american voter, and steal the election. we know that republican congressman scott perry of pennsylvania, jim jordan of ohio, both coordinated with trump insiders to spread the big lie of election fraud. we know that jordan, also forwarded then chief of staff mark meadows advice on how to overturn biden's victory on january 6th. we just learned that senator mike lee of utah was also sending text messages to meadows on how to overturn the election. like this exchange from january the 4th, referring to the plot to get state legislators to appoint new slates of electors for donald trump. it states that he lost. senator lee writes, quote, i've been calling state legislators for hours today, and i'm going to spend hours doing the same tomorrow. we need something from state legislators to make this illegitimate, and to have any hope of winning. >> now, just think about that for a quick second. mike lee is one of 100 senators, one of two the represents the state of utah. and instead of actually doing his job, working for his utah constituents, he is texting mark meadows about how he was calling state legislators for hours trying to basically find a loophole, to help overturn a free and fair election. so, facing mounting public pressure, senator lee agreed to sit down with a local paper, the oldest daily paper in utah, the desert news, where he confessed his complicity in an attempted coup. quote, from the outset of this, i spent an enormous amount of my time doing my job, with only one objective in mind. particularly, once the electoral votes were cast, my objective was to figure out what's, if any role, congress had. this is according to ali. lee acknowledged that he encouraged the trump campaign to explore legal options to challenge election results, including recounts, and audits, and the time to raise those claims was limited. with senator lee is describing, and let's be clear about it, is the coup attempt. the plan was always to use the levers of power, through republicans in congress, to overturn the results. now, the phony recounts and audits lee worked on, only serve to give congress and mike pence a pretext to throw out biden's victory on january the 6th. and just to be absolutely clear, senator mike lee did not work in the white house. no, his constitutional duty on that day was to represent the interests of the voters in utah, not to represent donald trump. at the time, there were a free you republicans in congress who actually understood that they did not work for trump. -- and mitch mcconnell of kentucky. both of whom took to the floor to call out donald trump. >> there is no question, none. president trump is practically, and morally responsible for provoking the events of the day. no question about it. president trump is still liable for everything he did while he was in office. we have a criminal justice system in this country, we have civil litigation, and former presidents are not immune from being accountable by either one. >> the president bears responsibility for wednesday's attack on congress by mob rioters. >> he should have immediately denounced the mob, when he saw what was unfolding. these facts require immediate action from president trump. except his share of responsibility, quell the brewing unrest, and ensure that president elect biden is able to successfully begin his term. >> the president bears responsibility for wednesday's attack on congress by mob rioters. and while those words were these strongest public condemnation we saw of trump from republican leaders after the coup, and they have all largely changed their tone since, for some reason. a new book sheds light on what those two men, mccarthy and mcconnell, were reportedly saying in private. in a preview of their upcoming book, journalist alexander burns, and alexander martin report, quote, on a phone call with several other top house republicans on january the 8th, mccarthy said trump's conduct on january the 6th, had been atrocious and totally wrong. he faulted the president for inciting people to attack the capitol, saying that trump's remarks at a rally on the national mall that day, we're not right by any shame or any form. during that conversation, mccarthy inquired about the mechanism for invoking the 25th amendment. the process by which the vice president and members of the candidate can remove a sitting president from office. as per mcconnell, a report on the lunch conversation with key advisers from kentucky over chick-fil-a sandwiches, debating with to do about trump, after it became clear that the democrats were impeaching trump in the house. mcconnell said, and i'm quoting here, the democrats are going to take care of the son of a bee for us. now, in the intervening year, both of the men have fled right back to donald trump side. -- to kiss trump's ring, and earn his forgiveness. but here is the thing, and don't forget this. mitch mcconnell was wrong, democrats were not able to take care of trump for republicans, and that's for a number of reasons, including a seeming inability to form a functioning governing coalition in the senate. as well as, though, and let's be clear about, it republican obstruction. congressional republicans have done absolutely nothing to strengthen our laws in this country to prevent a second attempted coup from happening. there have been no structural changes to stop someone from stealing the next election. the same rules are still in place, and this highlights the real difference between