>> that is times last, where the 11th hour stephanie ruhle starts right now. >> tonight, the battle behind the scenes, new reporting about the face-off between doj and the fbi over that search in mar-a-lago. all leading to the big question, is the president above the law? then the new extreme of the republican party on full display. as one member questions what president biden's victory late son wasn't investigated. and dark points from the web how conspiracy theories have crept into the mainstream. and the very real dangers they

pose. as the 11th hour gets underway on this wednesday nights. good evening once again. i'm stephanie ruhle. we begin with stunning new revelations about a month long battle between federal prosecutors and fbi agents over the search of donald trump's florida club for classified documents. the washington post reports the showdown started when the doj lawyers were ready to search mar-a-lago back last spring. some fbi officials resisted and some field agents even push to end the investigation altogether. our friend, kara leonnig, as one of the reporters who probe that story. earlier today she explained how the clash went on for many months. >> the fbi agents who are responsible for investigating crimes, and the prosecutors who

are responsible for deciding whether to charge the former president with a crime we're really duking it out. ever since, basically, april and may of last year. the fbi agents basically said we are not interested in rating or doing a surprise unannounced search of the former presidents home in florida. the prosecutors were canvassers evidence of obstruction. evidence donald trump that his aides were concealing classified records there and allowed a federal subpoena. which are charged elephants is. they said it is time to get into mar-a-lago and start searching. >> what this boils down to, nicole, is inside the room. agents and prosecutors battle over whether or not to treat donald trump like a normal person who are allowed in the law. >> as we all saw that search of mar-a-lago has taken place on august 8th of last year. and it's recovered more than 100 classified arguments. the attorney general, merrick garland, was grilled about it

during a senate hearing that took place earlier today. >> i am not able to describe the investigation. i will say as a general and the matter and a high level of generality that in my experience as a prosecutor there's often a robust discussion and it is encouraged, among investigators and prosecutors. >> attorney general -- you made the decision. right? you said you did. >> no, i'm sorry, what i'm saying is that approved a decision. but >> i approved the decision to seek a search warrant after probable cause. >> overruling the fbi agents who did not want to do so. it doesn't seem to me that the fbi has a lot of confidence in you. because what they're doing

clearly is trying to distance themselves from your decisions. >> but meanwhile the million voting systems explosive court findings in the lawsuit against fox. in the latest bombshell we talked about last night that rupert murdoch himself admitted fox news and dosed false election claims. none democrats in congress don't just want answers they want real actions. house minority leader, hakeem jeffries, a senate minority leader, chuck schumer, wrote to murdaugh and fox executives calling on them to take action to protect american democracy. >> i order tucker carlson and other hosts on fox news to stop spreading lies about the election. they need to stop giving the platform to dangerous and entirely unfounded conspiracy theories that eat at the wellspring of our democracy. and they need to admit, on the air but, they were wrong to engage in such negligent and

destructive behavior. mr. murdoch's testimony is all the more alarming after speak of mccarthy is reportedly allowing tucker carlson to review highly sensitive security camera footage. of the events surrounding the violence in january 6th insurrection. sharing that footage is a great mistake that risks emboldening the supporters of the big lie. >> good luck with that, chuck. with that, let's get smart with the help of our lead off panel tonight. nbc capitol hill correspondent, ryan nobles. former fbi assistant director for counter intelligence, and former u.s. attorney joyce vance. who spent 25 years as a federal prosecutor. frank, let's start with the steele reporting. on some fbi agents resisting the mar-a-lago search what stuck out to you? >> oh goodness, we are in a bad

place. if years of trump bashing the fbi, having fired jim comey, having andy mccabe fire 24 hours before he's eligible for retirement benefits. here we go with now what appears to be the fruits of all of that erosion of our key institutions where the question has to be asked of do we have fbi agents who are gun shy when it comes to doing the right thing? let me say this. robust, even lowe debates and discussions between agents and prosecutors on big complex cases but actually, the sign of a healthy relationship with the prosecutor. the sign of an unhealthy situation is when agents gets the point where they see

