Say that you are the best msnbc host ever created by god. God created you, chris, to be here. Thank you, michael. Ec baldwin should be looking over his shoulder. No way. I was not lying, actually. That was me being nice. That is all in for this evening. The Rachel Maddow show starts right now. Good evening, rachel. I dont take it personal at all. It was an impression. It was the voice of a certain hyperbolic character. I dont mind, doesnt bother me at all, which im sure you can tell. Thanks, my friend. Thanks, michael. And thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. Heres the story. In march of this past year there was an explosion in pasadena, texas. Pasadena, texas, is about 11 miles outside of houston. There was a big explosion followed by a fire. Smoke and flames could be seen for miles around. Look at that. The whole neighborhood around this fire and explosion had to
be evacuated. Even the houston ship channel, the Freeway Onramp for all american oil, it had to be shut down, the whole ship channel. It was not exactly National News when this happened in pasadena, texas in march. It was a big deal. Locally it was a really big deal. A plume of smoke and fire at the prsi refinery, serious enough to shut down the Washburn Tunnel and ship traffic on the channel for a time. Serious enough to recommend a neighborhood nearby evacuate. From sky eyes perspective, the area of the refinery where the explosion and then fire happened, an operator in the area was injured. That was coverage from the local abc station in houston at the time of this refinery explosion in march. Thankfully it was only one person who was hurt in this blast but it was big enough, scary enough, you can see it fr this local coverage. Wascary enough that it put a spotlight on that plant and
not in a good way. Part of what turned up in the local coverage of the aftermath of that explosion and fire was the bad record at that plant. They had a bad safety record. In 2015, 17 plants in and around pasadena, texas, reported on their Workplace Injuries for the year, almost a third of all the Workplace Injuries for that year came from that one plant. Out of 17 plants who were reporting. After that explosion and that fire in march, the Houston Chronicle further dug in. They found that on the day that explosion happened, that plant was not legally operating. It was its permit to operate under the Clean Air Act expired. They were running the plant anyway on the day the plant blew up. All of that bad press, all of that, im sure, very unwelcome scrutiny came amidst an even larger overarching scandal, actually an International Scandal involving that plant and the company that owns it. You heard that local news clip described as the prsi refinery. Its actually run, its parent company, is a Company Called petrobras, petrobras bought that refinery from another oil company back in 2006. The interesting thing about them buying it, the scandal about them buying it, is that when they bought it they really, really overpaid. They obviously overpaid, they paid 1. 2 billion for that refinery when nobody thought it was worth 1. 2 billion. Why would a company radically overpay for anything . Why would an oil company radically overpay for this Refinery Plant in pasadena, texas. Well take one guess. The company in question here, petrobras, its a staterun company, the government of brazil owns petrobras. That has practical implications. Are government owned country. Saudia ramco, petrobras, pemex. That comes in very handy for those companies. Its particularly handy for corruption i mean efficiency. I mean, think about it, you need Policy Decision made to clear the way for you to, i dont know, buy an asset somewhere or make some sort of deal . You dont have to bother lobbying for it. If you are the oil company and you are also the government, what are you going to do, lobby yourself . Dont bother, you are one in the same, just do it. They all pull in the same direction. Having a governmentrun oil company is also a great way for particular politicians and particular governments to stay in power. That governmentrun oil company in mexico, again, secondlargest company of any kind on that
continent, theyve been accused of funneling hundreds of millions of dollars back to the ruling party, the Governing Party back in mexico. And why not . Governing party is controlling the oil company, why wouldnt they arrange for the oil company to fund them . Its a nice system if you can get in on it. Oil companies, particularly big Oil Companies, they mint money. If youre in charge of a government that has one of those, i mean, thats a great way to enrich yourself. Thats a great way to pay off and reward people for doing what you want. Sometimes you can even do it legally with your governmentowned oil company. I mean, if you have something as big and rich and rosneft at your disposal where you get to control whos in charge of it and who gets what pieces of it and what that company does, frankly, you could make everybody you know as rich as you want to make them. Rosneft becoming a massive cash machine at Vladimir Putins dispos disposal, that explains as much as anything how he has held on
