Transcripts For MSNBC PoliticsNation 20130914 : comparemela.

This year, when the white house had to release a report about that Keystone Pipeline project so hated by progressives around the country, white house turned that vaguely report loose because they had to, but late on a friday afternoon. Last month when Chris Christie got ready to veto a ban on. 50 caliber weapons, a ban he had suggested in the first place, when he changed his mind and decided he should overrule the legislature to ensure that new jersey residents could keep stockpiling weapons that shoot bullets the size of carrots, he dumped that news into the abyss on a friday night. Its a little weird, but if you were in the news business, you kind of look forward to coming to work on a friday because you never know whats going to get dumped. Principle does not only apply on fridays. When the basic idea is that when youre trying to slip something in the news cycle in a way to ensure that it doesnt get too much attention. That it will probably crowd your story right out of most people. So, for example, a formal address to the nation on the white house, going into another war in the middle east, you can be sure thats going to be a biggest news story, maybe even the only news story in the country for that whole news cycle, therefore, the night of that speech would make for an excellent time for you to announce say that you have been questioned by federal Law Enforcement authorities in conjunction with a major Corruption Scandal in your state. Seems like as good a time to mention it as any. The biggest political race in the governors race in virginia. Ken cuccinelli sat down for a local news interview on tuesday night before president obamas on syria to admit for the first time he had been questioned into the governor Bob Mcdonnell Corruption Scandal in virginia. Ken cuccinelli said he was questioned in that scandal months and months ago, but is just admitting it now. He also announced in the same interview he is paying back the 18000 in gifts he and his family received from the same generous business man whose gifts are at the center of the mcdonald case. The federal and state investigation is going to try to determine took the governor to help one Virginia Company had anything at all to do with the fact that the head of that company gave Bob Mcdonnell and his family a check for 50,000. And then a check for 20,000. And then another check for 50,000. And then an engraved rolex watch, a vacation, another 10,000 for another daughters wedding and then a trip last Labor Day Weekend and the trip for the governor and first lady that same weekend to a fancy hotel and 7,000 worth of golf and golf gear for the governor and his sons and some staffers and a 15,000 shopping trip in new york city for the first lady from which she emerged with a suede jacket, Louis Vuitton handbag, two pairs of shoes and a nice dress designer dress. Actually, i dont know if the dress was nice. Im just guessing. We know about all of these gifts from the virginia business man to the Virginia Governor and his family. Because of tireless reporting, mostly by the Washington Post and it is thank to that reporting we learned just the other day that the same generous business man who gave the governor and his family all that stuff, that same business man also bought the virginia first lady a second 15,000 shopping trip to new york city, which she apparently did not use. Maybe no more room in the closet. But the timing on attorney general Ken Cuccinelli coming clean this week on his gifts from the same guy, the timing on this is a little weird. It has been two months since the governor finally apologized for his role in this scandal and paid back some of the loot he took, but Ken Cuccinelli, he also took a bunch of loot from that same guy which he says he is only paying back now. Two months after bob mcdonald did. Ken cuccinelli took rides in a private jet and a vacation for himself and his family at a lake side villa and a big catered thanksgiving dinner. He also took thousands of dollars worth of the tobacco related subpoenament that this guys company makes. Also held 10,000 worth of stock in the company. Which he initially did not put them on his Financial Disclosure forms. He later went back and amended those forms saying he had just forgotten about the stock. He also did not initially disclose all the thousands of dollars of gifts from the company. He waited until gifts from the company blew up as a huge scandal and only then did he come forward and say, yes, i, too, had thousands of dollars worth of gift from the same guy that i did not disclose but i will now. But Bob Mcdonnell at least has paid them back now. He says its everything. He paid some stuff back and apologized. That was two months ago, and Ken Cuccinelli did not. He did not pay anything back or apologize. Ken cuccinelli for the past couple of months, has refused to pay anything back. The democrats in virginia put up this billboard on interstate 95 in virginia saying ken, pay back the gifts with a handy picture of the turkey in case he forgot what they were. Still, he resisted. He said those gifts were like a bell that you cannot unring. He even had taken gifts from this guy while his own Attorney Generals Office was fighting that guys company on a large state tax dispute, but before this week, he was unembarrassed by that. Not planning on giving anything back. Now, he has, with no explanation other than he wants to wipe the slate clean and it is understandable that he wants to wipe the slate clean. It is probably going to take more than this weird tuesday night news dump to do it though. The election in virginias only eight weeks away now. Absentee voting starts next week in virginia. And if the idea is to put the mcdonnell gift scandal we hind him, that is not going to work because next week is when they are supposed to go back again to meet with federal prosecutors again to plead their case again about why the governor shouldnt be criminally indicted for corruption. Thats next week prosecutors say they want to talk to them again. So this story is staying in the headlines regardless of Ken Cuccinellis strategically timed efforts to distance himself from it. The head to head matchup between mr. Cuccinelli and his opponent in the race is looking worse and worse for Ken Cuccinelli with each new poll. The political report has now moved this race from a toss up to leans democratic. The latest poll in the races from purple strategies, they have Ken Cuccinelli losing by five points. But look at this. This is really interesting. This is one of the biggest gender gaps i have ever seen in a governors race. Theres a five point split between Ken Cuccinelli and Terry Mcauliffe, but look at the split with women. Cuccinelli is losing virginia women by 18 points. And if that gender gap persists, it does not matter what else happens in the campaign. That is fatal for the cuccinelli campaign and the democrats and progressives know it and they are doing everything they can to press that advantage. They started with the issue of the violence against women act, which cuccinelli would not sign on for as attorney general. When congress failed to renew the violence against women act, attorney generals from 47 states spoke out to protect women, but cuccinelli refused. The times wrote virginians should remember Ken Cuccinelli. Hes focused on his own agenda. Not us. So, Ken Cuccinelli losing women by 18 points in virginia. Democrats and progressives have also gone after him for making it harder to get divorced in virginia. If cuccinelli had it his way, a mom trying to get out of a bad marriage over her husbands objections, could only get divorced if she could prove adultery or physical abuse or her spouse abandoned her or was sentenced to jail. So the violence against women act making it harder to get divorced. Theyve also gone after cuccinelli for trying to make it harder in virginia to get an abortion or Birth Control. Ken wants to cut access to planned parenthoods Preventive Health services. He thinks your boss should be able to decide whether you have access to affordable Birth Control and ken wants to outlaw safe and legal abortion even in cases of rape or incest. On the issue of your boss getting to decide whether you get access to Birth Control through your health insurance, democrats have also pressed him about him sponsoring a bill that likely would have outlawed most popular forms of contraception. Now, hes trying to deny he took that stance. Its designed to outlaw abortion. It would also arguably outlaw hormonal forms of Birth Control. And of course, this all dove tails with his history as a hard lined antiabortion activist and his role in the draconian crackdown on abortion rights thats happened in virginia under Ken Cuccinelli and Bob Mcdonnell. It was cuccinelli who led the fight in virginia to ram through these new changes in regulations. He threatened members of the sate health board if they tried to let more clinics remain open, but the rules he wanted went into effect this year. They are already shutting down abortion clinics across virginia, including the busiest clinic in the state, which closed its doors last month because of the new rules. Here in the final stretch of the campaign with Terry Mcauliffe leading among women by 18 points, this is becoming an issue on the campaign trial. Yesterday at a campaign event, told supporters that he would take action if elected governor to reverse those regulatory changes, to try to keep the clinics open. The whole reason we found out about those remarks yesterday is that activists in virginia starting pushing on this issue. This is their campaign trackers cell phone video. Theyre trying to make a campaign out of this. Antiabortion activists from virginia are calling to cuccinelli from the right saying hey, ken, come back to us. Start running your Campaign Based on the fact that you have shut down the abortion clinics. Start bragging about that, Ken Cuccinelli. Thats how youll win. Ken cuccinelli is going to lose the governors race is things keep going as they are and he keeps doing what hes doing. Is the hard right in virginia, the antiabortion hard right in that state, are they correct that returning to his roots as a hard lined antiabortion crusader might help him turn this race around . Both sides seem convinced theyve got a winning issue. Joining us now is karen finney, host of disrupt with karen finney. Also the former Communications Director at the dnc and arent you still on the board of naroute. I am. Bob mcdonnell and Ken Cuccinelli come from the hard edge. Theyve seen this huge role vaginal ultrasounds. And he has the kuch. That actually has nothing to do with that, but youve got to say it. How is the governors race affected by those rights . Remember that in 2012, one of the things we saw was that in battleground states for women voters, access to abortion care was a higher intensive issue than the economy. And were seeing that trend actually continue in virginia. In virginia, both in 2012 and in the last governors race, women were more of the electorate. If terry can get those women voters out, the kuch is probably going to be packing his bags. This is the other thing and we saw and talked about this last year. Republicans completely underestimated the intensity with which women are so offended. Not just by the policies. If youre going say to me you dont trust me to make a decision about what medicine i can take, its got to go to my employer, why should i think you trust me to run a company or a country . They really fundamentally dont understand how invasive and connected to just basic human rights this feels like for women and women have stayed very active in paying attention to these issues. That is sort of a best Case Scenario from the democratic side. How this issue plays him to Terry Mcauliffes position. You call him terry because you know him. Do you think he as candidate and that democrats in general get how to run on that issue . Youre not running. You can articulate it. Youre an activist on these issues, but do Democratic Candidates get it . The reason this made public attention right now is the right sent their tracker and caught him safe. Theyre not publicizing it from the democratic side. Which is probably a mistake, but what im assuming theyre doing, just going to give them the benefit of the doubt here because theres all these fancy tools you can use now. The 18 that terry, the gap that terry has, i think thats grown over the last few weeks, so clearly, they must be doing something right. It seems to me that as long as they keep pushing cuccinelli to have the talk about these issues, which hes been trying not to talk, as you pointed out, hes been trying no not talk about. What are you talking about, vaginal ultrasound . I never, no, that wasnt me. So, for terry, they have got to very, very carefully make sure they are targeting those women voters, activating them and getting them out to the polls. In a nonpresident ial election year, you tend to have lower turnout, so hes depending on high turnout of women voters. Were in the last eight weeks. Whats going to be fascinating, i think youre right, but you can see now the republican side panicking. Cuccinelli upended his Campaign Staff this week. Hes done this hail mary, im sorry for the gifts and you can see the hard right where Ken Cuccinelli comes from, pressuring him to start campaigning as an antiabortion crusader and go back to his base. That would help the democrats. But the republicans think it would help them too. I would like to see democrats also take a harder line on whats happening in these Crisis Pregnancy Centers where youre saying its legal to lie to women. They could be doing a lot more to message on that because thats when you get more kim gaznell cases. When women dont have good choices, dont have access to good health care, they are prey to those kinds of people. Thats the kind of thing that terry could be talking about. Karen finney and the host of disrupt, karen, thank you for being here. Thanks. Appreciate it. So, this week, american conservatives have decided that they have a new man crush and we have scored some shirtless pictures of him. I know you would not expect that from me in particular, but weve got it. That storys coming up. But first. One more thing about virginia politics and friday night news dumps. We just got word, thanks to a late friday night press announcement, that the spokesman who Bob Mcdonnell has hired to handle his Corruption Scandal is leaving. This just broke late tonight that the scandal handling pro whos an old Republican Hand who worked for Newt Gingrich and dan quyale, that guy has left tonight. The Washington Post reporting that he says his departure does not mean anything one way or the other about whether Bob Mcdonnell of virginia is about to be indicted. Quoting from the post, ask if his leaving meant an indictment is not expected any time soon and he says, it means what it says. See, this is why it always pays to work friday nights in the news business. Never know whos going to quit or confess or whatever else they dont want you to notice. Discover card. How can i help you . Oh, youre real . You know im real at discover, were always here to talk. Good, cause i dont have time for machines. Some Companies Just dont appreciate the power of conversation you know, i like you i like you too at discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Get the it card and talk to a real person. Unh hey lets go [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. Yeah yeah yeah or you can choose to blend out. Oh, yeaheah the allnew 2014 lexus is. Its your move. [ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. Heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. Tum, tum tum tum tums in Northern Illinois theres a lovely medium sized city called rockford. Biggest in illinois outside chicagoland and even with that distinction, its not that big, but it is home to something called the World Congress. The World Congress of families. If you are unfamiliar with it, the World Congress of families calls it an International Network of profamily organizations that seek to restore the natural family as the social unit in the seed bed of Civil Society and when they say natural, what they mean is no homo. As far as theyre concerned, natural families do not involve gay people. Now, because they fancy themselves a World Congress, this group in rockford, illinois, hosts Keystone Pipeline<\/a> project so hated by progressives around the country, white house turned that vaguely report loose because they had to, but late on a friday afternoon. Last month when Chris Christie<\/a> got ready to veto a ban on. 50 caliber weapons, a ban he had suggested in the first place, when he changed his mind and decided he should overrule the legislature to ensure that new jersey residents could keep stockpiling weapons that shoot bullets the size of carrots, he dumped that news into the abyss on a friday night. Its a little weird, but if you were in the news business, you kind of look forward to coming to work on a friday because you never know whats going to get dumped. Principle does not only apply on fridays. When the basic idea is that when youre trying to slip something in the news cycle in a way to ensure that it doesnt get too much attention. That it will probably crowd your story right out of most people. So, for example, a formal address to the nation on the white house, going into another war in the middle east, you can be sure thats going to be a biggest news story, maybe even the only news story in the country for that whole news cycle, therefore, the night of that speech would make for an excellent time for you to announce say that you have been questioned by federal Law Enforcement<\/a> authorities in conjunction with a major Corruption Scandal<\/a> in your state. Seems like as good a time to mention it as any. The biggest political race in the governors race in virginia. Ken cuccinelli sat down for a local news interview on tuesday night before president obamas on syria to admit for the first time he had been questioned into the governor Bob Mcdonnell<\/a> Corruption Scandal<\/a> in virginia. Ken cuccinelli said he was questioned in that scandal months and months ago, but is just admitting it now. He also announced in the same interview he is paying back the 18000 in gifts he and his family received from the same generous business man whose gifts are at the center of the mcdonald case. The federal and state investigation is going to try to determine took the governor to help one Virginia Company<\/a> had anything at all to do with the fact that the head of that company gave Bob Mcdonnell<\/a> and his family a check for 50,000. And then a check for 20,000. And then another check for 50,000. And then an engraved rolex watch, a vacation, another 10,000 for another daughters wedding and then a trip last Labor Day Weekend<\/a> and the trip for the governor and first lady that same weekend to a fancy hotel and 7,000 worth of golf and golf gear for the governor and his sons and some staffers and a 15,000 shopping trip in new york city for the first lady from which she emerged with a suede jacket, Louis Vuitton<\/a> handbag, two pairs of shoes and a nice dress designer dress. Actually, i dont know if the dress was nice. Im just guessing. We know about all of these gifts from the virginia business man to the Virginia Governor<\/a> and his family. Because of tireless reporting, mostly by the Washington Post<\/a> and it is thank to that reporting we learned just the other day that the same generous business man who gave the governor and his family all that stuff, that same business man also bought the virginia first lady a second 15,000 shopping trip to new york city, which she apparently did not use. Maybe no more room in the closet. But the timing on attorney general Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> coming clean this week on his gifts from the same guy, the timing on this is a little weird. It has been two months since the governor finally apologized for his role in this scandal and paid back some of the loot he took, but Ken Cuccinelli<\/a>, he also took a bunch of loot from that same guy which he says he is only paying back now. Two months after bob mcdonald did. Ken cuccinelli took rides in a private jet and a vacation for himself and his family at a lake side villa and a big catered thanksgiving dinner. He also took thousands of dollars worth of the tobacco related subpoenament that this guys company makes. Also held 10,000 worth of stock in the company. Which he initially did not put them on his Financial Disclosure<\/a> forms. He later went back and amended those forms saying he had just forgotten about the stock. He also did not initially disclose all the thousands of dollars of gifts from the company. He waited until gifts from the company blew up as a huge scandal and only then did he come forward and say, yes, i, too, had thousands of dollars worth of gift from the same guy that i did not disclose but i will now. But Bob Mcdonnell<\/a> at least has paid them back now. He says its everything. He paid some stuff back and apologized. That was two months ago, and Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> did not. He did not pay anything back or apologize. Ken cuccinelli for the past couple of months, has refused to pay anything back. The democrats in virginia put up this billboard on interstate 95 in virginia saying ken, pay back the gifts with a handy picture of the turkey in case he forgot what they were. Still, he resisted. He said those gifts were like a bell that you cannot unring. He even had taken gifts from this guy while his own Attorney Generals Office<\/a> was fighting that guys company on a large state tax dispute, but before this week, he was unembarrassed by that. Not planning on giving anything back. Now, he has, with no explanation other than he wants to wipe the slate clean and it is understandable that he wants to wipe the slate clean. It is probably going to take more than this weird tuesday night news dump to do it though. The election in virginias only eight weeks away now. Absentee voting starts next week in virginia. And if the idea is to put the mcdonnell gift scandal we hind him, that is not going to work because next week is when they are supposed to go back again to meet with federal prosecutors again to plead their case again about why the governor shouldnt be criminally indicted for corruption. Thats next week prosecutors say they want to talk to them again. So this story is staying in the headlines regardless of Ken Cuccinelli<\/a>s strategically timed efforts to distance himself from it. The head to head matchup between mr. Cuccinelli and his opponent in the race is looking worse and worse for Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> with each new poll. The political report has now moved this race from a toss up to leans democratic. The latest poll in the races from purple strategies, they have Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> losing by five points. But look at this. This is really interesting. This is one of the biggest gender gaps i have ever seen in a governors race. Theres a five point split between Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> and Terry Mcauliffe<\/a>, but look at the split with women. Cuccinelli is losing virginia women by 18 points. And if that gender gap persists, it does not matter what else happens in the campaign. That is fatal for the cuccinelli campaign and the democrats and progressives know it and they are doing everything they can to press that advantage. They started with the issue of the violence against women act, which cuccinelli would not sign on for as attorney general. When congress failed to renew the violence against women act, attorney generals from 47 states spoke out to protect women, but cuccinelli refused. The times wrote virginians should remember Ken Cuccinelli<\/a>. Hes focused on his own agenda. Not us. So, Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> losing women by 18 points in virginia. Democrats and progressives have also gone after him for making it harder to get divorced in virginia. If cuccinelli had it his way, a mom trying to get out of a bad marriage over her husbands objections, could only get divorced if she could prove adultery or physical abuse or her spouse abandoned her or was sentenced to jail. So the violence against women act making it harder to get divorced. Theyve also gone after cuccinelli for trying to make it harder in virginia to get an abortion or Birth Control<\/a>. Ken wants to cut access to planned parenthoods Preventive Health<\/a> services. He thinks your boss should be able to decide whether you have access to affordable Birth Control<\/a> and ken wants to outlaw safe and legal abortion even in cases of rape or incest. On the issue of your boss getting to decide whether you get access to Birth Control<\/a> through your health insurance, democrats have also pressed him about him sponsoring a bill that likely would have outlawed most popular forms of contraception. Now, hes trying to deny he took that stance. Its designed to outlaw abortion. It would also arguably outlaw hormonal forms of Birth Control<\/a>. And of course, this all dove tails with his history as a hard lined antiabortion activist and his role in the draconian crackdown on abortion rights thats happened in virginia under Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> and Bob Mcdonnell<\/a>. It was cuccinelli who led the fight in virginia to ram through these new changes in regulations. He threatened members of the sate health board if they tried to let more clinics remain open, but the rules he wanted went into effect this year. They are already shutting down abortion clinics across virginia, including the busiest clinic in the state, which closed its doors last month because of the new rules. Here in the final stretch of the campaign with Terry Mcauliffe<\/a> leading among women by 18 points, this is becoming an issue on the campaign trial. Yesterday at a campaign event, told supporters that he would take action if elected governor to reverse those regulatory changes, to try to keep the clinics open. The whole reason we found out about those remarks yesterday is that activists in virginia starting pushing on this issue. This is their campaign trackers cell phone video. Theyre trying to make a campaign out of this. Antiabortion activists from virginia are calling to cuccinelli from the right saying hey, ken, come back to us. Start running your Campaign Based<\/a> on the fact that you have shut down the abortion clinics. Start bragging about that, Ken Cuccinelli<\/a>. Thats how youll win. Ken cuccinelli is going to lose the governors race is things keep going as they are and he keeps doing what hes doing. Is the hard right in virginia, the antiabortion hard right in that state, are they correct that returning to his roots as a hard lined antiabortion crusader might help him turn this race around . Both sides seem convinced theyve got a winning issue. Joining us now is karen finney, host of disrupt with karen finney. Also the former Communications Director<\/a> at the dnc and arent you still on the board of naroute. I am. Bob mcdonnell and Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> come from the hard edge. Theyve seen this huge role vaginal ultrasounds. And he has the kuch. That actually has nothing to do with that, but youve got to say it. How is the governors race affected by those rights . Remember that in 2012, one of the things we saw was that in battleground states for women voters, access to abortion care was a higher intensive issue than the economy. And were seeing that trend actually continue in virginia. In virginia, both in 2012 and in the last governors race, women were more of the electorate. If terry can get those women voters out, the kuch is probably going to be packing his bags. This is the other thing and we saw and talked about this last year. Republicans completely underestimated the intensity with which women are so offended. Not just by the policies. If youre going say to me you dont trust me to make a decision about what medicine i can take, its got to go to my employer, why should i think you trust me to run a company or a country . They really fundamentally dont understand how invasive and connected to just basic human rights this feels like for women and women have stayed very active in paying attention to these issues. That is sort of a best Case Scenario<\/a> from the democratic side. How this issue plays him to Terry Mcauliffe<\/a>s position. You call him terry because you know him. Do you think he as candidate and that democrats in general get how to run on that issue . Youre not running. You can articulate it. Youre an activist on these issues, but do Democratic Candidates<\/a> get it . The reason this made public attention right now is the right sent their tracker and caught him safe. Theyre not publicizing it from the democratic side. Which is probably a mistake, but what im assuming theyre doing, just going to give them the benefit of the doubt here because theres all these fancy tools you can use now. The 18 that terry, the gap that terry has, i think thats grown over the last few weeks, so clearly, they must be doing something right. It seems to me that as long as they keep pushing cuccinelli to have the talk about these issues, which hes been trying not to talk, as you pointed out, hes been trying no not talk about. What are you talking about, vaginal ultrasound . I never, no, that wasnt me. So, for terry, they have got to very, very carefully make sure they are targeting those women voters, activating them and getting them out to the polls. In a nonpresident ial election year, you tend to have lower turnout, so hes depending on high turnout of women voters. Were in the last eight weeks. Whats going to be fascinating, i think youre right, but you can see now the republican side panicking. Cuccinelli upended his Campaign Staff<\/a> this week. Hes done this hail mary, im sorry for the gifts and you can see the hard right where Ken Cuccinelli<\/a> comes from, pressuring him to start campaigning as an antiabortion crusader and go back to his base. That would help the democrats. But the republicans think it would help them too. I would like to see democrats also take a harder line on whats happening in these Crisis Pregnancy Centers<\/a> where youre saying its legal to lie to women. They could be doing a lot more to message on that because thats when you get more kim gaznell cases. When women dont have good choices, dont have access to good health care, they are prey to those kinds of people. Thats the kind of thing that terry could be talking about. Karen finney and the host of disrupt, karen, thank you for being here. Thanks. Appreciate