let people know the facts about our elections. we set up a website which answers every conspiracy theory out there, no matter who is behind it. and then we will work with voters to make sure that they aren't fooled by these tactics, these late our tactics to try to discourage and dissuade people believing in our elections. >> you have to do all of that while trying to make sure your own family, your loved ones are safe and secure. let me tell you, i respect you so much for the job that you do. we are grateful for that. thank you so much and for making adhere to the studio. that's going to do it for me on this edition of alex witt reports. we will back next sunday at 1:30 p.m. eastern. you can all watch reverend al sharpton's exclusive interview with the vice president later today on msnbc, 5:00 p.m. eastern. have a good one. one.

in a normal world, a pre- trump world, the 2024 presidential campaign would have been fundamentally reshaped in just the last 24 hours -- twice. first, an on camera confession by the republican presidential nominee about his sensuality in the january 6th insurrection, described as, quote, drastic terrorism by the trump appointed director of the fbi. and the most senior official in congress, the republican senate leader caught on tape, his own recordings, no less, describing his party's presidential nominee, donald trump, as a, quote, despicable person. and we should stop here and reiterate, and pre-trump politics, each of these events alone is a race changing below.

but we will start with the damming on camera confession of sorts from donald trump himself. the ex-president fielding questions from voters at a univision town hall on wednesday, including a question from a former trump supporter. here is the extraordinary exchange almost in its entirety. so once again, you can reach your own conclusions about it. >> i want to give you the opportunity to try to win back my vote. okay? your -- i'm going to say action, and may be in action during your presidency and the last few years sort of, you know, was a little disturbing to me. what happened during january 6th, and the fact that, you know, you waited so long to take action while you're supporters were attacking the capital. coronavirus. the public was misled during coronavirus, and that may be more lives could've been saved if we would've been

informed better. and also, people in your administration who don't support you. i'm curious how people so close to you and your administration no longer want to support you. why would i want to support you? if you would answer these questions for me, i would really appreciate that. your own vice president doesn't want to support you now. >> thank you. so the people that don't support -- a very small portion -- we have a tremendous, about 97% of the people in the administration support me. but because it is me, somebody doesn't support when they get a little publicity. vice president -- i disagree with him on what he did. i totally disagreed with him on what he did. very importantly, you had hundreds of thousands of people come to washington. i didn't come because of me, they came because of the election. he thought the election was a rigged election, and that's why they came.

some of those people went down to the capital. i said peacefully and patriotically, nothing done wrong at all. nothing done wrong. an action was taken, strong action. ashley babbitt was killed. nobody was killed. there were no guns down there. we didn't have guns. the others had guns, but we didn't have guns. >> we didn't have guns. in case it wasn't clear, the we -- he is there referring to is the insurrectionist and him. to quote others that he refers to as guns are the police officers. he defended the united states capitol that day, and mike pence and all the republican members of the house and the senate. so now, 19 days ago, donald trump is saying out loud what is been investigated through congressional probe and the department of justice. one that revealed in the body of evidence developed by those investigators at the violent mob that stormed the u.s. capital was part of trump's own plan to overturn his defeat on january 6th.

and that mob was indeed armed. they did have guns. we had guns, donald. and he knew that before he sent them to the capital. here's cassidy hutchins. >> was hutchinson, is it your understanding that mr. vornado told the president about weapons at the rally on the morning of january 6th? >> he related to me. as part of a conversation, i was in the vicinity of a conversation where i overheard the president say something to the effect of, i didn't care that they had weapons. they are not here to hurt me. take the effingham bags away. let my people in. they can march the capital from here. >> it was a mystery for a while, right? how did he know that? they are not here to hurt me. quote, let my people in. now we know. we didn't have guns, he said. 19 days until election day and trump is telling voters, the people who attacked the capital

