baltimore to promote the bipartisan infrastructure bill. meanwhile, the house january 6th committee is one step closer to receiving records from the trump white house, as it sends subpoenas to more trump administration officials. we'll talk about all of this with january 6th committee member, congressman pete agular. on the covid front, pfizer is pushing the fda so allow everyone 18 and older to get a booster shot, as cases in colorado reach a point where the state is enacting crisis standards of care. meantime, we'll head to mexico, where another group of migrants is heading towards the u.s. border. and more americans are being taken hostage overseas. why is this happening? we'll talk with a "washington post" reporter who was once held hostage himself. and we begin with breaking news, a new look at just how much a toll these rising prices are taking on their wallet. the government just reported today that prices for gas, groceries, and other goods rose 0.9% between september and october and prices have risen 6.2% from october 2020 and october 2021. that's the sharpest year over year increase in three decades. this news comes one day after the president talked with the heads of major shipping companies about speeding up the movement of goods from ports to store shelves, hoping to ease the shortages blamed for those high prices. and hours before the president heads to baltimore to make a pitch for the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which he hasn't signed yet into law. with me now, stephanie ruhle, msnbc anchor and nbc news senior business correspondent. yamiche alcindor, pbs "newshour" white house correspondent and moderator of "washington week" on pbs, and ana palmer, founder of punch bowl news. thank you for being with me. stephanie, i was just listening to your hour, which is a must-see hour here on msnbc. but give me a little bit more about what the big news of this inflation means. >> prices are up across the board, and they're up a lot from where we were last year and last year, things were very low, because we were mostly shut down. but however, talk to anyone across the country, they do not feel good about these high prices, but you'll also have to remember where we were in the last year. the government predicted it was going to be an unpredictable economic recovery. that's why we had three stimulus checks, expanded unemployment, expanded child tax credit. so the american people, while this sting is difficult in the short-term, we've got some cushion as far as what we've provided households to get through this time. the real issue beyond what are we going to do at the ports, this is a supply chain issue taking us from china and other parts of the world, it's unemployment. what the government has to figure out is how do we get more people back on the job to fill these jobs and start to solve for this. and one other thing i would note, while prices are high, one reason to think they're going to stay high, demand is up. people are paying these prices. things are selling out everywhere, because the american household has had record savings and we're out there spending a lot. so if you run businesses right now, you're not necessarily inclined to lower prices. you don't need to. >> that's a good point. stephanie, if you go to the markets and the bbodegas, you'r things like meat, bread, milk, everything going up in prices. what do we tell the people who are going to their bodegas and seeing the cost of food almost out of their pocketbook. >> well, listen, this is a direct impact of everything we experienced because of covid. and while it's easy to say, hey, it's short-term, it's not going to last forever, it isn't going to last forever. it is going to work itself out. but in the immediate, it's a problem. it's why you saw republican nominee, now soon-to-be governor in virginia, glenn yun kink say he was going to cut sales tax as grocery stores. people are angry about it. while we are in a very strong economic recovery, people don't feel it when they go and shop and when you spend thanksgiving and so do i, i assure you, someone at that table will be talking about the price of everything for your thanksgiving dinner. it's an issue. >> someone was telling me that just this morning, coming into work. i mean, they were actually commenting on how difficult it is to get food. yamiche, how concerned is the white house about this spike many prices. what it could mean for efforts to sell the infrastructure bill and other part of his agenda. >> well, the white house, as well as president biden are very, very concerned about these issues. just in the last hour, the president put out a statement saying that he is directing the national economic council as well as the federal trade commission to look at these issues and to try to find ways to fight back on inflation. the president understands that when people are going to the grocery stores and they're seeing higher prices for meat, especially right around thanksgiving, they're paying more for their gasoline, when they're thinking about trying to drive to go see their family, it is a problem that americans are looking to the federal government to try to deal with. so this is absolutely something that is on the mind of white house officials. i talked to ryan deese yesterday, he's the director of the national economic council, and he told me that the president is really focused on this issue. he wants to try to figure out ways to solve it. the issue is, when you talk to experts, things like truck driver shortages, things like the supply chain issues, they are not just