politicians nation. tonight's lead, order in the court. the third week of donald trump's hush money trial here in manhattan ended with one of his closest former presidential aides on the stand tearfully recounting her memories of the alleged payout to stormy daniels and how trump's comments about groping women sent his 2016 campaign into the kind of panic mode. also tonight, many of america's colleges and universities are grappling with how to move forward with commencements as campus demonstrations continue over the war in gaza and u.s. involvement in the conflict. president biden has called for restraint from all sides as interactions between protesters, counterprotesters, and police forces have grown violent in some places. and arrests now number in the thousands. we start with the epicenter of the unrest just a few miles from here at columbia university in new york city with one of the school's most prominent graduates joining me now in studio, congressman gerald, democrat of new york and ranking member of the house judiciary committee. congressman, first, thank you for being with us tonight. let's start with the demonstrations on college campuses, especially at columbia which lies just outside of your district and where you are -- were a student in 1968 and student activists were cleared from hamilton hall by the nypd after they took over the building to protest the school's participation in the vietnam war and the segregated gym on campus. two years later, the nation watched the national guards shootings of the vietnam war protesterses at kent state university. today is the 54th anniversary of that conflict. as you watch what has been unfolding this week, what lessons do you think these past vents can provide to people on all sides of the situation now. >> well, it's very simple. free speech is a must. people are allowed to do so, but they can't do some trampling on other people's rights. when you occupy a building you are violating the civil liberties of the students or faculty who want to learn or teach there. that is impermissible. the police ought to take you out. if you are on the south lawn at columbia and expressing yourself, that's fine, until the university says, okay, now we need the south lawn for the graduation ceremony. at this point, if you don't leave, you're trespassing and violating the rights of the student who is want a commencement exercise. >> i have participated my whole life in civil disobedience. went to jail for three months for it. you accept civil disobedience but not violence. and i've said the danger of that is that you cannot have violence not repudiated on both -- any side. you know, i think the right wing will try to use the violence as their answer to when we criticize january 6th. there's no comparison. january 6th was trying to overthrow an election, and they actually assaulted police officers. but violence is violence. we must be morally consistent. i want to ask you about a statement you made about what's going on in israel in terms of your statement about -- well, this week you said in an interview that israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has, quote, gotten only one competitor for the worst jewish leader in history, end of quote. that one competitor, i'd like you to explain, but it would be a traitorous king who invited the romans to stay in power more than 2,000 years ago, who was that who you were referring to? you were making clear that you don't think netanyahu is committing a sen jied against the palestinian people, explain your position. >> first of all, it was king john the ii. he invited in the romans in the first century b.c., and of course, you know the subsequent history. netanyahu is doing everything he can to prolong the war. he has several motives for doing that. number one, when the war ends he will have a commission of inquiry. number two, when the war ends he will have to explain why it took the idf 12 hours to come 60 miles to the aid of the kibbutz under attack. >> 12 hours. >> number three, he will have to explain why prior to october 7th he told qatar to fund hamas because he wanted to stand up hamas as a counterweight to the palestinian authority to make sure there was never a palestinian state. and finally, when the war is over, he'll have to face felony charges, like our own ex-president. he has every motive for keeping the war going and period. now, it's not a genocide, because a genocide is a deliberate destruction of an entire group of people. now, you can say that the israelis are being -- are making unnecessary mass casualties, and that may be the case, but it isn't a genocide. >> isn't israel under netanyahu going after all palestinian people, because many of the people killed are not with hamas, they're just palestinians in gaza. >> as i said, i think they're killing a lot of people they shouldn't be killing, and it's morally reprehensible, but it's not a genocide because it's no intention to destroy an entire group. they're not trying to kill all the palestinians in the world. >> now, this week the house overwhelmingly passed republican-backed legislation to codify antisemitism into federal law for the first time. you were one of the 91 members from both sides of the aisle who opposed the measure. as a jewish member of