we have to begin tonight's show with breaking news out of washington state. from a city of to cane, the fbi reveals today an abandoned backpack discovered yesterday along the intended route of spokane's martin luther king day parade, the fbi thinks today that backpack was not just a suspicious package. it was the real deal. the fbi saying that that backpack contained, quote, a potentially deadly destructive device. likely cape bible of inflicting multiple casualties. now, importantly, this device did not detonate at the spokane, washington, mlk day parade. the convention center workers who found the backpack, these three people saw it and recognized that wire sticking out of the unattended backpack could be a bad thing, those three city workers saw the backpack, they thought it was suspicious, and they told police about it. thank god they did. when the police saw what it was, they notified the bomb squad. the bomb squad moved in. the parade, which was due to pass right by this device, was rerouted away from the area. shops in the area were evacuated. then the bomb squad sent in a robot. and in their terms they successfully disrupted the device. in addition to describing the device as, quote, very lethal and very capable of inflicting multiple casualties, frank harrell, the fbi agent in charge of the spokane office, made it clear to the local newspaper in spokane just how seriously the bureau is taking the threat telling the paper, quote, clearly the timing and placement of a device with the martin luther king parade is not coincidental. we are doing everything humanly possible to vif the individuals or individual who constructed and placed this device. again, the fbi and special agent in charge comment to the spokesman review. to that, in terms of the fbi, the seriousness to which the fbi is treating this, the fbi mccainism task force is now offering a $20,000 reward for information about this case. they are also asking members of the must be public to come forward if for any reason someone took photos where this device was found there yesterday morning. about the suspect of a terrorism task force in this case, they said, quote, i think the link to the martin luther king celebration and march is inescapable. at that point it follows directly in the realm and fear of domestic terrorism. clearly, there was some political or social agenda here. again, those were the terms from the fbi. it falls directly in the fear and realm of domestic terrorism. scary terms being used here by the fbi to describe what happened, what was found and what the bomb squad disrupted. again, at a martin luther king jr. parade in spokane, washington. this is not making national news, but if what happened in spokane is what the fbi is implying it might be, ten days after the shooting of gabrielle giffords and 18 others in tucson, if what happened in spokane is as bad as the fbi says it may be, this story has enormous implications, not just for spokane but for the entire country. joining us on the phone is thomas clouse covering this story. mr. clouse, thank you for your time today. i appreciate it. >> my pleasure. >> from your reporting, how seriously is the fbi taking this? >> well, you can so see the seriousness in how they react. very rarely does the fbi come out to give us so much information so fast. and in this case they had photos, they had information and had all kinds of stuff. we don't usually get this from the fbi. >> the fbi's statement about this says the device was lethal, it had the potential to inflict multiple casualties. have you learned anything more about what type of device was in this backpack? >> they won't go into specifics. so although we did get new information today from a security briefing, from some sources who didn't want to be named but they were willing to give us the information, that the bomb did have a remote device to detonate, such as a keyless remote for a vehicle or a garage door opener. and the bomb did have its own shrapnel which could have caused significant injuries to anyone near the blast. >> that sounds like a relatively sophisticated device. the indications again from the sources for the basis of your reporting does not say this was a pipe bomb with a fuse. this was a more complicated device? >> correct. the investigators were concerned about the placement of the backpack which was on a metal bench with a brick wall behind it meaning that anything -- it would have directed the blast toward the marchers in the street. >> is there any sense of how large an explosion this might have caused, how many casualties it could have been capable to cause if it had detonated as designed to do? >> we have gotten conflicting reports. we have the whole range from a small device to taking down a building. so we haven't been able to place how big a device this was, but it was -- it can fit in a backpack. the question then how big a blast could you get, but obviously the fbi is concerned. >> are any law enforcement sources giving any indication of leads on whom might have put the backpack there, what might have motivated this if they understand anything about that yet? >> well, frank herald told me they have done interviews but no specific suspect to say at this point. they did say that there is no public safety threat currently. >> i do recall another explosive device in downtown spokane. am i right to remember that it was in spokane with an explosive device found near a federal courthouse in the city last year? >> yeah, in march. i think it was march 23rd a device was found outside the federal courthouse, which coincidentally is across the street from our office. but in that case they did not release the information for several days. they never issued photographs of the device. they did not come out with the same level of concern that they did with this device. >> is there any indication that you have