Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rachel Maddow Show 20140807

Platforms, the dole camp had a dole interactive page and had a fun selection of images to, quote, customize your Computers Desktop environment, so you could choose your support on your pc for bob dole. You could even change your desktop wallpaper to a picture of leeter. That was bob and elizabeth doles pet dog, the aspiring first dog. Dole was running as a man from the heart laland, a kansan, some who had pitched in to help his family make ends meet. He was a war hero too. And that was, and that is bob dole. A small town, middle american republican. Not a loud, abrasive tea partier, but really more of a pragmatist, a moderate, an eisenhower republican. But as that campaign was heating up back in 1996, bob dole was in big trouble. He was way behind bill clinton. And so he did something dramatic. He quit the senate. He was the Republican Senate leader, but he just walked away in the middle of the campaign, an all or nothing gamble. The presidency or nothing. And when bob dole did that, it was up to the republican governor of kansas to appoint someone to take his senate seat. And that governor was the same kind of republican as bob dole. And that governor appointed to the seat another moderate pragmatic eisenhowertype republican. And that decision did not sit well at all with a very conservative and very ambitious freshman republican congressman. And his name was Sam Brownback. And brownback challenged that new appointed moderate republican senator in a primary in 1996, and he won. Big. And this was a defining moment for the hard right conservative movement that brownback represented. They finally had struck a big blow to the moderate republican establishment in kansas. Brownbacks Campaign Manager for that 96 race explained that the election was a choice between, quote, ideabased republicans versus statusbased republicans, people who were republicans because their daddies were. Rockefeller republicans. And it was those rockefeller republicans that brownback was after when he went back to kansas from washington to run for governor in the year 2010, an election that he won handedly with a more than 30 margin. This was a very big deal in kansas when this happened. It has long been a very republican state, but Sam Brownback represented a very different kind of kansas republican. Far to the right, antigovernment, basically a tea partier. The antibob dole. And when he became governor in 2010, he and his fellow conservatives sought to settle the score with that old moderate wing, once and for all. Just two years ago in 2012, brownback supporters led a purge of kansas motor republican state legislators, going after them systemically in primaries, to drive them out of the statehouse, to replace them with right wingers that shared his agenda. And they got their way. They cleaned house in 2012. That same year, brownback ushered in one of the biggest tax cuts in kansas history. One of the biggest tax cuts of any state for decades. He combined tax brackets and cut state income rates, chopped rates for business owners, saying this would all create tens of thousands of jobs and be a shot of adrenaline into the heart of the kansas economy. Brownbacks Tea Party Kansas experiment hasnt quite worked out that way. Cutting taxes so much has meant theres not as much revenue for the state. In the last year, revenue was down nearly 500,000. Brownbacks kansas is now in by what some estimates is now a midsized recession. And just today, the States Credit rating was downgraded again. Standard poors cited the effects of brownbacks tax slashing as the primary reason for doing that. All of this has had a huge effect on the States Education spending. Earlier this year, the Kansas Supreme Court ruled that the state was not spending enough on Public Schools and colleges, which may be part of the reasons that Sam Brownback is now at risk of losing his job. He is now running in a dead heat race against his democratic challenger. In kansas, the reddest of the red states. Kansas, in that state, the republican governor is in a dead heat with his democratic opponent, paul davis. There have been other signs for brown beck too. In the lead up to republicans primary in kansas, more than a hundred politicians and activists officially threw their support behind that democratic challenger, not their partys candidate or governor. And now theres more. Because something very strange and something potentially very important happened in that kansas primary just last night. Brownback won it, but thats not the headline. The headline is that he received barely over 60 of the vote. 63 , to be exact. And if that doesnt sound that bad, consider who he was running against. His challengers name was Jennifer Nguyen. The owner of a landscaping business in witchta. She had raised only 13,600. Brownback, 2. 