Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rachel Maddow Show 20150117

They struck down part of the defensive marriage act. The windsor ruling did not legalize gay marriage but it showed gay people treated as second class citizens. Scalia was senator furious. He said the ruling was written to broadly and poorly that it might as well have just legalized gay marriage across the land. He said the majority arms well to restricting marriage to its traditional definition. When he said that he meant that has an insult as a bad thing. But to the delight of gay right supporters everywhere. Justice scalia turned out to be right. On the morning before that decision came out, it was legal for samesex couples to get married in 12 states across the country. June 2013. Since that morning you can add california new jersey hawaii illinois new mexico oregon pennsylvania virginia oklahoma utah wisconsin, indiana, colorado nevada west virginia, North Carolina alaska wyoming, kansas montana, south carolina, florida. This is what momentum feels like. State after state after state after state being told by the courts to recognize equal marriage rights. Or the states themselves reading the writing on the wall watching that momentum across the country and deciding they would do it on their own terms. It has only been 18 months since eddi windsors case. And it has gone from less than 20 of the population to 50 , to 7 70 of the population. We went from 12 states to 14 and on and on. Up to 36 states. It was an inevitable tide. It was an unalmost unbroeblgen string of political decisions and Court Victories going toward equal marriage rights in more and more and more states. It has been an exhilarating year and a half. It was all going one direction one state after the other, until it wasnt. R until what seemed like an unreversible tide. Until november. Two days after the midterm elections when democrats just got it handed to them, two days after those results in the midterm elections came in an Appeals Court in ohio federal Appeals Court, just one level blow the Supreme Court they went the other way. And that ruling in the sixth Circuit Court of appeals, that ruling upheld bands on gay marriage in four states. It all felt pretty inevitable before that. Until that happened everything was going the same direction. Just the previous month before that sixth circuit decision. They declined to take up another case. The liberal justice, the notorious rby, she explained in a public interview at the time that as long as all of the lower courts were ruling in favor, there was no reason for the Supreme Court to come in and make a decision for the whole country. It was happening on its own anyway, why would the Supreme Court interfere. It was happening on its own until it wasnt. Until that november decision by that one Appeals Court said it was constitutional for those four states to ban gay people from getting married. That was more than a fly in the ointment more than a speed bump on the way to an inevitable destination. That november destination made the inevitability thing go away. It also created a split in the courts. One of the basic functions of the u. S. Supreme court is to settle things in dispute. Now we have that dispute. All of the other courts said one thing, this one court, sixth circuit, said Something Else. Who will decide . The Supreme Court. The Supreme Court decided to take that case. Theyre going to hear the cases from those four states that their bans on gay marriage were constitutionally okay. The Supreme Court took up those cases today. They will happen in a couple months april, and probably in june, the sfreem court of the United States will issue what might be the biggest ga rights ruling ever. And maybe that ruling will be judge scalias might mare come true. Maybe the sense of inevitability was for a reason. It was just a speed bump maybe they really will rule that nationwide is it unconstitutional for any state to ban samesex couples from marrying. In so doing, the court will ensure june tear national equal marriage rights in this country. That could happen. Or maybe with this conservative court, they have Something Else in mind. The National Organization for marriage an antigay marriage court. They cheered the Supreme Courts decision to take this up. They said theyre very pleased the Supreme Court has chosen to review the sixth circuits ruling to define marriage as one man and one woman. Were confident they are going to affirm the finding of that Appeals Court. The Supreme Court in deciding today they may want to make a National Decision on samesex marriage they may decide to legalize samesex marriage nationwide. They might also decide that statewide bans on gay marriage are constitutional. And all of these Lower Court Judges that say otherwise, they have been getting it all wrong. Some of the states that legalized equal marriage rights have because they want today. In more than 20 states its only legal in those places right now. Same sex couples are only married in those states right now because of the order of a federal judge. If this conservative Supreme Court decides to roll back what the other federal judges have been doing, this is the case. Where at the stroke of a opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States