convention will be devoted to a specific criticism of the judge like the way it was themed nights. thank you very much. that's all in for this evening. "the rachel maddow show" starts right now.

today of all days? day off. the ap reporting that officials

in puerto rico worked late counting votes but couldn't finish and then they retired so decided to takt rest of the day off to recharge. they will reportedly resume counting votes tomorrow. maybe. and so because puerto rico decided to sleep it off today, we still don't know the final vote count there. but after those two contests this weekend, heading into tomorrow night's big contests, heading into those races tomorrow hillary clinton has about 300 more pledge delegates than bernie sanders does and then the associated press said tonight in the 8:00 hour when you also factor in the expected votes of super delegate who is have made commitments as to who they will support, then as of tonight the ap has call ed it. they have declared that hillary clinton has reached the number of delegates she needs to clinch the democratic nomination. the ap made this call in the

8:00 p.m. hour and nbc news made its own call with the same conclusion. john lipinski is the director of elections unit. he's going to be here to explain what went into that determination. it's interesting. watching the candidates tonight, you might think that nothing happened or at least that nothing good happened. i mean, secretary clinton put out this tweet tonight. we're flattered, ap, but we have primaries to win. california, montana, north dakota, new jersey, south dakota, vote tomorrow. then the campaign manager down played it. this is an important milestone, but there are six states that are voting tuesday with millions of people heading to the polls and hillary clinton is work iin to earn every vote. we look forward to tuesday night when hillary clinton will clinch not only a win in the popular vote, but also the majority of pledge delegates.

and then the sanders campaign put out this statement flatly rejecting these declarations by the networks that the nomination has been sewn up. it's unfortunate that the media in a rush to judgment, are i guess noering the democratic national committee's clear statement that it is wrong to count the votes of super delegates before they actually vote at the convention this summ summer. hillary clinton will not have enough to clinch the nomination. our job from now until the convention is to convince them that bernie sanders is the strongest candidate against donald trump. sandsers campaign just rejecting tonight's determination of news networks that hillary clinton has clinched the democratic

nomination. they are rejecting it. the clinton campaign isn't leaping at the news. but secretary clinton did sort of acknowledge it in passing at the start of her appearance in long beach, california, less than an hour after the news crossed the wires. >> i got to tell you. according to the news, we are in the brink of an historic, historic, unprecedented moment, but we still have work to do. we have six elections tomorrow. and we're going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in california. how many of you have already vote d by mail? how many of you have a ballot at

home on your kitchen john, i know you never sort of willingly weighed into controversy. sanders' campaign is very upset with this call tonight. can you explain how nbc arrived at this decision? >> sure, it was definitely not a rush to judgment. delegate math. there is pledged delegates and superdelegates. super delegates is essentially based on interviews, these nbc had an exhaustive process where we called up these superdelegates and basically asked them who are you going to support and tried to get them to tell us and so what we basically saw over the last couple days is saw two things.

we saw puerto rico happen and we saw essentially over the last couple days and especially today and tonight, we saw another bach of superdelegates come in and a.p. called at first and we did our own independent analysis and essentially clinton picked up three this process of the way superdelegates are allocated, picked up, you know, superdelegates in over ten states. >> so john, has nbc and have other networks the way this is done, i know you can only speak for nbc so i should only ask about that. does nbc regularly canvass superdelegates. do you sample superdelegates or only call back ones that hadn't previously given you a commitment? what's the nature? >> it's that order of process. essentially there were 700 -- actually the democratic party changed the number of delegates but there are 317 and it is an exhaustive process where we continually call people.

