MSLIVE ’25: The State of U.S. Democracy with Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell

We’re thrilled to share one of the most anticipated conversations from our recent MSNBCLIVE ‘25 event in New York City. Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O’Donnell sit down to discuss coping with this political moment, the mechanics of presenting news, what we can learn from other tough moments in history and what civic actions, in their view, are most encouraging in this era. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Not even a year into his new term and Donald Trump is already seeing people take to the streets by the millions to voice their objections how he is approaching his job as president of the United States. Rachel Maddow gives each state, plus Washington, D.C., its due and highlights just a small portion of the No Kings protests that took place in each state on Saturday.Plus, Rachel talks with Erica Chenoweth about what it takes for a movement like No Kings to to become politically potent. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow looks at Donald Trump's position of extreme weakness ahead of what are expected to be massive "No Kings" protests, with Trump's agenda running into resistance from everyone from students and universities to members of the media to sitting judges to everyday people on grand juries and in public polling.As Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is set to keep the federal government closed for a fifth week, Rachel Maddow shares new reporting from the New York Times on information published by individual states showing the cost increase in raw dollars if Republicans succeed in making changes to subsidies, the very changes Democrats have taken a stand against in the shutdown fight.Bill McKibben, veteran climate organizer and founder of Third Act, talks with Rachel Maddow about the strong representation of older Americans among anti-Trump protesters and how the combination of personal experience and roots in civic activism has energized the older generation to speak out about the abuses and backsliding in the Trump era. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow points out the exceptional and unusually effusive praise and thanks that Donald Trump heaped on Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the president of Egypt, at an event tied to the Israel-Gaza ceasefire, in which Trump bizarrely mentioned his race against Hillary Clinton. The episode calls to mind a mysterious $10 million and a related investigation's questions left open-ended after Trump was inaugurated the first time.Rachel Maddow looks at recent examples of Donald Trump using the power of American taxpayers to cut deals for himself and his friends and family, and focuses on the especially galling case of Trump and his Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, sending an extraordinary $20 billion to bail out Argentina at a time when the U.S. government is closed for lack of funding.Rachel Maddow reports that the number of events planned for the "No Kings" day of protest on Saturday, October 18 already exceeds the previous "No Kings" protests that drew millions of Americans to voice their opposition to Donald Trump's overreach and attacks on democracy in the United States. Ezra Levin, co-founder and co-executive director of Indivisible, joins to discuss the planning and organizing taking place.  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Democrats are looking to regain power, and there is a whole lot of warranted debate about what a winning formula looks like. “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” is a forum where those discussions take place. On season two of her podcast, Jen sits down with some of the biggest names on the left side of the political spectrum to talk about confronting Trump 2.0 and how the Democratic party can shape the future they’d like to see. New episodes drop October 15th. Search for “The Blueprint with Jen Psaki” to follow the show. And subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for ad-free listening. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Donald Trump continues to terrorize urban populations with militarized ICE raids while trying every loophole he can find to justify using the actual military in U.S. cities.Illinois Governor JB Pritzker talks with Rachel Maddow about his threat to leave the National Governors Association of the group won't speak out against Donald Trump's use of the National Guard against U.S. cities. Pritzker explains how he sees the militarization of ICE and Border Patrol agents as a normalizing precursor to establishing a military presence in cities in time to interfere with the 2026 election. And as individuals find ways to assert peaceful resistance against the Trump regime, major corporations, like Apple, are giving up without a fight. Apple removed from its app store an app called ICEBlock that allowed people to flag where ICE raids were taking place. The app's creator, Joshua Aaron, talks with Rachel. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow reviews how the Trump administration has made a practice of weaponizing access to personal data in order to attack people Donald Trump doesn't like, and talks with Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic candidate running for governor in New Jersey who had her full, private military personnel record released to an ally of her Republican opponent without the proper procedure, not the necessary redactions.Oregon Governor Tina Kotek talks with Rachel Maddow about Donald Trump's bizarre impression that the city of Portland is a war zone that requires U.S. military occupation, and her frustrating efforts to dispel Trump of this wrongheaded notion.   Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow hosts former Vice President Kamala Harris, the 2024 Democratic nominiee for president, on the eve of the publication of her new book, "107 Days," to revisit some of the decisions and circumstances that shaped the 2024 election, and to discuss politics and activism in the second Trump term.Rachel shares her impressions of the interview with Lawrence O'Donnell at the end of the hour. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Rachel Maddow points out that Donald Trump is following the "strongman" playbook so closely, and with such a lack of originality, that his behavior in his second term has become entirely predictable. And yet, for all of his aspirations to be a strongman, his leadership suffers from some profound weaknesses, from the economy to healthcare to criminal justice to immigration. Rachel Maddow talks with Jonathan Mahler, staff writer for the New York Times Magazine, about his reporting on the concerted effort by the Trump administration to destroy America's global leadership in cancer research. What constituency supports Donald Trump sabotaging work that not only saves lives but supports countless American jobs?Former CDC director Susan Monarez is set to testify before the Senate this week as HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy is stacking the vaccine advisory board with vaccine skeptics.And the Trump administration claimed to have burned a massive quanitity of contraceptives meant to be distributed in developing countries, with the false explanation that the contraceptives are abortifacients, only for it to be discovered that the contraceptives are still sitting in storage.Follow Rachel Maddow on BlueSky at https://bsky.app/profile/maddow.msnbc.com  Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

The estate of Jeffrey Epstein released materials today to the House Oversight Committee, including the "birthday book" that Donald Trump disputed (and continues to dispute) includes a crude drawing and note he submitted with his signature. Rachel Maddow looks at this and other new revelations and how much energy Trump is putting into denying what seems plain about Trump's role in a disgusting scandal of historic scale. Donald Trump's poor choice of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as his HHS secretary has cost him a leadership role in public health as Kennedy dismantles key departments and agencies, cuts funding and fires experts, leaving state leaders to take charge of vaccine availability and other health issues. Dr. Tao Sheng Kwan-Gett, chief science officer for the Washington State Department of Health, joins Rachel Maddow to discuss. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.