Being scrutinized for their views on race, religion and russia. He was the first senator to endorse donald trump. Congratulations to my colleague and good friend Jeff Sessions. Great man. Who is going to make an extraordinary attorney general. The whole thing is terrifying. Mr. Sessions is throwback to a shameful era. He was not good enough to be a federal judge. A disgrace to the justice department. How, then, is he good enough to be attorney general. He is one of the stall wart senators. Hes also been a loyal ally to donald trump. Crime is rising, and the president , he blames the police. For too long, weve been blind to the way past injusts continue to shape the present. We must restore law and order. Jeff sessions is such an amazing man. Donald trump nominated three people to major posts today, and tonight he tweeted that hes working all weekend in choosing the great men and women who will be helping to make America Great again. The three picks are Lieutenant General mike flynn for narkt security and mike pompeo for cia and Jeff Sessions for attorney general. While every other cabinet position may simply reflect the president s views, the attorney general is far more than that. It is the one position that must be nonpartisan and requires the vow that its occupant will protect the rights of all americans. Other members of the cabinet can talk about changing the laws. The attorney general enforces them. Not just the ones he likes but all of them. And legal experts as well as civil rights activists say if sessions is confirmed he could face some very stark choices. Take the Voting Rights act. When the Supreme Court invalidated part of that, sessions said it was good news. As attorney jeblg, he would have to choose between that ideological position and his obligation to enforce other parts of the Voting Rights act. Or take immigration, the political issue that first brought sessions and trump together. The Trump Administration has every right to ask congress to change immigration policy. As a politician, we know sessions has opposed most Immigration Reform proposals and fought guest worker and visas. But he would have to apply the current immigration laws regardless of his current views, that claws ovincludes oversighe for noncitizens. Or take corruption. The d. O. J. Oversees. For a trump transition thats already talking about evading laws, he would have to weigh being nonpartial. These choices are tests. The first round comes in a Senate Judiciary committee which vets every federal judge and prosecutor. As you may have heard by now, the last Time Sessions faced that test as a judicial nominee, he didnt pass. Heres what he said then in 1986 after the committee voted him down about his statements over race. I am extremely disaippointed to not have the opportunity to serve as judge. I believe are i was qualified for that position and i am sorry that the Senate Judiciary committee did not see fit to find me qualified for it. Here we are, 30 years later from that moment, and Jeff Sessions has the opportunity to serve again. The choices he makes and publicly pledges to honor may determine his fate. Joining me now to discuss, democratic congressman frgregor meeks and Maria Theresa kumar. Congressman, let me start with you. You look at some of those tests and choices he has to make. Do you think he has proven thus p far that he would land on the right side of those choices . No. Look at every decision hes made as a senator. When you look at the shelby v holder case, dealing with Voting Rights which helps suppress voters, hes wrong on that. You look at where he was on Citizens United that put all this money into politics. Hes been wrong on that. So someone was talking about, well, thats 30 years ago, you dont have to go back 30 years with this guy. You can look at the last two, three, four years and what his opinions have been. But it doesnt surprise me, because we know that donald trump, when he talked about taking our country back again. We see where hes taking it back to. Back to the confederacy . Or back to the times where folks didnt have Voting Rights and there was times when there was jim crowism . So i am really concerned that the Electoral College elected this guy president , but weve got to make sure that were lining up and holding him accountable, the president elect for everything that he does. You mentioned shelby v holder, the Voting Rights case. This is a job where youre sworn to uphold the civil rights laws whether you like them or not. Heres what was told to Chris Matthews today about sessions. What we see here is an administration in its early days, signaling that it is hostile toward or indifferent to the civil rights agenda of the country, and so the question is, if he was not good enough to be a federal judge, interpreting the law, how, then, is he good enough to be attorney general, actually enforcing the law . Do you view this pick as a clear sign of hostility from the Trump Administration on civil rights . Absolutely. But that was clear to me that he would do that, even during the campaign. You know, some are saying now because hes tried to stay out of the public or talk differently when he, but just look at who he is and holook whe he has been. And i was here in new york when he went