we got sole people that right out front sort of firmly committed and a lot of people made public statements in our media outlets and others where they said i'm supporting clinton. those are easy cases. the harder cases were essentially the ones we had to recontact and wanted to hold out and give the process a fair shake. what then happened is everybody realized by tomorrow night it was inevitable. so some people softened up and actually sort of decided to come out and make their statements. for the latter half, the sanders campaign is making the case they would win the nomination is to persuade superdelegates previously in support of secretary clinton they should flip to support bernie sanders because he's a stronger candidate. did you see everyday of

superdelegates who had been declared for clinton changing the mind or flipping to sanders? >> no, really, look at the overall total. she's up 572-46 now. really sanders had a hand full and need to pick up a few here and there but an overwhelming number of people of the superdelegates supporting clinton. i think what is going to be interesting and why tomorrow night is very important, i mean, i don't think we should take our eye off tomorrow night is it will give clinton the opportunity essentially to win the t trifecta. she'll be in the superdelegates and tomorrow night will be able to actually, essentially claim victory, i think, on the pledged delegates depending how tomorrow night goes. we'll see. we never had the decision desk waits for the results to actually determine this and then we'll see the popular vote and so we'll look at all three and see where she lands on all of those and again, there is only polling in a couple states. some states are completely silent but we'll let the voting process work its way through and tomorrow night it's not over, right? we still have the district of

colombia. it's not like -- i think everybody says tomorrow night, but in any case, there is one more and so what we're going to do is like be able to say, you know, tomorrow night or maybe, maybe it won't be tomorrow night depending if we're able to call the races. we'll see where essentially clinton and sanders land on all three of these buckets. >> in terms of those -- just in terms of understanding the scale of this victory, if nbc news is declaring her the presumptive nominee to say she's presumptively won it. superdelegates, there is no chance sanders is going to keep up there, catch up there. >> i mean, sanders said i guess maybe he continues on and tries to convince people to flip. that's a tall task. i mean, in a sense of when you look at the margins and we really have been seeing people flipping in the process, maybe someone here and there but really not -- it's been consistent. >> let's come back to the superdelegates in a second. on the other two, on the popular vote clinton is saying she's

ahead by 3 million votes. she's ahead by so many votes and the popular vote the overall outcome in terms of who wins the popular vote is not in doubt. is that with the six states ahead tomorrow in d.c. -- >> it's hard to imagine that would be in doubt. >> in terms of the pledged delegates majority, my understanding is that as long as hillary clinton wins something like one-third of the pledged delegates at steak tomorrow, she would win -- >> it's really hard to imagine when you look at the contests where you've seen lop-sided victories where sanders really won big in the sense of was huge other than his home state is in a few caucus states. tomorrow night there is one caucus state and when you look at new jersey and california, those are larger primary states and california is a huge primary state. the way the process works, the way the democrats allocate delegates is really hard to win -- i mean, it's really hard to pick up huge hauls of delegates on any particular night. the way senator clinton essentially has done this is that it's been through a process. it's been through a lot of

states and increate mentally broke the lead. trying to keep focus on the sanders campaign rejecting that determination tonight by nbc news and a many, and their ex poliex police sieve argument is the media is rushing to judgment and ignoring the national committee's statement it is wrong to count the votes of superdelegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer. can you speak to that at all? do you know what they are talking about? >> technically, they make their final formal decisions at the convention, right? this is the way this is done, you know, i mean, this is the process. i mean, in a sense of it's really hard to imagine how so many delegates came out so early and been so supportive to see them flip and she'll have a huge -- when you think about it. two factors i think if sanders were to go in to essentially to the convention where he had won the popular vote and won the

pledged delegates, you know, maybe, maybe there was a case he could swing some delegates. i'm not saying he can't swing a few here and there. i don't know. it's impossible to know. he'll hold out. the idea that he doesn't have a lot of -- there's not a lot there to make that argument and that case. i don't know what his argument and case will be and i think he himself said he's going to reassess things so we'll have to -- i can't get into his mind and know what his decision is going to be. just speaking to when we do this, we don't listen to the campaigns obviously when we do this. again, it's the delegate math. hillary clinton was planning a big event tomorrow night. i'm sure show would like the event assuming things went the way they would, so she gets to do it on the fly tonight. in the sense of so -- again, the -- all of not just the nbc news decision but all the other media decision desks, they aren't being influenced i can't speak to them directly but not influenced by campaigns.