sort of quick fix issues, there are also some critic there that are looking at the white house and saying, are they more focused on long-term issues, instead of immediate issues. white house officials would push back and say, no, they are trying to figure out these sort of everyday american issues. but in my conversations with white house officials, you can feel the urgency there. and the president will be in baltimore today, talking about sort of what americans are going through, the economic struggles in trying to pitch the idea that this build back better plan, that doesn't quite yet have the vote to pass, that that is going to be a central part of trying to get -- trying to really get around these issues. >> and meanwhile, ana, it's a busy time for the house january 6th committee. it's sent out subpoenas to more trump administration officials yesterday. a federal judge has turned away trump's efforts to block the national archives from handing over record, which the former president is expected to appeal. give us a sense of how significant all of this is. >> yeah, this is a big deal for the committee, because they have been trying to get trump former officials to testify, largely have been stonewalled. this is going to continue to work its way through the course. the trump team has said that it will appeal. it's likely that this could get all the way up to the supreme court. i think what's important, we are really starting to see the work that this committee is doing. and that they are interviewing a lot of people and it's going to be a very substantiative report and they are pressing forward, whether or not former officials are going to testify or not, we are going to get some real details here if question is, when and how long does this go on. it's unclear at this point. >> we'll be talking about this in just a couple of minutes. but yamiche, i want to ask you about the biden administration that's urging u.s. citizens to leave haiti amid deteriorating conditions. this comes as the u.s. is still searching for that group of 17 american and canadian men, women, and children abducted. what was it? the 17th of october? is there any update on efforts to find them? >> well, it's a great question. and the answer remarkably is "no." there is no real update on what's going on with these hostages. the biden administration continues to say that they have resources on the ground, fbi agents, trying to work this out. but there is really no update in terms of the status of these hostages, how they're doing, the gang has reid a video a few weeks ago saying that they were going to kill people if they were not paid $1 million per person, which would be $17 million. but as of now, it's still a very scary situation. on top of that, as you mentioned, the biden administration in the u.s. is telling any american citizen living in haiti, including some of my stubborn family members, frankly, to leave haiti, to leave. it's a very, very hard decision to folks that i've been talking to on the ground, because there are so many people that are trying to help the country from within, who don't want to leave the country. the american citizens that are living in haiti now, they in some ways are understanding of balancing the risk everyday, with also trying to run things like shelters, like nursing schools, like organizations for disabled children. there's so much infrastructure that people are trying to sort of give to the haitian citizens that are living in fear, living in insecurity, but in this moment, it really is in some ways a new rock bottom every day for haiti. it's a terrible situation. and a high-ranking official yesterday was speaking at the u.s. embassy in port-au-prince and said very clearly and very frankly, this is going to be a problem that the haitian people, the haitian government has to solve, that the international community isn't going to be sort of a fix-all. that also was a very blunt message coming from the u.s. government. >> and yamiche, remind me, just to refresh my memory, so they're asking citizens, american citizens to leave haiti, because of the deteriorating conditions there, yamiche, but that's the same place that the 8,000 people were deported to when they were in del rio, texas, and there is no tps for haitians that are living in this country and making an extraordinary economic contribution to this country. it's the same place, haiti, in both of those cases? >> it is absolutely the same case. and jose, i have been asking that same question to the biden administration for a long time now. it's how are you deporting people to a country that you're now saying is that insecure, that americans shouldn't go to, and that americans should leave? the biden administration's answer has been, well, haitians that are being deported back, they're being deported back with different security issues, they say, and that they face different sort of fears. bade on my reporting, though, when someone is deported back to haiti, they're facing the same insecurity that americans living there are facing. they're facing a 200% spike in kidnappings. they're facing a country that has a gas shortage, that has a food shortage. where people don't feel comfortable going outside to get a piece of bread or to get a gallon of milk. so the big criticism of the biden administration is, you should stop deporting people to haiti, but of course, the biden administration's response is, we have to continue to deal with title 42. we have to continue to deport people that we find need to be deported. it is a sort of complex situation happening on the ground