msnbc--2020-12-28--Democrats are alone in the center. That can't last.

Let ’ s begin with a fact : The Republican Party as we know it is tarnished and overrun with elements of the far-right .
The party ’ s elites have been courting and harnessing these elements for decades .
I honestly don ’ t know if the GOP can be saved at this point .
But as the Trump era fades , the left can ’ t erase the damage done on its own .
Democrats can ’ t be alone in the center — America needs a strong center-right if it ’ s ever going to recover and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ ideology for decades , asking respondents if they describe themselves as conservative , moderate or liberal .
In 2019 , 37 percent identified as conservative , 35 percent moderate , and just 26 percent called themselves liberal .
Progressives have gained strength and momentum over the years — the number of Democrats who identify as liberal has doubled since 1994 , per Gallup — but the United States is still a center-right country .
In theory , politicians who can meet their counterparts in the middle are more flexible , more open @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I ’ m just barely old enough to remember when bipartisanism was feasible in Congress .
And yet “ centrist ” is a label almost exclusively associated with Democrats these days — among Republicans , the race to the right has yielded a major candidate nonsensically promoted as “ more conservative than Atilla the Hun.
” President-elect Joe Biden told The Wall Street Journal recently that despite all evidence to the contrary , there are already plenty of Republicans in Congress who are willing to find common ground with him .
I ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The Republican Party as I know it was born just a few years after I was , on the back of the Newt Gingrich-led takeover of the House of Representatives in 1994 .
Since then , compromise has been seen as less and less valuable to the Republican base .
Moderates have been almost entirely exiled from the party or driven into hiding in fear of a primary challenge from the right .
Gingrich ’ s wave gave way to the Tea Party ’ s arrival in Congress in 2010 , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ goal was breaking down the system entirely — no wonder we wound up with President Donald Trump just six years later .
Conservatism is by its nature reactionary , an entrenchment of the elites and other dominant groups against change and any yielding of political power and authority .
William F. Buckley , founder of the National Review , described his new conservative magazine in 1955 as one that “ stands athwart history , yelling Stop , at a time when no one is inclined to do so , or to have much @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Just who benefited from history ’ s halt went unmentioned in the oft-paraphrased quote — the people already doing great .
In the 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe , that meant the landowners , the nobility and big business .
All of them viewed the growing shift toward democracy with skepticism , as angling to protect their own interests , especially against the rising popularity of the labor movement and the influence of Marxism .
Conservatism ’ s strength in the U.S. comes from the individualism that ’ s been @ @ @ @ @ @ @ its founding .
Intertwined with that , however , is the white nationalism that founders like Thomas Jefferson and other enslavers who formed the elite of the day encoded into America ’ s DNA .
The two make for a potent combo for many voters .
How elites chose to support , or hinder , democracy has been key to whether democracy survives , the Harvard political scientist Daniel Ziblatt argued in his book “ Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy.
” Ziblatt told The Atlantic in a 2017 interview that “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , at key moments , conservatives have been a hinge of history .
Their reaction to forces of change shape whether or not a democracy survives.
” It ’ s what we saw in Weimar Germany , the republic founded at the end of World War I .
Unlike in Britain — where , as Ziblatt noted , conservatives had learned early on how to work within the party system — the early days of parliamentary democracy were a chaotic mess in the eyes of German elites .
Gridlock in the Reichstag , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and the global depression kicked off in the United States convinced conservatives like President Paul Hindenburg to clear the way for Adolf Hitler ’ s appointment as chancellor .
The Nazi Party ’ s ascendency wasn ’ t the result of a coup .
Its strength instead grew gradually as it stoked the growing dissatisfaction with democracy .
By the time Hitler came to power in 1933 , the political center was exhausted from three elections in six months .
Meanwhile , the far-right had been whipped into a frenzy , giving the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
( The left-wing , including the social democrats and the feared communists , were a nonfactor in the negotiations . )
Hindenburg and others on the right were sure that Hitler could provide the order they craved while they kept his worst instincts in check .
The Centre Party , lacking the seats to prevent a majority from forming , opted to back Hitler ’ s government — its members voted in favor of the Enabling Act , empowering Hitler to govern by decree .
The center , in the end , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ II ended in total defeat for Germany , the Americans turned to former center-right politicians like Konrad Adenauer who had shunned Hitler to help rebuild German politics .
This time around , the center , including Chancellor Angela Merkel , whose Christian Democratic Union has led the government since 2005 , has managed to rebuff upstarts on the far-right — for now , anyway .
The far-right nationalist AfD Party has made gains since its founding seven years ago , enough to be the largest opposition party in Parliament .
The social order @ @ @ @ @ @ @ has almost always been defined largely by race .
It ’ s easy to see this in how the so-called Republican Revolution of 1994 harnessed anger against social programs that conservatives falsely claimed benefited Black Americans to the detriment of the white middle and working class .
The gains made in the South that powered Gingrich ’ s victory were the final payoff of the region ’ s conservative shift away from the Democratic Party , which for decades was home to some of the most anti-Black politicians in Congress .
As the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ white voters harbored as their total dominance of American politics and economics receded became more vocal , especially after Barack Obama captured the White House in 2008 .
Members of the conservative establishment artfully supported Tea Party groups to funnel this rage into what mattered most to them — preventing tax hikes or any other attempts to redistribute the wealth they ’ d hoarded .
Birtherism , Trump ’ s gateway into national politics , was the subtext made text , rejecting that anything but fraud and subterfuge could have allowed a Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s a short path from there to insisting that the 2020 election was somehow rigged and having most of the Republican establishment sign on to an attempt to overturn the results at the Supreme Court .
Which brings us to the Lincoln Project .
The former Republican consultants who founded the campaign have billed themselves as the anti-Trump avengers whose ads siphoned enough votes from Trump to deliver President-elect Joe Biden ’ s victory in November .
Its critics consider it at best a grift parting liberal fools from their money , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a return to the same GOP policies that gave rise to Trump in the first place .
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez , D-N.Y. , falls in the former camp , tweeting on Nov. 6 that the Lincoln Project should “ take the L ” and give the money it ’ s raised — more than $ 80 million since 2019 — to groups with more impact .
Ocasio-Cortez also said the group was “ in scam territory ” based on how few voters it had flipped .
( Democratic super PAC , Priorities USA @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that the Lincoln Project ads that went viral on Twitter didn ’ t really sway viewers . )
But co-founder Steve Schmidt , who was a senior strategist for President George W. Bush , still wants to work with Ocasio-Cortez .
He also recently announced that he ’ s leaving the Republican Party entirely .
“ At the end of the day , there 's now one pro-democracy political party in the United States of America , and that 's the Democratic Party .
And I am a member of that party because @ @ @ @ @ @ @ voter .
I believe in democracy , '' Schmidt said on MSNBC on Dec. 15 .
I appreciate that Schmidt and his co-founder Stuart Stevens are making amends for past efforts to get Republicans elected .
I will say , though , that I don ’ t know if that means he and others like him should become Democrats .
Yes , the Democrats are a big-tent party , with members ranging from centrist Blue Dogs to progressives like Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of `` the squad '' in the House .
But @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where those outside that tent suggest that martial law is an appropriate response to losing an election .
We can ’ t spend every four years wondering if this is the end of democracy .
No , there can — and should — be honest disagreements about how the country should operate .
For that to be viable , there needs to be an actual center-right movement that operates under its own momentum and promotes its own ideas , rather than just checking the left inside of the Democratic Party .
That may @ @ @ @ @ @ @ centrists can ’ t wrest at least some power back within the party , it may be necessary to leave it to a new body .
It will require courage , though , from both the politicians who serve in office and the donor class who are still writing checks to the Republican National Committee .
The two-party system doesn ’ t mean that a failing party can never die , and it may be time for the party of Lincoln to go the way of the Whigs .

