Tuesday, May 12th from New York City, a special live taping of MS Now's chart-topping podcast, The Best People with Nicole Wallace. Join her for an urgent conversation with legendary documentarian Ken Burns. As America approaches its 250th anniversary, they'll explore the state of our country today through the lens of our past. Ken Burns and Nicole Wallace in conversation. The American experiment at 250. Get your tickets today at 92NY.org. The last word with Jonathan Capehart in for Lawrence is next. Hey, Jonathan. Hey, Jen. So you talked to the Democratic nominee for governor of Ohio. We've got the former Democratic senator from Ohio, Sherrod Brown, who is on the ballot. And I haven't seen the results yet. I don't know if his race has been called yet, but he could be the next nominee. He's good. He'll be good. He'll be a nominee. I think we're safe to not go out on Olympia. Yeah. Yeah. So all about Ohio tonight. And also, I should say that our buddy Melissa Murray is going to be on the show later on to talk to talk about her new book about the Constitution. So amazing. What what a great show. And Ohio is an exciting one to watch. I'm telling people it's like we always say that, but it really is one. So you've got a great conversation ahead. Oh, thanks very much, Jen. Thanks very much. Thanks so much. Have a good show. All right. If today's conflicting messages from the Trump administration on its war of choice in Iran tells us anything, it's that Donald Trump has no plan. He had no plan at the start of his war. And now he has no plan to get out of his war. We're in a little skirmish military. I call it a skirmish because Iran has no chance. They never did. They know it. The fact that day-to-day Donald Trump can refer to his war in Iran as a war, then a detour, then a skirmish, shows that there are wide gaps between reality and the words Trump is using about his war. And it's the global economy that is suffering as the chaos in the Strait of Hormuz escalates instead of winding down. The New York Times reports today that the United States and Iran made competing claims about having control of the strait, which remains effectively closed. And an American ally, the United Arab Emirates, said it said that it had come under attack by Iranian missiles and drones for the second day in a row. Commercial traffic is at a near total standstill, despite American promises to protect ships. Two commercial vessels crossed the strait under U.S. military protection on Monday and only one on Tuesday. A trickle compared to before the war when around 130 vessels a day made the passage. So, Donald Trump's so-called Project Freedom is not actually helping increase the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Despite the exchange of fire in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's attack on the United Arab Emirates, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said this. The ceasefire is not over. Ultimately, this is a separate and distinct project. And we expected there would be some churn at the beginning, which happened. And we said we would defend and defend aggressively. And we absolutely have. Iran knows that. And ultimately, the president's going to make a decision whether anything were to escalate into a violation of a ceasefire. When asked about whether the ceasefire has been violated, Donald Trump said this. They've fired at U.S. ships several times in the last 24 hours. What do they need to do to violate the ceasefire? Well, you'll find out because I'll let you know. They know what to do and they know what to do. And they know what not to do, more importantly, actually. But they respect us. They didn't used to respect us, but they respect us more than we've ever been respected. Secretary of State Marco Rubio today said that the operation is over, while claiming that what's happening in Iran right now is not war. This is a defensive operation. And what that means is very simple. There's no shooting unless we're shot at first. We're not attacking them. But if they're attacking us or they're attacking a ship, you need to respond to that. That's rich, considering that it was Donald Trump who decided to attack Iran in the first place, which led to Iran closing the Strait of Hormuz. The Wall Street Journal reports this about how Donald Trump's attempt to get ships through the Strait of Hormuz, quote, shows how the U.S. can still influence the battlefield, but faces limits in its ability to change the status quo in the strait. At the same time, the operation comes with risks to U.S. personnel and to commercial ships, most of which are still refusing to transit the Strait without clear guarantees that Iran won't attack them. Two sources, including a U.S. official, tell Axios that a high-level Trump administration official informed Iran on Sunday of the impending U.S. operation to guide ships through the Strait of Hormuz and warned Tehran not to interfere. The private message suggests the White House wanted to mitigate the risk of potential escalation. Nevertheless, some U.S. and Israeli officials believe President Trump could give an order to resume the war later this week if the diplomatic stalemate continues. Today, Donald Trump retreated from his day-old operation when he announced that the U.S. will pause Project Freedom for an unidentified amount of time. Quote, based on the requests of Pakistan and other countries, the tremendous military success that we have had during the campaign against the country of Iran, and additionally, the fact that great progress has been made toward a complete and final agreement with representatives of Iran, we have mutually agreed that while the blockade will remain in full force in effect, Project Freedom, the movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz, will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the agreement can be finalized and signed. Like I said, no plan. The new line from the administration these days to justify the high cost of the war, both from an economic and a humanitarian standpoint, is it's better than Iran having a nuclear weapon. I also thought oil would go up to 200, 250, maybe 300. And I know it will be short term, but I thought it would go. I look today, it's like at 102. And that's a very small price to pay for getting rid of a nuclear weapon from people that are really mentally deranged. Donald Trump made those comments about Iran being mentally deranged and lunatics in front of children in the Oval Office, by the way. Talk about bad optics. And Donald Trump says that's a very small price to pay. Tell that to the average American paying 50% more at the gas pump today than before his war started. It also doesn't seem that the Trump administration is any closer to preventing Iran from getting a nuclear weapon than they were before Trump's war started. Three sources familiar with the matter tell Reuters that U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that the time Iran would need to build a nuclear weapon has not changed since last summer when analysts estimated that a U.S.-Israeli attack had pushed back the timeline to up to a year. Former Fox host Megyn Kelly didn't mince words yesterday on the disaster that is Donald Trump's war that he has no idea how to end. And normally, we would not play this much tape of someone like Megyn Kelly, but it's worth hearing exactly just how angry people like her are, people who were once Trump's most ardent supporters. I don't see any upside in this being strung out through the summer, do you? No, this has been a disaster for the Trump administration and for our country and for the world. We know they were nowhere near getting a nuclear bomb from our own intelligence community who told that to President Trump just before we unleashed this war on them. So we don't need much from the Iranians on that front. They haven't gotten better able to produce a nuke as a result of this war. Just get out. Let them give us some stupid fig leaf that we can declare is somehow a victory. Oh, it's better than Obama's joint agreement and reopen the strait, which is the number one thing. You did decimate pieces of their military. Great. Call it a win. This is a nightmare. We don't have to get into the specifics, but get out. Just get out. And what you can see, Piers, is he knows that. He knows that. But the Iranians know it, too. And they won't just bend the knee. And Trump is not used to being in this position. He's used to bullying his way out of everything. And these guys cannot be bullied. He doesn't know what to do. He's great at talking, and he's really not great at winding up wars that he starts by choice. That's what we're learning. Your salty language. Leading off our discussion tonight, Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado is a member of the House Intelligence and Armed Services Committees and is a former U.S. Army Ranger. Congressman, thank you for coming to the last word. What do you think of one of Trump's Trump voters, in this case, Megyn Kelly, her assessment of where we are now in Trump's war? Well, I wish I could say I was surprised, but this was entirely foreseeable. You know, we saw the last 14 months Donald Trump conduct seven different bombing campaigns in seven different countries, and he treated all of them like a reality TV show. Right. Put the video on there, come up with great names for the operation. Operation Epic Fury, Operation Midnight Hammer, Project Freedom. You know, who could be against Project Freedom? Problem is, is when you're dealing with great power competition in a global national security strategy, it takes more than a great buzz line, a great name of an operation in short video clips to actually deliver a result in which case here we are in a quagmire with no real way out of it You know Trump has backed down from his day old operation in the strait in search of some kind of deal Previous talks yielded nothing in part because as Trump himself has said he not even sure who in charge in Iran Yeah, that's right. I mean, let's look at some of the most recent events, right? We initiated a blockade of their blockade. Then we had Project Freedom, which was going to be navigating ships through the Straits of Hormuz, which lasted less than 24 hours. Then we said, you know, earlier in the war that we had obliterated their nuclear weapons. Now they came back and said, no, we haven't obliterated their nuclear weapons. In fact, most of it remains their nuclear, their stockpile, rather, their capability. Most of it remains in place. So this is just bumbling from one day to the next. Meanwhile, we have become the laughingstock around the world, right? Our allies have been pushed away, have been demeaned, and we have marginalized ourselves. We have really no coalition here. We have spent tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer money in this and depleted our munition stockpile. And the worst is there are 13 service members who have died and given their lives and over 400 who have been wounded, right? This is so absurd. I'm just angry talking about it right now. And it's exactly why Congress, which actually has the power to stop this right now, tomorrow, we could go to Congress and take a vote and stop this. That's why it's Congress's job to rein in this out of control presidency. Well, on that point, Congressman, according to Marco Rubio, the war is over and what's happening in the Strait of Hormuz is defensive. Is this just a way to avoid getting congressional approval for Trump's war? well why don't they tell that to the 55 000 u.s