likely discuss today when he visits the famed museum. >> it's the biggest cultural prize ever. >> the mona lisa was painted by da vinci, the famed italian renaissance artist, in the early 1500s. she is hung on the walls of french royalty. napoleon and the louvre. except in 1911, when she was stolen by an italian employee who wanted to bring her back to italy. so how would she feel about returning today? well, as always, what she's thinking is almost impossible to read. >> the louvre is not commenting right now on these reports of poor conditions, or whether that is linked to the president's visit today. also, no comment on italy's offer to borrow the mona lisa for a short period of time. >> back to you. >> and an update just in literally the french president macron just announced that mona lisa is going to get her own dedicated space. so we'll keep you posted. and that does it for us today. jose diaz-balart picks up our coverage right now.

>> good morning. 11 a.m. eastern, 8 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin with. >> breaking news. >> about president. >> trump sweeping. >> changes to the. >> federal government. over the course of just 24 hours, the president mandated. >> a massive. >> freeze of all federal aid. beginning today at 5 p.m. he also issued a series of executive orders and proclamations that could reshape the u.s. military, including moving to ban transgender people from serving in the military. and the trump administration also ordered the cdc to immediately stop working with the world health organization. all this as house republicans meet for day two of their annual retreat this year at president trump's golf club in south florida. joining us now, nbc's vaughn hillyard in miami, nbc's courtney kube at the department of defense. also with us, former republican congressman charlie dent of pennsylvania. and valencia johnson, former senior

adviser to the biden campaign. she's the author of the upcoming book flip the tables the everyday disruptors guide to finding courage and making change, which comes out in march. vaughn president trump's strategy was literally to just flood the zone with a series of executive actions. but what's behind this move? to pause trillions of dollars worth of federal loans and grants? >> jose. frankly, we don't know the answer to that question, other than the commitment that president trump made and allies of his within this administration to go wade through expenditures of the federal government and effectively make sure that there was not bloat and inefficiencies. yet the expansiveness of this order coming from the office of budget management is so expansive and quite remarkable that it calls for a pause in federal disbursement of aid in loans to numerous programs that, frankly,

we are here in doral at his trump property, where house gop members are about to convene. and we are going to ask them, because this is going to have repercussions across the country for a variety of programs. when you look at some of those impacted, you're looking at federal pell grant programs, school meals for low income students, the nutrition program for pregnant women and infants. you're looking at usaid, foreign assistance, mine inspections, reintegration program for homeless veterans. there's also a question of whether this will potentially impact medicaid. now, this two page vague memo from omb, does it explicitly states that it is not impact aid that goes directly to individuals. but when you take into account medicaid, for instance, medicaid funding from the federal government goes through the states, and the states then disperse the funding. that is where there's a lot of legal questions outstanding, not just about the entirety of this memo and this order to pause already

congressionally appropriated funds. but it also calls into question, of course, the real human impact that this will have in the immediate days and weeks ahead. undoubtedly, these are serious questions for the trump administration that we anticipate having the opportunity to ask the press secretary this afternoon about, but also house republican members whose own constituents will undoubtedly be at the heart of this impact. jose. >> yeah. >> charlie, turning to vaughan's reporting, does the executive does the president have the authority to freeze federal money already allocated by congress? >> well. >> this funding has been authorized. >> and appropriated by the congress. it's the law. now, i. >> do believe. >> that the president has some. authorities to pause funding. >> for cause. >> if there might be some issues, they could do that. but this is an across the board. it's almost like i don't know if this is it's not an impoundment, but it just strikes me that the president is in serious. legal peril over this one, as vaughn

just pointed out. i mean. pell grants transfer, you know, grants to states for transportation projects or hospitals going to receive their medicaid funding. i don't know the answers to these questions. this is overly broad. i suspect the president is way out over his skis and is in is going to be sued over this one for sure. but if i'm a republican appropriator and i was, as was your brother, as. >> your brother, i mean, i would. >> be incensed that. >> monies that have been. >> appropriated by the us congress are not going to be spent on the programs for which they have been intended. by executive fiat. i mean, this is i think this is really out of bounds. and people are going to they're going to be real consequences to people across the country and the world, for that matter. >> yeah. >> i mean, alonzo, just in the last couple of minutes, the top democrat in the senate, chuck schumer, weighed in on trump's move to freeze all this money. let's listen to this. >> this is a dagger at the heart of the average american family.

