plus, trump trying to court black voters using tone deaf rambling and racist talking points. plus, activism through art, an album entirely inspired by the war in gaza. i am ayman mohyeldin, let's do it. the far right has a vision board for a second trump term. on it, a disturbing sinister array of steps to rollback democracy and overhaul how the united states government functions. the vision has a name that you probably heard at this point, project 2025, and the ideas are detailed in a monstrous 900 page policy book titled, mandate for leadership, a conservative promise. it was published by the conservative heritage foundation. we are going to give you some of the highlights including christianity would be at the center of u.s. government and society by turning a biblical worldview into federal law, a national abortion ban could also be enforced by reinstating the reconstruction era comstock act to eliminate access, track and limit medication abortions. immigration enforcement would be more harsh than ever before and executive authority would be used to deport as many people as possible by expanding expedited removal, to cover the entire country. don't forget a plan to overhaul the doj and re-created in trump's image. the firing of tens of thousands of federal workers to be replaced by trump loyalists, all of this in an effort to do away with what he has dubbed the deep state. in fact, steve bannon echoed that very part of the plan at this weekend's far right turning point usa conference just yesterday. >> we are also going to start the shovel work to take apart the administrative state and to take on the deep state. we're going to use the constitution and the rule of law to go after you and hold you accountable. november 5th is judgment day. january 20th, 2025 is accountability day. >> you would think this dangerous of a plan, this big of a threat to our democracy, would have democrats shouting from the rooftops, warning americans of its very real implications, but there has not been much of a coordinated action plan to prevent the agenda from taken hold until now. this week, house democrats launched a task force being led by democratic congressman jared huffman and includes about half a dozen lawmakers. huffman said quote, we need to see it coming well in advance and prepare ourselves accordingly. one could argue we are on the verge of too late here. we've known about the full scope of project 2025 since way back in april of last year, but let it -- better late than never. according to the associated press, this is what we know so far. the task force plans to start breathing fellow lawmakers about project 2025, and inform voters about its dangerous ideas and policy proposals, so democrats say they are getting on the offensive and stepping up to the plate to fight this unprecedented far right playbook, but we are halfway through june, less than five months away from the election that will determine whether project 2025 sees the light of day. we know the architects. people like stephen miller, peter navarro, bank carson are serious about getting this draconian plan of the ground. the question is, are democrats serious enough about stopping it? joining me now to discuss it, democratic congresswoman judy hsu of california. what motivated you and some of your colleagues to start this task was now? >> i think now is the perfect time to do this task force. there are people in the united states that have not focused on the presidential election. there only now thinking about biden versus trump, and what we want to do is make sure that people know what the united states would look like if donald trump were in fact elected as president. project 2025 leaves nothing to the imagination as far as what this road map would be like. he would seize power, he would greatly expand and centralize his power. he would reduce the oversight of congress and the courts. there would be no balance. he would immediately fire 50,000 federal civilian employees who right now, civil service protections and replace them with applicants who have to pass a test of loyalty to trump who would ensure that christian nationalism is embedded in every federal agency and then he would eliminate the wall between him and the department of justice him so that he could use them for legal retribution against whomever trump decides to investigate. >> i wanted to talk about some concrete actions here. there has been talk of forms, as you mentioned, informing voters election day. trying to brief fellow lawmakers. what would that look like in real terms? is this, do you think, fighting fire with fire? is this what the project 2025 supporters are trying to do? >> yes. you know, it's a very long document, 900 pages. there is quite a bit of detail on what they would do it every federal department. we need to break it down and be able to educate our colleagues, for one thing, but also everybody across the united states as to what they want to do, and we are at the perfect time to do this when people are getting out to the realization that yes, it could be a trump america, and if so, then we would see reproductive rights, lgbtq rights removed. we would see a rescinding of all actions like climate change. we would see a deportation of so many and an elimination of the department of education as well as replacing of secular and public education with christian education in schools. we would see