gig where you need it most. so, this whole meeting could have been remote? oh, that is my ex-husband who i don't speak to. hey! no, i'm good to talk! xfinity internet customers, cut your mobile bill in half for your first year with xfinity mobile. plus, ask how to get the new samsung galaxy s25+ on us. free and get a 6 million coin bonus. make every day. >> a. >> winning day. each week, veteran lawyers andrew weissmann and mary mccord break down the latest developments inside the trump administration's department of justice. >> the administration. >> doesn't necessarily want to be questioned on any of its policy. >> main justice. new episodes drop every tuesday. as the trump administration forges ahead during these critical first 100 days, rachel maddow is on five nights a week. >> more than ever. this is not a time to pretend this isn't happening. >> the rachel maddow show weeknights at nine on msnbc. >> that was the longest state of

the union address in american history. donald trump, addressing congress for the fifth time and setting. like this. just looking to see if he's actually going to start speaking again. it started off on very contentious terms. congressman al green interrupting at the outset. and the president claimed his historic mandate from his victory in the 2024 election. congressman green repeatedly interjecting and then removed by the orders of the sergeant at arms, while republican members of congress jeered and made gestures toward him, celebrating him being ejected over the course of the president's remarks. see how many empty seats you can see behind him just there? that's because democrats, as a group, filed out quickly when he was done. but a number of democrats left well before he was done in the middle of his remarks. they included

jasmine crockett from texas. maxwell frost walked out, maxine dexter from maryland, andrea salinas from oregon, ayanna pressley, ilhan omar, pramila jayapal. we believe that's only a partial list. number of democrats left during the remarks. the president in his what we believe was ad libbing. we did not have prepared remarks from the president, which is unusual. white house is usually distribute prepared remarks. so we don't know what was digression from those remarks and what was outlined. but the president did repeatedly seem to be ad libbing when he was remarking on the expected impact of the economic decisions he's already made six weeks in saying that the american people would have to bear with him, that there would be a little disturbance, that there would be an adjustment period. and again, he said, a little disturbance, essentially suggesting that the roiling that we saw in the markets is something that he knows he caused. but he hopes

people will not mind. for the record, the worst inflation in this country was in 1980. for the record. the economy that he was left by president biden was not a catastrophe. it was literally the best economy in the world, and was described by the economist magazine as the envy of the world. that was the economy that was left to donald trump by joe biden. for the record, social security is not paying benefits in large numbers to 300 year old people or 250 year old people, or 200 year old people, or 150 year old people. in fact, the idea of social security is a bastion of massive fraud, and overpayment is completely false. for the record, u.s. auto company ceos are not psyched and delighted and so excited about president trump's economic policies, including his tariffs. take, for example, the ceo of ford, jim

farley, who said that trump's tariff policies would, quote, blow a hole in the u.s. auto industry. that, quote, we've never seen president flat out lied about us versus european spending to support what used to be our allies in ukraine. u.s. has committed about $125 billion to ukraine's defense. >> europe has. >> committed about $259 billion. the president radically radically misstating the character and quantity of our relative support for what used to be our ally, now appears to be only europe's ally and no longer ours. for the record, joe biden did not close over 100 power plants. there were more utility sized power plants up and running in the united states when joe biden left office than when he achieved office. for the record, there is no ev mandate. for the record, oil and gas production in the united states

hit all time records under president joe biden. for the record, even dodge has never claimed that they have saved hundreds of billions of dollars in savings. the largest items they have claimed to achieve as savings in the us budget have been debunked and they've been taken down, but even they don't falsely claim hundreds of billions of dollars worth of savings. for the record, and this is disgusting. the president made a spectacle out of praising a young man who serves thus far survived pediatric cancer, as if the president had something to do with that. this was in the midst of him praising doge. the doge cuts, among other things, have cut off funding for ongoing research into pediatric cancer. >> you better. >> believe it. for the record, i will note that donald trump did admit in his remarks today explicitly that elon musk is the head of doge. and all that comes

as no surprise to anybody who has been following the facts of this matter. that will end up in court, because that is directly contrary to what the administration has overtly sworn to. a federal judge about the leadership of doge. i should also note, and this doesn't have to be for the record, i'll just note it for our own experience tonight that at that point in the speech, when the president talked about how we will no longer be ruled by unelected bureaucrats, democrats in the chamber pointed and laughed at elon musk, an elected bureaucrat. nicole wallace i'm sorry to dump a lot of fact checks there. and that's not even scratching the surface of the things that need to be fact checked there. that's literally what was off the top of my head. yeah. so there's more to say along those lines. >> know that. i mean, this was not not a, you know, 7000 people doing this. this was what you sort of caught from your own reporting on the trump

administration. i mean, the facts were probably few and far between, but i think that that's the point, right? like those of us covering this, we come on the air to do our shows. and the point is, there's so much. so let's just stick with dj. i mean, i think that if there was a moment where your whole body could relax and you could celebrate someone, it was the 13 year old cancer survivor who would like to be a police officer. it was a genuinely beautiful moment. and the and the moment that probably was most familiar to the state of the union address, as we were both a part of. problem is, in the beauty of that child is the tragedy of the trump presidency, because he's we don't know how he survived pediatric cancer, but it is likely he benefited from some sort of cancer research. and it is a fact that trump has slashed cancer research. it's a fact by eliminating nih and by all the cuts, pediatric cancer trials are halted. and. >> you know. >> god willing, he won't need

any more treatment. but if he does, i hope that nih wasn't responsible for anything that let him live this long. he also talked about wanting anyone who murdered a cop to receive the death penalty. but donald trump's first action was to pardon all of the january 6th insurrectionists who assaulted and violently beat cops. >> who were convicted of it. >> correct. so i think there is a shallowness, and i think that that i mean, i know you and i know you probably could have gone on for another 30 minutes with the fact check, and it's vital and we have to do it. but i think this was a lesson in finding one thing that that you let yourself feel. and i let myself feel joy about d.o.j. and i hope he's alive for another, you know, 95 years. right? and i hope he lives the life he wants to live. he wants to be a cop.