there. but, yes, it is the same country. >> thank you, yamiche. it's always a pleasure to see you. stephanie ruhle, ana palmer, thank you all for being with me this morning. i so appreciate your time. and maryland is expected to benefit greatly from the bipartisan infrastructure bill we were just talking about that with ana and others, with a state receiving billions of dollars for everything from highways and bridges to public transportation to water pipes and broadband internet access. with me now to talk about this is baltimore city council president, nick mosby. nick, great seeing you this morning. the bill hasn't been signed yet, but do you have a sign of how baltimore will benefit from it? >> totally. thanks for having me on, jose. this bill is historic. it's really our new deal when we talk about the things. many of these things, when we talk about infrastructure, have been kicked down the road far too long. and now it's an opportunity for us to really make what's right, excited about what this could do for the city of baltimore. not just through transportation and infrastructure, but also with mass transit. we know that mass transit is one of the single biggest indicators of someone's ability to escape poverty. and when we look at the city of baltimore, it's our achilles heel. i know there are things in this bill that will benefit baltimore communities, our workers, and our future moving forward. >> so minority groups haven't always benefited from infrastructure projects or other big federal spending programs, what is baltimore looking for federal government when it comes to what you're talking about, infrastructure and other issues? >> well, in baltimore, there's a project that is cited constantly, the highway to nowhere. it's a place in west baltimore where my mother was from. and thousands upon thousands of black families lost their homes to this project. it's an opportunity again to get the wrongs of the past right. when we talk about it, it's not just providing economic development opportunities for communities like that, but we're also talking about jobs. and we're also talking about protecting our environment in the right way. the one thing i constantly talk about is going back to mass transit, that has been a problem here in baltimore city for far too long. and when we look at bolstering our mass transit, developing ways of connecting it to the washington, d.c. suburbs and washington, d.c. metro, that's an opportunity for us to uplift this entire region. so we've seen that throughout the country and i think that this is an opportunity for us to get it right. in baltimore, there was actually a project called the red line, that our governor at the time seven years ago, governor hogan, sent back $900 million through the federal government. that was a project that was going to move baltimoreans, over 40,000 of them every single day, to a new opportunity, to jobs, to educational upward mobility, that was taken away. this is our next chance to try to get that right. so i'm really excited about getting access to the money, working with our federal delegation as well as our state folks to really try to provide a mass transit system that all baltimoreans can be proud of. >> we'll check in with you and see how it goes. i appreciate your time. thanks for being with me this morning. time now for the headlines out west. we're learning disturbing new details about a communication breakdown at the astroworld music festival this past weekend where eight people died and hundreds were injured when the crowd surged towards the stage. and now there are growing calls for an independent investigation. nbc's guad venegas is here with those details and more. guad, good morning. what's the latest on that concert tragedy? >> reporter: jose, good morning. well, fire chief pena is speaking about these details while also noting that everything is under investigation. now, the chief spoke about this lack of communication, saying, quote, no one on scene -- no, we did not speak or did not have direct communication with those organizers. he has noted that the members of the fire department were standing by and they were able to jump in and help the private medical teams that were overwhelmed that night. the communication issue comes up after the chief confirmed a mass casualty incident was declared just after 9:30 that night, but the concert kept going past 10:00 p.m. when asked if he thought travis scott who was performing should have ended the concert once he saw what was happening in front of the stage, the chief responded, absolutely. everyone at that event had a responsibility, starting from the artist on down. more than 30 lawsuits have been filed so far. and we know that travis scott has had problems at his concerts before. at a 2017 concert in new york city, kyle green says he was pushed from a third floor balcony during scott's show leaving him partially paralyzed. scwas sued. >> we're seeing strikes from fast food workers from around california. >> reporter: that's right. so employees across the state from the fast food industry organized this strike, walking out, asking for better working conditions, wages, and hours and they're also calling on lawmakers to help pass new legislation to help them. now, the rallies outside these -- these were outside mcdonald's locations, some here in the los angeles area, monterey park, south los angeles, and also west hollywood. now, this protest, as i mentioned, is to support this passage at the state assembly. this bill once again could help them improve the working conditions and salaries