what it takes to fill the most powerful positions in government under a trump presidency. no proof, a large impeachment inquiry without providing any evidence. and leaked audio reveals a chaotic meeting between the families of hostages and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. let's get started. tucker carlson, steve, big ten marjorie taylor greene. these are just some of the far-right extremtsho could fill donald trump's cabit he is elected again in 2024. accordingo ios reports, there are two big requirements for these position. loyalty to trump and commitment to stretch the boundaries of the law and governance. trump plans to fill this cabinet it or this cabinet should he win with so-called true believers. those like stephen miller, jamie vance, anyone he deems willing to publish critics and take controversial legal and military action. a shock to the system just to hear tucker carlson. tucker is apparently melania's number one pick. cash patel who is reportedly being floated as the head of the wait for, its cia, said that if elected the former president will quote come after the conspirators in the media and the government whoelped joe biden rig presidential elections. patel said quote, we will prosecute anyone that broke the law and and weaponize two tier systems of justice. this comes weeks after the new york times revealed how the second trump term would involve quote, sweeping raids, giant camps, and mask importation's. washington post recently reported that they're compiling a list of individuals they want to investigate or prosecute. even drafting plans cabrera ten chalet have the insurrection act on his first day in office. to allow him to deploy the military against civil demonstrations. trump has been very clear about the fume and emission of a second presidency. it is about retribution. and unlikely for his presidency, he will not be restrained by more conventional administration officials from thers to the james madison to the garry cohen's. now, if vice president kari lake would do nothintoarve his most evil impulses. and wait, there is. more trump is not just looking to fill his cabinet with loyalists, his allies are also prescreen the ideologies of thousands of potential foot soldiers as part of the unprecedented operation to centralize and expand his power at every level of the u.s. government, should he win in 2024. to those of you clinging on to the idea that america survived one trump administration, and can certainly survive another, remember that a second trump term certainly will not be like the first. this time he would be back with no guard rails. just an army of yes men enabling and unleashing his most extreme impulses. joining me now are kurt birdell, democratic strategist and spokesperson for republicans in the contributor to l. a. times. hazel brown writer and editor for msnbc daily and -- latino and msnbc contributors. pray for you all to be with us. i think we cannot be clearer than what we just laid out here. because you saw even as a last night, and events sponsored by the unrepublican club, trump doubled down on his comments that he made at fox ne. if reelected, he will be a diator from day one. a day one dictator. he is saying it loud and clear. it was not a slip of the tongue. >> yeah. i mean, the stakes of this election could not be clearer. it is between dictatorship and democracy. it is a single issue election. donald trump gets elected again, he's telling us and he's revealing to us openly what he intends to do. wreaking havoc on democracy. the havoc he intends to wreak on our checks and balances system. but he will overnights transform a republic into a dictatorship. i think that is something that we take very seriously. this is in 2016. this, isn't he says things for shock value. he says things to try to dominate the news cycle. we saw from january six that these people, the trump devout followers, they take his words as marching orders. this is not a game or empty rhetoric. this is a real. this is a threat. donald trump represents next essential threat to democracy. >> it is not just what donald trump said. the reaction from the, people from the crimes that he speaks to. at that town hall there are people in the audience cheering. and trump refused to rule out abusing powers. it begs the question what happened to the live and let live small government republican party that was all about freedom not to dictatorship? >> they had been sort of co-opted. the ideas of the small sea conservatives of america, who have had a home in the republican party, those i think they still exist out there. but they have been overwhelmed by what trump has brought in. the idea that people like him, who support people like them, that they have had their enemies coming in so it is only right and fair to go against them. that theme of retribution, the theme of revenge is what is fueling his campaign. standing in the crowds he says i just want to be a dictator on day one. they're cheering him on because they, think yeah you deserve that. you deserve the things. that we we want you to. who cares who gets in your. way and you will punish the people who stopped in the first place. the fact that this is such a central theme to his campaign, that his campaign staffers anna trying to tell the president, don't listen to anything except for trump and the other campaign people said. we want you to ignore the many statements that have been given to the press by anti trump advisers, like kash patel. statements that are contained within the narrative foundations are part of 2025, which relatedly pay for what they want to do. once trump is back in office. the trump campaign knows that this is a liability with anyone who is not promptly marching to their beat. so they're trying to downplay it at this point. >> the idea of saying director patel gives me shivers up my spine. -- intelligence and some of our most sensitive information. trump is running on