and farmers is reduced. and this is a fundamental threat to democracy. it is as simple as that. the biden administration, some republicans in congress understand this. but if we don't make a change, just look at boeing, there were three companies in the united states that made passenger aircraft in the 1970s and now there's one and you just look at their behavior, the arrogance and incompetence and lack of innovation that comes with the sort of monopoly power. when you talk about food, the consequences are even greater than when you talk about an airliner. >> that's right, you can avoid a plaintiff you need two. cannot avoid your feet. i cannot recommend this film more than dish i will keep doing it. i will keep recommending it. it is outstanding, it is important. your last film was important, this is perhaps even more so. michael pollan and eric schlosser, are producers of the

new documentary, food, inc. 2. >> thank you. >> thank you. ou. >> thank you. coming up, less than 24 hours until opening arguments in the first ever criminal trial of former president of the united states. i've assembled lawyers to tell us what we can expect and how it will collide with the campaign trail. the supreme court is hearing oral arguments in donald trump's claim of absolute immunity. it is a case that could make his legal troubles disappear. and breakthrough winfall, the united auto workers union as the tennessee volkswagen plant becomes the first auto factory to vote to unionize in the south, since the 1940s. we will talk about how the uaw broke through in a region where the antiunion sentiment has dominated for decades and what it means for this critical moment in the labor movement of america. another hour of velshi begins now. now.

now. >> good morning, it's sunday, april 21st. opening statements will not begin in a formal. the republican party's presumptive nominee will be back in a manhattan courtroom as the defendant facing 34 felony counts. count from his alleged role in falsifying business records to cover up payments rate made to suppress a potential scandal just days before the 2016 st presidential election. the opening statements will give the public lea preview tha both sides present. there were predictions that jury selections would take multiple weeks considering that the fed is so well-known and well connected and intimidating. there were times last week when the high stakes of trial came of it in the courtroom. one juror cried in the anxiety,

depression in these proceedings. by the end of the week, one full plant panel was chosen to fulfill their. the main 12 person jury represents a cross-section of the residence of manhattan. five women, seven men from different neighborhoods across the borough. one in sales, another is a es teacher, two are attorneys, two others come from the world of finance. the fact that opening orna statements are also a testament to how the court sees system is keeping things moving despite donald trump's ongoing efforts to delay the trial. on friday, the president's lawyers asked the appeals court to temporarily pause the trial until a ruling is made on its previously filed motion for a change of venue. an emergency hearing was held for on friday afternoon but trumps request for a stay was denied again. this is an early indication of how the former president might continue to try to with procedural road blocks in the oc weeks to come.

this trial, alone, makes a monumental week but it's only a piece of a consequential week for donald trump. in addition to his criminal trial in new york, the former president would also have to pr contend with multiple other legal battles and various venues this week. the same time this criminal trial resumes in manhattan tomorrow, a separate hearing will be held in a different minimum courtroom, involving his civil fraud case. it concerns the legitimacy of the $175 million bond that trump put up last month. new york state attorney general letitia james is asking the courts to avoid that because co her office is the insurance company, the former president used is "not authorized to write business in new york." meanwhile, trumps criminal trial will take up the issue of whether he should be held in ul contempt for multiple violations of his big gag order. prosecutors raised the issue bi

last week and a hearing will be held on tuesday to address it. the number one thing of the former president mine right now is the case that is scheduled for thursday. on april 25th, the last day of the hearings in the supreme court's current term, the justices will hear oral arguments on the question of presidential immunity. trump claims he should be granted absolute immunity. the supreme court cases weighing on his mind right now. he's posted about it more than a dozen times over the past couple days on a social media site truth social and it is clear why. it is a wild gamble that has high stakes and high reward. a case that has fewer precedents but if the justices side with him, it could affect one or more of his ongoing legal cases, including whether his federal election interference case might be able to proceed to trial for november's election. to discuss this, i'm joined by

