succeed? they get elected to local counsel were these legislators who we meet. the point in my book is that don't worry about boiling the ocean. there's work for everybody that could be done. i use my family's history as an example. frankly, i've had a lot of people read the book tell me that reminds me of my family history and my family that came from europe or ireland or wherever they came from. immigration is a big part of it but this idea th for the justices and injustices that are right in front of you. while you may not feel the reward or think it is moving fast enough, you are doing so influences and minerals, it influences your kids or your grandkids or the world around you to make the world a better place. it is a tome to the fact that things can be better and it is in our hands to make them better. >> by the way, you do even just from the studio. i just want to say that. this is the book. it's like the perfect bedside table book. it is great to read just a

chapter. i really, really enjoyed it. i will say it was a great way to start off talking about the dubious date of may 30th, 2020. i want folks to pick it up, read it and take it from there. it is something. anyway, thank you safe travels. >> i miss you. normally we would be in the same place for this. once in a while we are in different places. i will see you soon enough in new york. you can watch ali velshi every weekend on his show saturday and sunday morning starting at 10:00 eastern. moments, grading the defense. how donald trump's attorney performed during cross- examination of michael cohen this week and the reviews may be different than you've heard. rudy giuliani headed a surprise at his 80th birthday party, a gift no one would want. want.

he is meeting in atlanta georgia today ahead of a planned commencement speech tomorrow. >> great things are happening in the state of georgia. here is a president who is in partnership with those of us ini congress and has invested 16 billion in historically black colleges and universities yet there is a lot more work to be done and the biden harris administration is ready to do it. >> biden trump will -- last night had an event in minnesota, he falsely declared he won that state in 2020 ha despite democratic residential candidates caring that state for more than 40 years. new today, and indictment birthday surprise for trump ally rudy giuliani. his social media captured this post on friday before giuliani was served and indictment to the arizona case.

he was served by celebrating in west palm beach according to the source of his birthday party. the post is no longer available. arizona attorney general confirmed last night that indy giuliani has been served. we have a number of reports and analyst covering all of these co political and legal developments so we will thbegin with the new fallout and reaction to that upside down u flag that flew post-january 6th at the supreme court justice. we are here with more on . all that. this is stirring up a lot of controversy. what can you tell us? >> supreme court justices once again in the spotlight and not in a good one especially those o conservative justices. this time with samuel alito and that flag that flew outside his house in 2021 right after the january 6th capital riot and just before president biden's election and inauguration. check it out.

>> top democrats demanding supreme court justice samuel alito recuse himself from cases related to january 6. after the new york times published this photo showing an american flag flying upside down at his home the picture reportedly taken just over a week from the capital attack and days before president biden's inauguration. and upside down flag meant to signal distress and has been used as a sign of protest by both the left and right. some of alito's neighbors tell times they were alarmed because it was the simple adopted by trump supporters during the capital riot falsely claiming president biden stole the election. alito confirming the photo the times i had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag. it was briefly placed by mrs. alito in response to a neighbor's use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. a neighbor said the flag was there for several days and that alito's wife was in a dispute with another homeowner who

displayed an anti-trump signed with an expletive which offended her leading to an escalating le clash between her and that neighbor. democratic senator said the flag creates the appearance of bias demanding justice alito recuse himself from upcoming cases involving january 6th including former president trumps presidential immunity case where he is accused of trying to overturn the 2020 election results. >> is more than willing to wear his partisan colors on his sleeve on this case on the is flagpole. >> a court spokesperson did not respond to the request for comment. >> supreme court justice samuel alito is not the only one in hot water. clarence thomas also facing his own ethical concerns and various allegations that he took money from conservatives as well when he maybe wasn't supposed to. also his spouse, not only is his spouse under fire or being blamed for things you have

jenny thomas who is the wife of -- she actually participated in the january 6th rally but was not in the capital on that day. she famously sent those texts to mark meadows urging him not to concede the 2020 election perpetuating the stolen election lies and not only is alito being asked to recuse himself from cases related to the former president, so was clarence thomas but so far neither men have said they would do so. >> i remember clarence thomas saying we don't talk about that thing at home. ha right. thank you so much. joining me now, we have robert garcia. he is a member of the house oversight committee. welcome, it's good to see you. senate majority and other top democrats are calling on alito to recuse himself. where do you stand? >> i agree. he should not just recuse, he

