The Weeknight 5/12/26 | 🅼🆂🅽🅱️🅲 Breaking News Today May 12, 2026

追加: 2026-05-13

[00:00:04]Good evening everyone and welcome to the week night. I'm Michael [music] Steele with Simone Sanders Townson and Alicia Mendez. So tonight, Donald Trump's midterm message well doesn't exist. Not at all. And Republicans are apparently freaking out and those fears are worsening following a new report that confidant Steven Miller is taking on a diminished role in the [music] administration.

[00:00:27]>> Mhm. Then House Democrats are taking their pursuit of justice to Palm Beach [music] where the Epstein scandal began two decades ago. Oversight ranking member Robert Garcia is there for a shadow [music] hearing and will join our conversation. And later, Senator Cory Booker is at the table as the president shoots down another possible offramp for his war with Iran. Breaking tonight, Donald Trump is failing to craft a message for his party ahead of this fall's midterm elections. Instead, the president is distracted. He's choosing to focus on ballrooms, on football, and foreign trips instead of bringing down costs for the American people. Just a short time ago, Trump spent part of his day welcoming the champions of college football to the White House. Here's how he bragged about his renovation projects.

[00:01:15]>> We're building a beautiful ballroom. You can see it's not too small, coach. We're going to give him the greatest ballroom anywhere in the country. I'm very good at ballrooms. I'm very good at building things. We're doing now the reflective pond and we saved about $600 million or something. It's going to be beautiful.

[00:01:32]It'll open about two weeks and it's going to be incredible. So, we're going to take the players now to the Oval Office and they're going to get a little glimpse at some just I think it's the most important piece of real estate anywhere in the world.

[00:01:49]>> Football ballroom. Was that the mental synapse? Speaking of the ballroom, MS Now has learned the Secret Service director will meet with Senate Republicans tomorrow to discuss using your tax dollars to fund the project.

[00:02:01]Tonight, the national average for a gallon of regular gas remains above $4.50.

[00:02:06]That is more than $150 higher than it was at the start of his war with Iran.

[00:02:10]And tomorrow, Trump heads to Beijing for a summit with China's president, a trip Trump postponed two months ago, because he said it wasn't right to leave with a war, quote, going on. that war still not over.

[00:02:22]>> So, the midterm message uh is missing in action. Uh but we got a ballroom, so we should feel really good about that. And uh the president likes to brag that he likes he's very good at building ballrooms, but really not that much else. And and when you think about the project that's called the ballroom, well, it's too big and too expensive.

[00:02:44]So, that should say a lot about where we are right now. and also nothing no one asked for like who is the ballroom for just Donald Trump. The reality of the situation is again the midterms are at this point less than six months away and Republicans in the states and some of these vulnerable congressional districts they are very well aware of what's going on. Republican strategists, okay, who have been working on these races, who work for the Republican um congressional campaign committee or the arm that's trying to elect Republicans to the Senate, they are very well aware of what's going on. Okay, my advice to you all as a former consultant myself, bill a little extra. You going to need it after this November.

[00:03:20]>> Bill a little extra.

[00:03:21]>> I think it is so telling that in addition to sort of the the the president being distracted, Republicans in the House and Senate, they're not all on the same page about what it would actually look like to tackle affordability. And even if they could get on the same page about the mechanism for tackling affordability, Michael, they too are distracted by things like their so-called voting rights legislation. They are distracted by their deportation effort. The president may not be focused, but they are now following in his seat and they are equally distracted. They >> and they have been for a while. And and and the biggest part about having the majority and governing is the governing part. You can have a majority. You know, that's that's actually in the mainstream of things pretty easy to get. You maintain it by the way you govern. And Alicia, the way the Republicans are governing u tells you a lot about what they fear about this November.

[00:04:15]>> I will note this has been an issue for Republicans for a number of cycles now.

[00:04:18]They get the power and then they struggle with governing. This has been magnified by uh Speaker Mike Johnson's um noviceness, if you will, within the role of speaker. It is not voting well for my Republican friends. As he has said himself, it is a hard job. Let's bring in MS Now political analyst Anthony Coley. He served as the Justice Department's director of public affairs during the Biden administration. Also with us, Angela Corson, president and CEO of Media Matters. I was very struck by as we talk about the president's midterm message and whatnot. The president has a plan to trick Democrats to pass his agenda. I don't know if y'all heard this. My earring don't even believe it because it just fell off.

[00:04:56][laughter] Let's play Donald Trump's plan to trick Democrats to pass his agenda.

[00:05:02]The Democrats, well, they suffer from Trump derangement syndrome, to be honest. They don't even know what they're looking at. They can't even see straight. But I have a new way out. I'm going to propose something the opposite of what I want. Whatever is bad, I'm going to go for it and they'll approve what's good finally. Now, they they've got serious Trump derangement syndrome, which actually is a disease.

[00:05:25]I'm hearing it is actually a disease, >> Angelo.

[00:05:29]>> I know. And yeah, >> I mean, look, look, >> he got he got that information from RFK, I bet.

[00:05:35]>> Well, that that's what I was going to say. You know, he's we're in a whole new world now where RFK gets to decide what's actually disease. Look, I mean, he this is I think there's a big problem here for for Trump and more broadly and I think we're seeing this across the spectrum and that's that he has and this is one of the authoritarian playbook, right? It's that in some ways authoritarianism is theater. And what Trump has basically operated under, and it's Republicans, too, but Trump is really feeling this particularly, is what happens when you substitute performance and perception for for policy. And when you no longer have a polic, you know, and and your performance and, you know, doesn't really land when people are paying $4.50 at the pump, it it just hits it differently. And when you don't have that larger right-wing media narrative behind them, it sort of totally collapses and falls apart. And then you get a scenario like this, which is excuses. And that's what he is up to right now is sort of throwing these things out there to try to deflect and distract. But ultimately everybody knows what it is. And I I'll just make one more point here because it sort of concerns me. This is nonsense and we should all we shouldn't lose sight of all that. But there's something happening parallel to this that's not nonsense is that he is going for broke here in his authoritarian push and it doesn't you know and that's the part that scares me more than anything is that they were open and transparent about it in the past. Now he feels like he has no other option and every other Republican is along for the ride with him. Trump derangement syndrome or not, they are in the car. And I think that's the part that really concerns me is that and you see it, it's nonsense, but yet he the laws of political reality are not slowing him down.