could yank existing rights in dozens of states all at once there has been a lot of momentum on this issue. What the court decided today could mean that momentum is real, and it is going to keep going and sweep across the country and we will have an answer to the civil rights question once and for all. Just as equally, the court could decide that all of that momentum, particularly in the last year and a half it is all about to be thrown back. When you look at this court, which do you think theyre going to do . Joining us now is a Legal Affairs correspondent with npr. Thank you for being here. Thank you, its nice to be here. As a veteran court watcher, does the courts decision to take up these cases at this time in this way, does it afford any signal to you one way or the other about what you think they want to do on this issue . No actually it doesnt. They had to take this case. Because, as you said they have a conflict. The case they had to take it from was, in fact the sixth circuit because that was the only case. They refused to hear all of the other impending cases. If there was a signal at all, i thought the signal was earlier in the year or last year in october when they didnt take a case. And they didnt take any of those cases and they were perfectly happy to let these states go forward, let people get married in the thousands and the tens of thousands, and to wait. And if there is a signal to be seen, that is more likely the signal not this time. If the Supreme Court does side effectively with the sixth circuit here do people get unmarried . Do gay marriage bans get reinstated . They may find themselves living in a wyoming that isless respectful of their marriage. So lets say for the sake of argument that you do not find a right to same sex marriage then some states will seek to roll this back. I cant imagine that california will not put it on the ballot like in a nano second. Some states would try to put the genie back in the bottom. Do you say we recognized your marijuana yesterday, because we had to but today we dont. Or say all right, every that got married gets to stay married but you cant get married in the future. There will be another lawsuit from people who cant get married now saying that is not equal protection of the law. Those people you allowed to get married and youre not allowing us to get married. That is why it is very very difficult to put this genie back in the bottle. Does this court tend to recognize those real world implications. One of the thing thats is fun, in terms of watching the court and reading the opinions is realizing the bubble they live in b with the lives they lived, the difference in the outside world and the world inside the court. Are they willing to be cognizant of these implications. Those are legal implications and they certainly knew what they are and they knew then. Its a not to say that their five votes to legalize same sex marriage in all 50 States Justice kennedy, clearly the lynch pin here written every major gay rights decision of the 21st century, and one in the 20th century, he has been very clear about his respect for the rights of states to define what the rules are for marriage in the confines of those states. But that doesnt get rid of some of the practical problems that now exist. The gay rights advocates have picked very carefully poster children for these lawsuits who are the best and most upstating and most wonderful citizens that you could ever imagine. They have not been married three times in three years. These are parents raising disabled children. One of the michigan couples, the two nurses that each work 12hour shifts they divide them up. They have disabled children they adopted. We have people who are living in and married in states where samesex marriage is legal but adopted a child from a state where its not legal like ohio and they cant both be listed on the adoption certificate because ohio wont let them. We have widowers who the state wont put their names on the death certificate as a surviving spouse. That has all kinds of legal implications for taxes and all kinds of other things. We have people in the military gone to afghanistan, been married in a state where its legal, and now are assigned to a state where its not legal and that has all other kinds of consequences, legal problems because that state, tennessee, for example, doesnt recognize the marriage of the state of new york. So these are all the most sympathetic plaintiffs imaginable. That is the best case, and that is what will be presented to the Supreme Court. Thank you for helping us understand it, i appreciate it. It is fascinating. We look back at the windsor decision, can and it is famous and memorable not just for its impact because it set up a tide of same sex marriage like utah wyoming, alaska and the rest it is famous because of ede windsor, her vision in her later years, she cant believe she is there. The person at the heart of that was such an important part of that case. I think nina is right, thats how we will think about that forth coming landmark tonight. Today, a battleship where you least expect to find it. Alkaseltzer plus presents the cold truth. I have a cold, with terrible chest congestion. Better take something. Ill catch up later. Awww. Truth is, theraflu