should resign. what alito and his wife have done is treason, it's shameful. this court is in chaos. this idea you will perpetuate this lie that the home of a supreme court justice is sick and i think it goes to show howe much reform this court needs. this country is in a very tough place in relation to this court. it is an extreme conservative court. we have never had a court like this. clarence thomas, the billionaire gifts happening, this is a court that is truly in chaos. i agree with everyone calling him to recuse himself with any sort of cases as it relates to generally six, to the immunity case but more importantly these are two supreme court judges that have no business being on the court and the stakes for november could not be higher. it's important for people to keep talking about this and alito should resign.

>> you mentioned chaos which is a perfect segue to talk about what happened at the house on thursday evening. here's a sample of that. >> i think your fake eyelashes are messing up. >> listen. >> why don't you debate me? >> i think it's pretty self- evident -- >> you don't have enough intelligence. >> the chair recognizes mr. perry.ze >> i would like to strike thosek words as well. >> i'm curious just to better understand your ruling if someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody'sm bleached blonde butcher body that would not be engaging in personalities correct? >> okay, you were in the room just a few seats down from congressman jasmine crockett. can you explain what went on?

is this what taxpayers expect from their representatives these days? >> let's be very clear, marjorie taylor green 100% started, egged on our representative crockett, egged on and insulted and it is completely on her and on james comey for not stepping in and y trying to stop her shameless attacks. let's also take one step backwards. we were going to have that meeting at our normal time of 11 a.m. that morning but what happens? republicans decide instead they want to go to the trump trial and so now they move the meeting back to 8 p.m. chaos again. marjorie taylor green should first and foremost apologize and be removed from all committees. she has no business sitting on any committees in congress. she has no ability to get along with colleagues including her own by the way. as we saw, she insults and expects we are not going to push back or fight back.

she was in the wrong, she in should be stripped from all committees. >> there was belief to try to fight fire with fire. during that hearing you brought up the images of donald trump i with his eyes closed for his trial in manhattan. what message were you trying to get across? do you worry this only helps trump by galvanizing his supporters?zi >> let's remember what it was about. it was supposed to be about robert her, it was supposed to be about the republicans trying to claim president biden is not fit or too old for that these transcripts that have been released somehow the department of justice is trying to protect president biden. let's be very clear the transcripts of that report show president biden there was no evidence to him doing anything wrong that he was actually saying what he needed to say w and going along with the whole investigation.

i was making the point of the only person that seems to be er tired, sleepy, dozing off and not fit is donald trump. it's reported over and over again by your network and multiple newspapers, by all sorts of journalists he is falling asleep in the courtroom. he's dozing off, closing his eyes. he's asleep for long periods ofa time during the trial. let's actually put the focus on who is actually unfit for office. that is donald trump. that's what i was trying to show and i think we did a good job except lauren said she thought he's actually praying when he closes his eyes which i think is pretty ridiculous. >> i will say we haven't been able to confirm here at nbc co news he indeed has fallen into a different state of rem sleep or something when he closes his eyes. the house passed a republican back bill designed to pressure president biden on delivering weapons to israel after the white house halted the shipment because of concerns around israel's military offensive in rafah. 16 democrats voted for it.

not you though. ou why not? >> i disagree with that push by the republicans. i think the president needs to have the ability to hold back weapons, to actually have a strong position against netanyahu to ensure rafah is not invaded and we are not supporting what could be very dangerous operations. netanyahu is in my opinion a danger to peace right now for both israel, gaza, relationships with the united states. all of us are hoping the election happens sooner rather than later and i think the president understands that a rafah operation needs to be handled incredibly carefully. the focus needs to be on defeating hamas and releasing hostages. we need a cease-fire. i've been calling for cease- fire since back in november and we should continue to support israel defending itself against iran and these dangers in the t

