judy: charlie sykes sees this moment as particularly painful for his home state. wisconsin has a long tradition of being a laboratory of democracy. and now to see us falling into this hole, it's disturbing, because it feels as if dysfunction is the new normal, and no one knows where it's going. here in wisconsin, these are decent people. people who actually care about their neighbors. and so you just have to have a confidence in the underlying decency of people becoming disgusted with what's happening with politics. pbs newshour nine judy woodruff but i'm not sure we are there yet. judy: for the "pbs newshour" i'm judy woodruff in milwaukee. geoff: chicago voters head to the polls tomorrow for a final ance to cast ballots in the mayor's race. county commissioner brandon johnson is facing off against former chicago public schools ceo paul vallas. both of them beat a crowded field of nine candidates, including incumbent mayor lori lightfoot. the twcandidates offer a stark choice for voters as they weigh issues such as crime, public safety and education. following th

judy: charlie sykes is a longtime political commentator in wisconsin.e a conservative talk sho host, he founded the center-right news and opinion site, “the bulwark.” >> good morning, welcome to the bulwark podcast, it is monday. i think that in the last decade or so, wisconsin has felt like it is the ground zero for a lot of the issues that we have in american politics. and maybe the polarization that we see nationally was was foreshadowed here in wisconsin. >> it's really scary because there's so much on the line. judy: 25-year-old sydney lee has lived in milwaukee her whole life. she's been canvassing and making calls in support of protasiewicz. >> we have a lot of issues that are becoming partisan, but really they're human issues. and human issues should never be a partisan thing. and because it is so polarizing, we need somebody who's equitable and janet is equitable. judy: among those 'human' issues, lee says, are lgbtq and abortion rights especially after the u.s. supreme court's overturning of roe v. wade last year. >> i'm a black queer woman an

street journal we also a former florida congresswoman val demings an msnbc political contributor, charlie sykesy are all bac as well. so charlie, donald trump's campaign claims to have gotten $4 million in donations and th day after we learned of hi indictment right we keep seeing the, numbers we saw the republican apparatus defended him after tha indictment came out. but these may not be the onl indictments that we see before the republican primaries are over at what point the republican voters even say that you kno these things made donald trump too weak of a candidate, too much fanfare >> well we don't know, tha what we do know is that in the short run republican voter like donald trump even more. his lead in the polls is actually gone up and the republican base. and although it is early, we may have indictments comin down from georgia, the department of justice. i think it's pretty obvious, what the republican apparatu and republican elites will do. they just cannot quit donald trump. they are all, in defending him against listened that mean that they have not seen and think that is going t

i mean, charlie sykes, it's hard to think of pence as a victim of the circumstances, right he was so willing to take that job. he campaigned for the job. but on this day he is a victim of intended violence for him the mission statement of the insurrection was to, quote, hang mike pence i want to read what he writes. the fact that abby grossberg's lawyer said that some of the reportings that pick up ted cruz have been potentially of interest to jack smith i want to ask if this sounds different to you this is from mike pence's book about his last days with donald trump. early on new year's day, the phone rang texas representative louie gomer and another republicans filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to declare i had exclusive authority and sole discretion to decide which votes count i don't want him to oppose the gomer suit the president said. i told him i did oppose it if it gives you the power, why would you oppose it? i told him i didn't believe i possessed that power under the constitution you're too honest, he said hundreds of thousands are going to hate your guts. people are

in the outcome, and the feel, for what it's impacting ron desantis' campaign >> gabe gutierrez, charlie sykes for being with us. "chris jansing reports" will start in a moment, and thanks to you, this is "andrea mitchell reports" on mitchell reports on twitter. ♪ >>> good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. making simple mistakes is part of who we are as people. it's called being human. so why are more and more people getting shot for making them three incidents, three victims all in less than a week. the latest happening less than 36 hours ago in

it is pretty gross robert gibbs and charlie sykes thank you both for being her tonight. come back, donald trum wants to spare new yorkers the traffic headache of him bein here that is is excuse for not goin to his civil arraignment trial next week. the judge is not buying it plus new movement in his other investigations, when the 11t hour continues multiple legal cases involving former president donald trum are heating up tonight in ne york a judge refused to allow trump to make a special excuse tutors for his absence and the a. g. carroll civil trial. one of his top legal advisers, who is been with him for years was interviewed tonight by prosecutors. in just a -- special counsel jack smith's office special reporter for the new york times joins us now. we have seen trump's lawyers get question before, but why i barr so critical why is he so interesting >> he has been withdrawn for s long and has been with him during moments that is extremely important the specia counsel. after the election after trump was trying to manufactur reasons why you might have won they are the

