thanks to both of you. that's our time. "the reidout" with joy reid starts right now. tonight on "the reidout" -- >> like i said -- >> well, i have been a terrible liar on those subjects. i ran in 2020 for the same exact seat. for congress. and i got away with it then. >> that was george anthony santos back in february. today, a congressional subcommittee issued a scathing report on his lies and potential crimes. and the use of campaign funds for botox and onlyfans among other things. also tonight, fulton county d.a. fani willis moves to refolk the bond of one of trump's codefendants accusing him of trying to intimidate witnesses and his fellow codefendants. how very trumpian. but we begin tonight with the unholy trinity of the modern day republican party. kanye, elon, and trump. that is according to house judiciary republicans anyway who about a year ago cranked out the tweet that you see on the screen. the tweet stayed up for two months until december 2022 when republicans finally deleted it after ye appeared with sandy hook conspiracy theorist alex jones and publicly praised adolf hitler. that tweet did not age well. ye is now famous for having dinner with trump and white nationalists and holocaust denier nick fuentes, while elon musk promised to bring back right wing figures who were once banned including donald trump. he even recently endorsed a post attacking jewish communities and accusing them of promoting dialectical hatred against whites. as for trump, he took a break from scowling at a manhattan courtroom to host a rally in new hampshire where he vowed to root out his enemies. >> we pledge to you that we will root out the communists, marxists, fascists and radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country. the threat from outside forces is far less sinister, dangerous, and grave than the threat from within. >> that's right, dehumanizing your enemies and opponents by calling them vermin. atactic famously used by nazis, adolf hitler and mussolini. there's this weird confusing trend that has taken over american politics where folks once seen as icons of the left or at least public figures with broad appeal have moved to the far right. and are getting more extreme over time. you have ye, who went from george bush doesn't care about black people, to praising trump's dragon energy. there's trump, who millions tuned in to watch on "the apprentice" regardless of their political stance. as for elon musk, he's long had his billionaire tech entrepreneur cred known as the tesla guy who sold a million cars to a lot of left coast liberals before turning twitter into a hate speech free-for-all. in recent years all three of these men have shifted into a different form of celebrity, known more for emboldening white supremacists and for fueling racism and hate in the u.s. then for anything else. their rise represents a kind of chaos movement that has happened over the last ten years. in other times these are not people who would be seen as leaders of substance, but in the dangerous erratic world we now occupy, these are the people many americans are listening to. it's why we need to pay attention to robert f. kennedy jr. he's not exactly kanye or elon or trump, but he has his own anti-semitic and racist controversies to contend with. he also has some extreme views. and importantly, his independent run for the white house isn't as fringe as it seems. he's actually becoming a force in this election. according to a recent polling, he's at 21 points, only 16 points behind president biden. among young voters he's polling at 32%. like the others, fame came before infamy. robert f. kennedy jr. is the son of bobby and nephew of jfk. a champion of the environment, as close to a royal heir as americans can get. but make no mistake, he is dangerous. rfk jr. has spent years stoking fear of vaccines, he's risen to become a major figure in the anti-vaxx movement. all vaccines, measles, mumps, rubella. a crusade like this has real-life consequences, smg that likely keeps his family up at night. three kennedy family members even wrote a piece in politico declaring rfk jr. has been tragically wrong about vaccines. there's one last thing about this chaos candidates, something they all have in common. that is the money. susanne craig shares some fascinating details in her piece in "the new york times" about how rfk has turned his public crusade into a private windfall and how his crusades backed by the power of his surname have earned him tens of millions of dollars. susanne craig joins me now along with shermichael singleton, political strategist and host of the shermichael singleton show on sirius xm. i want to start with you. let's go through this because your piece is fascinating. one of the things it demystifies is how rich rfk jr. is. they call it praise without raise. he has the name and he has the fame. he doesn't necessarily have the capital, but these crusades that he's embarked on have made him a lot of money. tell us a little bit about that. >> right, and joy, i have to say, when i started this article and reporting for this story, i didn't know a lot about robert f. kennedy except he was a kennedy. and he had done some good work cleaning up the hudson river. and i started to dig into it, and i thought, this guy has got to be wealthy. he's got to have trust funds. one of the first things i noticed, there was a public filing, he was getting very little steady income off his trust funds. my sort of mission when i set out was to look at his money and how he makes it. then i thought there's a few other things. he's got these jobs and they're at nonprofits or environmental groups. they weren't throwing off very much money. you could tell just by google search that he had a