thank you for joining us. jeremy is the president of refugees international and a veteran of usaid. straight ahead live to beirut for the latest on the death of the ali velshi team leader, hassan nasrallah, who was killed in lebanon. another hour of "velshi" begins right now. good morning. it is saturday september 28th. we have news out of the middle east where hezbollah confirmed israel killed the group's longtime leader, hassan nasrallah in air strikes last night at an apartment complex in beirut. israel said hezbollah was using the complex as an underground headquarters and that represents a major escalation of the on going back and forth between israel and hezbollah and israel has intensified in the last few weeks. the strikes killed other high

ranking hezbollah officials. the shiite clear at hassan nasrallah, lead hezbollah since 1982 and grew the group into the most powerful iranian backed force in the region, both militarily and building has below to what is called the state within a state and led the group through decades of conflict with israel. the biden administration said it was not alerted ahead of time to yesterday pack the strikes in beirut. in a statement, the head of the supreme national security council said it acts as a resistance and will respond with force at the right time and that israel has opened the gates of hell against itself." israel carried out more strikes this morning in israel and hezbollah fired more rockets into israel. joining leave this morning is my friend brett bradley. he is in beirut. a country he knows well. reporting on an organization that he reported on for a very long time what you make of everything that has happened in the last 12-18 hours?

>> it is not just something that happened in the last couple of hours. thank you for the introduction. it is happening now as we speak. you can barely see it but off my left shoulder, there was a column that landed here of smoke from the coast. we heard a bombardment. it is way in the distance but this is the pattern we have been seeing so far all along. you see on your screen the column of smoke we saw yesterday from this position. we shot the image as well. this is of my right shoulder. this is the israeli bombardment that is continuing. they are not satisfied with the death of the hezbollah leader hassan nasrallah and they are continuing to fire on lebanon at has blood positions throughout the entire country. it is important to note that this man was listed as a terrorist by the united states and israel and various countries throughout the world. he is responsible for a lot of the fighting going on in the last year and fighting at the

border between lebanon and israel. it started in october eighth. the day after the october 7th a text when hezbollah fired on a disputed piece of territory that is now governed by israel. it is actually considered mostly syrian territory. has blessed they did this in solidarity with gaza and now we are seeing the work continue. it looks like israeli decided to make a decisive blow. we will see where that takes this country and has blood self. ali should we will stay close to you. matt bradley and beirut. turning to the u.s. election which is 38 days away. kamala harris is going on the offensive in an effort to close the gap between herself and donald trump especially in the king sweet states along with sunbelt. the democratic nominees in the last week trying to make end roads on what voters have consistently set or two of the top issues this election cycle. the economy and immigration. earlier the week, both

candidates hold events and give speeches that were focused on their economic vision for the country. harris continuing to flush out her policies well trump continued to blame her and the biden administration for the high cost of goods. yesterday, harris shifted the conversation to the topic of immigration as she visited the southern border for the first time since becoming the democratic presidential nominee. harris travel to a portion of the border located in douglas, arizona in the tucson sector where she met with the border patrol agents and give a speech detailing her plans while criticizing trump for intervening and ultimately taking a bipartisan reform bill in congress earlier this year. >> it was the strongest border security bill we have seen in decades. it was endorsed by the border patrol union. and it should be in effect today. but donald trump tanked it. he picked up the phone and called some friends in congress and said, stop the bill. because you see, he prefers to

run on the problem instead of fixing a problem. >> trump was hyperaware of harris' visit to the border yesterday before she even left on her trip to arizona. the former president was already offering up rebuttals to the criticisms she was about to make about his handling of the country's immigration problems. and since then, he sent more than a half-dozen posts out on social media related to kamala harris and the border. still, most polls continue to demonstrate that voters think the former president has an edge over his democratic opponent on this issue. the nbc news latest national poll shows 54% of republicans or i'm sorry, of registered voters, think donald trump would do a better job securing the border compared to 33% who think harris would be a better leader on the issue which is an improvement from joe biden's numbers from the last time nbc asked this question in january of this year when only 22% said they thought biden would handle immigration better compared to

