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tv   Alex Wagner Tonight  MSNBC  November 19, 2024 9:00pm-10:00pm PST

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a jennie-o 14 to 16 lb. turkey. when you spend $35. head to your neighborhood grocery outlet today because this offer is available only while supplies last. remember you can listen to every episode as a podcast for absolutely free. grab your phone and scan the qr code on the bottom of your screen right now. for now i am going to be signing off. i wish you a very very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late with me. i will see you again tomorrow.
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if there is one hallmark of the trump era, once tragedy -- strategy that has been used to force through a radical agenda first articulated by steve bannon all the way back in 2018. the democrats don't matter he said in the real opposition is the media. the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with stuff and he didn't say stuff but you do get the idea. steve bannon was overstating the role of the media and overstating the role of democratic officials but the flood zone approach is something we have seen trump do to great effect over the years and not that he is some type of brilliant tactician but on some level he does seem to realize that to simply do a whole lot of things bad all at once to
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keep everybody's attention divided and something we are seeing right now today this hour. today the republican congresswoman introduced a bill that would ban transgender people on capitol hill from using the bathroom of the gender they identify with and it is clear this bill is designed to stoke controversy about the congressman elect their mcbride who became the first openly transgender person ever elected to congress in this past election and under this bill the congressman would be forced to use the men's room on capitol hill. it is in obviously dehumanizing attempt to bully a new member of congress and a clear attempt to gain the spotlight given the fact that representative nace three years ago cosponsored a bill that would have protected transgender people from exactly this kind of discrimination. and here is what she says now. >> is this in response to congresswoman mcbride coming to congress? >> yes.
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absolutely. and they allow biological men to be in a room with underage girls and no thank you and it won't happen on my watch. >> the irony here is if there are any alleged or accused sexual predators coming to town in january of 2025, they may be two of trump some cabinet picks, matt gaetz and pete hegseth are fighting allegations of sexual misconduct, which both men denied that she is worried about transgender people using her bathroom and this is literally what it means to flood the zones and we are talking about transgender panic and not the unfitness of trump's cabinet picks and the very real threats they pose to the agencies they are set to lead. for example in a video of 2020 from rfk jr., trump's pick to lead the health and human services agency suggesting that he is open to the idea that the
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global coronavirus pandemic was actually a sinister government conspiracy. >> many people argue that this pandemic was a planned pandemic and planned from the outset and i can't tell you the answer to that and i don't have enough evidence. >> to be clear, the pandemic that caused the deaths of more than 1 million people in the united states, the covid pandemic, wasn't planned by the us government. here is another example. a few hours ago trump named dr. oz the failed pennsylvania senate candidate and former television doctor to run the center for medicare and medicaid services and prior to joining trump's orbit, he already had a reputation as a snake oil salesman and something that then senator claire mccaskill pressed him on during the 2014 senate hearing. >> why would you say something is a miracle in a bottle? >> my job on the show is to be
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a cheerleader for the audience. >> years later he went on to use his platform as a medical influencer to advocate the reopening of schools at the height of the covid pandemic even if that meant that potentially hundreds more people including children had to die. >> first, we need our mojo back and let's start with things critical to the nation that we think we could open without getting into trouble. schools are in appetizing opportunity and i just saw a nice piece arguing that the opening of schools may only cost us 2% or 3% in terms of total mortality. >> what's the harm in that if it means getting our mojo back? here is another example, again, from today and abc news is reporting according to multiple sources that trump is considering nominating russell vote the architect of project 2025 for a cabinet level position. we haven't verified that reporting but remember that
