. that does it for "the weekend" this saturday morning. we will see you back here tomorrow 8:00 a.m. eastern where we'll talk to congresswoman jasmine crockett, david hogg and more. velshi with guest host charles coleman continues our coverage. >> santa. >> we were talking about your santa suit. first of all, we will have to send you in the group chat what michael is laughing about, but we were talking about your santa suit. y'all know charles went on tv in the whole santa suit? >> he has more than one, doesn't he? >> i have three. the legend of the santa suit has grown. i have business santa, i have actual santa, and i have something in between. the legend has grown. >> what is an in between santa? >> that's the club santa.

>> i want y'all to pay attention to how smooth and how clean is michael is looking on this last saturday of the year. he is not playing around with y'all with this turtleneck game, and i want y'all to take note. >> i want you to know, charles, there are women on the internet that have absolutely taking note, and they are making their thoughts known. >> it's this brother over here who's doing it. charles, we love you, man. >> love you guys, too. happy new year. so good to see you. >> have a good show. >> velshi starts right now. good morning. it's saturday, december 28th, and i'm charles coleman jr. in for my friend, ali velshi. we've got a lot to talk about. now, today marks 23 days until the second inauguration of donald trump, and that also means we're just 23 days away from the potential long list of executive orders and other

actions trump is planning for day one. a trump trump ally tells nbc news, quote, there will be a push to make a huge early show and assert himself to show his campaign promises were not hollow. the main focus of trump's day is expected to be illegal immigration. trump has promised to launch the, quote, largest deportation operation in american history. he has said he could use both the national guard and active duty military personnel to assist in his deportation goals. a trump donor who has had conversations with the transition team tells nbc news that trump, quote, won big on the idea that cracking down on illegal immigration is not just a priority but the priority. and another trump ally said the focus will be on how to expedite deportation through executive order adding, quote, this is our focus, this is what we ran on, it will be swift. trump is expected to sign up to five executive orders aimed at dealing with immigration alone on his first day according to

three trump allies. and those are just a handful of the several dozen actions trump has promised for his opening act. axios compiled this dizzying sample of his wide ranging promises, which include everything from ending russia's war in ukraine to vaccine mandates to inflation to fracking, to pardoning the january 6th participants, to resorting his travel ban, to sanctioning iran, and the list just goes on and on. now, two people familiar with the plans also tells nbc news that trump is preparing on day one to overturn specific policies put in place by president biden. trump also plans to end travel reimbursement for military members seeking abortion care and to restrict transgender service members access to gender affirming care. as a trump campaign official told nbc news, trump will enact changes at a pace, quote, like nothing you've ever seen in history. i don't think all of us are taking that the way that the

official may have meant it, but here we are. now, whether trump will succeed in getting all this done on day one, probably not. but buckle up. this time it will likely be an easier ride for trump. he now has experience in office, and republicans also control both chambers of congress. more importantly, think tanks including the america first policy institute have reportedly spent years crafting policies for trump to put in place upon his return. that includes drafting proposed executive orders. two people close to trump's team have now told nbc news that the transition is sorting through scores of proposed orders. joining me now to unpack all of this are two of the best. april ryan is a white house correspondent and a washington bureau chief, also an msnbc contributor, and she's the author of multiple books including "black women will save the world." i know that's right.

and yamiche lucross is a political analyst and sirius xm democratic strategist. thank you both for being here. april, we've heard at least a dozen different orders and actions donald trump has promised on at least his first day in office, and not even talking about a 24-hour period after donald trump takes his oath. so, like, where is he actually going to put his focus? and realistically, what should we be expecting that he can actually get done on day one? >> well, trust and believe, charles, first of all many of these executive orders are either done already and just waiting be implemented or they're in the process to be completed, so all he has to do is step and take the oath, step into the white house, and boom. we don't know what time of day it's going to happen, but it's going to happen. and one of it main issues is this immigration issue, deporting -- this mass

deportation of migrants. and i talked most recently for one of my interviews on immigration, i talked to los angeles mayor karen bass, and she said quote-unquote that the economy of los angeles will come to a halt if they close the border, if this administration closed the border. think of it. los angeles, those across the border, latinos and asians, those are the two biggest -- latinos first and then asians are the two biggest migrant populations there. now, who is donald trump going to target? we don't know. but the question is, you know, is los angeles like other cities, will it hemorrhage economically if this actually does happen, these mass deportations start happening. >> you know, it's very clear to me that donald trump and to everyone else, for that matter, that donald trump is really adhering to a mandate that was set before him by not only

