dangers, the risk. that distribution happened to make sure that all the people who needed it, it was distributed. so we were happy to see that. and hopefully, we can do more. we would like to see 40 trucks per day get in. seven is a drop in the ocean. one of the bottlenecks is the authorized number of drivers is inadequate. 78 names. we have 14 drivers that are actually authorized to go in. so that in and of itself again, creates an impediment. >> there are a lot of dials to turn in terms of getting that. . >> thank you very much. >>ha thank you. >> that is all in" on this thursday night. alex wagner tonight starts right now. good evening, alex. >> we are sitting in a studio surrounded by protesters trying to bring attentiones to this ise to the three presidents headquartered in radio city

music hall. it's an opportune time to talk about it, thank you, my friend. and thanksu, to you at home for joining me this hour. on august 2, 2007, this was the top story on the evening news. >> tonight the tragedy in minnesota. the initial disaster and now the search for more victims and for clues to what happened. the children stranded on a school bus when the bridge gave way. you are looking live at the scene of the disaster here in the twin cities where the first word that something had gone wrong arrived here at the height of the rush hour, just after 6:00 last night. we now know it was a bridge collapse, a disaster that got the attention and quickly of the entire nation. >> the i-35 west bridge collapsed in minneapolis. the tragedy claimed 13 lives on wednesday, august 1st. and the very next day the president came out and said

this. >> a terrible situation there in minneapolis. we in the federal government must respond and respond robustly to help the people there not only recover but to make sure that lifeline of activity, that bridge gets rebuilt as quickly as possible. >> we in the federal government must respond to make sure that bridge gets rebuilt as quickly as possible. that was exactly the kind of response you would expect from a president after a national tragedy like a bridge collapse. the next day -- the next day congress voted unanimously 421-0 to allocate a quarter of a billion dollars in federal money to repair that bridge. now, it wasn't like august of 2007 was some kind of golden prepartisan era. it was twoti months before a presidential election, and presidential primaries were well under way. but none of that had any effect

on how either party decided to respond to the tragedy. flash forward to this week. another tragic and deadly bridge collapse in a major metropolitan bridge area this time in the city of baltimore when a singaporean container ship bound for sri lanka, crashed into the francis scott key bridge. just like in 2007 the president came out 2 quick tee to say the federal government should immediately allocate funds to repair that key transit pipeline. what mighty normally come next would be a straightforward nonpartisan effort to approve that fund [get to rebuilding. but we don't live in that world anymore. for one of our major political parties there is now no such thing as a tragedy that exists outside of partisanship. immediately after the key bridge collapsed in baltimore republicans and conservative media started searching for something, anything that they might use to blame the collapse

on president biden and the left. first it was immigrants. >> the ship involved in the collapse of the bridge is 948 feet long called the dali, a singaporean flag container. but of course you've been talking a lot about the potential for wrongdoing or potential for foul play given the wide open border. >> it didn't take long for that wide open border theory to fall apart. the ship was part ofor the norm flow of commercial vessels in and out of the country. the crew all based in india. in fact, the only immigrants involved in this crisis were the six victims who had been doing maintenance work on the bridge when it collapsed, the people whoeo died. so then conservatives moved onto diversity, equity, and inclusion programs or dei. how did they do that, you might ask? well, baltimore is a majority black city. it has a black mayor and the state is run by a black governor. america's transportation

secretary is an openly gay man. therefore, the bridge collapsed under the weight of diversity. i wish i was joking. a utah republican state legislature who is currently running forat governor shared a social media post claiming one of the commissioners of the port of baltimore, a black woman, knows nothing about courts but she's a diversity, equity, and inclusion belonging auditor and consultant. a florida republican congressional candidate posted a video of the bridge collapse with the caption dei did this. and then there's the freak out about transportation secretary pete buttigieg. >> secretary pete -- pete buttigieg. he's young, he's gay. how do i mention that because that's how he got the job. >> no human being on earth believes that pete buttigieg, the former mayor of south bend got his job at d.o.t. because he was the most talented person out