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donald trump spent the last six months insisting he had nothing to do with project 2025. so flooding the zone is the playbook here. it is being run in a way that we have never seen before. so this is the new normal and this is just the way it is going to be now and how to democrats, the media, the public stay focused on what is really happening? joining me now are claire mccaskill, the former senator from missouri and current political analyst and dan. thank you for being here both tonight. let me start with you, claire of it is drinking from a fire hose quite literally and something we became adept at in 2016 but it feels like it is a different order of magnitude and i wonder how you pick and choose where to focus your
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concern and rage? >> that is hard. i feel like i am halfway between in a field position depressed and enraged like every 10 minutes. it is a hell of a roller coaster ride right now. i want to say this. on these nominees, every senator will have to cast a vote. many of them will be committed and there will be a hearing and the democratic senators will have a lot of things to talk about in those hearings. hopefully, they get covered widely by all stripes of media and not just on our network but on fox news and on some of the really right wing disinformation centers. hopefully, americans see why these people are completely unqualified. all of these senators, remember, a bunch of these senators know that this was not
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a landslide. the republican senator didn't win in wisconsin and the republican candidate didn't win in nevada or arizona. the republican senate candidate even though he had a lot of money and was a popular government governor didn't win in maryland. there were a lot of states where the republicans in the senate were reminded that this isn't a country that is lopsided in favor of unqualified nominees for important complex government jobs. i think that trump may be surprised because you only have four on any of these folks and if you take the people who weren't running again you get four. >> dan, to that end, i wonder if you think -- i do understand the desire to sort of sift through the wreckage and debate whether trump has a mandate or not. i also think it is clear that certain lines of criticism or
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coverage haven't resonated the way that i think perhaps people would have liked them to but i wonder if you think particularly democrats in the senate will be part of this confirmation process should adopt a different strategy when thinking about what to focus on with these potential cabinet picks? >> i don't know if it is a different strategy but we have a robust case to make against all of them. but the thing we have to be careful about is democrats and it's something we all fell into in 2017 is that we become the defenders of the status quo and the institution. what we can do is acknowledge that institutions and government need to be reformed but they should not be changed in the way donald trump is proposing. i think we can make the case against matt gaetz and tulsi gabbard against those with a strong case to make but a broader case about what trump
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is doing. it is pure cronyism and corruption, putting in place people who will serve his interests and not the nations. i think that is an argument that could resonate and we have a whole bunch of people who voted for trump who don't like them and they wanted to vote for him because he was going to lower costs and bring change to government but this is not the change they voted for. >> what you think about this argument as far as it concerns people like thom tillis or people up for reelection or people who may be the pivot points. do you think that argument works or this is about a one- man self-serving agenda? is it about the national interests? is it about sexual assault allegations? mud is -- what is resonating with your colleagues in the senate? >> i think it's right in terms of messaging and the democrats need to be disciplined about presenting these candidates, not just as potentially guilty of sexual assault and not just that they are really
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unqualified, but they are part of a trump agenda that do things america don't want. so pinning down some of these folks, where would two thirds of the workforce you would be in charge of, where would you cut those two thirds? because elon musk said they would cut two thirds of the employees. i would really like dr. oz with a straight face who said it was okay for him to say that sca berries were miracle and the silliness he did on that show and i would like him to explain how you cut two thirds of the people in process medicare payments are cut two thirds of the payments that administer healthcare in terms of getting payments out and i think focusing on the impact it has on the american people is going to be more effective but remember why these guys were chosen, not just to further
