of the francis scott key bridge. and you can bet on that. just hours ago, the federal government announcing $60 million would be released immediately for emergency work on the bridge. and on that note, i wish you a good night. remember, you can catch my show, ayman, every week, starting here on msnbc. from our colleagues across the networks of nbc news, thank you for staying up late. see you at the end of tomorrow. ♪ ♪ ♪ thanks to you at home for joining me this hour. on august 2nd of 2007, this was the top story on the evening news.

>> tonight, the tragedy in minnesota. the initial disaster and now the search for more victims and for clues to what happened. the children stranded on the school bus when a bridge gave way. >> you are looking live at the scene of the disaster here in the twin cities where the first word that something had gone wrong arrived here at the height of the rush hour, just after 6:00 last night. we now know it was a bridge collapse, a disaster that got the attention, and quickly, of the entire nation. >> the i-35 west bridge collapsed in minneapolis. tragedy claimed 13 lives on wednesday, august 1st. and the very next day, the president came out to send this. >> a terrible situation there in minneapolis. we in the federal government must respond and respond robustly to help the people there not only recover but to

make sure that lifeline of activity, that bridge, gets rebuilt as quickly as possible. >> we in the federal government must respond to make sure that bridge gets rebuilt as quickly as possible. that was exactly the kind of response you would expect from a president after a national tragedy like a bridge collapse. the next day, the next day, congress voted unanimously, 421- 0, to allocate a quarter of $1 billion in federal money to repair that bridge. now, it wasn't like august of 2007 was some kind of golden pre-partisan era. it was two months before presidential election. the presidential primaries were well underway. but none of that had any effect on how either party decided to respond to this tragedy. flash forward to this week. another tragic and deadly bridge collapse in the major metropolitan area. this time in the city of

baltimore when a singaporean container ship bound for sri lanka crashed into the francis scott key bridge. just like in 2007, the president came out quickly to say that the federal government should immediately allocate funds to repair that key transit pipeline. what might normally come next would be a straightforward, nonpartisan effort to approve that funding and get rebuilding. but we don't live in that world anymore. for one of our major political parties, there is now no such thing as a tragedy that exists outside of partisanship. immediately after the key bridge collapse in baltimore, republicans and conservative media started searching for something -- anything -- that they might use to blame the collapse on president biden on the left. first, it was immigrants. >> the ship involved in the collapse of the bridge is 948 feet long. a singaporean flag container.

but of course, you have been talking a lot about the potential for wrongdoing or potential for foul play given the wide open border. >> it didn't take long for that wide open border theory to fall apart. the ship was a part of the normal flow of commercial vessels in and out of the country. the crew all based in india. in fact, the only immigrants involved in this crisis were the six victims who had been doing maintenance work on the bridge when it collapsed. the people who died. so then, conservatives moved on to, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, or di. how did they do that, you might ask? well, baltimore is a majority black city. it has a black mayor and the state is run by a black governor. america's transportation secretary is an openly gay men. therefore, the bridge collapsed under the weight of diversity. i wish i was joking. utah republican state legislator who is currently running for governor shared a

social media post claiming that one of the commissioners of the port of baltimore, a black woman, knows nothing about ports , but she is a diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging a quarter and consultants. a florida congressional candidate posted video of the bridge collapse with the caption, dei did this . and then there was the freak out about transportation secretary pete buttigieg. he is young. he is gay. had i mentioned that? that is how he got the job. >> no human being on earth believes that pete buttigieg, the former mayor, got his job at d.o.t. because he was the most talented person out there. the president appointed him because he checked a very important box. >> the bottom of the line with buttigieg is that he cares too much about personal pronouns and dei policies.

>> this is a mainstream republican party now. it is not the fringe. the fringe of the republican party actually has its own theory that the bridge collapse was orchestrated by the deep state that we are not going to get into that. the republican party has lost its mind on the baltimore bridge collapse, and it is more than just rhetoric. after the bridge collapse, president biden made this promise. >> it is my intention that the federal government will pay for the entire cost of reconstructing that bridge. i expect the congress to support my effort. >> but because it is president biden, a democrat, because it is baltimore, a black city, run by a black mayor and a state led by a black governor, because this involves brown people, republicans seem to have little interest in repairing an essential part of our nation's infrastructure. here was congressman dan user on the fox business channel today. >> is congress going to need to pony up more money or is there