service members stationed throughout the middle east uh and the folks on the ships who have been attacked in the last 48 hours why don't they tell that to the service members who have been wounded why don't they tell that to the american taxpayers who are still paying billions of dollars for our troop presence the navy blockade for the munitions that we're using you know they just like to claim things are over yet the reality is starkly different. You know, Americans, you know, working class Americans like I fought with and who served and died during the 20 years in Iraq and Afghanistan that, you know, served those three combat tours with me. You know, they know better. They're the ones that actually have to still be on the line. So, no, it's not over. The adversary always has a vote when something is over. And we have unfortunately started something without a plan for finishing it. The first step here, and I don't want to just be the person criticizing, There is a first step that we can take that can get us back on a path to winding this down and keeping us safe. And that is we have to re-engage with our allies. Donald Trump has to stop demeaning and attacking NATO. And we have to build an international coalition of countries that are willing to join with us to secure the region, to stop the shooting, to actually secure passage through the straits and get us back on track to a permanent and verifiable deal to prevent nuclear weapons from ever happening in Iran. But that so far has not happened. Well, Congressman, your first step is a logical one. I'm just wondering, is that even realistic now, given who the president of the United States is, the commander in chief is? He spent the entirety of his presidency now degrading and humiliating our allies. Would it just be self-preservation on their part if the president were to take the logical step, first step that you're talking about, and re-engage with the United States? Well, first of all, I'm not saying Donald Trump is going to do this, right? I mean, it's one thing to say what actually needs to happen and what the right thing to do is. It's another to look at Donald Trump, who I don't think is mentally fit to be in office right now, who operates by vengeance, primarily in emotion. Right. Let's not forget that he just announced the drawdown of thousands of troops in Europe just because he's upset at the chancellor of Germany. Right. This man is in charge of our national security and the security of our country and our military. And he makes decisions primarily based on emotion, not facts, not the advice of of, you know, the generals, the admirals and our intelligence community. So that is the danger that we all now face. So, no, I'm not holding my breath to think that he's going to do that. And then the second part of the question is, will our allies join with us? Maybe. I mean, there is common cause here. They have a stake at the outcome of this as well. But we just have to have the right leadership. And if he doesn't do the right thing, then again, this comes back to Congress. Congress can force them to do the right thing because constitutionally, we do have the authority over matters of war and peace, and we can assert that authority. Congressman Jason Kerr of Colorado, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Coming up today, thanks to Donald Trump's war, gas prices are soaring and voters know exactly who is to blame. Donald Trump. And in Battleground, Ohio, gas is almost five dollars a gallon. Sherrod Brown, who as of a few hours ago is officially the Democratic Senate nominee in Ohio, will join us. With Donald Trump currently seeing some of his worst poll numbers on the economy, cost of living, and overall job approval, Trump actually had the nerve to say this last night at the White House. Our economy is roaring and factory construction is way up. Consumer confidence is way up. Business investment is more than triple compared to that of just a short time ago. And before I took office, nobody can believe it. Well, he is right about one thing. Nobody can believe it. The New York Times reports, Mr. Trump's comments on Monday created a sharp contrast with the economic reality outside Washington, as rising energy prices hammer families and businesses alike. With the midterm elections just months away, Mr. Trump has struggled to hone an economic message, despite pleas from Republicans to focus on how his policies are improving the lives of everyday Americans and pledges from his aides that he would travel the country doing just that. Mr. Trump has faced accusations from some in his America First base that he is too focused on foreign policy and global conflicts and not enough on the kitchen table issues that he campaigned on addressing, such as the cost of living and grocery and gas prices. Anyone who drives by a gas station right now can see how much Donald Trump is costing them in real time. According to AAA, the national average for a gallon of gas went up another three cents today to $4.48 per gallon. That's about a buck 50 higher than it was at the start of Donald Trump's war with Iran. And in Battleground, Ohio, Today's average hit $4.83 per gallon. MSNOW's Will McDuffie talked to voters in the Buckeye State who seemed fed up with the rising prices. This world is not what I grew up in, and I would like to see it go back to what I grew up in, where we care about our neighbors, care about one another, and we're not out for the billionaire who wants to stick everything in his pocket and he doesn't care at all about us. I voted for Trump, too. I'm not saying I disagree with him, but I think it's getting a little bit carried away. He's more concerned about the war over there and killing everybody over here with increased prices, and he just doesn't