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Transcript: The 11th Hour with Brian Williams, 6/25/21

Guests: Chuck Rosenberg, Carmen Best

Summary

Derek Chauvin, the former police officer who killed George Floyd on a Minneapolis Street last year, was sentenced Friday to 22 and half years in prison. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Department of Justice will be filing a lawsuit against the state of Georgia over its new election laws. He claimed that the new rules are in violation of the Voting Rights Act and are "denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race or color." Search for survivors continues after Florida condo collapse. Officials search for cause of tragic condo collapse. NYT have details White House plan to invoke insurrection act in 2020.

Transcript

BRIAN WILLIAMS, MSNBC HOST: Well, good evening once again, day 157 of the Biden administration. And we close out this week with a very busy Friday evening. Today saw the sentencing of Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the murder of George Floyd. The case force the nation and to some extent the wider world into a reckoning with race policing use of force.

Chauvin was sentenced to 22 and a half years in prison, of that, he`s expected to serve about 15 years behind bars. Prosecutors had asked for 30, the defense wanted probation. During the emotional sentencing hearing, Chauvin`s mother spoken his own defense, while members of Floyd`s family, including his seven-year-old daughter spoke of their loss.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you could say anything to your daddy right now, what would it be?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It will be, I miss you and I love him.

TERRENCE FLOYD, GEORGE FLOYD`S BROTHER: What was going through your head when you had your knee on my brother`s neck? When you knew that he posed no threat anymore? He was handcuffed, why you didn`t at least get up?

CAROLYN PAWLENTY, DEREK CHAUVIN`S MOTHER: My son`s identity has also been reduced to that of a racist. I want this court to know that none of these things are true. When you sentence my son, you will also be sentencing me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: The court then heard briefly from Derek Chauvin himself.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DEREK CHAUVIN, MINNEAPOLIS POLICE OFFICER: At this time due to some additional legal matters at hand, I`m not able to give a full formal statement at this time. But very briefly, though, I do want to give my condolences to the Floyd family. There`s going to be some other information in the future that would be of interest. And I hope things will give you some peace of mind. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: No one quite knows what that inference was to other information he was talking about.

Late this afternoon President Biden who has become close to members of the Floyd family, as you know hosted them at the White House recently. He was asked about the sentencing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I don`t know all the circumstances that were considered but it seems to me and guidelines that seem to be appropriate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Three other now former police officers also charged in George Floyd`s murder are scheduled to be tried starting in March. They and Chauvin will also be tried on federal civil rights charges.

Meanwhile, there`s new reporting about the Trump White House response to the protests that erupted in the streets after George Floyd was murdered. New York Times says the Trump White House aides went as far as to draft an order that would have invoked the insurrection act in case the President decided to put active duty U.S. military onto our streets. It`s a barely used act for good reason and allows presidents to deploy the military for law enforcement purposes.

Paper reports of furious Trump indeed told senior officials he wanted to stop last year`s protest by using active duty U.S. troops.

Meanwhile, more signs tonight the Trump`s business appears to be facing great legal jeopardy. NBC News has learned the Manhattan District Attorney is expecting to file tax related charges against the Trump Organization possibly as soon as next week.

In a statement a lawyer for the company said, "The corporate office will plead not guilty and we will make an immediate motion to dismiss the case."

And on another legal front of Biden Justice Department today revealed it`s suing the state of Georgia over that restrictive new voting law signed into law by the governor. The DOJ argues parts of the law were intended to effectively discriminate against African Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTEN CLARKE, ASSISTANT ATTY. GENERAL FOR CIVIL RIGHTS: The Justice Department will not stand idly by in the face of unlawful attempts to restrict access to the ballot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Then came this earlier this evening, Georgia`s Attorney General called the accusations disgusting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS CARR, GEOGIA ATTORNEY GENERAL: And this is, again, it`s a blatantly political lawsuit. This Justice Department, I`m going to quote what Governor Brian Kemp said, the weaponization of the Department of Justice should bother everybody. It has now been weaponized by a group of political activists who don`t like what our state has done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Tonight, we are also, of course, keeping a close eye on the race to find any survivors from that high rise condo collapse in Surfside, Florida. Fire Rescue and search crews have been working for nearly 48 hours now using both heavy equipment and their own hands to comb through the wreckage.