57% who chose trump. harris' campaign is looking to further underequipped chomp -- trump's advantage by calling attention to her past work prosecuting international gangs and organized crime during attorney general of california. trump continues to use limitary rhetoric about immigrants and is continuing to single out the migrant populations in specific cities and blaming them for a rise in crime which resulted in some pushback from within the republican party. after trump repeated unfounded and unflattering stories about armed migrants taking over the city of aurora, colorado, it's republican mayor said he hopes the former president would visit his city so he can show him that the narrative is not accurate by any stretch of the imagination. if this story, the story about donald trump saying things about a place and then officials in the place saying that it is just not true, if it sounds familiar to you, it is because it is out of the same playbook trump has used since he entered the political scene. trump's politics of grievance

are central to the maga movement. he links immigrants and democrats and others to the economic pain and problems that his supporters are experiencing and reinforces their worldview that they have been left behind. that they have been shut out of the political conversation by these groups of people. and it is incredibly effective. it is key to trump's staying power after all these years and the explanation as to why it will continue beyond trump. seven years ago, the book "strangers and their own land" was published shortly after trump entered the white house and was about the right wing counter reaction to the obama era and it helped people to understand the factors that gave rise to the maga movement. for her latest growth book" stolen shame" ," she spent time in pikeville and kentucky's fifth congressional district. one of the widest and poorest districts in the nation and remains a trump stronghold. in the first chapter of stolen

pride, it is explained why she pursued the project. "i took with me to pikeville a deep interest in the emotions underlying politics and in particular the emotions of pride and shame. if he leader appeals to a follower, it is usually a motion to which he or she appeals. emotion is not a casual add on to the cognitive talk of politics we think of. on the part contrary, politics could be the platter on which emotions are delivered. to understand politicized emotion, we need to understand what people have gone through and care about." joining me is the professor of sociology at the university of california berkeley. best-selling author of many books including the brand-new book, "stolen pride, lost shame and the rise of the right" and the aforementioned strangers in their own land. great to see you. thank you for being with us. >> great to see you. >> this is what you do.

the rest of us talk about these things. you go and immerse yourself in what people are thinking that leads them to act as political beings a certain way. you actually believe that degree of empathy is key to understanding the problems we have got. the rest of society is busy uttering everybody. you are not doing that in your book. you did not do it in your last book and you did not do it here either. >> you know, ali, exactly. you use this word, politics of grievance and that is exactly what i'm trying to understand. one guy that i talked to said, donald trump, he is lightning in a jar. i thought, what is the lightning? how does that work? how does it strike the jar? how does this kind of right wing charismatic authority really land on the ears of the people who are listening to him, who are mainly white and

mainly male. that is who gets excited by this and they mainly don't have a ba. i went to this completely white and second poorest area. 13% have a ba but don't go to any stereotypes with this. and why are they going for trump? they were roosevelt democrats and bill clinton democrats. and not 80% the last two elections, for trump. what i did say, what i'm trying to do in this book is make us bilingual so we listen to the rational and the emotional, especially pride and shame. what i think we have here is a guy, trump, who for personal

reasons, feels ashamed. harsh father. it taught him how to drill into the kind of shame felt by very proud people. coal miners. we kept the lights on. we won world war ii. so they have been structurally shamed. i think he appeals to that by turning shame to blame. i think he does it in four kinds of ways. he has an anti- shame ritual that he runs us through that goes like this and it's almost every week, every day. from moment one, he says something transgressive. all immigrants are poisoning the blood of america or they

are eating your pet cat or dog. moment one, transgressive statement. moment two, donald trump is shamed for saying this. you can't say that. america's immigrant society, how can you promote a lie? so moment two, ponder and treat shames donald trump. moment three, donald trump becomes the victim of the shaming. he says, look how hard it is. they are all ganging up on me. have they ganged up on you? do you feel shamed too? i will take the hit for you. they are coming after me now but they are coming after you later. and in moment four, donald trump roars back at the shimmers. that is cathartic for them. i think actually that the democratic part of america is listening to moment one in moment two. the outrageous statement in the