region but we also have to recognize that netanyahu is not doing a just job of executing this war. we have lost tens of thousands of civilians. this needs to and and we need a cease-fire now. >> one more question. in june it is pride month with celebrations already underway that includes in long beach were you are the mayor. the prn department of homeland security issued a public service announcement warning foreign terrorist organizations could tetarget pride month even and venues and yesterday the state department expended that warning to u.s. citizens celebrating thpride overseas. what can you tell us about this and what's being done to protect the festivities? >> it's concerning. long beach pride is this weekend, it's tomorrow. pride is starting all across the country. we are working with homeland security to ensure there isn't

a danger to people participating. we know violence against lgbtq plus people, discrimination, the way trans-families are being abused but particularly even those in congress positions of power is causing huge discontent across the country. we are moving backwards as it relates to protections and it is a shame this is happening. i'm very concerned about pride celebrations. i'm grateful to law enforcement working with local organizers on the ground. we are demanding homeland security, law enforcement is focused on these pride celebrations. there's a lot happening behind the scenes but across the country this goes to show the rhetoric coming out of leadership on the far right is causing harm to our community and it needs to end. >> robert garcia, it's good to see you. let's go to decision 24 in atlanta where president biden is hitting the trail. il he's got to campaign events today and tomorrow he delivers the commencement address at dd

morehouse college. we are joined once again in atlanta. let's look back to georgia be in a critical state for biden in his 2020 victory. how is he appealing to voters this time around? >> the biden campaign has taken this posture of having the president show up early and often and in different ways. d this is his second trip to atlanta this year and we are told that in this hour he's expected to have his first campaign event here. we haven't been given a irlot oi details of what that event is going to be other than it will e focus on engaging black voters and trying to boost the organization here in the atlanta area. this is something we have seen the campaign try to target doing and black communities around the country. we have seen a seven-figure add buy from the biden harris y campaign geared toward black voters and other groups as well trying to talk about what the president has done that he says how he says he has shown up fors black communities and hoped to

reduce the unemployment rate for black communities. it was a sound earlier from the senator saying more than $160 billion in student that had been relieved particularly for black college students. that is something the president has really focused on or will continue to focus on as he campaigns. he mentioned he's given the commencement address here at at morehouse college. that is not a campaign event, it is one that the white house h said the president really has been wanting to do has been an focused on doing. he spent several days last week refining the comments he's going to give here and it's we e are told by white house officials it will focus on the graduates here, the 400+ young black men who will be graduating from morehouse talking about the impact they can have on the world. we also heard from a student here and professor here about t the potential for demonstrations during the graduation ceremony tomorrow.

>> whatever does happen on sunday, i don't see it erupting. we are also mindful of the factd of how interactions with police often go. >> it's important to understand we are participating in upholding the legacy of morehouse college. our legacy unlike other institutions is wrapped into social justice and that is why we tout and claim proudly dr. martin luther king jr. >> reporter: we have seen some social media posts encouraging students to stand up during president biden's speech tomorrow and turn their backs to him silently. not a big protest like we have seen on some campuses but certainly a powerful image to have essentially hundreds of young black men stand up in front of a democratic resident and turn their back. >> okay. thank you for that. what does this video have

to do with the upcoming presidential debates? a lot. during debate practice playing donald trump during these debates. his insights on what president biden and the american people should expect this hour. this may have meant less than you think. we are back in 90 seconds. desin e for maximum air flow. so, i breathe better. and we both sleep better. and stay married. lowering bad cholesterol can be hard, even with a statin. diets and exercise add to the struggle. today, it's possible to go from struggle to cholesterol success with leqvio. with a statin, leqvio is proven to lower bad cholesterol by 50% and keep it low with 2 doses a year. common side effects were injection site reaction, joint pain, and chest cold. ask your doctor about twice-yearly leqvio.

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trump is enjoying the long weekend outside the courtroom beginning the campaign trail in several key states. later he addresses some of his most loyal supporters at the annual nra convention in texas. joining us from dallas is 2024 campaign julian franco. give us a preview of what we can expect. >> reporter: is a busy three day weekend for the former president between baron trumps high school graduation out in florida and speaking at that minnesota gop dinner out in st. paul yesterday. today he will be right here in dallas, texas speaking at the national rifle association annual convention. this is nothing new, he's been on an nra stage a handful of times in the past but yesterday he teased he may be receiving the organizations endorsement which wouldn't necessarily come as a surprise given that they endorsed him back in 2020. i do want you to hear what he said

