abc news settlement with trumbull raises concerns about press freedom in his second in term. all of this is happening in public, out in the open, in front of our eyes. the scene is being planted for the retribution against the outspoken and prominent critics of donald trump, that he promised. on tuesday, house republicans were piece -- it released a - report, calling for the january 6th committee, vice chairman, cheney, to colluded with star witness, cassidy hutchinson, without hutchinson's attorney's knowledge, in order to change her testimony. the republicans claim it was witness tampering. if that report is with kerosene, donald trump, is the match. liz cheney, could quote, be in a lot of trouble. end quote. after of course he promised in his campaign in a military tribunal. cassidy hutchinson's attorney telling nbc news, that the

plane that hutchinson colluded with liz cheney, is quote, preposterous. quote, ms. hutchinson made independent decision to part ways with her donald trump funded lawyer, freeing her to provide candid, truthful, and honorable testimony to the january 6th committee about the attack on the capitol. alongside dozens of republican witnesses, and law enforcement officers. liz cheney, released a blistering statement of her own, in this report against these accusations. to and full. it says this, quote, january 6th showed donald trump for who he really is. a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our capitol, and law enforcement officers, while he watched on television, and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave. the january 6th committee's hearings and report, featured scores of republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from donald trump's own white house, his campaign, and administration.

all of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcript, made public along with the highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800 page report. the department of justice conducted its own independent investigation, and reached the same fundamental conclusions. now, chairman loudermilk's interim report, intentionally disregards the truth of the select committee's tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies, and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what donald trump did. the allegations do not reflect the review of the actual evidence. and are malicious, cowardly, and a cowardly assault on the truth. a reputable lawyer, legislator, or judge, would take this seriously. end quote. against the donald trump and his allies, just does.

you saw the elections. the opposition is so weak that they can barely win. donald trump, is showing you that plan to suppress the opposition, and suppressed the

press, and so far, he has had stunning success, even before he gets sworn in. >> what is the remedy at this point? if he has put so many cards on the table, and received the desired response, the advance of actually wielding any constitutional power? >> the most important remedy right now, is for this not to be normalized. i red all the headlines about the liz cheney criminal referral yesterday. almost every single one of them, in mainstream media, played this straight. as if this was a normal, regular function, of legislative power. instead of telling the truth. this is made up out of thin air. there is not even a shred of a crime committed here. if you read the headlines yesterday, you thought that liz cheney, actually did something criminally wrong.

as leaders, we can't accept that this is normal. as journalist, you can't accept that this is normal. the minute that we pretend this is a normal exercise of executive power, is the day that people give up fighting. we have these denomination fights coming up. we should fight as democrats, like democracy is on the ballot. it is. if we don't show outrage right now, then the public is going to just accept that this is a normal circumstance, of present- day democracy. showing some fight, right now, both in the private sector, and amongst electives, is really important. >> it is such an important point, and requires some humility. in the same moment, where the code democracy coalition has recognized that these arguments about the various salvation of our democracy, were on the ballot, and they came up short.

the reason why i have that critique, is that it made it look like we have the defending existing democracy. the existing democracy is working for anybody. the answer is not to discard democracy in favor of autocracy. the answer is to reform democracy, to get big money out of politics, to stop the revolving door, to make government more efficient in your communities.

democrats, need to be active proponents of reforming government, and revolutionary ways. in order to win the argument with donald trump. talking about getting rid of it. my criticism from the 2024 strategy, is that it looked like it was in the existing democracy. we have got to get back to our roots. this is the democratic party that would attack the way that power corrupts democracy for their purposes. if they don't do that, then yes. donald trump's alternative answer will be attractive. >> i think a goes a long way explaining the results in november. when you see all of these things, as you fully stitch them together, and your thread, what parts of it, wake you up in the middle of the night, startled, in terms of normalization? i take your point. i also believe loudermilk, got some speculation with the

january 6 committee footage. i think there is a personal piece to this. that is our job to contextualize anyone throwing weapons, barbs, or sharp elbows at donald trump, and his stated enemies. listed from the donald trump campaign in a quote military stops that? is liz cheney, somebody that can defend herself? are you worried more about others? >> i think that we all need to stand up, and defend liz cheney, and just be very clear, about what will happen, if word gets out, that you can land in jail, because you have just dissent from the regime? it doesn't actually take 100 political opponents, being sent to jail, to dramatically show people's interest in getting involved in politics. simply one or two of your political opponents to jail,

and fundamentally change the playing field. i just think that we need to be really clear, about what selective prosecution can mean, for our democracy at large. we can really be sitting in january, with half as many people volunteering for democrats. not because they don't believe in toppling donald trump, or supporting our cause, but because they don't want to end up in jail. >> what is the strategy for the confirmation hearings? you mentioned patel, he has made a lot of public statements about coming out to the press. i know you are writing in your thread, about some of these moves, that stitch together over to paint a picture, amongst the state. a lot of outgoing officials, saying it is going to fall to the career of public servants. in the time of donald trump, don't have a long history being defended.

aggressively enough. if you think about how peter strzok, or others, when donald trump target someone, it is a red-hot assault on their reputation. sometimes it comes with public safety concerns. what is hearing your side of the trump story? the strategy for protecting people who end up on the other side of donald trump? >> i think it is really important to explain to people, the why. why is donald trump engaged in this relentless campaign, to try to political opposition? it is because he is trying to steal from you. he and his friends are in charge of government. they want to read the rules, in order to make them even richer. the billionaires that are in charge of his cabinet, want to be multimillionaires. donald trump, will never be satiated. he wants to steal from ordinary

americans, to make him and his friends even richer. the reason he wants to silence his critics and the media, is that he doesn't want anybody to notice the kleptocracy that he is building. unless you tell that story, how does it impact you? does the average citizen really care about whether abc news settles a lawsuit or not? no. they do care if the result of that is that their social security gets cut in half. elon musk, peter teal, can get another massive tax cut. that matters to people. that story is the one that we have to get out there. >> i remember david farren fault with the washington post. he had this -- monuments. making up the sexiest donald trump stories. it was fascinating, how interconnected and conflicted, with things that were just qualifying in primary campaign. donald trump, steamrolled over all of those norms. are you worried that too many norms have followed? he's got his bible that he

