The Beat With Ari Melber 5/10/26 | 🅼🆂🅽🅱️🅲 Breaking News Today May 10, 2026

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[00:00:00]campaign vet Bannon admitting the GOP facing these defeats. Tucker Carlson has upended the White House's whole week with his new defection.

[00:00:11]Defeat after defeat. Now it's a crushing. Now he turned over the whole freaking state to him. It'll take us a decade to dig out of this.

[00:00:18]>> I do think it's like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences.

[00:00:23]Uh you know, we'll be tormented by it for a long time.

[00:00:29]a long time of torment. I have more on both of those individuals coming up, but I start there because the defections don't come in a vacuum. They reflect an American electorate that is currently done with Trump and what he's doing in his second term. The extremism, the economic failure, the rampant lying, which some people on the right have dismissed when it was directed towards other people or other issues, but now they view it as insult on top of injury.

[00:00:57]in this case, economic and foreign policy injury. There's a revolt of foot over Trump's failed economy, over his choice to impose this effective war tax on gas. Just 33% of Americans approve of this Trump economy. Now, and I'm going to tell you something else. Some people may not like it, but one of those elite DC narratives has now been proven wrong again when you look at this Trump crash.

[00:01:23]because we have heard a lot of Republican apologists, especially the elite kind of bubbled type of them in Washington, but also a lot of DC media insiders talk about how Trump has this resilient base of support. They talk about it like it's some sort of law of physics, like it can't change and it's special to him. And in many cases, that has actually served as a practical matter to exaggerate and hype how popular Trump is or how much you have to deal with him.

[00:01:52]He is president. No one's saying you can ignore the entire presidency for a term.

[00:01:56]But whether you think of him as a popular president who has leverage or a lame duck who's fading, that's a big difference. And that narrative that the Republican party will just stand by him no matter what. Or as he likes to say, he could murder on Fifth Avenue and get away with it. Uh-uh. That's ending, too.

[00:02:14]Now, a sizable third, onethird of Republican voters disapprove of Trump.

[00:02:23]after the months of inflation, the gas spike, this new war, the rolling Epstein secrecy and Epstein debacle that stretched from late last year into the beginning of this year. And new reports say that Trump aids are sugarcoating the war problems. They're afraid to tell him the truth. That's part of the war policy planning problem right now. And we have reporting on that. We can get into that.

[00:02:44]that I want to I want to point out tonight is a very stark and public contrast to Tucker Carlson and these other MAGA voices who aren't just telling Trump the bad news. Not just going to him perhaps in private they have access to him and his aids and saying, "Hey, this isn't working. This economy is bad. This is what people are mad about." No, they're going beyond that. They're doing it in public as we've just seen. And that's driving the very media coverage that Trump cares about so much. the combined polling crash, the defections, the Iran troubles, all of this now has the right-leaning Drudge Report website likening Trump to Jimmy Carter, whose term fell apart over a gas crisis and high prices and basically getting shown up by Iran, what Drudge calls war confusion. You know, Carter was a rare incumbent who lost after his first term, like Trump. Now, the second term of Trump was supposed to redeem him as a kind of a leader or maybe a more serious person than his early foibless. And yet, here he is tonight, according to Drudge and a lot of other indicators, saddled with Carter problems of his own making and Carter level polling and Carter failures on policy from the economy to Iran.

[00:04:02]History does not repeat itself, but it rhymes, Mark Twain observed. Well, when it comes to Jimmy Carter, these are some rhymes most Americans would rather do without. Meanwhile, the Republican bid to try to reshape future elections in Virginia just failed. And here's a little more from what I I showed you a preview of the Steve Bannon rant as he took in that news today going at Republicans.

[00:04:30]Defeat after defeat. Now it's a crushing. Now they turned over the whole freaking state to him. It'll take us a decade to dig out of this. You're damn right you're going to lose the Senate because you've given nothing for people to work for. And right now, folks, write take your number two pilot and write this down. We ain't going to be in power.

[00:04:49]>> You're going to lose the Senate. We ain't going to be in power. Get your number two pencil for those who don't just type notes on your own iPhone. Now, what does Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones all have in common?

[00:05:01]Remember what they do now? They have their own dedicated audiences online and they apparently would rather meet those audiences where they are with at a minimum Trump skepticism if not outright Trump opposition. They'd rather do that now than wait around and look like outofouch MAGA elite apologists when this November reckoning comes.