Let’s begin with a fact: The Republican Party as we know it is tarnished and overrun with elements of the far-right. The party’s elites have been courting and harnessing these elements for decades. I honestly don’t know if the GOP can be saved at this point. But as the Trump era fades, the left can’t erase the damage done on its own. Democrats can’t be alone in the center — America needs a strong center-right if it’s ever going to recover and move forward.
As the Trump era fades, the left can’t erase the damage done on its own.
Gallup has tracked Americans’ ideology for decades, asking respondents if they describe themselves as conservative, moderate or liberal. In 2019, 37 percent identified as conservative, 35 percent moderate, and just 26 percent called themselves liberal. Progressives have gained strength and momentum over the years — the number of Democrats who identify as liberal has doubled since 1994, per Gallup — but the United States is still a center-right country.
In theory, politicians who can meet their counterparts in the middle are more flexible, more open to borrowing ideas from each other. I’m just barely old enough to remember when bipartisanism was feasible in Congress. And yet “centrist” is a label almost exclusively associated with Democrats these days — among Republicans, the race to the right has yielded a major candidate nonsensically promoted as “more conservative than Atilla the Hun.” President-elect Joe Biden told The Wall Street Journal recently that despite all evidence to the contrary, there are already plenty of Republicans in Congress who are willing to find common ground with him.
I’m skeptical of Biden’s assessment. The Republican Party as I know it was born just a few years after I was, on the back of the Newt Gingrich-led takeover of the House of Representatives in 1994. Since then, compromise has been seen as less and less valuable to the Republican base. Moderates have been almost entirely exiled from the party or driven into hiding in fear of a primary challenge from the right. Gingrich’s wave gave way to the Tea Party’s arrival in Congress in 2010, who cared even less about legislating. Their goal was breaking down the system entirely — no wonder we wound up with President Donald Trump just six years later.
Conservatism is by its nature reactionary, an entrenchment of the elites and other dominant groups against change and any yielding of political power and authority. William F. Buckley, founder of the National Review, described his new conservative magazine in 1955 as one that “stands athwart history, yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.” Just who benefited from history’s halt went unmentioned in the oft-paraphrased quote — the people already doing great.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries in Europe, that meant the landowners, the nobility and big business. All of them viewed the growing shift toward democracy with skepticism, as angling to protect their own interests, especially against the rising popularity of the labor movement and the influence of Marxism.
How elites chose to support or hinder democracy has been key to whether democracy survives.
Conservatism’s strength in the U.S. comes from the individualism that’s been at the country’s core since its founding. Intertwined with that, however, is the white nationalism that founders like Thomas Jefferson and other enslavers who formed the elite of the day encoded into America’s DNA. The two make for a potent combo for many voters.
How elites chose to support, or hinder, democracy has been key to whether democracy survives, the Harvard political scientist Daniel Ziblatt argued in his book “Conservative Parties and the Birth of Democracy.” Ziblatt told The Atlantic in a 2017 interview that “when one looks around the world historically, at key moments, conservatives have been a hinge of history. Their reaction to forces of change shape whether or not a democracy survives.”
It’s what we saw in Weimar Germany, the republic founded at the end of World War I. Unlike in Britain — where, as Ziblatt noted, conservatives had learned early on how to work within the party system — the early days of parliamentary democracy were a chaotic mess in the eyes of German elites.
Gridlock in the Reichstag, street violence between paramilitaries and leftists, and the global depression kicked off in the United States convinced conservatives like President Paul Hindenburg to clear the way for Adolf Hitler’s appointment as chancellor. The Nazi Party’s ascendency wasn’t the result of a coup. Its strength instead grew gradually as it stoked the growing dissatisfaction with democracy. By the time Hitler came to power in 1933, the political center was exhausted from three elections in six months.
Meanwhile, the far-right had been whipped into a frenzy, giving the Nazis the most seats in the Parliament. (The left-wing, including the social democrats and the feared communists, were a nonfactor in the negotiations.)
Hindenburg and others on the right were sure that Hitler could provide the order they craved while they kept his worst instincts in check. The Centre Party, lacking the seats to prevent a majority from forming, opted to back Hitler’s government — its members voted in favor of the Enabling Act, empowering Hitler to govern by decree. The center, in the end, did not hold.
The social order in the United States, meanwhile, has almost always been defined largely by race.
After World War II ended in total defeat for Germany, the Americans turned to former center-right politicians like Konrad Adenauer who had shunned Hitler to help rebuild German politics. This time around, the center, including Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose Christian Democratic Union has led the government since 2005, has managed to rebuff upstarts on the far-right — for now, anyway. The far-right nationalist AfD Party has made gains since its founding seven years ago, enough to be the largest opposition party in Parliament.
The social order in the United States, meanwhile, has almost always been defined largely by race. It’s easy to see this in how the so-called Republican Revolution of 1994 harnessed anger against social programs that conservatives falsely claimed benefited Black Americans to the detriment of the white middle and working class.
The gains made in the South that powered Gingrich’s victory were the final payoff of the region’s conservative shift away from the Democratic Party, which for decades was home to some of the most anti-Black politicians in Congress.
As the years went on, the grievance that white voters harbored as their total dominance of American politics and economics receded became more vocal, especially after Barack Obama captured the White House in 2008. Members of the conservative establishment artfully supported Tea Party groups to funnel this rage into what mattered most to them — preventing tax hikes or any other attempts to redistribute the wealth they’d hoarded.
Birtherism, Trump’s gateway into national politics, was the subtext made text, rejecting that anything but fraud and subterfuge could have allowed a Black man to be president. It’s a short path from there to insisting that the 2020 election was somehow rigged and having most of the Republican establishment sign on to an attempt to overturn the results at the Supreme Court.
Which brings us to the Lincoln Project. The former Republican consultants who founded the campaign have billed themselves as the anti-Trump avengers whose ads siphoned enough votes from Trump to deliver President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in November. Its critics consider it at best a grift parting liberal fools from their money, and at worst a possible Trojan horse for a return to the same GOP policies that gave rise to Trump in the first place.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., falls in the former camp, tweeting on Nov. 6 that the Lincoln Project should “take the L” and give the money it’s raised — more than $80 million since 2019 — to groups with more impact. Ocasio-Cortez also said the group was “in scam territory” based on how few voters it had flipped. (Democratic super PAC, Priorities USA, found in a test it ran that the Lincoln Project ads that went viral on Twitter didn’t really sway viewers.)
But co-founder Steve Schmidt, who was a senior strategist for President George W. Bush, still wants to work with Ocasio-Cortez.
I would like to officially reach out to @AOC on behalf of the @ProjectLincoln in defense of democracy. We disagree on many issues and that is ok in our view. Btw, we don’t look down on waitresses. We admire them. We are all the types of guys who always tip at 50% or more. — Steve Schmidt (@SteveSchmidtSES) December 12, 2020
He also recently announced that he’s leaving the Republican Party entirely. “At the end of the day, there's now one pro-democracy political party in the United States of America, and that's the Democratic Party. And I am a member of that party because of that. I'm a single-issue voter. I believe in democracy," Schmidt said on MSNBC on Dec. 15.
I appreciate that Schmidt and his co-founder Stuart Stevens are making amends for past efforts to get Republicans elected. I will say, though, that I don’t know if that means he and others like him should become Democrats. Yes, the Democrats are a big-tent party, with members ranging from centrist Blue Dogs to progressives like Ocasio-Cortez and the rest of "the squad" in the House. But America can’t survive another decade where those outside that tent suggest that martial law is an appropriate response to losing an election. We can’t spend every four years wondering if this is the end of democracy.
No, there can — and should — be honest disagreements about how the country should operate. For that to be viable, there needs to be an actual center-right movement that operates under its own momentum and promotes its own ideas, rather than just checking the left inside of the Democratic Party. That may not be the Republican Party — if centrists can’t wrest at least some power back within the party, it may be necessary to leave it to a new body.
It will require courage, though, from both the politicians who serve in office and the donor class who are still writing checks to the Republican National Committee. The two-party system doesn’t mean that a failing party can never die, and it may be time for the party of Lincoln to go the way of the Whigs.


msnbc--2020-12-28--When will you get the Covid vaccine? That depends on where you live

In America and in the rest of the world , nonessential , lower-risk people and the public wait for their turn to receive a Covid-19 vaccine .
At the same time , news of possible mishandling of vaccine distribution , as recently reported in New York City urgent care centers , shows how important it is to be vigilant and press lawmakers and public health officials to be transparent in their distribution strategies and to hold them accountable for their decisions .
Since the approval and rollout of the vaccine , America has watched the painfully paradoxical images of boxes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ alongside FEMA-operated refrigerated morgue trailers parked at hospitals .
In the same building , health care workers have literally been receiving a shot in the arm that could save their lives within hours of pronouncing a patient dead .
Still , the lack of any federal strategy has left every state , county and tribal territory to their own devices , to identify strategies and submit plans for their respective distribution process .
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ( ACIP ) , an independent agency , has made recommendations that identify the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ care personnel and long-term care residents ; and 1B adults over the age of 75 and front-line essential workers ( such as first responders , police , educators , U.S .
Postal Service workers , corrections officers and others ) .
But a review of the various states ’ vaccination plans reveals that many states are not following the ACIP recommendations and that there is a degree of variability that could have significant impact and create more confusion than comprehension .
For example , Arkansas has long-term care facilities in their second phase @ @ @ @ @ @ @ essential workers , despite over 100,000 long-term care residents and staff who have died from Covid-19 .
Maryland has teachers and day care operators in the second phase , behind other essential personnel , potentially extending school closures and creating tension between parents who must work and the teachers and day care providers who want to be safe while caring for students .
The state of Texas has also deviated from the ACIP recommendations and prioritized people over the age of 65 as well as those over the age of 16 with certain @ @ @ @ @ @ @ variations can appear sound and reasonable ; for example , trying to prioritize people with chronic conditions seems compelling , since rates of death from Covid-19 were 12 times higher in people with chronic conditions compared to those without diabetes , heart disease or cancer .
But it is also highly likely that people with such conditions are able to take precautions and avoid high-risk situations .
Essential workers , particularly front-line workers such as public transit operators , postal carriers , teachers and food supply workers , are critical to the prospects @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incredibly high risk , often without any high quality personal protective equipment or an ability to practice social distancing .
Further , ethnic minorities comprise a significant number of essential workers , which only exacerbates the ongoing health disparities uncovered by Covid-19 .
The goal of any vaccine distribution strategy is to balance societal need , and ethics and science and allow for flexibility to make decisions like the ones Texas , Maryland and Arkansas have had to make .
But when a pandemic of this nature has gripped the world , wielding @ @ @ @ @ @ @ many of us into the quiet corners of our homes in isolation and fear , the demand for a vaccine is inextricably linked with a sense of fairness and equity .
Even as a physician who works in a clinic setting , I have no problem waiting my turn after my higher-risk colleagues in the hospitals receive their vaccines .
Images of members of Congress who downplayed the impact of the virus now receiving the vaccine feel like a slap in the face .
Continuity of government seems meaningless when that same government @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against stay-at-home orders and mask mandates .
Fast forward 30 days from now when simply crossing state lines can make the difference in whether you receive the vaccine or not .
As thousands of people continue to die each day and millions more Americans contract Covid-19 , even a one-week delay can feel like an eternity .
In the beginning , demand will far outstrip supply , and there will no doubt be an underground market of sorts to try to access the vaccine early .
While we are still trying to navigate @ @ @ @ @ @ @ we have unfortunately become accustomed to expecting the worst and witnessing inequities often wielded by a callous president and his inner circle .
But we do have new hope in the form of a vaccine .
Let us not squander this hope by repeating our mistakes .