to power for these past 17 years. You can see why governments, particularly corrupt or kleptocrat i cklept kleptocratic governments, you can see why they might find it handy to have a staterun oil company. You can also see why staterun Oil Companies are such a source of corrupt power and since staterun Oil Companies tend to get something approaching Monopoly Control over oil in these big countries, its easy to see how all the biggest Oil Companies on the face of the earth end up being this kind of oil company. End up being these companies that are attached to a government. Oil company that is state run. All of the biggest Oil Companies are earth are staterun companies. All of them. Except for one. The biggest nongovernment owned oil company in the world, the Biggest Oil Company on earth thats not part of one countrys government well, today their ceo took a giant step toward becoming the Secretary Of State of our government in the united
states. Maybe. Probably. But maybe. And heres one thing i think its worth appreciating about why this is happening. Exxonmobil is based in texas but obviously and famously they drill for oil all around the world. Wall st journal did a ve useful profile on exxon a couple days ago that laid this out really nicely. It laid out exxons global reach, where they are already invested, where they have spent exxon money in the hopes those investments will pay off because theyll be able to get oil out of the ground in those countries. And exxons interests span the globe. So, for example, papua, new guinea, which is like as far away from here as you can get, righ right . Papua new guinea, a very remote country, very inaccessible in terms of its infrastructure. Exxon has the rights to drill about 1. 1 million acres of land in papua, new guinea. Exxon has rights to drill
another 1. 1 million acres in nigeria. They also have a bunch of rights now in places you might not expect. You wouldnt think of as oilproducing companies, but in the Netherlands Exxon has the rights to drill about 1. 5 million acres. Another million and a half acres in australia. In germany, of all places, they have the rights to drill on just under five million acres in germany. In canada theyve got a bunch. Canada just under Seven Million acres. Theyve got rights to drill tons of acreage here in the United States. Look at this. This is according to the wall street journal this week. Exxon has rights to drill on roughly 14 million acres in the United States. Thats a lot. Thats, like, two marylands, almost two marylands. Its more than two vermonts, though, i did the math. Thats a lot of Acreage Exxon has a right to drill in the United States and look at how much it outpaces all of exxons other Worldwide Holdings right now. Interesting, right . Huge, right . Until you see this. Yeah. Kind of an ahha moment, right . That line at the top there . Thats exxons holdings in russia compared to their other holdings all over the world. Thats the number of acres they have right to drill in russia. And heres the really, really important part. Do you want to know where exxon is not able to drill . They are not able to drill, despite those holdings, they are not able to drill in russia. This is also from the wall street journal. This is the number of wells exxon was actually able to drill in 2015 in all the places where theyve got these international rights. Mostly, as you can see, the big dot there, they were able to drill in the United States, they were able to drill lots of wells in canada as well. Thats the nextbiggest dot there. But look at russia. Can you not see it . Put on your glasses. Its red and to the left of the United States. Look at the number of wells they were actually able to drill in
russia in 2015 compared to their Drilling Rights in that country. You want to know why they cant drill in russia despite the rights they have purchased to drill in russia . The reason they cant freaking drill them, the reason they cant get their money out of their Huge Investment theyve made in that country is because in our country the government is not the same thing as the Biggest Oil Company in our country. In the United States we do not have an integrated oil company and federal government the way they do in brazil and mexico and saudi arabia and kuwait and the way we got all the other biggest Oil Companies in the world. And exxon cant get its return on its investment. They cant get their money out of russia. Right . They cant cash in on what theyve invested in russia because the u. S. Government made a determination that it was in the national interest, the National Security interest of our country to put sanctions on