we do this when we can. if we weren't able to do it and confident, we wouldn't have done it. we would have waited. that's how we have done every contest throughout this entire very long primary season. >> tonight is definitely proof that the decision desk does not do anything the campaigns because the campaigns want it because neither campaign wants this tonight, both of them have been spending and spending and spending in california, working their guts out in california. they are very focused on these six states tomorrow and had game plans that depend very much on the momentum they perceive they would get out of the contests and this does step on it but as you say, the math doesn't care. >> it steps on it maybe but they want to win. you would have clinton and sanders here right now. they equally want to win california and want to win -- >> that doesn't change. >> i don't think that changes one bit and i don't think this came so late in the game i don't think they will stop whatever they were going to do. they won't change anything they were going to do tomorrow.

so, you know, i don't know. i mean, i don't think it steps on it as much as some people may say. >> again, that's not your responsibility. >> it's not my responsibility, people can say what they want. >> and they will. >> they will. i completely understand that. >> sejohn, i realize you're a g much happier in your office and not being on camera. i'm always grateful whenever you do this. >> thank you so much. joining us now by phone is nbc's andrea mitchell covering the clinton campaign since the beginning. thank you very much for joining us on short notice tonight. this is surprise news. >> you bet. it is news the clinton campaign does not want. hillary clinton is on stage right now in long beach, california. i know you interviewed her earlier. i was covering a rally before. i'm at lax now to be completely transparent because i'm heading back for coverage tomorrow morning and the fact is, you know, what she said so far is i

got to tell you according to the news we're in the brink of a historic moment but we still have work to do. don't we? we have six elections tomorrow. we'll fight hard for every vote especially right here in california so i'm asking each and every one of you how many of you voted by mail. send it in our go to the polls tomorrow and take your family and friends. exactly what they didn't want was to have this news, have her people stay home and perhaps have senator sanders' people be angrier and more passionate and maybe they come out and single digit race very hard fought, goes to him because her people get too complacent. that's not what campaigns want. she also, as you know, has another big event tonight in. l.a. and has her big, what she hopes would be victory, historic celebration tonight and that's where she wanted after the polls

close in new jersey to be announcing this and wants new jersey to go out. she doesn't want them to stay home. so it also, of course, is enraging the sanders people. they are saying it's a rush to judgment and it could make it harder to persuade senator sanders that the math is math and this is the time for him to concede after california and decide to reunite the party. >> uh-huh. functionally, it's interesting, andrea, we heard some of the same frustration and worry and sort of anticipation warnings from the sanders campaign about the prospect of the race being called after the polls close in new jersey tomorrow at 8:00. people were worried the matter of a few hours might dampen turnout in california might give a sense of momentum or ending in the campaign that they didn't necessarily want to damp down in terms of what would happen in california. now that effect has been moved

forward by almost exactly 24 hours. i mean, there is, i think there is an unsettled nature to the fact we're getting this at an unexpected time. we'll hear from the sanders campaign live to get a better sense of exactly how they are reacting to this but isn't it your sense if we weren't having this conversation tonight at 9:00, we how old have it tomorrow night at 9:00 on basically the same grounds? >> exactly but this ree forces bernie sanders complaint the system is rigged and saying he should have the opportunity the change the minds of superdelegates even if she's 3 million plus votes ahead in the vote. it's internally inconsistent to use that system that she has so

strongly. that said, they are angry. you see the statement they put on already. it's a rush to judgement blaming the media and, you know, it is a feeling of just comfort that that because of these superdelegates, because of this head count, the voters in six states tomorrow, to say nothing of the district of columbia, people don't often think of the voters in district of columbia, but living there for so many years, we like to vote even if we don't have congressional representation or our own budget. small argument there. by a resident of the district of columbia. look. it is a very strange system indeed. yet the party believes that these superdelegates, who are members of congress, governors, former democratic chairpeople, have the right to have some say over how the party is run. that they have a vested interest in this. bernie sanders, having been a lifelong independent and socialist and the people around him, with the exception of tad devine, who is a democrat, democratic strategist for so many decades, working on bernie

