>> in america tonight, you would never abuse power as retribution against anybody? >> except on day one. >> the indicted republican front runner makes it official. >> he says, you're not going to be a dictator. i said, no, no, no, except on day one. >> tonight, donald trump stand back and stand by for dictatorship moment. >> the lesson of donald trump out the last several years has taught us, we have to take them seriously and take him real. and a requiem for the last young gun -- >> eye and they want to ask the question, i never quit. >> a stunning resignation of the only speaker ever fired from the job. and my interview with the great rob reiner, the life and legacy at the incomparable -- >> i would say he mattered, but only if i can help people understand that is true of all of us. when all in starts right now. good evening from new york, i'm chris hayes. as we begin the official start of the 2024 election season, there is hardly, a growing awareness across the political spectrum that donald trump is running on an explicit pledge to be a dictator, some form of presidential dictator. if he wins back the white house, then he plans to smash american contribution will -- that he will finish the job that he began on january six. there is a problem with campaigning on the platform. preserving constitutional government is not top priority impulse, people do seem to be turned off by candidates run around saying that they'll be a fascist dictator. anyone in public politics to bring themselves together probably the last message you want to try to win an election, let alone stay one. -- showing that the most strenuously pro coup, pro big lie candidates loose in competitive races, time and time again. in fact, it was all of those losses in the 2022 midterms, momentarily startled some republicans into thinking that, it would be a mistake to nominate donald trump again. last there is days are gone. now, he is the party's likely nomination, the front runner. he is far and away in first place, polling higher than all of his challenges combined in iowa. last night, donald trump in iowa, six weeks ahead of the first republican caucus, for a fox news town hall. i should note, this was pre-recorded, presumably, to make sure that any defamatory statements could be edited out. it's been a problem and the pass for the guy. he was hosted by the one and only sean hannity, whose key, central skill as a broadcaster is something that we like to call, hannah teasing. it's a classic sean hannity move, practiced for decades, to offer a softball staged interview to or a republican, trying to clean up out there saying something offensive. so, sean hannity, understands that running a platform of dictatorship is probably not the most popular way to do it, tried to hannah ties donald trump. it did not work out as he planned. >> i want to go back to this one issue. the media has been focusing on this and attacking you, under no circumstances, you are promising america tonight, he would never abuse power, as retribution against anybody? >> except for day one. look, he's going crazy. >> except for day one. >> meaning? >> i want to close the border and drill, drill, joe. >> that's not retribution. >> i am going to be -- i love this guy. he says, you're not going to be a dictator, are you? i say, no, no, no, other than day one. we close the border, and we are drilling, drilling, drilling. after that, i am not a dictator. >> sounds to me, that you're going back to the policies that when you are a president. >> a few things jump out at me in that clip. first, know how sean hannity immediately takes them to a commercial break, because he knows it did not go. also, donald trump did not misspeak, he was offered up an opportunity on is silver platter in front of him, crafted for his taste in dilatation, to the night that he has an interest in being an authoritarian. he could've said, no, you're right sean. he knew exactly what he was doing when he refused to do so. he wants his followers to know, like he wants to end american democracy. like them, he is excited by the prospect of being part of a violent and authoritarian movement, and he wants their support, as he pursues that plan, just as he counted on the support in the pass, most notably on january six. of course, trump has been explicit about autocratic admiration and intentions all along. in 2016, he could have easily said yes, of course, i won't accept the election results. but he did not, because he had no intention of doing so. >> i want to ask you here on the stage tonight, do you make the same commitment that you are absolutely except at the results of this election. >> i will look at it at the time. i am not looking at anything now. i will look at it at the time. >> that was big news, if i remember, really big news. again, in 2020, trump had an opportunity to condemn violent far-right groups, like the proper. since that, he directed them to, infamously, stand by. >> are you willing tonight to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and to say that they need to stand down and not add to the violence in the city's? >> give me a name -- who? >> the proud boys? >> proud boys, stand back and stand by. >> the proud boys heard that message. he did not misspeak. stand back and stand by, he could have said, icondemned them. nothing to do with them.nt no, he affirmatively said stand back and stand by. one of their own members testified to the january 6th meeting, the group's numbers tripled after donald trump's comments. the ex president deliberately chosen his words. of course, as we saw in those debates, like the town hall last night, the crowd