sells. i think shoes, jackets, and i think there is perfume now, and watches. do you worry that the train is on the station, some people have become numb to the theft? >> i think that is true. i think the level of theft, and the level of the corruption is so stunning, that people tune some of it out. i 2018, that tax cut, 85% of the benefit, that thing was deeply unpopular. no one was in favor of a massive tax and regulatory break, for the very affluent -- nobody for the regulatory agency is making it easier for economic power to be consolidated. there's a little bit of innocent ties in this country, to the way that donald trump and his family corrupt

government. the legal brakes, the tax breaks, that are being given to the very wealthy, that is just not popular. that is not going to go over well if we tell the full story. >> you can tell the full story here. your voice stands out. for its clarity. i hope you will continue to work through these things with us. >> thanks. >> senator chris murphy, thank you for starting us up. still coming up, we will also weigh in on the threats against her committee colleague. liz cheney. plus, it is not just liz cheney. the president-elect has threatened over and over again, journalists and the media. discussing our friend, joining us, as someone who was a sued by donald trump. a lawsuit that donald trump lost. then there is matt gates. investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct and drug use read will soon be made public. a reversal, dramatic one, just a few weeks ago.

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this is a man who has demonstrated that he is at war with the rule of law. he has demonstrated that he is willing to blow through any willing guard rail from democracy. >> sleepwalking into dictatorship in the united states. dictatorship. is that what we would have if we re-elect donald trump? >> is a very real threat and concern. i don't say any of that lightly. what january 6th shows us, is that there is not an ounce of

compassion in donald trump. he is petty, he is vindictive, and he is cruel. and donald trump, is not fit to lead his good and great nation. in this country, under our constitution, our president has a particular, solemn obligation, to ensure an guarantee, a peaceful transfer of power. since the beginning of the republic, every president in our history, has fulfilled that duty. every president, until donald trump. >> turning our conversation to the former assistant director for counterintelligence at the fbi, msnbc, national analyst is back, my colleague, ron hilliard, is back. author of to the contrary newsletter, msnbc contributor, charlie sykes, is here. i want to talk to all three of you about it. frank, first to you, what

happens now that, loudermilk, has seemingly referred the matter to the fbi, which is the grand flux with him announcing his retirement, and -- of nomination, not yet winding its way through capitol hill? >> i take a step back here, and before i talk about what happens next, we talk about why this happens now. i think they are connected. i think, what this is about, trying to hand -- and the predication that they need, to go after donald trump's enemies. this seems bland to me. particularly, the nature of some allegations, seemed designed to try to get around the speech and debate clause. not an expert on article one speech and debate clause. i understand that there is significant, and some scholars would say absolute immunity for

the speech and debate within members of congress. particularly when you are on a fact-finding mission, so, one way that they might try to get around that, is to say we are handing new predication of a felony, of a crime. lying under oath, witness tampering, in the report. now, you have the green light. i can see this go all the way to the supreme court, on what is the immunity. again. i think again, up until today, i have been telling people, an allegation is not predication. allegation is not predication. if you can lock any allegation that you want to get somebody, the fbi, the doj, it may or may not equate to a sufficient predication to open an investigation. i think with this report is about, is trying to say to -- you have your predication, go at it. you remember donald trump, in

the interview, saying that she asked, are you going to direct and tell them to go after your enemies? no. not going to direct them. you have to look into it. i think this is it. i think they are going to look into it. >> you have changed this entire conversation for us. frank, i feel like there will be a point, weeks or months down the line, folks will look back, and they will say how the bleep did we get here? your comments in this hour, this is how. i want to route the conversation with senator murphy's admonition. framing it accurately. here is what cassidy hutchinson describes, as the reason she switched attorneys. this also marks a different degree of truth telling that she did, under subpoena from

the committee. this is from her testimony, on what her lawyer who was paid by donald trump, testified. quote, the first meeting, the first interview was wednesday, february 23rd. met that morning for breakfast. it and he again, just telling him how nervous i am, and he just kept reassuring me that quote, everything is going to be okay. we are taking care of you. just downplay your position. this will be over in a few hours, and then you'll be done. this will be behind you. and he kept saying to me, you are a good person. like the committee is talking to so many people that even if you were entirely forthcoming with them, they are going to have all of this by the end from someone else anyway. i don't want you to be put through the ringer on this. it is not fair to you. it is not fair that mark put you in this position. we just want to focus on protecting the president. we all know you are loyal. let's just get you in and out,

and this they will be easy, i promise. you will have nothing to worry about. frank, she writes in her own memoir, she changes lawyers. that is when she provides stunning testimony. she really witness, corroborating from -- assistant, jared kushner's tape deposition, to the white house counsel. cassidy hutchinson's testimony, has corroborated six ways of and down, the chain of command inside the white house. why is this such a flashpoint? >> i think it is a flashpoint, because this lawyer that she declined, and turned away, i think was a donald trump loyalist. they are trying to influence her. she smarted up, and said no. you just said you are about protecting the president. i need somebody to protect me.

this nonsense about her lawyers, and all of that, i will give you another related lawyer. cassidy hutchinson thing that is in the report. they are accusing liz cheney, of going back channel, and trying to communicate with cassidy hutchinson, who is represented by counsel. guess what? i looked at that report. the so-called back channel, is liz cheney, using -- i forget her last name. third-party, to text cassidy hutchinson, and say that liz cheney understands, that she can't communicate you, since you are represented by counsel. that is the outrageous back channel, that liz cheney is being accused of. she won't even tell -- directly that i can't talk to you. she had someone else do it. she is represented by counsel. some of these are very serious allegations, and there was only

evidence to back them up about the national guard, and the acting secretary of defense. ahead of lying. wow. why now? this whole issue as well. we have talked to people that said liz cheney, made a decision to focus the committee on donald trump. yes. the committee focused on donald trump. it was their decision. i was on the air on this network. i wish they had dug deeply into the fbi. what was going on prior to the gym non-january 6th bill. i talked to people. she has decided that everybody on the committee has decided that it is going to be about focusing on donald trump. that is going to get the attention, that is going to be where the wrongdoing that have occurred will get. >> ron? >> one of the parts of this, when you are looking at the defense of the donald trump position, folks may remember the name of, was a legal

scholar, longtime lawyer in d.c. donald trump, quoted more than anybody else during his hush money payment trial in early march of this year. just a week ago, i want to read the quote directly. from jonathan, making the case that liz cheney, what is being alleged, are not chargeable offenses. quote, there has been no colonization of criminal offense against the efforts. the committee members are protected by a constitutional system, that protects them from any arbitrary charges. i have been a long comedic -- critic of the j6 committee. this would be a vital, criminal matter. i think the part for me here, my reporting role, is in the difficult reality over the course over the better part of the last three years, around the country, having conversations not just with donald trump supporters that were going through his rallies, but folks in communities, restaurants, back to family

friends. most of them have people in their own lives. they can attest to similar conversations with. they didn't believe the basic facts as they have played out, in front of the american public, to watch on video on january 6th. instead, donald trump, leave that he would be able to condition the american public, to not believe their eyes. effectively, he was able to convince a decent majority of the country, that what they watched wasn't accurate, or it wasn't as serious as they may have believed. why in large part was that? it is because of the lack of individuals, and republicans, who came to the defense of liz cheney. i was in right wyoming in 2022. there was no republican officials who were on the campaign trail with her. at a moment in which she found herself, in political -- facing millions of dollars, a challenge backed by donald trump, there was nobody that came to her defense.

