>> authentic luxury resale. >> shop now with code 20 for 20% off. terms apply. >> and that'll do it for me. thanks for watching. i'll be back next saturday and sunday at 6 p.m. eastern. follow us on instagram, tiktok and threads using the handle at weekend capehart and blue sky using at capehart, msnbc.com and catch clips of the show on youtube. you can also listen to every episode as a podcast for free. to scan the qr code on your screen to follow. don't go anywhere. paolo ramos is in for

ayman. next. >> good evening. tonight on ayman. >> d.o.j. is ramping up its purge. targeting more than just die staffers. can it be stopped? >> i'll talk. >> to. congresswoman marilyn strickland. plus, hear from a group of dreamers who chose to self-deport during. >> trump's first. >> term and are now. >> helping others. >> do the same. and if you want proof. >> that religious. >> groups. have a growing influence on trump, then check out his new faith office in. >> the. >> west wing. >> i'm paola. >> ramos in for. >> ayman mohyeldin. let's do this. elon musk. >> so-called department. >> of government efficiency isn't making things up as they go. like many of us thought. >> before trump. >> even took office, musk positioned his. >> department as the enforcer. >> of trump's. executive order against diversity. now, we already. >> know the racist, the destructive impact of that order. but now. >> doj's using. >> it for.

>> something even bigger. >> a government purge. documents obtained by the washington post. >> show this was the plan all along. >> and it's expected. >> to. >> move faster than we ever thought. >> phase one was obvious, right? undo biden's. >> dei initiatives. >> and push trump's executive order. >> but we're now in phase two, set to end on wednesday. based on these documents, this stage is about identifying, quote, corrupted branches. >> even loosely. >> tied to die. >> in putting. >> employees on leave. phase three calls for mass firings beyond dei linked positions. now the. >> goal is. >> crystal clear. wipe out. >> anyone tied. >> to dei and gut. >> agencies they. >> see as. >> weak, all while pretending it's about cutting costs. >> now that's. >> the message. >> what sticks out, though, is. >> the departments and the agencies. >> that doge. >> plan to target. right. there's agriculture, veteran affairs, commerce, justice, energy, the health and human services department, and so on. you get the point. this was in the works long before musk and. doge employees got unlawful access to treasury payments.

they can't pretend they went after these departments because of wasteful spending when the plan was set this far in advance. but look at what's missing the real money pits. the department of defense, homeland security, even ice. sure, some of the agencies that they're trying to target do have reckless spending, so we can agree on that. but that's not the point. the point is that trump and musk are going after the most vulnerable, not to save money, but to make it look like they are. now, before we go into how americans are actually impacted by this, take a listen to what project 2025 co-founder russell voss said about trump's goal a while back ago. >> we want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected. we want when they wake up in the morning. we want them to not want to go to work because they are so they are increasingly viewed as the villains. we want their funding to be shut down so that the epa can't do all of the rules against our energy industry because they have. >> no bandwidth.

>> financially to. >> do so. we want to put them in trauma. >> a federal employee responded to those remarks yesterday on msnbc. >> i think it's. >> disgusting and sad. as they attack federal employees. they're attacking the ability of the federal government to protect you out there when it comes to protecting you from companies dumping toxic chemicals in your water and your air. when it. comes to veterans being able to get the health care that they need. when it comes to banks who take money out of people's bank accounts for not having enough money. it's the federal government that comes in and protects you. and that's exactly why they're tearing it down, because they want the ability to move freely, to have no one stopping them from making as much profit as they can. and we are here sticking it out to make sure that we continue to protect the american people. >> the american people, despite

all the times that trump administration says america first, it's the american people that will feel the pain. so let's talk about that pain. we're in the middle of tax season. and who does trump decide to lay off? thousands of irs workers, which would slow down your refunds for many americans? think about it. it's the largest paycheck of the year. trump talks about keeping as many americans employed, but he and musk will likely force thousands into unemployment. now a former navy reservist who lost her job at the department of education told usa today, quote, i'm much more angry than devastated. it took away my hope that i would continue to be respected and valued for my service, and especially in the way the termination happened. and now musk is messing up in an area that a lot of politicians care about. the national nuclear security agency is within the department of energy. one of those places on doj's target list that i mentioned earlier. now, hundreds were fired a few days ago. now, the trump

