The Weekend

New reporting details the Justice Department’s plot to obtain voter rolls and election data from multiple states. These unprecedented steps are raising concerns among election officials ahead of the 2026 midterms. Colorado’s Attorney General Phil Weiser and Executive Director of the Colorado County Clerks Association Matt Crane join The Weekend to discuss. Plus, Gretchen Carlson talks about her former Fox News boss Rupert Murdoch and his very complicated relationship with Donald Trump, who now has a $10B libel suit against Murdoch and his company over the latest Wall Street Journal reporting about Jeffrey Epstein.

All eyes are on Texas as the state’s legislature is set to convene for a special session that will likely be dominated by one agenda item: President Trump’s demand to redraw the state’s congressional maps. Former Texas congressman Colin Allred joins The Weekend to discuss the implications this could have on the midterms. And, as extreme flooding hits many parts of the nation, the Trump administration shut down a federal website that presented congressionally mandated reports and research on climate change. Representative Eric Sorensen, the only meteorologist in the U.S. Congress, joins The Weekend to explain how these budget cuts could make it more difficult to predict storms. Plus, Emmy-winning actor Jim Parsons joins The Weekend to discuss “Reclaim The Flag,” a new documentary which unpacks the LGBTQ+ community's relationship with the American flag and examines how it can be reclaimed as a symbol of unity for all Americans.

Former Biden White House Deputy Cabinet Secretary Daniel Koh and former Federal Prosecutor Paul Butler join The Weekend to discuss the tangled saga President Trump has gotten himself into over Jeffrey Epstein. Plus, new reporting reveals Trump is getting annoyed with Attorney General Pam Bondi’s handling of the Epstein files. And, Tennessee State Rep. Justin Jones, who you may remember from the “Tennessee Three,” joins The Weekend to share what happened to him after being barred from DHS Secretary Kristi Noem’s press conference, an event that was held in his own district. She was there to promote a “self-deportation” plan that would offer migrants $1,000 and a one-way ticket out of the country.

It’s been a dramatic week after Republicans took a hatchet to public media that could devastate access to news in rural areas. Former president and CEO of National Public Radio Vivian Schiller joins The Weekend to discuss Congress’ deep cuts to public broadcasting including PBS and NPR. Plus, Elon Musk might be out of Washington, but Republicans are still moving forward on DOGE cuts. Rep. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico joins The Weekend to discuss. And, Donald Trump loves to promote conspiracies. He is leading his administration into spending taxpayer dollars to investigate these easily disproven assertions.

President Donald Trump can’t get his MAGA-base to stop obsessing over the Epstein files. But after new reporting from the Wall Street Journal, some MAGA loyalists are coming to the president’s defense. MSNBC contributor Jeremy Peters joins The Weekend to discuss. Plus, new polls reveal most Americans, including Republican voters, disapprove of the way the Trump administration is handling the Epstein case.

Amid the frustration growing over the handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, new reporting from The Wall Street Journal alleges President Trump hand-drew a lewd photo of a woman for Epstein’s 50th birthday. In response, Trump filed a libel lawsuit, seeking at least $10 billion in damages against the parent company of the newspaper, News Corp, its publisher, Dow Jones; two reporters for the newspaper, News Corp's chief executive, Robert Thomas, and its owner, Rupert Murdoch. Vaughn Hillyard, Kristy Greenberg, and Tara Setmayer join The Weekend to discuss.

Attorney General Pam Bondi reportedly fired more than 20 employees from the Department of Justice who worked on cases involving January 6 and President Donald Trump’s classified documents case. The DOJ confirmed it opened criminal investigations into two of Trump’s repeated targets, former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey. Former DHS Chief of Staff, Miles Taylor and Former Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the FBI, Michael Feinberg join The Weekend to discuss the Trump administration's attempt at going after those who are at odds with the president. Plus, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem in a press conference Saturday announcing that five other states are in talks to develop similar facilities modeled after Florida's new immigration detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz." Ofirah Yheskel and Brendan Buck join The Weekend to discuss how the DHS is looking to ramp up its immigration policy.

President Donald Trump continues to say his cabinet officials are doing great jobs despite all the havoc they’ve created. Virginia Rep. Eugene Vindman joins The Weekend to discuss the chaos within the cabinet. Plus, Elon Musk’s really bad week. X, formerly known as Twitter, has continued to decline under his leadership after its AI chatbot, Grok, made antisemitic comments. X issued an apology for the posts and an updated version of Grok rolled out a day after the controversy.

As ICE raids continue to surge across the country, new reporting details the infighting inside the department, with one former official describing the morale as “in the crapper.” Another longtime official attributes the lack of detained convicted criminals to Stephen Miller’s fixation on arrest numbers. Coincidentally, a new poll shows President Trump’s immigration policy is unfavorable among Independents and Democrats. Then, Representative Debbie Dingell joins The Weekend to discuss Trump’s health care cuts and how they could impact the midterms.