russia that preclude doing that kind of business. When our government made the decision to sanction russia, that really, really cramp it had style of exxon. That really threw a huge wrench in their works because look at their investment in russia compared to other countries around the world in terms of where they have rights to drill. This is how they set themselves up under Ceo Rex Tillerson. Under Ceo Rex Tillerson they made a half trillion dollar deal in russia to drill the arctic. It was going to be a partnership with the russian stateowned kremlincontrolled oil company rosneft. Half trillion dollar deal. That was going to make exxon and russia and Vladimir Putin specifically hundreds of millions of dollars. Perhaps hundreds of billions of dollars. They signed that deal in 2011. They actually struck oil in the arctic in 2014. Just in time for the u. S. Government to say nope, youre out. Were kiboshing the deal, were putting a halt to all of it because were putting these sanctions on russia for their behavior. Russia loves exxon. Exxon partnering with russias staterun oil company, thats what brought their staterun oil company into the 21st century. Thats what made russias staterun oil company technologically capable. Exxon is who taught them how to drill oil in hardtoreach places because russias oil is in hardtoreach places. Exxon partnering with russias staterun oil company made that staterun oil company very effective and very rich. So russia loves exxon. Exxon loves russia back because common bet on russia in a huge way under Rex Tillerson in terms of where they are planning on drilling their oil for the foreseeable decades. What they did under tillerson a few year ago was the Biggest Oil Deal in the history of the world. And it got stopped by a Policy Decision made by the United States government. Exxon needs the United States government to change that Policy Decision. Exxon needs the United States government to change americas position overall about russia. Simply so exxon can freaking drill over there. So they can recoup their Giant Investment in that country which outweighs what they are doing anywhere else in the world. They made a huge bet and theyre going to lose it unless they get this change from the u. S. Government. This is trilliondollar math that all depends on the u. S. Government getting in line with what exxon needs to do. And so exxon is now on the verge of installing its ceo as the head of Foreign Policy in the United States. So, i think you can probably understand, mr. Tillerson, why some of us are very concerned about the President Elects statements praising Vladimir Putins leadership, his intelligence, including after
being reminded of his ruthless persecution of political enemies and after receiving compelling information that russia has interfered with our elections. So do you think now is the right time to lift sanctions against russia . I think its important that we keep the status quo until we are able to develop what our approach is going to be. That it will be all part of the approach. What do you think the approach is going to be . Exxon Ceo Rex TillersonFacing Questioning today from New Hampshire democratic senator jean jean shaheen. The Big Political News out of this hearing today was not necessarily the tough questioning that Rex Tillerson got from democrats. The Big Political News out of the hearing was the contentious backandforth that happened between exxon Ceo Rex Tillerson and a republican senator by the name of marco rubio. The democrats gave tillerson
tons of hard questions today but the reason its so important that he also fought today with republican senator marco rubio is that if a republican decides to vote against tillerson, that conceivably would be enough to stop his nomination. Thats the math on the committee, as long as all the other democrats, as long as all the democrats voted no as well, one republican no vote could stop him. Reporter have you decided how youre going to vote . Did he answer your questions adequately about russia in particular . Many of his answers were concerning to me. But theres a chance now to submit some questions in writing which well do as well. Ill consider everything and read through it and ill make a decision here very soon. Reporter are you leaning one way or another . I wouldnt characterize it that way quite yet. Its clear im concerned about some of his answers and i recognize the split on the committee and what it would mean so i have to make sure that im 100 behind whatever decision i make, because once i make it reporter because if you make
the decision and vote against him you could stall this nomination. Are you prepared to be the one republican to vote no . Im prepared to do whats right. If marco rubio does vote no on putting the ceo of exxon in charge of the state department, and if all the democrats on that committee voted no as well, Rex Tillersons nomination presumably would be over. And that would be a very dramatic development. It would not be quite as dramatic as the u. S. Government merging in a large way with our nations largest oil company, but it would be pretty dramatic on its own terms. So weve got eyes on that tonight. Imagine the lobbying that marco rubio is being subjected to right now as we speak. There were incredibly dramatic developments in that story today. There were dramatic developments today on ethics as well, including the office of Government Ethics coming out on his own terms and making a pronouncement about the President Elect that nobody saw