administration is scrambling to rehire a lot of those folks. why? well, because concerns grew about how the dismissal of these people would jeopardize the national security of our country, especially since many were tasked with designing, building and overseeing the united states nuclear weapons stockpile. now, it's dangerous things that we're talking about. it's not just this nuclear agency. the cia sent buyout offers to staff around the world last week, which directly contradicts something this administration wants more spycraft and covert action. now, obviously, that goal in and of itself is problematic, but these buyouts and firings don't even make sense now. so now that we know why this is happening and where cuts will happen next, how can it be stopped? how can it be stopped before it's too late? for thousands of americans. so let's ask congresswoman marilyn strickland of washington. she represents the state's 10th congressional district. congresswoman, thank you so much for joining me. i really appreciate it. >> thank you for having me on

your show today. >> of course. so in 14 states recently filed a lawsuit, congresswoman, arguing that elon musk's authority at doge is unconstitutional. and these states want a court order to specifically block musk from making changes to government funding, canceling contracts, making personnel decisions, and more. but then there's this other fact, right, that you have. judge tanya chutkan said that this request was too broad. so i guess my first question to you is, what is your response to all of this now? and do you think that the courts are a way to rein in doge? so my. >> response to all of this, as. >> you mentioned at the. >> top of. >> your show. >> is that this is project 2025, in real life. however. what the musk incorporated. >> and trump administration are trying. >> to do is just flood the lane, do so. >> many things. >> that are so. egregious with such a rapid pace that people. are confused, their heads are spinning, and they don't know what to do. and i want to point out a few things that really.

>> stood out to me. >> if you think about the agencies that they are. >> attacking, right. >> department of energy, because they want to undo all the climate. >> change things. we did. >> they're coming after the veterans administration. firing people. they're talking about eliminating the department of education. and one of the things. >> that's interesting here is that they basically. >> weaponized federal. >> government workers. >> the. >> very people who are. >> working hard. >> to keep us safe, to. >> uphold rules. >> to do their best to protect us. and the interesting thing about these agencies is that this is a path. >> to the middle class for a lot. >> of communities. >> of. >> color, especially african americans. i remember growing up hearing people say, get yourself a good government job. and i believe that we obviously always have to look. >> for places where. >> there's waste. but to arbitrarily just gut these agencies, it's hurting the american people. it's not making us safer. and basically. >> the trump administration. >> is lying. >> every single day because. >> they. >> promise to lower. >> prices and do things to help americans. >> this does the exact opposite. >> so let's talk about that. congresswoman, what this

actually means for, for instance, for your constituents. right. we know, for example, that a doge is threatening the education department, threatening to restrict state funding if they don't comply and cut die programs. so talk to me about how a threat like this impacts your district. absolutely. >> i mean, when you think. >> about the public. >> school system in. most states, especially in washington state, you know, a lot of the kids who are. >> in public. >> schools are children of color and minorities. so there is dependance on title one funding to help fill a gap of communities that are underserved where they don't have the same tax revenue. the work that comes in and the money that comes in to help students who are disabled, a lot of important funding comes from the department. >> of education. >> if you do away with the doe, you're stripping that funding away from districts. so it means that school districts are going to struggle. they may have to ask their voters to raise taxes. and this is the opposite of what is supposed to happen. i come back to the fact that in the united states, for so many

families, education is the equalizer. education is a path to the middle class. and in many cases, it helps people stay in the middle class. if you hurt the department of education, you are taking away. people's livelihoods. i want to talk about another agency because you sit on the house armed services committee, and we know that trump has mentioned that he wants doj's to investigate the pentagon in theory, which is, of course, one of the most wasteful departments and probably one of the first that doj's should have looked into. and if those intentions were in fact genuine and. but musk has been very quiet now when it comes to attacking this specific department. what do you make of that? so the first thing that i would do if doge is sincere about looking at the department of defense, let's look at the government contracts. and the first thing i would ask is what government contracts does mr. musk have? what is musk and what is musk incorporated doing with the department of defense? how is he benefiting from that? but obviously with the giant, with the giant agency that size,