after those five teenagers. So we know who he is, and thats why im not shocked. Mitt romney may not be calling him the con man and Everything Else before, but he was then, and guess what, that was just four months ago. So he is now. So you look at bannon. You look at now, flynn and sessions. The evidence is on the table. Maria, when you look at sessions, heres the Washington Post from that infamous confirmation that he failed to get, the quote of him basically talking about the ku klux klan, and he said, quote, i used to think they were okay, until learning that some were pot smokers. It is really a clear sign that either the trump fighters welcome this fight or dont care that they would have to have it, given that hes gone through this crucible once before over these issues. Thats thing. The attorney general is also supposed to ensure abiding by the laws of the land but that the most vulnerable are president ele protected. And Jeff Sessions has voted against the Voting Rights act. He has basically voted against the violence against women. Hes said derogatory statements against immigrants and latinos. The list goes on. So its very difficult for one to say once he becomes the attorney general hes going to be the attorney general for all americans. This is just another long list of trump basically saying, trump, when you say that you basically were elected to talk about economic issues, the fact that hes looking at identifying bannon as someone as a Senior Adviser, that he brings on sessions, that hes looking at flynn, its really lard hard to swallow that hes not leading a Check Economic agenda but one based on race. He has to be the president for all americans, and hes not sending that message right now. And trumps Kellyanne Conway pushed back saying that sessions has a record as a prosecutor and as the head of the Just Department hed be lead prosecutor. Here she was on fox news. In the case of Jeff Sessions and the department of justice, i think its been a very politicized department of late. Hopefully he can bring it back to the calibration where it should be. He a be hes been a wellrespect ed prosecutor. Their is a man who spent his life in legislation and law enforcement. Maria, what do you make of this sort of rhetorical a tor c legitimacy sue. They want to change it through political pressure. And then the words out of Kellyanne Conway, she says now is the doj politicized and hes the one whos going to fix that. Hes going to be the law and order. When you hear law and order, it sends shivers down peoples spines because you get ideas of stop and frisk which a lot are of people in the Trump Administration have not denounced, including trump himself. So it makes you pause and say who is he going to be the attorney general for . And instead of protecting the most vulnerable, is he going to be doing surgical precision when it comes to communities of color. You know chuck schumer, and he is no sloiuch when it comes o judiciary issues. Would you call on him tonight to lead the opposition . I think definitely, and senators will ask very tough questions. This wont be a cakewalk because hes a colleague. There will be crucial questions that have to be asked. Theyve got to stand up and make sure that theyre addressed. We cannot allow someone to walk in who clearly by his decisions, i think, go against the very nature of what attorney general should do. When you talk about Voting Rights, when you talk about civil rights. Were talking about criminal justice reform. The cameras did not lie, particularly when you look at attacks on africanamericans and others, and were talking about making sure that there is a review of Certain Police departments. Thats what theyre doing. So we dont need all that reversed. I think all of america wants to come back to make sure we have a real criminal justice system. Thank you for joining me, Maria Theresa kumar, thank you. Thank you, ari. Coming up, donald trump loves bragging that he always wins in court, but he didnt win today, he settled for a whopping 25 million. Were also going to explain his pick to run the cia and wants to tear up the Iran Nuclear Deal and theres more. Stay with us. Esurance does insurance a smarter way, which saves money. Like bundling home and auto coverage, which reduces red tape, which saves money. When they save, you save. Thats home and Auto Insurance for the modern world. Esurance, an allstate company. The Southern Poverty Law Center says there have been more than 430 reports of hate crimes since the election alone, and many are crimes that involve vandalism. The fbi is investigating vandalism in a park that was dedicated to a member of the beastie boys who died, he was jewish. The park was painted with swastikas, and the words go trump. It is already being repainted tonight. Now up next, as promised, donald trump used to say he never settled lawsuits against him, but trump didnt win in court today. He settled within of the many cases against him, several of them together, amounting to 25 million. Well have all of the str story you up next. Style lets you stand out from the herd. Whats inside sets you apart. The cadillac escalade. Enjoy our best offers of the year. G new cars. Youre smart. You already knew that. But