voters but also think tanks. but i'm wondering what is the mandate now put on democrats? what mandate exists in terms of how democrats can respond given they don't have the majority legislatively. what is it we can expect for them to do in response? >> well, i think we can expect them to be forceful in the house because democrats have a slim majority this time around than before. there's very little they're going to get passed in the house without democratic vote. we're also going to see democrats focused heavily on the states. i think what we've seen from president-elect trump thus far is this ideology i'm just going to toss it to the states, all of this is going to go to the states. we as black people know that is code from what we've seen previously, what we saw during the jim crow era, what we saw after reconstruction. the idea of passing things to the states typically means that

people of color end up in a very bad position, so we're going to watch a lot of democrats pay very close attention to state and state legislative policy. i think in terms of the trump administration, there's very little democrats can do on executive orders. that's just is what it is. donald trump ran on mass deportation, an anti-immigrant sentiment and quite frankly a lot of the american public voted him because of that. i don't think it's going to have the massive awe and shock factor people think it will with the exception of mixed status families. we have seen and heard from donald trump and his allies they are willing to place american citizens, those who are born to immigrant families, those people in some halfway houses, which i think is completely ridiculous. we're going to see a push back there because those are american citizens. but by and large this immigration conversation whether you're looking at twitter, x, or whatever it's called these days or other social media platforms or talking to people in the streets, far too many citizens are very upset about our current immigration status, and i

personally don't believe we're going to see a ton of folks blow back against trump on things they feel were one of the priority reasons he got into the white house to begin with. >> such an important point you made, amishia and the history of states and not being connected to the communities of color. f you have the america first think tank, the heritage foundation. you have a number of policy groups that are making demands, if you will, of this administration, and they're also sort of pushing their own version of policy, executive orders, legislation to put in front of donald trump. but at the same time donald trump is not someone who has shown himself of having a penchant of liking to be told what to do, so how does that reconcile? is it more so he is sort of showing a level of allegiance to his supporters and repaying them for their loyalty? or is it that he's going to take these things and say more or less this is my idea all along?

>> well, of course he's going to say this was my idea all along. that's who donald trump is. and when you are president, remember this, there are people who work under you, but at the end of the day it stops with you, the president of the united states. and he will say it was my idea even if someone else brought it to him. but this is also about those who are loyal to him, the things he promised. and those people who are loyal to him who said yes we like this, yes we like this. so trust and believe on day one and the remainder of his presidency that he will do what he feels is best for him and those who supported him even as he tries to say i am going to reach across the aisle. and it's so interesting, charles, i believe there's a little glimmer of that reach when we see on inauguration day that mississippi hbcu that is

supposed to be in the inauguration parade. that was just a little aside. >> shout out mississippi state. amishia, i've got to ask you we tend to think of these things as ideological polar opposites where the legion of doom is sitting around conspiring for the racism and xenophobia and all the isms, if you will, that seem to be fueling things on the right. but at the same time i wonder is there anyone in that room from a strategic standpoint really believe they are reshaping america for the better good and they are patriots and this is going to be a moment looked at historically like in a very positive way? and i'm asking very seriously here. >> i absolutely think that there are. these are not people who were completely brainwashed into believing some allegiance of america where, you know, immigrants, people of color, individuals who believe differently, who aren't of the christian faith all of a sudden just need to be eradicated. these are people who want to take people back. when they say make america great

again, we ought to ask them what time frame is this you speak of? when you dig deeper it was a time frame women didn't have voting rights, didn't have marital rights. women couldn't do anything but service their husbands, and at the end of the day black people were second class citizens if even that status. i think there is a positioning amongst the republican party, and it's not just maga, i would say the broader republican party because they're not pushing against this either that wants to take us back to a less diverse america, wants to take us back to an america only white men had rights. they also think that, you know, civil rights was the -- was literally the nail in the coffin for american growth and american aspiration. they want to go back, like they believe that whole heartedly. and i think that we would be ignorant if we don't listen to and pay attention to exactly why they are doing this. >> april ryan and amishia cross, two of the best to get us