fairly expensive liefrl. you didn't know if some of that came from other family money that i wasn't seeing. i just started digging. i noticed he had gone through a divorce in 2012. i thought maybe there's some documents in there, when there's a divorce, the depositions are about the finance. unfortunately, when people get divorced it's usually about the money. i ended up being able to review some of the documents from his divorce from mary richardson kennedy. it just opened up this door for me to understand how he makes his money. it was incredible to see behind this name and his image that you think he's working for a nonprofit, was this just incredible private hustle that he has been doing for decades. he's a lawyer, he gets money from that. but he also, he's got -- he's been able to intertwine his legal work with some of the nonprofit work that he has been doing. then there was just this incredible just -- it was just the pace of the speeches that he was giving, sometimes up to 60 a year, charging upwards of $250,000. and then he was on advisory boards and boards of directors. he ended up in 2005 getting involved with a major venture capital firm out in california called vantage point. that netted him millions of dollars. then he also was on the boards of a number of companies connected to vantage point. all of this added up to a huge amount of money, but he at the same time we learned through the divorce documents was leading an incredibly extravagant life. you felt like he was just treading water and he was telling friends he was broke. he told a friend he was broke and he got set up with a board position there. it was really incredible to get this window into his world that was just years of this sort of behavior. >> did you get the sense in doing this research that the anti-vaxx stuff, because he was more known for being an environmentalist and people on the left revered him. is the anti-vaxx stuff a grift, to be blunt, and is the run to be president a grift? >> the anti-vaxx stuff, there's a wrinkle in that. that's that he joined this organization called the children's health defense. you know, in recent years, and he's the chief legal officer and the chairman. he went from almost no money to half a million dollars. and he gets paid more than three times the president. he's a prolific fund-raiser for them. there could be an argument there that he should be paid more. we could debate whether that was too much. what he did there in addition to getting a huge salary from a nonprofit, he then went out and says he got permission from the nonprofit to do this, but he established relationships with law firms where he was bringing -- he could participate in lawsuits, potentially bring some in the door that he could participate in against pharmaceutical companies, some related to vaccines. and then he could get paid for that. he says that the children's health defense fund, the nonprofit, is getting some money back for that. but it was just fascinating to see even there, he was saying half a million dollars is not enough, so i need this other thing. then we found out a little bit, he along the way, you see this with rich people, i covered wall street for a long time, and it just was interesting to see, we found out that he had taken a free car from lexus. and also, even one of the homes on the kennedy compound that you would think was his, he actually leased it for years from a wealthy friend and then bought it at a rate that he had agreed ten years before the same rate. and he was also eve one of the nonprofits that he worked for, and i found this quite troubling, he had agreed -- he had an agreement with them that they would pay for the air fare for his children to fly with him on longer trips. i talked to him about that. he said sometimes i was away from my family for a week or two and i was out of the country, so they would pay the air fare. i don't know many people at corporations that have that sort of agreement, but it was sort of just accepted that that would happen. >> he kind of sounds like claires thomas. he does. there is a thing where, i mean, he has this advantage of the name, the surname is gold for politics. people have the perception that he's this fabulously wealthy man, so he's unbuyable in their mind, sort of the way people thought trump was a billionaire when he wasn't. it feels like what he's doing is making himself really famous, trading on that, and it's actually working. there are a lot of people who want to vote for him. donald trump versus joe biden versus robert f. kennedy jr., he gets 21%. >> he's doing better against the sitting president than ron desantis, the governor of a large state, is doing against the former president, which is really quite unprecedented when you really think about it. you would think that should be in the reverse. with that said, i read through the article twice. a fascinating story. what it appears is kennedy really has built a career financially off the name. i'm not necessarily against that, necessarily, but the amount of money and how he made it, where the money was coming from is quite astonishing. he used his name in many of these law firms and nonprofits for them to go out and sue individuals with kennedy on the board. >> isn't that what republicans are trying to impeach hunter biden for? >> i knew you were going to go there, joy. look, i'm not against it, but i could see how republicans may want to politicize this against hunter biden because we're in the midst of an election. i'm not certain if it's going to move the needle for democratic voters. maybe it might move the needle for right leaning independents, perhaps, but i haven't seen data that convinces me it's going to benefit republicans. >> my question