its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. Now youre even smarter. This is truecar. I dont like settling suiting, because when you settle lawsuits, everybody sues you, its a little business story. I dont settle lawsuits. I dont settle lawsuits. Donald trump made that very clear during the campaign, but yes, we have breaking anews. He folded. He folded big time, agreeing to pay 25 million over Trump University customers who said he defrauded them. Trump university was a business which offered Business Advice which went out of business. He said it had a 98 approval rating, said i could have settled but wont out of principle. The suits that he settled said that he abused people and using pressured sales tactics and also that trunlt violated state laws. Now he will be paying back some of their money, and while the Settlement Agreement states that he is not technically admitting any wrongdoing, it requires him it to pay a penalty to new york for violating those laws. Trump will pay up to 1 million in penalties to the state of new york for violating state education laws. People can judge for themselves whether violating education laws actually does amount to wrongdoing. Joining me now, julian epstein, the chief minority counsel for the house Judiciary Committee and is a fitting lawyer to discuss this legal story. Good friday evening to you. Good evening. The trump perspective, this is what they said about todays settlement, 25 million, not nothing in a case. They said while we have no doubt Trump University would have prevailed at trial based on the merits. Resolution of these matters allows president elect trump to focus his attention on the issues regarding the nation. Do people pay out 25 million if they think they would win the case at trial . Generally not, this is different because you have an incoming president of the united states, and for a transition that has handled so many matters so badly, you kind of have to give credit where credit is due. This is the besthandled incident youve seen the trump team execute on since the election. That said, the evidence against Trump University was pretty compelling, and it came mostly from his own employers, who were the socalled professors, even though this didnt ever really stoout a bona fide university. It was a classic fraud case. Anybody looking at the information released by the courts during the depo period would see that its a very, very strong case against donald trump. Sdpru make the point of him getting it off the table now. Politically, it may have also been a good idea for them not to settle this during the campaign for 25 million, because it might have drawn attention to why this would be a hard case to win. Other candidates did bring this up. It was a political liability. Because donald trump said i will do to america what i did in my business, and depending on where you sit politically, here was marco rubio on this history during the campaign. People borrowed money, and signed up for this fake university, and these people owe all this money now, and they got nothing in return for it, but youre willing to say whatever you have to say to get them to give you their money. We have a 98 approval rating, an a from the Better Business bureau, and people like it. Many of the people that are witness did tremendously well and made a lot of money. Thats false. By taking the course. Is there anything to be gleaned about his approach to management and governance from trump u in. Its a smart move, because a civil case can be prosecuted against a president are. As y it tells you a lot about donald trump, one of the biggest knocks on him is that he has no core beliefs, he changed his position on abortion, health care, on the iraq war. He changed his position on whether hed settle lawsuits. He said he never would before the election to show three whe s big, tough guy. And now a totally different situation now that hes leblgted trying to avoid what will be an awful political embarrassment for him, so in the short term, a good political move for him, but if youre a member of his political base, you have to ask yourself a question, does this guy really believe in anything. The knock on him is hes always sold people down the river,s a con man. He never believes anything he says like he didnt believe what he was saying when he said he would never settle. So it underscores that narrative of a guy who doesnt mean what he says. But even more importantly, one of the reasons he didnt want to settle this case was, if i settle this case, im going to have a handful of cases and people making cases against me. Guess what, he has a long list of people with a lot of grievances. Architects and contractors he never paid, women. While he was in business and before he was running for president. And guess what, now hes kind of, hes kind of laid for himself a bed. If i settle this case, im going to invite others in. Theres a long list of people with a long list of grievances. So youre looking at a narrative here of an incoming president who could be saddled with all kinds of bag and, legal baggage from his preexisting dealings. I want to ask you before i let you go, and you mentioned this. People on his side love that hes a fighter and he had a big public fight over the judge on this, making racist