Show: THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW Date: June 2, 2016 Guest: Adam Schiff STEVE KORNACKI, MSNBC GUEST HOST, "ALL IN": All right. Jeff Horowitz from "The Associated Press", thanks for the time. Appreciate it. That's going to do it for "ALL IN" this evening. THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW starts right now. Good evening, Rachel. RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: Good evening, Steve. Thank you for filling in for me earlier this week. I really appreciate it, my friend. It was really nice to have you here. KORNACKI: Thank you very much. Appreciate that. MADDOW: Thanks as well. Thanks at home for staying with us this next hour. Boy, a lot happened today. Today, we saw the death of the beltway media myth that there is any meaningful resistance whatsoever between Donald Trump and the Republican Party. Paul Ryan, speaker of the House, he did wait a few weeks after Donald Trump became the Republican Party's presumptive nominee. But that's it. He does not appear to have influenced Donald Trump to change in any way, by waiting a few weeks to endorse him. Honestly, there was never any real indication that Paul Ryan would end up withholding his endorsement from Donald Trump. But now that he has given Donald Trump his endorsement today, the idea that the Republican Party has a leader other than Donald Trump, their standard-bearer, I think we can comfortably finally say that's over. In today's news, though, there was also a great reminder, a sort of shoot coffee out your nose laughing reminder that although it took Paul Ryan a few weeks to get there, it took Paul Ryan a few weeks to acclimate to Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee, took him a little while to get there, not everybody had to wait. There were some people who jumped on board with Donald Trump right at the beginning. Way before it was even clear that he was going to win. Like for example this guy. And I know, don't judge a book by its cover. I think it is safe to judge the guy posing on his Maserati, the book cover. But that's him. His name is Wayne Allyn Root. I don't know if that's his Maserati. He was the libertarian party's vice presidential nominee in 2008. He's now a self help, get-rich-quick guy. And he's also become sort of a talk show conspiracy theorist. He says he was at Columbia University when President Obama was supposed to be a student there as well and he, Wayne Allyn Root, says he is quite sure Obama never really went to Columbia University. I mean, this is a variety of Obama conspiracy theory that's a little obscure but one that Donald Trump has really been enthusiastic about. It's a conspiracy theory about Barack Obama that Donald Trump was still peddling less than two years ago. People for the American Way reposted this from Donald Trump just the other day. Donald Trump initially posted this in 2014. "Attention all hackers, you are hacking everything else so please hack Obama's college records. Destroyed? And check place of birth." This is 2014. This was after Donald Trump supposedly gave up on the birther thing, right? He has always had the birther thing in reserve. He's never totally gone away from it. And he has always liked this fairly obscure Obama conspiracy theory that President Obama maybe didn't really go to Columbia University, his supposedly destroyed records from Columbia. Yes, right. Lots of Obama conspiracy theories come from lots of places but that particular one that Obama didn't really go to Columbia, that particular conspiracy theory comes from this guy, Wayne Allyn Root. And Donald Trump has always liked that one. So much so that Donald Trump blurbed Wayne Allyn's book, the one with the Maserati on the cover. His book is called "The Power of Relentless." And this was Donald Trump's blurb for it. "Opportunity is knocking and Wayne Root will show you how to seize it. You're in the right place with 'The Power of Relentless'." Relentless is supposed to be all-caps with an exclamation point. The power of relentless! So, then, in January, at the start of the Republican presidential primary this year, with the whole Republican Party supposedly so distressed by Donald Trump's success in the polls at that point, right? So against him. Nobody endorsing him at that point. In January this year, Donald Trump looked around for somebody who would embrace him wholeheartedly, someone who might be able to introduce him at an event in Nevada, ahead of the Nevada caucuses. And he turned to his old buddy who he had written that blurb for, he turned to the guy from "The Power of Relentless!" At this January event in Nevada, Donald Trump had Wayne Allyn Root introduce him. He did so in true Trumpian style, by using the occasion of introducing Donald Trump at a Donald Trump campaign event with a plug for his own book. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WAYNE ALLYN ROOT, THE POWER OF RELENTLESS: We must fight with the power of relentless. We must never, ever action ever give up or give in. We must fight to the end to save this country, the greatest nation in world history. It's time to relentlessly defend America and American exceptionalism before it's gone forever. That describes the fight in Donald Trump. (CHEERS) You and I love Trump, because we know he'll go to Washington and break it. (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: Oh, good. He'll break it. With the power of relentless! That was -- that was January. That was the power of relentless guy, when Donald Trump endorsers in the Republican Party were few and far between. But this guy, Wayne Allyn Root, the conspiracy theorist with the power of relentless, said President Obama didn't go to Columbia, he was an early adopter of the Donald Trump thing. He was an early Donald Trump endorser. And now, today, that guy got the making fun of you equivalent of a moment in the sun at President Obama's commencement address at the U.S. Air Force Academy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We need smart, steady, principled American leadership, and part of leading wisely is seeing threats clearly. Remember Ebola? That was a serious threat and we took it seriously. But in the midst of it, there was hysteria. Flights must be banned. Quarantine citizens. These were actual quotes. Seal the border! And my favorite: Remove Obama or millions of Americans die! That's an actual quote. The thing is, when we panic, we don't make good decisions. (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: President Obama speaking at the Air Force Academy today in Colorado. When he said, "Remove Obama or millions of Americans die", he was quoting "The Power of Relentless" guy, he was quoting Wayne Allyn Root, because in addition to "The Power of Relentless," in addition to claiming President Obama didn't go to Columbia, he also said during the Ebola crisis that if President Obama wasn't somehow forcibly removed from office, we would all die from Ebola, all of us. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: Remove Obama or millions of Americans die! That's an actual quote. (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: That's an effective technique in a speech. To just let the other side's words hang out there on their own, unembellished. As actual literal quotes. While the audience laughs at them. That's a very effective technique. And there has been consternation in the media, I think in politics as well, as to whether it's possible to hold Donald Trump accountable as a presidential candidate for the more ludicrous and preposterous things that he tends to say as a candidate. I mean, just because of the sheer number of things he's said that fit that bill, how do you hold him to account for those things? How do you make him answer for those things? I mean, it's one thing for Mitt Romney to give one remark on how 47 percent of Americans are moochers and parasite and the media and politicians chew on that for a month after Mitt Romney gets overheard saying that. That one comment. I mean, with Donald Trump, a 47 percent type comment would be a welcome respite on a day that might more typically include berating a judge for being Latino, calling Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas", saying he'll meet with Kim Jong-un, saying Saudi Arabia should have nuclear weapons, not swearing off dropping nuclear bombs on Europe, banning all Muslims from the United States, admitting he learns what he knows about national security from the TV shows he watches when they put the generals on. I mean, when it's -- when that's like a typical day on the Donald Trump campaign trail, when it's just this tide of one thing after another like that, do we get inured to it? There's starting to be media soul searching about that. I think there's political consternation over that. When you're that ridiculous, that frequently, do people stop being shocked? Do we get inured? Does nothing seem too shocking? Does nothing seem too idiotic or dangerous or blatantly racist anymore? How do you make a candidate answer for those things he throws out there when he throws so much out there? How do you make it sink in for voters that he really truly has proposed all of this stuff? Well, today, in what was I think inarguably her best speech of the presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton did that to Donald Trump. And she did it the same way that President Obama handled the Trump conspiracy theorist as well today, by letting his own words speak for himself. Just putting them out there unembellished, unedited, and letting people laugh at them. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He says he doesn't have to listen to our generals or admirals, our ambassadors and other high officials, because he has, quote, "a very good brain." (LAUGHTER) He also said, "I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me." You know what? I don't believe him. (APPLAUSE) (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: Of course, she's as serious as a heart attack as she's giving this speech but the crowd is cheering and laughing at Donald Trump. I mean, the reason that works, both as a speech and as a lasting critique, is that she is not caricaturing Donald Trump to get that reaction from that crowd, she's just quoting him directly, and that's deadly. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDAT: I know more about ISIS than the generals do, believe me. MIKE BRZEZINSKI, MSNBC ANCHOR: Who are you consulting with consistently so that you're ready on day one? TRUMP: I'm speaking with myself, number one, because I have a very good brain. And I've said a lot of things. (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: This speech today was the best speech yet of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign -- in part because I think she likes pressing her case on national security issues, for one. But also because it is just rhetorically deadly to be able to take your opponent's record, not embellish it, not dress it up, not make it seem worse than it is, not rounded up to the nearest funny thing about it. Just take it as it is, string it together word for word literally, let it speak for itself, and let people respond. It's hard to do. But when it works, it is politically deadly. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIPS) CLINTON: This is a man who said that more countries should have nuclear weapons, including Saudi Arabia. TRUMP: We're better off frankly if South Korea is going to start to protect itself. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Saudi Arabia, nuclear weapons? TRUMP: Saudi Arabia, definitely. CLINTON: This is someone who has threatened to abandon our allies and NATO. CHRIS MATTHEWS, HARDBALL HOST: We don't need NATO? TRUMP: Do you think -- no, we don't really need NATO in its current form. NATO is obsolete. CLINTON: He has said he would order our military to carry out torture and the murder of civilians who are related to suspected terrorists, even though those are war crimes. TRUMP: With the terrorists, you have to take out their families. When you get those terrorists, you have to take out their families. And don't tell me it doesn't work. Torture works, OK, folks? Torture -- I have these guys, torture doesn't work. Believe me, it works, OK? DEBATE MODERATOR: What would you do as commander in chief if the U.S. military refused to carry out those orders? TRUMP: They won't refuse. They're not going to refuse me, believe me. DEBATE MODERATOR: But they're illegal -- (END VIDEO CLIPS) MADDOW: The Clinton campaign today simultaneously with this speech, they released essentially an annotated guide to the speech with direct quotes from Donald Trump. Proving that she wasn't making it up, she wasn't embellishing, she wasn't rounding up to the nearest thing that would make an impact. She was hoisting him on his own words. And having done that, she just let loose in a way we haven't seen her do before. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CLINTON: The person the Republicans have nominated for president cannot do the job. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) Donald Trump's ideas aren't just different. They are dangerously incoherent. They're not even really ideas, just a series of bizarre rants, personal feuds, and outright lies. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) He is not just unprepared. He is temperamentally unfit to hold an office that requires knowledge, stability, and immense responsibility. He praises dictators like Vladimir Putin and publics fights with our friends, including the British prime minister, the mayor of London, the German chancellor, the president of Mexico, and the pope. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) He says he has foreign policy experience because he ran the Miss Universe pageant in Russia. I have to say, I don't understand Donald's bizarre fascination with dictators and strongmen who have no love for America. He praised China for the Tiananmen square massacre. He said it showed strength. He said if he were grading Vladimir Putin as a leader, he'd give him an "A." Now, I will leave it to the psychiatrists to explain his affection for tyrants. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) I just wonder how anyone could be so wrong about who America's real friends are, because it matters. If you don't know exactly who you're dealing with, men like Putin will eat your lunch. It really matters that Donald Trump says things that go against our deepest-held values. It matters when he says he'll order our military to murder the families of suspected terrorists. During the raid to kill bin Laden, when every second counted, our SEALs took the time to move the women and children in the compound to safety. Donald Trump may not get it, but that's what honor looks like. I remember being in the Situation Room with President Obama debating the potential bin Laden operation. The president's advisers were divided. The intelligence was compelling but far from definitive. And the risks of failure were daunting. The stakes were significant for our battle against al Qaeda and our relationship with Pakistan. Most of all, the lives of those brave SEALs and helicopter pilots hung in the balance. It was a decision only a president could make. And when he did, it was as crisp and courageous a display of leadership as I've ever seen. Now, imagine Donald Trump sitting in the situation room, making life- or-death decisions on behalf of the United States. Imagine him deciding whether to send your spouses or children into battle. Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account at his disposal when he's angry but America's entire arsenal. Do we want him making those calls, someone thin-skinned and quick to anger who lashes out at the smallest criticism? Do we want his finger anywhere near the button? There's no risk of people losing their lives if you blow up a golf course deal. But it doesn't work like that in world affairs. Just like being interviewed on the same episode of "60 Minutes" as Putin was is not the same thing as actually dealing with Putin. So, the stakes in global statecraft are infinitely higher and more complex than in the world of luxury hotels. We all know the tools Donald Trump brings to the table -- bragging, mocking, composing nasty tweets. I'm willing to bet he's writing a few right now. (LAUGHTER) (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: Hillary Clinton today in San Diego giving what I think is the best speech yet of her campaign. And, of course, to that last point, Donald Trump was actually tweeting at her at that very instant in her speech. He tweeted, "Bad performance. Bad performance." If it is a performance that we're watching, then truly -- I mean, all bets are off in terms of what happens, right? If it's no longer politics and it's performing arts, I don't know how to predict who wins that. But if it is a presidential race, then Hillary Clinton really did just step up her campaign significantly. And she did it by tacking him to the wall with his own unadorned statements. It's really hard to do that in politics, but she did it today over and over and over again, and that kind of an assault from a candidate is hard to rebut and hard to beat. We will see if Trump even tries. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) MADDOW: A week and a half ago, the U.S. military killed the head of the Taliban in a drone strike in Pakistan. Last week, the Taliban named itself a new leader. Now, today, asked about this new head of the Taliban, the top U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan said, "I don't believe we'll see peace talks any time in the short term with him." And the reason that is about to hit home like a ton of bricks is because this week is when we are supposed to get the new recommendation from the U.S. military about how many American troops are going to stay in Afghanistan even after President Obama leaves office. We've been told that it's this week we're getting that number. Today's Thursday, so presumably that means tomorrow we are about to be told that at a bare minimum, the 10,000 Americans who are still in Afghanistan 15 years into that war, presumably tomorrow, we're about to be told that they're not coming home. Not while President Obama is still president, at least. So, that means that's part what was the new president's going to start with: 10,000 Americans already deployed in what will then be year 16 of the longest war we've ever fought. Just in case you didn't already think stakes were high enough in this election. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CLINTON: Now, imagine Donald Trump sitting in the Situation Room, making life-or-death decisions on behalf of the United States. Imagine him deciding whether to send your spouses or children into battle. Imagine if he had not just his Twitter account at his disposal when he's angry but America's entire arsenal. Do we want him making those calls, someone thin-skinned and quick to anger who lashes out at the smallest criticism? Do we want his finger anywhere near the button? AUDIENCE: No! (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: Joining us now is Congressman Adam Schiff. He's the ranking Democratic member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. We should tell you, he's also a Hillary Clinton supporter. Congressman, it's really nice to have you with us tonight. Thanks for being here. REP. ADAM SCHIFF (D-CA), HILLARY CLINTON SUPPORTER: Thanks, Rachel. MADDOW: So you are a person who's deeply involved in matters of national security in terms of policy and in terms of thinking about it as your responsibility as a member of Congress. Does your thinking about this presidential race track with the way Hillary Clinton painted the contrast with Donald Trump today in this big speech? SCHIFF: Absolutely. And I think you're right, Rachel, this was one of the most powerful speeches that the secretary has given yet because she uses Donald Trump's own words. So, the American people can understand with all that catalog of horrors that has come out of his mouth just what we're talking about. He is probably a believer in the power of relentless insults and ignorance. That ought to be the subject of his new book. But just looking at some of the positions that he has taken that are antithetical to our interests, and, of course, chief among them, a ban on Muslims coming into the country, even though we are deeply dependent on our Muslim allies, our Gulf allies in the war on terror, suggesting that we would be benefited by a nuclear arms race in the Middle East or another one in Asia, praising Putin, praising Tiananmen Square. I mean, it is just unthinkable. And it had so much more power because these were in Trump own words. And I tell you a couple of things that really resonated. One was the word "unfit", because I've struggled for a description of just how unsuited the man is for the office. And that I think is exactly the right word. Unfit temperamentally, unfit for lack of experience, unfit with lack of judgment. There is just no way to entrust that man with the leadership of the free world. And when Secretary Clinton talked about how those Navy SEALs brought the women and children to safety and that how that itself was the very appearance of honor, I thought to myself as she was speaking those words, that