Transcripts For MSNBCW The Rachel Maddow Show 20160105

Race, which is all of a sudden very important again in terms of understanding whats going on right now in todays news and politics. And yes, in 2012 the 2012 republican president ial primary ultimately produced nickname mittens mitt romney as that partys president ial nominee. But at the very beginning of the president ial cycle in 2012, when they first started polling Republican Voters in 2012 on who they wanted to be their nominee, you know who was at the top of the list . You know who was at the top of the heap for republican candidates or potential candidates when they first started polling at the very beginning of that cycle . You want to know who was polling in first place . Donald trump. And im not talking about this president ial cycle for 2016. Im talking about the last one. This is the representative headline. This was about a national cnn poll of Republican Voters taken in april 2011. Donald trump tied for first place. And donald trump ended up at the top of a lot of polls at that time in that race. He made the decision that year ultimately to not run. But while he was flirting with it, while he was saying he might run, while he was talking about himself as the potential next president of the United States and doing campaignstyle things, he had one very specific basis for his campaign. This was the basis not only of his campaign but apparently his considerable popularity among Republican Voters who thought he was going to run on this at the time. Three weeks ago when i started i thought he was probably born in this country. And now i really have a much bigger doubt than i did before. But based on what . You know what . His grandmother in kenya said he was born in kenya and she was there and witnessed the birth. Okay . He doesnt have a birth certificate, or he hasnt shown it. He has whats called a certificate of live birth. That is something thats easy to get. When you want a birth certificate its very hard to get. But its considered the equivalent in the its not the equivalent. In the state of hawaii they said they have seen the document. It is evidence that he was born in the United States. Its not the equivalent. Thats good enough for them scholars a birth certificate is not even close a certificate of live birth is not even signed by anybody. I saw his. I read it very carefully. Doesnt have a serial number. Doesnt have a signature. Theres not even a signature. Do you believe hes lying . Im starting to think that he was not born here. Do you believe hes lying, donald . Come on, just answer. Meredith, he spent 2 million in legal fees trying to get away from this issue. And if he werent lying, why wouldnt he just solve it . And i wish he would because if he doesnt its one of the greatest scams in the history of politics and in the history, period. You are not allowed to be a president if youre not born in this country. He may not have been born in this country. And ill tell you what, three weeks ago, i thought he was born in this country. Right now i have some real doubts. I have people that actually have been studying it and they cannot believe what theyre finding. You have people now down there searching in hawaii . Absolutely. And they cannot believe what theyre finding. That was how donald trump ran for president in the 2012 election cycle. He did not run for very long. He was out by may of 2011. But when he was running, he was polling right at the top of the heap. In multiple polls. Tied for first or in first place in a whole bunch of polls that were taken around that time. And the basis of his campaign at the time when he was doing so well was that he believed that president obama was not really the president because president obama, or this guy pretending to be the president named barack obama, was secretly foreign and had faked his birth as part of an elaborate conspiracy to put foreign powers in uh. Thats what he ran on. Theres a real question about the birth certificate. Theres a real question about his own citizenship. There is no question. Hes got a certificate of live birth george, i know exactly what youre getting at. The facts. No, theyre not the facts. He doesnt have a birth certificate or he hasnt provided hes given a certificate of live birth. Its a much different certificate of live birth meets the standard in the state department for anyones citizenship. George. There were contemporaneous reports in two hawaiian newspapers theyve coopted you. Whos they . Obviously obama and his minions. You sent investigators to hawaii and you said they cannot believe what theyre finding. Were going to see what happens. What have they found . Its none of your business right now. Were going to see what happens. Have they found anything . Were going to see what happens. What have they done . We are going to see what happens. When . George. Next question, george. Next question, george. His minions have this is only 4 1 2 years ago. Its kind of weird that its already been forgotten now that donald trump really is running this time around and he really is the republican president ial frontrunner. But its true, when he very briefly tried out running for president in the last president ial campaign in the 2012 cycle his platform, his very narrow platform was that president obama was secretly foreign and had a forged birth certificate. He was an agent of a foreign power. And donald trump sent his investigators to hawaii. And you wouldnt believe what they were finding and they were going to reveal the explosive truth that our kenyan overlords had wrested control of the u. S. Government