The difference is this, since we last spoke, the list of unaccounted for has ballooned from 99 people, which is where it stood at this time last night to 159 people currently listed as unaccounted for. There have been four confirmed fatalities as of now.

And indeed, we do want to begin with the very latest from there. Ali Velshi is reporting from Surfside, Florida this evening.

Ali, two things, number one, in all the disasters I can remember this is the first instance where a list of those unaccounted for overnight got larger and not smaller. Usually, they get smaller because people raise their hands and say I was out of town. I was at my sister`s house, whatever. And second, the sadness of the scene from there tonight, this slow burning, smoldering fire underneath the wreckage where let`s not forget there`s propane. There`s gasoline from every one of the gas tanks and every one of the cars that were pancaked while parked down there. And they`re using minimal amounts of water intentionally to not add to the weight of the wreckage as they`re in search and rescue mode.

ALI VELSHI, MSNBC HOST: Yeah, unfortunately, you know, well, Brian that fire begets fire. And the police, the firefighters and rescuers had been using water, but we have been -- it`s been raining. It stopped earlier this afternoon. But it was raining yesterday. It was raining last night. There was lightning, which was not helpful in the search. The Rescuers can`t work in lightning. It was torrential at some points today. They did continue to work with so much water has accumulated in those very spaces at the bottom of the building or at least what was the bottom of the building that rescuers are hoping there might be pockets of air that might contain survivors. So they made an active decision earlier to cut back on the -- fighting that fire, fighting the fires with water.

And you can see behind me the haze, the smoke and the steam, which is the combination of the debris in the dust and the fires and the steam from the water that`s in there. So this is a very, very difficult situation.

Typically, when you have these lists of people unaccounted for, as you reported 99 last night, people say I`m not there, they report themselves in, there`s a number of website and family members say we`ve been able to reach them, they weren`t there. That number has not budged since it jumped to 159. This morning, the same four people have been pronounced deceased, no rescues, no recoveries today.

This is devastating for the families who are nearby a few blocks away in a center that has now been moved to a hotel so that they can be in greater comfort. Initially, it was a community center. But they`re spending so much time there that there`s now food and comfort for them. But there`s no comfort in learning what`s going on with their loved ones. In fact, authorities are now taking DNA swabs from them to help them identify remains, but we haven`t even got reporting about that right now.

So the bottom line is they`re being informed every few hours, we`re being informed every few hours. But as we end tonight, there is no reduction in the number of people unaccounted for and no new discoveries in the last 12 hours, Brian.

WILLIAMS: All I know is Surfside Florida certainly appears to be the saddest place on earth tonight. Ali, after your long day of reporting, thank you for staying up to update our audience tonight, Ali Velshi from the scene there in Surfside.

With that let`s bring in our leadoff guests on this Friday night. Eugene Daniels, White House Correspondent for Politico and co-author of each day`s edition of the Politico Playbook, Carmen Best, former police chief in the city of Seattle, Chuck Rosenberg, Justice Department Veteran, Former U.S. attorney and former senior official at the FBI, these days host of the MSNBC podcast, The Oath.

Well, good evening, and welcome to you all. And, Chuck, I want to begin with your bailiwick, your life`s work, which is the law and get your opinion on this sentence considering the range was parole, no time at all to 30 years.

CHUCK ROSENBERG, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Yeah, Brian, you`re exactly right. I mean, people look at the floor, no time in jail, and the statutory maximum in this case, 40 years in jail, and they assume that it`s going to be one or the other. Actually, Minnesota like virtually every other state, like the federal system has a set of sentencing guidelines so that the average case is treated in the same way for like defendants who have done like things with like criminal history records. And so for Derek Chauvin that number wasn`t zero, wasn`t 40, that number was about 12 and a half to 15 years. And the judges departed upward from that. He found two aggravating circumstances that Chauvin actions were particularly cruel, and that Chauvin abused a position of trust as a police officer. And so, he went from that presumptive, 12 and a half to 15 years or so, up to 22 years. It`s exactly what he should have done. His opinion, which I read earlier today, is methodical and linear and cogent and thoughtful. If you haven`t read it, I think you should. I think your viewers would find it interesting to see how the judge reasoned through it. And that`s how he came up with a number that apparently nobody particularly wanted. Some people wanted a lot more. Some people wanted a lot less. But I think the judge ended up in the right place, Brian.

WILLIAMS: Chief Best, instruct me that the sentencing came down this afternoon, at least here on the East Coast, just as the four to 12 shift was getting underway and police officers up and down the East Coast, were in locker rooms and ready rooms and heading out to their vehicles when they no doubt got the word. What do you think the message of this sentence is to police officers across the country?

Oh, Chief, I think you`re muted.

CARMEN BEST, FORMER SEATTLE POLICE CHIEF: Can you hear me?

WILLIAMS: OK, now we can hear you. Thank you.

BEST: Great. I would say that I think that there is a heightened level of accountability that most agencies recognize that being imparted on these officers all across the country. That said, let`s not forget that the police chief and civil officers testified against their children. No officer wants to see a murderer. So sexy, they want to make sure it is better to serve. And this instant message is, no this point to be more investigation, more accountability. And for those of us who work in a profession, I certainly have accountability. No one wants to see a murderer walk through.

WILLIAMS: Eugene, we noted there were a number of calls in the wake of the sentencing. And as Chuck put it, some people were satisfied with it. Some people were not, but a number of calls for Congress to add long last pass a police reform act where to the best of your knowledge does that stand as of tonight?

EUGENE DANIELS, POLITICO WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. It seems like we`re a few weeks off still of getting an actual bill, right? There`s three kind of big players here. Senator Tim Scott, the Republican Senator Cory Booker and Representative Karen Bass who have been negotiating and all three of them have said they`ve been negotiating in good faith, which you know, is in rare form nowadays in Washington D.C., they`ve been talking constantly about the things that they want to see in an actual bill. And they feel like they have a framework.

The issue is this is an example of why deadlines in Washington D.C., hard deadline, soft deadlines kind of just June deadlines are bad because they move around quite a bit, right? They bypass the May 25 deadline that President Biden kind of thrust on them. Senator Scott, at one point said, June or bust, it seems like bust has occurred, we`re moving past that. And they say they have a lot, they still have quite a bit of work to do, even though there`s a lot of pressure on them, especially after today to get something done immediately. They`re still discussing and arguing about officers use of force, qualified immunity, which is allow whether or not to allow people to sue police officers for any of those deaths that happen under that treatment that happens. And that is one issue with Democrats are in danger of losing some Progressive House members, someone like Cori Bush out of Missouri, she called it her red line to have in something about qualified immunity in this final bill that`s going to come back from the Senate so that -- they still have a lot to work out there. And they`re still playing, just trying to figure out just what is the right group of things to make sure that this passes, both in the Senate and in the House.

WILLIAMS: You`re right about politicians and deadlines. I don`t imagine it would go over well, if you asked the editor at Politico to just simply move a deadline a few days.

Hey, Chuck, we`re going to get into greater detail on this later. But I want to talk about the Trump story in New York for just a bit here. Why did the New York AG`s office presumably tip their hand to someone about what was in the offing for next week? And it seems to me, I don`t want to sound naive, but there are two basic choices, someone with loose lips around a reporter or someone asking with some kind of permission, some site of -- some kind of an aim, maybe to get Weisselberg to flip in public?

ROSENBERG: Well, it`s also possible, Brian, that someone from the New York AG`s office had a conversation with a representative of the Trump Organization, a lawyer and told them that look, here are your options, we`re planning to charge the company. And so you kind of either plead guilty, or you can wait until we charge you. Those types of conversations happen all the time, particularly in white collar cases. There are pre- indictment negotiations, not unusual, not nefarious, nothing wrong with it.

But you`re right, there`s seems to be other sources of information here. Not entirely sure where they`re coming from. But I do think, you know, as the New York Times is to be believed, and they`ve been pretty good of late. It looks like the Trump Organization is going to get charged with serious crimes related to the operation of their business, something we should absolutely talk about a little bit later.

WILLIAMS: Eugene, also this week, we saw the Senate spectacularly with on voting rights, and yet the action today from the Attorney General aimed at Georgia, do you have any reporting that absent legislation from our lawmakers, this may be the way the administration is going to go state by state if they have to?

DANIELS: Yeah, I think that`s exactly what`s going to end up happening, right? Because there is no world right now in which something that deals with voting rights is going to make it through Congress. And the split that we have with even with some of the moderate Democrats who are have issues with S1, which was the bill that failed to even get that discussion in the Senate. And so this is what the administration has talked about over and over and over about using every single lever that it has available to work on things that they know they can`t get done in Congress, right? And that includes voting rights. That includes any other civil rights and anything that can`t go through reconciliation.

And so that`s what`s happening now. This is kind of the Justice Department kind of going on the offensive, saying that, hey, we -- you know, they`re acknowledging that something, they thought something bad happened here in Georgia, they thought that this law was targeted and to make sure that black people couldn`t vote. That is what this Justice Department is going to look at. And there`s a conversation that`s been happening on the right saying whether or not, you know, this is political actors doing something, but this was always going to happen, right? This will be -- we`re always going to see this Justice Department. You could see it when Merrick Garland was going through his nomination and confirmation process that he was going to go after states if he felt like voting rights were in danger. He`s talked about that over and over. He`s talked about beefing up the groups of people in the Justice Department who work on voting rights, because, you know, while they`re not supposed to do political errands, the Justice Department does know the political realities of this country.

WILLIAMS: A couple of notes for our guests and our viewers along the way, Chuck Rosenberg, you`re not off the hook. I have a few more legal questions for you after the break. Chief Best, I owe us some airtime when we get your Wi-Fi audio straightened out so we can hear your brilliant answers. And as we thank our guests for starting us off on this last night of the week, congratulations are in order for one of them. Eugene Daniels got engaged this week. And Eugene, big congratulations from all of us who reside in your TV family, all the best to you. Great -- it`s great news. So having taken care of that business and around, a proper round of applause for Eugene.

Coming up later in our broadcast, those stunning reports about how Donald Trump wanted to use the U.S. military against protesters last summer, I`ll asked two of our veteran contributors who happened to be Republicans highly critical of their party of Trump and trumpism. We`ll talk about the deafening silence all around them. All of it as the 11th Hour is just getting underway as the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. looks on this Friday night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: As we mentioned multiple sources reporting tonight the Trump Organization could face criminal charges as soon as next week. The Manhattan DA`s office has been building this case, mostly against the company`s CFO Allen Weisselberg, hoping to flip him and gain his cooperation.

NBC News putting it this way, "Court documents show that, sigh, Vance that`s the Manhattan D.A., is probing possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization, which could include falsifying business records, insurance fraud, and tax fraud."

Still with us, the aforementioned Chuck Rosenberg. So Chuck, Weisselberg is key to this because the Trump Organization is not a vast organization. There`s no board of directors. It is basically a family run company with a lot of long timers. Weisselberg goes back to when Trump`s father ran the outfit.

Michael Cohen contends Weisselberg flipping isn`t essential, because he says that the documents that he is aware of that the DA`s office has are damning enough. Please take on that question for us.

ROSENBERG: Maybe yes, Brian, and maybe not. As a prosecutor, you always like to have documents, of course, there`s compelling evidence, but you need someone to breathe life into the documents to use another cliche, you need someone to put meat on the bone. And that`s why having individuals on the stand who can explain the documents, maybe who wrote the documents, who received the documents who interpreted the documents are so important in a criminal case.

And as you described Allen Weisselberg goes back a number of years with the Trump Organization many years. And to another point you made also very important, it`s a small corporation, it`s a small privately held company. And so if anyone`s going to know where the money is, and where it went and how it went there and why it went there, it`s going to be the CFO and that`s Allen Weisselberg and so I don`t think Michael Cohen is entirely correct. At least in my experience, I want documents and I want witnesses. Maybe that makes me greedy as a prosecutor, but to my way of thinking, having both of those things, really gives the case more power, and makes it more compelling for the jury. And I don`t think anyone could make it much more compelling in a fraud case than a CFO who`s willing to testify against its principles.

WILLIAMS: Yeah, I`ve never known a prosecutor who wants to try just a paper case, absent human involvement. Chuck based on the known knowns, and I guess, I`m going to ask you to react to what we know, because it`s been leaked. Do you think there`s enough to flip Weisselberg? Do you think the proper pressure has been brought to bear?