In America and in the rest of the world, nonessential, lower-risk people and the public wait for their turn to receive a Covid-19 vaccine. At the same time, news of possible mishandling of vaccine distribution, as recently reported in New York City urgent care centers, shows how important it is to be vigilant and press lawmakers and public health officials to be transparent in their distribution strategies and to hold them accountable for their decisions.
The lack of any federal strategy has left every state, county and tribal territory to their own devices.
Since the approval and rollout of the vaccine, America has watched the painfully paradoxical images of boxes of vaccines being unloaded from distribution trucks alongside FEMA-operated refrigerated morgue trailers parked at hospitals. In the same building, health care workers have literally been receiving a shot in the arm that could save their lives within hours of pronouncing a patient dead.
Still, the lack of any federal strategy has left every state, county and tribal territory to their own devices, to identify strategies and submit plans for their respective distribution process.
The Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), an independent agency, has made recommendations that identify the high priority groups: 1A encompasses health care personnel and long-term care residents; and 1B adults over the age of 75 and front-line essential workers (such as first responders, police, educators, U.S. Postal Service workers, corrections officers and others).
But a review of the various states’ vaccination plans reveals that many states are not following the ACIP recommendations and that there is a degree of variability that could have significant impact and create more confusion than comprehension. For example, Arkansas has long-term care facilities in their second phase, after health care workers and other essential workers, despite over 100,000 long-term care residents and staff who have died from Covid-19.
Maryland has teachers and day care operators in the second phase, behind other essential personnel, potentially extending school closures and creating tension between parents who must work and the teachers and day care providers who want to be safe while caring for students. The state of Texas has also deviated from the ACIP recommendations and prioritized people over the age of 65 as well as those over the age of 16 with certain chronic conditions.
The rationale behind these variations can appear sound and reasonable; for example, trying to prioritize people with chronic conditions seems compelling, since rates of death from Covid-19 were 12 times higher in people with chronic conditions compared to those without diabetes, heart disease or cancer. But it is also highly likely that people with such conditions are able to take precautions and avoid high-risk situations.
Ethnic minorities comprise a significant number of essential workers, which only exacerbates the ongoing health disparities uncovered by Covid-19.
Essential workers, particularly front-line workers such as public transit operators, postal carriers, teachers and food supply workers, are critical to the prospects of preserving essential services and are at incredibly high risk, often without any high quality personal protective equipment or an ability to practice social distancing. Further, ethnic minorities comprise a significant number of essential workers, which only exacerbates the ongoing health disparities uncovered by Covid-19.
The goal of any vaccine distribution strategy is to balance societal need, and ethics and science and allow for flexibility to make decisions like the ones Texas, Maryland and Arkansas have had to make. But when a pandemic of this nature has gripped the world, wielding death and destruction without limits, ushering many of us into the quiet corners of our homes in isolation and fear, the demand for a vaccine is inextricably linked with a sense of fairness and equity.
Even as a physician who works in a clinic setting, I have no problem waiting my turn after my higher-risk colleagues in the hospitals receive their vaccines. Images of members of Congress who downplayed the impact of the virus now receiving the vaccine feel like a slap in the face. Continuity of government seems meaningless when that same government delays a stimulus package and promotes protests against stay-at-home orders and mask mandates.
Continuity of government seems meaningless when that same government delays a stimulus package and promotes protests against stay-at-home orders and mask mandates.
Fast forward 30 days from now when simply crossing state lines can make the difference in whether you receive the vaccine or not. As thousands of people continue to die each day and millions more Americans contract Covid-19, even a one-week delay can feel like an eternity. In the beginning, demand will far outstrip supply, and there will no doubt be an underground market of sorts to try to access the vaccine early.
While we are still trying to navigate the uncharted waters of the pandemic, we have unfortunately become accustomed to expecting the worst and witnessing inequities often wielded by a callous president and his inner circle. But we do have new hope in the form of a vaccine. Let us not squander this hope by repeating our mistakes.


msnbc--2020-12-29--Georgia Democratic candidates warn of dwindling funds

Despite virus , U.S. air travel is highest since March

Meacham: Pence probably saved the republic, but I don't always want to count on one person to do it 08:18


msnbc--2020-12-29--Emergency medicine physician: ‘There’s nothing stopping the spread of this virus’

Dr. Dara Kass joins Lawrence O’Donnell to discuss a possible January surge of Covid-19 cases after the TSA reported screening over 1.2 million travelers on the last day of the Christmas weekend, the highest number of airline travelers since the start of the pandemic. She tells Lawrence that “no matter how many people we vaccinate, it means nothing if the virus continues to spread exponentially.”Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Harvard Law professor: ‘Donald Trump’s pardons must not obstruct justice’

Laurence Tribe argues that Trump’s pardons to absolve the crimes of his friends might be crimes themselves if they’re issued to obstruct justice. Tribe explains to Lawrence O’Donnell why it’s important for the next administration to investigate and prosecute those abuses of power: “We can only move ahead if we ensure some degree of accountability for someone who has been a criminal in office.”Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Biden accuses Trump appointees of obstructing the transition

Biden calls the lack of national security information coming from the Trump administration, “irresponsible.” This as Trump continues to his efforts to overturn the election results. Alexi McCammon, Jill Colvin, and Clint Watts join.Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Worst of all time? Where Trump ranks among historically bad presidents

As the Covid death toll continues to rise, is Trump no longer just one of the worst presidents in American history—but the worst of them all? Presidential historian Michael Beschloss and Mehdi Hasan discuss.Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Ayman Mohyeldin: 'That is a quintessential form of a terrorist act'

Public financial disclosure should not be new to Thomas: Fmr. ethics officer on new report on gifts 07:43


msnbc--2020-12-29--‘Marie Antoinette has nothing on this guy:’ Trump’s ‘cruel’ delay in signing relief bill

‘Marie Antoinette has nothing on this guy:’ Trump’s ‘cruel’ delay in signing relief bill
“He was—as ever—indifferent to the suffering of millions of Americans while he partied and golfed at his Florida vacation home. Marie Antoinette has nothing on this guy,” says Mehdi Hasan on Trump’s delay in signing Covid relief bill.Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--How the Senate can block Trump from running for office in 2024