[00:05:24]I'm not telling you what's going to happen in the November midterms. I don't actually do that. I'm telling you though what they appear to think is going to happen. And that's why this is not just about anyone's opinion or voice. It includes that, but also includes what they're bracing for. Now, the anger against Trump around the nation is already reaching Capitol Hill long before any midterm votes are cast.

[00:05:47]Today, five different Trump cabinet officials. You see across the board here. There is some work that sometimes gets done in Congress. Five different officials showing up and facing some members of Congress who appear to channel the concerns of this angry anti-Trump public.

[00:06:06]>> How fast will the prices of gasoline come down?

[00:06:09]>> Uh again, that is path dependent on when the when the war uh and the conflict end.

[00:06:15]>> 7 million people losing their health insurance because of the Trump administration actions. That's not debatable. There's nobody who is legally enrolled in Medicaid who is losing true.

[00:06:28]>> Will you guarantee that gas will go back to $3 again before the end of the year?

[00:06:35]>> No one can offer guarantees about the future.

[00:06:39]>> No, they can't. And on it went like that. Now, Americans blame Trump for the higher gas prices. They can see that direct result from starting the war.

[00:06:47]Financial outlets have covered the Trump tax for weeks. Here's one headline. is from a couple weeks ago. We picked that on purpose to note how this has been the state of play. We've noted that it's like a war tax on this very program.

[00:06:59]Today, Senate Democrats are hammering this point with the cumulative numbers.

[00:07:04]If you add up the tab, all in American families have paid $16 billion more. That's not 16 billion.

[00:07:12]That's 16 billion extra. That's the scale of the tax in a very short period of time because of Trump's war.

[00:07:20]It's the economy stupid or it's the stupid war hurting the economy or however you put it. As you're about to see, people are upset with Trump's war economy.

[00:07:33]>> What would you grade the economy right now?

[00:07:35]>> A definitely a D. Is there an F up there?

[00:07:40]>> I just really don't think uh I have faith in this administration.

[00:07:44]>> It's not the greatest economy in the historic country. It's not blowing out of the water.

[00:07:48]>> Struggling. People are people are struggling.

[00:07:51]>> The term right now it's sucks. There's hope, but it's not for everybody. It's difficult >> with him. He doesn't have no plan.

[00:07:59]Everything just keeps going up and up.

[00:08:01]>> He's gaslighting us or delusional. I don't know what it is.

[00:08:04]>> Well, it's not great and um not our best time as a country.

[00:08:13]>> Yeah, the gas is expensive. gaslighting people about the gas being expensive, doesn't work. And those are folks just filling up the tank and going about their day. They're not professional politicians. That's why we do these reported interviews. Sometimes you just check in. It anecdotally overlaps with the polling I showed you.

[00:08:32]Why am I mentioning that as the top story tonight in concert with these other developments? Because when you see Trump backers like Tucker Carlson jump ship after so many years of support and remember Tucker broke the journalistic rules and limits from his former outlet employers like Fox and CNN to go directly campaign for Trump. He did it at the convention. He did it again in the homestretch at that controversial MSG rally in New York. So when you see him flip now, that was not that long ago, and you see people revoling before the midterms, and you see the economy doing what it's doing, it is pretty clear that Tucker Carlson, who once privately confided in someone that he hated Trump, a text I mentioned this week that was came out in a lawsuit, then went back to supporting Trump, then went back.

[00:09:24]He is a self fact check. He is a liar. I can only say that rarely when we have the proof. But when you have someone's private text, like a diary, and them contradicting themselves, you can actually document how he lied to cozy up to Trump when he was up. And now he's lying about why he's ditching Trump when he's out. But the big political point is he's out. Tucker and these other folks, they're not following some sort of long clear ideological plan where, oh, if you do this on the war, that's that's going to break it. No, they are following their own audience and the public and trying to get ahead of what is already the lowest approval of Trump's second term. Trump's aids may have him high on his own supply. Top MAGA leaders have taken a different route. They are planning their own futures as a future without Trump.

[00:10:18]And that makes you wonder if it's this bad now, how bad do they think it's going to get for Trump and Republicans?

[00:10:24]We put that big question to Howard Dean and Wanita to when we're back together in 90 seconds.

[00:10:31]>> Jimmy Carter with also with Iran. But if you look at what happened with the helicopters and the hostages, it cost him the election. It was what a what a mess.