in america that we could never have imagined under trump, and we need to raise the alarm bells. >> congresswoman, is there anything that can be done legislatively to prevent some of the project 2025 policies that could've been done in the past couple of years? i know it only came to light about a year ago and certainly, republicans control the house. i understand that, but are there enough republicans right now to get on board with some of these issues that could have shored up our democracy in the last year or so before the election? >> well, we just went through the national defense authorization act. it was voted on this past week and many of these kind of culture war amendments were similar to this, similar to what is in project 2025 and yet, all the republicans voted for them. it was alarming, and sickening, actually. i hope that all of those will be stripped out when the nda a goes through a conference committee but i don't have much hope for republicans actually standing up to donald trump and his project 2025. >> i was going to say let alone donald trump, how about just standing up to do the right thing even if it wasn't something to do with trump? congresswoman judy chu of california, thank you so much. i appreciate your time and your insights. i want to bring into the conversation my panel now , democratic strategist and former campaign adviser and james mcdonald distinguished professor at princeton university. amisha, i will start with you. do you think the approach they are taking is enough to fight this supposedly it's greg on our country? >> it is a rightful and much- needed approach, but there needs to be more understanding by the american public as to what project 2025 is. we talked about it on this show before and i seen a few others, as well but if i ask the majority of voters, they don't know what that is. i think there has to be a lot more concerned around the outcomes of what a project 2025 could look like but also full- scale approaches at this point. obviously, congressional hearings but paying attention to what this could mean for the erosion of our democracy as we know it because we have talked about trump fashioning himself after dictators. we've talked about trump taking cues from mein kampf. we need to have more concerned about the american heritage foundation and the bills have been passed to restrict rights and access. this is them going full-scale and eroding our democracy. >> okay, i think we may have just lost our connection. we will try to get that back. professor, part of this efforts from democrats is to inform voters. it's safe to say that i certainly believe that but we think voters are not aware of project 2025 in the alarming way they should be. the congresswoman says we are still a few months out of going to do our best to raise that awareness. how much of an influence will they actually have and will people take it seriously? >> well, i hope they will. i think it's important for us to understand the scope and nature of the threat to american democracy and for a long time we were saying that donald trump had no ideological core but what we are seeing with project 2025 is the kind of ideological coherence and attempt to generate consensus across the republican party with regards to how they would govern and i think this is important. this is not something new. we have seen the mandate for leadership in 1979 and how it guided the revolution in this regard and so we need to understand its implementations for the way in which trump will govern but also understanding that it is not just donald trump. it is the republican party, itself. >> i would say that in previous attempts those were ideological policy platforms, if you will. this is a fundamental remaking of america. what do you think the democrat strategy should be when it comes to this moment? i feel that over the last three years, and this is not to be critical of democrats, and opportunities they could've had to shore up parts of our democracy. they were not able to do that. part of that objection is them from the republicans and the senate for sure but not enough done over the last three years to shore up our democracy. >> you are absolutely right and i'm going to take this moment to be critical of democrats. this is more than just donald trump. this is the republican party. this is republican-led state legislators and governors. we have to be very serious about our democracy being extinct and what that means because they will not just stop at donald trump. if trump loses in november there is still going to push forward with project 2024 and look for the next person to make it happen but it's happening at states across this country already and democrats have to not only focus on the four-year presidential. they have to focus on what is happening in the states as well because republicans are eyeing the erosion of democracy and they've been doing it for some time. they did not come up with a 900 page document overnight just for trump. this is something the heritage foundation has been working on for decades and i think at this point, we have to take it seriously and not just at the federal level but also, in states across this country. >> to that point, if we thought we were dodging a bullet by not electing trump in 2020, we are now seeing that he's coming back with a vengeance and we are seeing the heritage foundation using him as a vehicle