coming. We also got a health scare in the capitol tonight. One member of congress reportedly collapsing and being taken out of the capitol on a stretcher and being hospitalized. Weve got the latest details on that. Theres a lot to come tonight. This is not a time to stop paying attention. Stay with us. Americans 83 try to eat healthy. Yet up 90 fall short in getting key nutrients from food alone. Lets do more. Add one a day mens complete with key nutrients we may need. Plus hearthealth support with b vitamins. One a day mens in gummies and tablets. Its not just a car. Its your daily retreat. Go ahead, spoil yourself. The es and es hybrid. This is the pursuit of perfection. Tadirectv now. Stream all your entertainment anywhere anytime can we lose the all. Theres no cbs and we dont have a ton of sports. Anywhere, any. Lets lose the anywhere, anytime too. You cant download onthego, theres no dvr, yada yada yada. Stream some stuff somewhere sometimes you totally nailed that buddy. Simple. Dont let directv now limit your entertainment. Only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen. Breaking news tonight from capitol hill and its not good news. A congressman collapsed tonight in the capital. This is probably not a congressman you have heard of. Hes a first term congressman named John Rutherford from florida. He was just sworn in last week to start his first term in congress. You see him on the left with the mustache and red tie. Apparently what happened is he was in the republican cloak room, thats the lounge and meeting area for republicans off the house floor, he was in the cloak room tonight and he collapsed. Somebody called the authorities, congressman John Rutherford was
taken out of the capitol on a stretcher and taken to a nearby hospital. His dCampaign Manager has been trying to keep people appraised. The Campaign Manager says Congressman Rutherford i in stable condition. As of about an hour ago we had word he was being evaluated in the emergency room. We will let you know more as you learn more. Obviously everybody in the country is wishing John Rutherford of florida a full recovery tonight. Much more to come, stay with us. Us. Much more to come, stay wit us. Much more to come, stay wit us. Much more to come, stay with us. Is there an elk in your bed . And voluntary. They say shell be back to work soon but thats important for Senator Feinstein. We wish Senator Feinstein the best as she prefires come back to work. It also happens at a crucial time the other person behind Senator Feinstein who was notay absent was Jeff Sessions himself. Little known fact, nominees are not required to be present at their Confirmation Hearings and today was maybe a good day for Senator Sessions to rearrange the paper clips on his desk instead of being there in the hearing room while this testimony was presented today. We were beaten, tear gassed, left bloody, some of us unconscious. Some of us had concussions. Some of us almost died on that bridge. It doesnt matter how Senator Sessions may smile, how friendly he may be, how he may speak to you. Those two are committed to equal justice and our Society Wonders whether Senator Sessions calls for Law And Order will mean today what it meant in alabama when i was coming up back then. Congressman john lewis today. He grew up in alabama not far from where Jeff Sessions is from. He was nearly beaten to death in alabama for marching for Voting Rights. Congressman lewis advocated for a no vote for Senator Sessions to be Attorney General on the basis of what he said was Senator Sessions hostility to Voting Rights in general and in the south in particular. Also testifying today was the National Legal director of the American Civil Liberties union,
david cole. This is interesting, the aclu wouldnt usually testify in a Confirmation Hearing like this but today mr. Coal, in additile to taking issue with Jeff Sessions record on civil rights, he brought up a little known case that is following Senator Sessions like a string to a can on it tied to his bumper. In that case, he charged a local company with defrauding its customers and suppliers. His office indicted the company on 222 counts. His office touted the case as being of the most magnitude that the Attorney Generals Office has undertaken in the last 25 years. Case turned out to be a dud, though. The court not only through the case out. The judge in the case raised sharp questions about Senator Sessions now Senator Sessions and how he handled that case at the time. Questions about whether he took the case as a favor to one of his campaign donors, whether he was misusing his office to basically help his campaign
