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. president biden condemns anti-semitism as israel seizes a key border crossing in gaza. plus, marjorie taylor greene meets with mike johnson. what is next as she backs off her immediate threat to oust the speaker's the 11th hour gets underway on this tuesday day night. good evening. once again, i am stephanie ruhle. we are now 182 days away from the election and it has been six years, three months and 25 days since the first reports that stephanie daniels -- stormy daniels was paid to keep quiet about her alleged sexual encounter with donald trump. today, story dan -- stormy daniels took the stand while the defendant sat watching 10 feet away.

>> reporter: tonight, donald trump seated just 10 feet away as the woman at the center of his hush money cover-up trial, stormy daniels, testified in vivid detail about their alleged encounter nearly two decades ago. prosecutors say he was desperate to hide from voters before the 2016 election, the adult film actor speaking quickly at times, looking directly at the jury, recounting how she first met trumpet a celebrity golf tournament at lake tahoe in 2006 and went up to a hotel suite where the pair ultimately had sex, which mr. trump says never happened. she told the jury she was not threatened and wasn't drugged, but her testimony about an imbalance of power and blacking out during the alleged encounter prompting the defense team to ask the judge to declare a mistrial arguing the lurid details were only meant

to embarrass the presumptive gop nominee, saying the testimony is not possible to come back from. the judge refusing to declare a mistrial but agreeing some of daniels' testimony would've been better left unsaid, all leading to a heated cross- examination, the defense zeroing in on testimony daniels gave about an unknown man she's has confronted her in the parking lot in 2011, the story she recounted to 60 minutes. >> a guy walked up at me and said to me leave trump alone then he leaned around and looked at my daughter and set a beautiful girl. be a shame if something happened to my mom. >> reporter: the defense pressing her about why she didn't call police or tell her then boyfriend at the time, the testimony stretching far afield from the criminal charges the former president faces about paying daniels to stay quiet before the 2016 election, the judge chiding daniels to move it along at times.

daniels telling the jury today she was focused on selling her story, but my motivation wasn't money. it was to get the story out adding, she didn't feel safe after the parking lot threat. mr. trump's defense attorney taking direct aim at her credibility and past denials of their alleged encounter, grilling her. you are looking to extort money from president trump, right? daniels responding false. >> trumps attorneys will continue their cross- examination of daniels on thursday the prosecution has made it clear they will want to keep her on the stand for redirect. meanwhile down in florida, judge aileen cannon is given trump's which, delaying his classified documents trial making it less likely that the trial will happen before the election. with that, let's get smarter with the help of our leadoff panel. it is lady night -- ladies night to start the show.

kitty fang joins us, susan glasser and barbara quaid, veteran fellow prosecutor and former u.s. attorney for the eastern district of michigan. her new book, attack from within, how disinformation is sabotaging america is out now. this is the testimony many people were anxious to hear. what do you make of what stormy daniels had to say? >> she was incredibly vivid and detailed, and maybe some people think that is a convenient truth for her but from what she said and what she relayed to the jury that sat in rapt attention and took detailed notes, stormy daniels delivered for the prosecution, mainly that she experienced a brief sexual encounter with donald trump that was not being presented for the purposes of the salacious notice of what happened, but because at the end of the day, immediately after it occurred, donald trump

never told her to keep it confidential. he never told her he was worried that his family or wife would find out. instead, it was only after he announced that he was going to run for the office of the president of the united states, that suddenly there was a mad dash to get her across the finish line with a nondisclosure agreement, with a payment of $130,000. it will be up to the prosecution and the end to present it in closing in terms of weaving it all together but the jury definitely was interested in hearing what she had to say and so far, she has been holding her own against some very aggressive cross- examination by the only female lawyer for donald trump. >> barbara, if you are the prosecutor here, how are you feeling about stormy's testimony thus far? >> i think it came in really well. one of the things katie mentioned there was the level of detail in her story and i think that is important. there were some objections raised about some of the salacious details that came in today but things like the black and white tile on the floor in