now, i think the american public is about to watch unfold, not just a political effort to take down individuals, who investigate and call it into question, donald trump's use of power, but also an effort to make sure that there are actual legal consequences to those efforts. donald trump, is going to be in power for the next four years. anybody up on capitol hill that is be using the question of power, think they are going to be in serious questions, about the potential efforts of either through the doj, and the fbi investigations, but also through civil lawsuits in time, trying to squash any of those efforts from donald trump. others of the executive branch to account. >> adam kissinger and laughed in his face. i'm not advocating, i do want to show it to you. here it is. >> are you worried that donald trump will try to put you in

jail? >> no. i have absolutely no worries about this. this can go to the legislative branch because we embarrassed him. that is not a sin. that is not against the law. catchup and hamburger against the wall. there is nothing legal about that. most people that testified were actually his republicans. fellow republicans that went out and spoke against him. he's all about her right now because he was embarrassed. he's not going to come after us, and i'm not worried about it at all in the least. >> to the degree that this is a mind-set, that is on the menu. as to political reporting about the state of the republican party. there are laws of gravity that still apply. some today. we still live in a democracy. adam kissinger, posture endless, bring it. >> yeah. i think adam is actually right here. let's not get caught up in the

weeds. understand, as liz cheney said that donald trump is a petty, vindictive, and cruel, this is not about the law. it is not about providing predicate. it is simply about his desire for revenge. he has no legal merit. this is bull [ bleep ]. no lawyer or judge is going to take this seriously. two things are going on here. the moral inversion that we are about to see, right now, over donald trump is about to pardon over the many drivers. -- not to pardon them on january 20th. keep that in mind. he is setting all of that up. the moral inversion is turning the world upside down, and making the rioters, the people who were trying to overturn this election, make them the heroes, and then tell the truth tellers, find out the truth. make them the real enemies. taking the moral universe, and turning it on its head.

second, as i wrote yesterday, fear is the point. what is going on here? donald trump, wants people to be afraid. he is not worried that there is any legal merit. the more absurd these losses are, the scarier they are. there is no protection. people will think that his truth, will be at that event. he wants people to think as a senator murphy said, it is dangerous to criticize donald trump. >> you have to ask yourself, is it worth it? your average little guy, has to say is it worth investigating donald trump? talking about donald trump? if billionaires and the appropriate over rulers, if they run away from the fight, why should i be in play? why are people afraid right now? they don't think the guardrails will hold. they don't think that donald trump can be eased up.

they don't have confidence in congress. they don't have confidence in the courts. thank you john roberts. they don't have the independent agencies that will remain independent. that is the real danger. we have lost faith in holding our government accountable. i will say this. you go back to richard nixon and watergate, journalist back in the 1970s were not scared of richard nixon, in the sense that he thought he was going to go after them. they stood up to him. they need to remember what that felt like. >> on that note, not afraid of anyone. thank you for reading our conversation. fantastic reporting. when we come back, one journalist who knows exactly why donald trump does this, files i had trained with lawsuits, -- political enemy. tim o'brien, joins the table, next. table, next but right now, people like you are losing their freedoms.

some in power are suppressing voting rights. banning our kids books from libraries and attacking our right to make private health care decisions. we must act now to defend these freedoms and protect our democracy. and we can't do it without you. we are the american civil liberties union, and we're asking you to join us in protecting our democracy at the national level and in communities like yours. call or go online to myaclu.org to become a guardian of liberty today. your gift of just $19 a month. only $0.63 a day will help ensure that together we can continue to fight for the freedoms of all americans, no matter your zip code. if you also believe in the right to vote, the right to free speech, the right to learn, the right to bodily autonomy. please join us now. these are your fundamental rights that people are playing with.

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on helping their child live. because at st. jude, taking care of families facing childhood cancer is just what we do. this holiday season, join our st. jude family. we need you. please donate now. what was a mere hypothetical weeks ago, is now a reality. threats and venom from donald trump, now plans of action, set in motion, right now as we speak. before he even takes office. liz cheney, understands that in a deeply personal way. so too do the journalists in this organization, targeted by donald trump lawsuits. abc news, the list goes on and on. legal action, saddles donald trump's perceived enemies with a heavy burden.

time, effort, stress, and money. time, goes into detail on this topic. it the life it was his rival lawsuit that he lost it to our friend, tim o'brien. writing this, quote, the case played out over the span of years. but during the 2016 election, donald trump told the washington post that it was worth it. spent a couple of bucks on legal fees, and they spent a whole lot more. he said of mr. o'brien and his book publisher. i did it to make his life miserable. which i am happy about. joining me at the table, joining the senior executive editor of msnbc critical analyst, tim o'brien. thank you so much for being here. your thoughts? >> i wasn't miserable. i shouldn't say that. my amazing wife, she always hates when i say this. i actually enjoyed the deposition. the case gave my attorneys my subpoena power.

we were able to get donald trump's tax returns, and his banking records. we were able to oppose donald trump for two days. this remains a rosetta stone that was taken in 2007, december 2007, we deposed him for two days. none of that would have been possible for the fact that he sued me. by the end of that case, my lawyers and strip the bark off of him like an old tree, throughout the litigation. by the end of it, i think he was anxious to try to get out of it. the case was tossed. 2006, tossed in 2019. appealed it. new jersey, public court would hear it. also, it is factually untrue, they only spend a few dollars, and they spend a whole lot more. i can say with enough confidence, almost certain that he has spent substantially more money. it was trying for him. he avoided complying with discovery requests. tax returns arrived.