seem to care. And this big, beautiful building helped me. What a surprise. The oil men are all making a bunch of money, and the arms manufacturers are all making a bunch of money. It's the usual villains are running the country. It was election day today in Ohio, along with neighboring Michigan and Indiana. The Hill reports a slate of primary elections for the state legislature in Indiana on Tuesday will offer a key test of President Trump's influence as he seeks to oust the Republican state senators who resisted his redistricting push. Trump has endorsed primary challengers against seven state Senate Republicans who voted against a new GOP-favored congressional map in Indiana last year. At least five of those seven Indiana Republicans have lost their primaries tonight. In Ohio, former Senator Sherrod Brown officially won the Democratic nomination in what is sure to be one of the most closely watched Senate races in November. Look at that spread. It's huge. He will take on Republican Senator John Husted, who ran unopposed tonight after being appointed to Vice President J.D. Vance's Senate seat last year. Joining us now is former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. He is running once again for the United States Senate in Ohio. Congrats on your blowout victory tonight, Senator Brown. Donald Trump says the economy is roaring. Is that what you're hearing from Ohio voters? they can't get enough of this economy? Well, Donald Trump saying that, John Husted, who is appointed by the governor to this seat, says the work ethic is broken. People should just go out and earn more. He said people are struggling or just don't know how to navigate the real world. I mean, he's not, he either doesn't care or he's not coming back to the state. He's not hearing veterans in Jackson like I've heard talk about this war. He's not hearing farmers in Crestline who have seen not, you know, you talk about gas prices as the media often do. You don't talk as much about diesel prices and fertilizer and it's planting season and farmers are getting killed. Diesel prices have gone up even more sharply. They're more than a dollar and a half, most places higher than gas prices. And they don't know what to do. I mean there planting season and they don have much choice but they getting hit really really hard And John Husted doesn seem to care Well Senator Husted has voted to allow Trump to continue his war with no oversight from Congress. Do you think Ohio voters agree with that? Well, what I hear is they don't. He's had six times he's voted to continue this war. Three of the 14 servicemen and women who were killed are from Ohio. We are spending, Ohio taxpayers are literally spending, have spent a billion dollars in this war, that money that could go to schools in Cincinnati or could go to health care in Gallup Police or that could go to road construction in Toledo. Farmers talk to me about fertilizer costs and their productivity will be less this year as their markets have been shrunk or eliminated in some cases by Trump's tariffs. So they're saying that. John Husted is not even talking, He's saying the war has actually gone better than he expected or than people expected, which is ludicrous. But he's not addressing this. He's shown no interest in standing up on on inflation, on any of this. It's a but it's an expensive race. They're coming hard. And I it's a hard state. As you know, I ask people to come to Sherrod Brown dot com and chip in 15 or 20 bucks if they could. Well, you're going to need that money because your race will be one of the most expensive of the midterms. Your campaign recently released this TV ad about where at least some of Senator Husted's campaign cash is coming from. Of all 535 members of Congress, who's taken the most money from associates of Jeffrey Epstein? John Husted. That's who. In fact, Husted's taken over one hundred sixteen thousand dollars from one of Epstein's closest friends and co-conspirators. And last year took a maximum donation from him just weeks before voting to block the release of the Epstein files. Senator Brown, what kind of response have you gotten from that ad so far? People see John Husted as a special interest guy when he was in Columbus standing up for Wall Street and the drug companies and utility companies. Now they see him as a special interest guy in Washington. They're also learning more about him. They're learning about his connection to an Epstein co-conspirator after taking well more than $100,000. They're hearing about his connection with a bribe where he's testified in court for a CEO for the defense in a case of a $61 million bribe to the Speaker of the House who's now in prison one thing after another. And the voters are learning a lot of things about John Husted that they don't like. And they also realize that higher gas prices, higher costs in the drug in the drugstore and the grocery store are laid at the feet and part of John Husted. Ohio Democratic Senate nominee officially tonight, Sherrod Brown. Thank you very much for joining us. Coming up, a secretive private slush fund with billions of U.S. taxpayer and foreign government dollars. That doesn't sound good. But that is what top Democrat Congressman Jamie Raskin says Trump's so-called Board of Peace is. And 182 days from today, he could very well be the next chair of the Judiciary Committee and bring the Trump government grift train to a halt. That's next with Congressman Jamie Raskin. If Democrats win back control of the House, our next guest, Congressman Jamie Raskin, is expected to become the chair of the powerful Judiciary Committee. And now The Washington Post is reporting that the White House Counsel's Office has been quietly conducting private briefings for Trump administration staff, preparing them