my first conversation with would be a part of my banned book club, and when i should talk about literature and writing and the pressures that it is under in america. let's do that another time, but thank you for being with us this morning. i appreciate it. tony kushner is a tony award winner in a pulitzer prize-winning activist. thank you so much for watching, alex witt reports begins right now. >> a very good day of all to you from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome everyone to alex witt reports. it is noon here on the east coast. six pm in gaza, and we begin with breaking news on the israel hamas war. here's what is new at this hour. >> there you hear it. israel's grinding retaliation in gaza bringing new claims of attacks on schools, refugee camps, and ambulances. and new calls for humanitarian pauses. israel's military temporarily shut down a main highway to allow evacuations in gaza, but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu says a big no to secretary of state antony blinken, because the u.s. is urging eighth minute therrien pause in the conflict. but he says a pause will only be tied to a release of all hostages. the u.n. refugee agency in gaza claims that 15 people were killed on a strike in a school, and israeli defense forces admit they struck an ambulance in gaza, but they say it was being used by hamas terrorist cell. [screaming] >> well the frantic and punishing search for victims of missile strikes is unending. former president barack obama speaking yesterday at his foundations democracy forum. he says it is easy to lose hope after the brutal attack inside of israel and subsequent war. >> i will admit, it is impossible to be dispassionate in the face of this carnage. it is hard to feel hopeful. the images of families morning, of bodies being pulled from rubble. force a moral reckoning on all of us. >> today secretary blinken met with arab leaders in jordan to define waste in the war and plan for the future of gaza, and then here is a look at the human toll of ongoing fighting. almost 9500 killed in gaza with 32,000 wounded. more than 230 killed in the occupied west bank. more than 1900 wounded, and 1400 killed in israel, more than 5400 wounded. our nbc team of reporters and analysts are standing by to bring us the very latest on the war from tel aviv to tehran. we are going to go first to nbc's jay gray. he is in tel aviv, israel for. us jay, welcome. so what can you tell us about secretary blinken's meetings today with middle east leaders and about the u.s. effort to get more aid into gaza. >> and alex, let's remember. this was a meeting that initially was meant to happen when president biden visited israel, but didn't because evan attack on a hospital inside of gaza. everything was postponed. they did hold the meeting today. the arab allies all calling for an immediate cease fire. the secretary of state stopping short of that. let's listen to what he had to say. >> we all spoke today about the need to protect palestinian civilians. the united states holds israel's right defense against hamas, a terrorist organization that attacked them brutally and that cares not a little bit about the palestinian people or their futures. this is the same right that each of our countries have. but as israel conducts its campaign, how it does it matters. israel must take every possible measure to prevent civilian casualties. >> yeah, and so he won't call for a cease-fire, but he does say that there needs to be humanitarian pauses in continues to push that point. he says with leaders here in israel, he also talked about getting more humanitarian aid in, and believe that those pauses would allow for that, and they are pushing to get fuel into gaza as well. that is not happen to this point. as we've heard, the only thing that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has said about a cease-fire is that it won't happen until all of the hostages are released, and they've continued to say that new fuel is getting into gaza as long as the war is going on. and so there seems to be a blocking point there, and again, we are hearing more vocally from washington, the white house, the secretary of state here that they need to pause for a humanitarian reason. but to this point, that is not getting any traction on the ground. >> got it, okay. jay gray, thank you so much for that update from tel aviv. let's go to some new video today. this is from along the israel, lebanon border. check this out. [sound of artillery] there you see massive plumes of smoke billowing as israel's military -- iran-backed hezbollah group exchange fire. it comes a day after hezbollah's leader gave his first speech since the war broke out. let's go right now to nbc's bureau chief ali arouzi. ali, welcome to you. so what is the response been in the region to that speech yesterday? sterday? >> hey alex, the response has been mixed. if you listen to what people are saying in palestine and parts of the arab world, there was relative disappointment in hassan nasrallah's speech did not declare war, did not give some sort of an alternate -- ultimatum to israel or the u.s. to back down or that they would fully get involved in this war. but if you look at other parts of the arab world, especially lebanon, where hassan nasrallah was, and there was a sigh of relief that he did not lay out concrete steps for what hezbollah was going to do if this ground incursion or the bombing continues. and that is because lebanon is on the brink of financial collapse, and an all out war that would involve lebanon would really tip that country over the edge. and a lot of lebanese were worried about that. it was a typical hassan nasrallah speech, alex. it was long, it sounded like a lecture, and it was laced with threats, but it was not a declaration of war, which people had worried about. he talked about, you know, the proxies in the region being very valiant and hitting the u.s. troops. he talked about there being no choice for hamas to do this, but the threats came towards the end of the speech where he said that israel would make its biggest mistake in history if it carried out a preemptive operation against lebanon, and said