ian, a senior correspondent. how republican supreme court is reshaping america. good morning, thank you for od being with us. let me start with you on back. promises to be a very busy week donald trump legal team, these proceedings, which do you think are going to leave us with the biggest impression of the greatest development by the end of the week? >> i was going to say all of them but i think the two that i am most watching our the bond hearing tomorrow because we know that donald trump, more than anything else, cares about his assets and what the public thinks of him about those assets. he was more rattled by the e civil fraud trial that i think most experts expected and continue to be rattled by the prospect of holding what is a

judgment. thursday is weighing heavily on his mind as well. not only because the impact of his presidential immunity supreme court argument but how it potentially impacts two other cases in the ongoing georgia rico case and in which his lawyers and the pending residential immunity. motion to dismiss but also as well in florida, we are has not passed judgment on a pending motion. those are the things i'm th watching in yet tomorrow, i will also be in the courthouse watching those opening statements that you referred tot in those will be riveting. >> this is not a way to look away. let's talk about the o immunity here. in theory, for those of us who are nonlawyers, one would think that even if donald trump got his way, first of all, it would have to be about things he did t in his duties as president and that becomes an important question but secondly, i would have thought that it does not really affect the manhattan case because that predates his

presidency. or the florida case, which in theory, postdates. he says he went and declassified things. he has a right d to do that. what influence the supreme court decision on immunity if it goes donald trump's way, howp much influence could have on the other cases? >> i think the most important thing to understand about the th supreme court unity hearing is trump is basically already won. his goal is to delay his d.c. trial. the supreme court has gone along with it. there is a role that until the supreme court rules on this appeal, his trial cannot happen. they have probably already strung it out long enough. going to be difficult to get the november election. to get the trial done before the november election.

the actual issue that he is arguing in that case is that he is immune from anything he did as part of his official acts as president. that argument should not apply to any of the other trials that do not involve things that he did as president of the united states but the supreme court is willing to sign on to this pretty radical argument that presidents are allowed to do crimes, i think that is a sign that they may give trump some other goodies down the road as well. >> lisa, i guess technically, if the supreme court hears his arguments and releases its decision, technically a case might go forward but all the wa procedural matters around jack smith's case mean that it could bump up against the election. is there some date by which the trial couldn't be finished, it becomes too politicized? >> i think that is up to judge.

she is the one i would have to make the decision. the department of justice has internal guidelines on what they can take over investigative steps or commence a prosecution in time of the election but those are guidelines and more importantly, they don't apply to judges themselves. does she have enough time for pretrial proceedings to have this trial in a way that does not interfere with the former presidents speech rights or other rights as a candidate. i will say that courts thus far have not been very amenable to the argument. means that we have to be able to stay out of court. was not at all sympathetic to that argument when one of the lawyers argued this case should not go forward now at all because it interfered with his ability to campaign. times it should be on the trail.

>> when you initially wrote about the manhattan case, alvin bragg's indictment last year, you mentioned about the statue of limitations possibly being a problem. talk to me about this. ta the defense as discussed this. they raised this as an issue with the courts. it's got something to do with misdemeanor charges and felony charges. tell us what this is about. >> some conflict issues in thisf case which i am more that this prosecution can move forward that i was when i originally wrote that piece because the prosecution to shore up the os case. not p just that trump was intending to violate a federal -- protecting the cover of a federal.

it was unclear if new york allows that but also, he was also trying to cover up a violation of the. and that is an easier charge. >> my main concern with this prosecution is that a former is very serious. to break the taboo on that, we wanted to have it before his ve most serious crimes. we wanted him to be tried for trying to steal u.s. election and. paying off before no one finds out about an election. this would not have been my first choice for this relatively minor crime to be the one that moves forward but given the games that the supreme court has played, and

seems to be a member of the defense team, this is the one were going to get. >> let's talk about the gag order, there is a gag order. i don't know whether donald trump is violating it or not but he posts a lot of stuff and talks about a lot of things that i would've thought if the gag order were on me, i would not be posting this stuff. >> that is absolutely true. right now, the way that this hearing is going to go down on tuesday morning, there are 10 different public statements including things that have appeared on the campaign website better now an issue. allows two forms of punishment. either a fine up to $1000 per each active criminal content or up to 30 days in prison in jail. i want to point people and our viewers to the second of these orders to show cause. while a state of new york has said they will seek that $1000 per post fine.