the democratic party, and the republican party since the end of the last election. where republicans are in power in a number of state legislators, in secretary of state offices, they are working around the clock to make it easier to steal the next election. they realize that they got pretty close last time, within inches, and they want to help grease the wheels for their next attempt. on the other side, house democrats, with the help of two republicans, are doing excellent and critical and vital work investigating the coup, including a planned meeting with the ex president son don jr., who is reportedly planning on answering questions before the committee voluntarily. but believe me, if the republicans take congress in november, mitch mcconnell and kevin mccarthy and the rest of them, they will do everything in their power to help donald trump. the man they once spoke so forcefully against get back into power. betsy woodruff swan is the national correspondent at politico, where she has extensively covered congress's investigation into january the 6th. her latest piece is titled january 6th, panel piecing together details of final trump pence call, and she joins me now. betsy, it's great to see you again, thanks for making time for us tonight. let's start with donald trump junior here for the moment, he has appeared to be, from what we've learned so far from the reporting out there, a linchpin to a lot of the communication that was taking place around that day, and his dad's position in office, and mark meadows. what do we know about this potential meeting between donald trump jr., and the january six committee? when are they keying on trying to piece together. >> we expect the meeting to happen at some point in the coming weeks. donald trump jr., of course, is at least a third member of trump's family who is going to voluntarily appear before the select committee, and it just shows the extent to which trump world resistance to this panel is pretty rapidly melting away. six months ago i would've been surprised if you told me the donald junior was going to cooperate, but based on all the reporting, he is. we've recently learned specifically about him is that he was way in during the january 6th attack, directly to chief of staff mark meadows, based on these released tax showing that he texted meadows during the attack, saying that a tweet that trump issued calling for the people attacking the capitol to, quote, remain peaceful, or stay peaceful, was not enough. don junior basically told meadows that trump needed to do more, needed to take stronger steps to try to quell the violence. he is in a really interesting spot because he was never an administration official, but it is very closely connected to trump's political operation, very closely connected to the grassroots, and they don't are communities that supported trump. he really has his finger on the pulse, and the fact that during the attacked he was weighing in that way, and watching things as closely as he was, means he's gonna have some insides. the question is, how candid forthcoming is he before the panel? >> quick question on why he is doing this voluntarily. do you have any insight into why don jr. agreed to this questioning voluntarily? >> that is a good question. i am, unfortunately, i don't know specifically why he chose to respond voluntarily. i do midst same reasons that ivanka trump and jared kushner did, they don't want to get subpoenaed. >> i know that you've reported on one of the latest targets for the committee. in part, writing, quote, in recent weeks, they've learned even more from several high-profile witnesses who were in the oval office while trump rated pence for refusing to overturn the election. one crucial fact remains, top tens aides say the former vice president was in his residence when the call came in. he then left the room, and was out of earshot for about 15 to 20 minutes. critical timeline, there, betsy. what is the committee hoping to learn from that phone call? >> what they want to know is more about the level of pressure that trump put on pants, and then the ways that pence grappled with that episode. we've reported in this piece that some of the longtime trump aides who were in the room, listening just to trump side of the conversation, were shocked when they realized that pence, for the first time that they've ever experienced, was actually putting his foot down, and was actually putting back against president trump, for the entirety of the trump administration pence was seen as somebody who is pretty much always on board with everything. and that phone call, at least for some of the listeners in the room with trump, was the first time they ever really heard him push back, it was an extraordinary moment for him. that said, even that pushback, even then, pence tried to do in the most differential way possible. we also learned that his team tried to wait till the latest possible moment on january 6th, to say publicly, that he was going to refuse to do what trump wanted, and he certified the electoral college results. still, pence got as cases that line as he could, and in cross, it and he will have to pay the consequences. >> betsy woodruff swan, i was always great reporting, thanks for joining us with those details, greatly appreciated. rick hansen it is an election law -- he is the author of chief speech, how disinformation poisons our politics, and how to curate. and he just write an analysis of how to identify