Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rachel Maddow Show 20150122

For a second night tonight. Lest we forget that we are the little sister around here we are of the little sibling to nbc news. Lest we forget nbc nightly news tonight got to do their poststate of the union broadcast tonight. Not just from a leftover big desk, like i get to. No nbc nightly news tonight got to do their newscast tonight from cuba. Brian williams and Andrea Mitchell and everybody from nbc nightly news tonight got to do their Live National newscast from havana from the streets in havana. Which is so cool. For them to be able to get in there, and be able to do this broadcast. Of course it also spotlights though what a big deal it is in the news right now, that tonight, right now, for the first time in 53 years, the government of the United States and the government of cuba are negotiating reopening diplomat ties between our two countries. Starting this afternoon and tonight in havana u. S. Diplomats and cuban diplomats have started the process of negotiating the reopening of an American Embassy in havana and the reopening of a Cuban Embassy in washington, d. C. And that is a big enough deal that we had nbc nightly news live from cuba tonight. Its also a big enough deal that this guy was live in cuba tonight. This is the Victor Leonov. A russian navy ship. It is universally described as a shy ship. Its rigged with tons of antenna and radar arrays. Its basically a floating listening post for spying on all kinds of different communications. Yesterday as we were gearing up for the state of the Union Address here in this country, and it was the eve of these highlevel talks starting in cuba today yesterday russia just straight up sailed this giant russian navy spy ship right up to the cruise ship dock in havana harbor. They didnt try to hide it, try to make it look like Something Else they just parked their big russian spy ship in the most highprofile parking spot in the entire city of havana. You can see it from all over and theres no bones about it. Everybody knows exactly what that is. I mean not to put too fine a point on it but Vladimir Putin is a small man. Hes a short guy. He is prone to unsubtle manliness when he thinks people arent taking him seriously. Sailing the Victor Leonov into havana harbor before the u. S. Starts negotiations with cuba its his latest horseback ride through national relations. The talks are under way in havana. President obamas radical reset of our cold war relationship with cuba, it is a contentious thing inside the beltway. If you have just read the Beltway Press, you would think it was this incredibly controversial, very politically risky thing that president obama has done. Its very unpopular move. Thats the way it seems when you read the Beltway Press about it. That really is just a beltway perception. Heading into the state of the union last night, the public polling on the cuba issue was very striking. A wall street journal poll look at the polling, it showed americans are actually quite happy about this change in relations with cuba by a 21 margin. Americans never like anything by a 21 margin. What president obama has decided to do in cuba you would never know about reading it in the Beltway Press, its extremely popular. That is why president obama bragged on it at such length in the state of the union last night. In cuba we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. [ applause ] when something youre doing doesnt work for 50 years, its time to try something new. Congress should begin the work of ending the embargo. [ applause ] as his holiness pope francis has said diplomacy is the work of small steps. These small steps have added up to new hope for the future in cuba. And after years in prison we are overjoyed that alan gross is back where he belongs. Welcome home alan. Were glad youre here. [ applause ] alan gross was a contractor who was arrested and held in prison in cuba for five years before president obama negotiated his release. As part of the larger reset of relations with cuba. It was a moving moment last night at the state of the union. President obama was able to welcome him back, and alan gross stood up and said thank you, thank you, over again. After the state of the union, president obama traveled across the country to have a private inperson oneonone meeting with the family of another american man who was being held in jail overseas by yet another country with whom we have no diplomatic relations. His name is said abidini, a christian pastor from boise, idaho. Hes of iranian descent. He was accused of undermining state security in iran. It seems like what he was doing was basically charity work and networking with other christians in iran. Not exactly doing missionary work, but trying basically to help christians set up ways to worship and practice their faith in private homes in that country. He has been in jail in iran for over two years now. When president obama went on his big poststate of the Union Address today, when he went to boise, idaho, today, he met with saids wife and young kids in boise to talk to them about american efforts to get said released. Like alan gross, saids case has become a rallying point, an emotional rallying point for christian activists around the country and for saids hometown of boise and home state of idaho, many of whom praised president obama for making this effort to meet with his family and reiterated their call for the u. S. Government to do