the mahogany furniture in the layout of the hotel room -- these things matter only because if she is fabricating that, it would be very easy to rebut that. they could have a witness who works at that hotel say it doesn't look anything like that , or it did not look anything like that in 2006. those kinds of details i think can really bolster her testimony and help the jury believe that this story is true. i think one thing the prosecution has to be careful about, though, is something i've encountered in cases i have handled and it reminds me of when kenneth starr was investigating bill clinton. i think with the details of the sexual affair become too salacious there is a worry that the jury perceives the case to be about morality instead of about what the case is really about, which is the falsification of business records to interfere with an election. so, i think they got just enough detail to tell the story here. she is now on cross- examination, so far, holding up well but we will continue that tomorrow.

>> susan, let's zoom out. it was january, 2018, just one year into trump's presidency. we have been hearing about stormy daniels for six long years now. and, here we are. but this case, specifically this testimony, and a context for us. >> well, that is right. there are two very different audiences for all of this and one is what happened inside that courtroom, and with the jury itself the judge, but of course, the context here is this national election, and in a way, it sums up 2024 justin brief, that we are not only having this very belated court proceeding. i mean, that's one story about donald trump is that he has managed to play the legal system so that it has taken so long that we are in the middle of yet another election you're talking about whether he was

essentially improperly intervening in the 2016 election. that is eight years ago, so i am struck by the amount of time we have been talking about this, but also about the incredibly surreal nature of whatever the jury ultimately makes of these charges against donald trump, we are talking about an account of a woman under oath that is extraordinarily problematic. if the politicians name was not donald trump, it's hard to see how this is something that would lend luster to the republican nominee for president of the united states, and that, of course, is the other audience. what does the public make of this? do they simply shrugged their shoulders and say we already know this about donald trump and we don't care for those who are his fans are republican partisans and want him to win anyway, that is in essence the question we are being asked every day this year and 2024. >> katie, let's dig back into

the dirty details barb was just referencing. stormy went into graphic detail. the judge actually said keep it brief. don't give us the details. she gave us the details. they certainly do not show trump in a good light, but is there a risk that this gets this case sidetracked? could it backfire on the prosecution? >> that is a really good question because it is such a stark contrast to what yesterday was like. yesterday was people who were employees at the trump organization creating a documenting the paper trail of the receipts and the fake paper trail and the false invoices in the wrong retainer entries, et cetera, so you get that and juxtapose it to what we heard today with stormy daniels, and

your eyes obviously get very wide but here is the kind of true issue, which is the evidence, right? because we could have conversations all day long but what the jury ends up hearing is totally different. the jury can only see, read, hear, feel what has actually been entered into evidence. what is said by a lawyer is not evidence and so what happened today is despite the detour into the more lurid and more salacious details of what happened with donald trump and stormy daniels, when the defense failed to object, that's why the jury heard it, so despite the move for a mistrial during the direct examination testimony of stormy daniels, judge merchan said to the defense you know, i honestly expected you to object more so despite there being quote, guardrails that were put up to ensure stormy daniels didn't veer too far off the beaten path, because the defense failed to object and even when judge merchan said you might want to make sure you stay on the straight and narrow, the jury ended up hearing it anyways, so they

left today with the recess for no court tomorrow and wednesday with that very seared into their minds images of what stormy daniels said happened with donald trump. >> barb, let's talk about the cross-examination. trump's lawyers are clearly trying to paint the picture that stormie is out to get trump, she has a vendetta against him. even if she does, if the facts are on her side, does it matter? >> yeah, it really does not. i think there are two ways to look at that. one is you know, she was even asked don't you hate donald trump and she said yes, i do. if that is the case, there is nothing that undermines her credibility in that way if that is the way she feels, then that's fine. if she was out to get him, at one point she was accused of extorting him, which she denied but even if the jury believes that to be the case i don't think it is problematic here because at the end of the day she says she took the payment that donald trump paid her through michael cohen. i think the second reason they are using this is to impeach her as a witness, her