[00:10:44]>> Carter level polling, Carter level problems. We're back with Wanita Toiver and Howard Dean. Uh Howard, your view on this wider Trump crash?

[00:10:52]Um, I think he's got about three months to turn it around, which I don't think he's capable of doing because I think his people in the House and the Senate are going to be fleeing him like a drowned rat leaving a drowning ship. Um, politicians are politicians no matter which party they're in. And they're terrified of Trump, but the lower Trump's numbers go, the lower their numbers go. And I already believe it's not possible for them to hold the House and the Senate. The question is how bad is the damage going to be as each one of them decides that it's in their best interest politically to abandon Trump and that's what they're going to have to do and I think give the Democrats credit for forcing votes on a lot of stuff that they would not like to vote on >> and when you look at a third of Republican voters against Trump that is different than the narrative and it suggests that uh this is the overall approval but we have I think the Republicans specifically we may have.

[00:11:47]>> Well, uh, and I would just say it undercuts everything we've ever heard.

[00:11:51]It looks like the MAGA base, there you go, 31% um, not resilient for Trump.

[00:11:56]>> I mean, Ari, it gets even worse when you dig into issues specific. And I think it's at 47% of Republicans disapproving of Trump's efforts to ease the cost of living problems that they're facing. And and that al that number also includes 89% of independents. These are the voters that Republicans chase after.

[00:12:16]election cycle after election cycle and they're looking at Trump like you are literally making our lives worse. And to Howard Dean's point, you're you're they're also looking at congressional Republicans like you're not doing anything to stop him from making my life worse. They have made no effort to reign Trump in on Iran war powers. They have made no effort to reign in Trump on tariffs, right? Like these are the things that are impacting people's day-to-day lives. And as you put up that graphic earlier, are about the additional $16 billion dollar that people are paying at the pumps just since February 28th when Trump and Netanyahu started this war with Iran. A war that no one wanted. A war that Trump still has not provided the public with a reason or justification or an explicit plan for. It makes people angry and I think that's what's coming up in this snapshot poll. But Ari, we understand polls are a snapshot in time. I want to see how long this carries on because we know that this is not a snapback situation with gas prices going down. We know that Trump is exclusively focused on funding the war, not child care, not Medicare, not Medicaid, or anything outside of this war in Iran. And so, how much more will Republicans accept as their bank accounts are pummeled by Trump's and Republicans policies?

[00:13:35]>> Yeah. Yeah, I mean Howard, to that point, you have a kind of a failure of imagination by a lot of folks in Washington to to see that uh he's really lost the plot. He hasn't had, you know, two weeks of good media coverage uh since maybe the very beginning of his term, something he tracks closely. And from Epstein to the way they started the year to the ward and now the economy, uh you can see that the the so-called influencers or the MAGA pundits are much more eager to draw the line before the midterms. Um contrast that to to you said that the politicians are politicians, but House Republicans are not as vocal yet. You're saying uh they'll get vocal if it's this bad when they're out on the stump.

[00:14:17]>> Yeah, I think it's going to be too late for them. I think they're terrified of Trump. They're absolutely terrified of Trump. there almost none and the ones that who have crossed him left. Um so there's no backbone in the Republican party at all. I mean there the whole message of the GOP is hate. The Dem message of the Democrats is hope. Now I think we have not been terribly nimble in taking care of this stuff other than outside the beltway uh Democrats uh governors and so forth. But even inside the beltway they're getting better. They finally have woken up to the fact that this is not a successful president and they don't have to be afraid of him. And their constituents are furious with the Democrats, which is why they poll so poorly and why there's going to be a an age revolution. They're going to be a lot of 45 year olds in the House and the Senate next year. And some of them will have displaced Republicans who are in their 70s, Democrats who are in their 70s. Some of them will also have replaced Republicans in their 70s. There is an age revolution going on in this country. And frankly, I think it's about time. Hm. Uh, and Wanita, when you when you look at at the Democrats then, is this now more than than you would have known a year ago, is this fundamentally an economy election or you think they have to still go kind of go no kings and and take on all of the different uh paniply of Trump problems?

[00:15:36]>> Ari, I've been shot in affordability for over a year now, right? Like it's explicitly clear that people want to be able to afford their lives. They want to also improve the quality of their lives.