shaming. but that the republican part of the country is listening to moment three and moment four and that gives us the feeling of the victimhood and revenge. that is how shame is turned into blame which has grown and grown grown. the moments of change through time and the issues have changed but the repeated ritual is working on people and so, the democrats need to see that that is what is going on when it looks like he is just off the rails and they are duped. no. there is a language we need to tune into so that these proposals can be heard at. >> it becomes natural to want to shame someone for something they do that you think is inappropriate or wrong or racist or whatever the case is.

it sounds to me, and i remember this from your last book, that ultimately, that does not work but what are you supposed to do when you hear this kind of behavior moment one and moment two, what can you do better in a society where we are trying to model dialogue and politics to avoid moments one and two becoming three and four? >> you stop at one. you say, that isn't true. it isn't acceptable. but then you say, there are a lot of people out there in america who don't feel heard and who feel shamed. you intercept after moment two and you say, actually, we do hear you. you create at a competing narrative in which you listen to them and i talked to a lot of people actually who were

high school educated poor. like one guy who said, i'm trailer trash, okay. i'm white. on poor. i'm not working. and am surrounded by drugs here. what is the difference between me and some black guy in the gado? we are the same. but the democrats aren't talking to us. they don't see that. they don't talk social class. they don't talk poverty. and so he is not voting for kamala harris. he is not voting for trump either. he feels stuck without a narrative. what we can do is to say we see you and the policies that biden is promoting are for you and it needs to be a new channel of communication. i think that is how we intercept this when i can 2-3-

4. >> what is similar to your last book is his concept of being able to empathize. the polarized politics in this country and around the world work very actively against that. it works against empathizing with people who are not on your side. we are about defeating people not on our side. that is a big ask. asking people to get over that and say, think about this a different way is big. to think it is doable for someone who is not you and doesn't go and immerse yourself in these unusual places? >> what i do is easy and anybody can do it. the book is named an invitation for us all to do this. the people i talked to, i could actually try out these ideas on them. the very guy that said, trump is light in a jar. i said, tell me about the lightning. does this 1-2-3 work for you? he laughed and added to it. you can talk.

and at this juncture in history when non- ba white men who are his prime target are like this guy i talked to and say there is no narrative from the left for me, there is a big opportunity there to say, okay. and coming to town. i like to visit the horror and in fact, i do see it and many of the policies that you will hear discussed on ali's program , trump's policies, are not going to make your life better. another thing. i think that as trump reels against all the immigrants coming, appalachia is not a

place people are coming in. they are leaving. so how can this the immigrants, how can this work on the population? i think immigrants have come to represent newcomers. people that may take what little you have and that would be women before well-paid jobs. that would be blacks. we are the immigrants. the way that donald trump can keep female and black votes while evoking fear. and that too can be maimed or an appeal can be heard. >> arley, thank you as always. i'm grateful for the researcher to and the time you take.

professor of sociology at berkeley. the author of the new book "stolen pride." lost shame and the rise of the right. last year, more than 10,000 books were banned in public schools across the country. this book banning inland censorship has become worse since we started the velshi book club. today is a milestone.

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i want to talk to you about lebanon which is located right here between the mediterranean, israel, syria and what comprises modern-day lebanon has hosted human civilization for more than 7000 years. it has been ruled by a variety of countries and empires including the canaanites, egyptians, romans, christian

crusaders. modern lebanon began in 1921 following the loss in world war i of which the ottomans were part, the league of nations partitioned four specific middle eastern territories of the empire creating four mandates. palestine, iraq, syria and lebanon which in a way hearkened back to the colonial era and acted sort of like sponsorships that were meant to eventually lead to independent states. the british were given control and governance over palestine and iraq and the french over syria and lebanon. this created greater lebanon as it was called. literally a reference to size. double under the ottomans including tripoli and one of the oldest inhabited cities in the world and beirut, the capital in the middle. in 1943, with friends under nazi occupation and pre-france severely began, lebanon gained independence notably going back

