welcome to the beat. i m ari melber. we are tracking several stories tonight, including another supreme court ethics scandal, tying gop appointee samuel alito to another billionaire on a fishing trip. we ll get into that later. it s a big story. but our news program begins tonight with not only the criminal trial of donald trump, now slated to begin on august 14th buck the broader ongoing threat of right wing individual lantyism and authoritarianism. tonight we begin with a special report on that very challenge, and trump s efforts to hijack the criminal justice system that now is trying to potentially hold him accountable. we re talking about a range of actions that has prompted already fear of violence over the violent rhetoric and whether that could turn to action. we re about one week out from the federal arraignment that trump did try to prevent. we remember he was forced to sit silently in that miami courtroom. outside cameras showed a very small crowd. the scene was
experience. are you really trying to diminish the significance of what happened here and the secret meeting that the president said son set up in trump tower to receive that incriminating information trying to diminish the significance of that? i m not trying to diminish it at all. the more complete story is they met, it was a ruse and they didn t talk about mrs. clinton. you think it was insignificant that he met for the purpose of getting dirt on hillary clinton and the only disappointment expressed in the meeting was the dirt they got wasn t better. you don t think that s significant? i don t think this was a well-advised thing to do. john durham hogs four year investigation of maga fever dreams is grilled on capitol hill. his failure a bump in the road for republicans bent on weaponizing and politicizing the doj. the confessions of donald trump. now a federal as well as a state criminal defendant, he continues to openly incriminate himself. seemingly obliv
as always, we appreciate you spending time with us. one final thing. today on capitol hill a ceremony unveiled a new postage stamp for the united states that honors civil rights icon john lewis. you can recall lewis was a long-time fixture in american life speaking in the march on washington. beaten badly on bloody sunday when he led those marchers across the edmund pettis bridge and he went on to a dedicated career in congress including the sit-ins on gun violence and where he was seen as a rare politician as a moral force in his own right. obama once told him, i am here because of you. the stamp will be available at all u.s. post offices. thanks for spending time with us. the reid out with joy reid starts now. tonight on the reid out