evidence, namely people moving boxes to discreetly hide them after subpoenas have been issued. and sources telling them there is more classified in there and still, if carols reporting is accurate, saying yes i don't think so. i don't think we need to do this. the problem is agents intense love for the agency and the hatred for what has happened to the public perception of it and now a situation where they may be fearful that it's going to happen to them. they are going to be the ones, on their, watch where the fbi gets past again. this is an extremely unhealthy situation. >> given that, would you say that trump's continuous attacks against the fbi are working for him? >> but yes, i mean, there's even a worse scenario. that is working for him or we actually have agents who are allowing politics and their own

personal politics. again, i don't know this to be a fact, but we have agents who are down their own personal and political opinions to enter into decision-making on the cases? i hope not. i do clearly think the impact of trump is being felt here. and look, i don't think it's just the fbi. i think we see this across the institutions. you just bashed centers for disease control. he's bashed every institution we have. but what this is likely going to be and is it this? the inability to do what is right when confronted with a difficult decision. >> joyce, what do you think? francis said it. it is normal for investigators and prosecutors to have robust discussions. merrick garland said the same thing. but this doesn't sound like a robust discussion. this sounds like a lot more than that. >> so, i would agree with that.

robust discussion is what you want to see a team doing. you want to see prosecutors, and agents, airing out all the possibilities. looking for every angle on how to move a case forward before they reach a decision. i think frank is right when he said sometimes those conversations are loud. ultimately, the directive dippy reports the deputy attorney general. typically, agents offer different to prosecutors. it is a prosecutor's decision to make. we can only go so far with an unwilling team. so what you want to see is everyone get to the same points and agree upon the best course of action. what is troubling here. and i agree with frank's assessment. there are a number of possibilities. we don't know what it is. they clearly have a public confidence issue that chris wray is going to have to address. but the bottom line here is this. did the agents treat the situation like they would treat any other situation. in other words, where their concerns of how you investigate a former president, any former president. or were they wrapped around the axle? but because of that is the case

we are in perilous territory. but >> of course we have a public confidence issues. we currently have a weaponization of government committee taking place right before our eyes. ryan, today we saw josh hawley grilling merrick garland. did we hear that from other republicans throughout the day? or was this just part of the holy show because that is what happens when he is here and this goes down? >> stephanie, i was actually kind of surprised but i was shocked at how little republicans on the committee shied way from the opportunity to press merrick garland on these investigations into the trump documents, or even, by extension asking tough questions about what was happening with the investigations into mike pence. on the long list of topics with the senate judiciary committee. documents were pretty far down on that list. and they chose to talk about

the department of justice investigation into school boards. the attacks on crisis pregnancy centers. the fallout after the dobbs decision. or lack thereof of supreme court justices. this doesn't seem to be a high priority for republicans in the judiciary committee. and beyond. now, they no doubt try to establish with all their questioning that lack of confidence about the fbi and the department of justice that you alluded to earlier. you know, basically, every question was setting garland up there. to ask a question about whether or not there was some sort of conservative bias of the department of justice. on the specific issue. it certainly did not seem to be a priority. perhaps that is a signal that donald trump doesn't have the same kind of stranglehold on the republican party that he once had. >> frank, you talk to people inside the bureau. what are you hearing in general? >> first of all, they really are anxious and over -- the living with the fact that is a 30% of the population?

40% of the population? questions, not for the mission of the fbi but whether they have become a politicized. and whether that is driving a different approach to the issue. that affects them on the daily lives. the other thing is the leakage that is occurring. and applaud obviously good journalism from carroll leonnig. which gives us a great look at what's happening in the back room. watching the sauce being made. but some of the concern to me is that the first thing that is going to happen here is the trump legal defense team is going to say, i am calling every fbi agent in washington field office to the stand, and i'm asking them if they are the ones who said this case should be close. who said there was no need to do the search. you saw it already with josh hawley today.