for the possibility that Democrats reclaim oversight authority in Congress. Quote, The roughly 30-minute briefings have included a PowerPoint presentation about how congressional oversight works and best practices for handling it, according to the two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Staff from the council's office have encouraged political appointees to be careful about what they put in writing and provided guidance for how to respond to congressional inquiries in a timely manner. At least some staff members have considered the briefings preparatory, given the growing sense across the Trump administration that the Republican Party is in trouble and that the time has come to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Winning the House would give Democrats subpoena power and control of key investigations into Trump's corruption, including his so-called Board of Peace, allegedly set up to help with the reconstruction of Gaza. According to its charter, member states are limited to three-year terms unless they contribute $1 billion to secure permanent membership. Today, Congressman Jamie Raskin wrote to the director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office asking about the agency's involvement in concealing information about Trump's Board of Peace. Congressman Raskin writes, quote, Are you a willing accomplice to President Trump's efforts to cover up that his Board of Peace is an attempt to create a secretive private slush fund with billions of U.S. taxpayer and foreign government dollars? Or are you in an unwitting enabler to this scheme, being forced to do the president's bidding outside your lawful duties and powers? The State Department has transferred $1.25 billion in taxpayer dollars to President Trump's Board of Peace. That is extraordinary and likely unlawful. Yet, we still do not know what the Board of Peace is. And you could not tell us confessing ignorance of the most basic facts of its existence and of the essential character of this entity that you wish to protect under the trademark laws. Is it a private entity or a government entity? Is it based in the United States or is it based abroad? Does its chairman for life, Donald Trump, have unfettered personal control over the board's finances in perpetuity? That's my question. But in order to take the majority, Democrats have to deal with the Supreme Court's recent gutting of the Voting Rights Act, which could potentially allow Republicans to redistrict out several Black Democratic House members in southern states. Last night, the Supreme Court issued an emergency order expediting Louisiana's redistricting process, which is expected to create an additional Republican-leaning seat in November. Joining us now, Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland. He is the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee. Congressman, always great to see you. Let's start with Louisiana. That state's governor, Jeff Lantry, has suspended that state's May 16th primaries until mid-July to allow the legislature time to redraw maps. More than 42,000 voters have already cast absentee ballots in that election. What legal recourse exists when an election is effectively paused after voting has already begun? Well, not much, Jonathan. And that's the whole point. You know, we know that Donald Trump's mid-decade Texas gerrymander massacre plan hasn't worked out so well for them because the Democrats have been fighting back strong and because their political support is melting away. So now the Roberts court comes rushing to the rescue with the Calais decision, a decision of this gravity and importance usually would be released in June. But clearly they rushed it to come out now precisely so they could set into motion a chain of events, including these governors literally stopping an election while it was going. There were already thousands and thousands of people in Louisiana who had voted by mail. And the governor essentially just declared that election null and void and then continued with the election for U.S. Senate and other state offices, but canceled out the election for the U.S. House. So the legislature could redraw and gerrymander, you know, perhaps a complete Republican delegation in Louisiana. And, you know, that is exactly where they're headed. It's like the end of Reconstruction in the 1870s, where, you know, a dozen African-American members of the House and two black senators were basically purged from Congress through different disenfranchisement mechanisms. And they're trying to do the same thing in the South. Now, in the north, there are lots of African-American representatives who've been elected in majority white or non-majority African-American districts. But it's in the south where this is the only chance both for African-Americans to get elected and for Democrats to get elected because of the racially polarized voting. They clearly understand that. And now they basically said that's perfectly fine if they want to create all Republican delegation delegations in Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Florida, what have you. And the only counter man to that from the people will be a massive landslide turnout for Democrats and for democracy. Let's talk about that. The Board of Peace in that letter that we read, your letter to the director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. You ask, and I'm quoting you to you, do you know what entity will have authority over the one point two five billion dollars in taxpayer funds transferred from the State Department to the Board of Peace? How concerning is it that it's not clear who's in charge of taxpayer money once it's transferred out? And I am so glad you asked that question, because the moment I read the terms of that Board