in red states and blue states and cities, in suburbs, in rural areas. it is just outrageous. >> is there anything democrats can do about this? >> listen, i. hope that democrats, after election day, when trump. won that, they looked at. project 2025 and. >> said, what. are we going to do. >> to respond to this? because all that we are talking. about that. >> happened in the last 24. >> hours or the. >> last week is literally in that playbook. and the people that wrote. >> that said. >> they want to inflict. harm and trauma. on folks, and we are. >> experiencing that. >> and so democrats have to. >> be. very clear. >> with the american people. >> not just people who. >> vote democratic, but the people who are going to be hurt by this, who may have voted for donald trump. >> or stayed home. >> all people that. >> not only. >> are these the problems, these are the solutions, and these are the people that we should trust in the next two years to fix them. i also think we need to be

seeing some democratic governors and state legislators and attorneys generals out here as well, talking about what they are going to do to protect the people in their states. this is an opportunity for democrats to get on the offense, because the republicans have shown us clearly that they're all going to ride with donald trump with this egregious plan to just really gut the foundations of our country and have low income people and people of all backgrounds face the brunt of that. and so democrats have an opportunity here, but we don't have that much time to communicate that, and hopefully that they're planning for that very soon. >> and so speaking of time back to you, charlie, on, you know, your comments that this proposal or this freeze is in serious legal peril. what does that peril possibly look like? and then to valencia's point that a lot of this has to do with time. what does serious legal peril mean, and how long would that be before it takes effect? >> well.

>> just just. >> like with the with the orders on immigration, i suspect state attorneys general are going to begin filing lawsuits to try to. >> recover money. >> that is owed to their states and local government entities. that's probably a place to start. and i don't know if this if this order extends to, say, contractors, you know, are we going to pay military contractors? he's pausing. >> federal funding. >> i'm not sure what this means. and i don't think anybody knows until people start getting denied payments for critical services, students, you know, have to process their student loan applications and they have to have pell grants. i mean, what does this mean? i suspect, you know, they're going to be all sorts of people who are impacted, who are going to be seeking legal representation to collect the monies that have been enacted into law that they are, that they are owed. >> courtney, meanwhile, the president also signed four executive orders to address what

he called military readiness. what are some of the changes in the orders? >> yeah. >> so a couple of these are not a huge surprise. >> they are ending. diversity programs. >> and initiatives. >> within the. department of defense. >> we were. >> expecting that. we don't exactly. >> know what that's going to. >> look like, but we do expect it to be pretty widespread. also, as you mentioned, ending service for transgender individuals. what's key. >> here, jose, is that also. >> includes stopping. medical treatment for dependents of service members across the board who need medical treatment for transgender care, transition care that will also have sweeping effects. in addition to that, there was one that was kind of surprising and may be a little confusing to some of our viewers. they. president trump signed an executive. order establishing an iron dome for america. now, that does not mean that there will be an iron dome like we see in israel protecting the skies over america. rather, that's sort of more of a concept, an idea that there would be this almost a force field over the united states protecting it. the difference is

the us needs protection from ballistic missiles. and this new advanced hypersonic capability that countries like china have already been testing. essentially, they have the ability to or they're trying to get to acquire the ability to put a missile up in space. it can circle around the space over. >> and over. >> and over, and then just drop out of the air anywhere in the united states, frankly, anywhere in the world that they want. it's very difficult to defend against. and basically what this order is saying is the trump administration wants to accelerate efforts to build a space defense against that. critics have been concerned about the idea of building something that, for all intents and purposes, is a weapon in space, because it could lead to an arms race that could threaten u.s. civilian and military assets, like satellites that are that are already up in space. now, there's a period here where the us has to come back and say, this is how we would establish this space based defense architecture, what it would look