he knows what he wants to do. and maybe when you have childhood cancer, that crystallizes for you, and i hope he has a long life as as a law enforcement officer, but i hope he never has to defend the united states capitol against donald trump's supporters. and if he does, i hope he isn't one of the six who loses his life to suicide. and i hope he isn't one who has to testify against the people who carried out acts of seditious conspiracy and then live to see donald trump. pardon those people. >> for about three minutes out from what we're expecting to be the democratic response from senator elissa slotkin. let me get your initial response to what you just heard. >> well, let's remember, it's. >> hard to do this in the trump era. >> that if any. >> previous president had stood up there. >> and said. we need. >> greenland. >> the two people. behind him, the vice president and the speaker. would have. >> quickly conferred and rushed. >> that president to the. >> hospital. ended the speech right. >> there. right there. >> with with an. overt burst of madness by the president. >> at the microphone. that would have to be an intervention, but

not now. what's interesting about the lies tonight is one of his favorites, wasn't there? >> and that. >> is after really. >> intense 48 hours. >> of. >> coverage of tariffs. he did. not tell the american people the lie. tonight that foreign countries pay. >> the tariffs. >> cnbc and other outlets have been really educating the. >> voters intensely, you know, over the last couple of. days about who pays the tariffs. we had prime minister trudeau say to the american people. >> today. >> your government. chose to. >> do this to you. and so the mystery. >> or the. >> question of who pays the tariffs is over. and people and people. >> now know it. he didn't try to get away with that one. and the tariffs. >> was the. >> shortest section. >> of the speech. >> it is the news. >> of the day. >> and the world. and donald trump. >> was afraid. >> to talk about his. >> did tell a lie. >> about it. >> can i can you indulge me. >> on this one? you got one

minute and 10s. >> okay. this has to do with doge doge's report card. elon musk would say, is treasury rates going down? and donald trump tonight said rates went down today. they didn't go down because doge is reducing the deficit. rates went down today because of tariffs. right. because the stock market tanked right. you know what people do. they rush to buy treasuries. and when you buy treasuries the price goes up and the yield goes down. so yes, doge got their wish. the doge report card. when ten year treasury yields go down. we're winning. doge didn't reduce the deficit. >> and the. >> stock market lost. fact check. >> all right. we are getting ready to go to michigan, where freshman senator elissa slotkin is set to give the democratic response. now, no matter who you are associated with in politics, how you lean left or right or whatever, you should always say a prayer for the person who is giving the other party's response to the state of the

union, because it is a really hard thing to do. elissa slotkin is a very talented democratic politician. she's speaking in michigan tonight from a town that voted for her, but also for trump for president. >> i'm honored to have the opportunity to speak tonight. it's late, so i promise to be a lot shorter than what you just watched. i won't take it personally if you've never heard of me. i'm the new senator from the great state of michigan where i grew up. i've been in public service my entire life because i happen to be in new york city on nine over 11, when the twin towers came down before the smoke cleared, i knew i wanted to make a life in national security. i was recruited by the cia and did three tours in iraq alongside the military. in between, i worked at the white house under president bush and president obama, two very different leaders who both believed that america is exceptional. you can find that same sense of patriotism here in wyandotte, michigan, where i'm speaking from tonight. it's a working class town just south of detroit. president trump and i

both won here in november. it might not seem like it, but plenty of places like this still exist across the united states. places where people believe that if you work hard and play by the rules, you should do well and your kids should do better. it reminds me of how i grew up. my dad was a lifelong republican, my mom a lifelong democrat. but it was never a big deal because we had shared values that were bigger than any one party. we just went through another fraught election season. americans made it clear that prices are too high, and that the government needs to be more responsive to their needs. america wants change, but there's a responsible way to make change and a reckless way, and we can make that change without forgetting who we are as a country and as a democracy. so that's what i'm going to lay out tonight, because whether you're from wyandotte or wichita, most americans share three core beliefs that the middle class is the engine of our country, that

strong national security protects us from harm, and that our democracy, no matter how messy, is unparalleled and worth fighting for. let's start with the economy. michigan literally invented the middle class, the revolutionary idea that you could work at an auto plant and afford the car you were building. that's the american dream. and in order to expand and protect the middle class, we have to do a few basic things. we need to bring down the price of things we spend the most money on groceries, housing, health care. we need to make more things in america with good paying union jobs, and bring our supply chains back home from places like china. we need to give american businesses the certainty they need to invest and create the jobs of the future. and we need a tax system that's fair for people who don't happen to make $1 billion. look, the president talked a big game on the economy, but it's always important to read the fine print. so do his plans actually

