atrocity a literary history, which we'll have to have you on to talk about. thanks to both of you. and that does it for me. thank you for watching. i am going to be back tonight at 9 p.m. eastern for a special edition of velshi previewing the inauguration. of course, i will be back here tomorrow morning from 10 a.m. to noon eastern. we will be watching and hoping that that that cease fire and hostage and prisoner exchange will be underway. by the time i see you in less than 24 hours. but go nowhere right now. the katie phang show begins right now. >> this is the katie phang show live from msnbc studios in washington, d.c. major moves just under 48 hours until convicted felon donald trump becomes the 47th president of the united states. the big shakeup to move the inaugural ceremony inside the capitol, and why that's left countless trump supporters very upset. >> then half a billion and counting. while the criminal

cases against donald trump may have ended up in the trash bins of history, trump is still, for now, on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in the looming civil cases that are still pending against him. >> plus, deja vu. >> looking back to the last time the united states used mass deportation to stoke xenophobic political grievances and breaking down the economic disaster that's lying in wait for all of us. >> if trump makes good on his word and later meeting the moment martin luther king the third on honoring his father's legacy and commemorating martin luther king jr day on inauguration day, as the two federal holidays converge for just the third time in our history. all of that and more is ahead. about 48 hours from now, president elect and convicted felon donald trump will be sworn in as the 47th president of the

united states. >> but it's not shaping up quite as he may have wanted. >> today, trump will arrive here in the d.c. area where he's throwing himself a party at his virginia golf club, complete with fireworks and 500 of his closest donor friends. >> but come monday, the man who obsesses over crowd size will surely be disappointed, as frigid winter temperatures have led to his inauguration ceremony being moved indoors to the capitol rotunda. >> as for who will be in attendance, presidents obama, george w bush and bill clinton are scheduled to come, but none of the former presidents is expected at the inaugural luncheon. but don't worry, trump will have the warm affection of the big tech bros, from mark zuckerberg to jeff bezos and tim cook, who have all confirmed that they will be in attendance. >> joining me now, democratic congresswoman jennifer mcclellan from virginia, a member of the house armed services committee and the vice chair of the equal

rights amendment caucus. >> congresswoman, it's always good to see you. trump's first inauguration met with riots in the streets of d.c, as well as counter protests held around the world. right now, tens of thousands of protesters are marching in dc to voice their opposition to trump's accession. >> why is it so important, congresswoman, to keep hope alive at this time? >> well, we really have no choice. >> and as we're going into the martin luther king jr. >> holiday, i am reminded how every time in american history we have made progress on civil rights, on women's rights, there's been a backlash. and the only way we continue that progress going forward is to double down and stay committed and building towards the beloved community that he gave his life for. so for me personally, while i am sometimes angry that i'm fighting the same fights that my parents, my grandparents and my great grandparents fought, i do it so that my children and their

children don't have to continue those fights, and i route myself in the joy and the love of making any progress and not letting anyone steal that joy as we face the backlash. >> let's talk about one of the battles that you have always been on the front lines for. for a while. you are the vice chair of the equal rights amendment caucus. yesterday, president joe biden announced that the era should be considered a ratified addition to the united states constitution, calling it the law of the land. talk about how important this step is for joe biden to announce what he did. but let's also talk about what needs to happen next. >> well, first of all, it is a capstone for president biden's career as a champion for women's rights, going back to when he was a senator and passed the violence against women women act. >> and so it's the perfect capstone for his career. >> it is an important first step. >> i remind people it took 100

years after ratification of the 14th amendment for the civil rights act of 1964 to enforce it. and so while we can and should celebrate this moment, and i am proud to have played a part in making virginia the 38th state to ratify the era, we know there are going to be legal challenges, and we know it is not self-executing, and we have got to make sure that congress acts to enforce it. >> let's switch gears to something that's going on in the middle east that is of paramount importance. after 15 months of intense fighting, with tens of thousands of deaths in gaza and always fragile ceasefire deal has been reached between israel and hamas, i want to underscore it's not the end of the war, but it is a cease fire. tomorrow morning at 1:30 a.m. eastern time is when the cease fire is supposed to start. how optimistic do you remain that it will last, though? >> i am an eternal optimist, and