is what is the appeal? is it just name id, or is it just a hunger for an option and a choice besides biden and trump? >> joy, i'm going to be honest. i don't think it's just name id a loan. most young people aren't aware of the legacy of the kennedys. >> they know who the kennedys are. >> but i don't think that's enough to move the needle. i think it's that people are starving for somebody else. you look at the approval ratings of president biden are not very well. you're seeing a groundswell of young individuals, particularly individuals of color protesting across the country right now because they don't like the position the administration has taken when it pertains to israel and hamas. over 10,000 innocent palestinians have been killed. it seems the white house is on the wrong side of a lot of issues lately, and voters are looking for someone else to speak to that. i'm not convinced robert f. kennedy is the person to accomplish the goals they're looking for, but when you're starving you look for something anywhere to feed you. >> it is fascinating that he is clearly benefitting from some kind of hunger that people have for a figure that is tied to a history that felt -- that america had a more coherent story. he's clearly benefitted from that financially and politically? >> he definitely has and he's invoking that on the came pain. i don't think you can underestimate not only the power of having kennedy as your last name and being part of that family. i saw it over and over again where he just was able to fund-raise for these organizations, he was able to get on boards. his job in some sense, in some of the advisory positions i saw, was simply to make connections for people. and i think that people are attracted to that. i don't think there's any doubt about that. the other thing i think about, why the story was important for me, for "the new york times," is because i think robert f. kennedy is not only a force right now. we'll see if he can get through. it's going to be a very difficult process for him to get on the ballot as an independent candidate, but i don't think we have seen the last of robert f. kennedy jr. if i have in my life covered a lot of politicians, there are few that i have encountered when i have talked to people who know him that feel that he has a sense of destiny and that he should be in the white house, that this is his moment and that this is where he is meant to be and this is his path. >> very quickly. >> perhaps he can't get to the white house, but remember jill stein against hillary clinton. it's enough to move the needle. >> and he ain't jill stein. he will get 19, not 3, because he's a kennedy. americans love nothing more than to elect people from familiar families. people love dynasties. susanne craig, great reporting. shermichael singleton, thank you, my friend. up next on "the reidout," there are growing calls for george santos' expulsion after the house ethics committee released a scathing report concluding he broke multiple federal laws. go figure. this guy? really? stay with us. i was on a work trip when the pulmonary embolism happened. but because i have 23andme, i was aware of that gene. that saved my life. look, we all know that the republican party is trump's party from snout to tail. but no one embodies the trumpian ethos quite like george santos. a man who fashioned his political persona on donald trump right down to the lying, the performative outrage and self-victimization. today, the house ethics committee released a scathing report after amassing overwhelming evidence of congressman santos' lawlessness. this report stated what the law, the media, law enforcement, the constituents of new york's third congressional district, what everyone already knew. which is that he was a liar, a fraud, and a crook. they even uncovered additional crimes that they referred to the department of justice, which included falsely reported loans received by his political action committee, and using campaign funds for personal stuff. what did he spend other people's money on? you know, the usual stuff like ferragamo shoes, botox, onlyfans payments, a weekend trip to an atlantic city casino, a honeymoon weekend in vegas, and cold hard cash. they also noted that santos did not cooperate with the investigation and evaded straightforward requests for information, which could come as no surprise. the ethics committee decided to forego recommending sanctions because that process would have taken too long. miael guest of mississippi opted to support the motion to expel george santos from congress instead. the movement is a signal to other republicans that they should join the push to expel. santos called the report a disgusting politicized smear and said that he would not stand by as he is stoned by those who have flaws themselves. but he concluded that he would not seek re-election because the scrutiny was too much or probably because he wouldn't win. the house could vote on his expulsion as soon as it returns from the thanksgiving holiday. joining me is david corn, washington bureau chief for mother jones and someone who has reported a lot on santos. what's in the report? >> we know the headline already. it's the details that are delicious. i mean, the report just says he lies about everything. every aspect of his personal background, you know, where he went to college, connection with the holocaust and his family, all of that stuff. >> whether his mom died in 9/11. >> also a remark that he took every opportunity possible to exploit financially his congressional campaigns and his stint in congress. and i want to know when the guy slept. because this report shows scheme after scheme after scheme. and we know there are schemes that it doesn't even