severe cold doesnt treat chest congestion. Really . New alkaseltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. Oh, what a relief it is. Here we go woooo woooo and now, alkaseltzer plus has a complete line of powders to treat your worst cold symptoms. Hello, its friday. Kelsey and i went through the closet and found stuff that we could give away. So well lets start with i found this by the copy machine. Its a a Blood Pressure cuff . Why do we have one . I dont know. Have we used it on the show. It could be a personal medical device they need. They left it by the coffee machine tissue. The copy machine. Now i understand its a very stressful copy machine. Wow, okay. Think about that as a possibility. Okay. Another possibility is fake money. You did a segment recently where you through paper money in the air. These fake coins came in the kit. And a similar theme, i dont know why we have this but i found a bucket entitled sea life in a storage bucket. It has a whale, a dolphin one of these or the whole bucket. Who would not want sea life in a storage bucket. Is that the title . Thats it. Okay. Thanks. Also, ill just, ill hold on to this one. Sheila you see this ball control . You see this right . Its 80 confidence and 64 knee brace. Thats more. Shh. I know thats more than 100 . But thats what winners give. Now bicycle kick your old 401 k into an ira. I know, i know. Listen, just get td ameritrades rollover consultants on the horn. Theyll guide you through the whole process. Its simple. Even she could do it. Whatever, janet. For all the confidence you need. Td ameritrade. You got this. Audible safety beeping audible safety beeping audible safety beeping the nissan rogue with safety shield technologies. The only thing left to fear is you imagination. Nissan. Innovation that excites. Its here its here i love this so much. This is very important about what the next year and so will be like. What i hold in my hand here is a schedule. Not just any schedule its so much more than that. The following words or phrases mean anything to you . Oops. 10,000 bet. Self deportation. Let him die. Remember any of that stuff . Those are just a few of the phrases made famous in the greatest Television Series of 2012, the longrunning nationally televised tragic comedy of the 2012 president ial depate. It is a little difficult to get the American People psyched about politics. But the Republican Debates of 2012 i dont think anyone would argue they were must see tv even if you didnt care about politics. There was spinoff Republican Debates that got added in later once people realized what nay got on their hands on here in terms of television cold. The Mike Huckabee president ial forum, there was three of those. There was also a Newt Gingrich John Huntsman Lincoln Douglas debate, why not . It was just John Huntsman versus Newt Gingrich. Why not . They were free. There was the family Leader Television family forum that had gourds in iowa by the rightwing conservative leader. They stelpell in all caps. The Republican Debates of 2012 were engaging and illuminating and hard not to watch. And they were also an absolute strategic nightmare for the Republican Party. They came out of the 2012 election cycle and said essentially, whatever we do lets never do that again. Lets cancel that series. As all of these republican candidates now start to inch their way into the 2016 president ial race, by my count there is between 15 and 20 republicans that may be running this year. As they all start jumping in for 2016, or pretending to think about it it the Republican Party has gone about thinking that we the people will see as little of them as possible. They moved up their convention date. They moved it way up to shrink the amount of time their candidates get to fight each other for the nomination. They will force the nomination to happen more than a month earlier flp is also the matter of the debates. In 2012 there was more than 20 debating were more than 20 opportunities for republican candidates to get out there on National Television and beat the heck out of each other, forget the department of Energy Challenge someone to a 10,000, or what have you. They also said they were going to try to hold their debates on friendlier territory. Now, as of today, the Republican Party has kept their word on both counts in is the official Republican Debate schedule for 2016. The 20 plus debates have turned into nine debates for 2016. There are three other potential debates they say are possible if the process drags out. They hope it doesnt, but these are the ones that we know for sure are going to happen. Of the nine debates, you might notice that a full third of them will be on fox. Surprise the big story is just how few debates there will be at all. The party said today that any candidate that participates in a debate not on this sanctioned list will be kicked out of the sanctioned debates that come next. The Republican Party foiled us in 2012 by letting us see their candidates on full display on more than 20 different occasions. It was one of the best periods of my life. They will not be making that same mistake again. Anybody else sad about that . R hey guess what day it is . . Hump day hummmp daaay its hump day yeah hey Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike Mike mike mike. Hey he knows hey guess what day it is hey camel guess what day it is its not even wednesday. Let it go, phil. If youre a camel, you put up with this all the time. Its what you do. sigh if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. Its what you do. Ok. The loser of the 2002 election tried to stop Global Climate change. He did not run for president again. The loser of the 2004 president ial election kept his job in the United States senate he is now secretary of state, he too, did not run for president again. The loser of the 2008 also did not run again. The loser in the 2012 president ial election, very different story. He is becoming the least surprising, but most astonishing political news of 2015 so far. He is about to do something at 10 00 tonight, earnstern time, on a friday night. I have a cold with terrible chest congestion. I better take something. Theraflu severe cold doesnt treat chest congestion. Really . New alkaseltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. [breath of relief] oh, what a relief it is. In my world, wall isnt a street. Return on investment isnt the only return im looking forward to. For some every dollar is earned with sweat, sacrifice, courage. Which is why usaa is honored to help our members with everything from investing for retirement to saving for college. Our commitment to current and former military members and their families is without equal. Start investing with as little as fifty dollars. Ive had a lot of hondas. We went around the country talking to people who made the switch to ford. I loved the look of the fusion. We test drove it. I was like this is my car. Allwheel drive is amazing. I felt so secure. You can do it, emmie ecoboost is when you can take a four cylinder and make it feel like a six cylinder. I was really surprised. I drove the fusion. And i never went back. Make the switch to americas favorite brand. Check out special offers on ford fusion at ford. Com or see your local ford dealer. Theyre still after me. Get to the terminal across town. Are all the green lights you . No. Its called grid iq. The 4 51 is leaving at 4 51. They cut the power. Itll fix itself. Powers back on. Quick thinking traffic lights and self correcting power grids make the world predictable. Thrillingly predictable. Introducing. A pm pain reliever that dares to work all the way until. The am. New aleve pm the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour strength of aleve. When mitt romney won the nomination in 2012 the next biggest thing he had to do was announce his running mate. It was an awkward start. Join me in welcoming the next president of the United States paul ryan. Wow. Hey, and right in front of the uss wisconsin, huh . Man. Every now and then im known to make the a mistake. I did not make a mistake with this guy but i can tell you this he will be the next veptice president of the United States. Awkward starts. Also, what were they doing on a battleship . That was uss wisconsin he is from wisconsin, but it was never explained. The congressman from the wanes and Means Committee would be his running mate. They discuss wanted to announce it on a battleship. Because look it was just weird when it happened. Now its happening again been tonight in a little bit under a half hour mitt romney is due to make his biggest public speech since putting out that he is going to run for president again. This is a live shot of the venue. He will be making his speech tonight at the Republican National committee from inside an Aircraft Carrier that is parked at a dock in san diego. Aircraft carrier. Why not. Maybe he will surprise everybody and announce he is joining the navy or something. Until the speech starts at the top of the hour well just have to wait and see. Tonight at the white house, president obama was asked if he had any comment on the news that the man who he ran against and beat in the last president ial election is apparently going to run again. This was the president s reaction. Well take a few questions and start with Jonathan Carl of abc. I would like to hear your reaction to the news that mitt romney is thinking about running for president again. Um on your last question, i have no comment. Up in at all . President obama giving the toothy grin enjoying his no comment. He is giving his first major speech tonight since telling people he is going to run again. It is in an Aircraft Carrier, we dont know why, but well keep you posted as we watch this. This is the live shot for the set up of his 10 00 p. M. Speech. The dress up games continue in politics and there continues to be no real washington debate about policy issues. Today, that joint press conference between president obama and british Prime Minister David Cameron focus on follow up attacks after the attacks last week in france. Mr. Cameron says the Terror Threat in england has been raised to severe. They feel it is highly likely. They stepped up Police Control around jewish communities, businesses, and schools. They arrested an 18yearold won at a london airport. The bbc saying she was arrested on suspicion of preparation of terrorist accounts and membership of a prescribed organization. In france, belgium, and germany, dozens of arrests today including 12 people detained overnight