to its ottoman days. a distinctive feature of lebanon is it's very religious populations. as part 11 on's newly formed parliamentary government, each main religious group was given specific power. the maronite christians held the presidency, sunni museums, the prime minister ship and the greek orthodox got the deputy speaker in the deputy prime minister. i should note that the offshoot of shiite islam that identify as their own religion, are also an important part of the lebanese population mainly residing in the southern half of the country and also in golan heights. also, at the time of lebanese independence, they remained a very small jewish population that now has dwindled to perhaps a handful if any. lebanon remained relatively stable until 1975 when the civil war broke out between maronite christian militias versus muslim militias in the

palestine liberation organization or plo which recently relocated out of jordan into lebanon. shortly after the war started, syria entered the fray initially intervening on the side of the maronites against the plo. quickly, syria became a major occupying force with significant influence and power and government and then occupation for all intents and purposes have lasted until the cedar revolution and 2005. i want to go back a little bit to 1982 following years of hostility and fighting with the plo. israel itself into lebanon and baiting as far north as beirut before occupying the southern portion consisting of about 10% of the country. israel withdrew from there in the year 2000 but lebanon civil war officially ended in 1990 following the signing of the agreement which happened a year before that. among other things, disarmed all the malicious fighting on all sides of the war with the exception of one.

has blood. has will was formed in response to the 1982 israeli invasion. it is us liat -- shiite islamist militia financed by iran and heavily influenced by the principles of ayatollah maney and at the time the fairly recent iranian revolution. has below stated objectives included ending any western presence in lebanon on supporting the destruction of israel. unlike hamas, which is for better or worse the government of gaza, has blood currently controls significant parts of lebanon and has a small political entity in parliament but mainly exists as a separate fighting force with significant political influence and said lebanon. has will has been dubbed a state within a state. since the end of the civil war and especially since a withdrawal of israeli and syrian forces in the early 2000, haswell has grown closer to iran and more powerful and influential within lebanon which is a country has become increasingly weaker since the civil war, especially in the last decade amid a rapidly

declining economy. and 2006, heslin israel fought a short but deadly war and now of course following nearly a year of escalating back-and- forth strikes in recent weeks, israel has significantly increased attacks using everything from explosive beepers and walkie-talkies to heavy missiles, to target hezbollah. last night, israel killed has blood's powerful longtime leader, hassan nasrallah, who is responsible for that group's growth. after a quick break, i will speak with a long time israeli diplomat who was the tenth commander in the 1982 war between israel and lebanon. we will be right back! cret is ingredient, apoaequorin, originally discovered in jellyfish and found only in prevagen. in a clinical study, prevagen was shown to improve memory in subgroups of individuals who were cognitively normal or mildly impaired.

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the one thing about the middle east is a topic today. talk to me about what you make of what has gone on in lebanon in the last couple weeks and then this. taking out of hassan nasrallah. >> let's start with the border perspective and narrow it down. has public nearly made a miscalculation. based on the flawed premise that israel will be somehow deterred or reticent and not react. the miscalculation was that you actually join the war. there is nothing in it for you and nothing in it for has blood. they claimed in the first days after the october 7th hamas attack that they had nothing to do with it. in fact, iranian patrons said we had nothing to do with it. we were not consulted. so they made a strategic mistake. they created an intolerable situation on the israel border with lebanon. and at some point, that had to

happen. as for hassan nasrallah, he was on israel's sites for many years but israel had all kinds of conflicting considerations not to escalate or deteriorate. the policy of assassinating individuals should not be a strategy but should be a tactic move at best. and then there was pressure from the military and the defense minister at the outset. very early in october at about the 12th of october to take out the leadership of hezbollah. benjamin netanyahu was reluctant to do so. some explain it with american pressure. now fast forward to where we are today, the assassination. it is a big deal. we can all run through the clichis of everyone is replaceable and no one is indispensable and there will be another one. and the assassination of his predecessor 1992, everybody said, what knockout blow to