looking at crossword puzzles. only disclosed in the early stages from the modeling income, and his business figures that we were after. et cetera, et cetera. i don't mean this in an arrogant way, or in a macho way, but donald trump is a classic bully. he certainly has more leverage and power to press now, then when he had when he sued me. the case, ultimately vindicated the fact -- the truth. i think time has also vindicated, the report in the book. donald trump, backs away when he is confronted. he is not comfortable with people pushing back. what is going to get tested now across all of these institutions, he is targeting. whether it is members of congress, amongst themselves, universities, et cetera, as it has always been the case, since it landed, since a decade ago,

people have to stand up for their values, and remind themselves of their institutional strengths. and deployed growth from those in force over the next four years, when he clearly wants to do. clearly to intimidate people into submitting before there is even a contest about the facts, or about what there needs to be done. >> what does he want from the press? >> attention, first and foremost. a reflection of his deep, unquenchable well inside of him, to be loved, to be given more attention than anyone else in the world. he also along with that, he wants the media, to repeat the narrative that he has in his own mind about who he is. he is the smartest man in the room. he's the most physically attractive man in the room. he is the richest and the most power -- the best athlete that has ever lived, the best at everything. rather than being a cartoon

figure. and when the media deviates from that, he is easily insulted. he's also i think, even though he was born with every advantage in the world, wealth, social position, access to power, he's always felt like he was pressing his face up against the glass. while he disparages elites, and disparages people of power, he desperately wants their approval. even while disparaging them. even when he is not constantly emotionally and psychologically about his sense of himself, and the sense of how people appraise them, and he wants the media to only appraise them positively. >> stick around. we will bring up charlie in on the other side. don't go anywhere. go anywhere.

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it is hard to pay attention to it, except they are accusing me of a crime. >> poster and seltzer, the state that kamala harris would go on to lose. charlie, lifting that a pollster wants more than anything, is to be correct. data and analytics. and seltzer, she is correct. she is not correct. the idea of pursuing her, is designed to be chilling. >> it is designed to be chilling. it is absolutely right. the grounds are absurd. it constitutes defamation. that is a novelty theory. it is not going anywhere. the quote that you red from the new york times earlier, i think is very revealing. donald trump, knows what he is doing.

he wants to make people's lives miserable. he understands that the process is itself the punishment. of course, he wasn't counting on tim o'brien punching him back in the nose. i think what kim just described, is the way you have to deal with this. you don't cave in. you don't obey in advance. you don't join the great capitulation. stand up to donald trump, peel the bark off of him. you expose him. when he realizes that in fact there are going to be more people that are going to behave like tim o'brien, then say abc news, that may change. his calculation is here. the ann selzer lawsuit is absurd on a simply design committee. >> frank, i think there is neck level fear and chilling, that is desired, when it is the fbi that knocks on your door. talk about these tools now, with donald trump and company,

will shed? >> we have seen throughout donald trump's history, the civil lawsuit as a tool. now, the question is, are we going to see criminal cases opened? investigations opened? i have to tell people, don't think probably there is not sophisticate predications of that are open on liz cheney. this or that. i'm telling you, it is not going to matter, it is not. there is enough wiggle room for my 25 years in the bureau, enough wiggle room, in what you need to open a case, he will use that to his advantage. >> am in this warning from frank. stick around. one more minute. we will be right back. qul. the brand i trust.

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it's built for apple intelligence. that's like peanut butter on jelly... on gold. get four iphone 16 pro on us, plus four lines for $25 bucks. what a deal. ya'll giving it away too fast t-mobile, slow down. reporters don't like to become the story. because you did and you came through it, what is your advice to all of us? >> and stand tall, fight back. the second that you caved to donald trump, he will step on your back, and try to make you concede something else. conceding to get around him, doesn't work. as long as you are careful about the reporting, keep going. >> they smell the fear. that seems like a strategy that would work anyway? >> that is the point. everything she said, she sounded so intimidated. they want people to be intimidated by that.

>> we are going to turn to you often. thank you so much for this hour of conversation. coming up next for us, a member of the january 6th select committee response to donald trump's 3:00 a.m. social media post. threatening liz cheney, quote, with a lot of trouble. picking up the hour on the other side. attending to mommy duties, next. ou alwayd trouble with your weight? same. discover the power of wegovy®. with wegovy®, i lost 35 pounds. and some lost over 46 pounds. and i'm keeping the weight off. i'm reducing my risk. wegovy® is the only weight-management medicine proven to reduce risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack, or stroke

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at me and said something to

the effect of, cash, are you excited for the six, it's going to be a great day i remember looking at him saying rudy, can you explain what's happening on the sixth and he responded something to the effective we are going to the capital. >> i overheard the president say something to the effect of i don't effing care that they have weapons, they are not here to hurt me. let my people in. >> tony described as being irate and the president said something to the effect of i'm the effing president, take me up to the capital, now. >> it's 5:00 in new york, i'm alicia melendez in for nicole wallace, the star witness of the january 6th select committee , cassidy hutchins, revealed significant and damaging details about behind the scenes of january 6th, revelations that republicans

are seemingly still upset over. a report released by republicans where they called for the vice chair liz cheney, to be investigated by the fbi, they said cheney colluded with hutchinson without the knowledge of hutchinson's attorney. says hutchinson's most outrageous claims lacked any evidence. hutchinson's lawyer said in a statement those allegations are preposterous and she made the independent decision to part ways with her trump funded lawyer. in fact, hutchinson told the committee about her decision under oath in testimony at the time saying her decision to switch lawyers was because the one provided by the trump administration told her to downplay her role in the white house this newly released

report by house republicans marks a stunning attack on the rule of law, the constitution, going after a deeply sourced congressional investigation into the incitement of the angry mob of trump supporters that attempted to overturn the 2020 election results. the investigation which reached the same conclusion as the department of justice. trump followed up the republicans report with a social media post at 3:00 a.m., saying former congressman cheney quote, could be in a lot of trouble based on this report. concerning rhetoric concerning -- considering that he's already said that cheney and the other members should get preemptive pardons from president biden. >> cheney did something that is inexcusable along with thompson, the people on the unselect committee, political thugs and creeds. honestly, they should go to jail. >> you think liz cheney should go to jail? >> for what they did -- >> everyone on the committee? >> are you going to direct your fbi director -- >> no, not at all, they will have to look at that i'm going to focus on drill, baby drill. >> when you say that, it