sanders' behalf, they have a different perspective on it. and the sanders, jane and bernie and the people around them feel very strongly this is unfair. to have this called tonight before the voting in california is only going to make that much worse. and i think it's going to hurt the president's efforts to try to bring the party together this week. >> andrea mitchell, joining us from los angeles, she's been covering the clinton campaign, thank you. right good to have you with us. we'll hear from the sanders' campaign in terms of getting their response. we've had john lipinski on here to explain how nbc news came to this determination. ap was first, nbc followed soon thereafter with the determination that hillary clinton has achieved the number of delegates she needs to clinch the democratic nomination for president. thereby becoming the first woman nominated for president by any major party in the history of our country. in the short-term, the politics

is very unsettled. in some cases unsettling. the big picture, the big arc of history tonight, this is something that's never happened before in the history of the united states. we'll hear from the bernie sanders campaign. also my interview from earlier tonight with hillary clinton. stay with us. and can you explain to me why you recommend synthetic over cedar? "super fd"? is that a real thing? it's a great school, but is it the right the one for her? is this really any better than the one you got last year? if we consolidate suppliers what's the savings there? so should we go with the 467 horsepower? or is a 423 enough? good question. you ask a lot of good quons... i think we should move you into our new fund. ok sure. but are you asking enough about how your wealth is managed? wealth management, at charles schb.

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the associated press declared hillary clinton had achieved the requisite number of delegates to effectively clinch the democratic party's nomination for president. nbc news made the same declaration, that hillary clinton is the presumptive nominee for the democratic presidential nomination. the sanders campaign is not taking this lying down. putting out a statement calling this a rush to judgment by the media, saying secretary clinton does not have and will not have the requisite number of pledged delegates to secure the nomination. she will be dependant on superdelegates who do not vote until july 25th and who can change their minds between now and then. joining us now by phone is bernie sanders' campaign spokesperson, michael brigs. it's nice to have you with us, thanks for joining us. >> thanks, rachel.

>> i've seen the written statement. what else can you tell me about your response and the senator's response to this declaration tonight? you're seeing it as not good news. >> we're seeing it as a rush to judgment. it counts superdelegates that the democratic national committee itself says should not be counted because they haven't voted, won't vote until the summer. they have in the past and they can change their minds. and our job between now and the convention in philadelphia is to make the case to these superdelegates that it's in their self interests, in the democratic party's self-interests, if they want to have the candidate who has the best chance of defeating donald trump this november, to take another hard look at bernie sanders. and the reason yes say that is because in poll after poll here in california and across the country, bernie does far, far better than secretary clinton in matchups with donald trump. in fact, in several recent ones she's losing to donald trump. that ought to sauce the dnc and superdelegates some concern. >> there's a report in "roll call" which said democratic superdelegates are reporting that they're not really actively being lobbied by your campaign, they don't feel pressure or persuasion from your campaign

this they ought to be switching their votes. i know that this is a strategy that you guys have described in terms of this being your path to the nomination, persuading these superdelegates to move. have you actively been working on persuading these superdelegates to move? >> making phone calls, contacting them, we'll be doing more of that as the process moves beyond the elections in california and five other states tomorrow and the district of columbia a week from tomorrow. yes. do you have anything to report in terms of superdelegates flipping from previously supporting secretary clinton to now supporting senator sanders or previously undeclared superdelegates who have been coming your way? in order to rebut this determination by the ap and nbc and other networks now, you'd have to make the case that the superdelegates actually are on your side more than they appear

to be. >> true. and the senator acknowledges that he's pretty good at arith may tick and he knows it's an uphill climb. the mistake a lot of the people have made down through the years with regard to bernie sanders is that they've underestimated him. the case is being made to the superdelegates, we're at the tail end of the primary and caucuses. there's a big election in california tomorrow where the polls have over the last several days shown consistently that it's a toss-up. one of the polls from "los angeles times" had bernie ahead by a point. so we think it's important to give the voters their say and not to cut off this process at this point. and this is inspiration for people cross california, new jersey, south dakota, north dakota, montana, new mexico, to go to the polls tomorrow and have your voice be heard, have your vote be counted. >> let me ask you about senator sanders' view on this process overall. there is -- it's one thing to