help americans get ahead? not even close. president trump is trying to deliver an unprecedented giveaway to his billionaire friends. he's on the hunt to find trillions of dollars to pass along to the wealthiest in america. and to do that, he's going to make you pay in every part of your life. grocery and home prices are going up, not down. and he hasn't laid out a credible plan to deal with either of those. his tariffs on allies like canada will raise prices on energy, lumber and cars and start a trade war that will hurt manufacturing and farmers. your premiums and prescriptions will cost more, because the math on his proposals doesn't work without going after your health care. meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national debt is going up, not down. and if he's not careful, he could walk us right into a recession. and one more thing. in order to pay for his plan, he could very well come after your retirement. the social security, medicare and va

benefits you worked your whole life to earn. the president claims he won't. but elon musk just called social security the biggest ponzi scheme of all time. while we're on the subject of elon musk, is there anyone in america who is comfortable with him and his gang of 20 year olds using their own computer servers to poke through your tax returns, your health information, and your bank accounts? no oversight, no protections against cyber attack, no guardrails on what they do with your private data. we need a more efficient government. you want to cut waste? i'll help you do it. but change doesn't need to be chaotic or make us less safe. the mindless firing of people who work to protect our nuclear weapons, keep our planes from crashing, and conduct the research that finds the cure for cancer, only to rehire them two days later. no ceo in america could do that without being summarily fired. okay, so we've talked about economic security.

how about national security? let's start with the border. as someone who spent my whole career protecting our homeland, every country deserves to know who and what is coming across its border. period. democrats and republicans should all be for that. but securing the border without actually fixing our broken immigration system is dealing with the symptom and not the disease. america is a nation of immigrants. we need a functional system keyed to the needs of our economy, that allows vetted people to come and work here legally. so i look forward to the president's plan on that. because here's the thing today's world is deeply interconnected. migration, cyber threats, ai, environmental destruction, terrorism. one nation cannot face these issues alone. we need friends in all corners, and our safety depends on it. president trump loves to say peace through strength. that's actually a line he stole from ronald reagan. but let me tell you, after the spectacle

that just took place in the oval office last week, reagan must be rolling in his grave. we all want an end to the war in ukraine. but reagan understood that true strength required america to combine our military and economic might with moral clarity. and that scene in the oval office wasn't just a bad episode of reality tv. it summed up trump's whole approach to the world. he believes in cozying up to dictators like vladimir putin and kicking our friends like the canadians in the teeth. he sees american leadership as merely a series of real estate transactions as a cold war kid. i'm thankful it was reagan and not trump in office in the 1980s. trump would have lost us the cold war. donald trump's actions suggest that in his heart, he doesn't believe we're an exceptional nation. he clearly doesn't think we should lead the world. look, america is not perfect, but i stand with the majority of americans who believe we are still

exceptional, unparalleled. and i would rather have american leadership over chinese or russian leadership any day of the week. because for generations, america has offered something better. our security and our prosperity, yes, but our democracy, our very system of government, has been the aspiration of the world. and right now, it's at risk. it's at risk when the president decides you can pick and choose what rules you want to follow. when he ignores court orders and the constitution itself. or when elected leaders stand by and just let it happen. but it's also at risk when the president pits americans against each other, when he demonizes those who are different and tells certain people they shouldn't be included. because america is not just a patch of land between two oceans. we are more than that. generations have fought and died to secure the fundamental rights that define us. those rights and the fight for them make us who

we are. we're a nation of strivers, risk takers, innovators, and we are never satisfied. that is america's superpower. and look, i've lived and worked in many countries. i've seen democracies flicker out. i've seen what life is like when a government is rigged. you can't open a business without paying off a corrupt official. you can't criticize the guys in charge without getting a knock at the door in the middle of the night. so as much as we need to make our government more responsive to our lives today, i don't for one moment fool yourself that democracy isn't precious and worth saving. but how do we actually do that? i know a lot of you have been asking that question. first, don't tune out. it's easy to be exhausted. but america needs you now more than ever. if previous generations had not fought for this democracy, where would we be today? second, hold your elected officials, including me, accountable. watch how they're

voting. go to town halls and demand they take action. that's as american as apple pie. third, organize. pick just one issue you're passionate about and engage. and doom scrolling doesn't count. join a group that cares about your issue and act. and if you can't find one, start one. some of the most important movements in our history have come from the bottom up. in closing, we all know that our country is going through something right now. we're not sure what the next day is going to hold, let alone the next decade. but this isn't the first time we've experienced significant and tumultuous change as a country. i'm a student of history, and we've gone through periods of political instability before. and ultimately, we've chosen to keep changing this country for the better. but every single time, we've only gotten through those moments because of two things engaged citizens and principled leaders. engaged citizens who do a little bit

more than they're used to doing, to fight for the things that they care about. and principled leaders who are ready to receive the ball and do something about it. so thank you tonight for caring about your country just by watching you qualify as engaged citizens. and i promise that i, and my fellow democrats will do everything in our power to be the principal leaders that you deserve. good night everyone. >> elissa slotkin, the freshman senator from michigan, with the democratic response tonight. responses from the opposite party on the night of state of the union addresses are very difficult. that was one of the better ones that i have seen. look, she said, as a former cia officer, i've lived and worked in many countries. i've seen democracies flicker out. i've seen what life is like when a government is rigged. you can't open a business without paying off a corrupt official. you can't criticize the guy in charge without getting a knock on the door in the middle of the night. so as much as we need to make our government more responsive to our lives today, i don't for one moment fool yourself that democracy isn't