money in the infrastructure package? >> let me tell you, maria. it was kind of outrageous. immediately for bite into express in this tragedy, to express that congress would pay for the funds in their entirety -- >> apparently it is outrageous to use this money to pay for the bridge collapse. she said this would come from the infrastructure bill, money that, by the way, has already been spent. the congressman says the money should come from money allocated for electric vehicles, which, by the way, would not be nearly enough. congresswoman marjorie taylor green says that the government should spend its time investigating whether the bridge collapse was an intentional attack. they say any funds for the bridge fixture should be offset with new spending. just to be clear car the price of fixing this bridge is estimated to be more than $2

billion. this is not a gofundme project. this is the kind of thing that needs federal dollars allocated by congress, and not just because it is the right thing to do. for republicans who would like to see this just as a baltimore problem, a black problem, and urban problem, it is worth remembering that this bridge affects a whole lot more than just baltimore. within 52 millions of foreign cargo was shipped through that port last year. nearly 140,000 jobs could be impacted by the bridge collapse. the shutdown caused by this thing could cost the american economy more than $2 million per day in wages. and the port where this bridge collapsed is the second-largest u.s. export hub for american coal. lumen reports that the collapse is already had a significant impact on one pennsylvania coal company which exports coal through that porch. that is the kind of thing you might think pennsylvanian republicans like dan user would

be concerned about. you might think a party that claims to care deeply about the u.s. economy and american history would care about the staggering toll of this collapse but it does not. republicans are showing the country once again that it is not really about the economy or american jobs or even simply fixing what is broken. it is about weapon arising tragedy and stoking culture wars . above all, it is about sticking it to joe biden. baltimore mayor brandon scott spoke with my colleague joy read yesterday and he was very clear about what he believes lies at the heart of the republican resistance to doing what needs to be done here. >> we know what they want to say but they don't have the courage to say the letter and word. the fact that i don't believe in their hurtful ideology, i am very proud of my heritage and who i am and where i come from.

that scares them. >> joining me now is charles coleman and a writer for slate as well as claire mccaskill. charles, i have a hard time looking at what happened in 2007 when a minnesota bridge collapsed and not comparing that to what is happening in the year 2024 when the bridge in baltimore collapsed. do you see a parallel here? what do you make of that? >> of course. it is important to understand the continuum of how we got here. we have slowly but surely allowed these false equivalencies to come into the national dialogue in the conversation around politics. the culture wars. all of these things have been a steady push back and they have gotten us to this place because we have allowed it. we haven't called it out. in the interest of trying to be fair and include all voices, the reality is that there are some voices at this table who are speaking who do not deserve to be heard. what they are talking about is not ideology. it is something that degrades people's humanity. what they

are talking about is something that keeps the two-tiered system of america is in place and undamaged. that is why we have gotten to this place where somebody is saying, we need to help these people. we have people who are more concerned with profiting about going against joe biden. >> and saying, it is an issue of dei. claire, does it surprise you when you see what has become of the republican party? i had to bring up american coal because if republicans needed anymore reminder that this isn't just about doing the right thing, this isn't about baltimore, this is about an essential part of the american economy, american energy, that they are except with. coal. they can't bring themselves to understand why funding this is important. >> yeah. it is a knee-jerk reaction with them. if it is a blue state, a blue city, if it is a diverse community, if joe biden says it, then it is all bad. it is all bad.

it will be interesting, alex. let me say two words. larry hogan. for the republicans to take the senate, larry hogan is very important in the drive they have. they see larry hogan as an essential ace in the hole in terms of taking control of the senate. larry hogan was the governor of maryland just a few months ago. larry hogan is running for the senate as a republican. how is he going to win if the republicans are standing unified against helping the people of baltimore? missing an incredibly important port in the economy? i am going to watch the republicans in the senate. i am going to guarantee they are very nervous tonight. what are the chances of getting elected to the united states senate? >> i understand that as a matter of political strategy but republicans are the first

line of action on this and they don't seem to care about anything other than grievance and rage. i mean, it takes calculation. it takes like mitch mcconnell, the guy who is retiring, to say, wait a second. in the best interest of our party, we take the senate into 2024. does reason work anymore? >> who controls the senate is who controls who goes on the bench. you would think that a heart-to- heart discussion with some of the crazies in the house, i think they could get enough votes. this is going to be the crazy caucus. but if you combine congress folks from districts that bite in one, along with democratic people in congress in the house, i think you can get enough votes to get emergency appropriations through. remember, if you are against an emergency appropriation today,

then what happens to your state when your farmers are suffering a draft? what happens when there is a horrific tornado? i mean, everybody has the potential of having an emergency disaster in their state. if we are going to go down that road, they are really playing with an issue that could come back and bite them in the you know what, hard. >> you get the sense that that is happening already. pennsylvania coal is getting sent through baltimore. there are pennsylvania republicans who are like, can't you just use funding for evs? against this narrative, charles, were republicans seem blind to the fact that we live in an interconnected country, we are a union. as much as they would like to believe otherwise, no man is a state onto himself. >> the one important caveat here is a very significant one. we have been in states where fax number -- facts no longer

matter. when you are talking about the white amount of misinformation that is poisoning our dialogue, it is easier for republicans to make this clearer in terms of their perspective. so there are a lot of voters that were processing it in the ways you just talked about because they have monetized in terms of fundraising, votes. they have monetized, we are going against joe biden. >> and i will say westmore, who is a leading light of the democratic party. black governor of maryland. they see an enemy. not just in a partisan sense but in a social sense. >> absolutely. and this is exactly the conversation that needs to be had. i am not here to say or suggest that every republican is racist or has races tendencies but what i am here to say is that there is more than that then we give credit for and we have not called the doubt in the ways that we need to.

that is a big part of how we have gotten here. >> how does the biden administration play this? i do think this, the racist underpinnings of this are pretty obvious. the craven political calculation is right on the surface. and yet, for the thing to actually get fixed, for the biden administration to get federal funding, they have to have republicans play ball here. how much can you really call them out on what they are doing in a moment of political strategy? >> i think it will happen. i think the appropriators will take the reins here. both republican and democratic appropriators know that emergency funding, i remember when that bridge collapsed in minnesota. remember how quickly removed. i remember there was nothing controversial. it was just like, of course we're going to do this. same with the hurricanes and katrina. the hurricanes in new jersey. these were things that we did. and i think that there is

enough people in congress. i am not saying it is going to go quickly or easily but i think that right now the house is barely holding onto a majority, alex. they have the vote majority. that is strange in and appropriations fight over emergency funding to one of the most important forces of exports in the united states of america. i think cooler heads will prevail. >> i am just reminded of holding up all of the military appointments to make a stand on abortion. it was used 12 times total during a seven month protest when he held the american military hostage. they will stop at nothing to further partisan gains. for talking points that they can use back home, they will use the military hostage per >> it is embarrassing. i think we have to be honest about that. when you talk about every member of congress who is up for election this year, that needs to be at the forefront of voters minds because this level of polarization is not

sustainable. as much as people want to talk about democracy, beyond who is in the white house, this cannot continue. it needs to be addressed. >> we can't have an economy if we can't ship goods in and out of the country. charles coleman. claire mccaskill. thank you so much for your time today. i appreciate it. we have a lot to get to this evening. donald trump is suddenly worth a lot of money on paper. can he spend it before the bubble burst? plus, president biden brings in a big fundraiser tonight, and i am not talking about will arnett and jason bateman. that's next. jen x is planning a summer in portugal with some help from j.p. morgan wealth plan. let's go whiskers. jen y is working with a banker to budget for her birthday. you only turn 30 once. and jen z? her credit's golden. hello new apartment. three jens getting ahead with chase. solutions that grow with you.

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visit xfinitymobile.com to learn more. doc? tonight, i can offer you a tale of two campaigns. on one side, president joe biden. tonight, just a few feet from this studio, he is hosting a

fundraiser with former presidents barack obama and bill clinton. earlier today, they recorded of a podcast episode. it is hosted by will arnett and and underdressed jason bateman. this event this evening is slated to raise more than $25 million and his campaign is characterizing that is the most successful political fundraiser in american history. that is adding to what is already a pretty colossal war chest for biden in the dmc. on the other side, the trump campaign is spending the night comparing trumps stats to biden ' appropriate trump says the fundraiser they are holding next month will do even better. joining me now, a staff writer from the atlantic, mark. we don't have to talk about jason bateman. we will get to trumps money in a moment. i want to get your sense of this moment the democratic party is in.