there. the president appointed him because he checked a very important box. >> the bottom line with buttigieg is he's worried too much about personal pronouns, worried too mucher about dei policies. >> this is the mainstream republican party now. it is not the fringe. the fringe of the republican party has its own cockamamie theory the bridge collapse was orchestrated by the deepdg stat but we're not going to get into that. the republican party has lost its mind on the baltimore bridge collapse, and it's more than just rhetoric. after the bridge collapse, president biden made this promise. >> it's my intention that the federal government will pay for theil entire cost of reconstructing that bridge, and i expect the congress to support my effort. >> but because it is president biden, a democrat, because it is baltimore, a black city run by a black mayor in a state led by a black governor, because this involves brown people, republicans seem to have little interest in repairing an

essential part of our nation's infrastructure. here was congressman dan muser on the fox business channel today. >> is congress going to need to pony up more money, or is there enough money in the infrastructure package? >> great to be with you, maria. you know, it was kind of outrageous immediately for biden to express in this tragedy the idea he's going to use federal funds to pay for it in entirety. >> apparently republicans think it's outrageous to use federal money to pay for the baulgt more bridge collapse. the congresswoman says the funds shouldys come from the infrastructure bill, money by the way that has already been spent. congressman muser said the money should come from money allocated for electric vehicles, which would not be enough. congresswoman greene said the time should be used to

investigating where the bridge collapse was an intentional collapse. just to be clear the price tag on fixing this bridge is estimated today be more than $2 billion. this is not a gofundme project. this is the kind of thing that needs federal dollars allocated by congress. and not just because it's the right thing to do. for republicans who would like to see this as just a baltimore problem, a black problem, an urban problem. it is worth remembering this brej affects a whole lot more than just baltimore. more than 52 million tons of fornen cargo was shipped through that port last year. nearly 140,000 jobs could be impacted by the bridge collapse. the shutdown caused by this thing could cost the american economy more than $2 million per day in wages. and the port where this bridge collapsed is the second largest u.s. export hub for american coal.

bloomberg reports the collapse has already had a significant impact on one pennsylvania coal company, which exports coal through that baltimore port. that is the kind of thing you might think pennsylvania republican like congressman dan muser would be concerned about. you might think a party that claims to deeply care about the american economy, would care about the staggering toll but it doesng not. republicans are showing once again it's not really about the economy or american jobs or simply fixing what's broken, it is about weaponizing tragedy and stokingdy culture wars. and above all, it is about sticking it to joe biden. baltimore mayor brandon scott spoke with my colleague joy reid yesterday, and he was very clear about what he believes lies at the heart of the republican resistance to doing what needs to be done here. >> we know what they want to say, but they don't have the courage to say the "n" word.

andn" the fact i don't believe their untruthful and wrong ideology, and i am very proud of my heritage and who i am and where i come from, scares them. >> joining me now is charles coleman, civil rights attorney and writer for slate. also with me is former missouri senator claire mccaskill. i have a hard time looking at the 2007 collapse and not comparing it to the 2024 baltimore bridge collapse. do you see a parallel here? >> of a course. we have slowly but surely allowed these false equivalencies to come into our national c dialogue and conversation around politics such that go woke, go broke, the culture wars. all these things have been a steady push back, and they've gotten us to this place because we've allowed it, and we haven't called it out. in the interest of trying to be fair, in the t of trying to include all voices, the reality,

alex, there are some voices at this table who are speaking who do not deserve to be heard and what they're talking about is not ideology. it denigrates people's humanity and something that keeps the two tiered system of what america is in place and that structure undamage. that's why we've gotten to this place where someone is saying, hey, we needis to help these people. and you have people more concerned with profiting -- about going against joe biden. >> and owning the libs and saying it's an issue of dei, right? claire, does it surprise you when you see what's become of the republican party on an issue -- i had to bring up american coal because if republicansif needed anymore reminder this isn't just about doing the right thing, but an essential part oft the america economy and american energy they're obsessed with, coal, and yet they still can't bring themselves to sort of understand

