>> that's going to do it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. now it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening,. lawrence >> good evening rachel. i'm going to do something that we both been promising to do. and i'm sure you've never done. i'm going to use a script tonight at the end of the hour, written by kyle griffin for monday nights show, that has

gotten bumped all the way up to wednesday, because of the news and it's one of these wonderful stories about what a difference a presidency makes. the difference between joe biden and donald trump. and so, just get out of here, get yourself position. get ready to watch that. now three day old kyle griffin script. [laughs] >> you sure know how to sell it. [laughs] >> i want you to tell us tomorrow whether you think that worked. whether the youth think the shelf life held. >> okay. >> all right, i will report back. thank you, lawrence. >> thank you, rachel. well if there were a pulitzer prize for tweets, i would not have made -- i would name it tweet by the washington post critic written at the end of the first week in november when we were on the verge of officially calling joe biden the winner of the presidential election, working

within the word limit of a tweet peter marks captured in a simple but starkly dramatic terms as a drama critic would, what was sure to be the rest of donald trump's life. the rest of his life. peter marks called the election results quote, a chilling, final turn of the plot. and then he said, his world is coming to an end. he will never have another good day. loser label will haunt him. the law will pursue him. mental in this will hobble him. his properties will bring rocked him. three of those five things have already happened to donald trump. he has never had another good day. the loser label haunts him. and the law is pursuing him. donald trump knew that that was his future. he knew that, he knew it was his future if he lost his reelection campaign. and when donald trump was running for a late reelection

in 2020 he was running for his life. he was running for his freedom. freedom from critical prosecutors who are now closing in on him in georgia, for possible election law violations and in new york where a criminal grand jury has been empaneled. especially and only to study the possible crimes donald trump and his associates. so we will report the daily twist and terms and the dramas of donald trump's life. but they are simply the latest details to emerge in a future that most of us saw coming for donald trump. and that donald trump certainly saw coming for himself if he lost his reelection campaign. that is why he fought all the way to january six, because he knew that without the presidency as peter marks put it, he will never have another good day. loser label will haunt him. the law will pursue him.

and so, today's reporting in politico that there is a new sensation of anxiety in the trump world is something we knew was coming. and donald trump knew was coming. a trump advisor tool political today, there's definitely a cloud of nerves in the air because of the grand jury investigation in new york city where prosecutors have obtained and are studying donald trump's tax returns, for evidence of possible bank fraud, tax fraud, insurance fraud. the washington post reports quote, the district attorney also is examining the compensation provided to top trump organization executives, people familiar with the matter have said. prosecutors reportedly are hoping that added pressure on donald trump's longtime accountant the so-called chief financial officer of trump world, allen weisselberg, whose own taxes are under criminal investigation of, will convince weisselberg to cooperate with

investigators. as he has actually done before in a trump investigation. the trump adviser told politico, i think the weisselberg involvement and the wild card of that makes the political situation more real. the fact that they are dealing with a numbers guy who just has plain details makes people more nervous. one of the unnamed trump aides told politico, he's missing being president terribly. no kidding? he's missing the attention. he's missing air force one. of course, not being president means that donald trump is a loser. and as peter marks said, the loser label will haunt him. that's what they really mean when they say, he's missing being president, terribly. he is being haunted terribly

and relentlessly, every minute of his life, a week or a sleep, by the fact that he is a loser. and joe biden is the president. >> 53% of republicans think that donald trump is the real president. we don't know if donald trump old mental health has deteriorated to the trump point that he is one of those republicans who think that he is still president. but he wouldn't be as worried as he reportedly is tonight if he was able to believe that he is still president. because the twice impeached and fully disgrace donald trump is banned from twitter and other social media, he released an old-fashioned press release last night in response to the news that a grand jury was investigating him, is investigating him. and in that press release of course called the investigation a witch hunt. and in that same written statement he said, i am far in the lead for the republican presidential primary and