ROSENBERG: They`re hard to say in the abstract, Brian. People flip when it`s in their best interest to do so. And for many people, it`s in their best interest to do so when they`re looking at a lengthy jail sentence. Charging a corporation isn`t going to be enough in and of itself, to get Weisselberg to flip. Having said that, lots of people don`t flip, they just simply tell the truth. There`s nothing to flip. You subpoena them. You interrogate them, you question them in front of the grand jury, and they tell the truth.

Now, I don`t know Mr. Weisselberg. I don`t mean to cast any aspersions on the man. I don`t know if he would tell the truth or if he would lie. But charging the corporation is probably not enough if he did something wrong, to get him to own up to what he did. And so there are other options for prosecutors. Perhaps they have a case against Mr. Weisselberg directly. If not, they can always put them in the grand jury, immunize him and compel his testimony. There are a number of ways to get to the truth of flipping a recalcitrant witness is one of them. But there are other ways to get to the same place.

WILLIAMS: Let me play something that someone you and I both know, Daniel Goldman said tonight about this case.

ROSENBERG: It`s interesting and not surprising that they would approach the Trump Organization to tell them that they`re considering to charge them. Because that would be almost a death blow to the Trump Organization, every single bank would call their loans if the Trump Organization is indicted, there`s no way that the Trump Organization has enough capital to pay off all their loans.

WILLIAMS: Chuck, less than a minute remaining, but I sure of course, as a as a civilian have not thought of that, do you concur?

ROSENBERG: Yeah, I wish I was half as smart as Dan Goldman. Charging a corporation can be cataclysmic for the corporation. Just think about what happened to Arthur Andersen, the accounting giant back in 2001, when it was charged, as part of the -- as part of the Enron scandal.

So, you know, Dan is right, there`s risk here. If you charge the corporation, perhaps banks call loans, perhaps they don`t extend further credit. I don`t know what each individual bank will do. But there`s absolutely a risk. And so when prosecutors think about charging corporations, they also think about the collateral consequences to the corporation, understanding that our actions in charging that company could put them out of business. Dan`s a very smart guy, and we would be wise to listen to what he has to say.

WILLIAMS: Our guest tonight staying late for extra credit, our friend Chuck Rosenberg. Chuck, always a pleasure, thank you for sticking around.

And coming up for us, the GOP had all of today to condemn a Fox News anchor who called the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs a pig and stupid so far, at least just silence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WILLIAMS: On the very same day the man who murdered George Floyd was sentenced to over 20 years in prison. We`re learning the Trump White House was prepared to deploy active duty U.S. military to put down the protests in the streets last summer. That`s according to new reporting from the New York Times today, "Responding to interest from President Trump White House aides drafted a proclamation last year to invoke the insurrection act. Mr. Trump was talked out of the plan by three officials,` those being Attorney General Bill Barr, Defense Secretary Mark Esper, and Joint Chiefs Chair Mark Milley. `But a separate group of White House staff members wanted to leave open the option."

Well with us again tonight, Charlie Sykes, Founder and Editor-at-Large at the Bulwark, author of the very relevant and successful book, How The Ride Lost Its Mind, and here is Bill Kristol, author, writer, thinker, political veteran of the Reagan and Bush administrations, Editor-at-Large over at the Bulwark.

Gentlemen, good evening to you both. Charlie Sykes, I want to read you these quotes from the Michael Bender book upcoming from inside the West Wing, "That`s how you`re supposed to handle these people, Trump told his top law enforcement and military officials. Crack their skulls! Trump also told his team that he wanted the military to go in and beat the f*** out of the civil rights protesters, Bender writes. "Just shoot them," Trump said on multiple occasions inside the Oval Office, according to the experts.

Well, Charlie a couple things, number one, this may account for the attack on General Milley who had the presence of mind and the courage to stand up in that moment and say no. Number two, does this prove that with January 6 in mind Trump is an anti-protest, he`s anti certain, people who protest?

CHARLIE SYKES, THE BULWARK FOUNDER AND EDITOR-AT-LARGE: No, it`s also a reminder of how this country has so far dodged a bullet by not giving him a second term and how grateful we should be to people like good General Milley.

Look, what we`re seeing again is who Donald Trump was and how close this country came to real disaster. His will, the power, his lust for violence and his fantasies about using the military are on display there. And you have to wonder what he would have done had he not had restraining hands last year and what he might do if he ever gets back into the presidency.

WILLIAMS: Bill Kristol, the Trump quotes indeed are (inaudible), to coin a phrase and enough to make Dick Daily of old blush. But then we move on to the attack on the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While you`ve done nothing to deserve this, let`s listen to what went out over the air last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, FOX NEWS HOST: He didn`t get that job because he`s brilliant or because he`s brave or because the people who know him respect him he is not and they definitely don`t. Milley got the job because he is obsequious, hard to believe that man wears a uniform. He`s that unimpressive. He`s not just a pig. He`s stupid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: Bill Kristol, did you think in your lifetime, you`d live to see a day where the right was out to disfigure, denigrate, perhaps destroy the U.S. military?

BILL KRISTOL, THE BULWARK EDITOR-AT-LARGE: I didn`t, but a lot of surprises, mostly very bad ones in the last few years. You know, just on the previous point on the insurrection act, and those meetings the beginning of June what June 1, I guess when General Milley and Secretary Esper did walk across Lafayette Square. They regretted that immediately, I think, with Trump when he went to the St. John`s Church and weighed the Bible around, but I was thinking if you read the account, there were three people in that room, right? Mark Esper, the Secretary of Defense, Bill Barr, the Attorney General and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Milley. The Trump fired Esper right after the election, Bill Barr quit on December 23, as I recall, not wanting to have to do certain things that Trump wanted him to do, I think that had so many disagreements. Barr couldn`t stay there. I mean, I just come back. We discussed this a little bit before, but I just want to take this occasion to say, people were really, really, really worried those last week or the last week or two of December, and those first two or three weeks of January, in the Pentagon, serious people. I mean, and so Trump put in his loyalists there. I do think the uniformed military did a very delicate dance of maintaining civilian control when made clear they would not obey unlawful orders.

And then the member of Milley put out that statement, I think he sends all the troops, and he`s saying our loyalties to the constitution and to the law, not to individual people. I mean, the degree to how close we came to a genuine constitutional crisis, I think, is not fully appreciated today. And two of those three people who stopped Trump from -- helped stop Trump invoking the insurrection act on June 1, they were gone by the last month at the presidency, so again, people at the time, you know, thought we were too alarmed. But then the focus began January 6, and that was terrible. Fair enough. But people didn`t really still quite sees sometimes, how much behind the scenes, Trump was trying to do and Trump loyalists in the White House were trying to do some of that has come out recently to obviously with Mark Meadows. And how a few people did resist including the uniform military and a pretty, you know, impressive way I would say. And now so they hate the conservative media, the Trump media, even use that word, conservative. The Trump media hate that. They hate Milley, the Milley, Mr. Trump appointee. At the time some people were worried that he was too loyal to Trump. But he did stand up and do the right thing. He`s standing up to Republicans in Congress now and defending the military`s, you know, various policies, and they just can`t stand it.

WILLIAMS: Gentlemen, stay with us. I`m going to fit in a break. We`ll continue our discussion on the other side. And indeed coming up, the coming revenge tour, kicking off with a grievance rally of sorts in Ohio. So, we`ve got that to look forward to.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`ve got to ask if you`re any closer to a decision about 2024.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think you`re going to be thrilled. I think you`re going to be very happy. We went a little time to go by. I`ll be making an announcement in the not too distant future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAMS: So Trump`s going to hold his first official campaign rally since leaving office on Saturday, his returned to the trail being billed as something of a revenge tour. He`ll kick off a series of events in Ohio to support the primary challenger to Congressman Anthony Gonzalez who made the mistake of voting his conscience he voted for Trump`s second impeachment as Politico puts it, former President Trump is bronzed, rested and politically bloodthirsty.