among other things, jose. >> guad venegas in los angeles. thank you very much. turning now to some sad news to report this morning, the passing of ronald blackburn moreno, educator, leader in the puerto rican dispora. ronald blackburn-moreno was 71. still ahead, big news in the fight against the coronavirus. could all americans 18 and over soon be eligible for pfizer's covid booster? plus, we're in wisconsin where we could see kyle rittenhouse, accused of two homicides and one attempted homicide, take the stand in his own defense. you're watching"jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. d. t and want to make the right moves fast... get decision tech. for insights on when to buy and sell. and proactive alerts on market events. that's decision tech. only from fidelity. - [announcer] meet the ninja foodi family, that's decision tech. with pressure cookers that steam crisp, ovens that flip up and away, grills that bring outdoor flavors indoors, and blenders that spin up healthy eating. ninja foodi, be proud of what you make. new vicks convenience pack. dayquil severe for you... and 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approved, it would mean more than 180 million fully vaccinated americans would be eligible to receive this extra shot. joining me now is dr. eileen marty, a professor of infectious diseases at florida international university. dr. marty, it's always a pleasure to see you. thanks for being with me. so here's a question -- two months ago, the fda rejected pfizer's request to approve the booster shot for everyone 16 and older. what do you think has changed that might allow the fda now to approve this in 18 and older? >> so there's a lot of things being taken into consideration, including what's been happening with the rollout of those who are eligible to receive either a third dose or a booster dose. and i make that distinction because you give a third dose to individuals who never mounted a high enough level of immunity, but you give a booster for those who did, and it wanes for them. so that data is in and it's looking phenomenal. one of the things that everyone is taking into consideration is what we now understand is really critical, which is that as your antibody levels are high, when they're very high, they prevent colonization. when they're not as high, they prevent colonization of the lower airways, but higher levels of antibodies prevents colonization, which prevents transmission. so one of the benefits of allowing more people to have that higher level of antibodies, by getting that third booster is to reduce transmission overall, which is a good thing, especially considering what's happening around the world right now with covid-19. >> and anytime i hear colonization, i get worried. and i presume that when we're talking about covid and colonization, it's equally bad, right? >> yes, exactly. one of the big problems that we had with the delta variant is that people who were fully vaccinated could, especially after their levels had dropped and the numbers of antibodies, neutralizing antibodies, is they could have sufficient numbers to infect others. and that's what we want to avoid. we want to get back up to a level of antibody in people, so that you don't have as much forward transmission. >> dr. marty, what are we going to tell parents that have young children and are looking at the possibility of having them vaccinated, but have concerns. you speak directly to us, would you? >> thank you, jose. so we've looked very, very carefully at the data that was collected on the children that were studied 5 to 11, and not a single child had any severe problem. there were no cases of myocarditis. and when that was noted in the initial trial collection set, they were asked to increase to double the number of kids who received the actual vaccine. and still, no significant effects, whatsoever in these kids. and tremendous efficacy. even at one third the dose that we give to people 12 and over, these kids are forming incredibly high-quality, neutralizing antibodies, and in fact, as high or higher as people who are getting the higher amounts, 12 and over. and when you compare the actual efficacy against covid-19, it was outstanding. so it's very good for the children, because, remember, in that age range, 5 to 11, we've had 1.9 million children that have had covid. and almost 100 have died in that age range, which is absolutely tragic. no child should be dying of covid in this country. especially when it's a preventable thing, not to mention the cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome, which are most significant in that 5 to 11 range. so, this is very good for the child. it protects your child, and that's the key thing that we look at. but also, because they get these very high levels of neutralizing antibodies, it also reduces the risk that that child can contaminate another family member, who's at even higher risk of hospitalization and death, grandma or somebody with an underlying condition. >> dr. aileen marty, thank you for being with me this morning. appreciate it. coming up, we're live on the ground in mexico, where a caravan of migrants is making its way to the u.s. border. the great maria hinojosa will be with in just a couple of minutes. stay with us, you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ing "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ugh cough sneeze sneeze. [ sneezing ] it's time for, plop plop fizz fizz. alka seltzer plus cold relief. dissolves quickly. instantly ready to start working. so you can bounce back fast with alka-seltzer