8 million. Her campaign was stymied by her past personal bankruptcy and a son who had been charged with firstdegree murder. She was not supposed to be a serious challenger. She was supposed to be a nuisance candidate. And she walked away with nearly 40 of the vote against the sitting governor in his primary. This is a serious warning sign for Sam Brownback. And its also more than that. All the way down, the republicans bowed in kansas last night. Challengers did far better than you would expect in margins against republican incumbents. Congressman tim huls kamp got 55 of the vote after having kansas farmers betting against him and pouring money into his challengers coffers. Pat roberts, who was initially expected to win his partys nomination easily for a fourth term, but his Tea Party Challenger chased him until the end. Milton wolf was liz nahis name, distant cousin of barack obama. He hounded roberts during the campaign for a debate. Roberts never gave in and gave him that debate. Looking like a hard race for roberts, who had to fend off hard spending. He did pull it off last night, though, very slim, though, 48 to 41 . And the lesson of last nights hardfought battle wasnt lost on pat roberts who had this to say in his victory speech. Now, the truth is, republicans in kansas and nationally cannot afford the kind of intraparty fratricide that we have seen recently. Friends, we cant afford to waste scarce resources and energy tearing ourselves apart. We cannot afford a fractured party. The stakes are just too high. That message was not lost on the republican governors association. They hit the air waves in kansas for the first time this morning, with a new ad buy against governor brownbacks democratic challenger. This after it seemed like the kansas governors race at the start of this year was going to be a freebie for republicans. Its kansas, after all. Last nights primary told a very different story. One person who seems not to have taken it all in, though, is governor Sam Brownback. When he was asked last night about the tighter than expected races, he didnt seem too phased. Whats going on within the Republican Party here in kansas . Why is there at least some degree of disfactisatisfaction the folks that have been representing them from the republican side . I think a big part of it is barack obama. That a lot of people are so irritated at what the president is doing, they just are they want somebody to throw a brick. And just, theyre irritated about what has happened to their country. They had him confused with barack obama. Thats Sam Brownbacks line, and i guess hes sticking with it. You know, we think of kansas nationally as just another red state, but there is a war going on in that states Republican Party right now. Sam brownback and the Tea Party Wing took it over a few years ago, but there are a lot of republicans who are not happy about that. Who are fighting back, right now. That is the story in kansas this year. The question is, will that cost brownback his job . And the other question is this. Is the republican civil war that were seeing play out in kansas right now just a preview for what we might soon see elsewhere across the country . Joining us now is dave helling, a reporter for the kansas city star. David, great to have you back. So that comment from Sam Brownback, that splapgs explana well, they had me confused with barack obama. Im tempted to ask you, i dont mean this too flippantly, but we look at this challenger Sam Brownback had in the primary, who was supposed to be a nuisance candidate, and gets 40 . If he had a real challenger last night, could he have possibly lost the nomination . Probably not. You know, he runs much of the party apparatus, steve, in kansas, so i think almost under any scenario, he was going to be the nominee for reelection as governor. But youre exactly right. The fact that Jennifer Nguyen was able to get about 40 of the vote is a huge warning sign, among many others, for the brownback campaign. And the reason you heard him talk in that interview about barack obama. And in fact, the reason that Sam Brownback said Barack Obamas name last night more than he said paul davis name, is that if he is to prevail, brownback, in november, hell have to make this a race about ideology. Hell have to make paul davis and barack obama almost cocandidates. If he can make this race about ideology in kansas, then i think he thinks the republican vote will turn out and hell be reelected, brownback. Youve been covering, obviously, kansas politics for a while. And as i say, nationally, we look at it and say, oh, its a red state. But the civil war within the Republican Party thats going on right now, can you give us a little bit of context about just in modern kansas history, have you ever seen anything like this moment . Well, weve seen versions of this moment, as your introductory notes talked about, for 20 years. I mean, like a lot of other states, steve, the insurgent Republican Tea Party conservative Movement Really began at the grassroots about 20, 25 years ago. And it has bubbled up through the state legislature, to house races, statehouse races, eventually reaching the Governors Office and the senate races. So this is playing out across the country. The difference in kansas is that it is a pure play. The republicans have passed a tax cut. They control every statewide office, they control all the congressional offices, its really a referendum on the sort of taxcutting