in the intro. it is already happening. and so they are concerned that leakage, public perception, and the gop who has it in four on students all contribute soon environment that makes it really hard for them to secure the nation and their community. >> joyce, do you think we learned this washington post reporting is quote have any impact on what is happening in the special counsel's investigation of jack smith and what he is working on? >> look, everyone's human. even prosecutors and agents. i am sure that they are aware of this. i am sure that they don't like it. merrick garland, today, in fact went over backwards in this oversight hearing to applaud the work of the career people. and to talk about his confidence in them. which, i, think just that he is aware that he has to constantly ten to the morale of the people inside the department. but whether any of this influences their decisions, absolutely not. that is your dna as a

prosecutor. you are hardwired to ignore any sort of external political consideration. the higher the temperature is in the case, the more important or sensitive the cases. the more implied prosecutors are to back away from any external influence. and to look at the law, and the facts. that is not just to have one that prosecutors say, sometimes, people wonder if they really do that. but the reality is this. if you are the prosecutor who indites a case. you are the prosecutor who has to go to court, present the evidence to a jury, and ask them to return a verdict of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. we are not going to do that if the evidence is not there. by the same token, you are not going to flinch the evidence is there. if you got, it you're gonna go ahead and indict because that is the job. >> ryan, new topic, we played a little bit of it a moments ago. chuck schumer, reading his letter to rupert murdoch. what else can you tell us about democrats strategy. again, is this about presenting to the public and getting more media tension? because, do they really think a

letter to rupert murdoch is going to make him suddenly change his game? >> i think your skepticism is warranted in this regard, stephanie. i think that chuck schumer and hakeem jeffries know that very well. there is no way that a letter to fox is going to make them, somehow, go on the air and going to make tucker carlson admits that behind the scenes he secretly did believe that donald trump was pled peddling lies as a relay so election results. it's not quick to make them change course. it is tier early point about establishing exactly what happened over the past couple of weeks with this dominion lawsuit. this new information has been put into the spare. and just reminding americans what was discovered about this early and early again. chuck schumer, hakeem jeffries, sending a letter will likely not ever get in front of the fox viewers that are probably the ones you need to hear this information the most. there's no way it's ever going to appear on their airwaves.

and fox yours, by and large, they are not watching programs like yours or others. they tend to be but just with right-wing media. >> you don't know that riot? >> that is true. >> right now there could be scores of sean hannity fans watching this hour and they might, every night. you don't know that for sure. on that topic, you know, i'm discussing this with you. joyce, new topic. because i do want to discuss this. before we go to break. the alec murdaugh murder trial. the prosecution gives closing arguments today. let's give a quick update to our audience, catie beck has more. >> prosecutors describe a gathering storm, and terrible pressure bearing down on murdaugh in the weeks and months before the murders. confronted for stealing money from his firm and about to be financially exposed by a civil case after the 2019 boat crash involving his son, paul. >> they're all reaching a crescendo. dave, his wife, his son,

murdered by him. >> prosecutors, again, point the line murdaugh emitted on the sand. but he was never at the candles that nights. >> when was the last time i saw a wife and child? why in the world would an innocent reasonable father and husband lie about that. >> and a graphic discussion of alec should paul in the field room with the family gun and maggie who heard and saw the horrific moments just moments before her own death. >> she was running to her baby but, heard that shot, and was running to her baby. but when she got limbaugh down. >> reminded the jury about how moments after the murders murdaugh struggled to explain why he was tracking so many steps and why some details, the

one that helped him, are crystal clear. in an ever-changing manufactured alibi story. >> they're asking questions like that. -- >> replaying various interviews allegation vests gaiters. >> i stayed on the couch and -- >> the crime scene show to the jury wednesday morning. taken from the court, to the 1700 acre mozelle property, to walk the candles, the feed room, and the outside of the former murdaugh home. >> oh boy, joyce. what does the jury going into this crime scene mean for this trial? and what should people like me, of the new yorker look at this trial with new york eyes understand about this courtroom, this jury, this case, and this community? >> so, this is a jury very much like every other jury that sits everywhere in the country. they will and they have given

