← The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Ali Velshi: From a souring economy to Epstein, Trump 'isn't fixing anything. This is gaslighting.'
00:42:19
Tonight on The Last Word: The U.S. economy adds just 73,000 jobs in July. Also, international outrage over starvation in Gaza is growing. Plus, Democrats pledge to fight Donald Trump and the GOP on gerrymandering. And the Smithsonian removes references of Trump’s impeachments from an exhibit. Dan Osborn, Ben Rhodes, Colin Allred, and Garrett Graff join Ali Velshi.
Loading summary
Transcript62 lines
- [00:00]
OnDeck Advertiser
Cash flow crunch OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $100,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today@ondeck.com funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes. Your business loan may be issued by Ondeck or Celtic Bank. Ondeck does not lend to North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.
- [00:31]
Riley Herbst
Riley Herbst from 2311 Racing checking in got a break in between team meetings. Sounds like the perfect time for some fast paced fun at Chumba Casino. No waiting, just instant action to keep you going. So next time you need a pick me up, fire it up and take a spin. Play now@chumbacasino.com let's Chumba.
- [00:50]
Ali Velshi
No purchase necessary. VGW Group Void where prohibited by law CTNC's 21/ sponsored by Jumba Casino.
- [00:58]
Dan Osborne
The Last word starts right now with Allie Velshi in the anchor chair.
- [01:01]
Ali Velshi
Hey Ali, try to erase that all from my mind. I've been thinking about talking to you all day because when you were in the White House and in prior administrations for the last 20 years, as I've been covering it, the jobs report comes out first Friday of every month. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. You guys have a job to spin it one way or the other. I've never seen what I saw today. The firing of the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That is some dry stuff, right? They put out data every month. I love the data. I love pouring through it. It's not a politicized organization of any.
- [01:32]
Dan Osborne
Sort in any way. First of all, one of the reasons we all love you is because you love pouring through the data, Ali, which is great. But just to echo your point, no one knew about the data. Even the night before the data, as you we would look at, we would say, does Brian Deese have a bad look in his face? Is there bad data? But no one knew the next morning, as you know well because you've reported on so many times. It came out at 8:30. People from the administration don't speak about it until 9:30. It's so protected because people rely on it across the world, across the country, policymakers. It's really an outrageous thing he did.
- [02:05]
Ali Velshi
And now poof. Let's hope the data that comes in now is data that he likes because otherwise could be like the FBI, right? You put your own people and then you find out the information is no different than before you put your own people in. Thank you for that, my friend. I've been looking to talk to you about it all day. How have yourself a great weekend.
- [02:20]
Dan Osborne
Thank you so much, Ali.
- [02:22]
Ali Velshi
And breaking news. Donald Trump's big mad about the Trump economy. And so this afternoon, as we just discussed, he ordered the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the part of the Department of Labor that collects and reports American employment data, to be fired. They don't do anything else, they just report the data. Now, did Trump do that because the stock market tanked today after the jobs report showed an anemic 73,000 jobs created last month? Or did he do it because he needed yet another outrageous distraction from the Jeffrey Epstein scandal in which he and his administration are currently deeply engulfed? Maybe both, but for sure not for the stated reason that the BLS commissioner was somehow biased against him. I'm pretty sure he didn't know who the BLS commissioner was before this morning. The bad economic news and Epstein were both front page news today after Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's co conspirator and convicted child sex trafficker, was quietly moved to a women's only minimum security federal prison camp in Texas just days after Maxwell met with the deputy Attorney General, Todd Blanch, Trump's former criminal defense attorney, NBC News reports. The Federal Bureau of Prisons did not specify why she was transferred, but according to the bureau's designation policy, Maxwell appears ineligible to be housed at a minimum security prison camp because she's a convicted sex offender. Sex offenders must be in at least a low level security prison like Federal Correctional Institution Tallahassee unless she received a waiver. Only the administrator of BOP's designation and sentence Computation center can make that decision according to the waiver policy. Trump played dumb today when a reporter asked about what Trump meant Tuesday when he said Jeffrey Epstein stole people from Trump's Florida club. Seven years from the time that you learned that people were being stolen from Mar a Lago to the time that you picture that you took from a Jeffrey Epstein. Yeah, I don't understand your question. I don't understand your question. Let me ask you to repeat it or clarify it. I'm just going to move on now. Nothing to see here except Bloomberg reports that Trump isn't in the Epstein files because his name's been blacked out. An FBI Freedom of Information act team redacted Trump's name and the names of other prominent public figures from the documents, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak with the media. That team tasked with conducting a final review of the voluminous cache had applied the redactions before the DOJ and the FBI concluded last month that, quote, no further disclosure of the files would be appropriate or warranted, end quote. The family of Virginia Giuffre and two other Epstein and Maxwell survivors said this about Maxwell's prison upgrade. Quote, president Trump has sent a clear message today. Pedophiles deserve preferential treatment and their victims do not matter. It was with horror and outrage that we object to the preferential treatment convicted sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell has received. Ghislaine Maxwell is a sexual predator who physically assaulted minor children on multiple occasions and she should never be shown any leniency. Yet without any notification to the Maxwell victims, the government overnight has moved Maxwell to a minimum security luxury prison in Texas. This is the justice system failing victims right before our eyes. The American public should be enraged by the preferential treatment being given to a pedophile and a criminally charged child sex offender. The Trump administration should not credit a word Maxwell says as the government itself sought charges against Maxwell for being a serial liar. This move smacks of a cover up. The victims deserve better. Trump wants to make his own reality. Jeffrey Epstein, nothing to see here. In spite of the obvious lack of transparency from him and the administration and the obvious questions raised by that, he wants to do the same thing, by the way, with the economy. The Dow dropped 540 points today, capping its worst week in a month. On the heels of today's jobs report, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which I mentioned earlier, reported that the US economy added just 73,000 net new jobs in July. And the job gains for May and June were revised down by a combined 258,000 jobs. And so Donald Trump, without any evidence, said today the numbers were, quote, rigged in order to make the Republicans and me look bad. A total scam. Not only is today's employment report uniquely bad, but revisions to the prior month show that on average, we've seen 35,000 net new jobs created for the last three months. January was revised down to 111,000. February was revised down to 102,000. March revised down to 120,000. April, 156,000. May was revised down to 19,000. June was revised down to 14,000. There is simply no way to put lipstick on this pig. And here's the thing, most people don't follow data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Most people understand the job Market viscerally. They see it in their paycheck, in their bank accounts, in their grocery bills. Trump cannot truth social his way out of what Americans are experiencing with their own eyes and their wallets. But that's not gonna stop him from trying. Hours after the release of that weak jobs report, Donald Trump fired the commissioner of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Erica met Entarfer on social media. He told reporters this. I believe the numbers were phony. It's phony numbers, not Donald Trump's arbitrary and damaging trade war, which he's still pursuing in a way that is arbitrary and damaging. And as a federal appeals court ruled heard this week, quite possibly illegal. The Wall Street Journal editorial board isn't confused about it. Mr. Trump seems to understand that the jobs report signals trouble because on Friday he ordered the firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. He claims the numbers are being politically manipulated, but he offered no proof. BLS has its problems, but the timing suggests he's shooting the messenger. There are bound to be monthly revisions when tariffs and deportation policies are so volatile. Mr. Trump's other scapegoat is the Federal Reserve, which he says has been too late to cut interest rates. Maybe that'll prove to be true, but the Fed also has to navigate Mr. Trump's tariff uncertainty and the large fact that inflation is still above its 2% target. Every public opinion poll says voters remain unhappy about the price increases that they're paying. Donald Trump doesn't want you to trust the numbers, and so he fires the person in charge of reporting the data about his weak economy. This isn't policy. He's not fixing anything. He's just wrecking the public trust, assaulting the data while he undermines the economy. When facts don't serve Trump, he simply tries to erase them, to hide them, to distract from them. This is not an economic strategy. This is gaslighting, and he's been doing it for years. And there's one more thing that colors all the bluster from Donald Trump. While he's wrecking our economy, his family is making money hand over fist. Bloomberg reports today Eric Trump's stake in a bitcoin mining company could be worth as much as $367 million as the company prepares to go public. That's nearly half the amount American taxpayers are expected to pay to refurbish a private plane from Qatar, which Republican senators have apparently decided that you, the American taxpayer, should gift to Donald Trump when he leaves office. Every single Republican senator, including Susan Collins of Maine on the Appropriations subcommittee, yesterday voted against an amendment to stop Trump from taking that one vote billion dollar jet home with him. Something is rotten in the Trump presidency and it's not just the things that Trump claims it is. And people are starting to figure it out. Joining me now, Dan Osborne. He's an independent candidate for the United States Senate in Nebraska. Dan, good to see you. Thank you for being with us.
- [10:52]
Ben Rhodes
Yeah, thank you, Al. Good to be here.
- [10:53]
Ali Velshi
You can fire all the messengers you want. You can talk about the data. The thing about the economy, the reason we have recessions is because people feel the economy. They know it. They know when they go to get a raise, when the boss tells 10 people in line to get your job. They know when they can't cover their bills, they know the price of groceries. They didn't know what the Bureau of Labor Statistics is. And Donald Trump firing the head of it is not going to matter. Your take, Dan.
- [11:27]
Ben Rhodes
Yeah, yeah, thank you. Sorry, I got some Internet thing. I'm traveling right now, so forgive my Internet, but. No, we're, we're living it here in Nebraska. I'm living it every day. You know, I just had email come across saying that the price of water heaters and hydronic valves in my industry is going to be going up 25%. And guess who we have to pass that on to? We have to pass it on to the customer, which is, you know, the American taxpayer. And so we are, we're paying the price. You know, I go to the grocery store and you know, it's been, I love, I love cooking steaks, I love, I love smoking brisket. And I just simply don't buy those things right now because I get a paycheck every week. I know how much comes in, I know how much is going out. And I feel the squeeze. And the Nebraskans that I talk to every day are feeling a squeeze too. The wage earning class that lives paycheck to paycheck, our dollar isn't going near as far right now. I don't need a jobs reporter, statistics or data, no offense, but to understand that's our reality. And I talk to farmers every day are afraid that they're not going to be able to sell their beans, our exporters, China, etc. And the chemicals that are coming in, that we buy, coming in from overseas, that we put on our crops, our fertilizers, those are going up 20, 25%. Everything's getting more expensive. And everybody in Nebraska that I talk to is definitely feeling it. And we're very concerned. I'm concerned for my children. We could talk about houses and the fact that, yeah, 38 years old is the average price for a first time, or, excuse me, age for a first time homeowner. You know, these are the things that we really need to be focused on and we need to be talking about.
- [13:25]
Ali Velshi
And, and that's not the age. Because, because somebody says, oh, I'm 38, the statistics say this is when I should buy a house. It's because people have to delay these purchases because they know what they can afford and what they can't afford. So some of us need these numbers because they're useful for, you know, studying economics. But that farmer who doesn't get the price for the beans or needs to pay more for the potash or more for the chemicals, they know that they don't need, they don't need a report to tell them that.
- [13:52]
Ben Rhodes
Yeah, that's correct. And you know, we, we should talk about the big beautiful bill in conjunction with what's going on. $50 billion set aside for commodities for farmers. Look, this is, what this is going to do is it's going to favor the corporate, going to start consolidating the small family farmers. We're going to start to see more of them file for bankruptcy and lose their farms. And you know, this is, this is Main Street, Nebraska. This is Main Street, United States. We have to protect those. And right now it's slipping away.
- [14:27]
Ali Velshi
And at some point it stops being political, right? It stops being about your partisan politics or whatever you think you are, whether you think you're traditionally a Democrat or a Republican. This starts to be about your future, your family's future. Where are you getting your health care from, how you're going to afford it, when you're getting your house, how this is being managed. You're finding a lot of that in your particular campaign because you're an independent that's being supported by Democrats.
- [14:55]
Ben Rhodes
Yeah, well, I'm an independent that's getting supported by a lot of people. I'm getting supported by libertarians, other independents, individual Republicans across the state because they see the value in what we're trying to do. My message is we need to be uplifting all Americans, right? It's not. We're tired of this winner take all philosophy where if you have one side that is a clear winner, that means you have to have a clear loser. People are sick of that. They're sick of the politics in Washington, D.C. and nothing getting done, no farm bills getting passed, the cuts that are happening and we're falling behind right now. It's A race to the bottom. People see it, we know it. The money's continuing to Funnel up to the 1%. Billion or trillion dollars actually with a T since 1980 has gone from 90% of Americans to the top half percent. And it's continuing.
- [15:50]
Ali Velshi
So we just accelerated that with the, with the big bad bill we do.
- [15:54]
Ben Rhodes
We need to start electing people that is from the working class that understands working class issues, that's going to approach policy and issues differently, you know, from the break room in the shop, not the boardrooms and in the back alley or back rooms that they smoke cigars and sip scotch from.
- [16:13]
Ali Velshi
Good to see you, Dan. Thank you for being with us tonight. Dan Osborne is an independent candidate for the United States Senate in Nebraska. Joining me now is Ben Rhodes, former deputy national security adviser to President Obama and an MSNBC political analyst. Ben, you know, Dan's totally right. The average American does not need a Bureau of Labor Statistics report to tell them what's going on in the world of employment and wages. There is something very concerning, though, about whether this is a distraction to Donald Trump's other problems or whether this is shooting the messenger or whether this is going to end up with the FBI where you put your people and you realize it's the same information that the last people have for democracy. This is a bad thing. This is a nonpartisan organization, the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Donald Trump apparently didn't like the numbers and now she's gone.
- [16:57]
Garrett Graff
I mean, Ali, I think this is catastrophic, actually, because it just shows the kind of spiral that we're in. I remember that I, for my last book, I went to Hong Kong and I talked to some Hong Kong protesters who were protesting the encroachment of the Chinese Communist Party. Snuffing out democracy, snuffing out freedom of speech, imposing their idiots ideology on that city. And I said to one who is not very political, why are you protesting? And she said, because they want to bring about a situation where they can point at a horse and tell me I have to call it a cow.
- [17:28]
Ali Velshi
Yep.