so wed all be, i dont know, put in camps or given tinfoil teeth covers or something. I dont know. It was, a, a very shortlived campaign. B, it was a very Popular Campaign among Republican Voters. People forget how well he polled for the few weeks that he was in the race. And c, his campaign was totally based on this birtherism claim by donald trump. And since then in the ensuing 4, 4 1 2 years, birtherism, this idea that president obama is a secret foreign agent, it has mostly fallen out of favor in most republican circles. The few journalists who have asked mr. Trump this time around if he Still Believes that president obama is secretly foreign, if he Still Believes in the fake birth certificate, the few journalists who have asked him about that this time around have mostly been brushed off by donald trump. He doesnt want to talk about it this time around. But just the fact that he doesnt want to talk about it anymore and the fact that it is mostly out of favor doesnt mean that there arent Still Corners of the conspiratorial conservative media world where president obamas birth st. Is still definitely a forgery and his status as a secret alien is still a very compelling contemporary issue. The headquarters of that basically is of course our friends at world net daily. And world net daily was always kind of the headquarters for the obama birth certificate Conspiracy Theory. But still today, still at world net daily you can buy your where is the real birth certificate yard and rally sign. You can get your where is the birth certificate bumper sticker. Its magnetic. Easy on, easy off. You can get your question of eligibility obama birth certificate forgery dvd. You can also get your autographed hardcover copy of the where is the birth certificate world net daily book. World net daily is able to get i think an inside line on those autographs for that book because the author of wheres the birth certificate is a senior staff writer at world net daily. He has not only advanced his theory and sold all his books and merchandise about president obamas faked birth certificate at world net daily, hes also used world net daily to advance his deeply compelling theory that president obama is not only secretly foreign, hes also secretly muslim and hes secretly gay and hes secretly gay married to another muslim. Yeah. You didnt know, did you . Specifically the theory from this guy is that president obama is secretly gay and muslim married to his pakistani roommate from college and that that ring that the president wears might look like a wedding ring but its actually his secret muslim gay wedding ring to a pakistani guy which is also evidence of his own foreignness if you know how to read the secret inscription on the ring correctly. Got it . So this is the senior staff writer for world net daily who pushes this stuff. His name is jerome corsi. The guy who runs world net daily overall is named joseph farah. Hes known primarily, as you can see, for having the worlds most luxurious mustache. But in addition to that World Champion facial hair, he is also running world net daily and still now as of a week before Christmas Joseph farah is still writing columns at world net daily about president obamas fake birth certificate and how he was secretly born in kenya. This is from the week before christmas. Even if obamas fake birth certificate were real, which it clearly is not, it would still not prove his eligibility to be president. Well, now over the holiday break world net daily has proclaimed that its man of the year for 2015 was donald j. Trump. Mr. Trump facebooked an announcement of his world net daily man of the year status. He wrote, thank you for this amazing honor, to be named man of the year. He was also quoted by world net daily in their man of the year article about him saying, it is my great honor to be named man of the year by your publication. I very much appreciate your informative polls and coverage. And now people for the american way brings to our attention this event in march which will be honoring joseph farah, the world net daily mustache guy. Hes going to be getting a hero of Freedom Award from some conservative group. Its an awards dinner to honor the world net daily guy. And the keynote speaker at that awards dinner will be donald trump. This year. Sometimes it takes having a few days away, you know, but a few days with cold hands and fish to come back to something with fresh eyes and see just how crazy it is. That said, with this celebration of his world net daily man of the year status republican president ial frontrunner donald trump is also just flat out reminding us that he really is that guy. He really is the guy who ran for president , albeit briefly, on the basis of a Conspiracy Theory about president obamas birth certificate in the 2012 cycle. He is the same guy. And when he ran on that platform in 2011 for the 2012 president ial race, that platform, that belief of his, his association with the whole birther Conspiracy Theory movement, that was crazy to the point of journalists laughing in his face about it in 2011. Now, though, hes the prohibitive frontrunner to be the republican president ial candidate this year. Even though nothing about him has changed. When mitt romney ultimately won the nomination back in 2012, you might remember it ended up being kind of a big embarrassment for the Romney Campaign that summer when mr. Romney and his wife flew out to las vegas to get Donald Trumps endorsement. Mr. Romney landed on the tarmac and he parked his plane next to Donald Trumps plane and they did their big event together, and