there is more to disclose about clarence thomas. ons for their disclosures. so they have to make those disclosures next week. there is a 30-day window in which they become public. so we'll find out a lot more from them about their own disclosures. and people will be picking out what they've disclosed and what the press has found out to make sure that they are telling the truth. we may find out new things from their own disclosures as they fear that those things will become exposed in later investigative efforts. and then we are only just beginning to understand how very improper our justice alito's interview in the wall street journal was. that was deeply improper. and that's gonna come out more. so supreme court justices and judges on the judicial conference need to understand that this is not going away. it's going to continue to get worse because the heavier is inexcusable. >> we keep coming up against no guardrails here. and so just to go back to your point, where there is theoretically a deadline, that they have to meet for disc

clarence thomas and mr.act be a gift, which could carry a significant tax burden that supreme court justice clarence thomas could be willfully and criminally evading. joining us now is a democratic senator sheldon whitehouse. he's a member of the senate judiciary committee and chair of the subcommittee on federal court. he's also the host of the podcast, making the case. senator whitehouse, i am searching your face for surprise tonight, that clarence thomas got some help paying for the motor home. >> yeah, i never thought of a pattern with justice alito and justice thomas getting things unreported from wealthy friends. as you said, it does look like this individual was an actual friend, unlike some of the right-wing billionaires. but we are throwing right away into the problem of this was never reported. and when you ask questions to find out whether or not it should have been reported, was the lone forgiven, or was it paid off? really basic questions like that, you cannot get a straight answer from anybody.

that we got today in addition to the reports that i wanted to add in this first part is what clarence thomasing. he said that the attacks on justice thomas are nothing less than ridiculous and dangerous, and they set a terrible precedent for political blood sport through federal ethics filings. his lawyer said that clarence thomas has always tried to be up front about what he had to file, and it is just that he now knows more about what he should file, and in actuality, boris, there have been some confusion in the rules about personal hospitality of the kind that harlan crow had given clarence thomas, but many ethics experts say that private jet travel, yacht travel which clarence thomas has also enjoyed with harlan crow, that it should have always been reported, boris. >> and there was some disagreement over that, and it is not just clarence thomas under scrutiny, but judge alito is under focus as well? >> he was, too, and he had also gotten an extension and submitted his filing today. and some of the controversy over sam alito before again arising from the news reports from pro republica i

clarence thomas is acknowledge ing that and is going backwards to 2014 and saying that, yes, he had acial relationship with a property deal with harlan crow for property that had been owned by thomas' family, that he want theed to put on record he hadn't before. >> so this this disclosure is against the back drop of a statement that the justice put out on april 7th. he said early in my tenure, i sought guidance from my colleagues and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable. now he's doing something different. >> there's bye-een a rule chang. kind of trips on a private jet or personal yacht should have already been recorded. but i want to just mention what thomas' lawyer said today in a statement that came with the filing. any errors had been inadvertent, and to reflect the atmosphere we're dealing in, he called it political blood sport to go after thomas relative to his financial disclosure filings. we know what this charged atmosphere is. despite the reality other justices had been reporting

trump's appeal went directly to clarence thomas because clarence thomas is the justice with jurisdictionthe 11th circuit court of appeals, which issued the rules trump is appealing. and thomas did not immediately recuse himself, which is obviously insane his wife ginni thomas tried to help trump overthrow a presidential election. you can't pretend like that just didn't happen. that would be like using the bathroom right after rudy giuliani and not saying anything about it. [ light laughter ] i said we wouldn't bring it up again, and we brought it up again. i'm very sorry seriously, clarence thomas shouldn't even be on the bench, let alone ruling on cases directly involving the guy his wife teamed up with to orchestrate an attempted coup. for one thing, i seriously doubt they never talked about it can you imagine any married person saying with a straight face "oh no, i've never heard of my spouse's insane opinions. [ light laughter ] thomas involving himself in this ruling is even more ludicrous given that his wife ginni just testified to the january 6th committee last week. during that t