general election in 2024. a new quinnipiac poll cell showed was a disaster donald trump would be in a general election as a republican candidate in 2024, when he is 78 years old. 66% do not want donald trump to run for president again. ever. 66% have had enough of donald trump. according to voting patterns in manhattan, closer to 100% of the grand jurors, who will be considering the evidence against donald trump, do not want him to run for president again. but they will take an oath not to let politics, in any way affect their decision about giving donald trump a new title. criminal defendant, donald trump. today, michael cohen confessed to committing federal crimes

with and and at the direction of donald trump, in a conspiracy to help him when the 2016 presidential election. said this about the possibility of donald trump running for president in 2024. >> 2024 is three years away and it's a very long time. especially when you have the district attorney and the attorney generals office breathing down your neck. they don't just have the documents that they got from the tax returns, they now have rudy giuliani documents as well. this is a multi, multi faceted investigation. there's many tentacles here. that are going to be grabbing at trump, at don jr., even cars, erik, the kushner's, you name it. and a host of other people. so, i really do believe that they need to come down to reality. >> leading off our discussion tonight are adam, who served as

executive assistant district attorney and chief of the investigation division at the manhattan district attorney's office. also with us john heilemann, and msnbc national affairs analysts. host of the hell and high-water podcast. adam kaufmann, let me start with you. what we just heard michael cohen say, even the political piece of it, the way he described what he thinks the shape of this investigation is, and how many directions it goes involving everyone at the higher end of the trump company. which of course includes donald trump's children. >> that's absolutely right, lawrence. thanks for having me on tonight. it really has been an astounding turn of events for mr. trump. and i'm sure he is worried. i love the quote you opened with, the law will pursue him, because that is exactly what we are seeing. and he is not being pursued for political reasons. he's being pursued for

financial crimes. as any businessman who skirts the law might be pursued. the fact that the district attorney has now actually convene a special grand jury, really indicates that they think they have evidence of criminal conduct. we don't know against whom precisely. but i perhaps against some one in the trump organization, or the organization itself. perhaps against executives, or donald trump. they reached a point where they're looking at that evidence and assessing it and saying, we have enough to now bring this to a grand jury to start considering charges. to start making strategic moves about compelling testimony. there's so much that can go on with a special grand jury that sits for the next six months. perhaps longer. that this can go in a lot of different ways. >> and for the trump lawyers, it's mostly a mystery what is going on in the grand jury. right? i mean, the best they can do is

if they can find out to try to read what it means that so and so testified. >> that's right. if they know that someone testified, right? grand jury proceedings are secret as a matter of law. which witnesses may talk about their own testimony. but certainly, the district attorney, the court will not be broadcasting who testifies, who appears. the other thing that lawyers can do is if friendly banks, financial partners, individuals receive subpoenas, those individuals may reach out to trump lawyers and let them know they received subpoenas. but there is no right, disability for the trump team into the grand jury process itself. which of course, in and of itself, is going to be very nerve wracking. >> john, citing michael cohen as a political expert is not really what we're doing here. it just rakes me as, and has always been, so absurdly

obvious that by 2024, donald trump is going to have so many new things on his resume as a defendant, both civil already, and possibly criminal. >> sure, lawrence. and i think there are a couple things to see that right,. you and i have had this conversation and i think our shared view is that, i don't think either one of us thought trump would have been as influential in the republican party in may of 2021, as he's turned out to be. so i want to set a little bit of a caution here about what the future holds for donald trump, because he surprised me, at least. i do think so that those two facts that you said are really important number. that 66. number i do not think that number is going to go down. 66% of americans, not

republicans, americans who do not want see donald trump run for president again. that's an incredibly powerful number. as i said, i don't see what could happen in the next couple years that is going to make that number go down. it's only going to go up. and then there is the reality of all of this metastasizing legal jeopardy, that michael just going cohen did talk about related to donald trump his self, his businesses, his family. all of those things, any one of those things, legal entanglements could make it -- exponentially harder for him to run successfully for the republican nomination in 2024. multiple entanglements of that kind. i find for it hard to believe trump could pull it together and the able to pull off a successful campaign. i don't want to say it's impossible but, it would be very tough. >> isn't mitch mcconnell and other top republicans really hoping that the manhattan da and the district attorney in fulton county, georgia, take donald trump just out of their

