Judge Halts Construction on White House Ballroom

20:09Juanita Tolliver:Yes. Perfectly said, Jason. Thank you so much for joining us today. I really appreciate it. Jason Johnson and Juanita, you're sticking with us, stuck right here and still ahead. How Donald Trump Jr. could benefit financially from lenient new rules set by his father's administration on handguns. And how Democrats are trying to stop it from happening. But first, the blowback to a Republican senator caving on Trump Attorney General nominee Todd Blanche. We talk to a Nepsting survivor going public tonight.

20:40Jason Johnson:Normally in these ads, you'd expect someone like me to ask you to buy something. But I want to ask you to do something different. I'm Dave Ferenthal, and I'm a reporter for The New York Times. I'm an investigative reporter, which means that I follow the money, inside of government and outside of government. The point of my job is to find things people are trying to hide. It involves talking to lots of people. It involves looking through lots and lots of documents. And if there weren't folks like me to go beyond the surface to understand who was really shaping what the government does, the public will be left in the dark about what the government's doing with your tax money, what the government's doing to you through regulations and spending.

21:15Jason Johnson:If you're like me and you think this kind of journalism is important, seek out a news source that does firsthand, fact-based reporting. If that's the New York Times, thank you. If that's your local paper, that's great too. Because where you get your information matters. You know that feeling when too many things fall through the cracks? Monday.com was built for that gap. The AI work platform where people and agents work side by side to deliver more together. Create your first Monday agent today at Monday.com. Now you can watch Ali Valshi five nights a week in primetime on MSNOW as he takes command of the 11th hour.

21:55Jason Johnson:The Justice Department is facing its own legal obstacles over this case. Putting today's stories in perspective. This one is perhaps one of the more interesting surprises. And tomorrow's headlines in focus. Economists are warning that American consumers are soon going to feel the hurt. The 11th Hour with Ali Velshi, weeknights at 11 p.m. Eastern on MS Now.

22:19The Senate appears poised to confirm Todd Blanche, President Trump's highly controversial attorney general pick. After retiring, GOP Senator Bill Cassidy announced today He would vote to confirm Blanche, giving him just enough votes to make it over the finish line. That is despite opposition from Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. The full Senate vote could come as soon as this evening. Blanche, the current acting AG, has faced serious resistance from a number of important groups, DOJ vets, former judges, and Epstein survivors, all asking senators to vote no on Blanche. If he does become attorney general, he will still be plagued by issues from his time as acting AG, like this new lawsuit, New Mexico suing Blanche and the Justice Department, alleging that they stonewalled from the state's own probe into Epstein.

23:13Also saying the DOJ's actions, quote, actively harms victims and undermines the public interest. Something Epstein survivors have been sang for months. Take a listen to Liz Stein, a survivor who spoke out on Capitol Hill opposing Blanche's nomination. My opposition to Mr. Blanche's confirmation is not based on politics because this is not a political issue for us. It is based on the Department of Justice's failure to faithfully implement the Epstein Files Transparency Act. Instead of acknowledging the severity of Epstein's crimes and imposing the rule of law, Blanche treated the fallout as a reputational problem for the current administration to manage.

23:59Joining me now is Liz Stein, the Epstein survivor who we just heard from in that clip, and Juanita Tolliver is back with me. Liz, thank you so much for joining us tonight and for all of your work and advocacy these past few weeks and years, really. I want to ask you if you had the opportunity to talk to any of the Republican lawmakers during your time on Capitol Hill this past month. Well, we certainly have attempted to talk to Republican lawmakers because, as I said in that clip, this is not about politics for us. This is a case about sex trafficking. It's about the crime of sex trafficking. And there's been so much political emotion infused to something that, you know, really doesn't have much of anything to do with politics.

24:52Were you present or did you participate in that meeting with Todd Blanch? And what were your takeaways from meeting him? Yeah, I was in that meeting with Todd Blanch. And I will say that it was very disheartening. It was very demoralizing. We had been asking to meet with the Department of Justice for months on end. And we were, you know, we were met with silence. And it was only when Senator Tillis made it a condition of Todd Blanche's promotion that he met with us. And so we were given approximately four hours to show up at this meeting and be prepared. And we did show up prepared. We had an agenda with questions that we wanted answered, and we really went to that meeting in earnest to try and work with Todd Blanche, but we didn't get any cooperation from him.

25:46We got exactly the opposite. What are the most important questions that you still want answered by Todd Blanche? Well, I think that we are very concerned about the fact that Ghislaine Maxwell has been moved to a low security facility. This is something that's unprecedented for anyone who has a conviction that she has. And we haven't ever gotten real answers about what transpired there. It feels to us like it was a reward for her saying what Todd Blanche wanted her to say publicly, but that's a really big concern for us. We're also very concerned about the way that the files were released and the way that redactions were handled.