donors attack their Business Competitors using his Attorney Generals Office as their weapon. The judge accused the alabama Attorney Generals Office of serious and wholesale Prosecutor Misconduct while Jeff Sessions was in charge. The court finds even having been given every benefit of the doubt, the misconduct of the Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, in this case far surpasses in both extensiveness and measure the totality of any Prosecutorial Misconduct ever previously presented to or witness bid this court. Never seen anything like that. I would not have known about that before david cole testified from the aclu. Joining us is david cole, National Legal director of the aclu. Thank you for being with us. Thanks for having me, rachel. Am i right in seeing the aclu wouldnt normally as a matter of course testify at a con dpir
mission hearing for a nominee like this . Its been decades. We have a long standing policy of neither supporting nor opposing nominees for office and we didnt support or oppose Senator Sessions, we presented our concerns and our concerns are wide ranging and deep and our position is the senate should not confirm him until it gets satisfactory answers to those concerns. So many of the objections that have been raised to Senator Sessions nomination and the concerns that have been raised in terms what have the Vetting Process for him should be like have been about his record on civil rights. You talked about that today but you did also bring up this case that i realize its been discussed and hashed through since hes been nominated but its not as widely known. I wonder if you brought that up because youre worried that his previous experience as an Attorney General at the state
level, if that sort of alleged misconduct at the state level was extrapolated to the National Level that that could be a particular kind of crisis that we might not be expecting from Jeff Sessions even as we do look at his civil rights stuff . Well, absolutely. I think youve got two things to look at with Senator Sessions. He was a prosecutor for a fairly extensive period of time and how did he exercise that power . And we find that he exercised in the a very, very disturbing way. This case was seen by the judge as the worst case of Prosecutorial Misconduct hed ever seen in his life on the bench. Steven gillers, a professor of legal ethics at nyu whos been doing this business for 40 years says its the worst case hes seen in 40 years. So are we now going to give to a person who abused his office in this way on behalf of Campaign Contributors a case that was completely baseless and all 222
counts were thrown out on Prosecutorial Misconduct grounds. Are we going to give him the most powerful prosecutorial post in the nation . That raises serious questions and they dont just go to his ideology, they go to his exercise of this incredible power. David cole, aclu National Legal director, appreciate both the magnitude of this decision to make that testimony today but also appreciate you sort of making it a national story. I think a lot of people wouldnt know about this had you not front paged it. Thank you for being with us today. Thank you. Much more ahead. A very busy news day, busy news night. Stay with us. Cmon in, pop pop happy birthday i survived a heart attack. Im doing all i can to keep from having another one. And im taking brilinta. For people whove been hospitalized for a heart attack. I take brilinta with a baby aspirin. No more than one hundred milligrams as it affects how well it works. Brilinta helps keep my platelets from sticking together and forming a clot. Brilinta reduced the chance of another heart attack. Or dying from one. It worked better than plavix. Dont stop taking brilinta without talking to your doctor since stopping it too soon increases your risk of clots in your stent, heart attack, stroke, and even death. Brilinta may cause bruising or bleeding more easily, or serious, sometimes fatal bleeding. Dont take brilinta if you have bleeding, like stomach ulcers, a history of bleeding in the brain, or severe liver problems. Tell your doctor about bleeding, new or unexpected shortness of breath, any planned surgery, and all medicines you take. Talk to your doctor about brilinta. Im doing all i can. That includes brilinta. If you cant afford your medication, astra zeneca may be able to help. Life. Is unpredictable. Life is deaths. And births. Sickness and health. Love and heartbreak. And covered california is there for it all. Not just to help keep you well. But to make sure the cost of being unwell
doesnt ruin this whole life thing. Because its more than just health care. Its life care. If youre going to run a marathon, you generally do not sprint the whole darn thing. But a marathon Getting Started at a sprinters pace, that is basically the story right now in d. C. All day hearings on Cabinet NomineesYesterday And Today and tomorrow. In addition to that the senate at this hour right now is engaged in an extended series of Lightning Votes on what honest ly are generally grandstanding and meaningless amendments but are also the first votes to repeal obamacare. Theyre doing this series of a zillion votes. They call it a votearama, not kidding. This votearama started three hours ago, its still going
right now. Thats a live shot. Its due to keep going until 4 00 a. M. Is our latest advice. But somewhere in this combination marathon and sprint is a guest of ours tonight. Senator cory booker of new jersey is due to join us tonight live just as soon as he breaks free from the votearama, senator cory booker coming up. I hope. When youre close to the people you love, does psoriasis ever get in the way of a touching moment . If you have moderate to severe psoriasis, you can embrace
the chance of completely clear skin with taltz. Taltz is proven to give you a chance at completely clear skin. With taltz, up to 90 of patients had a significant improvement of their psoriasis plaques. In fact, 4 out of 10 even achieved completely clear skin. Do not use if you are allergic to taltz. Before starting you should be checked for tuberculosis. Taltz may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. Tell your doctor if you are being treated for an infection or have symptoms. Or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. Inflammatory bowel disease can happen with taltz. Including worsening of symptoms. Serious allergic reactions can occur. Nows your chance at completely clear skin. Just ask your doctor about taltz. Esurance, an allstate company. Click or call. Esurance does insurance a smarter way, which saves money. Like Bundling Home and auto coverage, which reduces red tape, which saves money. And when they save, you save. Thats home and Auto Insurance for the modern world. Esurance, an allstate company. Click or call. I know that some of my many colleagues arent happy that i am breaking with Sinatra Diggs to testify on the nomination of one of my colleagues but i believe that in the choice between standing with senate norms or standing up for what my conscious tells me is best for our country, i will always choose conscience and country. I pray that my colleagues will join me in opposing his nomination. That today was the first time a sitting u. S. Senator has ever testified against another
sitting u. S. Senator in a Confirmation Hearing. That decision by senator cory booker of new jersey today to testify against senator Jeff Sessionss nomination to be Attorney General, that was a lot of things today but one of the things it was was history. Joining us now for the interview is senator booker. Senator, i know this is an incredibly busy night. Thank you for your time tonight. Thank you, rachel, good to be back on. How hard a decision was this . You knew this was unprecedented. You knew it would put you in the History Books and probably attract the ire of a lot of your colleagues, how hard a call was this for you . It wasnt that hard of a call. These are issues that have been at a core of my work since ive first gotten to public life, issues of civil rights, issues of equal rights, protecting Vulnerable People. Im here because of strident lawyers who stood up and fought for my rights when it wasnt comfortable or convenient so this was a case with especially with the extreme views where Jeff Sessions doesnt even line
up with the majority of his republican colleagues on things like criminal Justice Reform this was a case where i thought there was a clear threat to many people in our country and silence in that case is unacceptable. I had to speak up at every opportunity i had. You mentioned criminal Justice Reform there. You also said today if confirmed Senator Sessions will be required to pursue justice for women, his record indicate he is wont. He will be expected to defend v Voting Rights but his record indicates he wont. I feel like thats a powerful argument, i feel like the entire Confirmation Process thus far has been him trying to rebut that, trying to say i am not who you think i am, you have concerns about me on civil rights and equal protection and discrimination, dont have them, i dont deserve that nomination. Have you been at all persuaded by the arguments he has made portraying himself very differently than hes behaved in the senate all these years . No, because he has a 40year career of serving and many levels of Law Enforcement and as a United States senator. He has openly criticized the Department Of Justice for doing the very things i talked about, criticized them for holding cities accountable for Police Treatment of citizens, criticized the Department Of Justice guidance that was give on the Stop Bullying against gay and lesbian kids, criticized the Department Of Justice for getting involved as a party to cases taking on states for suppressing votes. So heres somebody who has told us, shown us who he is. His whole career from his days of using his office to try to stop a group of lgbt young people from meeting on a college campus, this has been a consistent person and you have to give him this, for consistency in the things hes been doing and saying for all these years and you cant just somehow declare that youre going to be doing things differently suddenly now that