plus. ever notice how stiff clothes can feel rough on your skin? for softer clothes that are gentle on your skin, try downy free & gentle downy will soften your clothes without dyes or perfumes. the towel washed with downy is softer, and gentler on your skin. try downy free & gentle. it's 29 past the hour. and time for a check of the headlines beyond our borders. the u.n. says at least 16 of its staff and their families are being held by ethiopian authorities, as well as 70 drivers who were supposed to deliver food to rebel-controlled regions among an ongoing civil war there. meanwhile in europe, german chancellor angela merkel is urging russian president vladimir putin to intervene in a growing humanitarian crisis. thousands of migrants are stuck in below-freezing temperatures between poland and belarus. polish authorities say they detained two groups of people that broke through border barriers this morning. and now we turn to mexico, where a caravan of migrants is making its way north to the u.s. border. journalist maria hinojosa, who is president and founder of faturo media is also the author of an extraordinary book, "i once was you" is with the migrants in tapachula. she joins me now. maria, thank you for being with me. you've been closely watching this caravan. what have you found? >> hohola, jose. i've been covering this story for a long time. i've seen a lot on the issue of immigration. but being able to be on the ground -- and the use of the word caravan -- we can discuss that, right, because there are so many implications around what that means, but to be on the ground with a group of people that are moving north, with hope, how else can you categorize it? journalists want to -- and because we don't have the capacity to spend time on the ground, be with the people, go to sleep with them, wake up with them, basically, that's what we did. we did not sleep on the streets with them. this family in particular that you just saw from haiti, four children, mother and father, they would have stayed here in mexico, but their children were not given a place in the public school here. so now you understand what we're talking about, when people called tapachula an open air prison, you are stuck here, like if you are haitian, you cannot move north unless you have the right papers. but even if you want to stay here, you can't, because your children won't be enrolled in school, because of racism and incapacity to prepare. jose, i have to tell you that, you know, these are people -- i would say, and i thought about this a lot, and i know that you will understand what i'm saying here, and i want people to understand what i'm saying, these are the new pilgrims. i have been labeled one thing. but until americans, journalists come and embed deeply here, then we won't understand exactly who they are. they are not a threat and for me as a journalist, it's been an extraordinary experience to be on the ground. >> and i'm glad you are, maria, because you're always shining light where there is often dark ness and that darkness of the place, but our lack of giving light to areas that are so important. you expressed concern about going back to mexico, because of -- even actually personal fear of the government there. what was that about? oh, i lost maria! i lost maria i want to thank maria hinojosa -- maria, you're back with us! i wanted to give you the opportunity to talk about what you wrote about, about the possibility of even fearing for your personal safety in mexico. >> okay, jose, we just won an overseas press club reporting reward for the reporting that we did in 2020 here in tapachula and juarez. basically saying that the mexican government was working with the trump administration to make the entirety of mexico into a policy wall. and because of that, when i arrived in mexico a year ago, my u.s. passport was taken by mexican immigration agents, and i was held in a back room for, i don't know, it felt like forever. and then i was given my passport back and i signed papers that i don't know what they were. this is a journalist who has been covering this. my fear was so great, because my passport had been taken away. so i do what we ask people to do, i became public with this story. and when i arrived into mexico, i had no problems. i think they got the message. but mexico is one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist. and i thank you for allowing us to talk about this on the ground reporting. i'll be with you anytime, jose. >> maria, thank you for being with me this morning. ten trump administration officials subpoenaed by the january 6th committee, what information they have and what about the events leading up to and during the capitol riot? will we have more information? committee member congressman pete agular joins me, next. right here on "jose diaz-balart reports." reports. 