precious and worth saving. and then she ticks through a three part list of things people watching right now should do in order to stand up for their country very, very effectively communicated speech, i thought. jen. >> yeah. look, it's the worst assignment in politics. i think you avoid the call and then you always have to say yes, that's sort of what it is when you're doing that speech. that was about as good as it gets. i think in this moment i wrote down a couple of other things she said that i think could be good lines for democrats. i mean, americans made it clear prices are too high. that stuck out to me. and i wrote it down because that was something nobody wanted to admit leading up to the november election. and it was like not acknowledging what people were experiencing. and that's a lesson coming out of november. do his plans actually help people get ahead? that is pretty direct and straightforward. that's a good framing way to look at the question. i also think it's just to say something about elissa slotkin. there's often this question of do do democrats need to find a celebrity, somebody who's outside of politics, somebody who has 6 million tiktok followers? she's a mom

from michigan. i doubt she's on tiktok. she's just a pretty normal person who happens to be really smart and got elected to the senate. that's the kind of messaging that i think works. the other thing i would just say about the speech, because i think it flows into what she had to say, is, i think the speech i think democrats need to look at the speech. the volume is the point, as nicole was saying, right? volume and chaos and figuring out the whack a mole is the point. if i am them. i am looking at the social security sections of that speech. >> trump's speech. >> as of the trump speech. sorry to go back to the trump speech, and i am figuring out how to put that. that's not really a time for television ads, but put that out, respond on that, focus on the thing. you can oppose everything, he said. but you have to pick something. a thousand flowers cannot bloom, and the social security piece, especially given the former social security administrator, said this week that that program, they may not be able to make payments. they may not they may not make payments in the next 30 to 90 days. that's what he said. martin o'malley. so

there's a lot of backdrop here. if i'm them, that's what i pick. but i feel like overall tonight it's an opportunity for democrats to try out some material and see what works on the economy. >> yeah. michael, what did you think? >> it's always time for television ads. i if i if i'm the opposite party. there's so much of trump's speech that i would be canning for commercials that run tomorrow. i'd have my guys and gals working right now on the social security speech piece. on the ukraine piece. they're just nuggets you pull out because the, the trip is the narrative. and i want you to trip over my narrative because we've been tripping over yours. right? because you've been laying out as the president, you've been saying all this stuff tonight. we heard the president. i just wrote this down. this is a tale of american empire. because at the end of the day, he wants to run it all. he wants to rule it all. he wants to control it all. so it's a tale of american empire. what slotkin did was beautiful

because it was a tale of a working american family community and not getting lost in empire, but actually doing what we've always done from the very beginning. and that's creating with our hands and our minds and engaging the country. so those two narratives, you stand them up. i can tell you, sitting in this chair tonight, who would win that argument? >> are you telling me we're not going to get greenland one way or another? >> i'm sorry. >> you're telling. >> me as much as we want to deliver it to you right here, are you. >> not going to mention drill, baby? drill the line that. you you. >> you you. >> saddled us as a. >> people with. >> that national. >> energy emergency that we're not in. >> yeah, well, i shrinking shrinking in my chair on that one. but you know, again even the use of drill baby drill misses the mark. we are past that because we are leading already from what we're drilling. we are leading in production in the world. so, you know, we did it all right. but

the fact that you're still talking about it tells me at least you don't know what we've done. >> yeah. chris, just. >> this point about the sort of the problem of focus, which has been the problem that everyone's dealing with. we're all dealing with it every day. the democrats, that social security, i mean, what a tale that was. he's talking about social security in identical terms to the way he talked about voting in the run up to january 6th. it's exact same story. >> it's exact quote we're going to we're also identifying shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud in the social security program for our seniors, and that our seniors and people that we love rely on. believe it or not, believe it or not, government databases list 4.7 million social security. and then he starts going into this list of all things. and it's like the dead voters in pennsylvania. it's exactly the same. >> dead voters in pennsylvania. it's the same thing. >> yes. >> and the logic applies in the same way. what did that lead up to him. >> doing on. >> january 6th? right. and it

was it was laying the groundwork for an assault on the institutions of democracy. he's not spending 4 or 5 minutes of a speech listing in a pretty painful way, all of this supposed fraud, which is obviously nonsense, to not do anything with it. yeah, they're coming for it. he was telling you the two big takeaways. the headlines were trade war coming, social security. they're coming, they are coming, they are coming, they are coming. like yelling out omar's coming. well, there's two they are coming. >> two big lists. i mean, whenever you're giving a speech, right? i'm terrible at giving speeches. but the one thing that i know about giving a speech is don't have a list of numbers. >> oh my god. >> like, it's really hard. it's really painful to do. >> i was mad at his staff on his behalf for him, putting him in that situation. >> because you're just reading numbers, and it sounded great when you saw them on the page, but nobody else can see them. >> is for point. >> and so he's reading all these numbers, but he did it twice. yeah, he did it on social security, exactly as you're saying. and on the other place he did it was on usaid. yeah.