started. coming up on velshi, congresswoman barbara lee is going to join me the discuss her new efforts to help exonerate the late civil rights leader marcus garvey. and texas state representative dona howard is also going to be here to talk about why it's so critical for texas to count every pregnancy death after the wake of the abortion ban. we'll have more on velshi after a short break. abortion ban we'll have more on velshi after a short break. it's on them. families save 20% every month. what a deal! new and existing customers, trade in your busted old phone, and we'll give you a new iphone 16 pro with apple intelligence on us. prilosec knows, for a fire... one fire extinguisher beats 10 buckets of water, and for zero heartburn 1 prilosec a day... beats taking up to 10 antacids a day. it's that simple, for 24 hour heartburn relief... one beats ten. prilosec otc.

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flight pattern and altitude. meanwhile, just hours ago the kremlin said russian president vladimir putin spoke to the president of azerbaijan by phone and apologized for what he called a tragic incident, but putin stopped short of taking responsibility. let's get right to it with nbc's megan fitzgerald who is following the story from london. megan, a u.s. official has told nbc news that russian forces may have suffered from confirmation bias after a ukrainian drone was shot down about 70 miles away. what more do you know? >> reporter: well, look, you know, as you mention, what we're seeing right now is rare apology by russian president vladimir putin but stopping short of taking responsibility for this crash. so the kremlin released a statement saying that putin had a conversation by phone with the president of azerbaijan and saying that he apologized for what he calls a tragic incident that occurred in russian airspace, but again stopping short of taking responsibility. but in this statement it also highlights that grozny, which is

the russian city where this aircraft was attempting to land, came under attack by ukrainian drones and that russia was trying to repel those attacks, and that certainly is in line with our nbc news reporting from several intelligence officials saying that it was likely that russian air defense was responsible for bringing this aircraft down by mistake. and also, you know, when you take a look at the footage from this crash and you can see the exterior of that plane, it appears to have shrapnel damage there, so, again, also sort of in line with this idea that there was attacks happening in the area and that russian air defense was trying to repel these attacks. again, this is still an active and ongoing investigation. azerbaijani officials are investigating to try and figure out exactly what caused this plane to crash killing some 38 people. >> that was nbc's megan fitzgerald. thank you. and coming up after a short

break, from mar-a-lago to manhattan, we are going to look back at all of donald trump's legal issues in 2024 and what they might mean for his future. "velshi" returns after a quick break. break. what causes a curve down there? is it peyronie's disease? will it get worse? how common is it? who can i talk to? can this be treated? stop typing. start talking to a specialized urologist. because it could be peyronie's disease, or pd. it's a medical condition where there is a curve in the erection, caused by a formation of scar tissue. and an estimated 1 in 10 men may have it. but pd can be treated even without surgery. say goodbye to searching online. find a specialized urologist who can diagnose pd and build a treatment plan with you. visit makeapdplan.com today. (dramatic music) time is running out to give a year-end gift like no other- -a gift that can help saint jude children's research hospital save lives. those that donate to st. jude, i hope that you will continue to give.

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and now onto the legal stuff. this year donald trump made history when he became the first president of the united states ever to be tried and convicted of a crime. and while that milestone may be, indeed, a stain on our democracy, it still didn't stop trump from getting re-elected to the presidency in november. from mar-a-lago all the way to manhattan nbc news correspondent vaughn hilliard takes a look back at donald trump's historic year on trial. >> for defendant, donald trump -- >> donald j. trump is guiltymer. >> the fate of the 2024

presidential election could determine both his political and legal future. >> they want to built me in jail. >> reporter: trump using his own potential imprisonment to rally supporters around his defense. >> our enemies want to take away my freedom because i will never let them take away your freedom. >> reporter: as a candidate arraigned on criminal charges in new york city, washington, d.c., florida, and atlanta, where a local fulton county jail formally booked, fingerprinted, and photographed him for a mug shot that trump capitalized on. >> when i did the mug shot in atlanta, you know that mug shot is number one. >> reporter: trump turned it into a symbol of his fight for freedom, using it for merchandise and fund-raising. >> every time the radical left democrats, marxists, communists, and fascists indict me, i consider it a great badge of honor. >> reporter: in 2023 the indictments coming in rapid succession. >> i got arrested four times in the last -- it's almost like i