[00:06:57]>> They're not. And and I think a big part of that uh Anthony is the fact that you hear the president sort of uh when he's awake uh at moments like this uh because I think he was nodding off a little bit earlier in that event. The reality of it is he does have a focused agenda that he's trying to get through. Um, and a lot of it has to do with how he is consuming the information. So whether he's hearing it from his friends in Russia and China that are telling him things or whether he's hearing it um from the the MAGA verse reinforcing his narratives, um he feels to Angelo's point really compelled right now to move hard into November, right?

[00:07:38]>> Because the landscape before him otherwise is not a good one. as Simone and Alicia noted in her reading and Simone's comments, um this is not a good landscape for Republicans.

[00:07:51]>> He's less concerned about them and more concerned about him, which is why the ballroom and other things become so so much an important symbol of where he wants to go with all this.

[00:08:00]>> I agree with that wholeheartedly. Here's my take about where we are. There are really two types of problems in Washington. You've got comms and messaging problems, and then you got real legitimate problems. and what he has right now, especially on the economy, is a real legitimate problem.

[00:08:16]And there is no amount of political spend that can dig him out of this hole.

[00:08:22]What his rhetoric can do is make it worse.

[00:08:26]>> Right? So, if you think about how he started his candidacy for a second term, he started by setting expectations skyhigh. Bringing down prices day one didn't happen on day one. It didn't happen on month one or or six months in, right? What happened was that prices actually got measurably worse. Gas prices alone 44 up 44% yearover-year.

[00:08:48]Consumer sentiment um is at its worst since records started in the 19 early 1950s. My set my final point on this is that it's just not what he says back then about the economy. It's what he's saying now because what he's saying now is disconnected from what people see and experience in their everyday lives.

[00:09:10]That's his real problem. This goes back to the perception point.

[00:09:14]>> Perception versus performance that you were just talking about. One of the things I find so interesting is you often point to us is one of his strengths in years past has been really being attuned to the zeitgeist and being at least attuned to where his own base is, which is I think why we were all very taken by this piece that came out in the Atlantic today about the possibility that Steven Miller, who's really the inceptor of so much of the immigration strategy coming out of this White House, um is quote in retreat. Um, and a lot of the reporting is about the fact that the president himself actually realizes that the way in which Steven Miller has constructed this, gone after this, has become politically unpopular and politically untenable. That there are people who were willing to see criminals rounded up on the streets and deported. They didn't want to see innocent moms and dads doing that. The premise of the article essentially being Steven Miller's now taking a step back.

[00:10:08]Doesn't have the same cache with the president that he once had. No one at this table buys it. Everyone at this table believes [laughter] that he is in hiding or being marginalized until we get to midterms. Um but then after midterms we are going to see his efforts full-blown. I also think it is dangerous that in the effort of minimizing Steven Miller. What you essentially have is them sane Tom Holman who believes in a lot of the same policies just doesn't believe in the theater that has become so deeply unpopular.

[00:10:38]>> Yeah. I mean look there's a there's there's a lot to unpack there. one is that it we shouldn't discount the fact that you know Miller [clears throat] did take one of Trump's strengths that was his strength through the policy on immigration and turned it into one of his biggest liabilities. I mean that people and as you know people didn't like the way it was executed. What Trump sold during the campaign trail was criminals and what they actually got was the sort of like you know unvarnished bigotry and racism that was driving a lot of the policies from Steven Miller about changing you know really the texture of the country. That's not what a lot of people who thought what Trump was selling what he was actually selling. But I think your point is real that we should not get distracted by that. You know what they they're in sort of like a a tactical retrograde. It's a minor retreat for for political reasons.

[00:11:18]Um and but Miller has his eyes set on one even if you ignore everything else.

[00:11:22]The best way to get back in Trump's good grace is to find the the next thing that's going to be good for Trump and that is stealing the or in some ways manipulating or driving through the 20 the midterms, right? Overperforming during the midterms. And Miller is the guy who's immune to all the public pressures and the types of checks that would stop him from doing that. And that's Trump's history, by the way. He always goes for these types of like shadowy fixers that he puts on and off the shelf. You know, Roy Cohen is his birth into all of this movement. And and that is just the beginning, not the last one that he's had. So Miller sort of serves that role in Trump's life. Uh and I think you're we're going to see some of the more ugly parts of how that can play out a as time goes on. But the last thing I'll just say is that ultimately doesn't change one thing. is that Trump was tapped into the zeitgeist himself and he no longer is. That has been a consistent issue whether it's the way he's prosecuted this war, how he talks about affordability and cost and the economy. I mean, he talks about it in a way that is so divorced from where the zeitgeist actually is. It doesn't harness the anger and frustration that his supporters feel and a lot of it has to do with his social media habits. Some of it is, you know, AI that he can just be computer. Make me an image of me young in viral swimming in this new reflecting pool and it can happen, you know, and so it is it is it is distorting his he doesn't need his fans to make these this AI, you know, images of him anymore. He can just call for it and produce it himself and find it. I mean, it really has he doesn't need to be a part of that ecosystem. Um and obviously truth social social is a cesspool of not just bots and extremists but all types of weird disinformation and types of influence foreign or otherwise. uh and that is sort of further disconnecting him from the thing that used to be his strength which and an impulse which is how do how do I market to the widest mass audience >> along those lines can I just play some sound for you because [clears throat] it's not just us you know people watch this and say oh look at the haters hating on Trump baby I'm not hating on Trump I'm just letting you know what's going on listen to the folks calling into the Megan Kelly show okay Megan Kelly show. Take a listen.

[00:13:22]>> People are tired of the war. They don't want the war. They want him to focus on America's needs and wants and gas prices and housing and the economy. And he's not doing that.

[00:13:33]>> We're going to lose the election in November. All of them. Trust me, if he continues this route, the gas prices are so high. You know, working two jobs, we can still barely make it. Right now, I'm averaging between $1,900 and $2,100 a week in diesel fuel. And it's it's just killing the the drivers. It's it's going to put a lot of drivers out of business.