that further escalation on the lebanese front was a possibility. he did not say it was a definite. and so he really did walk back a lot of those fears people had that he was going to declare war, and he reiterated a lot of his bosses talking points. that is the supreme leader of iran, ayatollah khamenei who talked about expelling arab diplomats from -- israeli diplomats from arab countries, stopping selling oil to israel, and other essential goods and basically trying to isolate them. it was a very opaque, it was a very vague speech about what they were going to do. and i think that goes in line with iran's perspective. this is why they have proxies fighting for them, because they do not want to get directly involved and invite a massive retribution from israel and from the united states, which would either significantly weaken them or dislodge them. and so they are walking a line here. for hezbollah to get fully involved in this war, it would be seen as iran's hand guiding them, where there are some plausible deniability where hamas is involved. so for now, it looks like they are going to walk a line. they will issue threats and keeps saying, well if this goes on, we may do this we may do that, but they are holding back. i mean yes, on the israeli lebanese border, the skirmishes have increased. and they are still a long way from an all out war, and i think that suits them for now. they're keeping the israelis -- according to the hezbollah chief, and that is working for them now. but you know, the smallest miscalculation alex that all of these events could dramatically change the course of events. >> yeah, one of the percent. that is what is so worrisome about this. let me ask you a question. this may be better suited to ask someone who has a diplomatic course to it, but you can understand that. what is the difference between a humanitarian pause and a cease-fire in practical terms. a humanitarian pause requires a cease-fire and cease-fires get broken all of the time. and so i am curious why so much is being made about the nomenclature here when just the mere pausing to allow for humanitarian aid might quell a lot of the concerns on both sides. >> it's a very good point that you make. i think that the concern from people who believe that israel should be pushing hard is a cease-fire is a undetermined in very long period of time, and that would enable hamas to regroup, re-arm, resupply, which is not what they want. they want to be able to hit them hard and not give them any breathing room. whereas a pause would only last maybe 24 hours or 36 hours to lip humanitarian aid in, to let some of the very badly injured people out, and that wouldn't really give hamas much time to regroup and reorganize if we are talking about a window of 12 to 36 hours. and i think that is the differentiation between them. they don't want to give hamas any breathing room. but look, the toll that is being taken on regular people in gaza is just overwhelming. >> oh, it absolutely. as a very thoughtful response for my question, thank you so much my friend. in the next hour, i may be asking the same question when i speak with admiral james trivia this about the prospects for a broader war, and whether tony blinken can broker a cease-fire of sorts. let's go now to two big news headlines in the trials of donald trump. a federal appeals court has temporarily freed trump from a limited gag order in the d.c. election fraud case. and jack smith tells the d.c. ur that he opposes a push by media outlets including nbc universal to have cameras in federal court for trump's trial. trump will testify monday in the new york state civil fraud trial against his company, his daughter ivanka will testify there on wednesday. also new today, an explosive turn in trump's civil trial three days before he takes the stand. the judge issued a new supplemental limited gag order over remarks about his law clerk. that order came after a contentious exchange when trump's attorneys made remarks on the record about the law clerk. the same staffer trump posted about on social media, and that is what led to $15,000 in fines. nbc news investigative reporter chloe atkins is join me now here in the studio. so big welcome to you. you have had pretty much a front row seat all of this. you are in the courtroom when this heated exchange was going on. tell us what happened, walk us through. it >> so this past week was a major week and -- to say the very least. at the heart of what took place at trial was over the law clerk, like you just eloquently laid out. trump's attorneys and the judge went head to head over the law clark. the comment that were made about her being biased, left leaning, and taking issue with the note passing between the judge and the law clerk. trump's attorney even called it improper and irregular, but the judge, this guy aguirre, this moment he said look, i have an unfettered right to do so. to communicate with my staff and what this order, with this gag order does is it barr as trump's attorneys, trump, his sons, so on so forth for making comments about the communications that take place between the judge and his staff. also in the order he underscored, which he has before, the large amount of threats that have come towards his staff, his office during this trial. so we have yet to hear from trump's attorneys on this order, but that is something that we are watching very closely. s >> eric trump, all that happened there, a couple of beers for from him when he was on the stand. the first one is a poor concrete, i don't focus on appraisals. and it sounds like it was a really explosive day for him to, because he got pretty testy on the stand. >> he did, he did. during his exchange with the office, like you said, he was testy, even raised his voice at one moment when answering questions from the a.g.'s office. and through at the beginning this testimony, he hammered home that he knew nothing about these financial statements. he was not involved. he was not aware. but a short time after that he admitted that he was aware after he was shown in 2013 email to another trump employee looking for additional information for his father's financial statements. >> so