wake up in the morning do you think they'll arrest me today? i never got arrested before. >> reporter: some of trump's primary opponents trying to benefit themselves from the cases. >> we can't keep living with indictments and court cases and vengeance of the past. we've got to stop art going forward. >> that conduct is indefensible in my view. >> reporter: as trump made his way to new york to face criminal charges for falsifying business records to cover up hush money payments to stormy daniels and influence the 2016 presidential election, his narrow lead in the gop primary began expanding. >> the primary just crowded out i think so much other stuff. >> special counsel jack smith brought two cases against trump. in d.c. charging him over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss and another for refusing to turn over classified documents and allegedly trying to hide them from the fbi, leading to federal agents executing a search warrant on his florida estate. >> they raided my house in florida, mar-a-lago.

no notice, no nothing. they raided it. >> reporter: in a separate civil case brought by new york attorney general letitia james, a new york judge found trump and his family company to have engaged in repeated financial fraud, fining him $460 million. >> donald trump may have authored "the art of the deal," but he perfected the art of the steal. >> reporter: a jury in new york also finding him liable for sexually abusing e. jean carroll and then defaming her. >> he's nothing. we don't need to be afraid of him. >> reporter: another jury months later then ordering trump to pay carroll more than $80 million after the judge overseeing the litigation determined that he had defamed her again, as trump called the prosecutions and lawsuits politically targeted, the justice system continue to churn. >> it shouldn't be allowed to happen so i'll stay around here. >> reporter: major witnesses taking the stand in the hush money trial. stormy daniels, michael cohen,

the publisher of the national enquirer, david pecker, and his former close aide, hope hicks. meanwhile his political allies courting public opinion. >> our judicial system has been weaponized against president trump. >> they're not prosecuting president trump. they're persecuting him. >> reporter: after several weeks the jury unanimously found him guilty on all 34 felony counts. the judge skelging a sentencing date for after the election, raising the stakes of america's decision. >> we are now projecting the next president of the united states is donald trump. >> this was, i believe, the greatest political movement of all-time. >> reporter: and with the result, concerns about immunity from prosecution and the ability and precedent of imposing a sentence on a sitting president, leading special counsel jack smith to drop his two cases. federal judges then agreeing to toss the indictments out. his fulton county case indefinitely on hold. and the judge in his new york trial now deciding whether to

toss the verdict against trump out altogether or suspend his sentencing date until he leaves office in 2029. vaughn hilliard, nbc news. >> for more on the litany of trump cases from this year i'm now joined by my friend, my colleague, danny cevallos. he's a criminal defense attorney, an msnbc analyst, and here with me to break this all down. you already know what time it is. the glasses are coming off. >> can i try these on? >> you might go blind. it hinds my super human x-ray vision. so here's the deal, your biggest surprise from this litany of case, i said literally on the same program a year ago literally new year's eve i said, you know, donald trump's almost like the ginger bread man when it comes to these cases. he somehow got out of all of them, at least it appears that way. you'd be surprised. >> yeah, the biggest surprise --

i say surprise but, you know, as lawyers we live in the upside down in court. the most unexpected things happen. you never know what a jury is going to do. if you would have asked me a year ago i would have said and i did say on your show the weakest case -- this is probably where you and i disagree, the case that shouldn't have been brought against trump is the new york hush money case. when you talk about the other cases pending against him, as a criminal defense attorney i can tell you the odds are you will use as a defendant in federal court. the one that will go away is the new york case or he'll get acquitted, and yet that was the only one of the four cases that ever made it to trial, ever resulted in a verdict and resulted in a guilty verdict. whether that verdict remains to survive will be seen. if you are going to talk about surprises, there's no question that was the biggest surprise. >> can you talk about how much help donald trump had along the way? when i say help, in some cases you're looking at mar-a-lago and

aileen cannon and on the other hand fani willis and fulton county comes to mind. this was not something just the doing of good lawyers or even good facts that donald trump had to work with, not to mention perhaps the biggest help of all the immunity decision coming from the supreme court threw out all of this. >> yes, that of course the immunity decision was huge but perhaps even bigger than the immunity decision donald trump got re-elected. that resulted in the two federal cases going away. federal cases usually result in convictions, so once those went away, that was an anomaly, that was a surprise. then in fulton county, fulton county in georgia might have been a good case against trump and his codefendants, but unfortunately they were brought by an elected d.a., these are not my words but a trial court and then an appellant court confirmed an order of mendacity was over the case and not only