believability that she will say anything because of her feelings for donald trump because she so despises him. she is here, she is out to get him. she has a vendetta against him and therefore you should not believe anything she has to say and of course the way the prosecutors address the situation is by corroborating her testimony with testimony from other people so i think they, again, with the display of other details here if someone wanted to undermine her credibility they could simply bringing in a witness to refute some of those details. it remains to be seen whether they're able to do that or not but just because a jury might not like her does not mean they will believe her. >> today, we heard so many embarrassing details and according to the transcript, donald trump could not control himself in the courtroom. the judge actually had to tell trump's attorney to calm his client because he was actually cursing audibly in a way that could potentially intimidate witnesses.

how lucky is donald trump, right? lucky example 4682. how lucky is this man that there are no cameras in the courtroom? eye well, it would've been must- see tv. there's no question about that and in general, that is one of the things that is interesting about this case. i wonder if it really has captivated the public's attention. certainly, it has given new life to the entire industry of courtroom sketching, which has never had a more high-profile role in our national public life, certainly not in decades that i can remember. as a reminder the court rooms in the judicial system are among the least transparent and most opaque parts of our system of government but on some level, it is good news for donald trump that the whole country is in seeing this live and video, but of course, his fate is tied up here nonetheless. this judge has the power to send him to jail if he

continues to rack up these contempt of court citations. he clearly was risking another one in the courtroom today with the cursing audibly. you use that quote, that is a quote apparently from the transcript itself. you know, it is pretty remarkable stuff but i do wonder whether the country is fully absorbing this because it's not right there on video and on television for them. they're not used to things frankly anymore that are not live streamed and instantly available to them anymore. >> barb, a miserable day in court for trump, but bright and sunny day for him in florida. his classified documents case. today, his favorite judge in the whole world, aileen cannon, indefinitely postponed the trial down there, granted him a delay, the one he wanted on a key paperwork deadline. i mean, what is going on here? can jack smith appeal?

trump always says it's a two- tiered system that the courts are biased against him or their controlling the department of justice. if there is anything political, it is aileen cannon hooking this guy up every which way. >> i never want to impute bad faith to a judge based on the decisions they are making but this one is really difficult to figure, in part because she has not explained why she's extended all these deadlines so consistently and now, as you say, not just moving the trial date, but suspending it indefinitely. she cites, as she is required to, the trial act that explains why she is told not because of course it is not just the defendant's right to a speedy trial but the public also has a right to a speedy trial but what she says is the fair administration of justice requires this be delayed indefinitely in light of the complexity of the issues and all of the pending motions and decisions that she has to make about the use of classified information and therefore, the date can't be set until all of that gets worked through, but

it really does seem that this has been a slow walk of this case. this is a case that is not that difficult. it has a finite number of exhibits, a finite number of witnesses. i really would've expected this case to of been tried to a verdict by now. instead, it's on a slow track. it now appears it will not be tried before the election. >> do you think it ever will be? i mean, think about what >> umpire: is accused of doing. think about the images, the boxes and boxes at mar-a-lago, the repeated attempts not to return these documents to the government. do you think this case will ever see the light of day, honestly? >> the fact that we are in trial over the manhattan d.a.s case and not one of the federal prosecutions, i mean, donald trump is one of the only criminal defenses that gets rewarded for the more crime that he does, the more delays he gets but aileen cannon has

never been the target of his ire, she's never been the target of his criticism. >> i think i just lost katie's audio. we are out of time, were going to leave it there. katie, susan, barbara, thank you. before we go to break, an update on our dj t tracker. stock was down around $1.50 closing about $48 per share but it was never trump is this that caught our eye today. the wall street journal reporting that one of his most important skyscrapers a block away from the new york stock exchange is getting hit by the

