Hard at work this week in ways that you might not even realize. From floridas governor stripping voters of their election voices, to a Supreme Court justice who is at the collapse were put on blast again. And also, a twice indicted former president looking for a special legal treatment just because he is a candidate. Why saying our democracy is in crisis is actually an understatement. Plus, the extent of the devastation from those Deadly Wildfires in hawaii is becoming clear today. We will have a live update from nbcs Steve Patterson in maui. I am symone sanderstownsend, and i have something to say. Breaking news out of georgia. Fulton County District attorney fani willis is expected to present her case on Donald Trumps president ial election interference to a grand jury starting monday. Now, according to the Atlanta Journalconstitution, the paper is reporting at least two witnesses have been given their 48hour notice. And they will appear before the grand jury on tuesday. We will be discussing development with one of the reporters who broke that story in just a few minutes. But first, our democracy is in crisis, folks. AntiDemocratic Forces are hard at work, and frankly many people out there dont seem to realize that. Quite often we forget that democracy doesnt just happen. It has to be carefully guarded and nurtured to survive. And this week we have just a few examples of the threats to that very democracy. First up, Florida Governor ron desantis, he limited the votes of more than fringe of many 5000 people. But he suspended State Attorney second time in one year that it has sidelined a democratically elected State Attorney. This may want to take this executive or reach nationwide. He is currently courting votes from the campaign trail, were last month that he would pardon former President Donald Trump for any federal convictions. Because in case you forgot, trump recently underwent his third indictment in four months. Those charges center around his efforts to overturn the election that he lost in 2020 by using political pressure to cancel the votes of tens of millions of people. Trumps legal team recently argued in the latest Court Hearing that he should be given special consideration for what he can say about witnesses. The reason . Because he is running for president. Now, trump continues to lie about the 2020 election and relentlessly attack public faith in our democracy, even after those lies endangered members of congress, Law Enforcement, his own supporters, his own Vice President , and our sacred tradition of peacefully transitioning power. But it is not just the actions of candidates or elected officials that are putting our democracy in peril. Even our most sacrosanct institutions, bodies that are supposedly above the political fray, they are being called into question. New reporting from propublica, which has not been independently confirmed by nbc news. But this reporting paints the clearest picture yet of the unreported gifts that Justice Clarence thomas allegedly received from republican billionaires. According to the report, thomas enjoyed 38 destination vacations, 26 private jet flights, eight helicopter flights, 12 vip sporting event passes, two stays at luxury resorts, and one standing invitation to a luxury golf club. This is all a sense of sending to the nations highest court in a 1991. This reporting comes at a time when the publics confidence in the court is at an alltime low. These nine justices, they have the singular power to hand down decisions affecting our democracy, our pocketbooks, our bodies and yet, there is little to no accountability for them. A Supreme Court is the only federal Court Without a binding code of ethics, and calls for reform are being met with powerful opposition. In an exclusive interview with the great Reverend Al Sharpton airing next hour, Vice PresidentKamala Harris sounded the alarm against these attacks on democracy. Whereas, i think everything is at stake right now. One of democracy is intact, it strengthens the people, it protects it and fights for fundamental freedoms, individual rights. Its a fight for order against chaos. It strengthens. On the other hand, democracy, incredibly fragile. It will only be as strong as our willingness to fight for it. Make no mistake, there are anti Democratic Forces working to minimize your say in how you are governed. These forces rely on division and disinformation, and it is all to rob you of your voice. It is time to take notice, and frankly, folks, it is time to act. Joining me now is one of the authors of this propublica story, brett murphy. Welcome, brett. I mean, you are the man with the scoops here. I want to start with one of Justice Thomass benefactors. His name is david so cool, and he said in a statement to you that a, quote, fair and accurate reporting would require you to investigate all nine justices with the same depth and bigger and then as the Come Paramilitary of their friendships and travel habits and related activities. And quote. Brett, what is your response to that assertion from one of Justice Thomass donors . Well we have been. We have been chasing down every credible type that we have received. And what we can do as journalists just go over the elements, it takes us i understand the criticism, all i can say is that we are gonna continue reporting, continue reporting and all the justices. And going wherever the evidence takes us. So we can do. Some of that reporting details fundraisers, let me get this right. Supreme court by this nonprofit, horror shiro algerian association, horacio, part of, meghan say that five times. Now, Justice Thomas is a member of that association. The group was charging 250,000 per table. Help me understand this, brett. How exactly is that allowed . Yeah, so this was something that the Ethics Experts we went to were really surprised by and a little incensed about. So the arrangement here is that the Group Founders was on the whole event, the event takes place over an entire day in multiple different spots around d. C. Really since his induction in 1992, just thomas has hosted one particular event inside of the Supreme Court chambers itself, inside the great hall of the Supreme Court. And not a lot of other groups have that access. That is pretty unusual arrangement. But on top of that, a problem just granting the association that, the association has been fundraising off of that event itself and a charging donors anywhere between 1504 members, 7500 for individual nonmembers. All the way up to i think it is about 100,000 for a table at that event. So this is a very unique situation. And according to the Ethics Experts, it violates one of the key of the whole judiciary. Which says you are not allowed, you shouldnt be fundraising off of your position. Now, the justices are not named specifically in those cannons, but they said that they followed them. I want to play Justice Elaina Kagan for you, this is what she had to say about accountability for the court. It just cant be that the court is the only institution that somehow is not subject to any checks and balances for from anybody else. We are not imperial, and we too are a part of a checking and balancing system in various ways. So can congress to do various things to regulate the Supreme Court, i think the answer is yes. Now that is justice kagan, but just as little told the Wall Street Journal that no provision in the constitution gives them, in congress, the authority to regulate the Supreme Court, period. I, mean brett, your reporting has shown a spotlight on the severe gaps if you will between what the Supreme Court justices are doing and the federal other folks on the federal bench. Do you think that this reporting is going to result into some sort of ethics code that the court will take its own steps to do that . I dont know. I dont know. I think that for a while, the Supreme Court has said that there already is an ethics code for the judiciary. Even though we are not named in it. And this is the cannons that i was referring to earlier. Even though we are not named in it, which used to abide by, yet we choose to recognize it, we have been following it for years, that is what they say. Same with other certain regulations. Such as what types of gifts they can receive, again, they are not named in those regulations as people who have to follow them, but they say we do anyway. Now, a lot of people are saying that it is become clear that the promises that they have made to follow that code. Thanks to follow those regulations, they are not living up to them. That has been the criticism since we have the reporting. Right, before i let you go, i mean, like i said at this time, propublica has been one of the outlets at the forefront of these reports on Justice Thomas. What exactly sparked this, and do you have, you, know anything coming on the bidens in the foreseeable future . Yes we are gonna keep reporting as the credible information comes in from tips. And as we learn new things from sources. We are going to keep reporting on this as long as there is news where the information that we are finding, we will keep publishing. And what started it all was the same thing as i think a lot of Good Journalism just starts with. Talking with a lot of people, finding out things that might be going wrong. And then following the evidence where it takes you. Brett murphy, thank you for your time, and thank you for your work. Appreciate it. Thank you, simon. I want to bring my Political Panel now, to just help us understand the broader impacts of these attacks on democracy. Michael blake is here, hes the former vice chair of the Democratic National committee. And actually pratt is also here. She is a political commentator and an embassy think of contributor. Welcome, welcome to you both. Okay, i want to start with you all, where i started the show. I really do believe that there is so many people out there they dont realize just how far reaching the threats to our democracy are. And i think it is particularly a little bit because of how the media and strategists are framing the stakes. Look at these things that i am gonna put on the screen. These are headlines. If you look at these headlines, i think it is just very clear that weve the framing of these issues as horse races or even customary has just become all too common place. Michael, how should we be approaching our responsibility to meet the moment on these issues . Well it is essential that we protect our democracy. If we dont have the right to vote then we dont have the right to exercise their horses, you dont have the right to implement policies and to live in to be. So when we think about what is at stake right now, the urgency at hand is you have 71 of americans believing that corruption, as well as the threat to democracy are real in our country. That is not democrat, republican, independent, but as everyone. And at the same time though, you can still have on the republican side, there is this notion that this is just all a game. Like, it is not a game at, all it is real. And so when you think about what