May 19th, im Alicia Menendez in new york, with symone sanderstownsend and Michael Steele in washington, d. C. This morning, the compass braces for protest, plus donald trump addressed the Nra Convention, between the usual, there was a not so well threat to execute the city president. Plus, it could be the final week of trumps criminal trial in new york, a big question, will the defendant take the stand . Grab your coffee, settle in, welcome to the weekend. Safety is of course a priority for many voters and yesterday donald trump cozied up to the extreme gun lobby, accepting the endorsement at the annual meeting in dallas, in another hard to follow address, he painted a dystopian version of america, urging gun owners to vote because their safety is on the line. He used the event to rattle off his lies about President Biden but he added this new twist. He is a manchurian candidate, he has accepted money from china, from russia, from ukraine, from everywhere. If that were a republican, he would have been given the Electric Chair, they would have brought back the death penalty. A reminder, in case you needed one, a political candidate alluding to the execution of a sitting president in front of the most Prominent Organization of gun owners, definitely not normal. Joining us now, sarah matthews, she testified publicly during the january 6 committee hearings. Good morning. So, that was normal, sarah, just a day at the nra. Look, okay, so trump is a liar, we know that. The projection around biden spending, taking money from russia and all these places, we know that. But, when you are standing in front of a group like the nra, when you are standing in front of a group that has very strong views about this administration, the Biden Administration and donald trump for that matter, what is the signaling, from inside the bubble a little bit with trump, what is the signaling that is going on, is it as blatant as making a comment about executing a president or is it something more or less, is it just trump standing there running his mouth . I think he knows this audience are people that are a part of his space, so hes going to say things like this where it is going to rile them up and get them excited. I think he knows that in his mind, he thinks it is a joke where hes joking about he needs the Electric Chair but you shouldnt be talking about that with anyone in general, especially not the sitting president. And i think he does it because he wants to get a reaction out of them and thinks itll be entertaining. But i think he doesnt care about how his rhetoric has gotten increasingly erratic and he has this culture of political violence. It is concerning when we are looking at it, but it follows this pattern we have seen from the 2024 campaign thus far. How should we react when we hear this because there is this tendency for hair on fire moments when trump says crazy stuff like this. But, we know to your point, that a lot of it is just stoking his base, less interested in our reaction, although they love it, how should people generally react outside of trump world when they hear this . Im going with your comment, with my hair on fire, every single time. I think it is sad because we have normalized this rhetoric with trump. Some americans dont even think twice when he makes these comments because they are so conditioned and used them talking like this. But this is not normal, we should not have the republican candidate for president making jokes about executing the current sitting u. S. President. But with trump, i think that people just brush it off and dismiss them, but i think that we really need to take him at his word, not necessarily saying that he actually thinks joe biden needs the Electric Chair but when we are looking at the broader array of language that he is using, the types of things he saying within his campaign, thinking about his comments about how immigrants are poisoning the blood of america, how he wants to weapon eyes the doj, to enact revenge on his political enemies, he need we need to take him seriously. Im going off of what you are telling me, you know my husband tells me i should not assume or infer, i need to ask questions, and listen, im listening to donald trump and what im hearing from him isnt that concerning and i dont think you should rush over to the comments about projection. We know because of the democrats on the House Oversight committee that donald trump did take money from saudi arabia, from china, while he was president. I mean, im looking for the cause, i must have lost it. Just drew a line through it in the constitution. So it is absolute projection because they felt that he was the one receiving money from foreign entities, joe biden and the Vice President , they just put out the taxes and i think you can take a look, i dont think i see any chinese money there. But there is counterprogramming that was happening around the nra and the dnc had this mobile board that was circling the convention for hours, some headlines said trump should get over it. By rolling stone, trump gives into the nra, pushing facebook ads straight from the nra playbook. These billboards circled the Convention Center for eight hours saturday to contrast that meeting. And i think that counterprogramming to remind people what donald trump has said is important and you have the Vice President who put out this statement on Donald Trumps appearance that reminded us that he opposed comments about common sense gun safety measures, but our number one problem about children, this is where he decided to go, the actual nra is not what it used to be but the culture has permeated the Republican Party apparatus. And a time when guns are the number one killer of our kids. I thought his comments were honestly very out of step with where the majority of americans are at, during his speech, he bragged about doing nothing. He said, in the four years that i was in office, we did nothing, there was a lot of pressure and i did nothing, that is not something to brag about. I think it is like 80 and percent 87 support a background check, they are bipartisan forms that we can take to make change on this. But he so worried about catering to the gun lobby because he knows that he needs their money and hes desperate for money in this campaign. And as we know, he is going to say things that will appeal to them and make them happy and keep them happy. Sarah, i just want to add to everything that was laid out, the timing of this speech, it is less than a week before the anniversary of the shooting at uvalde, texas, there were also pieces of this speech dion specifically the appeals to gun owners that underscore the authoritarian fascist rhetoric we have heard from the former president , there was a joke, again, always contextualized as a joke about being a third term president , he said fdr was beautiful, had a beautiful patrician voice, he was there for 16 years, he was four term. I dont know, are we going to be considered three term or two term, you tell me. Again, this joke, we have sat here with experts on authoritarianism and they said when he makes those jokes, believe him, we should stop talking about a second trump term in office because he may be looking at it as an indefinite tenure of power. Do you think that is true . I think we need to be taking him at his word and taking literally when hes making these kinds of jokes, saying that there could be a third term, or saying hes going to be a dictator on day one, we shouldnt just normalize these things and dismiss them, so i do believe he probably would like the idea of being able to stay in office and that underscore so much who hes going to pick for his Vice President and the importance the of that, whos going to be his vp candidate because if he were to be successful and win in november and there comes a time where he wants to maybe run again, i think these things we need to be considering and be very worried about. Sarah, stick with us because we still want to talk to you about what could be the final week of the criminal trial in new york and later, Danny Thompson at the Commencement Address at Morehouse College, and later, the inverted American Flag days before President Bidens inauguration, you are watching the weekend. The weekend. Think about it. Boring is the unsung catalyst for bold. What straps bold to a rocket and hurtles it into space . Boring does. Boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. Because its smart, dependable, and steady. All words you want from your bank. For nearly 160 years, pnc bank has been brilliantly boring so you can be happily fulfilled. Which is pretty unboring if you think about it. Tech does your windshield have a crack . Trust safelite. This customer had auto glass damage, but he was busy working from home. So he scheduled with safelite in just a few clicks. We came to his house. Then we got to work. 