[00:15:48]We see both declining in real time as their day-to-day needs, whether that's food, shoes, cars, clothes are still beyond reach. Like the these are the reality is Ari, we're seeing a spike in individuals relying on credit cards and buy now pay later to get groceries.

[00:16:08]People cannot keep up with the reality of the inflation and price surges that they're experiencing. And this predates Trump's war in Iran. Think back to the tariffs, right? Like this is all self-imposed. And I think that's something that you mentioned earlier in the comparison with Carter, too.

[00:16:24]>> Yeah. And and so Howard, when you looked at just the sampling we showed of the hearings today, you had a lot of Trump officials and they're saying we're going to get gas prices back down. We don't know how fast and maybe not as good as they were. Uh when you talk about the oil pipeline in the straight of of Hermuz, people say, "Well, eventually we're going to get it open." Okay. Well, it was open. We just had the the very decorated Admiral McCraven on and he speaks very carefully. Um, but I want to play for you and viewers how he in a very clear kind of diplomatic way referred to the fact that since the date the war started, Trump has put the US on a worse footing.

[00:17:06]>> When we look at where we are today, you know, prior to, you know, to February 28th, the straits were open. Uh yes, you had a a regime, but the Israeli intelligence would tell you the regime in place now is more hardline. Uh you know, we have unfortunately lost soldiers. We've expended a lot of blood and treasure. And so, are we in a better strategic position?

[00:17:28]>> Howard, he lays out reasons as a military man why we're basically not.

[00:17:33]>> Yeah. Well, we're clearly not. Um, but you know this stuff with this attack on the middle class and the start of the day that Trump took office. Look at all the tariffs. Think of the billions and billions of dollars that people paid in tariffs. That money is not going back no matter what the Supreme Court said. It's going to the businesses that paid the tariffs. But the businesses are under no obligation to fund the ordinary Americans who paid that. This is Trump has been the worst president for the middle class in any president in my lifetime. Uh, and that's You think you're pointing out that even with this court stopping the tariffs because Trump again lost, blew it, didn't didn't build them in the right way, you're pointing out that it's basically still a pro- 1% kind of trickle up program.

[00:18:18]>> Absolutely. And let me just say one thing in defense of Jimmy Carter. I got into politics because Jimmy Carter, he was an upstanding >> upstanding human being who brought the first peace treaty between an Arab state and is is and Israel. He was a remarkable remarkable human being. Was he respected?

[00:18:37]>> Was he was he a strong >> Was he good on Iran policy?

[00:18:42]>> No. Well, no, probably not. Would the No, the Iran Well, the Iran policy was Look, the people who run Iran are thugs and they have been for as long as you know they've run Iran. So, he didn't really have control over what they were going to do. Could he have somehow seen of had a vision that they were going to take over the embassy and all this kind of stuff? Maybe he should have gone and blown the hell out of everybody, which might have cost us the lives of our hostages. So, I don't look, do I think he made mistakes? Jimmy Carter made mistakes. He was also probably the greatest ex-president the United States has ever had. And that honor will never befall Donald Trump.

[00:19:18]>> You see, Oneanita, when Howard Dean has your back, he has your back. Even even in a bad news cycle, we respect it.

[00:19:26]Howard Wanita Toiver, thank you very much. I want to tell folks, I mentioned at the top, we showed you some of those clips. I told you we have more. We do.

[00:19:33]You got to see it to believe it. The Tucker of it all. We're going to break down why this matters and why the worst may be yet to come for Trump.

[00:19:42]I mean, we're implicated in this for sure.

[00:19:45]>> Yes.

[00:19:46]>> It's not enough to say, "Well, I changed my mind." Or like, "Oh, this is bad. I'm out."

[00:19:53]On any regular basis, you've probably heard someone ask or you yourself have had the question, when when are they going to say enough's enough?

[00:20:02]Well, when now this week, Trump's bag of base is splintering in a more high-profile way than we've seen this term. You take Tucker Carlson, who, as I emphasize, is not just another conservative who kind of zigs and zags on different issues. This is someone who broke tradition and the journalistic rules of his former employers to go out and campaign for Trump at the convention at MSG. That's something you didn't even see most other Fox hosts do. So, he went that far only to take it all back this week and apologize for even helping get us in this situation at all for getting Trump elected.

[00:20:41]>> We're implicated in this for sure.