congress, one of the leading jewish members of congress, why did you vote against it? >> well, i not only voted against it, i led the opposition. it is a violation of free speech. the bill before us codified into law one definition put forth by the international holocaust remembrance association and excluded two other definitions put forward, the jerusalem declaration and the nexus document. but they codified it into law. even the chief author said don't codify it into law because it can be violative of free speech. all of these provide examples of things which in context may show antisemitism, but putting it into law could say that certain criticisms of israel are a violation of free speech. let me say one other thing. it did nothing. it did nothing to fight antisemitism. if you want to fight antisemitism, there are two things you can do. a bill by kathy manning and a lot of republicans and democrats in both houses that will set up structures to effectuate the president's -- all of government approach to antisemitism. and two, you increase the funding for the office of civil rights that is in charge of enforcing title six against discrimination on campus. and the president's proposed the 25% increase last year. the republicans proposed a 25% decrease. it was flat. the same fight is going on now for the next year. >> now, another drama playing out that i want to get to while i have you is playing out in the house is the republican civil war over mike johnson's speakership. congresswoman marjorie taylor greene says she's moving forward next week with a vote to oust johnson. house democrats have said they will come to his rescue. do you believe that will happen? >> i suspect that she won't actually carry through on the threat, but we are right that if she does we should save him because as much as we disagree with him on everything, almost everything, he -- we can't permit him to be punished for doing the right thing, voting for the ukraine aid, which is what they want to punish him for. >> now, let's finish on former president donald trump. the second week of testimony in his hush money trial ended with former members of his white house staff appearing to further confirm accounts that the alleged hush money payment to stormy daniels was known about in his oval office. as house judiciary's ranking democrat, what have you taken from what you've heard so far? >> so far what i've heard confirms in every respect and is building the case that he was paying the hush money in order to keep it quiet for the election purposes. he clearly -- he signed the checks to michael cohen. we know that. michael cohen will testify to that, i'm sure. and by signing those checks and calling them legal expenses, that's fraud. and -- which is a misdemeanor, but that fraud for the purpose of effecting the election makes it a felony. and they're establishing in hope hicks' testimony and testimony establishes very well as i'm sure collin will say the same thing that it was for the purpose of efkting the election. cohen is a difficult witness because he has lied on other things and they will try to impeach his testimony, but the testimony by hicks and by peck er and davidson all corroborates what cohen will say. >> and the actual check signed by donald trump to him was if his legal expenses, no one ever explained, well, what legal work did he do for that exact amount of money. >> that's right. >> this is going to be very interesting. thank you for being with us, as always, congressman jerry nadler. let's bring in our political panel, ameisha cross, democratic strategist and a contributor for the daily beast. and susan, republican strategist and an msnbc contributor. ameshia, we've been talking about the demonstrations on college campuses earlier this week. president biden spoke to the nation about what's happening. take a listen. >> in moments like this, there are always those who rush in to score political points, but this isn't a moment for politics, it's a moment for clarity. so let me be clear, peaceful protests in america, violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest is. >> ameshia, how did president biden do to meet this moment? what do you think of his comments, and did he strike the right tone? >> i think he absolutely struck the right tone. in president biden's comments earlier this week, he talked about the vigilance we all need to have in protecting first amendment right, free speech, assembly, how protests have been a defining moment for this country and the pursuit of and the protection of the democracy on which our country stands. however, violent act, acts of aggression, lawlessness, is not a part of that. so he emphasized peaceful protest, which i would argue have been the overwhelming majority of the protests we've seen across these college campuses. they have been peace informal the same ways that the black lives matter protest was demonized by many people on the right as well as several in the media, we're seeing it happen with these campus protesters as well. they are utilizing their right to free speech. they are standing their ground. they are positioning themselves as the leaders when it comes to not only acknowledging the atrocities happening in gaza but also putting a spotlight on the -- on the american -- the americans