26:37again we're victims of a crime yet our personal identifying information was released over and over and over again my the name of my school was released part of my address was released my name was released in a in a sentence that said stein was a victim of epstein maxwell and if you can't redact a victim's name in that sentence then you know what hope do we have And so we see women who had never told anyone that they had been involved with Epstein, who didn't feel ready to talk about this publicly, who were exposed over and over and over again. And now their friends are reading the most intimate details of their exploitation.

27:21The parents at their kids' schools can get all of this information about them. And so, you know, that is particularly concerning to us because we are victims of this crime. And we also saw over and over again where potential perpetrators' names and information was redacted. So that's really hugely concerning to us. Well, you raise a really good point there, Liz. And I want to ask you about the New Mexico suit that's ongoing right now that Todd Blanch is also accused of stonewalling. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres said in an interview with NBC when he was asked whether there was another woman who might have facilitated the sexual assaults in a similar way to Maxwell, he responded that at this point, we don't know at this point.

28:16I'm wondering if you have an answer to that. Well, I will say that it seems to me that anytime someone wants to investigate this crime, they're met with incredible hurdles that they shouldn't be met with. And we're seeing that again in this New Mexico case. They're just trying to get to the bottom of what happened, and yet the Department of Justice refuses to cooperate with them. it's maddening, to be honest with you. And Juanita, I want to ask you about the Cassidy of it all, because it was counterintuitive news, quite frankly. I think everyone expected Cassidy to be part of this, quote, YOLO caucus, not a phrase that I used or a pattern that I saw being employed by Republican senators who had been ousted from their seats, who had lost the primary.

29:13And Cassidy has not really bucked the party since his loss in the Louisiana primary. But today he had the opportunity to do so and again passed on it. What is your take on why he ultimately decided not to? Was this something was it self-preservation to try to ensure that he secures some corporate board seats going forward once he leaves office? Was he trying to provide cover to Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins by letting them say vote no, but the vote still making it through? What's your read of these tea leaves?

29:48Juanita Tolliver:I mean, Jackie, that's the number one thing I'm asking. What does he get out of it? And not just Cassidy, but also people like Tillis and Cornyn, who are also leaving the body in a few months. I just truly need to know what they're getting out of it that is worth more than transparency and justice for survivors like Liz, who have been risking so much and stepping forward and speaking out. I also look at this entire situation of these senators who are leaving and ask, what type of legacy do they expect that they're leaving behind that's not wrapped in this stench surrounding the Epstein files and handling by Blanche?

30:26Juanita Tolliver:So to your first point, Jackie, what are they getting by voting for this nomination? And Liz, before we are out of time, I do want to ask you about what comes next. I mean, I have heard from some people who are involved in the congressional investigations world that they're concerned that once Democrats, if they do win back the majority in November, take back subpoena power and come January, release and commence a handful of investigations that are not related to the Epstein file. investigations into Trump and various other issues that have cropped up over the last two years, that the Epstein files are no longer going to be a priority for lawmakers and the bipartisan agreement around it, at least in the House, is going to dissipate.

31:12What do you think is going to come next and how are you going to keep up the pressure on lawmakers to get to the bottom of everything? So I don't think that the American public feels that this case is over, despite what the Department of Justice is telling us. And I think that that's really important to remember. I said a week or so ago that we the people have the power, and that's really important for us to remember, that our elected officials are in office because we put them there. And when we let them know how we feel about the Epstein case, it's hard for them to ignore that. I think it's difficult to predict what's going to happen in the future.

31:54I wish that I could. But I will tell you this. For the past year, survivors have met every challenge that has been put in front of us, and we have no intention of stopping now. We know what the truth is, and we are not going to stop until we see justice in whatever form that comes. And so, you know, the only thing that I can tell you for certain about the future is that we're not going away. Liz Stein, thank you so much for your time and for your courage. And Juanita Tolliver, thank you as well. We appreciate you. Turning to exclusive new MS Now reporting on conditions facing sailors aboard the USS Lincoln deployed in Donald Trump's war against Iran.

32:40Military families confronting the acting Navy secretary in a, quote, fiery face to face meeting in San Diego last night. During the combative meeting, the families brought up their concerns over the sailors, quote, mental health, safety on deck, lack of supplies, food shortages, water contamination and disruptions in the mail system. Joining me now is MSNOW Pentagon correspondent Priya Shreether, who broke this story. Priya, please talk to us about this incredible reporting that you've been all over this week. Thanks, Jackie. Well, yeah, emotions were running high and tensions were definitely boiling over at these two back-to-back town halls.