why funding this is important. >> yeah,g it's a knee jerk reaction with them. if it is a blue state, a blue city, if it is a diverse community, if joe biden says it, then it's all bad. now, here's where it's going to get interesting, alex. let me say two words. larry hogan. for the republicans to take the senate, larry hogan is very important in that drive they have. they seet larry hogan as an essential ace in the hole in terms of taking control of the senate. larry hogan was the governor of maryland just a few months ago. larry hogan is running for the senate as a republican. now, how is he going to win if the republicans are standing unified against helping the people of baltimore, this incredibly important port for america's economy? so i -- i'm going to watch the republicans in theat senate because i guarantee you they are very nervous tonight about what

this is goingvo to do to larry hogan's chances to get elected to the united states senate. >> can i follow up with you on that, claire, because i a matter of at as political strategy, but like house republicans who are the first line of action on this, don't seem to care about anything other than grievance or range. it takes mitch mcconnell, the guy who's retiring to say wait a second, wait a second, wait a second, in the best interest of our party, which is to say taking the senate in 2024, we've got to do this. duds reason work anymore? >> well, i mean, it -- who controls the senate is who controls who goes on the bench. and you would think that a heart-to-heart discussion with some of the crazies in the house, i think they can get enough votes. i think there's going to be the crazy caucus, but if you combine congress folks from districts

biden won along with democratic people in the house, i think you can get enough votes to get emergency appropriations through. remember, if you are against an emergency appropriation today, then what happens to your state when your farmers are suffering a drought? or what happens when there is a horrific tornado? i mean everybody has the potential of having an emergency disaster in their state. and if we're going to go down that road, they're really playing with an issue that could really come back and bite them in the you know what hard. >> i mean, you sort of get a sense that's happening already, right? pennsylvania coal is getting shipped through bault pore. you don't fix this thing, you dent get your pennsylvania coal out. and there are pennsylvania republicans who are like should we really fund this, can't you just use funding for evs? i mean it gets to this narrative, charles, where republicans seem blind to the fact we live in an interconnected country. we are a union.

as much as they'd like to believe otherwise, no man is a state unto himself. >> a caveat here, a significant one is we get into a place where facts don't matter. when you're talking about control of information, the vast and wide amount of misinformation that is poisoning our dialogue, it's easier for republicans to make this clearer in terms of their perspective if you want to call it instead of what's going on. there are voters not necessarily processing it in the ways you have talked about because they've monetized we're going against joe biden and democrats with everything they do. >> they see wes moore who, who is leading lith of the democratic party, black governor of maryland, and they see an enemy. not just in a partisan sense but in a social sense. >> oh, absolutely in a social sense. let's notns -- see, this is exactly the conversation that

needs to be had. i am not here to say or suggest every republican is racist or has racist tendencies, but what i am here to say is there is more of that than we give credit for, and we have not called it out in w the ways we need to, a that is big part of how we've gotten here. >> claire, how does the biden administration play this, because i do think the sort of racist underpinnings of this are prettyin obvious. the craven political calculation is right on the surface. and yet for the thing to actually get fixed, for the biden administration to get the federal onfunding, they've got have republicans play ball here. so how much can you really call them out on what they're doing in a moment of sort of, you know, political strategy? >> well, i think -- i think it will happen. i think the appropriators will take the reins here. and both republicans and democratic appropriators know emergency fundish -- i remember that bridge collapse in minnesota. i remember how quickly it moved.

i remember it was anything but controversial. it was like of course we're going to dos this. same thing with the hurricanes and katrina and the hurricanes in new jersey. these were something -- these werere things we did. and i think there's enough people in congress this funding will get through. i'm not saying it's going to go quickly. i'm not saying it's g going to easily. but i think right now the house is barely holding onto a majority, alex. i mean they have a one-vote majority. that's not a position of power or strength in an appropriations fight over emergency funding to one of the most important ports for exports in the united states of america. i think cooler heads will prevail. >> i'm just reminded, charles, of tommy tuberville holding up all military appointments. they will stop at nothing to further partisan gains for talking points they can use back home, they'll hold the military hostage. >> this has become so polarized it's embarrassing. and i think that we as an

elector would have to be honest about that. when you're talking about every member of congress up for rere-election this year, that needs to be in the forefront of everyone's minds. this level of polarization is not sustainable. as much as people want talk about the preservation of democracy, beyond who's in the white house, this cannot continue and it needs to be addressed. >> we can't have an economy if we can't ship goods in and out of the country and hemorrhaging $2 million a day in wages. thank you for your time tonight. really appreciate it. we haveal a lot to get to ts evening. donald trump is suddenly worth a whole lot of money on paper. can he spend it before the bubble bursts? plus, president biden brings in the heavy hitters for the big fund raiser tonight. and i'm not talking will arnette and jason bateman. that's next. t talking will arnee and jason bateman. that's next. nol's extra strengt, high absorption magnesium helps me get the full benefits of magnesium. qunol, the brand i trust.

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tonight i can offer you a tale of two campaigns. on one side president joe biden who tonight just a few feet from this very studio is hosting a big deal fund-raiser at radio city music hall with former presidents barack obama and bill clinton. earlier today the trio recorded an episode of smartless a podcast. now, biden's event this evening is slated to raise more than $25 million, and his campaign is characterizing that as a most successful political fund-raiser in american history, and that is adding to what is already a pretty colossal war chest for biden and the dnc. meanwhile, on the other side the trump campaign is spending the night comparing trump's stats to biden's, something they love to do. trump donors are trying to step on biden's big night by saying a fund-raiser they are holding next month will do even better. joining me now is mark, staff

writer at the atlantic. i want to get your sort of sense of the moment the democratic party is in. i will note and we're going to talk about this in a second there are protesters protesting the biden policy in gaza that are lining the streets. there have been several interruptions in the evening thus far. but $25 million, three presidents on stage, a number of -- a lot of star power as well. does this feel like an inflection point for what has thus far been a kind of draggy, gray story for biden and his approval numbers and polling heading into an election? >> yeah, i mean i certainly wouldn't understate the importance of $25 million or biden's fund-raising advantage. they could take that $25 million and buy justin bateman a jacket or something like that. obviously their fund-raising advantage is very important and

this helps it immensely. i do think the optics here are not great for democrats frankly. i think it does feed into the blue state kind of entertainment based elite and also feeds into a yesterday vibe i think dogged by biden a bit both because of his age and it's customary to have elder states people campaigning for the person who's running. but you can't go too far with that and especially when you have stephen colbert. i mean that's not going to win you many swing voters in the midwest. the other thing, yeah, you mentioned the protesters around this. this is something biden and a lot of democrats are getting everywhere. it does create a sense of chaos especially when you have trump disingenuously or not grandstanding. today he was in long island to honor a fallen police officer. we'll see what trump raises.

as far as democrats fixing their problem to sort of reach across their elitist boundary at this point, this could be problematic, and i wouldn't see it as a turning point in the campaign. >> fair enough. i do wonder i mean setting aside, i'd be hesitant to suggest that the biden campaign office was going to win the many swing votes. to me it seemed an event to inject enthusiasm into the democratic party especially young democrats have have thus far been kind of unexcited about the prospect in offer and i'm going to set bill clinton in his own category. but bringing barack obama back, reminding the country of those years. presidents become even more likable in the years after they leave the presidency. it sounds like you think that is not an effective tool to sort of i don't know change the amount of -- or increase the amount of enthusiasm among the electorate.

>> i think ultimately i mean the democrats these days looks like a party of grownups, which is not a bad thing given how nervous people are, given the contrast trump provided. i think that's extremely important. ultimately it's a big money event. i think if you're serious about this, the biden administration is very serious administration. i think it's had really solid accomplishments they need to sell and sell hard. i think having the cavalry out in full force tonight is important. ultimately the youth vote and also the swing vote is not obviously centered in radio city music hall. this is where the democratic core is as far as fund-raising. and i think on the heels of the "state of the union" and recent polling uptick we've seen and some of the other news, it's actually a good thing, and it sort of keeps going and keeps the momentum going that the biden campaign i think is seeing in recent weeks. >> there's a new ad comparing biden's cross-country swing