now, either positive or negative indication that law enforcement sources think there's any connection between what appears to be this attempted bombing at the mlk day parade yesterday and any previous incident? >> well, publicly they are saying no. in fact, haird said they have no leads to any other incident at this time. but it is definitely something they look at, the fbi doesn't do anything without looking at its path. >> thomas clouse, one more question for you. has there been significant community response to this in spokane? is this -- i know you have been reporting on it for the spokesman review, is the community starting to become aware that this happened, has there been community response thus far? i'm thinking especially in light of what happened in tucson? >> absolutely. it is just now beginning to sink in. we get a suspected explosive device alerts a lot. and almost the time they came out to be a bag with somebody's dirty laundry in it. but in this case, once it was learned it was a bomb, folks are starting to reflect and look at it and obviously it is starting to sink in. >> thomas clouse, our reporter for the spokesman review doing some very good detailed aggressive early reporting on this story. mr. clouse, thank you for helping us make this nationally known. thank you for joining us tonight. >> you bet, rachel. again, this device found at the outskirts or near the parade route of the mlk day parade yesterday in spokane, washington. not a suspicious package but the fbi reporting a potentially lethal device, the real deal. we'll be staying on this story. tomorrow here in washington, d.c., the john boehner-led house will vote to repeal health reform. the previous speaker of the house had some very pointed thoughts about that in an interview with me today. do you think that members of congress who are voting to repeal health reform should be called on to also reject their own government provided health insurance if that's something they are so against on principle? >> yes. >> nancy pelosi is my guest tonight for the we are view. interview. please stay with us. >> ( speaking chinese ) >> ( speaking chinese ) >> ( laughing ) >> introducing cisco umi. be together in high def on your tv. exclusively at best buy's magnolia stores. cisco. healthy smiles start at the gumline. that's why there's crest pro-health clinical gum protection toothpaste. it helps eliminate plaque at the gumline, helping prevent gingivitis. and it's been clinically proven to help reverse it in just four weeks. new crest pro-health clinical toothpaste. if we had not passed health care reform we would have lost more seats for being ineffective and our members are proud of the votes that they took. they are very proud of the votes they took on health care. >> nancy pelosi one, common wisdom, zero. she is no longer speaker of the house but leader of the democrats in the new minority status in the house. frankly she is fired up. my interview with nancy pelosi as confident and intense as i have ever seen her next. >> woman: good night, gluttony-- a farewell long awaited. good night, stuffy. >> ( yawning ) >> good night, outdated. >> ( click ) >> good night, old luxury and all of your wares. good night, bygones everywhere. >> ( engine revs ) >> good morning, illumination. good morning, innovation. good morning, unequaled inspiration. >> ( heartbeats ) don't forget mrs. collier. i won't. ♪ [ female announcer ] clear some snow. ♪ or spread a little warmth. maxwell house gives you a rich full flavored cup of coffee so you can be good to the last drop. to save me a boatload of money on my mortgage, that would be awesome! sure. like that will happen. don't just think about it. spend 10 minutes at lending tree and save up to $272 a month. just a little word on the republican takeover thing. i love you guys who are caught up in the rhetoric of the campaign. these are tax breaks that are going to citizens to buy, wait for it, private insurance policy policies. where's the government takeover on that? and you would think small businesses benefit when they don't provide health insurance and people go to hospitals and emergency rooms to get their care? who pays that bill? the bill fairy? your taxpayers. your taxpayers in your state. now what's your solution? well, they don't have a solution. we know what they are against. they are against health reform. redon't know what they are for. welcome to the republican majority. >> this is not how repealing health reform was supposed to go for republicans this week. they bragged on repealing health reform and scheduled it as the first blockbuster thing to do in the house after taking over the house. now it has finally started. within the last hour the house wrapped up the first day of debate on health care reform. and democrats could not be more delighted with this. from democratic congressman anthony wiener envoking the bill fairy to explain republican ideas on health care to eric canoto, the second republican on the house explaining to reporters today that republicans don't intend to chase down every senior citizen in the country to have them pay back the $250 checks for prescription drugs they already received as part of health care reform. the idea of repealing health reform in the house was supposed to work to republicans advantage. it appears to be misfiring. yesterday we highlighted a new poll from the associated press showing that the opposition to health reform was fading. not even a majority of republicans in this poll supported the republicans' repeal effort. today another poll, this with worse news for the republicans, this from abc news and "the washington post" revealing that the great american uprising republicans were so excited to tap into, this uprising to fully repeal health reform, it is the view of only 18% of the country. 18%. 