and minimize the risk of election stealing, for the harvard law review. rick, it's great to see you again, thank you for joining us. i want to talk to you tonight because of the big question, not about what happened in 2020, but what has happened since 2020. one of the risks of a successful coup attempt within the next few election cycles in this country? have we done anything to shore up our elections to, prevent a repeat of 2020 successfully. >> well, the first thing i'd say, is i'm not so worried about 2022 as i am about 2024. because the united states presidential election is uniquely open to influence. those stole many steps between people voting, and congress ultimately determining who the winner is. there is lots of room for people to act in bad faith. we saw the attempts in 2020 to get people to do that. to get state legislatures to clear our knit states of electors. to get secretaries of states to overturn the results of state elections. none of that happened, but in 2022 there have been new people put in place, who are potentially going to be ready, in 2024, to steal an election, should that be necessary. so no, i don't think we've done nearly enough to deal with the risks that our election systems are facing, the serious risks coming up in 2024. >> let's speak specifically about some of those risks, as part of your analysis you write, quote, congress must amanda replace the 1887 electoral count act. not only to confirm that the vice president has no unilateral authority to accept or reject electoral college votes, but also to make it harder for senators or representatives to raise frivolous objections to a liberal college vote counts there was some talk about a bipartisan compromise on the electoral count act, which seems to have fizzled out. at this point, what should democrats do? is there time for them to act unilaterally while they still have the majority of both the house, the senate, and the white house. >> i think the best hope of getting something through is not gonna be unilateral action by democrats, democrats tried for over a year to pass the freedom to vote act the john lewis voting rights advancement act. they can't do it because joe manchin and a few other senators won't blow up the filibuster, so the only hope of passing legislation to deal with problems to the electoral count act, and other risks to election subversion, is for them to be a bipartisan deal. from what i understand there's still conversations going on with joe manchin, susan collins, and others. so i don't think that effort is quite dead, though we haven't heard much about it over the last few months. i think there's a realization that, if it doesn't happen soon. it's not going to happen in the next congress, if kevin mccarthy is in charge of the house of representatives, there is no way that a trump fluky like that is gonna pass laws to make it harder to steal an election. >> so, let me see if i can ask another way, which is between now, in 2024, which is the moment you are, and a lot of americans, including myself, are concerned about. a potential repeat. what other actions can be taken? either congress, executive order, outside of either of those branches, on a state legislative level, that can shore up election security, and integrity, in this country? >> there is a lot to be done, even if congress doesn't act. only congress can fix the electoral count act, there are things that can be done in each state. for example, make sure that they're not using holy electronic voting machines. that there is a piece of paper, to be re-counted. push, and your local areas, for transparency and how votes will be counted. what is someone who embraces the big lie is, the one who's in charge of elections next time? ultimately, we have to be prepared to organize civil society, the center of the society. church groups, corporations, labor unions, coming together, they disagree about a lot of things. they agree we need free and fair elections, and comply with the rule of law. it may take the american people, getting out into the streets, to assure them, to have a free and fair election in 2024. >> as about to say, we will speak to michigan attorney general, precisely about that, coming up later in the show. great to see you, as always, for your insights. coming up, to that point, how much will the big lie influencer next elections? the michigan race that tests the staying power of trump's big legacy. just ahead. later, remember the math books governor ron desantis said would, quote, indoctrinate students? tonight, we track them down. he will show us what he had and it's a great story. trust me, you don't want to mess up. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. xfinity mobile runs on america's most reliable 5g network, but for up to half the price of verizon, so you have more money for more stuff. this phone? fewer groceries. this phone? more groceries! this phone? fewer concert tickets. this phone? more concert tickets. and not just for my shows. switch to xfinity mobile for half the price of verizon. that's a savings of over $500 a year. switch today. in 2020, michigan was ground zero for donald trump's big lie, of a stolen election. trump lost that state, by over 150,000 votes. but, he refused to accept that outcome. instead, trump claimed that democrats stole the election and, he summoned michigan state lawmakers to the white house, trying to convince him of such. trump sent rudy giuliani, on his behalf, to