everything they can to get this guy freed from an iranian prison. An interesting side trip for president obamas visit to idaho today. That said, its pretty interesting in itself that president obama was in freaking idaho today. Yes, that idaho. Leading up to the elections, the story about president obama was that he was playing it totally safe, in terms of his travel. He did this wloel preelection tour, you might remember where he just went to states he had already won twice in previous president ial elections. You would have been more likely to see him turn up in moscow moscow, than moscow idaho. But those elections are over. And today, there was president obama in boise meeting with that family in boise, and giving a big speech at boise state. While he was there, giving that speech he again went back and rifed on the same sort of emotional peak from the state of the union last night. That point in the speech last night when he revis ted his famous First National speech from 2004 where he said there isnt a liberal or conservative america, but United States of america. The pundits like to slice and dice our countries into red states and blue states. He went back to that speech last night in the state of the union, challenging the senate who said that sentiment that made people gave him such appeal as a National Figure ten years ago, that sentiment proved to be naive over the course of his presidency. President obama went back to that last night in the state of the union and he went back to it today when he was speaking not incidentally one of the reddest states in the country. My job is to put forward what i think is best for america. The job of congress is to put forward alternative ideas, but theyve got to be specific. They cant just be no. [ applause ] im happy to start a conversation. Tell me how were going to do the things that need to be done. Tell me how we get to yes. I want to get to yes. I want to get to yes on more research and development funding. I want to get to yes for first class infrastructure to help our businesses succeed. I want to get to yes. But youve got to tell me, work with me here. [ cheers and applause ] work with me. Come on. Dont just say no. You know whoever we are, whether we are republicans, or democrats, or independents or young or old or black, white, gay, straight, we all share a common vision for our future. We want a better country for the next generation. And for your kids generation. And i want this country to be the one that shows the world what we know to be true that we are not just a collection of red states and blue states, we are still the United States of america. Thats what were fighting for. [ cheers and applause ] thats what were fighting for. Thats what were pushing for. If you agree with me join me and lets get to work. Weve got a lot to do in this new century. God bless you. God bless the United States of america. President obama speaking tonight in boise, idaho. One of the reddest states in the country. Then he headed out tonight from there to a state that is maybe even redder than idaho. Tonight after idaho, he headed out to the great state of kansas. President obama is not trying to win idaho and kansas in an election. Either for himself or for any other democrat. But this decision by the white house, after the state of the union, to go to some of the most conservative states in the country, it shows sort of where their head is at right now. It shows their confidence. Specifically their confidence that even in places where democrats may not be able to win elections, at least in any great numbers, the white house still thinks, and the president still thinks they can win the argument in those places. The polling on his speech last night, in a very big picture way, would seem to bear that out. At least give the white house more reason for that confidence. It was a big cnn poll on what people thought of the speech found that 81 of people had either a very positive or somewhat positive reaction to the speech. Actually an absolute majority of the people that cnn polled said they had a very positive response to the speech. It also seemed that the speech itself moved people more toward the president. Ahead of the speech 57 of people p in that same poll said they thought president obamas policies would move the country in the right direction. This is ahead of the speech. 57 of people think that. After people watched the speech that number jumped 15 points 72 of people felt after watching the state of the union last night that president obamas policies will move the country in the right direction. 72 . Surfing monkey did a poll on the state of the union and found similar numbers, in terms of the satisfaction of what people heard from the president last night. Big majorities of the people saying the president s policies would unite the country. Specifically on the president s tax plan people in the polling from last night seemed to think that is a very good idea. Public policy polling found people supporting the president s agenda by a 21 margin. They found the majority support for the president s specific proposals for making Community College free people getting sick leave. The one that people said is dead in the water, the tax proposal found there was actually a ton of support for the president s big taxied of middle class tax cuts paid for by bigger taxes on the very rich. They found support for the president s tax plan among democrats and among independents, and even there was a high number of republicans who liked it than republicans who said they didnt like it. And theres the president today. In red state idaho. Before heading to even redder state kansas tonight. The itinerary itself is a show of confidence. The polling and the public reaction to last nights speech appears to show the confidence is warranted. What that translates to in the beltway and on capitol hill, what that translates to around the world with everything this president and administration wants to get done right now and for the next two years, that remains to be seen. But right now, what it feels like is a very very confident president. A very confident white house going full steam ahead. 