who are funding it, quite frankly, acknowledging that this administration could do more to reduce some of those casualties, at least by not sending money to israel for the bombs they are using to not only erad kate a population but also to continue displacement. we've seen the famine and hunger, and quite frankly, hundreds of thousands of people who have died who are innocent civilians. >> for just being in gaza and being palestinian and clearly, you know, the violence changes the story to the violence here, though overwhelmingly they have been peaceful protests and i think that you lose your moral edge, we've gone to jail. i've gone to jail many times, because that's what we've wanted to keep the issue out front, not our violence. but susan, in contrast, let's listen to what donald trump in wisconsin this week said as he addressed the college protests. >> when you see that video of raging lunatics and hamas sympathizers at columbia -- >> boo. >> -- and other colleges -- no, but when you look at it, i say, where did these people come from? i don't know people like that. i know a lot of people. where do they come from? and they do come from other countries, and they are paid. >> susan, they come from other country, they are paid, trump went on to claim without any evidence that the protesters were being paid to distract from the problems at the u.s./mexico border. for those who have questioned president biden's leadership on this issue, is it clear that trump would only enflame the situation even further by saying things like this. >> yes, and that's exactly what trump wants to do is enflame the situation. this place to what he believes is his greatest strength, and that is fighting violence, if you will, fighting crime, fighting immigration. he just throws it all together without any facts whatsoever. but the fact is is that the visuals that we see on the television based on these protests are alarming. they do -- they do scare people. and frankly, the protesters could have done a lot more to make their cause great, like call out those people who were calling for violence, self-police those who were saying anti-semitic remarks. if they would have done excite stayed peaceful rs this could have gon a lot different. but donald trump is absolutely going to use this every which way he can. we know he lies about everything else, especially about migrants over to border, so why not this? >> and people being paid, all of that, no evidence. ameshia, let's turn to the issue of abortion access. on wednesday florida's six-week abortion ban took effect only allowing for some exceptions up to 15 weeks of pregty. florida voters will get a chance to vote in november on whether to reinstate abortion rights in the state. but opponents of the measure are actively working to either defeat the referendum or undermine its effectiveness. meantime, deep red missouri has come the latest -- has become the latest state to take steps putting its own measure to protect abortion rights on the ballot. it seems clear abortion is a potent issue for democrats, even in heavily republican areas, but with everything else going on, how can the party make sure it remains a top priority for voters? >> abortion rights are a unifying issue. we've seen it across red states, blue state, purple states, and as long as republicans stay on it, i don't think that there's much democrats have to do so continue to make it an important issue. because republican, despite losing ballot measures and referendums and driving more diverse populations and more women specifically, and younger women, to the polls whom we know end to to vote in a more democratic fashion, republicans consistently are trying to restrict abortion rights in state after state. one of the things we've seen happen when donald trump basically said that, you know, he wanted to track women or have the party track women to determine whether or not their abortions were legal, i think that it essentially put another target on women's backs when it comes to their reproductive rights. and we're seeing more and more women take to the polls in direct action and opposition against this. democrats only need to continue the messaging and showcase just how far republicans are going in this restrictions up to and including the disastrous cases where women are literally facing death or ultimately dying because republicans are choosing to stick their noses in women's reproductive rights despite the fact that they don't have the knowledge of the doctors that these women are actually getting their information from. and they are criminalizing those doctors from even being able to conduct the business of saving women's lives. >> now, susan, south dakota governor and potential trump vp pick kristi noem has spent this week doing damage control after she wrote in her recent book about killing an unruly hunting dog. though she has tried to claim the dog was dangerous and the media was overreacting, politico is citing six sources inside trump world who says noem has almost no chance of being on the ticket, in part because of cricket, this is the dog. it would seem that while trump has famously said he could shoot down someone on fifth avenue and not lose voter, you cannot gun down a dog and hope to be his running mate. is there