hezbollah and look at them today with 100,000 missiles, rockets and an army with an army, a state within a state. this is a big deal for two reasons. it is not just hassan nasrallah who was a very charismatic and strong political leader but also the entire top echelon of his blood. and secondly and i'm speculating . everyone assumed for a long time that iran would protect its proxy. so far, it hasn't really happened. i don't know what will happen later today, next week or month from now. but if you look at the president of iran's speech at the united nations earlier this week. if you look at the restraint since israel took out the head of the hamas political wing and under the iranian presidential inauguration ceremony, they have been restrained and that indicates that they may not

play along the lines that we expected them to. >> what is happening really quick and israeli politics? on one hand, israel is more fatigued at the moment and there was a lot of internal politics about what should or shouldn't be happening. benjamin netanyahu does better in conflict than in peace it. >> very much. his detractors said that this is a weakness and the people that defended him said that it is actually quality that should be appreciated. in his mind, taking out hassan nasrallah absolves him of the calamity of october seventh. he is going to celebrate over this for a few days. the thing is that he still does not have the end game. there is no strategy. it is fighting an enemy. it is justifiable. if you take israeli public opinion, generally, and i'm generalizing, people are happy about this. it is a devastated policy.

it is an 18th agonizing society and it is human to feel a sense of vengeance. but that is not policy. revenge is a great thing but it is not a policy. politically, he may contemplate an early election because why go through the hassle. it isn't going to get better than this. but the resentment toward his sacrificing of the hostages in gaza. his responsibility and accountability which refuses to take over the catastrophe of october seventh and the economy, moody's, the day before it lowered israel's rating by two levels. that only happens in venezuela and argentina and maybe greece or portugal in the distant past. i don't know what will happen

politically. you will enjoy this for a few days but i think it is going to not last. nothing lasts. >> good to see you. thank you for being here. we look forward to further conversations. >> a senior writer, thank you. we have a major milestone for the velshi banned book club. 100th meeting. when we started two at half years ago, we did not imagine we would still be doing it to this day. we had no idea how much these authors and their stories would resonate. for the 100th meeting, i will be joined by one of the founding members of the banned book club. author that has become a symbol of freedom and a major voice in the fight for access to books. george johnson, author of all boys aren't little. boys aren't little. that startt to target tough pain at the source. for up to 8 hours of powerful relief. new advil targeted relief. hi. i use febreze fade defy plug. and i use this. febreze has a microchip to control scent release

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here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need, and the flavor you love. so, here's to now... now available: boost max! the fact that people get worked up about young people are reading has to do with fear and control. no one in these board meetings

is talking about the cell phones in their kid's pockets. they have immediate access to so much content and what is important about literature and has been in the case of all the books you mentioned in many other works of literature is the opportunities it creates for young people. rather than focusing on objections parents have, schools can focus on how they are supporting parents, teachers, librarians, students and having difficult conversations that we really need to have. >> people want to protect children. we all want what is best for the children. but i would argue that the way to protect children it is not to put them in a bubble and pretend that these bad things don't exist, but rather the, give then the tools to deal with the complications and ugliness that life often presents us. and many of these kids are already dealing with. and let them discuss these

issues in the safe place of their classroom. it was banned in a very well-to- do suburb in dallas and one parent objected to it. the other parents and the teachers, and god bless then the students, got together and said, we need to know about people like this. we have so many privileges. >> i want young people to see that there is space to write your story into existence. particularly when these schools traneightynine your i. i had mine band and many people are. and these book bannings are proof that there is an insidious group of folks in this country that want to ban our children. not just books but our children from exploring what they deem fearful. there is nothing more insidious than the work of book banning in this country in 2024. >> today is a very special day for us.