then donald trump went on cnn and told wolf blitzer about all the problems about president obamas birth st. It was a tremendous embarrassment to the Republican Party and their nominee. When he brought up this birth certificate stuff and they were trying to get away from seeming that crazy. Now, though, this is the guy who very well could be their nominee. And the birth certificate stuff is apparently not at all embarrassing to him. Nor are the extravagantly mustachioed conspiracy theorists who have been making a living all these years off of selling this birther craziness. In this president ial race, there have been a lot of unusual things. There have been a lot of things that have sort of broken the mold in terms of the way things usually go. One of the unusual things about the race so far this year is that mr. Trump has been able to completely dominate the rest of the republican field for half a year now if not longer without raising any significant money and without running any tv ads. It was not until early october that mr. Trump and his Campaign Even started talking about the possibility that they might run ads. Mr. Trump and his Campaign Manager told robert costa at the Washington Post in early october that eventually they would run tv ads and they had some ideas about what they would be. They had some plans. The Campaign Manager said the ads would be nontraditional. Mr. Trump and his Campaign Manager explained that mr. Trump himself was coming up with the concept for these ads. They both explained that they were going to hire a firm to make Donald Trumps tv ads, a firm that had never done political advertising before. It was going to be something totally different than anybody had ever seen. That was the promise from the Trump Campaign in early october. Well, today we finally got the first donald trump tv ad thats going to start running in iowa and New Hampshire this week. First time hes running an ad at all. This is the ad. They posted it online today. Its going to start running on tv. Theyre going to spend they say 2 million a week between now and the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. Its these visuals and theres a guy saying that donald trump is going to stop isis and Donald Trumps going to stop muslims from entering the United States and hes going to build a wall on the mexican border. All right. So this is supposed to be the big nontraditional like nothing youve ever seen before donald trump ad. This is the donald trump ad what im showing here actually, i should mention, i should explain, this is the donald trump ad in the context of other ads that are exactly like it. This is trump in the upper lefthand corner. Thats jeb bush upper righthand corner. Chris christie lower lefthand corner. Lindsey graham lower righthand corner. I put them all here simultaneously together because theyre all exactly the same ad. Scary terrorism footage, then your campaign man speaking at a rally or town hall saying islamic terrorism as if those magic words will make isis go away. Its all the same thing. Its an absolutely totally normal republican mainstream political ad that donald trump has just rolled out. Indistinguishable from almost all the other candidates. Theyre all running ads like this. So much for it being Something Like youve never seen before. Its exactly like everything youve ever seen before. Its totally not newsworthy. Its exactly like every other ad that mentions terrorism. And so, welcome back. Happy 2016. Whats scarier . That the republicans are about to nominate for president a world net daily wheres the birth certificate Conspiracy Theory guy or the fact that a world net daily wheres the birth certificate Conspiracy Theory guy is running a Winning Campaign for president that now makes him seem like just an average everyday runofthemill republican candidate. Happy 2016. Is it scarier that this seems so nuts or that it now looks so normal . To give it up. Thats today . Well be with her all day to see how it goes. After the deliveries, i was ok. Now the ciabatta is done and the pain is starting again. More pills . Seriously . Seriously. All these stops to take more pills can be a pain. Can i get my aleve back . For my pain, i want my aleve. Get all day minor arthritis pain relief with an easy open cap. There it is. This is where i met your grandpa. Right under this tree. man some things are Worth Holding onto. Theyre hugging the tree. man thats why we got a subaru. 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Built for business. This is a question i legitimately have no answer for. I cannot explain this. Perhaps you can. We are 28 days away from the Iowa Caucuses. We are 36 days away from the New Hampshire primary. Can you spot what is weird about this video of folks waiting outside in the cold tonight for a donald trump rally . Whats weird about them is that they are in neither of those two states i just mentioned. These folks waiting in the cold tonight, this huge long line outside the donald trump rally, are in deep blue taxachusetts. This is a line to get into a donald trump rally tonight in lowell, massachusetts. Lowell, massachusetts. Yes. And this is the third major Campaign Event that donald trump has mounted in the state of massachusetts recently. And if that is not weird enough, later this week mr. Trump is going to be making a big Campaign Stop in burlington, vermont, as in the city where Bernie Sanders was mayor. Donald trump now campaigning regularly in massachusetts and starting to campaign in vermont. Why is he doing that . I have no idea. You do all this research then smash it into a