cover. like the dog charity that didn't exist, they don't go into that. it shows there's this money flow again and again and again, where he's sticking money basically from his campaigns and other political operations he's running, and he's using them to buy botox, and here's a $20,000 check, goes into his personal bank account, which has no money at the time, and then he starts writing his rent check, going to atms at casinos and taking out money. this is just happening constantly. while he's doing this in 2020, he is telling his treasurer, who has pleaded guilty to assorted crimes, to declare that he's made $80,000 in loans to his campaign. has he? no. he's only loaned it $3,000, but the campaign pays them back $30,000. so he is just sucking money out with these fake loans. it goes on and on. you know, they gathered 170,000 documents in this investigation, and at the end, they say we still don't understand all his finances. there are $240,000 in money that went out. we don't know what he did with this. there are transfers of money in the tens and huns of thousands of dollars. we don't understand that either. so at the end of the day, we have so much, and there's even more. they could do a whole other report. i don't think they're going to, but i do think it's at least 50/50 after this, the justice department that basically -- the prosecutors have indicted him twice, they still have time before the next -- before the trial starts in a few months to add more stuff to the indictment. he was like a nonstop grift machine while lying all about the personal stuff. you know, he makes the incredible talented mr. ripley look like a piker. >> it sounds like this whole purpose for being in politics was to raise money in order to achieve a lifestyle that he couldn't afford. and i do have a specific question. was he paid to watch onlyfans or was he on onlyfans? >> they said there were small payments made to onlyfans, which suggests to me he was using the site and paying for content. i don't use it, but i imagine when they say small amounts of money, $100, $200, whatever. i mean, i'm reminded of the wonderful mel brooks movie, the producers, where they discover in the original that actually, you can make more money with a play if it's a flop. you can sell more than 100% shares and no one expects their money back at the end. you can pocket that. i kind of think that he thought, i can run for congress. i can make a lot of money, and if i don't win, no one is going to really know. you never look through the financial campaign forms of people who lose. and so -- >> and the fact is he won in a district that biden won. i think biden won by eight, he won by eight. i wonder in that district what the sort of politics looks like now. there's like 170 people running for that seat. but it seems there is an ethos at least on the republican side that the purpose of politics is this, it's performance and it's getting money for yourself. >> it's that and of course it's lying. >> and lying. >> this is what trump has demonstrated. this is the lesson he has taught our children. there's no consequence for lying. you know, that was true through his nonpolitical campaign and true throughout his political pam pain. i think george santos somehow absorbed that lesson and said i can say whatever i want. and then he stuck to this. you almost have to give him credit for this fortitude he's had where lie after lie after lie, and he says, everybody does it. i'm no different. now all this grift comes out. well, what do you think jared kushner -- his grift was $2 billion from the saudis and you give me a hard time because i got $10,000 from a stupid donor who should have known better than to trust me. that's essentially what he's been saying. >> you have written a book that talks about sort of the decline of the republican party and the sort of madness of it. is that what it is? that the party has turned into a giant grift and a tv show or a tv show for fox or for online, and that is the reason that they're attracting people like george santos, because he does seem to be emblematic of something about the republican party that isn't unique to him? >> yeah, i mean, there's no character in american psychosis who matches george santos. but it does show that the party has always -- which has always had a big grifting element, with trump, grift became front and center. as did, you know, the lack of shame. you know, a lot of politicians are shameless, but donald trump kind of paved the way to a greater level. and kind of opened the door for george santos. and the fact that the republican party could not expel him previously or come out against him, it shows they're okay. they start going after him for lying, what do they have to do about other people in the party? >> i cannot imagine what kind of a republican would replace him. it would probably be someone worse. david corn, thank you very much. i'm sure you're sorry to see him go. thank you very much. appreciate you. coming up next, a judge moves to plug the leaks following the recent release of proffer videos from former trump codefendants who are now cooperating with the prosecution. stay right there. some facts. i'm a mom from virginia. i work with immigrants in israel as well as palestinians, and five members of my family were kidnaped by hamas on october 7th. two were brutally murdered and three are still being held. all i want, all anyone would want, is to hug them and hold them again. we demand medical care. we demand the release of the hostages from hamas terrorists. these are innocent women and children. return them to us, to their families. demand their release. my mom's life is the most important thing to me. hi mom! i called my mom, "i have this gene and i