is the appearance of presidential. Very proud what was she had to say. It was a very striking contrast. MADDOW: Congressman, we saw Secretary Clinton today make reference to how Mr. Trump has talked about North Korea, the threat of North Korea, the way he's talked about our ally South Korea. Simultaneously right now, we've got three Republican senators, including Joni Ernst, who herself is an Iraq war veteran, who are in South Korea right now. The media reports we have from those Republican senators being in South Korea, that they're doing media interviews over there telling the South Koreans that Donald Trump doesn't mean it, that he won't be able to do the things that he says he's going to do, that he's not going to meet with Kim Jong-un, that he's not going to make South Korea pay for what he says he's going to make them pay for in terms of spending more money to keep U.S. troops in South Korea. Are we at risk -- without knowing whether or not he's going to be elected, are we at risk of damaging some of our closest alliances just with what he's proposed? Whether or not he's going to win this election? SCHIFF: Oh, absolutely. He's already done significant damage, certainly done damage as I mentioned earlier with our Muslim allies. The Muslim countries that we're trying to work together in this war on terror, but also really rattled our allies like South Korea that is now wondering whether it needs to question the American commitment to the security of South Korea. It has rattled our NATO allies for Trump to talk so glibly about, well, we don't need NATO anymore. NATO is really a relic. You can imagine how the Baltic countries threatened by Russia, watching Russia invade its neighbors, must feel when it hears those kinds of sentiments. It is already damaging to the country, and causing profound questions among our allies. When I travel in my intelligence capacity and meet with leaders of our sister agencies around the world, they have profound questions about the campaign, about is this real, is America really moving in this direction? All of this is antithetical to our interests. MADDOW: Congressman Adam Schiff, ranking member of the House Select Committee on Intelligence, thank you for being with us. I know you're busy with everything going on in California right now. Thanks for being with us. SCHIFF: Thanks, Rachel. MADDOW: All right. We've got much more ahead. Very busy news night. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) MADDOW: In March, the highest-ranking African-American staffer at the National Republican Party quit her job. She was the African-American outreach director for the Republican National Committee and in March, she quit. That came right after the RNC's second-highest-ranking African- American staffer also quit. Their communications director for black media also quit working at the RNC in March. And that came right after the other two highest-ranking African- American staffers at the RNC also quit. Their deputy press secretary and their senior strategist for media engagement also quit at RNC this year. NBC was first to report on the exodus of top-level black staffers at the RNC this spring. But soon, it was hard to ignore. This is from "The Root." Quote, "Something unprecedented is happening at Republican National Committee, the RNC is losing its black staffers, all of them." So, that was in March and April. Then came May and June. As Donald Trump became the de facto Republican nominee on May 3rd, he followed that up promptly on May 5th by this celebration of Cinco de Mayo. His I love Hispanics happy taco bowl tweet. Then, he started attacking the highest-ranking Latina in the Republican Party, the only Latina governor ever in the history of this country. He started attacking Governor Susana Martinez of New Mexico as lazy and slow-moving while he was campaigning in her home state. Then, he re-upped his attacks against a judge who's overseeing his Trump University fraud case. He started saying ominously to his rally audiences that the judge is a Mexican. Tonight, in "The Wall Street Journal," they've broken the dispiriting news Mr. Trump is redoubling his attacks on Judge Gonzalo Curial. Mr. Trump told "The Wall Street Journal" tonight that the judge has an absolute conflict in the case because, specifically, he is of Mexican heritage. Mr. Trump went on to explain, quote, "I'm building a wall, it's an inherent conflict of interest." So, Latino judges aren't allowed to judge Donald Trump because -- Then last night the RNC lost another top staffer. Her name is Ruth Guerra, and she had been the head of has panic media relations for the Republican National Committee. As of last night, she too has quit. So, this is an awkward time for Speaker of the House Paul Ryan to be endorsing Donald Trump today. Just as all the highest-ranking staffers for the Republican Party are fleeing in the face of Donald Trump being the party's nominee. There's also a report in the "New York Times" tonight that Karl Rove has taken a private meeting with Donald Trump. (AUDIO GAP) his tissue-thin resistance to Mr. Trump will also dissolve soon. Then, all the white guys in the Republican Party will settle into supporting Donald Trump as their nominee, even as the party even at their own headquarters bleeds itself of all the ranking nonwhite people who the Republican Party literally pays