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One by one, Republican Leaders are spilled into court, showing their loyalty to trump and since americans cant see the testimony for themselves or even hear it, they can spill whatever they claimed to have witnessed, attacking the Justice System in the process. There was something that the former president said in his Nra Speech Last Night related to this trial and that was his talk about the gag order, again it is early in the morning, we are not going to make our viewers listen to that, but he did say im able to talk about things although i do have a gag order, i can talk about the things i want to talk about because what i talk about is just on the surface because if i go in, they want to put me in jail if i talk. Can you believe they want to put me in jail if i say the truth, which is not how a gag order works, this is him not being able to attack the family, but instead, as we saw last week, he has republican members of congress traveling to new york to do his bidding for him, that is not particularly surprising. I wonder if you believe there is anything anyone can do to dissuade the red brigade from carrying this. I think these folks know they are showing up to be there to defend him and they are doing it because they want to impress him and get his approval, we know that donald trump was upset that the first couple weeks of the trial that nobody was there defending him, that there were these crowds outside the Courthouse Rallying around him. Then, they started having these republican lawmakers show up and show support for him, it is a way that he can almost get around gag order. He can have these surrogates almost for his campaign, and say things that he cant say. As we know, he can attack the prosecutor and the judge, what hes not allowed to do is attack the witnesses and he is not allowed to attack the Family Members of those of the court. So, having these people show up, it is a way that they can defend him and it is beneficial to donald trump and his campaign since he is essentially having a campaign from the courthouse but also a litmus test for the folks that want to secure the vp slot or a position in a potential second trump administration. This is the thing for me, and actually, susan glazer in the new yorker nailed it, she noted on thursday, for trump, the visual is always the thing and the spectacle bears all the hallmarks of his orchestration. These guys will follow me anyway. The message is that there is no detail to embarrassing or grotesque to shake their faith. Thats the part for me and i think a lot of folks out here, you sit here and think, at what point is the as a congressman do you take your dignity and shove it. You take the respect you have amassed as an elected official and shred it. For a man who literally within 30 seconds of saying hello to you to turn on you. What is it inside that you saw that helps you understand this is craycraytown, these people are out of their minds because there is this infection that has taken hold. Help me understand, he is sitting here and saying, he will follow me anywhere, fifth avenue, that is just the beginning of what donald trump can get away with. I dont understand this. Help us figure it out. I think these republican lawmakers know that donald trump has such a hold on the Republican Party so they are concerned with making sure they are on his good side and his good favor because they dont want him to come after them and be a target. They will debase themselves and embarrass themselves in order to be on his good side and make him happy. You look at somebody like ted cruz for example, donald trump attacked the looks of his wife and he still out there as one of his most staunch supporters. Its just sad honestly when i look at these republicans, who i once admired, i look at folks like elise to phonic and tim scott who are held in such high regard and kind of heroes of mine over the Republican Party way back when, but watching them debase themselves because they want power so desperately and want to impress donald trump. Its really sad but it follows this trend we are seeing and i think we are going to see more people show up at the courthouse when they are back in court this week and will continue. You know, you are a republican and you have served in the Trump White House and has now said, look, that is a bridge too far for me, we need to get back on track for democracy. You are not, what do they like to say, a rhino, i feel like you are like myself, i grew up, i worked campaigns, i wanted to come to washington, d. C. And i wanted to work in the white house. But you broke with the party and i feel like there are more republicans out there like you, except they have not exhibited the courage that you have. So what do you say to the people, the chairman and i talk about it all the time, they pick up the phone and say oh, my goodness, i cant believe he said this, but they will be out there comparing the Talking Points of donald trump. So, what is your message to those folks that have yet to muster up the courage that you had, people, like tim scott, they dont have an ounce of the courage that you have had. That is really kind of you to say and it is quite disappointing when i consider that. I look at the people who have been the most vocal and spoken out and it is folks like myself and Cassidy Hutchinson and these are young women, i mean, cassidy and i were at the very beginnings of our careers when we made the decision to break. And that is going to have an impact on us moving forward, we might not be able to work and go to republican politics again, but i made that decision because i knew it was the right thing to do. At the end of the day, you have to look at yourself and hold yourself accountable to a higher standard and i would just never put aside my dignity and my integrity just to defend donald trump when we saw the things he did at the end of his ministration where he was the first president to not go along with a peaceful transfer of power, trying to overturn election and spread Conspiracy Theories because he couldnt accept the fact that he lost, and helped incite the insurrection of the capital. And i just wish they would grow a backbone and a spine and just know that they want to say these things publicly and we need to create a Permission Structure in which they can so that is why i think it is so important for republicans like myself and others to be out there saying these things, to show that it is okay to go against donald trump. And you know what, some things are more important than having a career in politics or power. I know what my priorities are and i think that thos