joining us now, gabe gutierrez and charlie sykes.abe, to you the governor is hitting back at disney, which sued him he is aligning closely with israel at a con ttroversial tim, with benjamin netanyahu's very difficult plan that divided the country. the facts are, according to steven rattner, that a number of other major industries or tourist attractions in florida have the same special provisions, and that in return for the so-called tax break, disney provides all of the utilities, all of the other supplies and roads and electricity and everything else that takes place within that district, as does the daytona speedway and other places. >> yeah. this is something that governor desantis is doubling down on even when i asked him this morning about disney on this foreign trip, sfil till answerig questions about it he does view it as a -- as what he has been describing all along. he says that this business should not enjoy specific privileges that other businesses don't enjoy. however, i asked him -- he is on this overseas trip he is cot

i want to bring in nbc's ali vitali who's on the road in iowa, charlie sykes is editor at large for theulwark, and an msnbc contributor. some republicans are trying to sound the alarm. congresswoman nancy mace said earlier this week that what her party is missing comes down to compassion and common sense, but why aren't we hearing that more from more republicans? >> well, because they're trapped by their base. i talked to some legislators here in wisconsin after the supreme court election last week, and they're really concerned, they said, unless we get the abortion issue right, we're never going to win a statewide election but every time they try to come up with a compromise solution or even something modest like accepting cases of rape and incest, they push back against a very militant base that has decided that they want it all right now, that they want to be at ramming speed and in the states where they have super majorities, there is that cry, you know, if not now, then when? if we have the majority, we should use it to push the purest possible piece of legislation. so what you hav

it is pretty gross robert gibbs and charlie sykes thank you both for being her tonight.e back, donald trum wants tospare new yorkers th traffic headache of him bein here that is is excuse for not goin to his civil arraignment trial next week. the judge is not buying it plus new movement in his other investigations, when the 11t hour continues tide is busting laundry's biggest myth... that cold water can't clean. cold water, on those stains? ♪♪ cold water can't clean tough stains? i'd say that myth is busted. turn to cold, with tide. (wheezing) asthma isn't pretty. it's the moment when you realize that a good day... is about to become a bad one. but then, i remembered that the world is so much bigger than that, with trelegy. because one dose a day helps keep my asthma symptoms under control. and with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy helps improve lung function so i can breathe easier for a full 24 hours. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. trelegy contains a medicine that increases risk of hospitalizations and death from asthma problems

founder of the conservative website, the bulwark, charlie sykes. and co-founder of "axios," mike allen. >>> the president wrapped up his trip in ireland, which is where joe is now before he left, he spoke to thousands, talking about the relationship between the u.s. and ireland, and about his own personal ties to the area, saying ireland isn't just a part of his family history, but also a part of his soul as i said, joe is still in ireland this morning, in belfast now, having spent the weekend interviewing key architects of the good friday agreement, including, well, president biden, former president bill clinton, former secretary of state hillary clinton, former british prime minister tony blair, and thepresident i president jerry adams. what have you been hearing after this historic peace accord >> well, the trip lining up with the good friday agreement, it was something that, 25 years ago, the whole world was shocked. these sides that hated each other, that had spent over 30, 40 years killing each other, actually decided to lay down their arms a

charlie sykes is also back he's editor-at-large of bull w bulwark. and an msnbc contributor mr.hrash, let me start with you, alvin bragg doing what no others really took the formal step of doing. alvin bragg was harassed for the prosecutors and mccabe was harassed, ran out of his job jim comey was harassed alvin bragg suing top trump ally jim jordan >> there is a lot of back and forth going on i think one of the extraordinary elements of this is the fact that bragg seems to have gotten, according to the court filing, a thousand threats from his office from mr. trump and some of his supporters you know, and jordan is intending to have a hearing in new york next week, i believe, maybe at the javits center, is the report i've heard. with really the same intent that marjorie taylor greene had on the day of the arraignment, to counterprogram and to sort of, in their view, take the fight into the democrats' hornet's nest and i think what bragg is doing here is attempting to let mr. jordan and other people know that you can't really come on to their turf in new york city and get away w