33:19We had one town hall that occurred in person on Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego with the acting secretary of the Navy, Hong Kao. And then immediately following that, there was another virtual town hall with another 200 or so family members from around the country. And really their number one question for Navy leadership is, when are our loved ones coming home? These men and women on the USS Abraham Lincoln, it's about a 5 ,000-person crew, have been on a record-setting deployment. This was supposed to be a seven-month deployment. It appears as though it has now been extended for a second time, and it just hit a modern-day record in the Navy for the most number of continuous days at sea.

34:01And that's really important here because that raised a number of concerns from the family members at this meeting about the low morale that they believe is occurring on the ship and also the exhaustion that they believe could result in accidents that could potentially be extremely dangerous. So the one thing the acting Navy secretary said is that what they're hoping to do is bring the Theodore Roosevelt, a different aircraft carrier that just got back to San Diego from a military exercise in Hawaii, into theater to relieve the Abraham Lincoln. But he's not quite sure when exactly that's going to happen.

34:36And he cannot give them any sort of definitive timeline about when these men and women will come home. And then we also heard a lot about the conditions on the ship that I have been reporting about all week, things like moldy showers, a lack of hot water in the showers, a shortage of food, their sailors and their Marines standing in one to two hour lines to get into the ship's store only to find that there was a lack of basic hygienic items like toothpaste, deodorant, and soap. And the Navy leaders acknowledged that this has been a problem. And that was a result of the fact that Navy's Fifth Fleet, which is where their logistics headquarters are, was getting bombed by the Iranians.

35:17And then most interestingly, Jackie, the policy angle of all of this also came up in both of these town halls. We had one woman stand up and essentially say that her husband has expressed to her that he doesn't feel proud of what he's doing, that he believes that a lot of the actions that are occurring as a result of this war in Iran are killing innocent civilians. And she said, how am I supposed to feel proud of his service? And that comment was actually met with a round of applause. So there was just a lot of questions about what is the mission going on with the war in Iran? When is it going to end?

35:51Because that's going to be the answer for them as to when their loved ones are actually going to come home. Those are shocking details that you uncovered, and we're so grateful for your reporting. And I just want to emphasize how important it is in adding to the overall picture of the U.S. military under pressure and strain due to this war of choice. Thank you so much, Priya Schreeder. Up next, more than 20 state attorneys general are suing the Trump administration over a new push to allow handguns to be sent in the mail. One of them joins me live.

36:29Jason Johnson:Normally in these ads, you'd expect someone like me to ask you to buy something. But I want to ask you to do something different. I'm Dave Ferenthal, and I'm a reporter for The New York Times. I'm an investigative reporter, which means that I follow the money, inside of government and outside of government. The point of my job is to find things people are trying to hide. It involves talking to lots of people. It involves looking through lots and lots of documents. And if there weren't folks like me to go beyond the surface to understand who is really shaping what the government does. The public will be left in the dark about what the government's doing with your tax money, what the government's doing to you through regulations and spending.

37:04Jason Johnson:If you're like me, and you think this kind of journalism is important, seek out a news source that does firsthand, fact-based reporting. If that's the New York Times, thank you. If that's your local paper, that's great too. Because where you get your information matters. You know that feeling when too many things fall through the cracks? Monday.com was built for that gap. The AI work platform where people and agents work side by side to deliver more together. Create your first Monday agent today at Monday.com. Ever since I was young, I've watched people working hard, chasing opportunity, making sacrifices, doing everything they can to build a better life.

37:45Jason Johnson:And now we're shining a light on what matters most. Our economy, our national identity, our democracy, our future. The stakes have never been higher. It's all On The Line. On The Line with Alicia Menendez, weekdays at 12 p.m. Eastern on MS Now.

38:07We're following a troubling and potentially illegal push by the Trump administration to allow companies to sell handguns in the mail. Trump's DOJ issuing a memo claiming that a nearly 100-year-old law banning the practice is unconstitutional. There are also troubling questions about how this could benefit the Trump family. Donald Trump Jr. sits on the board and holds shares in a company he helped go public, known as the, quote, Amazon of guns. According to Reuters, the change could benefit Trump Jr., who has$700 ,000 worth of shares in Grab a Gun. Donald Trump Jr. says he had no role in the decision.

38:48But there's real pushback from a group that has stopped Trump before. Nearly two dozen Democratic attorneys general are calling the proposal, quote, illegal. This latest move spotlights a strange dichotomy. The Trump administration thinking it's OK to send handguns in the mail, but it's not OK to send ballots in the mail. Trump asking the Supreme Court to sign off on his executive order limiting the use of mail ballots, even though he voted by mail himself earlier this year. Trump has claimed that voting by mail is cheating, except apparently when he does it. Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating.