[00:13:58]>> I'm just willing to bet the people calling in a Megan Kelly show are necessarily bastions of liberalism, blazing progressive argument that they're making there. it is that what's so interesting here is that um his supporters the the callers there are very clearly grasping for something for anything and what we heard coming out from the White House today is that they're actually now considering a suspension of the gas tax right Congress still has to approve that um but that that is more proof to me that they are in a spiral and they don't know how to climb out of it. Um what's what's interesting to me because we like we try to be honest on all sides, right? If I look back to my time in the Biden administration, the thing that um Joe Biden never recovered from was the um was the troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Approval ratings never recovered from that. And that got people um it underscored the central reason for his candidacy, right, which was normaly and competency. Um, and if you look back now at the economy, Trump was largely elected because people thought that he had a grasp on economic issues. And what they are saying, what these callers are saying is that he actually doesn't have a grasp on these types of issues. U and that's why we're seeing uh Donald Trump's numbers so bad because people are waking up to this reality that they've just been played. I I think a lot of that has to go uh Angelo to the fact that people want to believe what they hear. Um because all the objective information out there would have told you that Donald Trump doesn't have grasp on much of anything that's economic. You look at the ability to fail in business, to fail in the first term in in terms of you know uh how he dealt with COVID and other issues and to fail coming into the game here with the nation's economy. I mean, the math would tell you you're not going to go out and spend money on a war that you don't know how it's going to go while all these other economic things are potentially happening and then not realize that, oh, where you're planning to have the war has a direct impact on gas prices.

[00:16:14]>> And that's what we're hearing.

[00:16:15]>> And they're not thinking it through.

[00:16:17]>> They're not thinking it through.

[00:16:18]>> And that gets back to the thing that we started the show with, which was this his claim of Trump derangement syndrome.

[00:16:22]Because there's really two standbys that Trump always goes to. if something goes wrong, he can blame the deep state that there are these shadowy forces buried in the government that are plotting to get him and that's or others and his supporters and that's why it didn't work out. And then to the point about truth and facts, if you say something that is misaligned to say, "No, no, no. It's they're only saying all the terrible things that I did because they have Trump derangement syndrome, it's not actually reflective of reality." And those are powerful things. They've inoculated him from a lot of the realities of what he brings to the table and and the truth getting through. It does get through sometimes and sometimes it's by accident but one of the things that we shouldn't underscore is those those are not outliers that those callers that is happening across the spectrum and it is sort of shows this tension point because if you're part of the right-wing media you can't really be a truth teller few examples and there those become big stories but for the most part you have to tow the line otherwise you're going to get in big trouble come after you right but you can choose to let some callers through right that are reflective of things a way to sort of help as you know Cena Miller has his way of incepting things these people all have their other ways of incepting Let's get that out because he again he's not tapped into the zeitgeist anymore.

[00:17:25]So they're trying to help him be tapped into it.

[00:17:28]>> Anthony Coley, Angela Corel, thank you both so much for being with us. Do not go anywhere. After a quick break, we're going to speak with House Oversight Ranking Member Robert Garcia who [music] is in Florida right now ahead of tomorrow's shadow hearing in Palm Beach on the Epstein investigation. He's going to give us a preview of what we can expect. [music] And later, Senator Cory Booker from the great state of New Jersey joins our conversation as the president shows new signs of desperation. [music] failing to find a coherent strategy on Iran. You are watching the week night.

[00:17:56][music] >> I saw you doing your circle.

[00:18:01]>> Is awake and alert.

[00:18:02]>> Democrats seem to be finding their footing. People are really down on this president about the economy.

[00:18:07]>> No ethics [music] violations are being prosecuted.

[00:18:11]>> The weekend prime time, Saturdays and Sundays at 6 on MSN.

[00:18:17]Tomorrow, Democrats on the House Oversight Committee will take the fight for Epstein accountability to Florida.

[00:18:22]They are hosting a field hearing in Palm Beach, where investigations into Jeffrey Epstein started back in 2005 after the parents of a 14-year-old girl reported him to the police. Since then, authorities have identified more than,200 survivors of Epstein's abuse.

[00:18:39]Joining us now is Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia of California. He is the ranking member on the House Oversight Committee and he just arrived to Palm Beach. Thank you for joining us, sir.

[00:18:49]>> Congressman, it is good to see you. What should we expect from tomorrow's hearing?

[00:18:55]>> Look, tomorrow is actually a very important moment in this investigation.

[00:18:59]Um, for the first time, we're going to hear directly from survivors in a hearing format where they'll be able to tell their stories. They'll be able to answer questions uh from the committee.

[00:19:10]And we're also going to be hearing from some folks here on the ground uh that were very involved in Palm Beach and the way this investigation at the local and state level really unraveled. I mean, at the center of this, of course, is former Secretary Alex Aosta. Uh just the the horrible, horrible job that was done by his then department and him as US attorney in actually prosecuting and trying to bring justice for the survivors and to really go after other co-conspirators. And so those stories will be told tomorrow. Uh we think it's going to be an important moment for this committee and the work that we're doing around the Epstein investigation. And so I expect tomorrow uh for there to be a lot of information both revealed but also qu important questions being asked.

[00:19:53]I you know I congress I want to dive a little bit further into the aosta part of this because it is it in one sense it's it set in motion a lot of things and then in another sense it it sort of put you know a bar against some others.

[00:20:09]You have Associated Press reporting back in February um about the FBI concluding Jeffrey Epstein wasn't running a sex trafficking ring for powerful men. uh noting the epste investigation began in 2005 when the parents of a 14-y old girl was reported uh reported she had been molested at the millionaire's home in Palm Beach. Police would identify at least 35 girls with similar stories.

[00:20:33]After the FBI joined the probe, however, federal prosecutors drafted indictments to charge Epstein. But instead, then Miami US Attorney Alexander Acasta struck a deal letting Epstein plead guilty to state charges of solicitate soliciting prostitution from an underage girl. It's feels to me that what Acasta did was to preempt uh further federal investigation based off of what they were initially finding, initial finding.

[00:21:01]How do you see uh exploring that and exposing more of Aosta's role here? Um that kind of set in motion sort of the the cover up feel aspect of of some of this uh relative to federal prosecution.

