← The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell
Lawrence: If Elon Musk is 'off the rails' as Trump says, how far from the rails is Donald Trump?
00:37:45
Tonight on The Last Word: Donald Trump backs down again on tariffs. Also, a toy company appeals to the Supreme Court over Trump tariffs. And Texas floods kill at least 104 people. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Rick Woldenberg, and Tom Llamas join Lawrence O’Donnell.
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- [00:01]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Smart H Vac pros think ahead. While others focus on summer, you're planning for winter stock the Anisi Gas Heat Pump heating systems. Now be the one who's prepared. Plan ahead@anise comfort.com.
- [00:16]
Donald Trump
Look, if you've got prescriptions, the Walmart app is your place to manage them. Transfer your scripts, refill them and have them delivered straight to you. Migraines, managed allergies, alleviated dermatology Derma delivered ding dong, is that your pizza? Nope. Walmart Pharmacy delivery with a refill. Switch to Walmart and manage your prescriptions in the app. The Walmart you thought you knew is now new delivery not available for all prescriptions.
- [00:44]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Exclusions apply well, Donald Trump proved once again today, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he does not know what he is doing Donald Trump proved that in more than one way today, including his response to a question in the aftermath the tragic aftermath of the horrible flooding in Texas, where the death count is now at 104 with the possibility of going higher, 28 of the victims were children sleeping at a summer camp on the banks of the river. After declaring a federal disaster area in the flood zone in Texas, which then activates a full response by fema, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Donald Trump was asked, are you still planning to phase out fema? To which Donald Trump said, well, FEMA is something we can talk about later, but right now they're busy working, so we'll leave it at that. Right now they're busy working. How could they possibly be busy working if, as Donald Trump and Elon Musk believed back when they were pretending to be friends, that FEMA is a complete waste of money and should be disbanded? Only someone who doesn't know what he's doing could say let's get rid of fema. There's a reason no other president has ever suggested that, because every other president always knew that FEMA was busy working somewhere. Because FEMA's work goes on long after the disaster is in the news, and that work always overlaps with new FEMA jobs that come along when other very predictable disasters take place, like hurricanes during hurricane season or horrible massive flooding in a place in Texas known as Flash Flood Alley. That's the area where that deadly flood occurred. It is predictable that horrible flooding will occur in such a place, and it is a long established government function to create as strong an early warning system as possible for predictable disasters like hurricanes and blizzards and floods and fire in dry, high wind areas. Earthquakes are completely unpredictable, so you never know when FEMA is going to be rushed to the site of a deadly earthquake. But Donald Trump wanted to get rid of FEMA and now refuses to say if he wants to get rid of FEMA because now they're busy working. Those are the words of someone who does not know what he's doing as President of the United States. The first federal disaster relief from Washington was in 1803 after a devastating fire in New Hampshire. And federal disaster relief has been going on since 1803 and was formally centered in one organization when Fema was created 46 years ago. FEMA has been a bipartisan success and enjoyed bipartisan support until Donald Trump decided to get rid of it because Elon Musk told him way back when they were still pretending to be friends. What was that? Years ago? Or, I guess, weeks ago? Of course, we know that Elon Musk and Donald Trump were never friends because friendship requires generosity, kindness, understanding, affection, respect, and, of course, loyalty. And there is no publicly available evidence that Donald Trump or Elon Musk has ever been capable of any of those feelings. To be a friend, you must first be human. And so, no, Elon Musk and Donald Trump were never friends. They pretended to be friends, and now they are back to attacking each other. Elon Musk claims that he has already started a third party to challenge Trump. Republicans in the House and Senate who voted for Donald Trump's budget bill, which eliminated tax credits for customers who purchase Elon Musk's electric cars. On July 4, Elon Musk conducted one of his most absurd fake polls on Twitter, saying Independence Day was the perfect time to ask this question. Should we create the America Party? Twitter is incapable of conducting an accurate poll since it is limited to Twitter followers, which Elon Musk renamed into something too stupid to say out loud. And it is impossible to get an accurate poll polling sample of the population on Elon Musk's Twitter. But even with a rigged poll in which Elon Musk has complete control over the results because he owns and operates the platform people are responding to, he only got 65% of his followers on Twitter to say yes to his idea, and 34% said no. But that's not the funny part. That's not the pathetic part. Elon Musk has 222 million followers on Twitter. 