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. There should be a rule, its football. Stop saying balls, balls, balls, balls. Like the number of times, the word balls. The innuendo is like its just footballs. Footballs. Balls, balls, balls its the big shrimp festival at red lobster. So open wide and pair 2 of 6 big shrimp creations for just 15. 99. Make room for crispy jumbo tempura shrimp or shrimp scampi linguini. Yeah, were gonna need a bigger fork. Hurry, the big shrimp festival ends soon. Okay. The Neilsen Media Research company, chances are you have heard of neilsen at some point, probably in relation to tv ratings, or neilsen ratings, neal neilsen measures whos watching what all over the country. And one of the things that they do in pursuit of that is that they rank every single tv market in the United States from largest to smallest. The largest tv market in the country, number one on the list probably not surprisingly, is new york city. The new york city market has 7 million homes with tvs. Its the top market in the country. Number two on the list is the city of los angeles. Number three on the list is chicago. And on and on it goes. Neilsen ranks a grand total of 210 markets in the country. 210. And number 210 on the list the single smallest market in the entire country, is a place called glendive, montana. Glendive has just over 4,000 homes with tvs. It represents 0. 004 of the entire u. S. Tv watching population. But glendive montana, is now national news. And thats because of this. Cleanup efforts are under way in glendive while residents are told not to drink water from the water supply. The recommendation comes after an oil spill into the Yellowstone River over the weekend. Tonight citizens of glendive montana, have no access to municipal Drinking Water. Theres a dont drink the water mandate in effect. Thats because of an oil pipeline that burst, and spewed its contents right into glendives water supply. Glendive sits along the Yellowstone River in montana. The Yellowstone River is one of the national treasures, the longest river without a dam on it in the lower 48 states. Its a beautiful river. It is fragile. And the Yellowstone River for the second time now in five years is the site of a big oil spill. That has fouled the river and is threatening the region. Back in july 2011 it was an exxon mobil line that burst under the Yellowstone River, that dumped 60,000 gallons of oil into the river in montana. Caused an absolute mess. Oil washed up along 85 miles of Montana River bank. Over 130 million spent on that cleanup. Now just a few years later, just a few miles downstream, it has happened again. On saturday an ill pipeline with a Company Called Bridger Pipeline ruptured near the city of glendive. The pipeline was eventually shut down but not before an estimated 40,000 gallons of oil were released into the river. Youll notice a key difference between this spill and the last one in 2011. The one in 2011 happened in july. It happened during the summer months. They knew about the spill right away. The temperatures were temperate, they could see the oil. Rivers are not static bodies of water that hold still. Water moves inexorably downstream in the river. Although they caught the last spill in 2011 right away it still took out 85 miles downstream from where the spill first happened. This new spill, on the other hand, this one has happened in the dead of winter. And in is a thick sheet of ice covering the river. Which means you cant get to the oil. And you cant see where it is. But it is in there. Tens of thousands of gallons of oil are in the river. And the oil, like the water, presumably is moving underneath the ice. And the cleanup crews, at least thus far, they cant really get to the oil to try to take it out of the river. So there is this immediate question, right, of how in the world theyre going to be able to clean this up before it spreads under the ice hundreds of miles downriver. But theres also the issue of the damage that its already caused. Shortly after the spill, residents of glendive started complaining of their Drinking Water smelling or tasting like oil. Sure enough there are elevated oils of benzine in the water supply, a cancercausing agent that is found in crude oil. There are high enough levels of benzine in the water in glendive, that they instructed residents not to drink the water, not even to cook with the water. Truckloads of bottled water have been shipped into glendive for the residents there. It is unclear when the water there will be safe to drink again. Montana governor Steve Bullock traveled to glendive over the weekend. He has now declared a state of emergency in the area, a disaster area in two montana counties and directed state agencies to essentially be all hands on deck right now. To deliver clean water to glendive, and