in paris in conjunction with last weeks attacks. People say it provided logistical attacks. Arrests came today after officers raided nearly a dozen different apartments saying the raids came after months of tracking a group believed to be operating inside germany. Ands germans may have been tracking that group for months. It doesnt seem like a coincidence they happened today. Europe glows red from the threat of Islamic Terrorist Groups right now. In the United States, this is being seen as a story for europe and not for us. Late last night and this morning, headlines started to pop that the u. S. Military is about to send hundreds more american troops into the middle east to train more rebels fighting in the sifl war. Isis civil war. Despite those headlines popping this morning, president obama got zero questions about that at all at todays briefing. Lots of questions about the threat of terrorism, no questions at all about whether the u. S. Military strategy to fight isis makes any sense at all. Thank you for being with us nice to have you here. Thank you for having me. What should we make of the timing of these raids that we have seen in the last couple days in belgium, france germany, the world that we got about the threat. Should we see thaez things as e as a coordinated situation . I think you can find them as situations and follow ups to the attacks. I dont think the suspects are necessarily all related. Its not one giant conspiracy. In fact, in britain, they didnt raise the terror level. It has been at severe since last summer. Some of this is a little bit over eggs i think. In terms of what is stepped up and just now getting more attention, looking at the details of those arrests in germany, saying they have been following whoever these people are that they have been suspicious of for months. That is in keeping with what we heard yesterday from the belgiums, the search warrants and planned raids were in the works. Are we seeing them acting now on people who were in their sights anyway even if nothing new seems eminent . I think that is correct except my understanding is in the case of the belgium people who were raided yesterday, and got in a shootout, they believed they were about to do something. The shorts there believe that the fact that the suspects started shooting at them demonstrates they were going to do something. In france they may be cleaning up soeshs of the shooters in paris. In england, in germany, my understanding is that these are people that they were watching out for. But that they may well have become more nervous about because of the pair of shootings. In terms of whats happening in the United States around this you probably heard my frustration or my sarcasm that i feel like we have debate in our country about not the threat of terrorism, but the connection and what policies we should institute in order to deal with it. Im frustrated by that in terms of our politics. In terms of how our own country and government is works in france, the Prime Minister of britain, do we expect that the United States and europe will be doing anything differently . That our relations will be different because of what happened in france or that we will treat anything differently. The one thing that the u. S. Will step up vigilance on is the monitoring of europeans. They dont have to be vetted in advance. They start to pay more attention to people coming to the United States from europe. I just dont see that they are going to do things greatly different from before. The u. S. And European Countries exchange information. And i dont, you know maybe there are additional things they can do. I think they are cooperating pretty closely already. I just have to tell you that i read you religiously for years. Everything that comes out with your by line on it i make a point to read, youre a great reporter. Thank you. Thank you. Ahead, a cool geek angle to some of the scariest news to the world. Were here because youre about to have a heart attack. Petes heart attack didnt come with a warning. Today his doctor has him on a bayer aspirin regimen to help reduce the risk of another one. If youve had a heart attack be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. son oh no. Can you fix it, dad . Yeah, i can fix that. dad i wanted a car that could handle anything. I fixed it dad thats why i got a subaru legacy. vo symmetrical allwheel drive plus 36 mpg. I gotta break more toys. vo introducing the allnew subaru legacy. Its not just a sedan. Its a subaru. Nexium® 24hr. Its the purple pill the 1 prescribed acid blocking brand available without a prescription for frequent heartburn. Get complete protection. Nexium level protection™ kid hey dad, who was that man . Dad hes our broker. He helps looks after all our money. Kid do you pay him . Dad of course. Kid how much . Dad i dont know exactly. Kid what if youre not happy . Does he have to pay you back . Dad nope. Kid why not . Dad it doesnt work that way. Kid why not . Vo are you asking enough questions about the way your wealth is managed . Wealth management at Charles Schwab i have a cold with terrible chest congestion. Better take something. Theraflu severe cold doesnt treat chest congestion. Really . New alkaseltzer plus day powder rushes relief to your worst cold symptoms plus chest congestion. Oh, what a relief it is. Here we go all right, i will admit it our prizes are terrible prizes but Everything Else about it is awesome. You dont do this for the loot you do it for the gloorry and the pride. The friday night news dub is coming up. I get nervous every time we do it, but in a good way. Meet tide and gyre. Theyre identical Super Computers that collect data from satellites and weather balloons across the world to bring you the most accurate Weather Forecast possible. Theyre very good at their jobs. They do have some international competition. We look at two main models the american model and the european model. Right now on friday morning they very close together. The american model into the weekend moves it more toward bermuda. The european model keeps it hugging the coast and by early Tuesday Morning it is inland in the northeast. That is a 787 o 775 mile difference between the two systems. Which one will happen . That was october 24 2012. The following week Hurricane Sandy made land fall on the Southern Coast of new jersey. The folks running the Weather Forecasting model in europe were right. A few days before super storm sandy hit, our National Weather service did adjust their forecast to better match the european forecast but the question remained why was europe better at this than we were. Why did they know where that tomorrow was going before we knew. Why did it take us longer to get the answer right . The answer has two parts. The first is depressing. The european modding is more sophisticated and has more data. Not only is their forecasting model more sophisticated and uses more data our other short coming is their Super Computers calculate forecasting data at a faster rate than ours. Were behind the curve, europe is better. When it cops to preparing for the next weather event, we cant be behind the curve. Noaa announced here taking steps to keep up. Their power has tripled. With this increased power, this upgrade, they can send out much bet ere pictures days ahead of the old standard. The reason they can afford the big upgrades is Congress Approved it. After sandy, they passed a Disaster Relief bill that including 25 million to up noaas computer power. We talk a lot about what Congress Fails to do but here they did something and it will likely have a real effect in your life. It may be small potatoes but it is also science. When we see the scariest news in the world about Climate Change our congress being able to handle something scientific without it being a scandal is a signal green shoot of hope. For fastidious librarian emily skinner, each day was fueled by thorough preparation for events to come. Well somewhere along the way emily went right on living. But you see, with the help of her Raymond James financial advisor, she had planned for every eventuality. Which meant she continued to have the means to live on. Even at the ripe old age of 187. Life well planned. See what a Raymond James advisor can do for you. Audible safety beeping audible safety beeping audible safety beeping the nissan rogue with safety shield technologies. The only thing left to fear is you imagination. Nissan. Innovation that excites. She inspires you. No question about that. But your erectile dysfunction that could be a question of blood flow. Cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be Ready Anytime the moments right. You can be more confident in your ability to be ready. And the same cialis is the only daily ed tablet approved to treat ed and symptoms of bph, like needing to go frequently or urgently. Tell your doctor about all your medical conditions and medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain as it may cause an unsafe drop in Blood Pressure. Do not drink alcohol in excess. Side effects may include headache, upset stomach, delayed backache or muscle ache. To avoid long term injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have any sudden decrease or loss in hearing or vision or any allergic reactions like rash, hives, swelling of the lips tongue or throat or difficulty breathing or swallowing, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your doctor about cialis for daily use and a free 30tablet trial. You show up. You stay up. You listen. You laugh. You worry. You do whatever it takes to take care of your family. And when its time to plan for your familys future were here for you. Were legalzoom, and for over 10 years weve helped families just like yours with wills, Living Trusts and more. Visit us today for legal help you can count on. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. Sunday dinners at my house. Its a full day for me, and i love it. But when i started having back pain my sister had to come help. I dont like asking for help. I took tylenol but i had to take six pills to get through the day. So my daughter brought over some aleve. Its just two pills, all day and now, im back aleve. Two pills. All day strong, all day long. And now introducing aleve pm for a better am. So 2015 only a couple of weeks old, with you its already overprimed with way too much news. So its time to dump some of it on one of you. Ahh, splat. Kent jones is here tonight. Good evening, rachel. How are you . Im great. Who is playing tonight . Tonight, we have with us andy abrams from right here in new york city. Hes a edgeoriginally from wisconsin. Hes a conductor, a vocal coach. Theres nothing he cannot do. Hes starting a new Theater Company in wisconsin. Please meet andy abrams. Very nice to meet you. Wonderful to meet you, rachel. How is the theater business . I think its booming. Actually, im still reeling from learning yesterday that the moon is a star. Well the moon if you listened carefully, might be a baseball. But that might come up in tonights quiz. Andy, as you know, im going to ask you three questions. In you get two or more right what will andy win . The cocktail shaker coveted. But that is the only special guest stars prize. If you only get one right and you get a consolation prize. We send you something random from our office. The thing we found in our Office Tonight is so great, it definitely outshines the cocktail shaker and i feel bad that its the consolation prize. Sea life in a storage bucket all right . Here we go. Like this whale, for instance. Its like a whole bunch of other sea things. Porpoise nice. Sea lion in the storage bucket. The important thing is the title we have no idea why we have this or where we got it from. But the title of the item is, sea life in a storage bucket. There it is. I need that in my apartment. We also need to bring in the disembodied voice of steve benin, the man who determines whether or not you got the right answer. Steve, meet andy. Good evening, andy. Hi steve. Are we ready to begin . We are. Mondays show, on mondays show, we reported on one important consequence, andy of Oklahoma Republican senator tom coburn leaving washington because tom coburn is gone from congress one popular bill that he blocked last year single handedly looks like it might pass. What is the subject of that bill that we covered on monday night, is it a, a bill to close guantanamo . B, a bill to find a memorial to president Ronald Reagan . C, a bill to block obama care for congressional staffers. Or d, a bill for veterans Suicide Prevention. Im going to enthusiastically say d. Did he get the answer right . Lets take a look at the segment from monday. Before he left down he made sure one of his final acts would be to block a veterans Suicide Prevention bill that was all but unanimously supported by every other member of congress. The correct answer is d. The bill will be taken up in committee this wednesday and expected to do pretty well. Andy is 1 for 1. And extra news from steve. Second question remember you have to get two right to win the undersized cocktail shaker. Question two, on tuesdays show we talked about the modern political phenomena of the loser beard. Facial hair grown by male politicians grown by al gore or Bill Richardson as a way of signaling they were giving up on politics for a while. Which current high profile current republican politician showed up in washington with a surprise beard, basically letting his facial hair announce for him he will not be running for president in 2016. Was it Texas Governor rick perry . B, wisconsin congressman paul ryan. C, a senator from somewhere i can never remember where, rob portman. Or d, uncle pat . I have to say i feel like you chose this question specifically for me being originally from wisconsin. And im going to say b, mr. Ryan. Steve, whats the right answer . The correct answer is paul ryan, whose beard wasnt especially impressive. It looks like a 5 00 shadow. But it did exist and andy was correct, 2 for 2. I dont know i feel like it was more of like an 8 00 shadow. All right. Final question. Andy, are you ready . This is the third question and this is from last nights show and as we foreshadowed its actually from last nights best new thing in the world. We watched last night a famous Fashion Designer and a qvc host argue heatedly about whether the moon is a planet or a star or maybe the moment the rings are a baseball or maybe its cheese. Heres my question. Who was the designer who insisted that the moon is a planet, in part because he said things live on it. Was the designer, afx, mark jay sobs. B, isaac misrahi. C michael kors or d, zach posen. Im going to go with b, mr. Mizrahi. Steve, do we know the answer . We do but first, we need to watch the amazing video. Go, go. Come on its a planet. This could be real. The moon is what . The moon is a natural satellite. What does that mean . Its a planet things live on it. I dont like that at all. I dont know what that means. I can watch that all day. But the correct answer is b, Isaac Mizrahi and andy was correct again. Kent, did andy win . Oh yes. And the porpoise. And the porpoise. You needed only two to win the shaker. You got three. That means you get the shaker and the consolation prize, which means it isnt a consolation prize, but its still a weird bucket of stuff. Andy, thank you so much for playing. Thank you. Its been a pleasure. Thank you all for watching the show this week. And if you out there think like oh, that was easy how come andy got the porpoise . If you think you have what it takes to survive the friday night news dump, email us. Just tell us who you are, where youre from, and why you want to play. You might be able to play. You might win a cheap pin. But before you do that you have to meet your new cellmates. I hear theyre very nice