222 million. And the total number of responses to his question about creating a third party was 1,248,856. In other words, more than 99% of Musk followers did not even vote in his poll. The bad political news for Elon Musk. And his poll is that more than 99% of his followers on Twitter don't care what he says about creating a third party and wouldn't even respond to him. But Elon Musk, like Donald Trump, is incapable of embarrassment. And so he might start a political party and he might not. But he hasn't done it yet, even though he has claimed that he already did it. Elon Musk has actually filed nothing about his party organization with the Federal Election Commission. And so his plan to, as he put it, target eight to 10 House seats and two to three Senate seats means absolutely nothing until he files for a party certification with the fecund. And since Donald Trump in effect controls the Federal Election Commission now, it might not be so easy, even for the richest person in the world, to get a new party certified to compete against Donald Trump in Donald Trump's party in federal elections. Tesla stock continued to fall today, dropping 7%. On the news of the latest hysteria between Donald Trump and Elon Musk, Donald Trump says that Elon Musk is completely off the rails. And again, because Donald Trump has no capacity for embarrassment and his followers seem to religiously believe he can do no wrong. Donald Trump doesn't have to apologize to any of his followers for having previously said Elon Musk is a genius and entrusted Elon Musk with their Social Security and their tax files. For all we know, Donald Trump did that just a few weeks ago. But Donald Trump doesn't have to apologize for giving Elon Musk the keys to the government, literally, in some cases, actual keys that were used to lock lock out government workers. Donald Trump doesn't have to apologize to his followers for letting Elon Musk fire people or force them to quit at places like fema. Donald Trump doesn't have to apologize to his followers for letting someone who is completely off the rails take over so much of the government that those people voted for Donald Trump to run. But Donald Trump doesn't know what he's doing. That's why he let Elon Musk do what he did in government. And now Donald Trump is saying on social media, I am saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely off the rails, essentially becoming a train wreck over the past five weeks. This is the same guy, Donald Trump, who used federal property to try to sell Elon Musk's cars and pump up the Tesla stock price. This is the same Donald Trump, who turned the White House driveway into a Tesla dealership for a day and gave Elon Musk the biggest TV commercial ever recorded on federal property. In fact, it's the only one because it's illegal to record TV commercials on federal property. Donald Trump doesn't know what he's doing. That's why he did that. That's why he does everything he does. He does not know what he's doing. Donald Trump may be finally right about something when he says Elon Musk is off the rails. But neutral Musk observers have been saying exactly that for years, long before Elon Musk decided to become the biggest political contributor in history and give every dollar necessary to win a presidential election for Donald Trump. Elon Musk is no more off the rails today than he was a year ago or a year before that. And if Elon Musk is off the rails, how far from the rails is Donald Trump? Are the rails even in sight from wherever Donald Trump's mind is tonight? Donald Trump absolutely does not know what he's doing about tariffs. And we now have what Politico calls a person close to the White House familiar with the trade talks and granted anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations. Trump knows the most interesting part of his presidency is the tariff conversation. I find it hard to believe he's going to surrender it that easily. It's all fake. There's no deadline. It's a self imposed landmark in this theatrical show. And that's where we are. The Trump tariffs theater continued today. Donald Trump sending letters first to Japan and South Korea about tariffs, then to about a dozen other countries who are tiny participants in world trade. And they were the first form letters ever sent by a president of the United States to the heads of government in other countries. They all got the exact same letter with just the name of their country inserted. And most of them got exactly the same tariff numbers in their letters. Each qualifies as the stupidest letter ever received from the President of the United States by the head of state of any other country, the one to Bosnia and Herzegovina, which is identical to the one to Japan, which is identical to the Trump letter to Kazakhstan, which is identical to the Trump letter to Malaysia, et cetera, et cetera. The letter says, quote, we invite you to participate in the extraordinary economy of the United States, the number one market in the world by far. No head of state has ever read a more childish sentence in a letter from the President of the United States. The letter says, we will charge Japan or South Korea or another country a tariff of only 25% on any and all products sent into the United States. And that is a lie. And everyone receiving that letter knows it's a lie. Japan will be charged absolutely nothing. Nothing. Every penny of tariffs on Japanese products, every penny brought into the United States will be paid inside the United States by the people in America who buy that product and bring that product into the country. This is something the entire world knows. And every country receiving this letter today knew that they were looking at a level of economic illiteracy in that letter that they could never get away with in their own countries. It would be impossible for the president of any other country to say that they are charging the United States of America or any other country anything. Their voters would all know they were lying. Because no country anywhere in the world has the legal authority to tax any other country, and no country has ever done it. Tariffs are paid entirely by the country that imposes the tariffs. That is something that Donald Trump has been lying about for his entire political career. And the White House press corps relentlessly proves its inability to understand what a tariff actually is. On July 4, Donald Trump told reporters what these letters would say.