lives? >> yes. >> just get him to be a convicted criminal defendant? >> mitch mcconnell has no courage whatsoever, lawrence. he has no courage, no spine. he has demonstrated amply that he's not willing to pull the trigger, so to speak, on donald trump. he had his chance, decided not to do that. but that does not change the fact that for mitch mcconnell, the dreams scenario is a grand jury, outside the realm of politics, someone just coming in and taking donald trump out of his life are good. this is the scenario that mitch mcconnell prairies to the sweet lord jesus above, every night comes along. i have no doubt about that. >> adam, you are an expert on the way these grand juries work. you've been in that secret room that none of the rest of us get to go in. i'm a little confused on one element of new york grandeur east. it has been said, that if you

are a witness in a new york grand jury, you are automatically granted immunity when you walk in the room. does that mean, if true, that if we discover someone has testified to the grand jury that means that person is not going to be charged with a crime? >> that's generally true. a witness who testifies in the grand jury, in the state of new york, it gets complete immunity. they cannot be prosecuted for the subject matter in their testimony. unless they agree to waive their immunity and testify pursuant to some sort of an agreement. so, what can happen at times is a witness may have some exposure and they reach an agreement where there's perhaps a plea agreement. perhaps a non prosecution agreement. and they waive their immunity and go ahead and testify. the other very interesting thing about new york state grand juries is that defendants

have a right to testify. a defendant has the right to have their lawyer contacts the dnc, my client demands to testify before the grand jury. now, a defendant or a target who does that is obligated to waive their immunity, and give testimony. but unlike federal grand jury practice, and unlike any other state i am aware of, donald trump could wave immunity and a prayer before the grand jury to give his testimony. >> so, adam, quickly before we have to go to break here -- absent any leaks, what would you be looking for as external clues about what is happening in this investigation? >> i would look for people pleading guilty, which will occur in open court. people linked to this if they're going to get a plea agreement, they will plead guilty. and i am sure you guys will -- i'm sure they're people

watching the dockets and studying the courthouse to see if any police are taken. if anyone gets a cooperation agreement. that's a telling sign. >> john, you have your silent. get down to the courthouse and look for people pleading guilty. [laughs] and then we've got show to. do >> i'm on my way, lawrence. >> okay adam kaufmann and john heilemann, thank you both for starting us off tonight. really appreciated. >> thank you, lord. thank >> you, lords. >> coming up, donald trump is now trying the same legal defense that president richard nixon tried in the 19 seventies. but nixon never had to use that defense in court because he got a pardon from his vice president after he resigned the presidency. constitutional law professor laurence tribe will join us next with his analysis of donald trump's new legal claim of absolutely nutty. get ready to take notes. you're going to learn a lot. a lot.

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nixon was forced to resign the presidency because of his criminal conduct, he said this -- >> when the president does it that means that it is not illegal. >> he said that after his successor, president gerald ford issued richard nixon a blanket pardon for any crimes that he might have committed while he was president. donald trump is now trying to extend the false nixon doctrine of presidential immunity to civil law. in a filing this week, in a lawsuit by congressman eric swalwell, against all trump for inciting the insurrection at the capitol, donald trump's lawyers said that the lawsuit should be dismissed because on generally six, donald trump was acting as president of the united states and therefore has what his lawyers call, absolute immunity from any lawsuits. joining us now for tonight's law school class on silver

procedure and constitutional law is laurence tribe, university professor of constitutional law at harvard law school. he has won 35 cases in the united states supreme court. and he is one every case he has presented on this show. professor tribe, go ahead. donald trump's absolute immunity from civil process, civil lawsuit, because of january six? >> it's a remarkable claim, lawrence. it's a claim that i'm not even sure richard nixon would have made. nixon actually invoked the claim of absolute immunity from certain kinds of civil lawsuits. there was one brought by the a guy named bernie fitzgerald after nixon's executive order reorganizing the air force. and after nixon left office, fitzgerald sued nixon saying, that he was reorganized out of a job and that the real reason the president did was that he