michigan, where he pressed false claims of voter fraud, to the state house oversight committee. you might remember this woman. melissa, who testified that giuliani, that day. take a watch. >> the pole book is completely off. completely off. >> off by 30,000? >> i would say that paul book is off by over 100,000. >> how many registered voters are on there? do you even know the answer to that? >> i'm trying to get to the bottom of this. >> there is zero. >> so, my question, then, is -- >> wait, guess -- what about the turnout rate? 120%? >> we aren't seeing the pull book off by 30,000 votes. >> why did you guys do? take it into something crazy to it? >> of course, there was no fraud. trump lost in michigan, and all the claims you heard there that have been while li debunked. but, to secure that, trump has now endorsed two candidates for office, to run the state elections in 2024. pick for secretary of state, christina karamo, and for attorney general, matt appear no. both of them, big believers, in the big lie. and, all of this comes to ahead, this weekend. on saturday, the republican convention to michigan, the first early test to see how much the big lie is driving the race, will be on display. joining me now, current attorney general, dana nessel. thank you for joining us, great to see you again. as i was mentioning this saturday, it is not the official nomination, but it does act like a party endorsement, or precursor, if you will, for later this year. do you think that the big lie will propel trump's cand to the top of this race? >> that's the big question that everybody wants to see what's answered. trump has a stranglehold on the republican party in, this state. his support is very real, within the base of the party. it does not mean, that amongst the general public, that is true, but, certainly, it is among republicans. trump has endorsed this man, that is running to replace me, over, and over, and over again. i just beat him in court, again, today, in the county where he filed this facetious case, indicating, there was fraud in the 2020 election, in michigan, which has been proven to be false over, and over, and over again. but, the former president has handpicked him, and selected him. he went so far as to say, elect matt to per know, as ag, and you will never have to worry about me winning in 2024. so, what is the subtext to that? clearly, the reason why he is supporting these individuals to be chief elections officer in our state, and the chief law enforcement officer in the state, is to ensure that he can manipulate the election, as opposed to our electoral votes going to whoever wins the election, and to defend the will of the people, they will be beholden to one man, and one man only, and that's donald trump. >> you bring up a good point and, i wanted to ask you, specifically, which is the broader implications for this country. not just about michigan. the associated press is reporting, on a call, just yesterday, trump said, quote, this choice is not just about 2022, it is about ensuring the state of michigan cannot be stolen from republicans, in 2024. or ever again. how much power could a state attorney general deal have, when it comes to the outcome of a presidential election, in a given state? those are alarming words, from the president, we heard yesterday. >> the attorney general has substantial power. they represent the state of michigan, in all of the lawsuits. we represent the secretary of state, and the governor. if you recall, we had lawsuit, after a lawsuit, after lawsuit, attempting to decertify the election in michigan, and, in several other states. we had lawsuits from sydney powell, we had lawsuits from attorney general ken paxton, from texas attempting to decertify all our elections. really, there is no lawful election to the certify an election of the state, after they have already certified. they tried, but it was up to me, and my department, to defend the state of michigan in their, and they threw him in there, and said, i stipulate to this, go ahead texas, or go ahead sydney powell, decertify our elections, and it does not contest those lawsuits. or, behind the scenes, tries to manipulate things like what happens at the state board of canvassers, or county board of canvassers. it does not fight, vigorously, in order to ensure, the will of the people prevails. but, certainly, we will not have democracy in the state of michigan, and we won't have democracy in any of those states, where you have secretaries of state, and attorneys general, who are beholden to donald trump, instead of being beholden to the constitution. >> michigan state attorney general, danny nessel, madam attorney general, thank you for your time, we will watch what happens this weekend, and continue the conversation in the weeks, and months ahead. thank you for your time. next, russia has moved operations from kyiv, and now, president biden is announcing another wave of military aid for ukraine. may interview with a former russian foreign minister, putin's position in the war and order's next move might be, right after this. i had no idea how much i wamy case was worth. c call the barnes firm to find out what your case could be worth. we will help get you the best result possible. ♪ call one eight hundred, eight million ♪ after my car accident, ♪ call owondnder whahatmy c cas. eight million ♪ so i called the barnes firm. -- i'm rich barnes. youour cidedentase e woh than insurance offered? call the barnes firm now