Remaining with us, Charlie Sykes and Bill Kristol. So Bill, three prominent Republicans in Ohio, governor, lieutenant governor, and lo and behold Rob Portman, citing prior commitments, are not going to attend the revenge tour stop in Ohio. Granted, sock drawers have become unruly places during the pandemic and need sorting. Is it your hope, a case of the prior commitments, perhaps while it`s no substitute for actual courage might break out and some of the cities and states that are stops on this tour?

KRISTOL: I, you know, that is sort of a wonderful, what`s the word I`m looking for, synecdoche of the Republican establishment. They know they don`t like Trump, they know it`s bad for the party. And they know really it`s bad for the country to have them out there. So they don`t go to the rally. You know, they don`t denounce them. They don`t really go out of their way to take on the big lie and to say that the election was fairly conducted and to say that to fight hard against, and some of them do. I mean, DeWine has been actually lieutenant governor has said have been somewhat better than most Republicans. But still, it`s -- that they step aside. I think they might put out a statement with Trump coming to the state urging him to speak up, to ask people to get vaccinated, to speak up and say the election was true, to stop destroying our democracy in our country. But that would be too much to ask.

WILLIAMS: Charlie, I want to back up one subject matter. And talk about the item in the previous segment. Fox News is on in virtually every mess hall and lounge on in military bases foreign and domestic. So think about it through the ranks, they`re going to hear Fox News refer to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, as a stupid pig. You wrote an open letter to your old Wisconsin friend, former Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, who`s on the Fox board, asking him, this was months ago to push back. Do you ever hear back from him?

SYKES: No, unfortunately, although I think the silence is rather eloquent. Look you have -- I`m glad you asked me about this because, you know, that was really one of those extraordinary moments and we try -- we can`t get numbed about what Tucker Carlson is doing. And what Fox News is allowing to go over its airwaves.

But think about this that you have this pampered man child trust fund baby, hauling a decorated veteran, a pig and stupid. And you would think that people would step back and say, OK, I`m sorry, you can disagree with a man. But, you know, we are a party and a movement that has always prided ourselves on respect for the military, respect for what he`s accomplished, those stripes on his sleeve are not, you know, Venmo accounts, those stripes on the sleeve are, you know, places that he has served his country. And it is interesting, as you pointed out, the ongoing silence from other Republicans, the ongoing silence from other folks at Fox News, though, you know, I guess part of it and Bill and I were talking about this on our podcast earlier this morning. It`s just the -- it`s the stupidity of it, it`s the crudity of it. It`s the lack of patriotism. It`s the willingness to throw any value anyone over, you know, under the bus, whether they are police officers or whether they are the military.

But this is the norm, that the Republican Party and the right and the conservative media have fallen into that they won`t push back, they won`t stand up for this. They`ll mutter, they`ll -- you know, Brian, I`m actually having some, you know, flashbacks to 2015 2016, you know, that they know that Donald Trump is a cancer on the party, but they`re hoping that someone else will do something about it, someone else will say something about that something will come along to, you know, make this, you know, cup pass away. But their power is, you know, is on display again, and if they don`t stand up against him, you`re going to see this crazy spread. And, you know, him coming to Ohio is very interesting, because, you know, he continues to target fellow Republicans and he continues to up the ante demanding more and more of them. And so in Ohio, you are seeing the craziest elements of the party competing with one another. And you might end up losing a very winnable Senate seat because no one is willing to push back against what Donald Trump is doing to his fellow Republicans.

WILLIAMS: I will also have, we should never forget the goals of the foreign interests that are all quietly all over our social media. They rhyme with Vladimir Putin and those interests are to cause division in our society, weaken our alliances, weaken our military, among other things.

Gentlemen, we will do this again for good reason. Charlie Sykes, Bill Kristol, thank you both for standing up with us and joining us tonight. Good weekend to you both.

Coming up for us, the latest on this search effort and the search for our cause when a building simply comes down on a beautiful stretch of ocean front in Florida.

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MAYOR DANIELLA LEVINE CAVA, MIAMI-DADE COUNTY: Unfortunately, the numbers are the same that they were this morning. We have not found anybody else in today`s search, but through the night we will continue on and God willing, there will be some good news.

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WILLIAMS: Numbers are awful, 159 souls on accounted for. For the past 46 hours search and rescue crews in Surfside Florida have been frantically looking for signs of life in what`s left of that collapse condominium unit. The search continues through the night tonight, of course, despite another stubborn smoldering fire inside the wreckage. The urgent search for the cause of this disaster also continues all the while. Our report again tonight from NBC News Correspondent, Sam Brock.