patient respect to prosecutors, and the judge. they understand that their job is to decide this case based solely on the evidence that they hear in the courtroom. juries do a pretty good job at that. that is one of the reasons that the defense wanted them to see the murdaugh home in this area where the murders took place to give them some special context. because the defense's job is to create reasonable doubt in the mind of at least one juror. that is all they have to do. convince one juror to have doubts about murdaugh's guilt and hang-up the jury and put that to conviction. when you hear the prosecutors do their closing argument of the way this works, the prosecution closes, the defense response, and then the prosecutors will get a final rebuttal. which is bearing the burden of proof. so they get to outlast a kind of thinking. they're at the end of the leading argument. if you are not persuaded that they should get a conviction. that the prosecution is in deep trouble. that is before the defense will

have the chance to respond. they did a great job today. laying out all the lies and essentially saying there are strong circumstantial evidence of guilt and you should believe that evidence because of all the life that this defendant told afterwards in an effort to protect himself. so it's an interesting conversation that the jury will have behind closed doors. the defense hopes that the will cause them to have concerns about whether not murdaugh could've killed both of his family members on the timeline of the prosecution suggests. >> interesting to say. joyce vance, thank you so much. michael koozie, thank you so much. ryan, we keep going back to mispronouncing last name just a punishing fair comments. going back to ryan nobles for now. >> please forgive me. >> i like it's into the while my parents watch fox news, tom 11 pm, they always watch the show. so those are two people right there. kara swisher's mom as well, i give you. three when we come back, hakeem jeffries on thoughts on who is

really in charge of the gop. some republicans may be proving his point. juanita oliver, charlie sykes, or her to break down what is going on in the later conspiracy theories like qanon are still spread in the dark corners of the internet. we will speak to the author of a new book that details the rise of qanon. how we got here, and what the possible way out could be. the 11th hour just getting underway on an important wednesday nights. day nights your best defense against erosion and cavities is strong enamel- nothing beats it. new pronamel active shield actively shields the enamel to defend against erosion and cavities. i think that this product is a gamechanger for my patients- it really works.

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control of the united states house of representatives and that is a bad thing for the american people. >> that is just some of what we heard from house democratic leader, hakeem jeffries today. his comments come just two days after republican congressman, james comer, complained that joe biden's late son, beau, was never indicted. >> this u.s. attorney had had an opportunity to go after the bidens. years ago. in fact, it was beau biden, the presidents other son, that was involved in some campaign donations from a person they got indicted. i don't know much but this u. s. attorney other than he's had an opportunity to investigate the bidens before. and he chose not to.

we all know that he's been solid for a long time. >> the white house, no surprise, has called comer's comments despicable. so let's discuss. when lisa tolliver, msnbc political analyst and host of crooked media. and charlie sykes's hair, editor of the bulwark and also an msnbc analyst. charlie, why does it always go back to the biden family for republicans? the president son, beau, already passed away. if hunter biden did something wrong to department of justice is welcome to have at it. but what are republicans in congress having to do with this? >> let's clarify who beau biden was. he was awarded the legion of merit. the bronze star that conspicuous service cross. he served as attorney general of the state. for this congressman, for all the love and things that he

could be doing with all this times to smear a dead war hero because his name is biden. despicable doesn't seem a strong enough word about it. this is one of those have you no shame moments. and i think it's in the education of the way in which the house oversight committee has become a clown car. we've seen this in some of the hearings. and they continue to embarrass themselves. whatever governor carter thinks he was going to accomplish. they continue to go down one rabbit hole after another. but we are only in march. it's over march 4th now. this is late february. we have months to go to see what the bottom is and how far down the go. they are moving quickly. >> juanita, yesterday kate bedingfield said that the american people are not interested in joe biden's family. they're interested in their own families. what is going on at their kitchen table, with their kids education. did republicans not get that

memo at the midterms? >> apparently not, stephanie, but poll after poll has shown that all the things that they're trying to investigate, the public has no idea what they are talking about. so they are clearly going to that same marker publican base that we know follows behind trump and they're looking to, essentially kept their support that. because there were nurses looking at why are you not trying to help me? why are you trying to lower my cost? why are you not trying to address the rail day-to-day things that i and my family are experiencing? and the reality is that is the contrast that republicans keep putting out there compared to democrats who, democratic leader hakeem jeffries, has been explicitly clear that no matter what antics and what investigation, and what unfounded claim republicans layout in congress. democrats are the one still prioritizing people and it is democratic priorities and bills that they passed in the last