think you need to get tested." she feels like it was truly lifesaving. ♪♪ we're not writers, but we help you shape your financial story. ♪♪ we're not an airline, but our network connects global businesses across nearly 160 markets. ♪♪ we're not a startup, but our innovation labs use new technologies to help keep your information secure. ♪♪ we're not architects, but we help build stronger communities. ♪♪ we're not just any bank. we are citi. ♪♪ . the judge in the georgia election interference case granted fulton county district attorney fani willis to shield some evidence in the rico case against donald trump and his codefendants. it comes after video were shared with two media outlets. in the order, judge scott mcafee wrote, the court has an interest in insuring all parties retain their right to a fair trial before an unbiased jury. a process that could become unattainable should the public be allowed to vet every piece of unfiltered evidence months before trial. prosecutors must label evidence they're seeking to protect as sensitive. prosecutors have 30 days to review discovery they have already provided and label it. defense attorneys will have 14 days to contest if they disagree. meanwhile, judge mcafee also ordered one of donald trump's 18 coconspirators to appear in court next week. harrison floyd, the former head of black voices for trump, must show up for a hearing on a motion to revoke his bond. d.a. willis says floyd violated his bond order through social media posts directed at likely witnesses in the case, including several targeting election worker ruby freeman, who floyd is criminally charged with trying to intimidate. willis says because of and in response to his intimidating, she's been a subject of renewed threats of violence from third parties. joining me is joyce vance, professor at the university of alabama school of law and msnbc legal analyst. joyce, i sort of pride myself on being -- not being able to be surprised by anything anymore, but i have to be honest. it surprises me harrison floyd would be so brazen as to continue to attack ruby freeman. i'm not going to read some of the tweets he's put up, but he seems to be repeat tweeting at her, despite the fact he's charged with trying to intimidate her. make it make sense. is he on his way perhaps back to lock-up? >> i think that there's a good chance that he is. the judge will certainly ask him to explain why these social media posts shouldn't be viewed as an effort to intimidate witnesses. in context of this case and the charges against him directly attacking this witness, tweeting at brad raffensperger, it's very difficult to view this as conduct that does not violate his pretrial release order. >> his response to it, in addition to that, is one part comical and seemingly not helpful. if i was his attorney, and i'm not an attorney, i don't know that i would be happy about it. here's what he tweeted in response to the motion to revoke his bond. clarence thomas was right. this is a circus. it is a national disgrace. it is a high-tech lynching for an uppity black. and he included video of clarence thomas in 1991 senate judiciary committee. doesn't surprise me he identifies with clarence thomas, but wow, if you're the judge reading that, does that encourage you to maybe sanction him more than you might? when people are faced with potentially having their bond revoked, don't they normally back down? >> so look, if i was a defense lawyer, which i'm not, i'm a former prosecutor, but if i was playing for the other team, something i would tell my clients is, when your bond is about to be revoked because you have been intimidating witnesses, stay off of social media, keep your head shut, your mouth shut and your head down. this is really dangerous conduct for a defendant to engage in. i don't think the judge will punish him any more than he otherwise would. i do think the judge will take this conduct very seriously and consider whether custody or some other sanction is the only way to protect victims and witnesses in this case. >> because i think the fear is that people like ruby freeman, who has already been subject to death threats, will then be even more afraid. she's already being subject to more threats because of this. do prosecutors and do the judge have a responsibility to offer her protection? she probably can't afford to hire full-time security. can the court protect her? >> it's a really good question. look, i don't think that she's afraid of anyone. we all saw her testifying, and this is someone who understands what's at stake. but there is no reason that she should be subjected to this risk. courts, law enforcement in the state and in the county, can certainly take appropriate steps to protect her but what this does, and it's important to understand the process froint the trial. it's not just a threat to her specifically. it's in many ways an effort to intimidate witnesses beyond her to say this can happen to you if you speak up. so the judge needs to get a handle on this now and put a stop to it. >> indeed. let's go to the other case. the appeals court has temporarily lifted the gag order barring him from talking about court personnel in the other case. this is the civil trial in new york. the appellate division judge, his name is david freeman, issued the stay suspending the gag order. almost immediately, we know judge engoron has fined donald trump twice for attacking his clerk and other witnesses. the attacks on the clerk resumed almost immediately once that gag order was lifted. would you expect as a former prosecutor for that gag order to go right back in place? why would they lift it at all? >> so it's sort of a default position, when you've got someone in this posture to preserve the