carries away, you've tapped these people to lead the department of justice -- >> biden can give them a party and if he wants to and maybe he should. just remember, unselect committee, a year and a half of sworn testimony, and after getting all of the testimony, they deleted it, wait, and they destroyed, almost everything. there's nothing left. it's unprecedented. >> and that's where we start this hour with democratic congressman from california, and former member of the house january 6th committee, though lofgren, congressman, thanks for being with us. i watched you listening to that clip playback. a lot of head shaking. i want you to talk me through the many inaccuracies and lies that we heard and i want to know what you make of this report? >> well, i think my colleagues on the other side of the aisle are still trying to.-- downplay the riot, they are all complicit in the effort to overturn the election. the so-called report, is filled

with inaccuracies, and i think the public does know what happened. our report was filed and we reported how the former president an out incoming president was at the center of a wide ranging plot to overturn the constitution, culminating in the riot, he summoned a mob to washington and send them down to the capital, knowing they were armed, so, this effort to rewrite history is really pathetic, also, i mean, the idea that you would refer to the criminal prosecution, a legislator doing their legislative job, it's completely unconstitutional. i mean read article 1, section 6 of the constitution, the speech or debate clause, it's

just preposterous. >> as you know better than anyone there was a treasure trove of evidence, of testimony, why are republicans so intent on going after cassidy hutchinson, specifically? >> well, i don't know, you would have to ask them. mr. trump, apparently, have a special feeling of hatred for liz cheney, she lives rent-free in his head and he wants to do harm to her and he's made that abundantly clear. you know, well you know, you can go to the government printing office and take a look at the evidence that we compiled. the transcripts, the emailed, the radio traffic, just go for yourself and see what is there that will put to a lie a lot of these things that my republican colleagues are saying. you know, the idea that we would persecute liz cheney for

her heroic efforts on this committee, it's really sad. >> you heard trump suggesting that president biden ought to issue preemptive pardons. would you accept or welcome a pardon from president biden? >> i have not sought a pardon and i didn't do anything wrong and the speech or debate clause it gives broad immunity in the constitution to members of the house and senate but that is up to president biden. whatever judgment he makes, i will respect, there are certainly people that are in trump's crosshairs that are not protected by the speech or debate clause , so he is going to evaluate all of that and whatever decision he reaches, i will respect. >> we have trump's attacks on the january 6th committee, you have been going after any news coverage that is not adoring, you have him suing news

station. >> house democrats will hold the line. >> we have republicans kowtowing to trump every chance they get. i think that's rather implicit in the answer you just gave me. do you see opportunities then, for house democrats to work together with house republicans in the next two years? >> well i've always worked on a bipartisan basis in fact the committee that on the ranking member on, the science committee, all of our bills were unanimous, i mean all of our work was bipartisan, and i hope to do the same thing in the next congress. obviously, right now, the republicans have a very small majority and when several of their members leave, they will have a two vote majority and

they have some of their members that won't vote yes on anything, so if we are going to accomplish anything, we need to do it together. obviously, we have values that matter to us in the art of compromise is making sure that the american people are being served and we are not being jammed, so yeah, we are ready to work together, if it's in the interest of the american people. >> congressman, thank you so much for getting us started. i want to bring into the conversation founder of democracy docket, mark allies, and my cohost on the weekend, michael still. arc allies, this erosion of democracy, this norm busting, it is not new and yet it should

terrify us, you wrote about this earlier this month, quote, as we head towards january, it is our turn to use this period productively, hoping trump fails is not a plan. we must develop and foster new movements, structures, tactics, that forms and leaders to oppose trump and articulate a positive vision and most democratic systems, this is referred to as the opposition, rather than a resistance, the concept of an opposition is more comprehensive and durable and recognizes that there are no time limits to the effort. what does it require to make that happen, mark? >> it requires first and foremost, courage, it requires persistence, it requires not being afraid of the bully that donald trump is, and not letting him make people obey in advance, not letting him make people back down, not seeing people resign from office before their terms are over, not seeing good civil servants

leave office so he can replace them with political hacks and means that elected officials who are democrats need to be ready to oppose him on the things that he needs to be opposed on and that will help them win elections. the first thing i said to where i list the elements of building a new opposition is the way to defeat donald trump and the maga republicans is to elect democrats to control the house and the senate, and that needs to be our top priority. >> michael, he's been on the record, he said what he said, to give you a few highlights, revenge does take time. i am your retribution. i will totally obliterate the deep state. when you hear congresswoman lofgren talking about how there will be traditional democrats that hold the line. is there any role for congressional republicans to play? >> absolutely there is a role for them to play.

two marks point, to the extent they want to play it, there is room to play, just like there is for the republican senators. they don't have to accept, just because donald trump puts up an unqualified you know, former member or former this or current that, that they have to accept that person. they can say, we will not consent to this individual. so yeah, they have the power. i'm surprised that folks in the media and in politics are acting like you know, there is nothing to do here. that you know, everybody is just going to fall over because donald trump walks into a room. that resistance/opposition has to exist somewhere in this pipeline, otherwise, what is the point. we just turn out the lights and you know, call this trump's

america. you know, i just, i don't buy that, i think that there is resiliency in this republic against authoritarianism, against the idea that any president wants to seek retribution, in those interviews with kristin welker, talking about, you know, liz cheney should go to jail and be in prison, for what? doing her job as a member of congress, under the rules of the house, formally voted on by the members of that house, placed in that committee by the speaker of the house? what is the basis, and yet, we walk around like oh my god, there's nothing we can do. that's just you know, donald trump is upset so let's figure out how we can make it better and fix it read to with that, that's just crazy. and that goes to the press, that goes for politicians , that goes to people who think

they are playing an inside game and think they are going to be nice, you are going to get smacked upside your head at some by donald trump and what are you going to do then? a whole lot of folks are going to be off in concentration camps or jails because you didn't hold the line, so, two marks point, we've got to recognize the opposition, yes, it is loyal. it is not loyal to trump. it is loyal to the country, and that resistance is going to be the resistance to making this country something it's not. >> let me ask you about some of the resistance we could see, i don't know if you got to hear the question i asked congressman lofgren about the possibility of a preemptive pardon and the congressman telling me that she has not sought such a pardon. but seeming to understand that despite the speech and debate clause and the many protections that are offered many members of congress that there remains a threat in the form of the incoming president. what do you think, do you think the january 6th committee members, other people who have