so i am hopeful that this is a breakthrough that will begin the process of restoring peace and stability in the middle east. but we have seen where we have been close to a cease fire before, and how fragile a cease fire can be. we were in a cease fire when the october 7th terrorist attack happened. >> so this is going to require vigilance and attention to ensure that this cease fire leads to long term peace. >> congresswoman, before i have to let you go, there are some folks that are not going to be attending trump's inauguration on monday. are you going to be in attendance whether allowing me to head up i-95? >> yes, i will be there just to let the people tuning in. >> it's supposed to be at least 3 to 4in of snow and some frigid temperatures, as we know on monday. so that is what she's talking about. congresswoman jennifer mcclellan, it's a pleasure, as always, to have you

here. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. >> and for more, joining me now, i've got hugo lowell, senior political correspondent for the guardian, and christina greer, associate professor of political science at fordham university. she's also the author of how to build a democracy. wise words. christina, as we know, let's talk about the key moments of this week. we saw a number of trump's nominees in the hot seat for their confirmation hearings. take a quick listen to trump's treasury pick, scott bessent pushing to extend trump's 2017 tax cuts. >> if we do not. the fix these tax cuts, if we do not renew and extend, then we will be facing an economic calamity. and as always, with financial instability that falls on the middle and working class people. >> well, i mean, christina, that is true, right? i mean, the people that suffer the most are

our middle class, our working class. but these tax cuts for billionaires, they're never going to benefit the middle and the working classes. >> i mean, katie, what we're witnessing is a 21st century version of reagan's trickle down economics, where wealthy republicans consistently give their friends and obviously donors tax breaks and say ultimately, it will trickle down to the working class and middle class families. and we've seen time and time again, it does not. we have the incoming president who's, you know, by and large, a failed businessman. time and time again, the reason why the business community is always so eager when donald trump, you know, puts his thumb on the scale is because they end up benefiting. but we know that it's democrats who have to come in and rebuild the social safety net that republicans consistently defund whenever they are in power. so that goes from everything from housing to education to infrastructure to health care. we'll hear lots of this come up when so many of trump's nominees go before senate committee hearings to essentially make the claim that donald trump will be better for

the economy. but as we know, the last four years and every time republicans take charge, the working class and middle class in america loses out. >> hugo, i want to stay on this issue of the senate confirmation hearings. for me, it was frustrating. a lot of kabuki theater, a lot of gratuitous statements made. pete hegseth, for example, though driving me nuts with the jesus has saved me. not because, i mean, i'm a christian and i'm religious, but it's like it's an excuse for all the bad behavior. as long as i can say that. or you look at pam bondi, for example, saying the things that should be said as a prosecutor, but then always having that modifier to tack on saying, but you know, that's what the biden administration did. politicized prosecutions, etc. i mean, what's the purpose of these senate confirmation hearings? like? it just seems to be a waste of time. >> now, i think the general consensus on the hill is that this has been a waste of time, at least for democrats. right? i do them. well, you know, it's part of the senate's traditional process. but i think as it currently stands, there is a general understanding from all

people involved, whether it's the trump transition team or republicans or democrats, that generally speaking, unless there is an egregious candidate, maybe someone like matt gaetz, who comes with a lot of baggage. >> but those people you already know, i got to stop you. >> pete hegseth baggage. pam bondi baggage. tulsi gabbard, we're going to see baggage. they all have massive baggage. putting aside the lack of competency for the jobs, they all come in with a lot of personal baggage. >> that's fair enough. and i think the point is, everyone is generally agreed that these senate confirmation hearings are not about exposing a viewpoint or an agenda. that is disqualifying, frankly, because democrats are going to try and point out what they think are the deficiencies and republicans are going to in this instance, you know, give them a whatever they want to hear. and i think the trouble with the way the hearings have gone is with someone like pam bondi, for instance, who's going to be leading the justice department, which is going to be such an important department in this incoming administration. she, as you say, said things that she