approach that many republicans want to see pursued in 2016. If Sam Brownback looses, that will be a signal to the rest of the country that the sort of traditional taxcutting approach wont work. If brownback wins, that encourages that wing of the party nationally in 2016. So there are a lot of people, a lot of people paying attention to whats going on in kansas. And weve had you on to talk about this before and talk about 2016, certainly, theres also the element that Sam Brownback has been a little interested, at least, in 2016. So his own ambition is on the line too. Dan helling, kansas city star, thank you for being with us. Lots more ahead tonight, including rand paul taking a page out of the Ronald Reagan playbook. The man who wrote the book is coming up next. Stay with us. Savings at staples. From the customers, to the staples associates. With guaranteed low prices on laptops, youll flip out now go tell your friends. Staples. Make more happen for less. You owned your car for four you named it brad. You loved brad. And then you totaled him. You two had been through everything together. Two boyfriends. Three jobs. Youre like nothing can replace brad then Liberty Mutual calls. And you break into your happy dance. 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Were going public [cheering] the fastest inhome wifi for your entire family. The x1 entertainment operating system. Only from xfinity. Been all fun and games, here at the harrison household. But one dark, stormy evening. She needed a good meal and a good family. So we gave her purina cat chow complete. Its great because it has the four cornerstones of nutrition. Everything a cat needs for the first step to a healthy, happy life. Purina cat chow complete. Share your rescue story and join us in building better lives. One rescue at a time. Looks like were about to board. Mmhmm. Im just comparing Car Insurance rates at progressive. Com. Is that where they show the other guys rates, too . Mmhmm. Cool. Yeah. Hi. Final boarding call for flight 294. [ bells ring on sign ] [ vehicle beeping ] whos ready for the garlic festival . This guy bringing our competitors rates to you now, thats progressive. On president obamas second full day in office, the White House Press secretary almost forgot he was supposed to ban torture. This was january 22nd, 2009. Obama had promised he was the going to ban torture. He sat down with a stack of executive orders to sign. The first kpesexecutive orders his presidency and the first one he put his pen on was the order to close guantanamo. When he signed that, the whole ceremony almost ended right there. There we go. Thank you, everybody. Thank you. Theres one more. Theres one more. Theres one more. There are three of these. Several more. And once that was cleared up, the president did sign his executive order banning torture. And later that same day, the second day of his presidency, he gave a speech at the state department declaring the detention practices of the george w. Bush era cia were officially order. Thris morning, i signed thre executive orders. First, i can say without exception or equivocation, that the United States will not tortur torture. So thats what obama made clear at the very beginning of his presidency. The United States is not going to torture. But the fact remained back then, and it remains today, that the United States, and specifically the Central Intelligence agency of the United States, had tortured. The cia had tortured people in american custody. And so, pretty much from the moment president obama signed that executive order banning torture, theres been a fight in this country about how to reckon with the fact that we did torture people. And that fight hasnt been just another democrat versus republican battle, the kind we see on just about every issue in washington. It has also been, it has maybe even more prominently been between democrats and democrats. About a month after president obama signed that executive order in 2009, the Senate Intelligence committee, thats the committee in the senate responsible for overseeing the cia, that committee announced that they were going to investigate those torture allegations. They were going to launch a full and thorough review of the cia interrogation and detention program. And beyond just figuring out what had happened in the past and why it had happened, the Senate Intelligence committee was going to try to answer some more important and fundamental questions, like, did torture work . Did it lead to valuable information, as the Bush Administration insisted that it did. Did it stop any terrorism . So the democrats in congress were leading this effort to investigate what happened at the bush cia, from the very beginning, the Obama Administration was not too keen on this idea. But Senate Democrats pressed ahead anyway. Their parties guy was in the white house, it was making him uncomfortable, but they pressed ahead, despite that. Senate Intelligence Committee also vowed to make a version of their final report public, to declassify it, and to make it a part of the Public Record, so that everyone could see it. Senate Intelligence Committee began working on that