of Peace, that jumped out at me. Well, our colloquy during Mr. Squires' first appearance before the House Judiciary Committee was absolutely extraordinary. He could not tell me whether the Board of Peace was a public entity or a private entity. He could not tell me if it was located in America or abroad. We don't know whether it's for profit or not for profit. He told me that he was not doing it at the instruction of the president or the direction of the president, even though he claimed that his authority to register a trademark, which as far as I can tell, no director of the USPTO has ever done for a private individual or entity before in its history because the law requires you register your own trademark. He could not tell us who he was doing it for. So the whole thing is a complete mystery. And now we know that there this billion dollar anti fee for Saudi Arabia United Arab Emirates Qatar the other oil monarchies and governments that the president has pulled into it And he transferred billion from American taxpayers including a billion dollars that was supposed to be for disaster relief to this mysterious, inscrutable entity, which Congress never set up and Congress has never appropriated a single dollar to. So this thing just gets curiouser and curiouser. And we need some real answers from John Squires. Mm-hmm. And also, Trump is the chairman for life. But I have to ask you about that a little later. But let's talk about Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Listen to what he had to say today about the War Powers Act. The War Powers Act is unconstitutional, 100%. Now, this is not the position of me. It's not the position of the president of the United States now. This is the position of every single president that has occupied this position since the day that law passed. It's completely unconstitutional. So, Congressman, your thoughts on that? OK, well, let's take the bait on that. Let's say it is unconstitutional. It's unconstitutional because it allows the president to engage in war without a congressional declaration of war. So let's take the War Powers Act off the table if they don't want to deal with it. And they're clearly in violation of the War Powers Act. When did Congress declare war on Iran? It never happened. And yet James Madison was emphatic that it would only be the representatives of the people who could take the country to war because the kings had always been plunging their countries into wars of pique and impetuous vanity and conceit and imperial plunder. And they said that this was a critical assignment to the Article I branch, to Congress, to decide it should never be up to the president alone. And yet they're totally violating the Constitution. So if he doesn't like the War Powers Act, fine. How about the Constitution of the United States? Great place to end. Congressman Jamie Raskin, thank you for joining us tonight. Coming up, MS Now colleague Melissa Murray opens her new book on the U.S. Constitution with this. Some current events make clear that the safeguards that the Constitution put in place to ensure democratic government may not be adequate in our volatile politically polarized environment. That is like TLDR for every news story of this era, and I cannot wait to talk to her about what she discovered in her research and what we might be able to do about it. Melissa Murray joins us next. From limiting women's reproductive rights to targeting LGBTQ youth, Donald Trump's former personal attorney turned acting attorney general, Todd Blanche, is making his vision for the Department of Justice unmistakably clear as he continues to audition for a permanent seat in Trump's cabinet. At the center of it tonight, the legal battle over mifepristone, one of the most widely used abortion medications, is once again putting reproductive rights back in the national spotlight. The Washington Post reports, On Friday, the federal appeals court severely curbed abortion access when it required women to get an abortion pill in person rather than by mail. Activists called the decision the biggest attack on reproductive rights since Rose Fall. A Supreme Court justice on Monday then restored mail access to the drug mifepristone for one week. Advocates view the legal scuffle over the pill as a fresh opening for Democrats to take abortion off the back burner and capitalize on the issue as they look to win back majorities in Congress. Democrats with presidential aspirations are raising alarms while congressional candidates and competitive districts have stayed relatively quiet, a sign that the party is still figuring out how to react. And as the battle for abortion access, especially access by mail, snaps back into focus in the middle of a midterm election year, Todd Blanche's Justice Department is opening up another front, this time in Illinois. Last week, the DOJ announced that its so-called Civil Rights Division is investigating more than a dozen schools and multiple districts to, quote, determine whether they have included sexual orientation and gender ideology content in any class for grades pre-K through 12. And then there was this moment today inside the Oval Office where Donald Trump took that same message directly to children. What about you? Look at this guy. He's a big guy. I'm doing football right now, and next year I'm going to be trying to do powerlifting. Oh, wow. That's awesome. And you'll never compete against women in powerlifting. That is the culture war that Donald Trump wants. But more than that, it's about control. Control over women's reproductive choices. Control over how young people understand themselves. control over what is taught and what is erased. But the stakes are even higher when an ultra-conservative agenda like this coincides with a Republican supermajority