congress for coming to fruition now that people are feeling. so i'm glad to see the democrats are emphasizing the reality of that contrast and how republicans have zero interest in doing anything for the general public. >> charlie, since you are asking the question, how low can we go? i've got an exchange for you. we've seen republican congressman, byron donalds, and democratic congressman, jamal balloon career. watch this. ships, active restructure build, safer communities act, certain provisions for climate, 35 bell insulin. >> high inflation. fentanyl in every street. look, we can do the same thing. where is he gone? >> harrison blackmon. look at these handsome blackmon. we gotta bring black men together. >> charles? what do you make of this exchange? it's a snapshot of where we are? >> i think so. but next three guests are having a pretty good time.

>> in the end. >> three handsome men, right? three handsome blackmon. correct. >> they were actually pretty civil with one another compared to some of the stuff going on. i mean, at least are able to have a dialogue, it's opposed to no talking about families. there is a line, where there used to be a line, where you could disagree and then you could hug about and go have a beer. but when you are sitting around saying why wasn't the president's dead son, beau, who loves very much. why was he not indicted? what are you doing there? as juanita says this is not about solving problems. this is not about governance. it is not even good politics. it is just this maga majority that cannot help itself from scratching its ideological itch and their obsessions are going to be problematic. part of me, i would admit, i was watching this and thinking maybe the democrat should've spent more time talking about ivanka, and eric, and don jr..

because they were actually in the government at one time. >> bingo. >> unlike hunter biden who has never been in government. but biden served with great distinction and honor. so this would be a good moment for them to shut up. >> that is the thing that people keep forgetting. jared and ivanka, while making $600 million a year, all raising money from and bs, for when jarred left the white house. they were senior advisers to the president. that is why there is a question there. what do you think about this exchange? >> i think it was a case study in the impacts of disinformation more than anything else because the parts that y'all didn't show was the beginning, when the congressman from new york, representative bowman, was talking about the fact that desantis is a white nationalists. he is anti women, he is anti lgbtq, he is anti black, and the day after black history month and did our representative donald could say was, no it's not. but we know it is true.

it comes across in his policies. it comes across in his platforms. it comes across and where he spends his time and energy and in the community he's trying to erase an arm. so, for that to be the only rebuttal that donald had, it just shows how far disinformation goes and how far these people who buy into the lies spewed by someone like desantis are willing to go. their will to take it to the bank. with no rebuttal. because it is not about substance. it is not about the truth for them. and the heat up this disinformation, and spewed back out to the world, and they're causing harm across our political system. >> that's what you gotta call it out every day, and keep telling the truth. juanita, charlie. always great to have you both. here i appreciated. when we come back we're go to stay on the misinformation beat and go deeper inside qanon. a conspiracy theory emerge from the dark corners of the internet and not to the television. our next guest went in the skies. i wonder what the disguised even was, to try to understand these folks and the dangers of their beliefs. on the 11th hour when we continue.

continue

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>> they've also uncovered a lot of great stuff and comes to epstein and it comes to the deep state. i never saw -- as dangerous as antifa. >> maybe they are confused, maybe they've got the wrong ideas.

they are gentle people. waving american flags, like the country. >> 70% of republicans do not believe that this election was free, fair and for good reason. >> having people vote in massive numbers to absolutely fraudulently creating ballots that exist. only voting for biden. >> abortion politics is a total fixation of democratic donors. it's the main thing that they care about. why is that by the way? >> it's a religion, a child sacrifice called. >> none, none of what you just heard right there is rational. none of what you heard is true. what conspiracy theories like those are everywhere these days. and according to our next guest, our national obsession with conspiracies like qanon, is only getting worse. daily beast politics reporter joins me. he is the author of the terrifying new book trust the plan. we will rise of qanon and the conspiracy that unhinged america. well, i know that you went in

