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We want to jump into the news here with President Biden's star-studded Radio City Music Hall fundraiser last night. Biden's campaign says it raised more than $26 million at the event attended by about 5,000 people. It was hosted by actor and comedian Midy Kaling, special guest Queen. Latifa lizo Ben plat was the highlight of the fundraiser, although a conversation between President Biden and former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton was moderated by late-night host Steven colar. The presidents speak out on a wide range of issues, including the war in Gaza and the need to protect our democracy. They also attacked former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.

The event was met with pro-Palestinian protesters, some of whom interrupted the conversation between the presidents. A large group also

march

ed outside Radio City Music Hall calling for an end to the war in Gaza. Reuters White House correspondent Jeff Mason was one of the few reporters inside Radio City for last night's event. Jeff, good

morning

, thanks for stopping by on your way out of town after last night's event. Take us. inside the room, if you could, what was it like during that event, uh, my pleasure, Willie, it was Electric. There were over 5,000 people in that room at Radio City Music Hall, so a lot of bodies, a lot of energy, a lot of excitement, especially to

watch

.

I think the former presidents and, of course, President Biden, came on stage being elevated with one of those platforms that come out, so it was a very Rockstar moment and it was a rockstar night for the Democrats and for the president Biden. I had a long discussion with Coar, as you mentioned everything from Middle East peace to the economy, and the former president really made a case for Biden. We've been listening to Biden present his own case for him, but last night what he did was he sort of sat back and let his predecessors talk about what it's like to be president and why he should get a second. mandate.

I mean $26 million, hee, such a staggering sum for one night that it simply adds to an already significant and growing cash advantage Biden has. and the Democrats have about Trump and the Republicans, as Willie pointed out, there were some protests outside and some disruptions inside the room also about the war in Gaza, tell us how the presidents, particularly President Obama, handled this and if you think that could Almost will be a model for President Biden in the future because this issue is not going away, it's certainly not going away and it's been dogging President Biden politically throughout the campaign.

I thought it was interesting to see how President Obama responded that he was giving an answer about Gaza and and he was interrupted and said look, you have to listen, uh, not just talk, and that was a moment that really resonated with the crowd, it was kind of sharp. in a way that we haven't seen Biden be sharp and I understand that. The president has tried to show a lot of understanding toward people who disagree with his policies. He has said before to let them speak. They are passionate about this and they do it. He is an important part of the president's coalition that he is trying to win back before November. but Obama and Clinton laid out reasons for people who may have drifted away from Biden to come back, and one of them said that President Biden, in a way that President Trump probably wouldn't be, is an advocate for the Palestinians who has been pushing very hard for a two state solution and I will continue to do so and President Biden ALS, excuse me, President Obama also made an interesting statement about saying there can't be a purity test and he talked about that from his perspective of having been in the White House, uh, you.

You know, Jean, just hearing what President Obama did last night reminds me how good he is at this. I remember there was a kind of peak of awakening and I'm not saying that to provoke anyone. Only use. that term because you know 2017 2018 2019 was kind of peak awakening, of course the Trumpers will say they're all coming to eat our bones one day, but in the midst of the most intense debate, maybe it's 2020, Obama was president. Obama was at um speaking at Mandela Nelson Mandela uh day at the event mhm and he said listen if you don't let someone debate and speak and say that his words are not valid because he's white or because he's a man or because' If you're Hispanic or because They're black, well you're not really having a real debate and you're just hurting yourself and it was a message that not just because he was black but because he's Barack Obama and he can do these things.

Very well, it was a message that only Obama could convey. That's the same thing last night when Obama told left-wing protesters, hey, you know we have to learn to talk to each other. It resonates and it's a great moment last night. Yeah, it was a really great moment, he's very, very good at it, Barack Obama is very, very good at telling you that you're full of it, uh, in a way that's, if not, charming, then, kind of, uh and and. get the message across and M and make you pay attention um uh I've been to the end of that kind of year full of Obama messages a couple of times and I know what he's like um uh you what a collection of political talent on that stage last night you know , if you have Barack Obama and Bill Clint, they know a little bit about being president and they talked a lot about it, but they also know a lot. about running for president and about speaking to this country in a way that represents the views of the Democratic party, the progressive views, to varying degrees, without discouraging others, necessarily, and that triggers, obviously, Obama triggers some people he triggers.