. >> tonight, donald trump, clarence thomas, and new reporting on the billionaire friends keeping clarence happy. >> i'd like to keep that friendship. [laughter] >> then, why the republicans need to root for jack smith's speedy trial. plus, on a rainy day for fake electors in michigan, why aren't we seeing this all over the country? >> count three alleges that you did falsely make, alter, for, it's recovered a public record with the intent to defraud. do you understand the charges and maximum penalties? >> yes. >> and senator mazie hirono on the devastation of the fires in hawaii, when all in starts, right now. good evening from new york. i'm chris hayes. we have a proposed date for donald trump's trial on charges he tried to steal the 2020 election. in a court filing today, special counsel jack smith asked for a start date of january 2nd, 2024. he said this would vindicate the public's interest in a speedy trial, that will ultimately be decided by the judge presiding in that case, judge tanya chutkan. but even assuming she chooses a somewhat later start, there may be some delays along the

fifth we learned subsequently that clarence thomas failed to disclose that nine years ago le pen mr. in and still lives into this day. then we found out that thomas failed to disclose that mr. crow paid the boarding school tuition costs for justice le pen thomas's grandnephew, running a tablet may have exceeded $150,000. and today we learned of the dozens of destination vacations and private jets and otherwise high roller experiences that clarence thomas has received from other billionaires who have kept clarence thomas in a state of luxury. we've learned all this thanks to dogged reporting from le pen that nemours propublica. joining me is jesse eisinger, senior editor of propublica, who has overseen all the supreme court coverage. congratulations on important boarding the must of been time consuming and difficult. it's invaluable. it is a public service. but secondly, i was struck by the scale of this. as a lay person that has not overseen all this coverage, is there any parallel in history to a justice taking this much from a group of wealthy individuals? >> yeah, that's a great qu

first let's tell people what clarence thomas' lawyer said here. es that were not reported before was inadvertent and put out a statement that said that the attacks on justice thomas are nothing less than ridiculous and dangerous and set a terrible precedent for blood sport, political blood sport, through federal ethics filings. now so they're saying that this is all part of the controversy, but to your question of is what clarence thomas doing different? yes, he has a very tight relationship wait single person, harlan crow, although as p propublica demonstrated last april, he's gotten lots of great trips and gifts from other big gop donors. the other justices have not done it to the extent that clarence thomas has done it, and other justices, for the most part, have disclosed it. what's different here is that clarence thomas is saying, he's disclosing it himself, he didn't believe he had any kind of rules or regulations hanging over him to disclose before. there is a difference, although he's saying it was inadvertent. >> with the blood sport comme

this piece focused a lot on clarence thomas. level of detail as to other justices on the court? >> yes, we are gonna keep floating the evidence as it comes in. we can only do so much, as journalists, you know, if it's true and we can prove it, we are gonna report on that. we are reporting on all the justices and following all the credible tips as they come in, charles. >> mark, last word to you, very quickly. is the confidence from the public in our democratic institutions, like the supreme court, in jeopardy? do you think that is something we should be worrying about when these types of stories come out? >> absolutely. we have to remember that the supreme court doesn't have an army to enforce its decisions. it really relies on the public believing that what it says becomes the law. and when the public stops believing that, the court is actually risk of losing its power. but i would also add, you know, this latest story shows a very troubling trend. you see this group of billionaires essentially constructing a cult around claren

where do you think crow's been spending his money this summer talking to clarence thomas about it? the other big issue here is one of thomas' things, i think you mentioned, is that he needed to do this for private security. the security in the upcoming budget has requested $783 million in extra security funds because people have noticed how ridiculous they are, right? so if thomas is saying he needs to take private planes to have increased security, my question so thomas is, can we have that money back then? because securely -- surely $783 million, we can use that money to provide, i don't know, student debt relief to people who don't have rich republican donors buying their mother's house and paying tuition for their secret sons, right? the republicans believe in privatization, right? if harlan crow is willing to do this for clarence thomas surely he'd be willing to extend security to all america's fine supreme court justices and not just his pets, right? so at some point, the public who's investing money in keeping these people in the manner which they're accustomed to, need to de

john eastman among those vouching for clarence thomas, 112 people have identified as his formal law clerksm, i don't know if she signed it, but you've got that, you get the fact that thomas's wife is an insurrectionist. you've got the fact that alito is writing angry screed's in the wall street journal and giving angry interviews. is there a history before these particular justices of this kind of flagrant, blatant behavior that also seems to be spitting in the face of the people that they get to regulate? >> so i think that there have been problems before, notably justice -- had to step down in the middle of a scandal. there have been other sorts of issues. the problem with this one is that it is systemic. the court lacks ethics rules, lacks former disclosure rules, like every other federal employee, like what i had to disclose when i was a united states attorney. but also when i was a prosecutor. that's what we need. we need a systemic response to a systemic problem problem. >> joyce vance, thank you for sticking around. we appreciate you. we'll be right back. right back. you know you ar

so did clarence thomas break the law? >> according to the ethics experts, yes, there are violations of financial disclosure laws. he was supposed to report things like private plane trips, expensive sports tickets because these were not exempt from disclosure. >> and so tom made the point and you reported that these billionaires came into his life since 1991. we all make friends over 30 years. few of us make billionaire friends. what do they want from one another if they had no business before the court? >> it is an interesting question and one we were trying to get at. what we learned time and again was that they all had really similar ideologies, they are conservative funders, donated a lot to gopdates and causes over thers. but he said, thomas said once that these are just my good friends. wayne doesn't want anything for fr me. i can't give him anything in return. that has been the through line with all these benefactors. >> and you guys and your team have done phenomenal reporting. this is a series hes of reports that

supreme court justice clarence thomas has made public his first annual financial disclosure report sinceflurry of ethics attacks. democrats have criticized justice thomas after a report earlier this year revealed he had received gifts from republican mega donor harlan crow without reporting them. his defenders have argued he has followed the court's reporting guidelines. a fox news legal editor and former counselor to attorney general bill barr, with us in the next hour. so a couple things on clarence thomas's disclosure, that crow paid for his transportation on a private jet to a conservative conference in dallas in may of 2022, and some involvement in a trip to the adirondacks in new york state in july od a real estate deal, what do you think of this? >> breaking news. clarence thomas has some wealthy friends who have been generous over the years, and i think this narrative has been just so relentless against clarence thomas. there's really only one fact that matters if you cut through the noise that harlan crow and the friends in question had no business before the supreme court, full

because they don't like the things clarence thomas rules on.ying on behalf of supreme court justice clarence thomas? >> that indeed is what the lawyer seems to be saying. and that's consistent with what clarence thomas defenders have been saying for months as these reports by propublica and other outlets have been out there. they've been trying to say that this is just a smear campaign waged by left wing interest groups, that there is no there there, that these were perfectly valid transactions that didn't need to be reported. and that's belied by the updated filing that clarence thomas made today. the filing itself cops to a number of past fail injuries. it admits in the filing today that the real estate transaction where harlan crow purchased justice thomas's mother's home was a reportable event that should have been included in his 2014 disclosure. and they admitted there were other things to disclose, things like bank accounts and life insurance policies that belonged in previous reports and they have only corrected the record for the first

brand new propublica reporting on luxury items lavished on justice clarence thomas. you're not going to believe the views. >>> plus, republicans plow full steam ahead on the biden crime family boondoggle. there is a why in here somewhere, and we are going to get to it with claire mccaskill. that's coming up. caskill. that's coming up [bell dings] are you good? no, i think i'm late on my car insurance. good thing the general gives you a break when you need it. yeah, with flexible payment options to keep you covered. just tag us in. ouaaaahhhh! [bell dings] for a great low rate, go with the general. bridgett is here. ouaaaahhhh! [bell dings] she has no clue that i'm here. she has no clue who's in the helmet. are you ready? -i'm ready! alright. xfinity rewards creates experiences big and small, and once-in-a-lifetime. >>> i heard you yesterday refer to them as a crime family and and this was organized crime. so make it easy for us. what was the crime? >> well, the crime is that creating policy for money. >> which policy? >> well, we're going to get into that. >> for mon

it's that very, very wealthy people wanted clarence thomas to be a cult figure. e piece of mark stern and i wrote this week suggested it also contributed to the feeling the justices alito and thomas have alleged, that they're bulletproof. they're so perfect, so god like that they don't need to be regulated at all. >> and that gets to a great segue to my next question. yesterday, congresswoman alexandria ocasio-cortez, raskin, johnson, they wrote to the doj requesting that the attorney general opened an investigation into clarence thomas and his potential violation of the ethics of government act of 1978. but dahlia, wouldn't this run afoul of separation of powers? >> while this is precisely the problem we've been litigating all year with the supreme court. that even chief justice john robert had batted away any conversation about regulating the justices unethical conduct by saying, hey, separation of power. congress can't touch us. you may recall, a few short weeks ago, the wall street journal featured a kind of coffee out your nose funny interview quote with just

new report from propublica reveals new details in a lavish lifestyle of supreme court justice clarence thomass in more extensive than previously known. most of it was never disclosed by justice thomas. details from tom foreman. >> the most complete accounting yet of the high life of supreme court justice clarence thomas showing much, much more than previously known. more private jets, more fancy vacations, more sporting events. all gifts from mega rich businessmen and documented through public and private records, plus interviews by propublica. >> justice thomas has been living a life of extreme luxury for 30 years under at least four different wealthy benefactors. >> earlier reports have unveiled lavish gifts for thomas, including gift for his mother, in this nine-day in indonesia vacation, from harlan crow. >> i come from regular stock. >> he also wrote a film about thomas's humble taste. >> i prefer the rv parks. >> the list of benefactor now includes three more names according to propublica. david sokol, wade is inga, and tony de valle. the four moguls collectively treated thomas to 38 de

clarence thomas is controlling so much of our lives.e american public. >> hugely important point there. thanks to you both. appreciate it. >>> up next, a first right here on cnn. a live interview with president biden's campaign manager. she's going to be here after a short break. stay with us. even from the first call. [graduate] my advisors consistently reached o out and guided me along g the way. - it was like i was talking to a friend, like someone that i had known for years. - the instructors were very helpful with everything that i was going through. [announcer] we'll be with you from day one to graduation to your dream job. ♪ it all starts the moment you find your program. [announcer] go to snhu.edu to get started. your record label is taking off. but so is your sound engineer. you need to hire. i need ieed. indeed you d indeed instant match instantly devers quality candidates matching your job description. vit indeed.com/hire >>> now a cnn exclusive interview with a woman in charge of president biden's reelection campaign. she is

now look at the contrast, it gets worse and worse for clarence thomas. tween thomas and now three billionaires and finding over the years they helped him with an outrageous grift. 37 destinations, 26 private jet flights. 8 helicopter rides, 12 vip passes the sporting events. time in luxury reports and an open standing invite to an exclusive private golf club in florida. as i told you before, if you know nothing else, know this -- clarence thomas is getting far more in value, many millions more in value from these donors, these billionaires, than from his actual government salary he took an oath for, which raises the question, who does he work for? not all have been given the disclosure one would want. he may have violated the law by failing to disclose the flights, sports tickets. ethical norms. although the question for roberts is whether thinks supreme court has norms anymore. will clarence thomas make this support and this justice go down in history as one of the most obviously shamed pathetic grifting scandals ever? because apparently chief justice ro

the former law clerks of clarence thomas car a very loyal alumni group to each other and to clarence thomas. and they include some of the most incompetent people who have ever served as supreme court clerks. two of them appeared on fox tonight, on the show hosted by one of them, to discuss the criminal indictment of the other. john eastman decided the safest place to make his television defense was on laura ingraham's show, where he knew he could get away with telling any lie that crossed his mind. >> some people had urged that vice president pence simply had power to reject electors. >> some people? who? there was no way that the fox audience was going to find out that the person who urged that was john eastman himself. it's special prosecutor jack smith's indictment of donald trump, john eastman appears as coconspirator to, keep age 32 of that indictment says that on december 3rd john eastman, quote, circulated a two-page memorandum outlining a plan for the vice president to unlawfully declare the defendant, donald trump, the certified winner of the presidential election. >> i expli

the most important once, i think that are the items that clarence thomas has listed. two trips taken on the dime of harlan crow for speeches in dallas, texas, and then another trip taken to his resort in the adirondacks, which is an adult playground with the lavish amenities that clarence thomas has used for summers over the last couple of decades, and as had been earlier reported for prorepublica, but as we are seeing for first time, those trips are documented by justice thomas himself. those were both in 2022, and the reporting period that was covered by the new report, but he also came back in 2014, he is acknowledging a financial deal for real estate, a deal that harlan crow had made with his family for three properties in savannah, georgia. in all of the situations, i wanted to stress, boris, the context here. there is so much more scrutiny and the justices, and justifiable scrutiny on the justices, and perhaps wealthy ben factors influencing in cases that are under the law of the land that we live under, and also that they have no for mall bac backdrop. also tod

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crow of course is the guy who paid a private boarding school tuition for clarence thomas's grand nephewwhere thomas's mother lives rent free. he is a guy that has taken thomas on all sorts of incredibly luxurious trips. and his library was used for the occasion to swear in this guy, somebody might not know. his name is james ho. and he is being sworn into the federal judiciary. by justice clarence thomas in 2018. after being nominated by donald trump. whoa is a right-wing lawyer, of the federal society, i made man if you will. we got a lifetime judicial appointment to the court of appeals of the fifth circuit. he is in the news now, because of we'll just ask skripal opinion hero about the abortion pill method person. it started yesterday. that is when that fifth circuit court of appeals, which is probably the most right wing appellate court in the country, upheld parts of an opinion by another right-wing judge in texas. remember the guy in amarillo who tried to single-handedly take the abortion pill off the shelves nationwide everywhere. through judicial feel how this case has been work

and the supreme court justice, clarence thomas, finally disclosing fancy trips and jet rides paid for by a republican mega donor. >>> welcome to the lead, we start with our law and justice lead, and a not guilty plea from donald trump in the sprawling election cases in georgia, the former president forced paces more than dozen charges including racketeering, for his alleged efforts to steal george's electoral votes. despite joe biden winning the state, over and over. it's unclear when trump will go on trial in this case. the district attorney has asked a judge to schedule a trial for all 19 defendants including donald trump for october 23rd of this year. today trump formally asked to separate his case from the codefendants who are asking for a speedy trial and other codefendants are trying to get their cases moved to federal court. we will get all of that in a moment but first one of the longest sentences yet for a january 6th rioter. it was handed down, joe biggs a leader of the so-called, proud boys, was sentenced to 17 years in prison. biggs plotted with other members of the far ri

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but how does clarence thomas think the world actually works? we all have friends. do any of your friends pay for your private vacations? it is unheard of. and the reason is this undermines public confidence. we all ask i think logically why on earth are these guys spending millions, why is he accepting this, why isn't he reporting it. and when you see the polls that show that the american's confidence is at an all-time low in the supreme court, i don't think it is because of the judicial outcomes. people will always disagree on that. but i think it is because we're learning about all the money flowing through and the lack of transparency. >> i think that that type of -- supreme court existed where there wasn't really scrutiny applied to some of the justices and i think that matters for the public perception. we're increasingly seeing a public dealing with the reality that these supreme court justices are experiencing this influx of money, are so close to these kind of billionaires. and i think that appearance of impropriety has released that in. and so the lack of

coming up, democratic lawmakers renewing calls supreme court justice clarence thomas to resign after publica published yet another bombshell investigation, this one showing not just harlan crow, but a group of conservative billionaires have showered thomas with millions of dollars worth of vacations and jet flights and passes to sporting events. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break] amy: "guilty" by barbara streisand and barry gibb. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. five key house democrats are calling on the justice department to investigate justice thomas under the ethics in government act for accepting -- after new reporting reveals he has accepted even more gifts from wealthy benefactors without following disclosure laws. federal judges are required to disclose gifts worth more than $1000, including travel. new york congressmember alexandria ocasio-cortez wrote the letter, cosigned by judiciary committee ranking member jerry nadler, oversight committee ranking member jamie raskin, and democratic caucus vice chair ted lieu. it reads -- "j

>>> a new report claims supreme court justice clarence thomas did not disclose even more trips and gifts from wealthy ben factors. the list include us 38 vacations, 26 private jet flights and a dozen vipd.i. passes to sporting events. >>> and virgin galactic takes off. >>> good evening, everyone, thank you so much for joining us on this thursday, i'm linsey davis, in for david. we begin with the staggering losses on maui, as wildfires race across the island, with a speed and ferocity that took everyone by surprise. hundreds of homes and businesses destroyed. the death toll jumping overnight, and there are fears it could go even higher. nothing but a chimney left of this home. and new video from the first hours of the emergency, you can see buildings and shrubs catching fire, sparking flames. maui's famous front street reduced to embers and smoke. questions about if the island's beloved banyan tree survive. the satellite image from june, and this is what it looks like today. and at the already crowded airport, more buses arrive with tourists desperate to go home. tonight, we have team cov

. >>> supreme court justice clarence thomas disclosing trips paid for by his billionaire friend. five private flights last year. what his new filing also reveals. terry moran at the supreme court. >>> horrific images overseas. dozens of men, women, and children killed in a raging inferno. a massive fire tearing through a building. >>> 24 hours after that alarming scene involving senator mitch mcconnell, again freezing in front of the cameras, what the capitol physician is saying tonight. >>> here at home, the deadly helicopter crash outside new york city. the chopper going down in a lake. >>> and america strong. tonight, the nebraska volleyball team smashing the world record for women's sports. the largest crowd ever cheering them on. >>> good evening, and it's great to have you with us on a thursday night, i'm mary bruce, in for david. and we begin with the deadly trail of destruction and the lingering disruptions after hurricane idalia plowed into florida and barrelled across several states. at this hour, the storm is now out to sea, but it's affects are being felt up the atlan

in fact, it's not even clear technically if clarence thomas did anything wrong.o some defenders are calling this a smear job. nonetheless, earlier revelations spurred a great public outcry for more strict and clear rules about what supreme court justices can accept. and with this new report, that drumbeat will likely get louder. tom foreman, cnn, washington. >>> all right. still ahead this hour, from prison to house arrest, there is new hope that americans detained for years in iran could be heading back to the u.s. stay with us. >>> there is new hope today that five americans detained in iran could be heading home to the u.s. in a matter of weeks. all five have been released from an iranian prison and are under house arrest. we know the identities of three of the men declared by the state department to be wrongfully detained. the deal calls for the u.s. to release $6 billion of iranian funds frozen in south korea, but that money can only be used for nonsanctionable trade including food and medicine. antony blinken met with his counterpart in washington saying th

supreme court justice clarence thomas is under scrutiny again.port by propublica he accepted more vacations and undeclared gifts from billionaire benefactors than previously reported, including flights on private planes, vip passes to sporting events and stays at luxury resorts. former california supreme court judge kordell joining me from palo alto. let me get your reaction to the news about clarence thomas and more undeclared gifts. >> judging is a calling. judges are held to the highest standard of integrity and honesty. as far back as the old testament there was an admonition given to judges, thou shalt not take a gift to pervert the words of the righteous. what has happened today with the supreme court is that becoming a justice is like winning the lottery. the supreme court has become monetized. what has happened here is that one example is that of clarence thomas. so the concern, of course, is that there are federal regulations for all federal employees and supreme court justices are federal employees. there are regulations and laws that s