it is the 100th meeting of the velshi banned book club. that was just a handful of the incredible authors who we have met along the way. for two and a half years, we have been speaking with authors and digging into stories and shedding light on the darkness of censorship and book banning. for 100 meetings, we have been reading as resistance. since we began the velshi banned book club 100 meetings go, efforts to ban books across the country have gotten worse. it is becoming more common. more excepted and now it is becoming enshrined in the law. there are numerous examples from alaska to west virginia, of state legislation on book banning but perhaps the most egregious example is in utah where 13 books, including work by margaret atwood and judi blume, have been outlawed in public schools entirely and there will be more where that came from under a new state law. it takes just three of the utah's 41 school district boards to claim that a novel contains objective, sensitive material end quote to get a title removed from all schools across the entire state.

today, for the 100th meeting of the velshi banned book club, it feels only right to have back the person who was here with us from the very start, for the earliest meetings. the person that has become a true hero the fight against censorship and the person whose story touched so many members of the book club, johnson. george johnson. you will remember the "all boys aren't blue" published in the spring of 2020. a chronicles johnson's life from new jersey to virginia come from childhood to adulthood as they grapple with their identity as a black non- binary person. all boys aren't blue powerfully confronts agency, self-love, sexual assault, identity and self liberation. all boys aren't blue has become more than just a powerful story. it is a symbol of free speech and access to literature and of

resistance. show me the list of banned or challenged books that does not include all boys aren't blue? this book has been removed from library shelves in classrooms from colorado to texas to virginia. georgia's story of a life and person in america has been made an example of again and again. george has become more than just a successful author. activist, central voice in this fight for freedom, literature, black and queer people. george m johnson joins me next. don't go anywhere! ned' pso. ned, ned, who are you wearing? he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. ned? otezla can help you get clearer skin, and reduce itching and flaking. with no routine blood tests required. doctors have been prescribing otezla for over a decade. otezla is also approved to treat psoriatic arthritis. don't use otezla if you're allergic to it.

serious allergic reactions can happen. otezla may cause severe diarrhea, nausea, or vomiting. some people taking otezla had depression, suicidal thoughts, or weight loss. upper respiratory tract infection and headache may occur. audience: ohhh... with clearer skin, movie night is a groovy night. (♪♪) live in the moment. ask your doctor about otezla. (music playing) one in five children worldwide are faced with the reality of living without food, no family dinners, no special treats, not enough energy to play. all around the world, hunger is affecting children's physical and mental health. toddlers are suffering from acute malnutrition, which stunts their growth.

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boys aren't blue," a memoir manifesto. the author of the brand-new book "flamboyance" the maga harlem resistance i wish i had known. george, welcome. great to have you back. >> thank you for having me back. >> you first joined the velshi banned book club february 13th, 2022. what has changed since we first talked? >> i guess my dedication to writing more stories and continuing to write more stories. i'm super excited about my new book which is on the harlem renaissance. but the book banning has still continued and i think despite what we have done and despite the current state of the country, there is a thought -- a desire to block certain children from having access. as we continue to fight out and

my book was just band in cobb county, atlanta which i guess is technically like a blue district. it is getting worse as time goes on. but we are not stopping the fight. i'm part part of a federal lawsuit in florida and we want to make sure young adults have the right to read the materials they deserve to read. >> "all boys aren't blue" was under a ban and cobb county? >> it was under a ban last week in cobb county which was shocking to all of us. it's not like a super blue county but technically a blue county outside of atlanta. it was a little shocking. flamboyance has not been under a ban yet. >> it is going to be. you are not talking about the harlem renaissance but the queer harlem renaissance. let me ask you something. when you came on for the first time, our readers, who are not you, they are not young-ish queer black people.