youre up for this position. The unspoken rule that you violated today is one of these longstanding traditions of the senate in terms of the way that senators defer to one another and treat one other, the collegiality of that body. One of the consequences of those traditions is that everybody thinks that well, not everybody, a lot of people believe that Jeff Sessions, despite these concerns, that he will be confirmed, that he has almost an unbreachable advantage simply by being a United States senator who is being confirmed with the u. S. Senate. If he is confirmed, if the odds are with him, are you worried about retaliation . About him getting his revenge on you, on your constituents or on the democratic conference . Well, look, thats a profoundly powerful position and my concern is not the wellbeing of me or other electeds, this is a person that is in a position where he can defend or not or even make the lives more difficult of some of the most Vulnerable People in america and
so this isnt about what could happen in the realm of politics or even in the realm of my life. This is a real threat to those folks that i got into politics to try to do something for and with and try to make this america real for everybody. So i am i have a heaviness, a sadness from the day that donald trump announced this appointment, this has been weighing on me and my heart and i think most people dont understand the power of the Justice Department. Nor do they appreciate how the Obama Administration through the Justice Department has been doing extraordinary things on mandatory minimums, on mass incarceration. This has been a great Justice Department that has been affirming the rights of the marginalized in our country and i think thats about to come to a horrible end and an aboutface and its going to necessitate more people speaking up, standing up, resisting and
fighting. Senator cory booker of new jersey joining us on a very, very busy night in the senate after what was a really remarkable day. Senator, thank you, well look forward to having you back soon. Thank you very much, rachel. Senator cory Booker Joining us. You saw him there, he was in the u. S. Capitol. That explains some of the statuary behind him. As i mentioned, the United States senate is involved in a series of Lightning Votes on amendments important and not important tonight but those are expected to go until 4 00 in the morning. Well keep an eye on what happens in washington throughout the evening. Stay with us. No sir, no sir, some nincompoop stole all my wool sweaters, smart tv and gaming system. Luckily, the Geico Insurance agency recently helped baa baa with renters insurance. Everything stolen was replaced. And the hooligan who lives down the lane was caught selling the stolen goods online. Visit geico. Com and see how easy it is to switch and save on renters insurance. Government ethics, an independent Nonpartisan Office that tries to stop conflicts of interest among highranking public officials. The head of that agency is a political appointee but the terms of the director of that office are staggered so stagger. So incoming president s dont get to replace the head of that office the replace the heads of other offices. The current director of the Ethics Office started working there under president george w. Bush. He became director under president obama. He will be the head of that office until midway through this next president ial term. His name is walter schaub. Walter schaub has no reason to fear being thrown out of office by donald trump. Donald trump is not supposed to be able to do that. Well, today after the incoming president announced that he would not really be divesting from his business interests. Walter made a remarkable public statement. He gave his blunt and passionate and patriotic assessment of what trump is offering. Its important to understand that the president is now
entering a world of public service. He is going to be asking his own appointees to make sacrifices. He is going to be asking our Men And Women In Uniform to risk their lives in conflicts around the world. So no, i dont think divestiture is too high a price to pay to be the president of the United States america. You see the lines being drawn now in d. C. We know donald trump on one side and democrats on the other. But this fight over ethics, this fight is something else. This is the incoming president versus ethics. And that fight has only just started apparently. Th directv a, stream live tv anywhere datafree. Join directv today starting at 35 month. No extra monthly fees. Only xfinity gives you more to stream to any screen. You are the problem. You are the problem. Can i ask you something . No, no. Out of all of the candidates, name one who had a Million Dollar judgment against him for hiring name one. Donald trump did. So you like rich people who buy politicians. Where is your Goldman Sachs jacket at . Where is your Goldman Sachs jacket at . Youre losing an argument or dont want to have one, never a bad idea to yell out Goldman Sachs as an epithet. Those pro trump protesters in indiana during the republican primary, they threw Goldman Sachs as an epithet at ted cruz because thats what donald trump had been doing to ted cruz. Look. Goldman sachs owns