didn't like the way fitzgerald had testified against him. the u.s. supreme court in 1982, in a case call nixon versus face charles, held that when the president is exercising his official duties, he cannot be held liable. among other things, the court said, the desire to be reelected will deter the president from abusing his official duties. that's a good one implied in a case like this where the president had been voted out of office. the core also said, that you can rely on congress to check the president. that's a really good one in a case like this where the president is accused, by congressman swalwell, of aiming an angry mob at the capital, as congress. to prevent it from performing its function. the presidents claim that it is

part of his official duties to stay in office no matter what, even after he has been voted out by the people and by the electoral college, really takes hotspots to a new level. it says i have a duty to you, my subjects. i can just hear george the third in the background, i have a duty to you my loyal subjects, to remain in office, to prevent congress from counting the electoral votes that would kick me out of office. if the president had an official responsibility -- if it was part of his job description to hold on to that office, even after he's voted out of it, and to do it even by trying to have his own vice president hung in front of the capitol, by storming the capital, by killing capital police -- if that was part of the job description, then the job that would be described is, dictator,

not president. so it is not a claim that is likely to find favor. to put it mildly. with the courts of the united states. >> a possible illustration of what you're talking about in terms of official duties. is the distinction between say, donald trump on that day and senator hawley on that day. one might argue that senator hawley helped provoke an insurrection at the capitol by challenging the electoral college vote. however, there is an official procedure that senator hawley was working within when he did that. and it might have been encouraging to people, but he was working in at a prescribed, official procedure and he did that. >> right. he was in fact, exercising his role as a member of congress. however, this disgustingly he was doing it. and there was calls in the constitution that and a big

clause that says for any speech may come to the floor of congress for exercising your official duties. you can't be questioned in and they are the place. there is no such provision for the president. there is however, a judicially created immunity. the court recognized and elaborated on it in the case of nixon versus fitzgerald. but it said it was part of the separation of powers, that you don't hold the president responsible in the article three judiciary for his carrying out his article two duties as president. among other things is said, the impeachment powers, which is also good one in this case. remember when a lot of the members of the senate voted to acquit him they said including mitch mcconnell, he will be held responsible. the law will follow him, to use that quotation from the tweet that you began with. the law will follow him.

he will be held accountable. that is why we don't have to convict him. well, this is the law holding him accountable. and he says, not me. i was president of the united states. he has just has made a fundamental mistake. a president is not a sovereign. a president is not the king of us. he is not george the third. he is not even george washington. he is exercising power as an employee of the people of the united states. that he answers to the people. and one of the ways you answer to the people is by being held accountable for the damages that you do, when you aim an angry mob at members of congress and others. who gets severely injured as a result. eric swalwell in his lawsuit talks about how he thought he was going to die. he basically said goodbye to his wife and to his children, because he was among the

targets of this supposed exercise of official power. the president is trying to have it both ways and everywhere. is trying in fact, also to say, that he had a first amendment right to do what he did. a right that private citizens have, but not that the government has. if we're going to say that he was really just being the government, doing the government's duty, doing his duty to american citizens, when he fomented an insurrection, a violent insurrection to hold on to office, just pushes it way beyond the limit. and it's like the 13th chime of a clock. with other defenses you might have in a lawsuit like this really become laughable when his basic defenses, you can't touch me. i was president of the united states. and for all we know, he's among those of his followers who says, i am still president of the

united states, if you want to know the truth. [laughs] it's just not me -- it is a meet the laugh test as we see in the law. >> professor laurence tribe, thank you very much. once again tonight. we really appreciate. it thank you very much. >> thank you, lawrence. >> coming up, republicans in arizona are trying to restrict the secretary of state's authority over elections because she is a democrat. republicans in other states, including michigan, want to launch their own fraud audits like the one in arizona. michigan state secretary of state has warned them that that is against the law. secretary of state benson will join us next.