like, but essentially what real realistically, what this will could mean is the us would have space based weapons that would be able to take out missiles while they're in the space phase of their the arc before they're able even to break back through the atmosphere and threaten the united states back on the ground. so it's called an iron dome for america, but it's jose, i got to tell you, it's really so much more. it's very different than the iron dome. the last, the fourth and final. also not a surprise executive order because president trump announced it at the inauguration. that is allowing service members who were separated from the military for refusing the covid vaccine. they can now come back. that's already been in place since 2023. the difference here, jose, they will now be eligible for years of back pay and be reinstated at the rank they were separated at. so again, not hugely surprising executive orders. but as you mentioned, widespread widespread impact across the us military. >> jose courtney, that that whole concept of the iron dome and the creation of it or the

start of the process for an iron dome as an executive order, kind of reminds me a little bit of what reagan did with sdi, which was really an invention at the time. he didn't have the wherewithal to be able to produce that at the time, but it was used strategically at the reykjavik meeting, the first reykjavik meeting between reagan and gorbachev. but it that also kind of came about as an executive order. >> yeah, exactly. and the big difference here, i think that they calling it iron dome for america is almost making it more accessible for everyone to understand that you can you can physically you can think of an iron dome. what that would mean for defending the united states skies. right. but it's really so much more than that. this is already something, by the way, that's been in development and under research for years. frankly, the idea of how the us can defend against these very advanced hypersonic threats. but

this seems to be a direct order from the president of the united states to accelerate those efforts. so we'll see exactly how fast they can go and whether, in fact, they can field the space based based defense. >> courtney, kiwi, it's always great seeing you. i thank you very much, charlie, before i let you go later this week, tulsi gabbard is going to be holding her confirmation hearings. you served in congress at the same time as tulsi gabbard did, who president trump nominated as director of national intelligence. when you were the chair of the ethics committee, you had a conversation or a series of conversations right with her about that trip that she was planning to take to syria in 2017? >> yeah. in january 2017, just after president trump was elected, she had called me about asking for my approval for her to go to syria. as fate would have it, i was on the ethics committee for eight years and my chairmanship had just ended within hours. actually, it was

just before the new congress was to be sworn in. and so i was not in a position to approve or disapprove her travel to syria because it was privately funded. it would need the permission of the ethics committee. and i just said to her, as your friend tulsi, because i know tulsi, we're friends. i always like to. i enjoyed serving with her. and i said, hey, tulsi, you know, i'm not so sure this is a great idea given the security considerations with, you know, isis being on the march al-nusra front and also, of course, their political and potentially propaganda issues with regard to the regime of the assad regime. so that's how the conversation more or less ended. she obviously went. so she must have gotten approval somehow. but i was no longer chair. but i remember that conversation very vividly. >> yeah. and. >> you know, it was going to be a privately funded trip. i guess that's not unusual either. right. and there have been members of congress that have gone to all kinds of places, you know, dictatorships and countries that exploit and destroy their own people. but i'm just wondering, do you think that in and of itself should disqualify her?

>> well, look, people are going to people are going to challenge her credentials because of her, her statements about russia at some time seemed to parrot russian talking points. she was obviously too close to assad for comfort. for many, she has had all sorts of problems with various authorities, for the intelligence agencies, and she has recently reversed herself on some of those authorities. so for all of these reasons, i think that she may have some real problems getting confirmed. she doesn't have a natural republican constituency in the united states senate. >> ron johnson and charlie dent, thank you all so very much. appreciate it. stay with us. as our reporters fanned out across the country monitoring immigration crackdowns in more than a dozen cities. plus ice raids now allowed in places of worship. we'll ask a pastor here in florida what his congregants, some of whom may be undocumented, are saying. plus,

the d.o.j. fires several career lawyers. what they had in common. we're back in 90s. common. we're back in 90s. you're watching jose d when you host, your bathroom can feel like a revolving door... keep things fresh with febreze small spaces. it's an outlet-free air freshener that fights odors for 45 days. so even after every flush... you know your bathroom smells amazing. ♪ lalalalala ♪ ever feel like a spectator in your own life with chronic migraine? 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting 4 hours or more. botox® prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. in a survey, 91% of users wish they'd started sooner. so why wait? talk to your doctor. botox® effects may spread hours to weeks after injection, causing serious symptoms. alert your doctor right away as trouble swallowing, speaking, breathing, eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life-threatening condition. those with these conditions before injection are at highest risk. side effects may include allergic reactions like rash, breathing problems, dizziness, neck and injection site pain, and headache.