President Donald Trump is leaving the White House in January , and he seems determined to exploit and abuse every power of the presidency he can on his way out .
The clemency he offered up recently for convicted war criminals , corrupt former members of Congress and members of his extended family were bad enough .
But most disturbing were his pardons of his political allies Paul Manafort and Roger Stone , both of whom were convicted as a result of Robert Mueller 's Russia investigation .
Once seated , the next Congress should immediately begin the second impeachment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power and obstruction of justice .
I do n't mean this as a symbolic gesture .
If it is kicked off in 2021 , the impeachment process may — just may — be able to prevent Trump from running for office again in 2024 .
A House panel could make short work of the investigation , given the ample evidence gathered in both Mueller 's investigation and the Senate Intelligence Committee 's investigation into the 2016 election , which concluded this year .
Mueller 's report listed 10 instances that might qualify as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ generally agreed-upon high crimes and misdemeanors that can get a president impeached .
That included , as it turns out , dangling pardons in front of potential witnesses .
Mueller believed he was unable to charge Trump as a sitting president — but he strongly hinted that Congress should look into his findings .
`` The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing , '' Mueller nudged Congress in May 2019 .
His team did charge Stone and Manafort , though .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee , finding that he was in contact with the invented online persona that claimed credit for the email theft .
Stone also had inside information about WikiLeaks ' publishing schedule .
He was convicted last year of seven charges , including witness tampering and making false statements .
Meanwhile , the Republican-led Senate panel 's report found that Manafort , while chair of the Trump campaign , provided a Russian intelligence asset with internal information .
The polling data and strategies Manafort shared are @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Russian influence campaign that helped swing the election to Trump .
Manafort was jailed on tax-related charges in 2018 .
Trump 's behavior toward the people in his orbit under investigation is clear .
Compare his praise for Stone with his exile of his former lawyer Michael Cohen for his perceived betrayal .
His pardons of Stone and Manafort are clear rewards for their loyalty .
The presidential pardon power is near absolute .
But in the event of its abuse , one of the few options provided to counter it would be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ once suggested .
I argued just a few weeks ago that it 's too late for that — but I 'm not so sure anymore .
Let 's say the House opens an impeachment inquiry in the early days of the new Congress , before Trump leaves office .
And say this investigation lasts beyond Trump 's term .
It will be months into President Joe Biden 's time in office before articles of impeachment are filed and voted on .
But would n't that then make the impeachment moot , because removal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ?
Maybe not .
Under the Constitution , the possible punishments for an impeached official are limited to two : removal and disqualification from ever holding office again .
No monetary fines , no jail time ; political crimes are met with political repercussions .
The bar for conviction in a Senate impeachment trial is high — two-thirds of all senators present have to find the official guilty .
None of the three presidents who have been impeached were convicted .
In the most recent cases , those of Trump and Bill Clinton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
At least part of this was due to hesitance from fellow party members to cut a president 's term short — there might still have been benefits to letting the defendant 's agenda play out .
Here 's where things get interesting and kind of wonky : Removal from office is the default consequence of being found guilty , to the point that the Senate long ago stopped voting on it separately from conviction .
Barring the guilty party from returning to the federal government has been less of a given .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ opted to impose both punishments .
In others , the articles of impeachment presented by the House have called only for removal — that 's why Alcee Hastings , who was removed from his federal judgeship , can now have a seat in the House .
In one of its early impeachment trials , which considered the fate of federal Judge West H. Humphreys in 1862 , the Senate held that removal and disqualification can be voted on separately — the two punishments are n't necessarily linked .
And , as Brian Kalt @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Law School , noted in a 2001 Texas Review of Law and Politics essay , while rare , there have been late impeachments of federal officers after they have left office .
Taken together , this suggests that not only can the House pass articles of impeachment against Trump once his term expires , but that these articles can also be drafted to seek only to block Trump from running for office again .
The same number of senators would need to find Trump guilty in this scenario .
If the Senate chooses @ @ @ @ @ @ @ holding a separate vote on sentencing after the vote to convict or acquit .
And according to precedent set in 1912 , there needs to be only a majority vote to approve disqualification .
Imagine : Trump is an ex-president , out of power , no longer any immediate assistance to the Republicans still in Congress .
In hinting at a Grover Cleveland-esque bid to reclaim the White House , he 's blocking several GOP presidential hopefuls in the Senate from gearing up to run in 2024 .
Biden wo n't order the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , but the House has already said it plans to continue its reckoning with the Trump administration 's misdeeds .
It makes sense that Trump 's final actions in office be adjudicated , as well .
It would be fitting if these last-minute offenses were what keeps him from ever gaining power again .

President Donald Trump is leaving the White House in January, and he seems determined to exploit and abuse every power of the presidency he can on his way out.
The clemency he offered up recently for convicted war criminals, corrupt former members of Congress and members of his extended family were bad enough. But most disturbing were his pardons of his political allies Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, both of whom were convicted as a result of Robert Mueller's Russia investigation.
If Trump was merely trying to erase the Mueller probe with pardons, he also would’ve pardoned Rick Gates and Michael Cohen, both convicted (both cooperated or testified).
But if Trump was only trying to reward those who refused to testify, he’d leave them out — as he has done. — Elie Honig (@eliehonig) December 28, 2020
Once seated, the next Congress should immediately begin the second impeachment of President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of justice. I don't mean this as a symbolic gesture. If it is kicked off in 2021, the impeachment process may — just may — be able to prevent Trump from running for office again in 2024.
Once seated, the next Congress should immediately begin the second impeachment of President Donald Trump.
A House panel could make short work of the investigation, given the ample evidence gathered in both Mueller's investigation and the Senate Intelligence Committee's investigation into the 2016 election, which concluded this year. Mueller's report listed 10 instances that might qualify as obstruction of justice, one of the generally agreed-upon high crimes and misdemeanors that can get a president impeached. That included, as it turns out, dangling pardons in front of potential witnesses.
Mueller believed he was unable to charge Trump as a sitting president — but he strongly hinted that Congress should look into his findings. "The Constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing," Mueller nudged Congress in May 2019.
His team did charge Stone and Manafort, though. Its investigation looked into Stone's connection to the Russian hack of the Democratic National Committee, finding that he was in contact with the invented online persona that claimed credit for the email theft. Stone also had inside information about WikiLeaks' publishing schedule. He was convicted last year of seven charges, including witness tampering and making false statements.
Meanwhile, the Republican-led Senate panel's report found that Manafort, while chair of the Trump campaign, provided a Russian intelligence asset with internal information. The polling data and strategies Manafort shared are likely to have been used in the Russian influence campaign that helped swing the election to Trump. Manafort was jailed on tax-related charges in 2018.
Trump's pardons of Stone and Manafort are clear rewards for their loyalty.
Trump's behavior toward the people in his orbit under investigation is clear. Compare his praise for Stone with his exile of his former lawyer Michael Cohen for his perceived betrayal. His pardons of Stone and Manafort are clear rewards for their loyalty.
“I will never testify against Trump.” This statement was recently made by Roger Stone, essentially stating that he will not be forced by a rogue and out of control prosecutor to make up lies and stories about “President Trump.” Nice to know that some people still have “guts!” — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 3, 2018
The presidential pardon power is near absolute. But in the event of its abuse, one of the few options provided to counter it would be impeachment, Chief Justice William Howard Taft once suggested. I argued just a few weeks ago that it's too late for that — but I'm not so sure anymore.
Let's say the House opens an impeachment inquiry in the early days of the new Congress, before Trump leaves office. And say this investigation lasts beyond Trump's term. It will be months into President Joe Biden's time in office before articles of impeachment are filed and voted on. But wouldn't that then make the impeachment moot, because removal from office is no longer the punishment?
Maybe not. Under the Constitution, the possible punishments for an impeached official are limited to two: removal and disqualification from ever holding office again. No monetary fines, no jail time; political crimes are met with political repercussions.
The bar for conviction in a Senate impeachment trial is high — two-thirds of all senators present have to find the official guilty. None of the three presidents who have been impeached were convicted. In the most recent cases, those of Trump and Bill Clinton, the votes were mostly partisan affairs. At least part of this was due to hesitance from fellow party members to cut a president's term short — there might still have been benefits to letting the defendant's agenda play out.
Here's where things get interesting and kind of wonky: Removal from office is the default consequence of being found guilty, to the point that the Senate long ago stopped voting on it separately from conviction. Barring the guilty party from returning to the federal government has been less of a given.
In some cases, the Senate has opted to impose both punishments. In others, the articles of impeachment presented by the House have called only for removal — that's why Alcee Hastings, who was removed from his federal judgeship, can now have a seat in the House.
In one of its early impeachment trials, which considered the fate of federal Judge West H. Humphreys in 1862, the Senate held that removal and disqualification can be voted on separately — the two punishments aren't necessarily linked. And, as Brian Kalt, a professor at Michigan State University Law School, noted in a 2001 Texas Review of Law and Politics essay, while rare, there have been before the United States was founded a few British and Colonial officers were impeached after they had left office.
Taken together, this suggests that not only can the House pass articles of impeachment against Trump once his term expires, but that these articles can also be drafted to seek only to block Trump from running for office again.
The same number of senators would need to find Trump guilty in this scenario. If the Senate chooses, though, it could return to holding a separate vote on sentencing after the vote to convict or acquit. And according to precedent set in 1912, there needs to be only a majority vote to approve disqualification.
Imagine: Trump is an ex-president, out of power, no longer any immediate assistance to the Republicans still in Congress. In hinting at a Grover Cleveland-esque bid to reclaim the White House, he's blocking several GOP presidential hopefuls in the Senate from gearing up to run in 2024. If you’re facing the prospect of issuing a belated mea culpa ahead of entering the race, getting to say “actually, it turns out this behavior was all bad,” but still avoid having to be one of the votes to kneecap Trump’s political future? Seems like a pretty good bargain for the a chunk of the Senate Republican caucus.
Biden won't order the Justice Department to investigate Trump's actions, but the House has already said it plans to continue its reckoning with the Trump administration's misdeeds. It makes sense that Trump's final actions in office be adjudicated, as well. It would be fitting if these last-minute offenses were what keeps him from ever gaining power again.CLARIFICATION (Jan. 4, 2021, 4:55 p.m. ET): A previous version of this article stated that, while rare, "federal officials" had been impeached after leaving office. Before the United States was founded, a few British and colonial officers were impeached after leaving office, according to Brian Kalt, a law professor at Michigan State University.