contest the primary, it's another thing to say that you are not being allowed to fairly contest the primary because the system is rigged. and that's the argument shifting more toward that direction from senator sanders and your campaign recently. >> he has not said the system is rigged. he knew what the system was coming in. does he have some concerns about the system? yes. does he think new york was wrong, for example, to leave millions of independents out of the process? yes. but we think that it's something that the convention this summer ought to take a look at. as a part of a process of opening itself up and welcoming the millions of people that senator sanders has helped bring back into the process. the young people who have come out in record numbers and we'll see many of them tonight at a rally here in san francisco, who are coming out more than 10,000, 15,000 people going to show up

as part of this process. and in california we've also seen a surge in voter registration. there's a record 18 million voters registered in this state. over the past year there's been more than 1.5 million independent and democratic voters. something's going on that the democratic party in its long-term interests should figure out a way to recognize and embrace. >> it's been interesting to see both your campaign and the clinton campaign sort of not necessarily welcome the timing of this news. secretary clinton in long beach telling her crowd that tomorrow's an important election, people need to get out and vote. that's a parallel message from both of you. but in terms of what happens next and if this is not a rigged system but a system that you are just contesting as hard as you can and therefore there will be an answer, there will be an end to this at some point, that senator sanders will be able to describe as fair and square, i have to ask you about when you would consider it to be over. because in 2008, senator sanders

stayed out of the race, stayed out of the primary between hillary clinton and barack obama until the very, very end. he told the free press in burlington in 2008 he held off supporting either of those candidates because he made it a custom not to support any democrat for the presidential nomination until the party had chosen its nominee. but then he endorsed barack obama when barack obama was at the position that hillary clinton is right now. not when he had a secured the nomination with pledged delegates alone. not even actually -- senator sanders didn't wait for hillary clinton to get out of the race in 2008, he endorsed barack obama saying the race was over between obama and clinton once obama had the right number of delegates with both pledged delegates and super delegates combined. if that standard ended the race for him fair and square in 2008, why wouldn't that end the race for him fair and square tonight?

>> well, it's because there are differences between them now. he's led a dramatic, revolutionary resurgence in the party and we are trying our darnedest to give those people the voice that they have earned and deserve in the democratic party process. >> michael briggs, spokesman for the senator sanders campaign, i know it's a tough night and you have a lot of demands on your time. thank you for being with us. >> thanks for having me. >> that was interesting. we'll have more ahead on the parallels between what happened in 2008 and how that race ended and what just happened tonight in the democratic race as the ap and nbc news declare that hillary clinton is now the presumptive democratic party presidential nominee. still to come, my interview with hillary clinton from earlier this evening, stay with us.

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but can your multivitamin to be healthy. do more for your immune health? now one a day has the first multivitamin of your immune system that's support the 70% found in your digestive tract. new one a day with probiotics. your multi with more. on this historic night we heard from senator sanders' campaign spokesman, michael briggs, responding to this news from the ap that hillary clinton is the presumptive democratic nominee. senator sanders has been saying for a week now that the ap and all the networks should not project hillary clinton as the presumptive nominee of the

democratic party because the sanders campaign has said she can't technically clinch the nomination any time ahead of the convention. because the superdelegates won't cast their votes until the convention. but now that the ap has made its determination that hillary clinton has achieved the number of delegates she needs to clinch the nomination, and nbc news has made the same determination, now honestly hillary clinton will start to be described as the democratic party's presumptive presidential nominee. that's what we can say as of tonight. for the first time in the history of our country, a woman will be a major party nominee for president of the united states. and in any circumstances, that is a very big deal. i spoke with hillary clinton tonight just before the associated press made their call that by their count she now has the delegates to be the democratic democratic party's nominee. >> joining us now from los angeles is democratic presidential candidate, former secretary of state, hillary

clinton. secretary clinton, thank you so much for taking time tonight. >> glad to talk to you, rachel. >> how are you feeling about tomorrow's contest? california, new jersey, the dakotas, new mexico, montana, it's a lot of states tomorrow. >> it's a lot of states. and we're working hard in every one of the states to get as big a turnout as possible. i've got a great campaign going. lots of volunteers. our supporters are working overtime. so we're going to work hard until the last votes are cast tomorrow.