report more than five years ago now. And we have now found out that during this investigation, the cia actually spied on congress. It spied on Senate Staffers, who were working on that torture report. The cia tried and failed to get those Senate Staffers in legal report for working on that report. And after completely denying those allegations, after saying it was ludicrous to imagine the cia would or could ever spy on congress, cia director john brennan finally had to acknowledge just last week that it did happen. And he also had to apologize for it. That was last week. And this week, the next shoe was going to drop. That report, that report five years in the making was going to be made public, finally. But that hasnt happened this week. And its because a new fight, another fight has now broken out. And its between democrats in congress and the democratic white house. And its about redactions. Rachel has talked a lot about redactions on this show, including a whole segment about redaction best practices. Anyone can redact a document. Of course, if you want to make parts o of a document public, but keep parts of it secret, you redact it. You cross out the information by hand using a very heavy black marker or cut out that information off the page altogether. Well, it turns out that before releasing his torture report, the Senate Intelligence Committee First had to run it by the cia. So the cia could redact. They could keep classified any information that they say would be harmful to National Security if it ever came out. Anything they think absolutely needs to remain classified. This was the final step before the report was going to be released to the public. And its the step that we are stuck on right now. Because yesterday, senator Dianne Feinstein of california, whos the chair of the Intelligence Committee, said the cia has taken this report and overredacted it. That it has abused its power to redact. That it is trying to keep too much secret. She said the redactions, quote, obscure key facts that support the reports findings and conclusions. And now, shes vowing not to release that final report until and unless the cia and her committee can come up with some compromise. Shes also sent a letter to the white house registering her complaints. Democratic senator carl levin called the cias redactions totally unacceptable. Quote, the classification process should be used to protect sources and methods where the disclosure of information that could compromise National Security, not to avoid disclosure or improper acts or embarrassing information. Colorado senator mark udall, another democrat on the Intelligence Committee, vowed today to hold president obama to his promise to declassify the report. Quote, the cia should not face its past with a redaction pen, and the white house must not allow it to do so. The white house, for its part, defended the redactions this week, from that democratic criticism. There was a good faith effort that was made by the administration and by National Security officials to evaluate this information and make redactions that are consistent with the need to protect National Security, but also consistent with the president s clearly stated desire to be as transparent as possible about this. The president has said that we tortured some folks. Hes also said that part of our National Reckoning with that history is to make that history as transparent as possible in the hopes that putting it out on the Public Record will help ensure that it never happens again. This report from the Senate Intelligence committee has been underway for 5 1 2 years now. This new fight over those redactions means that the Public Record will just have to wait at least for a little longer. Joining us now is senator mark udall of colorado, a member of the Intelligence Committee. Senator udall, thanks for your time tonight. So i want to talk about what is potentially being left out of this report, as its currently been redacted by the cia. Because you have james clapper, the director of national intelligence, who said even with these redactions, he estimated that 85 of that report that your committee put together still is in place, and he said it would still offer, quote, a full view of the committees report on the detention and interrogation program. That the heart of that report is not lost in this. What do you say to that . Steve, thanks for covering this story. Let me start with that. And also, let me just say, those of us on the Intelligence Committee want to have the strongest intelligence functions possible. We want to secure the American People. But we want to do it under the constitution, and under our laws. And thats why this report is so important to be released, so the American People can draw their own conclusions. With all due respect to director clapper, 85 doesnt get the job do done. You can imagine reading a novel or a nonfiction piece for that matter, and if all the nouns, the what, where, when descriptions are taken out of that novel and all you have left are verbs and articles and punctuation, youre not going to be able to follow whats happening. Thats really what the white house and the Intelligence