needed to say to get through. it was like, you've already got the votes, you've already got the republican votes. that's all you need. >> don't make waves. like this was what her transition team was telling her, you know? >> so just go out and be as vague as possible and say that, yeah, president biden won the election. >> don't say anything more. >> and i think this is kind of part of the problem that we have now. yeah. >> christina, i want to ask you about that, because we've also been burned as americans. when we saw, for example, the supreme court justices going through their hearings making promises about honoring precedent. and then we see what happens when dobbs ends up on their doorstep. what is your take on whether or not this whole gratuitous event that happens, called senate confirmation hearings should continue? >> yeah. well, i mean, katie, in the past, senate confirmation hearings did serve a real purpose for americans to hear ideas and be challenged, you know, and sort of see people on the hot seat about potential scenarios after, let's just say, brett kavanaugh, for example, where he essentially lied and said, you know, he would he

wouldn't touch roe v wade. and then we obviously see, you know, different rollbacks in a myriad of cases. now, these senate confirmation hearings in 2025 are honestly a way for republican senators to verbally and visually pledge their loyalty to donald trump. 2.0 you know, obviously, elon musk has made it very clear that he will primary any republican that goes against the agenda. and so, sadly, this has turned into a farce for many americans who don't believe that, you know, the republican confirmation hearings mean anything, because obviously, once these people are confirmed, they can and do anything that they please. and we know that it will be at the whims of not just donald trump, but the billionaires that he keeps ingratiating himself towards more and more each day. and so, sadly, the confirmation hearings the democrats are trying. i know molly jong-fast has an article out today that i can't wait to read, essentially, about democrats needing to change their strategy because past practices we have seen over

and over again just don't work with this particular incoming president, hugo. >> i actually will disagree with christina. i love her, but i will disagree. i don't think it's trump ingratiating himself to the billionaires. it's the billionaires ingratiating themselves to trump. it's a pay to play role that's been created. we talk about the oligarchy, some people very fairly on social media saying we're not going to become an american oligarchy. we're already there. wake up people. we're already there. i look at the dignitaries, quote unquote, and the people that are sitting on the dais are going to get these invites in the rotunda. and like i said, it's a pay to play environment. so what can we expect? i know you're super dialed in into the trump team. what can we expect in the second trump administration, especially when it comes vis a vis the fact that you can just buy your way into a position of influence, or to put your finger on the scale when it comes to trump. >> well, let me let me take that in two parts. first, i want to talk about the tech bros and the billionaires who are going to be, for instance, at the inauguration, because i think

that's it's really instructive of, i think, how things are going to play out, you know, the people who are going to be inside the rotunda on monday because it's now all been moved indoors, are going to be the biggest donors. right? no surprise. maybe, but that is exactly where it's going to be. it's going to be the elon musks of the world. it's going to be the zuckerbergs of the world. there are donors who have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars who are going to be at the capital one arena, sitting in, in suites or in just standard chairs. and like, we're not talking about small contributions, like we're talking about people who have contribute up to $250,000. they're getting given their ticket, which would have given them access to the inaugural stand and to watch it, you know, pretty close. they're going to be watching it on a tv screen at the capital one arena, and that's the guidance going out to donors this weekend as of right now. so i think that actually shows you not only the fact that it's a pay to play, but it's also you have to pay to play at the biggest, highest levels unless you're contributing millions of dollars, it's kind of meaningless. these donations and actually a transition official told me this week, you know, if you're donating anything less than 250,000, not only is it not noticed, it's