Donald Trump massively, but wow, what a night, what an event, and 26 million dollars is just an astonishing amount of money to have been raised in one night, it just boggles the mind, it gives a sense of Biden. campaign as some kind of Jugger, no, uh, while Donald Trump worries about his court cases and cheats to win his own golf tournament, yeah, Jeff um Obama clearly triggers Donald Trump to the extent that Trump still seems to think who is running against Obama or ran against Obama at some point there was also that phone call for donors who couldn't actually make it to Radio City um be there in person there was a phone call with the campaign managers beforehand, which I thought it was really interesting where they presented the three presidents they presented their theory of the case to the campaign managers and to the donors, it gives us an idea of ​​what there was a little bit about personal stories how they felt it was going to be so important.

A sense of that from that call that we should look to the future. I think it was another, in part, opportunity for the three presidents to attract non-dollar donors. The Biden campaign has been proud to say that a good part, I think. 80 or 90% of the money they've raised has come from people who donated less than $200 and last night there was a big glitzy event with tickets that in some cases cost up to $500,000 and I think to keep the brand going, I also wanted to have the opportunity for others to people would weigh in and have a chance to see all three presidents, so I think that was the goal and personal history is certainly part of it and, more broadly, just making that case again for why Biden should have a second mandate I really just want to go back um and um of course our thoughts always, as we say with the men and women, uh, the NYPD, uh, for all that they do, um, for the bravery that they show every day. and it is us.

I'm really grateful, I want to go back and there's an article from NBC that I just posted on my thread account, and it just shows the facts. I know facts don't matter to Donald Trump, but crime rates remain the same. in fact, the rate is lower now than when Donald Trump was in office, lower than in 2020, even a little lower than in Trump's best year when it comes to crime in 2019, 18 um uh rates of murders in the past year in the big cities where it constantly insists to go down by 20%, rapes go down by 16% you can follow the list, over and over again, the most serious crimes that we went down and again the general crime rate, for 2022, the last year saw crime rates lower than Donald Trump's best year in 2019, certainly a lot lower than 2020, so he'll say what he says.

Republicans will continue to lie, other media outlets will continue to lie about it, and people will go into a frenzy and say what's wrong with crime. and you can show them the facts, it's like seriously, it's like you can show the people that you know, maybe they're UNCC fans, where they don't want to know that Alabama won last night. I think it was 7977, but Alabama won. Wow, no, no, no, no, no, that's not the truth, that's the fact, it's just the fact that they may not like it, but it's the fact and that's how Trump, uh, the extremists have back and that's how cable news networks work, it's their business model to lie about. the facts to twist and distort reality for viewers day after day night after night and when you talk about crime uh it's not as low as I wanted to be it's not as low as you wanted to be we've both said we believe that The issue of bail in New York City it's a joke, we think cops aren't allowed to do their job enough, we think it's a joke.

That said, if you look at the numbers, Donald Trump is lying when he says that crime rates are very high. no, they're down, they're lower than when he was president, yeah, that's just a fact and, uh, violent crimes in particular, all the ones that you just laid out, are down double digits year over year, up by 19 and 20 and at the end of last year and really at the beginning of this year they have gone down a lot criminologists experts in law enforcement debate about why those numbers go down they talked about it in the 90s in New York why this worked the fact is that they're down and it's that perception versus reality issue that we talk a little bit about with the economy, right Joe, when you say look at the data, you know you have number after number that shows how strong this economy is, how resilient it is, we know that inflation is too. high and yet in surveys, just like in crime, people say that the economy is not good or that crime is bad in this country, many times it is a matter of perception, it is the way in which you What do you feel when you walk down a street in New York City if you see things like safety on the streets that doesn't make you feel good and I understand that we all have some of that, but if you want to talk about data, violent crime in the United States They have decreased significantly year over year, that's just a fact, but you can bet.