[00:21:19]>> Look, I think we have obviously interviewed Alex Aosta. Uh we've heard him answer questions. I personally and others believe he has not been fully truthful to the committee. uh he is in large part responsible for the continuation of enormous terror and abuse of women and girls. The fact that we did not go after Epstein and bring justice to those survivors and other co-conspirators in large part is because of Aosta and the sweetheart deal he put together and to not go beyond essentially what was a slap on the wrist to Jeffrey Epstein, Delane Maxwell. And so you're going to be hearing a lot about Alex Aosta tomorrow. And in addition, let's be clear, we are in Palm Beach. Palm Beach is also at the center of where this work this work happened where the investigation and the line prosecutors were going to Acasta and asking for more prosecutions. This is the same location where at Mara Lago we know that there were there was essentially women and girls being recruited to then go work for Jeffrey Epstein in his homes. So all of this and then to get appointed to labor secretary by Donald Trump, another resident by the way of the very city that we're in right now, Mara Lago, which is not too far from where we are. I think tomorrow is going to be an important reminder to the American people, that this investigation is just getting started and that Palm Beach is at the center of the work ahead.

[00:22:44]It is just striking as I read the intro to note that in 2005 um the parents of a 14-year-old girl came forward and years later more than 1,200 girls were trafficked abused sexually assaulted by Jeffrey Epstein um and his and Gilelay Maxwell and to think if someone would have taken that this family seriously in 2005 many people would have been saved. Uh, I I want to ask you, Congresswoman, if we can take a turn about Pam Bondi and her testimony.

[00:23:17]Um, she is supposed to testify about Epstein on May 29th before a House panel. Um, this hearing that you are having right now was actually scheduled for April 14th, but it was moved because that's when Bondi was first ordered to appear. Are you confident that you're going to see Pam Bondi on the 29th? And will she be will she be under oath and recorded unlike Secretary Lutnik who was not I mean there is a transcript but there it was not on video.

[00:23:46]>> Right.

[00:23:48]>> Look I mean um whether she shows up or not I mean that's we're going to wait and see. She should show up. She has been there's a legal subpoena for her to to attend. And I think it's really a shame that Chairman Comr, who has as the leader, the chair of the majority, he has the ability to decide if these depositions and interviews are recorded or not and then released to the American public. It's his decision alone. And the fact that he chose to not do so for Lutnik, I think is a real shame uh to this investigation and and really overall just goes to this continuous cover up that is happening. Now look, when the transcript of Lutnik gets revealed, I think it's going to be very interesting for the American public to hear Lutnik essentially lie and weave and try to deflect the entire time. Now, as that relates to Bondi, there is no question that we have demanded James Comr to ensure that it's videotaped, it's under oath, and it's made available to the American public.

[00:24:42]Up until this very moment, Chairman Comr has not agreed to do so yet.

[00:24:47]Representative Garcia, do you plan to call Lutnik back in?

[00:24:52]>> We have additional questions for for Secretary Lutnik. So that those those conversations are ongoing.

[00:24:58]>> Okay. They're ongoing. And and this kind of, you know, sort of a lead to what Simone just said about Pam Bondi, whether or not she shows up on the 29th of the month. Um it for me, Congressman, it just I don't get too worked up about it uh at this point. And the reason is uh come January, the gavl will be in your hand. Uh and I I think that's something that a lot of folks are not really counting on or thinking about in terms of how this plays out. If I'm Pam Bondi or or Mr. Lutnik that somehow they're going to be lucky enough to have Donald Trump steal enough votes this November to uh for Republicans to keep the House. Um but that's I wouldn't make that bet. So what's your advice to them about the opportunities they're being afforded now versus the reality that they could they could come to live with uh this time next year?

[00:25:58]Look, my message first to uh those that are in the administration right now, uh certainly cabinet secretaries, those in leadership, uh they better be preserving their papers and get ready to testify in front of the oversight committee.

[00:26:11]Whether they have testified already or not, we want to ensure that these testimonies are done in a way that is transparent and open to the American public and we continue to have more questions. And as it relates to the men and women of the FBI, of the Department of Justice, of the Commerce Department, of other agencies that I know have information that we know that most are good civil servants that want to do right by survivors and justice, we continue to encourage and and and to contact us, whether it's through our whistleblower program or know that we are going to ensure that when we're in the majority, we are going to be asking those questions. We are going to be asking for documents. We are going to be going to into every agency until we get the truth about Jeffrey Epstein, about who also committed these horrific crimes and who has been involved in the largest cover up in modern history around at any level of government. That's what this investigation is about. And so we're relentless, which is why we're here in Palm Beach, and we will be everywhere everywhere until we ensure that we get justice for the survivors.

[00:27:12]>> All right, Congressman Robert Garcia, thank you so much. Keep the good work going. In just a moment, another breaking ruling from the Supreme Court paving the way for more voter disenfranchisement [music] in the South.

[00:27:23]Senator Cory Booker joins us at the table to react only on the week.

[00:27:30]So, Donald Trump has rejected Iran's latest offer to end his war of choice and now says the current ceasefire agreement is quote on life support. That month-long ceasefire appears to be holding for the moment despite recent hostilities around the straight of Hormuz. Trump's refusal to engage comes, of course, as the economic toll of the war hits Americans harder by the day.

[00:27:52]Y'all are feeling it. I don't have to tell you that. And just before Trump is set to travel to China, close a close Iranian ally to meet with President Xi Ji Ping makes it all that much more interesting. So joining us now is Democratic Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey. He serves on the foreign relations and judiciary committees.

[00:28:12]>> Senator Booker, thank you for being here. I just um this piece in the Atlantic from Sunday really for me um encapsulates what I've been feeling and thinking because I don't think we're going to go back to the status quo whenever this war ends. And and I also don't think it's ending anytime soon.

[00:28:29]This is what um was in the Atlantic.

[00:28:31]I'll read from it. Defeat in the present confrontation with Iran will be of an entirely different character. It can neither be repaired nor ignored. There will be no return to the status quo.

[00:28:41]Anti no ultimate American triumph will undo or overcome the harm done. The straight of Hormuz will not be open as it once was. With control of the strait, Iran emerges as the key player in the region and one of the key players in the world. There are also other stories um over the last couple of days about how the farmers are being hard hit because fertilizer is so expensive. This war is really shaking the the world to its core, but the American people as well.

[00:29:06]And it's just we're just not going to go back to normal, whatever normal was.