to work for them. But not to worry. They have found somebody new who the Hispanic media outreach side of things. They have found somebody new to replace the Hispanic media outreach coordinator who quit last night. I have to say I'm not sure how it's going to work out in the long run but they have somebody new. Do you remember that Donald Trump lost really badly in Wisconsin? He lost the Wisconsin primary really badly. A lot of people attributed that to conservative talk radio hosts in Wisconsin being really, really against him there. And one of the anti-Trump radio hosts in Wisconsin is a guy named Charlie Sykes. As far as I know, Charlie Sykes is still anti-Donald Trump even as everybody else in the Republican Party seems to be folding. But last month, as an anti-Trump guy, Charlie Sykes tweeted this. See the text of his tweet there, it says, "Not a parody, Trump attributes Russia knowledge to hosting Miss Universe pageant there." And that's true, Donald Trump really did claim that as one of the things Hillary Clinton slammed him for in her big foreign policy speech today. Radio host Charlie Sykes tweeted this. This was one of the people who retweeted him on that, saying the Charlie Sykes tweet is below, not a parody. The retweet says, "Unfortunately, Donald Trump believes this." She also once tweeted that Donald Trump bore responsibility for the violence that happened at his Chicago event in March. She also tweeted just a few weeks ago that Donald Trump would drive Cuban-Americans from the Republican Party. She also tweeted that with Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee, quote, "Hispanic Republicans are caught in a 2016 meat grinder." And that person, the "Trump is putting Hispanic Republicans in a meat grinder," that person is who the Republican Party just hired to be their replacement Hispanic media relations person after the old one quit because she reportedly could not stomach working on behalf of Donald Trump. They've now hired this woman after she deleted all those things she said on Twitter about Donald Trump even as recently as a couple of weeks ago. She's scrubbed her history as best as it can be scrubbed. It's good they found somebody new. Hard to imagine how long this is going to last, though. But at least with Paul Ryan on board, all the controversy will end now about what it really means to be a Republican these days with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket. At least with Paul Ryan endorsing Donald Trump now, at least that's settled. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) MADDOW: Every year with the Air Force Academy commencement, the Thunderbirds do a flyover during the ceremony. F-16 fighter jets scream by overhead as the graduating officers throw their hats in the air. They did it again today, just like they do at commencement every year. President Obama was there to do the commencement address this year, they did it again, it was exactly as impressive as you would think. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ANNOUNCER: Class of 2016 -- dismissed! (CHEERS) (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: That was today, at the Air Force Academy in Colorado, at their graduation. But today, shortly after that flyover, one of the jets, one of the Thunderbirds, one of the F-16s, crashed as it prepared to land about 20 miles away at Peterson Air Force Base. Now, thankfully, the pilot was able to eject from the plane safely. He walked away unharmed. The pilot was later identified as Air Force Major Alex Turner. Major Turner actually was able to meet quickly this afternoon with President Obama at the commencement after this pilot had just gone through the trauma of having to eject from his F-16 before it crashed. He was okay. But that was not the only serious accident involving service members today. It's an incredible coincidence but in a totally separate incident today, a pilot in the Blue Angels was killed today. The U.S. Air Force has the Thunderbirds. The U.S. Navy has the Blue Angels. And, today, a Blue Angels FA-18 crashed just outside Nashville, Tennessee. The flight team was practicing for an upcoming air show in Tennessee this weekend. That Blue Angels pilot has not been officially identified by the Navy at this point, that's pending notification of the next of kin. And in addition to that, tonight we've also had late word of yet another deadly accident involving U.S. service members in Texas. The army says tonight that three U.S. Army soldiers were killed tonight in Texas after the military truck they were in overturned near a flooded creek on the Ft. Hood military base. We do not know the exact circumstances of that incident. But obviously three fatalities is a lot. And even worse, six more Ft. Hood soldiers are still reported missing after this same incident. Search efforts are under way to find the other six. So, just an incredible near miss at the Air Force Academy today, and two very tragic fatal accidents elsewhere in the country at the same time. It's terrible news. We'll let you know more as we learn more. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) MADDOW: New polls just in from the Democratic primary in California. Senator Bernie Sanders has been saying confidently he thinks he can win in the Golden State. Two recent polls, the NBC poll yesterday, the field poll today, both showed Hillary Clinton up by 2 points in California, which is basically a statistical tie. Well, now, tonight, these new top line numbers from the "L.A. Times" poll show the race as a virtual tie. But this "L.A. Times" poll shows Bernie Sanders actually leading Hillary Clinton in California by 1 point. That is among registered voters in California. That said, if you look at likely voters, the news is not as good for senator Sanders. You see among likely voters Hillary Clinton leads him by 10 points. Beyond this new polling in California, there's also the question of money. Yesterday, the Clinton campaign announced its new fund-raising numbers from last month. They say they raised $27 million in May. That's up $2 million from the previous month. They report having a healthy $42 million cash on hand. As for Senator Sanders and his May fund-raising numbers, we don't know. Sanders campaign tells NBC News they have no immediate plans to release those numbers. They do say their may total will come in below Hillary Clinton's numbers. They say they have not been aggressively e- mails their supporters until the past several days when they say, quote, "several million dollars came in." But the Sanders campaign is not normally this quiet about fund- raising. More typically, the Sanders campaign likes to Trumpet new fund- raising numbers on the first day of the month. Sanders' historic February, followed by Sanders' monster March. First day of the month, month after month, they tell you exactly what they raised. But as of yesterday, first day of the month, nothing. And now, today, second day of the month, nothing. When reporters asked Senator Sanders today about his fund-raising, his response lacked his usual Sanders swagger. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REPORTER: How was your fund-raising last month? SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT), DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Actually quite well. Remember, when you have 30 or 40 states ahead of you, you need a lot more money than when you have six states and three non- states. So, we have absolutely the financial resources that we need to run a very, very strong campaign. We're feeling pretty good. We're putting most of our resources into grassroots efforts. We have tens of thousands of volunteers in the state. (END VIDEO CLIP) MADDOW: Feeling pretty good. We don't have too many states left. We have grassroots support. We have volunteers. This is a new tone from the Sanders campaign. And at this point in the race, yes, we are getting close to the end, but it does raise a viability question for how it's going to end, a viability question about money. Senator Sanders says he has plenty of money but his campaign won't say how much. We do know they started the month of May with just $5.8 million, which is couch cushion money for a presidential campaign, particularly heading into the most expensive state in the country, California. We know they've spent at least $1 million of that $6 million on ads so far in California. But that's really all we know about their financial health. So, in terms of knowing how the Democratic race is going to wrap up and win, can Bernie Sanders still raise money like he used to, how much has he got right now, and is it enough to let him stay in this race the way he says he intends to do through June, and into July and beyond? Joy Reid, the great Joy Reid is here next. Stay with us. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) MADDOW: Joining us now in studio is my friend Joy Reid, MSNBC national correspondent, host of "A.M. JOY" on weekends. Great to see you, my dear. Thanks for being here. JOY REID, HOST, "A.M. JOY": Always great to be here, Rachel. Thank you. MADDOW: Is it significant that the Sanders campaign is not releasing any information about how much money they have or how much money they have raised? REID: Yes, it is, because the Sanders campaign has been among the most aggressive and quick on the draw to tell you how much they raised. They're usually the first to let you know that Hillary Clinton people just lagged and the Hillary people usually under pressure to show that they've got enough small donors to look similar to the Sanders campaign. So, if they're not telling, it probably means that it did not meet their expectations. MADDOW: They said, as of this month, 30 days ago, that they had less than $6 million cash on hand. The Clinton campaign says today they've got $42 million cash on hand. REID: Yes. MADDOW: First of all, do you think that is a respectable number for Hillary Clinton as a likely nominee at this point, because she is obviously, looking towards the general. Do you we have any way of knowing, if Sanders is getting viability problems with being tight on money? REID: Yes, it is actually fine, at the moment because Hillary Clinton cash on hand far exceeds anything that any of the other candidates have. Remember, the supposed self-funding Donald Trump, right only probably 2.5 million cash on hand. He claimed he wasn't going to fundraise. He's now got super PACs trying to raise for him. MADDOW: Right. But he won the primary with like 14 cents. REID: Right, because he had all that free media. MADDOW: Yes. REID: The Sanders campaign, because their burn rate has been so high, they've actually raised the equivalent of the Hillary Clinton, but