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are doing to the presidential ballots in arizona. katie hobbs called it a fraud it. and then she said this, >> when they're unboxing ballots to do whatever they're doing to the ballots and then putting them back their, not making sure they get back in the right place it. also appears as if they are big totaling uncounted versus counted ballots. they're leaving ballots unattended on tables. they are just absolutely not taking seriously the magnitude of what they have in front of them. >> republicans in arizona don't like election experts and election law experts. so republicans in arizona state legislator have advanced a bill that would strip the secretary of state of the authority she has to respond to election lawsuits. republican bill would give that authority to the republican state attorney general.

in all election litigation through january 2nd, 2023. secretary of state katie hobbs released a statement saying, the fact that the legislature has singled me and my office for these unjustifiable restrictions, restrictions to expire at the end of my term, make it clear what this is really about, partisan politics. the republican fraudit and the arizona is aspiring trump supporters in georgia and michigan to pressure county governments to launch similar election, so-called audits. in georgia, the rip rap republican secretary of state brad raffensperger, who is running for election against a trump endorsed opponent, told the new york times that he suddenly supports a review of the ballots in fulton county. which joe biden won by 242,965 votes. and the washington post reports

michigan's top election officials, secretary of state jocelyn benson and the company whose voting equipment has been the subject of baseless claims of fraud are cautioning local governments in the state that outside audits of the 2020 election results, like the one underway in maricopa county, arizona, would be illegal and would void the machines security warranties. joining us now is jocelyn benson, michigan secretary of state. thank you very much for joining us. we really appreciate it. what is happening in michigan and why did you have to issue that warning? >> well we're seeing again, a continuation of the big lie. we're individuals are trying to find out ways to keep the misinformation alive. staying the news, stay relevant. and also intervene with our security protocols. which we take right seriously. the bottom line is, in our state, the local level, county

governments cannot simply hand over access to secure ballots or a voting machines, or other types of materials that we used to make sure elections are secure. and my office, my job is to make sure the job law is followed and security protections remain in place against those who want to continue to find ways to undermine our democracy in our state. >> about six months ago, we're almost no one in america could tell you who their secretary of state was in their state. it was one of the kind of comfortably obscure jobs, normally done in a professional and very nonpartisan way all over the country. what has it been like to transition from that kind of position, trusted by both parties, never really doubted, into this center now. center of cross current attacks

and controversies? >> i've always believed, because voters in many states based choose their chief election officers, we should have greater spotlight of these positions, because we do make decisions every day that impact the right to vote and their ability to hold their elected officials accountable. so it's important we take these offices seriously. and unwell fortunately we also see happening is efforts in georgia, as you mention, arizona in particular, to now reduce the authority of these positions. to further partisan agendas in partisan goals. and that is particularly troubling in light of what happened in 2020, we're democracy prevailed because you had good people in secretary of state positions on both sides of the aisle, willing to stand up and defend every vote and every voice. and if those folks are replaced by people who don't have the same integrity, or if their job description is changed to give that ability to oversee elections to a partisan individual, light in arizona, the attorney general, we do

have a problem on our hands that impacts the attacker tee to prove protect our democracy moving forward. >> does this feel to you like in effect, a spring training for the big game? the big game being, in 2024, in the next presidential election? were these things that are presenting themselves as challenges right now, will actually get turned into republican controlled practices in various battleground states? us battlegroun>> we're absoluteo look at this as preparation for the 2024 election cycle. indeed, i believe everything we saw, endured and survived in 2020, will be back again in 2022. and stronger forces in 2024. where those forces who sought to undermine democracy in 2020 will be back, and they will be better organized. they will be better funded. they will have more people in positions of authority. so yes, in many ways, everything you are seeing right now, from the fraud it's that are perpetuating the big lie and feeding the big lie

misinformation campaign. to the changes to election laws all across the country, to make it harder to vote. to the changes in authority, or efforts to strip authority from election administrators. it is all about preparing for the next big battle in 2024, where those forces will be back. and i think it is important for folks to know in that, to me this feels like a continuation, of that training. i feel like we were told this marathon would and in the 2020 election. but indeed, the big run, the big race was just beginning. and it is going to take us to 2024 and require all of us to stay vigilant throughout this time and into 2024. to protect our democracy and ensure that a prevails again. >> michigan secretary of state, jocelyn benson. thank you very much for joining us. really appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. >> coming up, officer brian sicknick fought for hours with the attackers of the capital on january six. he suffered two strokes and died in the hospital on the

next day. officer sicknick's mother now wants to meet with every republican senator who opposes a january six investigative commission. most republicans are planning to vote against that commission tomorrow, without ever meeting with officer sicknick's mother. that's next. that's next. ♪ ♪ smooth driving pays off. saving is easy when you're in good hands. allstate. click or call for a quote today.