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cities per week, according to three sources familiar with the planning. this week, it's chicago, new york and aurora, colorado. homeland security secretary kristi noem was on hand to view operations in new york city this morning. with us now nbc's gabe gutierrez in new york city, nbc's priscilla thompson in el paso, texas, and nbc's david noriega in aurora, colorado. so, gabe, you're in new york. you were just in chicago where you did a ride along with ice. what were you seeing? what did you find? and who are the people that ice is arresting? >> hi there jose. good morning. well, according to the administration, they're going after the worst of the worst. essentially undocumented immigrants with lengthy criminal records. and we did see them. ice agents arrest one undocumented immigrant over the several hours we were with them. and we saw him booked and processed. this is something that the trump administration has said. however, according to

a senior administration official, you know, on sunday there were 1200 arrests or so around the country. however, roughly half of them were undocumented immigrants without prior criminal records. besides being in the country illegally, which is a civil is a civil offense. so that is significant, jose, because we keep hearing that the priority is national security. threats are people with criminal histories, but we now see the potential for so-called collateral arrests. and when we spoke with ice agents yesterday, they did tell us to expect that essentially collateral arrests being people that are found nearby, one of their targets, who also happened to be undocumented and are also arrested as well. now, with the immigrant who we saw arrested, he said that he had a five year old daughter. he denied the charges against him, even though ice confirmed his criminal history. but he said he had a five year old daughter. he had lived here most of his life. and

i asked one of the ice agents about that. let's listen. >> well, he is here illegally, which is an offense as well, right? so there is that charge. and he does have. >> serious charges and convictions. so i understand. >> that he has a daughter and that's unfortunate. >> but we still have a job to do. >> and. >> we still have to follow the law. and that's what we're doing. >> and jose, as you mentioned, now we're hearing from three sources familiar with the planning that ice is planning three major operations each week. we saw one play out sunday in chicago and yesterday in chicago as well today in new york. and then thursday it will be aurora, colorado. and we're also hearing from those three officials that on a briefing over the weekend, senior ice leadership said that the goal was to have between 1200 and 1500 arrests nationwide per day. essentially a quote, i think that. >> so. >> gabe, let's explain, if you would. tom homan says over and

over again that the reason there are going to be more collateral arrests is because these detentions are occurring in sanctuary cities or sanctuary states where federal authorities do not get the cooperation from state and local authorities on people they have in the prisons. but in this specific case that you followed, these weren't people that were in jails. >> well, the arrest we saw yesterday, it was an undocumented immigrant who was actually at work. he had been they had been looking for him the previous day, could not find him at home. but then a surveillance team spent the morning and spotted him at work. and that's when ice agents went in. and that brings up a point, jose, is that this is very labor intensive for these ice agents to do this. and now it's not just ice. it's multiple federal agencies as well that are having to spend hours upon hours surveilling these targets. and

actually, you know, it takes yesterday we were with ice for five hours. they only arrested one person. so it is a painstaking work. the question will be, jose, once we get past this phase, will there be enough detention beds once these deportations ramp up? and is there enough funding here? a major question will be whether congress and that's what the administration wants to approve more funding for this. with ice already $230 million in the hole. >> jose david, meanwhile, you're in aurora, colorado, where there have been some arrests and more expected this week. what are you hearing from people there? >> yeah, jose. >> so there was. >> a pretty. >> large operation. >> here on sunday. >> that was. >> interestingly led. >> by the. >> dea, although. >> there. >> were officials from ice and other. >> federal agencies present, and they. >> said that. >> they were targeting. >> an invite only party thrown by. >> members of the. >> venezuelan tren. de aragua gang. that is what put aurora on the map here. >> last year, when there were claims. >> that aragua members had.

>> taken over apartment. >> complexes and the. >> trump administration, then the trump. >> campaign said that. >> they. >> had taken over the city. now. >> those claims of the aragua presence. >> in. >> aurora were. >> in many ways exaggerated. >> however. >> i've been. >> talking to a number of venezuelan migrants, recently. arrived venezuelan. >> migrants here in aurora who have told. >> me that the. >> problem of. >> the presence of criminal elements from venezuela here in the city is. >> real. >> and it is significant. >> and that. >> they themselves feel very victimized by these people. >> there are, you know, people who have been extorting them, threatening them, harassing them. and so when i ask these recently arrived venezuelan immigrants what they think about the trump administration. >> coming to aurora. arresting and. >> deporting venezuelan. >> nationals such. >> as themselves. the responses that i get. are surprisingly positive, jose. they say. >> yeah, there are people. >> here from our country. >> who are bad. >> people, and we would. >> be in favor of. >> the. >> trump. administration coming and arresting and deporting them. i asked a couple of these migrants just last night and this morning what they thought about this, this dea slash.