- [17:29]
Garrett Graff
To me, I thought that was a pretty simple definition of extreme autocracy. And that's where we're headed in this country to tie all this together. You know, he doesn't like the results he gets on statistics. He fires the people responsible for providing the data. Right. We saw in Texas. Right. They cut people or gave people retirement who were responsible for flood warning. He doesn't like what the FBI might tell him about something. So he's going to put his own people in there. To tell him what he wants to hear again and again and again. They fired all the inspector generals at agencies. What I worry about is a systematic dismantling of reality in this country, because that's what this is. It's Donald Trump trying to create his own reality and force us to live in his reality, his statistics, his conspiracy theories. This is what autocracy looks and feels like. And we're only six months into this thing. So where are we going to be in two years? How are we going to be able to evaluate, you know, matters of war and peace, matters of recessions and economic growth? Right. To take war. Like, he declares that Iran's nuclear program is obliterated. No evidence for that. Right. So we are going to be living through a period here where we're just not going to have independent, reliable data or information necessary to make decisions about really important matters. And we just have to prepare for that.
- [18:46]
Ali Velshi
The Hong Kong example is great because it's the boiling of a fruit. For a long time, people said life's pretty good here. It's a little bit different. The Chinese have a greater presence here, but pretty much they're going to let us go on the way life went on. And that's what people are thinking in America. And the problem is, when you start replacing non partisan government officials who just count things for a living, is the message to the next person, count them the way you want Trump to count them. And is the message to the rest of us that we can't trust that information? We can't trust climate information. We can't trust information about what those warplanes did in Iran. I don't know what the truth is. So how do I evaluate the truth the next time I have to vote?
- [19:24]
Garrett Graff
And here's the really important thing. There's a question about voting. There's also a question about decision making. How are you going to make good decisions about the economy, about war and peace, about criminal prosecutions? If you're cooking the books and you're inventing the data, right, you're not going to make good decisions. It's hard enough to make good decisions with good information. What are you going to do with bad information? And so it's both whether Americans have the ability to evaluate the competency and performance of their own government, and it's also whether that government is even going to look at the data. I mean, you mentioned climate change. They made a decision a couple days ago to determine that climate change is actually not a risk to people's health. Despite the extreme weather, events we're facing, guess what that's going to lead to bad policy that doesn't deal with climate change. So this is something that is going to affect people beyond their ability to know how many jobs were created last month.
- [20:13]
Ali Velshi
Ben, stay right where you are. Anita. I've got another important discussion to have with you right after the break. When we come back, there's been a tectonic shift in foreign policy with some of America's strongest allies pledging to recognize a Palestinian state, what that means for this country and the war in Gaza, especially with a president like Donald Trump in the White House. That's next.
- [20:35]
Colin Allred
Cash flow Crunch on Deck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $100,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory, or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today at Ondeck. Funds could be available as soon as tomorrow. Depending on certain loan attributes. Your business loan may be issued by Ondeck or Celtic. Bank on Deck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans, an amount subject to lender approval. When it comes to delivering flowers for life's special occasions Trust, the name that's been setting the standard for nearly 50 years. 1-800-flowers.com from breathtaking bouquets to one of a kind arrangements, 1-800-flowers is your authority on quality blooms. Always fresh, always stunning, always delivered with care. And right now, for a limited time, you can save up to 40% off your bouquet and make someone's day. Save up to 40% off today at 1-800-flowers.com sxm. That's 1-800-flowers.Com sxm.
- [21:36]
Garrett Graff
Sometimes an identity threat is a ring of professional hackers. And sometimes it's an overworked accountant who forgot to encrypt their connection while sending bank details.
- [21:45]
Riley Herbst
I need a coffee.
- [21:47]
Garrett Graff
And you need Lifelock. Because your info is in endless places. It only takes one mistake to expose.
- [21:53]
Ali Velshi
You to identity theft.
- [21:54]
Garrett Graff
LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year@lifelock.com specialoffer terms apply.
- [22:09]
Ali Velshi
Alright. This week, France and Canada announced that they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General assembly in September. Britain also pledged to do the same if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire in Gaza. Now, this is a tectonic shift from America's staunchest allies, who also happen to be strong supporters of Israel. It comes as Palestinians in Gaza are starving. Israel's blockade of food, water and medicine into Gaza is fueling a worsening humanitarian crisis where people are suffering and dying from starvation. Dozens of people, including children, have already died from hunger related deaths in recent weeks, according to Gaza health officials. The New York Times reports that the World Food Program said this week that the hunger crisis in Gaza has reached new and astonishing levels of desp with a third of the population not eating for multiple days in a row. Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza city has recorded three deaths from malnutrition in the previous 36 hours. One was a five month old baby. It's entirely man made. Just to be clear, there's enough food in the region for everybody. NPR reports that a United nations affiliated organization that tracks food security worldwide has issued a dire alert confirming that a worst case famine scenario is unfolding across the Gaza Strip today. Donald Trump's real estate investor, this guy, he's the new Middle east envoy. Steve Witkoff, along with the former Fox Weekend host turned US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, visited an aid distribution site in Gaza. This is the senior most people in this administration who have gone to Gaza. Steve Witkoff posted, quote, the purpose of the visit was to give the President a clear understanding of the humanitarian situation and help craft a plan to deliver food and medical aid to the people of Gaza. You will recall in February, Trump said this about his vision for Gaza. We're going to take over that piece and we're going to develop it. I envision world people living there.