attacks on judge curiel, now you wonder what was the point of all that. Youre a fighter to end up paying out 25 million anyway . People are calling the house government oversight committee, asking for investigations and oversight on the issue of the conflicts of interest. You used to work there. Briefly your thoughts on the issue. One word for you, ari. Halliburton. Remember dick cheneys relationship with halliburton and how halliburton got him into a whole boat load of trouble because of its involvement in the iraq war. Donald trump makes halliburton look like a picnic. Donald trump has extensive business relationships in russia, in turkey, all throughout europe. And he is his own landlord with the trump hotel in washington where the gsa is supposed to be tenant. You can see endless, endless opportunities for conflicts of interest, and they clearly havent done what they need to do to vet these issues and protect the president. I think were in for some really interesting days ahead. Julian epstein, thank you for joining us. Why was a threestar general paid by russia and why did donald trump pick him to be his National Security adviser . Weve got questions and answers. Stay tuned. See ya next year. This season, start a new tradition. Experience the power of infiniti now, with leases starting at 319 a month. Infiniti. Empower the drive. Mshe said i should think of my rteeth like an apple. It could be great on the outside not so great on the inside. Her advice . Use a toothpaste and mouthwash that strengthens both. Go pro with crest prohealth advanced. Its uniquely formulated with Activestrength Technology to strengthen teeth inside and is better at strengthening the outside than colgate total. Crest toothpaste and mouthwash makes my whole mouth feel amazing. Advance to healthier gums and stronger teeth from day one. My checkup was great. Crest. Healthy, beautiful smiles for life. Donald trump named representative mike pompeo to lead the cia today. He was first elected in 2010 as a member of the tea party and currently sitting on the house intelligence committee. Pompeo tweeted, i look forward to rolling back this disastrous deal with the Worlds Largest state sponsor of terrorism. He said this on monday. Iran is a good example of the gap i think between some of the rhetoric in this town, not unique to the president elect and the reality. Joining us now is former chief of staff for leon pinetan at the cia. How about that point from the president. Its all well and good to have a peaceful transition of power. Everybody expects that. But he seems to have gone further several times, giving an optimism about what he calls reality setting in, that you have to accept the iran deal, thats not what were hearing from these folks. Many members of congress, including pompeo have been skeptical of the iran deal, but what happens when he goes to be cia director, and in 2008 i helped leon panetta get ready himself to become cia director. I went with limb to thim to the. Whats going to confront him is not really whats happened in the past, but whats happening today on the ground in aleppo, with kim jong un in north korea. These are crises that are unfolding as we speak and they will unfold more to test the president elect and pompeo. So hes got to leave partisan politics behind and focus on the nonpartisan business of running operations and being a voice of clarity on nonpartisan Analytic Focus in the oval office and in the situation room. Well, and jonathan, to that point, if you want to be oldfashioned, and things are changing, but if you want to be oldfashioned, the position of cia director is one of intelligence and verified information, not one of policymaking. Right. He is supposed to be a neutral broker within the vast intelligence community, and to filter out a lot of chaff and give the president the wheat, what he really needs to know every day to make very, very tough decisions about hotspots around the world. So its really not supposed to be a policy advocacy role. So that tweet today is kind of alarming. Pompeo is a smart guy, first in his class at the military academy, harvard law school. Hes actually fairly well respected on capitol hill, but he also has this penchant for going for the partisan jabs. So he did this on benghazi. He was to the right of the chairman, trey gowdy of the benghazi committee, and on iran. What hes talking about, if hes successful, and he has to get past israeli intelligence, which supports this deal at this point, they do not believe it is in the National Security interest of israel for this deal to be blown up. But if pompeo is successful in getting donald trump to roll back this deal, we will be in serious jeopardy of having a war with iran during president trumps administration. One thing, to jonathans point, though, we have donald trump here who ran on changing washington, draining the swamp. And what we learned in apolitical jobs like cia and a. G. , he seems to have found republican politicians to fill the role. It almost makes you wonder whether donald trump cant be relied ton to stick to his promises. Tbd. In discussing Michael Flynn, the nsa pick, he says flynn got fired as head of dia, i asked why flynn got fired, abusive with staff, bad management,s been and was right