to find out. yoyou ght t beurprpris in the donbas region. this package includes heavy artillery weapons, dozens of howitzers, and 144,000 rounds of ammunition to go with those howard service. it also includes more tactical drones. in the past two months, we've moved weapons and equipment into ukraine at record speed. we sent thousands of anti-armor and anti-middle -- rifles, radar systems. more than 50 million rounds of ammunition have already been sent. >> today, president joe biden announced another 800 million dollar aid package for ukraine to help fight off the russian invasion. plus, another $500 million in direct economic existence to the ukrainian government. all this comes just one week after the u.s. gave the ukraine another 800 million dollar military aid package. when you look at the totality of it, almost two months into it, russia's military has largely pulled out of the kyiv region, focusing its efforts now on the south and west of the country, with the fighting there remains intense. the u.s. in the west continue to support the ukrainian government and military, andrei kozyrev served as the russian foreign minister -- in the poster v8 era. he was a member of russia's legislature, the dumas, he's also the author of the firebird, the elusive fate of russian democracy, he joins us live, now. thank you so much for joining us, it's great to see you again. i know this is the second enormous military aid package from the u.s. in the last two weeks, as i was saying there. two questions, what message does that send to vladimir from the u.s. in the last two weeks, as i was saying there. two questions, what message does that send to vladimir putin? and, is it enough? >> i think this package is actually much better than the previous one. because, it seems that, finally, president biden and the white house, probably pentagon, crossed the line from defensive weapons. it's not enough in any military confrontation, you cannot win a small skirmish, you cannot win an especially large war like the one in ukraine, only being defensive. you need eye shields, but you need a sword, and now it looks like they start to supply the ukrainians with swords. and that's very important and that will send a decisive message to the kremlin. >> do you think that all of you need eye shields, but you need a sword, and now it looks like they start to supply the ukrainians with swords. and that's very important and that will send a decisive message to the kremlin. >> do you think that all of this and what's your assessment it, years now uses of these type of weapons, plus the sanctions, will actually, you are saying it's going to send a decisive message to putin. we'll get him to the negotiating table, or even better get him to withdraw? >> well, if the next package, actually, will be also offensive weapons or heavy artillery -- which could cross farther then the smaller weapons that are good only for defensive operations. then the ukrainian army will be able to advance. which is important, which is courageous from their side, and america played tremendous importance, and a general role to provide them with defensive weapons. importance, and a general role to provide them with defensive weapons. but this will be the first step, actually, in providing considerable amounts of not only defensive weapons. attack weapons, if you will. the next rounds might change the situation significantly on the ground,. putin and the kremlin regime understands only force. what they will do -- what they actually meet with defeat, not only with resistance, but defeat. around kyiv -- but in that new terrain, you need a much more powerful artillery, much more powerful attack weapons. so, only defeat might cure them. they tend to be mad people, but they are not. >> let me play for you this video. vladimir putin had this strange meeting today with his defense minister, you've probably seen it, where he announced success america poll, despite ukrainian forces remaining in one sprawling steel plant. i want to play for you and our viewers a moment of this exchange, watch. >> [interpreter] i consider the proposed storming of the industrial zone unnecessary. this is a case where we always must think of preserving the lives and health of our soldiers and officers. there is no needs to climb into these catacombs, and climb into these industrial facilities. block off this industrial area. >> what do you make of that? why would he, first of all, do that in front of the cameras, and why would he just call off this attack that has been building up, building up for the last week that has caused so much of the world's attention. >> as i said, if they meet with courageous resistance, and when they see that they cannot achieve their goals, they start to pretend, first that he will declare a victory hill declare success. in any case, even if they tomorrow are rooted out ukraine altogether in the ukrainian regional frontiers or borders. which are, by the way, recognized in budapest -- which i coauthored with an american counterparts. so, even in that case, he will tell russian people and the propaganda will echo that, and will defend that he had success. but also, the second part, is that he again demonstrated how ruthless and how barbaric is his war. because he wants them to die, probably, out of hunger there. >> former russian foreign >> former russian foreign minister andrei kozyrev, thanks so much for joining us, and thank you for time tonight, thanks for your