been targeted by trump that they should take preemptive pardons before he comes into office? >> yeah, my thinking on this has evolved over the last few weeks in part, it has involved because of how little courage there has been by so many institutions. you know, to what michael steele said i said, amen. there has just been one institution after another that has folded. so my thought about the preemptive pardons has really shifted, and the fact is that if sweeping preemptive pardons are going to have people stand up against donald trump, do it. the thing that we need to ensure that our institutions, that are active this, that the people who we need in civil society, to be ready to join

the fight and continue the fight for the next four years or more, these preemptive pardons and joe biden ought to issue preemptive pardons across the board, whatever that means. and because, we cannot allow as democrats, us to once again get bogged down into two false choices, the first is this notion that somehow if joe biden does something it will unleash donald trump to do something worse. that's crazy. donald trump will do the worst possible thing, regardless of what joe biden or any democrat does, number 1. number 2, we get involved in this process discussion as you were just asking like should they be sought, should they be accepted, i don't know what it means for someone to accept a pardon. if joe biden issues a pardon, he issued a pardon, and if that's the way to embolden a strong opposition movement, then yes, go ahead and do it. >> thank you for reminding me that even though i have reported on the trump years and watched a lot of law and order i am not in fact, an attorney.

michael steele, i go in the way back machine a decade ago for you and mark elias were going to be agreeing, all three of us would've laughed our heads off and yet here we are. it shows that all things are possible but the point of all of this, if the point is to get people to grow a spine i mean, do you agree, is that possible? >> yes, 1000 times, yes. mark and i are in agreement because we love our country. we love the craziness of it, yes, we love that some things over there are quirky and don't work and some things over there are really good and they do work, but our goal is to be concerned about everybody inside the space that we call america, this matters, or at least, it should, you know, i don't know where all of this pent-up hate for the country came from, the people just sat

on their and stewed on their own regrets, and they didn't adopt that american spirit to go out there and make life better for themselves, and yes, there are obstacles, but there's no need to hide behind donald trump. what the hell is that all about? what do you expect to come from that? and so, for me and mark, this is a moment where we link arms, it's because we are aligned around the idea that this country still matters, at least it should, and i'm still trying to figure out why folks are sitting up here buying the crazy because gas is a little bit higher and eggs are little bit more, yes, we know what that means to people but this is why we are linking arms, so we can fix it.

donald trump is not going to make your gas prices and egg prices go down, he already admitted, oh geez, yeah, it's kind of hard now to you know, bring prices down but on the campaign, he was lying to you on day one, i'm going to reduce the price of eggs, now that he's won, what is he telling you well, you know, that's hard to do, so, stop eating the bs. >> mark, chairman, they're both sticking with me, when we return a stunning turnaround from the house ethics committee which approved the release of the matt gaetz ethics report. what we are going to see and when, that's next. new reporting about trump's pick for attorney general. help pam bondi worked to amplify false claims of voter fraud in key battleground states. "deadline: white house" continues after a short break . stay with us.

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a surprising reversal from the house ethics committee which will give the public a chance to see the report of their years long investigation into former republican congressman and failed attorney general nominee, matt gaetz. sources told nbc news the ethics committee voted earlier this month to release the report. the committee was previously deadlocked across party lines to release it. but house speaker johnson lobbying the committee to killed report. the committee's findings will be made public as early as this week and will conclude their investigation into allegations against dates which include whether he engaged in illicit drug use and gave special favors to people with whom he had personal relationships which started the house probe.

how did this all happen, what are you hearing about the reversal? >> we know the ethics committee reads -- meets regularly and we knew they left in early december, deadlocked on what they were going to do with the matt gaetz referral, so the fact that they came back to this and held another vote where they ultimately came out with a decision is not entirely shocking, the fact that we know in advance that they are releasing the report is what is surprising about this because this is typically a committee that is shrouded in secrecy, they all promise not to leak or talk about what happens in the room and so the fact that a few weeks ago, we were not just knowing when they were going to be meeting and what the topic

of their meeting was but the fact that we knew, from the chairman himself, that he was deadlocked on this issue of what to do about the gaetz investigation and report that they had drafted, that is notable, the chairman also included details about the fact that maybe the report wasn't done and that's why they had to double back and then we saw the democratic ranking member, susan wilde of pennsylvania, come out and say she wanted to make clear that deadlocked did not mean an agreement in the room to not release this report. that was really interesting, it gives us insight into the way that members were thinking about their role on the committee but it's also what we never get from the ethics committee. so there's a lot that is spoiling to those of us who want transparency in the process and they want to know what's going on in these committee rooms and is also something that sort of speaks to the way that happenings in the trump era tend to afraid traditional bipartisan

agreements, even around committees like these, that typically don't operate in this fashion but now are, because of the stakes and because of the landscape. so now we know we are going to be getting a report at sometime by the end of this congress. i think and i know we will talk about this, that the government funding craziness that has unfolded in the last two hours probably going to impact the timing of when this report comes out because it seems like the ethics committee folks would like to release the report but they would like to do it as members are getting out of town. that makes sense for political reasons but the timing could shift if congress finds itself in a shutdown posture and thusly, on an extended schedule for how long they are staying in washington. >> we will talk about that cr in a moment, as ali assumed but i want to talk with you as someone who has an eye on accountability and has sought accountability through legal routes. what you think, what you make of the house ethics choosing to release this report? >> to me this is not that complicated. matt gaetz is what he is, and the republicans in the house were just as happy as the democrats originally to release the report because they didn't

want to have to answer for him or stand up behind him and then what happened was donald trump appointed him to be the attorney general and all of a sudden the republicans all fell into line and the republicans in the house were going to protect matt gaetz at all costs because that's what donald trump wanted them to do. the matt gaetz dropped out and they reverted back to okay, let's release the report except with the caveat, we don't want to embarrass our members by having them answer questions about this report you know as ali said before, for understandable political reasons. let's be clear, the democrats, they had don't they don't have any reasons to not release it, the republicans will have to explain why it is they were willing to protect this guy for so long and wanted to originally stymie this report and the only reason they wanted to do that is because they are sycophants and protectives of trump. the real errors on the stories

are the michael steals, it is hard for the former rnc chair to do that, and he is one of the heroes of the story, so i just wanted to take a moment to recognize that. >> michael still unlike yours truly knows how to take a complement. while i agree with mark's assessment that the whole thing is not complicated, i bet if you were speaker johnson, who pushed hard to keep this report from coming out, michael, then you disagree because this is complicated for him. >> it's not complicated for the speaker, it's whatever donald trump told him to do. you are not talking about john boehner, you are not talking about even newt gingrich here, you are talking about the current speaker, who has shown his proclivities towards insurrection as one of the architects of that effort in 2021, and since then, just aligning the house with whatever donald trump once.

what this whole thing tells me is a secret ballot matters in washington. if there had been a secret ballot in impeachment one or impeachment two, donald trump would have been gone, his ass would have been gone a long time ago. we would not be here with us but because of the way the rules are set up and because those members who know what the result of a secret ballot would be, they fought against those efforts to in impeachment. they could have very easily have the impeachment vote as a secret ballot. and this community, this was the space they could all retreat to and no one would know how the members voted and guess what, the report is being released, despite the fact that the speaker tried everything in his power to prevent it from being released which by the way, is a violation of their roles because he's not supposed to do that.