probably not appreciated either. and i think that kind of sets the tone for the incoming administration. >> and i'm sorry for them. big fat tears for you. sorry you paid for this. didn't get your money's worth. are you ready? another four years of not getting your money's worth. christina greer. hugo lowell. always so good to see you guys. thank you for being here. and still to come, the criminal cases against convicted felon donald trump may have back burnered, but as i like to say, don't sleep on the civil cases. we're going to break down the fate of those cases coming up next. work, play, blink. >> relief. work. >> play. blink. relief. >> play. blink. relief. >> the only narrator: at this very moment, children at st. jude are fighting to survive. with a gift right now, you can join the battle to save lives. katy: without st. jude, i don't know where we would be. can we see snuggles? they have given children with cancer, like my winston, a chance.

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>> well, convicted felon donald trump's federal criminal cases have gone the way of history for now. he does still have several civil cases pending. there's the still unpaid up on appeal new york ag civil fraud judgment, which has now swelled to over half $1 billion, and jean carroll's two major civil verdicts totaling over $85 million, which trump also continues to fight in appeals court. and on top of that, at least eight civil suits from law enforcement officers, congressional democrats and the estate of a capitol officer who died, all relating to the january 6th insurrection. those don't even include the litigation that trump himself has brought against 60 minutes and others. trump may be returning to the oval office, but his legal battles, they're not going anywhere. joining me now is mary mccord, former acting ag for national security at the department of justice and visiting professor at georgetown

law. mary, it's good to see you. thanks for joining us. i really wanted to talk today as we're on the eve of trump's second term about these civil cases, because a lot of people say, oh, civil, not so exciting, as sexy as a criminal case, but these are the ones that have staying power, because the supreme court has said that a sitting president has to participate in a civil litigation process. your thoughts about the myriad cases that donald trump has in the civil world? >> i mean, when you really think about it, it's remarkable. >> no president, certainly in my lifetime, and i don't think in history has ever been involved in so much litigation during a presidency. >> and it's going to be during a presidency. while it's true that the four criminal cases, two have been completely dismissed, one is basically finished. what's the only thing left? and that's, of course, the manhattan case is his appeal, donald trump's appeal of that. and one is stalled. that's the georgia case. but the civil litigation, both cases against him and cases

that he has brought or indicated he might brought bring, including against his own department of justice, what will be his own department of justice? it's pretty it's pretty shocking. >> and, you know, i think some of these are very significant cases. >> i mean, certainly the e jean carroll case involved actually sexual assault and defamation about that sexual assault. >> and yet nevertheless, those verdicts were here well before the election. >> and so i think sometimes when you do, you know, here people think, oh, you know, who cares about these civil cases? >> you know, i think they're significant. >> the letitia james civil fraud case resulting in the in the award, as you just indicated, of started at 350 million. >> and it keeps going up because of interest. those are things that the american people were aware of when they went to the polls. >> and so, you know, i do think they're significant. >> and it's going to be significant that he is going to be defending these cases during his presidency. but they do seem

to have sort of escaped the real notice and concern of the american people. and also, katie, i think just as significant are the cases that he has brought, particularly his targeting the media, which makes me extremely concerned. abc, cbs, cnn, abc settled a case that i think many of us thought was defensible. i'm reading cbs is considering settling a case that i think we thought was defensible. >> and donald trump has indicated there's potentially more of that to come. >> so, mary, i'm glad you brought that up because that was going to be my follow up question. there are lawsuits within which donald trump is the plaintiff right now. it's not just the ones where he's defending. those are the ones you're talking about, the ones against the media and others. if those cases continue. and the reason why i say if is he can elect as the plaintiff to dismiss them voluntarily, he can say, i don't want to pursue this while i'm back in the oval office. but assuming arguendo those do proceed, donald trump does subject himself to depositions. for example,