- [24:06]
Ben Rhodes
The world's people.
- [24:08]
Ali Velshi
I think you'll make that into an international unbelievable place. I don't want to be cute, I don't want to be a wise guy, but the Riviera of the Middle East, Susan Glasser writes in the New Yorker, quote, netanyahu stood next to Trump and pronounced his Gaza Riviera plan a worthwhile idea that could change history. Even more problematically, some of the most extreme figures in Netanyahu's cabinet have seized on Trump's words as implicit approval for their own plans to depopulate Gaza and re annex the territory. Back with us is Ben Rhodes. Ben, there's so much to cover here. Last Sunday, Donald Trump was with the head of the European Commission. He was asked about this unfolding starvation disaster. His main takeaway there is that nobody is thanking him for all that they're doing in Gaza and for all the food. Something's happened in the last week where Donald Trump has realized and maybe Netanyahu has realized that the world's really mad about this.
- [25:08]
Garrett Graff
Yeah. But I wish I could say that that was out of any humanitarian concern, but it's not. If Israel wanted people to not be starving to death in Gaza, they wouldn't be. They're the ones who cut off all food and aid getting into Gaza in March, including baby formula, which is why babies are dying. Right. Donald Trump, like Joe Biden before him, could suspend military assistance to Israel and put meaningful pressure on them to let that aid. And he's not doing that. What they don't like is the pictures of starving children on the front pages of newspapers around the world. What they don't like is this movement to recognize the Palestinian state by members of the gsac. So most of the world does recognize the Palestinian state. What's new is never before had a member of the G7 kind of the club of the world's most powerful democracies moved in this direction. They're trying to kind of get this off the front page. Even that visit today was appalling.
- [25:59]
Ali Velshi
Ali, he had a MAGA cap on. Witkoff had a MAGA cap on.
- [26:02]
Garrett Graff
Yeah. The Gaza Humanitarian foundation is a Potemkin organization that has presided over the minimal distribution of aid at a minimal number of sites since Israel blockaded the Strip and cut out the UN from aid distribution. And there are credible reports, including from members of the Gaza Humanitarian foundation itself. The Palestinians have been shot and killed in large numbers when they try to come and congregate to get assistance. So you really tell me that if Steve Wykoff wanted to get the aid in, why isn't he using any leverage on Israel to do it? He's doing photo ops instead. So I think the rest of the world sees through this now.
- [26:41]
Ali Velshi
And you've made the. First of all, David Miliband has made the point from the IRC that know there's one way to stop people from. Because you rarely say that. Well, there's too many people, and it's. They're sort of attacking soldiers. There's one way you can solve this problem is don't make food the most valuable commodity on earth. Right. Provide the food. And you and I have talked about this for a long time when America was building those pontoons to be able to bring food in, and now we're airdropping food. None of this is necessary. There are roads into Gaza that you can just send the food in. There's no shortage of food for people. So this could be solved overnight. For two years now, and it has not been.
- [27:16]
Garrett Graff
Ali. There are hundreds of trucks full of food and medicine that could just drive across the border into Gaza and feed people if they were allowed to do so. And the reality is that they're not allowed to do so. Right. And when you see things like airdrops, that is putting a bandaid on a dying patient. Airdrops. David Milband's a friend of mine, we've talked about this too. Airdrops are a drop in the bucket compared to what's in those trucks that are not allowed to drop across the border. So it's a step that's meant to kind of allow the demonstration of providing assistance. It's just like the pier. Just so people know, I criticize Joe Biden's pier that he built that got no assistance and neither as a dribble of assistance. This is ridiculous. If you don't want people to starve to death, let all these trucks that are full of food drive into Gaza. You don't need to be an expert in humanitarian disaster response to know that you know, and again, the rest of the world knows this. And you see rising pressure, rising isolation of Israel and the United States and the international community because it's so obvious to people that this is a preventable catastrophe that is taking place before our eyes.
- [28:27]
Ali Velshi
And you're seeing it here. You're seeing more and more United States senators, no Republicans at the moment, although Bernie Sanders did tell Chris Hayes tonight that maybe you'll even start to see Republicans. Does this concept of recognizing the state of Palestine by G7 countries, does that put any meaningful pressure or is it entirely submission?