>> tell us if any of our analysis is flying in the opposite direction of your deeply sourced reporting, and number 2, i want to get back to the cr, you have trump signaling his opposition to the budget deal, talk me through what happens now? >> for mike johnson, with friends like these, i mean that's always been the story of republican speakers these last 2 to 3 years but certainly for johnson, i think what you to the ethics committee, i know it's not complicated from the front of a lot of republicans dislike gaetz and a lot of democrats dislike gaetz and many of them would have been more than fine with this report getting out there however, it would have gotten out there but there's a lot of happy people in bipartisan fashion who want to see this gaetz report. you are right about that. also think the piece for johnson is, he is now watching a committee that is notoriously independent and tries not to be influenced by leadership actively show that they are willing to say, i see the speaker said he doesn't want

this report released about gaetz because he's a former member, we are not going to listen to that. that's an important thing that might give indications about the profile that johnson cuts within this republican conference and that translates to the way that the government funding battle is unfolding, and in the last hour and a half, it really does feel like there is shellshocked here on capitol hill because of the way that not just conservatives who we always expected to be upset about the plan that johnson put together because it's not just a continuing resolution that funds the government until march, it includes disaster relief but also includes a whole bunch of other stuff and the more stuff they put on this, the more angry conservative members got both on the house and senate side. these people were always the same people who were never going to vote for this

continuing resolution, but this has always meant problems for johnson especially because in a few weeks from now when everyone comes back from the new year and the holidays, he's got to try to get reelected speaker with even thinner margins than he had this last time around. so those margins are coming into play but the president- elect also came in from over the top and basically dunked on his top guy in the house saying he didn't like the plan that johnson put together, and complicating the entire process, forcing republican leadership to start from scratch on wednesday evening, when the government shuts down at midnight on friday, they're scrambling together, trying to put together a plan but there is no firm plan at this point. my text messages right now from republicans and democrats are basically just, what is going on, they don't have a sense of what happens next but the most likely plan b is that they end up doing a clean continuing resolution and just pairing it with disaster relief and that is something that has been floated that conservatives would be happy with but at the

same time again, these are the same conservatives that rarely if ever vote for continuing resolution so johnson may not earn them anyway but they are the ones that sent him back to the drawing board with the help of the president-elect. >> ali, you have such a unique gift, the ability to explain deeply complicated and wonky things in real talk. thanks for breaking it down. the reporting about the nominee named to replace matt gaetz for attorney general, what pam bondi did to get in donald trump's good gaet graces. that's next. that's next. lainey wilson: in this family, we ask for help when we need it so we can help more children who really need it. families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food. but we can't help these kids without you. this holiday season, join our st. jude family. we need you. please donate now. [music playing]

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we need to fix this, remedy this now, because we've won pennsylvania and we want every vote to be counted in a fair way. >> that right there, marks the beginning of former florida attorney general pam bondi support for trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election despite there being no evidence of fraud. rudy giuliani was the face of the trump campaign's efforts to overturn the election results in pennsylvania, it was ultimately disbarred from his actions there, new reporting in the washington post sheds light on just how much pam bondi was a driving force behind the campaign's claims in a key swing state. the post reporting that bondi, quote, made unfounded allegations about evidence of cheating, fake ballots and in private huddles with other campaign advisors, she discussed legal strategies to challenge the result in the state that joe biden ultimately won by 80,000 votes. it adds, pennsylvania officials from both parties are in say there are consequences to their actions arguing that bondi spread misinformation that helped reek long-lasting damage to the electoral system. one city official received anti- semitic threats immediately

after bondi accused him of trying to intimidate republican observers of the ballot count. it's that kind of loyalty that bondi showed to trump that made her his choice to be the top law-enforcement officer in the country. mark elias, really no wonder that palm -- pam bondi was a natural choice for ag, she was there for the first wave of the big lie. >> the one thing we know about donald trump is that he cares about election denialism more than anything else. it's the one irreducible minimum. if you look at every person who donald trump has appointed to almost every office they are an election liar, it is the gating entry, so it's pam bondi as attorney general, kash patel as the fbi director and the person he's nominated for other cabinet positions that have nothing to do with justice, so he is going to insist that everyone at the rnc, everyone in his political orbit,

everyone who is a political appointee is committed to the big lie about 2020 because that is what he cares most about. look at how you began the hour with congresswoman zoloft green, and who is he threatening with criminal prosecution? the people who told the truth about january 6th, and about the election in 2020. >> michael steele, i want to read you a little more from the washington post about what pam bondi did on november four, 2020, the day after the election, quote, bondi and lewandowski drove together to philadelphia. when they first urged giuliani to come to philadelphia, he was initially unsure that was the best place to wage trump's battle to hang onto power but bondi and lewandowski kept calling and eric trump insisted. so she was involved michael steele, in convincing giuliani to join their efforts in

pennsylvania, what does that tell you? >> theocracy is alive and well, look, these folks have their own game plan, very much to mark's point, which is about securing an opportunity to prosecute a case which only they believe, the facts do not bear out, 60 courts, federal courts, denied their allegations. secretaries of states in recount after recount in places like arizona and michigan and elsewhere, showed that there was no fraud. they still need suckers to prosecute the case. giuliani in that moment, probably stood -- still had a scintilla of rationality left and said i don't know if this is really a good idea. no, we are all on board because this is where donald trump wants us to go. and that's the problem that the rest of us have to contend with it's the fact that these people are now being offered up

positions of power and authority, over our government, to use our institutions of justice and the rule of law against those who only did their job, as constitutionally ordered with respect to january 21st, january 6th in 2021 and of course the election of 2020 itself. so, you know, i don't know how else we cut this. this is like a brown paper wrapping, it is so plain, it is so obvious what it is and yet, we still have people out here thinking that pam bondi is going to be the best kind of attorney general for us, and kash patel is going to be a great fbi director and so forth, no, they are not there for us, they are there for donald trump, period, and we need to understand that and know the consequences that come from it. >> rick. >> i agree with everything that's been said.

