The Briefing with Jen Psaki

Jen Psaki looks back at past examples of political violence in the United States and how political leaders addressed the country with calls for unity and cooler heads, with examples from John Boehner to Utah Governor Spender Cox, who spoke this morning at a press conference announcing that the suspect in the shooting of Charlie Kirk is in custody. Senator Tina Smith discusses the dire state of politics in the U.S.While the suspect in the Kirk shooting is in custody, Kash Patel's poor performance leading the FBI did not go unnoticed. Andrew Weissmann joins to explain how the FBI is supposed to work in normal times under normal leadership.Donald Trump has named Memphis as the next target of his military policing plan. Tennessee State Rep. Justin J. Pearson expresses his vehement opposition to what Trump intends to do.NATO suffered significant alarm when Russia sent drones into Poland in what is widely seen as a test of NATO readiness. Donald Trump seemed more inclined to excuse Vladimir Putin than to rally with allies, Jen Psaki explains.And a CDC panel assembled by Trump HHS secretary and vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy will decide whether they endorse the new booster, which will determine whether residents of as many as 16 states are able to access the vaccine this season.

As the manhunt continues for the person who shot and killed conservative activist Charlie Kirk, Alicia Menendez talks with Vaughn Hillyard, MSNBC senior White House correspondent, Ken Dilanian, MSNBC justice and intelligence correspondent, and Marc Santia, MSNBC investigative correspondent, about progress in the investigation so far.Senator Amy Klobuchar talks with Alicia Menendez about how the increase in political violence and threats toward political figures has legislators not only looking for increased security but also for a way to alter the tone of political discourse in the United States.Utah officials hold a press conference in which they release new video and enhanced photos in an appeal to the public for help finding the person who shot adn killed Charlie Kirk.

Senior White House Correspondent Vaughn Hillyard, who has covered Charlie Kirk's ascent in conservative politics, joins Jen Psaki to provide insight into Charlie Kirk’s rise and influence within the MAGA ranks and young conservatives.

Donald Trump and his Republican acolytes defy credulity with their bizarre denial that Trump's page in Jeffrey Epstein's birthday book is somehow a 22-year-old forgery, but as Jen Psaki points out, that isn't the only unbelievable story Trump is trying to push to escape a reality that makes him look really bad. In the latest edition of "Jen's Version," Jen Psaki addresses questions asked at the White House press briefing, including what Donald Trump meant by "if a man has a little fight with the wife they say this is crime," as he complained about the crime getting in the way of his claim that Washington D.C. doesn't have any more crime.Texas State Rep. James Talarico, fresh from declaring his candidacy to represent Texas in the U.S. Senate, talks with Jen Psaki about the role of "love thy neighbor" religion in his politics, and the fight he wants to help bring to bear against Donald Trump's Republicans. Senator Adam Schiff joins to talk about Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, and Wes Moore discusses his decision to run for reelection as Maryland's governor.

In an exclusive, extended interview, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker talks with Jen Psaki about Donald Trump's threat to blitz Chicago with ICE agents, supported by the deployment of National Guard troops. Pritzker discusses what tools he has to push back, what Chicago residents can do, and what else he thinks Donald Trump has in mind while he normalizes military on the streets of U.S. cities.Rep. Jamie Raskin alerts viewers that the House Judiciary Committee will be releasing an "explosive" report early next week about the extent to which the Trump administration has undermined federal anti-human trafficking efforts.Jen points out the shocking degree to which Donald Trump is not living up to his economic promises, and to make matters worse he is actively dismantling consumer protections established during the Biden administration. And Martin Sheen will be Nicolle Wallace's guest at this year's MSNBC Live event. Tickets are still available.