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ask your health care provider today and we have breaking news out of kenosha, wisconsin, kyle rittenhouse accused of two homicides and one attempted homicide during the protests there last year is testifying in his own defense. >> you also have a right not to testify if you don't wish to do so, and if you decide that you do not wish to testify, then no comment can be made on your silence by the district attorney and i will not comment on your silence unless i am asked by your attorney to do so. and the only comment that i would make on it, if i were asked to do so would be to instruct the jury that a defendant in the criminal case has an absolute constitutional right not to testify. and that your silence should not -- must not be considered by the jury in any manner in deliberation or in reaching the verdict, do you understand that? >> yes, your honor. >> that will be a choice that i will ask mr. richards at a later point, as to what you wanted to do, if you decided not to testify. but that won't be an issue if you decide that you do want t testify, okay? >> yes, your honor. >> any question about this at all? >> no, your honor. >> have you had enough time to discuss this matter with your lawyers? >> yes, your honor. >> do you think what you're doing is the best thing under all the circumstances? >> yes, your honor. >> has anybody threatened you or pressured you or forced you in any way with respect to this decision? >> no, your honor. >> has anybody promised you anything in exchange for this? >> no, your honor. >> is your mind clear today? >> yes, your honor. >> you feeling all right? >> yes, your honor. >> have you had anything alcoholic to drink today? >> no, your honor. >> have you had any drugs or controlled substances of any kind within the last 24 hours. >> no, your honor. >> any reason i should not accept his waiver? >> no, your honor, this is consistent with advice of counsel. >> okay. all right, then. anything else? >> may i just have a moment real quick? i'll be back in two minutes. >> sure. >> so we just heard that one of the attorneyses ask for a two-minute break, essentially, and that's what we're going through right now. but the trial with the testimony of rittenhouse is about to begin. gabe gutierrez is with me this morning as we await for the resumption of this testimony. gabe gutierrez, what can we expect today? >> hey, there, jose. so, it is surprising, actually, that kyle rittenhouse took the stand this morning. we weren't expecting the defense to go through several other witnesses. they had not given an exact timetable for when he would testify. only that during opening statements, his attorneys had indicated to the jury that they would hear his testimony at some point. right before kyle rittenhouse just took the stand, there was some stunning testimony, frankly, from another one of the defense's witnesses, the roommate of gaige groscroix, who was brought to the stand to discuss his social media post that he had made shortly after the shootings where he had said that his roommate had meant -- had told him that he had meant to kill rittenhouse. the defense brought him up to discuss that and jose, in one of those moments that, you know, you watch movies of testimony and, you know, a witness gets on the stand and surprises everyone by saying the exact opposite of what he was expected to say. jake marshall said that he essentially lied on that social media post and that he made up the story, because at one point, he felt that rittenhouse and himself were getting threats. and so he said it was a bad call. and he basically went against what the defense had brought him up to testify about. that was, you know, relatively short testimony. the defense stopped asking him questions, although it pressed him, like, why did you do this. did you essentially lie on this social media post? and he said he did. so that seemed to cut against the defense's argument, but you'll remember, jose, in previous testimony, groscroix, during cross-examination, when he was brought up by the prosecution, he seemed to indicate that, you know, rittenhouse only shot him, you know, when he confronted him. so during his testimony for the prosecution, that actually backed up the defense. but moving back to what we're expecting right now, jose, kyle rittenhouse on the witness stand again, this could be crucial, pivotal testimony in this trial. it's all been building up to this where this now 18-year-old gets before the jury and explains what was going through his head, why he felt he needed to shoot these three people, killing two of them in self-defense. so we'll be waiting on that. >> hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! >> let's listen into what is going on in the courtroom. so, gabe, going back to you, and i thank you for the conversation. i didn't mean to disrupt you, but there was a moment where the judge went, hey, hey, hey, hey to somebody and all of a sudden there's more silence. can you interrupt what's going on? >> reporter: just to give you a little bit of background and how this is playing out, jose, the case is going on, because of the media attention, not everybody is inside the courtroom. we're watching this from what's known as a pool field, several cameras inside the courtroom are beaming back what's happening to us inside. only a few reporters are known inside at any known time. i'm trying to watch this feed. >> thank you, gabe. he was just sworn in. here begins his testimony. >> how old are you? >> 18. >> on august 25th, of 2020, did you come to downtown kenosha to look for trouble? >> no. >> would you have shot joseph rosenbaum had he not chased you, trying to take your firearm? >> objection, leading. >> leading. >> would you -- i'll get to it. >> are you a high school graduate? >> yes. >> what high school? >> penn foster online high school. >> are you currently enrolled in any further study? >> i'm a college student studying nursing at arizona state university. >> who do you currently live with? >> my mom and two sisters. >> directing your attention to august 25th of 2020, where did you reside? >> antioch, illinois. >> do you remember the address? >> 286 anita terrace, apartment 104, antioch, illinois. >> who did you live with there? >> my mother and two sisters. >> what's your father's