to really transform this country, so if it is not with him, they will find somebody else to do it, right? >> absolutely. remember, we wanted to understand the nature of this particular thread at the foundations of our democracy but remember, he was widely characterized in the 1970s as someone who would bring about world war iii. his economic philosophy was considered voodoo economics by george bush. he changed the fundamental foundation of american political life, change the framework of our politics for 50 years, so this is not a one- off gesture just to support trump's presidency. this is an attempt to change the framework of the game. let me say this, too. it is not enough to heighten fears. democrats have to put forward a positive agenda, not just simply a critique of project 2025, but what is their vision for 2025? are we simply going to regurgitate the new deal? what is the democratic party's counter to this 900 page document aimed at undermining democracy? >> such an important point to offer a vision, not just a critique. please stick around. we have a lot more to discuss with you. tomorrow, dr. anthony fauci will sit down with rachel maddow to discuss new details about working in the trump white house, and what it is like for sergey to remain enemy number one to many republicans. make sure to watch tomorrow night on msnbc. after the break, we have to talk about trump's wild pitch at a church in detroit, and the crowd in attendance. you'd like to be. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. with all the money i saved i thought i'd buy stilts. being so tall definitely has its advantages. oh whoa. here you go, kiddo. thanks. hi honey ready to go? 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do you think whoever planned it but it would work way in the same way is trump trying to sell sneakers or selling his mug shot on a t-shirt would appeal to black voters because he tries to project that, you know, they like that kind of stuff. >> i don't think trump is worried about this working. quite frankly, donald trump sees avenues for he does not need the black vote to even be competitive. with that being said, we are watching him push inside the ei, watching him have these conversations where he is flying people in, all of his black events, white people are the predominant people there but we are also watching him attack black people at every corner, whether it is agreeing with comments and stating negative things about hbc you and hbc you graduates, wanting to reduce funding for black- owned small businesses, wanting to ensure there are more and heavier crime tactics that resemble as we fight against a few years ago in terms of use of excessive force. this is not someone who stands by and wants to see equity or access across her communities. this is someone who is harmful to black policy and black agenda or uplift. meanwhile, he is supporting turning point usa for he was today for we have a valid white supremacist nick fontes speaking, for you have like the people that lead that organization, who said that black people have smaller lanes, who is argued that black people don't need to be doctors because of black people become doctors people die. this is a known racist who has propagated racism policy after policy. you cannot be that on one side and be protector and savior of black people at the same time. donald trump doesn't care about black people. what he does care about is running the media in circles and he does that well. >> yes, he does. let me play for you this moment during trump's remarks yesterday. >> your biggest threat of the illegals taking the jobs. we have processed the security, too, because again, so many of them come from prisons and jails, mental institutions and even insane asylums. the first community, and this is open knowledge that is being affected, is the black community because they are taking their jobs. >> professor, it is classic divide and conquer. what do you make of this apparent attempt to pick black supporters against immigrants? >> i can't say what i really feel. it angers me. it is an appeal to nativist impulses within black communities, and appeal to this idea that the country has failed to actually live up to its promise in relation to black folk and now, it is putting its thumb on the scale for immigrant populations, so it is actually an appeal to the ugly underbelly of communities and we have to understand that may have some traction for some people but in the end, it reveals to my mind, the ugliness that drives trump's campaigns. he is always appealing to people's lesser angels and in this case, he's doing it in black communities as we struggle with our own economic issues, so it is just his playbook and it is disgusting that it reveals his character at its core. >> would certainly hope we don't fall for it as a country come this election. thank you to the both of you. greatly appreciate your time and your insights. next up, why advocates are cautiously celebrating a win for trans rights in florida. an for trans rights in florida. 