about protecting the second amendment during those remarks last night. >> i will fully uphold our great but very under siege second amendment. we will uphold the powers and beauty of our second amendment, we need our second amendment probably more than we ever needed it before. >> reporter: alex, one thing we are certainly going to keep an ear out for our any of trumps comments surrounding his new york criminal hush money trial that was noticeably absent from his remarks in minnesota yesterday. if you know the former president you know that is odd for him. the trial is winding down, closing arguments could happen this week. he will be keeping an ear out for that. >> there is that gag order. thank you so much, jillian frankel. donald trump returns to the defendant chair on monday . his

former lawyer will also return to the witness stand in that hush money trial. let's bring in suzanne craig, investigative reporter with the new york times and kristi greenberg former prime federal prosecutor and good to have you both back. let's get into it starting with you because you have been in the courtroom every day of this trial. tell us about that heated moment when todd blanche raised his voice at michael cohen and how it played in the room. >> it was something. it came sort of towards the end of the day. todd blanche, donald trump's lawyer had spent the day going through multiple times where michael cohen had been caught outline. these aren't white lies, these are lying to congress, lying on the stand, lying on his taxes. he was really building to this moment he felt he had and the moment started to be clear was

finally something that actually involved something to do with the trial and it becomes important. there is a phone call that michael cohen testified to on his cross-examination by government lawyers and in that call he said one evening in october 2016, right before the election, he made a call to keith schiller who happens to be donald trump's body man. in that call he said he found him and he passed the phone to donald trump and in that call michael cohen updated donald trump on the hush money payment to stormy daniels. it is an important call to all of this. on cross-examination todd blanche gets up and has some text messages and reveals there may have been another reason for the call. that is that all night, that evening in october when he made this call, prior to that he had been getting hang up calls and would come in as an anonymous number. he had been getting them for weeks.

the person who was calling forgot to disguise their number so michael cohen was able to grab the phone number. he has a heated exchange with the person who is texting him. he says the person may be 14 years old he says i'm going to call the secret service on you. michael cohen sends a text message to keith schiller about this and he says call me. that could've been -- when we are talking about that. this very much caught michael cohen offguard. it was the moment. it landed in court. >> eve said this wasn't cohen's error but more likely a blunder by prosecutors. where did they go wrong and what kind of impact could these things have on the case? >> when you are showing a witness information about a call that happened eight years ago you really want to make sure you are orienting that witness to everything going on on that date.

if i'm focused on october 24th 2016 i am showing the witness all of their messages that day before and after the call to make sure that they have the proper context for what that call may have been about. again, i agree it seemed like michael cohen was surprised by some messages and maybe he hadn't seen them before. the prosecutor really needed to do that. it is really hard to remember everything you talk about in a call that was a minute and a half long from eight years ago. that kind of orientation is really important and expect the prosecutors to try to do some of that and redirect and make the point to the jury he didn't remember this piece about keith schiller when he testified but he remembers he had not just this call but multiple calls with donald trump where he approved the payment. >> your colleague is right that cohen didn't crack under

questioning. here's what tim o'brien told me yesterday. >> michael is a really volatile unreliable person generally. i think he's been almost a seller witness throughout. he has been calm, he has kept largely in his own emotions in check. i think todd blanche has given a b- to a c performance as a defense attorney here. >> how much of blanche's big moment was performative and could you tell whether trump was impressed why the theatrics? >> i think he was. it was hard to tell. they were happy at the end of the day. they felt they landed something. i want to step back a little and talk about michael cohen because tim o'brien is right. he has been a very good witness. he has kept his cool on the stand, he's known as a volatile individual. i can't stress enough how important it is that the jury believed michael cohen.