>> it would be surprising mathematically if you did not hit the magic number tomorrow night and effectively clinch the democratic nomination. because of that, should we expect that you are going to declare victory, do you have a victory speech tomorrow night when you give your remarks in brooklyn? >> i will be speaking tomorrow night, and right as you and i speak today i'm 3 million votes ahead of senator sanders, nearly 300 pledged delegates ahead. and i think that's a very firm foundation going forward. >> let me ask again about the victory declaration. obviously semantics at this point matter. not just because of marking milestones in the race put also because of hurt feelings, because of the prospect of trying to achieve unity among the various supporters and the various candidates. would it be inappropriate to declare victory? do you plan to give the kind of speech that reflects the fact that you've clinched the nomination? >> you'll have to wait and see tomorrow night. but i think it's pretty clear that that's what's going to happen. and i'm very excited and very proud of that. >> nbc's andrea mitchell just confirmed tonight that president obama spoke with senator sanders over the last couple of days. over this weekend. as this primary does come to an end, is president obama getting

involved personally in trying to bring the party together? >> well, you'd have to ask the white house. we all want to bring the party together. that is something i've been talking about. i've said that i will do my part. that's what i did. actually eight years ago tomorrow, june 7th, in 2008. i had a much closer race with then-senator obama than senator sanders has with me. the popular vote was literally neck and neck. the delegate gap was much smaller. but i took the position that he had a lead in the pledged delegates. that's what we look at. that's what superdelegates look at. and i withdrew. and i also endorsed him. and i knew how important it was that we unify the democratic party. i think it's equally important this time around. >> when senator sanders has been essentially warning the networks, warning journalists, they shouldn't declare the nomination clinched tomorrow,

even if you do cross the delegate threshold, because he says the superdelegates can't really be counted until they vote at the convention. as you just explained that was not your can calculus in 2008 when the race was closer than it is now. does that frustrate you? >> i find it perplexing. what he basically seems to be saying is that the will of the people should be overturned. i have this very substantial lead in the popular vote. more than 3 million votes. that means more than 3 million democrats and others voting in democratic contests have chosen me. i have a very significant lead in pledged delegates. he's basically -- seems to be suggesting that superdelegates should overturn the will of the people. that is just hard for me to understand. it's never happened before. it's not going to happen this time. >> are you lobbying superdelegates now to try to shore them up in case he does -- >> no. >> -- continue to press that case? >> no.

the people have already spoken. this would be unprecedented for someone who makes this case, and i know he and numbers of his supporters do, they have to answer some basic questions. why are you advocating that you want to overturn the will of the people who have been expressing their views for these last many months? more than 3 million votes ahead in the popular vote? senator obama and i were neck and neck. 300 pledged delegates ahead with more to come? i really don't understand the argument. basically going to superdelegates and trying to persuade them to overturn the primaries and caucuses and their results? never has happened. it is not going to happen this time. the sooner we unify and make our

case against donald trump, the better off the democratic party will be. that is what i've been advocating. i made the case against him in san diego last week. i'm going to be continuing to make the case against him. and whatever differences we may have between senator sanders and myself or that my supporters and his may feel, they pale in comparison to the differences with donald trump. we both want to raise the minimum ragagewage. we both want to make sure we get to universal health care coverage. we both want to make sure we have good, strong regulations on wall street. we have a lot in common in the goals that we have set, all of which donald trump rejects, repudiates, walks away from. so i don't really understand the argument that's being made. what i believe is, we need to unify our party. i will do my part. others are also going to be reaching out and i hope that senator sanders will reciprocate.