he knew about that email he had to sign off, right? i mean ignorance, saying i don't know what i was signing off that does not sound like a viable defense. >> sure, and we saw this also with don jr., who also took the witness stand this past week where they a lot of times alluded to that. this is at the hands of the attorneys, the accountants and we have donald bender and the group who is head of accounting for that. they really shifted frame for them throughout the testimonies saying that we had don jr., it was very relaxed. a lot of times during during the trial which is the stark comparison to eric when he was at the stand. he was very tense and a lot of that i think it was due to him being confronted with that evidence, that contradicted his initial testimony. >> maybe different levels involvement. they're different servants. i'm curious what you expect to see when donald trump takes the stand what, like 48 hours from now? and then subsequently ivanka on wednesday. >> exactly. so it's going to be a big moment, in this trial the filly going to be some explosive testimony come monday. we even saw secret service cutting out the area leading up to monday. morning which he is set to take a stand around 10 am. we are likely to see him really probably ousted don junior and eric really lean on shifting blame like i said to the attorneys, to the conference saying that i was not involved in the weeds when it came to putting together these financial statements. . i was really more big picture. and so that is what we expect him to take. now ivanka is also poised to take the stand on wednesday. we're not sure exactly what she will talk, about but the a.g.'s office had said that she is intimate, she has intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the trump organization and business dealings. >> which when you come back in the next hour, i'm going to ask you a little bit more about what we expect from her. thank you coy, good to see you. so that is just the beginning of the trump legal saga this week. what happened in another courtroom thousands of miles away could prove the biggest threat to trump's 2024 chances. the 14th amendment question is now very real. and later on, michigan secretary of state jocelyn benson joins us. donald trump is suing her over the 14th amendment efforts there. we will get a response and we are back in 60 seconds. (♪ ♪) the walking tree is said to change its entire location in pursuit of sunlight (♪ ♪) where could reinvention take your business? accenture. let there be change. honey... honey... nyquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu relief with a dreamy honey taste. nyquil honey, the nighttime, sniffing, sneezing, couging, aching, fever, honey-licious, best sleep with a cold, medicine. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. >> we are now awaiting rulings on two historic cases that could determine whether donald trump will be on the ballot in two key states. closing arguments in colorado are set for later this month, and minnesota's supreme court could rule in the matter in just a couple of days or weeks. the lawsuits are among many filed around the country seeking to disqualify trump for his role in the january 6th attack. the cases argue that trump violated section three of the 14th amendment, which says officials who take an oath to uphold the constitution should be disqualified from public office if they engage in a insurrecti or rebellion or gave aid or comfort to those who do. trump's attorneys argue he is protected by the first amendment. joining me now is charles pullman, former brooklyn prosecutor, msnbc legal analyst as well. but also host of the charles coleman podcast. okay my friend, let's get into this, charles. how compelling are these competing theories in court this week? is this a political question, or is it a constitutional one? and how much gets left to interpretation rather than just a sense of constitutional law. >> well alex, i think that at its core what we are dealing with is indeed the constitutional question. but it is inevitable that we have to consider the political lenses where we are exploring in examining this because we are in the midst of a presidential cycle and in election cycle where donald trump is a candidate. that being said, the issue really boils down to is how does the 14th amendment actually articulate what is insurrection for the purposes of disqualifying you candidate, and what is aiding insurrections for the purpose of describing defying a candidate. i think it's on trump's fence team has put forth a legal interesting theory. all of this being first impression. these are not issues that we receive. obviously this is new, uncharted territory. so because of that, the issue is going to come down to the interpretation of the constitution and specifically that clause in the 14th amendment around what it is to be a insurrectionist and what it is to aid and abet insurrectionists. because donald trump's argument is going to be and has been that all his dumb is used and exercise his right to free speech. >> yeah. by that description there, it has been given a lot of thought, including that from the minnesota supreme court chief justice, who posed a question at the beginning of the hearing, saying even if all of the justices agree that theyhave the -- to bar trump on the ballot, quote, should we? that is the question that concerns me the most. will there be judicial restraint to avoid electoral chaos? will this end up in the supreme court? regardless how they will? re i think that is one thing everyone here has to be cognition of. you have to strap in. likely one way or another, this is going in the long haul. i do understand that the judges express concerns because it is the type of thing that you don't want to have on your hands considering that many people will charge you one way or the other with interfering with an election. and for people who do not understand, you cannot assume that donald trump meets the standard of an insurrectionist simply because you say so. it is important to note that jack smith has not charge donald trump with insurrection regardless of what the human eye test may tell