he is the only one that can link donald trump to the criminal disguise of the falsification of the business records. if they don't believe him i think they will be instructed who knows where the jury will -- they will be instructed there's not guilty finding. they have to believe michael cohen because he links him and so many conversations and it is only michael cohen that does this. so many conversations with donald trump about the falsification of the business record. there is a lot of evidence about things michael cohen has said that would lead somebody to believe that the falsification of business records happened and that they happened at donald trump's direction or that he knew about it, that he caused it. the believability factor here is really important with michael cohen. >> here comes the money question. in terms of evidence presented thus far, what elements stand

out in the prosecution case against trump and have prosecutors made the dots easy to connect? >> i think they have. to sue's point, michael cohen is so important to connecting the dots of all the other witnesses have said of all the other documents. michael cohen is the one who says i had multiple conversations with donald trump about this stormy daniels payment, he's the one who approved me making it. he's also the one when it comes to reimbursement of michael cohen for making that payment. he is the one who said i spoke with donald trump, donald trump set i was going -- he was going to pay me back and he is the only person who testified about this meeting. donald trump and himself where alan weiss oberg apparently shows this document with his handwriting explaining the details of how he got to the amount of what the payment to michael cohen would be, how that factored out, with the

details work and how it would be paid. you have the document but michael cohen is the one who is testifying the document was put before donald trump and he approved it. you also have after-the-fact in 2018 when michael cohen lies and says i did this all in my own. he is the only person to say donald trump knew about those lies. he is the only one to say after the fbi raided his home in 2018 that donald trump called michael cohen and said i'm the president of the united states i'll take care of you. all of those things are important to show donald trump's knowledge and intent. i completely agree with sue, you have to believe michael cohen to get there. >> let me ask you. did donald trump take the stand and how long till this ends? >> i'm bad at predictions but i like to make them. we will see. it's not a good combination. i don't think he takes the

stand. i'm still sort of on the fence about whether or not there will be one more witness. i think we will see closing arguments this weekend. >> last word to you. >> he would be very foolish to take the stand because right now the jury is hearing about all of the credibility issues with michael cohen. if donald trump takes the stand momentum shifts and now we will hear about defamation. now we hear about the trump foundation. now we hear about the fact he was harassing a law clerk in the civil fraud just a few months ago. the judge has ruled all of that evidence is fair game if donald trump takes the stand. he would be crazy to do it. >> thank you both. we will see you again soon. first came the deadly storm but now it is the smog and dangerous heat. e cont

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wrecking news as more than half 1 million customers in texas are without power now in the wake of deadly storms. i can matters worse, extreme heat expected today with temperatures soaring into the 90s. we are joined in houston. how are folks there preparing for this heat? >> there's no way to prepare. people that have generators are lucky enough to have power in their homes and the areas without power. people here are still doing whatever cleanup they can. you can see this home behind me is one of the homes damaged in the houston area. a whole tree fell over the house. this whole neighborhood is covered in branches and parts of trees that fell. the neighbors yesterday took advantage of the weather to do as much work as they could. today, it is all a lot hotter. you can imagine in humid conditions what it will be like

for people in these homes without power. i will walk to the side so you can see what the street looks like. somebody brought a bobcat down they are using to move some trees out of the way. this is one of the neighborhoods that continues to be without power. there's hundreds of thousands of people without power in houston now. the heat is going to be an issue. the mayor told people they needed to prepare because they expect this to go on for days. the county judge said it could even be weeks. one reason why the power is expected to be out for a long time is because the damage that the storm caused wasn't just to utility poles and power lines, it was the towers. a lot of times when the storms come through it'll damage utility poles and power lines. sometimes the very next day we see the power company come in with flatbeds and replacement poles. they put them up pretty fast but a tower is different. this is a major structure that has to be repaired or replaced. the mayor told me yesterday

they had about seven in the houston area that had to be repaired or replaced. this is why it's going to take so long. they've already opened distribution centers in the houston area where they will be giving away ice and water but that's not going to be enough for the people that are going to be in the heat. they also have cooling centers that are going to be made available, these are some things that are being offered for the residence. here's the mayor from yesterday. >> ladies and gentlemen, it was fierce, it was intense, it was quick and most houstonians have time to place themselves out of harms way. >> reporter: that was the mayor speaking of the storm that surprised authorities here. when they spoke yesterday both the mayor and county judge together said they were ready for the intense rain, they knew the storm was coming but they

never expected those winds to come through the way they did and calls all this damage. >> that tree, i can't get over it. it's huge and it was a blown over into that house. thank you so much. how does one prepare for a debate with donald trump? my next guest knows the answer because of what happened in this video. what? horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going. what happened to my inner child craving love and acceptance? how about you love and accept this? p-p-p-p-powershot! when can i drive? you already are! the dodge hornet r/t... the totally torqued-out crossover. my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc.