>> ice raid. >> at this aragua party in the denver area. they told me they were happy about it. they said that, you know, to quote one, they told me in spanish, there are no hard working people at parties like those now, these immigrants are, though, conscious of the fact that large scale raids might also, you know, catch people who do not have criminal records. and as gabe just pointed out, the raids in chicago are an indication of that. so they are also nervous, jose, but their opinions are a little bit more nuanced, maybe, than you would expect. jose. >> priscilla. meanwhile, you're at the el paso juarez area. what's the latest there? >> yeah, jose, what we're. seeing here is that as federal enforcement efforts are ramping up, so too are the local efforts happening here in texas already this morning, texas governor greg abbott announcing that he is deploying tactical strike teams to work alongside the department of homeland security and the trump administration efforts here in the state to continue these immigration enforcement efforts. and it

comes after yesterday, the governor deployed an additional 400 tactical texas national guard troops to the border, also to assist in those efforts. and also yesterday afternoon, we saw down in fronton, texas, there was an incident where customs and border patrol took fire from mexican cartel operatives. there were a number of agencies that responded there. no injuries reported, but a disturbing incident that we're seeing as there are more troops and more efforts, enforcement efforts taking place on the ground here. >> jose gabe gutierrez, priscilla thompson and david noriega, thank you all so very much. up next, arrests at churches. we'll ask one pastor in florida what he plan to do if government agents come to his church doors. and overseas, we'll take you to a village in the west bank that's 80% palestinian american, where they think an uptick in violence could be blamed partly on the new trump administration. you're new trump administration. you're watching jose di

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the country, immigrants are in fear, many hunkering down as the trump administration has made it easier for immigration agents to conduct arrests. the administration is allowing immigration and customs enforcement to conduct operations in sensitive locations, including schools, hospitals, playgrounds, daycare centers and places of worship.

with us now is pastor gabriel salguero. he is the lead pastor of the gathering place church. he is also president of the national latino evangelical coalition. pastor, it's great seeing you. i thank you for your time. tell us a little bit about what you do and who you serve. >> well. >> i am. >> the. >> pastor of the gathering place. >> it's an. evangelical assemblies. >> of god. >> church in. >> florida. >> and i'm. >> also the president. and founder of the. >> national latino evangelical coalition. >> it's a. >> coalition of about. 3000 hispanic evangelical. >> congregations across. >> the country. and as you know, jose, that. includes citizens. undocumented persons, families. and so there are about 9 million latino evangelicals living in the united states. and so it's an important community doing. >> a lot of great work. >> around this country. it certainly is. and, pastor, obviously, there's no church that asks its members for immigration status or for propellers to let them in or not. right. but what what are what are those that don't have

legal status telling you about how they are feeling right now? >> look, i think. >> there is a deep. >> sense of anxiety and fear. and as pastors. >> our. >> job is to. >> tell them. >> we're called not to fear. >> but to. >> be prepared. >> one of. >> the questions i. >> asked jose. >> and our. coalition is asking is if the. administration promised to go. >> after violent criminals who are. >> undocumented, why. >> remove the order. of sensitive. locations of. >> churches or hospitals. >> or schools. >> or playgrounds? >> i don't. >> know any. church that is intentionally. >> or. knowingly housing violent criminals. >> i think it's. >> an affront to our. >> ministry and to. >> our religious. liberty to even. >> insinuate that there are. >> violent criminals. being somehow. >> covered in the church. and so. >> we are looking. >> for a pastoral response. this for us is. >> not a partizan issue. >> this is for. >> us is a. moral pastoral issue. jesus taught us that i