us, he has not been convicted of that. because he has not been convicted or even indicted for that, the question then becomes, what is the standard? you cannot necessarily call someone an insurrectionist and then -- from the ballot based on the 14th amendment because you say so. so that is a big deal in terms of understanding where is that line drawing and has we actually crossed it. if he had been charged or indicted or convicted, now that is a very different conversation as opposed to what some people believe and many people for that matter believes that his role was in the january 6th insurrection. now having said that, again, as justices look at this and consider the but it's what ramifications, that is when that lens alex that we were just talking about begins to shift from being constitutional to political. and it is something that most jurists would like to avoid if they can. and so there is going to be a hesitancy. but make no mistake, this is more likely than not going to go to appeals courts and then after that likely to end up in front of the supreme court. >> yeah, i think you're absolutely right on that. let's switch gears a bit and get to more on the civil fraud trial for donald trump here in new york. p as you know is that to testy on monday. his sons don junior and eric already took the stand. ivanka lost her appeal to delay it will not testify on wednesday. what if accuse gotten from don junior and eric, charles? >> most of what prosecutors got was to be expected. they were going over documents that eric and don already knew we're going to be asked about through discovery and through the fact that these were documents that had their centers on themselves. it is confirming number one that hey, you did sign these things. you were responsible for certain things that into that being filed and that were false. and so there has been a sort of interesting dance between the witnesses and the prosecutors. keep in mind it is very important to remember that this is not a trial about liability. it is a civil trial. but the judge has essentially already ruled in favor of the state on the notion of liability, finding -- in the a.g.'s office after summary judgment. this conversation that's going on right now is really about penalty. because the judge has the ability essentially to dissolve all of donald trump's legal dealings, business dealings rather in new york state. so that is what we are having the conversation about. we have seen the witnesses try to distance themselves or place everything on the accountants and the experts. at the same time, the problem with that, speaking as a former prosecutor i can tell you is that listen, you are talking about documents that bury your signatures and have information that was put in there by accountants, but they had to get that information somewhere. so you serve as the source, and that is the problem. >> but let me ask you, and i asked this of chloe. is pleading ignorant to a degree saying, i don't know what i signed, i trusted somebody else. when you are in a position of leaving a company, an officer of a company like they both were, and you are signing documents, don't you have some sort of a legal responsibility to know what the heck it is that you are signing? know wh>> alex, pleading ignory sounds good if you are ignorant, and that's really what it boils down to. you have a fiduciary duty if you are a name trustee or a named officer of a business or corporation to make sure and ensure that whatever is going into those documents, or whatever the final versions of those documents is accurate. and what we are talking about here, let's be very clear. these are not sort of miniscule tens of dollars in terms of difference in evaluations. we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in the difference between evaluations that also exulted in the trump organization being -- access to credit, loans, and all sorts of other money at a lower price than they would have had with these documents being accurate. and so donald trump junior and eric trump cannot escape liability simply because they say i trusted the experts. each of them has a responsibility it, a financially responsibility to make sure that those documents were corrected and the contents and that they weren't finding things that were misrepresented their own value of the trump. lue of the trump understood, charles coleman, many thanks. the spillover of the israel-hamas war on the streets of america in realtime, next. of america in realtime, next. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. liberty mutual customized my car insurance and i saved hundreds. with the money i saved, i started a dog walking business. oh. [dog barks] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ (carolers) ♪ iphone 15 pro for your husband! iphone 15 pro — ♪ only pay for what you need. (wife) carolers! to tell me you want a new iphone? a better plan is verizon. (husband) no way they'd take this wreck. (carolers) ♪ yes, they will, and you'll get iphone 15 pro, ♪ ♪ aaannnnnddddd apple tv 4k, and apple one - ♪ ♪ all three on them! ♪ (wife) do that. (carolers) ♪ we tried to tell him but he paid us a lot... ♪ (husband) it was a lot... ♪ mhmmm ♪ (vo) this holiday turn any iphone, in any condition, into a new iphone 15 pro with titanium, apple tv 4k, and six months of apple one. all three on us. it's holiday everyday with verizon. (smelling) ew. gotta get rid of this. ♪tell me why♪ because it stinks. ♪have you tried downy rinse and refresh♪ it helps remove odors 3x better than detergent alone. it worked guys! ♪yeahhhh♪ downy rinse and refresh. this is american infrastructure, a prime target for cyberattacks. but the same ai-powered security that protects all of google also defends these services for everyone who lives here. ♪ the power goes out and we still have wifi for everyone to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. breaking, is live pictures of home of the xfinity 10g network. thousands are flooding d.c. right now, marching against the war in israel and gaza, organizers are expecting more than 30,000 people or so from across the country. let's go to nbc,'s allie raffa, on the ground for us at