Committee is proposing with these redactions. Were going to stand our ground on the Intelligence Committee. There has to be more details released. We dont have to go this far with this kind of redaction. And in the end, the point is to learn from what we did. We detained people, we tortured people. Its a stain on our history, but were at our best as americans when we learn from those mistakes and vow never to make them again. Senator, in your opinion, is the cia, and the administration, for that matter, trying to protect itself, trying to protect the cia with these redactions . Is that the motive here . I can only conclude that to be the case, steve. I was taken aback by the president s comments the other day, but theres clearly an effort on the part of past and present cia leadership to make it more difficult to understand what happened. We know what happened. We can be a bigger and better country once we acknowledge what happened. And its in times of challenge and difficulty where we need to stand most by our values and by our constitution. My friend, senator mccain, made that point this week. And thats why im not going to relent. I know senator feinstein is firm in her belief that there needs to be as much declassified as possible. Were america. We can embrace what happened and be the better for it. Does president obama want this report to come out . Hes committed to it. You say you want to hold him to it. Do uniqyou think he really want this report to come out . I do. As you know, i called for director brennan to step down recently. And i dont relish making that call, but i think we need a leadership change at the cia. The director spied, under his leadership, the cia spied ton committee. Then he denied that they had done so. And then he called into account or into question or voracity on the committee. And to me, it just signals that there is a movement to prevent this report from being released in the fullest way possible. I trust us as a country to learn from what we did, and to be better for it. And for the life of me, i cant understand why it would say it wouldnt work with us. And frankly, respect, separation of powers, and our oversight role on the Intelligence Committee. And quickly, senator, are you confident this will ultimately come out in a way that is meaningful . And when do you think that will happen . Yeah, i am confident. I cant give you a date certain, but i want to underline, that senator feinstein is resolute, im resolute, chairman levin is resolu resolute. We all understand the stake ifs we were to let this report be redacted to the point that its meaningless. Senator mark udall from colorado, thank you very much for your time tonight. Steve, thank you again. Sure. Straight ahead, rand paul, Ronald Reagan, and the art of making it up as you go along. Stay with us. Nexium®,is now available, without a prescription for frequent heartburn. Get complete protection. Because the best moments in life arent experienced from the sidelines. Now theres Nothing Holding you back. This is nexium level protection™. The 1 prescribed acidblocking brand. 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I would. Switch to comcast Business Internet and get the fastest wifi included. Comcast business. Built for business. Even the most hardened politician can, on occasion, appear magnanimous, humble, even gracious. And the occasion to which i refer is almost always a victory speech, when the cost of taking the high road is zero, which makes the victory speech in one prominent midwestern Congressional District last night one of the more remarkable moments you will ever see a u. S. Congressman produce. You just have to see it to believe, and you will. Stay tuned. Ugh. Heartburn. Did someone say burn . Try alka seltzer reliefchews. They work just as fast and taste better than tums smoothies assorted fruit. Mmm. Amazing. Yeah, i get that a lot. Alka seltzer heartburn reliefchews. Enjoy the relief. Is caused by people looking for parking. In a city thats remarkable that so much energy is, is wasted. 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Live in the modern world, where you could save money on Car Insurance in half the time. Esurance. Backed by allstate. Click or call. So rand paul has really stepped in it. Youve been seeing some version of that headline all week. By now, youve probably seen the video posted online by immigration activists of senator paul being confronted by a young dreamer. Someone brought to this country at a young age, someone who wants a chance to earn citizenship in this country. She tried to talk to him the other day in iowa, he couldnt get out of there fast enough, although senator paul now contends that his early departure from the table was nearly a coincidence, because he had agreed to go do an interview. And then there was this. This is the headline, rand paul says he never proposed ending aid to israel, even though he did. And this might be the bigger story of the week about rand paul. Its actually part of what is becoming an unmistakable pattern with rand paul. Heres the deal. Back in 2011, paul was making a big deal about cutting out all foreign aid. All the money the