they hadn't met someone like you in many cases and they were excited to read your book and they would not have known except for the fact that was featured as a banned book. who loses more when you ban a book? the kids who can't see themselves reflected or everybody else who can't learn about those people in the first place because they don't live your experience? >> that is a good question. it is like we all lose at the end of the day. i do feel like those who need to be seen, need to be able to read about themselves in a book and will lose out more. i think that as a society, we lose one people don't understand those who are different from them. i have traveled this country. i remember speaking in a small city in colorado. less than 1000 population. i remember being in that room and i was the only black person in the room and 150 people

showed up. and i think for many of them, it was probably the first time they had met a black or queer person. and when we eliminate these books, it's like i can't go to every small city but my book can we lose out on society. we lose out on community. we lose out on empathy when all that happens. and with the current situation in springfield, that is a direct reflection of the book banning. if people were able to read and learn about other cultures even in these small cities, we wouldn't have wild stories and wild accusations being made because people would already know what people's culture was and who people actually are versus stories i get put out and then run like wildfire and people end up believing them because they literally had no access points to people's culture outside of that. >> you were interviewed for time magazine in march and it

had some james baldwin vibes. you were critical of how some liberal americans acted in the face of a book ban. you said "conservatives are loud about it but what i feel are liberals also agree with them secretly and i have not seen enough, especially on the level of prominent government officials defending the books or other rights in the same way in which someone like florida governor ron desantis has opposed them. they are not vocal about protecting the books that are being under a ban. talk to me about this more. >> one, i want to say a shout out to house are presented to presley. she is the one house representative who has put a bill together to try to fight against book bands. but in all actuality, the best way i can liken how silent certain liberals are work when it comes to the situation is when you think about roe v wade, you have people that are pro-life or pro-choice. but realistically, the opposite of pro-life is pro- abortion. not pro-choice.

a person can say, i'm pro- choice even though i don't agree with abortion. and so i feel like that is the same thing that is happening with books where it's like, i don't want books to be banned but i also would not allow my child to read this book. i feel like that is what is happening. so the quiet part is basically them saying, i don't think books should be banned but i don't think you should book should be read either. that is what you feel pick i always say that a person will hard for something they truly believe in. when nothing is taken away and they never truly believed in it, they are not going to fight to get it back. i think that is what is happening with the book ban. you have a lot of liberals who believe in the right for everybody to have the ability to read what they want to read but when the liberty is taken away, it does not move up high on the list to restore the right back because they were not in full agreement with the books that were being ban to begin with.

>> you have been a great partner in these efforts. thank you for that. congratulations on the new book. i don't know whether i should say i hope it doesn't get banned or it does. the bottom line is you are putting great work out there and people should read it. they are not going to win if they keep banning books. we will keep talking about them and you will keep writing them. thank you to the longtime member of the velshi book club, george johnson. author of two books, all boys aren't blue and the upcoming flamboyance. >> much more where that came from. the velshi podcast is back for a second season. i spoke with legendary author tim o'brien about his contemporary classic, the things they carried. you can scan the qr code on your screen which i have never really done but you can do that. and listen to this episode for free. or you can subscribe to msnbc premium on apple podcast for early access to every episode the week before it drops and

for ad free listening to the entire series. coming up, we will return to the top story. has will confirms its longtime leader, hassan nasrallah, has been killed in a strike by the israeli military. coverage continues after a quick break! try olay super eyes serum. millions of people have lost weight with noom. like clavacia, who found the perfect companion to his glp-1 journey. being able to track the progress when you open the app. they're definitely teaching me new habits so i do not have to be on weight loss meds forever. get noom glp-1, now available at noom.com. hayden: the fact st. jude will take care of all this, this is what's keeping my baby girl alive. chelsea: it's everything for us. we wouldn't know what to do. we couldn't afford for our little girl to survive.

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london made it super easy for me to open my small business, by cutting city fees. and she's reinventing downtown to make our city vibrant again. she's building 82,000 new homes and helping first time homebuyers, just like us. and london's hiring hundreds of police officers, and arresting drug dealers. san francisco has been through difficult times, but our hard work is paying off. working together, we're building a better future for the city we all love. ad paid for by re-elect mayor london breed 2024. financial disclosures are available at sfethics.org. good afternoon it is saturday, september 28th. i am ali velshi . we begin with special coverage of the news from the middle east. earlier today trent sexting confirmed that the israeli military has killed but