unfounded allegations of corruption in his 2020 election loss to joe biden. for many months now he's been spreading baseless lies about an election that hasn't happened yet. yesterday the twice impeached and recently convicted ex-president took this grievance campaign to detroit, a city that was crucial to president biden's victory in and 2020. and the city where trompe l'oeil is made baseless claims of election fraud. lanes that have credited, what have disenfranchised city voters, many of whom are black. that is all in the past apparently. in a span of just a few hours, trump attended a pair of events in the motor city. first, he participated in a roundtable discussion at a predominantly black church during which his campaign formally launched black americans for trump. and outreach group that seeks to cut into biden's lead among that demographic. then, he appeared at an event hosted by the right-wing organization turning point usai. and yvette largely attended by hard-line conservatives. during his speech the former president continued his attacks on electoral system. >> i go to california, we have 100,000 people show up and i say, why are we losing california? where we losing? it is so corrupt. the whole election process, and what we want to do is we ultimately want to go to paper ballots, voter i.d., one day voting. >> but trump conveniently leaves out of this narrative that the 2020 election was actually the most secure in american history. in fact those were the exact words used in a statement issued at the time by the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency. this was a group that the trump administration tasked with ensuring the integrity of the 2020 election. notably, just a few days after they released a statement confirming the integrity of the election, donald trump fired scraps, the head. it wasn't already apparent that trumps grievances about election security and really about election security. to this day, no evidence of his or -- emerged that there was widespread fraud in the election instead, trump's lives are part of a larger effort to sever democracy. and effort that would escalate if he returns to office. much of the threat is laid out in project 2025, the right wing 's 920 page playbook for a new trump administration. the general idea behind what is called the fascist playbook, is to overhaul the federal government and centralize more power and authority in the executive branch and among the many, many ideas proposed in that playbook, is one that targets the agency that determined that the 2020 election was secure. quote, in any event, the entirety of the cybersecurity advisory committee should be dismissed on day one. joining me to discuss our jennifer rubin, opinion writer for the washington post and author of the book resistance, how women saved democracy from donald trump. and with us at the table is basil, director of public policy at the roosevelt house institute of hunter college and former executive director of the new york democratic party. they are both also msnbc political analysts. project 2025 is not some secret document, it is publicly available, online. but yet there hasn't really been a reaction from the public at large, to this. you think that people just don't know about it or it is not registering and why aren't individuals taking this threat as seriously as they should? >> i think that is right. a 900 page document, unless it is broken down methodically, routinely, regularly by the press is going to go over the heads of the american people and that sort of is the idea behind it, that they are hoping in plain daylight they will be able to sase, we told you what we wanted and the average voter will not have known what they were signing up for her. as you say, it is really a complete guidebook to fascism. whether it is in reproductive rights, whether it is voting rights, whether it is stripping the federal government of the protections of the civil service, which makes sure that we have actually qualified people rather than presidential cronies. it really is a model of fascism. when people say, what are you worried about, donald trump is not going to do these things, the playbook is there. we just have to watch it and learn from it and see what is in it. and the press has to do a much better job of breaking it down and continually hammering home that this is an extraordinary document. it is extreme, far beyond anything we have seen in the nation's history and it really is un-american and counter to the entire concept of checks and balances. it really centralizes power in the executive, which as you know, is the first step in a totalitarian regime. >> so basil, jennifer is exactly right. we in the media have to do a better job of making sure the public understands exactly what is in these 920 pages. what what should we make of the fact that they are not hiding this at all, that they are not hiding the ball, they are literally saying the quiet part out loud. >> in part, because it is not just -- it is not a political platform, it is an instruction manual, and when you really do break it down, it is not -- you breakdown that significantly large document, it really talks about not just the president can do, unilaterally without congress for example, what he can do within agencies. but it is also telling voters what the president's cronies can do in different parts of government. what judges can do, what can happen in states, what can happen within specific agencies. there's an agency breakdown within the document that talks about, in a very specific terms, what can happen within these agencies to affect government. and what is interesting is the very beginning basically, this isn't just about election, this is about retaking government. and it is sort of quite pernicious in its language. and we should be mindful that it is when a wing of government services and government responsibility, to create one singular narrative work america. that there's a lot of taking out of dei, lot of taking out, as jennifer talked about, civil service protections. the effective protections for organized labor, all of that is out. and this lack of regulation, this, we can do whatever we want is fully embedded in and that document. so i do think that we should do a better job of breaking it down. but there's a lot in there that we have already been mobilized around. we just need to bring it out. >> to make those connections with the work we've been doing and what needs to happen. jennifer, the heritage foundation has said that it now has more than 100 coalition partners, who have signed on as advisory members to project 2025. this is clear that it is not just some right-wing fever dream. they have consolidated support for this among the right. are you surprised that so many groups have signed onto it already, and how does the left counteract this? >> i'm not surprised all and i would remind viewers that the heritage foundation, which used to be a respectable, intellectual group, was also flying the flag upside down. so they have made cause, with the insurrectionists, with the anti-constitutionalists, and yes, they have taken over what was left of the caucus of the republican party. they are unified. and they have corrupted the course, as we have seen from the -- the supreme court. you only have to look at the judge who for example tried to outlaw mifepristone or the judge who has control of the trump trial at mar-a-lago. to see the extent to which they have already begun to corrupt the other branches of government. and what democrats need to do is they need to get organized. first of all they need to compete, up and down the ballot, there's a big push within the democrat