- [14:04]
Elon Musk
It's basically going to explain what the countries are going to be paying in tariffs, and it's very important. It's a lot of money for the country, but we're giving them a bargain. Because if I went by the two deficits or by other ways of measuring, it could be a lot more. We don't want to. I don't want to stretch it too much. We want to keep it pretty reasonable. And I think it's actually, I think it's very reasonable.
- [14:30]
Donald Trump
What countries will you be sending those letters to first?
- [14:34]
Lawrence O'Donnell
That's it. What countries will you be sending the letters to? That's the next question. Donald Trump just said to White House reporters that his letters would, quote, explain what the countries are going to be paying in tariffs. And not a single White House reporter said to him, but the countries don't pay anything in tariffs. Why do you keep saying that? White House reporters do not know how tariffs work? We have to assume that, because if we don't, we're then assuming they are just too afraid. They are terrified to ask Donald Trump why he keeps telling that lie. White House reporters prove every single time that Donald Trump talks about tariffs that they know nothing about tariffs. Trump campaign reporters spent years publicly not understanding tariffs and proving that they do not understand tariffs. They have never, ever, ever asked him, why do you keep telling that lie? There might have been one reporter once or twice who said something like that, but think of the now thousands of times he's told that lie. You've heard him tell that lie. And those reporters just say to him, who are you going to send the letter to? They let him tell that lie. Imagine if the White House press corps were to ever discover that the countries receiving those letters do not actually pay the Trump tariffs. Imagine if the White House press corps were to discover that the Trump tariffs are sales taxes on American consumers paid by American consumers. Imagine the explosive scandal coverage that would then erupt in the White House press briefing room with the White House reporters discovering the big secret, that the Trump tariffs are actually paid by Americans. Not by the Japanese, not by the Chinese, not by the British, not by France, not by Germany, not by any country. Imagine the screaming that would break out in the White House press briefing room if White House reporters ever discovered what every economist in the world knows and what every high school student should know. That's where I learned about tariffs in Henry Lane's high school American government class. And we know what screaming White House reporters sound like because that's what they did in the Biden White House all the time about nothing. Screaming all the time. They do not dare, they do not dare raise their voice ever against the Trump lie that other countries pay the Trump tariffs. The Wall Street Journal of course, knows what a tariff is and has been strongly opposed to the Trump tariffs on economic grounds. Never mind the fact that the United States Court for International Trade has found the Trump tariffs to be illegal and unconstitutional. In a Wall Street Journal editorial tonight titled Tariffman is Back for More Liberation, the Wall street journal notes Mr. Trump's tariffs on present course would take $300 billion in border taxes from the productive economy this year. And he seems bent on going higher. That's an anti growth tax increase and an arbitrary one besides. And that may be why the stock market dropped over 400 points today on the news of the Trump tariffs. Because the stock market and the Wall Street Journal know that the Trump tariffs are taxes on the United States of America. The Wall Street Journal calculates that to mean $300 billion removed from the American economy, which is to say from Americans and delivered to the United States treasury, just like tax dollars. So $300 billion taken from Americans and given to the federal government. That's how tariffs work. The stock market only dropped about 400 points, not 4,000 points today on the Trump tariffs because of course, Wall street doesn't believe that they will take effect. The term taco got started on Wall street, meaning Trump always chickens out. Wall street started building in the Trump always chickens out factor in its reaction to Donald Trump Announcing new tariffs. When Donald Trump announces tariffs, as he did today with Japan and South Korea and other countries, and says that they will go into effect on August 1, as he did today, no one on Wall street actually believes that. Wall street believes Donald Trump will chicken out and Postpone the invented August 1st deadline. And so the Taco watch is on again on Wall street, this time with August 1st as a deadline. Donald Trump has never been very serious about deadlines. You might recall his promise nine years ago that his wife would hold a press conference during Donald Trump's first presidential campaign to explain her immigration status. And she would do that to explain the evolution of her immigration status. Having arrived in this country apparently on a tourist visa, there are people being rounded up by federal agents dressed as soldier carrying weapons of war for overstaying tourist visas. And so Donald Trump letter of the law, compliance with immigration law is obviously the thing that he cares about the most. He's willing to send people to countries they've never been to for the slightest irregularity in their compliance with our immigration law. He's willing to send people to South Sudan where there is a war going on, people from Central America sent to South Sudan. And so you might be wondering right now, what about Donald Trump's third wife's immigration status? Here is what Donald Trump said about that in his first presidential campaign.