>> i think part of the reason that andrea mitchell's reporting about this conversation between president obama and senator sanders, i think part of the reason that was such an intriguing report tonight is because i have heard that argument from you, i've heard a version of that argument from senator sanders. everybody observing this primary fight between you and senator sanders has been thinking about what party unity is going to look like. the importance of it, how it's going to happen. and i think -- i have a lot of curiosity and other people have curiosity as to how it happens. what the nuts and bolts, ways are that that comesing to. are you speaking directly with senator sanders? are your campaigns talking? do you plan to? >> our campaigns are certainly talking. and i will be reaching out after tomorrow night. because i obviously want to unify the party. and as i just said, we have so much more in common. and we face a very serious threat from donald trump. i think that he is unqualified to be president.

i think he is temperamentally unfit to be commander in chief. i think whatever party you are, whatever your political philosophy might be listening to what donald trump says, even trying to imagine what it would mean for our country, for our place in the world, how others would view us, what we could do to make a positive agenda a reality to help americans -- there is no doubt that donald trump is the threat that i think he poses to america that is going to unite the democratic party. >> bloomberg reported this evening that mr. trump got on to a conference call with his surrogates and his supporters and he told them that they should continue to attack the judge in the trump university case, this judge who mr. trump has gone after on the basis of his race. mr. treasure personally told his surrogates on this call they should call reporters racist if reporters even continued to ask about this story. i know you've been very critical of mr. trump on this. but with that sort of doubling down, even in the face of all of

this criticism, even from his own side, are you worried that this campaign, that his side of this campaign is going to stoke some kind of racial conflagration in this country that's going to be bigger than just a political fight? >> i'm certainly going to do my best to prevent that. i'm going to run a positive campaign about what i want to see for our country, the kind of opportunity or progress that i know we can make together. i'm going to continue to call him out when he does make statements like that. i think if you go back, i was the very first person to call him out about the outrageous comments he made about immigrants, calling them rapists and criminals. i was criticizing donald trump for his divisive, insulting, dangerous language a year ago, last summer. i've continued to point out that his kind of hateful rhetoric has to be repudiated no matter what party you are or where you live or what your background is. this attack, this racist attack on the judge, is just another

example of how he is absolutely impervious to the values of america. to the progress that we have made over many, many decades. to accuse an american judge, someone born in indiana, who is as american as i am and certainly as american as donald trump, that based on his heritage he cannot oversee a trial that is brought by plaintiffs who feel they've been defrauded by mr. trump and his so-called trump university, is a terrible precedent. he's trying to demean and defame a federal judge who was a very accomplished federal prosecutor who was first appointed by a republican governor in california and then appointed to the federal bench by president obama. he recently said he didn't know if a muslim judge could be fair to him. i imagine he'll move on to women judges because he's been insulting women so regularly. maybe a judge with a disability

or perhaps one who was a former p.o.w. or african-american. this is dangerous nonsense that undermines the rule of law, that makes him appear to be someone who has no respect for fellow americans. and i think it is yet more evidence why this man is dangerous and divisive and disqualified from being president. >> do you think that mr. trump is a racist? do you think he's running an overtly racist campaign for president? >> i don't know what's in his heart, but i know what he's saying with respect to the judge. that's a racist attack.

with the attacks on so many other people. he is calling them out for their ethnic background, their race, their religion, their gender. i don't know what else you could call these attacks other than racist, other than prejudiced, other than bigoted. just plain wrong. and certainly wrong coming from someone who is vying to become president of the united states. >> secretary clinton, i know your time is tight. i have one last question for you. and it's just about the fact that this is a historic moment we're about to have as a country if and when you clinch that number tomorrow night. you will be the first lady to be the nominee. why do you think it took us so long to be there? >> rachel, it will be a great moment. i don't want to get ahead of myself. i want everybody that can to vote tomorrow and all of the states that are holding

primaries, but it is historic and i i'm aware of that. i take that responsibility seriously. i'll have more to say about it, but i think it's going to be a very positive development, not just for little girls and women but for little boys and men because i'm running to be president for every single american. >> former secretary of state, hillary clinton, thank you for taking time tonight at this very, very busy evening. really appreciate it, ma'am. thank you. >> good to talk to you, rachel. thank you. >> i spoke to hillary clinton earlier this evening, just a little while before the ap and nbc news declared that she has reached the number of delegates she needs in order to clinch the democratic nomination for president. 13 superdelegates confirmed to the networks this evening that they are supporting secretary clinton and that was enough to put her over the 2383 she needs. senator bernie sanders and his campaign are rejecting this determination tonight. they are saying that no