we are going to talk about this in the second. there are protesters protesting what is happening in gaza. several interruptions in the evening so far. $25 million. three presidents on stage. a lot of star power as well. does this feel like an inflection point for what has thus far been a kind of dragging , great story for biden and his approval numbers and pulling? >> i think i wouldn't understate the importance of $25 million or biden's fundraising advantage. you could adjust this, but ultimately, yeah. there fundraising advantages very important. this helps immensely. i do think that the optics here are not great for democrats, frankly. i do think it does feed into the blue state kind of entertainment based elite. it also feeds into yesterday

five that i think has affected biden a little bit, mostly because of his age. but clinton and obama are previous presidents and it is customary to have people campaigning for the person who is running. you can't go too far with that. i mean, that is not going to win anybody any swing voters in the midwest. the other thing, yeah. you mentioned the protesters there. biden and a lot of democrats are getting that everywhere. it does create a sense of chaos, especially when you have trump, disingenuously or not. today he was in long island to honor a fallen police officer. and, yeah. we will see what trump raises but as far as the democrats, they are fixing their problem to sort of reach across the elitist boundary at this point. this could be problematic. we didn't see as a turning

point in the campaign. >> fair enough. setting aside, i would be hesitant to suggest that the biden campaign thought this was going to win them any swing votes. to me, it seemed more like an event to inject some enthusiasm into the democratic party, especially young democrats, who have thus far been kind of unexcited about the prospect. like i said, bill clinton in his own category. bringing barack obama back, reminding the country of those years. the president who has become even more likable even in the years since they left the presidency. do you think that is an effective tool to sort of change the amount of or increase the amount of enthusiasm? >> i think ultimately, the democrats these days look like a party of grown-ups, which is not a bad thing, given how nervous many people are given the contrast that trump provided. i think that is extremely important. this is a big-money event.

i think if you are serious about this, the biden administration is a very serious administration. i think it has had some very serious accomplishments that they need to sell and sell really hard. i think having the calvary out in full force going forward is extremely important. ultimately, with the youth vote in the swing vote, it is not centered in the music call. this is where the democratic core is as far as fundraising. with the state of the union and the polling uptick we have seen, it is really a good thing. it keeps going and he keeps the momentum going. >> yeah. there is a new ad comparing biden's cross country swing visits to trump's golf swing. maybe we can play a little bit of it for our audience. >> with the president visiting eight swing states in 18 days, biden has crisscrossed the country.

♪ ♪ visiting the southwest, the campaign stops to focus on security, healthcare, and housing costs, as well as celebrating science. ♪ ♪ >> i feel like this is kind of an interesting table flip. for so long, it was like, biden in the basement. he is weak. he's addled . he trips over everything. now they are trying to invert it and put the narrative on trump. do you think it works? >> i think so. i think these ads have been effective. credit to whoever did the jingle or the music. i find myself bobbing my head. they seem to be circulating and they seem to be in keeping with a lot of the clownish stuff that trump does. and yeah, basically his daily stuff that he provides, not to mention what the congress is

doing. so i think that has been really good. i think the campaign has found a voice and a vigor that wasn't there before. both the candidate himself and certainly the ad makers. >> i have to say, they are reporting that the republicans top state-level fundraising committee is privately warning against biden- bashing because it doesn't hurt candidates as much as trump bashing has hurt the republican party. what do you make of that? why do you think that is? >> a little late to get that memo. stop biden-bashing, by the way. i think biden was in a perfect target for them to begin with. he is a known and likable entity. you can drive it negative but you are not going to convince joe biden that he is the monster that maybe some people on the far right or the republican party are so convinced that he is. it is an odd thing but i think it is true. down ballot he doesn't have the reach that trump does in the

democrat party's. so it seems like a weird pivot out of area inopportune time. >> inopportune. i can't imagine. mark leibovich with the atlantic. thank you for your time. still to come tonight, supreme court justice clarence thomas is picked to fill one of the clerkships and they are raising eyebrows. we are going to get into that controversy, just ahead. first, trump's worth on paper skyrocketed this week. whether or not it will last and whether or not he can spend it is coming up next. oh, not the fries! where's the ball? -anybody see it? oh wait, there it is! -back into play and... aw no, it's in the water. wait a minute... are you kidding me?

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as president biden's re- election campaign projects $25 million windfall at his fundraiser tonight, donald trump's personal net worth has ballooned over the past week at least on paper. that is courtesy of his social media company, trump media and technology group which went public on monday. the company rocketed to an $8 billion evaluation making it worth more than the new york times. trump himself owns about 60% of that company. at this point you might find

yourself wondering, how did we get here? after all, trump media and technology group's main product, truth social, has just 2% of the monthly active users of twitter or pinterest and an even tinier fraction of the monthly users of meta-. last year, truth social lost almost $50 million against just $3 million in revenue. how is donald trump able to take truth social from losing tens of millions of dollars last year to being worth more than eight alien this year? how long can that last before the bubble burst? can he use any of this money to pay off the bond he still owes in his new york fraud case next week? joining me now, matt goldstein, business reporter from the new york times. he has written extensively on this topic so he is exactly the person to ask. thank you for joining me tonight. >> thank you. >> you know the nature of this company better than most.