it. So, this week, american conservatives have decided that they have a new man crush and we have scored some shirtless pictures of him. I know you would not expect that from me in particular, but weve got it. That storys coming up. But first. One more thing about virginia politics and friday night news dumps. We just got word, thanks to a late friday night press announcement, that the spokesman who Bob Mcdonnell<\/a> has hired to handle his Corruption Scandal<\/a> is leaving. This just broke late tonight that the scandal handling pro whos an old Republican Hand<\/a> who worked for Newt Gingrich<\/a> and dan quyale, that guy has left tonight. The Washington Post<\/a> reporting that he says his departure does not mean anything one way or the other about whether Bob Mcdonnell<\/a> of virginia is about to be indicted. Quoting from the post, ask if his leaving meant an indictment is not expected any time soon and he says, it means what it says. See, this is why it always pays to work friday nights in the news business. Never know whos going to quit or confess or whatever else they dont want you to notice. Discover card. How can i help you . Oh, youre real . You know im real at discover, were always here to talk. Good, cause i dont have time for machines. Some Companies Just<\/a> dont appreciate the power of conversation you know, i like you i like you too at discover, we treat you like youd treat you. Get the it card and talk to a real person. Unh hey lets go [ male announcer ] you can choose to blend in. Yeah yeah yeah or you can choose to blend out. Oh, yeaheah the allnew 2014 lexus is. Its your move. [ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. Heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. Tum, tum tum tum tums in Northern Illinois<\/a> theres a lovely medium sized city called rockford. Biggest in illinois outside chicagoland and even with that distinction, its not that big, but it is home to something called the World Congress<\/a>. The World Congress<\/a> of families. If you are unfamiliar with it, the World Congress<\/a> of families calls it an International Network<\/a> of profamily organizations that seek to restore the natural family as the social unit in the seed bed of Civil Society<\/a> and when they say natural, what they mean is no homo. As far as theyre concerned, natural families do not involve gay people. Now, because they fancy themselves a World Congress<\/a>, this group in rockford, illinois, hosts International Meetings<\/a> every few years to do what they do. To promote natural families that definitely are not gay. They met in 1999 in geneva. In 2004 in mexico city. 2009, it was amsterdam, that must have been hilarious. Last year, it was madrid. But next year for the big World Congress<\/a> of families 2014, they have gone out of their way to schedule their next World Congress<\/a> of natural families in russia. And not just in russia, but specifically at the kremlin in moscow. You might have seen the reuters reporting this week that some far right groups in italy, the national front, the Ultranationalist Party<\/a> in italy, theyve put up posters around rome praising Vladimir Putin<\/a>, saying we stand with putin. And then you go to the website associated with the poster and they claim they stand with putin because of his courageous positions against the gay lobby, so as hes becoming a hero to literally fascist groups, russia under putin are also becoming kind of a north star for antigay forces here at home in the United States<\/a>. Since he signed a series of laws that essentially criminalize the gay in russia, rockfords own World Congress<\/a> of families declared it was kremlin bound. Another group declared they admire putins stance against gay people. The quack group that claims to be able to cure people of being gay, americans for truth about homosexuality, they publicly applauded the decision to sign saying he was rejected quote, the negative lesson of american homosexual decadence. Remember scott lively . The american guy who pushed in uganda for the kill the gays bill . He is now suggesting american conservatives should move to russia, specifically because of russias awesome new antigay laws. Ahead of the russian vote on the antigay law that putin eventually signed, he published an open letter to the russian people where he lauded them for becoming a model pro family society. He said if they pass those anti gay laws they were considering, quote, i believe people from the west would begin to immigrate to russia the same way russians used to immigrate to the United States<\/a> and europe. American conservatives should move to russia. All hail Vladimir Putin<\/a>. Antigay activists in this country embracing russia and the kgbs own Vladimir Putin<\/a>. This has been one of the weirder and more unexpected turns in our own domestic politics this year, but it turns out that the antigay part of the american right, those folks were just ahead of their time because now, a big chunk of the rest of the right in this country have chosen themselves a new hero. Who is fond of writing shirtless on the backs of large mammals. It is not just the far, far, far right antigay right anymore. It is the right in general. Both in congress and in the conservative media peanut gallery who have decided real americans should show how much they love our country by maybe moving to russia. Stpu love this country, you ought to move to russia because putin is the kind of strong and decisive leader that we want and we love, we love here in a totally different country. The role that putin has taken in the diplomatic negotiation in syria, the big oped he wrote the New York Times<\/a> this week, the way he has tried to throw his weight around, it has made the american political right suddenly get very hot to trotski about him. Vladimir putin is coming to the diplomatic rescue here. Putin is riding to president obamas rescue. Russia is the player here. It is the big player, not the United States<\/a>. I think frankly in the last week, Vladimir Putin<\/a> has looked like a statesman. Hes a statesman, a partner in peace. He can lecture the United States<\/a> of america. If this were a tennis match, the