insights. coming up, whoa is inside those math books that florida officials found too dangerous to teach in classrooms judd legum track some of the down, and you'll never get sweaty found in them. he joins me, straight ahead. america i have the left hooked on mask and pandemic powers. democrats are drunk with power. >> the masking is all about power and control. >> i think this is about tyranny versus freedom, i think the mask symbolizes control now. >> joe biden wants control. that's with the mask mandate is. >> the mask have become a control mechanism. i know liberals take special joints in people cover their face, lose their identity. >> they love controlling you. right down to mask-wearing. >> all right, so that has been the nonstop chorus on fox news ever since max mandates went into effect nearly two years ago. masks are tyranny, the lid, they just want to control, you they want to mask your identity. now i'm not sure anyone loves masks or wants to wear them forever or for the sake of it. but we do know and if you believe in science that masks to work. they reduce the spread of the virus which is what you actually want to do in the middle of a deadly global pandemic. don't take my word for it, numerous studies including this very large scale won by researchers at yale and stanford involving nearly 350,000 people, have shown that masks are effective. and yet, on monday, a single federal judge in florida got rid of the mask mandate on public transportation in one fell swoop. she alone made a public health decision impacting hundreds of millions of people and their lives. judge catherine kimble myself a former clerk for conservative justice clarence thomas. she was nominated to the venture down trump in 2020 at the age of 33. the american bar association deemed her not qualified for the lifetime appointment because she did not have enough experience. now the biden administration is actually appealing her ruling, and that should be celebrated because the centers for disease control believes that the mandate is still necessary to protect public health. but as we await that impending court battle, at least one person on fox news is having a grand old time gleefully celebrating the end of masks. >> a federal district judge and tampa has vacated biden cdc national mask mandate for planes, and other modes of public transportation. we're gonna have more on this monumental ruling, ruling for freedom in just a bit. but for now, sayonara, sucker. look if they want to pass a law mandating masks on planes, i suggest they pass the law. let's actually do that or try to do that and see how that rolls with the american people. >> well, the american people actually would agree with that. because a new poll shows that 56% of adults are in favor of requiring masks on public transportation compared to just 24% who opposed it. so this trump appointed judge has brought us right back to the trump years when we had a tyranny of the minority. a minority of americans voted for donald trump, a minority of americans approved of his mishandling of the pandemic, in a minority of americans support dropping masks in public transport. while hundreds of people are still dying from this virus each day. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85, and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. what are the three ps? the three ps of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65 and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80, what's my price? $9.95 a month for you too. if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the #1 most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. no medical exam, no health questions. your acceptance is guaranteed. and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock so your rate can never go up for any reason. so call now for free information and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner. and it's yours free just for calling. so call now for free information. the bad guys is the winner of the truly moving picture award. oh, stop! you making me blush. it's an action packed animated adventure. show the world that you're more than just a scary stereotype. everyone will love. is this wagging? - good right? one of the major republican campaigns over the last year has been to ban whatever they deem as quote, critical race theory in public schools. now of course, they have been, they haven't been able to point any examples of such esoteric college level theory actually being taught in k through 12. but that hasn't actually stopped them from trying to weed out anything that might teach kids that racism actually exists in this country. last week, florida's a permanent education rejected 54 math books, more than 40% of the books that were submitted for review. now 28 of those were rejected because they quote, incorporate prohibited topics or unsolicited strategies, including critical race theory. again, these are math books for kids. in fact, the highest number of rejections were for books for grade k through five. 71% of the materials were rejected. republican florida governor ron desantis defended the decision saying there is no room for feelings when it comes to math. >> math is about getting the right answer and we want kids to learn the things that they get the right answer. it's not about how you feel about the problem, or to introduce some of these other things. there's a right answer and there's a wrong answer and we won elections getting the