tree. Your Insurance Company raises your rates. Maybe you shouldve done more research on them. For drivers with accident forgiveness, Liberty Mutual wont raise your rates due to your first accident. Liberty mutual insurance. Where our next arrival is. Red carpet whoa toenail fungus . Fight it with jublia. Jublia is a prescription medicine used to treat toenail fungus. Use jublia as instructed by your doctor. Are you getting this . most common side effects include ingrown toenail, application site redness, itching, swelling, burning or stinging, blisters, and pain. Oh, epic moves, big j fight it getting ready for your closeup . Ask your doctor if jublia is right for you. Visit our website for savings on larger size. If legalzoom has your back. S, over the last 10 years weve helped one million Business Owners get started. Visit legalzoom today for the legal help you need to start and run your business. Legalzoom. Legal help is here. This first weekend of 2016 the state of michigan, it was cold. But in lots of places this year this winter didnt start off feeling like winter but now it feels like winter. And in that cold with freezing temperatures and high cold winds in michigan this weekend the day after new years dozens of people bundled up and set out across the city of flint, michigan as volunteers to hand out free bottled water to people who live in that town. Weve been covering this story recently, the story of how the Rick Snyder Administration in michigan ended up giving lead poisoning to kids in the town of flint, michigan when Emergency Managers working for the governor decided they would save money by switching flint over to a new Drinking Water source. And the state okayed them going ahead with the switch without treating that water to make it safe. The Rick Snyder Administration then compounded the problem and the poisoning of flints kids by ignoring the warning signs of rising lead levels first in the citys water and then inevitably in the bloodstream of the children of that city. Last week michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced the resignations of the head of the state Environmental Agency that failed to protect flints water and also the spokesperson for that agency the man who told the public that they should literally, quote, relax about flints water. Also last week the governor himself finally apologized. He said on thursday, on new years eve, i want the Flint Community to know how very sorry i am that this has happened. Which is nice. As far as nice goes. But the people of flint still do not have safe water. And so that is why Lanice Lawson was out in the freezing cold on saturday with about 30 volunteers and four uhauls full of donated bottled water. You might remember, just before christmas, we just mentioned on the air right before christmas, we didnt make a plea or anything, we just mentioned on the air that Lanice Lawson had set up an Online Fundraising campaign to distribute bottled water locally for free by volunteers to people in flint. That Online Fundraising campaign got a spike in donations because apparently the world is filled with good people after all. And part of the result of that spike in donations to her go fund me site was that Lanice Lawson had over 50,000 bottles of water to give away in flint for free this past saturday. We are here to service the community and to do our part, to do what we can to get clean water to these babies whove been poisoned. You cant say it any nicer than that. Water is a basic necessity that everyone, everyone has to have. And not to be able to when you dont have access to clean water, you feel like youre in a third world country. Were in america. Its hard for me to take a bath because i cannot put heated bottled water into a tub to be able to take a bath. Im scared to wash my hair. You know, because its going to fall out. I know it is. So you know, personal hygiene is a problem. As well as being able to cook with the water, clean with the water, drink with the do you know how much water that takes . And for these people out here to be giving it away i consider it a blessing. I thank god for these people. I have four children. Two young children. And i just you know, its a rough time right now. I mean, its devastating and its scary, you know, that the children are faced with such terrible devastation as far as not being able to drink thats a necessity. You know, we need water. You know, to live. I take my hat off to the sponsors, but its a drop in the bucket. The city of flint goes through about 14 million gallons of water a day. I proposed to the city council that the giveaways is fine but we need to spend about a million or 2 million and the city needs to supply it. But in the meantime, you know, lets see what the governor do with this declaration of a state of emergency. That was this saturday in flint, michigan. One of the four water Distribution Sites set up just by one local woman making her best effort on her own with other volunteers. Lanice lawson and her bottles for the babies project. After a couple hours all four uhaul trucks were empty. 