umpire would be shouting, advantage, putin. He has been schooling our president of the United States<\/a> on how to be a leader, hasnt he . He has filled the leadership gap because obama and kerry cant make up their mind. I dont like putin. But i respect that guy. He is tough. He delivers what he says hell deliver. He knows his people. He presents himself as a real he man, but he lives up to it. Our president talks tough, but in a clinch, hes gutless. You know, there was a moment in the 08 president ial campaign when the american right got so hot for sarah palin that it actually became a little nc17. Remember, there was this writer for the National Review<\/a> who said that when he saw sarah palin she sent star bursts straight through the tv screen. It sent little star bursts through the screen. Straight at them. It was mesmerizing. It september starbursts through the screen. Its either something you have or you dont and man, shes got it. He said, im sure im not the only male in america who wen palin dropped her first wink, sat up a little straighter on the couch and said, hey, i think she just winked at me. No, conservative magazine guy, she was not winging at you, and neither is Vladimir Putin<\/a> taking his shirt off just for you guys at fox. Its one thing for the right to fall in love with its own politicians, to make reagan a saint, sarah palin their own collective girlfriend, but the president of russia, he is not that into you. Seriously, i know you guys hate president obama, so it feels good to have a man crush on somebody else, but this guy is a president of russia. Zip it up, you guys, seriously. Have some respect. You make me, make me, make me go crazy you make me, make me, make me go crazy. So, im working on a cistern intake valve, and the guy hands me a locknut wrench. No way im like, what is this, a drainpipe slipknot . Wherever your business takes you, you can save money with progressive commercial auto. [ sighs ] [ flo speaking japanese ] [ shouting in japanese ] we work wherever you work. Now, thats progressive. Call or click today. Do you mind grabbing my phone and opening the capital one purchase eraser . I need to redeem some venture miles before my demise. Okay. Its easy to erase any recent travel expense i want. Just pick that flight right there. Mmm hmmm. Give it a few taps, and. Its taken care of. This is pretty easy, and i see it works on hotels too. You bet. Now if you like that, press the red button on top. How did he not see that coming . Whats in your wallet . More is better. Thats why we designed the allnew nissan versa note, with more technology, to get you into, and out of, tight spots. And more space so that you always have your favorite stuff. And just for good measure, an incredibly efficient 40 mpg highway. So that when youre doing more, youre spending less. The allnew nissan versa note. Your door to more. There is a best new thing in the world today and it happened on tape. What exactly is going on there and it is amazing is the best new thing in the world today. I will explain what this is and what its for. Come up at the end of the show this hour. Stay with us. [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] 1. 21 gigawatts. Today, thats easy. Ge is revolutionizing power. Supercharging turbines with advanced hardware and innovative software. Using data predictively to help power entire cities. So the turbines of today. Will power us all. Into the future. Behold the texas fruitcake. Pineapples, cherries, raisins, covered in pecans. To get true texas fruitcake cred, if you are a baker, it must be covered by texas pecans. It is the official state tree, after all. The texas fruitcake is the signature sweet thing from the famous collins street bakery. Corsicana, texas. If you want to send me a texas fruitcake for christmas, thats where youd send it from. Im just saying. The fruitcake is famous for a reason, but the bakery has been in the news this week unrelated to its gorgeous pecans. The guy in charge of the money at the bakery was indicted yesterday for allegedly embezzling almost 17 million. Who knew it was possible to embezzle 17 million from a bakery . According to the complaint, he allegedly spent those millions on 43 luxury cars, bought a second home, 60 watches and bottles of wine. When managers of the bakery found out, they fired him and called the police, but the police turned around and called the fbi. The fbi was tasked with nabbing the alleged fruitcake embezzler because this kind of crime falls under the purview of the fbi. The fbi led that investigation as part of their White Collar Crime<\/a> division. Which is one of the things they focus on. We think of the fbi has going after terrorism suspects or kidnapping suspect, but the fbi has a pretty broad mandate from International Terrorism<\/a> to art theft to all kinds of White Collar Crime<\/a>. The fbi is busy, but because of the selfimposed never supposed to happen federal budget cuts, the fbi has decided to close. For ten days this year, all of its offices and hq in washington closed. For those ten days, quote, the bureau will only have a Skeleton Crew<\/a> on hand, which raises questions about how effectively it can respond to crime. According to an unnamed fbi official, those will probably fall on fridays or mondays. Fruitcake embezzlers, take note. This is on top of a hiring freeze the fbi has had to put in place. Oh, and also, no more cars for the fbi because why would they need cars . They can get a bus pass. Back in july, there was news of a Bluegrass Army<\/a> depot in richmond, kentucky, that name might ring a bell give in weeks events. Welcome to the beautiful Rolling Hills<\/a> of kentucky. Home of the Bluegrass Army<\/a> depot. Located on 250 acres, the chemical activity safely stores a stockpile of nerve agents. A blister agent. Because of the highly sensitive nature of the more than 500 tons of chemical weapons that are stored at the Bluegrass Army<\/a> depot in kentucky, that site has their own specialist firefighters, which seems like a good idea except that a few months back because of the budget cuts, they got scheduled for furloughs, sent home. Dont come to work. We spoke with a firefighter