retribution. he has made that clear. it seems like he is working with his base. it has to be a scary moment for our country. >> i think that one of the things that we can do is learn from what we didn't do as meeting in 2016. in 2016, a lot of my colleagues are making light of what he is saying. he was telling us exactly what he was. he was about to do what -- in. office armor being intimate receptions and hearing -- i'm gonna go cover, him isn't that funny. them saying, no take him seriously. because i come from a place where people were persecuted based on the things that he said. so my encouragement is, people in the media, you do a stellar job every single time you're on the air. you are taking this into account. you are taking this seriously. the only way that we are going to be able to get through this moment is to be clear eyed and recognize that when he goes -- he is not kidding. and instead of having a street analysis where we are trying to make sure that we are being, quote unquote and biased, we have to be able to communicate to marry people that what he says is strict. and as a result, take him seriously. because at the end of the day, the only way we're going to be able to stop someone who wants to be the demise of democracy, not just for our country but for the free world, is by making sure that we are doing the checks and balances. the only institution that is capable of doing that outside of congress at this moment is the fourth estate. it is the press. so every single time we need to make sure that we are building into account. we cannot make light of what he is telling us because he has told us that it was not the first time. the first time was a dress for her soul. i'm incredibly grateful for you do every single day, it is not easy. but at the end of the day is important to state that -- because while he may have supporters, we also understand that the majority of americans may not be paying attention. but if we are constantly doing our job, focusing, could this person potentially be a threat towards a marker sandra children and our future, then that is where democracy has a chance. >> i wonder of looking back at these two years where democrats eye control of the house and the senate early on, was there more that could've been done to establish guardrails not just to prevent the return of donald trump to prevent a future dictator from usurping power from democratic means not giving it back? i think the concern that many people have as you valle d'aosta is that donald trump's first term was a dry run. he has learned the loopholes and knows where the vulnerabilities are. and this time around we knew to exploit them even in the face of not having legal guardrails to prevent them from doing so. >> absolutely. there were slew of reports that could've been made while democrats had -- in washington. it was a call to protect with this draft series, bills that were designed to put those guardrails more firmly into a place. to take a look at the loopholes. which donald trump just crashed. things are not necessarily laws and don't have official repercussions but are just seeing a has the correct way to do things. the civilized. the right way to govern the country that trump just blew through. not passing those bills is a huge mistake on democrats part. and looking forward, do you see that there should be, for example, a republican controlled senate in trump's terms? in terms of confirming the nominees that they talked about, trump has said back in 2018 he prefers acting. he prefers acting secretaries who would still be able to issue orders in his name. with the full force of the law. but who cares if they are the ones in charge. without a senate and congress to really put the brakes on that, who knows how far they will push. >> when you see some of the needs of have been floated around, you've got that, silly names with tucker carlson and -- they are dangerous in their own ways. the cash patel's potentially being in a very powerful position that can have very dangerous consequences for the very fabric of our society. not just the racist rhetoric in the great replacement theory but actually weaponizing government to go against opponents of the government. one names striking the most to be worried about? >> well i think you hit them right there. the idea that kash patel would be trusted with the intelligence is an oxymoron. he's positioning himself to be the white house chief of staff. steve bannon is a self proclaimed leninist. somebody lake stevens miller, who is a white nationalist, opposing the attorney general. this terrifying. every single person in this country, it will be a swift decline from a functioning public into an authoritarian regime. everyone who looks like you and i will be put on notice that they are coming for you. they are not hiding it. they're broadcasting it, they are bragging. they are excited, they are proud. they're egging him on. some people don't understand how really close they actually are. january 6th was just chapter one in this effort to try to re-make america into something much darker and much more violent. these are the people who would be the architects in instruments to do just that. >> on january six it was the opening shot of what would possibly be to come. we have much more to discuss after the break. we will talk about house republicans and their vote next week to discuss the evidence free -- inquiry. >> a, man. thank you hear some of the stories that we are watching this hour. a white house official has confirmed to us here that we see news that if ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy will meet with president biden in d. c. on tuesday. it comes as the white house is expected to do more outreach on capitol hill. to try to secure aid to ukraine after the senate failed to advance mr. biden's national security package. other news now. a. -- is among the six people dead after tornadoes ripped across tennessee yesterday. dozens more were injured across nashville and coxeville. mayor joe pits said it could take weeks for power to be fully restored. alex jones is back on x, formerly known as twitter, after having his account restored by elon musk himself. mask posted a poll asking if he should bring back jones's account. he made the move after 70% of voters responded in favor of it. i'm jessica layton. more ayman with ayman mohyeldin after this break. have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ looking for a bladder leak pad that keeps you dry? 