we appreciate it. >> i want to go to charlie sykes. charlie, you know, i had somebody call me yesterday and say, "well, you know, you look at wisconsin, and that seems to be -- you put that in the good silo that's where we're going in the right direction. you look at tennessee, that shows where this country is going in the wrong direction actually, the two go together. it's just what we talked about this is a republican party that is so radically disassociated from where the middle of america is, where middle class americans are, where middle america is, where the midwest is, where the upper midwest is, where swing voters, independent voters, wisconsin, pennsylvania, michigan, georgia, arizona, every place that counts. i guarantee you all those voters see this, and they go, "my god, they're not even pretending they're not bigots they're not pretending anymore they're kicking these people out because they were upset about 9-year-old girls being slaughtered in a christian schoolhouse. i think the two go together, charlie. i think wiscons

joining me is juanita tolliver, and charlie sykes, editor at large of the bulwark and msnbc contributorppears the one rule in florida is that you must not ever disagree with desantis. >> bow down and bow down publicly is what he wants. and i feel like every day he's stepping further and further into that moniker of fascist desantis. he's showing all these authoritarian behaviors but what's sickening about the tallahassee elected official is that he has his minions out there monitoring individuals, monitoring local elected officialsering reporting back, because this is all based on one person reporting from an extremist groups known as moms for liberty. >> basically, charlie, he's tricing to force not just companies but individuals to do exactly what he says, when he says it, or he will use the government to punish you. that's literally a violation of the first amendment. let me quote the great ted boutros, a brilliant attorney, who said disney has put together a powerful complaint. disney's first amendment arguments are extremely strong. desantis has admitted, indeed bragged about retal

in the outcome, and the feel, for what it's impacting ron desantis' campaign >> gabe gutierrez, charlie sykes, robert gibbs, thanks for being with us. "chris jansing reports" will start in a moment, and thanks to you, this is "andrea mitchell reports" on mitchell reports on twitter. ♪ >>> good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. making simple mistakes is part of who we are as people. it's called being human. so why are more and more people getting shot for making them three incidents, three victims all in less than a week. the latest happening less than 36 hours ago in texas. we've got the latest on all of them coming up >>> plus, ron desantis' bid to make a splash in washington barely made a ripple now with red flags for the campaign piling up the governor heads to south carolina but the poll just as tough by donald trump beating him by 20 points >>> and fox news is on the hook for that $800 million settlement no question, it's a hit to their bottom line, but will it change the way they do business >>> but, we start with this, in a country where guns outnumber

. >> charlie sykes, we're going to talk to you later this morning on "morning joe.." >> up next, on "rmer president is expected to travel today ahead of this historic arraignment >>> plus, we'll take a live look at the destruction in indiana after a string of deadly tornadoes blew across parts of the south and midwest over the weekend. >>> also ahead, emmy, amgrmy and tony award winner billy porter is a guest won't want to miss that. "morning joe" is just a few moments away there's nothing 'small' about them. that's why at t-mobile for business... you'll save more than $1,000 versus verizon. and with price lock guarantee, we'll never raise your rate plan. so you can keep your focus on toe-turns and making sure the sauce is extra spicy. at t-mobile, there are no small businesses. ♪♪ if you're turning 65 soon or over 65 and planning to retire... now's the time to learn more about an aarp medicare supplement insurance plan from unitedhealthcare and get help protecting yourself from the out-of-pocket costs medicare doesn't pay. because the time to prepare is before you go on medicare. don

that's the base of the party at this point charlie sykes, thank you very much >>> up next, a refreshingkarmic justice, and that is today's events, with yu yusef salaam liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. with the money we saved, we tried electric unicycles. i think i've got it! doggy-paddle! only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ (wheezing) asthma isn't pretty. it's the moment when you realize that a good day... is about to become a bad one. but then, i remembered that the world is so much bigger than that, with trelegy. because one dose a day helps keep my asthma symptoms under control. and with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy helps improve lung function so i can breathe easier for a full 24 hours. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. trelegy contains a medicine that increases risk of hospitalizations and death from asthma problems when used alone. when this medicine is used with an inhaled corticosteroid, like in trelegy, there is not a significant increased risk of these events