week leaders price loyalty, strong leaders want diversity, strong leaders want different opinions, week leaders want to be opinion echoed back to them. pam bondi should be on paper, someone who would be eligible to be attorney general, she's an attorney general in another state but she is an election denier. if there's a single thing that should be disqualifying from being the chief law enforcement officer of the united states, it is being an election denier, but as mark said, that is the litmus test of loyalty that he depends on and he needs, and the even larger point is, and i just hope the american people see this, he's appointing heads of cabinet departments who are against the entire premise of the cabinet department that they are heading. that's the defense department, the justice department, maybe

even the state department, i'm not sure the american people want that, so these are people who not only have not run large entities, but people who disagree with the mission. and that is a dangerous thing in a constitutional republic that depends on these institutions. >> and all of that is a feature not above. when we return, what democrats need to be doing right now as wh trump returns to office. that conversation, after a quick break. quick break. known for pursuing your passions. no one wants to be known for cancer but a treatment can be. keytruda is known to treat cancer.

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as donald trump proclaimed his inauguration will be about unity as he simultaneously threatens officials, judges, anyone who appears to stand in his way, the question remains, where is the resistance? americans and party leaders took to the streets to express their outrage after trump's first election vowing to stand up to any attempts for a rogue democracy, the response this time has been far more muted with some democrats telling abc news, their plan to defeat republicans in the 2026 midterms

is to play nice for now. president obama's one-time chief of staff and a potential candidate for dnc chair is proposing a different way forward. he writes this, we need to reveal the populist trump as a plutocrat. the hypocrisy will be there in the upcoming tax legislation and slashed regulations for the powerful, all paid for by the middle class. with everyone from big oil to big pharma lining up for their share of the spoils, we will need to be strategic and how we strip away trump's populist veneer, and we're back with rick stangl and mark elias. what do you make of what he said there, easier said than done. >> he is echoing what a lot of people have said blaming this sort of woke miss of the democratic party for the turnout was trump -- >> for anyone who's listening to us on sirius xm, there were quotation marks. and historically, republicans run on cultural issues rather than economic issues, to really get me about this, pat moynihan said the difference between liberals and conservatives is liberals think there are flaws in society that can be fixed by government and conservatives think their flaws can only be fixed by the culture.

i completely agree withthat we have to become the party of the middle class and the working class and we didn't talk about a lot of issues that should have been talked about, inflation, crime, we let the republicans define it. but there's a larger issue at play which is that every single incumbent in every single election around the planet during the past year has lost, there's been this anti-incumbent feeling that is very powerful where trump in many ways is a symptom, not a cause of it and he benefited from that, and kamala harris was running as an incumbent and defending the incumbent and as he said, she had to put distance between herself and the very popular incumbent who was at 38%. >> i have referenced these exact forces and yet trump, had

prudently recently been an incumbent, he had a record, this will not be the first time democrats get an opportunity to say what you preach is not actually what you practice and policy and somehow, it didn't quite connect the first time. >> well now, now, it's like, that's all true, but in his, you know, jujitsu is managing people to believe things that didn't actually happen, so when kamala harris said don't go back, he was saying, yeah, let's go back, it was great back then and that is what voters thought so they had a completely fraud -- flawed mental map of the country based on these feelings rather than facts, and the democrats insisted on campaigning on facts, yes the economy is great, i don't care how you feel about it and he was saying i care about how you feel about. >> market elias, i'm trying to take the first point you made me about what an opposition actually looks like, not bending the knee, not obeying in advance, that is one piece of things and as you well know in addition to that, laid onto

that, democrats have to have a proactive message about what it is that they are offering in addition to pointing out all of the flaws of what will become the president of the united states, your sense of what that looks like? >> so the first thing is it's not left punching left and left punching right, the fact is that the threat to the future of this country is not owing to be found between bernie sanders and rahm emanuel, that's not the way the threat is, the threat is found in the person who instigated a violent insurrection on january 6th, and who has promised to use the powers of the white house to go after his political opponents and who is going to enact policies that is going to undermine the economy and attack

working men and women across the country. so in many respects, if you read what i wrote about a new opposition, i talk about the need to not have purity tests and not engage in this kind of like, you know, who is, who is at fault for kamala harris coming very close to winning but narrowly losing? the solution here is to have a proactive strategy to point out what donald trump is doing wrong and to build a proactive set of policies that will help us win elections in the future. >> thank you both so much of being with us. we will sneak in a quick break and we will be right back. . hey, everybody. w. kamau bell here. they say that america is the land of the free. but right now, people in the u.s. are seeing their freedoms taken away at an alarming rate. freedoms some of us take for granted. the right to vote. equal access to health care. book banning and other forms of censorship that threaten our right to learn. and here's something truly shocking, right now in our country hundreds of thousands of people are incarcerated simply because they couldn't afford bail.

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two major cases the supreme court has agreed to hear, one, from tiktok and the parent company, challenging a law that would effectively ban the app by january 19th of the united states. the court is putting that case on an exceptionally fast track with oral arguments january 10th. suggesting it may issue a ruling before the ban takes effect. the other, huge case of a challenge to the south carolina health departments effort to cut off funding from planned parenthood. the organization, along with one of their patients are suing south carolina after the state themes abortion clinics were unqualified to provide family- planning services and ended their dedicated agreements. we will keep you updated on both of those cases but for all the legal analysis, scan the qr code on your screen to sign up to have the deadline legal newsletter delivered straight to your inbox. we will sneak in another break. we will be right back.

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thank you for spending the hour with us. we are so grateful. "the beat" with ari melber starts right now. >> hi, alicia. thank you so much. we're tracking several stories right now, including on going sparring over the end of the year spending bill in washington. you can see preparations with the democratic leader jeffries is preparing to speak. we're told that could come here any moment, and we're going to listen to what democratic leader jeffries has to say about this on going spending clash when he comes out there. so you've watched the news before. you know how this works. it's a development in the on going battles to get the government funded. elon musk has been weighing in, complicating the situation for the republicans. we'll go to that when we see action and news. to the other