wing nutty ever since. Is that in your view common from republican circles, that being colin powell . That is the common view. He did have a good military career, he was an officer at the right hand of stanley mcchrystal, doing important things in the fight against al qaeda, but his management skills i think his subordinates found lacking, and he was not extended for a third year by the career professional leadership by jim clapper at the time, and during the campaign i think he really went off and did some things that were hyperpartisan and frankly he thinks went too far like saying it is rational to fear all muslims in a tweet from last february. I dont think even he believes that. He knows our country was founded on the principle of religious tolerance. Were going to have to confront the veer length ideology. You know, what is really alarming about their is you now have steve bannon on the domestic side, Michael Flynn on the Foreign Policy side, and you have, you know, a little bit of a trip to crazy town right in there in the white house. And the problem is is that in a rural county . No, there are many any county. Just wanted to confirm. Definitely not necessarily rural. But, you know, the point is that trump, according to all of the managers and executives who worked for him at the Trump Organization over the years, he listens to the last person he talked to. Ive read that. And they all say this. And often steve bannon and Michael Flynn will be the last person he talks to before he makes a decision. Flynns going to have incredible access. He has some experience, but according to the people who worked with him, checkered as were hearing from these reporting. Thank you, appreciate it. As for steve bannon, hes speaking out now for the first time inside trump tower since his post. What he and donald trump have in store for the next four years . In his own words, thats next. How else do you think he gets around so fast . Take the reins this holiday and get the mercedesbenz youve always wanted during the winter event. Now lease the 2017 gle350 for 579 a month at your local mercedesbenz dealer. [burke] hot dog. Seen it. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum same nose. Same toughness. And since hes had moderate alzheimers disease, the same never quit attitude. Thats why i asked his doctor about onceaday namzaric. avo namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimers disease in patients who are taking donepezil. It may improve cognition and overall function, and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. Namzaric does not change the underlying disease progression. Dont take if allergic to memantine, donepezil, piperidine or any of the ingredients in namzaric. Tell the doctor about any conditions including heart, lung, bladder, kidney or liver problems, seizures, stomach ulcers, or procedures with anesthesia. Serious side effects may occur, including muscle problems if given anesthesia; slow heartbeat, fainting, more stomach acid which may lead to ulcers and bleeding; nausea, vomiting, difficulty urinating, seizures, and worsening of lung problems. Most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, dizziness loss of appetite, and bruising. man dad and i shared a lot of moments. Now were making the most of each one. avo ask about namzaric today. This week began with Donald Trumps appointment as steve bannon and ended with Jeff Sessions for attorney general. If there was any doubt that Trumps Campaign of division over unity would continue in governoring that doubt is officially over. With democrats calling for bannons removal and his ties to the White Nationalist movement, bannon was becoming a household name, including with a south park cameo. He answered his critics directly, telling the hollywood reporter, im not a White Nationalist. Im an economic nationalist. And he gives this description of what a Trump White House will look like, quote, like Andrew Jacksons populism, were going to build an entirely new political movement. It will be as exciting as the 1930s, greater than the reagan revolution. And does this economic of populism, how does it meet . A fight with republicans over conservative spending. Im the guy pushing a trillion dollar infrastructure plan. Its the greatest opportunity to rebuild everything, shipyards, ironworks, get them all jacked up. Were just going to throw it up against the wall and see if it sticks. Joining me now, a Senior Adviser from move on. Org and Charlie Pierce from esquire. Charlie, first of all, theres all the rhetoric. Whatever economic nationalism means. But theres a trillion dollarsna domestic spending. Will you buy it . Will this congress . Will i gubuy it, yes. Will the congress . Absolutely not. I dont know if mr. Bannon has checked the order of battle here in washington recently, but its paul ryan who gets to decide what gets spent and what doesnt get spent. If mr. Bannon has a problem with that, he should take it up with james madison. I agree with charlie. We saw what breitbart did to the Republican Party and particular paul ryan for many years, which is really go after the establishment, the republican establishment. What hes trying to do is clearly normalize White Nationalism but saying im not a white