visits to trump's golf swing. maybe we can play a bit for our audience. >> with the president visiting eight swing states in just 18 days, throughout the month biden has crisscrossed the country. visiting the southwest. his campaign stops have focused on border security, reproductive rights, and lowering health care and housing costs as well as celebrating chips and science act investments. ♪♪ >> i feel like this is an interesting table flipping, right, because for so long it was biden doesn't do anything, he's week and trips over everything. now they're trying to invert it and put the narrative on trump he's an old retiree in florida. do you think it works? >> i think so. i think these ads have been pretty effective. credit to whoever did the little jingle and music. i found my head bobbing my head

to this. they seem to be keeping with the clownish stuff trump does like the 60,000 bible thing, the daily stuff he provides not to mention what congress has been doing. so, yeah, i think that's been really good i think in some ways the campaign has found a voice and vigor that wasn't there before both the candidate himself. >> i have to say axios was reporting republican's top state level funding committee is privately warning against biden bashing because it doesn't hurt down ballot candidates as much as trump has actually hurt the rest of the republican party. what do you make of that? >> yeah, a little late to get that memo you would say, right? i mean, yeah, stop biden bashing, by the way. i think biden was an imperfect target for them to begin with. he's a known entity, a likable entity. yes, you can drive his negatives down. but ultimately you're not going to convince joe biden he's the

monster some people on the far right of the republican party are so convinced he is. it is an odd thing. i mean i think it's true. i think down ballot he doesn't have the reach that trump certainly does with the democratic party. so, yeah, it does seem like a weird and kind of herky-jerky pivot at a very inopportune time. >> the republicans herky-jerky and inopportune, where can imagine. thank you for your time, my friend. still to come tonight supreme court justice clarence thomas pick to fill a clerk ship. the clerkship is raising eyebrows. we're going to get into that controversy just ahead. but first donald trump's wealth on paper skyrocketed this week. where the money comes from, whether or not it will last, and whether he can spend it is coming up next. and whether he can spend it is coming up next what is cirkul? cirkul is the fuel you need to take flight. cirkul is the energy that gets you to the next level. cirkul is

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as president biden's re-election campaign projects a $25 million wind fall at his radio city fund-raiser tonight, donald trump's personal net worth has ballooned over this past week at least on paper. that is courtesy of his social media company, trump media and technology group, which went public on monday. on its first day of trading the company rocketed to an $8 billion valuation, making it worth more than "the new york

times" and the tell and western union. trump himself owns about 60% of that company. after all trump's media and technology group's main product, truth social, has just 2% of the monthly active users of twitter and pinterest and an even tinier fraction of the monthly users of meta. and also last year truth social lost almost $50 million against just $3 million in revenue. so how is donald trump able to take truth social from losing ten of millions of dollars last year to being worth $8 billion this year, and how long can that last before the bubble bursts, and can donald trump use any of this money to pay off the $175 million bond he still owes in his new york fraud case next week? joining me now matt goldstein, business reporter from "the new york times." he's written extensively on this

topic for the times. so he's exactly who the ask about this complex story. thanks for joining me tonight. >> thanks for having me. >> you know the nature of this company better than most. can you explain to people who don't know, where is the money coming from? who is investing in this company right now? >> you know, right now most of the investors are individual shareholders. they're retail investors. there are about 400,000 or so when the merger took place, and the lions share of them are actually trump supporters. and they're not necessarily political supporters in the sense of like big donators. they're basically regular people who are true believers in not only in trump but really in truth social. and i've talked to a number of them over the past few years, and it's almost become a religious kind of thing they really want this company to survive, and they view themselves as getting in on the ground floor. >> do you think they have any sort of comprehension of the

potential financial peril that could be involved here? i mean i've noted in your reporting in "the times" that some of the big investors have shorted, which is to say bet against trump media shares on the assumption the company can't continue to trade on this insane evalgds. trump media according to three partnerbes, which is an outside data media company is now the most shorted company to merge with a spack. we won't get into a spack at this juncture, but it's one of the most shorted companies in the united states. that seems like what shall we call it a big red flag. >> it is. if you thought to his core basic shareholders, which would be his core basic support, they're cognizant they could lose all their money. he's willing to lose the money on the principle of trying to make this company grow. i mean you bring up the spack. one thing to understand is the