status quo while an appeal is under way. but here, it doesn't seem to fit very well with the circumstances. we know that every time trump is subjected to a gag order, he cleans his behavior up a little bit. then when we have seen it lifted in the courts as these appeals proceed, he resorts to attacks. his lawyers have almost certainly cautioned him at this point that he should take advantage of this action by the court to show that he's capable of good behavior. because if he goes back to attacks, it simply makes the case for keeping the gag order in place that much stronger. >> very quickly, we're running out of time. i want to ask you sort of in general, do you feel that people connected with donald trump and maga have gotten treatment that is lighter than what is normal? because it seems that everyone associated with him is engaging in the same he engages in. does it surprise you judges haven't been tougher on them? >> i think trump's conduct emboldens other people. we see that in the political arena. we see that in these cases. i think mr. floyd will face some pretty serious justice at the hands of judge mcafee in georgia. that may well send a signal. the problem, joy, and this is something i struggle with. donald trump is a political candidate. it's important for the courts to protect his right to political speech. but when it puts people in danger and when it impacts on the possibility of fair court proceedings, then he has to be treated just like any other defendant would be, and the courts frankly are struggling with how to strike that balance. >> struggling is the operative word here. joyce vance, always great to talk to you. up next, as the israel/hamas war intensifies in gaza, the divide is growing here in the united states. more on that next. number smart bed? because no two people sleep the same. only sleep number smart beds let you each choose your individual firmness and comfort. your sleep number settings. it's so smart, it actively cools and warms up to 13 degrees on either side for your ideal sleep temperature, and effortlessly 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because when i took the tabletop test, i couldn't lay my hand flat anymore. the first hand specialist i saw only offered surgery. so, i went to a second hand specialist who also offered nonsurgical options - which felt more right for me. so, what i'd say to other people with dupuytren's contracture is this: don't wait —find a hand specialist trained in nonsurgical options, today. i found mine at findahandspecialist.com. i was on a work trip when the pulmonary embolism happened. but because i have 23andme, i was aware of that gene. that saved my life. there are new indications today that israel and hamas may be getting cse to a potential e al. "the new york times" is reporting negotiations for a deal are under way with various players working on a framework of an agreement. according to the two israeli officials who are involved in those effort as well as a third with knowledge on the matter. under the proposal hamas would release 50 women and children abducted during the october 7th attack for roughly the same number of palestinian women and children held in israeli prisons. the deal which is reportedly being negotiated by qatari, egyptian, and american officials would also include a so-called humanitarian pause for several days. according to four officials. but as of right now, the fighting in the region rages on. today, residents in southern gaza are saying that israeli forces dropped leaflets warning palestinians there to flee, signaling a possible expansion of their bombardment. those residents, however, don't really have anywhere to go in the already densely populated enclave. considering that many have already fled south to avoid attacks in the north. it comes as israeli forces are still inside gaza's largest hospital after storming it for the second time within two days. hundreds of medical staff, patients, displaced families, and premature babies remain trapped inside. the conflict is creating a lot of question in the u.s. especially with the democratic party. those tensions reached a fever pitch last night when pro-palestinian protesters clashed with police at a rally outside of the democratic national committee headquarters in washington. where dozens of democratic politicians were meeting inside. six officers were treated for injuries and one person was arrested. nbc news spoke to one of the demonstrators last night about why they chose to protest at the dnc. >> we came here tonight to say as democrats you need to listen to what the democratic base is demanding. 80% of democrats are demanding a cease-fire. they want the u.s. to stop funding and emboldening the massacre of palestinians. >> and that represents another huge division within the democratic party. as a growing number of americans are calling for a cease-fire, only a handful of democrats in congress have done so. after the break, i'll talk to had first jewish congress member to demand a cease-fire. that is next. xt ok. ♪ from christmas tree mats... to floorliners... cargo liners.... no drill mud flaps... seat protectors... and more... weathertech has the perfect holiday gift. honey, is everything ok? oh yeah. order at weathertech.com and don't forget weathertech gift cards. i was on a work trip when the pulmonary embolism happened. but because i have 23andme, i was aware of that gene. that saved my life. my mom's life is the most important thing to me. hi mom! i called my mom, "i have this gene and i think you need to get tested." she feels like it was truly lifesaving. >> today congresswoman becca balint became the first jewish congress member to call for a cease fire in gaza, writing in the vermont bigger, i'm