name? >> michael rittenhouse. >> back on august 25th of 2020. where did he reside? >> he lived in kenosha, in the city of kenosha in the apartments behind the pick and save on 50th. >> do you have any other family that's from kenosha? >> yes. >> what? >> my grandmother, my aunt, my uncle, and cousins all live in the city of kenosha. >> there's been testimony in this trial about the firearm in question, which has been marked -- have you seen that gun? >> yes. >> before august 25th of 2020, had that gun ever left the state of wisconsin? >> no. >> now, before this event happened on august 25th of 2020, did you have any hobbies? >> yes. >> tell the jury what you liked to do. >> i was a swimmer, i enjoyed working, i was a lifeguard. hanging out with friends, going to the beach. just normal teenage stuff. >> were you a member of any groups, organized groups? >> yes. >> what? >> i was a police explorer for gray's lake police department and i was a firefighter emt cadet for antioch fire department. >> did you have any training in life saving, anything like that? >> yes. >> what? >> i was a certified lifeguard, i was a certified -- i am a certified lifeguard and swim instructor. i am certified in stop the bleed, cpr, aed, automatic external defibrillator, and basically life support. >> okay. on august 25th of 2020, where were you employed? >> i was furloughed at the ymca in lindenhurst, illinois, because of the covid-19 pandemic, and i was working at the recplex in pleasant prairie. >> rec plex here in kenosha county? >> yes. >> on the night of the 24th, did you come to downtown kenosha. >> not downtown, but i came to kenosha for work. >> and after your shift at work completed, where did you go? >> i went to dominick blackstock's father's house, i believe his name is scott dickheart. it's been a while since i've seen him. >> and who is dominick black in relation to him? >> dominick black and my sister, mckenzie rittenhouse, used to date. >> and on the night of the 24th, were you aware of anything going on in kenosha? >> i knew there was protests, demonstrations, and riots going in the later evening. >> and how were you aware of that? >> i saw videos on social media, on facebook livestreams, tiktok, of -- i saw the car source lot being built down, the car source one, what we've been referring to. i saw a police officer get assaulted. he had a brick thrown at his head. and i saw the mattress store owner get knocked out and i believe his jaw was broken and had to be wired shut or something. >> and you saw all of that on the 24th. >> yes. >> did you go to downtown kenosha at that time and try to do anything about it? >> no, i did not. >> directing your attention to the late morning of august 25th, 2020, did you have occasion to go downtown? >> i did go downtown on the morning of august 25th. >> who did you go there with? >> i went there with dominick black, my sister, and ray dickhart. >> and describe what you did. >> we walked around for a little bit and i believe at 11:30 noon, we ended up at the high school where we ended up cleaning graffiti for an hour and a half to two hours. >> showing you what's been previously marked as exhibit 131. do you recognize that? >> i do. >> can you describe what you see in that photo? >> towards the left in the olive green shirt, that's me, and then to my left, that's ray dickhart and to my right, that's my sister, mckenzie >> we're greening graffiti off the high school. >> you getting paid to do this? >> no, i was not. >> and you see what the graffiti says? >> yes. >> you knew what it said as you were cleaning it? >> yes. >> i won't repeat it. after you were done doing that, what did you do? >> we were walking, and we went to the car source lot, the first location, and we were looking at the destruction of the burned cars, and we saw the owner, sam and sal, i believe, that's what they told us their names were. >> you saw when we say car source, you met sam and sal, that's what we've been referring to as car source number one? >> yes. >> that's the one they just played a video of in. >> yes. >> did you have any discussions with sam and sal? >> briefly. i offered my condolences and said if there's anything i can do, please reach out to me. he gave me his number. i gave him my number, and -- >> you were with dominic black at that time? >> i was. >> and your sister? >> yes. >> what did you do after that? >> after that we walked back to -- i believe we parked our car by -- you see the parking lot -- >> do you have a pointer up there? >> yes. we parked our car right in this parking lot on that corner. somewhere over there. >> i can't see that far. i'm sorry. you're referring to the parking lot which is at the corner of 59th and sher ton. it would be the southeast corner? >> correct. >> you're pointing the dot, you parked closer to eighth street, correct? >> yes. >> you can put the pointer down. >> and whose car did you get there in? >> dominique black's. >> when you left, where did you go? >> once we left that parking lot, we went to dominic black's stepfather's house again and hung out there for a little bit. >> okay. do you know who nick smith is? >> i do. >> and did you have any contact with nick smith that afternoon? >> later in the evening, around 3:30, 4:00, nick smith called me and dominic. >> when he called you, what was the nature of the call? >> at first nick smith wanted us to drive him to chicago by -- not chicago. by o'hare airport, the suburbs of chicago. because he wanted to buy a bullet proof vest, and we -- dock anymore said okay, we'll drive him. he said okay, i need you to pick me up at, like, 