That will continue to be a problem with Donald Trump and many others in this race. The three presidents also headlined a major fundraiser last night in Manhattan, where Biden's campaign says it has raised more than $26 million. The presidents participated in a conversation moderated by Steven K. The late-night host mentioned Biden's busy tour of the country lately, while Trump has had his eyes on other things. Here's a first look at the discussion inside Radio City. As far as we know, Donald Trump has been trying to win a third championship on his own golf course. My question to you, sir, can voters trust a presidential candidate who has not won a single Trump International Golf Club trophy for Well, sir, don't you have any Chip Shot?

Well, look, I'd be happy to play. I told him once before, when he walked into the oval when he was being sworn in I said, I'll give you three whacks if you carry your own bag, you can't do that, you know, Willie, some people have complained, uh, and of Of course, gloating over the Trumpers talking oh, this is so terrible, a star-studded fundraiser the same day Trump went to the funeral of the murdered, you know, you know it again, we salute anyone, uh, who's going to the funeral of a murdered New York police officer, this is an event that has been scheduled for a long time, this is an event where they had the opportunity to bring together three Democratic presidents to explain not only to their base but also to the independent Swing Swing voters, Republicans who could be moved, why this election is so important, uh, you talk about the bully pulpit that a president has, these are three bully pulpits on stage and it was a pretty remarkable night, yeah, There were protests outside the protest on college campuses and there will be protests at the Chicago convention, I think people need to stop ringing their hands, the fact is you know Donald Trump has been hiding in South Florida or going to court or playing in club championships and miraculously won another club championship from a club, uh, that he owns the crybabies that You know what, keep it to yourself if you really think the setup was bad yesterday because no It was, again it was a massive success for Joe Biden for the campaign, not just for the Democratic Party. but for the pro-democracy forces and as you say, at this moment it is important to see the solidarity between those three presidents, particularly withPresident Obama, given some of the divisions that we've heard about in the Democratic Party, complaints from certain factions within the party that are frustrated. with Joe Biden for this or that reason to show and hear last night in that room President Obama to President Clinton saying guys, we understand that we are always going to have differences within our party, but this is too important, we have to participate and keep Donald Trump out of the White House and re-elect Joe Biden, that was his message anyway and join me here, it's 2024 and this election really feels like the most important election of Our Lives when it comes to rights, freedoms and the heart.and the soul and the future of our country, the first question for you, President Biden, how would you describe what is at stake in this election?

I think our democracy is at stake, no joke, I think democracy is at stake, look, I wasn't going to run. 2020 because I just lost my son Bo a little before and until I saw what happened in Virginia when those people came out of the fields carrying torches and Nazi flags and accompanied by white supremacists and the young woman was murdered by a bystander and when the president he was a former president they asked him what he thought and he said they are very good people on both sides we are at a real turning point in history things are changing this guy denies there is global warming this guy wants to get rid of not just roie wade , but what he boasts of having done, he wants to get rid of the ability of anyone anywhere in America to choose.

I mean, all the stuff he's doing is so old talking old and, you know, a little old and out of place. way, but I make an exception for Barack Obama anyway. I make an exception for Michelle Obama. The fact that those two came out early the way they did. I think it will make a big difference. Barack Obama, the service he is doing by entering Joe Biden. having those direct one-on-one conversations with Joe Biden that's what a president needs and a president receiving that from another president it's vitally important for Barack Obama to come out and engage because he typically comes in the last week of a campaign. he'll talk and you'll go where he's been he's so good where he's been good he's here now I know Michelle Obama is working hard to get people to go out and register to vote man talk about how critically important that is and I Just I am going to say that not only to get Joe Biden elected president but also to reject this Orbon-style fascism that has taken the form of Donald Trump and that seeks to end Western democracy as we know it, seeks to dismantle NATO, seeks to convert to Ukraine in the center and east.

Europe, handed over to the Russians, seeks to undermine our rule of law and in doing so, Wall Street, hello Wall Street, listen to Wall Street, not only undermining democracy, but also those of you who worship money and think that They are going to pile it on Donald Trump. because you might get a tax cut, American capitalism itself will be at risk because the rule of law will not be respected, Jean, I'll hand it over to you, well, you know, Joe, people want to know about Barack Obama, they want see him. I want to see Michelle Obama.