50,000 bottles of water given out to just regular everyday people in flint who were very grateful for it because they till cannot use the water from their taps. That is part of why flint and their new mayor are seeking an Emergency Declaration from the governor which you just heard that city councilman talk about there because the work of fixing the damage in flint is just starting. A year and a half after the Snyder Administration made this decision that caused the poisoning of the kids in that town we got an apology on the last day of the year from the governor. Whats going to happen, though, to fix this situation in flint now that an apology has been issued . Well, that request for a declaration of emergency from the city and now from the county, its on its way to Governor Snyders desk as of today. An Emergency Declaration would open the possibility of federal help, federal emergency funds to help alleviate this manmade disaster in michigan. But that will only happen if the governor chooses to sign it. And it may or may not surprise you to hear that it is not at all clear that Governor Snyder is going to sign it. Amazing. I know. But true. And that storys ahead. House full of guests on the way and a cold with sinus pressure, you need fast relief. Alkaseltzer plus severe sinus congestion and cough liquid gels rush relief to your tough symptoms. To put you back in control. [doorbell] woman coming alkaseltzer plus sinus. And casuper food . Is that recommend sya real thing . Cedar . Its a great school, but is it the right one for her . Is this really any better than the one you got last year . If we consolidate suppliers, whats the savings there . So should we go with the 467 horsepower . Or is a 423 enough . Good question. You ask a lot of good questions. I think we should move you into our new fund. Sure. Ok. But are you asking enough about how your wealth is managed . Wealth management at charles schwab. Why fit in when you were born to stand out. The 2016 Nissan Altima has arrived. Hi, this is jennifer. I will be out of the office until monday and wont be checking voicemail during this time. Ill reply just as soon as i get back to work. Sail with princess cruises, the Number One Cruise Line in alaska. Limited alaska fares from 699. Call your travel consultant or 1800princess. Princess cruises. Come back new. Every Auto Insurance policy has a number. But not every Insurance Company understands the life behind it. Those who have served our nation have earned the very best service in return. Usaa. We know what it means to serve. Get an Auto Insurance quote and see why 92 of our members plan to stay for life. [ sneezing ] a cold can make you miserable. Luckily, alka seltzer plus cold and cough liquid gels. Rush liquid fast relief to your tough cold symptoms. Fast, powerful liquid gels from alka seltzer plus im here to get free water because the water in flint is poisoned with lead and all kind of chemicals in it. You know, and its just a disgrace, you know, for somebody to do actually a mass poisoning. I mean, this is a whole community. Were talking about, what, 50 100,000 people. And you wouldnt tell them that the water was no good . Even when they showed it to you, you kept telling us we could drink this water. I have copd. Im a diabetic. High Blood Pressure. All these things. Im just as vulnerable as a baby. When she says they kept telling us that we could drink this water, she means it literally. Let me start here. Anyone who is concerned about lead in the Drinking Water in flint can can relax. There is no broad problem right now that weve seen with lead in the Drinking Water in flint. Relax. Theres no problem. That really was what the administration of Michigan Republican Governor Rick Snyder told the public, told the people of flint, michigan as they were considering whether it really was safe to drink this stuff and cook with it and bathe their kids in it and shower in it. The state was absolutely wrong about that. And folks were still lining up this weekend for bottled water handouts in flint, michigan organized by volunteers. Because you still cannot get on getting safe water from your kitchen faucet there. Because of what the state did. It was april 2014 when the state appointed emergency manager said flint should stop getting water from detroit in order to save money, instead take its water from the flint river. And the state okayed the emergency manager doing that without treating that water. And so now in flint when you turn on the faucet that water might come to you through pipes that are corroded and leaching toxic lead. And even though Governor Snyders administration told everyone to literally relax about the situation in flint, even though they said there was no broad problem with lead in the water in flint, the rate of elevated lead levels in the bloodstreams of little kids and babies in flint doubled and tripled because of what the Snyder Administration did. And that is horrifying news because lead is a neurotoxin. In kids it causes lifelong irreversible emotional and behavioral problems. It causes lowered i. Q. S. The kids of flint, michigan ended up drinking lead because their town was poisoned on Governor Snyders watch. And this crisis in flint is a real one. It sounds like a horror movie, but its real. And it is not over. Flint Officials Say that fixing the pipes and saving the town basically could cost 50 million or more. This morning the county commission in the county where flint is, they signed off on a declaration of emergency for flint. Quoting the Flint Journal, last week Governor Snyder said he was sorry for flints lead in water crisis. Now he must decide whether the situation amounts to a manmade disaster created while the city was being run by Emergency Managers who he appointed. So how about it, Governor Snyder . Are you ready to call this a manmade disaster when your people are the men who made it . We spent a long time today trying to get an answer from Governor Snyders office about whether hes going to sign this Emergency Declaration. The Governors Office says theyre working this week to get the information that