disguise to get into this community. question one, what kind of discuss? were you wearing a goatee? a leonard skinner the t-shirt? two flags hanging out the back of your car? what did it look like? >> nothing to elaborate, just throughout my facial hair. i wore a baseball cap, put some sunglasses on. because there were people. i had gotten death threats and there was an issue of my safety. i certainly use my own name and identified myself as a reporter. but just to make it a little harder for somebody across the room to spot if they want to cause trouble. >> i know you talked a lot of qanon believers, enthusiasts. how big of a role does fox news play in their lives and how big of a role does qanon play in their lives? >> fox is really huge. we know on the right, in particular people who are really adult by right wing media. fox news's number one. fox played a huge role in promoting qanon as you showed

earlier. that jesse waters clip where he says, qanon, they came up with some great stuff. they have uncovered a lot of genuine things. qanon believers really seized on that. >> that's a lie. >> right. to get new recruits. fox has really, and has sort of laid the groundwork in a way by creating other conspiracy theories and talking so much about the deep state. that then it was only one more jump for people to get into qanon. >> people who are into it though, how big of a role does qanon have in their daily lives? are they still going to school, going to work, going to holidays with their family? >> yes, so a lot of people who are into qanon go through their normal lives. but they exist in a sort of alternate reality where, i say in the book that you might think that you are talking to them about the weather. but then they will say, well the government controls do what the serve through these machines. so they believe so many ballots are. think the issue is, and that becomes dangerous. whether that is january the 6th

or we have had qanon believers murder members of their own family. so there is that menace to qanon. even though it can initially seem like sort of just a wacky thing on. >> how did all of this? start >> started in october 2017 with some anonymous posts made online. by figure named keith. that is where the queue comes from. qanon believers thought that this person was close to trump. that it was michael flynn or don jr. perhaps. and they used these clues to sketch out this alternate worldview where democrats murder children and drink their blood and worship the devil. >> that is so bananas. >> what was the most shocking thing you learned when you got close to some of these folks? >> i think really it was just the way that it has destroyed families. really across the country. and how these people just really sink into qanon. and how much money they spend on it. i traveled out to a group that has been described as a qanon call out in the desert in

arizona. after a woman asked me to get her sister out of the group. and there were guns involved, the fbi was investigating them. and i talked to a guy who said that he had put $50,000 into this group. to promote qanon. of his own money. so it is truly, both a conspiracy theory and really harmful thing. but for the people in charge, it is a very lucrative industry. >> before we go, he just said, it woman asked you to get her sister out of the group. that makes it sound like it is a cult. is that how some people, some family members who've quantico, lost other family members to qanon. is that how they see? >> certainly that is how they describe it. yes somebody they love comes home and starts talking about qanon. and then it is like they have been replaced by a different person and their family falls apart in many ways. >> that is really horrible. that is really horrible. we have got to find ways to solve that. will, congratulations on this book and yes, it is terrifying. but it is important read, thank

you for joining us. when we come back, and nbc news exclusive. another very disturbing thing. the feds now expanding their investigation into how children. , kids from central america, wound up working in slaughterhouses in the u.s.. the very important reporting from my colleague julia ainsley. when the 11th hour continues. the 11th hour continues i wish that shaq was my real life big brother. what's up, little bro? turns out, some wishes do come true. and it turns out the general is a quality insurance company that's been saving people money for nearly 60 years.

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one. the feds are now expanding their investigation into child labor at u.s. slaughterhouses. they are focusing on how these central american children and upper cage of that are dangerous for adults, and in an american facility. it is important to point out at this point that homeland security and the justice department are investigating the smugglers in this case. the companies who employ these young people are not that targets. my colleague, julie ainsley is with me. she is nbc news homeland security correspondent, and she broke this troubling story. the first thing i have to ask you, your mom? you are two children. what was it like for you reporting this? >> i mean. it came from the heart. i stood there outside of the middle school where these kids went after they had a full day. a full night, right? so they worked that night shift