there is always room to do better. we should look at everything from top to bottom. but i think the first question i would ask, as someone who is a us citizen or someone who lives in this country, we're looking at dod. it's like, is musk benefiting from the department of defense contracts? i would start there. there's this question right there. there's a lot that can potentially be done to stop someone like elon musk, but say in the scenario that if he's successfully put to a side, the fact is that he still has the president's ear now, he still has immense influence over the most powerful person in this country. and so what would be the scenario there? i mean, how much can be done on a practical level right now? so if you look at what they're doing right now, they are having no regard for the co-equal branch of government, which is congress. and trump knows that he is so poor at his job and so incompetent that there's no way he could work with house

republicans to get these things done. so he is bypassing the system. it's illegal. it's unconstitutional. and he's given the keys to the white house, to elon musk, someone who basically has no idea how these agencies work. and you see them having to walk things back because they're hearing from farmers, they're hearing from folks who are very, very concerned about nuclear safety. so many things that they've done make no damn sense. and so as we look at what they're trying to do, what we can do to stop them, number one, let the public know in plain language exactly what they are doing. number two, use the tools we have from a legislative standpoint, we introduced the taxpayer data protection act to make sure that they could not get to this information. and then number three, let's let's litigate. right. there are probably 40 lawsuits in play right now. and every time it goes to court we tend to prevail. so even people at, you know, even our judges understand that this is unconstitutional and makes no sense. i'm curious, congresswoman, what you're hearing, if anything, around the

department of treasury and tax refunds, i think that's something that a lot of your constituents and people across the country care about. have you heard anything in that regard? well, yeah, i mean, what i'm hearing from people in the district is that people are scared because it's just coming at them with such speed. and you know this you talked about this earlier. people look forward to that tax refund. it means a it means a lot to a lot of different families. if we're cutting staff at the irs, that means your payment and your refund will not get processed in a timely manner. so all these things that they're doing, allegedly in the name of government efficiency is actually hurting people. and here's the thing too. i want to emphasize this. musk incorporated, and donald trump do not care if you get sick. they do not care if you get access to health care. they do not care about your livelihood. they don't care about your retirement. they do not give a about the american people. that is the absolute truth. i those are strong words. and i think

people are feeling that. and i'm wondering also what advice you're giving to some of your constituents. right. i'm thinking about, for instance, like public school teachers that care about dei, that care about teaching black history, and that may feel at the same time scared, know of what's coming to them, of what they see from washington, dc. what advice do you give a public school teacher in your district? so, you know, the advice that i would give to our educators. first of all, i would thank them profusely for the work that they are doing, and i think it's really important for them to not be afraid to teach history. you know, this black history is american history. all the different groups of people who are part of this country, that is part of american history. so i think my question would be, so if a teacher decides that they're going to teach black history during the month of february, because we're celebrating black history month right now, there's nothing wrong with that. so the trump administration and mr. musk, you know, there's a lot of saber rattling. they talk a big game. but if they're going to go from

school district to school district to find teachers who are teaching american history, that's a complete waste of time. and that would be something worth investigating. congresswoman marilyn strickland, thank you so much for your time tonight. i really appreciate it. thank you for having me. next, a look at secretary of state marco rubio's first trip to the middle east first trip to the middle east ahead of high stakes peace i told myself i was ok with my moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis symptoms... ...with my psoriatic arthritis symptoms. but just ok isn't ok. and i was done settling. if you still have symptoms after trying a tnf blocker like humira or enbrel, rinvoq works differently. rinvoq is a once-daily pill that can rapidly relieve joint pain, stiffness, and swelling as fast as 2 weeks for some. and even at the 3-year mark, many people felt this relief. rinvoq can stop joint damage. and in psa, can leave skin clear or almost clear. rinvoq can lower ability to fight infections. before treatment, test for tb and do bloodwork. serious infections, blood clots, some fatal; ...cancers, including lymphoma and skin;