marbnationalist. Its not about race. Right, and thats the fear that i think we are headed towards with steve bannon. Clearly, the president , the candidacy of donald trump was normalized. And now were in the situation where the guy whos whispering in his ear can potentially be normalized. Its not even that he has no experience, but we have to remember that the White Supremacists out there are celebrating him being in this position. And he has a certain type of experience. Charlie, he was a Goldman Sachs bannek banker. He got seinfeld royalties, and he sees his role as a grander, historical project. Let me read to you from a speech that he gave from people at the vatican in 2014. Our view is to fight for our beliefs, that we will eradicate everything weve bee kwooelted. Ask yourself 500 years from today, what are they going to say about me . In washington, people are talking about what the head lines are going to be the next day, not the 500 year old arc. The problem is historically, anchd corrine touched on this. Historically, every populist dies or having to use scapegoats racially. A lot of the populism that fueled Andrew Jackson was the slave power. Tom watson started out trying to get an antilynching law passed and ended his career being one of the most ardent segregationists who ever lived, and thats what got hoim electe to the senate. If possible within the framework of the mythology, Bernie Sanders would be picking his cabinet right now. One other part of this interview, because we believe in open dialog here. He had tough words and criticism for the press and msnbc. He says, look, the media bubble is the ultimate symbol of whats wrong. It would be a test pattern. Thats that empty screen thing. Its a closed circle of information from question Hillary Clinton got all her information and confidence. Fox news got it more wrong. Rupert murdoch is a globalist. First of all you have to love that hell take all comers. Some people do identify with that if you watch television in the weeks running up to the election, you had an expectation of something that turned out to be false and wrong that Hillary Clinton would win. Were talking about someone who had breitbart, right . Who constantly put out things that were false and wrong and hateful. It was a, you know, a Dumpster Fire for racism, bigotry, sexism, you name it. So yeah, its coming from the, he should know what hes talking about. Because he did it under this false news kind of blog. So i think, so i think, so i think thats where hes coming from, because thats what he does. Its almost like projecting, i believe. Thats an interesting point. And because his notion of even the terminology he uses, media, hes not practicing journalism and is not clear on how to accession ia access it. Coming up, did fake news help donald trump win the election, and can fake news ensure that he will not fail as president. Fake news sites could make sure people never realize it. Straight ahead. Americans. 83 try to eat healthy. Yet up 90 fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. Lets do more. Add one a day womens gummies. Complete with key nutrients we may need. Plus it supports bone health with calcium and vitamin d. One a day vitacraves gummies. The full value of your totaled new car. The guy says, you picked the wrong insurance plan. No, i picked the wrong insurance company. With new car replacement™, well replace the full value of your car plus depreciation. Liberty mutual insurance. Some more news tonight on who is in and out of the Trump Administration. Mike huckabee met with the Trump Administration today and he told fox news what they discussed. Was it a cabinet position, an advisory position . Yes. Both. Primarily cabinet, but as to which agency, the reason i wouldnt discuss it is because somebodys going to get that slot, and i dont want them to think theyre number two. Heck i may have been number four for all i know. The man who was defeated by Elizabeth Warren is under consideration. Says he will be in touch next week, honored. Coming up, more people are reading fake anews. Is bannon part of the problem . Thats next. G new cars. Youre smart. You already knew that. But its also great for finding the perfect used car. Youll see what a fair price is, and you can connect with a truecar certified dealer. Now youre even smarter. This is truecar. In an age of social media, where so many people are getting their information in sound bites and snippets off their phones, it, if we cant discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems. You know, i just think this is one of the most amazing nights in political history. It just is. When youre talking about the most powerful nation on earth, theres a certain continuity that is a practical matter about how these different players are angling. All of this off the map, off the map, weve never been in this territory before. If you are worried or scared about what this election did, what are you going to do to help your country . We are in uncharted territory in so many ways. Id] i wont, dad. [captain rod] happy Tuesday Morning captain rod here. Its pretty hairy out on the interstate. Traffic is literally crawling, but there is some movement on the eastside overpass. Getting word of another collision. [burke] it