talking about what he has already illegally stopped altogether. >> right. so it's like. exactly. so why is he listing it? >> why is he listing it? he's listing it in the same way that he listed it for usaid to justify getting rid of it. they are justifying getting rid of social security by calling it a criminal enterprise. >> but the usaid list. >> was perfect. >> for his culture warriors because he picked program after program that he deems, and he didn't call it woke. they're woke. he found he found programs that he. thought had extreme titles in foreign countries and saying, we're cutting them. yeah, but even if they cut them legally or illegally, that's not enough money to balance the budget. just like if elon musk. less than 1%. >> of the. >> federal federal worker, that's 3 million workers, the same. >> number. >> of workers we had in the federal government in 1980. so when he says we ballooned the government, not when it comes to our federal workers. that's 5% of our budget. again, chump change. >> i'd just like to say, i think the old testament has something to say about whether

circumcision is woke. i just. want to. >> say. for the record. >> i like. >> this idea of like, well, how ridiculous. >> is this? well, that's. >> actually, i think, pretty. >> i got. >> a. >> long tradition. >> there wasn't circumcision. it was circumcision in burma that. was in mozambique. >> the issue, i mean, if you're going to talk about like being mad at his staff, like, i don't know if we're allowed to do that, but like to let him get to that part of the speech without telling him how to pronounce uganda. >> yeah. you know. >> what i mean. like he's speaking into a microphone. they know what's coming. they know he doesn't know how to say the word. and then he gets up there and he's, like, sounding his way through it like he's hooked on phonics. i mean, he's the president of the united states, and it's just humiliating to him. if he was capable of saying. >> people will think, cut that program. it's so much money. it's not. it's chump change. and if he really wanted to go after the deficit, it's social security, medicare, medicaid, which he's potentially cutting. >> the other thing here is just generally like in terms of the focus of the speech, one of the things that's emerging in early polling here, just as a sort of barometer, is that people he won

this election because people were frustrated with the economy. it's like that is where the marginal voter was. this was a very culture war speech. this was a very desantis speech. desantis, like, lost that primary for a reason. there's a reason he's the governor of florida, and not like he doesn't have higher office. and what people want is like, what are you doing about the economy? and that was relatively limited. there was a lot of the culture. >> war. explicitly blaming joe biden for the price of eggs is probably not going to cut it for that much longer. joining us now is one of the democrats who actually walked out of the speech tonight. florida democratic congressman maxwell frost. we saw him leave the house chamber. he took off his jacket. you could see the t shirt he was wearing over his dress shirt. it says, no kings live here. congressman frost, really appreciate you making time to be with us tonight. thank you. >> of course. thanks for having me on. >> tell us about the decision to wear that shirt and to walk out at the moment. you did. >> i think it's important for people to see that their leaders

understand that this is not a normal moment. we're in the middle of a billionaire administrative takeover and coup of our country, where they want to cut medicaid, cut social security, cut medicare, cut all the things that we fought for and earned in order to give tax breaks to billionaires and corporations. it's not a new story for this country, but it is the most overt i think, it's ever been. and so i, in the spirit of being a member, the congressional black caucus, but also coming from organizing, decided to do a walkout with a group of members wearing a message that not only, you know, the press could see, but that the president could see. he calls himself a king. but we're a country of no kings, especially when these kings want to do nothing for the people and take all the money and give it to themselves. that's exactly what donald trump wants to do. >> well, let me let me ask about that. the specificity of the message there. i mean, one of the issues that i think the country is sort of having a hard time calibrating, like getting a sense of like how how big is this? how different is this from

previous political confrontations we've had between people with different ideas about the way the government should run or what should we should be doing with our money? i think one of the things that people just can't grasp is the king idea, right? the king idea is not just the unitary presidency, right? it's not just about consolidating power over the executive branch. the idea of a king, which is what you had on your back of your shirt, is that you've got a unitary power, that the congress is decorative or beside the point, or could be abolished, and nothing would happen that the courts are decorative. the courts are there to essentially ratify what the ruler wants to do, and that the rule of law is really just the rule of the ruler. and the law can be dressed up to occasion, whatever it is he wants. is that the scale of threat to this country that you think we are literally up against, or is this a hyperbolic charge? >> it's not hyperbolic at all, and this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone. it is all in project 2025. donald trump is

the president, but he is also the speaker of the house. effectively, he has an entire republican congress that is allowing him to do whatever he wants. none of them utter a peep against what he's saying unless they're town halls are stormed and either they're running out or they say, maybe i disapprove a little bit, but donald trump has complete control over the republicans in congress. and so what the founders set out to do is have a congress and have a presidency that were co-equal branches of government checks on one another, checks and balances. but we don't have that right now. we have one person who runs the congress because he runs the entire majority. >> one of the things that we saw in the democratic response from senator slotkin was interesting choice. i'm not sure i've ever seen anything like this before. and you talk about your organizing background. she sort of raised the alarm a little bit along the lines that you were talking about tonight and then said, as a cia officer, which is her past, that she's seen democracies flicker out in other parts of the world. and then she

gave americans a list of things they can do to try to hold on to our democracy, talking about contacting their member of congress, joining groups that are working to try to hold on to our democracy, she said pointedly. if there is a group that you feel like is in your area or among people who you know is doing the work that you think ought to be ought to be done, you need to found that group. you need to start that yourself. very pointed organizing message from a member of congress who's not thought of as a real radical. i wonder if that if i get your reaction to that, and if you had anything to add in terms of what you think people within the sound of your voice ought to be doing right now, given the dire prospects that you see for the country. >> i had a town hall about a week and a half ago when we put out the link, within four hours of one email, we had over 600 rsvp. and at this standing room only town hall, there was the message was clear from everybody, two things they wanted to learn about how serious and dire the situation is, and two, they wanted to be