The Obamas occupy a kind of special niche in this society. They have history. They made history. They have glamour. They have charisma and have the ability to communicate with people. make people want to live listen and I think that is enormously important and it will be fascinating to see what impact the fact that they come out so early can have and also Bill Clinton, who is not bad at all as a politician, uh and uh, he. he was the explainer-in-chief, uh, this, I think what Obama called it and uh, he's tremendously good at this, so in the future, you can imagine the kind of connection they'll make with voters, not just with Democrats. but also with independents and maybe with some Republicans, who knows. um in the future if they continue like this and the other thing that I think is important is something that Chairman Jamie Harrison said, which is the fact that Democrats are opening offices around the country, they're on the ground and that's going to be so crucial in November because in the end it's about reaching people individually and reaching those neighborhoods and getting people out to vote um what if all the people who care about what four more years of Donald Trump would do to this country um and I care deeply about that and I don't want it to happen if all those people go out to vote then this won't be competition in November then Joe Biden wins uh and there will be boots on the ground trying to make sure that happens well you mention again to such a great Point Jean that they are investing this in creating offices, with political boots on the ground, making sure that they have the best grassroots campaign in history and that, going back to Barack Obama, I remember the first time I heard that I was running oh there's no way this guy is going to beat the Clinton machine they're just going to crush him and crush him and then I saw the money, I'm going good, that's good, but you know, and then I saw how he was spending the money early, I was spending it on a ground operation in Iowa and at that time Willie, I think it was mid-summer of 2007, maybe I'll do well, this is going to be a fight and you're looking at Joe Biden. do it right now and also to Jean's Point, who is a better explainer and boss than Bill Clinton.

What he did at the 2012 convention was inspiring. He knows it better than anyone. It has that Reagan quality of stripping things down to their Bare Essence and explaining it to the American people in a way that they understand, yes, and contrasting the basic game that you and genan are talking about here and that the Biden campaign has already been in working with what Donald Trump is or is not doing, as Donnie pointed out. He feels comfortable, he thinks he can win the presidency from Maral Lago, he can do the occasional rally, yes, he will go to a couple of states here and there, but he will make AG grievance speeches outside of court and win the presidency from that way, but we listen.

Even this week, if Pete HRA, former congressman from Michigan and now chairman of the Michigan Republican Party, recently ascended to that position and said, Hey guys, are we going to open an office here in Michigan? This is an important state, so I'm starting to hear even some Republicans complain that Trump's campaign isn't really a campaign and that of course they're going to need every vote in states like that. NBC News White House Correspondent Mike Memy, thank you very much for reporting on him, as always. I appreciate him as much as we know, he once tried not to leave office and will have no incentive to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and leave office if he is elected again.

I certainly have political disagreements with the Biden administration. I know the nation can survive. bad politics, we can't survive a president who is willing to burn the Constitution, well they probably don't like death threats. Nicole, I think we could probably start there, so I think that could be the number one reason, but ultimately I think with the general it has to do with his respect for the Dignity of the Constitution and not wanting to include the leadership military in the political fray, but at the end of the day what Liz Cheney says is so true and so alarming that if you don't do it uh, I don't know who will and I'm certainly concerned about everything she's saying.

Donald Trump's former communications director Anthony Scaramucci was on Morning Joe last week explaining why else. Republicans won't speak out against Trump, echoed Liz Cheney's concerns that Trump will burn down the Constitution if he's re-elected and you know, this is an argument I've made for some time, that we can survive bad policies, we really can. we've survived bad policies, we've survived them for eight years uh we just have a system that rounds off the sharpest edges uh even though they are extremists who love to say that America is terrible and it's this and It's just that we are not.