to fix this thing. With a twofootthick sheet of ice on top of all the oil. How are they supposed to fix this thing . Joining us now is the mayor of glendive, montana, jerry jamison. Mr. Mayor, thank you for joining us tonight of the i know it wasnt easy for you logistically to be with us here. Rachel thank you for having me. Its a pleasure to make the trip. And you made a tough act to follow the president of the United States. I should have been on first. Ill put in a word with the white house. Let me ask you how people are doing in glendive . How is the water situation for folks right now . How are People Holding up . You know people are holding up well. The good thing about residents in montana, eastern montana particularly, is they have a lot of common sense. So when they smelled their water, and it didnt smell right, they quit drinking it. So we have had no incidences of anybody getting sick. And thats a good thing. The other good news is, and you already mentioned it is both the state and federal government have stepped up to the plate bigtime. Glendive right now looks like an ant hill with all the extra help we have in town to try and mitigate this situation. And the other good thing is that the bridger Pipeline Company has taken full ownership of the disaster, and have stepped up to the plate, and said they will make it right. So the glendive residents are happy about that. In terms of the logistics about cleaning it up obviously theyve got the pipeline shut down. Theres no Additional Oil going into the river, but how thick is the ice on the river this time of year . And just mechanically given the ice, what do they do to get to the oil and to get it out of there, if and when they can find it . Well thats a great question rachel because like you said weve never had anything like an oil break with ice over the top of the river, the water. And Bridger Pipeline has brought in oh, maybe six or eight Different Companies to help with the cleanup. And they were smart enough to bring in a team from canada that has experience in recovering oil from cold water situations frozen rivers and lakes. And they are downstream from glendive right now doing work on drilling holes across the river, and putting up barricades so anything coming under the ice, they can capture. The other good news is that the open water that we can see on the river has an oil sheen on it. But it doesnt look to be real heavy, or real thick at this time. I think you already hit on the main thing is that until the ice leaves you know they will have a hard time recovering it all. And in glendive our river usually goes out as far as icefree anywhere from about february 15th to march 15th. So were looking at at least a couple more weeks of ice on the river. Are you at all worried that when ice out happens in the spring that its sort of going to be like a little bit of a second spill of the oil they cant locate now, that theyre going to find it and thats going to be bad news as well as good news . Well, i think thats on everybodys mind. I know the federal epa out of denver were doing the ic incident command on this spill, said that it could be a longterm cleanup due to the ice conditions on the river. And yeah thats sort of an unknown right now is where the oil is and how much of it is still there. Jerry jimison, mayor, our hearts go out to you. Good luck with dealing with this catastrophe. I know you didnt expect it but i appreciate you helping us understand what youre going through, sir. Well, its been a pleasure talking to you, rachel. Its always nice to know that people in new york city care about us out here in the desert the bad lands of eastern montana. So thank you for caring. Absolutely sir. Thank you. Pleasure to have you here. I should tell you also that we did reach out to the bridger Pipeline Company tonight and we invited them to come on the show. They were unable to come tonight. But that invitation still stands. As does all their river all their river in that previously pristine river. I should also tell you that the root of the proposed Keystone Pipeline crosses the Yellowstone River for about 40 miles. In other parts of montana. All right. Lots more ahead tonight, including long overdue justice thats finally being meted out in a way we didnt necessarily expect. Please stay with us. Instantly transferred money from his bank of america savings account to his merrill edge retirement account. Before he opened his first hot chocolate stand calling winter an underserved season. And before he quit his friends leafraking business for not offering a 401k. Larry knew the importance of preparing for retirement. Thats why when the time came he counted on merrill edge to streamline his investing and help him plan for the road ahead. Thats the power of streamlined connections. Thats merrill edge and bank of america. The bold nissan rogue, with intuitive allwheel drive. Because winter needs a hero. Now save up to 1,000 when you finance the 2015 nissan rogue. Still ahead tonight, weve got late breaking developments concerning the Fatal Shooting of Michael Brown in ferguson, missouri, last year. That incident as you know lit a fuse to discontent about Race Relations in this country. The news thats breaking tonight involves the Ferguson Police officer who was involved in that shooting, and the federal investigation, the Justice Department investigation into his actions. The New York Times reporter who has just broken that story tonight is going to be here live right here to