was a stranger and you welcomed me, and we're trying to live up to that calling. >> you know, and that's a great point that you mentioned. i'm just wondering, is it a fact that because churches are places of and for god and the people of god, does that mean that criminals automatically will never go in there? >> no. the reality. >> is that. we are not. >> police officers. >> or ice agents. >> we don't ask people their status. we are not qualified. >> to do. background checks. >> on people. >> we vet people, obviously, who are working in our churches. >> but the truth. >> is that the church, this is an open place for worship. and so our response is. you want to. >> deport violent cri undocumented immigrants. >> we are all for that. it's in. >> the best interest of our communities. but when you do indiscriminate. raids that have

collateral arrests and detentions, mixed status families, what are we going to do with the children? are we going to put them. >> in foster care? >> what are. >> we going to do with the spouses? >> and so i think that what we have said as a coalition. is our pastoral duty is to respond in a way that. seeks the best interest of. >> our communities. >> while respecting the rule of law. i think we can do both. but this removal of sensitive locations, look, i'll say a lot, was said during the campaign about violent criminals. if that's the case, why did they try to repeal birthright citizenship? people are not even born. they're not violent criminals. and so what i hear is a kind of a double speak. you want you talk violent criminals and you pardon over a thousand people who were violent on january 6th. and so. >> for us. >> as latino evangelicals, what we're asking for is, yes, do your job. >> we respect. >> the job of isis, but at the same time respect the religious liberty of latino evangelical

congregations. >> pastor gabriel salguero, it is a pleasure to have you. i thank you very much for your time. >> thank you jose. >> up next, what's behind the justice department firing several career lawyers. plus some republican revolt. florida's gop led legislature just defied governor ron desantis. we'll tell you why. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports on msnbc. >> legal gamer. >> and, doug. >> you'll be back. emus can't help people customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual. you're just a flightless bird. no. >> he's a dreamer, frank. >> and doug. >> well. i'll be. that bird really did it. >> only pay for. >> what you need. >> liberty, liberty, liberty,

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>> 39 past the hour right now. multiple career justice department officials who were involved in investigating and prosecuting donald trump are out of a job after being fired by the acting attorney general. and now, five former justice department and fbi officials tell nbc news that the firings were designed to intimidate the justice department and fbi workforce, as well as to deter investigations of the trump administration in the future. joining us now from the department of justice is nbc's ken dilanian. also with us is dave aronberg, former state attorney for palm beach county, florida. ken, good morning. what exactly happened. >> to give the trump administration their due? >> what the acting attorney general, james. >> mchenry, said. >> in a letter. >> to these people is that because they prosecuted. >> president trump. >> and participated in. what he called the weaponization. >> of the justice department, they can no longer. >> be trusted to execute the. >> orders of. >> the executive branch. >> now. >> a. >> couple. of things need to be

said about this. >> one, most legal experts believe these firings are illegal. these people are civil. civil servants. you can't just fire them. >> you have to. >> demonstrate that they. >> were incompetent or. disobeyed orders. and so. >> they have legal recourse. at the end of the day. >> though, that probably isn't going to matter. >> the second. >> thing is. there is no evidence. >> that this investigation by jack smith was somehow tainted by bias or political influence. jack smith has denied that. >> and no evidence. >> has surfaced. the working theory of this by the people who say that seems to be they went after the guy that. >> i liked. >> and so therefore it. >> must. >> be political. >> but again, no evidence. >> and so what you have here is really something that's never happened. >> before in american history. >> career prosecutors. these are not political appointees. >> who have been. >> working at the justice department for many years, have years. >> of. >> experience, very complex cases, fired because people didn't like the case. they prosecuted. i've heard from both republicans and democrats. >> today who have worked in the justice department. >> who say this is very, very dangerous. jose. >> dave, i mean, is there precedent for this? has this ever happened before? i mean,

these people were essentially career prosecutors that were in the doj. what how do you see this? >> the right. >> wing likes. >> to accuse the doj of. >> being. >> weaponized under merrick. garland and joe biden. >> that was a farce. >> this is the weaponization. >> of. >> the department of justice. this is the firing. >> of career prosecutors who have protection under the law. >> because they didn't. >> like the case. >> they were prosecuting. this is. >> the doj lining. >> up to be. trump's own. >> defense firm. >> that's not what it's supposed to be. >> it's supposed to be loyal to the evidence. >> and the rule of law. >> not to one man. >> so this. >> is an abomination as far as i'm concerned. the trouble is, as. >> ken says, is what. >> are. >> these career. prosecutors going. >> to do about it? they can succeed in challenging their firing. they're protected under the law. but then the trump administration is just going to send them to the basement to write a paper for the next four years. so essentially, their career within this administration. >> is over. >> and so is this something that never happens before in different ways. and also the