lack of people going back to work. 21% of the building is sitting empty and next year, donald trump might have to refinance the mortgage. now, for everyone who says that donald trump is the pro- business candidate, he is the business guy, he's got corporate america's ear? well, he was sitting in the courtroom today while president biden actually met with a group of ceos at the white house to talk about how to ensure a strong economic growth. those are the two snapshots we saw today. when we come back, president biden brings down the hammer on anti-semitism in the u.s. and israel and hamas return to the negotiating table for a possible cease-fire and later, marjorie taylor greene lays out her demands for speaker mike johnson. the 11th hour just getting underway on a very newsworthy tuesday night. very newsworthy tuesday night. can i make my side softer? i like my side firmer. sleep number does that. now, save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed. plus, free home delivery when you add an adjustable base. shop now at sleepnumber.com

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there is no place on any campus in america, any place in america for anti-semitism or hate speech or threats of violence or of any kind. with her against or anyone else. >> president biden marks holocaust remembrance day by condemning anti-semitism in no uncertain terms. he called out the protest over the israel-hamas war that of taken over college campuses. just hours before he spoke, israel's military seized a key border crossing in southern gaza and there is still no cease-fire deal between hamas to release the hostages from october 7th. for more i want to bring in ben rhodes, who served as deputy

national security adviser for president obama. you have written presidential speeches. did this one hit the right tone to bring down the temperature here at home? do people even hear it at this point? >> i think people can hear it. the president of the united states is the only person with a pulpit big enough to kind of breakthrough and narrate events that have shaken the country, and in this instance, we've seen an alarming rise of anti- semitism from new orleans of the global spectrum, from the far right to the far left and i think what people are looking for is reassurance that their core principles the president stands for and that's what he spoke to on an incredibly resonant day and sending the message that whatever your views on this conflict, whatever your views between israel and palestine, that we are not going to tolerate the kind of anti-semitism we have seen in the certain quarters of

america and i think that was a very straight message to a lot of people. >> nbc is reporting tonight that the white house halted a weapons shipment for israel over concerns they would be used in rafah. what do you think about that? >> i think rafah has lived for months as a potential breaking point between prime minister netanyahu and president biden. president biden has called this a redline. i think the concerns at the white house are that the civilian population of rossa, over 1 billion people there, many of whom authority does -- been displaced once before. it's also the aid crossing into gaza so when you're dealing with shortages of water and food you can afford to lose the rough a crossing among others so i think the concern is that if this goes forward i think it

is a bit of an indication of the administration's message to israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu that this is not the time and way to go forward with this operation. there is a cease-fire negotiation to try to get some of the hostages out in whatever insurances the israeli government is trying to give the biden administration about their plans in rafah, those of clearly not met the mark for the biden administration so if the invasion goes forward i think we're probably looking at some kind of continuation of a break between netanyahu and president biden.

>> are we close on getting a deal here? >> i think they're trying to nudge both sides here. there is clearly some deal on the table that involves the release of around 33 israeli hostages in exchange for a pretty significant number of palestinian prisoners. the main sticking point that does come back to rafah in the sense that the israeli government is willing to agree to a short-term cease-fire, a period of weeks, and what hamas has assisted upon on the terms they agreed to is a permanent cessation of hostilities, a cease-fire that holds for the long term and that is really the most profound gap between the two sides. i think with the biden administration is trying to do

in trying to find some middle ground is to have a release of hostages, have a cease-fire for a period of time that can allow them to conduct some diplomacy to see if there is something they can build upon, something they can get momentum here so it feels to me like the two sides are pretty far apart. they are trying aggressively to close this window now because of the rafah invasion goes forward, they might lose the opportunity of having any negotiated release of hostages in the coming weeks so we are really the critical juncture where if we don't get a cease- fire in the coming days, we are probably looking at a much longer war than what the administration wants. >> what the world wants. ben, thank you for joining us. i appreciate it. when we return, donald trump plays mediator. donald trump is currently playing mediator is marjorie taylor greene beefs with speaker mike johnson, but is it enough to piece a fracture gop back together? well, donald trump doesn't want it pieced together. we get into it on the other side of the break. n the other side of the break.