[00:20:43]>> Yes. It's not enough to say, "Well, I changed my mind." Or like, "Oh, this is bad. I'm out. You and me and millions of people like us are the reason this is happening right now." I do think it's like a moment to wrestle with our own consciences.

[00:20:58]Uh, you know, we'll be tormented by it for a long time. I will be. And and I want to say I'm sorry for misleading people in it was not intentional. That's all I'll say.

[00:21:11]>> He's sorry. He's tormented. This is something to wrestle with as a matter of your conscience. This sounds like you committed a sin. You did something terrible. And I emphasize that because there's plenty of times in politics where you say, "Oh, you picked this policy. It didn't work out. You picked this person early on and over time they didn't deliver. There are failed political careers in both parties. There are votes people might reflect upon differently." He's talking about it at a moral level, which tells you either he thinks it's that bad or he knows his audience thinks it's that bad. Either way, it's bad. Now, that's kind of the money clip when when you talk about this in the, you know, what goes viral these days or what clip you keep seeing on MS Now across our different shows. That was like it. That's the money clip. There's more because if you peel back the layers, Carlson has gone up against some Trump policies in recent weeks, the war, which is of course a huge issue for him and his audience, and what he calls a betrayal.

[00:22:17]Now, we're in a weird moment, an even stranger moment, where a lot of people who really like Trump are very disappointed in Trump. In fact, more than disappointed, feel betrayed or enraged, feel like suckers, feel like they've been taken for a ride. How could I possibly have supported that given what it became?

[00:22:36]This is why we're not just dealing in theories. Tucker Carlson refers to a lot of people who like Trump feeling betrayed. So, either he has the evidence to back that up, I showed you a third of Republicans turning on Trump, or he has that idea in his head, and that's part of what he says out loud. has led him away from Trump. So, this is bigger than Tucker. That's bad for the White House.

[00:23:01]Tucker also knew better. A fact check that's important. Even if people want to welcome folks who join the no Kings movement or whatever you want to call what Tucker's going to become, we don't ignore the facts around here. because of a lawsuit. Private text messages which I mentioned to you show how Carlson said he hated Trump passionately and that because of Trump's demise then he was excited that quote we are very very close to being able to ignore Trump most nights. I truly can't wait. That was around the insurrection period in 21.

[00:23:36]Few years later Tucker was campaigning for the man that he passionately hated and wanted to condemn to the dust bin of cable news history. The Times reported how they were chuckling together at that RNC that I mentioned that Carlson said Trump is the funniest person I've ever met in my life. He's a wonderful person.

[00:23:52]I know him well.

[00:23:54]Now Carlson is also in addition to saying his audience and Trump fans are upset now. He also says there was a kind of epiphany because the Iran policy is what changed everything. Others however don't buy it.

[00:24:09]>> I don't believe him. He's not getting a bear hug from me. Um, I don't think, you know, the world's on fire and you can't just say oopsies.

[00:24:17]>> Is he now claiming he had no idea that Donald Trump held the position that he would never permit Iran to have nuclear weapons? If that's what he's saying today, he's kind of a >> That's big. That's I mean, Tucker Crossen apologizing for helping Trump get elect. I believe they call that liars remorse. It's >> liars remorse. Buyer's remorse.

[00:24:38]situational ethics based on what your own podcast fans want to hear. There are other accounts that this is just too little too late to see Carlson break with Trump, Rolling Stone notes, as anything other than a calculated beacon for his next political life raft would be to engage in the kind of blindness Carlson would like us all to believe he was afflicted with by chance. Remember, we have the texts from 2021.

[00:25:08]We know that in his private moments, Tucker said A, he hated Trump passionately, and B, he couldn't wait to move past him. Maybe he's been waiting on this moment for the ensuing 5 years in between, another time to look past him. Whatever it is, it is bigger than Tucker. It is the connective tissue between the now third of all identified Republicans who oppose Trump and the energy and economic crisis that has curdled the rest of the thinking observing American electorate against this economy. What comes next could be even more severe. We have someone who thinks a lot about these issues maybe so you don't have to. of the bullwarks. Will summer is here next reporter who covers uh this MAGA space among other topics. Welcome.

[00:25:57]>> Thanks for having me.

[00:25:59]>> Uh I don't know if you remember the old saw that u being in love means never having to say you're sorry.

[00:26:07]>> Yeah. Doesn't really make sense because you end up saying sorry a lot in love and relationships. But Tucker uh loved Trump so much he campaigned for him and in a very short period of time says he's sorry he's wrestling. We showed it all.

[00:26:21]Uh what's happening here and what can you tell us for folks who aren't following the MAGA discourse as closely as you might? Yeah, I mean I think, you know, like you said in the earlier segment, I think we're looking at really kind of an epical break in the MAGA movement between people like Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, Marjgery Taylor Green, other figures, um, and Trump and sort of more mainline establishment MAGA people like maybe Mark Levin on Fox News or Ben Shapiro. Um, you know, there's been a lot of bad feelings in MAGA going back to Trump's attempt to close the Jeffrey Epstein case after the Charlie Kirk assassination. there were sort of more risks that open, but I think it's really blown wide open here uh with the Iran war where people like Tucker Carlson purely now that the war hasn't been wrapped up. I mean, they're looking around and they're saying, "Not only maybe this isn't what I wanted, uh but also just in practical terms, they're realizing they kind of need to ditch Trump and get ready for the next thing."

[00:27:15]>> Yeah. And what does that look like for someone like Tucker? On the one hand, he's got decades in public life. There was a pre-Trump Tucker. On the other hand, he did hitch pretty close.

[00:27:27]>> Yeah. I mean, look, I mean, on on one hand, you know, we're at a point where Tucker is now implying that Trump might be the Antichrist. He's saying he might want to be bigger than a god. He might want to destroy religion. I mean, so that's how bad it's gotten. You know, JD Vance is obviously relatively tied to the war as well. Tucker was very close with JD Vance. Uh maybe Trucker Tucker will run for president himself, but as you said, I mean, he has to sort of craft this new what comes after MAGA.

[00:27:52]And I think we're seeing more and more people try to prepare themselves for it.

[00:27:56]And it looks like it's not going to be whatever Trump wants it to be, >> which again speaks to his slipping grip.

[00:28:04]Uh he makes a lot of noise about a lot of things. A lot of damage has been done and we've documented it so we're not minimizing it. But this idea that Donald Trump can decide who the next nominee is or he wants a third term or indict 30 people and get them jailed. None of them have been jailed. Uh so there there's a lot of gap there and the power that he has domestically seems to be ebbing politically even as of course he can start wars. We all see that. Here was Charlemagne who's um been a pretty independent-minded political figure. Uh discussing the impact He's going to stick to Republicans. He's going to stick to MAGA. Okay? If MAGA is still the dominant force in the Republican party, just because he soued on Trump doesn't mean he's jumped off the MAGA train. So, Democrats, y'all got what you need. Okay? Tucker said he was wrong. Tucker said he misled the people.

[00:28:55]Y'all should be clipping that up and getting it ready for attack ads in all the upcoming elections because anyone Tucker endorses. That's an opposition to your party. You can just put that clip in campaign ads and say, "Are you really going to listen to someone who got it so wrong?" Okay.

[00:29:12]>> Well, I think there's something to that. I mean, look, I I think that the MAGA movement, you know, in part led by Tucker and other figures is really fractured right now. I think there there's kind of a hardcore Fox News watching base that is is going to go with Trump for whatever he wants as 32 33% of people in the country. But I think, you know, younger people, they're disillusioned. Even a lot of young people on the right, and they're kind of looking at Trump as someone who doesn't represent them. And, you know, it can't help that you have figures like Tucker saying, whether it's Trump's the antichrist or people like Candace Owens saying he's an octa Israel there, he's he's taking fire from a lot of different places. I mean, look, even Megan Kelly, who I think is very much a mercenary figure, is getting off the Trump train.

[00:29:53]>> Yeah. And and again that speaks to what's out there and they're closer to it than a bubbled political system as we know that is quite sclerotic and has a a longer time it takes to absorb what's happening. They clearly seem to think and Tucker said it out loud people are really done with this on the right a chunk of them. Uh Will, good to see you.

[00:30:11]>> Thanks for having me.

[00:30:13]>> Absolutely. Appreciate it. Uh when you look at Republicans trying to rig or redistrict their way out of their problems that we've also discussed tonight going into November, well that is failing. We have that story next and that means we are falling back. We have two special guests returning to the beat amid this political podcast. Serge is a leader in that field. Reverend Mark Thompson, host of Make It Plain podcast, interviewing top figures, expounding on his work from civil rights to faith. And we are joined by a former elected official from Biza's House of Representatives who went from lawb breaker to law maker. A journey that we've actually documented right here on this program. the politician, artist and rapper shine.