a lesson in all this for republicans trying to hitch their wagons to the maga movement? >> well, don't, first. you just shouldn't. the maga movement is against everything the principles of our country. but putting that aside, rev, you know what i learned this week is that you can pay hush money to porn stars, you can call for a suspension of the constitution, but killing a dog is going too far for donald trump and his supporters. >> even if he says that he would shoot somebody on fifth avenue and get away with it, but you can't shoot a dog. >> you can't shoot a dog. >> and you shouldn't shoot a dog or a human being on fifth avenue for that matter, but go ahead. >> and you can't upstage donald trump. donald trump will not pick anyone who has -- gets more press or just as much press as he does at times. i don't think the names that we've heard out there, rev, are going to be the final pick because they all have platforms. donald trump wants someone like he had in mike pence that basically no one really knew and had a decent record for republicans who didn't know donald who were concerned about donald trump. but this time around he wants a yes person and who's just going to go lock in step with him and can't speak out because they have no real voice besides his. >> well, there's always been in trump world different rules for donald trump. i'm against shooting animals and human beings. thank you to both of you, ameshia cross and susan. coming up, another tragedy of a black man dieing in the hands of police. in a case some are calling george floyd 2.0. we'll talk about it next. floyd 2.0 we'll talk about it next indshield fixed? 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>> reverend al, our legal team and i had an independent autopsy performed on the family's behalf. colin kaepernick assisted with that effort. and it's just tragic that we're dealing with a george floyd 2.0 situation. i never thought, reverend al, four years next month we will be reliving another george floyd situation. the fact that eric gardner said i can't believe, and they ignored him. george floyd said i can't breathe. the police officers said if you're talking, you can breathe. and then when frank tyson in ohio says, i can't breathe, as you said, the officer tells him to shut the eff up. i mean, how many more teachable moment dos we have to have where black people lose their lives before police believe black people when they say i can't breathe. >> now, angela, i mean i was outraged when i heard about this, how did you learn about frank's death, and what were you initially told about what happened to him? >> thank you. first of all, reverend al, thank you for having me on your show. the call that i received was from my mom, and she called me and she said he's gone. and i said, who's gone? she said, he's gone, angie, he's gone. and i said who's gone? she was like, frank, frank is gone. and i said what do you mean frank is gone? she was like he's dead, he's dead. i said frank is dead? she was like, he's dead. i said where are you? and she told me where she was. i said, well, let's go and meet at my cousin's house. and we met -- we weren't at his house, but let's go and meet at my cousin's, and we went straight there. and you know, it seemed unreal. it just seemed like something unreal that he was able to survive 20 plus years in prison but to come home and not be able to survive 14 days is ridiculous. >> now, share with me the type of person he was and what do you want the world to know about him and how do you want him memorialized. >> i want my cousin frank to be remembered for seeking the truth and clearing his name. frank tyson was an extrovert, he was a people person, he love reading. he loved reading newspapers. i just remember, again, i'm going to date myself, just being at his parents' home and encyclopedias -- you know how long ago that's been -- but he likes to sit down and read encyclopaid ask. he enjoys statistics of any type of athletic team. i want him to be remembered for seeking out the truth of what has happened to him his entire life. >> attorney crump, you have stressed that this case is part of a systemic racism problem with police in this region of canton and northeast ohio. can you elaborate more on this point? >> the first thing you hear him saying is call the sheriff, call the sheriff, because frank tyson was wrongfully convicted for 24 years. i mean, he had witnesses recant, say the prosecutors made us lie. and so his whole life he was fighting for 24 years to prove his innocence. and then he gets out and he's out less than 13 days and not only do they steal his liberty for 24 years, but this time they stole his life. the canton police department. his soulmate sabrina talked about how she stood by her man, took his mother to the prison to visit him, filed to prove his innocence. she said just when she got her frank back then they stole his life. and she is just devastated like the rest of us. i don't know what's wrong, reverend al sharpton, the wrongful conviction or the wrongful death, and that's why we need you and national network now more than ever to give attention to this, because this is as bad as george floyd but nobody's paying attention right now. everybody needs to watch the video, and rev, we need you to come to