[00:29:09]>> Well, I hear it all over our country and especially internationally. Donald Trump is an international embarrassment. Any American could ask ourselves, am I better off than I was before this war war started? No, we are worse off. You said it yourself. The straight of Hormuz is now blocked. We now have a more extreme regime. You still have highlyenriched file material in that country. But the American people, where are we? Well, we're out about $50 billion in tax money we spent there. 14 soldiers lives, hundreds of injured, and every single American is feeling the pain at the pump to the tune of we're paying billions of dollars more for energy and consumer goods. This has been a disaster. Now, think about this. The strongest nation on the planet Earth is in a stalemate right now with Iran. I mean, that alone should be embarrassing to this president. The guy that said he's going to beat them into submission that they were going to have a unilateral unconditional surrender.

[00:30:01]Well, none of that has happened. And he is going back and forth trying to engage in a negotiation to end this national nightmare that is causing so much pain to the American people.

[00:30:09]>> And that is in part because they did not go in articulating what victory would actually look like. You had Prime Minister Netanyahu on CBS's Face the Nation. And this is how he defined the moment we find ourselves in.

[00:30:22]Is the war with Iran over? And if it isn't, who will decide when it is?

[00:30:28]>> I think it accomplished a great deal, but it's not over because there's still nuclear material enriched uranium that has to be taken out of Iran. President Trump has said to me, I want to go in there, and I think it can be done physically. That's not the problem. Uh if you have an agreement and you go in and you take it out, why not? Is it your sense that nuclear material is in fact the red line in this negotiation?

[00:30:52]>> So I I want every American to know that BB and Donald Trump are liars and this is why they they are lying in the most uh insidious aims. The reason why there is still in country highlyenriched nuclear material is because BB and Donald Trump who were against the Obama nuclear deal ripped it up. There was no highlyenriched these hundreds of pounds of highlyenriched uranium before Donald Trump and BB decided to take us down this disastrous road. So yeah, there is still highlyenriched material that's because of them is in that country because before that we had a deal not just with them with our European allies, China and Russia to not allow them to get that nuclear material. So he caused this problem. He's like an arsonist that caused the problem and then says well trust me to actually get us out of it which he hasn't. Not only is the nuclear material there, but we as Americans are far worse off. These are two of the most disastrous leaders on the world stage that have made Israel, the whole region and the United States less safe, not more. you know that you have all of that happening um on an international front and and the big concerns about what the landscape in the Middle East is going to look like when this finally settles and there's some understanding of what peace looks like um going forward um we've seen the direct impact that it's having on our economy when the president has no plan and from day to day in any moment um can say something that will royal the market markets or completely move them uh in a direction where rich people get richer and the poor carry the weight of higher gas prices. And then you have also with an election confronting us coming up down the road, you've got a number of domestic issues that are beginning to to boil um at beneath the surface as well with Republicans behaving badly. um a lot of your colleagues supporting I think anti-democratic um and certainly uh measures that are ant antithetical to what we once valued as a party, a party of civil rights, a party of of of freedom uh uh uh that the constitution gives us. So now you have they have built a Supreme Court that is pretty much giving them every damn thing they want. And just before you sat down, sir, the Supreme Court has yet again done that uh by basically telling U. Alabama, y'all can draw a map to take seats away from black people. Um a majority of justices siding with the Alabama to move to speed up those efforts uh that Alabama uh legislature wanted to put in place to redraw the lines there. Um, how how sir do we address these this part of it? Because we can get lost in in down a lot of rabbit holes on a lot of other things, but fundamentally we're looking at the deconstruction of democracy and the access to it for citizens every day with this new redistricting effort that Republicans are putting into place. A Supreme Court is that is giving uh justification and verification for those efforts. um as a US senator sitting there with the power to uh control the purse strings to control um and oversight. How do you see this moment?

[00:34:10]>> Well, the Supreme Court has gotten it wrong generation after generation. We the rights we enjoy right now are not because of nine people on the Supreme Court. It's because people fought for them. And where the Supreme Court usually gets it wrong is when they're taking away rights. Whether it's Cororamatsu with the internment of Japanese, whether it's pie versus Ferguson denying rights to African-Americans, whether it's DOSs, they got it wrong, taking away rights for women to control what happens to their bodies. And here we have again the Supreme Court taking away rights, equality, fair representation, and fair voting. Doing in result the exact same thing happened when reconstruction fell in the 1870s. And exactly what happened then is state legislators move to take away rights and access and fairness and representation from black people. The Supreme Court is effectively sending us back to an era where legislators in many of these states can effectively wipe black voter power off.

[00:35:16]This is not about left or right.

[00:35:18]>> So the question is is not what the Supreme Court did cuz they've done it in past generations. It's what are we going to do as a result?

[00:35:26]>> And they may have issued a decision.

[00:35:28]It's time for us to again make history.

[00:35:30]And we can. Every American should see this as no longer about left or right, about right or wrong. this race now we're having with all of these maps since the uh uh the the the Rucho versus uh Common Cause decision where the Supreme Court says, "Hey, yeah, partisan Jerry Manning is anti-democratic, but we're not going to do anything about it." And now they're allowing this race.

[00:35:51]Well, this election has to be about those fundamental rights, not right or wrong, but will Americans have basic fundamental rights like the right to vote and the right to fair representation? Because this race to the bottom we're on is wrong. and the desecration of the sacrifices and struggles of so many people from different races. Goodman, Cheney, Schwarnner dying in Mississippi for voting rights. This has got to be about more than just a political election.

[00:36:21]It's about got to be about us affirming our rights as past generations did when the Supreme Court tried to set us back.

[00:36:27]>> So then what do people do? Because what they are doing, to your point, is an assault on black political power in this country. Not just black elected officials, but black people in Memphis.

[00:36:36]I mean, I keep using this example. Steve Cohen, the Democratic congressman that represents the district that Memphis sits in, he is not black, you know, but it is the black voters in his district that are disenfranchised by the decision that Tennessee made. So, people can overwhelm the ballot box this November, but they are working to dilute the power. So, what do folks actually do?

[00:36:56]Because I agree with you. I think we're in a post- reconstruction period and the last time it took 88 years. We don't have another 88 years.

[00:37:02]>> So, so first of all, I just want you to know that that people want this to be about black folk versus non-black folks.