interrogatories that have to be answered under oath and in writing and other discovery vehicles within which donald trump has to commit himself to answers. but we've seen what happens when trump testifies. we saw what happened in that e jean carroll civil suit brought by robert kaplan as her lawyer, where he made all of those incredibly gross and egregious admissions on a videotape depo. so, mary, do you think, though this is still going to resonate in any way with the american public, or do you think they're a little bit kind of disillusioned with how the judicial system has played out for them? >> i mean, i think there's a disillusionment, at least among a portion of the of the population who has bought into the rhetoric about the criminal cases being a form of weaponization or political misuse of the department of justice. >> i think that's wrong. >> i think, you know, these are things we've discussed many times. and i will note that civil case that you mentioned, that i didn't talk about the eight civil cases of police officers from january 6th and members of congress that will also, as that proceeds, be a be

a situation where more and more information about january 6th will will still come out, so long as that moves forward. and that is right now in in litigation about whether anything that he's being sued for. there was an official act for which he can't be held civilly liable, and that decision should come out this summer. >> but to your point to the cases he's brought, yes. >> if he maintains them, he will subject himself to the ordinary discovery processes. and we've seen what happens when he does a deposition, and it oftentimes doesn't reflect very well on him. >> but that assumes the cases go forward. >> as i indicated, abc settled theirs. i've read i don't know if this is true, that that cbs is considering settling. and so the question is, will some of these media companies, will they settle and, you know, forego that opportunity to depose donald trump and get discovery? >> or will they continue, you know, to say, hey, we're going to defend ourselves. >> and that, you know, i think

it's troublesome to me, as you know, believe it or not, i had a journalism degree before i became a lawyer. >> and, and i feel very strongly about journalism in america, and i am very worried about its future with some of the pressure that he is putting on media companies and also press, you know, media companies like the washington post owned by jeff bezos, who, it seems by all accounts, is really trying to curry favor with the president, the incoming president, at least with respect to the editorial side of that paper, the straight up news reporting side, i think has been immune from that so far. but it's worrisome to me what we're seeing in terms of this relationship between media companies and the incoming president. >> mary, somebody who doesn't bend the knee. i think jeff bezos has done so. somebody who doesn't is you. i want to thank you for always being a patriot. your service, not only for our federal government, but you also

continue to serve by testifying during the senate confirmation hearings dealing with pam bondi. you talked about you testified about the importance of the non weaponization of the doj. it didn't happen in the biden administration. it was not going to happen in a kamala harris administration. but we know that it's going to happen in a donald trump administration. your thoughts about pam bondi as the attorney general? >> so it was an interesting day for me because i was there with other witnesses, three witnesses who had worked with her for decades in florida when she was the district attorney and the state attorney general, and they worked on her or worked with her on, you know, criminal investigations and law enforcement. >> one sheriff, two prosecutors. and they really talked about how successful they were in working with her in doing things like shutting down the pill mills. that was, you know, the opioid epidemic, so many pills being illegally prescribed in florida.

and so i, i will give her credit as a prosecutor for doing that, but that doesn't answer the questions that she herself was not able to answer the previous day about what will she do when donald trump comes to her and really asks her to do something that questions her loyalty? will she choose, you know, loyalty, or will she choose the rule of law? and i don't know, pam bondi and i want to take her at her word when she swears an oath to tell the truth and says she believes in independence and not the weaponization of the department of justice. but some of the answers, i think, left that open. and so the points i was trying to make were not really personal as to her, because i don't know her. but things that are so important to the credibility of the department of justice include include things like recognizing as the attorney general that your oath is to the constitution, not a person, not the president. and when the choice is between what the president wants you to do and the constitutional restrictions,

you have to choose the constitution. you need to recuse when you're impartiality could be reasonably questioned, and you need to maintain that white house no contact policy that says the white that the white house will the department of justice will not communicate to the white house about pending or contemplated law enforcement investigations. those are critical to that independence of the department of justice. that is not constitutionally required, but it is a norm that has been upheld under republican and democratic administrations ever since watergate, until before the first term and until now. >> mary, i appreciate you taking the time to be here. mary mccord, thank you so much. >> it's my pleasure. >> coming up next, deportation. deja vu. trump's threats to forcibly remove millions of residents starting on day one would not be the first time the united states has tried deporting immigrants in mosques. plus, what we should learn from the failures of history. with