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>> i mean, we are happy to celebrate the win. it is a critically important win, but as you know, we are facing an uphill battle in the legislature, in the courts and at the executive level and states across the country and it is an all-out assault on trans life so what we are seeing is a map of this country where, in 2020, there were zero states that band gender-affirming medical care for minors. there is no 24 states and now this win is a breath of fresh air, the reality is actually that when anyone looks at the actual evidence and not just their reflexive just like of transgender people, these laws are struck down. the problem is that we have political actors who are acting out of a desire to create this widespread attack on trans people and that is what is driving this. >> you and i were talking a little bit about this in the commercial break before, and that is about what a second trump term looks like. it might look like certainly when it comes to lgbtq issues, we've been focusing on that throughout the course of these past two hours. two things could happen if donald trump is re-elected. medicare and medicaid funding could be terminated for hospitals that provide gender- affirming care to trans youth, and there could be an attempt to charge teachers with discrimination for affirming students' gender identities. how do you prepare for the challenges that may lie ahead to the lgbtq community of trump wins a second term? >> i think we have to be raising every alarm. it is truly those things that we could anticipate, ways in which we would see our legal rights rollback, in which we would not have the robust federal enforcement, a federal civil rights statutes, that would all happen but we would also see, and i think we could look to project 2025 for this, trans life being deemed criminal. we are seeing rhetoric escalating now in the states were trans people, myself for example, been called groomers just for advocating for our communities and what that means is if you cast individuals as an ideological force than cast that ideology as criminal, it empowers the government to punish that group of people and i think not only will we see those types of erosions of our rights, but we will see a wholesale assault on our ability to move freely in the world. >> there are two things at play here when we look at these numbers. i want to get a sense if you're optimistic or not. as we noted, there are 500 anti- lgbtq bills the aclu has tracked. however, the human rights campaign notes there has been a downtick in the number of bills passed this year compared to last year. is that as a result of better organization to be able to fight those bills across state legislators? does that give you a sense of optimism or hope that these measures are creating a counterforce that may be a net positive in the long run? >> i think two things. the first is that we are organized. we are bringing our resistance to show up in state legislatures across the country and we are defeating both but legislatures passed a lot of the bills they wanted to pass targeting trans people and are winning in court focusing on litigation that is moving up through the federal courts, moving up through the state courts, so ultimately, they've had a lot of success. they're codifying that success in the litigation, so i would not say that i feel in any way at ease, given that we are facing this assault in every branch of government. >> let me ask you about something you recently wrote. you talk about your own personal journey as a transgender man. direct quote, it might be harder to credit the ongoing attacks if we were the ones allowed to tell the story of our lives and bodies. just expand on what you mean by that. how can we boost the voices of trans americans in this country right now? >> i mean, i think we have to be open to listening, because at the core of so many of these bills is the belief and the fear that turning into a trans adult is a bad outcome for someone, that we don't want trans kids to turn into trans adults because trans adults don't live full and happy lives and i believe in every fiber of my being that my life is a refutation of that and we want to hear from trans people speaking for ourselves. >> how do you fight that fear, that phobia that exist? it's one thing to fight it in the legislatures to make sure that all people have equal rights in this country, but at the same time, you are dealing with the cultural fear that people have against the community. >> i'm not sure everyone agrees that people should have equal rights. >> in theory we all believe we should have equal rights. >> i do think we have to push out narratives and also unpack all of the negative stories of trans life that we've all internalized to challenge that in everything we do. >> thank you very much. appreciate your time this evening. up next, activism through art, how the movement for palestinian rights is resonating in the hip-hop world and beyond. n the hip-hop world and beyond. 