[00:37:09]I want to tell America very clearly that when blacks have exercised their political power, they helped usher in voting rights. They help help ushered in labor rights. They help us white women are the big are the largest beneficiaries of affirmative action.

[00:37:22]Look at the numbers. When black people are given free access and fair representation, they help to advance our overall democracy. They want to pitch this as us versus them. You've got people like Steven Miller that want to talk about creating some kind of race conflict in our country. This is about justice. It's about understanding that these principles when you expand justice for Irish when they said no Irish or dogs apply. When you expand justice for Jewish Americans to pray like they want, this is about creating a better democracy for all. So this is not us or them. This is not just black people losing their rights. This is the weakening our overall democracy. It is about the ideals that they said as Martin Luther King said a promisory note all are created equal. The Supreme Court has in my opinion yes it is cor a corrupt court. Whenever you have billionaires being able to shower Supreme Court members with trips and RVs and more. This is a corrupt court. It's a corrupt Congress when you have people taking uh uh pack money from corporations, trading stocks. It's a corrupt White House when you have billionaires. Literally, he sat the rich and the wealthy behind him. He's talking more about his ballroom than he is about gas prices. We need to take our country back. And we see the forces right now trying to upend our democracy. This election is a moral election and it is a movement election. And all Americans should understand that we're in this together. Stop letting them slice and divide us. Do these funky maps that try to to try to divide people against each other. No, this election is about fundamental fairness and democracy, and we need to start treating it like that.

[00:39:00]>> Senator Cy Booker, thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate it.

[00:39:04]>> Ahead, folks, the former reality TV star, who's our current transportation secretary, [music] that's a sentence, is coming under fire for filming a reality television show while attempting to run his department. Stay with us. This is the week night.

[00:39:22]As sky-high gas prices put the squeeze on summer travel, transportation secretary Shawn Duffy took a road trip to make a TV show to encourage other Americans to hit the road. The former reality star says he spent the last seven months filming with his family while serving in Donald Trump's cabinet.

[00:39:40]>> Taking a little trip?

[00:39:41]>> Yes. Yes.

[00:39:42]>> A little trip all over. So the motto is to love America is to see America.

[00:39:47][music] >> It's more than a road trip. It's a civic experience. It's one of the most powerful ways to understand the [music] vast, beautiful, complicated place we call home.

[00:39:57]>> 1 2 3.

[00:40:00]>> After much backlash, Duffy claimed no taxpayer money was used for the project and a private group covered the costs.

[00:40:06]But many of the group's sponsors are regulated by the Department of Transportation, including Boeing, Toyota, Shell, and United Airlines. So the so so the [laughter] >> THIS QUIET WAS SO MESSED UP AT the airport the last couple of months they don't even the secretary of transportation is on a >> road trip okay literally I cannot >> so the mo the motto should be to to be in the job is to do the job and since you're not doing the job you shouldn't be in the job you got time for a road trip just road your behind on out out of Department of Transportation put somebody in there who can deal with TS PSA and all the other issues we've got to deal with our roads and infrastructure.

[00:40:46]>> I just want to say I am pro road trip. I am pro against a road trip. I am I am pro America. Uh I'm not saying I do great on a road trip, but >> that's not the point of of any of this.

[00:40:58]It is one the point that you are making about focing focusing on the basic tasks at hand. There also Simone my comm's person something a little tonedeaf about the fact that gas is what it is right now and they're encouraging Americans to hit the open road when that just isn't feasible for >> to be very clear it is not I'm very much so against a road trip anything over four hours I do need [clears throat] to fly and four is actually pushing it but your point about the gas shop uh the secretary didn't pay for the gas okay it was sponsored right it's not like he was paying the money out of his pocket the American people do not have the luxury of getting some rich folks to sponsor their road trip across America for their summer vacation.

[00:41:36]>> Put the sponsors back up on the screen.

[00:41:37]>> They don't have the luxury of having Comcast and put who are the sponsors?

[00:41:41]Put them up on the screen while while we're doing it. We don't have the luxury of having Comcast, Toyota, Boeing, Royal Caribbean, United, Chase, Google Enterprise United of sponsoring their summer vacation. This is insane. Both the people out >> you can give us a discount when we do our road trip. One YouTube commenter said it was like going on a foodie trip in the middle of the Great Depression.

[00:42:05]There's another massive hour of the week night. Straight ahead soon, we're going to speak with the former CDC chief medical officer Deborah Howry about the Trump administration's damaging [music] cuts to public health and how they're affecting our response to this current hirus outbreak and future potentially more dangerous [music] outbreaks. You're watching the week night.

[00:42:27]Welcome back to a [music] two-hour edition of the week night. Coming up this hour, an MS Now exclusive interview. [music] James Comey speaks out for the first time since the Trump administration targeted him with another retribution campaign. This one over a photo of seashells. [music] And in just a moment, Pete Hgsth now threatening Senator Mark Kelly with a second investigation [music] for voicing concerns about the war with Iran. Also ahead, the president is struggling so badly in the polls that he's now demanding a quote unquote election integrity army invade every state ahead of the midterms. But we should know from a former FBI official.

[00:43:04]>> And later, former CDC chief medical officer Deborah Howry, who resigned in the wake of Trump's dismantling of the agency, [music] will join us to discuss how that dismantling is affecting America's response to [music] the Herus and future outbreaks as well. But breaking tonight, in an MS Now exclusive, former FBI Director James Comey spoke on the record for the first time about the Trump administration indicting him for a second time over a photo of seashells. Here's Comey speaking with Nicole Wallace earlier.

[00:43:36]>> Donald Trump has a bottomless desire to gain revenge against those who've criticized him, and I'm not going to stop criticizing him because I think that's a that's required if you care about America.

[00:43:48]New reporting from the Washington Post details how that very sentiment is transforming the Trump Justice Department as more than a half dozen prosecutors were demoted or forced out of their jobs from the fallout over that push to bring charges against Comey again. In the Trump administration, there's never just one retribution campaign and there's never just one attempt at retribution. Defense Secretary Pete Hegath, who's already targeting Trump critic and Democratic Senator Mark Kelly, is now vowing to launch a second investigation into Kelly for supposedly revealing classified information when he said this about the recklessness of the president's war with Iran.