- [20:44]
Elon Musk
Oh, and by the way, they said my wife Melania might have come in illegally. Can you believe that one? No, no, no. They said headlines, maybe she came in illegally. Maybe. Let me tell you one thing. She has got it so documented. So she's going to have a little news conference over the next couple of weeks. That's good. That's good. I love it.
- [21:05]
Lawrence O'Donnell
I love it.
- [21:06]
Elon Musk
They said Melania Trump may have come into our country illegally. And how would that be for Donald Trump.
- [21:15]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Next couple of weeks? A news conference. I paid attention to that deadline when Donald Trump issued that deadline. And on this program exactly two weeks later, I asked why the Melania Trump press conference had not happened yet. Why did Donald Trump's two week deadline for that important press conference come and go? It's nine years later. Donald Trump is rounding up people at the point of assault weapons. Donald Trump is sending troops into MacArthur park in Los Angeles where children are playing. It's nine years later. And that press conference as of tonight is nine years overdue. So, no, we've never heard Melania Trump's story, Donald Trump's third wife's story about how she came to have legal residence in the United States. And so Trump always chickens out might apply to more than one person named Trump. But Wall street is betting big money that when it comes to the craziest of the Trump tariffs, all of which will be paid by us, paid by Americans, Wall street continues to bet that Trump always chickens out. We've never had a presidency like this. We've never had a presidency promising and repromising and repromising and repromising the very same thing that the president then doesn't do within a matter of weeks or months of that promise that gets repromised and gets repromised again. And all of that is because Donald Trump does not know what he's doing. Or as POLITICO's unnamed source close to the Trump team says, it's all fake. There's no deadline. It's a self imposed landmark in this theatrical show and that's where we are. You could say that Donald Trump is off the rails, but I ask what rails? When did the spoiled brat from Queens ever have any rails at all? Donald Trump cannot be compared to a derailed train because a train has direction and purpose until it is derailed. Donald Trump has never had that. What you're seeing is a President of the United States who does not know what he's doing. And the price we all pay for that gets worse by the day. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse will join us next.
- [24:00]
Hala Hanna
We have heard enough about what's not working with the world. This is a podcast about what is From MIT SOLVE comes the Solve effect, a podcast about the people rewriting the rules of what's possible. I'm your host Hala Hanna, Executive Director of solve, and I'll be your guide to the messy, inspiring breakthrough solutions that are impacting millions and the barrier breakers behind behind them. New episodes drop the first Wednesday of every month.
- [24:30]
Kelly Ripa
Pandora makes it easy for you to.
- [24:32]
Tom Yamas
Find your favorite music.
- [24:33]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Discover new artists and genres by selecting.
- [24:35]
Kelly Ripa
Any song or album and we'll make.
- [24:37]
Lawrence O'Donnell
You a personalized station for free download on the Apple App Store or Google Play and enjoy the soundtrack to your life.
- [24:44]
Rick Waldenberg
CIDP can make your daily routine feel not so routine. The good news? Now with a self injection for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, you have the option to treat at home. Discover more@cidpselfinjection.com and talk to your doctor. That's cidpselfinjection.com brought to you by Argenics.