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trump's ego and his idea that this is all about him but the other reason they were chosen is they are good performative politicians and they will do performance and do soundbites and be telegenic. these are not people who are qualified to run anything. most of these folks have never run anything in their lives much less a really sprawling complex organization that has to deliver essential services to the american people who pay for them. >> it seems to clear his point about the qualifications issue is most convincingly used by democrats if it is towards a specific and and how will dr. oz manage cms? what exactly is pete hegseth going to do in terms of running the giant sprawling bureaucracy that is the u.s. military? i wonder what issues in particular do you think are most easily brought to the
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floor by democrats that will have resonance not just with republican senators but with the american public? we have a whole election play out and it seems like the harris ticket really tries to hit on those issues and a lot of nonpartisan issues that people care about and to some degree that didn't resonate. i wonder what the lesson is in terms of the issues specifically that need to be focused on in this coming confirmation processes? >> i think it is worth separating the effort to convince republican senators to vote against them with the broader effort against the public that the maga extremist republican party can't be allowed to govern onward. because these specific arguments won't work with some of these republican senators who have already seen mike pence come out and attack rfk jr. for being or having
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supported abortion access in his career. there will be specific strategies and doing everything we can to defeat these candidates but there is a broader story to tell. what we have to be careful on is a lot of voters, the ones who decided this election the ones that went from biden to trump and the ones who came in for the first time to vote for trump are cynical about government and politicians and very tryst -- distrustful of politicians and if our answer is they are not expert enough are not from washington enough to do these jobs that will fall by the wayside. we have to be specific about the ways in which these individual appointments will affect people's lives. what senator mccaskill hit on about medicare and medicaid is important. you will put somebody in who is a known grifter to run the most popular and important program in the american government and for matt gaetz, he is there not to protect us from crime or stop terrorism or stop financial fraud and all the other things the department of justice does but investigate
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who donald trump once investigated and most importantly not investigate who donald trump doesn't one investigated so making it more specific about how it affects people's lives may work better than just that they are unqualified it. >> it is too complicated and i do get what you are saying in the argument for thom tillis is separate apart from the argument towards the american public but dan said this important thing and we talked about this in the wake of the election that democrats have been forced into the position of defending institutions and bureaucracies and in a moment of where the american public desires change or disruption, that is a good place to be. first of all, do you agree with that? do you think that careful choreography of defending democracy and transparency, rule of law can exist separate and apart from a more strident defense of bureaucracies and institutions that people have lost faith in? >> i do agree with dan. this
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should be about the status quo in government which is what we are here to protect. know americans are going to say we love the status quo in government and nothing is ever wrong and i never have to worry about getting an answer my question and it's like asking people they love to go to the dmv. it really isn't a good idea to take the position that these people are going to hurt the status quo. what these people will do is hurt you. they are going to hurt your life because they are planning on doing things that you don't agree with. that is the challenge of the senate. so specific qualifications on specific issues will speak to certain senators. that will occur. that type of lobbying will occur in these senators will learn stuff about these folks and their backgrounds and i guarantee you there are already boats to not confirm matt
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gaetz. this really is about chuck schumer in the democratic caucus having the discipline of messaging and this isn't about defending government but defending the american people. >> thank you both, answering the hard questions. thank you guys for taking the time tonight. i appreciate it. coming up, the president- elect attends a space x rocket launch with a man who is already received billions of dollars in government contracts and stands to gain a whole lot more in the second trump administration but first trump has started receiving intelligence briefings again despite being indicted on 40 counts of mishandling pacified intelligence. what could go wrong? a member of the house intelligence committee joins me to discuss that coming up next. t o cyber spectacular deals, download the etsy app today.