[00:44:28]>> A number of times we've been briefed by the Pentagon on specific munitions.

[00:44:33]Actually, it's been pretty detailed on tomahawks, attackums, SM3s, THAD rounds, uh Patriot rounds. So those interceptor rounds to defend ourselves and the numbers are I think it's fair to say it's shocking the how deep we have gone into these magazines.

[00:44:52]Now, Pete Hexet said he's going to investigate Senator Kelly alle potentially, but Senator Kelly has said he was just saying what Pete Hex had said. But at the end of the day, this is the same Pete Hexath who checks war plans last year in a group chat that accidentally included a journalist and now he wants to investigate a senator for his alleged handling of classified information. Okay. Well, >> joining us now at the table is MS Now national security analyst and former FBI assistant special agent in charge Michael Fineberg and former Trump White House deputy press secretary and spokesperson for Home of the Brave Sarah Matthews is also here. I'm sorry I'm just a little fired up about the >> just a little bit just a little >> hypocrisy >> just the hypocrisy is rank. Uh, but Michael, I want to want to focus on the Comey piece of this a little bit because I think it's it's interesting the consistent um and and ongoing effort by Donald Trump personally to go after Comey and how he's gotten the entire department. Now, in that vein, um, how how do rank and file members feel about this? They worked with Comey. They they knew him. they they knew uh the level of uh commitment and integrity he brought to the job when he was there and and the role that he's the roles that he's played over the years in our government.

[00:46:08]How has this onslaught from and personal onslaught from Donald Trump weakened um the institution as a whole? We know it has in large measure, but even at that sort of granular level with the rank and file members out there just trying to do their jobs, prosecute the cases and and and and so forth, what what does this say to them and and how do they look at Comey versus the president?

[00:46:36]>> So, look, the FBI is an organization with over 30,000 people. You are going to get a wide diversity of opinions on what priorities should be, whose subjects should be, whether the president should be supported under any and all circumstances.

[00:46:53]But what ties every FBI agent I know and intelligence analyst and professional staff member together is that they fundamentally they just want to go after the bad guys. They want to protect everyday Americans from criminals and national security threats and go home to their families at the end of the day.

[00:47:14]and every single political errand like this that they get forced to focus on, whether it's Jim Comey, whether it's Leticia James, whether it's John Brennan, whether it is a poor grandmother or toddler who can't find their immigration papers and gets sent to some hell hole on the border.

[00:47:39]That's all a distraction from what the FBI wants to be doing. And it is very difficult for them to focus on their real priorities, the things that actually keep Americans safe. When they're being sent to and fro on these political errands every other day and not just once they do it, the government fails, they're ordered to do it again.

[00:48:02]The government fails again. They're ordered to keep doing it. This is like a bad Keystone Cops film from the 1930s.

[00:48:11]Mhm.

[00:48:11]>> I will admit that I am always wrapped when one of these folks that the Trump administration is seeking retribution on chooses to come on national television and speak to the moment that they find themselves in. I thought it was interesting watching Comey today with our colleague Nicole Wallace because there were things where he said, "I can't touch that. I can't talk about that. That has to be left to the court of law." So then I'm like, "Well, what is the purpose of you coming on? Why are you seeking this platform?" And there was an answer from James Comey today that I think really helped answer that.

[00:48:40]And that was about his desire, Sarah, to see other former Trump people speak up.

[00:48:45]Take a listen.

[00:48:47]>> I think everybody ought to speak. Bill Barr ought to be on your show talking about the dangers he sees and that he thought that person should never be near the Oval Office again. And look what happened when we put him back. Everybody who has a voice ought to be speaking up.

[00:49:00]But again, I can't balance what they see risked by speaking up. I don't know what their family circumstances are or those sorts of things. I am going to continue to speak up because I have grandchildren and someday they will be old enough to understand this time and I want them to know what pop did during this period of time. I hope everybody feels that way. I think that is generous, Sarah, to say I don't know what other people's risk calculus is because the truth is we're now in a moment where everyone's risk calculus is enormously complicated, where people are putting their personal well-being, while people are putting their professional reputations on the line in the interest of saving our democracy, which is supposedly fundamental to these people's value. As someone who has made that same risk assessment, what do you think about James Comey saying that's what needs to happen in this moment? what he said really resonated with me because I get asked that question often of why did you choose to speak out? Are you scared for your safety? And the honest answer is yes. Of course, that was something that I had to factor in when I made the decision to turn my back on MAGA and walk away. And I haven't looked back since January 6, 2021. But at the same time, I knew that this was so much bigger than just me. So, I couldn't think of only myself because that felt selfish. I was compelled to public service because I wanted to make this country better. And that's how I think a lot of those folks, like he mentioned, Bill Barr, someone who I wish would be more outspoken, someone who is a good, smart man of integrity, who knows that Trump is a danger, who has at times said things and spoken out, but he's where is he now? He's completely absent. And it's not just him to single him out. There are plenty of other folks from the first Trump administration who I would love to be more vocal and be out there and calling out these abuses of power that we're witnessing because a lot of these folks are twice my age and they served in more senior roles than I did during my time at the White House in the first Trump administration. And so I really am thankful to someone like James Comey who went out on TV and is pushing back because he's showing that he won't be silenced. That no matter what their intimidation tactics that they're trying to use against him, these failed retribution cases. Obviously, this is absolutely ridiculous. They're going after him for an Instagram post of seashells. I mean, come on. I think the American people would like to see our DOJ prosecuting people for real crimes and not wasting government resources on something like this. But that's why it's so plain and obvious what they're trying to do. They're trying to silence people like him and he's showing that he will not stand for that and that he is fighting for our democracy. So I'm really grateful to him for his courage and bravery because I know the not just the struggle that you you face as oneself to come forward and speak out, but the pressure it puts on your loved ones, your family members, and how scared you are for their safety. So, I can't fully criticize people for not coming forward, but I know that for me, my love for this country, my family understood that and they've stood by me every step of the way, and I feel very grateful for that. But I just I really wish that some of these public servants would come forward and speak out. I mean, I think I I always every time we talk about this, unfortunately, which is often, okay, I I always think you're being generous because the point that you made about folks who are who were more senior than you, people who were twice your age, who have still yet to this day to say nothing to say nothing?