- [25:15]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Elon Musk, the biggest political donor in history, gave a total of $288 million to help elect Donald Trump and other Republican candidates. In exchange for that, Donald Trump gave Elon Musk access to the government, leading the so called Department of Government Efficiency, which was never about efficiency, had Elon Musk participating in Cabinet meetings, even getting certain nominees appointed and some not appointed that he was pushing. And after his exit from the White House and his public on and off war with Donald Trump over the budget bill that Republicans passed last week that did not include some of the things that Elon Musk wanted. Donald Trump is now suggesting that Elon Musk could lose some of his government contracts because Elon Musk is now threatening to create a third political party, one that will compete with the Republican Party. How many ways is this wrong and is any of it against the law? For the answer to that, we turn to Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. He is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, and he's the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. Senator, this begins as a story about money in politics. It's the only reason these two people know each other. They never met before. Donald Trump was taking money as a politician. And here's Donald Trump now threatening that if Elon Musk does do something political involving possibly a third party that Donald Trump doesn't like, he will retaliate by taking government contracts away. How close are we here to something illegal?
- [27:03]
Kelly Ripa
We are very much into illegal territory. The problem is that the Attorney General of the United States is essentially our MAGA Attorney General, and she will not cross Donald Trump under any circumstances. And so the entire apparatus of law enforcement will be disabled if Donald Trump were to be the subject of it, or more exactly, if one of his minions were to be the subject of it. Because, as you'll recall, the Supreme Court gave President Trump absolute immunity for any criminal acts that he should conduct as President of the United States so she can cover everybody else. The Supreme Court covered him, and if for some reason there's a slip up, he has the pardon power. So what is illegal has now been replaced by what is prosecutable. And in this environment, the crimes can be gotten away with.
- [28:06]
Lawrence O'Donnell
And Senator, the tariff story, you remember the Senate Finance Committee, which of course has jurisdiction over tariffs, which was the original way we funded the federal government. We never had income taxes for well over for most of our history. And tariffs were the jurisdiction of the Finance Committee. That's really all they were playing with there for a very long time until you got an income tax to work.
- [28:30]
Kelly Ripa
With, was actually called the Committee on Tariffs.
- [28:35]
Lawrence O'Donnell
And so there's this Confusion out there that Donald Trump keeps selling, White House press corps keeps buying which that other countries pay this, these tariffs, which of course is exactly the opposite. But he's gotten this far telling the lie. And I'm not quite sure what his supporters think at this point because they're getting bombarded with automobile dealing, automobile ads saying beat the get the pre tariff price on your car.
- [29:06]
Kelly Ripa
Yeah, I think we're going to see a lot of pre tariff buying as the threats of these tariffs continue to go forward. I mean, it's possible that he never pulls the trigger. It's just taco day after taco day after taco day. But as economists have pointed out, the stupidest tariff of all is tariff confusion. Because businesses have to step back, they've got to take precautions. You're interrupting their supply chains. American consumers will pay higher prices, but the US doesn't get the revenue. So that is why tariff confusion is a form of tariff. That is the stupidest form of tariff that there can be. And that appears to be the tariff policy of this administration. Taco, taco, taco, taco. Endless confusion, higher prices for Americans and the stupidest tariff that you can have.
- [30:08]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, thank you very much for joining us tonight. Yes, sir. Coming up, a victim of the illegal Trump tariffs will join us. And don't be surprised if he's an American. He pays income taxes, he pays Social Security taxes, he pays Medicare taxes, all to the federal government and now pays Trump sales taxes to the federal government thanks to Donald Trump's illegal and unconstitutional tariffs. That's next.
- [30:41]
Hala Hanna
We have heard enough about what's not working with the world. This is a podcast about what is. From MIT Solve comes the Solve effect, a podcast about the people rewriting the rules of what's possible. I'm your host, Hala Hanna, executive director of solve, and I'll be your guide to the messy, inspiring breakthrough solutions that are impacting millions and the barrier breakers behind them. New episodes drop the first Wednesday of every month.