, they were on his side and he is on theirs, still. that brings us to another stunning development today. a new book by associated press washington bureau chief michael tackett reveals this. quote, mitch mcconnell said after the 2020 election that then-president donald trump, was, quote, to bid, as well as being ill tempered and, quote, a despicable human being,", a narcissist. he said all that. before the insurrection. more from the ap. privately, mcconnell said in his oral history that, quote, it's not just the democrats were counting the days until trump left office, and that trump's behavior only underscores the good judgment of the american people. they've had just enough of the misrepresentations, the outright lies. almost on a daily basis. and they fired him. and for a narcissist like him, mcconnell continued, that has been really hard to take. and so his behavior since the election has been even worse by

far than it was before, because he has no filter now at all. before those georgia runoffs, mcconnell said he's stupid as well as ill tempered and can't even figure out where his own best interest fly. like we said, and a normal world, that would be thunderclap. enough to completely derail the political campaign candidate leading a political party. so when we say that is not what it is anymore, this is an example that proves that out. on admission that you are on the side of the violent extremist who attacked the u.s. capital, and the number one republican in the senate calling you, quote, stupid, quote, despicable,", a narcissist. all of that happening in the next 24 hours should be devastating to a politician, somebody seeking to run the government. we live in a world where the gop is splintered and two, whether robust authoritarian movement that demands you toss your views aside, or become an

outcast. people like liz cheney, adam can figure, mitch mcconnell now supports the man. he described in his own words in something called a personal oral history as stupid and despicable. his words on a tape recording he made and shared with a reporter. and on the other side, a small but growing group of disaffected republicans and independent-minded voters that split, particularly when it applies to january 6th, donald trump's disdain, the hallmarks of democracy, has given vice president kamala harris an unprecedented opportunity in opening that she is seizing on with republicans and independents. we are some of our favorite experts and friends. msnbc tim miller is here. he's a former rnc spokesman, now the host of the bulwark podcast. with me at the table, cohost of nbc weekend, alicia menendez is back.

west democratic strategist and professor, msnbc political analyst michaels here. about that town hall. take me through it. >> it's interesting, because they have translators for people who are watching. you don't need a translator. you can just watch the body language in order to see how it was going. you played some of the sound from that undecided voter. they interviewed him after, and they said, you are undecided coming into this. have you made up your mind? and he said well, i know i am not voting for donald trump. and so there in you have a sense of how this all went. there is the 1/6 of it all, which as you said, is incredibly disturbing. i also thought it was really interesting. he got three different questions on immigration. there was a really beautiful moment where someone said, i am an agriculture worker. i worked in this country most of my life. tell me how your plan to deport

immigrants is going to affect agriculture in this country? there is another question -- >> what did he say? >> he did not have an answer. the matter what the question was, his self-aggrandizing's, he makes claim to victory he did not have. he then villain arises, demonizes immigrants. lies about the criminality, and offers no resolution forward. and in the process, reveals that he does not understand how any of this works, which is kind of amazing, to choose an issue like immigration, at the heartbeat of your campaign, and that over the course of an hour reveal that you don't understand the mechanics of it at all. which should be of comfort to people like me, if not for the fact that stephen miller does understand how it works. and part of the plan here is for donald trump to come to power and then dole out these portfolios to ideologues who do understand how the government works and would execute the plans that he has now set out. >> and the mitch mcconnell of

it all. i want to try to keep both of these stories in front of us, because together, i think they illustrate how far from acceptable donald trump is to the republican coalition that once was. so you articulate in the final 19 days how extreme your opponent is, and how centrist and bipartisan your coalition really is. these stories are devastating blows. to now, openly with the cameras rolling -- donald trump wasn't caught on the bus with somebody. donald trump was at a televised town hall and refers to the insurrection as we. >> this is the second time, at least. i'm sure he's done at other times. he did it during the debates. he caught himself during the debate, so maybe it's a slip. we know it's not a slip, maybe he has plausible deniability. it's a slip. in that town hall,