18% of americans say they support what the republicans are doing this week trying to repeal all of health reform. the appetite for repealing health reform that republicans stoked during the election but thought they could count on to make this a political plus for them, that appetite appears to have faded away. on the other side of the political aisle, sometimes it seems like democrats couldn't stop fighting with each other long enough last year to articulate why they were passing health reform when they were passing it. but now then republicans are trying to take it away democrats are unified on this issue like never before. democrats are organized and on message in selling the virtues of health reform as it goes into effect. for example, house democrats held a hearing ahead of the repeal date today to showcase real americans with real health problems who have really been helped by the elements of relt reform that have gone into effect. they heard testimony like this. >> when the lengthy officials are voting to repeal patients rights legislation they are in reality forcing americans like myself, a working tax paying citizen, back to a world where health insurance coverage is constantly an issue and life-saving care is often out of reach. i stand here today or sit here today in front of my representatives and ask them not to play politics with our lives. >> today the department of health and human services released a report saying that nearly 130 million americans under the age of 65 have pre-existing conditions. that would be flagged by insurance companies making it tough or impossible to get coverage. once health reform is implemented not one of those 129 million americans could be denied coverage based on that pre-existing condition. today democratic congressman henry waxman of the house and emergency commerce committee released an analysis of what repealing health reform would do to every individual congressional district in the country. so, for example, eric cantor, repeal of health reform in your district would take health insurance away from as many as 334,000 people in your district who have pre-existing conditions. it would eliminate health care tax credits for up to $16,400 small businesses in your district. how do you like repeal now? nose statistics are customized for every congressional district in the country now thanks to house democrats. even the richest most powerful insidious special interest groups that sided with republicans against certain aspects of health reform in the first place, the lobby group america's health insurance plans, even they are not joining in the republicans repeal effort this week. politico.com reports that the pharmaceutical industry is staying out of this all together and the health insurance lobbyists are not supporting republicans on repeal. the politics on this are falling apart for republicans. and in light of recent events unrelated to health reform, there was already awkwardness around the republicans using the phrase "job killing" in the title of their repeal legislation. but today the associated press turned insult to injury when they checked the actual claim that health reform is job killing. the ap found that claim to be more than just awkward but it was wrong. the republican cites the non-partisan congressional budget office as the source of their claim that health reform would cost over $600,000 jobs. is it true that the cbo said that about health reform? no, it is not true. and the ap's worded quote, the budget office never produced that number. how many of you know someone who works at a job they wouldn't otherwise work at because that job offers health benefits? i do. how many of you know someone who has even say a second job, a job that maybe totally sucks but they are in the job because it offers health benefits. if you are not in that situation yourself you probably know somebody who is in that situation. what the cbo found when looking at the effect of health reform is that some people may choose of their own accord to not have the jobs that suck that they only have because they used them to get health insurance. some people may choose not to have those jobs and have different jobs because of health reform they could get health insurance through other means. that was the source of the republicans claim that health reform will be job killing. republicans turned that cbo observation into the job-killing health reform act. despite the fact that it is totally not what the cbo said, it ler i wrong, missed it. uh-huh, no sir, no ma'am. republicans did not just get fact checked on this today, they got coffee up the nose, oh, my god, i can't believe they did that, ha-ha, fact checked. you shouldn't call it job killing, you can't call it that. everyone knew when the democrats lost the house in the last election they would have to defend this to the last congress from republicans wanting to do away with the policies. what was not clear until now and what nancy pelosi made crystal clear to me today in my interview with her on capitol hill is that democrats think they will not only be successful in depending their policy achievements but democrats scream the to be dlilgted with how politics are working out here as well. leader pelosi, thank you for the time. i appreciate it. >> my pleasure, thank you, rachel. >> the debate on the republican proposal to repeal health reform is much anticipated and beginning. a lot of congressional democrats i have talked to described this effort as a second opportunity for democrats to convince the country that health reform is a good idea. do you see it that way? >> well, i think it is a continuation of the effort to do so. what is most convincing of all, though, is having the bill come into effect and people seeing what it means in their lives and what we are seeing now is those provisions that have become law that help on the pre-existing condition, especially important to children and women, allowing a young person to stay on his or her parents' policy until he's 26 years old. all those kinds of things of them having care and no co-pay, for example. as people understand what this means to their health and their economic security because of reducing costs i think will -- people will have a more favorable view of it, but yes, this bill will afford us that opportunity. >> we are seeing some signs of change and some deliberate effort by health reform proponents to achieve change. the republicans support for repeal is dropping. among the other side on this issue, though, there is a significant chunk of the public who would like to see not only health reform not repealed but health reform expanded. of course, under your leadership the house did pass a public option. and many people have talked about health reform that did pass with a pope potential steppingstone on the issue. do you think this could be built on? >> well, let me say this. the point you make is a very good one because when people say that they are opposed to the bill is because it doesn't do enough. that's never put into the calculation. you are opposed to it, so you are opposed to any health care initiative. some people thought it should be more, many of our friends. and i think that this is not ideology, this bill, it is a problem solver. and it is a better way to solve the problem, which includes the quality of care and lowers the cost to individuals and to the federal government and to business. then we are open to those. as you know, the public option would save an additional $100 billion. it didn't make the cut. it didn't have enough support to survive the house and the senate and the rest. but what is in the bill achieves many of the same purposes of that. so i don't want to -- i want people to understand opportunities that are there for individuals to have access to quality affordable health care. >> if republicans in the house try to sabotage implementation of health reform by gutting its funding, do you have a strategy to try to protect it from that? >> well, we have been working with the president on this because that is a way they could try to do it, but, again, getting back to your earlier point, it is a way to take this message to the public as they are sabotaging your ability to not be ending discrimination on the pre-existing condition or for your child to stay on your policy. in other words, you have to take what it means to people in their lives. adhe adhering in the hearing today at the capitol, seven people came in to talk about what it meant to them, a mother of twins who when they were 4 years old, the twin girls were both diagnosed with cancer. they are 11 now. she told us the story of all that and how this bill is making a difference right away for them and it has been in effect before had the family wouldn't have had to declare bankruptcy. those kinds of stories about health and economic well being are what we have to drive home to the american people as the republicans try to sabotage the bill. >> you have to drive that home in a way more effectively than during the debate? the effort to sort of take a second stab at selling the virtues of the bill to the public, does that reflect a failure to have done that effectively during the initial debate? >> well, to tell you the truth, the house democrats saved this health care reform bill. i am proud of my colleagues. in the month of august every year, a half a year ago we had hundreds of town meetings and public events talk to promote what was in the health care bill. without that i think the bill would have been gone. our members have advanced it, we passed it, we had to wait for the senate a long time to do a bill because of the instructional part of the public or republicans in the senate, this is it now. we are going forward. whatever success the other side may have had in misrepresenting what was in the bill we have had more success in conveying what actually is in the bill and how it solves problems for america's working families. how it gives leverage to them away from the insurance companies but to the patients. >> in terms of the way the republicans have tried to parlay their opposition to health reform into political capital for themselves, not only in the past election, but they were hoping to do that in the second half of the president's term, do you think members of congress who are voting to repeal health reform should be called on to also reject their own government provided health insurance if that is something they are so against on principle? >> yes, let me go back to your opening premise. i don't think this election was about health care reform. it was about 9.5% unemployment and in some places worse than that. it is hard to talk about health reform if people don't have jobs. jobs, jobs, that's what our priority is, to create jobs. our certain instruction in the senate, we had initiatives as we go forward, it is job creation. we wish our republicans success in creating initiatives and they have. but that's what the election was about. if we had not passed health care reform we may have lost more seats from being ineffective and our members are very proud of the votes that they took. they are very proud of the votes they took on health care. >> former speaker nancy pelosi today also made a connection in this interview between health reform and response to the shootings in tucson. listen to this. >> you're saying, in the effort to repeal health reform would be a step backwards on mental health. >> absolutely, positively. >> that's next. please stay with us. who's your someone? 