they have also asked the judge to grant any release that he finds improper. in other words, they are putting this in. if you find that donald trump in has made or directed others to make statements about known or a potential witnesses in this case that are related to their participation in the investigation for the case itself, you can throw the book and him. we are not asking the stop at the $1000 fine. i think tuesday morning is going to be absolutely fascinating. where trump has likely crossed o the line is quoting jesse watters directly, not just reposting something that that foxnews had said but putting it into his own words comes a lot closer to making a statement in the republication, which is his team's argument so far, that all the former president was l doing was simply republishing things that others have said. that is cute. now when he writes it in his own type and on font, that

crosses the line. >> interesting. watch this closely, thank you, both, for laying it out for us. lisa rubins is correspondent and senior correspondent and author of the agenda. still ahead on "velshi." a historic boat to unionize. the forest to unionize in the south in decades. what it means for the power of the labor movement in america, plus, an important new book by our great friend begs readers r to stop outsourcing the responsibility of democracy and to take control of it t ourselves. thankfully, there are many people who already understand that civic engagement is crucial to the fabric of this country, as is our right to vote. i will introduce you to someone with small acts of courage making a big difference in one neighborhood. you are watching e "velshi."

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the house passed a $95 billion aid package yesterday that includes two long-awaited bills with $60.8 billion of ukraine aid and $26 million in aid to israel. lawmakers were seen waving ukrainian flags entering upon the bills passage. it passed despite 112 republicans voting against it, including a handful who threatened to attempt to oust their own house speaker for even allowing the boat. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy joined nbc news meet the press this morning and this was his reaction to the aid bill finally getting past this crucial hurdle. >> this will strengthen ukraine and send a powerful signal but it will not be. the united states will stay with ukraine. will protect that ukrainians

and democracy in the world. this is the leadership in the neck and states. we have now reached this important moment. you can never lose hope, you can never lose freedom, you can never lose independence. otherwise you lose everything. your security for your children. all the children in ukraine are. i have to show an example. and then we would lose. it's nothing about the territory, it is about our identity so we cannot lose hope. >> the aid package moves onto a senate vote on tuesday.

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workers out of volkswagen plant in tennessee voted overwhelmingly to join the united auto workers union marking a major breakthrough for the labor movement in america. on friday, 73% of workers at the tennessee plant voted in favor of joining the uaw. this is the first time a foreign carmakers plant in the south has voted to unionize. this is a huge deal because the american south has been skeptical and hostile to labor unions for decades. republican leaders of the business community in the south have warned for years that unionizing would mean a loss of jobs. this chattanooga volkswagen plant had previously voted against joining the uaw twice. in 2014, and again in 2019.

all of this comes about five months after uaw workers ratified historic new contracts with record wage gains and improved benefits at the automakers in detroit. the uaw will expand its focus to other plans hoping to organize at least half a dozen more over the years. another but will take place next month at a mercedes-benz plant in alabama. joining me to talk about the power of american labor movement is sarah nelson, international president of the association of flight attendants. while you are not an autoworker, there are similarities between the autoworkers in the autoworkers union in the north, the things that are going on with flight attendants and airline workers. there is a lot of history here and this feels really monumental to me. >> this is monumental. this is an extraordinary win but it is coming off the backs of the strike.

showing the american worker that we can fight and change that conditions in this country. every single person person across the country is working to survive. our time and our money has been taken from us. this is not just a fight in the south, although, the south is really where we got to win big. this is where workers have been exploited the most. often times, to attract companies from outside the country and to bring on the backs of the workers who had subsidized with low wages and a lot more time on the job. >> talk to me about the threats. during the strike, the thing that came out was always you are going to lose your jobs. some of the automakers started shutting down plants and laying off workers. that is always the threat. prices will go up, you will lose jobs, bad for everyone. it has worked in the past. what has changed in the last year or two?