because they don't have super PACs, she has probably $80 million, $84 million raised by super PACs. This is a big problem in California. Eighteen million voters, of those 18 million voters, about 20 percent of those voters are independents. Independents are what they call NPPs, no party preference, they can vote in the Democratic primary, but they've got to be educated to know they need to get a Democratic ballot, because if they don't, that takes directly away from Sanders' margins. And there's a company called political data that just did a surgery of people who voted by mail. They've been voting by mail since May. MADDOW: Right. REID: Of the people, of the 40 percent of those vote by mail voters who said they wanted to vote for a Democrat, only 15 percent actually asked for a Democratic ballot. Of those who didn't ask for a ballot, six and 10 were Sanders' voters. They needed the money to do that kind of voter education so that they can be viable. MADDOW: But those no party preference voters in California can show up on election day, and requests Democratic ballot in person. They just need to know to do that. REID: But they need to know to do it, and there was a lawsuit filed by Bernie Sanders supporters, trying to get more time to do that voter education, but that's what the campaign was supposed to be doing since May or even April. You've got to do that voter education. That is a ground game problem, and you need money to do that ground game, or you need a big air war, you need a big TV campaign. Not to say the America ad, but to say, hey, if you are an independent voter who prefers me, this is how you have to get it out. MADDOW: This is what you have to do, this additional hurdle you have to jump. REID: Yes. MADDOW: A state with 40 million people and education effort is a big deal. REID: Yes. MADDOW: Joy Reid, MSNBC national correspondent, the host of "A.M. JOY", which you can you watch it right here on MSNBC, Saturday and Sunday morning at 10:00 Eastern, but you already know that because you have been. Joy, thank you. You're doing an amazing job with this weekend show. Congratulations. REID: Thank you for your great support. You've been so wonderful. Thank you. MADDOW: That's very nice thing of you to say. OK. We have to go now, good bye. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) MADDOW: Donald Trump is speaking tonight as we speak, in San Jose, California. He has been responding to Hillary Clinton's foreign policy speech today, among other things. We're gong to have live report from that event coming up shortly after the top of the hour. Of course, Madeleine Albright is going to be here with Lawrence O'Donnell, right after me. Stay tuned. We'll be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) MADDOW: 2007, a professor of Virginia Tech was in trouble. A few years earlier, he uncovered a lead poisoning disaster in Washington, D.C.'s drinking water. It prompted the city to replace its lead pipes. But now, he was bogged down in a fight with the Centers for Disease Control. They felt like they weren't being out front about how much damage the lead had done to kids in D.C., and he was determined to prove it. He spent tens of thousands of his own money, on his investigation. He turned down other work. He put his family into debt. It wasn't clear just financially, how much longer he can keep up the fight. And then, out of the blue, he got a call. Professor Mark Edwards, prepare to receive a check for a half million dollars to use however you want. It was a genius grant from the McArthur Foundation. Nobody really knows who picks the recipient for those, or how they do it, they just call you up, send you the money, no strings attached. The Professor Mark Edwards used his genius grant to win that fight with the CDC over D.C.'s drinking water. And with that win, with that vindication, because Mark Edwards was able to continue his work on America's drinking water, last year, a mom in Michigan, who knew that something was wrong with the tap water, she decided when nobody else would listen to her, that Mark Edwards was the person she could call. And Mark Edwards took her call and then he drove 15 straight hours from Virginia Tech, to start testing water in Flint, Michigan. And that is how the country learned that state of Michigan lead poisoned that city. And that is one example of what one McArthur genius grant can do. Today, the McArthur folks announced they are starting to think bigger. Beyond the genius grants for individual people, they're going to do a new, bigger thing. Once every three years, they're going to award $100 million to a, quote, "single proposal designed to help solve a problem for people, places or the planet." So, not a grant to a genius, but a grant to a genius idea. The first $100 million winner will be chosen next fall. And unlike the genius grants, the whole process of selecting finalists and critiquing and workshopping these proposals for these big prizes, that whole process will be public. So, even the proposals that don't win might attract backing from somewhere else. What problem could you solve with $100 million to solve it? Applications are due October 3rd. Get thinking. That does it for us tonight. Now, it's time for "THE LAST WORD WITH LAWRENCE O'DONNELL." Good evening, Lawrence. END
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