- [31:12]
Sheldon Whitehouse
Hey there, it's Kelly Ripa. And if you've been listening to my podcast, we are knee deep in season three. And if you haven't heard it, it's time to get on board. After years of interviewing celebs on camera, I finally get to bring real conversations that take place when the cameras aren't rolling. Where else are you going to hear Michelle Obama talk about keeping her girls out of Page Six? Hilaria Baldwin's hilarious reaction to Alec running for office? Or Jeremy Renner's lucid hallucinations about Jamie Foxx, nowhere else. It's raw, it's honest, and best of all, it's off camera. And believe me, that's where you get the good stuff. So download, let's talk off camera with Kelly Rippa now. Wherever you get your podcast.
- [31:55]
Rick Waldenberg
CIDP can make your daily routine feel not so routine. The good news, now with a self injection for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy, you have the option to treat at home. Discover more@cidpselfinjection.com and talk to your doctor. That's cidpselfinjection.com brought to you by Argenics.
- [32:26]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Tonight, Donald Trump was asked during his White House dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the August 1 deadline for countries like Japan and South Korea to negotiate possible new trade agreements.
- [32:40]
Unknown Reporter
Is the August 1st deadline firm now? Is that it?
- [32:43]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Could you move on?
- [32:45]
Unknown Reporter
No.
- [32:45]
Elon Musk
I would say firm, but not 100% percent firm. If they call up and they say we'd like to do something a different way, we're going to be open to that. But essentially that's the way it is right now.
- [32:56]
Lawrence O'Donnell
In a case brought by our next guest, the United States Court of International Trade ruled that Donald Trump's tariffs are illegal and unconstitutional. Joining us now is Rick Waldenberg, CEO of Learning Resources, Inc. Who has sued the Trump administration over the tariffs and has succeeded at the the Court of International Trade. Rick, tell us about the status that your company is in now in relation to the tariffs that are operating now.
- [33:26]
Unknown Reporter
Well, we're paying those tariffs. There are two cases pending. Both had injunctions stayed. So there are no American companies that are outside of paying tariffs. So as we bring the products in, we're paying 30% more, 20% more than.
- [33:42]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We paid a year ago.
- [33:43]
Unknown Reporter
And, you know, we have to pass that on. And so we're tax collectors today.
- [33:49]
Lawrence O'Donnell
And Donald Trump keeps saying, as he said today repeatedly, that other countries pay the tariffs. In fact, you are in effect standing at the dock in the Port of Los Angeles or wherever this stuff is coming in, or your agent is, who's paying those tariffs?
- [34:06]
Unknown Reporter
Well, of course we're paying tariffs. We borrow the money from the bank and then we pay it to the US Government. And then in the coming months, we hopefully sell our product and get the taxes back. So we're a tax collector. This is a VAT system turned inside out where we remit and then we collect. The VAT systems that the Trump administration have been complaining about are the opposite, where you collect on behalf of the government and then remit we have to borrow the money and then get it back.
- [34:38]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Yeah, that's the value added tax that European countries have that are very high sales taxes that people have to live with in those in those countries. Rick, as you go forward is how is your company managing with these increased costs and how are your consumers responding to the increased prices?
- [35:00]
Unknown Reporter
Well, it's still very early days, so we don't really know about how they'll respond to prices. We tried to be as conservative as we could possibly be. And so we brought out, you know, mid single digit price increases, which is I think, the least we could afford to take. I believe that the full brunt of this will be passed on to consumers over a two or three year period as things kind of settle out. I think that our customers and consumers of our products depend on us being a highly efficient team. That's how we keep our costs down and how we deliver the product on time. And this has just been enormously disruptive. We start something and then the rules change and then we have to pivot and then the rules change and people say, well, should we keep doing that? And the reality is we have to stick to the plan. Even though the rules are constantly oscillating around, it's an extremely stressful and disruptive environment to be in. I've never experienced anything like this in my adult life where the rules change.
- [36:07]
Lawrence O'Donnell
On a daily basis and the case is on appeal. Trump administration is appealing the Court of International Trade case. So it looks like you're on your way to the Supreme Court. Rick Wallenberg, thank you very much for joining us tonight.
- [36:20]
Unknown Reporter
Thank you.
