Battles for former president donald trump. There were two big developments last night. Maine decided donald trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on the ballot. The Secretary Of State citing the 14th Amendment which bans from office those who engage in insurrection. On the west coast, the california Secretary Of State deciding to keep trump on the ballot. All this putting even more pressure on the Supreme Court to weigh in. We want to bring in Vaughn Hillyard and former rnc executive Committee Member jennifer horn. Vaughn, start us off with maine. Reporter in the state of maine the decision of the Secretary Of State last night was much awaited. She had heard challenges in her role as Secretary Of State. This is where you get into the differences in what state law allows or puts the onus on a Secretary Of State to ultimately agent on. Thats where the role of the maine Secretary Of State says it is her responsibility to determine whether a candidate is qualified to run for presi
starts now. tonight on the reidout fundamentally a second trump term could mean the end of american democracy as we know it. he s literally called for things like doing away with parts of the constitution. wanting to weaponize the doj to enact revenge on his political enemies. we re running out of time in order to try to stop trump from being in the oval office again. former trump staffers warn the nation, the threat is real. and democracy is at stake as we enter this presidential election year. michael fanone, one of the heroes of january 6th, joins me tonight. also, two weeks to iowa. and desantis and haley are still treating the front-runner donald trump oh, so gently. as if they don t really want to win. plus, he was paid by the trump campaign to find proof of widespread election fraud in 2020. he found none. and told them so. they continued to push the big lie anyway. ken block is my guest tonight. good evening, everyone. happy new year. i hope you enjo
national political reporter. that is our show for tonight. time for the last word with lawrence o donnell. lawrence, i m gobsmacked by some of these numbers. i m just gonna leave it to you while i scratch my head. ali, you know that thing happens once in a while where one of our great guests really is getting warmed up right when we have to go to commercial break because that s life on commercial television? that happened last week with yale professor david blight, who is an expert on the 14th amendment. he knows everything about how it came to be, the congressional debate about it. we are bringing him back tonight to finish his thoughts about that. that is worth watching because the most important amendment nobody ever thought about six months ago, and this is worth staying and listening to. certainly not thought about in this context. and he will follow harvard law professor laurence tribe, also an expert on constitutional law and the 14th amendment, who will give us
lawrence, i m gobsmacked by some of these numbers. i m just gonna leave it to you while i scratch my head. aly you , know that thing happens once in awhile where one of our great guests guests really is getting warmed up right when we have to go to commercial break because that s life on commercial television. that happened last week with yale professor david blight, who is an expert on the 14th amendment. he knows everything about how it came to be, the congressional debate about it. we are bringing back tonight finishes thoughts about that. that is worth watching because the most important amendment nobody ever thought about six months ago, and this is worth staying and listening to. certainly not in this context. and he will follow harvard law professor laurence tribe, also an expert on constitutional law and the 14th amendment, who will give us his view of how the 14th amendment, how it has the power to keep donald trump off the ballot in some states. i look forw
to determine when to get on the road, there is your. guidance probably sooner rather than later. because the roads will be packed starting around 5:00 this evening. alex? i agree, just wait one more hour until the show is over and then hit the road. blaine alexander, thank you so much. moments, the alarm bells are ringing but former trump white house insiders are saying his possible return to power how political battles are intensifying in the keep to keep donald trump off the primary ballot in several states. the new warning from the doj to texas. texas. good day to all of you from msnbc world headquarters in new york. welcome to alex witt reports. we begin this hour with new reporting in a new warning that the new york times has donald trump s lawyers plan to file challenges as early as tuesday to ongoing efforts to disqualify the former president from the ballot in maine and colorado. this as three former trump insiders are sounding a new alarm, a potential second