tell us what happened right after this. Recently, a 1954 mercedesbenz grand prix race car made history when it sold for a record price of just under 30 million. And now, another mercedesbenz makes history selling at just over 30,000. And to think this one actually has a surroundsound stereo. The 2015 cla. See your authorized mercedesbenz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedesbenz financial services. woman caring for someone with alzheimers means i am a lot of things. I am his guardian. I am his voice. So i asked about adding oncedaily namenda xr® to his Current Treatment for moderate to severe alzheimers. It works differently. When added to another alzheimers treatment, like aricept® it may improve overall function. And cognition. And may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. man namenda xr doesnt change how the disease progresses. It shouldnt be taken by anyone allergic to memantine, or whos had a bad reaction to namenda xr or its ingredients. Before starting treatment, tell their doctor if they have, or ever had a seizure disorder difficulty passing urine, liver, kidney, or bladder problems, and about medications theyre taking. Certain medications, changes in diet, or medical conditions may affect the amount of namenda xr in the body. And may increase side effects. The most common side effects. Are headache, diarrhea and dizziness. woman all my life, hes protected me. Now i am giving back. Ask their doctor about adding. Oncedaily namenda xr. Were on a mission, a mission for underwareness, a cause to support the over 65 Million People who may need the trusted protection of depend underwear. Join us. Drop your pants for underwareness and show off a pair of depend. Because wearing a different kind of underwear, is no big deal. Support the cause and get a free sample of depend at underwareness. Com. Do you have something for pain . I have bayer aspirin. Im not having a heart attack, its my back. I mean bayer back body. It works great for pain. Bayer back body provides effective relief for your tough pain. Better . Yeah. Thanks for the tip . Its been overshadowed by the state of the union, but the Supreme Court is just mincing news this week a ruling that started with this guy, Robert Mclean, he sells home Solar Systems door to door in california. Thats his job now. But his job used to be that he was a u. S. Air marshal. Federal air marshals work for the tsa undercover. Their job is to watch for trouble on airplanes. Without themselves being noticed. After 9 11 federal air marshals became really important in terms of our National Response to the threat of future attacks using airliners. Before 9 11, Robert Mclean had been working as a Border Patrol agent. But after 9 11 when they wanted to up the members of air marshals, he got recruited to leave the Border Patrol and instead become an air marshal. And he took that job. Well one day in 2003 working as an air marshal, he got a briefing, that told the marshals that the latest threat to be worried about was on super long haul flights. Overnight flights. Then just a couple of days after that briefing Robert Mclean said he got a text message from his boss at tsa saying basically, oh by the way, were canceling all air marshal presence on all overnight flights. This is right after the briefing that said that overnight flights were the big threat. Now theyre canceling air marshals on overnight flights. That seemed wrong to mr. Mclean. He told his new bosses the policy did not seem safe. They said there was nothing they could do budget cuts. The air mareshal passed this information on to a reporter here at msnbc. The resulting News Coverage caused an immediate uproar. The day after msnbc ran with that story, back in 2003 the tsa reversed its decision and put the air marshals back onto those long haul flights. However, that air marshal, Robert Maclean he got fired for his trouble. And thats why hes a doortodoor solar salesman. That happened to him a decade ago. The wheels of justice turned in his favor. In a 72 decision today the United States Supreme Court ruled that Robert Maclean should not have been fired as an air marshal, he should have been protected as a whistleblower. It took a decade but it finally got there. Also at the same time there was this one as well. This is a second Supreme Court news bulletin on a separate case. And this case involves this man. Army Staff Sergeant ryan masoft. A green bar ray from shaler pennsylvania. He died in iraq in 2008. The Staff Sergeant was not killed in combat. He was electrocuted in iraq while he was taking a shower. The wiring for the water pump in the shower in his barracks hadnt been grounded properly. So the water itself in the shower was electrified. He stepped into that water and he was killed. He was one of more than a dozen american troops who were electrocuted that way in their own barracks when theyre supposed to be over there fighting a war. When the sergeants family tried to sue the giant contractor that had done that work on the barracks the company kbr, the courts here in this country dismissed their suit. The company argued that when they built that shoddy deadly housing for our troops they were basically operating as an extension of the u. S. Army and so they were immune they couldnt be sued. Well the Supreme Court has now just ruled that those lawsuits against kbr can go ahead, that they can be sued for their work that killed american soldiers. That decision has been a long time coming. Staff Sergeant