they need. They say they recognize this is an emergency but they will not say whether the governor intends to sign on in a way that formally will open the door for federal help. Its also unclear at this point how involved in or aware of this crisis the governor has personally been and at what point he knew what he knew. We do know that Governor Snyder took action in public in october. Thats when he finally acknowledged that there was a problem with flints water. Because of this switch that they made and how they made it. But the Michigan Press has dug up evidence that the governor very quietly helped some pastors in flint get water filters to distribute back in august. Thats interesting, right . August he gets water filters quietly on the sly, doesnt admit anything publicly until october . Documents from the state Health Department in september suggest the governor got some sort of information on childhood lead poisoning before meeting with the pastors. Right . Something that led him to quietly try to do something to help. At the same time, though, we also know his spokesperson kept strategizing ways to downplay the crisis in public. So that looks embarrassing for the governor now. But what is so frustrating for the public is that the written record has so many holes in it. Especially when it comes to the governors own dealings specifically and personally. Michigan is nearly alone in the nation in shielding the governor from freedom of information act requests. You can use foia to get official documents and correspondence from almost every governor in the country but not the governor in the state of michigan, which ends up being very interesting in this case because we know from Governor Snyders public apology last week that he is very sorry that this has happened to flint. We learned from his Public Statement hes accepted the resignation from the person he appointed to head up the state Environmental Agency and the spokesperson who told everybody to relax. Beyond that, though, we do not know much at all about rick snyder himself in this crisis except for this intriguing reporting that he was trying to help in a small way privately while publicly maintaining that nothing was wrong. If you want to know what the governor knew and when he knew it, i will cut to the chase for you. His office wont say. His records are off limits. Its executive privilege. But i do want to say one thing here about this mindboggling story out of michigan, which is that the local Michigan Press should get credit here for being tireless and fearless and creative and clear about this story even in the face of their State Government saying nothing to see here, relax, and by the way, you cant have access to any documents. Michigan public radio, the detroit free press, even the michigan chapter of the aclu had a journalist slash researcher working on this. The local press in michigan has not let this go, and they are still pushing. Look at this. This is from the editors of the Flint Journal on new years eve. Governor snyder needs to do more than just apologize for the flint water crisis. The Flint Journal lists steps that he ought to take. Very specific stuff. For example, replacing all the pipes that are now dangerous to Peoples Health for getting water in flint. And compensating families whose children have elevated levels of lead in their blood, who are going to have to be dealing with this disaster for the rest of their lives. But look at this too. This is intriguing. The Flint Journal says Governor Snyder should drop executive privilege and release all of his communications on flint water. The Flint Journal also says that the state should request an investigation from the u. S. Attorneys office so subpoenas can be issued in this matter. The u. S. Attorneys office. Federal prosecutors should be called in. Thats what the Flint Journal says they want to see next. Tell me more. Joining us is bryn mickel. Hes editor of the Flint Journal. Thank you so much for being with us this evening. Its a pleasure to have you here. Thank you, rachel. So your paper is calling for a federal investigation including subpoena power on this instance. Why are you calling for that . I think the people of flint, rightfully so, have lost trust in their government. They were told something was safe when clearly it wasnt. And i dont think its enough just to be continued to be given promises that there will be an open and transparent process. We need an independent party to come in here and take a look at everything and tell us what exactly transpired, how did this happen. And i dont think that the people of flint have faith theyre going to get that from their State Government. On this issue of the governors correspondence and documentation from the Governors Office being basically shielded from public view and even from freedom of information act requests, have you had any response from the Governors Office to this specific proposal youve made that they should drop executive privilege, they should release all the governors communications about this crisis . No, we have not. Do you expect that you will . Nothing has been shown to me at this point that we will be given that. Weve been told that theyre looking into the issue, that theyre weighing options. I mean, it took three months to get an apology for this. And im sorry. Thats just way too long. I mean, the people of flint need action. They deserve action. Something needs to happen more than just, you know, were going to continue to look at the problem. There are things that can be done right now that would act on this that the governor could