The Weekend

7am: His office confirmed the senator "passed away from a brief and sudden illness." Senator Graham served in the House of Representatives for eight years before winning his senate seat in 2002. He briefly ran for the 2016 Republican nomination for president where he was very critical of Donald Trump, saying that the GOP would "get destroyed" if they made Trump the nominee. Senator Graham later became one of President Trump's top allies and defenders in congress. Graham was chair of the Senate Budget Committee, and was a hawk when it came to foreign policy. He had just returned from a trip to Kyiv, where he met with President Zelenskyy on Friday.

8am: It has been a little more than three months since Blanche took the reigns at the Department of Justice after Trump's last AG Pam Bondi was fired, reportedly in part due to Trump's growing frustration with the pace of prosecutions against his perceived political rivals. In just that short time Blanche has shown his willingness to allow his former client to assert himself, as Trump has repeatedly declared, to be the chief law enforcement officer" of the U.S. Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissmann join The Weekend to discuss his confirmation hearing.

9am: On Wednesday, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche is expected to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee in his hearing to become Trump's next confirmed Attorney General. Founder and Executive Director of Justice Connection, Stacey Young, and MS NOW legal analyst and former U.S. attorney Joyce Vance join "The Weekend" to preview how it's likely to go.

7am: President Trump packed his Thursday primetime address with false and misleading claims about U.S. election security. Trump unveiled documents he claimed provided definitive proof of widespread voter fraud, but many of those are directly undercut by the documents the White House released. Chief Washington Correspondent for MeidasTouch, Scott MacFarlane, and Jackie Lopez, partner with the Elias Law Group, join "The Weekend" to debunk some of his election conspiracies.

8am: Senators Thom Tillis and John Cornyn continue to question whether the DOJ's controversial $1.776 billion "anti-weaponization" initiative is truly "dead," as Blanche has claimed. Blanche also met with Jeffrey Epstein survivors after Sen. Tillis made it a condition for Blanche to get his vote. Glenn Thrush and Ankush Khardori join The Weekend to discuss the latest on Blanche's confirmation hearing.

9am: Multiple fatal shootings involving ICE officers spark a major national day of action against Trump's immigration crackdown. In response to the shootings, the Department of Homeland Security paused ICE vehicle stops except in cases that involved serious criminal targets. However, President Trump reversed the order. Andrea Flores, former Department of Homeland Security and White House official, joins "The Weekend" to discuss.

7am: Thousands of Americans took to the streets to protest against ICE and the Trump administration's harsh immigration crackdown. The demonstrations come as Trump is urging ICE to keep up aggressive traffic-stop operations despite the recent deadly shootings. At the same time, Trump spent this week focused on reviving election conspiracy theories, laying out the groundwork to challenge midterm election results if Republicans lose. President of Media Matters, Angelo Carusone, joins "The Weekend" to discuss.

8am: But across the country, voters have more real-world concerns. With that in mind, Democrats are trying to win over voters, even in red states like Iowa, by focusing on the future and practical concerns. Former Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg was in the Hawkeye State and Florida this week holding events with Democratic candidates running for office there. He joined The Weekend to weighs in on the path forward for Democrats as we move ever-closer to the midterm elections.

9am: More than two dozen House Democrats met this week for a closed-door strategy session to map out how they would respond if President Trump tried to interfere in this year's midterms. House Democrats have told MS NOW that one fear they have is that Trump could be using the Save America Act as a pretext, and if the legislation fails, Trump could declare a state of emergency to make electoral rule changes. Congressman Joe Morelle of New York, who organized the meeting with House Democrats, joins "The Weekend" along with Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward.