of those 46 have been rate well qualified or qualified by the american bar association. the legal group tasked with evaluating nominees since 1953. four of president trump's picks are rated not qualified, including brett tally. none of president obama's picks received a not qualified rating, but experts warn that's largely because obama waited for the ratings to come out before he nominated. while president trump has not. leonard leo is advising the president on the nominees. >> i think in the case of president trump's nominees and several have been mentioned, brett tally, john bush, others. these are people who certainly had strong views and certainly expressed them as citizens as many citizens do, but they have also shown in their careers tremendous integrity, honesty and humility. >> the president has seized on his chance to shape a lasting legacy, many with lifetime appointment. young conservative judges across the country who hear important federal cases, the majority of which never get to the supreme court. >> so i looked at some of these numbers, between the judge

this year the american bar was named best bar in the world. every year in a panel of around five hundred industry experts so much the fifty best bars worldwide. the bar last cape is always changing what's amazing about this is that it's managed to stay relevant and stay contemporary even though it's one of the most historic for under twenty five years incredible history but it's not stuck in the past it's very much twenty seventeen bars as but something else. stayed contemporary means having a wide selection of drinks. that's why nonalcoholic cocktails are also on the drinks list. picking creasing lee you don't want to know not to hold it drinks to be in the alcoholic drinks people's lives people driving. may well be members of a party not drinking they don't want to have a poor adult on this they want to enjoy the atmosphere and enjoy the drinks just as much as those that are drinking. the cocktail costs about twenty two year of quality comes at a price and in the best bar in the world. the travelling show search is solely is a canadian produ

it's no wonder the american bar association, hardly a right-wing organization, gave him its highest rating unanimously, well qualified. nevertheless, the junior senator from minnesota does not support justice strauss receiving so much as a hearing. that approach is untenable, in light of recent actions of our democratic colleagues. little more than four years ago, they eliminated the supermajority requirement for ending debate on lower court nominees. they did so, they said, because they believed that a minority of the senate should not be able to prevent the confirmation of a nominee who enjoyed the support of a majority of this body. perhaps our democratic colleagues now feel buyers' remorse over the change in the senate rules they jammed through this body, but they should not be allowed to use the committee's blue slip courtesy which is neither a committee rule nor a senate rule as another way to block the consideration of nominees with majority support. as chairman grassley has pointed out, that approach is not the way the blue slip courtesy was first used nor is it the way the vast ma

he's never tried a case and was given a rare not qualified rating from the american bar association.ashington post" columnist and msnbc contributor matt miller back into this conversation. okey-doke, matt, i'm a civilian, but he was asked to list family members that were, quote, likely to present potential conflicts of interest. he mentioned no one. he did not mention that his wife is don mcgann's number two. i mean, hello! >> yeah, it is inexplicable, stephanie. it is an obvious conflict of interest that is needing to be disclosed. and the other thing to understand about it, it is not a secret. this was obviously going to come out. i don't know how he thought he would sneak by without disclosing this. but he did make it through committee. it was after the committee vote we found this out. this is -- this is a pattern of behavior from trump administration officials where they fail to disclose things on the forms. they only come out later when the press finds out. and it is yet another mark against this judge who is -- let's remember, one of four judicial nominees that the president h

who elected the american bar association? >> nobody.s a liberal activist group that pretends to rate judges objectively. and all they're really doing is giving cover to democrats in the senate that want an excuse to vote against the nominees. they hold conservative nominees to a different standard. the senate republicans should ignore what they're saying. >> they did that against clarence thomas and sandbags robert bourque, calling him unqualified, which was a scandal, because he was so qualified. >> i think it's ridiculous. >> the larger picture here is that republicans are confirming judges really fast. >> right. that did not even include the judges. and it's intensly personal. we saw from the eighth circuit, that all of the innuendo about the temperament calling them "you people," which is not my preferred pronoun, and asking where his children went to school. >> and ben sass hitting back very hard saying, look, this is distorting record and temperament and he will be confirmed. >> all kinds of groups have score cards, rating their l

was rated not qualified by the american bar association judicial rating committee and has in the past pledged support for the nra. how is he an appropriate candidate for such a high level position? >> judgeships don are controlled largely by the office of attorney general and the deputy attorney general. they work with the senators of the states for the district courts. that's where these perk late up. the senators from the home state have the blue slip. if they object to an appointee. obviously there were no blue slips here. and so it went right on through because the republicans had the votes. both administrations always suffer from charges of judges not being qualified. the fact that the man has not tried a case is not good. he is going to have a lot of on the job training. and he is going to be a good trial judge when he finishes. >> it's amazing that -- as i was saying that question to you i couldn't believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. a lifetime appointment. >> i know. >> only practiced law three years. never troid a case. rated not qualified by the american bar

joke's on you, american bar association!stration, "not qualified" is the new black. ( laughter ) but talley's nomination is now getting a lot of scrutiny because it turns out "he is married to a white house lawyer," a fact talley "didn't disclose in his questionnaires submitted to the senate." so talley is still waiting to be confirmed, which gives him time to focus on his other job. horror novelists. he is the author of: guh, it's alive! and there's more, because talley is also a ghost hunter. according to a recent profile of talley, he and his fellow ghost enthusiasts would explore old plantation homes or abandoned insane asylums to search for signs of the supernatural. oh, good. maybe he can explain that spinning sound coming from abraham lincoln's grave. well, that's it for "stephen colbert's bench warmers." join me next time when we profile trump's next judicial nominee: carl, the owner of a paintball course where helmets are optional. for the record, carl has lots of courtroom experience. we'll be right back with jorda

who elected the american bar association?s an activist group that pretends to rate them and all they are doing at the end of the day is giving the senate and inrepubli as an excuse to vote against the nominees. they hold conservatives to a different standard than liberals, they have been doing this in years. i think the senate republicans should completely ignore what they are saying. >> did that just clarence thomas and he was up and sandbagged robert -- way back then calling him unqualified peer that was just a scandal because he was arguably the most qualified in the world! >> in a senate full of lawyers, i don't think they need this sgroup to make this determination or to advise them. i think it is ridiculous. >> but the larger picture here is that the republicans are really confirming a lot of judges very fast.>> yes, they are. in every discordant and even include a handful of district judges there moving through and donald trump is line them up like airplanes at o'hare. there are two to jason's point, and how intensely

and some have been rated by the american bar association about making inflammatory comments about roeay they're able, smart and extremely conservative. and they're chosen for being young and conservative. and the administration feels they will transform the law. >> you say young and conservative. has he outsourced this is process to the white house society? >> the white house society has spoken and said i don't know about outsourcing. this is insourcing. the truth is the conservatives to their credit really care a lot about the federal courts. and through the federal society, they've left ott the same organization, the american answer constitution society, they identified a strong bench. and it's so interesting that president trump has published a supreme court list. he recentlile added five names to it. it's true that he's consulting with the federal society. but it's more a sign of the intel elect wall coherence of the republican commitment to transform the court rather than any nefarious scheme. >> okay. so, you've made the argument that as things stand, president trump will have a

some have been rated as unqualified by the american bar association.lammatory comments, about roe v. wade being wrong. although i would say they're able, smart, extremely conservative and chosen for being young, conservative and the administration thinks they will transform the law. >> you say young and conservative. has he outsourced this process to the federalist society? >> the white house counsel, don mccann spoke to the federalist society recently and said i don't know about outsourcing, i've been a member of the federalist society ever since i've been in law school. this is insourcing. conservatives to their credit care a lot about the federal courts and through the federalist society. the left has the samers, the american constitutional society, they've identified a strong bench of strong, able conservatives and it's so interesting that president trump has published a supreme court list, it's true that he's consulting with the federalist society. it's more a sign of the intellectual coherence of the republican commitment to transforming the cour

gym, the american bar. jim and garret, jim hughes, both here on 5@6:30.ys a few seconds ago. i'm sorry i forget. let's talk a little bit about this. tell us about the history. it's something that we do at the hotel the third thursday of every month. we're doing it in two days, actually. 6:00 and 55-dollars per person. you get four quok tails, some food from our kitchen, a lot of history about the cocktails and a lot of fun. something a little different. we make the cocktails while getting some history. >> you do. absolutely. take us through it. pretend we just walked in. we are going to do the scof luf cocktail. you've got a little bit of right whiz ticketed event in the car after you can take the jigger, fill it up all the way. pour it in this glass. you've got some lemon juice here as well. how much is that. >> hang on that j >> all the way fuel. >> jim, you're not jealous. >> no, by all means. what are some of the history lessons h we pick up from this. >> this is the centennial of d.c. going dry. the thing that we're doing the day after tomorrow is ca

an american journalist is behind bars in zimbabwe after allegedly insulting president robert mugabe on twitter marceau donovan works in the capital harare for an online satirical news channel arrest comes a week after the government appointed a cyber minister tasked with policing social media mathur o'donovan allegedly called robert mccarthy a selfish and sick man on twitter that could have serious consequences the twenty five year old u.s. citizen is accused of subversion that could mean up to twenty years in jail. for his face into allegations the cone. is undermining the forty two or insulting the office of the president and the second. is that of attempting to have up all the government and question all means the charges on which they mean to deny. at ninety three robert mugabe is the world's oldest head of state and widely seen as one of its most authoritarian o'donovan works for harare based mcgann the t.v. as zimbabwe channel which describes itself as a cutting edge producer of political satire and comedy have you seen the latest member when it comes back in the some of the gamb

an american journalist is behind bars this evening is why after allegedly insulting the president robert mugabe twenty five year old marceau donovan is said to have called him a selfish and sick man on twitter she's being charged with subversion and attempting to over that throw the government a charge which carries a prison sentence of up to twenty years. lawyers for o'donovan told the court of that subversion charge is a legal because o'donovan was not informed of it at the time she was arrested lawyers also said she denies both charges and will be applying for bail at the high court on monday. through allegations the most coned. he's undermining the forty two or insulting the office of the president and the second judge is that attempting to what the role of men and question all means. which they mean to deny. well examine it works for harare based among the t.v. which is the zimbabwean satire channel that was found or condemned the charges as an attack on free speech this is not just against my but it's against everyone in zimbabwe wants to use the internet as a space for free expres

american journalist is behind bars in zimbabwe after she allegedly insulted the president robert mugabe twenty five year old martha o'donovan is said to have called him a quote selfish and sick man on twitter she's now big charged with subversion and attempting to overthrow the government which carries a prison sentence of up to twenty years. or as for adama told the court the subversion charge is illegal because she wasn't informed of it when she was arrested they also said o'donovan denies both charges and would be applying for bail at the high court on monday. the first coned. he's undermining the forty two or insulting the office of the president and the second judge is that attempting to put all the government on question all means. which they mean the deny. line. lawyer speaking then i she works for harare based mcgaha t.v. which is a satire channel the outlets founder also condemned the charges as an attack on free speech. this is not just against my but it's against everyone in zimbabwe ones to use the internet as a space for free expression and to be free. to look now at some o

the american bar association is not neutral. the a.b.a. is a liberal organization that has publicly and consistently advocated for left-of-center positions for more than two decades now. the a.b.a. has no right to special treatment by members of this body. it's pretty simple -- if you're playing in the game, you don't get to cherry pick who the referees are. take just for a moment a look at the amicus briefs that they have filed in recent years. in district of columbia v. heller, the a.b.a. supported denying an individual their constitutional right to keep and bear arms. in the christian legal society v. martinez, the a.b.a. supported forcing christian organizations on campuses to accept members that reject their faith. in medianv. texas, the a.b.a. forced states to recognize the judgments of the world court in order to stop the execution of a gruesome murderer. in united states v. windsor, the a.b.a. supported the recognition of same-sex marriage through judicial fiat rather than through legislative debate. in arizona v. united states, th

there is the american bar association. [boos] i told you i was going to come back to the good stuff. [laughter] aba has no role whatsoever -- [applause] enough said. [laughter] despite these obstacles, we are pleased with the quality and pace of our nominations. when the president took office, there were over 100 vacancies. in 10 months, the president has nominated over 70 judges. 14 of those judges have been confirmed. nearly 50 are currently pending in the senate. dozens more are in the process and will be nominated shortly. we expect a significant number of additional nominations early next year. we know how important these appointments are. we thank you for your support in this effort. this convention has been a celebration of the federalist society. the only do we celebrate the appointments, but in the tradition of the federalist society, we have debated the most important legal questions facing the nation. how do we restore the rule of law, separation of power, and individual liberty? i want to thank the federalist s

the constitution states that we are in the senate, not the american bar association, and we here in the senate are to advise and consent when it comes to judges. we have a duty to do so thoroughly, without bias, and through the use of all the information available to us. both the junior senator from nebraska and i trust steve grasz to support and defend the constitution. so do those who know him best, the people of nebraska who have worked with him for nearly three decades. the senate should as well. i urge the senate judiciary committee to advance his nomination. the american people deserve to have talented and fair lawyers like steve grasz on the federal bench. thank you, madam president. i yield the floor. i suggest the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call: the presiding officer: the senator utah. mr. hatch: i ask unanimous consent that the quorum call call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. hatch: thank you. i would like to ask unanimous consent that martin pippens, the detailee on the senate committee on

know now with at&t's bid for time warner being challenged and with the speech yesterday of the american bar, i think there is no chance that comcast would try a transaction like this in the u.s. anymore you have to believe these conversations predated the news of the doj of its opposition to the at&t deal. >> what about verizon. do you think that's allowed or do you have to raise the same questions of pipes, controlling content. >> it does not raise the same questions. in the at&t case, if we were to believe what we heard out of the doj, what they requested was a structural separation of either direct tv or the turner network. they did not suggest there was a problem in wireless and the turner network i don't think there is any trust problems with verizon. you have to be skeptical that verizon would go down on this path i can understand them inquiring about it but it would be surprise deci surprised. >> before of the previous talks that are now aparticipaparently from disney and twenty-first century fox. given the rise that we see and certain players like comcast making it big. is the stock

david: in became a leader of the american bar and there is an interesting footnote here.n 1959, albert sachs, who recommended law clerks, recommended a credentialed young woman named ruth bader ginsburg. frankfurter refused to interview her, saying that he had never appointed a woman as a law clerk and he was set in his ways and could not imagine even considering her. brian: you quote ruth bader ginsburg and here is the video of what you quoted her saying. [video clip] ruth bader ginsburg: and became a bulwark against the kind of oppression the jews have endured throughout history. jews in large numbers became lawyers in the united states and some became judges. the best of the lawyers and judges use the law for personal gain and to secure justice for others. brian: why did you quote that? most people know who she is. david: it is an important point, because jews have always chosen the legal profession -- lawyers are a legal profession. many of the jews who entered law and went to law school -- lawyers come from backgrounds where grandparents or great-grandparents were ra

then there is american bar association. [booing] mr. mcgahn: i told you i was going to come back to the good stuff. [laughter] mr. mcgahn: the ada has no role whatsoever in the president 's -- [applause] mr. mcgahn: enough said. [laughter] mr. mcgahn: despite these obstacles, we're very pleased with the quality and pace of our nominations. when the president took office, there were over a hundred federal judicial vacancies, including the supreme court. in 10 months, the president had nominated over 70 judges to fill those vacancies. 14 have been confirmed, nearly 50 are currently pending in the senate. dozens more are in the process and will be nominated shortly. early next year, we expect a significant number of additional nominations. we know how important these appointments are to you and how important they are to the rule of law. we thank you for your support in this effort. in closing, this convention has rightly been a celebration of the federalist society's success. not only did we celebrate the appointment of a committed origina

s very there is american bar association. [grumblings] to told you i was going come back to the good stuff. whatsoever in le the president trump -- [applause] >> enough said. [laughter] obstacles we're very pleased with the quality and pace of our nominations, hen the president took office there were over a hundred federal judicial vague can sis supreme court in. 10 months the president had nominated over 70 judges. confirmed, nearly 50 are currently pending in the senate. dozens more are in the process nominated shortly, early next year we expect a significant number of additional nominations. we know how important these appointments are to you and how important they are to the rule of law. we thank you for your support in this effort. in closing, this convention has been a celebration of the federalist society success. not only did we celebrate the commit asked the originalists to the supreme court, but in the tradition of he federal society, we've debated the most important legal questions facing our nation. restore the ru

. >> paul, a miss to the american bar association which seems to be up to its old to tricks.ualified rating to steve grants, donald trump's nominee for the eighth circuit court of appeals. the aba says it's worried whether he would be able to detach himself from his deeply-held social beliefs on issues like abortion. it twisted a law review article from 1999 that suggests he doesn't believe a lower court should follow a president. the best act of revenge is to confirm this man, which i is going to happen. >> a hit to american workers who did a fantastic job in the third quarter creating more goods and services, productivity finally rising again, up 3%. let's hope this is the beginning of a trend. paul: that's after a long,ing long trough of really mediocre productivity results, and good jobs report on friday as well. >> that's right. paul: kate? >> this is a hit for epa's scott pruitt who this week said that scientists who get grants from epa can't sit on advisory boards that advise the agency on scientific decisions. this is being treated as a war on independent science, but

he never tried the case and rated not qualified by the american bar association judicial rating committee and has in the past pledged support for the nra. how is he an appropriate candidate for a high level positi position? >> it is control largely by the office of the attorney general. they work with the senators of the state and the district courts, that's where they percolate up. the senators from the home state have the blue slip if they object to an appointee and obviously, there were no blue slips here because it went right on through. both administrations always suffer from charges of judges not being qualified. the fact that the man did not try the case is not good, he's going to have a lot of on the job training. and he's going to be a good trial judge. for it is amazing that -- as i was saying, of course, i could not believe the words that were coming out of my mouth. a lifetime appointment -- i know. >> only practiced law for three years, judicial rating committee and in the past pledged support to the nra, that -- okay, juliet, jeff sessions will testify next week. he will fac

administration and for federal judges, including four judicial nominees dubbed unqualified by the american barssociation, which is extremely rare, two were voted unqualified, that hasn't happened since 1976. that was with drawn. >> that second person there, he practiced law for you want to take a guess? three years. he's practiced for three years, brett tally has also never tried a case. but at 36-years-old, he is now up for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. his rapidly partisan beliefs have been on full display less than two weeks at the sandy hook massacre. he invited readers to join in and suggested hillary clinton should be jailed. so that is who is nominated t.. the senate judiciary never tried a case. three years out of law school. every single democrat voted not to confirm him to a lifetime position on the federal bench. can you guess how each of these republicans voted? that's thing two in 60 seconds. when i was a navy seal, i trained as hard as i could to stay alive. i have more than 30 pieces of shrapnel still in my leg. but i still push myself to the limit. if it weren't

since 1989 the american bar association has only rated two judicial nominations as unqualified. nominated four trump nominations as unqualified so double the amount in just under a year compared to the last 30 years in terms of what trump is doing. and i think this really starts, joy, with a stolen supreme court seat. we can't overlook the fact that neil gorsuch is now on the court instead of merit garland because of what mitch mcconnell and donald trump did and then it gets worse in terms of all of the people they're appointing in the lower courts. with all of the dysfunction in washington we're mittsing the fact that trump is appointing these people for a lifetime, that we have people that are 30, 40 years old who are totally unqualified who are now going to be on the bench for a lifetime. no republicans seem to be speaking out against it. >> they're voting all in lock step to confirm them no matter how unqualified they may be. let's talk about talley. he's a blogger in addition to a ghostbu ghostbuster. on the sandy hook shooting the only law i can imagine is everyone of the

administration and for federal judges, including four judicial nominees dubbed unqualified by the american barssociation, which is extremely rare, two were voted unqualified, that hasn't happened since 1976. that nominee was withdrawn. that was with drawn. >> that second person there, he practiced law for you want to take a guess? three years. he's practiced law for three years. brett tally has also never tried a case. but at 36-years-old, he is now up for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. his rabidly partisan beliefs have been on full display less than two weeks at the sandy hook massacre, he invited readers to join in and suggested hillary clinton should be jailed. so that is who is nominated t.. the senate judiciary never tried a case. three years out of law school. every single democrat voted not to confirm him to a lifetime position on the federal bench. can you guess how each of these republicans voted? that's thing two in 60 seconds. all those laxatives, daily probiotics, endless fiber-- it could be wearing on you. tell your doctor what you've tried, and how long you've been

one of four of the nominees voted not qualified by american bar association. one of two deemed unanimously not qualified. but there's more. failed to disclose his wife is chief of staff to white house counsel and has emerged as witness into special counsel's investigation as to whether the white house obstructed justice. tally rather astutely noted his wife's importance in his appearance that day. >> don't have opening statement but take a moment to introduce a few people here today. start with my wife, ann a donaldson tally, not only love of my life but best lawyer in the family. if not for the sacrifices she made professionally and personally, no way i could be here. >> senator blumenthal sitting on the committee that passed tally this week, were you surprised there was not one dissenting vote from republicans for the nominee? >> i am surprised. astonished and appalled no one voted against him. ruled unqualified by aba, never tried a single case and made pretty outrageous comments that should disqualify him from serving on the federal bench. >> is this the m

. >> not qualified the american bar association issues that unusual rating for one of president trump's, what in the world? >> wait until you see his resume. >> we're back in just a moment. (♪) (♪) it all starts with a wish. the lincoln wish list event is here. sign and drive off in a new lincoln with zero down and a complementary first months payment. the market.redict but through good times and bad... ...at t. rowe price... ...we've helped our investors stay confident for over 75 years. call us or your advisor. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. >> what in the world, willie? >> stop talking. >> coming up, we'll talk to the atlantic's julia ioffe who broke the story about don jr. plus, we'll preview the hearing that senator bob corker is leading today, that's taking a look at the president's nuclear powers. "morning joe" is coming right back. whoooo. looking for a hotel that fits... ...your budget? tripadvisor now searches over... ...200 sites to find you the... ...hotel you want at the lowest price. grazi, gino! find a price that fits. tripadvisor. it's a lot easier to make decisi

member of the supreme court of the united states and a fellow at the american bar association and has broken on race and constitution to both national and international audiences. she is the article of many articles on several books including "race, law, and 16th century america to the present." her forthcoming book is entitled "salem witch trials and the law." gloria browne-marshall has been the recipient of several awards including an award for her work with civil rights in women's issues and the wiley college of women in excellence award. an award-winning playwright of seven plays, her most recent play examines marriage choices. she is a member of the dramatists guild, mystery writers of america, national association of black journalists, 10 american center in the national press club. i ask you to please welcome our guests. [applause] professor browne-marshall: thank you professor mcardle for that introduction. i was thinking about the topic of the 15th amendment and because of by work, not just on my book "the voting rights were," but because my research on black women and log, i

including four judicial nominees who have been dubbed unqualified by the american bar association, which. two of those nominees were unanimously voted not qualified, and that nominee was withdrawn. brett tally, that second person there, he has practiced law for, you want to take a guess? three years. he's practiced law for three years. brett tally has also never tried a case. but at 36 years old, he's now up for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. his rabidly partisan beliefs have been on display. last year, he tweeted about hillary rotten clinton and suggested she should be jailed. so, that's who is nominated. the senate judiciary committee just held a vote on this man, brett tally, never tried a case, every democrat voted not to confirm him in his three years of practicing law. can you guess how each of these republicans voted? that's thing 2 in 60 seconds. st anything. even a swing set standoff. and we covered it, july first, twenty-fifteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ i've always h

addition to never having tried a case and over three years receiving a not qualified rating from the american bar association. writing a highly partisan blog. 36-year-old brett tally was also a member of the tuscaloosa research group from 2009 to 2011. the group searches for the truth, quote of the paranormal existence. tally has written books on the subject and whether charles goodwin received not qualified ratings. >> it comes in the diversity or lack thereof in trump nominations perhaps personified in this photo, attorney general jeff sessions welcoming in the newest batch of attorneys which are essentially all white men. of trump's nominations four judicial sent to the senate, 387 are men. roughly 81%. according to analysis by the daily beast. diving deeping, just 21% of trump's nominees for high-ranking cabinet positions are women. 19% are female. that's just 6%, three, out of 53 of trumble nominations for u.s. attorney are women. the rest all men. there have been no female nominations to the departments of agriculture. editor of "access" dave lawley. some backing away from roy moore. many c

. >> paul, a miss to the american bar association which seems to be up to its old to tricks.s, donald trump's nominee for the eighth circuit court of appeals. the aba says it's worried whether he would be able to detach himself from his deeply-held social beliefs on issues like abortion. it twisted a law review article from 1999 that suggests he doesn't believe a lower court should follow a president. the best act of revenge is to confirm this man, which i is going to happen. >> a hit to american workers who did a fantastic job in the third quarter creating more goods and services, productivity finally rising again, up 3%. let's hope this is the beginning of a trend. paul: that's after a long,ing long trough of really mediocre productivity results, and good jobs report on friday as well. >> that's right. paul: kate? >> this is a hit for epa's scott pruitt who this week said that scientists who get grants from epa can't sit on advisory boards that advise the agency on scientific decisions. this is being treated as a war on independent science, but for years the agency has been

browne-marshall is a member of the bar of the supreme court of the united states and a fellow of the american bar foundation and has spoken on issues of race and the constitution to both national and international audiences. she is the author of many articles and several books including "race, law and american society 1607 to the present." and her forthcoming book from which today's talk draws is titled "black women and the law: salem witch trials to civil rights activists. gloria browne-marshall has been the recipient of several honors including the iwbl's barnett justice award for her work with civil rights and women's justice issues. and the wily college women of excellent in law award. an award-winning playwright of seven produced plays, her most recent play, "diversity," examines marriage choices. she is a member of the dramatist guild, mystery writers of america, penn american center, and the national press club. i ask you to please welcome our guest. [ applause ] >> thank you so much. it's such an honor to be here. thank you, president mccartel. thank you for that introduction. i was think