loves that stuff. that is the most important takeaway here. the maga die hards that show up to that kind of event, tuesday night in iowa, show up to rallies, who showed up on january six, they want a dictatorship from day one. and make no mistake, that is exactly what donald trump is promising no. david plouffe served as campaign manager for barack obama's 2000 a campaign, a senior advisor to barack obama and was a staffer at the atlantic, where he published a piece about the perils of a second trump turn. they both join me now. david, i do think that there is a political opportunity opening here that i think is pretty key that hannity senses in that moment and that trump may be as some sense to, because he's trying to walk a line between saying, he thinks populate things, like i woodrow at the border. but it seems to me, that the awareness of his authoritarian intentions, communicating to voters, because all other things being said about them, it's not a winning message, i don't think. what do you think? >> sadly, it's a message for 40% at the country. but, it's not going to get you the presidency so yeah what is interesting is an issue that i think even trump certainly is allies identify, things like abortion and the rise of autocracy and dictatorship, trump is not claiming he's a moderate abortion, which is political insanity, given that he is the number one reason that roe v. wade was overturned. and then you see sean hannity tried to help him out, something donald trump could not handle a sit off ball. could not answer a leading question about not being a dictator. there's no question that, this will be a close election, and we don't know what will happen with the economy. you know, that is going to be something that biden will try to do better. but i think on these two issues, on democracy, those of us on the pro democracy side, i think at the do a good job of explaining what that means. it's not just a short coming. people have a lot of faith and institutions, so it means we don't want to have laws anymore, it means if you say something negative, you could be jailed. it means that, basically, one family will be don, donald trump, and then don jr. and then ivanka and then barren. you have to make it real for people, so that they understand. there's no question about that, if you think about people and how to deliver not just joe biden's election. the democratic victory in 2018 and 2022, there absolute going to be voters, if they think there is a hint that donald trump could become a dictator, will oppose him. more to be seen there, but here is the thing. everything that we have seen, incoming members of his potential administration are out there saying, listen, we will investigate our opponents, go after the press. donald trump himself is saying, that he'll get rid of the constitution. we should not believe his statement on sean hannity. we should believe everything else. >> yeah, and there is a whole feeling of testy dweebs, who like to go on whatever fought costs they find to pray about the fascist fuse there that they will ignore very. again, you have to take it seriously, but it's also like, these are pathetic individuals. but it's also, adam, it relates to the political weakness here, which i think the advantage has to be pressed on, which is that broadly, be freaks and geeks problem, people around the republican party, particular, the upper echelons, the stephen miller, the kash patel's, the people that want to go on the city bannon podcast and spin out there fascist fantasies. we saw windows people actually ran for office in 2022, blake masters in arizona comes to mind, the electorate, some portion, some crucial portion recoils, and it does strike me that trump is in a different category because of his own political talents and how well he is moving. that vibe is sort of key, i think, for the battle for the center of the electorate. >> yeah, most people are put off when someone starts talking like skeletal. i think you look at donald trump, there is a kind of bra humor to it. he wants to say something that sounds menacing enough to be embraced by the people in the united states, who would prefer not to have a democracy but have some sort of conservative autocracy. but he also want to be able to juggle about it, he wants people to freak out and defend them in an almost ironic way. a lot of his low level admirers don't talk like the. they talk like, low level technicians on the death star. i think that is off putting to most normal people. the problem is, that trump has, he has an understanding that. he understands the problem, as he put. it he tries to make everything sound like a joke, when he is completely. serious >> that is a very astute observation. there's also the question too about, what does it look like to engage on this? president biden has said, he has talked about this. he talked about in the 2022 midterms. to give it in the big speech, talked about it as a team during the midterms, that seemed to bear fruit. he reset, were enough for trump, he might not be running again. i wonder, like, as a technical matter, as a sort of campaign messaging expert, how you do make that tangible for voters. what is the message here about what this threat that can seem abstract is? >> a couple of things, chris, one, -- this presidential election will be decided in seven states, basically, by two sets of voters. the 45 swing voters in the states and a whole lot of democrats, who may not turn out. this is true in every election. i think this message about trump bringing autocracy to america, works with both of them. so, it's not many americans, actually. totally