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and not is it a good idea, but do you think it is politically feasible to do anything about guns? >> one initiative that i think deserves some attention is the magazine -- why would somebody be able to have a magazine that has 30 cartridges that can shoot 30 times, and does that put our law enforcement at a disadvantage? i think we have to look into that. i don't think we can do very much beyond that, but i do think what congressman mccarthy -- her husband was killed and her son was wounded seriously, she is pragmatic about what can be done. and so it is deserving a look. i think it is important to hear from law enforcement on this and to see why does someone need a 30-cartridge magazine. let's have that debate in a respectful way. >> when you were speaker, did you ever consider bringing up portions of the expired assault weapons ban, either as in a consolidated bill as bringing up the bill as a whole or bringing up parts of that capacity cartridge issue when democrats were in control? >> i think the expanded cartridge issue is one that's riper now. i think that when people saw that capacity -- i spoke to a woman and asked -- god bless her, how courageous she was, and it is interesting to hear in that moment she was courageous. >> to recognize what he was doing -- >> and how many people's lives she saved. it would have made a difference. it would have made a difference if he was able to put that in. i know people are concerned about their second amendment rights. is it an i think fringement on that if you can do 10 shots rather than 30 shots and what does it mean to law enforcement? so i think when you ask about a piece of it before, i think at this time there might be some opportunity to talk about that. we'll see, but it is very hard. i'll be honest with you, it is voir dire very hard. we just don't have the votes. >> will it be a political failure if nothing changes in response to what has absolutely gripped the nation in this tragedy? >> well, here's what i think. every time we talk about it we talk about guns and say it could get in the hands of somebody unstable. we talk about the language, it could fall in the mind of somebody that's mentally unstable. let's do something about mental health in our country. that to me, that's one of the things that this health care bill is so important because it has party, we passed a no party bill, patrick kennedy was here, we are very proud of that. we incorporated that into the health care reform bill. and that's really important. and i think strengthening that and implementing that really gets to part of the frightening part of guns in the wrong hands, ideas falling on the wrong minds. let's get to the problem which is a mental health issue in our country. it is stunning and obviously -- i think, we don't know because they have to do the investigation, but it apparently had something to do with what happened in tucson. and i think that captures many of the categories of concerns that we have. >> to be clear, you are saying the effort to repeal health reform would be a step backwards on mental health? >> absolutely, positively. it really is. and that's -- that's very serious to say to a business, if you get health care insurance for your workers, you must give mental health care as well for them and for their families. it is very, very important. you will not be discriminated because of a mental health challenge you have and the medications that you need. if i had to do one thing as a result of what happened in tucson, it would be to address the mental health charges we have in our country. >> the democratic leader expressing guarded, guarded hopes that some policy could be conceivably made about ammunition clips after the tucson shooting but expressing down right insistence that mental health issues be part of the political response to tucson. she was also pretty incess tent with me when i asked her this question, which is sometimes an awkward question for liberals. are you worried that with these -- this new crew of senior advisers and stop staffers coming into the administration in positions like this that the white house will become less progressive in its outlook? 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[ male announcer ] just like you, business pro. just like you. go national. go like a pro. are you at all concerned that the vice president's new chief of staff bruce reed is from the democratic leadership council, the president's chief of staff is on the interest group third way, are you worried that with this new crew of senior advisers and staffers coming into the administration in positions like this, that the white house will become less liberal, less progressive in its outlook? >> i think the white house has always been fairly balanced in how it goes -- i mean, this white house that we are talking about, i'm not concerned about that. i have confidence in president obama and the vice president biden and in the people they trust to get the job done for them. but understand you read off a list of things that are established that never would have happened without barack obama's vice president joe biden. they have delivered only solutions wherever they are from, in other words, from the right, from the left, from the middle. we hope to influence those decisions in a way that's progressive in that it meets the needs of all the american people. but, no, i'm not worried about that. again, i'm very proud of the president and the vice president. >> minority leader nancy pelosi speaking with me at the capitol here in washington earlier today. leader pelosi used very kind terms, she said, fairly balanced. she was a very kind term for what liberals and progressives have also called president obama's century terrorism. the question of whether or not president obama is more of a liberal or more of a centerist is an issue that gives liberals a chance to fight with each other. i can assure you my fellow liberals are writing unkind things about me right now on twitter for using the term centerist anywhere near president obama's name. you