merger partner was the shell company out there about three years before this deal closed. and a lot of them were in the red for the longest time because back when this deal was first announced, the stock surged to $90, and then it was covering around 15 or 20 for much of the last 2 1/2 years. so some of them are in the black, some in the red, but i think it's almost a matter of principle for them. obviously i don't think anyone wants to lose their money, but they see it as something bigger than just an investment. >> does -- i mean how much of this can trump tap into? he can't sell the shares for six months. he can ask the board permission to do so, but that would be akin to sort of like saying -- it would be a real loss of confidence. >> i don't think that will happen. there's a reason why these prescriptions are in place normally. and it's not uncommon for any company when it first becomes public. you don't want a majority of

shareholders dumping their stock right awae. it's not tagood sign of faith. i can tell you investors they talk to don't think trump would do that and don't want him to do that. the likely scenario they will ease this restriction he can't borrow on the stock, use it as collateral to get a loan or post it for a bond he might need to pay off a civil penalty. i think that's a more likely scenario that could happen. we haven't seen it yet, but it's only the first week of existence. it's a very trump-friendly board. he's no longer chairman of the company, but the seven board members, five of them are clear loyalists. we have devon nonees, the ceo, and three former trump administration people on them. >> do you feelhe value of this stock is going to track trump's candidacy? which is to say as the polling goes up or down, do you think that could be reflected in the

stock price? >> yeah, i think it's sort of a barometer of proxy for trump's fortunes. again, the company before that it merged with, the stock really took off earlier this year when desantis dropped out of the new hampshire primary. i mean the stock began to soar. before the merger the stock had been up about 140% this year alone. i think personally there's a good chance the stock will continue through these levels at least through the election. as long as the election appears to be close, which it appears it's going to be, i don't really see an event taking place that's going to cause the stock to crater. again, when you're having a stock so overvalued, any unforeseen event can cause that. we just don't know what it is at this time. >> we can say anything with donald trump it's a volatile candidacy and a volatile stock. matt goldstein with "the new york times," it's great to have

you on the program. thanks, matt. still ahead this evening, you have heard of the term nepo baby, but have you heard of the nearly adopted nepo baby? supreme court justice clarence thomas has. we're going to bring you the latest ethics scandal centering around justice thomas. that is next. l centering around justice thomas. that is next

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having a billionaire

benefactor comes with multiple perks. as it turns out justice clarence thomas is also quite generous himself. his newest law clerk, crystal clanton is not just his employ, she's practically his family. "the new york times" reports justice thomas and his wife ginni took her in under their own roof when she was fired from the conservative group turning point usa after reportedly sending racist text messages. the couple began calling clanton their nearly adopted daughter. clanton was so close to the thomas', she's prominently featured in some of their recent christmas news letters right along with their dogs. she worked with jinni thomas

herself a political activist at her consultant firm and justice thomas helped mrs. clanton land a clerkship at his office. there's nothing illegal but keeping things close, but this is the supreme court, an institution encouraged by the nonbinding federal code of conduct to avoid unnecessary appoints, nepotism, and favoritism. it's an institution that has 60% disapproval rating right now. it is also an institution facing a giant credibility problem amid a flood of ethics scandals centering on justice clarence thomas. so you might expect, i don't know, a bit more self-awareness, the sort of self-awareness the court exhibited when justice elena kagen hired garland's daughter to be the hez -- by

contrast justice thomas has insisted in hiring his near daughter, the one of his christmas cards. and man, does that sound like a very nice thing for him to do for her. "the new york times" gave us some idea of what crystal clanton's future holds. at least 18 of thomas' former clerks have served as state, federal, or military judges. nearly three quarters of them appointed by mr. trump to federal courts where they have ruled on issues like voting rights and access to the abortion pill. many of thomas' clerks have gone onto do justice thomas' bidding, and that seems like not that much of a coincidence. >> law clerks are law clerks. they are wonderful to have around. my view is that having -- it's one of the best parts of the job, to have four energetic people who are like family. i mean i select them, they're mine. they're my kids.