and then they found themselves going to school and falling asleep in class. they have birds on their hand. it was college knowledge that they were working. -- it wasn't this one plaid, it wasn't this one company. in fact, the doj is involved. and they are looking at companies across the country. because this is endemic of the industry, that people are working at the plants, and clearing them and they are after hiring children because there are level shortages, they can hire them for last. and now they think that there is a larger smuggling ring. but yeah, as a mom you realize that your children, even if they are strong enough, which my children are babies i can't imagine them doing that but in order to have the emotional skills to make this decision to be able to handle cleaning up blood and animal parts in the middle of the night. >> and then going to school the next day? and then going to school the next day? no one even knows who they are

living with. explain to us how, the companies are not the target. but one of the company say? they are the ones who employ these young people? >> they say they were duped. essentially. that they saw these people come forward with real i. d. s. it passed the federal government system. we should keep that in mind, that it does not get rid of these problems. but we talk to former employees who said you can tell someone would come forward with an i. d. saying that they're 30, they're clearly not even 18. it's hard to pass, some of these children not even 13 for being adults. so now the investigation is looking into how all the ideas got circulated. they said oftentimes it was stolen american identities being passed around and use now by children. so one thing to have your identity stolen, another thing to a dana faye that that i density might help facilitate this ring. >> so who are the people being investigated? it's a children? they can't possibly. >> it's not the children.

but the children are scared. and they are afraid to talk to investigators. >> they are afraid to be deported! >> yes. and it is a part of ice. but in this case, the home investigation, the fbi, are looking at these documents. figuring out of these children were trafficked, what's going on with the i. d. s. and if the child labor is violation. so the companies are not the target at this point. but of course they are going to be investigated as part of this broader piece to say, did they know what was going on? >> okay. but if i am a sixth grader. if i am a sixth grade migrants from el salvador going to school. and i have now procured of fake idea. stolen i. d.. of a 25-year-old american? where did i get that idea? how does that happen? >> the fundamentals right? you have the ability yourself to go out and procure their. but there are systems in place,

and i walked around these tiny towns in the midwest. where all of a sudden there is a large population of latinos, places where you can cast your checks. where oftentimes, someone will take a cut out of your check. where if you are an undocumented identity, it's easy to exploit that. >> jacked up western union? >> right. these people get exploited all the time. their parents get exploited. and oftentimes, it might pay a higher fee for the child. looking at the child. not knowing how dangerous this job might be. and how these children are working not only to help their parents survive, they are repaying the smugglers. they are caught in the system. people are spoken to the investigations, they've spoken to before. they wonder if it's going on here. >> i wonder if this is the result on the company's part, of the massive labor shortage that we have in this country. and specifically, people here not wanting to take jobs in slaughterhouses? >> certainly a contributing factor. as the legal labor department investigator walked through the plants, all children in a place that was so loud that they have to flash flashlights to get the attention.

you can't hear your name getting called. they saw an 80% increase in child labor across the board. 69% increase in increase in child labor over the past five years, and six open cases right now. in child labor violations in the united states. the labor department. and they said all of this is because of the labor shortages, the fact that these children can be exploited, and paid very little. >> my team is gonna yell at me in my ear. but i want you to explain to our audience. you started reporting on this before nbc news. and you got so much response on social media. the reporting has gone deeper, and wider? is that true? >> yes so true. >> has that happened to you before? >> not at this level. we've been talking about these greaney issues for a while, but when this first hit home. we first aired it on top story. it went on youtube, and got like 6 million views. and 50,000 comments. a lot of people coming forward. we have more leads, more former employees. we're chasing everything. we've got a big team here, looking into. this it's not all me. as you know, everything in tv is part of a team.

my -- were digging, and we're digging. but it's because of the public sharing the story. because people are outraged. this is the united states in 2023. and this is happening. >> i am so grateful that you are doing this. i appreciate you, i adore you, this is important reporting. it is terrible reporting, but it is exactly what we have to do. this was a public service. julia ainsley, she is the best. we'll be right back! and all of that pain, my a1c was still stuck. there is a better way to manage diabetes. the dexcom g6 continuous glucose monitoring system eliminates painful fingersticks, helps lower a1c, and it's covered by medicare. before dexcom g6, i couldn't enjoy a single meal. i was always trying to out-guess my glucose and it was awful. (female announcer) dexcom g6 is a small wearable that sends your glucose numbers

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