one generation removed from the horrific trauma of the holocaust, which impacted my faly and we shape the world. like me there are thousands of american jews that share a deep emotional connection to israel because of what it meant for the survival of thjesh people in the face of extermination. this same history also drives so many of us to fight for the protection of palestinian lives. i do not claim to know how to solve every aspect of this decades long conflict. but what i do know is that killing civilians and killing chilen is an abomination and categorically unacceptable, no matter who the civilians are and no matter who the children are. congresswoman becca balint, democrat from vermont, joins me now. i want to ask if i pronounced your name properly. >> ballad rhymes with talent. >> i love that. thank you so much for being here and taking the time. i just want to ask you what the reaction has been. i know that this issue is so fraught for so many people, it's so emotional. and i wanted to know at the reaction of you coming out for a cease-fire has been in your family, in your community. >> i really appreciate that question. i want people to understand, i wrote this op-ed for vermonters. it was geared at my constituents. that was the audience. it was clear to me that people didn't realize the depth of my emotion, what i had been struggling with for a month. and as politicians, you can't convey that in a tweet or a short statement. and i am a writer, and i thought, i have to take the time, the careful time, it took me a week to write that op-ed, a really thinking carefully, what do i think? what do i feel? how do i express that to my constituents? and here's what i know, joy. every single member of congress on the democratic side that i have talked with in the last month, we all want the same things. we want the suffering to and. we want the bombs to stop falling. we want hamas not to be in charge in gaza anymore. we want the hostages back. we all want this. we are all in such pain. and i am new to congress, but i have tarred with a lot of older members. they all said the same things. this is the hardest moment they have ever been in. it is such a complex issue, it has been such a complex issue for so long that there are no easy answers. we have gotten so hung up on trying to get the exact right words in this moment to express ourselves that we are not saying what it is that we all have in common, which is why i know each colleague of mine is going to be either on their own pat figuring out how to say the things they need to say to their constituents. but i believe there is so much more that connect us in what we want and what we think is needed to get to a two state solution than what divides us. and i am trying to create a space for that conversation to happen because i don't want anyone to think that i feel like i get it exactly right. i'm doing and saying what do constituents need to hear from me, and that's been my guidepost through this thing. it's incredibly emotional. we all want to end the suffering, and i do want viewers to understand that, whether you are member has said it in a way that you want them to say it, or in a timeline that you want to say it, i want to reassure everyone, we all want the same things. we are just, perhaps, differing on what we think is the best strategy to get there. >> you are from vermont. there is a rather famous united states senator from your state who, a lot of his constituents are progressives, who have been disappointed that senator bernie sanders has not join you in this call for a cease-fire. does it surprise you that he has not? and it surprise you that it's only dick durbin, 31 people total, democrats total who have called for a cease-fire in the senate, only doctor been in the senate. this is surprise you that bernie sanders has not? >> it doesn't. i know bernie well. we've talked repeatedly over the last month, and i know he wants the same things that i do. as i said. and he is on his own journey of how he convince conveys that to his constituents. again, i do not believe it calling for a cease-fire is the litmus test for whether people care about palestinians or wanton into the conflict. i know he does deeply and we have to give each other a little bit more grace here. i really believe that. >> one of the, not giving a lot of grac ac has indicated that there is a list of progressive members who are mainly women of color, all women of color, actually, who are now on their list that they're going to try to unseat. what do you make of the fact that this has become a litmus test for that lobby, that they're going to try to remove them, and it one of those members was already sanctioned by the house, including some democrats joining in that. >>. >> and she's the only palestinian, i should note. >> that's exactly right. and i stood up for rashida tlaib, who we talked about. she's a friend of mine. she's one of the people who texted me today. we both share a history of our peoples suffering, and that has brought us together as friends. i don't support this effort to try to drive out women of color from congress and i do not support trying to take on, as you said, the only palestinian american member of congress. i think this is completely the wrong way to go about bringing this country together in our shared values, which is secure palestine, and secure israel. making sure the hostages are all released. it is just driving more of a wedge. and i want to be someone who is trying to bring people together and not continue to drive wedges. >> congresswoman becca balint, rhymes with talent, thank you for being here. you are gracious new member and we appreciate getting to know you. please come back. before we go, a quick