msnbc--2020-12-30--‘The Art of the Deal’ president who couldn’t make deals: Trump’s record of failure

'Loser ' : Dem Strategist says Trump 'has nobody ' to console him , maybe a 'hug from Lou Dobbs @

Mehdi Hasan takes a look at Trump’s four years of failed deal-making. “Donald Trump has had four years to prove himself the ultimate dealmaker. What he has proven instead is the truth of a line from his own book: ‘If you don't deliver the goods, people will eventually catch on.’”Dec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Biden warns effort to distribute vaccines 'not progressing as it should'

Biden warns effort to distribute vaccines 'not progressing as it should'
President-elect Joe Biden spoke about the effort to distribute Covid-19 vaccines to Americans, warning that it is currently "not progressing as it should," promising his administration would work to ramp up distribution.Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--Brittney Cooper: ‘I thought that American politics was the place where we as voters get to make dema

Brittney Cooper: ‘I thought that American politics was the place where we as voters get to make demands’
Michael Eric Dyson, Distinguished Professor of African American and Diaspora Studies at Vanderbilt University, and Brittney Cooper, Assistant Professor of Women's and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University, weigh in on the pressure building on Biden ahead of his nomination for Attorney GeneralDec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--Jason Johnson: 'This snail's pace of a rollout is, put simply, a mess'

Out of the 20 million people the Trump Administration's Operation Warp Speed promised to vaccinate, only 2.1 million people have been vaccinated. With the U.S. quickly approaching 340,000 Covid deaths, the Biden administration is promising 100 million vaccinations in their first 100 days in office.Dec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Dr. Peter Hotez on the lack of a federal covid response: ‘We have no choice but to vaccinate our way

Dr. Peter Hotez on the lack of a federal covid response: ‘We have no choice but to vaccinate our way out of this’
Founding Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Peter Hotez, speaks to the position the U.S. finds itself in 9 months into this pandemic and how President-elect Joe Biden’s plan for federal intervention will speed up the process of protecting Americans from the virus by making vaccines more accessibleDec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--McConnell claims Senate will tackle stimulus payments and issues Trump 'has linked together'

McConnell claims Senate will tackle stimulus payments and issues Trump 'has linked together'
Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., spoke on the Senate floor about plans to address issues President Trump "has linked together" such as an increase in stimulus payments, Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and election integrity.Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Former National Economic Adviser: ‘Everybody needs to stop worrying about whether we're doing too mu

Former National Economic Adviser: ‘Everybody needs to stop worrying about whether we're doing too much and worry deeply about whether we're doing too little’
Gene Sperling, former top economic adviser to Presidents Clinton and Obama, joins Andrea Mitchell to discuss the new Congressional COVID stimulus bill. He said there is no evidence that a 'short-term increase in the debt' will hurt the economy, but there is evidence to suggest that if we don't have more direct relief, 'we're going to see real pain.'Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--Mehdi: Wealthy GOP senators don’t need $2,000—so they think you don’t either

“I guess Ron Johnson wasn't so concerned about our children's future when he voted to spend around $2 trillion on the Trump tax cuts, which by the way increased his own $39 million fortune,” says Mehdi Hasan on the hypocrisy of GOP senators opposing stimulus checks.Dec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Two million votes already cast in Georgia ahead of Senate runoffs

Although Joe Biden won the state of Georgia in the presidential election, Republicans come into the runoff with a built in advantage after David Perdue took the lead over John Ossoff with 88,000 votes. NBC's Steve Kornacki reports.Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Year in review: A look back at the racial justice movement in 2020

Year in review: A look back at the racial justice movement in 2020
NBC's Trymaine Lee looks back at the racial justice protests over the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the passing of Rep. John Lewis and the impact of the racial justice movement in 2020.Dec. 29, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-29--Law and justice in 2020: How the courts have held

Meacham: Pence probably saved the republic, but I don't always want to count on one person to do it 08:18


msnbc--2020-12-29--Isn't it strange how no one is talking about the religion of the Nashville suicide bomber?

Imagine if a Muslim man filled his RV with explosives and drove to downtown Nashville , Tennessee , with the express purpose of setting off a weapon of mass destruction .
Imagine if he then parked his explosives-laden vehicle outside of the AT & T building and then proceeded to carry out a suicide bombing that damaged more than 40 buildings and injured at least eight people , including police officers .
Do you have any doubt that this bomber would be called a terrorist ?
And I mean by everyone , from the media to President Donald Trump to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at how 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner , identified as the bomber who set off a weapon of mass destruction on Christmas Day in Nashville , has been described .
We see terms like “ recluse , ” and a “ loner ” who led a “ quiet life.
” What we don ’ t see is him being called a “ terrorist , ” with the exception of some social media posts from myself and mostly my fellow Muslims who are feeling the familiar sting of the double standard .
Let ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in our country when it comes to an act of terror committed by a Muslim versus one committed by a non-Muslim .
Here ’ s a simple question to start with : What ’ s the religion of the Nashville bomber ?
I bet you don ’ t know .
I don ’ t either .
I can ’ t find it in any articles .
But what I ’ ve learned is that when the media doesn ’ t mention the suspect ’ s faith , it ’ s safe to assume @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Warner is apparently not Muslim , the media is still scrambling to find a motive for his bombing , which would help determine whether this was an act of domestic terrorism under federal law and FBI regulations .
( Both definitions include a motive that is ideologically motivated to further political , social or other goals . )
Of course , if Warner were Muslim , there ’ s no way there would be a nuanced analysis of his motivation like the one we ’ ve seen in headlines .
Nope , it @ @ @ @ @ @ @ he ’ s Muslim , he had to have a political agenda .
( Apparently every act by a Muslim is cold and calculated — we can ’ t be legally insane or mentally ill. ) And if Warner had been Muslim , next would come the litany of the usual questions such as : 1 .
Where does he go to pray ?
2 .
Has his cleric spewed radical views ?
3. Who radicalized him ?
4 .
Why didn ’ t other Muslims turn him in before he carried out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a point Trump brought up during the 2016 campaign when he claimed Muslims actually know who the terrorists are , but we refuse to turn them in .
None of those key questions , however , are being discussed in regards to Warner .
There ’ s another inequity that may surprise some : If Warner were Muslim , the incident would attract far more media coverage than if he were any other faith , as a 2019 study from Georgia State University documented .
As this study noted , out of 136 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ span of 10 years , “ Muslims committed on average 12.5 percent of the attacks , yet received more than half of the news coverage.
” That translates into acts of terror committed by Muslims “ receiving on average 357 percent more media coverage ” than similar actions carried out by non-Muslims .
Another double standard is what comes after an incident like this .
If Warner had been Muslim , we would see Muslim American leaders publicly denouncing his actions , making it clear that they are not justified by our faith @ @ @ @ @ @ @ placed on people who share Warner ’ s background .
Finally , there ’ s the political fallout .
If Warner had been Muslim , we could expect right-wing politicians to use this event to gin up fears of Muslims .
One of the worst at this is , of course , our outgoing president .
Just look at how he reacted in December 2017 to a Muslim immigrant detonating a crudely made pipe bomb in New York City ’ s Port Authority ( which , thankfully , resulted in only minor injuries @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump called for a massive overhaul of U.S. immigration laws to end the practice of allowing immigrants who are in the country legally to sponsor other family members to immigrate to the United States , called “ chain migration.
” In contrast , after Warner ’ s bombing , which injured more people and damaged vastly more property than that 2017 attack , Trump has called for zero policy changes to ferret out people like Warner before they act .
In reality , Trump should be calling for the FBI to focus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in 2019 , of the 42 people killed by extremist on U.S. soil , 38 were slain by white supremacist or far right-wing actors .
I ’ m not suggesting Warner was either .
But the point is the deadliest threats in recent years have not been from Islamic State-group inspired actors but from right-wing killers , like the anti-immigrant terrorist who in August 2019 killed 22 people in a Walmart in El Paso , Texas .
That ’ s why these double standards matter .
They can cause people to overlook red @ @ @ @ @ @ @ look like Warner .
And that makes us less safe as a nation .