freedom plaza. ali, welcome. what are you seeing and hearing from the people there? >> alex, since the israeli hamas war started almost a month ago, we have seen countless demonstrations across the country representing both sides of this conflict. this is by far the largest we have seen in washington d.c. since this war began. i want to take steph to the side and show you what we're seeing here, some of the signs saying resistance against occupation, you see some calling for the end of u.s. aid to israel. some of them calling for a cease-fire. as you mentioned, we are expecting up to 30,000 people as this rally that is organized by the answer coalition -- 350 organizations endorsing this march. people being bused in from cities like chicago, tampa. i spoke with one woman earlier, her name is rula, she was there with her family member, rosanna, they said they had family that is trapped in gaza. her sisters, her cease nieces, their nephews, they have not been able to leave their homes because of the constant bombing. they said they're very worried about their family. the connection, the communication between them and their family has been spotty since this war began. i want you to take a bit of a listen to what we've had to say. >> i have a sister that lives in palestine, also nieces, nephews, this is personal for me. i just want to be heard, i want to know that life out there is not okay, the occupation of palestine, it's not an easy life on a day-to-day basis. >> you know, they're being killed on a daily basis. children, mothers, grandparents, sick people, hospitals, it's just unfair. we are just here to be heard. hopefully we can get our point across. >> alex, the people that we have spoken with here today said that this was beyond politics. this is beyond this war. this is about basic humanitarian rights. they feel like they had to be here to speak for the innocent palestinians who cannot speak for themselves. it is also worth noting that we have seen a small group of jewish people here who are also calling for a cease-fire. this is very personal for everybody here today, alex. >> it sure is. allie raffa, quite a crowd behind you, thank you. meanwhile, on capitol hill, there's a battle to providing aid for israel, a report on that next. it's would-be must-see tv, it's likely to never be on tv at all, after awkward scenes like this in new york, maybe that's better. should americans be allowed to witness history firsthand? as it happens at trump's d.c. trial? trial? i help others. but i need to help protect myself. honestly? i couldn't afford to get sick. i want to be there for this one. i can't if i'm sick. pneumococcal pneumonia is a potentially serious bacterial lung disease. you may be at risk if you're 19 to 64 with certain chronic conditions. or if you're 65 or older. don't pause a moment longer. ask your doctor or pharmacist about getting vaccinated against pneumococcal pneumonia today. ♪ today, my friend you did it, you did it, you did it... ♪ centrum silver is now clinically shown to support cognitive health in older adults. it's one more step towards taking charge of your health. so every day, you can say, ♪ youuu did it! ♪ with centrum silver. the chase ink business premier card is made for people like sam, who make- everyday products, designed smarter. like a smart coffee grinder, that orders fresh beans for you. oh, genius! for more breakthroughs like that- i need a breakthrough card. like ours! with 2.5% cash back on purchases of $5,000 or more. plus unlimited 2% cash back on all other purchases. and with greater spending potential, sam can keep making smart ideas- a brilliant reality! the ink business premier card from chase for business. make more of what's yours. oh... stuffed up again? so congested! you need sinex saline from vicks. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! about two years ago, i realized that jade was overweight. i wish i would have introduced the fresh food a lot sooner. after farmer's dog, she's a much healthier weight. she's a lot more active. and she's able to join us on our adventures. get started at betterforthem.com goli, taste your goals. and she's able to join us in a crisis caused. by a terrorist massacre. warning civilians to clear out, while hamas forces them back. allowing in food and water, which hamas steals. breaking news on the israel-hamas war, anthony blinken is again calling for a humanitarian pause on israel's retaliation for the hamas attack. he is joined in that call today by arab leaders that are meeting in jordan. again, prime minister benjamin netanyahu says any humanitarian pause must be tied to the release of all hostages. from there to capitol hill, senate democrats say the house passed a bill to israel will be dead on arrival. president biden vows to veto it. nbc's julie tsirkin joining us from capitol hill as always. julie, how are the house democrats reacting to this? why didn't most of them support this bill? >> because in their, words this bill was paired with a poison pill. that is those cuts to the irs, which by the, way i should point, out the congressional budget office, the non partisan entity that scores these bills, said would actually add to the deficit despite speaker mike johnson saying that his priority was to pay for the aid to israel. that is why you saw just 12 democrats in the house actually supporting this bill. one of those democrats, i spoke to him yesterday, congressman jared moskowitz, a jewish member of congress, this was personal for him. here's what he told me. >> when speaker johnson made a tremendous mistake. he was outrageous in his very first week in office he decided to politicize israel. he could have brought all parties together. he put have brought democrats, republicans to the steps right after passing a bipartisan bill to show the american people that we all support israel. instead he chose to do a political male or. masquerading as policy. don't ask me, i, mean the nrcc put out a tweet saying democrats will have to choose between the irs and israel. i mean, israel's greatest time of need, an ash nil security issue, or number one ally? the most amount of juice killed since the holocaust? for