We are a great country The largest economy in the world The largest military in the world The largest soft power in the world The largest cultural exports in the world The largest institutions of higher education in the world The best medical facilities in the world People come to the United States where America comes I heard a speech a couple nights ago from the co-founder of Home Depot, who said, why do you think everyone you know was there? I think someone was complaining about the southern border because why do you think all those people are there? on the southern border they are not on the eastern border of Russia they are not trying to get into China they are not trying to get into North Korea they are coming to the United States they are trying to get here why because we You are better than any other country, the American dream is great and it's great, Mark Liovic, because we've had a frustratingly slow system of checks and balances that has worked and kept us where we are for over 240 years.

People love it, but again, I know it's not a coincidence that we have the strongest military in the world that we have the strongest economy in the world that we have the strongest power you know soft power in the world Export whatever whatever uh we we We're at the top of the list um and that's vitally important for us to be able to afford. I will even say that we can afford a president of the IDE, logically, from Mike Pence and survive a president from Mike Pence to Bernie Sanders, the politician. extremes as long as they respect the Constitution as long as they respect the rule of law as long as they respect checks and balances Liz puts it perfectly we can survive bad politics we cannot survive a bad heart that wants to undermine finish Scorch the Constitution and execute for treason anyone who is not according to.

I mean, I think you know Liz Chenies' role in this election is going to be vital because what she and people like her do is get this election out. from the normal model of left versus right Democrat versus Republican and it puts, you know, it puts the Trump option in a completely different category, I mean, it's Constitution versus not unconstitution, it's decency versus indecency, it's illiberalism versus normal politics, etc., um people. since Liz Cheney can do that, you can see the crowd she got in Iowa. I mean, that was pretty amazing. I guess she will continue to do that and there are like you said, I mean, there are a lot of people who see that. those who pay attention, many of them are Republicans, many of them have not voted for a Democrat before 2016 and look, there are others who could.

I mean, I'd be really interested to see if anyone likes it. Mike Pence, someone like I don't know Paul Ryan, someone like John Kelly. I mean, there's no shortage of people who have seen Republicans who have seen firsthand, you know what this might look like or what this has looked like and what it might look like to go ahead and again take this election and put it on a completely different context, which is, you know, pretty stark and pretty scary given what's at stake, but I also think it's important for that set of voices to speak, yeah. and interesting that a week ago today Mike Pence former vice president of Donald Trump announced that he would not endorse Donald Trump in this election cycle The Atlantics Mark lebovich Mark thank you very much as always let's now return to Donald Trump and how he spent part of his day on social media attacking judge's daughter in his hush money case, former president mentioned her by name in a post that included a false claim about a social media account sharing a handle she once used Trump ranted about a photo of her behind bars that had been posted on the account and claimed it shows he can't get a fair trial, but the New York State Court says the name no longer belongs to the judge's daughter, according to a court spokesperson, she removed it about a year ago. and apparently someone else has since taken over, but it's unclear who now, although Trump is under a gag order in the case, it doesn't apply to the judge or his family, so here's how the former federal prosecutor reacted Andrew Weissman to Trump's comments. something that could be stopped, I mean, there could be a gag order that could apply to both the judge and the judge's family and in this case, as a matter of grace, the judges have not imposed the gag order on themselves and I think the judges lean in. the other way around um but it will be interesting to see if Judge Maran expands on it it's just Donald Trump it's just Donald Trump more more of the same it's really important not to just normalize this and I don't want to say that a lot of people talk about sort of predicting what would be a Trump 2.0 administration and if we really thought he was going to be a dictator, what would happen and my response to that is you can look right now at what he is doing and saying and for people who are unbiased, I would say, what do you say about someone? who attacks a judge's daughter?

That's true, I mean, I mean, is there no depth you can't descend to? I mean, it's very important not to teach Aur what this is, but the courts allow it, they really do.do. I will say again that I practiced law for a short time while I practiced law when I was younger. If someone was a defendant, the last thing if someone said something like this about a judge or a family member of a judge uh, they would immediately go to jail, it would be contempt that they would be caught in, they could get a very harsh warning, they would probably warn their lawyer, you know, do this again, he does this again or she does this again. "They're going to be punished, huh, and then I'll send your client to jail and let him think about it, that's just what happened to you, to me, to anyone who talked about the judge that way, Donald Trump, you knows that he is his supporters." true, there is a two-tier legal system and Donald Trump is a beneficiary of it, certainly in this case John John Highman.