it's very clear. he refers to the rioters as we, and then the day as the capital police. and i'm glad you tie these two stories together, as it shows the nihilism of mitch mcconnell, that he is still on board with donald trump after all that he has called him, being morally responsible for that day, eating a despicable human being, being stupid. these aren't minor critiques, right? these go to the core of the man. and yet he's on the team, that's what he said today in the statement. but i think the big take away, though, is that if you are a voter out there, if you are one of those nikki haley voters, or if you are watching and you are one of those nikki haley voters in your life, and they see themselves as like a mitch mcconnell, nikki haley republican that believes that america has a strong role in the world and that maybe government should be a little bit smaller, and that they have respect for character, donald

trump is telling you -- donald trump is telling those voters that they are the they. they are not on his team. that the we are the people that are charging the capital. if you are a person of conservative temperament that was on the side of capital police that day because you believe in the rule of law, because you believe in the constitution, then he sees you as the enemy. as part of that enemy within that he talks about, right? like, that is how donald trump sees the world. and i think that if that can just breakthrough, you know, there is the event yesterday that you mentioned yesterday with kamala harris and liz cheney and adam kinsinger and others. if that can break through to some of the voters that you might think you're part of the republican team because you have been part of the republican team, and if you just listen to donald trump's own words, he doesn't consider you part of that. if you believe that the president should be defending the capital police and the capital, he sees you as part of the enemy standing between him

and a donald trump autocracy. and hopefully, god willing, with the help of liz cheney and the other, you know, small number of brave people who spoken out, that can get through to that core demo. it's a small but decisive demo that is going to be very critical in a couple of weeks. >> and i just do one more thing? it is also not true that the insurrectionist didn't have guns. there's a radio traffic. can i display this? this is what they had. >> is an individual in a tree, a white male, about six feet tall. brown cowboy boots. he's got blue jeans and a blue jean jacket. he has an ar 15. he has five or eight other individuals. two of the individuals in that group, wearing green fatigues,

green fatigues about 5'9". skinny. brown cowboy boots, and a lock style pistol in their waistband. >> weapon on his right hip. that's a negative. he's in the tree. >> motor one, make sure ppd know they have an elevated threat in the trees outside of constitution avenue. >> look for the trump flag. american flag face back, cowboy boots, weapon on the right side hip. >> i got three men walking down the street and fatigues carrying ar 15. >> so ppd i believe is presidential protective detail. make sure that trump wanted to take him to the capital. they know about glock style pistols, the ar 15. i mean, and we know that trump

knows -- we know this message got to trump, as he wants them in any way with their weapons. quote, they are not here to hurt me. so even aligning himself, he is lying about the weapons. >> is always lying. that is true. to me, the most politically salient point is a donald trump still considers himself even today on the side of the insurrectionist against the capital police defending the capital. but he is lying. they did have weapons. any of them are in jail, and echoes to the other part of the story, the jd dances and the enablers of donald trump trying to use to excuse themselves is to say, well, you guys -- you are obsessed with the past. you are obsessed about talking about something that is over that happened in 2021. this is ongoing. donald trump wants to pardon the we. he wants to let them out of jail, the ones that have the guns, the ones a physically

attack the police. donald trump wants to free them, and he wants to jail the enemy within. this is his explicit platform, and it is to free the insurrectionist, and to jail his political foes and to target them. that is what he is running on right now. and so i just think the people that are still looking at this election, deciding whether or not they can get off the fence and support kamala harris should think about that. should think about the fact that donald trump's agenda is completely in line with -- with freeing the people that attacked the capital targeting those that opposed his effort. >> the reason -- and they talk about being stuck in the past as a way to shame the press from covering january 6th, and when they are on programs -- they don't come on this program, i know from my own reporting that if they get a question about january 6th, the region they badge of the topic is because it is a salient voter