canton, ohio. >> angela, what message do you think this sends? have you heard anything from police and those that are going to memorialize, tell us about that. >> we have not heard anything. the family has not heard anything. we are looking forward to you and we appreciate you on behalf of frank's family that you will be joining us near canton on wednesday to deliver the eulogy of my dear cousin frank tyson, but we have not heard anything. but i know what my family wants is we want accountability. we want linear, vertical accountability. it can start from the police and go all the way up or it can start from the top and go down, but we want accountability. we understand wholeheartedly that there were policies in place. that's the theory, but what happened to the practice? they are not practicing what's in the policies and procedures handbook. we want accountability. linear, vertical accountability. >> well, we'll be there wednesday. i'll be prepared to do whatever you want, and i'm sure members of the -- george floyd's family we've talked to and others will be coming in with me to stand with this family. this has got to stop, and we will not see it stop unless all of us are there and accounted for when it does keep occurring. attorney general of black america ben crump and angela rembert, thank you for being with us. coming up, team trump unveils a conquer and divide strategy in a new batch of campaign ads. i'll tell you why you shouldn't believe the hype in this week's got ya. e hype in this week' got ya odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. i have active psoriatic arthritis. but with skyrizi to treat my skin and joints, count me in. along with clearer skin, skyrizi helps me move with less joint pain, stiffness, swelling, and fatigue. and is just 4 doses a year, after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine, or plan to. there's nothing like clearer skin and better movement. and that means everything! ask your doctor about skyrizi today. learn how abbvie could help you save. when you smell the amazing scent of gain flings... time stops. 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i'm struggling to pay my bills but biden's paying represent for illegals. they get handouts and i'm paying for it. >> now, listen to this radio spot referencing the transgender community. >> well, biden has done a ton to stop transgender discrimination. transgender discrimination? stopping men from using girls' bathrooms isn't discrimination. >> not only do these ads cherry pick details to distort reality, they also traffic in the dangerous and wrong headed notion that the only way for blacks to advance themselves is to turn their backs on other groups who have also suffered bigotry and discrimination in this country. in many ways, these ads echo ethe message from online videos i highlighted several weeks ago featuring black republican lawmakers bragging about the success they've achieved by pandering to the selfishness of their party's white, conservative voter base. as someone who has spent his life in the civil rights movement, i can tell you real change stems from solidarity, not separation. the progress african americans have made since the days of jim crow has become because we afford alongside our brothers who are immigrant, lgbtq or jewish or muslim. we see justice not simply because it will benefit us, we demand it is the right thing to do. that's a concept many maga republicans are unable to or unwilling to understand, and it's why i believe they will never be successful in their efforts to separate any meaningful number of us from the struggle. i got ya. us from the struggle i got ya secret whole body deodorant... everywhere. 4 out of 5 gynecologists would recommend whole body deodorant, which gives you 72 hour odor protection from your pits to your- (sfx: deoderant being sprayed) secret whole body deodorant. nothing dims my light like a migraine. with nurtec odt, i found relief. the only migraine medication that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults. don't take if allergic to nurtec odt. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. it's time we all shine. talk to a healthcare provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. are your gutters clogged? 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>> nothing, except i would say what stood out to me is what hope hicks didn't testify about. i was really curious to see what hope hicks was going to say, because unlike people like michael cohn or stormy daniel, hope hicks has been completely silent other than testifying before, say, a grand jury. we don't know what she was going to say. so it was possible that we would be hit with some trump bombshell, because this is somebody that was very close to trump for a long period of time who may have overheard things. we already know david put in at least two meetings or conferences that were very critical. but on the whole, her testimony, of course, was damaging for trump but there were little tidbits in there for defense, including painting michael cohen, as you said, like a bumbling mr. fix-it, which was an ironic name because she said he would break things and then fix them. calling him rogue, which i promise you will be a word we'll see again in the defense's