I mean, it's amazing what we have and you brought up a great point to me. Joe Biden raised more money in one night like you said. that Donald Trump will likely raise in the entire first quarter of this election year and while Joe Biden does that, Donald Trump continues to engage in the kind of behavior that cost him nearly $100 million when he couldn't shut his mouth about Egene Carroll even after he told him They issued a defamation sentence against him, he is doing it now with a gag order and what are he doing, he is going after a member of a judge's family, right?

So, Joe, there was a few months ago when we were on the air talking about this, we talked about the fact that Trump would do it, he would do it, nothing would stop him, never mind that a gag order was a limited gag order. a broad gag order that he would never shut up and that he would continue doing what he does because he has never paid a real price for saying outrageous and threatening things. He's never paid a price, in fact, he's been rewarded for it in many greetings and I said, you know, uh, you know, people would say, well, you know, if he does this, uh, in the next year, some judge has the power to imprison him, you know, they could impose a contempt order on him and they could imprison him and my question at the time was: will any of these judges have the stones to do that?

Whether it will ever really happen? Of course they have that power, but will they really do it with restrictions? out of any set of fear or some misguided sense of not wanting to set standards he is a former president it is a campaign that we do not want to be seen as imprisoning someone who is an asset in the presidential race I just posed the question any of these judges in any of these cases, will any of them really have the balls to do this and leave it behind if because they are going to do it they are going to do things that deserve it?

So I'm asking you because, unlike you, I'm not even a simple country lawyer, you, a simple country lawyer, I, none of those things are right, why are they right? Why not? What would limit any of these judges? But in this case, this judge is basically saying, "Here's the strictest gag order possible and the first time you violate it I'm going to throw you in jail and you're going to sit there and rot for as long as it lasts. I don't think that's the case." happen and we are still not seeing it. I don't know what stops them because I tell you what the judges I went before would have done it in a second they would have done it to anyone and I understand that he is a presidential candidate I also understand that he is a presidential candidate in a lot of it because he knew this was all coming, we said it in 2019, we said it in 2020, we said it in 2021, we've been saying he's going to run for president because he knows he's been in a lot of legal trouble, so if I'm a judge, I explain it directly to the lawyer and the defendant in this case, Donald Trump, what is a gag order if you violate it, let me give you 10 examples of people who have violated gag orders in this court and what happened to them and that tells you It's going to happen to you and whatever penalty it is for the attorneys, whatever penalty it is for the defendant, it happens, but this is the type of behavior, especially in a federal court, my God, in Northwest Florida, my God, would be buried. in jail for a week if I mean there is a woman who fell asleep during her jury duty and was sent to jail for contempt of court.

So when you have a defendant lying about a member of a judge's family because the defendant knows it will put him or her in danger. the judge's daughter in danger of imminent harm is a pretty easy call uh Susan Paige seems like a pretty easy call for me as a lawyer. I'm curious. uh feel free to ask Dave Arenberg a question, but I'm curious what you think about this. A very unique position that the judges find themselves in because Donald Trump is a presidential candidate. You know there is a question of respect for the court. It's surely at play here.

There is another question with these attacks and that is that it is a real danger. It is dangerous. to the judge's daughter to be attacked, we know how violent American politics has become, we know how figures on the extremes can be incited to violence by the words of Donald Trump, so that is a perspective that we know how we know what social media can be like, especially in attacking women and attacking young women, and I wonder if Dave, from a legal perspective, influences this. It's not just a question of respect for the court, but also a question of consequences for the type of language we're seeing, yes Susan, you absolutely know that Donald Trump will say that the first amendment protects him, but criminal defendants always They are limited in what they can say, you know, after they arrested you and brought you before a judge for At the first appearance they tell you that you can't talk to the victims, you can't try to talk to the witnesses and my experience has been that if a defendant ever dared to attack one of my family members as a prosecutor, that defendant could be wearing an orange. monkey sooner rather than later and especially the judge's family, like Joe said, I mean, they can take a sledgehammer to the back of your head, metaphorically speaking for that, but I think Donald Trump wants this, he wants to be punished at the very least. he wants the gag order to be extended because nothing motivates his base more than grievance and martyrdom and that's why I think he's challenging Judge Maran like he did with Judge Engoron, he's mocking them and at least I think he's too wants to prolong an issue about whether the judge should recuse himself if he is biased and should be disqualified and that could cause further delays because he is worried that this trial is really going to end soon, but Judge Maran has decided not to give in, take the bait and give in to more delays. but he can demand real accountability here and I agree with Joe and John and you and Weissman that there seems to be a two-tier justice system here, you are doing everything you can to protect this guy and you are concerned.

Judges are worried about not wanting to appear political, but if you don't act that way and in itself it seems political, if you choose not to decide, you will still have made a decision, as Neil P said, inaction here undermines faith in the system of criminal justice and rule of law, very good, SW Beach County State's Attorney Dave Arenburg, thank you very much, I really appreciate it. Jonathan Hilman, thank you too, it's always a pleasure to have you and last year was another record year for White Supremacist Propaganda Incidents in the United States with over 7,500 cases recorded in 2023.

According to a new report from the Anti-Defamation League, it is the second consecutive year in which the record was broken. The ADL revealed the figure in its annual white supremacist report. propaganda report and join us now to break down those findings Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan greenblat Jonathan thanks for being with us as always uh a dubious record to break again this year, of course uh what did you see? What are the areas? of great concern, well thanks for having me Willie, in fact, white supremacists and right-wing extremists who may have difficulty appearing in some public places actively use propaganda to aim to intimidate and victimize minorities last year, in fact , the second year in a In this row we broke a very new and dubious record: we saw more than 7,500 such propaganda incidents, a 141% increase in anti-Lgbtq propaganda, there is a terrible and terrible patri directed at the people trans in particular and a 30% increase in anti-Semitic propaganda and we saw for the first time The first time this convergence comes to light, Willie, of far-right white supremacist language with radical left-wing anti-Zionist language, you're seeing the same long time Jew haters celebrating the 107 attack, so there's something strange and kind of a twisted marriage between these again right-wing extremists and left-wing antiists that we haven't really seen before.

This was happening in all 50 states with the exception of Hawaii and Alaska, and there are a handful of groups that are pushing these groups with names like the National Justice Party or the Patriot Front that seem Pro-Am when in reality they are nothing more. That Pro Haate Jonathan, it's been a couple of years since Chris Ray, the director of the FBI, testified in Congress that white supremacy was the biggest threat. of terrorist threat to Americans, do you have any sense that the federal government is trying to do something or is succeeding in combating anti-Semitism, particularly from these farri groups?

Does something work? It's a really important question, we have found that the FBI federal State local law enforcement needs to be very focused on the problem and in fact these people need to be tracked down, arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, and when Propaganda goes from expressing an idea to inciting violence, there are reasons to do something about it. Law enforcement definitely has a role to play and again I will tell you that Director Ray and everyone we deal with at DHS Etc have been very, very attentive, but I will tell you that Katty K their efforts are somewhat hamstrung by social media companies.

I mean literally what we're seeing on places like Tik Tock and I mean what I understand when it's on Truth Social. I guess I have to accept that it will be in the room on these far right platforms when it moves to Tik Tok when it moves to Instagram when it is popular on Facebook that's when I know we have a problem because companies seem unable or unwilling to do something to suppress this hatred. I mean, this is how it's happening, caddy, these actors again, the far-right extremists in particular, bar. radical anti-Zionists who coordinate online mobilize their people, spread the leaflets and that's how they end up in the Céspedes popular front, you know, nailed to the synagogues in front of the lgbtq centers, it's really threatening, uh, let's move on to something about we're talking on Top of the Show Today marks exactly one year since Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich was wrongfully detained in Russia for alleged espionage, a charge that both his employer and the U.S. government strongly deny.

Earlier this week a court in Moscow extended Evans' pretrial detention for a fifth time extending his incarceration at least until the end of June and perhaps beyond. Joining us now, NBC News chief international correspondent Kier Simmons, who has been covering this story so closely. Kier, good

morning

, uh, that powerful Wall Street Journal cover, a blank white. The spot where the paper says Evan Gershkovich is reporting should be this morning. What do we know? We know that they have just extended his preventive detention. What do we know about his fate and the efforts to bring him home safely?