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concentrated cleaning ingredients to fight tough stains. for a powerful clean with less chemical residue. try earth breeze, available at walmart. >> brand power helping you buy better. >> on my first day back in the oval office, i will sign a historic slate of executive orders to close our border to illegal aliens and stop the invasion of our country. and on that same day, we will begin the largest deportation operation in american history, larger even than that of president dwight d eisenhower. >> when the united states entered world war two. president franklin d roosevelt worked with mexico to create the bracero program, providing legal, short term mexican labor to american employers like farms and railroad companies. but by the early 50s, american soldiers returning from war were looking

for work, and those mexican workers were vilified for stealing so-called american jobs. in response, president dwight d eisenhower launched america's largest mass deportation in 1954, naming it a racist slur. operation. the operation was led by border patrol head harlan b carter, who as a teenager was found guilty of murdering a 15 year old hispanic boy in 1931. although the conviction was later thrown out on a technicality, carter used military style tactics to round up mexicans without any due process, giving them no chance to notify their families. some were shoved into trucks dumped in unfamiliar towns across the border. in one instance, 88 deportees died after being left in the desert. in 112 degree heat. in texas, a

quarter of those deported were crammed onto boats. a congressional investigation later described one such boat as a, quote, penal hell ship and compared it to a slave ship. seeing the mass deportations, american farmers still in need of a cheap workforce utilized the bracero program to actually expand legal immigration for these migrant workers. this ultimately led to a decrease in illegal immigration. nonetheless, the government claimed that over 1.3 million people were deported, and the months long operation was a, quote, success, saying the so-called problem no longer exists and that the border has been secured. but historians say that the number of people who were actually deported was more like 300,000, a fraction of the 1.3 million that the government claimed, which also included an unknown number of american citizens. this this is what

donald trump is reportedly using as a model for his mass deportation plan. joining me now is robert mcwhorter, criminal and civil rights lawyer and constitutional law expert. robert, an important conversation for us to have, especially today. there's new reporting coming out. trump administration 2.0 preparing the first move of his promised mass deportation campaign with a large scale immigration raid in chicago next week, tuesday. there are currently about 11 million undocumented immigrants in america today. trump promising to deport between 2 to 3 million of them in the past, claiming that immigrants were, quote, poisoning the blood of our country. robert, what should immigrants be doing in cities like chicago to prepare for these mass deportation raids? >> well, i think they should be getting a lawyer. i mean, really, this is getting to be really frightening, absurd, and frankly, the scale of this will far exceed what happened under the eisenhower administration.

>> most of us. >> look, it's a historical term. >> what operation? of course it is a slur. so i kind of a little bit, you know, problematic to continue to use that phrase, but this on scale looks like it will be far worse. and frankly, unlike in the 1950s, this has the potential to be a huge expense to the american taxpayer, not only in the cost of doing this, but in the amount of civil damages that are going to occur. >> i mean, to give you one example, you start deporting american citizens or separating them from their children. that is a multi-million dollar civil rights lawsuit that the american taxpayers will now have to pay. >> robert, let's and that may get there, god willing, people being able to find the lawyers who will take on these cases and to battle this in court. but let's start from the ground zero of it. what are the rights for some of these immigrants when they're just stopped by ice? and when these raids are happening? >> well, they do have to respond

to ice questions about their immigration status, but they do have a right to a deportation hearing. they have a right to assert any claims to defenses from deportation. >> and, of course, that would include the right, for instance, to assert that they may be a united states citizen, even if they're not a citizen. they may have a right to things like cancellation of removal. technically, the term is removal, not deportation. now, in most contexts, or they may have a right to a waiver or political asylum or any number of other rights that they can assert that they have. >> now, this also underscores the very problem. there are not enough immigration judges right now to handle the number of cases going through. if you exponentially increase that, there is no procedural way for that to happen other than drastically increase the size of government. and another part of the trump administration is the promise to cut the size of government. the fact remains that the somewhat, let's say, about 5000 immigration agents