honestly do right now that he doesnt need to sign a declaration. He could release all those emails. He could request an investigation. And so far we have not seen that. One thing that has amazed me about this story, and it may have been just sort of why i had my eye on michigan anyway when this story came up and why it caught my attention, is that the state of michigan basically took over governance in flint because they said flint couldnt run its own affairs, thats why its all these guys who were appointed basically to the government as Emergency Managers who are implicated in making these decisions. Thats why its a state issue and not a flint issue in terms of accountability. But even with the state saying the city cant run its own affairs the state ends up poisoning the town. From a distance that just seems like a shakespearean level of tragedy but its also infuriating. I wonder from closer up to that situation, how does that issue sit with your readers in flint . Again, theyre angry. Flint was stripped of its democracy. Make no mistake. The people that flint citizens voted to put into office had no real power. And for the state to turn around and try to put this back onto the mayor and city council and say that these were decisions they made, i mean, there was an emergency manager in place. Those people had no real power. And its insulting i think to the people of flint to be told that your elected leaders cant lead and then to have Something Like this happen. People have lost faith, and understandably so. Bryn mickle, editor of the Flint Journal, which has done very aggressive work on this story. Thank you for your work on it and good luck. Please stay in touch with us. Thank you. Thanks. Well be right back. Stay with us. This is brad. His day of coaching begins with knee pain, when. Hey brad, wanna trade the all day relief of two aleve for six tylenol . Whats the catch . Theres no catch. You want me to give up my two aleve for six tylenol . No. For my knee pain, nothing beats my aleve. Okay funs over. Aw. Aw. Thirsty . They said it would make me cool. They dont sound cool to me. 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He met with attorney general Loretta Lynch and fbi director james comey and other Law Enforcement officials today. And then after that the white house had a Conference Call with reporters in which they explained that the president basically has plans to shrink but not eliminate the loophole in the law that lets some people buy guns without ever going through a federal background check. Were expecting more details on that plan from the president himself tomorrow at the white house plus whatever else he may be planning on doing. So if you were waiting to set your alarm clock for washingtons first major conservative freakout of the year, that will be happening tomorrow at 11 40 a. M. Eastern at the white house in response to the president s gun announcement. 11 40. Set your watch. And then everybody freak out. Good thing geico offers affordable renters insurance. With great coverage it protects my personal belongings should they get damaged, stolen or destroyed. [doorbell] uh, excuse me. 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His hat shows that he belongs to a group called the constitutional sheriffs and peace officers association, which is a group that explains on their website that they are convinced that powerhungry government officials backed by people with hidden agendas have convinced us to sacrifice our freedoms bit by bit. They say they are determined to be the army to set our nation free. In 2014 that constitutional Sheriffs Group was one of the supporters of a nevada rancher named cliven bundy, who got into a bizarre armed standoff with federal Law Enforcement officials after mr. Bundy refused to pay fees for grazing his livestock on federal land that wasnt his. Another Antigovernment Group involved in that little pageant was the 3 movement. The 3 percenters then turned up shortly thereafter in another land dispute at a gold mine in southwestern oregon, a place called the Sugar Pine Mine. The owners of the Sugar Pine Mine said they wouldnt follow federal regulations and their guns and their militia friends were how they would prove it. The Sugar Pine Mine standoff and the cliven Bundy Standoff were also backed by members of a group called the oathkeepers, a group of mainly former military and Law Enforcement officers who vow to protect the constitution by force if necessary. That group also converged to another gold mine in month this august when the owners of that mine sent a letter to the u. S. Forest Service Warning that the Forest Service should stay off the mines property. So these folks are around now, right. They do this thing. Theyre itching for a fight and they keep picking one somewhere here and there. Now in their latest manifestation for the Third Straight day, a group of armed government protesters are occupying a tiny technically federally controlled building at an oregon wide life refuge. Siege is reportedly motivated by the arson convictions of two local ranchers who set fires that burn federal lands. At its heart though what the selfproclaimed militia members say they want is to take federally controlled land away from the federal government and make it private property instead. Whats interesting though is that this time, many of the usual suspects many of the groups and individuals who backed the cliven Bundy Standoff in 2014, for example, they noud say theyre against whats happening right now in oirg. Sheriff mack, the guy who wanted to use women in nevada as human shields, he