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>> the first. >> 100 days. it's a critical time for our country. and rachel maddow is on five nights a week. >> now is the time, so we're going to do it. >> settle in. >> the rachel maddow show weeknights at nine on msnbc. >> they're beginning phase two of the ceasefire deal between israel and hamas. what is what's going on there? have you been briefed on the latest? >> i tell you, i have been briefed. i told you, do whatever you want because, you know, my statement was they got to come back. >> that was president trump talking to reporters a short time ago. on the latest details surrounding the second phase of the cease fire between israel and hamas. trump's remarks come as secretary of state marco rubio met with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu in israel during his first trip to

the middle east as secretary. rubio reaffirmed the united states full support for netanyahu while warning iran remains, quote, the great source of instability in the middle east. now, this comes ahead of a visit to saudi arabia to initiate negotiations toward peace between russia and ukraine, according to two sources familiar with the matter. nbc news white house correspondent yamiche alcindor has more on the details. >> tonight. president trump revealing that his team spoke with russian president vladimir putin for hours ahead of high stakes talks to end the war in ukraine. >> i think he wants to end it and they want to end it fast, both of them. and zelenskyy wants to end it too. >> the president adding that ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky will be involved in the negotiations. but zelenskyy says he hasn't been invited to the first round of talks. two u.s. officials telling nbc news the white house wants to host separate meetings before

bringing russia and ukraine together. zelenskyy sitting down with nbc's kristen welker. >> can you. >> accept any peace deal that is cut without ukraine? >> no. >> do you feel like you have a seat at the table. >> right now? >> i not only count on it, i'm sure that we have to be there. >> on his first trip to israel as secretary of state. marco rubio saying the ukraine talks set to take place in saudi arabia are a starting point. >> vladimir putin expressed his interest in peace, and the president expressed his desire to see an end to this conflict in a way that was enduring and that protected ukrainian sovereignty. >> the secretary is expected to attend. in addition to the president's middle east envoy, steve witkoff, who has been speaking with putin after helping to broker the gaza ceasefire deal. white house national security advisor mike waltz will also attend. he has laid out four priorities driving the negotiations a permanent end to the war, a diplomatic end to

the war, economic integration and changes to u.s. aid for ukraine. >> and in. >> terms of long. >> term military security. >> guarantees. >> those have to be european led. >> questions remain about whether ukraine will be expected to give up some of its territory seized by russia. >> maybe russia will give up a lot. maybe they won't. >> our thanks to nbc's yamiche alcindor for that report. and after a quick break, i'll speak with a group of dreamers who are helping others make the tough call to self-deport or relocate, because sometimes the hardest part of a journey is knowing part of a journey is knowing when with fatigue and light-headedness, i knew something was wrong. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light-headedness, can come and go. but if you have afib, the risk of stroke is always there. if you have one or more symptoms, get checked out.

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the highlight of the day is mahomes getting the new iphone 16 at t-mobile. it's built for apple intelligence. hustle down to t-mobile like a dog chasing a squirrel... chasing a nut! at t-mobile get iphone 16 on us. these glasses. >> yeah. >> it happens. that's why visionworks gives you 100 days to change your mind. it's simple. oh. anything else i can. help you with? >> like what? >> visionworks. see the difference? >> many people in this country without permanent legal status are coming to terms with one crucial question. does the american dream actually exist now? and if so, if it does, how far should people go to achieve that dream? some are actually

giving up on what appears to be a myth altogether, and have decided to flee the united states as they fear what's to come under the second trump administration. such is the case for michelle berrios, who left the united states before trump officially took office. originally from nicaragua, berrios told the associated press that part of the reason why she left is that she feels that there isn't a sense of humanism in this country, and that the love thy neighbor sentiment doesn't exist here. i mean, can you blame her for thinking that? all we know is that since trump first came onto the political scene, he made his disdain for immigrants well known disdain, which has, of course, now turned into anti-immigrant policies yet again. the legal status of nearly 1.5 million migrants is now at risk. after the president ended several biden era programs that granted them temporary stay under humanitarian parole. but the thing is, they aren't the only ones left in legal limbo. congress's failure time and time

again to enact a legal and humane pathway to citizenship has been an issue in this country. before trump and his sinophobic rhetoric came on the scene. i mean, think about how long we've been talking about this one subject for more than a decade. daca recipients, also known as dreamers, have lived in the united states with fear and uncertainty. this obama era program has protected undocumented folks who were brought to this country as children from deportation. it's also given them other benefits, such as being able to get work permits and health insurance from employers. but it never offered a permanent pathway to citizenship. in fact, daca recipients have to renew their status every two years. if the program itself has faced several legal challenges since it was first enacted in 2012. actually, just last month, the fifth circuit court of appeals ruled against the program. now, the ruling still allows current recipients, some 500,000 of