United States gives to our allies around the world. And he included in that the 3 billion that we give to israel each year. Heres how he characterized it to abcs jonathan carl, as they took a ride in the capital subway. Im not singling out israel. Im a supporter of israel. I want to be known as a friend of israel but not with foreign aid. Well, you cant give money you dont have. We cant borrow from our kids future and give it to countries, even if they are our friends. Some people interpret this to me, oh, youre not a friend of israel. No, i want to be a friend of israel. I think theyre an important ally, but i also think that their per capita income is greater than probably threefourths of the rest of the world. Should we be giving money to free money or welfare to a rich nation . I dont think so. They can handle their own defense . I think theyre probably ten years ahead of any neighboring country. I think their defense is very significant and i think probably well in advance of any of their potential enemies. And think about this for a minute. Back in 2011, rand paul was brandnew to the senate. He was brandnew to politics. Hed gotten interested because of his fathers Pressure Campaign in 2008, and he was a total outsider. Republicans had pretty much ignored his dad and rand was promoting the same libertarian agenda. And that agenda included cutting off aid to other countries, including israel. But now, three years later, in 2014, rand paul is something else. Today, hes a major player in the Republican Party. He wants to run for president. Hes even leading in some republican president ial polls. He can go a lot farther nationally than his father ever went, but only, only if he doesnt scare his partys establishment away. And that means distancing himself from some of the more fringy things he said and did before he became such a major figure. So when he was asked this week about cutting off aid to israel, well, he played dumb. He pretended it was a crazy question, that there was no reason to ever think hed ever wanted to do anything like that. Quote, i havent really proposed that in the past. Weve never had a legislative proposal to do that. You can mistake my position, but then ill answer the question. That has not been a position, a legislative position, we have introduced to phase out or get rid of israels aid. Thats the answer to that question. But rand paul did proposal facing out aid to israel. He argued very strongly for doing it. Now, technically, maybe hes right. He may not have put that into legislative language, but theres absolutely no doubt, on the subject of aid to israel, rand paul is now 180 degrees from where he was just a few years ago. And he wont admit it. And democrats are now screaming about this. Debbie wasserman schultz, the chair of the dnc, blasted him for his hypocrisy. But this is the problem with rand paul. Instead of grappling with or owning up to inconvenient things he said and did in the past, rand paul just pretends they arent there. He was on this show four years ago, when he was running for the senate in kentucky, and he expressed his reservations about the public accommodations clause of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Ask him about that now, though, and he insists he doesnt know what youre talking about. How could anyone think hes ever been anything other than a complete and total supporter of the Civil Rights Act. Ask him about his former aid. Ask him about this guy who helped him to write a book in 2010. A guy who used to call himself the southern avenger, used to wear a Confederate Flag on his face. A guy who said that john wilkes booth, the man who killed abraham lincoln, that john wilkes booths heart was in the right place. Ask rand paul about that former aide, and paul will make it sound like youre falling for some liberal media trap. Quote, dont you have Something Better to read than a bunch of crap from people who dont like me. Thats what he said when journalist john harwood tried to ask him about the southern avenger last year. So this is rand pauls game. Theres a lot in his past, his very recent past, that can cause real problems for him in 2016. So he just pretends that it isnt there. Well, it obviously drives his opponents the nuts, while it opens him up to crisis of hypocrisy and phoneyness and just plain dishonesty. Heres the thing, it also might work. It might already be work, because the strategy that rand paul is using here, well, weve seen that strategy before, and its worked brilliantly before. October 28th, 1990, jimmy carter is running for reelection as president , the election is a week away, the race is tied, east debating his opponent, and hes got the perfect way to attack him, because 20 years earlier, when the bill that led to medicare was first introduced in his congress, his opponent had attacked it, had warned americans that it would mean death to the republican if it were ever enacted. That it was, quote, simply an excuse to bring about what they wanted all the time, socialized medicine. Thats what jimmy carters opponent had said about medicare. And he had him dead to rights on it. And he brought it up in the debate and this