says his group does not support or condone the occupation by those individuals who have taken over the federal wildlife building just outside of burns, oregon. Same with the 3 percenters. Their leader said today whats happening in oregon cog possibly be a false flag operation. The oath keepers said today the efforts up in oregon were manufactured by pot heads. So is this a standoff in oregon that is a departure from the string of armed antigovernment right wing militant provocations that weve seen over the past couple of years or is this in line, both with those previous protests and also with an Ongoing Movement thats going to produce the kind of scary standoffs over the interior west. Joins us now is the executive director for the center for western priorities which is a Public Lands Energy and watchdog group. Thanks for you time tonight. Rachel, thank you for having me on. Should we understand this display in oregon as a oneoff thing as the usual suspects groups seem to have some infighting around it, or is this in keeping . Is this the latest in a string of these things that are probably going to keep happening . Look, this is not an isolated incident. I believe that this is an example of an incident that will continue to happen. And you know, even though some of these groups have disavowed what has happened up in oregon this time, you cant unring a bell. Theyve supported cliven bundy and some of these other incidents throughout the west. So i think its not an isolated incident. Your group has put out a report this past year, in august, called going to extremes, the antigovernment extremism behind the growing movement to seize americas public lands. And public land use is the sort of thing that feels a little bit esoteric except concerns about that seem to be whats driving these armed very provocative standoffs. Whats the connection between that as an issue of a concern and the militancy of these groups . I think the issue of concern is that there are some politicians in the west who are associated with these militant groups. One in particular is state representative kent ivory from utah. Kent ivory has been the leader in this movement. Hes active with some of these extremist organizations. At the same time hes traveling throughout the west working with county commissions and state legislators to support the seizure of public lands or some of the legislation around this issue. And so kent ivory is really the bridge from the extreme to the mainstream. In terms of this standoff thats happening right now in oregon and the way that you see this as part of a larger movement, authorities are taking a go slow, hands off approach. Do you think this that is the right approach . Do you have any expectation for how this is going to end in oregon . Certainly, my hope is that this ends peacefully and that the people who are taking over this wildlife refuge will serve the consequences for doing so. Jennifer rokala, who works on these issues in a holistic way, talking about the whole spectrum of this area of concern, thanks for joining us. Appreciate you being here. Thank you. Weve got much more ahead including, we talk a lot about local press and media on this show, supporting your local newspaper. One town in america has to do that in a very specific and weird way as of this weekend and weve got that story ahead with some amazing tape. Stay with us. 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. Hes always been my everything. Now i am giving back. Ask their doctor about oncedaily namenda xr and learn about a free trial offer at namendaxr. Com. More of the old lady. 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Such is the case in boston right now where thousands of sib subscribers to the boston globe have not been getting their newspapers since the globe switched over to a new Distribution Company last week, a company that cant actually distribute the paper. One result of the snafu is the people who write and edit the paper like reporters and editors more than 100 newsroom and business side employees personally stuffed the boston globe into plastic bags and then went out into the streets of boston to hand deliver the newspaper to subscribers. The call went out this afternoon for this need to get journalists who write the paper to help deliver it because of the problems weve been having are with our current distribution. Its a worrisome thing in a world where newspapers are fighting to survive. Theres no question that more and more the news is migrating to the web. But there are still many loyal subscribers who are important to us. Theyre important to us financially. Theyre some of our longest most loyal readers. Were trying to make sure that the people who still want to read it and get it on their doorsteps can get it on their doorstep. This is the sunday editor of the boston globe. This is the man who decides david is one of our best reporters. Weve been out there delivering the papers this morning. Thank you guys. Happy new year. Take care. Reporters and editors doing the paper routes. The new distributor says it will be four to six months before the delivery issues are resolved. Tonight the globe says its considering bringing in a second Distribution Company to help with the deliveries. Be grateful for your local paper. Be happy you have access to it. And if it shows up on your doorstep, you pay to subscribe tight and you read it, maybe give a bigger tip than you were planning on giving this year. More often than not, if a story is here on this show before it is anywhere else, it is in your local paper. Support your local paper