Imagine if a Muslim man filled his RV with explosives and drove to downtown Nashville, Tennessee, with the express purpose of setting off a weapon of mass destruction. Imagine if he then parked his explosives-laden vehicle outside of the AT&T building and then proceeded to carry out a suicide bombing that damaged more than 40 buildings and injured at least eight people, including police officers. Do you have any doubt that this bomber would be called a terrorist?
We see terms like “recluse,” and a “loner” who led a “quiet life.” What we don’t see is him being called a “terrorist.”
And I mean by everyone, from the media to President Donald Trump to co-workers and friends. But look carefully at how 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner, identified as the bomber who set off a weapon of mass destruction on Christmas Day in Nashville, has been described.
We see terms like “recluse,” and a “loner” who led a “quiet life.” What we don’t see is him being called a “terrorist,” with the exception of some social media posts from myself and mostly my fellow Muslims who are feeling the familiar sting of the double standard.
I took the liberty of editing the New York Times headline: pic.twitter.com/X7iJ4jtYuJ — Ayman Mohyeldin (@AymanM) December 28, 2020
Let’s go through the double standards we see in our country when it comes to an act of terror committed by a Muslim versus one committed by a non-Muslim.
Here’s a simple question to start with: What’s the religion of the Nashville bomber? I bet you don’t know. I don’t either. I can’t find it in any articles. But what I’ve learned is that when the media doesn’t mention the suspect’s faith, it’s safe to assume he’s not Muslim.
If the Nashville bomber "was Muslim, it would be everywhere," says @DeanObeidallah. "When you can't find the religion of the [terrorist] actor in an article, you know he's not Muslim." It's a function of a societal prejudice that he adds is "making us less safe." pic.twitter.com/I1yBS4Wi33 — The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) December 29, 2020
Since Warner is apparently not Muslim, the media is still scrambling to find a motive for his bombing, which would help determine whether this was an act of domestic terrorism under federal law and FBI regulations. (Both definitions include a motive that is ideologically motivated to further political, social or other goals.)
Of course, if Warner were Muslim, there’s no way there would be a nuanced analysis of his motivation like the one we’ve seen in headlines. Nope, it would be assumed by most that since he’s Muslim, he had to have a political agenda. (Apparently every act by a Muslim is cold and calculated — we can’t be legally insane or mentally ill.)
What I’ve learned is that when the media doesn’t mention the suspect’s faith, it’s safe to assume he’s not Muslim.
And if Warner had been Muslim, next would come the litany of the usual questions such as:
1. Where does he go to pray? 2. Has his cleric spewed radical views? 3. Who radicalized him? 4. Why didn’t other Muslims turn him in before he carried out his plot?
This last one is a point Trump brought up during the 2016 campaign when he claimed Muslims actually know who the terrorists are, but we refuse to turn them in. None of those key questions, however, are being discussed in regards to Warner.
There’s another inequity that may surprise some: If Warner were Muslim, the incident would attract far more media coverage than if he were any other faith, as a 2019 study from Georgia State University documented. As this study noted, out of 136 terror attacks in the U.S. over a span of 10 years, “Muslims committed on average 12.5 percent of the attacks, yet received more than half of the news coverage.”
That translates into acts of terror committed by Muslims “receiving on average 357 percent more media coverage” than similar actions carried out by non-Muslims.
Another double standard is what comes after an incident like this. If Warner had been Muslim, we would see Muslim American leaders publicly denouncing his actions, making it clear that they are not justified by our faith. Yet there is no such burden placed on people who share Warner’s background.
Trump has called for zero policy changes to ferret out people like Warner before they act.
Finally, there’s the political fallout. If Warner had been Muslim, we could expect right-wing politicians to use this event to gin up fears of Muslims. One of the worst at this is, of course, our outgoing president. Just look at how he reacted in December 2017 to a Muslim immigrant detonating a crudely made pipe bomb in New York City’s Port Authority (which, thankfully, resulted in only minor injuries to three bystanders). In response, Trump called for a massive overhaul of U.S. immigration laws to end the practice of allowing immigrants who are in the country legally to sponsor other family members to immigrate to the United States, called “chain migration.”
In contrast, after Warner’s bombing, which injured more people and damaged vastly more property than that 2017 attack, Trump has called for zero policy changes to ferret out people like Warner before they act.
In reality, Trump should be calling for the FBI to focus more on domestic radicals, considering that in 2019, of the 42 people killed by extremist on U.S. soil, 38 were slain by white supremacist or far right-wing actors.
I’m not suggesting Warner was either. But the point is the deadliest threats in recent years have not been from Islamic State-group inspired actors but from right-wing killers, like the anti-immigrant terrorist who in August 2019 killed 22 people in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas. That’s why these double standards matter. They can cause people to overlook red flags when it comes to people who look like Warner. And that makes us less safe as a nation.


msnbc--2020-12-30--Covid-19 regrets follow one state Republican official home from White House party

Rep.-elect Williams : Georgians have been ‘ ignored ’ by Sens .
Loeffler , Perdue

Meacham: Pence probably saved the republic, but I don't always want to count on one person to do it


msnbc--2020-12-30--Trump uses photo of wrong medal to falsely imply he received Nobel Prize

Trump uses photo of wrong medal to falsely imply he received Nobel Prize
In a newly released, weird, self-promotional propaganda video, Donald Trump seems to suggest that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his foreign policy work. Not only was he not so honored, but Trump's video uses an image of the wrong medal in making the false boast.Dec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--Rep.-elect Williams: Georgians have been ‘ignored’ by Sens. Loeffler, Perdue

Rep.-elect Nikema Williams (D-GA) says Georgia’s Republican senators have ignored the needs of the people of their state who are struggling because of the pandemic. She tells Lawrence O’Donnell that that ignorance makes the January 5th runoff election all the more important, so Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock can “work on behalf of the people of Georgia, together.”Dec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--Rampant Covid-19 crushing L.A. County hospital resources

Ali Velshi reviews the news from L.A. County, where the coronavirus is so rampant that hospitals are running out of beds and crucial supplies like oxygen for their Covid-19 patients and health workers are overwhelmed and desperate.Dec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--Biden blasts the Trump administration's vaccine rollout


msnbc--2020-12-30--McConnell blocks vote on $2,000 stimulus payments


msnbc--2020-12-30--Biden needs to be held accountable in ways Trump wasn't

I think it 's safe to say Donald Trump reached new lows when it comes to the art of presidential scandals .
Among the president , his immediate family and the less than savory cohort he 's surrounded himself with , the scandals of the last four years have run the gamut from absurd to deadly to absurdly deadly .
The good news is that President-elect Joe Biden could basically walk right over the bar for ethical conduct Trump has set and clear it without missing a step .
Unfortunately , though , that 's no way to judge a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ worst .
Biden will need to raise the bar , and he ca n't be given a pass just for being better than Trump .
This is n't a case of whataboutism .
Holding Biden 's White House accountable is n't about papering over Trump 's misdeeds .
In fact , there 's little that Biden could do that could erase or justify Trump 's commitment to enriching himself , violating the rule of law and otherwise debasing the presidency .
But memory is a funny thing , especially when it comes to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the current officeholder and the most recently departed .
That 's meant that Trump has constantly been compared to Barack `` No Drama '' Obama .
Biden will likewise be held up to Trump 's performance .
Trump is something of an anomaly in that his shadow casts backward , as well .
That has left Democrats yearning for the Obama years and their relative simplicity in a way that Republicans did n't once George W. Bush left office , even as Bush 's approval ratings rose after his term .
Biden tapped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ constantly reminding voters of what the Obama-Biden administration achieved .
And yet , things were n't exactly idyllic back then .
The Obama White House committed plenty of its own sins , even if none of them were of the monstrous tenor of Trump 's child separation policy .
Pursuing the targeted killing program in Pakistan and Yemen , continuing the National Security Agency 's domestic spying program , ramping up deportations , investigating and prosecuting reporters — all were policies that deserved harsh scrutiny , scandals that warranted outrage or both .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ held to the previous standards set for presidents , leaving Trump as an outlier .
But here 's a very , very important caveat : The Republican Party can not be allowed to be the sole arbiter of what is and is not a scandal in the Biden White House .
Almost all controversies in Washington are exploited politically — it 's to be expected of all but the most heinous scandals .
Both parties ' members know that to be called out for `` playing politics '' is about as stern a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Capitol Hill .
What I 'm saying , though , is that Republicans have for years exaggerated and embellished Democrats ' supposed offenses for political gain .
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a particularly rich target — remember Benghazi ?
Even as evidence mounted suggesting that many of the allegations against the Obama White House in response to the 2012 attack in Libya were conspiracy theories , Republicans still took every opportunity to talk up the `` four dead Americans '' whom Clinton had supposedly left to die .
The culmination @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hearings and a whole House committee organized for the sole purpose of hurting Clinton 's presidential campaign , issued a final report that found no wrongdoing by any Obama officials after all .
If allowed , Republicans will go back to their pre-Trump ways , hyping the misdeeds of the Biden administration until they look like they 're on the scale of , well , the Trump administration 's actual offenses .
We 're already seeing it gear up , as Biden 's nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Republicans .
I mean ... now you 're going to pretend to care about tweets ?
That ca n't be allowed to happen .
Not after four years of ignoring — or outright acquiescing to — Trump 's misdeeds .
It 's in bad faith , and it should be called out as such .
That 's going to require a firm reminder from the media and voters any time a member of Congress gets on TV trying to `` but her emails '' Biden .
If we 're going to get the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Trump 's way of doing business has to be left behind .
Democrats needs to be ready to criticize the head of their party in a way that Republicans have been too cowardly to do .
And Republicans need to be blocked from memory-holing the Trump administration 's existence as they launch attacks on Biden .