Ryan maseth died years ago in iraq. The toxic burn pits that poison the troops and all the other stuff that military contractors make billions off of while the work that they got paid for killed americans in uniform. That was the second really interesting news out of the Supreme Court this week. But theres more. The biggest one is as yet unresolved. It involves civil rights. Today the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case involving the Fair Housing Act. Fair housing angt was signed into law in the immediate aftermath of dr. Martin luther king jr. s assassination in 1968. President johnson signed it a week after Martin Luther king was killed as basically a tribute to dr. King and dr. Kings fight to end racially segregated housing in this country. Theres no real reason no real legal imperative why the court had to take this dallas case on the Fair Housing Act. The fact that the court did take it up leads to speculation that the Roberts Court went out of their way to take this case specifically so they can gut the Fair Housing Act, the way they gutted the Voting Rights act a year ago. Happy Martin Luther king day. Nice to see you. Thank you very much for being here. Thanks for having me. How do you take todays arguments . Is it right for me to say there have been worries that the court was going to dismantle this law the way they took apart the Voting Rights act, too . This is the third time rachel, that the Supreme Court has really reached out to take a case asking the question asked in the case today which is whether the disparate impact standard, a standard used in the Fair Housing Act cases, whether that standard really is cog nizable in the act. There was no imperative to take this case. Every Appellate Court looked at the question has decided it the same way, that yes, disparate impact can justify a claim under the Fair Housing Act. The agency that is charged with enforcing the Fair Housing Act, hud, also agrees with that. Congress in 1988 when they amended the act suggested that they understood that disparate impact was a standard. And yet for the third time in four years, the Supreme Court has taken a case asking this question. The two previous cases were settled before the Supreme Court could hear oral argument. This one was not. And so there were real worries. And i wouldnt say that all those worries are ameliorated, that at least four members of the court are pretty aggressively pursuing this issue and are interested in this issue. So we were all quite interested to see how the court would grapple with it today. Its hard to extrapolate from the oral arguments to how the court will eventually rule. Weve all fallen down that sort of gone down that path and regretted it in the past. With that said when you were at the oral arguments today, what ive read about the oral arguments, maybe things didnt go as bad as people expected for the Fair Housing Act . Maybe there were some signs that the court might not be as aggressive as people had worried . I have to say, to be honest many of us expected that there might be a great deal more overt hostility from some of the justices about the act. I think most interesting was really the line of analysis described by justice scalia. What he recognized was that the amendments to the act in 1988 carved out two exceptions to the disparate impact rule. Essentially he followed a logical argument saying why would they carve that out if they didnt think it was a standard. At one point he got into a tus tussle with Justice Alito about it. That we shouldnt figure out what they meant in 1988 what they meant in 1968. So they were kind of in a little tussle about it. We were a little surprised by that. And gratified by it. Scalia and alito at odds is a very rare thing. The prospect of an ton inscalia as a civil rights savior is a hard thing to get around. Sherrilyn, thanks for being here. Thank you rachel. Late breaking news tonight. The Justice Department is reportedly about to weigh in on the Michael Brown case, on the Michael Brown Police Killing in ferguson. Weve got the reporter who has the scoop on that story tonight. Its a late breaking story. Please stay with us. Talking to people who made the switch to ford. It felt nicer than my bmw. Good gas mileage. Ecoboost makes a four cylinder engine feel like a six cylinder. My dad went and turned in his lexus and got the exact same car as me. He had to have it. Im very happy with my escape. I dont know if ill ever not buy a ford. Make the switch to americas favorite brand. Check out special offers on ford escape at ford. Com or see your local ford dealer. You park your car. As you walk away crunch a garbage truck backs into it. So,you call your insurance company, looking for a little support. What you get is a game of a thousand questions. Was it raining . Were your flashers on . Was there a dog with you . By the time you hang up youre convinced the accident was your fault. Then you remember; you werent even in the car. At Liberty Mutual we make filing a claim as stressfree as possible. See Car Insurance in a whole new light. Liberty Mutual Insurance 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 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. Were going to have the ferguson story for you in just a moment. But right now there is just breaking news to report tonight on washington, a dramatic and very Unexpected Development in congress. Tomorrow afternoon, the republicanled house of representatives was scheduled to debate and vote