i intend to lead this conference in the future. i'm honored to be able to do that. i'm glad i have the support of former president trump. >> speaker mike johnson sounds optimistic about the chances of keeping his job. one reason he might be optimistic is because donald trump is supposedly working the phones for him. politico reported that trumpend quote, made a phone call this weekend with georgia republican marjorie taylor greene who has been leading the efforts to oust

johnson. he reportedly urged grain to stand down after two days of negotiations with johnson today she seemed to back off or threat. >> i am so done with words. for me it's all about actions and that's all the american people care about. at this point all they have seen from politicians's promises after promises and nothing but broken promises. i walked out of that meeting. obviously you can't make things happen instantly, and we all are aware an understanding of that, so now the ball is in his court. >> reporter: last week you said you are absolutely going to trigger the motion. is that no longer the case? >> we will see. it's up to mike johnson. >> the chaos continues. for more i want to bring in political reporter hans nichols and amanda carpenter, former senior staffer to republican senators. amanda, trump is apparently now

the one encouraging unity among house gop. i am dying to get your reaction to this. he created this mess i know he's begging them to clean it up. what? >> i might be one of the last people to ask your viewers to have pity on donald trump. let me make clear, i'm not asking them to do that, but can you imagine being donald trump and having to spend all your time preparing for these trials coming from multiple angles and you have to spend time on the phone mediating differences between marjorie taylor greene and speaker johnson? i mean it's really just like an absurd situation, and the reality is that the democrats saved mike johnson. they're all pretending that some other dynamic is happening. the reality is that there is not going to be a motion to remove him because the democrats have signaled that they would support him as long as he stayed somewhat sane on things like funding for ukraine so this, to me, seems to be

that they're trying to find an exit ramp to come up with this list of silly demands that essentially just delays this fight until september, but as long as johnson keeps the democrats on his side, that is actually the responsible governing coalition in washington right now. >> hans, i see you smirking over there. can marjorie taylor greene actually keep holding the spread over johnson now that trump is telling her not to? at the end of the day, marjorie taylor greene has never had one original idea or initiative. she does what trump tells her to do. >> i don't know about that. i think we'll see, right? she didn't take the threat off the table. she just said we will see, so you may end up being right and that maybe she's going to take her marching orders from trump.

i'm going to respectfully and slightly disagree with amanda a little bit here, which is to say that i think donald trump loves this. he loves being in charge of his party. he loves having people come to him and solicit his views. is the clear tubular leader of his party in every shape or form this is what he likes to do. he may have created some of the chaos but he also likes to have people listen to him, call him up, seek his advice and give them orders so yes, he has had a couple of rough days in court and today was no exception. i really hope we don't have to talk about that later but for trump, this is probably a nice break from a lot of the chaos, at least in the courtroom, where he can be the party leader and act presidential, dare i say, and mediating the dispute between two members of his party. >> all right. he may be the party leader but not all members of that party or their voters are happy about him. nikki haley, she got 120,000+ votes in the end any -- indiana primary tonight.

that's 20%. this woman has been out of the race for two months. do we need more evidence that republicans do not want a criminal defendant is the nominee? >> i mean look, with indiana, some democrats can cross over. i could be wrong on that but this vote for nikki haley among at least the republican primaries, it is so clearly telling us something. we don't know what yet. we know there is some queasiness with a certain amount of republicans about donald trump, that there is a protest vote. what we still don't know is whether they will vote for joe biden and the people that are asking themselves that question so clearly and critically is joe biden's campaign. every private conversation i have with them, many of them, is how are they going to appeal to those nikki haley voters because it is clearly an opportunity for the biden campaign. they don't know if they can get it across the line and get them to pull the trigger for joe biden, but it will clearly be there tactic moving forward. >> amanda, let's talk about

trump's criminal trial because hans doesn't want to. i want to put things in political perspective. do you remember howard dean? howard dean made an unsettling scream in his campaign came to a screeching halt. michael dukakis rode in on a tank and ran over his presidential run. when it romney referenced binders full of women, america threw the book at him. now, donald trump we had to hear it yet again today was spanked with a magazine by a porn star who reminded have -- him of his daughter and this man is the current gop front runner. i want you to explain this to me and by this, i mean the american voter. >> what comes to mind immediately is cost. they've invested so much into him at this point there is no getting off this train until it derails totally off the tracks.