. >>> and a new report is shedding some more and new light on supreme court justice clarence thomas. we have details on who has been bankrolling many of his vacations. we'll be back. ♪ ♪ ♪ life after student debt is within reach. refi at sofi.com you could save thousands and get to your goals faster. sofi. get your money right. that's why the new titan turkey is proferred by this football pro. and proferred by this football pro who actually uses her feet. and if wprofer it, we know you'll prefer it too. i use my feet. have you seen me scramble? - i'm lynette. this is my husband, arthur. - yeah, you wouldn't believe we're in our 70's, huh? (lynette and arthur laugh) - i have recommended consumer cellular to so many people. - she was the one to convince me to come over to her side. (arthur laughs) - that's right! - [announcer] come over to consumer cellular and start saving. get unlimited talk and text with a flexible data plan, starting at just $20 a month. - the coverage has been excellent. - you know, it gives us exactly what we want. - you should go with consumer cellular! - [annou

then clarence thomas also disclosed something that had happened in 2014 involving harlan crow, when harlanfamily, and that he said it was inadvertent he hadn't put than that on his prior filings. the justices have no transparency and the reports are pretty skimpy. his lawyer responded and he said any mistakes justice thomas made are inadadvertentitant and the attacks are nothing but ridiculous and dangerous and set a terrible precedent for political blood sport through federal ethics filings. >> joan, we only have a couple moments left, but what impact do you have on these calls for greater transparency? >> well, i think it's getting the attention of the justices themselves. you know, alex, the senate democrats had been pushing legislation and the senate committee had adopted the bill. but given how tightly divided the congress is, it's unlikely anything will develop actually with the legislation. it's in the hands of the supreme court justices, and if they want to enhance public confidence and get congress off their back they might -- >> and of course you remember samuel alito saying esse

. - the senate is scheduled to vote tomorrow on the supreme court nomination of clarence thomas, butned about an accusation of sexual harassment dating back ten years. - anita hill enters the room now. - democrats were gonna challenge clarence thomas on the basis of his conservative views. his race was not gonna be an issue, but i think the anita hill allegations brought race back into the picture. - the senate judiciary committee is meeting to hear evidence on sexual harassment charges that have been made against judge clarence thomas. - he spoke about acts that he had seen in pornographic films involving such matters as women having sex with animals. - this seemingly personal matter is being aired out in front of this jury of all white men, and it created a spectacle. - this is a circus, and from my standpoint as a black american, as far as i'm concerned, it is a high-tech lynching for uppity blacks. - clarence thomas decided to fight back by evoking one of the most painful elements of black history, which was designed to point out the burden of being black. - the final count was 5

there's a sentiment he has this connection to clarence thomas. there was some talk in the indictment as laid out in the indictment that at least at some point there was a belief among some of these conspirators they could get this case to the supreme court and they think that maybe, maybe they had maybe two people who would go along with it, one can assume it's clearance. and he actually is one of the people who has written a letter attesting to clarence thomas' integrity. i'm not sure he's a great character witness. he doesn't seem to be helping anyone other than the prosecutors at this point. what do you make of eastman's la gubes youness? >> you know, the thing is eastman by all appearances he's a true believer. he actually seems to believe all of this crap. and i don't think that he actually understands the fact that he keeps on digging a bigger and bigger hole for himself at this point you know, he wanted to plead the fifth when he had that deposition, but every time he speaks in public he's basically inculpating himself. so he pleaded the f

and a half. >>> back here in the u.s., new reporting this morning about supreme court justice clarence thomasth deep pockets. propublica is uncovering even more gifts thomas has received, at least 38 destination vacations including a yacht trip around the bahamas, 26 private jet flights, eight private helicopter rides, a dozen vip passes to pro and college sporting events, two stays at luxury resorts in florida and jamaica, and a standing invitation to an exclusive resort on an atlantic coast golf club. this is almost certainly an undercount. the story goes on to note that while some of these stays may not have required disclosure, ethics experts told propublica that thomas may have violated the law by failing to disclose the flights, the yacht cruises and some of those sporting trips. nbc news reached out to justice thomas for comment this morning. we haven't heard back at this point. let's bring in justin elliott, a propublica reporter who contributed to this story. justin, these vacations all sound quite luxurious, but let's say you have rich friends who want to do something nice for you,

this justice department with all of the trump stuff on their hands saying they want to go into a clarence thomas senate judiciary committee, justice thomas and alito have made it clear they're oblivious to the embarrassment on the highest court of the land. now it's up to them to save their own reputations and the integrity of the court. justice elena kagan has said no, congress can regulate us. they confirm us and they fund us and they can. short of regulation, it seems to me that like you're not going to embarrass them into retiring. if they retire, they don't get the gifts anymore. the incentive is to dig in and keep doing it because you get to keep going on the trips. >> i think in that respect, you could be right. justice kagan is also certainly right that congress has the constitutional authority to pass laws that limit the -- restrict the ethical conduct of the justices. indeed, the very law that we're talking about that requires public financial disclosure was enacted in 1978 by the congress. so it's also public financial disclosures should not be new to justice thomas. he had to file th

i should also say all of these relationships started after clarence thomas became a supreme court justicethese are not long-standing relationships. so, you know, very unusual to be getting these kinds of gifts. one of the things we don't have a full answer to, what are being discussed on these yachts and private jets, a lot of the people haven't commented, justice thomas didn't comment for this story, so you know, we're still reporting. >> all right, and we're still following it because it has been some really impressive and incredible work. thanks very much for coming on and sharing it with us. >> thank you. >>> next, outrage in china as the government deliberately sends flood waters into some people's homes. >>> and five americans imprisoned in iran now possibly a huge step closer to coming home. ♪ should i be selling right now? ♪ let me take a look at the numbers for you. ♪ you tried. limiting when it was okay. no tech behind closed doors. but social media's algorithms of addiction always won out. it's not your fault. alone you can't stop it. together, we will. we have a plan. join us.

plus new reporting from propublica about clarence thomas and his wealthy network of friends who allegedly financed his luxurious gifts and travel. >>> and we begin this morning with a devastating wildfires in hawaii. at least 36 people have died as the flames rip through the island with crews in the skies and on the ground urgently battling three active fires. the flames have destroyed homes, wreaked havoc on businesses and forced thousands to evacuate. residents seeking safety are flocking to airports and shelters. >> my family is thinking of just leaving the island completely. we have nothing but the clothes on our backs right now. everything is gone. >> some had to jump into the ocean to escape dangerous flames, swallowed more 2,000 acres of land. want you to see satellite image that captures what the town of lahaina looked like, a historic town before and after the blazes. the left part of your screen shows the area back in june and on the right, what it looks like now. all the structures leveled to rubble. dana griffin joins us from maui. what is the very latest there? >> reporter: j

coming up, larry gerston is here to discuss that conflict of interest facing justice clarence thomasear, when we work to clear the shelters. this is barbie, a 5-month-old basset hound mix. didn't we have ten yesterday? and next weekend, we are hosting several pet adoption pop-up >>> welcome back. people in the south bay come together yesterday to support a strawberry vendor who had been harassed by security guards last month. video shows security guards confronting the vendor in the parking lot on story road. they threatened to arrest the man if he didn't leave. they kicked over his strawberries, and called the police. well, yesterday, dozens of people showed up. musicians, as well, to support the vendor and buyout all his strawberries. organizers tell us how disappointed, this is just the latest in a string of incidents where vendors are attacked. >> it's been unfortunately a lot of things have been happening around with the vendors. so we just wanted to let the world to know, spread awareness that we're here to help you guys out, show some love. that's what the world needs, support