Will there be great efforts to bring it? what we know about his faith is very difficult to read honestly, I mean he can stay in the forum prison in Moscow for as long as the Russians want to keep him there, I mean listen to what you talked about. where again we asked to be there, our team in Moscow asked to be there, the media were told that they were not going to be allowed in and that the hearing was actually about whether he should still be held in pre-trial detention. He is not being tried, he is not being tried, we do not even know very well what he is accused of other than that it is an accusation of espionage which, of course, the Wall Street Journal absolutely denies and says that he is a journalist and you mention that cover and uh, I think Jonan has that first page, the first page with the blank space where his story would be and then the back of his face, of course, yeah, an absolutely powerful message from the Wall Street Journal, look, this is a story in part about how Russia is now an intelligence agency Run Country Security Agency uh is accused of espionage uh there are others of course uh Paul when uh who is imprisoned there accused of espionage imprisoned for espionage again denies it um Elsa Kiva from Radio Free Europe um who is accused of supporting Ukraine again by the FSB uh kesia Carolina of California accused and again uh denies that she was supporting Ukraine but accused of making donations again um it is the FSB uh running that the FSB the former KGB the fortifi prison, a notorious former KGB prison, so this is really about the extent to which thePresident Putin is in charge of a country where the most powerful organizations in the country are the FSB, the SVR and, in fact, us.

It's pretty clear that Putin is making it pretty clear that what they want to do is swap Evan and others for detained Russians, especially at this stage. He looks like a Russian detained in Germany, serving a life sentence for murder, who is an FSB officer and, of course, Putin is still taking over Americans. The Wall Street Journal published a great article yesterday by Jee Robinson about how Putin continues to look down on Americans and use innocent Americans as pawns to get the worst actors out of prison. I don't know if you had a chance to

watch

any of the Netflix series' turning points, but for those who have, it's a great reminder, especially for younger Americans to understand how brutal and savage Stalin's reign was. for the millions and millions of Ukrainians he deliberately tried to reach. to death and a government sanctioned famine the millions of kulacs 10 some people estimate that 20 30 million Russians died at the hands of Stalin uh and and and after Stalin's death, Cruff denounced these crimes and these crimes have been recognized until recently by the police state that Now had Vladimir Putin praising Stalin.

Stalin, once again, the figure of worship in the former Soviet Union, and aligns very clearly with a police state that Russia has become, as Kier said, even more than before, over the last year or two, already You know, I haven't seen that series, but I've read a lot about Stalin's biographies and stories and, uh, he's absolutely one of the worst monsters of the 20th century, responsible for tens of millions of deaths in international deaths, including this one, the horrible famine in Ukraine, which he designed and presided over with satisfaction, is, and this is. What Vladimir Putin remembers with great admiration and nostalgia and considers himself.

I think it is Vladimir the Great, who is going to restore, let's say, the Soviet Union, Stalin's creation, the Soviet Union to its former glory, and then why? Would anyone think that, for example, he would stop in Ukraine if he succeeds there? Why would anyone think it's not a good idea for the United States and the West to do everything they can to thwart him in Ukraine and contain him? uh, this monster of the 21st century, uh, who, who, who wants to take back the former Soviet Union, um, what would Gloria consider, um, Evan, what he's done to Evan grovich and the other Americans he's cynically kidnapped and held as hostages is deplorable, it is disgusting.

It's illegal, it's wrong and of course there is very little we can do about it except keep pushing and I commend the Wall Street Journal for what they have done to keep Evans' name and the situation in the news other news organizations are doing do everything they can to try to help in this effort, knowing that this really is out of our hands. Hello everyone, MSNBC has a new and improved app. They will receive alerts and analysis in real time. Live blogging. In-depth essays. Featured videos. the best 2024 election coverage download the new MSNBC app here's how to do it tap the App Store on your phone press search in the bottom right corner type MSNBC click the MSNBC app click get or the cloud icon and enjoy it