was she removed, her entire office was removed. an otherwise meritorious case is now adrift without a captain because of the elected d.a.'s i would say poor choices. >> i think that's probably the problem with that case and one of the important things is now the conversation is about fani willis and alleged misconduct as opposed to the right or wrong guilt or innocence of donald trump and his codefendants there. in some ways, danny, it feels like the prosecutions in some cases against donald trump seem to backfire, like they only got worse. you look at, number one, he got re-elected. but then number two even in the case of abc, he won a case there his presidential library has $15 million that's being paid to him by abc news. why does it feel like he ended up the victor in all of this? >> yeah, to some degree it may be the answer to the question that we may have had an answer to before the supreme court's immunity decision, which is it

is difficult to charge or even sue a former president or an about to be president or a sitting president. he is different. we say no man is above the law, but in a way presidents, we've learned, are above the law. not only are there certain statutes that relate directly to them, which affected the documents case. and you have the fact you cannot charge a sitting president, in many cases you can't even compel them in that process. >> does this precedent -- if you're a rich guy who's in legal trouble, you can potentially inject yourself into the presidential election and try to avoid all accountability whatsoever. >> i totally understand the alarmist view this is the direction we're going in the future, but then again have we ever had a president like trump and will we have another president like trump? the second question, maybe we're ushering in new era for people who are these personalities like trump. but i'm not as alarmist as

authorities and reasonable minds can disagree, i think this might be a singular event. but now that we have a decision, the supreme court gave us rules but really not an outline or procedure and figuring out how those rules apply and i'm talking about immunity. i hope against hope we're not entering in an era where every opposing party prosecutes every sitting and former president. that is something i hope for no matter what side you're in. >> if it happens or doesn't, i hope you're here to talk about it. my man being here for another year, thank you so much. straight ahead i am going to be joined by california congresswoman barbara lee. she said among a group of democrats calling for the president to exonerate the late great marcus garvey in order to remove, quote, the shadowf an unjust conviction. there's more velshi coming up. . there's more velshi coming up. with clearer skin.

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welcome back to "velshi." i'm charles coleman jr. in for ali today. a group of democratic lawmakers is urging president biden to exonerate the late legendary civil rights leader marcus garvey. garvey who was born in jamaica in 1887 organized what is considered by many historians the largest organized mass movement in black history. he famously was the leader oof the back to africa political

movement, which aimed to bring people of african descent in western nations back to the continent so that they could establish an independent nation of their own. he also founded the universal negro improvement association or the unia. it was a fraternal order of black nationalists. at the core of garvey's message was the unapologetic pride of being black. it's the same type of pride that compels me to wear this black brilliance pin on my lapel. it's what we might compare to modern day statements like black is beautiful. garvey preached for an independent black economy within the structure of white capitalism. in that line of thinking he created several businesses including a shipping company. in 1922 he was convicted of mail fraud in connection to the black star liner. president calvin coolidge later commuted the remainder of his sentence only for garvey to be deported back to his home

country jamaica. the letter reads in part, quote, exonerating mr. garvey would honor his work for the black community, remove the shadow of an unjust conviction and further your administration's promise to advance racial justice. joining me now to discuss this is congresswoman barbara lee, democrat of california. she is one of the lawmakers who signed onto that letter to president biden. congresswoman lee, thank you so much for being here. good morning. as i mentioned, president coolidge did commute marcus garvey's sentence, but why is it important? >> so many people do not know the story of marcus garvey. in many ways he is an american hero. and we wrote to the president led by our great chairwoman-elect of the congressional black caucus,

congresswoman clark, to exonerate marcus garvey because first we want to clear his good name. he was a hero to many, and these were trumped-up charges. they fabricated these charges to criminalize him, and that was just down right wrong. and so we're asking now 101 years later to exonerate him. you know, you mentioned calvin coolidge had pardoned two years out of his five-year sentence but he was also deported back to jamaica, so we're hoping the president will do this. this is the right thing to do. >> congresswoman, you talked about his story. now, for those who may not be familiar, this is not the first effort that has been made to try and exonerate marcus garvey. how confident do you feel president biden is going to do what other presidents before him did not? >> well, 21 of us wrote him and laid out the case for it, so we're hoping he will do that. but you're right, this is not the first time. actually in 1987 the late john