me it was personal. >> he went on to share his personal story of his family that did escape the holocaust. he said this was an easy vote for him because of that. but certainly for those other democrats, they did have to choose between these partisan spending cuts and support to israel. again, that bill is not going to go anywhere in the senate or to the white house. >> so what is the new speaker johnson's response to all of this? >>, well he continuously said, including at his first press conference on thursday with us, reporters, he said he's gonna keep putting pills on the floor that would have spending cuts attached to it. again,, though for jared moskowitz and other democrats, they're hoping the senate will send over a package with israel aid, aid to ukraine as well. and with some border security measures to that they then can support. >>, julie tsirkin, thank you so much. let's go now to a new filing by special counsel, jack, smith saying a d.c. judge late friday that he opposes cameras in the courtroom for donald trump's election interference trial. this is after we've gotten a few frames of video from the trump ink trial in manhattan. capturing some seemingly awkward moments from all parties. no actl trial coverage. this is how today's washington post has framed it. trump and media want to televised trial in d.c.. the u.s. doesn't. joining me, now josh, christine senior critical affairs writer for politico. whose latest article is titled, feds fight cameras for d.c.'s criminal trial. you're the perfect edgewalk about this, joshua. what is the argument by the jack smith and justice department team against televising the trial? we >> well, the main argument, alex, is basically the rules are the rules. cameras and audio recording have really, with very rare exceptions, not been allowed in federal court rooms, especially criminal courtrooms for several decades now. they go beyond the rules and say they think that in the current political climate, it is possible that witnesses could fear retaliation. one of the big questions about all of these trump trials is, you know, will they be able to find a jury? what kind of jury will they get? are people concerned that they are going to unwittingly become celebrities? what is some people worrying about is maybe they are interested in becoming celebrities as a result of these trials. these are all kinds of arguments that the government put forward. the main thrust of it was that the rules pretty much prohibited. the reason not any room for the judge who is overseeing this election subversion trial in washington to grant some sort of exception for the trump case. >> so how much they take into consideration the historical importance of this trial in pushing against cameras? could there be a provision that the event would at least be recorded for posterity? >> well, that media coalitions who i should mention include politico, my employer, there's also another separate one by your employer, nbc, to have some sort of video coverage of this trial. giving a couple different options, one is to allow in a camera, the other would-be that the court itself could record these proceedings and somehow make them available either immediately or, as you, say perhaps for posterity. there's even an argument put forward by nbc that the current rules does not prohibit broadcasting a trial, it just prohibits being in the courtroom. a lot of the concerns come from cases several decades ago in state court where you had a news man, as you call them at the time, broadcasting literally on the radio from inside the courtroom, which made the whole trial even more of a spectacle than you might think in the modern era. we >> nbc's argument would be then, you could just put a camera, not a fiscal person when, and get the information that way which is interesting. is there concern that it could potentially be leaked if it was not meant for being televised? when >> there is probably concerned about. that that is going to happen anyway, alex. the camera being in there. because there's no way the number of people who want to see these trials can be accommodated in the galleries of these courtrooms. i was just down at the one in florida where they were going to have classified documents trial. there is a total of two rows of seats, not only for the press, but for support staff, lawyers involved, probably fbi agents and so forth. there is just no way that courtroom can't accommodate the people that would be interested in watching such a trial. they are already going to have an overflow and probably a video audio feed to other rooms in the courtroom. the question is really, whether be an opportunity for people who can't physically make it to the courthouse to see what is going on in these proceedings? or is it only going to be people that have the privilege to be able to get to the courthouse to actually understand what is happening. >> let me ask you about the second obvious aspect of, this trump's lawyers wanting this trial to be televised. i'm curious about their angle about that. what about donald trump himself? does he consider a televised trial as some kind of a potential campaign promotional windfall of sorts? is that what he's hoping? >> right, so this is a murky question at this point, alex. because in the filing last night from the government, they said the trump's lawyer said that they took no position on the medias request to televise the washington trial. however, his attorney, john laura, when he first came on the case back in july and august, was quite vocal in saying that this should be televised. he told us last night that they would file their position with the court than a few days here. but i think there is no question that trump has decided that, you know if he's going to be on trial, he wants to make lemonade out of these lemons. if you look at the way he's handling that trial up in new york, on his business empire, he has been basically performing for that pool camera that's in the hallway outside, using it as his opportunity to comment on the news of the day. sometimes to make comments about the judge or his clerk, which have gotten him fine for violating a gag order up there. there is no question that trump sees all of these trials for better or for worse as a very key aspect of his campaign for the white house next year, 2024. >> okay, politicos josh gerstein, thank you so, much good to see you. so at the top of the hour, she saw it firsthand, reporter who watched an explosive moment in the new york trump trial, coming up next, michigan secretary of state, josh allen vincent, joins me. donald trump is suing her in the 14th amendment fight. the 14th amendment fight. when breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. oh... stuffed up again? so congested! you need sinex saline from vicks. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! new lawsuit filed by donald trump this week in michigan seeks to stop the state from tossing his name off the states 2024 presidential ballot. the suit arguing that michigan's attorney general lacks authority to decide whether trump can be disqualified over his role in the january 6th insurrection. michigan is just one of 18 states where lawsuits have been filed. arguing trump is not eligible to be on the ballot based on interpretation of the 14th amendment. joining me now is the defendant named that lawsuit, michigan secretary of state, jocelyn benson, it's good to have you here. first question out of the, gate this suit claims that you lacked the authority to decide whether trump can be disqualified from the ballot for both the primary and the general election. in an opinion piece we are showing our viewers right now, in the washington post last month he wrote that you will not try to keep trump off th ballot, saying that it's not up to secretaries of stateo determine his eligibility. i'm curious what the point is of trump suing you in the state of michigan, because you've been pretty clear. >> indeed, i have. michigan law is very clear. any individual who is generally advocated by the national news media and advocated by the political parties themselves to be a presidential candidate gets on the ballot. and i've said clearly, several times, that unless a court rules otherwise, under that law the former president, donald, trump would qualify to be on the ballot. what we have seen over the last several years since 2020 is the use of lawsuits as a pr campaign. an effort to kind of misinform people and, indeed, our office has gotten several calls asking why i won't put the former president on the ballot. it's created a lot of confusion in michigan and certainly a public narrative of trump's the victim in the scenario, when really that is made out of whole cloth, based on what my office and others have officially said. >> yeah, it seems about nothing, relative to you in michigan, because you've been very clear. of, course with our, viewers knowing that secretaries of state often serve as their states chief election officers, not being your decision to make, you are saying. who does have the authority over who gets on the ballot? you mentioned the courts. is at the courts? >> yeah, it certainly is in our state and several others. something like, this which is a very thorny legal issue, unprecedented with many facts to be determined, and legal issues to be defined, like what is an insurrection? did the former president participate in it? all of that in the proper forum is in the courts. i also think the american voters have a role as. well the fact that we are having this conversation, and that several courts are seriously weighing this issue underscores the moment that we are in. we have a legitimate inquiry into whether the candidate is eligible to serve, by many accounts he engaged in an effort to block the peaceful transfer of power in this country. that is something american voters need to think about regardless of how this plays out in the courts and stay engaged in weighing their choices as they approach the ballot in several election throughout the country this year. >> okay, so you've made the argument of supporting the theory that trump is the central figure in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results. he could get disqualified from future offe. it's compelling, but there are counter guments that make this theory, as you say, far from a slam dunk how do you see the 14th amendment being applied to trump's potential role in the insurrection? what other legal or cultural aspects could be considered? kim >> well, certainly in a lot of cases like, this where there are uncertainties, many courts and i would tend to agree with this should side with letting the voters have a choice. when there's uncertainty, making sure someone does have access to the ballot so voters can weigh in and consider these arguments themselves as citizens and voters. also, we have to recognize there are ongoing criminal proceedings still playing. out there have been no convictions yet. the two existing cases where someone has been disqualified for their participation in january six, they were already having convictions on the books with help clarify the facts. that is going to unfold in the months ahead, which also makes this issue one that may impact the presidential election throughout the next year, not just in the primaries. >> you mentioned the word uncertainty. this lawsuits against you argues that you are, quote, creating uncertainty which impacts how president trump will allocate resources by not responding to a letter from trump's campaign, urging you to confirm that he will be on the ballot. again, did not you already state back on september 13th in the washington post that barring a court ruling, he will be on the ballot. my question, is are you required to send a letter back to trump's attorneys? >> well, we have never received a letter to begin with. and had we received and i think we would have official record of, that which we don't. but again, we're in an era where lawsuits are used as pr campaigns. not necessarily as credible legal arguments. so that said, certainly knowing that this is an issue that emerged over the summer as something that is occupying a lot of people's minds, we did respond to a formal request from a voter, clarifying what i said, again, publicly, which is that this is with the law in michigan. says