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new reaction as donald trump and president biden have agreed to a pair of debates but several open questions are main and one of the biggest whether independent candidate robert f kennedy junior will join on the debate stage. trump is saying he would be open to include if he qualifies while team biden says that is not an option. the robert harris campaign also accepted a potential vice presidential debate but whether that goes forward and who the running mate will be remains unconfirmed. joining me now is the former

deputy assistant secretary of state and former spokesperson for hillary clinton. he also stood in for trump and secretary clinton's debate rehearsals. it's nice to see you again. why the decision now for the biting campaign to commit to these debates? what was behind the specific timing and you think the debates will definitely happen? >> i think they will happen because it'll be very hard to not happen given the commitment although i will say if they don't it won't be because of joe biden, it'll be because of donald trump. he will either make noise about he doesn't like that the moderators or they have only agreed to his requirement that joe biden takes a cocaine test which he is already making noise about or they are not agreeing to more networks. i think it was as simple as joe biden is ready to debate and joe biden said that. it was a smart move. it seems to me they got the better of donald trump and crew.

>> let me ask because alex thompson told cnbc that biden's advisers are split on the debate. some say it's too risky to get on a stage with trump but is it necessary to draw that direct contrast between trump and biden and remind voters that these are their options? >> i think one thing all staff have in common is we all kind of get very nervous about things and hold our breath. there is nothing more nerve- racking than watching our candidate go out on stage for 90 minutes, let alone against a wildcard like donald trump. it is necessary. it's not like they've ever debated before. donald trump and joe biden debated twice. donald trump and hillary clinton debated at least five times in the general election one-on-one. we have a sense of who he is. joe biden did really well.

it is important to see a contrast. we are voting between these two guys, we spent a lot of time talking about people aren't happy about the choice. get over it. this is the choice. for as much time as we spend talking about them they are never together. it's possible the last time they were on stage together was the last time they were on stage together for the debate. this is an important moment. it's unpleasant for joe biden to have to do this. he doesn't have to do it, but i think in his gut he wants to show -- if i were him and more importantly i'm not him but he has the best around him. his chief of staff has done this for barack obama and clinton and the people around ron who used to work with him and for him always say and ron we trust. it's remind and reveal. there is this odd amnesia going on about forgetting about the catastrophe, noise and cacophony going on around

donald trump when he was president. this is a good opportunity to remind people because donald trump makes it really easy to bring him on stage. he reveals who he is. even if her 10 minutes he holds it together, for 20 minutes he want and for 10 minutes maybe he will get tired and the next 30 minutes he won't. we will see him for who he was four years ago for four years and that seems to be really important because for whatever reason people just don't remember. they remember the dow was high. they remember their 401(k)s were okay and that is not enough. that's not what's going on. >> you're talking about these debates, what were your biggest takeaways from biden trump in 2020, even the trump clinton debates that stood out to you in a donald trump world to help hillary clinton prepare? the biden campaign learned an audience so they demanded no audience.

the crowd can also be a distraction. what would be your advice for biden? >> i think the audience debate right now is -- the general election debate it's not like you have rabid primary voters. you don't have big legs, donors. i remember bumping into sheldon adelson. he's not getting up and interrupting with applause every two minutes. to the extent donald trump does feed off those things i'm not sure that's at play. what i do think is when we practice and i was like a tennis ball machine, it's not like there aren't a huge number of parts. it's like anything with multiple people involved, i had the easy job and i just had to show up and rant like a crazy person. we had to do a lot of guessing because he had never debated so we didn't have any basis for doing it. when joe biden debated for the first time he had never done it.

he has now had prep in the sense of doing it twice. i think the biggest difference between the two years is really not just the debates, it's the campaigns. donald trump, for lack of a better word, as much as it kills me to say had a message in 2016. it was wrapped in his typical luster and lies and obnoxiousness but it was about immigration and healthcare and jobs leaving america. in 2020 he had no message. he was a machine of anger. the question is now post his grievances of 2020 and believe in the election was stolen, how much of this is to show up and continue with that nonsense and how much does he show up and revert to some semblance for one iota of message? that's what remains to be clear. i think joe biden will be ready for either part of it.