conyers held judiciary committee hearings setting forth the record, the facts. later congressman charley wrangle of new york, of harlem introduced several resolutions to exonerate marcus dpavy. so this is nothing new but this is a new effort with president biden because i believe he believes justice should be served and understands fighting for black economic independence -- marcus garvey started the black line shipping company, for example. he was a person who was trying to connect black people in america and africa and the caribbean like most people around the world connect with their ancestral homes and connect and do business with and they have ties with countries where their ancestors -- we're urging congress to do this.

>> i'm going to take the liberty of talking to you like an auntie and asking you straight up what's it going to take to get more of your democratic colleagues to sign onto this bill? i appreciate the efforts that have been made by the courageous members of the cbc and others that have decided to sign on. more democrats have decided not to advance the spirit of racial justice, so what's it going to take to get more people to support? >> charles, this should not be a heavy lift, first of all. secondly, people don't know the story of marcus garvey. i'm glad you're doing this. and, in fact, racial equity and racial justice has been the central part of so much of our economic and racial justice policies we've been fighting for as americans. there's a lot of unfinished

business as it relates to african american equity and justice. when you look at what i have introduced, the true racial healing and transformation commission. when you look at hr 40, there are many, many bills we've been fighting for many years to get passed and signed into law, and so this, i believe, is something that every democrat, especially every republican should sign onto. we have to continue educating our colleagues and continuing to make sure they understand what importance these issues are because we see states now that are trying to turn the clock back, states that are trying to deny the history of so many people who came to this country. in our case we came enslaved for over 250 years. they're trying to deny this history because let me tell you, we see the impact and the manifestation of the past exhibited in equity now and in discrimination and in systemic

disparities such as in health care and housing and employment and economic opportunities. so everyone should sign onto these types of bills so that our history can move forward. because if you don't know your history, you can't move forward, and it's important to tell the truth. and america could certainly come to this point. and i think our colleagues understand that could be a moment of racial healing and transformation for everyone not just for black community but the tire country. >> congresswoman, you're not going to be returning to congress, and that is a shame for everyone in1r5u67b8ed. but please allow me to give you your flowers on-air right now. thank you for everything you do not only for the people of california but for the people of the united states. and thank you for being here on this edition of "velshi." that was democratic congresswoman barbara lee of california. and coming up the state of texas says it will not review pregnancy related death for the first two years after the abortion ban took effect. i'm going to talk to state representative donna howard about the dangers of that

decision and her call to reverse it. stay tuned for more "velshi" on msnbc. tuned for more "velshi" msnbc. ♪♪ ♪♪ you've got a pepto predicament, ace. you overdid it on the loaded fries. undo it with pepto fast melts. ♪ when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, ♪ ♪ upset stomach, diarrhea. ♪ when you overdo it... ...undo it with pepto bismol.

now to texas. we're now talking about beyonce and her christmas performance. the state texas is facing heightened criticism over its decision not to review deaths related to pregnancy for the years 2022 and 2023. those are the first two years after the state's near total abortion ban took effect. critics are saying that skipping over these two critical years since the laws changed will make it difficult to assess whether the abortion ban is making childbirth more dangerous in texas. democratic lawmakers in the state and national lawmakers are pushing back against the decision. representative dona howard recently sent a statement to the texas department of health urging officials to reconsider that decision writing in part,

quote, every life last or impacted by pregnancy should be study. choosing to skip the last two years is inherently a political decision that will furtr the abortion bans have had on mental health -- i'm sorry, on maternal health in texas. raw data like this is important because the public cannot gain a complete understanding about the impact abortion bans are having on women's health. the numbers matter also because they expose the real stakes of overrng roe v. wade, which triggered abortion bans in red states across the country. those numbers, they provide irrefutable evidence the denial of reproductive care is literally killing them since the dobbs decision in 2022. stories have emerged of pregnant women suffering painful, sometimes fatal complications after being denied abortions. according to public reporting at propublica, at least three women have died in texas in connection with the state's abortion ban. it is not just women seeking abortions who are getting hurt.