[00:30:58]>> The saying that, you know, it's cliche, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere, you know, is the God's honest truth.

[00:31:10]>> I'm doing politics to help people. and helping people that come from where you come from. There's nothing like it.

[00:31:20]>> Respect, we can also know shines back in New York to headline a Brooklyn show celebrating his classic self-title album's 25th anniversary, a project that paired his iconic deep biggie style baritone with Caribbean appeal.

[00:31:33]Memorable assist from Bington Levy, who we heard there for a moment. And as the then 21-year-old reflected on values over materialism, he wrapped, "It doesn't matter whether my pocket's slim or fatter, whether it's BBQ or Mr. Chow's platter. Even if I slip off the success ladder, even if the paragraphs don't hit the charts and smash, no Cardier charms, no Shawn Dawn, just a bottle of Evion. Come on.

[00:31:56]>> Look at that. But that's uh the 19-year-old Shine.

[00:32:00]>> 19-year-old Shine saying it's about us.

[00:32:02]It's not about the money.

[00:32:04]>> The classic.

[00:32:04]>> It's not about the money. Great to see you back here.

[00:32:06]>> Had great perspective than that young man.

[00:32:08]>> That young man >> young man had great perspective. It's good to be here.

[00:32:11]>> Good to have you. Uh >> a lighter too, sir.

[00:32:12]>> Take a lighter. I'm excited to talk to you about everything and our audience is going to learn about how you went from artistry to to politics. But you're the hometown guest, so I go to you first.

[00:32:21]What's on your fallback list?

[00:32:23]>> Well, it's interesting. Um Dantis is still not scheduled the redistricting vote in Florida. So, uh, maybe it's not only time after the big Virginia win yesterday that the Republicans fall back on midday decade redistricting. Or maybe they should fall back on falling back because there's something called uh, dummy mandering. Have you heard of that?

[00:32:50]>> Dummy mandering. Enlighten us.

[00:32:51]>> Not jerry mandering. gummy mandering where you do so much redistricting on their part that they dilute some of the Republican district strongholds that they have because in order to redraw districts safe districts do get diluted and he's even said that we might want to think about this some people think he was waiting to see what was going to happen to Virginia yesterday but he has said that with the turnover.

[00:33:23]We were just talking in the green room about the prospects of the Democrats winning back the house. That pro those prospects should increase. The more they redistrict, the more Democratic states do, and also the more that they redistrict, it becomes dummy mandering because those seats that have been safe and have been traditionally read have an even greater chance of flipping.

[00:33:44]>> Right. They think they're going to play the game and they're going to play themselves.

[00:33:47]>> That's right.

[00:33:47]>> Yeah. It's really interesting and we saw that in in sort of abandon and others really flipping out because one piece is did your trick work and the other piece is what kind of year are we going into and if you're going into a wave year or a title wave you can't easily redistrict that. Um Shine, welcome back. What's on your fallback list?

[00:34:06]>> Fall back on this weather. I need I need the summertime in New York. I did I did not sign up for this.

[00:34:13]>> It was nicer last week.

[00:34:14]>> It was great last week. I thought that uh we had come to terms, but uh I'm not happy right now.

[00:34:21]>> Not happy with that.

[00:34:21]>> And I'm looking at the forecast for next week. I was under the impression that May 2nd was going to be in full summer mode. So, uh yeah, need to fall back on this weather.

[00:34:32]>> Respect. How do you feel about the weather? We don't talk about the weather that much around here.

[00:34:36]>> No, but it is cooler um than I expected and and it it's cooling lot. I was in Geneva last week uh for the UN permanent form on people of African distren descent where some of your fellow citizenry was present >> from throughout the diplomats >> from from throughout the diaspora and it was cold there.

[00:34:54]>> Yeah.

[00:34:54]>> Came left left in the cold came back to the cold.

[00:34:57]>> Love it.

[00:34:58]>> It'd be nice to get a little break. So my brothers invited me to Bise. So >> hey let's hit it right let's hit it.

[00:35:03]>> B is beloved for many reasons. Uh you are as mentioned artist who then went into politics. That's right.

[00:35:11]Award-winning artist, by the way.

[00:35:13]>> Awardwinning uh hip hop >> and leader of the opposition house of represent, >> not just some old regular politics.