>> what is changed is that workers see that that tactic is a tactic to continue to make as desperate for this work, to make us feel lucky that we should have a job rather than helping these companies understand that they should to have our work. it has gone backwards for so long and the only place we are seeing a difference is in. this is all of our work, all of our time has been pushed to wall street and pushed to billionaires and if we don't take a stand, it's never going to change. those threats of closing those plants is a near-term threat but what the uaw was able to do is locking security and job security as the ev industry continues to grow. >> we saw threats, strikes or threats of strikes in the last year. in many cases, remarkable successes that came out from the united auto workers. in your industry, there were several of those close calls in

some cases. what is the issue with the south and why is there movement in the south that we have not seen? >> i think we are seeing movement in the south because people are hurting. they are fed up. the pandemic showed us that not only have we been treated as with all these companies but actually, we were treated as disposable. you had people in meat-packing plants being forced to go in. you had executives laughing about it was going to be the first worker to die from covid. we have the scene, very clearly, that we are in this together across industries. flight attendants are fighting right now or record-breaking contracts and just like the autoworkers were. we need a giant step forward because we are also facing legacy sepsis sexism that is capped the value of our jobs lower than what it should be. we are fighting for our time at work. this is a major issue across industries that workers are

forced to do work where they are not paid at all. these are some of the same issues that we are fighting across the board in every industry. when other workers think others are winning, that encourages to stand up. we are. i can tell you, they were watching to see that workers in the south could win. that is a southern company based in atlanta. this meant something to them. this spoke to their heart. this is their communities. they know people in those plants. they often have brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts. they can relate to this. this is a connection between workers and the basic connection around humanity. what we have to stand up for and expect that this economy needs to be built for us, not for the billionaires. >> great to see you. i know you made some accommodations to join us this morning so we are deeply appreciative of that. of flight attendant cwa.

coming up, he has warned that if donald trump takes back the presidency the small this fall, democracy is a wrap in this country. has a plan to get us off the brinks that involves you. he joins me next with all the details.

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we are the leaders we have been looking for. not just an important statement, it's eddie's new book beginning with a folk story. five lakh men had just arrived to heaven and one of them decides to really take advantage of his wings. flying around, causing trouble, and forcing the angel gabriel to his wings back. the other men scorn him. look, now everybody has got wings but you. the man smiled and said i do not care. i was a flying full when i had

them. the story taken from the work of his about maximizing your gifts no matter the cost. new book encourages readers to do the same thing. he makes the argument that for too long, we have outsourced our responsibility to democracy to politicians, prophets, heroes. it is comforting to put the fate of the democracy in the hands of visionaries, encourages the individual to take the first steps towards reaching an equitable society. democracy. the real work of preserving democracy, eddie argues, is a hyper local, hyper engaged community. something he calls network democratic localism. democracy requires a richly textured democratic culture close to the ground. what is needed? required under such conditions are innovative and creative

ways of revitalizing local communities in fostering the development of multiple where citizens can engage in debates and deliberation together. >> joining me as eddie, new york times best-selling author of this new and important book "we are the leaders we have been looking for." he is also the professor at university and msnbc contributor and the brainchild of the "velshi" book club. whether it is james baldwin, zora neale hurston. eddie, this topic is very close to my heart. there is a lot of despair out there about the world, the country, democracy, freedom, liberty. your argument is to your self. but the something very close to you, look to your community. do not look at their for leadership, look here. >> first of all, so wonderful

to see you have this conversation. medicine understood the importance of virtue. she understood that virtuous people were necessary for democracies to work. all about who we take ourselves to be. the moral question is at the heart of it. we vote for fall, they represent us in power and we think we got our job. >> they are there to do the work. >> democracy is more than the ballot box. democracy is what we do prior to elections and after elections. if we are not working on ourselves, if we are not working on becoming better people, that is the short end of the book. if we are the leaders we been looking for, we have to be better people. if we are going to be better people, we have to build a better world. >> it sounds lofty but in fact, the stuff you talk about is not about. it may have outcomes, results but you are talking about planting seeds whose shade you may not sit under.