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sup? -who are you? i'm your inner child. get in. ♪ ♪ [ engine revving ] listen. horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going. ♪ ♪ [ engine revving ] oh now we're torquin'! the dodge hornet r/t. the totally torqued-out crossover. whenever we see a great injustice in this country, the role of tooth tellers has also been fallen on the shoulders of artist or musicians. during the vietnam war you had bob dylan, joan baez, harry belafonte, pete seeger among many others melody their music with their morals. they created beautiful music that countered the mainstream narrative and that certainly took a lot of courage. the vietnam war was not always unpopular despite the mythology that has emerged about that era. those protesting the war were not popular at the time, but they were, however, right. we've seen this kind of artistic response to injustice is happening time and time again in the late 80s and early 90s. hip-hop artists sounded the alarm on police violence and racism in black neighborhoods. from public enemy to queen latifah and even to pot, their message researched the masses in ways others could not. they forced conversations about what black americans were going through into the mainstream and gave white americans the first education about what was actually happening in black america and we are living in one of these moments again right now. for the past eight months, a new movement in music has emerged. palestinian artist and artists of all races and backgrounds were moved by what they are seeing unfold in gaza are making their voices heard. senior saint lavon's has put the war in gaza at the forefront of his recent music. he spoke at the coachella music festival in april. >> coachella, i was born in jerusalem [ inaudible ] and as i hope all of you are aware, the people of gaza have been undergoing brutal genocide for the past six months. people of palestine have been undergoing a brutal occupation for the past 75 years. >> in may, the singer, eliana, made her tv debut on the late show with's stephen colbert. she donned a palestinian headscarf during one of her songs. that is not just palestinian or arab musicians that are speaking out. in her new music video for the song next to you, you hit r&b singer and troupe of dancers danced in front of palestinian flags. she raised more than half $1 million for gaza, sudan and congo from the proceeds of that single and this was probably the most viral out of all of these new songs. >> the people will leave what is threatening divesting them about piece the problem is that the protesters what they are protesting it goes against what our country is funding locked the barricade until palestine is free. >> that was grammy-winning artist macklemore's anthem that made headlines from -- for gaza. proceeds for this song are going to a u.n. agency that works with palestinians. across race, religion, geography, or and more musical artists are finding the courage to speak. when we come back, one of those artists, the grammy nominated belly, joins me on the show. working with your body to promote digestive health. with so many ways to enjoy, benefiber is your fiber, your way. i'm a bee and i've bumbled my way into your car. buzz but this hive isn't big enough for the both of us. boo oh wow, what a buzzkill. and if you don't have the right auto insurance coverage, paying for this could really sting. so get allstate, save money, and be protected from mayhem... like me. we are keeping the conversation going about activism and art and how the movement for palestinian rights is exploding in the music world right now. emmy award nominated rapper, billy, was born in the west bank. his family relocated to canada when he was seven. he recently dropped an album called 96 miles from bethlehem, which directly addresses israel's war on gaza. take a listen. ♪ then you wonder why we losing patience. i know we are dealing with dangerous beasts, callous and broad day callous deceased note -- ♪ >> earlier i spoke with belly. and belly joins me now. it's great to have you on the show. thank you so much for making time for us. it has obviously been a gruesome eight months for palestinians and people around the world who have been watching this, and that is on top of displacement, occupation years, 76 years. a u.n. report just described what israel is doing as extermination. how have you and your family been coping throughout all of this? >> i mean, this is ongoing for a long time. palestinians have had to deal with the trauma of this for a long time and you know, it is a tragedy to all people that got to experience it from all around the world but the real tragedy is what palestinians go through on the ground and occupied territories every single day, just trying to go about everyday life. >> let me ask you about your music for a moment, and when you make your art. who is the intended audience for your music? are you making the music to help yourself cook personally, to inspire and assure other palestinians around the world or is it to educate and change the minds of a wider audience? >> i think it's a little bit of a mixture. obviously i make music because it appeals to me but something like this, i feel like i make a project like this for anybody who needs to hear it on either side of the coin, anybody that needs to be convinced or anybody that needs to know that the things they feel, you know, they're not isolated. a lot of us feel the same way and you know, i wanted to express that through the music. i wanted to also express the beauty of palestine through the music and the beauty of the culture and the people so you know, it was really just my way of expressing myself. my people and my country with a project. >> is it hard to make music in an environment like this right now if you have any qualms about it, or do you have a lack of inspiration when you see your people suffering so much? >> i mean, it's hard. again, it goes back and forth because you want to say so much but i think there are no words that can ever describe how people feel in