closing. it's their central theme of their case. so hope hicks but the marquee witness this week, and she was a mixed bag. a lot of folks said she was devastating to trump. i don't agree. i think there was something for each side in hope hicks' testimony. >> calling the michael cohen rogue and saying he was -- he breaks it and fixes it, wouldn't the defense have to then explain why donald trump wrote him the checks that he wrote him? you don't write a rogue guy six-figure checks. and they're saying it was for legal expenses. wouldn't they have to explain what legal work he did if he was just an outside fix-it guy. i mean, you can't have it both ways. >> no, you can't. i'm glad you bring that up, because i think we're getting to the defense's theme, and it's a narrow one. they have to thread the needle. they have to concede there was a payment from cohen to daniels. they're going to have to concede there were checks donald trump signed. maybe your angle is michael cohen was a rogue actor that trump reimbursed after the smoke had cleared. if that's the case, donald trump couldn't have had the intent to participate in michael cohen's bad behavior if he just reimbursed him after the fact. it's a narrow, narrow needle -- >> and even in that narrow needle, what they also have to say, donald trump reimbursed him and had nothing to do with the election, he just reimburses rogues? >> exactly. so you are seeing this narrowing window of the defense's theme. and that, in addition, point the finger at people like michael cohen and davidson and say liar, liar, pants on fire. that's why the people are introducing witnesses like hope hicks, to help galvanize shakier witnesses, so when michael cohen finally testifies and he's cross examined and crucified over his prior bad lack of credibility, let's say, then they can point to -- in closing, they'll say, okay, michael cohen, we told you he had credibility programs. look at these documents. documents don't lie. look at people like hope hicks. her testimony matches up to the data points and the times and everything else that. will help the people make out their case. >> hibs testified that the trump 2016 campaign was rocked by the release of trump's interview with access hollywood in which he commented about groping women. why is that interview so central to the manhattan prosecutor's case against trump now? >> it's huge because the prosecutors first spent the early part of their case establishing the transaction from michael cohen to stormy daniels and all the the players involved, even the bank who are helped facilitate the payments through the bank. now they appear to be moving to the motive. what was the feeling at the time of the tape? hope hicks described an atmosphere where she was shocked, everyone was shocked, michael cohen was swinging into action, and everyone was concerned about the campaign. that is to defeat, in advance, the defense's argument that, hey, this is something that didn't have anything to do with the campaign, it had to do with family, with melania trump. that's why i say hope hicks was a mixed bag. because she also testified that donald trump was worried about melania. so look, there's not a perfect witness for the prosecution, but this was a good witness. >> right. >> they've had good witnesses so far, or else they wouldn't have called them. we just need to see what the defense comes up with when it's their turn. >> court resumes monday morning, what do we know about the next witness, the next witnesses for that matter, and what do you expect to see from the two legal teams on week four? >> so far the prosecution has been following a pattern of starting with a timeline but also mixing up their witnesses. they've got the marquee names and then they'll have some maybe more boring, more dry witnesses who are authenticating evidence like cellphone data, other things like that. that's why it's been unpredictable who they're going to call, because after hope hicks they'll likely maybe call someone who is not a name you recognize who might just have information about cellphones or social media posts. that's what we heard earlier this week, to authenticate those documents. when it comes to calling witness, prosecutors have a plan, but the plan has to change all the time. a trial is full of moving parts, so it really isn't certain who they have lined up. maybe they don't even know themselves until maybe the day or two days before. the defense is going to continue to hammer their theme, which is obviously now, they made it very clear, michael cohen went out on his own, without trump knowing about it, and there's no evidence, they will argue at the end, that trump was involved in any of these until way, way after the fact and after he could have formulated the requisite criminal intent. >> but he still could have done it because of the election, whatever, later or then, it was about the election, and michael cohen did go to jail in part for some of this, so that is going to be in front of the jury as well. thank you nbc legal analyst danny. up next, my final thoughts. stay with us. next, my final thoughts stay with us hey ump! you need your eyes checked! yeah, things are getting fuzzy! i'd go to america's best! why? 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