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the next day. mitch mcconnell plans to use a procedural vote in the senate to block a bill establishing a bipartisan january six investigative commission. officer brian sicknick's mother, gladys, has sent a statement to mitch mcconnell and every republican member of the senate asking them to meet with her to explain their opposition to a january 6th commission. in her statement to republican senators, gladys sicknick says that her son quote, died because it's the insurrectionists who stormed the capitol building on january six. glad astigmatic said that her son fought for hours and hours against those animals who are trying to take over the capital building and our democracy, as we know it. not having a january 6th commission to look into exactly what occurred is a slap in the face of all the officers who did their jobs that day. because of what they did, the people in the building were able to go home that evening and be with their families.

brian and many other officers ended up in the hospital. i suggest that all congressmen and senators who are against this bill visit my son's grave in arlington national cemetery and, while there, think about what they're hurtful decisions will do to those officers who will be there for them going forward. joining our discussion though, maria teresa kumar says, and this embassy conservator. also aisha mills, democratic strategist. maria teresa, mitch mcconnell said he would never forget. it seems like he has forgotten. >> once again, mitch mcconnell says nice things behind -- on the floor of the senate. but doesn't does it with empty words and without action. and what i find the most tragic is that, that officer, officer sicknick, died during his duty to protect mitch mcconnell. and to protect every single

person in that building. he was doing his job. and for the senate leadership not to ask for an investigation of something that was so against the history of america, and do it in a way that is a slap in the face for those people who lost their lives that the who were trying to safeguard our democracy. it's not only a slap in the face to that family, but to the american people. but because his job was to protect mitch mcconnell, and mitch mcconnell is turning his back and not finding out the truth. >> and apparently turning his back on brian sicknick's. mother >> aisha, gladys sicknick said this, public putting politics aside, wouldn't they want to know the truth of what happened on january six? if not, they do not deserve to have the jobs they were elected to do. with aisha, i just can't imagine how that conversation would go between gladys sicknick and a republican member of the senate who is

opposed to this commission. >> me either. and i'm just so curious to see who would actually take her up on having that conversation. because here's the thing, we have to take a minute to think about what is democracy, as we talk about this hold antidemocratic wave of this imagination of the republican party. they were always this, but they are today. the truth is that our democracy is a system that is set up under mutually agreed upon rules, where rivals compete. but ultimately within a system of sheared and agreed upon rules. that is not what is happening anymore. you have a republican party that essentially, instead of seeing the opposition as rivals under the same system, the see democrats, the people who share democrats vision and ideals and what accountability in the democrats, they see them as mortal rivals. and a threat in a way that they want to stump them out. as opposed to participate in a

mutually agreed upon process. to get down to answers and really legislate. here's the thing that makes that so difficult, is when you have a party that sees the opposition as something to stomp out, there is nowhere to go with that. there's no system anymore. there's nothing to participate around. so, i think that they are caught going to shun this man's mother. because how can they say and have a conversation with her and be part of a process that the actually no longer believe exist or want to participate in. and the last thing also briefly about this, is that i always want us to remember, that this rush towards eroding our democracy always begins and ends with race. at the end of the day, we race is a predictor for this anti-democratic viewpoint that they have now. it is always going to be about racial animus. you see it in a lot of different ways, but that's when it comes down to. so to be forced to participate in a system that gets down to answers around this insurrection, is going to be a

reckoning on a whole lot of and nasty underbelly. so here we are, where they want to do nothing and to not participate. and it's just really unfortunate and such a breakdown and frustrating. >> maria teresa it, seems if the republicans vote this down, that it will get a majority vote. it will get a couple of republicans. but if it doesn't get 62 across that procedural threshold, republicans will vote it out. if they do that, it is then within the powers of the democratic chairs of the senate and house committees to conduct their own investigations. mm>> here's the thing. by making it a partisan issue, whatever the democrats find is going to be in opposition from the right, saying that it was not transfer. even though they didn't want to participate. and the hypocrisy of mitch mcconnell, who claims to be a patriot for this country, not wanting to know and get to the bottom of what almost overthrew our democracy and a fair and

