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The warrants issued to arrest Texas Democrats who fled the state to stymie a GOP attempt to redistrict the state lack the legal weight to do what the Republicans want them do.

That is the opinion of Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) who was asked, as an attorney, about the FBI reportedly getting involved in tracking the lawmakers down.

Appearing with MSNBC host Ali Velshi on Saturday, she was asked, "Quick question for you: because you're a lawyer, why would [FBI director] Kash Patel take [Texas Republican] John Cornyn's phone call about getting the FBI to round up people? I don't know what the crime is."

"There is no crime, you already know this," the Texas Democrat replied. "And just so people understand, even the warrants that they put out for them, they are signed by the speaker of the [Texas] House. I mean, this is not a law, a law enforcement official. This is not a judge. This is not a prosecutor. This is no one whomsoever would normally sign off on a warrant."

"And that is because it is not a criminal warrant," she elaborated. "This is only giving license to someone who is found within the state of Texas, to then grab them and take them back to the [legislature] chamber. If they take them anywhere other than the chamber, then they are looking at a civil rights violation because they have not broken any laws."

"So this is just a matter of a civil situation and frankly, this is a family situation as far as i'm concerned, because basically, the family known as the legislators in the Texas House have decided that they don't want to come to the table and have a conversation about doing right by Texas," she added. "They have decided that they would steamroll and disrespect their colleagues as well as their constituents in this moment, so that they can appease the mad king."

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Reacting to increasing efforts by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to recruit as agents as fast as possible now that the agency is flush with cash, MSNBC's Ali Velshi was both stunned by the overt racist appeal in one ad and amused by a celebrity endorsement that has been widely mocked.

On Saturday morning, Velshi told his viewers, "I want to show you some recent recruitment ads from the Department of Homeland Security, specifically ICE," before singling out one and adding, "Take a look at this ad which reads: 'Serve your country. Defend your culture. No undergraduate degree required."

"How totally fun!" he added sarcastically. "Defend your culture and no undergraduate degree required."

"The immigration agency is lowering the bar when it comes to hiring requirements, too," he suggested. "This week, the Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, announced that the agency would be eliminating the age cap for new hires, allowing people older than 40 and as young as 18 to join the ranks of ICE."

Joking, "The recruitment push is working," he noted the use of former television star Dean Cain –– who starred as Superman almost 30 years ago –– in new ads.

"He [Cain] shared on social media that he plans to become an ICE officer, to quote, 'Save America.,'" Velshi stated before dryly pointing out, "Superman, a literal undocumented alien, like an actual alien from outer space from the planet Krypton, is now going to be an ICE agent. You cannot make this stuff up."

"Jokes aside, this drive to hire more personnel seems to be ideologically driven," he suggested. "ICE used to require employees to have an undergraduate degree, not anymore. You don't really need any experience in law enforcement either. Apparently, you don't even need a uniform, because so many of the arrests that we're witnessing are being carried out by masked plainclothes officers."

"Covid is on the rise, so maybe they're on to something," he joked.

''It seems like the Trump administration is building up ICE to be an alternative force that's bigger, more politically loyal, unencumbered by standards and largely shielded from democratic accountability," he accused.

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Donald Trump's agreement to meet with President Vladimir Putin in Alaska next week is the culmination of a series of wins the president is handing the Russian strongman, claimed former Ambassador Michael McFaul.

Appearing on MSNBC's "The Weekend," the diplomat would took great pains to explain he is worried about what Trump will agree to during with regard to Ukraine and after the meeting, explaining, "I'm also worried about the erratic nature of the president of the United States today. So he did say all those things. and then his special envoy goes to Moscow a few days ago, and suddenly the tone has changed. So I hope he'll remember his frustration there and i hope he won't roll into the meeting with Putin, you know, thinking that he's got a new relationship with him."

"I would just say this generally, the president personalizes bilateral relations with the rest of the world all the time, and he thinks that a good meeting is some kind of outcome," he elaborated. "A good meeting is a means to some other end that is good for the American people, and it's good for the free world. and oftentimes President Trump gets that mixed up. I hope he doesn't get that mixed up in Alaska."

As for Putin he added, "I've watched him. 'I've been in the room with him, he is good at this and President Trump better prepare. He better not just wing it and think that it's all going to work out, because it will not. This, he needs to take very seriously and he's already in the hole. I want to emphasize: he's already in the hole, he already has given Putin this great gift of inviting him to the United States of America and standing next to him, so he better be thinking hard about what we get in return."

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On Saturday morning, Donald Trump was handed a warning from a former Fox News host that he needs to tread carefully when it comes to any meddling in the Jeffrey Epstein firestorm that is engulfing his administration.

Speaking with the hosts on MSNBC's "The Weekend," Gretchen Carlson, who helped expose extensive sexual harassment at Fox, stated the president could incite another "insurrection" –– this time in opposition to him –– if he extends a pardon to convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.

Asked about the Trump administration seemingly working hand-in-hand with the DOJ on how to deal with the potentially explosive Epstein files, Carlson claimed the president faces a major test.

"What do you what make of the fact that President Trump still refuses to categorically rule out a pardon for a convicted sex trafficker, sex assaulter?" she was asked.

"I think that that is the biggest slap in the face to the survivors of everything else that I listed, because, that is to your point earlier, normalizing the fact that it doesn't matter what she [Maxwell] did, the idea that that would even be on the table for consideration, that is going to cross all party lines," she replied.

"There will be an insurrection," she insisted. "If that happens, it won't just be Democrats. It won't just be –– it'll be MAGA, it'll be independents, it will be everybody because we are a place in the society right now where we know that child sex trafficking is a crime, and that you should not be granted clemency or any release for doing that to young women."

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An attempt by Donald Trump's administration to hide evidence of a meeting on the Jeffrey Epstein files raised a red flag with a former attorney who worked in the Southern District of New York prosecutors' office.

Appearing on MSNBC's "The Weekend," ex-prosecutor Kristy Greenberg was pressed by co-host Jonathan Capehart not only about the White House interceding in the Epstein firestorm but also attempts to hide a meeting between Vice President J.D. Vance and high-ranking Department of Justice officials.

"I'm still trying to understand, how, why, are the attorney general, the FBI director at the White House to discuss a case, anything," he began. "Please explain to the American people what I just told them in the intro that should be alarming."

"Yeah, I mean, when you are being accused of a cover-up, then you have a meeting to then deny that you are even meeting to discuss a cover-up," she attempted before exclaiming, "You're covering up the meeting to discuss the cover-up –– it's problematic!"

"It's ridiculous, I mean, look, you should not have, obviously –– there should be some separation between the Department of Justice and the White House. Obviously, that is gone as soon as the fact that they were reviewing the file and they found Trump's name and ran over to the White House to go and tell him about it," she added. "I mean, that's completely alarming. Under what circumstances would they think that was inappropriate to tell the president what is going on."

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