can tell the "it hate rachel tweets" apart from the "i hate rachel conservative tweets" because the conservatives don't usually call me a man. it is always funny every time. part of what fueled debate on the left about the president's liberalness is his new chief of staff who started work last week. bill daly served in the clinton administration as the commerce secretary. he was the go-to guy on passing nafta. on health reform mr. daley said, president obama, quote, miscalculated. in 2009 he wrote an opinion piece for "the washington post" advocated a more centerist moderate, code word for democratic party. he sat on the board of the democratic group third way until joining the white house payroll mr. daley held that job in addition to a job at jpmorgan chase. note this exstatic opinion piece from karl rove applauding mr. daley's appointment to presidential chief of staff. the new chief of staff there is bruce reed. mr. reed is a very different guy from bill daley but he fits into the same part of the political spectrum, the rather conservative part. he served as ceo of the democratic leadership council long been a mother ship for democratic politicians and policies that seemed like republican politicians and policies until you read the fine print. so the president's new chief of staff and the vice president's new chief of staff both cut from that same rather conservative cloth. the argument against liberals worrying about that is that chiefs of staff don't make policy. there's no reason to think them being hired means the president or the vice president themselves will pursue conservative goals. that's been the argument. then this happened today. i can't this is in this wall street journal editorial. president obama announced he's ordering federal agencies to review federal regulations and rules and to remote outdated rule that is make our economy less competitive. if this sounds familiar if you are having day deja news, it is become blaming this for the bad economy is staple in the republican party. darrell issa sent a letter to corporations right after the elections asking them what regulations they would like to see axed. hi, i'm darrell issa, i'm from the government here to help. getting rid of the regulations is, of course, not a bad idea. but democrats giving credence to presidential legit macy to their policy about what's really broken in our system, maybe that's a bad idea. joining us now is who litzer prize writing columnist eugene robinson who is very polite on twitter and everyone else. hi, gene. >> hi. >> is the president making the republicans case for them? >> well, i don't think so. it depends on the details, but here's the scenario. darrell issa sends out this letter to the corporations saying, send me all your complaints and we'll get rid of all these nasty regulations you don't like. clearly this is a vehicle, maybe not a freight train, bauds it can be stopped probably, but this is a vehicle moving down the tracks on which at the very least republicans hope to make political hay. so i interpreted the op-ed and the president's initiative as a way of getting out in front of this process rather than being dragged along. if you get out in front you get to define. what we mean by regulations, what we mean by outdated regulations, what we mean about regulations that might have a depressive impact on economic activity. there could be such a thing. there probably is such a thing somewhere in among all the federal regulations. but it is also an opportunity to -- and i would hope the president would take the opportunity, to explain why regulations create jobs. >> that's a good point though because if the republicans are going to sort of suffer regulations across the board in a way that could be bad for the country, sigh your point of getting ahead of that and trying to steer where they are going with it. but if concede all the political territory to them that regulations sure are killing the economy, you do miss the opportunity to make a democratic case for what government is for. >> right. you have to draw that distinction. now, do i seriously doubt president obama's commitment to the concept of regulation? i don't. he passed financial regulatory reform. now, we can argue about whether it was far enough or if he did enough to change the culture of wall street, did it tip the scales back enough in favor of the consumer as opposed to the investment bank. nonetheless, i think it was a very significant piece of legislation. and it was regulation. and those being regulated are not fond of being regulated. so i don't -- i hope that you can see some sort of wholesale change in fi local fi here. i don't see that, but i do anticipate and expect and hope we see that the next step, that pivot in which he says -- these regulations over here, these really are outdated. this is from 1942. it is really not relevant. it is about the radio spectrum and we are talking about the internet now. >> the food safety regulations -- >> these regulations not only keep corporations from doing bad things to you, but, in fact, create economic activity. these regulations lowered a number of people -- >> in your face in the president underlying ideological commitment to that's what government is for, is that at all undercut by his staffing decisions. bruce reed, bill daley and these others seem to -- >> no, it is not, rachel, but let's back up for a second. the president's ideology, he's not the most progressive guy i've ever met, all right? i wouldn't call him a centerist. i would say he would certainly consider himself a progressive. but he takes moderate kind of stances on some issues. he's always said he's opposed to gay marriage, although he may be changing towards something, who knows. he has escalated the war in afghanistan. you know, and i choraled with him on these issues and others. and i know you have, too. but