[00:52:16]Are they not saying anything because they're scared? Are they not saying anything because they want to keep their contracts? Like, I I know there's a lot of people out there that feel different ways about Jim Comey, but I agree with you. And you know, today he responded to Donald Trump calling him a dirty cop.

[00:52:29]And then TRUMP CALLED HIM A DIRTY COP AGAIN TONIGHT. LET'S LISTEN TO WHAT THE president said tonight. And then we'll play what James Comey had to say earlier this afternoon. Take a listen.

[00:52:38]>> There were crooked DAs like sort of I would say like a dirty cop like Comey was a dirty cop, you know, and others were dirty cops. They impeach me. They indict me. And then when I get in office, if I say something like, "Well, maybe that should be looked into."

[00:52:55]Weaponization.

[00:52:58]Okay. And here's James Comey. He was asked about this by our colleague Nicole Wallace earlier because this was not the first time he was called a dirty cop by the president.

[00:53:09]>> He calls you a dirty cop. Uh what is he talking about? And how does that make you feel?

[00:53:15]>> I don't honestly. It's crazy that I'm at a place where I'm 65 years old and I actually find it a little bit humorous to have this obsession by this 80year-old man with me. I don't know.

[00:53:27]And I I am an honest person. I am a person who was raised to stand up and speak out.

[00:53:35]>> We're We all kind of I know he's like, "Oh, I'm on his mind." We're we're I mean, it was funny. We all chuckled here at the table and I think people chuckled at home when they saw it in real time.

[00:53:45]But my concern is that when the president puts a target on the back of someone like that, I think about how he targeted uh Ruby Freeman and Shea Moss, the election workers, um the black women election workers who literally had to move out of their homes and they needed security. Like what what has happened to James Comey and everyone else that the president has targeted puts their lives and their family lives in danger. Like the president knows what he is doing when he says these things, >> I think.

[00:54:12]>> But here's the thing. Look at the approval ratings. Look at the disapproval ratings. There are more people opposed to what is happening in our country right now than there are who support MAGA. And because of that, if more people were willing to speak up, particularly leaders past and present, that would make it harder for Trump and this DOJ to target dissenters.

[00:54:41]It's very reassuring to hear a statement like courage is courageous or courage is contagious.

[00:54:48]But unfortunately, we're seeing cowardice is too. So is craveness. A lot of people are ducking down in their foxholes and choosing to remain silent, putting their own self-interest above their country and above the constitution that they at one time swore to protect.

[00:55:08]What Comey is doing should be emulated.

[00:55:12]What John Brennan is doing should be emulated. And I'll be frank, there was an FBI director after Jim Comey >> who has said nothing.

[00:55:21]>> There were two CIA directors after Brennan, both of whom who have said nothing.

[00:55:28]>> There are attorney generals, deputy attorney generals, deputy directors of cabinet agencies. There is a fall of people who have experience, who have knowledge that could help us in this battle for the soul of our country and they're choosing to remain silent. It's inexplicable and it's indefensible.

[00:55:48]>> I'll name names. Mayor Garland should say something. Lisa Monaco, love you.

[00:55:53]You should say something. The people need to say something. This is absolutely ridiculous.

[00:55:58]>> It is. But so the contrarian part of my brain just kicked in in this exchange because I I'm I'm listening to this and you're talking about the cowardiceness the cowardness out there and the craving interest and all of that and you started with the poll numbers right look at the polls at 36%. I would say that if the poll numbers were higher that there would this would be a very different conversation that this piece of the conversation going after Comey would have a far less weight to it in that environment than it does in this because in this environment it's getting packaged in Sarah with everything else. So, it's it's the economy, it's the war, and it's how you're going after your political enemies.

[00:56:49]>> Well, Donald Trump's been going after his damn political enemies for a long time, and the American people really didn't seem to give two bleeps about that because they reelected him.

[00:57:02]>> All right. So my point is I think this says in this moment as much about all of us as a country um how we compartmentalize and push things aside because as much as we talk about Donald Trump being selfish uh we a little bit selfish too >> all those people that voted for Trump absolutely >> and and 92% >> but but the numbers now I got that but that's irrelevant in this moment. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. But I disagree with it's irrelevant. It's irrelevant in this moment because that 92% is consumed in a bigger number of people who don't like Donald Trump. Right.

[00:57:41]>> Well, I think that people are looking at what's going on and they're thinking about how can I afford my rent? How can I afford my groceries? How can I fill up my gas tank? And then they're looking at what the Trump administration is focused on. and they're focused on focused on relitigating the 2020 election, going after Trump's perceived political enemies. Uh starting wars, you know, in other parts of the world that he said he wouldn't get us into. And they are frustrated and that sentiment is obviously being reflected in the polling, but it shows that people aren't willing to give him as long of a leash.

[00:58:10]Now, they are they were once willing to tolerate his antics because they thought, "Oh, well, the economy is doing great or my 401k is doing awesome." But then they're looking at everything right now and thinking, you know what, this isn't what I signed up for and I'm frustrated >> because their 401k is not doing well.

[00:58:26]And that's my point because absent that piece >> Yeah.

[00:58:31]>> I think we'd be back where we were before.

[00:58:33]>> Okay. I'm saying we can keep talking >> there. Yes, we will keep I will just say I think you are right, but I also think that there are people out there in this country that didn't vote for the president. They made >> election people don't vote for the opponents. data calculation that mattered and those people were on the right side. There are some people that just are waking up and welcome to the people that are waking up. Not Sarah, she been up, but welcome to the people that are waking up. But you cannot move everybody.

[00:58:57]>> I just think I just think we're in a very different space if the numbers if Donald Trump is 10 points higher in the polls. Michael Fineberg and Sarah Matthews, you're sticking with us. We're going to get back cuz there's more we want to test you on uh because [laughter] we want to discuss the president's dangerous new threat of sending a quote [music] election integrity army to monitor elections in every state. And that's something y'all need to be worried about. Also ahead tonight, former [music] CDC chief medical chief officer do uh Deborah Hari joins the conversation to discuss the haunt virus [music] and how a CD Donald Trump is using debunk claims about quote unquote unfair elections as a pretext to send what he's now calling a large quote election integrity army to every state for the 2026 midterms. Trump made that announcement in response to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer's new effort to push back against potential election interference from Trump and Republicans. Now, Trump didn't give