Within the walls of the DOJ, there appears to be major unrest as NBC News has learned that Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino is considering leaving his job after a heated confrontation with Attorney General Pam Bondi over his frustration with how the Justice Department has handled the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. Rep. Jamie Raskin joins The Weekend to talk about that and how the increased politicization of the Justice Department will impact the nation. Plus, Mahmoud Khalil also joins the Weekend to discuss his decision to file a claim against the Trump Administration after alleging he was falsely imprisoned, maliciously prosecuted and smeared as an antisemite as the government sought to deport him because of his role in campus protests. Then Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott and Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin tell The Weekend how they've helped bring crime down in their respective cities to the lowest they've seen in decades.

A week after Texas’ deadly flooding, questions are mounting on why an emergency alert was not sent to everyone in the affected area. Texas State Senator Roland Gutierrez and former FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell join The Weekend to discuss FEMA’s response as recovery efforts continue. Plus, Trump combats his “TACO” reputation as he extends the tariff deadline again. Delaware governor Matt Meyer joins The Weekend to discuss how the tariffs are impacting his state.

The Department of Justice’s recent Jeffrey Epstein report has left some in the MAGA crowd with more questions than answers. FBI deputy director Dan Bongino is considering leaving his job following a heated confrontation with Attorney General Pam Bondi over how the Justice Department handled files on the convicted sex offender. Mary McCord and Joe Walsh join The Weekend to discuss the fight roiling the MAGA faithful.

While the spending bill aims to cut healthcare and food aid services, ICE is set to receive a historic boost in funding. Representative Robert Garcia joins The Weekend to warn how this increase can turn ICE into President Trump’s “federal police force.” Plus, after weeks of condemning the bill, Elon Musk defies MAGA and announces a third political party.

President Donald Trump's tariff pause is set to expire in three days. Not only is the administration far from reaching its 90 deal target, but it has yet to finalize a single trade agreement. Rhode Island Rep. Gabe Amo and Jared Bernstein join The Weekend to discuss the impact President Trump's tariffs will have on the economy. Liz Shuler, President of the AFL-CIO, also joins The Weekend to discuss the organization's cross-country bus tour, aimed at opposing White House priorities that they believe will hurt working Americans. And presidential historian Douglas Brinkley joins to discuss Trump's divisive rhetoric over this July 4th week and the state of our democracy.

Democrats slam President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” and focus on a path forward to win back voters before the midterms. Former Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison joins The Weekend to discuss. Plus, the chilling effects of the Trump administration’s military ban on transgender service members. U.S. Major Erica Vandal, one of the plaintiffs who challenged the executive order, joins The Weekend to talk about the impact of the ban.

Congress passed President Trump’s budget bill despite weeks of concern raised by Republicans over the debt limit. A closer look suggests the megabill will add $3.3 trillion to the debt while cutting key services. "The Weekend" takes a deeper look at how that will impact low-income Americans. Then, Jodi Grant discusses the Trump administration's decision to withhold nearly $7 billion in school grants.

Critics are calling President Donald Trump's approach to immigration cruel after a new court filing by Kilmar Abrego Garcia's attorneys argued that during Garcia's time at the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador he suffered psychological and physical torture. Also the first detainees have arrived at the Florida detention center dubbed "Alligator Alcatraz." Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones and Immigration Attorney Simon Sandoval-Moshenberg join The Weekend to discuss President Trump's immigration policy.

Some Republicans denounced President Trump’s massive tax and spending bill, but eventually caved in and passed it. And now, Democrats are preparing to make this bill a key focus for the 2026 midterms. Minnesota Rep. Angie Craig, Arshi Siddiqui, and Eugene Craig join The Weekend to discuss.

President Donald Trump is feeling emboldened as he comes off a seismic win from this week's Supreme Court hearings and Congress moving forward with his One Big Beautiful Bill. So the question is, how do Democrats fight back as checks and balances on this president wither and die? Plus, Trump's effort to erode deportation due process. Rep. Pramila Jayapal joins The Weekend to share her thoughts on how the courts are enabling Trump's worst instincts on immigration.

Yesterday, President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris attended the funeral of Minnesota lawmaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, following a targeted political attack. Political violence has been steadily rising across the country and party lines, with several incidents occurring in just the past two weeks. Joyce Vance and George Conway join The Weekend to examine this troubling pattern and explore what—and who—is missing from the national conversation. Later, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear weighs in on how proposed Medicaid cuts in the GOP’s "Big Beautiful Bill," backed by President Trump, could affect hospitals across his state.