the good thing about donald trump is he is the most predictable creature on god's green earth. while it is unpleasant to be up there, ron and company will make sure and joe biden who has the hardest job here will have seen every look. you know, by january 28th the night after the first debate we will find out. >> i think if they are smart they will reach out because you bring a wealth of experience. >> i don't know joe biden well enough. i knew hillary so i could get under her skin with just showing my face. >> you did a good job. good to see you, thank you so much. coming up, burning questions and mind blowing answers. why did the nra decide to hold a conference in texas days before a devastating mass shooting anniversary and why did the former president decide to attend it and speak at it? we will take a look.

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in a few hours former president trump will speak to thousands of his supporters at the annual nra convention in dallas, texas. this comes less than a week before the two-year anniversary of the horrific shooting in uvalde that took the lives of children and teachers. joining us now, roland gutierrez. welcome and we remind reviewers you represent uvalde in the state senate. the timing of trump's speech today at the nra days before this summer memorial. what message does this send? >> thank you. i would like to say it was tone deaf but i think the nra and trump are not tone deaf. tone deaf is there is some level of ignorance. i know exactly what they are doing. what they have done in texas is direct conscious indifference to this tragedy and to what gun

manufacturers and the nra have done here in texas. here we have republicans in this state that control the state and have done nothing, nothing whatsoever to change anything on gun safety to prevent this from happening again. it will happen again and it'll happen again because republicans have done nothing because donald trump and the nra simply do not care about the people that are getting hurt on the streets every day. >> that is shameful. let's talk about texas. no stranger to gun violence besides uvalde there was a mass shooting last year at that shopping mall in allen . both shooters used legally purchased guns in the attack. what needs to change in your state you need to keep people safe? >> we ask for bare minimum. we ask for raising the age on access to weapons like this to 21.

many states have. we couldn't even get that. in this state, along with all the republicans running the state, have not done absolutely anything. if we could a.i.d.s. limit -- 75% of republican voters are in favor of, uvalde would not have happened. imagine that. those kids would still be here with us today if we had an age limit. it is as simple as that. we are not asking for the moon and stars, we are asking for basic common sense gun safety solutions to prevent the loss of life we saw in you valley and we continue to see in texas day after day, week after week. >> you mentioned governor greg abbott who delivered on his promise to pardon a man convicted of murdering a black lives matter protester in 2020. what are your thoughts on that decision? >> i think that greg abbott --

he's either gone crazy or -- i don't have words for it quite frankly. here you have a man that testimony evidence was introduced about text messages about his intent on killing protesters, his intent of shooting protesters and here we have a governor of this state who claims to be a law and order governor who simply, after four years of this band being incarcerated, he received a 25 year sentence this governor let him off scott free. yet we have people they are accusing of voting illegally, they are going to prison for years upon years -- this is the makeup of what is going on in texas. it is not normal and it's not right and it's not just. >> daniel perry says he acted

in self-defense but governor abbott says a jury cannot nullify texas standard ground law. does that law have a place in 2024? >> in my opinion, the state your ground law should not be on your home. in this situation the other gentleman who was protecting the protesters as well did also have an ar-15, it was never brandished in a way towards mr. perry. mr. perry went off and pulled out his gun and shot him. we are living in a strange state of affairs where everybody and anybody can access this type of weapon and walk around with them in broad daylight down the street. we have to figure out something in texas that makes sense because the state of gun safety in texas is that there is none.

everyone that goes down to the street to a walmart or movie theater or church should be very afraid because the republicans in this state have made it so easy for anybody to do exactly what mr. perry did on that day. >> really gutierrez, a very sobering conversation for these times in this regard. thank you. the first women joins me the next hour to talk about next steps after a failed vote to unionize in alabama. i was sad. colton: i was diagnosed with rhabdomyosarcoma. brett: once we got the first initial hit, it was just straight tears, sickness in your stomach, just don't want to get up out of bed. joe: there's always that saying, well, you've got to look on the bright side of things. tell me what the bright side of childhood cancer is.

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now today's other top stories. the man accused of attempting to assassinate the slow back prime minister. called him a