safe election. it's not only obscene but cowardly. and it's time the republicans have a reckoning within themselves and see, are we part of a system of the country, and do we want a democracy and to strengthen it for future generations. that is the claim by them right now in office. but it has only been literally who has actually been the one forceful with her voice saying this is what a country looks like. it's patriotism above political parties. and mitch mcconnell needs to be able to figure out how he can be less cowardly and actually be a leader at this point. >> aisha, mitt romney said today that republicans would be seen as not wanting the truth to come out. a, yeah. that's pretty obvious. but most of them don't fear appearing that we at all. >> and that is that is a conundrum we are in. the republicans are planning playing to a base which frankly has sentiments that always existed, but donald trump

stoke. now they are left with a party of people who are really embolden around their anti-democratic ideas. who are really steeped in racial animus. who want to burn everything down and not participate. frankly, want to get away with it all scot-free. and that is who they are responding and reacting to. while we all know and believe that they are certainly a minority in numbers of america, from an electoral standpoint, these members of congress are reliant upon that sect to keep them in office. so mitch mcconnell is doing this really vile dance right now. instead of being for the people and doing the business of the people, what he's trying to do is keep his party in a position where they keep our. and the base of their power is full of heat. it doesn't want to know the answers. it doesn't want the commission to do its work. because it's ultimately going to just reflect how nasty they are. so, that is where we are. it's all about power and politics. once again. >> aisha mills and maria teresa

kumar, thank you both for joining our discussion. thank you. >> thank you. >> coming up, what a difference a presidency makes. a mother of a u.s. army lieutenant who was deported to mexico by donald trump, president biden brought her back to the united states to be reunited with her son. that is next in tonight's last word. balanced nutrition for strength and energy. great tasting ensure with 9 grams of protein, 27 vitamins and minerals, and nutrients to support immune health. you may have many reasons for waiting to go to your doctor right now. but if you're experiencing leg pain, swelling, or redness, don't wait to see your doctor. these could be symptoms of deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot which could travel to your lungs and lead to a pulmonary embolism. which could cause chest pain or discomfort, or difficulty breathing—and be deadly. your symptoms could mean something serious, so this is no time to wait.

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we built the city's recycling system from the ground up, helping to make san francisco the greenest big city in america but we couldn't do it without you. thank you, san francisco. gracias, san francisco. -thank you. -[ speaks native language ] first an intelligence officer let's keep making a differene together. and the united states army and so he had reason to believe that his mother would be allowed to stay in this country and our program that allows parents of active duty members of the military to remain in the united states. but under the trump administration, no one was safe. and so lieutenant cruises mother who came to this country 1988 and raised her children here it was sent to mexico in january 2020. >> it's a hard feeling having

to say goodbye to my mother, holding her in danger. especially when we've given up so much for this country. >> that was then, and joe biden is now. lieutenant cruz flew home from california from texas last week to welcome his mother back into the united states. lieutenant cruises mother was allowed to return to the united states and in arrangement between the american civil liberties coming in and having been away from her family for a year and a half when she was reunited with them last week his mother said this. >> it was the happiest day of my life to be able to touch them physically have them near me. my kids and my grandkids. >> lieutenant cruises mother, miscall my eyes gets tonight's last word. the 11th hour with brian

williams starts now. >> well, good evening once again. they 127 of the biden administration and tonight there are more signs that the former president's legal jeopardy is real. over 24 hours after the washington post first reported that the special grand jury will indeed decide whether to indict donald trump or his company's executives on criminal charges. there was this today from cnn that, quote, manhattan prosecutors have told at least one witness to prepare for a grand jury testimony. that would indicate a new and crucial phase in the investigation and that came along quickly. a prosecutor's focus on the trump's business practices and his tax returns. they're also believed to be scrutinizing the finances of the trump cfo allen weisselberg. he's been with the