them, to keep renewing their status. the new applicants cannot apply. so after years of uncertainty, some doca recipients are done. they're done waiting for this country to recognize their humanity. republicans may call that self-deportation, but for these dreamers, it's about something else. it's a it's a matter of reclaiming their dignity. joining me now are tahita wahabzadah, jason hong and monsi hernandez. they're all former doctor recipients who left the united states during the first trump administration. tahita is in canada. jason is in spain and monsi is in germany. and they're also the co-founders of on board, a group that helps out other dreamers who are potentially thinking about leaving and thinking about how one even goes about doing that. on that note, i'm going to start with you. i'm starting with you because in 2019, tahita, you wrote an op ed for the new york times, right? and it was an op ed about your decision to leave the united states. and i'm going

to quote you, you say i no longer wish to be a bargaining chip for a border wall. i am no longer willing to be another sob story to win votes. i can no longer go to bed every night with the anxiety of such an unsecure future. so talk to me about this decision making process that you went through, tahita, and really how your life has changed ever since. >> yeah. >> i absolutely well. >> i've had daca since 2012. >> and at first. >> i went through a honeymoon. >> phase with daca by. >> being surprised. by the fact that i'm able to obtain a driver's license to be able to work. and the reality just kind of sank. >> in as i. >> began to renew and renew. >> my status. >> over and over again. and i realized. >> i couldn't think. >> i couldn't. >> think about. >> the long. >> term future. >> of my life, like in the. >> next 5 or. >> 10 years. it was. >> always the next year.

>> the. next year and a half. and that. >> stability. that instability, gave me so much. >> anxiety to the point. >> where i. >> was in. >> survival mode. >> and as i approached my. >> late 20s, i. >> kind of just made a decision by. >> saying. >> you know, i. >> can't. live like. >> this in my 30s. >> that's not a. >> life worth living. >> and i. >> just kind of stood. >> by this like promise. >> that i made to myself. that if a permanent solution doesn't happen before i turn 30, then i'm going to leave. i'm going to live life on my own terms, with stability. with freedom. >> it's similar to your experience. but you said he was in canada. you went to germany. and i think what he was explaining is this journey that entails both a sense of joy and liberation, but also an element of pain, of what it means to leave a country and leave people

behind. can can you tell me a little bit about that experience for yourself? what has that been like, and what is it like to wrestle with those feelings? >> it has been. >> a little difficult. >> to understand. >> the. >> process of leaving the united. >> states after. >> leaving mexico. in the first place, to understand that i will never belong entirely to the united states, or to mexico or to germany, because i've lived in all three places. it's difficult to wrestle with, and it's difficult for other people to understand. however. >> it has also given. >> me the ability to understand the way that other people think and. >> the way. >> that essentially being in one country shapes the way that you see other people. by having lived in these. >> three different. >> countries, i have come to realize that being undocumented isn't a necessary thing. all of those other immigration processes and bars that are found in the united states are not needed. and it. >> has. >> truly helped me to embrace the diversity that we have in this entire world.

>> and, jason, i can imagine that when one is thinking about making this type of decision, it's i can only imagine that it's a pretty lonely process. but you also specifically created onward for this very reason to give people that are thinking about this a sense of community. can you talk to me about the way that the organization may be growing? since trump's reelection in november 2024? >> of course. >> so since the election. >> oh, i can't i don't have to actually go back all the way from the most recent election just talking about the past month. we just received about 3000 new applicants of applicants trying to join. >> in our group. >> wow. >> that's essentially averaging about 100 people trying to join in. and that's essentially. explains the situation, the gravity of the difficulty and uncertainty that all these people are going through in the

united states. >> are most of the people. jason, just a quick follow up. are most of these people reaching out, thinking about potentially doing something similar then that the three of you all did? is that sort of the entry point for those applications? >> yes. so there are handful of people who's wondering about the option. there's a lot of people who's curious about how others like who successfully relocated to a different country, how they're doing. ultimately, they are really considering what their options are before, especially my personal experience, it was difficult for me to find another individuals who made a similar decision or about to make a decision that i have at the time. but now that there is a committee onward, i think it's just more accessible for people to understand and really kind of research how that option plays out for them. >> so i'm curious what it's like