issue right now. people are voting right now and dozens of states, and it is top of mind. because the vice president is about to go out. i'm not going to lay the sound, but those four scoops at people saying in focus groups that, you know, donald trump didn't engage in a peaceful transfer of power, and that bothers them. even people who supported him and then expected to be normal or traditional have january 6th and the violence that he incited and encouraged and the death threats for his own by president that he cheered. top of mind to cast a vote in this election. >> when you look at the fact that donald trump and his surrogates, including jd vance can't really bring themselves to talk about what actually happened, and the dangers that individuals face, they are doing it because they are trying to normalize that. and they have evidence to suggest that outside of a riot or an insurrection that republicans are starting to normalize the january 6th, and think of it less as any of

those violent uprisings and more of a way to actually affect change in government. that is what is so scary, is this is being formalized within a very large swath of the population. at this point, there is this notion that he would want to pardon everybody that was involved. i'm not concerned about who he will pardon, because i know he will pardon those folks. i've always known that the we included him. what i've always been concerned about was how he criminalizes and seeks to lock up. as i fully expect if he gets another term, all of those folks that were out there, the ones that aren't in jail, all of those that were out there on january 6th, they're going to becoming looking for people like us. and that has to shock everybody. when we come back, the disgraced ex-president alarming rantings about what he calls the enemy from within. something the vice president raised today in her speech in

wisconsin. trump was talking about his critics, his political opponents, and the people who have sought to hold them accountable. people like our next guest, his former lawyer, michael cohen, who will join us at the table. . oh, yeah. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty, liberty, liberty, liberty. ♪

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>> consider the comments that he may just in the last few days, because he's got more. he said he will target and punish those who disagree with him or refuse to bend to his will. he calls these americans the enemy within. and says that he would use the american military to go after american citizens. it is for reasons like these that general mark millie, the former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff -- donald trump's top general -- has called trump, and i quote, fascist to the court.

>> vice president kamala harris moments ago calling out the ex- president's dangerous claim that some american citizens are what he calls, quote, the enemy from within and has vowed to pursue them using the united states military. joining us now, donald trump's former lawyer, michael cohen. he's the host of the michael cohen show on youtube, and your position is that this is not hypothetical. this is happened already. >> it happened to me. how many times have i been on the show or other msnbc shows where i have talked about how i was unconstitutionally remanded? in fact, tomorrow, the judge takes it to a meeting before the other justices to make sure whether or not they're going to accept the word. i am living proof. i am the first and only political prisoner held by my own country because i refused to waive my first amendment constitutional rights while he used marshall's within which to come get me and to remand me back to solitary confinement.

he talks about the military. just replace the military with a department of justice. he used a willing and complicit attorney general to do a judge alvin k hellerstein determined the federal court judge here in the southern district of new york, where he determined that the actions of president trump, the usa, bill barr, et cetera, was retaliatory. alvin also added an additional line there. forget about seeing. i've never even heard about it ever happening before. and that is, he enjoined trump and barr and the government. the doj. from further inflicting any injury to my first amendment or my constitutional rights. he enjoined them from doing it. what judge enjoins the government, the president, the attorney general from interfering with someone's first amendment or constitutional rights? >> trump has a second term and reshapes the judiciary -- none,

right? this is the only branch of government you had to turn to. i want you to just give folks the background, though. this was about your book. this wasn't about the original plea. >> this was about my book. he was afraid that the book, disloyal, was critical of him, and he didn't want the book to be published. so they created a fraudulent document to have me sign that completely impeded on my first amendment constitutional right. when i refused to sign the document, they asked me to wait in the hallway. i did. and then about an hour later, three of the biggest marshals you ever seen in your life showed up, handcuffed, shackled me, put me in a freezer, and thence me back to solitary confinement up in otis bill for another 16 days until ultimately, my lawyer, tonya perry, had be released on a habeas corpus petition. the problem is, that petition is no longer valid if trump wins and he does exactly what he says he's going to do --

rewrite the constitution, and he's going to destroy our apartheid system. get rid of the judiciary, and get rid of congress.

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