does does the order that eileen cannon set about what exactly the legality of how jack smith was chosen, does that in any way give either side any different, you know, weapon? >> well, that was. >> on appeal. >> remember. >> aileen cannon's order. >> was unique. no other judge. >> had ruled. >> that the special counsel was unconstitutional. she did. it was being challenged on appeal. so that wasn't any final decision. but yeah, they're going to hold their hat on that to say, yeah, the whole appointment of jack smith was improper. so they're all improper. but these were career prosecutors. >> these were brought in from the outside. right. >> no, these were from within. >> the department of justice. >> and you asked if this is unprecedented. >> there's a. >> lot of precedent for the new administration to come in and put their own people in charge in political jobs, but these were not political appointees. >> these are. >> career prosecutors who have been there through different administrations. and now they're fired because they're not supposedly loyal to one man.

>> ken, meanwhile, the acting u.s. attorney in d.c. has launched a review over how the doj handled cases brought against the 1500 people charged in connection with the january 6th attack. what exactly are they going to look at? >> yeah. >> this is a remarkable. >> thing, jose. >> don't forget, this is the office that prosecutes crime in d.c. >> where there's not an insignificant amount of crime. >> and yet, what this. acting u.s. attorney has done. is he's ordered a massive review of all of the january 6th cases where this one statute of obstruction. of an official. proceeding was used. >> and where the supreme. >> court said it. >> didn't apply. >> in some cases, it. was over. it was. >> over interpreted essentially. >> and so he's suggesting. that essentially that that. >> was improper. >> that. >> these prosecutors. >> somehow behaved. wrongly and therefore need to be held accountable. >> that's going. >> to take a lot of resources. and he's asking the office now to examine all these cases. again, these are people that are supposed. >> to be prosecuting. >> crimes in d.c. so it's just. >> you. >> know, another example of this, it's really been a campaign of retribution. elections have consequences, but we've never. >> seen consequences.

>> like this. jose. >> dave. >> well, at least it's a good thing that there's obviously no violent crime left in washington, d.c, so that the prosecutors are focused entirely on this political mess. i'm being facetious, of course, but this is what happens when you appoint an acting u.s. attorney who is a political god. the former chair of the republican party in missouri, someone who is there at the capitol on on january 6th, someone who's offended these rioters. so this is a terrible situation where the rule of law is being undermined. and i think it's only going to get worse. >> ken delaney and dave aronberg, thank you both so very much. up next, new information about the negotiations for phase two of the ceasefire and hostage deal between israel and hamas. deal between israel and hamas. you're watching jose diaz-balart dexcom g7 sends your glucose numbers to your phone and watch, so you can always see where you're heading without fingersticks. dexcom g7 is the most accurate cgm, so you can manage your diabetes with confidence. ♪♪ right now across the u.s.,

people are trying to ban books from public schools and public libraries. yes, libraries. we all have a first amendment right to read and learn different viewpoints. that's why every book belongs on the shelf. yet book banning in the u.s. is worse than i've ever seen. it's people in power who want to control everything. well, i say no to censorship. and i say yes to freedom of speech and expression. if you do too, please join us in supporting the american civil liberties union today. for over 100 years, the aclu has fought for your rights and mine. including the right to read all manner of books. so please call or go online to myaclu.org. for just $19 a month, only $0.63 a day. you can become a guardian of liberty and help protect all the rights promised to us by the u.s. constitution.