to be on the other side of the border and to have had time to think about what's happening in the united states, to observe this country from afar. how do you view this whole internal, ongoing, never ending immigration policy discussion that the united states is perpetually in? >> first of all, i want to emphasize how much of a privilege it is to be on the other side and to just be from an observer view of looking at the news. but secondly, when it comes to following any us related news, i always pay close attention to anything pertaining to immigration. and to be honest, my heart constantly breaks. it constantly breaks for the millions of undocumented immigrants, the 100,000 dreamers who are still betrayed with no promise, no promise for a

permanent solution or stability. and the constant fear and the environment. and that's all i can say. like my heart just breaks so much for the undocumented community. and with onward, i'm very i'm very privileged to be part of a community, to help others find resources, to find options that there is a life outside of the us, and that there is a community that exists. >> i think part of the reason why this discussion is, you know, i think surprising for some folks is because so much of the narrative within the immigrant rights community is about staying in the united states. right. fighting and ensuring that they don't take your your dignity away, but within the borders. and so how do you again, from from the outside like how do you make sense of that? is it possible under this second trump administration to stay in this fight with dignity? >> there is.

>> and that's. >> a bit of. >> a. >> conundrum that i think as undocumented people, we have always. >> faced, we. >> face incredible pressure to stay in the united states, be the perfect immigrant. and then we also face. incredible pressure to leave the. >> united states because. >> we're not considered. to be good enough no matter what we do. >> so the most. >> important aspect for me is what does a person choose for themselves? do you want to. stay in the united states and do your best to live there with dignity, or do you want to return maybe to your homeland with dignity? do you want to live in a different country like germany, with dignity? what is it that is going. >> to. >> help you attain peace and stability in your life? that is the most important part, not what anyone else is saying to you. >> i think this is a question to all of you. i think if tom homan, the border czar, were to be listening to this conversation, he would probably say, yes, that's what i want.

self-deportation is the goal. keep doing that. what's your response to that? >> oh. >> this is this is a bit challenging, but i will say. there are there are people who are young, ambitious, who wants to contribute to the community. a lot of situations when people are talking about undocumented immigrants or illegals, they often really kind of a categorize that with individuals who actually cross the borders. and, and essentially according to the law, it is that does commit the crimes. but many of the oftentimes most of these communities, especially in particularly, is they don't have the fault of their own. so all they have done is to follow their parents and really kind of learn and groom in this community, which is in the united states. and really learn

and really kind of exemplify the value that americans really kind of stand for. so for them to kind of hit the wall of the decisions that they didn't make for themselves, but rather for their parents, i just think it's just completely unfair. at the moment, i think these communities and these individuals have a lot of strength and a lot of benefits, as well as strength, that can contribute a positive impact into the community and just amount to in terms of the amount of tax paid is just one part of it. but really it's just they have amazing ideas. they have a capabilities, they are driven, they're ambitious, and they all they want to do is feel accepted so that they can actually fully contribute to the place that they want to be in. >> i mean, i have to say, it's remarkable how onward has completely reframed that idea of self-deportation, empowering so many people to make informed decisions about about doing something that's very difficult, which is leaving a country that

you believed in, held that american dream. and that's a very hard thing to do to jason and nancy, thank you all so much for joining me, especially understanding that it's extremely late where you both are in germany and in spain. so thank you. thank you. okay. coming up, trump wants to root out anti-christian bias by installing a polarizing figure in his new faith office. and next hour, we'll take a look at the whirlwind world tour of trump's administration as it revises history and shores up revises history and shores up support for right wing leaders. asthma. does it have you missing out on what you love with who you love? it's time to get back out there with fasenra. fasenra is an add-on treatment for eosinophilic asthma that is taken once every 8 weeks and can also be taken conveniently at home. fasenra helps prevent asthma attacks. most patients did not have an attack in the first year. fasenra is proven to help you breathe better so you can get back to doing day-to-day activities.