happened. December 14th, 2015. And we covered it. Talk to farmers. We know a thing or two because weve seen a thing or two. We are farmers. Bumpadum, bumbumbumbum this is the tenth or 12th time that hes denied being for the war in iraq. We have it on tape. The entire press corps has looked at it. Its been debunctioned. You can go to Hillary Clinton. Com and you can see it. That was donald trump lying right into the microphone about his record opposing the iraq war at the second president ial debate. Theres nothing new about politicians lying, but by all accounts, brazen lying was a part of trumps candidacy. Over half of his statements were false. On many key points, there are 50 50 odds that when trump is speaking, hes lying. He is operating in a shifting environment, not just in terms of political audience but market share. New studies are documenting a perverse feedback loop where propaganda sources that reenforce popular lies are rewarded with more popularity and economic incentives online. Take a look at these headlines which were all fake. These are some of the mostshared stories on facebook during the general election. Sharing a story indicates someone thinks the story is probably true. Most of these false stories were protrump. Take a look at this. All but three were overtly protrump or anticlinton. And that level of misinformation and biassed reenforcement was helpful to trumps win. That was not the over arching goal. Many people who wrote those fake stories are simply opportunists, who quote, experimented with leftleaning or proBernie Sanders content but gave up when they found out it wasnt as reliable a source of income as protrump content. Theres money out there for giving the people what they want, and many want to be deceived. Joining me now, New York Times contributing writer, and an author of several books on the internet and politics. Your thoughts. Well, what i saw in the last election was pretty mindboggling. Around may and june, there was this huge spike in stories that were blatantly false. I dont mean opinions that i disagreed with. I mean headlines like the ones you showed. Like the head line that the pope endorses donald trump. Then there were stories from denver guardian, a newspaper that doesnt exist, saying that a fbi who doesnt exist had leaked Hillary Clintons emails, which didnt happen, and that he had been killed in a murder suicide, which, since he didnt exist hadnt happened and implicating Hillary Clinton in this. Such stories werent just some fringe things and marginal websites nobody saw. Instead, through facebook, they were shared, like the pope endorses trump story a million times. Given that the average person on facebook has 100, 150 friends, poe tebsly hundreds of millions of views. The Hillary Clinton yes, maam p implying the fbi agent, i think i saw maybe a dozen go viral almost every day, and as buzz feeds analysis found, this wasnt always just partisans, it was a lot of times in buzz feeds analysis, they found macedonian teenagers who were like, oh, wow, every click we have gives us a percent. They werent necessarily trying to alter the election results. They found there was a market for this, they were going to feed this market, and that study found that market was much greater in sharing false information by trump supporters. You indicated Something Different might be happening when the candidate might be the source rather than the government. We have a president elect who, through his historic use of twitter every day is himself a source of fake news. Most recently, hes tweeting that he supposedly caused ford motors not to move a plant in kentucky to mexico, which is, you know, a bogus story, but its already been spread and retweeted an even reuters picked it up. And, you know, when a candidate does it, it can be fake. When the government is doing it, and he is soon going to be the government, we call that propaganda. But theres one other point that i want to make here. With all this attention to fake news, we also have to understand what trump has been doing since the election with all of his tweets, attacking the New York Times. It seems weird, right . That he is going after them every day and trying to undermine their credibility, and i think that it isnt just because hes obsessed with the New York Times, but its also because he understands that the new york tienls is one of our remaining sources of credible real news. And if trump manages to undermine that, it will make him that, it will make it that much easier for him to do whatever he wants, and its even more important now to understand why we need, people care about this issue. They need to support institutions that actually provide real news. And he wants to inokay late their efforts and fact check them before they begin. Were an out of time. Im ari tonight on all in. Id get the best people and well do the right thing. Trump starts naming his best people. Like alabama senator Jeff Sessions, a lightning rod choice for attorney general. Nobody is perfect. We cant have everything, can we, mr. Trump . Plus steve bannon breaks his silence. Why trumps new white house Senior Adviser says darkness is good. Breaking news from the Trump University fraud lawsuit. And what a difference an election makes