On Friday's The 11th Hour on MSNBC, panelists all went left in their choices for MVP of the week with praise going to the man who threw a sandwich at an ICE agent in D.C., the jury that acquitted him, and socialist Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani (D-New York).
Host Stephanie Ruhle first went to Betches co-founder Sami Sage who oozed: "The D.C. sandwich guy who was found not guilty of assaulting an ICE officer, and I just think it's a lovely, you know, non-violent type of resistance." If someone threw a sandwich at Sage, would she find it "nonviolent"?
After Ruhle responded, "Throwing a sandwich?" Sage added: "Yeah, why not?"
As CNBC economics reporter Steve Liesman was second to go, he was thinking along the same lines, appreciating Resistance-backing DC juries, leading to agreement from Ruhle:
STEVE LIESMAN: Guys, and girls, I picked the jurors in the trial.
RUHLE: Oh, in the -- in the sandwich trial?
LIESMAN: In the sandwich guy. I was, like, standing up for, you know, against sort of stupidity.
RUHLE: Well, complete stupidity. If you think about the amount of time and the money (inaudible) the Department of Justice --
It's not persuasive to define throwing a sandwich a felony, and they joked about the agent complaining about getting stains on his uniform. Ruhle threw in a complaint about some of the arrests that are made, and Fordham University's Christina Greer jumped in to accuse immigration agents of "kidnapping" people:
SAGE: The mustard. He was very dramatic.
RUHLE: Okay, okay, okay, while people are being thrown to the ground.
GREER: Kidnapped -- broad daylight.
When Greer had her turn, she talked up the newly elected socialist mayor of New York City:
I chose Zohran Kwame Mamdani ... the 111th mayor of New York City to be. I'm just -- I'm optimistic by the coalition that he's built -- by the conversation that he's started. And I'm going to read about LaGuardia and Lindsey and Dinkins and Bloomberg to sort of help me contextualize this moment.
After Ruhle asked if she believes Mamdani will spend time meeting with his critics before he takes office, Greer added:
He's got the rest of November and all of December to meet with a lot of groups that he did not have time to meet with to have hard conversations. And he's putting people in place to figure out the best commissioners to help him work with. The business community does matter to New York. Nobody is going to say it doesn't. But you know what? Poor people actually matter to New York, too.
Ruhle agreeably responded: "Absolutely. And in his defense, didn't necessarily have to be he didn't have time to meet with them. There was a lot of people that weren't in his corner, and now he's the mayor, and all those big stakeholders in this city can say, 'We all love New York -- how do we help it thrive?'"
Toward the end of the segment, CNBC founder Tom Rogers marked the passing of former Vice President Dick Cheney by praising one of the few times that the Republican sided with Democrats on an issue. Here's Rogers:
I might be a little surprising because he was a Darth Vader for much of MSNBC's history, but Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States who died this week, who said -- courageously I think -- that Donald Trump should never be near the presidency again, and came out publicly and said he was voting for Kamala Harris.
And I think it's just proof that no matter how partisan you are, when it comes to a red line and our democratic values that some people are willing to stand up, be counted, and show that they stand for what the United States is all about, and Dick Cheney did that.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's The 11th Hour
November 7, 2025
11:51 p.m. Eastern
STEPHANIE RUHLE: It is time now for everybody's "MVP of the Week," and it's been a big one. Who's yours?
SAMI SAGE, CO-FOUNDER OF BETCHES: The D.C. sandwich guy who was found not guilty of assaulting an ICE officer, and I just think it's a lovely, you know, non-violent type of resistance.
RUHLE: Throwing a -- what -- throwing a sandwich?
SAGE: Yeah, why not?
RUHLE: All right, who's your guy?
STEVE LIESMAN, CNBC SENIOR ECONOMICS REPORTER: Guys, and girls, I picked the jurors in the trial.
RUHLE: Oh, in the -- in the sandwich trial?
LIESMAN: In the sandwich guy. I was, like, standing up for, you know, against sort of stupidity.
RUHLE: Well, complete stupidity. If you think about the amount of time and the money (inaudible) the Department of Justice --
LIESMAN: To come to court on a misdemeanor? Are you kidding me? I like the fact that the jurors stand up. They're my MVPs of the week.
SAGE: Did you read the reporting about how the officer was like, "I could smell the pickles and the onions --"
CHRISTINA GREER, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR: The mustard
SAGE: The mustard. He was very dramatic.
RUHLE: Okay, okay, okay, while people are being thrown to the ground.
GREER: Kidnapped -- broad daylight.
SAGE: He was hit with bread.
LIESMAN: I don't advocate throwing sandwiches.
SAGE: No, it's --
LIESMAN: Especially if they're good sandwiches.
SAGE: But it's not assault.
(...)
GREER: I chose Zohran Kwame Mamdani.
RUHLE (laughing): You're kidding -- I can't believe it.
GREER: I know -- the 111th mayor of New York City to be. I'm just -- I'm optimistic by the coalition that he's built -- by the conversation that he's started. And I'm going to read about Laguardia and Lindsey and Dinkins and Bloomberg to sort of help me contextualize this moment.
LIESMAN: You just wanted something for your next book.
GREER: Yeah, well, yeah.
LIESMAN: It's a heck of a topic, right?
RUHLE: Do you think -- do you think -- I remember the day after Mike Bloomberg whom I used to work for Mike Bloomberg -- the day after Mike Bloomberg won, some of the first people he met with was Randi Weingarten from the -- from -- from -- from the teacher's union who was certainly not a fan. Met with Reverend Al (Sharpton) who was definitely not on his team and said, "I'm the mayor of New York, I'm going to be the mayor for everyone." Do you believe that's the route that he's going to take?
GREER: Absolutely. We are in a transition period. The beauty of New York is that our mayor gets sworn in on January 1. He's got the rest of November and all of December to meet with a lot of groups that he did not have time to meet with to have hard conversations. And he's putting people in place to figure out the best commissioners to help him work with. The business community does matter to New York. Nobody is going to say it doesn't. But you know what? Poor people actually matter to New York, too.
RUHLE: Absolutely. And in his defense, didn't necessarily have to be he didn't have time to meet with them. There was a lot of people that weren't in his corner, and now he's the mayor, and all those big stakeholders in this city can say, "We all love New York -- how do we help it thrive?"
(...)
TOM ROGERS, CNBC FOUNDER: I might be a little surprising because he was a Darth Vader for much of MSNBC's history, but Dick Cheney, former Vice President of the United States who died this week, who said -- courageously I think -- that Donald Trump should never be near the presidency again, and came out publicly and said he was voting for Kamala Harris.
And I think it's just proof that no matter how partisan you are, when it comes to a red line and our democratic values that some people are willing to stand up, be counted, and show that they stand for what the United States is all about, and Dick Cheney did that.
RUHLE: You could dislike his politics, but he certainly stood up for democracy.