and border patrol officers simply physically cannot process 11 to 13 million people in this country. >> it is absolutely impossible. >> nor do you have the infrastructure for those deportation hearings to occur. and what you're going to have happen is what happened in operation, where you have the potential to have a even much greater human humanitarian violation of what's going on this time around. >> robert, white americans uninterested in the low paying jobs that would be vacated by these workers, construction workers, hospitality and farm workers. they're doing backbreaking work for low wages and no benefits. my home state of florida is actually a perfect case study for this. a new law targeting undocumented immigrants went into. excuse me, migrants went into effect in 2023, leading to an actual mass evacuation of those that were affected. the florida policy institute estimates this could cost the state $12.6 billion in

just one year, and that doesn't count the loss of tax revenue. you know, robert, i find it hard to believe that business owners are supporting trump's policies if they're resulting in such profound economic loss. >> well, it's absolutely absurd. >> and in fact, add to that number, it's estimated that it would cost $69 billion just to try to implement what the trump administration is claiming to do. look, i'm going to give you a kind of an interesting little fact. when a when an undocumented person works, they usually get a fake work authorization. it probably cost 150 bucks at your local swap meet to get one of those. that allows the employer to hire them. the employer takes out all payroll taxes. that includes social security taxes, medicare taxes, to which the worker receives absolutely no benefit. right now we're talking 68 to, let's say, $120 billion in unclaimed remittances in the social security trust fund. really, if you want to solve the problem of social security

solvency and medicare solvency, more illegal immigration and work will actually solve that problem because they put into the system and get nothing out of it. and that's generally what happens with the economic relationships and what's going to happen when donald trump affects any part of this is just going to be exacerbation of that reality. >> so what we say in common parlance, robert, is going to be to find out part. robert mcwhorter, thank you for your advocacy and i appreciate you being here today. thanks. and next on the katie phang show, the latest on the wildfires out of southern california. and new details about what might be responsible for setting them responsible for setting them off. keep it right here. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement.

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kreutz has more. >> the search and rescue crews continue the grim and painstaking process of looking for human remains. officials overnight releasing some of the names and photos of the more than 30 people still missing men and women ranging in age from 49 to 93. >> devastation that we're seeing with completely incinerated homes is tremendous. >> this the staging area for the cadaver dogs that go home by home in the burn zones. the death toll from the palisades and eaton fires, now 27, but expected to rise. >> the fire was so random, the ceo of edison international, pedro pizarro, speaking out to nbc news amid lawsuits alleging socal edison's utility equipment sparked the eaton fire. >> at this point, can you say with 100% certainty that your equipment did not play any role in this fire? >> well, i can tell you. >> is that for sure? >> we did not see any sort of electric signature. that would be typical when you have a spark like that. >> but of course we want to learn more. we'll investigate

more. >> so it's possible. >> it's always a possibility there's something out of the ordinary, something very atypical here. >> videos and photos from altadena residents show flames at the base of the transmission equipment minutes after the fire began, as winds gusted nearly 60mph in the area. >> we don't want to just arbitrarily turn off power, and right now we're hearing from customers. we're hearing questions like yours about, well, should you have turned off the transmission lines? and the answer is no, based on what we knew at the time. >> ten days after the fire started, roughly 80,000 remain evacuated. so many are struggling with what to do and where to go next. amid a housing crisis throughout l.a. county. >> we work so hard to get here and now to see it this way. >> some evacuation orders have lifted in areas surrounding the fire zone. >> we're very thankful our house is standing, and our thought of all the families who would not be able to do that. i started to cry. >> and as families prepare to return home, new warnings about

the widespread health hazards for homes still standing but covered in toxic ash. >> when these fires burn, they're burning everything. >> paint. >> electronics, batteries. the main things we're concerned about are heavy metals, toxins and asbestos. >> another layer of anxiety as the fallout from this disaster grows. >> our thanks to liz creutz for that report. and now to some breaking news from president elect trump. nbc news exclusively reporting that he will, quote, most likely give tiktok a 90 day extension. the app is supposed to go dark tomorrow, after the supreme court upheld the law that the chinese parent company bytedance must divest itself of the app in america. coming up next, a call for action, an inside look at how civil rights leaders are mobilizing ahead of monday's inauguration. and martin luther king jr. day as the two events overlap for just the third time in history, martin luther king the third joins me next on what

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day became a federal holiday. the last being president obama's second inauguration, and he took the oath of office using a bible that belonged to king. and as trump returns to power with a message that divides, it's important that we remember the legacy of doctor king, who championed for civil rights and equality. joining me now is martin luther king the third, the eldest son of the civil rights leader, doctor martin luther king jr. it is an honor to have you join us, especially today. martin, what are your thoughts as donald trump's inauguration falls on the day that is used to also remember the legacy of your father? >> well, i think first of all, my father and my mother, after working with a number of people coalition to establish the holiday, wanted it to always be a day on a holiday usually means something where we relax and just rest. >> but this is really about continuing the work that my dad and mom started to finish and

create the beloved community so that freedom, justice and equality becomes real for all humankind. >> you've said that you became familiar with a quote by horace mann, and the quote is, be ashamed to die until you have won a victory for humanity. you've also said it doesn't have to be a monumental legacy. hopefully what you're doing is a little something to make the world better. why is it so important in this moment to think about, even if it's something small, that you're doing something to make the world better? >> largely because the human spirit wants to do that which is good and just and right. and today we are more divided than we've ever been. civility has to be brought back to the political landscape. we just released a book called what is my legacy? and it's about how we need to become more connected in our society. we're disconnected at

from our children to our families. we need more connection. and ultimately the goal is fulfillment. you can be happy by getting a new car, but that's not permanent. permanently. we want to be fulfilled and we must help create that climate, no matter who is the commander in chief. but at this time, i think that it would be wonderful if we were engaged in service. so for 2029, we're waging a campaign called realize the dream to have 100,000,000 hours of service done by dad's hundredth birthday, which is 2029. >> coretta scott king, we know well, right? said the following. the greatest birthday gift my husband could receive is if people of all racial and ethnic backgrounds celebrated the holiday by performing individual acts of kindness through service to others. you've also said that mlk day is a reminder to move from reflection to action. in what ways can people take

action? >> so action can be really what i hope is people will define and identify what speaks to your heart, whether it's addressing issues around environment, whether it's just cleaning up the community, whether it's mentoring children, whether it's working with seniors, what speaks to your heart to make the world better? and again, that's why you know it. any little step make can make a dramatic difference in our nation, and particularly if it comes in hours of service. that's why our goal is 100 for 100 100,000,000 hours. with the 100th birthday in 2029, bernice has said that this is not the time for ignorance. >> how important is it as well then, martin, for us to not only honor the legacy of your father, but to still remain prepared and aware of what may be facing so many of us after monday? >> well, it's critically important as a society in general, that we are informed or

conscious. it's creating a consciousness, a consciousness, again, we hope to do good and just that's not going to happen on its own. we have to work to create that climate. my dad throughout his life, my mom throughout her life, that's what they did. and now my wife, my daughter and i are also doing that with the launching of realize the dream. >> i want to say to you, martin luther king the third, that not only is an honor to have you here, but i wanted to have you here to speak today because i want the focus to be on the legacy of your father, especially as we go into monday. monday is mlk day. and as you said, it's not going to be a day off. it's a day on. thank you so much for joining me today. >> thank you for the opportunity and my thanks to the rest of you for joining us today. >> you can catch me back here next saturday at noon eastern. remember, you can follow us on social media, including blue sky at the handle at katie phang at the handle at katie phang show, msnbc reports with al

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