you brought up the results from indiana. you know, i think what we have seen throughout the republican primary that there is a broad, vibrant anti-trump coalition. they may be voting for nikki haley right now, but we will see if it will be translated into biden votes come november, but i mean just look at what has happened since january 6. you've had liz cheney, adam kensing or, his vice president, mike pence, saying they will not vote for this man for various reasons at the next election. you can't dismiss that from the story. yes, he is going to be the republican nominee. yes, we will go on this whole thing where he's going to select a vice president and that process is going to play out because it cannot be undone at this point, but that does not mean he enjoys the full kind of support he did in 2016 or even 2020. >> hans, weigh in here. >> i just want to talk about the trial in florida.

[ inaudible ] when i can talk about what kind of magazine it was. that's the only follow-up question there but obviously this is a unique day in court and a lot of people said clever, appropriate, and inappropriate things. i'm going to say none of those intent to amanda. amanda, what's happening with that classified document trial? >> sign, do you know what i was going to ask you, hans, stormy daniels and her testimony said that when donald trump answered the door in his silk pajamas she told him to put his clothes on. how often has stormy daniels said that to amend when they open the door? >> amanda, hans, thank you for joining us. when we come back, it is the biggest business in u.s. politics, lobbying of the

worst, the most disgusting. we're going to take a look at its unstoppable rise to power in d.c. when the 11th hour continues. .c. when the 11th hor continues. r. known for being a free spirit. no one wants to be known for cancer, but a treatment can be. keytruda is known to treat cancer, fda-approved for 16 types of cancer. one of those cancers is advanced nonsquamous, non-small cell lung cancer, where keytruda is approved to be used with certain chemotherapies as your first treatment if you do not have an abnormal "egfr" or "alk" gene. keytruda can cause your immune system to attack healthy parts of your body during or after treatment. this may be severe and lead to death. see your doctor right away if you have cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, diarrhea, severe stomach pain, severe nausea or vomiting, headache, light sensitivity, eye problems, irregular heartbeat, extreme tiredness, constipation, dizziness or fainting, changes in appetite, thirst, or urine, confusion, memory problems, muscle pain or weakness, fever, rash, itching, or flushing. there may be other side effects.

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it's almost midnight which means it's time to give you a nightmare. you know what we say on the show. if you want answers you've got to follow the money but these days, it's not always that simple. that is because k street, the lobby and headquarters of d.c., is getting more and more complicated and creative with how it influences washington. last year, special interest groups spent a record-breaking 4.2 billion dollars lobbying federal lawmakers. you wonder why things don't get done. those numbers are only getting bigger. i want to welcome brothers brody and luke mullins. brody is an investigative reporter for the wall street unit are -- journal and luke is a political lawyer and together they wrote the book. it's no secret, it is our awful reality but people don't even realize how it works so what inspired you to write this book? >> you started off talking for most of the show today about sex. we're talking about money and power. all connected. corporate lawyers make so much money trying to get what they

want in washington. you said 4.2 billion. that's only the part that's fully disclosed. there's maybe 10 or 20 times as much that is not disclosed. >> the big change that is happened in lobbying over the past 40 years is the focus in terms of the tactics that lobbyists are using has moved away from the sort of smoke- filled room sort of direct -- >> dinners, cigars, champagne, their own right to the voters. how? >> basically they look at any sort of lobbying campaign is almost a presidential campaign so in order to influence a voter to put pressure on the member of congress, they are using sophisticated media campaigns, social media, grassroots tactics, polling, and the whole idea is like this is moving the influence business from washington basically into the living rooms of every -- >> the number one thing we found in washington is that members of congress exist to get re-elected so if corporate

