are on the signs that we see from iranians but also consistent what we saw in 2020. >> thank you so much for breaking that down for us. i want to drill down, how much you can tell us about the scope of the information these half skirt -- hackers sees, and what they actually did with that information beyond sending it to news operations. >> in terms of what the hackers

actually gained or what did they -- i can't speak or have visibility on it but what i would say is this technique from the irg seat -- they do this quite often. they go after campaigns, they go after a lot of companies and key industries and they will go after key organizations. so when you see spear phishing, we don't always know if it's successful or not but we should be looking for is this technique we have seen in albania, israel, and -- in the last two years and one they are likely to try again in the election of 2024. >> as you talk about targets, clint, there is a warning where iran is supposedly targeting swing states, specifically. can you tell us which states those are and how they are actually targeting? >> yes. in terms of states, i don't have any specifics on individuals but i can tell you that many of these spear phishing campaigns go to thousands of accounts. any of the 50 states and any or all of the states. the key point is it's really

the opportune time from their perspective to prepare for something close to election day, which is exactly, by the way, what they did in 2020. one was posing as the proud boys and sending out emails to lots of different voters trying to scam them about the polling place. that's a technique we seen them do in the u.s. context and other context and the second one was going after former administration officials by making it look like they were on some sort of a kill list or that they had been designated to be targeted. those are the kinds of things that they do and as much as anything are about chaos, stoking fear close to election day and really making people nervous about participating in the vote. >> i want to ask you, is there any evidence or signals of which side iran wants to win here, these iranian hackers want to win? are they trying to campaign any campaign in particular? >> at this point, we don't have that information in terms of which campaign they want to win

or lose. the key point is they are doing initial reconnaissance -- and other campaigns dynamic and prolific. the other point i would like to make that difference, let's a russia, which always uses their influence as a political warfare technique, i ran is often time an extension of the military campaigns or other regional conflicts. the current state of issues, which we were just talking about before i came on, i ran in israel, -- ironic and israel. causing chaos is the largest thing that they do and more so than russia. the key distinction, you see, it's very dynamic, very late breaking and highly chaotic, based on fear. that's often times more indicative of iran than russia, which is trying to steer the outcome towards whatever the

foreign-policy is, and in particular, it's ukraine going into 2024. >> we will definitely keep a close eye on the situation as we get closer and closer to november. thank you so much, clint. we have new insight now into one of the world's most dangerous migration routes, the darien gap. it is 70 miles of treacherous terrain connecting columbia and panama. it was once thought to be impassable, but by the end of this year, it is estimated that more than 800,000 people will risk their lives crossing it in order to get to the u.s. that's more than double from last year. my next guest, pulitzer prize- winning journalist wrote this article titled 70 miles in hell it's the atlantic september cover story. caitlin dickerson joins me now. you are brave enough to bring this information back. what was it like to make that journey, and why has the darien gap really excluded as a migration route? >> thank you so much. i should say i'm not the only journalist who has done this but, like a lot of us, i watched as the numbers in the darien gap have gone up and up and up to these unimaginable, previously unimaginable levels

and i decided in my reporting to both try to bring readers into this experience where you are climbing hills that cause people to have heart attacks, cliffs that people fall off of snakes, jaguars, people die of dehydration, hunger, and flash floods in the darien gap, and then you also have robbery and sexual assault is a huge risk. the list is massive and yet people are there because of a couple of reasons. the circumstances abroad that lead people to flee their homes or get worse. the greatest number of people in the darien gap is from venezuela, which your viewers know is seated in conflict now over stolen election by nicolas maduro. people are coming from haiti, africa, asia, all over. people moving for the second or third time to try to find a home