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SAM BROCK, NBC NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Above the rubble of this smoldering 12 storey high rise and the desperate search for survivors, here`s a look at the devastation before and after the collapse wiping out a huge part of the building now accelerated efforts to find out what caused it.

How soon do you think they`re actually going to start the investigation?

DR. ATOROD AZIZINAMINI, FIU: I think the investigation has already started.

BROCK: FIU`s Dr. Atorod Azizinamini says investigators can review design documents then take samples from the debris and see if they match.

AZIZINAMINI: They`re going to look at because designer specifies they say I want a concrete that has this much strength. I wanted a steel that had -- that has this strength. So they want to make sure that the contractors used that type of material.

BROCK: With an incredibly active scene today a new federal presence is arriving in Surfside, the National Institute of Standards and Technology or NIST specialized investigators for buildings.

(On camera) so what would trigger a NIST launch onto a same?

JASON AVERILL, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY: The principle criteria that we apply is a large lots of light or the potential large lots of light.

BROCK: NIST has the power to potentially change the building code standards set has only performed a full investigation four times in its history, including 9/11 and the aftermath of the Joplin, Missouri tornado. This could be number five.

AVERILL: We would want to collect and preserve any evidence that we think might be critical to helping us understand what happened in that building yesterday.

BROCK: NBC News has learned the unit owner at Champlain Towers South sued management in 2015, claiming lack of maintenance on an outside wall that led to water entering through the cracks. The Attorney for the condo association says this is not indicative of a structural problem not at the complex just underwent its 40 year certification with improvements ongoing.

KEN DIREKTOR, CHAMPLAIN TOWERS SOUTH CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION ATTORNEY: There was nothing in the inspection or in the report that would have led anyone to believe that the building was in such imminent danger.

BROCK: Engineers say it is almost impossible that the rest of this building could remain standing but even if it was found to be structurally sound, the emotional and traumatic impact on this community is a whole other matter.

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WILLIAMS: Our thanks to Sam Brock for that report again tonight from Surfside Florida. Coming up for us, just some of the things people said this week on camera and in most cases out loud.

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WILLIAMS: Last thing before we go tonight, let`s look at this week in crazy and to start things off I give you North Carolina Republican Congressman Madison Cawthorn.

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REP. MADISON CAWTHORN (R-NC): It was Thomas Jefferson that said facts are stubborn things. And whatever may be our wishes or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence. Let`s cast our eyes over the facts, shall we?

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WILLIAMS: He`s right about one thing, facts are stubborn things as John Adams famously said when he said facts are stubborn things. Moving on to the My Pillow Guy outside court and in front of microphones, and don`t worry, here is Mike Lindell but the following remarks are all fact free.

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MIKE LINDELL, MY PILLOW CEO: Talking to you guys for three and a half months, we`re going to put it out and you`re going to want some broth. We`re going to go well. Here it is that we`re going to bring it as a co- warrant to the Supreme Court. It`s going to be nine zero. They`re going to take this election down. And yes, Donald Trump will be your president. He is your president now.

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WILLIAMS: We understand that was hard to follow. But history was made in that moment there as he now thus becomes the first ever chopped foam pillow manufacturer to insist that Trump is still the president, which somehow brings us to the actual president, Joe Biden. As you know, president`s public speaker school teachers and an occasional grandparent are known to whisper on occasion as a verbal device because it does draw your audience in closer to what you`re saying.

Our friends over at The Daily Show have compared it on Biden`s parts to ASMR, those whispered intimate audio recordings that give certain listeners a certain tingling euphoria, as you will now feel right before bed.

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BIDEN: I got $1.9 trillion relief so far. Pay your fair share. He hasn`t, not at all. I wrote the bill on the environment but don`t let them know, pay them more, grows the economy.

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WILLIAMS: Our friends at the day The Daily Show to take us off the air tonight. And that is our broadcast for this Friday night and this week and with our thanks for being here with us. Have a good weekend unless you have other plans. On behalf of all our colleagues at the networks of NBC News, good night.