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the answer is j.p. morgan wealth management. (morgan) we're all looking for someplace to call home. the answer is but first, you need a place to look for a place to call home. and that's homes-dot-com. because it's the best. (lawyer) i told you, you cannot legally say homes-dot-com is the best! (luke) what if she says it, as morgan freeman? (marci) homes-dot—hold on, i can get this. homes-dot-com. (lawyer) no. (luke) well, how can we not say it... if that's our new name?! (lawyer) i give up. (luke) homes-dot-com-is-the- best-dot-com. has made moves to cement religion as a core pillar of his second term. last week, after the national prayer breakfast, he created a task force to root out what he called anti-christian bias across the federal government. and he signed an executive order to open a so-called faith office at

the white house. now at the helm of that new office is his longtime spiritual advisor, the far right pastor and evangelist paula white cain. i'll let white king's commentary in support of trump during his first term speak for itself. >> my role to serve him and people they'll write up. but it's an assignment from god. to say no to him is to say no to god. the lord says it is done. the lord says it is done. the lord says it is done for i hear victory, victory, victory, victory in the courts of heaven, in the courts of heaven. victory victory victory victory. victory victory victory! >> for angels. >> are being released. >> right now. >> angels are being dispatched right now. amanda. raka. baca. sundiata. gamba. osaka. rita. banda. asha. >> to. joining me now to discuss is katherine stewart, author of money, lies, and god inside the movement to destroy american

democracy. katherine, thank you so much. i'm really looking forward to you helping me understand the significance of someone like paula white cain in of course, she's someone that has been in trump's orbit for a long time. she's an extremely controversial figure, even within the christian right. but how do you break down what's significant about her specific perspective? well. >> this is. >> in large measure. >> about politics. >> and power. >> not religion. >> i mean, trump. >> is very closely allied. >> with the religious. >> right because it turns out, a. >> lot of. >> votes on his behalf. >> paula white. >> who he's known for. >> decades, played. >> a key role. >> in that alliance. so. >> as he did. >> in. his first term. >> trump. >> will reward leaders of the religious right. >> for their loyalty. >> with everything. >> they want. >> power. >> access to public money. >> right wing. >> justices in the courts. >> and policies that help. promote their. >> various interests. >> and their agendas. >> but we should. also note.

specifically from that clip that. >> paula white is. >> a. >> leader in the. >> independent charismatic. >> movement that. >> is bringing new energy. >> to the religious right. >> and leaders of this movement believe in dominionism. >> or the idea that christians. >> of a certain variety. should control. the key. features of government and. >> society. >> including things like business, media. >> education and the like. >> and by the. >> way, you know. >> a whole lot. >> of people who identify as christian. >> see her belief system. >> and. >> these ideas as frankly. >> antithetical to their understanding. >> of the faith. it's really hard to overestimate the. >> degree to which. >> the politics leads the religion here. >> can you expand on that, actually, because i'm thinking of, of course, the huge evangelical base that president trump has. so how does someone like paula white cain actually sit with most christians who support trump? >> the movement? actually. >> i. >> would say. >> the religious right. in general draws on various different strands and

traditions. it includes. >> traditional evangelicals. >> white. >> evangelicals associated, for instance, with the. >> southern baptist convention. but it also includes a cadre of very ultraconservative catholics. the movement is drawing new energy from. >> a sector of. >> the pentecostal and charismatic movements that. >> see spiritual. >> warfare in the heavens, playing out in the here and now, in our politics today. many of them insist that god's hand is on donald trump's shoulder, and they almost see him as a king figure. paula white at one point said, it is god that raises up a king. she was speaking of trump. >> so catherine is thinking about that. you know, the way that some christian nationalists may be observing what's playing out in front of our eyes? i'm thinking of some of the christian nationalists that stormed the capitol on january 6th. i'm thinking of a recent survey by the public research, excuse me, by the public religion research institute that

found that across all 50 states, christian nationalists, this is what they found are twice as likely as other americans to believe that political violence may be justified. so i'm thinking i'm thinking about them. what worries you? well. >> what worries me is the is the fate of our democracy itself. i mean, the idea of a government of the people, by the people and for the people rooted in the principles of equality and the promises of working toward a more just society. i think this is a movement that has, frankly, given up on democracy. many of the leaders of the movement are very overt in saying that democracy doesn't work, and we need to unite the country around a very specific interpretation of a very specific religion. and that's as anti-american as it gets, frankly. they they, they often speak about how democracy doesn't work, democratic