- [36:21]
Lawrence O'Donnell
We'll be right back with more reporting on this week's horrible tragedy in Texas. Flooding in Texas has now killed at least 104 people. Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer is calling for investigation in a letter to the acting inspector general of the Commerce Department. The letter says this is a national tragedy which people across the country are mourning. The American people deserve answers. I urge your office to immediately investigate whether the staffing shortfalls at National Weather Service offices in Texas and across the country played a role in exacerbating the impact of this deadly flooding event. NBC News reports. Tom Fahey, the legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization, said the San Antonio Weather Forecasting office did not have two of its top positions filled, a permanent science officer or a warning coordination meteorologist. But overall, Fahey said the offices had enough meteorologists to respond to the event. NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Yamas reported from Texas tonight.
- [37:32]
Tom Yamas
Tonight, battling the heat, mud and misery. They're looking for any signs of life. Search and rescue teams on the Guadalupe river furiously combing through massive mountains of debris. We're in the middle of the river right now. And just behind me you can see why this search and recovery is so complicated. There are mounds of this mangled steel and tree branches and tree trunks. This team is trying to figure out a way inside to see what, if anything or anyone is still trapped. An all out search for survivors by water, air and horseback. All over this area you see homes and trailers and RVs with this giant orange X. It means they've been searched. We hope whoever lived in here got out because you can see what the river water did to this, Flipping this entire RV over, destroying everything inside. Volunteer firefighter Wyatt Kelly has been at this for days. What kind of things have you seen out here?
- [38:27]
Lawrence O'Donnell
Unthinkable things.
- [38:28]
Unknown Reporter
There's things that no one ever would have thought they've seen in their lifetime.
- [38:32]
Tom Yamas
So many people were in their beds fast asleep when the floodwaters began to rapidly rise early on the Fourth of July. The catastrophic flooding killing at least 104 people in six counties, including Julian Ryan, who was with his mother, kids and wife Christina in their trailer home. As the water began to rise, my.
- [38:53]
Donald Trump
Husband started panicking because there was no way for us to get out. There was no way for us to get up. And so he tried to bust out the window and sliced his arm almost off.
- [39:04]
Tom Yamas
Christina says he quickly began to bleed out. What do you remember? I'm so sorry you had to see.
- [39:09]
Kelly Ripa
Your son go through that.
- [39:11]
Elon Musk
I just remember holding him so he would get swept in the flood, blood going everywhere. His last words to me was, mom, I love you. And you make sure you tell everybody else, I love you. Love them.
- [39:35]
Tom Yamas
Tragedy also playing out at Camp mystic, which says 27 of its campers and counselors are among the dead and missing. Hallie Thompson's 10 year old daughter somehow managed to escape from her cabin.
- [39:47]
Donald Trump
My daughter grabbed onto a tree and grabbed the hand of her friend and put it on the tree. And so one by one those girls came out and found anything they could cling to.
- [40:00]
Tom Yamas
Hallie and four other family members were nearby. Their cabin was also surrounded by water. She says their neighbors saved their lives.
- [40:08]
Donald Trump
It feels wrong or strange to feel how grateful that I am that we're all alive. While we are still waiting for word about friends daughters and while we have received word of friends daughters who've died.
- [40:24]
Tom Yamas
Lila Bonner, Sarah Marsh, Janie Hunt, Eloise Peck and twins Hannah and Rebecca Lawrence, just some of the young campers whose lives were were cut tragically short. Kellyanne Latal is still missing.
- [40:40]
Lawrence O'Donnell
What do all the reindeer do?
- [40:45]
Tom Yamas
Her dad posting this video of her solo at a Christmas pageant asking prayers for a miracle. You can see the flood's devastating toll on this century old all girls camp in these images. Look at how high the water came into the cabin, the flood waters tossing muddy mattresses from bunk beds. This pink trunk with the name El flipped on its side. A stuffed animal left behind. A camp nurse posting this haunting video of some of the little girls singing as they evacuated.
- [41:23]
Lawrence O'Donnell
That is tonight's last word.
- [41:24]
Ted Danson
Hey, everybody, Ted Danson here to tell you about my podcast with my longtime friend and sometimes co host Woody Harrelson. It's called where everybody knows your name. And we're back for another season. I'm so excited to be joined this season by friends like John Mulaney, David Spade, Sarah Silverman, Ed Helms and many more. You don't want to miss it. Listen to where everybody knows your name with me, Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson. Sometimes, wherever you get your podcasts.