put to work. and as someone who comes from a organizing background, march for our lives and other organizations, it is a gold mine. when the people contact you and say, what can i do? you know, i come from, you know, i come from going to people and knocking on their doors and begging them to volunteer, begging them to get involved. and now the people are saying, put us to work. we want to fight for our democracy, for our country, for medicare, for medicaid, for programs that help and that working people have earned. and so i think it is important to make sure people know that the united states, our democracy can break. we can lose it if we don't defend it. and fascism and authoritarians, they gain power when there is no opposition. that's part of the reason i told people, you have to make the decision. are we the minority or are we the opposition? because i do believe in authoritarian can take hold when it's just a minority. but when there's a strong opposition, we can fight it back and we can come back stronger than ever. and so i agree with giving people something to do. but first off, you got to

explain to people how serious the situation is. >> congressman maxwell frost, one of a number of democrats who did not make it through the speech tonight, left in the middle of the president's remarks. congressman, i really appreciate you joining us tonight and being with us. it's always a pleasure to have you. >> thanks for having me on. >> all right. i should mention i gave you a list a little bit earlier on about the democrats who we know did walk out during the speech, other than the initial confrontation that happened basically, right, as president trump started speaking and that was congressman al green, and they sort of performatively summoned the sergeant at arms to escort him out. very dramatic moment there. a number of other democrats walked out during the speech. they include maxwell frost, who we just spoke with. also, ayanna pressley, jasmine crockett, maxine dexter from maryland, andrea salinas from oregon, ilhan omar, pramila jayapal, excuse me, melanie stansbury from new mexico, jamie raskin

from maryland, who we spoke with earlier this evening, zoe lofgren from california, who is a member of the january 6th investigation. also, at least two democratic u.s. senators left the room, senator chris van hollen and senator bernie sanders. one of the things that we have all been most looking forward to hearing tonight and checking in on is the reaction to the president's speech tonight from the four fired federal workers, four very impressive people who jacob soboroff is with tonight in washington. he watched the speech with them. we told him that we'd come back to him after the speech and after the democratic response, to get the reaction of those four federal workers to what they heard tonight. really looking forward to hearing this. we're going to have that right on the other side of this break. stay with side of this break. stay with us. pronamel clinical enamel strength can help us to keep our enamel for a lifetime. it's backed by science it is clinically proven to strengthen our teeth.

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premiums and prescriptions will cost more. because the math on his proposals doesn't work without going after your health care. meanwhile, for those keeping score, the national debt is going up, not down. and if he's not careful, he could walk us right into a recession. >> welcome back to our msnbc special coverage of the president's speech to congress tonight, the sort of not state of the union and the democratic response from senator elissa slotkin. over to you. >> let's check back in with. >> our own. >> jacob soboroff, who has been speaking with four fired federal workers in washington, d.c. jacob, i'm guessing tonight those workers had a different experience watching the president than they have in previous speeches. >> yeah, they sure did. steph. and i have to say, it was really an extraordinary experience to spend time with these four really remarkable individuals for people that weren't watching earlier in the broadcast. i want to reintroduce them to you all very briefly, starting here in the lower right hand part of your screen. it's nichelle nichols, who was fired from the

u.s. digital service, which was the precursor to d.o.j. >> to her. >> left is alex taylor, who was fired from the u.s. geological survey behind alex. jesus murillo fired from hud, and katherine steele was fired from the u.s. forest service. i want to ask a broad question first. it might sound cheeky, but i really do mean it. sincerely. does anybody feel like they understand better why they were fired after watching the speech tonight? nobody. no. okay. jesus, let me start with you here. you. i said before you were a presidential management fellow. this is a very elite program within the federal government to bring in the best and the brightest. the entire program has been terminated after 48 years under democratic and republican presidents. when president trump said about the federal. >> bureaucracy. >> my administration will. >> reclaim power from. >> this unaccountable bureaucracy. it bugged you in a particular way. how come? >> well, i think for. >> myself. >> being a presidential management fellow, this is a 100%, you know, merit based program. people coming in are, you know, taking.

>> jobs that have. >> lesser pay. they want to serve the american public. and for you to, you know, blanket statements saying the entire bureaucracy is untamed and, you know, doesn't have any tethering to anything. >> i mean, look at us. we're everyday. >> average americans that just want to serve the american public, and we're not allowed to do that. >> and you said a large portion of your time was actually responding to congressional inquiries about whether or not the money was being spent appropriately in the case of the housing and urban development department. >> absolutely. we were responding to over 4000 inquiries. and keep in mind, like, these are people we're working with congressional staffers saying, hey, how can we support you? hey, how can we offer assistance to make sure your grantees, the people on the ground, are getting the funding that they need? >> and just to reiterate, so what you're saying is the trump administration canceled the presidential management fellows program. he talked about dei, but this was a merit based program. >> when we're in the application process, we're not allowed to give any identifying information is 100% merit based. all right, catherine. >> let's talk about the us forest service. correct me if i'm wrong, but the only time we heard anything about public