there are women with wanted pregnancies who are facing emergency complications like miscarriages who are also losing their lives as hospitals with hold appropriate care out of fear of violating abortion laws. with more on this i'm joined by democratic state representative dona howard of texas. she is the chair of the texas womens health caucus. it's so good to have you here but so unfortunate to be having this conversation. the maternal mortality and morbidity review committee has stated their mission to address -- that their mission is about talking about preventable pregnancy-related deaths. how does this decision to skip over these two years reconcile with that? what is the explanation? help me understand. >> i'm trying to understand it myself. yes, this has been a very trusted committee that's

provided scientific, analytical information about preventable pregnancy-related deaths and morbidities, and we have been able to implement some policies to make some progress. but, unfortunately, the committee looks to be politicized now. we've had some changes that were made in this last legislative session that were not done in a transparent way. there was no discussion about it that changed the make-up of the review committee, removed the one community advocate, a black woman who had actually suffered a pregnancy-related complication and who was a strong advocate. she was removed from the committee, replaced with two supposedly committee -- community members but turned out to be both physicians. one was supposed to be representing a rural area. turned out it was an anti-choice ob/gyn from san antonio, which

is hardly rural. we're no longer going to be using the federal checking system. we are going to be creating our own state checking system and spending millions of dollars to do so with apparent reasons that seem to be focused on not talking about the racial disparities, not talking about such things as intimate partner violence and the gun violence that occurs that is killing texas moms, and then to add to that not looking at how our abortion legislation, restrictive legislation is having a severe impact on the health and well-being of texas moms. this is not unprecedented and appeared to happen in 2022 before the elections of that cycle, when the report was supposed to come out the beginning of september. it was delayed, it didn't come out until after the election, and that was the first time the reporting had looked at racial disparities and implicit bias.

so it does appear that we are, unfortunately, looking at something that is preventing us from having the information we need to make informed policy decisions to protect the lives of texas moms. >> representative howard, i want to stay right there on that point and i'm so glad you brought it up. the notion of racial disparities when it comes to maternal health care is something that's a very big issue that's not oftentimes discussed. i personally thinkthality this is something that's not pushed as hard as it can be by members of different statehouses. do democrats in texas have a plan about getting that message out as to why this matters so much and why it's so important? and really leaning flue the notion of the racial disparity with respect to maternal health care and its impact. >> it is absolutely a struggle to get that message out in a state like texas where we have so much anti-dei legislation

going on, where we had an office in our health department that looked at racial disparities across the spectrum but primarily looking at health care. that was defunded in 2017. repeatedly each session we've been trying to bring that back to no avail. it does appear that this is something that for whatever reason some of our leadership does not want to have discussed. but the fact is the latest report we got september of 2024, which only came up through the 2020 year of pregnancies still show that we had 2 1/2 times more deaths among our black moms where at the same time the rate went down for white moms. so there's absolutely something going on here that we need to be discussing. and the actual review committee has repeatedly said in all of their reports that have come out in recent years that this is an issue, that we need to be addressing this by making sure that we're involving the black

community in what we're -- what kind of services we're providing. we need to have more -- a reimbursement for dullahs. the community advocate part of that committee, actively fulfilling that role is no longer on that committee. so we do have challenges getting this message out and making sure we're doing whatever we can to address this issue. it is an absolute horrific thing that we are allowing this to continue, and it has been reported, as i said, in multiple years. in fact, we implemented name bundles they're called the obstetricians and gynecologists have these best practices that you can use to create a more positive outcome for moms. we have implemented that for obstetrics hemorrhage. unfortunately, what we found out in the study that was done is indeed the good news was it did

reduce the severe complications except for black moms. they actually the increased at the same time everyone else is decreasing. there is a clear problem here, and it must be addressed. >> that was state representative donna howard of texas. thank you for this important conversation. another hour of "velshi" continues right after the break. " continues right after the break. ...follows her example. ♪♪ transforming nature's 4 billion years of wisdom... ♪♪ ...into supplements. with key vitamins, minerals, and herbs, sourced from whole food ingredients... ♪♪ ...all crafted to work with your body. ♪♪ bringing the power of nature... ...into your new chapter.

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