right answers. >> all right, so what exactly was in these math books that made them to dangerously touchy-feely for governor desantis in florida republicans to be used? journalists shut it like a men 's team at the popular information's letter got their hands on some of these banned books and judd joins me now. , chagrin to have you with us. let's go through some of these really quickly. how many of these projected books to junior team read? >> we were able to get our hands on eight of them. >> okay and how much evidence of critical race theory did you find in those books? >> nothing. absolutely nothing and in fact, we really didn't find anything that could even arguably be close to critical race theory at any of these textbooks. >> so then tell us what did you find in those math textbooks that reference rate, that has the republicans so worried. >> well it's interesting and as you mentioned most of the textbooks that were rejected were for elementary school students. we obtained four of the rejected textbooks for elementary school students. and in all of those textbooks, we couldn't find any mention of race in any context. even just in passing. in the middle school textbook that we obtained, there was only one that was rejected and we got our hands on it. we did find some very brief biographies in the margins of the book about famous mathematicians. and some of those mathematicians were african americans. for instance they had a brief biography of elbert cox, the first african american to earn his ph. d.. but they had many biographies of people of all different races from different countries. so this certainly wasn't an emphasis on any particular one. in the high school text, there was an acknowledgment at times, and this is very brief mention, among hundreds, thousands of problems, some of the problems as part of the factual predicate for a math problem. would talk about racial disparities, for instance there was a problem that dealt with sickle cell armenia and they discuss how it was more prevalent in african americans, much more prevalent than in white people, there was so much more problems where they did a survey by racial prejudice among different age groups. this was all just a set up for math problems. these are math books and there wasn't any discussion of critical race theory. and there wasn't anything about racial or centralism which is with the census claimed. they were very typical math books. >> and even more surprisingly is that ron desantis that he banned a lot of these books for being too much about feelings, not enough about math. i'm just wondering what does that even mean, that there's too much about feelings not enough about math? >> well, would happen on the right, they were very exercised about critical race theory but as you mentioned your intro, that's not discussed in k through education. so what they decided is, social emotional learning, scl is the same as critical race. but it's really not. it's a concept that most people be familiar with it's about teaching kids emotional skills. teaching them confidence, teaching them to get along well with others. and that's the kind of material that he used in order to reject a lot of the books, particularly in the elementary school level. >> i know that earlier today, the florida department of education finally gave you a few examples of what they rejected. what were they? >> well, some of it was just what i was talking about. this issue of social, emotional learning. passages where they're telling kids to be kind to others, to three other people with respect, to have confidence. other examples of one of which i recognize from one of the tax that we reviewed. were these high school techs where as a predicate of one of the examples for instance, talked about a test that was given about implicit bias. and racial prejudice. and really looking at that question not just to discuss racism anything else, just to talk about a math problem and an equation that the students wouldn't work through. and even more importantly, it's important to understand, this is just one problem of hundreds of in some cases thousands of problems in these text. >> it started with critical race theory and now it's spreading to matt and there's no doubt about it if republicans have their way, it's going to spread into other textbooks in this country. judd legault, thank you so much for joining, us greatly appreciate time, thank you for doing the good work on these books and much more. that is all in on this thursday night. don't forget you can catch me saturdays at 8 pm eastern sundays at 9 pm eastern right here on msnbc. you can stream the original episodes of my show, amen, on fridays on peacock. the rachel maddow show starts right now. good evening rachel. and it was one of those headlines that makes you go -- say what now? the now? a very memorable headline from the "washington post." house majority leader told colleagues in 2016, quote, i think putin pays trump. i think putin pays trump. when kevin mccarthy reportedly told that to his republican colleagues in the house, in 2016, that's when trump was running for president. speaker of the house at the time was republican paul ryan, kevin mccarthy was the number two republican in the house under the speaker, the majority leader, he is the one who reportedly said i think putin pays trump. now, at the time mr. mccarthy reportedly made those comments, donald trump wasn't just, you know, one of the 17 different republic