this is a long way charlie sykes, i'll go to you. the kicker here is, "wall street journal" editorial page, for i think the second time in three weekday editions, are telling republicans, you've got abortion wrong. you're going too extreme on abortion it is going to keep costing you elections. here, they say, courts should stay out of what the fda does. regulating drugs isn't the business of the courts any more than abortion is "wall street journal" editorial page char e charlie, i come to you first, only because i know your experience is like mine. you probably live with or are surrounded by, go to the grocery store and see, go everywhere you go, and see trump voters, republicans, that's everywhere i go man, the last two, three, four weeks, what ma massive change i've hearing it from family, from friends, from everybody a sheer exhaustion with trump. but i think what shocks me even more is, this abortion issue, people have called themselves pro life their entire lives, are now saying, "yeah, pro life but. especially the women, "pro

founder of the conservative web site the bulwark, charlie sykes, it's what we say every day, right?y, they're losing the suburbs of milwaukee, and it's hard not to look at this race, which everybody knew on both sides, one of the most important races in wisconsin's recent history, and the most expensive and yet the republican-supported candidates got trounced by 11 points, and charlie, it just seems the trend lines keep breaking against trump republicans. >> yes, that result is stunning, i mean, in wisconsin, everything is close, elections are decided by 20,000 votes, this one decided by 200,000 votes, and steve's analysis was brilliant he put his fingers on all the major trends, including my home county of ozaki county i'm speaking to you from the w.o.w. counties, and to watch these counties go from overwhelmingly republican to just barely republican is really quite extraordinary. in wakashaw, he only got about 58%. this is, look, we can over analyze this, but this is the trump effect and the dobs bs effect and the trend lines are very clear it's not just in the suburbs of milwauke

. >> let's bring in charlie sykes.s, pennsylvania voters, independents, swing voters, the people who decide who wins elections every two and four years you look at this poll. 60% of independents support the indictment of donald trump every demographic group supports the indictment of donald trump not great news for mar-a-lago this morning >> no, not good news for the republican party, which has decided once again it's going to embrace trump as closely as possible as i was watching one republican after another bow the knee to donald trump, watching the entire republican establishment come to his defense, i have to say if i can quote one of my favorite bible verses, as a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool returns to its folly. >> oh my god. >> here we have the republican party once again going back all in on donald trump even though the evidence continues to mount and they know it he's politically toxic in 2024 it's one thing for this to be a big boost in the primary, but now republicans have made it very clear that the

join ing us is charlie sykes an ben rhodes still with us i gotta ask, let's start here. of the republican party know the republican party. tell me -- >> used to >> what world -- in what world is it good politics for a republican man aspiring to the presidency to be attacking the biggest private mrour of the state and the pure have aers of the mickey mouse >> in no world that i know ron desantis is desperate to be thought of as a fighter. somebody -- i'm your retribution, donald trump said ron desantis wants to imitate that the problem is, he picks lousy fights he picks epically stupid fights. you not only pick one of the state's biggest employers, one of the state's biggest economic out.in a fight seriously. go google thisn santis is fight disney about what? at this point it has become about the fight. it's become about showing that ron desantis has titanium gonads as opposed to anything else. it's another indication that he is not ready for primetime and he lacks the instincts he is going through the motions that he thinks will endear him with maga. but he is picking fi

our friend charlie sykes wrote this war crimes, genocide, murder, not something thefrontrun frontrunnered trump's wild rides or anything that's on fox news but in covering the tennessee republicans, in covering the restrictive bans on abortion, covering the 400 voter suppression laws, it's important to know they are not burping out random policies. they are following their leader, who is following the world's most heinous authoritarians. we showed you that to show you just how dangerous his rhetoric is as applied from the top to the bottom at the national, state and local level of the republican party in america. it's that message and that firm embrace, no dog whistles, top of the line, these people are top of the line, they are at the top of their game, literally no one in hollywood is good enough to play them in the movie what movie that is the message the party is getting from their leader. we know how indebted they are to him. it's no surprise they are moving away from democratic norms, not just american democratic norms but the world's democracies have a set of norms republicans ar