on an abortion ban. Tomorrows the 42nd anniversary of roe versus wade Supreme Court decision. They were going to make a statement by passing a federal ban on abortions after 20 weeks. This is one of the first pieces of legislation that House Republicans wanted to pass in the new congress. That was their plan. House republicans were going to take up that bill tomorrow. They were thought as having no issues in terms of whether or not they were going to pass it. But late tonight, just within the last few minutes, just since weve been on the air, this is apparently all falling apart. Look at this bulletin posted from the associated press. House gop abruptly do we have that . We dont have the graphic . House gop abruptly drops plan to debate abortion bill after revolt by gop women and others. Gop women . Nbc news is now confirming tonight that House Republicans have pulled this bill from the floor tomorrow, after pushback from inside the Republican Caucus specifically from pushback by republican antiabortion women members of congress. So theyve yanked their own bill. Theyre going to apparently take up some other abortion funding bill in its place. Well keep you posted as we learn more. Stay with us. Stamps. Com is the best. Theres late breaking news this evening about the Fatal Shooting of 18yearold Michael Brown in ferguson missouri this past august. This case has been a National Flash point. Michael brown was unarmed when he was shot and killed by officer Darren Wilson of the Ferguson Police department. He was killed in the middle of the day, in the middle of the street, on a hot august day. After that shooting after ferguson erupted in night after night of occasionally violent protests and after the protests started spreading across the country, attorney general eric holder traveled to ferguson missouri, he took meetings with protesters and with police and local authorities. On that trip he announced in addition to the local criminal investigation into the officers actions into that shooting the federal Justice Department would also begin a civil rights investigation into the shooting. The Justice Department also opened a broader civil rights investigation into not just that shooting but the actions of the entire Ferguson Police department. The patterns of policing in that department. After a st. Louis county grand jury in november Ferguson Police department. The patterns of policing in that department. After st. Louis county grand jury in november decided not to indict officer Darren Wilson on any charges, attorney general eric holder announced his departments federal investigation into that shooting remained ongoing. He said, the federal inquiry has been independent from the local one and remains so now. Tonight, the New York Times is reporting that the Justice Department has completed that investigation into the shooting. The times cites three Law Enforcement sources and says this, Justice Department lawyers will recommend that no civil rights charges be brought against former Ferguson Police officer Darren Wilson after an fbi investigation found no evidence to support charges. Anticipating wide interest in this decision, the times reports that the Justice Department lawyers are working on a legal memo explaining their recommendation. Joining us now is michael schmidt, who helped break this story tonight. Thank you very much for being with us. Thanks for having me. Your report says you spoke with three Law Enforcement officials for this story. Did you get a specific answer from them as to why the Justice Department isnt going to recommend civil rights charges in this case . Its a very high threshold to make one of these cases. They basically have to show that there was malice in the intent of Darren Wilson. What they say is when they look at the evidence thats not there. What may be there is bad policing and bad decision making. But there was no premeditated decision that they found by mr. Wilson to go after mr. Brown. In terms of what youre able to report and what happens in the process here is it true that attorney general eric holder still has some sort of bottom line final say in determining whether charges should be brought . Were hearing that charges are not going to be brought, but a final decision has. Been announced yet, right . Its not done until its done and anything could happen. But the fbi sent 40 agents in the days after the shooting to fan out in the neighborhood in ferguson where the shooting happened. They interviewed 200 people and came back and started to recreate what happened based on what they had, along with evidence that was given to them by the police department. When they did that they didnt come to a place where they could bring these charges. They didnt come to a place that showed that mr. Wilson had set out to do this had set out to go after someone based on their race. In terms of the timing now and why were hearing about this now, is this at all related to the timing around the bigger issue at the department of justice, specifically eric holder planning to leave as attorney general pending confirmation votes for the woman president obama named as his successor, is that at all tied to this . I dont think so. We dont know when theyre going to make this part public. Theres the other part the larger civil rights investigation and will the Justice Department demand there be a special independent overseer or judge to come in and say to the police department, you have to change your practices, you have to be