lands was when president trump renamed a national wildlife refuge in texas to honor the victim of a killing by an undocumented immigrant. we didn't hear anything about federal lands otherwise, did we? >> no. despite the fact that over 350 protests and rallies took place at national parks and national forest offices this past saturday, and thousands of people attended to speak out for our public lands and for the people who serve them. i'm shocked that nothing came of that. and in addition, an executive order was signed that same day on saturday that opened up our public lands to unsustainable timber harvesting. >> i don't think it's an exaggeration to say that it didn't seem like wild lands. the land management agencies were even on the radar of the president in the speech at all. >> no, i would absolutely agree with that. >> let's talk about you were at the us digital service, the precursor to doge. but one of your main focuses was on making

the immigration system, including the enforcement system, more efficient. and the president touted all these accomplishments that he said were accomplishments about immigration, but deportations, closing the border. the part that i watched you react to most strongly was when he said, the media and our friends in the democrat party keep saying we need new legislation, we must have legislation to secure the border. but it turned out that all we really needed was a new president. what bugged you so much about that? >> i think the demonization of immigrants in the speech today was as disappointing as it was frightening. and the thing that bothered me is it's a multifaceted approach that we need to attack the immigration problem. and it's been an issue over multiple presidents. >> which. >> you yourself have been working on in terms of efficiency. >> definitely part. of it are legislative fixes, but the other part are really process and tech improvements. and by getting rid of the subject matter experts that do this work for decades and the people who have the tech capabilities, and then more importantly, the trust that you build between agencies to

actually align and prioritize this work is really, really difficult to see. you can gut something in five minutes, but to get the apparatus back up and running, that might take five years. so it was really disappointing to see some of those comments. >> for a very brief moment. and rachel referenced this earlier. you worked for doge because the us digital service became doge. and when the president said that he has saved, i want to make sure i get this right. hundreds of billions of dollars. your reaction was you just you shook your head. >> yeah. i think as we've seen before. a lot of those savings that they have touted have been slowly removed as people see some of that discrepancy in the numbers. and i think it's really important for people to go back, keep checking the website and hold those accountable for the things that they are and aren't doing. >> all right. and let's go to alex taylor who's our geologist again in the group. we heard president trump talk about something. you work worked excuse me directly on which was critical earth minerals. he said

that he was, quote, expanding critical minerals and rare earths. but he fired you. that's what you were working on? >> yeah, i, i supported. >> active research projects on identifying sources of critical minerals in the us domestically. it bothers me that he's more interested in engaging in neocolonialism to get minerals from other countries, rather than supporting the scientists and the researchers who are aiding the minerals industry here in america. >> you're talking about greenland. >> and ukraine. >> you also were particularly seemed annoyed by the statement that he made about thousands of federal workers not showing up to the office, because the work that you do and your colleagues do at the u.s. geological survey is not done in the office. it's largely done in the field. >> i for many people, yes, the usgs. >> is the most prestigious. >> earth science research institution in the world, and we've been at the office this whole time. we do work in laboratories at the office, but lots of people are in the field every day. we monitor. >> the. >> nation's waterways. we

monitor earthquakes, volcanoes and other hazards. we study ecosystems. so our office is our nation's lands. >> it's it really is a profound honor to have spent this time with you guys. and again, i just want to say, for me personally and behalf on behalf of, i'm sure, so many people that are watching, really sorry about the situation that you guys are in and really wishing you guys all the best. thank you guys very much. steph, back over to you. >> jacob, thank you so much. what an impressive group of people. and just juxtapose that with the way both the president and elon musk talk in such derogatory terms about just the general federal government workforce. >> also, just like what just what an impressive group of people, right? i mean, from all the different places that i've ever worked in my life, like having a group of four colleagues that was that impressive and credentialed and articulate. it would. >> be, it. >> would. >> be, it would be. >> almost like working here. >> i would. >> just. >> point out all four of those

people. >> with their. expertise could make more money in the private sector and have chosen not to. >> yeah, well, and they've just been insulted and told that their low productivity. it's just it's insane. >> i mean, i live in the dc area. everybody thinks that every federal worker is in the dc area. 80% of federal workers are outside of the dc area. and this is, i think, something people in the country are learning that these are your postal workers. these are the people who are working at fbi offices who are keeping your community safe. they're the faa workers who are making sure you can fly safely on the airlines. they're people who are working at the va. it is not a bunch of i love government bureaucrats, but it's not a bunch of government bureaucrats. it is a bunch of people working in communities. and i think people are hopefully learning that. but that's an important part of this to understand. >> i should mention that joining us now is msnbc senior contributing editor and the founding director of the race card project. michele norris. michelle, i just got to get your reaction to both what you've seen tonight in terms of these speeches, but also what you've been hearing in terms of your

reporting. >> well, just what you were saying about the workers. you know, when you see elon musk with that big blinged out red chainsaw, you know, it's not just that they are firing people, that they're doing it in such an ignominious manner. they're doing it with glee. yeah. you know, and it just it is just wrong in the way that they're doing this. i was struck by a couple of things. i do believe that we're going to see them go after social security. you know, they asked the bank robber, why did you go to the bank? well, because that's where the money is. yeah. and in order for them to get to these numbers, they're probably going to look at social security. and that's an opportunity for the democrats to message to people. and, you know, is your mom okay? is your family okay? i spent a good time texting with people who work with farmers because i decided to focus on one thing. they work with farmers in minnesota, illinois and iowa, and they were very upset, you know, by this and the tariffs, the farmers are going to get hit very hard in this. they got hit last time in the trade war with china. they barely recovered last time. we're talking about