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>> they're saying the quiet part out loud. they're blasting it on a megaphone, they have new evidence, they have no evidence of barr doing, high crimes or misdemeanor from president biden. they have zero grounds to move this impeachment forward. but they're gonna do it anyway. they doing it for the politics of it. it's gonna backfire. it's a major mistake, you have a more public and majority, islam adorning the for all their bluster and top they're not doing anything for the people. they're not doing anything to prove the condition of anybody in this country, they're pursuing these witch hunts, these charades that are masquerading as battery already tv trying to get themselves on fox and raise money for maga. at the end of the day, i think it's gonna backfire tremendously people in this country what they care about is what are you doing for us, what are you doing to ease our life, our issues, our families. if their answer is, wow, we spent a whole bunch of time kicking our speaker out, spend more time finding line, now we're staring down a potential shutdown in january, we are going through political theater of impeaching the president for no actual reason. they're all gonna look like neurons. >> teresa, mike johnson, maga mike has undergone a recent shift on the biden impeachment inquiry. last month during a meeting -- johnson indicated that he believes there is insufficient evidence to initiate formal impeachment proceedings against biden. it doesn't seem to stop the inquiry that maybe launched this week. what changed over the last month? ? ? >> they want asymmetrical warfare. the best thing one can do when their top rated nominee for president's say, no longer impeachment but now multiple counts of fraud and questionable activity in front of the courts. it's a try to make sure that the ever guy is just as understanding, as questionable, that's what he's trying to do. he's trying to make sure that biden is at the same level as trump. and it's not the case. even the own republicans on record have been able to demonstrate and have been able to say on record that biden isn't under impeachment but hasn't done crimes and misdemeanors. for the individuals, the american people that aren't paying attention to the play by play, all they need to do is read the headline, and that's what they're basing on, it's a disservice because if you are truly a member of congress who believes and is sworn by the constitution your job at the end of the day is to speak for the country, not party. my hope is as this elongates, as this gets more media tension that you have some republicans that are able to say that this is absolutely nonsense. what gives me pause and gives me an idea that perhaps that is true, you are seeing so many republicans deciding not to run for reelection. and in that, it gives them the breath to tell the truth. >> will we get any clarity on what evidence this inquiry is based on. or are we gonna be here watching this theatrical performance with no transparency whatsoever? >> mike johnson is here to give the razzle-dazzle. this is not an evidence based investigation, never has been. to the point about mike johnson changing's mind, he knew we need to throw something to some red meat to the base after keeping the government open last month and these negotiations to keep it open during election year next year. he's following mccarthy's playbook and saying that impeachment, of, course we'll follow these paths wherever they may lead. and we did might not have evidence now but that's because we're not properly authorized to get all the evidence that we made. it's the exact same play they've been running in terms of investigations for decades now from watergate, under the clintons, to -- whatever this is under biden. they are trying to make it sound like there is something there. they're trying to hold together enough pieces to keep the people going, keep them on the hook, no, you are totally gonna have biden impeached before the election a wre gonna keep making you think that while not producing evidence. >> there was a new york times report that reported this week, the indictment of hunter biden may add momentum and help fuel republicans impeachment inquiry to the president. is the indictment of hunter biden actual helpful to republicans as they pursue this impeachment inquiry, are they good, are they gonna use it to their advantage, exploited, or does it backfire against them. you have james comer coming out saying, this is part of a cover-up against the president he was indicted not in pursuit -- they complained it wasn't strong enough. when the second indictment came out and was stronger, they said it's not good enough it's part of a cover-up? >> james comer is proving that he's nothing more than -- when it comes to investigation evidence, the truth, the fact, of transparency. i worked at the oversight committee for a long time, i know what i'm talking about here. i can tell you, you don't go out there, make pronouncements and go back behind closed doors and say, okay guys, let's find some evidence to back up what i just said publicly. that's completely backward, they have yet to produce a single piece of paper, a single document, a single testimony that ties president joe biden to anything involving hunter biden, anything criminal, anything illegal, anything unethical. they have n