The Senate Finance Committee was not gentle with Donald Trump's HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., grilling him on his perspectives on vaccines and often catching him in contradictions. Jen Psaki shares highlights of some of Kennedy's more frustrating lies, and the efforts of senators to call him out.As Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, levels accusations of mortgage fraud against Donald Trump's political enemies, a new report from ProPublica shows that three members of Trump's own Cabinet have the same kind of mortgages that are the basis for Pulte's fraud accusations against Democrats. Jen Psaki explains how the facts contradict Pulte's claims of non-partisanship.States that value science and data and good health are not waiting around for the Trump administration to come to its senses as long as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is the Health and Human Services secretary, so they're taking the responsibility on themselves. Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey talks with Jen Psaki about how she is securing vaccine access for her state, and why states will have to do more on their own in the absence of federal leadership.

The role of Jeffrey Epstein abuse survivor Virginia Roberts Giuffre in demanding accountability for Epstein and his accomplices, and keeping the case in the spotlight even as powerful forces attempted to make the case disappear, cannot be overstated. Sky and Amanda Roberts, brother and sister-in-law of Virginia Roberts Giuffre, talk with Jen Psaki about the challenges Giuffre faced, and her legacy as other survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse are speaking out and demanding the release of the files related to Epstein's criminal investigation.Despite every poll showing support, all but a few Republican members of Congress are resisting releasing the files from the Jeffrey Epstein investigation. Rep. Ayanna Pressley discusses her frustration with Republicans who won't put action to their words of support for Epstein's victims.While Donald Trump's HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dismantles the CDC, states are taking it upon themselves to continue to support a robust vaccine regime to keep preventable diseases at bay. Not all states, however. Florida today announced it is ending mandates for all vaccines. Senator Jon Ossoff discusses with Jen Psaki, and for the first time calls for the resignation of Secretary Kennedy.

Jen Psaki shares Donald Trump's seemingly self-contradicting answer to a question about internet rumors that he had been out of the public eye for several days because he had died. But Trump has plenty of other reasons to want to hide from the American public.Jen Psaki shows how Donald Trump's unpopular and illegal agenda is suffering one legal loss after another in court challenges, and talks with Norm Eisen, executive chair of the Democracy Defenders Fund, and Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, about the effectiveness of keeping Trump's feet to the legal fire.And Jacob Soboroff delivers a powerful report about an 18-year-old honors student deported to Guatemala where she is threatened by the exact type of gangs that Donald Trump claims to be fighting with his indiscriminate deportation policy.

Ian Bassin, co-founder and executive director of Protect Democracy, and former federal prosecutor Kristy Greenberg, talk with Jen Psaki about a federal appeals court finding that Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal, and other legal problems the administration is having with overreach, like Jeanine Pirro humiliating herself with her failure to match an indictment to her tough talk on the sandwich-throwing activist.Donald Trump has made clear his intention to dismantle FEMA and shift responsibility for disaster preparedness and response to states. As he makes progress toward that goal, FEMA staffers are raising the alarm that the plan is flawed and the U.S. is not ready to meet the demands of a major disaster. James Stroud, a FEMA statistician, joined his colleagues in signing a letter to Congress, alerting them to urgency of the situation, and was subsequently suspended by petty Trump for speaking out.The parents of 16-year-old Adam Raine cite responses from ChatGPT among the reasons for his suicide after they discovered messages from the A.I. bot offering advice instead of triggering alerts that are meant to discourage these kinds of ideas. Jay Edelson, attorney for the Raine family, talks with Jen Psaki about the responsibility they believe OpenAI, the parent company of ChatGPT, has for their son's death.Congressional Democrats and some Republican allies are already planning press events and subpoenas to put the Jeffrey Epstein case back into the spotlight when Congress returns from summer recess. Rep. Jared Moskowitz discusses with Jen Psaki.

Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, who resigned in protest from his position as director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, talks with Jen Psaki about the valuable work being done by the people at the CDC, and how the Trump administration, through HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is corrupting the CDC with unscientific attitudes and agendas.Jen's Version: Jen Psaki answers questions posed in today's White House press briefing, without the Trump administration's spin, and doubles down on her criticism of the Trump White House for taking no action to prevent gun violence and instead wasting time on "bad faith back-and-forth."Plus, Philadelphia D.A. Larry Krasner on Donald Trump's use of the military as domestic police, and Graham Platner on challenging Susan Collins for Maine's Senate seat.