superdelegates should be included in any delegate count because those superdelegates don't technically cast votes until the convention. senator sanders will try to persuade superdelegates to flip the race to them so they should not be seen as on either side between him and secretary clinton until they actually have to cast their votes. before knowing this determination had been made tonight, i put that case to hillary clinton and she described it as perplexing and quote, it's not going to happen this year. we don't know what the sanders campaign is going to do next now that she has been declared the presumptive nominee, we don't know what process as the democratic party as a whole will go through now as the primary ends in this contentious way. as we absorb the news tonight, we're going to hear live from the clinton campaign manager. that's next as our live coverage

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for the first time in american history, one of our two major parties has selected a woman as their nominee for president, so says nbc news and the associated press. both tonight declared that hillary clinton has achieved the number of delegates she needs to clinch the democratic presidential nomination. joining us now by phone is the clinton campaign manager. mr. mook, thank you for joining us this evening, especially on short notice. >> thanks very much, rachel. >> so, the sanders campaign say a canvas of super delegates

shouldn't be enough because they haven't voted yet. they might change their mind. what is your view of that? >> right now, as hillary said tonight, we're really focussed on the millions of people who will be going to the polls tomorrow. until all the votes are counted, all the delegates are allocated and that's what we're focussed on right now. >> does that mean you also reject this declaration? >> it's very exciting news but hillary made a pledge at the beginning that she's going to fight for every single vote, fight for every single delegate. i think the proof is in the results. hillary leads by more than 3 million popular votes. a leadoff almost 300 pledge delegates. she's won more states and we want to continue to build on

that lead going into these final contests. so, that's where we're focussed on right now. obviously this news is really exciting but we're focussed, noses to the grind stone and we're going to keep working until the polls are closed tomorrow. >> are the two campaigns talking at any high level in terms of had you this is going to resolve or things that need to be negotiated between your two sides? >> first of all, i have tremendous respect for my colleague on senator sanders' campaign. we've spoken regularly throughout this entire contest. i'm incredibly proud of the work that's been done in his campaign to bring more people into this process. they have organized so many volunteers, brought in so many voters, raised historic numbers of contributions online and i'm very confident that once these contests are over that this party will come together and we will move forward into the general election with hillary

clinton as our nominee and as i said, i'm very confident that senator sanders and his campaign will be part of that. >> can you shed any light on what you intend to do? you and your candidate in terms of trying to reach out to sanders' supporters, sanders' volunteers, donors, the way you'll try to make that case? >> i think first and foremost, we intend and have begun to ask for their support. we have tremendous admiration for what senator sanders has accomplished on this campaign. so, we're going to ask directly for their support. secretary clinton has already begun that process and the fact of the matter is for the democratic nominee to win in the general election, this is all all hands on deck exercise.

everyone who's stood up for the issues we all believe in, affordable college for every american, affordable health care, protecting the values we cherish as a country. we all have to come together. and i'm very confident that we will. and hillary will be talking about her vision, an economy that works for everyone and we, as a campaign, will be reaching aught to senator sanders' activists and asking them for their help on this campaign. the stakes are so high, the threat that donald trump presents to our country is so dire that i know people will come on board and we're going to get this done. >> clinton campaign manager, i can tell you directly, sir, that you have just became a campaign manager that has won a nominee for a major party. thanks for being with us. >> thanks so much and credit to our thousands of volunteers.

>> spoken like a good campaign manager. thanks, robbie, appreciate it. and that does it for us. our live coverage continues on what has been a bomb shell evening with the associated press and the nbc declaring that hillary clinton has clinched the democratic nomination. our coverage will start again at 6:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow. right now time for the "last word" with lawrence o'donnell.