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and now, save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed. plus, free home delivery beds when you add a base. shop a sleep number store near you. today, we learned that president elect trump is now receiving intelligence briefings once again. we don't know the specifics of those briefings, that it is highly unlike fully -- likely they contained classified material. he revealed the capability of u.s. spy satellites by publicly tweeting out the photo of the iranian missile site and shared classified intelligence gathered by a foreign ally with russian officials in the oval office and indicted on 40
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federal criminal counts related to the mishandling of classified documents after he left office. do you remember all of that? we also learned that trump's team continues to opt out of the official transition process in ways that jeopardize national security. the washington post reports that trump has cut out the state department, secure lines and official interpreters and as the team considers hundreds of potential appointees for key jobs trump has also so far declined to let the fbi check for potential red flags and security threats to guard against espionage instead relying on private campaign lawyers for appointees and doing no vetting at all for others. joining me now is a democrat of colorado jason crow who serves on the house intelligence and foreign relations committee. thank you for being here, congressman. we did rattle off a list, a
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litany, of distressing reporting about this trump transition and i wonder as somebody who sits on the committees you do, what alarms you the most about what we are hearing? >> it is kind of hard to decide where to start and there are issues of process and you did outline some processes and procedures in the security checks and protocol. these aren't put in place just for fun. they are put in place to protect against spies and espionage and protect the transfer and dissemination a really critical information that isn't going to be left somewhere but we do have to understand that there are adversaries actively trying to get this stuff in trying to penetrate the cyber security systems every day. so protecting this and having these processes in place is meant to protect the american people and our intelligence officers and servicemen and women serving in dangerous
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places which that information could put them in a compromising position. certainly, the process is flawed. as we all well know the fundamentals of these nominees and the very policies themselves are disturbing as well. >> would you assume that foreign adversaries are already trying to listen in on these phone calls with world leaders given that he is not on secure lines or engaging in any of the security protocols that normally exist? >> i don't have to assume that. i know that to be true. as we sit here now having this conversation, we have thousands of intelligence officers around the globe and very dangerous situations putting themselves at risk to collect information or to protect information to prevent attacks against the american people are prevent the financial systems from being breached and we have servicemen and women around the globe and in dangerous places protecting american citizens and protecting our assets.
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this is a daily and hourly occurrence and an active dynamic situation. sitting back even a day or two letting her guard down poses substantial risk. when you look at the people that he is nominated like tulsi gabbard and others who not only are incompetent and don't have the experience to do this but i question their very loyalties in some cases. tulsi gabbard has a long history of showing affinity for dictators and autocrats and of being irresponsible with russian propaganda and when i say irresponsible that puts it generously for somebody who has purposely perpetuated that propaganda and a very dangerous time. >> i was going to ask you about her who i think will lead 18 intelligence agencies but what about trump's pick for the secretary of defense, pete hegseth? there are questions about his support for soldiers accused of war crimes and there are his own sexual assault charges and
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a nondisclosure agreement he signed with a woman in an ongoing situation on the hill and what concerns you about his nomination? >> the lack of experience and simply he was nominated because he will be loyal to donald trump and in your prior segment when you talked to dan and claire you actually made a really good point about democrats being put in a position of defending agencies and departments and that is actually not what we are doing. we are not defending agencies or departments but making sure that the government works to protect americans and it works to serve americans. that can take the form of making sure that fraud, waste and abuse, government inefficiency, is addressed on capitol hill but in these instances it takes the form of making sure nominees are not in the position to dismantle important agencies and functions or line the pockets of cronies or supporters of
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donald trump or even worse to weapon eyes those agencies against donald trump's opponents which clearly is the case with matt gaetz for example and it is the same thing we are doing working to ensure that the government works for americans and not for individuals and not for donors. >> can i follow-up? i think there is probably a finer line then there should be separating the idea of democrats who want to ensure the integrity of institutions and the notion of just being a blank and -- blanket defender of democracy because this window has shifted so much that unless you are burning it down you are part of the deep state and i wonder if you think the job of democrats defending the institutions of democracies in the guardrails that protect the representative democracy will be harder in trump 2.0 when you have people like matt gaetz at the department of justice and tulsi gabbard at the office of national intelligence and can
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you talk a little bit more about that? >> people talk a lot about defending institutions and defending the guardrails but defending the institution and guardrails is not the end or the ultimate goal and the ultimate goal is to protect americans and make sure that the government serves them and that is the goal of these guardrails and institutions are in furtherance of that goal. whenever we talk about defending the rules with the international order or defending guardrails or institutions a lot of people are like why and to what end? it is really important that when we talk about this, we talk about what it is we are trying to achieve and how it serves americans and the people in my district in colorado, the families and how their lives are impacted by clean food, clean water aviation inspectors and rail line inspectors, intelligence officers thwarting attacks against americans which
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is the goal and the way we need to talk about it in the way we need to pursue policy and oversight. >> greater specificity. thank you so much, congressman for your perspective on this and it's great to hear from a sitting member of congress on the road ahead. i appreciate your time tonight, sir. coming up the coziness of elon musk and donald trump was on full display at the latest rocket launch of spacex. how much more money, power, and influence can one man have? that is next.