is what its about. Governor reagan began his political career campaigning against medicare. Now we have the opportunity to move towards a National Health insurance, with an emphasis on the prevention of disease. An emphasis on outpatient care, not inpatient care. An emphasis on hospital cost containment, to hold down the cost of hospital care for those who are ill. An emphasis on Catastrophic Health insurance, so if a family is threatened with being wiped out of economically because of a very high medical bill, then the insurance would help pay for it. These are the kind of elements of a National Health insurance important to the American People. Governor reagan, again, typically, is against such a proposal. Governor . There you go again. And a week later, Ronald Reagan won 40 states in the presidency. Theres a new book out about Ronald Reagans rise in the 1970s, and this is the point it illustrates over and over again, what reagan got, what he understood about politics and human nature is something his opponents never quite understood. And its the same thing that rand paul apparently sees today. The strategy that hes trying to use, that when youre cornered on the facts, the things that you yourself have said and argued before, you dont admit it, you dont try to explain it, you just create a brandnew story. A story that people want to hear. Joining us now is rick per perlstein. Lets start with this, it comes across time and time again in your book, this sort of ability of Ronald Reagan to take inconvenient facts and pretend theyre not there and he creates a brandnew narrative, and the next thing you know, his opponents are screaming and saying, he cant do that, he cant do that, but the countrys buying into it. Maybe we should recall another debate in which the Vice President candidate, lloyd benson, said to dan quayle, senator, youre no jack kennedy. I mean, senator, youre no Ronald Reagan. Do you really think that rand paul has the chops that so what was the key to reagan pulling it off . What did he do that allowed people to say, yeah, i know his opponents are saying he had the exact opposite position two years ago, he said something completely contradictory a year ago, and they just ignored it. What was it about over and over and over again, you know, kind of going back not even to the beginning of his political career, but even before the beginning of his political career, he developed this ability to kind of perform kind of calmness in the face of chaos. This kind of blithe affect, this ability to kind of project a mythology that he kind of really did believe in his part. Dont you remember what he said in 1987, when he was confronted with the fact that he had, in fact, ordered, you know, arms to be traded for hostages in iran . He said, well, the documents tell me i did it, but my heart tells me that i couldnt have possibly have done it. Thats the key to reagan, isnt it . Theres this disconnect, theres the head and theres the heart. And in the book, i say, you know, reagan couldnt possibly have survived the age of google. Because i fact check some of this stuff that went by so fast when he was giving these radio addresses do you think he couldnt have i dont know you know, the thing about rand paul is you know, i live in chicago, and we have this mayor, rahm emanuel, who is very unpopular, he has 35 approval rating, and theres really no one to run against him, because hes raising 1 million a week. And theres a very wonderful progressive, the head of the teachers union, youre like, where am i going with this . Her name is karen lewis, and i went to a political meeting in which we discussed the possibility of her running for mayor. And none of us really kind of believed that he could beat rahm emanuel, right . But were like, this is great anyway, because just her standing on the stage with rahm emanuel, you know, and calling him out on his nonsense will be useful, right . But the thing were seeing from rand paul, all these shifts, all these kind of trimming his sales, to kind of fit the current republican fashion, suggest hes no karen lewis. Hes no bernie sanders. He really is in it to win it, you know . He is really fashioning himself to win the republican nomination. And i think thats the most kind of thats the bottom line of whats been happening this week. Right. There are certain things you have to say. And thats the interesting story with rand paul. Hes going from that very lushtarian, purist streak to now trying to be a mainstream republican. In the time we have left, i want to make sure to bring this up. This book is causing i cant quite understand it, but theres a lot of controversy in that Craig Shirley, a conservative whos written two books about Ronald Reagan, hes accusing you of plagiarism. I know you cite his work extensively 125 times. But hes accusing you of plagiarism, wants 25 million and wants all the copies of the books burned. What do you say to him . Im the worst plagiarist in the world. I cite him 125 times. My website links to the pages i supposedly plagiarized. And unfortunately, theres a smoking gun. His business partner, hes a Public Relations executive, you know, hes represented ann