palestine, you know, every single day, and something like this happens and it's like, how do you put that into words, so i do my best to put it into perspective, but i always feel like i'm falling short because there is no real way to describe it in language, what everybody is going through on the ground in gaza and the west bank and you know, i just try to do my best to give people perspective, you know. >> there has been so much solidarity and support for palestinians and so many of these protests around the world but there has also been so much hate, so much dehumanization of palestinians. we see that sometimes in all walks of life, even sometimes from the highest levels of government. you are a public face and representative of palestinian people. how hard is it to be a palestinian performer right now? are you facing any backlash in your work, in your art? >> absolutely. i feel like my reach, every time something like this happens, i feel like i get muted, especially nowadays where a lot of the success or at least what people tie to success has to do with social media, you know. i feel muted. i feel like my reach is gone and i think it's the same for a lot of palestinian artist and creators but also artist and creators who are just trying to be on our side, are definitely getting muted all the time, so it's definitely frustrating, you know what i mean? that is why i like to depend on the people more than anything, do you know what i mean? i don't depend on governments. i don't depend on multibillion- dollar platforms. you know, we all have a potential reach and every year they have to grow and get bigger off our backs, you know what i mean, so at the end of the day, i don't depend on them. i depend on the people, word-of- mouth, i believe in humanity still but again, it has been frustrating definitely. >> are you feeling any pressure to stop talking about gaza? i mean, we have covered a lot on the show, a lot of the censorship that takes place around talking about gaza, whether it is in hollywood, academia or even in other forms, would you find pressure on you to not talk about gaza, to not speak up on behalf of palestinians? >> yes. i think that pressure is felt by a lot of people and that is saying something, you know. i think it is saying something like if there is actually a question if this is happening, then how come when i was making this project like a lot of the people that i know from the industry were like oh, you are brave for doing this. i was like why am i brave for highlighting something, especially from a place where i'm from and the place where atrocities are taking place, where humans are not treated like humans, and i'm making a project about it, you know, there's nothing courageous about that. that is what i should wake up and want to do and just to see the response from people really shows me the underlying problems that we all know. we all know. behind the scenes, people will tell you hey, don't do it, or be careful, but the only reason that narrative even exist behind the scenes is because people know. they know what it is, you know what i mean? >> yes, but do you feel that there is a double standard? it's not just palestinian or arab musicians that are speaking out on palestine. you have seen all walks of life, is issues like macklemore, kolodny and others. it really feels like we are in a moment where a cross race and geography, there's a new generation of artists trying to do something similar to what was happening during the vietnam war in this country. do you feel like this is a big moment, that there is an actual transformational change, or will this just be a small drop in the bucket? >> know. i feel like there is something bigger going on and i think for the first time, we are watching a global movement grow past just past protests were a couple of weeks and in the media stops covering it or whatever happens to make people forget about the suffering of palestinians. that always used to happen. as palestinians, we have experienced it for as long as we have been alive, most of it, so i feel like now, we are watching a movement take place that is bigger than just, you know, planning. it's bigger than all that. it is actually us coming together as people from all walks of life and saying there's something wrong going on over here and people have got to fix this and you know, stop whatever is causing this and you know, we got to rectify what happens to the palestinian people there has to be a right of return for palestinians that were kicked out of the country illegally, you know, there has to be restitution for palestinians because of what is happening and i think a lot of people are starting to see the amount of suffering the palestinians have gone through for the last 75 years. >> yes, that is suffering that continues even to this day as we are seeing in gaza in real time. grammy nominated award-winning artist, belly, i thank you so much for your time and congratulations on your new album. >> thank you so much for having me. i appreciate it. palestine forever. >> thank you for making time for us this weekend. catch ayman mohyeldin this weekend. follow us at ayman in b.c. have a good night. my restaurants, my tattoo shop... and i also have a non-profit. but no matter what business i'm in... my network and my tech need to keep up. thank you verizon business. 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