can you explain to people who don't know, where is the money coming from? who is investing in this company right now? >> well, right now, most of the investors are individual shareholders. they are investors, about 400,000 or so when the merger took place. they are not necessarily political supporters or big donors. they are basically regular people who were true believers not only in trump but in truth social. i have talked to a number of them and it has almost become like a religious kind of thing. they really want this company to survive. they want to get in on the ground floor. >> do you think that they have any sort of comprehension of the potential financial peril that could be involved here? i have noted in your reporting in the times that some of the big investors here have sorted, or but against trump media

shares, on the assumption that the company cannot continue to trade at this insane evaluation. the trump media partners are now the most sordid company to merge with them. it is one of the most sordid companies in the united states. that seems like, shall we call it a big red flag? >> it is. and if you talk to his shareholders, which could also be his core base of support, they are fully cognizant that they could lose all of their money. the other day i thought about how he is willing to lose the money on the principle of trying to make this company grow. i mean, one thing to understand is that the merger partner was a shell company that was out there for about three years before this deal closed. a lot of them were in the red for the longest time. back when

the steel was first announced, the stock surged to $90 and that it was around 15 or 20 for the last 2 1/2 years. so some of them are in the black and summer in the red but i think it is a matter of principle for them. i don't think anyone wants to lose all their money but they see it as something bigger than just an investment. >> how much of this can trump tap into? he can't sell his shares for six months. he could ask the board permission to do so but that would be a can to saying, it would be a real loss of confidence. >> i don't think that will happen. there is a reason why these restrictions are in place. it is not uncommon for any company when it first becomes public. you don't want the majority shareholders to do this right away. it is not a good sign. the investors i talked to don't think trump will do that and they don't want him to do that. the more likely scenario is they could ease this

restriction that he can't borrow against the stock. he might use it as collateral or payoff the civil penalty. i think that is the more likely scenario that could happen. we haven't seen it yet but it is only after it comes into existence. it is a very trump-friendly board. he is no longer chairman of the company but the seven board members, five of them are clear loyalists. we have devon nunez, don jr., his eldest son, and three former trump administration people. >> do you feel like the value of the stock is going to track trump's candidacy? which is to say, as the polling goes up or down, do you think that could be reflected in the stock price? >> yeah. i think it is in the barometer for trump's fortunes. we are not talking much about the stock but the company

before that it merged with. the stock took off early this year when desantis dropped out of the new hampshire primary. the stock began to soar. before the merger it was at 140% this year alone. i personally think there is a good chance the stock will continue roughly around these levels for the election as long as the election appears to be close, which there is every indication it is going to be. i don't see them making a place that will cause the stock to crater. when you are having a stock that is so overvalued, any unforeseen events can cause that. we just may not know what it is. >> we can say anything about donald trump. it is a volatile candidacy and a volatile stock. matt goldstein with the new york times. it is great to have you on the program. thank you. >> thank you. still ahead this evening, you have heard of the term nepo baby, but have you heard of the

newly adopted nepo baby? clarence thomas is here to bring us the latest ethics scandal. that is next. an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine

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alerts that help check. tools that help protect. one bank that puts you in control. chase. make more of what's yours. having a billionaire benefactor comes with excellent perks, as might be expected. justice clarence thomas has received multiple luxury trips and sweet real estate deals, courtesy of his conservative patron mega donor harlan crow.

but as it turns out, justice clarence thomas is also quite generous himself. his newest law clerk, crystal clinton, is not just his employee. she is practically his family. the new york families reports that justice thomas and his wife jenny took ms. clinton in under their own roof when she was fired from the turning point usa after reportedly sending racist text messages. the couple began calling her there nearly adopted daughter. she is so close to the thomases that she is prominently featured in some of their recent newsletters, right alongside the thomases dogs. in addition to providing her housing, clanton worked for ginni thomas herself and mrs. thomases consulting firm. they also helped ms. clanton land a clerkship in his own office. there is nothing illegal about keeping things close, but this

is the supreme court, an institution that is encouraged by the nonbinding federal code of conduct to avoid unnecessary appointments, nepotism, and favoritism. it is an institution that has a 60% disapproval rating right now. it is also an institution that is currently facing a giant credibility problem amid a flood of ethics scandal centering on justice clarence thomas. so you might expect, i don't know. a bit more self-awareness? sort of self-awareness that the court exhibited when they hired merrick garland's daughter to be the clerk before her father was head of the justice department. they then announced that carlin's daughter would not serve in that position as the clerk while her father remained attorney general. by contrast, justice thomas has insisted on hiring his near- daughter, the one on his