>> doing little things that are close to you. >> absolutely. the problems that we face seem. the problem right in front of your nose is what you could deal with. if you believe. if this is the key. we need to have without exception. if you believe that every child should have a decent education, we should buy for that. if you believe that if you work hard, you should be able to earn a living wage to put a roof over your head. everybody should be able to buy a home. >> you talk about moral imagination. you talk about being able to imagine a freer and more equitable society. you have to imagine the world can be.

>> for the moment, we talk about universal healthcare. why do they tell you that? because they don't want you to imagine what the. but if your daughter came up to you and said i want to go to princeton. you say that. he said okay, we will figure it out. part of what the imagination is for, there is also this move where. anointed from powers or authorities outside of us. the decision of conduct. when we imagine the world as it could be and use that imagination to critique world as it is. all of us have that capacity. when we exercise our moral imaginations, we create this space to see beyond the capacity of our conditions. >> when called upon to do that, many people struggle with the i

am not of this. whether it is the leader of your block or the leader for your organization or a civic leader. the argument you make when you are saying the profits are made from within is that you are. you can be the leader for this time. that is a choice. i understand that. part of what i do in the book is i talk about my heroes. i was baptized in martin luther king junior waters. i wear my goatee because malcolm x was so critical finding license of men. she gave me a way of thinking about democracy. we should not waddle in nostalgia. if we only had a malcolm, if we only had an fdr.

great people come to us so that even greater people can be possible. they exemplify characteristics that we are capable of. we read them, we follow them, we learn from them so that we can be the leaders that we are looking for. >> great people come to us and even greater people can be possible. that is the optimist note on which i will end this discussion because i wanted to sink in and eddie, thank you for being here. a professor of african-american that is it the print university. the author of numerous important books including this one, it is a must read. we are leaders we have been looking for. his is the houseboat the end of tiktok in america? not some details on that, next. boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. what straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space? boring does.

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among the measures voted on in the house yesterday was a bill that could potentially lead to a ban of the popular social media form tiktok in the united states. nbc news white house correspondent aaron gilchrist has the details. >> with the house passing a bill saturday afternoon to force the apps chinese parent company to sell the platform. the measure would give nine- month to do that and allow the president to extend that

deadline by another 90 days. if it is not sold by then, tiktok could be dan band in the u.s. >> has 170 million active users in the u.s., some of whom have long railed against the possibility. >> call them and tell them to stop the band. >> this new move in the house looks to have enough support in the senate that it will reach the president's desk. >> do you still prefer a van in tiktok? >> if they pass it, i will sign it. >> the biden administration says the app represents a security threat with the owners having close ties to the government. he claims his cdl has denied. tiktok has been banned on government devices. the biden campaign has a space to interact with younger, potential voters. >> what would be e effect of a van? >> this is totally uncharted territory. you would not be able to update or distribute the app.

>> releasing a statement to nbc news repeating its criticism of a bill that "would trample the freese rewrites 170 million americans. 7 billion businesses and a platform that contributes $24 billion the u.s. economy annually. >> a tiktok ban would absolutely affect the millions of. the real hard part would be for the people who are making those videos, the people who earn their income by sponsored, add content. >> the timeline in this mom means that tiktok could go array around this time next year which also means that president biden or president trump could have to deal with any fallout. back to you. >> nbc's aaron gilchrist reporting. coming up, a woman who sent her neighborhood on a new course with a small teen years ago that grew bigger and wider every year. every year.

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what most of us think about civic engagement, we imagine keeping up with the news or knocking on doors for a local campaign. civic engagement and being an active member of our democracy can take many forms. across philadelphia, there are people making a daily effort to keep neighborhoods clean and keep communities involved. they are called block captains. but captains are in charge of a very specific area. which they maintain through

planting flowers, sidewalks, gutters, organizing block arteries and more. folks willing to go above and beyond for the communities in which they live. in one block, michelle bowser is a standout amongst the group. michelle is been living in her neighborhood melrose park gardens and northeast philadelphia for. from the beginning, she loved the idea but she noticed it was not particularly clean. michelle took it upon herself to start cleaning up the blocks. eventually, neighbors joined in. she has not been the plot opted. michelle still believes that when it comes to civic engagement, you have to lead by example and not just when it comes to cleaning up the block. a big part of being a captain is helping residents participate fully in democracy. as part of that, leads efforts to get the vote out in the neighborhood. provide information about elections. to make voting more enjoyable.