3:30, 4:00. >> okay. did you go and pick him up eventually? >> yes. we actually before we picked him up, we went to jolensky's. >> what did you do there? >> dominic wanted me to buy two rifle slings. >> and did you? >> i did. >> one was for what? >> one was for my rifle. the other one was for dominic's rifle. >> okay. and why did you care about your rifles that evening? >> the reason for the slings were just so -- it's like a retainer so if i'm helping somebody with first aid, i can just dangle my rifle behind me and i don't have to worry about somebody just randomly going and picking it up off the ground. just as, like, an extra measure, so it won't be taken from the ground. >> and what time did you go to that store? >> i want to say about 2:30, but i don't know exactly for sure. >> okay. when did you first have contact with nick smith? >> 3:30. 3:15. >> okay. was there any discussion regarding car source at that time? >> yes. >> what? >> nick smith, once we picked him up, he wanted to go to a bank to withdraw money. the bank was closed. he was like would you guys like to come with me and help watch over the car source, make sure there's no fires or anything, and dominic said yes. i agreed. i said okay. and then i said here, nick, i don't really need my bullet proof vest. i'm going to be helping people with first aid, so i gave him my bullet proof vest. >> by you giving him your bullet proof vest, did that stop the need to go to someplace by o'hare airport? >> yes. >> and why does a 17-year-old kid have a bullet proof vest? >> it was issued to me by the gray's lake police department. >> you didn't purchase it? >> no, i did not. >> and after you gave him your bullet proof vest, where did you go? >> we went back to nick smith's house where we parked dominic black's car. >> and then what did you do? >> we walked from mr. smith's house -- once we parked at nick smith's house, we walked from nick smith's house to the car source one, cutting through the ruther central back parking lot. nick smith lives on the same street. >> you don't have to say where nick smith lives. >> okay. >> he lives within walking distance of here? >> yes. >> so you go to car source one? >> yes. >> and that's -- car search two, across the street. >> and at car source two, that's where you spent most of the evening? >> yes. >> when you first got to car source 2, the one at 59st, what happened? >> toners were there, sam, sal, his father, and i think it was his uncle there also. he was driving a van of some sort. >> okay. and what was the discussion? >> sam and sal thanked us for coming out to help. and then he said sal said hey, why don't you guys hop in my car. if i remember correctly, it was either a white or black bmw or mercedes. i don't recall exactly. >> and why did he want you to get in his car? >> he was going to drive us down to car source lot number 3. >> and did you agree to get in his car? >> i did. >> and who went to car source number three? >> me, dominic black, and nick smith. >> and who was driving? >> sal. >> and when you got there, what happened? >> we got out and hung around for a couple minutes, and then some people showed up. i now know who they are, but at the time i didn't. >> okay. exhibit 30. do you recognize that exhibit? >> i do. >> and can you -- your honor, can i -- can you go up there, please, and point out -- can you point out the people who you knew before that picture was taken and name them? >> yes. this is sal, the owner. this is brian balch. s thes this is justin hamilton. this is dustin coalet. this is nicholas smith. i don't recall his name. his me, and this is dominic black. >> okay. we've heard testimony -- you can have a seat. we've heard testimony about you, nick, and dominic. you knew those individuals before august 25th of 2020? >> i knew nicholas smith and dominic black. >> okay. you did not know the owner of the car source previously? >> i did not. >> was he being nice to you guys? was he happy you were there? was he mad at you for being there? >> he was happy we were there. >> and you heard their testimony, the two owners, i believe that was friday afternoon? >> i did. >> and did they give you permission to be there? >> they did. >> and the other individuals in this photograph, some of whom have testified in this trial, ten minutes before this photograph was taken, did you know any of them? >> i did not. >> had you ever spoken to any of them? >> no. >> and when you were there, what was the idea? was there a plan what was going to happen? >> yes. the plan was to -- i went down there to provide first aid. i also -- i brought my orange first aid kit, the fanny pack, and i also brought my pelican box which was filled with first aid stuff by my feet to provide first aid. >> the orange box by your feet you refer to as the pelican box? >> yes. >> did you have that before the 25th? >> yes. >> was it stocked? >> yes. >> with things you had bought and brought? >> yes. >> and do you go with that every day, or is that because of the situation? >> it was in the trunk of my car. >> okay. and the fanny pack? what's the situation with that? >> it was my work bag. i brought it to work with me and put it under my life guard booth. >> and that had first aid supplys? >> yes. >> after the meeting at 63rd, car source three, what happened? >> after the photograph, i believe -- i don't recall exactly, but there was about two or three vans that pulled up, like, big vans with people inside of them. >> okay. and what was their role in this evening? >> well, they showed up and wanted to protect the business. and i didn't really have