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most likely it will happen at a location because we have a lot of land with nobody around so if it blows up it is cool. >> that was elon musk, the world's richest man and owner of the commercial aerospace company spacex in 2018 talking about the launch site in texas near brownsville and that's but was chosen by spacex for two reasons. number one it is one of the most southernmost points in the continental united states and number two it is a little strip of private property surrounded most entirely by government owned land which is white elon musk thought if stuff blows up it is cool. and stuff has blown up over and over again. but here is the thing about
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boca chica, texas. even though there are not a ton of people nearby it doesn't mean it is empty and the government owned land that surrounds the boca chica launch site is made up of state parks and beaches and national wildlife refugees -- refuges and it's home to bird habitats in a breeding ground for the world's most endangered species of sea turtles and to give you a sense of the damage these launches can have here is the new york times description of a successful launch earlier this summer and again this is a successful launch and no explosions involved. two hours after the launch a team from spacex in the u.s. fish and wildlife service began kevin seeing -- canvassing the bird habitat around the site and it unleashed an enormous burst of mud, stones and debris and circling the space compound. chunks of sheet-metal and insulation were strewn across the sand flats on one side of
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the park and elsewhere a small fire had ignited leaving a charred patch of park grassland with remnants of the blastoff that burned 7.5 million pounds of fuel and most disturbing to one member of the entourage was the yellow smear on the soil in the same spot that a bird nest lay the day before and none of these nests recorded by the nonprofit before the launch had survived intact. egg yolk mouse stained the ground and that was a successful launch. for years spacex has been at odds with government agencies like the u.s. fish and wildlife service on the department of the interior over the impact of the boca chica launchpad. today elon musk was joined for the latest launch there and joined by president-elect trump himself. just last week trump tapped musk to run what he is calling
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the department of government inefficiency in the -- and the idea is musk would be given a broad agreement to make cut to government agencies two things he sees fit like the epa and a familiar agencies if you are elon musk. and the cherry on top that because musk would be an advisor to donald trump and not an actual government employee, elon musk wouldn't have to be confirmed by the senate, nor would have to divest from any of the companies overseen by the agencies that elon musk would now be overseeing. and the flights for spacex with the federal government in boca chica are really just the tip of the iceberg. elon musk company seven targeted and more than 20 recent investigations or reviews by federal regulators. now, elon musk has the presidents year in trump is literally attending the rocket
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launch for elon musk and potentially giving him free rein to cut the very government agencies that elon musk has problems with. not to mention all of the money that he stands to make on government contracts alone. and we will get into that and much more coming up next. >> if you are feeling out of step. of step
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following donald trump's election win, the world 10
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wealthiest billionaires got a record $64 billion richer according to bloomberg's daily ranking in the man who gained the most was already the world's richest person, elon musk and overnight his wealth increased by a staggering $26.5 billion. that could be the first installment and as the cochair of the department of government efficiency which, by all indications, won't be an actual department but more of an outside advisory committee, he could have unprecedented power over how the federal government functions and operates including how federal contracts operate, which isn't a bad place to be if you are elon musk and two of your companies have received over $15 billion in taxpayer money including for programs like spacex and a relationship that by the looks of it today may only get cozier. joining me now is a reporter covering campaign finance and the influence of billionaires in american politics and thank you so much for being here and eager to have this conversation. each day brings a new data
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point about this relationship. i was struck by the attendance of the president elect at a spacex launch and the tweets that he sent out heading to the great state of texas to watch the launch of the largest object ever to be elevated, not only the space but simply by lifting off the ground. good luck to elon musk in the great patriots involved in this incredible project. >> residents having admiration for the space program isn't new but the relationship between spacex and the particular government is particular and how much money is being exchanged? >> even if kamala harris had won that elon musk would have a big role in american space policy and he runs the largest private space company in the united states and fair to think he would always play a big role in american space policy but clearly trump is enamored by the role that elon musk is playing and you can see on the screen right now and having a