- [28:45]
Garrett Graff
I don't think it puts meaningful pressure necessarily. I'd say it does do two things. First of all, it gives Palestinians and not Hamas, because Hamas would be cut out of any Palestinian state, even the Arab League. The Arab states said themselves Hamas would have to disarm. But it gives Palestinians some hope that there are people out there that want them to be able to live in their own place where they're secure and they have sovereignty and self determination. So it accomplishes kind of a horizon for people that are desperate. And yes, I guess it's a form of pressure in the sense it just sends a message to the Israeli government that has moved increasingly to the right. And that to go back to the beginning of your segment, you know, Trump's comments of the Gaza Riviera were seized on by Israeli politicians who publicly say, this is not me, publicly say they want to ethnically cleanse the Gaza Strip, resettle it, annex it, or turn into the Trump Riviera Right. It sends a message to them that the rest of the world is not going to stand by and let that happen. Now we'll see if they actually bring leverage to bear. All I would say here, Ali, is if it didn't mean anything, then the Israeli government wouldn't protest as much as they have when it does happen. So clearly it does show that it's if not pressure it at least some hope for Palestinians and a message that ethnic cleansing is not something that the vast majority of the world is going to turn a blind eye to.
- [30:03]
Ali Velshi
Ben, as always, we appreciate your analysis. Thank you for joining us tonight. Ben rhodes, all right, coming up, Democrats are signaling that it's all hands on deck when it comes to fighting the attempts by Trump and the Republican Party to gerrymander the Congress congressional map in Texas. That's next. We're in a break the glass moment. California is not going to stand idle while Republicans in Texas rig the game. That's the message from California Governor Gavin Newsom as Donald Trump and Texas Republicans scheme to make five Democratic held congressional districts in Texas much more red before the 2026 midterms. Politico reports, quote, Governor Gavin Newsom said Thursday he will seek to call a November special election to have voters appro new House maps that boost Democrats by embracing a public vote. Newsom teed up a nationalized contest that opens a prominent front in national Democrats efforts to thwart President Donald Trump's agenda. Newsom has vigorously embraced the party's push to counter a GOP friendly Texas gerrymander by buoying Democrats in blue states like California, arguing Trump has left the party no choice, end quote. Governor Newsom touched on that theme in an interview with the YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen. COHEN we're trying to play by one set of rules and these folks on the other side have played by a completely different set of rules. You've got to fight fire with fire. This is an existential moment. We have agency. We can act superior. We can act holier than thou and watch the last half century wiped out in real time. I think we need to be held to a higher level of accountability and meet this moment and lean in on this and get Newsom may have started a movement. NBC News reports Democrats in New York plowed ahead Tuesday with their own scheme to counter any GOP redistricting efforts. Legislative Democrats in the blue stronghold unveiled a bill that would allow state lawmakers in Albany to conduct mid decade redistricting, but only if another state were to do it first. The proposal would if it were enacted effectively set up the prospect of a national redistricting tit for tat between Republicans and Democrats. Politico reports Governor J.B. pritzker of Illinois joined Newsom in a meeting with Texas Democrats. In Texas, the Republican controlled state legislature could vote on their new map as early as this weekend. The Texas Tribune reports Democrats have said they might try to thwart the process by fleeing the state. Today, Texas Democrats are making their voices heard by testifying before the state's congressional redistricting to be committee.
- [32:34]
Riley Herbst
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Colin Allred. I'm here as a former representative for a district that you're trying to rip apart. I'm also here as a voting rights lawyer who has spent his career helping his community deal with the consequences of this body's actions. I have to be honest, I've never seen anything this brazen, this broken or this spineless. Let's not sugarcoat it. This is not redistricting. This is rigging.
- [33:01]
Ali Velshi
Joining us now, Colin Allred, a former Democratic congressman from Texas. He's running for the United States Senate next year. Colin, thank you for being with us. Quick update, by the way, because things are moving very, very fast in Texas. How might this go down?
- [33:15]
Riley Herbst
Thanks for having me on, Ali. And you know, listen, this is moving fast and I had it. I was glad to have a chance to testify in front of this committee today, but it wasn't testimony in the sense that they were taking in input to then make a decision. The decision has already been reached. They've already put out the maps after some hearings around the state in which they heard from thousands of Texans that they did not want this, they proceeded with this. They're moving at a very quick pace. And what we have to do is make sure that every Texan knows what's happening, that every American knows what happened, what's happening, that we support some of our Texas representatives in whatever decision they make to try and push back against this. We can still slow this process down. And as a voting rights attorney, somebody who's been doing this for over a decade, as I said there, I've never seen anything like this. This is the most brazen attack on our democracy and attempt to just openly steal congressional seats that I've ever seen.
- [34:13]
Ali Velshi
So we've seen Texas legislators are a remarkable, interesting bunch. We've seen them, them take everything, every arrow out of their quiver that they can in the past. It doesn't, it doesn't defeat the efforts of the Republicans in the legislature. Is there, is there any chance of pushing back against Texas Republicans right now there is.