39:25I call it mail-in cheating. And we got to do something about it all. And because of the fact that I'm president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida because I felt I should be here instead of being in the beautiful sunshine. And I decided that I was going to vote by mail-in ballot because I couldn't be there. because they had a lot of different things. As we mentioned, Democratic state attorneys general are vowing to fight the push to send handguns in the mail, as they have with other Trump policies, like tariffs. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison joins me next to talk all about it.

40:05Joining me now is Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, one of the AGs calling out the Trump administration over their proposal to allow Americans to mail handguns. Attorney General, happy Friday. Thanks for joining us. I want to ask you about this letter of opposition to the Trump administration to withdraw the proposed rule that they have made. the states in this letter that you signed on to therefore urge USPS to withdraw the proposed rule and at a minimum to clarify the terms mailable firearms and non-mailable firearms to ensure that the rule does not create a mechanism for individuals to obtain firearms that are unlawful to possess in their respective states.

40:48I'm wondering if you can explain a little bit further about why, if the administration ultimately decides not to withdraw this rule, which is, I think, what many of us would be expecting, why the clarification of mailable versus non-mailable might prevent this from going into effect? Well, at the end of the day, these terms are valuable and can be interpreted in different ways. Definition is important here. But I think the main thing is the executive branch just doesn't have the authority to unilaterally override a federal statute passed by Congress. There's a 1927 ban, which remains active law and has never been struck down by a court, and they really don't have the authority to do it.

41:36It clearly will make people money who traffic in these instruments of death, but it's still not going to be lawful. So I think we have to stand for public safety, stand for communities being able to protect themselves against being shot. And that's really what's motivating us. At the end of the day, the administration's action allowing guns, handguns to be sold through the mail will increase the number of handgun deaths. And but looks like it might, you know, enhance the wealth of at least one member of the Trump family, which is something that we have to draw out as well. Yeah, we actually should go into a little bit more detail on how Don Jr.

42:22is going to be benefiting from this. The change could benefit him. This is according to Reuters, who's more than 300 ,000 shares in Grab a Gun are worth more than $700 ,000. But getting back to the rulemaking here, how much time is left in the public comment period? Because I remember a time when there was a rulemaking process where if there was enough actual public outcry or pressure on an administration, they would ultimately drop a proposed rule. So how much time is left and what are you all doing with that remaining time? We are writing letters, as thank you for highlighting the letter we wrote.

43:07We're asking the public to raise their voices. Let me just tell you, there are people in your community, no matter where you might be sitting watching this broadcast, who have lost loved ones to gun violence, school shootings, community shootings, domestic violence. There are all types of tragic situations. I can never get over the shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis where somebody shot down children at prayer in school. Or my dear friend, Melissa Hortman, who was the speaker of the Minnesota House. There are stories to be told, and I hope that Americans all over this country write to the Trump administration and say, you should not be selling handguns through the mail.

43:47It will make things more dangerous. It'll put guns in the hands of people who should not have them. It is a terrible idea. And Attorney General, before we're out of time, I want to pivot to tariffs. There is a theory amongst some economists that at this point, the third time around of people in vigorous opposition to Donald Trump's tariffs, that the biggest obstacle to actually undoing them is financial and not legal just because of the way something that was supposed to be a temporary regime is now getting baked into the U.S. economy. Have you taken the financial implications at all into your calculus when coming out against this latest round of tariffs?

44:32These tariffs are the things that are causing economic chaos. We're on round three. Remember, round one went all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court when we sued Trump over the first round of tariffs. And the Supreme Court, this Supreme Court, found that the Trump administration had violated the law. They had collected quite a bit of money, literally billions, and now they have to refund it. Some of the companies who are getting refunds are not remitting passing those on to the consumers, even though consumers paid it. Then we opposed the second round, and now here we are on the third one where we're suing them again.

45:08Look, there's nothing inherently wrong with considering limited tariffs, but this is broad, crossed the board. It's illegal. It's unallowed, and we have to uphold the rule of law. He's violating the rule of law, and we have to uphold it, which is why we sued him. And I'm confident we're going to win three times on these tariffs. I'm not sure the bond market is in complete agreement with you, but consumers who are paying higher prices certainly are. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, thank you. Does it make sense to let him break the law simply because there are some benefits somewhere else to somebody else?

45:42It's illegal. So thank you for allowing me to be heard. That does it for me.

45:48Jason Johnson:Saturday, September 26th. Join MSNOW live in Texas for our biggest event yet. With Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki, Michael Steele, and more. For a day of powerful conversations and timely insights in a crucial state for the midterms. Democracies heal and advance themselves by engaging everybody where they are. Plus, exclusive community experiences. MSNOW live together in Texas. September 26th. Get tickets today at ms.now.together.