[00:35:21]>> Yeah. We've got some headlines. We got Mom Donnie is now this young mayor in New York who's actually briefly an ex- rapper. When they put out his uh income recently, they showed he was still getting a tiny bit of residuals. You got Cardi B working with him on programs. M um you got of course Obama's legacy where he did help mainline this um and we've seen this down in Atlanta. Talk to us about about your journey.

[00:35:46]>> Well, I love music and music is about people >> communicating to people.

[00:35:58]>> Um communicating for people. I considered myself a voice of the people and then getting into politics was seamless because you're advocating for people but in a lifechanging way that's a bit different than music because music is life-changing. Mhm.

[00:36:18]>> Uh, you know, I saw Nas a few days ago and I told him how he changed my life and he was the reason that I got to the House of Representatives because as a young kid, he encouraged me to be intellectual street.

[00:36:31]>> Yeah. It was educational >> and to think >> to be a critical thinker. Black Girl Lost could go into million songs that Nas enlightened. Um, and so music can change your life, change your mood. But the legislator, we were just talking about policies. You know, I'm a centrist. I'm not red or blue, but we were talking about policies and and how, you know, what Congress can do or can't do to help the American people and getting involved in politics in BISE, you can really make a difference in people's lives if you're honest to your mandate. And did people like that you had a background as an artist or did you have to overcome that with >> Well, Bise is a bit more uh colonial minded unfortunately. Uh whereas uh they feel that only the lawyers >> uh you know the medical doctors or the PhDs these are the only people qualified to be in the legislature. And so certainly whether you're awardwinning or not, a rapper has no place.

[00:37:36]>> You had to overcome that >> in the in the legislature and certainly not one who was held in captivity and did a vacation in uh Clinton Denamora.

[00:37:44]>> How about that?

[00:37:45]>> Yeah. Well, I I feel you. you know, um this is a timely conversation if you don't mind me saying because our brother's story is is one of, you know, really changing and improving his life and and letting our young men know that they can do the same thing, especially in this hour, Ari, when we've seen this spate of violence against our families.

[00:38:11]uh Nancy Matire and um Serena Fairfax, the Shreveport 8, which opens the door for the further stereotyping of black men in trouble, black men violent. Um and anything we can do to end as black men our assimilation into the power patriarchy that causes us to commit violence against our families, our children, and one another in the streets is what we must do. So this brother is an example of how far we can come >> from that assimilation and make a difference, >> right? And end up in the halls of power.

[00:38:49]I got 20 seconds. Any shout out to our New York viewers for the show? What do they need to know?

[00:38:53]>> I can't wait to see people from all over. They're coming in. But definitely big Brooklyn energy, big New York energy uh to celebrate 25 years of the Shine album. And you know, the last time I was here, I was here as a diplomat.

[00:39:09]>> Yeah.

[00:39:09]>> But now I'm here as Shine Poe.

[00:39:13]>> Shine Poe. We love it. It'll be I know a good show in in Brooklyn. Everyone check out >> May second.

[00:39:19]>> That out May 2nd. Shine and Mark Thompson. We'll be right back.

[00:39:24]>> John Failen departing his position. This is effective immediately. It's the most high-profile change in the administration as the Iran war unfolds.

[00:39:32]We don't have public reporting on the reason given, although it obviously comes at a fraught time for Donald Trump's troubles in the Iran war. The US continues talks with Iran. The blockade continues. Defense Secretary Hegsith also fired the Army Chief of Staff earlier this month. a reminder that there is a lot of unrest within the Pentagon as the president continues to post about his plans and say that this will get worked out, but there has not been a lot of progress since the ceasefire announcement. Uh we will stay on this story throughout the night so you can keep it locked right here on MS Now. Our time is up. The week night starts now.

[00:40:16]Good evening and welcome to the week night. I'm Michael Steele with Simone Sanders Talson and Alicia Mendez. Well, folks, settle in because it's a massive night of breaking news. The Virginia court just blocked the redistricting referendum from going into effect. You know, the one that took place last night in Virginia. Well, we're going to break it all down. What this could mean in just a moment with Claire McCascal. Also breaking, Republicans refuse again to hold Trump accountable for his war of choice with Iran and the Secretary of the Navy is fired mid conflict. Senator Tammy Duckworth is at the table. As if that were not enough breaking news, there is more from the New York Times.

[00:40:55]The FBI investigated one of the papers reporters after they published an unflattering story about