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lot of fun and getting to see up close so this works and the rocket launch and he clearly is enjoying the fact that he gets to see something he knows nothing about and trump doesn't know anything about space policy and knows about real estate in a little bit about manufacturing but i think part of the reason why trump and muscat along so well right now is because trump is learning about this industry and he sees rockets and billows of smoke and fire and having fun. >> it is pretty easily understandable with the giant rocket going into space and what is left to discuss as i think spacex has received $15.4 billion in federal contracts across nine cabinet agencies and three independent agencies. the charmingly -- not charming
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but the cozy relationship between these two men has to be a good thing for elon musk in terms of continuing to keep that money flowing but there is the issue of tesla which musk has a vested interest in and last year i think tesla earned $1.79 billion from carbon credits. this seems like a little bit of a more complicated relationship given the climate denial isn't characterizing much of the gop and what do they say about the expectations going into that vis-@-vis trump and is climate change skeptic at the epa and potentially and generally the republican posture on climate and elon musk's vested interest in climate technology? >> yes, you would think or forget for a moment that elon musk is somebody who drove a tesla and it used to be this card-carrying element of being a proud democrat and he really doesn't talk about climate much anymore at all and if you look at his twitter feed and what he
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says publicly, he hasn't been asked to square his policy on this with the support for trump and these issues are immigration and crime that he cares about and i would love to have a great answer to your question but he hasn't been talking about this and it makes you wonder if he knows about this traditional hawkishness on climate issues and it makes you wonder whether elon himself cares about it. and during the trump presidency this time elon musk was apoplectic about america pulling out of these reports and it was all of seven or eight years ago now so maybe things have changed and certainly the politics of changed but you do raise a good point which is it is unclear that that issue that animated him to get involved with electric vehicles and certainly made an impact on the entire industry but unclear if that even registers. >> it certainly says that
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potential hope he may do something to sway trump on climate change seems like a far- fetched idea. i do wonder and we talk about elon musk's various business interests and it seems like the regulatory state is something he is after any will be cochairing this department on government efficiency and not an official cabinet level agency outside of the government but i do wonder what you think and there is various talk about republicans or the trump administration tinkering with the law to take up the recommendations more wholeheartedly and for the white house to take more control of the pursestrings which is normally a power vested with congress. you expect elon musk to literally use this agency to benefit himself and his bottom line directly and explicitly given what we know about his war on the deep state? >> look. whenever you have a businessman
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especially with as many businesses that elon musk has entered a government, there is a conflict of interest and that is inevitable. this is not something i buy that it is impossible to manage but i think what is challenging with this department that elon musk is proposing on setting up or trump is proposing to set up that this is a government body or what seems to be a government body that exists outside of the normal kind of disclosure regime. it is unclear if these conflicts will even be public and that is the big difference from say the ceo of goldman sachs going to be secretary of the treasury and it's a well-worn path in the revolving door of american capitalism but here i think the disclosure will be really important and i think just about what this government body will do is important and we don't have either of those right now and i think they can play a role in federal government and budget-cutting and also having these
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businesses that they are running but we do need more information, frankly about how this will be structured so it can be managed and done. >> i will say that is a cautiously optimistic note you are sounding about doge and elon musk. >> i am pessimistic for the record but i do agree that we do need a more information and thank you so much for your time tonight. >> you bet. donald trump once a get out of jail free card for felony convictions but the prosecutors are still trying to get justice and what they are willing to do is coming up next. is coming up next. sleep more deeply and wake up rejuvenated. purple mattresses exclusive gel flex grid draws away heat, relieves pressure, and instantly adapts. sleep better. live purple. right now save up to $1,000 during our black friday sale. visit purple.com or a store near you right now across the u.s.,