lobbyists can convince their constituents to vote for an issue the company supports then the member of congress will follow. >> i want to share a quote that you open the book with. it is from a washington lobbying firm the says this. it was built on the idea that the law can be changed to achieve client objectives. we see the law as a dynamic process, not an immutable rules and procedures. wanted that reality become washington? >> i'm pretty sure that quote is pulled from like the 1980s, and it would be sort of from that era, when 70s corporations -- we have this revolution of corporate power and corporate interests were able to essentially take over washington and sort of vanquish what happened in their

adversaries in the union movements, environmental groups, public interest groups and they really start to go on the offense during the 80s and that quote reflects that bezos, that the law, for those that have access, is not immutable. it is something that just happens to be written down, but you can change it. if you have the right lobbyists. >> but, the truth is every time congress throws up restrictions about how lobbying works in this country, these lobbyists find a way around it. that's the reality. is it because they are the ones writing half of these laws at this point? >> probably. we have a great quote in the book from one of our main characters, tony podesta, who said if congress outlined -- outlawed lobbyists from driving, they would all just get cars and drivers and that's really true. >> it has been driven by

reforms and when we have any type of reform it forced lobbyists to innovate and create new tactics to get around those reforms and that makes the industry operate more underground. >> great, just what we wanted. you write in the book that after trump, sort of the lobbying industrial complex needed to reinvent itself. why? >> trump really changed lobbying. he became sort of a throwback. trump had so much power over policy and ran roughshod over congress, over his own administration that in order to -- >> hold on, but how? what did he get done? >> because he knew he couldn't get anything done he worked through executive order so he would just sign things away. so in order to lobby trump you needed to know the few people around him who knew him. >> well, he's easy to lobby, isn't he? hire his aides.

right now, by code dj t stock. is he easy to lobby? >> yes, he is very transactional in that sense. that's what's going on right now is tick tock. >> what's the most important take away? you wrote this with a purpose. what you want people to understand? >> one take away is that corporations are at the height of their power right now there fighting against no one. there are no strong labor groups or environmental groups. there are no strong opponents so when members of congress are trying to pass a law there really only talking to corporate lobbyists. they're not talking to the other sides. >> congratulations on the book. when we return, a fantastic story. a postal worker drives almost

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the last thing before we go tonight, you've got mail. a postal worker in grand prairie, texas made a surprising discovery while loading his truck last month. the number of undelivered letters from an army veteran and world war two. the postal worker is also a veteran and he made it his mission to deliver the letters. >> reporter: traveling all the way from grand prairie, texas, this post office worker made the long drive to jacksonville, arkansas all to deliver the special piece of mail to this grateful family. on april 25th, alvin touchet found undelivered letters while at work that range from 1942 to 1945 to world war ii army veteran and

basically had no idea where to send them. >> i did research and contacted you all and where we are. >> reporter: after emails and phone calls, alvin's job took a different route after finding marion's family. >> am very excited and very tearful. >> the letters got lost when a family member sent them to her in texas. >> it did not look like someone had opened it. just the package came apart. >> reporter: miriam's youngest sister said all of her five siblings had died. >> for me it's a connection with my family. >> reporter: they can hardly wait to read miriam's words for the first time. >> and asked joanne if she remembers me. >> i just appreciate alvin. he has really got out of his way. people connect on different levels, and i feel this connected to alvin.

>> reporter: alvin, a marine corps veteran, understands. miriam's words then brought together his family. >> he was a hugger. >> reporter:'s letters are still doing that now as they consider alvin part of the family. >> you made mom cry. >> a simple act of kindness takes us off the air tonight, and i want to apologize, i should not have made a stormy daniels joke earlier, certainly not about a woman and certainly not for a woman who had a tough day on the stand and on that note, i wish you a very good night. from all of our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thanks for staying up late with me. i will see you again tomorrow. i will see you again tomorrow. tonight