big numbers hundreds of millions of dollars. some of the people who are involved in direct to consumer farming, organic farming will probably do okay, but commodity farmers are going to get hit really hard. the usaid program, they grow sorghum, they grow barley, they grow wheat, they grow. and that's those secondary markets are very important to them. and not just through the food for peace program, but also just selling. you know, a third of the corn grown in illinois goes to mexico. and mexico will likely look for other sources. they'll look to south america. pork and soybean go to china. so this is going to have a direct impact. and what i'm hearing from people is a level of disrespect. you know, you said it on truth social. he said it tonight. this is going to be great for the farmers. go and have fun. first of all. >> have fun. >> he literally if you ever spent any time on a farm, there are great pride in what they do. but it's not fun. and i just want to say one thing about the pride, because that's one of the things that i know in the time that i have personally spent on farms, for the farmers who are involved in the usaid program,

it is a source of income for them, but it is also a source of pride and dignity. when you travel throughout the midwest in places like kansas and illinois, you've seen this. when you've been out on the campaign trail, they will have signs on the side of the farms that say, we feed the world. that is how they see themselves. and he does not understand that. he doesn't respect that aspect of their work. and i don't think and one of the things i heard today fro, from someone i was talking to in minnesota, said that they don't think that he respects them as entrepreneurs, as businessmen. and that's essentially what farmers are. they're businessmen, and he's messing with their money. >> so his uniquely. trumpian stupidity about. >> farming. >> because he. >> knows the farmers. >> are going to. >> suffer very quickly. >> on retaliatory tariffs. >> he said to them, you can. >> just sell. >> your products. in the united states. >> no competition. >> all of donald trump's. >> lifetime and before the. united states of america has. >> produced more food. >> than it can eat. >> if we eat all day, we cannot. >> eat that food.

>> and the farmer knows the grain farmers. especially commodity. >> farmers, as you put. >> it, know that they need. those foreign. >> markets, which. >> donald trump is now cutting off to them in. that buffoon of a president thinks they can just sell it to us. >> i literally. >> laughed at that line. >> tomatoes and avocados? yes. you know, i laughed. minnesota, right? >> i laughed. >> that line because. >> i was like, buddy, do. >> you know how much soy you're talking about? he does. >> he does so. >> much soy. >> he has no idea. >> there's also i mean, it's the usaid cuts. it's the tariffs. in between are the programs like the usda programs that have been cut, these supposedly wasteful government programs and contracts that elon musk and his team of interns are cutting. in new england, where i live most of the time. i mean, what we're seeing is small to medium scale farmers who have done projects that they signed up with usda to do that are improvement projects for their land and for farming techniques that are something the u.s. government wants to invest in in order to make the

most out of our farming capability and our ag capability. and they've done those things, whether it's fencing or soil amendments or something with their dairy herds, they've they've done these things. they are out. these are small farmers, you know, family farms that are out tens of thousands of dollars or in some cases six figures. and that money has been cut off. they've they've spent it. and because they were told they'd be reimbursed and now they're not. and these places are not going to make it to june. they're not going to make it to a harvest season. with the way that this stuff has been done. and there is no fixing it. there isn't undoing these these programmatic savings, which they did with their, you know, blinged out chinese chainsaw with all the glee in the and all of the insult along with the injury. >> you know, conspicuously missing from the trump speech tonight was the a promise not to touch social security, medicare or medicaid. >> he has done that in interviews whenever challenged. >> it's a really good point.

>> very specifically. >> didn't do it tonight. and the last. >> person to give that speech, which was joe biden, a year ago. >> in what. >> was the best state of the union. >> address i've ever seen, especially because of. >> the. >> quick ad libs. those ad libs. >> were about that subject. the republicans in the audience got very upset when joe biden said they wanted to cut social. >> security, medicare and medicaid. that's when they started. >> yelling at him, and that's when he made. >> them promise. >> right there, live. >> in the room. that they wouldn't do it. he made. >> the deal with them not to do it. >> that didn't come up. and what donald trump probably doesn't know about. >> social security is the only way you can cut social security. there's only one. way you have to take money away from recipients. there is no other use of social security money. medicare. you can cut hospital reimbursement rates. medicaid, you can cut hospital reimbursement rates. >> social security. >> it's money you take away from individuals. >> well, the last two. >> hour. >> speech given by a president about social security was elon

musk four days ago to joe rogan when he called it a ponzi scheme. >> now, one thing i will say, if you're watching this right now, you would be well advised to go to the social security site and print out your earnings. >> because everybody has their own account at social security, you can access it through the website. >> and how. >> long is that website going to last? >> well. >> that's why i say. >> do it now. >> our special coverage of this big night continues in just a moment. stay with us here on dangerous ladders. gutter muck. moment. stay with us here on msnbc. yuck. no wonder you hate cleaning your gutters. good thing there's leaffilter. our patented filter technology keeps leaves and debris out of your gutters forever. guaranteed. call 833- leaffilter to get started. and get the permanent gutter solution that ends clogs for good. they took the time to answer all of our questions. they really put us at ease. end clogged gutters for good. call 833.leaf.filter, or visit leaffilter.com today.

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