neighborhood kids and teens involved so they learn from a young age the importance of voting. has the highest voter turnout in the city of philadelphia. was also recognized as captain of the year at this year's philadelphia citizen of the year awards. hyper local. at its core, it's about one block. it sets an example for the rest of the city and in my opinion, for the nation. michelle joined me now. she is the captain in melrose park gardens, philadelphia. i was a little limbs intimidated after your speech to come out and talk to you because i thought you might put me to work and talk to me about this. you are recognized. because of the. clear seriously planting trees as you make sure everybody there participates in democracy. >> yes, i do. i have a lot of engagement with

my community. first of all, i always wanted to be the change i wanted to see. as the leader, i'm the person people look up to. in my community, we all get together, we clean up, we are at the polls, will work with the children. you may see me everywhere outside in the community. outside talking to people, engaging with neighbors. trying to make our city a beautiful place. >> you were volunteered in honor to the citizens of the year award. in the introduction, the former mayor said this, i feel very confident that there is not one elected official in this room or in this city that whatever it is that the most important elective office in the city is to be a lock captain of your own street. this is the former mayor of the city who was saying that.

talk to me about the role people like you have in. you are not an elected official. >> right. >> this is a volunteer position. it really has to be something that is instilled in you to get done. to me, it is really a gift. being that is a gift from my heart, i just want to share this gift with during the entire city, community, inside and outside. when you see me speaking of people, saying hi to people, letting them know that voting is coming up, communication out through emails. i do community meetings outside on the street. i am oliver trying to make a difference in our community. it does not to start with my block, it starts with me and

everybody in philadelphia. >> what is the flipside of it? you are getting people to go out and vote, you are putting up the neighborhood. there is something else to this. you were featured in the volunteer spotlight where you work, by the way. a great place. in this article, you write open when you work with one young people, they start to talk to you. i do not tell them what to do, i work side-by-side with them." they value having an adult example to look up to. you see this as eight complete cycle. >> yes. yes, it is. especially when i worked with. they are going to be our next doctors, community leaders, block captains. when i work with them, i make it fun. i provide snacks, i engage with them. i do not tell them what to do, i am side-by-side.

it's really not about the cleanup. it is engaging with them, the thing to them, sharing stories, they are sharing stories with me. a lot of them -- they all go to college. it is not about the cleanup, it is about gauging with our youth because that is our next future and i am excited that a lot of you out here are really working hard and what are going to college as well. i am excited about that. >> let's talk about the voter turnout. that is the part that captured the citizens attention. the part that captured my attention. it is not a given. 100% of people do not come out to vote in america. your ward has the highest voter turnout in all of philadelphia. tell me how you make that happen. >> i make that happen, really, the people in the community. the community that i live in, people come out. a lot of our homeowners are

really serious about loading and who we put in. i also educate everybody about the importance of voting. when i see people outside, i am talking about voting. when it is the next day. in my community, people come out. they know it is very important. it is a are the leaders to make sure your neighbors are aware of who is coming up for the vote. it is really up to us to make a difference as well. >> you are making a difference, michelle, thank you for that. of the 100 block of east colonial street in melrose park gardens, philadelphia. before we go, i've got a quick announcement. my new book the lacks of courage, a legacy comes out on tuesday, may 7. i am hitting several cities in the next few weeks to discuss it. come out and join me. i will be in washington, d.c. on may 8th,

and in baltimore on may 9. i will keep you posted on all the details on social media. finally on x, formerly twitter, threads, linkedin, post news. i hope to see you there. that does it for me, thank you for watching, catch me here next saturday and sunday morning from 10-6. you can follow in this and for free wherever you get your podcast. straight right where you are. inside with jen psaki begins right now. right now. california governor gavin newsom. debating a new ad he is putting on the air in alabama. i will