- [34:39]
Riley Herbst
And I think the first step is to make sure that Texans know what's happening. We have to build the backlash. We also have to build the court case and the documentation that will be relied on when this attempt is ultimately challenged. And there's a chance that the state legislators will decide to break quorum. And I've told everyone who I've talked to about this that we'll support them in whatever decision that they make. But it's true that ultimately it's likely that these maps will pass. And the question that we have then is, what do we do? And to me, we have to take two different, two steps. Number one, we have to challenge us in the courts. And I said that today that we'll see you in court. Number two, we have to challenge them at the ballot box. I was elected in 2018 in a district that was drawn to be a Republican district that had been gerrymandered for a 22 year incumbent Republican. But we beat him in that gerrymandered district in 2018. Sometimes they get, you know, too greedy with these districts, and there is a very real chance that even though they're incredibly creative and they have a lot of technology behind this, that we can make them pay.
- [35:41]
Ali Velshi
Yeah, there's one district in there, the Texas 10th. I mean, it's crazy the way these, these lines are drawn. That said, what do you think of what Newsom is talking about, what Pritzker is talking about, what they're talking about in New York? Is this a moment for Democrats who generally these days, I mean, historically Democrats have been gerrymanderers too, but these days this feels like something that, that Republicans mostly do. Is, is. Is this time for Democrats to get their hands dirty and say, as Gavin Newsom says, fight fire with fire.
- [36:12]
Riley Herbst
Well, Al, you're talking to a voting rights lawyer. And so I never want to see gerrymandering, but I do think that we have to fight fire with fire and that we have to do everything we can to push back. But my focus continues to be here in Texas, and I'm making sure that because there are very real consequences for our state. Allie, you know the history of, of Barbara Jordan's leadership, Mickey Leland, of Sheila Jackson Lee, some of these districts that have been created that are following the Voting Rights act to give voice to Texans who have never had a voice before that are being ripped away or changed dramatically. The district that I represented was a majority minority district. It's completely removed and it's completely gone. This is going to affect real people who will not have a member of Congress for them to contact. We have to fight this here in Texas. We have to fight this with everything. We have to try and prevent this with the fight in the courts, with the fight at the ballot box. Obviously around the country, they'll have to take up this baton as well and make sure that they don't rig our election because as we know, Ali, they don't just want to rig the elections. They use this power to pass these bills like they just passed the big, you know, beautiful bust of a bill to rig our economy. That's what they're ultimately trying to do to working people.
- [37:24]
Ali Velshi
Well, one thing you Texans are good at is getting things on the agenda for the rest of us. You know this. I don't know that everybody was talking about this a few weeks ago and now literally everybody's talking about this. We're going to watch it very closely. Thanks as always, Colin. Good to see you.
- [37:38]
Riley Herbst
Thanks.
- [37:38]
Ali Velshi
Alright, coming up, only three American presidents have been formally impeached by Congress. Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton and Donald Trump. None of them were convicted. In the Senate, Richard Nixon left office facing a near certain impeachment and removal. Until recently, all four of them were part of a Smithsonian exhibit display. Now one of them is missing and I bet you can guess which one. More on that next.
- [38:04]
OnDeck Advertiser
Cash flow crunch. OnDeck's small business line of credit gives your business immediate access to funds up to $100,000 right when you need it. Cover seasonal dips, manage payroll, restock inventory or tackle unexpected expenses without missing a beat. With flexible draws, transparent pricing and control over repayment, get funded quickly and confidently. Apply today@ondeck.com funds could be available as soon as tomor. Depending on certain loan attributes, your business loan may be issued by Ondeck or Celtic Bank. Ondeck does not lend in North Dakota. All loans and amounts subject to lender approval.
- [38:34]
Ali Velshi
Bubba Wallace here with Tyler Reddick. You know what's more nerve wracking than waiting for qualifying results? Waiting for the green flag to drop. Instead of pacing, you rev up with Chumba Casino's weekly new releases. It's like a fresh set of tires for your brain. Play for free@chumbacasino.com let's Chumba. No purchase necessary. VGW Group void where prohibited by law. CT and C's 21 plus sponsored by Jumba Casino. Imagine relying on a dozen different software programs to run your business, none of which are connected, and each one more expensive and more complicated than the last. It can be pretty stressful. Now imagine Odoo. Odoo has all the programs you'll ever need and are all connected on one platform. Doesn't Odoo sound amazing? Let Odoo harmonize your business with simple, efficient software that can handle everything, everything for a fraction of the price. Sign up today@odoo.com that's o d o o.com we're 194 days into Trump 2.0, and the historical record of day 194 today will show a clear picture. There's our breaking news at the top of the show. Trump firing the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief because he's mad at the data that shows Trump's economy is bad. But also this headline in today's Washington Post quote, smithsonian removes Trump from impeachment Exhibit in American History Museum. The Post reports a label with details about Trump's impeachments have been added to the Smithsonian's exhibit since 2021. That, of course, was the year Trump was impeached for a second time for attempting to overturn the election results, culminating in a Trump mob attacking the Capitol. Now, the exhibit notes that only three presidents have seriously faced removal. Referring to Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon and Clinton, the Smithsonian said in a statement that a future and updated exhibit will include all impeachments, end quote. We'll see. Removing Donald Trump's name, even temporarily, is an attempt to rewrite history, something Donald Trump is hell bent on, starting with the shocking pardon of almost all of the January 6th rioters on his first day in office. That was something Trump said repeatedly he was going to do during the campaign. And some people just didn't believe him. Not even Trump's critics believed he would actually do it or that Republican lawmakers would let him do it. The historical record on today, day 194, would show that nine professors at Harvard said, quote, the university must not directly or indirectly cede to governmental or other outside authorities the right to install or reject leading personnel, end quote. For his new book, the historian Garrett Graff assembled accounts of prominent thinkers and academics not dissimilar from those in early 1930s Germany. Graff posted, quote, many of Europe's top scientists watched with remarkable clarity as German democracy turned itself over, often, much too willingly and easily, to Hitler. And they scoffed at their colleagues and friends who assured them, don't worry, Hitler won't be so bad. He won't actually do the things he says he will, end quote. Here's Louis Fisher, a correspondent for the Nation, writing contemporaneously, quote, German democracy marched to its grave with eyes wide open and singing, beware of Adolf Hitler. Democracy is temperate. Its foe is extremism. In Germany, extremism was the thermometer of a sick social system and an ailing economy. End quote. Joining us now is the journalist and historian Garrett Graff. He's the author of the upcoming book the Devil Reach Toward the An Oral History of the Making and unleashing of the Atomic Bomb. It will be available on August 5th. Garrett, my friend, it is good to see you again.
- [42:14]
Anita
Great to see you, sir.
- [42:16]
Ali Velshi
Garrett, you. I mean, your book is really interesting, and it's about something that people should read about. It's really you, the Atomic Bomb. But I want to talk to you about this, what you've written on Substack about this moment that we're in right now. In fact, you write today, right now, right here is the easiest moment to draw the line against Donald Trump. Every day from here, it will get harder. The politics more inevitable, the destruction more irreversible, the sheer waste more costly, the downstream impacts on American life and the world beyond more catastrophic. The challenge is the fact has also been true every day for the last nine years. You're making an important point. You may think we've crossed the Rubicon, but we may not have. And this might be the time to do something about it.
- [42:58]
Anita
Absolutely. And I think when we look at the lessons that history has to teach us, which I think is incredibly important and part of why moments like this with the Smithsonian are so troubling, we see that too often in history, people assume that something is inevitable when it really isn't. And I think what we are watching across the United States, across the country, across our society right now are institutions, institutions capitulating to Donald Trump more willingly than they need to. And I think what we have seen when we go back and look at the accounts of Germany in the 1930s parties, is exactly the same fact pattern, which is sort of everyone came in and said, or watched Hitler come in and say, look, chancellors come, chancellors go. Can he really be that much worse than the other guy? He's not going to do any of the things that he actually says. That's just the political rhetoric it takes to get elected. And by the way, sort of part of one of the other sets of these quotes from all of these physicists, these refugee physicists who ended up fleeing the enveloping cloak of fascism in the 1930s and coming to the United States was sort of their horror at how many of their colleagues sort of willingly went along with Nazi fascism sort of simply because it was good for their careers.
- [44:33]
Ali Velshi
And when you look at it, relatively speaking, the state of civil society in Germany in the 1930s was the same as the state of civil society. Museums, independent museums, hospitals, institutions, the idea that the president can't wreck all of that, and yet you have these nine Harvard professors writing, don't let them wreck you. It can be wrecked.
- [44:55]
Anita
And in fact, I think the parallel is almost even more clear than that which is Germany was the center of all of the most interesting physics work that was taking place in the world. This was where people like J. Robert Oppenheimer went to go study and hear from greats like Werner Heisenberg. And sort of year by year, across the late 20s and the 30s, you saw all of those brilliant physicists leave Europe and come to the United States. And sort of the rest of the history of science and technology in the 20th century was rewritten because of it.
- [45:31]
Ali Velshi
Yeah, Garrett, it's a great book. Thank you. And it's good to see you again. Garrett Graff. His new book will be available on August the Devil Reached Toward the An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb. Tonight's Last Word is next tomorrow on the Val Shaban book club. It's 1989. New York City is in the throes of the AIDS epidemic. Three teens, Judy, Reza and Art, are trying to find love, identity, community, purpose amid death and disease. Like A Love Story by Abdi Nazemian is a story of hope and resistance and a love life to those who are brave enough to be themselves. Don't miss my conversation with the author, Abdi Nazemian tomorrow on Velshi at 10am Eastern. And that is tonight's Last Word.
- [46:14]
Riley Herbst
Riley Herbst from 2311 Racing checking in. Got a break in between team meetings. Sounds like the perfect time for some fast paced fun at Chumba Casino. No waiting, just instant action to keep you going. So next time you need a pick me up, fire it up and take a spin. Play now@chumbacasino.com let's Chumba.
- [46:33]
Ali Velshi
No purchase necessary. VGW Group void. We're prohibited by law. CTNC's 21+ sponsored by Jumba Casino.