it is always good to listen to what he says, and this is what he has said all along. so i don't think we should be surprised that he's not trying to be a card-carrying tip of the box every progressive guy. that's not him. that's not what we are going to have. the chief of staff positions, i think, are management positions essentially. and i don't read anything into that. i don't think any chief of staff is going to change barack obama's political philosophy. i know no chief of staff is going to change joe biden's political philosophy. they are their own guys. >> very, very smart people keep making that argument to me. some day it will start to sink in with me. but they keep saying it that way. msnbc political analyst, my greyhound friend, eugene robinson, thank you. earlier sargent shriver, the found ore it have peace corps, died at the age of 95. coming up next, lawrence o'donnell talks to friends and family about mr. shriver's remarkable life. on this show some of the nation's brand new governors are having a tough time starting being governors. the agony of gubernatorial training wheels in public, coming up. you exercise and eat right, but your blood sugar may still be high, and you need extra help. ask your doctor about onglyza, a once daily medicine used with diet and exercise to control high blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. adding onglyza to your current oral medicine may help reduce after meal blood sugar spikes and may help reduce high morning blood sugar. 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[ malhis day starts thwith his arthritis pain.. to pay $10 a month with that's breakfast with two pills. the morning is over, it's time for two more pills. the day marches on, back to more pills. and when he's finally home... but hang on; just two aleve can keep arthritis pain away all day with fewer pills than tylenol. this is steven, who chose aleve and 2 pills for a day free of pain. and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. two more senate seats are up for grabs in the next election because the incumbent senator will not run. joe lieberman will not run pour re-election. he was primaried out of the democratic nomination for his own seat in 2006. mr. lieberman won that year as a third party candidate. connecticut's democratic secretary of state is already a declared candidate for that senate seat now. north dakota's democratic senator will not seek reek election, this is good news for republican. north dakota went for john mccain by nine points and in the most recent senate election in november the republican won that seat by a margin of 76-22. we will be right back. receiving the bronze star, that was definitely one of my proudest moments. i graduated from west point, then i did a tour of duty in iraq. when i was transitioning from active duty, i went to a military officer hiring conference. it was kind of like speed dating. there were 12 companies that i was pre-matched with, but walmart turned out to be the best for me. sam walton was in the military, and he understood the importance of developing your people. it's an honor to be in a position of leadership at walmart. i'm captain tracey lloyd, and i work at walmart. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] not all steel is created equal. not all manufacturing processes are created equal. not all engineering standards are created equal. which is why not all luxury vehicles are created equal. the hard way is how lexus inspires absolute confidence. the hard way is the pursuit of perfection. see what it takes at lexus.com/thehardway. you can't switch car insurance until your policy expires. the truth: you can switch to allstate today. extra incentive: you can get allstate's early signing discount. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. guarantee me the best deal on my refinance loan, or pay me $1,000? that would be nice, not getting swindled. um...where are we? don't just think about it. put lendingtree to the test. get the best deal, or $1,000. when republicans took over in the office and accidentally faked the swearing in of two members and then accidentally and not accidentally left out parts of the constitution when any read it out loud and broke their own promises about holding hearinging on every bill and all the other rules they proclaimed, they broke those rules on the first bills they introduced. when republicans leapt out of the starting gate and tripped themselves and fell down, it was talking points memo.com that won the succinct punditry award when they ran the headline, quote, first day with the new gavel? tonight we honor talks memos' achievement punditry with this. first day with the new statehouse? this is the first weird pa maifr by a new governor. the governor of maine honored the martin luther king jr. holiday this year by telling the naacp to kiss my butt. >> what's your response to them saying this was more than one instance but rather a pattern. >> tell them to kiss my butt. >> the great stephen colbert cannot be one-upped on this story. >> i applaud governor lepage. before dr. king came along could anyone could have imagined a white politician openly inviting a black person to kiss him? and without pants? that's progress. >> portland's fox channel 13 report that among hundreds of anti-lepage were on protest. the minister said we should turn the other cheek. governor paul lepage of maine is not the only governor having a hard time in the first days with the statehouse. he's not having the hardest time. fresh off appointing a 22-person cabinet had his administration that is 100% white, all 22 of them newly elected ohio governor john kasich issued his own state commemoration of the mlk holiday. it designates that mlk jr. day in ohio is on march 17th, as in st. patrick's days, not january 17th like the rest of america. not to be further outdone, nut