party to make the state races, local races competitive. that is where a lot of the work of government gets done. so they have to make a push there. they have to rally behind the popular issues, which are choice , for example. the republicans are pushing something that is very unpopular and that is why they have to come up with all of these anti-democratic rules in order to get their agenda through. democrats need to rally around the issues that they are in lockstep with the american people on. the american people don't want to see social security privatized. they don't want to see the outline of all forms of abortion. they don't want to see book banning. they don't want to see the department of education torn down. so they have to get out there message. they have to be clear. and they have to, i think be very clear that this is really a question of what kind of america do you want to look at, and want to live in. you want to live in a democracy where we have a variety of choices for our personal lives and we get from government the things that we want, or do we live in a autocracy, where the rich and powerful get what they need and want and the rest of us are told to shut up. >> basil, jennifer gave us a clinic on all of the anti- democratic efforts, that are underway to make the selection, not one of the people, but one of these consolidated organizations. can you talk a little bit about trump's recent rhetoric, which really focuses on the election, the fact that there was alleged election fraud in the last election. he's really stoking this. is it really just an effort to make voters feel like anything they do at the polls is in vain, that their votes aren't going to count essentially from going out to the polls in numbers. >> one of the things that does come clear, particularly now in this election cycle is how little voters regard our institutions at-large. especially true for african american votes --. when trump does this, what he does is he stoking fear and concern that is already there and he knows that. is exacerbating that. is counting on the other side of the narrative, which is that you don't already trust it and now you have to take action. if you listen when he talked about their coming after me, when he was getting, the cops are coming to his house and he said they are coming after me, things could have gone a different way. that is on one hand trying to address this issue of the sort of police force. but on the other hand, it is telling americans essentially, what he has said before, which is get ready, stand ready. and push back. so that his concern that we need to have, it is not just calling attention to something a lot of americans are you are concerned about. it is the other side of it, the action we take as a result of it. and you have seen individually in arizona, -- wants to start a race war by planning a mass murderer. you have seen attacks on the fbi and intimidation of fbi agents. that is not disconnected from his language. so again, what democrats need to do, it's very important. is to make sure that not only we go out and vote, but we also have to consistently talk civics and trusted in auditions. and putting people in place. this is jennifer's point about down ballot races, putting people in place that are going to be trusted in and running these institutions. >> these are terrific points. jennifer rubin, basil, thank you for getting us started this morning. coming up, breaking developments out of the middle east. we go live to tel aviv to explain why israel is enacting a quote, tactical pause in its offensive in southern gaza. later, a truly alarming development that you might have missed this week. because it was buried in clarence thomas's a low concurrence in the abortion pill case. we will explain just ahead. ah . help fuel today with boost high protein, complete nutrition you need... ...without the stuff you don't. so, here's to now. boost. 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what does it mean for aid into gaza? >> reporter: it is one of these things that caught us by surprise. it caught senior members of the amazing -- israeli government by surprise. local media reporting benjamin netanyahu and the minister of defense, that they were surprised by this. they didn't get word of this. and there's a reason why they are doing this. the world health organization for one has warned their serious malnutrition affecting many parts of the gaza strip, including a lot of children. and this comes as the u.s. sent the floating., we've been hearing about since march, to try to get a onshore into the gaza strip, past the blockages hated by the israelis into the gaza strip. but that has been withdrawn, all because of bad weather. they are worried the damaged again as it has been several times in the past couple of months. that pier had been crucial to bringing millions of tons of food aid to the starving gazans. also at the same time, as you mentioned, there's been an uptick in the fighting that has killed a large number of israelis than normal in this fight. we saw the eight were killed announced yesterday. since then, three more died but the eight were killed died in one single incident, an explosion on an armored vehicle. three others died as well. so there's a lot of anger here in in israel about the sacrifices soldiers have been making and already we are hearing from right-wing ministers and politicians, saying the tactical pause is basically just letting hamas off the hook. they are saying they need to keep going. we heard from the national security minister, he tweeted out that this was a foolish decision and the people who made it should not be in office. we can expect to hear more from that as the week goes on, and as you mentioned, this is an open-ended thing. it started yesterday, according to the idf and it is going every single day until there's further notice. it is indefinite picture. but it is only happening, this sort of pause, this strategic tactical pause bleeding from the over crossing all the way into central gaza. but it stops before it gets too rough. the fighting elsewhere is going to continue and the idf is careful to say it does not represent a cessation of hostilities. >> thank you for the update from tel aviv. that was matt bradley with nbc news international. still ahead, impacts of the right-wing's dismantling of affirmative action. those can be seen almost everywhere you look. will talk about one specific case where the reversal of progress toward racial and gender equity is stark and maddening. that is up next. next. failure . because there are places you'd like to be. farxiga can cause serious side effects, including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ chewy, a citi client, uses citi's financial expertise to help drive its growth and keep its supply chain moving, so more pet parents can get everything they need... right when they need it. keeping more pets, and families, happy. ♪♪ for the love of moving our clients forward. for the love of progress. ♪ i am, i cried ♪ for the love of moving our [ laughing ]ard. ♪ i am, said i ♪ ♪ and i am lost and i can't ♪ punch buggy red. ♪ even say why ♪ ♪ i am, i said ♪ ♪ ♪ let's get the rest of these plants in. organic soil from miracle-gro has grown me the best garden i have ever had. good soil, and you get good results. this soil will blow you away. it's the martha stewart of soil. when you purchase a pair of bombas socks, tees, or underwear, you also donate one to someone facing homelessness. one purchased equals one donated. 100 million donations and counting. visit bombas.com and get 20% off your first order. what is cirkul? 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