christmas cards. man, does that sound like a very nice thing for him to do for her. the new york times gave us some idea of what crystal clanton's future holds. has served as state, federal, or military judges, nearly three quarters have been appointed by mr. trump to federal courts where they have ruled on issues like voting rights and access to the abortion pill. they have gone on to do justice thomases bidding and that seems like not that much of a coincidence. >> law clerks are law clerks. they are wonderful to have around. my view is that this is one of the best parts of the job. to have four energetic people who are like family. i select them. they're mine. they're my kids. they know how i think. >> i will talk about justice thomases significant contributions to nepotism and the american judiciary with mark joseph stern.

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four years before he was appointed to the highest court in the land, clarence thomas said this. there is nothing you can do to get past black skin. i don't care how educated you are, how good you are at what you do, you will never have the same contacts or opportunities, you will never be seen as equal to whites. despite that perspective, clarence thomas has dedicated his time on the bench to undoing landmark civil rights achievements for black americans.

in 1995, he became the first supreme court justice to openly criticize brown v board of education which out lawed segregation. he voted to gut the voting rights act. he voted to struck down affirmative action. he used his position to fill the judiciary with scores of his former clerks, most of whom are white and all of whom he says share his views. >> i'm not going to hire clerks. it's like trying to hire a pig. wastes your time and aggravates the pig. >> tom has decided to hire a woman who was publicly accused of sending racist text messages like the one that reads i hate black people in capital

letters. she is someone justice thomas has described as nearly an adopted daughter. joining me now is mark joseph stern covering the court and the law for slate magazine. it is great to see you. i don't know where to begin. with the racist text messages or the nepotism. there's a lot to talk about. how unusual is it to hire a supreme court law clerk who once lived with you? >> it is extraordinarily unusual. essentially unheard of since the olden days when the justices lived at boardinghouses in 1800s washington. this is new territory. and i think it really shows just how they are with their network. she was pushed out of turning point usa for being too racist. then grew into not only a confidant to jenny but a friend and nearly adopted daughter to

clarence. now he is elevating her to a clerkship which positions her well of first of $500,000 bonus if she enters private practice and ten year down the line, a judgeship under a future republican president. so the stakes are high. justices usually go out of their way to hire based on merit to ensure they are not just picking their friends and family. obviously, clarence thomas does things differently. this may be the most extreme example but not the only example. >> in the immediate, it doesn't seem like a good idea to have a law clerk at the supreme court who texted i hate black people for what that does to the court itself which is suffering from a mayor pr crisis at best. but on the second, you know, people who write text messages saying i hate black people shouldn't be in the pipeline that is clearly in existence as it concerns the law clerks and thomas really seems to have profoundly efficient. he has built a very efficient

pipeline. his clerks have gone on in large number to become judges, to be an essential part of the american justice system. can you talk more about his record? >> it functions as an indoctrine nation boot camp. he goes out of his way to select clerks who agree with him. he has direct lines and he instills them on this far right conservative philosophy. sends them on their way. they take the pay out ins private practice. the bonus for a supreme court clerk is half a million dollars your first year. then they find their way back to public service in the form of a judgeship. donald trump and his advisers went back time and again to his

former clerks to pick judges and they have consistently proved to be some of the most extreme on the bench. judges like james hoh in the fifth circuit who wrote a decision arguing the courts should abolish access to the abortion pill in all 50 states. judges like allison jones rushing who upheld an extreme racial gerrymander in the state of north carolina. these judges have a mission clarence thomas helps them to mind. they circle back every year for a meeting with clarence thomas. they all congratulate each other other. it is not just judgeships. john eastman is a former clarence thomas law clicker.

is that right? john eastman who is barred from california for his participation in trying to overturn. and the torture memos. laura ingram. a hate monger on fox news every night. not all of these individuals go directly into the judiciary. they might try to overturn free and fair elections. but either way, they are preaching from the gospel that clarence thomas helped to write and i am sure that crystal clanton will be set along the exact same path once she graduates from this boot camp. >> this is clarence thomas' army. ladies and gentlemen. it is always great to talk with you, mark. thanks for making the time. >> thank you. >> that is our show this evening. now it is time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good evening and welcome back lawrence. >> thanks alex. so mike is over there. right over there. in radio city music hall with the three presidents. and, he is