. it's really the desperation of circumstances that people are fleeing, as well as determine policies that prevent them from being able to fly, for example, to a place of refuge, and instead, they have to walk through the jungle. >> caitlin, you really bring people into the stories of the people that are making this track and i want to place a video of a nine-year-old boy . he was traveling with his mom when he was swept away in a latch flood. watch a bit of him practicing his english. >> yes, coffee with milk, please. >> coffee with milk. >> yes, coffee with milk, please. >> please. please please. >> tell me more, caitlin, about what happened to khan and his mom, was continuing to search for him. >> this is a nine-year-old boy from vietnam who was in route to the united states with his

mother in the darien gap when they were crossing a river. they've done it dozens of times in the dungeon -- the jungle. it's very common and khanh was swept away. this was in december and his mother has not seen him since and this is a common fate in the darien gap. one of the things i learned there is that we don't have a good count on the number of people who died because of the terrain and the conditions. most people who die in the jungle, their bodies never emerge and their stories frequently don't either. this is a hard video to watch, you know, a little boy practicing his english -- in the united states. but they asked his mother in boston, who as you mentioned, she doesn't have khanh's body so she's really become obsessed with this idea that he may have survived the journey and it's just desperate for closure, but she, you know, i asked her about sharing this video, and

to make sure i do it, and she said please do and, you know, i've gone through too much suffering myself and other parents shouldn't have to go through this. >> yeah, just heartbreaking when i think of that little boy. in that case, i mean, why are so many children crossing this darien gap and what is the impact of that? >> you see this a lot with migration routes when they first emerge. people often send single adult men, sometimes single adult women to see if they can make their way and try to set up, you know, get a job and basically test out the new route. if it is successful, often then come women and children after those men. again, we talked about the circumstances abroad that are leading people to flee home that are getting worse and at the same time, the clamping down on policies that prevent people from taking safer routes. it's almost a pressure cooker situation where they feel they have to go through these routes

and the cartels that operate that are taking advantage of that. they are trying to move routes when they can take make them a little more traversable. sometimes they will offer deals. you can bring your kids along for free to try and recruit more people to migrate. that is one of the fallouts i learned about that result when the government doesn't want to deal with a migration crisis, and so criminal groups take it into their own hands. >> briefly, how does this connect with the election and sort of what we are going to see in november? >> there's so much pressure on both candidates in the selection to address immigration because despite the fact that their viewpoints couldn't be more different, you know, and the fact that donald trump brought a lot of misinformation about immigration into the mainstream, increasingly more and more americans are pushing

for a solution and so, i think what i learned in the darien gap suggest that this issue is not going to go away. >> yeah, well, thank you so much for sharing your reporting. it's definitely a story that everyone should be reading. i hope that everyone can pick up the atlantic and read 70 miles in hell. thank you so much, caitlin. we will be right back. and long-lasting gain scent beads. part of the irresistible scent collection from gain. (vo) they're back! part of the irresistible verizon small business days are here. august 5th to the 11th. get a free tech check. and special offers. like a free 5g phone, when you switch. don't miss out. get started today. my name is brayden. i was five years old when i came to st. jude. i'll try and shorten down the story. so i've been having these headaches that wouldn't go away. my mom, she was just crying. what they said, your son has brain cancer.

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closing ceremonies are underway in paris after the world's athletes gave it their all at the 2024 olympic games. the final medal count it's team usa at the top with 126 gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded over the past two weeks. the u.s. and china are tied for top prize with 40 gold medals each. nbc news's -- what are some of the highlights that have been in these closing ceremonies? >> reporter:, well, it's really just getting underway. what you see a lot are the athletes coming in. this is their moment to

celebrate all of those accompaniments, whether they won a medal -- with a surprise the world by winning a gold. we see a lot of katie ledecky, the u.s. swimmer who is now the most decorated female olympian in history for the united states. the rower, he and his four- person crew vote winning a gold medal the first time since 1960. this is just their time. it is their time to celebrate. it is also time for paris to celebrate. these have been an overwhelmingly successful set of games with very few disruptions and you will see this city embrace that and there will be the passing of the torch on to l.a., where the games are going to be taking place in 2028. you also have some events wrapping up today, a real night better -- nailbiter between the u.s. women and the french team.

it was really tough. the u.s. sailed to the finals, beating their competition by 10 points every single game, or at least 10 points every single game. this is not that game. this is a really tough fight. the lead went back and forth multiple times, but in the end, the u.s. eked out a win, beating france by just one point and driving that winamac was -- when was -- listen to what she had to say at the end of the game. >> god was working today and i am so proud of the resilience. we could have fumbled, we pulled through and to say i'm a -- oh my gosh, he was working today, man. >> i would have to say that she is really the one who pulled through. >> reporter: the team had a really tough time and she sort of single-handedly put the ball on her back and got them that gold medal today, yamiche.

>> thank you so much for your reporting. i know it's been tough work but fun work, so thank you so much. next, a new film takes a close up look at a -- book bans and how one community fought back against them. t the (vo) trade in any phone, in any condition. guaranteed at verizon. and get $800 off the new galaxy z fold6. only on verizon. announcer what if you could whiten your teeth by simply brushing your teeth? now you can with smileactives, the teeth whitening breakthrough that safely gets your teeth white and keeps them white every day just by brushing your teeth. christine i never thought that whitening my teeth could be so easy. i just put the gel on the brush, the toothpaste on it, brush and i can see my white teeth. announcer simply add smileactives to any toothpaste, and our patented polyclean technology activates into a powerful micro foam that penetrates into the enamel surface to safely lift and remove stains. robert you need a simple way to withen your teeth without strips, without trays, without going to the dentist. and it was about time that a product was developed

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new analysis by the american library association shows book banning remains a huge issue in this country. utah just banned 13 books from

all public schools, including works by judy bloom and margaret atwood and in iowa, a federal appeals court just ruled that the book ban law can take effect. the law bans -- sexual acts from k-12 school libraries. now, a new film called -- to be destroyed. it tackles the book ban issue, focusing on a conflict in rapid city, north dakota. joining me now is the director of the film, arthur bradford. i want to get your reaction to the new bands we are seeing happening in utah and iowa. >> that is unfortunate. i feel like these situations come up a lot when the two sides don't communicate with each other what we learned in this situation in rapid city was the more people that got involved, the less likely books were to be banned. oftentimes, the legislators who are enacting these bands and even crack these books open. they are just going off of little snippet that some activist group had passed on to

them. >> and as you talk about what's happening in those states, i wonder, tell me a little bit about what happened in rapid city and why you decided to make a film about that place? >> well, the author, dave eggers , is someone i've known previously and his book, the circle, ended up on one of these lists that was to be removed from the restricted from being taught and not really -- it really rubbed dave the wrong way and we've been in touch about filming some sort of documentary project. we went out there with him to go visit the students, the teachers in rapid city had invited him to come speak to the students and so he did that and we just thought that would be an interesting perspective, the perspective of an author whose book had been banned like that. >> it's certainly an interesting perspective and in the documentary, you follow a

lot of other perspectives around this issue. here's one voice. listen to what that voice said. >> if you give us the books, you tell us you don't need to go through this. if you don't want to. then, one, you don't have to take it away. it is there for whoever wants it. two, whoever doesn't want it, doesn't need to go through it. three, i had a third thing. i'm getting there. it can expand you as a person to experience things outside of your comfort zone, but we need to learn and figure it out for ourselves. >> really interesting to hear that student, which brings up a point that student was bring up a point that there are often alternative books available to read if someone isn't comfortable with the subject matter that is covered by a certain book, but why is that

not enough, do you think, for people who want these books totally removed from the classroom and often times from libraries? >> i think there's a misapprehension among some groups, they feel that there's actually like an activist group of teachers who are trying to indoctrinate their children into a lifestyle choice or something like that, and i think anyone who spent time with teachers knows that they are really dedicated to their craft, that that really isn't the case and i, one of the teachers that we interviewed had a great line, he said i don't have time to indoctrinate students and if i had that power, i would make them turn in their homework on time. you know, it's just, i think it is just, there's not enough communication between these parents and the teachers. often times, a lot of the people who are complaining and wanting the books restricted are adults who don't even have children in the school district. the head of the school board in rapid city that restricted these books, she had several

children who she homeschooled. she didn't have them in the district, so i feel like there is something wrong with that. if you are restricting books that are in a school district where your kids aren't even in the school. >> it's really an important perspective because we see outside national groups also targeting communities. it's very interesting to hear about the affect and this film. make sure to watch, everyone is watching right now, it is called to be destroyed, tonight at 9:00 p.m. eastern ray here on msnbc. that will do it for me on this edition of alex witt reports. i am yamiche alcindor. thank you so much for watching. alex will be back next saturday and sunday at 1:00 p.m. eastern, we can't wait. and up next, msnbc prime: weekend.