on the United States Supreme Court that has shown little appetite for standing in Donald Trump's way. Joining us now, Melissa Murray, professor of law at New York University and an MSNOW legal analyst. Her new book, The U.S. Constitution, a comprehensive and annotated guide for the modern reader is out today. Happy published day. Melissa, let's start with the fight, this fight over Mifepristone, one of the drugs used in the standard protocol for medication abortion. What does this moment tell us about where the Supreme Court stands on abortion right now? Well, Jonathan, thanks for having me. This was predicted. I predicted this would happen, and it was predictable. The court in Dobbs said that they were settling the abortion question by returning this to the states. But the fact of the matter is, is that this patchwork solution was not tenable in the long term. Medication abortion and mifepristone obviously emerged in the aftermath of Dobbs as a means for women to seek reproductive care because it can be dispensed relatively easily. And in 2021, the FDA made the decision in the middle of the pandemic to change the dispensation regulations and to allow mifepristone to be dispensed via telehealth and through the mail. And that obviously made it easier for women and pregnant people in abortion deserts to access that material. The question, of course, going forward is what the Supreme Court is going to do. As you mentioned, Justice Alito issued an administrative stay allowing Mifepristone to be restored to its distribution, its regular nationwide distribution for a week. And the court will in a week determine how it will proceed on this case. But the manufacturers of the drug are seeking review of the Fifth Circuit's underlying decision. Melissa, perpetually auditioning acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is launching another investigation in a Democratic-led state taking aim at Illinois schools over LGBTQ inclusive curricula. This is coming from the Civil Rights Division, which is hard to believe. How does that square with that division's traditional mission. Well, I love that you noticed that Todd Blanche is auditioning to be America's next top attorney general. He's still in the running, apparently, which is why he's working so hard at this. But the Civil Rights Division has really strayed from its storied past. We jokingly call it on the Strict Scrutiny podcast, the Civil Wrongs Division, because this is a division of the Department of Justice that is no longer interested in promoting traditional civil rights, which is to say it isn't interested in promoting the interests of those who have been underrepresented in society. Instead, they are pushing the view that certain groups have been discriminated against, reverse discrimination, and that certain groups simply by being represented or seen in society have gone too far. And this, I think, helps explain what you're seeing in that Illinois school with regard to a more inclusive curriculum. All right. Your new book gives us a guide to the U.S. Constitution for modern readers. What's one part of the Constitution where that added context completely changes how we should understand that document today? So I think there are lots of pieces of the Constitution that we over fetishize. So we spend a lot of time talking about the framers and the framing in 1787 and James Madison. We spend a lot less time thinking about Reconstruction, the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, which are a fundamental renegotiation of the Constitution and the balance of power between the federal government, the states and the federal government, the states and the people. And we've totally ignored, to our detriment, the Gilded Age Amendment. So these were the amendments that were passed at the end of the 19th century, the beginning of the 20th century, in a fervor of populist agitation. The people were angry about the consolidation of wealth in this country. They were angry the working classes had no say. They were angry that state legislatures got to choose senators and they took matters into their own hands and they amended the Constitution. They got the 16th amendment. They were so angry at the fact that the federal government used tariffs to raise revenue, which they thought were regressive and unfairly burdened the working class. Sounds very familiar. And so they wanted a progressive income tax. They amended the Constitution to eliminate a provision of Article 1 that prevented the imposition of an income tax. And they got the rich to pay their fair share. We've forgotten that. We've forgotten that the people can make constitutional claims as much as the Supreme Court, as much as this president, as much as Congress. We, too, have this authority. We've forgotten that. The first three words in this document are we the people, and we need to reclaim that. Today is the day your book is out. The U.S. Constitution, a comprehensive guide and a comprehensive and annotated guide for the modern reader. Melissa Murray, congratulations. Thank you for joining us tonight. There it is. Thank you for having me, Jonathan. There it is. Congrats again, Melissa. We'll be right back. That is tonight's last word. Artificial intelligence is moving very, very fast, and it's raising new questions just about every day about what it is, what it isn't. When all is said and done, what is the end game? I'm Chris Hayes, and as part of my podcast, Why Is This Happening? I'm speaking with leading experts each week to help ground that conversation. We're right now in a situation where it's very difficult to understand what is real and what's not real. Why is this happening? The AI Endgame, a special miniseries from MS Now. Start listening today, wherever you get your podcasts.