coulter, hes represented deane ash desouza, basically said, join our political offensive against this guy whos trying to spin Ronald Reagan. So it really seems like its all about his anger at Ronald Reagan. Im having a lot of fun with it, actually. You think the incentive here is hes trying to protect rooinRonald Reagan from a liberal historian . I cant see into his heart, but theres two things i want to say. One is that its a good book. Anyone interested in Ronald Reagan should buy his two books. Craig shirleys book . He wants to have my book pulped, i want his book read. The other thing is, its completely backfiring. His whatever the motive is behind this attack, its so thin, theres a great article in salon by david dian, that folks can look up, its so transparent, just from today, my book went from 60 on amazon to the 20th rank on amazon. And im having so much fun, this outpouring of love, i started this hashtag, buy invisible bridge. Its getting the Craig Shirley bounce. Well sell maybe a few more here, give it a promotion, rick perlstein, author of the invisible bridge, thanks for being here tonight. Great piece of rand paul. You guys did a great job. Thank you, appreciate that very much. Ahead, we say happy trails to the greatest reindeer herder american congressman in american history. Probably the only one, too. My goal was to take an idea and make it happen. Im janet long and i formed my Toffee Company through legalzoom. I never really thought i would make money doing what i love. We created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. Go to legalzoom. 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Yesterday during testimony by a Virginia Health official, the jury saw emails from again governor mcdonald to the Virginia Health secretary asking hazel to take a meeting with Johnny Williams after governor mcdonald returned from a weekend vacation at Johnny Williams lake house, a vacation from which mcdonald returned from williams ferrari. A deputy was sent to attend the meeting with williams. There are also emails that show an effort to get williams to sit down with senator john mccain. At one point, williams assistant wrote johnny really needs governor elect mcdonald or senator mccain to go to dinner with him. That meeting never happened. But the meeting between Johnny Williams and Virginia State officials did happen. Email evidence makes it appear that it happened at the request of the governor. This trial is getting a lot of our attention because of the twists and turns. But thats a strategy and its the strategy of the defense team. 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I would hate to hear amash give a concession speech. That was michigans third district. But in the 11th district in michigan, it was a totally different story. To tell it, we really need to start at the beginning. Thaydeus mccotter, the man, the legend, the fourterm republican congressman, who also waged a brief campaign for the republican president ial nomination back in 2012. The same year that he resigned from congress abruptly after his staff turned in forged signatures in an effort to get his name on the ballot for reelection. So he resigned in 2012, putting on a dramatic statement saying it was time to leave because one cannot rebuild their haert of home amongst the ruins of their u. S. House office. And rebuilding that away from congress at such a late date in the 2012 cycle also meant leaving just one other republicans name on that ballot, a man named kerry bent or Kenny Bentivolio from milford, michigan. For context, heres the guy. He is trying to kiss the stuffed reindeer. Im having trouble reading that one. When mccotter imploded, he became the only candidate on the ballot, so he got the republican nomination, and he won in the fall and became a member of congress. As a congressman, hes been a reliably conservative vote. He voted not to end the Government Shutdown and offed conspiracy theories from alex jones and info wars. Hes daydreamed about impeaching president obama. But nothing could compare to possibly the single greatest congressional tape this side of cspa cspan3. Last summer, attempting to introduce to the floor his fellow member of congress, the distinguished member from samoa. The chair recognizes the gentleman from american samoa, mr. [ indiscernible ] in fairness, that is one tough name to pronounce. The best part of that tape is his reaction. The chair recognizes the gentleman from america samoa, mr. Thank you. Thank you, mr. Speaker. Its american samoa. Dont mess with american samoa. Hes had an interesting run in congress to say the least, but unfortunately for him, that run has come to an end. Last night, Kerry Bentivolio was defeated. And now dave trott is set to run in the general election this fall. But theyll never forget the legacy left by congressment bentivolio. That does it for us tonight. See you again tomorrow night. Now its time for the last word with lawrence odonnell. Good evening, lawrence. I would not try to pronounce those names on television again. Thank you, steve. Well, president obama was asked tonight if he has the power to issue work visas to people who are in