and one of those people's judge michael luttig. judge luttig is a former federal appeals court judge who was at his home in bail, colorado, it again with his wife on january the 4th 2021. when you got a phone call from his old friend richard cullen. calling out the time was serving as outside counsel to then vice president mike pence, called it all the. time that was normal. this particular phone call was not. they called john eastman a former -- four luttig that trump had the authority to block the certification of electors, and around the election in trump's favor. . looted was shocked to hear that eastman was just such a thing. lieutenant justin eastman is a constitutional scholar. but he told, colin quote, you can tell the vice president that i said he had no such authority at all. and quote. such authority at all anby early next, morning january the 5th, things had escalated. luttig got another urgent call from richard cohen saying, quote, can you help the vice president? we need you to say simply publicly. we need to get your

one of those people was judge michael luttig, this man, from now and former federal appears judge, atonservative. two days before the insurrection, he took a call from then vice president mike pence is outside counsel asking for his help. what he did next might have helped save democracy. i will talk to judge michael luttig at two more atm eastern, he has another warning for the future of american democracy. before that, you have to tune into the cross connection with tiffany cross at 10 am today, she joins me now. tiffany, you and i were talking on the breakup of the debate last night, the senate debate between rafael more knock and herschel walker. it is wild stuff. we know what herschel walker's, about every time you see him again on tv pulling his police badge out, i don't know how to make sense of it when i watch herschel walker talk. >> i don't know how to make sense of it either, ali, the funny thing is, you wonder if these debates have sway on voters. this is 6% of georgia voters are undecided, i wonder if that is true. i think the debates are more for people like us who consu

we are honored to have as part of our team judge j michael luttig. he is a legal scholar and judge. and frankly has brought a levelheadedness to the conversation within our legal team and making sure we put our best foot forward. >> thank you and thank you allison and thank you common cause. a special thank you who took the time to join us here today. this is perhaps one of the most complicated cases ever to come before the court. which is to say there -- very few lawyers even understand the issues at this point. let alone -- there will be very few constitution lawyers who have a full understanding of the issues better presented as kathy said, this is the single most important case on american democracy in the nation's history. since the founding almost 50 years ago, let me explain why i say that. it's very simple if i can succeed and simply explaining it. our american democracy is a process by which we the people choose our elected reps into tips who will represent us in our interest and our views in the federal government. physically in the congress of united states and then execu

. >> we have a conversation tomorrow morning with michael luttig about that. mike pence is outside with mike alluded to say that the vice president needs a reason to not go ahead with what donald trump is saying and michael luttig stays with a handful of people who stood between very bad things happening in democracy prevailing. barbara, thank you so much for being with us this, morning robin mcquade is a former united states attorney in michigan, professor at the university michigan office cool in an msnbc legal analyst. at the top of the, hour i will speak to the former impeachment minister, representative stacey plaskett, and she will try to connect the dots between the midterms, and why this is a crucial moment for democracy. plus, paying for your lives, alex jones has been ordered to pay nearly billion dollars to the sandy hook victims. what effect will that have another dangerous conspiracy paddlers. for women, for life, and for liberty. revolution is in the, air i have an open letter to the brave women of iran next on velshi. o velshi r? downy in-wash s

coming up at the top of the hour, my incredibly important conversation with judge michael luttig who to look at how to tweet but knew exactly how to save democracy. personalization do not want to mess with somebody working the frontlines in ukraine helping children who are affected by russia's war. 's war can help you grow and protect your wealth, even when you're not working. they'll look at your full financial picture and help you create a flexible strategy designed to balance growth potential and guaranteed income. so you can stop worrying about the future and enjoy the life you've created. that's the planning effect. from fidelity. if you're loud, be louder. that's the planning effect. if you stand out, stand strong. and if you got the devil on your shoulder... take him for a ride. it's the subway series menu! 12 irresistible subs... like #11 subway club. piled with turkey, ham and roast beef. this sub isn't slowing down any time soon. i'll give it a run for its money. my money's on the sub. it's subway's biggest refresh yet. [coughing] hi, susan. honey. yeah. i respect that. but

i should note that a very prominent retired conservative federal judge michael luttig just yesterdaywrote a piece in the atlantic, such a doctrine would be antithetical to the framer's intend and the text fundamental design of the architecture of the constitution. what do you want people to know about that and the theory. >> he said this is the most important case maybe that the supreme court has about american democracy and in its 250 year history. >> thank you. i miss the the headline on that one. >> and it is potentially extremely dangerous. the theory that plaintiffs are running with is that there are no checks on state legislature from the state courts. >> that is right. >> from public referendum so the public loses its voice in how federal elections will be run and the state legislature has full say and they could do whatever they want and that is extremely dangerous for the way elections are run in the united states. >> thank you very much. we'll follow up much more closely. we appreciate your time. good to have you. >>> up next, guts wrenching testimony of the children of the

legally right decision, i think about mike pence doing it, but he relied on the advice of judge michael luttig. i think what brad raffensperger who said that you could flip 11,000 votes despite the pressure on it. is that because of the law was that because of the people. what are they depending on to determine if the 2024 election is safety? >> i think we are like part depending on the good faith and committed to the ideals of democracy, people in positions of political power. one of the different aspects of the presidential election of 20, 20 from prior disputes, is that in entered into the realm of dispute outside of court. we've seen these presidential elections, before like 2000 in bush. for but immediately after the supreme court had bush v. gore, -- said i disagree with the result but i accept it. and then on january six, 2000, one vice president gore presided over the electoral count when -- counted and as the it coming president. what have now is that we're operating at a place where -- without getting involved in decisions getting rendered. as a result of, that the legal guardrails a