I think it's safe to say Donald Trump reached new lows when it comes to the art of presidential scandals. Among the president, his immediate family and the less than savory cohort he's surrounded himself with, the scandals of the last four years have run the gamut from absurd to deadly to absurdly deadly.
Biden will need to raise the bar once he takes office, and he can’t be given a pass just for being better than Trump.
The good news is that President-elect Joe Biden could basically walk right over the bar for ethical conduct Trump has set and clear it without missing a step. Unfortunately, though, that's no way to judge a president — against the worst of the worst. Biden will need to raise the bar, and he can't be given a pass just for being better than Trump.
This isn't a case of whataboutism. Holding Biden's White House accountable isn't about papering over Trump's misdeeds. In fact, there's little that Biden could do that could erase or justify Trump's commitment to enriching himself, violating the rule of law and otherwise debasing the presidency.
But memory is a funny thing, especially when it comes to presidents. Comparisons are generally made between the current officeholder and the most recently departed.
That's meant that Trump has constantly been compared to Barack "No Drama" Obama. Biden will likewise be held up to Trump's performance.
Trump is something of an anomaly in that his shadow casts backward, as well. That has left Democrats yearning for the Obama years and their relative simplicity in a way that Republicans didn't once George W. Bush left office, even as Bush's approval ratings rose after his term. Biden tapped into this nostalgia throughout his campaign, constantly reminding voters of what the Obama-Biden administration achieved.
Holding Biden’s White House accountable isn’t about papering over Trump’s misdeeds.
And yet, things weren't exactly idyllic back then. The Obama White House committed plenty of its own sins, even if none of them were of the monstrous tenor of Trump's child separation policy. Pursuing the targeted killing program in Pakistan and Yemen, continuing the National Security Agency's domestic spying program, ramping up deportations, investigating and prosecuting reporters — all were policies that deserved harsh scrutiny, scandals that warranted outrage or both.
Biden, like Obama, should be held to the previous standards set for presidents, leaving Trump as an outlier. But here's a very, very important caveat: The Republican Party cannot be allowed to be the sole arbiter of what is and is not a scandal in the Biden White House.
Almost all controversies in Washington are exploited politically — it's to be expected of all but the most heinous scandals. Both parties' members know that to be called out for "playing politics" is about as stern a set of empty words as exists on Capitol Hill.
What I'm saying, though, is that Republicans have for years exaggerated and embellished Democrats' supposed offenses for political gain. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was a particularly rich target — remember Benghazi? Even as evidence mounted suggesting that many of the allegations against the Obama White House in response to the 2012 attack in Libya were conspiracy theories, Republicans still took every opportunity to talk up the "four dead Americans" whom Clinton had supposedly left to die.
The culmination of those efforts, including hours of hearings and a whole House committee organized for the sole purpose of hurting Clinton's presidential campaign, issued a final report that found no wrongdoing by any Obama officials after all.
If allowed, Republicans will go back to their pre-Trump ways, hyping the misdeeds of the Biden administration until they look like they're on the scale of, well, the Trump administration's actual offenses. We're already seeing it gear up, as Biden's nominee to head the Office of Management and Budget is being criticized for her mean tweets about Republicans. I mean ... now you're going to pretend to care about tweets?
That can't be allowed to happen. Not after four years of ignoring — or outright acquiescing to — Trump's misdeeds. It's in bad faith, and it should be called out as such. That's going to require a firm reminder from the media and voters any time a member of Congress gets on TV trying to "but her emails" Biden.
If we're going to get the presidency back to any sort of stability, Trump's way of doing business has to be left behind. Democrats needs to be ready to criticize the head of their party in a way that Republicans have been too cowardly to do. And Republicans need to be blocked from memory-holing the Trump administration's existence as they launch attacks on Biden.


msnbc--2020-12-30--John Heilemann says we’re heading into the ‘crescendo of crazy’

As Trump exits , 2020 is marked as a year of pain and growth

John Heilemann says we’re heading into the ‘crescendo of crazy’
Executive editor of The Recount John Heilemann explains that the last period of Trump’s time in office could have dire political consequences for the Republican PartyDec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--‘Unconscionable:’ Bernie Sanders reacts to delay in passage of Covid relief bill

“It is unconscionable to me to see members of Congress fleeing home to their families while all over this country you’ve got families who are struggling to put food on the table,” says Sen. Sanders. “We have got to stay here and do the right thing. And that is pass legislation.”Dec. 31, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--'Family feud': McConnell’s Covid-19 relief game tearing GOP apart


msnbc--2020-12-30--Sen. Murphy: Hawley is "engaged in the attempted overthrow of democracy"

Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) weighs in on expanding stimulus checks, telling Andrea Mitchell that “the legislative session ends in three days. So there is only one path to get $2,000 into the hands of Americans who are struggling today, and that is to pass the House legislation.” He also sharply criticizes Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) announcement that he would object to the Electoral College certification on January 6th, saying that “Josh Hawley and anyone who supports his effort are engaged in the attempted overthrow of democracy. There is no evidence that there was any fraud."Dec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--NY Times’ Mara Gay recounts her long-term Covid-19 symptoms

New York Times editorial board member Mara Gay opens up about her long-term side effects from Covid-19 and what she feels the government should do to support covid survivorsDec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--Sen. Hawley endorses Trump’s anti-democratic fantasy, announces he will contest election

“Hawley has now outed himself as the lead plotter in the Senate in Donald Trump's attempted coup. It's a scarlet letter that should follow him forever. He has gone on record against democracy. And he's forcing the rest of the GOP to go on record, too,” says Mehdi Hasan.Dec. 31, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--Honoring the heroes of 2020

Honoring the heroes of 2020

Despite 2020 being a dark period for many, the year also showcased some of the best aspects of human natureDec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--Tom Brokaw reflects on 2020 and looks ahead to 2021


msnbc--2020-12-31--Mehdi Hasan on the privileges afforded to the Nashville bomber

Dr. Fauci on his 52 years in clinical biomedical research : 'It suits me and I love it '

“As a white man, a white Christian, Anthony Quinn Warner gets a benefit of the doubt—has a certain privilege shall we say—that people who look like me, and with names like mine, never get,” says Mehdi Hasan on the Nashville bomber.Dec. 31, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--A new year comes with a new hope for overcoming challenges that test a nation

A new year comes with a new hope for overcoming challenges that test a nation
Ali Velshi reminds viewers of difficult times the United States has faced and overcome in the past, when New Year's Eve couldn't be its usual bright celebration, and points to recent hopeful developments that give reason to look forward to the coming new year.Dec. 31, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--What 2020's social justice movement hopes to achieve in the Biden/Harris era


msnbc--2020-12-31--Trump facing multiple lawsuits upon leaving office

President Trump continues his pardoning spree as he faces several lawsuits and investigations post-presidency. Glenn Kirschner and Joy Reid discuss what these pardons mean, President Trump's legal woes and whether or not an indictment is likely to occur once he leaves office.Dec. 31, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--More contagious Covid variant found in California


msnbc--2020-12-31--'2020 was a 'dumpster fire of a year': Joy Reid's year-in-review of 2020 and look ahead at 2021

'2020 was a 'dumpster fire of a year': Joy Reid's year-in-review of 2020 and look ahead at 2021
Joy Reid takes a look back at all of the major events from 2020, and looks ahead for what is to come in 2021: 'hope'.Dec. 31, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--We thought 2020 would be better. What should we expect of 2021?