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people are trying to ban books from public schools and public libraries. yes, libraries. we all have a first amendment right to read and learn different viewpoints. that's why every book belongs on the shelf. yet book banning in the u.s. is worse than i've ever seen. it's people in power who want to control everything. well, i say no to censorship. and i say yes to freedom of speech and expression. if you do too, please join us in supporting the american civil liberties union today. for over 100 years, the aclu has fought for your rights and mine. including the right to read all manner of books. so please call or go online to myaclu.org. for just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. you can become a guardian of liberty
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manhattan prosecutors who succeeded in convicting donald trump on 34 counts are not giving up the fight to seek accountability sunday. trump's attorneys want the das office to agree that it's
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entire criminal case should be dismissed now that he is president-elect and in the wake of the supreme court's ruling on presidential immunity but today the das office rebuffed that request but given the unprecedented nature of this case prosecutors signaled a willingness to put the sentencing on hold while trump is in office. the decision to freeze or dismiss the case altogether will be up to the judge who is expected to say something on the matter in the days ahead. joining me now is duncan levin the former district attorney for the eastern district of new york and it is been a minute and a lot of this has changed and first off why do you think they are opening the door for delaying this for four years? >> there are unpalatable choices and he could dismiss the case. he could decide to throw the president elect of the united states in jail right now in both of those are extremely unlikely to happen so he has two bad choices and one is to sentence the president elect of the united states to time served and say all of this was
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basically for nothing. the other is to say i will sentence him but in a way that balances the constitutional norms of respect for the presidency and respect for the jury system and kick it down the road former years until he is done and sentence him and if the judge has in his mind that he should go to jail, he could do it in four years and it would interfere with the presidency. so alan bragg will be asking for jail time if it is put four years in the future but right now there is no choice. the only sentence available is what is called an unconditional discharge which means that is it in the cases done. he has felony convictions and that is it. >> i guess i am reading between the lines and it does sound like you believe that the judge if he does kick the can down the proverbial road by necessity it is because he is something in mind for trump that is quite serious in terms of a sentence?
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>> i think the pathway is still there for incarceration is there in a post-presidency but still another reason which is anything can happen in the next four years with trump they are not be alive in the judge may or may not be in anything could happen. really by kicking the can down the road for four years he preserves a lot of options and gives them a chance to rule on these motions in a way that isn't really time pressured and make the right decision because to say the least it is without legal precedent so he wants to get it right with no rush. >> we do see a lot of cans get kicked down the road or in the recycling bin and to that end today the georgia court of appeals canceled oral argument scheduled for december five about whether the former county da should be disqualified from the election interference case she brought against trump and this has to do with the whole kerfuffle with wade and they canceled the oral arguments but what does that say to you about what is going on with this case? >> there are bigger issues at
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stake than this sideshow about the prosecutors and disqualification. trump was losing those arguments prior to the election. i think now they are probably reevaluating the whole case whether it can go forward in dealing with all of the same constitutional issues that they are dealing with but in a way they are canceling it same this is a sideshow and we have to get to the meat of the issue which is can this prosecution go forward and it doesn't even matter who the prosecutor is is but can any state prosecution right now go forward against the president elect. i think the reason they canceled it without any comment is that this is a minor sideshow at this point with bigger problems. >> is your assumption that this case goes away? >> i think they are dead on arrival and i think the other two are withering away slowly and there are pathways to a conviction in georgia and i pathway to incarceration in new
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york narrowing and dying on the vine but i do think it will be tortured and if it does survive it will be only because it survives a tortured process given his lawyers so much to argue in the courts about balancing these norms and how a case like this goes forward and it may be years before anything happens on either of these two pieces. >> in the meantime if his allies are being prosecuted in four states, between georgia arizona, michigan and nevada. but there is some accountability for some people who are affiliated with the plot to sway an election. duncan levin, the screw turns as . thank you for making the time, my friend. that is our show for this evening. now it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. >> good evening. we are going to be on the worst nomination donald trump has delivered.

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