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still to be worked out when it comes to phase two. we should see the full withdrawal of israeli forces. we should see the release of all living hostages, including the male captives, in exchange for some high profile palestinian prisoners. the great unknown here, jose, is the day after plan which needs the approval and the support of both hamas and israel. keep in mind that there is some loud voices within benjamin netanyahu's fragile coalition government. who wants the fighting to resume at the end of the first phase, even if it means sacrificing the lives of a few more hostages? >> and danielle, i know you traveled to the occupied west bank today after president trump removed sanctions on dozens of israeli groups and people who are accused of committing violence against palestinians there. what did you see? what did they tell you? >> well, we went to one specific village that was noticeably different for several reasons. one, it was a wealthy area, big

homes belonging to people with big salaries and people, majority of whom speak english. that's because 80% of the people in this neighborhood, in this village, turmus ayya in the west bank, are palestinian american. but that still doesn't protect them from the violence perpetrated by israeli settlers who live nearby, who constantly attack them, who try to burn down their buildings, their homes, and their olive trees. of course, so critical to their to their economy. but they tell us that they believe that the settlers feel now emboldened by the new trump administration. and of course, they've heard, just like palestinians in gaza have heard, donald trump's suggestion that they should be transferred to jordan and egypt. i spoke to the spokesperson for the village of turmus ayya, and this is what he had to say. >> we want to send a message out to president trump. we are

helpless as american citizens residing in palestine. we're asking for the. >> most basic. >> human right. which is enjoy our homes, enjoy our land in peace. that's it. we're not asking to liberate palestine. >> we're not. >> out here to do that. we're just asking to be left. >> alone. >> to live in peace. >> and they'll tell you what they also fear is that the israeli government, now, with the support of the new trump administration, is laying the groundwork for the annexation of the west bank. >> jose daniele hamamdjian, thank you. up next, how the power of an endorsement by donald trump is being put to the test today. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports on msnbc. >> yoo-hoo. >> you're making everything orange. >> we're showing we're consumer. >> cellular gets. great coverage. >> we use the same. >> towers as big wireless. so you get the same coverage. >> now for. >> unlimited talk and text with

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second term, two congressional seats are open vacated by former representative matt gaetz and by trump's national security adviser, michael waltz. joining us now is nbc's marissa parra. great seeing you. marissa, as always. so what are the implications of this special election? these two, i guess special elections. >> a lot to. get to. a lot happening in. >> florida politics this week. so we have of course, these two positions that are. >> open. >> after mike waltz was. >> tapped by the trump administration. >> and then matt gaetz, who was on that. >> path, and of. course then. resigned for all the reasons. >> we've reported. >> but we have two. >> trump endorsed trump preferred candidates. >> if you will. chief financial. >> officer in the state of florida, jimmy patronis. >> as well as state. >> senator randy fine. >> and so. >> among many other reasons, including the strength of the gop. and this idea of balance, of power. also a litmus test, if you will, for trump's endorsement. >> you know, we're just in the nascency of. his presidency. >> and depending on how today goes, we will see those special general elections on april 1st. >> jose. and these are uber republican districts, both.

>> absolutely. >> and so, marissa, yesterday, governor has called a special session for the florida legislature. qué paso. there was like some back and forth there. >> there was. so this was in part to discuss. >> immigration, hardline. >> immigration policies. >> that the governor wanted. >> that. >> the governor wanted. >> this special session. he had called them in ahead of, you know, what, their regular session, what they ended up doing is very quickly, both the senate and the house. >> ended. >> up gaveling out. they essentially vetoed all of them, almost unanimously entered their own special session, proposed. their own legislation, which, of course, depending on who you ask, there's a lot of similarities. still a lot of hardline immigration policies, policies proposed by all of this legislature. but i think the headlines here, what to take away from this is it's a lot of back turning on desantis. and they also proposed the trump act, which would, if it gets signed by desantis, this essentially strip away immigration oversight powers from desantis and hand it to

florida's agriculture commissioner, which desantis has been pushing back on, saying that that would be essentially the fox guarding the hen house. we know the florida democrats have had a field day with this. jose. the florida dems chair, nikki fried, pointing to the question. >> we just got. >> she just got reelected absolutely. >> by the party, the state party. >> pointing to the questions of why would you have florida's agriculture commissioner in charge of the immigration oversight? >> so it's great seeing you always. thanks so much. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. you can always reach me on social media at jd balart, and you can watch clips from our show at youtube, at msnbc.com/jdb. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrew mitchell picks up with more news right now. >> and right. >> now on. >> andrea mitchell reports. >> president trump. >> taking steps. >> to. >> radically restructure. >> the federal. >> government overnight, freezing. >> dozens of congressionally approved. >> federal aid programs. >> potentially in