happened in florida, not only the absurdity of desantis for but for the next day for the Chief Of Staff who was on maternity leave, to them be fired and harassed at their home . You should be able to serve your country without getting a service at your home for doing everything right. And so this is, real simon cant ignore it, but we also have to recognize that their rhetoric is not working on their talks are not working. The only thing that desantis is succeeding out its having judges block what he is doing. The only thing that we are seeing work for trump is that he is having more indictments coming down. People are tired of the attacks. But in tying it to Justice Clarence thomas, you and i both worked the red house, simone. Under no circumstance would there be a scenario where you can sell access to the white house and everything be fine. Hundred thousand dollars for a table should not give you access to the highest court in the land. So we have to make sure that we stop the nonsense and make sure that we actually get a chance for democracy to survive. The hundred 50,000 per table at the Supreme Courts wild. Like, you could lose your job for that in the federal government, its insane. Actually, you know, we talk about the impact on voters here. And the american people. Last years midterms saw the highest, you know, Voter Turnout in over two decades. People are participating and they are showing up. Then you have in florida the governor basically, unilaterally deciding who can and cannot serve as a State Attorney. I think about the Tennessee Three, frankly. The State Legislature trying to reject all of them. Two of the Tennessee Three were ejected from that body. They have both since run for reelection and been reinstated. But what message does this send to the people, that we are constantly asking to participate in our democracy . I think a couple of things, simone. First of, all our democracy is broken. Flat out, it is broken. And republicans stand as the biggest threat to our democracy today. And that is exactly why in 2022, as you pointed out in those midterm elections. People turned out because they realize that you cannot sleep on the states. Republicans are really trying to operate and build out their base and move their extreme Policy Agendas forward, they are in the states. And that is for a very strategic reason. They believe that by dismantling democracy in the states and trying to prevent people from having access to the ballot box or anything else, its the way in which they can win. Under the most dangerous thing right now, simon, and this is really important here. That when the republicans lose on the issues, they sabotage democracy at every turn. And it is all under the guise of a limited government platform. But limited government platform that they tend to espouse is actually an antidemocracy agenda. And that has all been really spurred by the donald trump era, where they just fell in line and believe that, you know, the ideal platform just should be the party of one mans ego. And this is now the dangerous game that they are willing to play. Michael, you are going to have the last word on all of this. I think what actually is saying about antidemocracy agenda is very spot on. And it is not every republican out there, right . But it is the, it seems as though the larger Republican Party apparatus. This is the brand that they are selling. Couple that with going into an election where the frontrunner for the republican nomination is going to be on trial for his efforts to overturn the last president ial election. It seems that a lot of pressure, we are putting it on this very fragile democracy right now . Exactly, simone. Which is the reason why we have to be very clear about the responses. So the freedom to vote act that was reintroduced. Shout out to standing up for that. Of course, congresswoman terri sewell. We have to find ways to make sure that we train the next set of organizers. So from the National Democratic training committee, working to the collective. Making sure that we are showing people that you have to be in this fight for democracy. You dont have the luxury of saying sitting on the sidelines. Because we are seeing in other countries around the world. When they took it for granted, they had their rights taken away. And so whats at stake is not just a question about ten years online, this is about what happens this year and next year. You saw what happened in ohio, voters were very clear. If you are not going to take our rights away, you are not going to take away what it comes to choice. We watched kentucky later this year and that is the reason governor brashear is so far ahead in the polls. Not let Daniel Cameron take away their rights. And it goes to next year. The question that we have on the hour is, are we going to make sure that we are in the fight and in the game . Dr. King had a quote that always stayed with me. In the end, we remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends. You do not have the luxury to be silent about democracy right now. Well, i have more to say but lucky for everybody, yall are going to stick around because we have a lot to discuss later in the show. I want to turn now to the devastating wildfires in hawaii. They have now become the second deadliest wildfires ever in the United States of america. The six fires burning across now we end the Big Island Have killed at least 80 people. But the mayor of maui county says that that number could still go up. Nbcs Steve Patterson is on maui with the latest. St