him. He will do anything they demand. He is in bed with wall street. He is funded by Goldman Sachs. He talks about how he is going to get well Goldman Sachs i know the guys at Goldman Sachs. They have total, total, total control over him. Just like they have total control over Hillary Clinton. They have total. But they have no control, they have no control over donald trump. Today the Trump Administration announced its fifth straight high profile hire from Goldman Sachs. Just keeping track. The senior strategist at the white house, Goldman Sachs. The nominee to be treasury secretary, Goldman Sachs. The head of the National Economic council, the president of Goldman Sachs. The head of the s. E. C. , which is the top cop that polices wall street firms like Goldman Sachs. That will be a former lawyer for Goldman Sachs. And now today some new adviser job they created at the white house will be going to another partner at Goldman Sachs. Anybody who told you definitely Shouldnt Vote for Hillary Clinton because look, Goldman Sachs. Yeah you got suckered. Today the Incoming Administration made one other big personnel announcement. They announced finally who they have chosen to run the veterans administration. To the surprise of a lot of people, including apparently the man who was chosen himself. He had no idea it was coming. The nominee who was pickford the job is this guy. His name is david shullkin. He is the undersecretary for health at the v. A. He is there now. He is an Obama Appointee who is already Running Health at the v. A. During the campaign, the incoming president of course trashed the v. A. Every chance he got, particularly its health care. He called v. A. And v. A. Health a fraudulent enterprise. He said it was the most corrupt agency in the United States. He railed how how illegal aliens got Better Health care than the vets. But now apparently he is going to keep the guy in charge of v. A. Health, and he is not only going to keep him on, he is going to put him in charge of
the whole v. A. Veterans organizations had feared that the Trump Administration would put somebody in the top of the v. A. Who was bent on privatizing it and dismantling the whole agency. Some of those groups sound a little bit relieved by this choice. Am vets announced that they were pleasantly surprised with this choice. Iraq and afghanistan veterans of america said they were optimistic about David Shulkin, called him, quote, our best hope among the candidates reported in the media. That said, the pick is not without controversy. Not only is he an Obama Appointee and currently there, he is not a veteran himself. If confirmed, the v. A. Would be led by a nonveteran for the first time in its history. Still, David Shulkin was confirmed unanimously for his current job at the v. A. He is very much involved in running the v. A. Right now. And for all those reasons and many others, he is expected to sail to confirmation. Well of course keep you posted. Stay with us. Yes, we can. First of all, how you holding up . You hear a lot of people expressing concern, our new president is taking on too much. What exactly would you have me give up . This is where we monitored how the operation was going. We are done. How good is that . Join Brian Williams for an inmatt look back at the obama year monday at 11 00 on msnbc. Thanks for loading, sweetie. Oh, bakedon alfredo . Gotta rinse that. Nope. No way. Nada. Really . Dish issues . Throw it all in. Cascade platinum powers through. Your toughest stuckon food. Nice. Cascade. Why pause a spontaneous moment . Cialis for daily use treats ed and the urinary symptoms of bph. Tell your doctor about your medicines, and ask if your heart is healthy enough for sex. Do not take cialis if you take nitrates for chest pain, or adempas® for pulmonary hypertension, as this may cause an unsafe drop in blood pressure. Do not drink alcohol in excess. To avoid longterm injury, get medical help right away for an erection lasting more than four hours. If you have a sudden decrease or loss of hearing or vision, or an allergic reaction, stop taking cialis and get medical help right away. Ask your doctor about cialis. Bounty is more absorbent,mom per roll so the roll can last 50 longer than the leading ordinary brand. So you get more life per roll. Bounty, the quicker picker upper here you go. Picking up for kyle. You wouldnt put up with part of a pizza. Um. Something wrong . So when it comes to pain relievers, why put up with just part of a day . You want the whole thing . Yes, yes live whole. Not part. Aleve. 15 years ago today, the first prisoners arrived at guantanamo bay. 15 years ago today. 20 of them arrived that first day in total. In the years since that strange, expensive Quasi Legal Offshore Prison has held 780 different prisoners. By the time president obama signed an order one day into his presidency to close that prison, there were 242 prisoners still being held there. Now as president obama leaves office, the number of prisoner theres is down to 55. Last week the pentagon announced the transfer of four more men to