2020 was supposed to be better .
Twelve months ago , the clock was winding down on a year that could only have been described as chaotic — as a small sample , the Amazon was on fire , Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris nearly burned down , Jeffrey Epstein died in prison before we had the answers we needed , and the president was impeached on charges of bascially extorting a foreign country ’ s leader .
It turns out “ better ” is a moving target .
If anything , 2020 has finally exposed the fallacy of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ better ” next year looks like .
Because in the end , 2019 didn ’ t differ much from the also bad 2018 , which itself didn ’ t exactly improve on 2017 .
And let ’ s not even talk about 2016 .
Each year brings with it its own piquant bouquet of tragedies .
The way time can flow in seeming ebbs and starts keeps those tragedies artfully arranged to leave the deepest impression in our minds of the horrors we ’ ve just experienced .
This year in particular has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s made it feel like the culmination of an unpleasant stretch of time , culled together from our memories into a freakish amalgam designed to counter our hopes and expectations .
This terrible sense of familiarity was woven into some of the year ’ s lowest moments .
The six-year gap between the protests in Ferguson , Missouri , over the police killing of Michael Brown and George Floyd ’ s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police in May shrunk and collapsed on the streets of America ’ s cities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of other Black men and women killed by police along the way .
Likewise , the political drama that ’ s marked this era has managed to continuously ooze over the border between years .
The cliffhanger we ended on in 2018 — a 35-day government shutdown , if you can ’ t remember that far back — wasn ’ t resolved until almost a full month into the new year .
The House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in mid-December of last year , only for Speaker @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Senate for weeks .
Today , we ’ re faced with the reality that Trump ’ s attempts to steal the election won ’ t fade into nothingness , that there will always be some new enabler .
Rather than dying at the Supreme Court or with the Electoral College ’ s vote , Trump ’ s ego-driven attempt to subvert democracy will stretch into January as well .
( Sen. Josh Hawley , R-Mo.
, announced on Wednesday that he plans to contest President-elect Joe Biden ’ s Electoral College win next @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the House . )
Worse than the rollover crises was the one that seemed to come out of nowhere .
I remember discussing a weird new disease with co-workers on Slack as late as mid-February .
We felt wise in our confident prediction that there might be worries about a global recession , but that Covid-19 wouldn ’ t become a pandemic .
It hurt to look back at those logs just a month later .
The pain and suffering that the coronavirus has brought , and the lack of an effective response @ @ @ @ @ @ @ particularly hellacious .
More than 330,000 Americans are dead , millions more sickened , and while two vaccines have been approved , their distribution is lagging .
Millions more Americans are unemployed than this time last year , and the gap between the billionaires and corporations , who profited handsomely , and the average worker is more galling than ever .
Even the absurdities of the year have felt tinted with malice — the U.S. was already a month and a half into the pandemic when The New York Times ' first article @ @ @ @ @ @ @ viral .
For all the wackiness of QAnon ’ s mass delusion tenets , its supporters have enmeshed themselves in popular corners of the internet and spread its influence offline .
And remember the mystery seeds from China ?
I ’ m still not entirely sure what was up with those .
As this chapter finally closes on Friday , none of the underlying issues that have made the year feel so isolating and frustrating will go away in a puff of smoke .
Trump will be out of office soon , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ supremacy will live on .
Covid-19 will eventually wane as the vaccine is administered , but there may be no new normal .
There will always be some new series of unfortunate events waiting for us in the time stream , whether they ’ re new ways for old pains to flare up or brand-new surprises like the pandemic .
So , while very few people will be sad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror , perhaps it ’ s worth recalibrating our thinking about how to judge the new year before @ @ @ @ @ @ @ answer can ’ t depend on things outside of most of our control .
We ’ ve spent the last half a decade reassuring ourselves each December that things will calm down next year , that chaos will fall to order , and been sorely disappointed each time .
If you insist on your rubric for “ better ” requiring “ no more bad things , ” well , that way lies madness .
Instead , our hopes for 2021 can ’ t be built around a sudden utopia springing up when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There needs to be room to accept events as they come — even the negative ones — without letting them overwhelm us , a prospect that seems achievable for the first time in years .
This in turn leaves the definition of “ better ” up to each of us .
It will be a better year if we take the lessons we ’ ve learned in this last 12 months and build on them , rather than succumbing to them .
The rage and heartbreak of Breonna Taylor ’ s killing won @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the police ’ s bullets in 2021 — but the fight against qualified immunity and police unions can move forward .
The time we ’ ve lost to the pandemic won ’ t be restored to the top of our personal hourglasses , but we can find joy in renewed connections .
It ’ s impossible to foresee what ’ s around the corner .
That doesn ’ t mean that we have to set ourselves up for disappointment like Charlie Brown and his football each New Year ’ s Eve .
Let @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leave ourselves open to whatever this next spin around the sun brings .

2020 was supposed to be better. Twelve months ago, the clock was winding down on a year that could only have been described as chaotic — as a small sample, the Amazon was on fire, Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris nearly burned down, Jeffrey Epstein died in prison before we had the answers we needed, and the president was impeached on charges of bascially extorting a foreign country’s leader.
It turns out “better” is a moving target. If anything, 2020 has finally exposed the fallacy of the way we think about what a “better” next year looks like.
Because in the end, 2019 didn’t differ much from the also bad 2018, which itself didn’t exactly improve on 2017. And let’s not even talk about 2016. Each year brings with it its own piquant bouquet of tragedies. The way time can flow in seeming ebbs and starts keeps those tragedies artfully arranged to leave the deepest impression in our minds of the horrors we’ve just experienced.
This year in particular has managed to challenge us in ways that’s made it feel like the culmination of an unpleasant stretch of time, culled together from our memories into a freakish amalgam designed to counter our hopes and expectations. This terrible sense of familiarity was woven into some of the year’s lowest moments. The six-year gap between the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, over the police killing of Michael Brown and George Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis police in May shrunk and collapsed on the streets of America’s cities this summer, punctuated with the hashtags of other Black men and women killed by police along the way.
Likewise, the political drama that’s marked this era has managed to continuously ooze over the border between years. The cliffhanger we ended on in 2018 — a 35-day government shutdown, if you can’t remember that far back — wasn’t resolved until almost a full month into the new year. The House of Representatives passed articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump in mid-December of last year, only for Speaker Nancy Pelosi to withhold them from the Senate for weeks.
Worse than the rollover crises was the one that seemed to come out of nowhere.
Today, we’re faced with the reality that Trump’s attempts to steal the election won’t fade into nothingness, that there will always be some new enabler. Rather than dying at the Supreme Court or with the Electoral College’s vote, Trump’s ego-driven attempt to subvert democracy will stretch into January as well. (Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., announced on Wednesday that he plans to contest President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College win next week, bolstering a similar bid in the House.)
Worse than the rollover crises was the one that seemed to come out of nowhere. I remember discussing a weird new disease with co-workers on Slack as late as mid-February. We felt wise in our confident prediction that there might be worries about a global recession, but that Covid-19 wouldn’t become a pandemic. It hurt to look back at those logs just a month later.
The pain and suffering that the coronavirus has brought, and the lack of an effective response to its spread, have made 2020 particularly hellacious. More than 330,000 Americans are dead, millions more sickened, and while two vaccines have been approved, their distribution is lagging. Millions more Americans are unemployed than this time last year, and the gap between the billionaires and corporations, who profited handsomely, and the average worker is more galling than ever.
Even the absurdities of the year have felt tinted with malice — the U.S. was already a month and a half into the pandemic when The New York Times' first article about the “murder hornet” went viral. For all the wackiness of QAnon’s mass delusion tenets, its supporters have enmeshed themselves in popular corners of the internet and spread its influence offline. And remember the mystery seeds from China? I’m still not entirely sure what was up with those.
If you insist on your rubric for “better” requiring “no more bad things,” well, that way lies madness.
As this chapter finally closes on Friday, none of the underlying issues that have made the year feel so isolating and frustrating will go away in a puff of smoke. Trump will be out of office soon, but his anti-democratic legacy and support for white supremacy will live on. Covid-19 will eventually wane as the vaccine is administered, but there may be no new normal. There will always be some new series of unfortunate events waiting for us in the time stream, whether they’re new ways for old pains to flare up or brand-new surprises like the pandemic.
So, while very few people will be sad to see 2020 in the rearview mirror, perhaps it’s worth recalibrating our thinking about how to judge the new year before it dawns. I think that the answer can’t depend on things outside of most of our control. We’ve spent the last half a decade reassuring ourselves each December that things will calm down next year, that chaos will fall to order, and been sorely disappointed each time.
If you insist on your rubric for “better” requiring “no more bad things,” well, that way lies madness. Instead, our hopes for 2021 can’t be built around a sudden utopia springing up when the clock strikes 12 and 2020 ends. There needs to be room to accept events as they come — even the negative ones — without letting them overwhelm us, a prospect that seems achievable for the first time in years.
This in turn leaves the definition of “better” up to each of us. It will be a better year if we take the lessons we’ve learned in this last 12 months and build on them, rather than succumbing to them. The rage and heartbreak of Breonna Taylor’s killing won’t render unarmed civilians impervious to the police’s bullets in 2021 — but the fight against qualified immunity and police unions can move forward. The time we’ve lost to the pandemic won’t be restored to the top of our personal hourglasses, but we can find joy in renewed connections.
It’s impossible to foresee what’s around the corner. That doesn’t mean that we have to set ourselves up for disappointment like Charlie Brown and his football each New Year’s Eve. Let’s say farewell to 2020 and leave ourselves open to whatever this next spin around the sun brings.


msnbc--2020-12-31--Georgia Sen. Perdue in quarantine after campaign member tests positive for Covid

Georgia Sen. Perdue in quarantine after campaign member tests positive for Covid
Sen. David Perdue, R-Ga., is quarantining after being in close contact with someone on his campaign who tested positive for Covid-19. MSNBC's Priscilla Thompson reports.Dec. 31, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--Officials probe whether Nashville bomber believed in 'lizard people'

Federal investigators are probing whether Anthony Quinn Warner, the man who set off an explosion on Christmas day, could have been motivated by conspiracy theories such as "lizard people." NBC’s Morgan Chesky has details.Dec. 31, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-30--'It enraged me': Eddie Glaude on Justice Department decision in Tamir Rice case

'It enraged me': Eddie Glaude on Justice Department decision in Tamir Rice case
Eddie Glaude, the Chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University and MSNBC Contributor joins MSNBC’s Craig Melvin to discuss the declined federal criminal charges against the officers involved in the 2014 killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.Dec. 30, 2020


msnbc--2020-12-31--Dr. Fauci: 'Unimaginable to me' that some Americans still believe Covid is 'fake news'

Dr. Fauci: 'Unimaginable to me' that some Americans still believe Covid is 'fake news'
Dr. Anthony Fauci criticized the divisiveness in the country that prevented a united response to the Covid-19 pandemic, saying it was "unimaginable" some still believe the outbreak is "fake news" after all the lives lost.Dec. 31, 2020