the american bar association has always given a rating of judicial nominees.o it got our attention when they gave a trump nominee the rare rating of not qualified. the nominee in this case is brett talley. he is 36 years old. he's been practicing law for give or take three years. and importantly, he has never tried a case in court. he also did not initially disclose the fact that his wife is the chief of staff for white house counsel don mcgahn. so that would kind of keep it all in the family. as luck would have it, talley is nominated for a vacancy on the district court bench in alabama. so far in this presidency trump's nominees for the federal bench have been 91% white and 81% male. and talley of course checks both of those boxes. so far four trump nominees have earned the rare mark of not qualified by the bar association, and talley is one of them. and in the senate, where republicans as we've been saying tonight are in the majority, he could be confirmed to the federal bench as early as this week. it is never boring around here. and as we start off a new

another one of president trump's judicial nominees gets a anonymous rating of "not qualified" by the american bar association, a designation not one of president obama's nominees ever received. brett tally this time nominated for alabama district court seat is the fourth trump judicial nominee to receive the rare "not qualified" rating and the second to get a unanimous "not qualified" rating. the first trump judicial nominee to get that thumbs-down from the aba, leonard steven grass, testified at his confirmation hearing just last week. >> you are the first circuit court nominee since 2006 to receive a unanimous "not qualified" rating from the aba and the last nominee who had such a rating was withdrawn. >> that is my understanding, senator. >> it was a 14-0 vote, was it not? of the committee of the bar? >> senator, i'm not keenly aware of that. i believe there was one abstention. >> that's why it's 14, but there are 15 of them. >> i believe that's correct. >> yeah. >> ouch. that's nothing compared to the president's nominee for a top environmental post whose lack of qualifications were on full d

fill the vacancies led to less than ideal nominees, including a handful rated unqualified by the american barn. how did we get here? well, it is a combination of factors. first, being the number of open judges seats open. trump inherited 103 vacant positions to fill. this is due in large part to senate republicans dragging their feet on president obama's judicial appointments. there is also the issue of the judicial filibuster. in response to the conservative opposition to obama's i poi appointments, democrats eliminated the filibuster for judges in 2013. this allows the republican-controlled senate to fill the open judge jobs with little opposition. finally, there is something called the blue slip rule. a century old tradition that allows senators to object to problematic judiciary nominees from their home state. senator grass lley argued that democrats were abusing the rule and is refusing to follow it now. this clears the final hurdle for trump's nominees. it doesn't end there. a new plan written by cal br calabreese, seeks to have trump fill more vacancy, seeking to establish 447 new fede

four of them have been found unqualified by the non-partisan american bar association.esident george w. bush, who eschewed the aba ratings, in eight years of nominating judges, they found four of them to be unqualified. in nine months, four of them have been deemed unqualified. you just mentioned brett talley, someone who has never tried a case, never even argued a motion in court, has been nominated to sit on a trial court in the middle district of alabama. yes, he may have blogged about paranormal activity, but he also wrote a blog post, praising what he called the first kkk, before the kkk wept bad, and writing to nathan bedward forest. these are the things we should be focusing on about this individual. another one of the nominees, steven grass, was found by the a barkus to be ungratuitously rude and lacked the temperament, therefore, to sit on the bench. and other nominees have been found to also be inexperienced. it's not just that these nominees are right-wing nominees. it's that some of them are far right. you mentioned john bush, the person who on his blog had

so it is so fraught with peril the american bar association has conflict of interest rules about it. it is rule 1.8 f encouraging lawyers not to take money from someone other than their client. imagine your legal defense contingent upon funds running out or someone dictating what they will pay for and how long they will pay for it. a lot of issues. i've seen it in the fbi with mafia families paying for someone's defense and then drug king pens paying for a witness defense and then fortune 500 companies playing for an employee counsel because they have a self interest in doing it. very sticky situation that the ethics lawyers have to weigh in on. >> jamil. >> as frank points out, it is common for corporations to provide for employees and for the employees defense to have corporate lawyers so that is not unusual. i think what you are seeing here is they are working with the office of government ethics and so oge will have to sign off on anything done here because what we're focusing on here is white house employees. and so i think it is not unusual for government employees to have thei