more diverse. You cant stop people you cant harass people. And that we dont know the answer to. If were going to see action its much more likely there than it is on mr. Wilson. In terms of eric holders tenure as attorney general, its one of the things that hes known for. Hes pretty aggressively used these types of investigations and the powers that he has at the Justice Department to do those investigations and interventions in Police Departments across the country. Correct. Theyre looking at several years of police activity. In the case of the officer, theyre just looking at this one incident and what happened there. Despite, you know the fact that maybe the officer made a lot of decisions wrong here, not great policing decisions, they werent illegal based on federal law. What happened was is that the fbi found similar conclusions to what the local authorities did. I dont know that thats going to change the minds of any people about this case but that is certainly where were going to end up. Michael schmidt, thanks for helping us to understand this tonight. Appreciate having you here. Thanks for having me. Please stay with us. How can power consumption in china impact wool exports from new zealand textile production in spain and the use of medical technology in the u. S. . At t. Rowe price we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. Its just one reason over 85 of our mutual funds beat their 10year lipper average. T. Rowe price. Invest with confidence. Request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. Constipated . Yea dulcolax tablets can cause cramps but not phillips. It has magnesium and works more naturally than stimulant laxatives. For gentle cramp free relief of occasional constipation that works mmm mmm live the regular life. [ female announcer ] we help make secure financial tomorrows a reality for over 19 Million People. [ mom ] with life insurance, were not just insuring our lives. Were helping protect his. [ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. Transamerica. Transform tomorrow. I take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. Because it gives me. Zero heartburn prilosec otc. The number 1 doctorrecommended frequent heartburn medicine for 9 straight years. One pill each morning. 24 hours. Zero heartburn. Ive been called a control freak. I like to think of myself as more of a control. Enthusiast. Mmm, a perfect 177degrees. And thats why this road warrior rents from national. I can bypass the counter and go straight to my car. And i dont have to talk to any humans, unless i want to. And i dont. And national lets me choose any car in the aisle. Control. Its so, whats the word . Sexy. Go national. Go like a pro. I have the worst cold with this runny nose. I better take something. Dayquill cold and flu doesnt treat your runny nose. Seriously . Alkaseltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms plus your runny nose. Oh, what a relief it is. Just want to recap the story that just broke here just a few minutes ago. House republicans just pulled their own antiabortion bill that they were expected to pass tomorrow on the anniversary of roe versus wade. This is a bill that would have banned abortions across the country after 20 weeks. There were reportedly objections within the House Republican conference by republican female members of congress. They were antiabortion members of congress, but they objected to some of the ways that this ban had been written, and now House Republicans have pulled that bill even though it was expected to pass tomorrow. That should make for some interesting politics on the antiabortion side of the ledger tomorrow on the anniversary of roe versus wade. I think well have further coverage on that here on msnbc. But i have Something Else to tell you about that relates to the other side of capitol hill in a very personal way. On the first day of school one important person who would expect to be there was missing. Harry reid wasnt there. This is senator reid at home on the first day of school on the way republicans took over the senate. As you can see, he was pretty seriously banged up. On new years day, he had a terrible accident while exercising using a resistance band. He was using a resistance band. It snapped while he was using it. It broke bones in his face he broke ribs. He was really banged up. Since then hes been seen back at work in washington, not looking his best but back at it. Tonight we learned harry reid is going to have to have surgery on his right eye because of breaking all the bones around that eye. The surgery is to try to save his vision. The operation is scheduled for George Washington university in d. C. On monday. Everybody obvious hi hoping it goes well. But the top democrat in the senate is not going to be at work for a while. Hes going to be laid up while he recovers. From all of us senator reid get well soon. That does it for us tonight. Well see you tomorrow. Now its time for the last word with lawrence e donnell. Well have full details on why john boehner took down that bill that abortion bill. Turns out just yesterday, two women, republican women in the house of representatives withdrew their cosponsorship of the bill. I had a great script written for this in the show which we now have to throw out, because its breaking news. Fascinating development. Thank you, rachel. And also in tonights show the real work of normalizing relations with cuba will begin tomorrow in havana. This new era begins today. The historic day in