absent a court order the former president would be on the primary ballot. we have been quite clear. there is certainty, but we also know opponents to democracy like to create this air of confusion and uncertainty as a way of making democracy less palatable. >> can i ask you quickly, i know you've been checking out the polling locations ahead of the election on tuesday. to feel things are secured? the votes will be securely cast? >> you know, what i've seen across our state where early voting is happening in local elections this fall is enormous energy and pride among poll workers, many of whom have chosen to serve for the first time because they want to defend democracy right now. that is really uplifting. especially in moments like this where we need an lit thing stories on many fronts to see so many people stepping up to service poll workers, defending democracy. we will see more of that in 2024. >> jocelyn benson, i appreciate you lifting up this show with this great conversation. thank you so. much it's not just any off-year election, why two-state matters more than you think. the answer, why next. the answer, why next. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. i was stuck. unresolved depression symptoms were in my way. i needed more from my antidepressant. vraylar helped give it a lift. adding vraylar to an antidepressant... is clinically proven to help relieve overall depression symptoms... ...better than an antidepressant alone. and in vraylar clinical studies, most saw no substantial impact on weight. elderly dementia patients have increased risk of death or stroke. report unusual changes in behavior or suicidal thoughts. antidepressants can increase these in children and young adults. report fever, stiff muscles, or confusion, as these may be life-threatening, or uncontrolled muscle movements, which may be permanent. high blood sugar, which can lead to coma or death, weight gain, and high cholesterol may occur. movement dysfunction and restlessness are common side effects. stomach and sleep issues, dizziness, increased appetite, and fatigue are also common. side effects may not appear for several weeks. i didn't have to change my treatment. i just gave it a lift. ask about vraylar and learn how abbvie could help you save. ♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing, non-medicated vicks vapors. [exhales] easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick and try vaposhower for steamy vicks vapors. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the new deli heroes. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. it's a pretty big deal. kinda like me. order in the subway app today. the power goes out and we still have wifi kinda like me. to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. >> johnny on a very busy home of the xfinity 10g network. saturday afternoon. very busy saturday afternoon >> msnbc is on the ground. >> could you release some of the hostages? just to get the process moving. >> bring you the latest developments, what it means for the region, in the world. for continuing coverage, stay with msnbc. >> we are just days away from an early test of abortion rights at the polls. tuesday's results from ohio may be a preview of what's to come in next year's election. nbc's gauff spoke with republican women near columbus. >> however, abortion may be prohibited -- >> 92 year old joe lawrence has always been in favor of abortion rights. >> i think it's up to the individual, not the government to decide what to do about a pregnancy. >> she is also a lifelong republican. she served in the ohio legislature. >> it's not a partisan issue. it really isn't. and republicans are making it, or trying to make it a partisan issue. >> other republican women from the reliably red columbus suburbs, also feel that way. in august, they voted against a republican effort to make changing the state constitution harder. many view that special election as an attempt to undermine the vote next tuesday. when ohio will decide whether to guarantee access to abortion in the state constitution. >> i thought it was kind of sneaky that it was being placed last minute on this special election. >> -- listen, of a registered republican, believes and low taxes, and small government. she also says women's bodies are their own business. >> that's a big republican ideals, that their government stays out of business. but in this particular issue, they are getting in your business. >> do you think the abortion issue has been good politically for the republican party? >> horrible. >> it is far from certain how next week's abortion vote in ohio will go, but either way, some republicans believe the party is focused on the wrong issue. >> i feel like they are missing a lot of the big ones. a lot of the struggles that people have, in day-to-day life. like inflation, it is really bad. food prices. >> erica, a mom of four young boys, is opposed to abortion. but voted against a republican mitchell awesome, or which she felt was an overreach. she is frustrated with her party. >> i don't care about the party lines. i care about truth and honesty, following my principles. >> do you feel like the republican party right now is sort of at odds with itself? >> definitely, definitely. >> lisa has similar concerns about the future of the party, heading into the 2024 presidential election. >> do you think abortion is an issue that will direct who you choose in the primaries? >> yes, absolutely. if someone was like hey, i want to impose a six-week ban, i would never vote for that person. >> i think the abortion issue is a lot bigger than most people have realized it is. you know, for republicans. >> on tuesday, the state goes to the polls. the message it sends will be felt nationwide. stephanie gosk, nbc news, delaware county, ohio. >> a confrontation with a leader of hamas that happened right in the middle of this interview, nbc's matt bradley is gonna join we had to tell us about the heated back and forth that he had. the next hour starts right now. starts right now >> i bet you a good day from msnbc world headquarters here in new york. welcome everyone to this hour of alex witt reports. it seven pm