punishable from a tactical standpoint, and then the question is, i think passengers, i think you need a lot of republicans out there, you need a lot of form of law enforcement out there, need average people saying, this is what i am worried about. one thing i am concerned about is that i think sometimes, we talk about democracy, autocracy, a lot of people think about it through the stolen election and the coup and insurrection. as important as that is, trump will actually acted. that will be the least of their problems. it is going to be what happened to real people when we have no institutions with the law in this country. we need people to make that clear. i do think that i very much agree that there is a sense as well, trump jokes about this stuff, his voters say he can't be serious. it's not like he had the hall of fame kitchen cabinets to execute his wishes. but we know this about the guy. he does not like criticism, does not like to lose, and so, i think, they are going to take the cdc and try to basically turn this into -- we just had to look at who he idolizes around the world. putin, president xi, the north korean leader, orban, that is what we are going to get. the good thing is your, talking about, at most, to the 3 million americans, don't need to be convinced that the way to make sure that democracy is not to vote for donald trump and a third party. numerically, it's accomplish the task. >> you've got a piece about in the atlantic special issue on the second term, you're right about the judiciary specifically and just what it would mean. i think this is an important point to make, particularly to those who may be wavering about their enthusiasm for democratic ticket for whether they want to vote. just like the degree to which, another set of those years to stack the bench with marga judges, what it would mean in a long term sense for the prospects of american democracy. >> i think it means that basic freedoms that americans take for granted would be forfeited to the extent that they could clash with the conservative agenda. what we have seen in the judiciary is a historical analysis that has been meant to justify whatever stance is defined right-wing, cultural and put ego at the nutty at the moment. in particular, this is a concrete thing when it comes to abortion. they want to be able to read your most intimate communications. they want to control your body. they want to figure out where you're going and why. they want to foment a system of surveillance and control to make sure that women can't decide whether or not they want to have a child. that is a concrete example of what we are talking about, when we talk about autocracy. we will have a judiciary that is factually committed to making sure that donald trump gets what he wants, whenever he wants it. in part because, the conservative legal movement has been remade in his image. in the sort of anything goes way. >> your fellow citizens right now, probably watching this program, are out there, whose bodies have essentially been seized by the state under this mission of government against their will, the carry -- right now, there are people, for whom, that is the reality moment. david plouffe and adam serwer, thank you both. coming up, after another mass shooting on an american college campus in the last few hours, brand-new information about the victims and the shooter at the university of nevada las vegas, that is next, don't go anywhere. n't go anywhere biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in many people whether you're 18 or 80. with one small pill, biktarvy fights 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of nevada at las vegas earlier today. three people were killed, another person shot, and another is in stable condition in the hospital. the gunman was killed at the scene. police say they have identified him. they are not really seen that information until the next of kin are notified. msnbc correspondent emily martinez covered the story and joins us live at the latest. emily, what do we know about what happened there today? >> as you mentioned, the news conference wrapping a few minutes ago. the sheriff describing the shooting as a heinous, unforgivable crime, and we're learning that the shooting first broke out on the fourth floor of one of the business school buildings, and it continued on multiple levels. what police are underscoring tonight, there is no more ongoing threat to the community in las vegas, as you mentioned, three people were tragically killed, a fourth person is in stable condition. others today, we knew that individual was considered in good condition. the situation has been upgraded. several officers have sustained minor injuries, as well. still many questions. we don't know if the victims were students, staff or other people. we don't know the it is right at deaf east for the victims. one of the things that police underscore tonight is that the death toll could actually have been far worse, pointing out that there have been large gatherings in the area. this is a heavily trafficked portion at this large campus, unlv. had detectives not engage the suspect as quickly as they did, the suspect's truck outside the building where the shooting had played out. they say that they know the identity of the suspect, but they are not releasing the name at this time until next of kin is notified, but sources tell us that the shooting suspect is a man in his 60s. to give you a sense, chris, of the chaos and confusion to put out earlier today, at one point, campus police had notified and told students and staff on the campus to, quote, run, hide and fight. students