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four years before he was appointed to the highest court in the land clarence thomas said this. there's nothing you can do to get past black skin. i don't care how educated you are, how good you are at what you do, you'll never have the same contacts and opportunities. you'll never be seen as equal to whites. despite that perspective, clarence thomas has dedicated his time on the bench to undoing landmark civil rights achievements for black americans. in 1995 he became the first

supreme court justice to openly criticize brown v. board of education, which of course outlawed segregation. in 2013 he voted to gut the civil rights act. in 2023 he joined a decision to strike down race-based affirmative action. thomas has also used his position to fill the judiciary with scores of his former clerks, most of whom are white, and all of whom, he says, shares his views. >> i'm not going to hire clerks who have profound disagreements with me. that's a waste of my time. and someone said that's like trying to train a pig. it's a waste of your time and aggravates the pig. >> this week we have some news thomas has decided to hire as his new clerk a woman who was publicly accused of sending racist text messages like the one that reads "i hate black people" in capital letters. she is also someone who justice thomas has described as nearly

an adopted daughter. joining me now is mark joseph stern, senior writer covering the courts and the law for slate magazine. mark, it's great to see you. i don't know where to begin with the racist text messages or the nepotism. let's start because there's a lot to talk about in innepotism category. how unusual is it to hire a supreme court law clerk who once lived with you? >> it is extraordinarily unusual, essentially unheard of since the olden days when the justices lived at boardinghouses in 1800s washington. this is new territory, and i think it really shows just how immeshed clarence thomas and ginni thomas are with their professional networks. she came to the assistance of ginni thomas after she was pushed out for being too racist and grew as not only a confidant to gini but also a friend and

nearly adopted daughter and positioned her to a first $500,000 bonus if she enters private practice and ten years down the line a judgeship under a future president. the stakes raare very high, and because of that justices go out of their way to do it on merit, to make sure they're not picking their friends and family. obviously clanton the most extreme example of that but not the only example. >> in the immediate it doesn't like a good idea to have a law clerk at the supreme court who's texted i hate black people just for what that does to the court itself, which is suffering from a major pr crisis at best. but on the second, people who write text messages who say i hate black people shouldn't be in the pipeline that is clearly in existence as it concerns these law clerks. and thomas really has seem today have profoundly -- he's built an efficient pipeline insofar as

his clerks really have gone on in large number to become judges, to be an essential part of the american justice system. can you talk more on his record on that? >> his clerkships are unique in that they sort of function as an indoctrination boot camp. he doesn't hide this. he goes out of his way to select clerks that have a relationship with him. he has a direct line to pick the most ideological and extreme students and put them in the way of an clerkship. once they're there with clarence thomas he instills them an extreme far right conservative philosophy, sends them on their way. the bonus for a supreme court clerk right now is about half a million dollars for your first year, but they find their way back into public service quite frequently in the form of a

judgeship. donald trump and advisor went back to him quite frequently and they have proven to be some of the most extreme on the bench. like james hou on the circuit who wrote a decision arguing courts should abolish access to the abortion pill in all 50 states. another who uphold extreme racist gerrymandering in south carolina. these judges have a mission clarence thomas helps them to refine. and once they're out in the world they work hard and consistently to achieve those goals and circle back every year for a meeting with clarence thomas and his clerk family where they all congratulate on everything they've done to further the cause. >> mark it south carolina where that extreme racial gerrymandering is happening, right? just to be clear. it's not these clerkships they go onto. john eastman is a former clarence thomas law clerk, is that right? >> yes, john eastman currently being disbarred from california

because of his participation in trying to overturn the election, one of the more extreme examples but a very good one. another one is june yu who wrote the torture memos under george w. bush. laura engram, hate mongering on fox news every night. not all of these individuals go directly into the judiciary. they might work to overturn free and fair elections or whipping up hatred against muslim immigrants, but either way they're preaching from the gospel clarence thomas helped to write. and i'm sure crystal clanton will be set along the exact same path once she graduates from this boot camp. >> this is clarence thomas' arm ay. thanks for making the time tonight. that is our show for this evening. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. it's about telling a story. people have -- people are breaking their necks