leadership doesn't work. and they long for a monarch, more authoritarian leader who's going to break the rules and crack heads as long as those heads belong to their political enemies. >> you know, i've been in in a lot of evangelical churches throughout my reporting, and i've spent a lot of time with people that, at the beginning entered these spaces with genuine curiosity, wanting to find community belonging, and then through the pastors or through some of these, like, christian nationalist messages that they end up consuming. there's a switch in in the face of something like that. what is the best way to combat that? >> well, it's we have to first of all, understand that there has been a huge effort to disinform a lot of people. there's a huge sort of disinformation sphere and propaganda sphere in many of those spaces. they cast anyone who is politically not aligned with them, including, frankly, many conservative republicans who just aren't bored with a

kind of radical maga agenda. they cast them as demonic or satanic. there's a lot of sort of demon talk in some of these spaces. >> yeah. and that that demon talk is, is very powerful, though, because when you cast and you frame everything as, you know, good versus evil, that that persuades a lot of people. kathryn stuart, thank you so much for breaking this all down for me. i really appreciate it. next, we're marking snl's 50th anniversary by spotlighting a key part of its success that you've probably never thought you've probably never thought about. -what've you got there, larry? -time machine. you gonna go back and see how the pyramids were built or something? nope. ellen and i want to go on vacation, so i'm going to go back to last week and buy a winning lottery ticket. -can i come? -only room for one. how am i getting home? sittin' on my lap like last time, ronald. fine, but i'm bringing this. [ whirring ] alright. or...you could try one of these savings options. the right money moves aren't as far-fetched as you think. there it is. see? told you it was going to all work out. thanks, future me. [coughing]

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>> learn more about celebrity. >> cruises latest offers. >> okay, so in case you haven't heard, it's snl's 50th anniversary today. as the big celebration gets underway on nbc, we wanted to honor the iconic show by making sure that you know about a crew of folks that are never seen. that's because they are holding the line, quite literally. here's nbc's mark barger. >> good morning. >> i got no cue cards, man. what am i going to do? >> way back. >> in 1982, host michael. >> keaton came to freak. >> out that snl might not have its trusty cue cards, something the show has tweaked itself about. >> i know it's hard to believe, but i'm reading a cue card right now. >> but even. >> as snl has evolved. >> into the digital era, this. remnant of tv's earliest days remains essential. >> the show would truly not be able to run without them. >> that's because sketches are constantly being revised, even while the show's on air.

>> make those changes fast, make them accurate, and swap them out and keep them on order. i don't know how they do it. >> wally feresten knows. >> it's all about spacing. >> he's been doing it for 35 years. >> wally. >> lower the cards. he leads a team of. ten who write, keep track of and update roughly 1000 cue cards per episode. >> the host for snl each. >> week is. >> in black. >> they're the only. >> one that's in black. >> so they know their lines stand. >> out. >> and then the other cast members share red. >> blue. >> green, and brown. >> occasionally, rookie hosts start their week mistakenly thinking they'll memorize everything and won't need cue cards. >> and then on friday, they'll kind of. >> come up and. >> say. >> hey, if i wanted to use the cards, where would you be? and by saturday, they're like, all right, i'm using the cards because they don't. they just don't understand how much the show is rewritten and changes. >> it's basically too much content to rely on teleprompters that aren't always reliable. >> so they break and things happen. so cards don't break. >> but that's not to say the cue

cards are immune from trouble. >> the cards fell down. >> the cards fell down. yeah. that's like your full nightmare. >> that happened on. >> late. >> night with seth meyers and snl 40 was nearly disastrous. >> i wasn't smart enough to wear sneakers instead of the tuxedo shoes. so not only was i holding like these, these sets of cards, there were 100 cards. i was slipping because the shoes were slippery. >> feresten braced for sunday's snl 50 special that could have as many as 2500 cue cards, requiring five extra staffers to manage them. >> i'm excited. >> i'm i'm. >> i'm nervous just because of the amount of work it is. >> but it's special. >> it really is special. >> and special for me to say. >> almost live from new york. it's mark barger, nbc news. >> this whole show is also on cue cards, by the way. just kidding. a new hour of ayman kidding. a new hour of ayman begins with fatigue and light-headedness, i knew something was wrong. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib,

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(800) 990-5365. call now. >> on this new hour of vice president jd vance shocks the world. the backlash he's facing for embracing germany's far right. plus, it's black history month. but you wouldn't know it by logging on to google. and two trans high school students stand up against donald trump's ban on trans girls in girls sports. i'm paola ramos in for ayman mohyeldin. let's do this.