at the Bluegrass Army<\/a> depot. He expressed concern for the communitys safety. They regularly detonate conventional weapons and also stores weapons of mass destruction. Ammunitions might leak. Potentially, they could explode. That hasnt happened. Security personnel received an exception from the furlough. Firefighters appealed for one. Firefighters protecting our nations chemical weapons arsenal having to beg to do their jobs. Thanks, congress. At the last minute, the week before the furloughs were supposed to begin, those firefighters did get a last minute exception. We came within a week of canceling our firefighters abilities at the place we store our chemical weapons. Genius. Do not have to look far to see examples of the dumbness of the sequester. There are 41 countries, you think theres a reason to investigate theft, 41 countries, because of the sequester, were only following up on one. The other 40 ripping us off, were just letting them slide. And this is not even to mention the 50,000 American Children<\/a> who have been forced out of preschool because of cuts to federally supported programs, leaving those kids to have to try to raise money for preschool by decorating tiny little toddler sized chairs to pay for their preschool tuition. Trying to see this as an opportunity, otherwise, i would have to sit in the corner and cry. The situation here with these dumb threats and threat of cuts, this is what we ended up with because of the last round of budget negotiations that happened in washington. We ended up with the dumb sequester thing in part because republicans said they were so worried about the deficit. We had to take this drastic action even if it was going to be in nonsensical ways that were going to hurt the country and the economy. We had to do something as drastic as furloughing the firefighters who protect our chemical weapons arsenals. Turns out actually the deficit is on track to be the smallest its been in five years, but that apparently does not matter. And now, it is that time again. Congress is due to pass spending bills to keep the government running. By mid october, congress has to vote to raise the debt ceiling so we dont default on our debts with all the Economic Disaster<\/a> that implies. Democrats are saying they not only want to move forward with not defaulting on our debt, they say they would like to undo the sequester in making children auction off the art on their chairs so they can go to preschool. Republicans held their 41st vote to defund obama care. Their speaker has gone to the white house now asking for the democratic partys help and the democratic president s help to please help him somehow sort out the problems he is having on these budget negotiations. Hes going to the democrats for help. Yes, this feels like ground hog day, but this is all upon us all over again. As we go through this again right now, is in any chance that any of this stuff is going to get better and get resolved . Or are we at risk of things getting even worse than they already are . Joining us now is jonathan capehart, thank you very much for being here on a friday night. So, the threat of the sequester was not enough to Bring Congress<\/a> around to any sort of longterm budget agreement last time we were in this position. Will the reality of how dumb it is do the trick this time . I dont think so. Matt bennett at third way when the sequester was put in, called it sort of a slow roll disaster and as you showed in your intro, lots of communities around the country had been hit by elements of the sequester until enough members of Congress Hear<\/a> from enough people in their districts about the real world impacts of sequester, nothings going to happen with it. The other thing we have to keep in mind is that when we were facing sequester before it went into place, there were people in the building behind me who were saying out loud in public, maybe sequester wouldnt be a bad thing. After all, we need to cut spending. We do need to get our financial house in order. We have to get the deficits under control, so the idea that youre going to get the republican controlled house in any way to do anything substantive on sequester is really wishful thinking. So, the republicans are threatening to shut down the government again, threatening to bump up against the debt ceiling, which is scary in the longterm because of how expensive it is for us to borrow. The democrats have tried to open up the menu of options to include ficking the sequester. This needs to be decided in very short order. Seems like democrats getting what they want is unlikely. Republicans getting what they want is unlikely. Whats the default position if things go the way they are . If nobody scores a hail mary, what do we end up with . In the shortterm is a government shutdown. As you said earlier, october 1st is that day. Right now, if memory serves, there are only nine working days that congress will be in session. Now, they could come back into session i believe september 19th or september 26th so that later this month when theyre supposed to be off, there have been noises made about having Congress Come<\/a> in and try to get some of this done, House Majority<\/a> leader eric cantor to show some real leadership because if they think theyre going to strike some kind of deal to keep the government open and running by handing the president a bill that says he will delay the implementation to have Affordable Care<\/a> act or defund it, theyre crazy. And thats actually the right way to end that. Because i feel like thats where were at. Jonathan capehart, thank you very much. Appreciate your time. Thanks. I know it feels like ground hog day when ever we talk about this government shutdown. The sequester, were going to have a debt ceiling. Its just because we never fixed this problem and we have to go back and try to fix it again now. I dont know when this starts getting better. Just feels like its getting worse. A much needed best new thing in the world is coming up. Stay with us. We have got to get the threetechnique block im not angry. Im not yellin. Nobodys tackling anybody we got absolutely. I dont think this was such a good idea. Im on it. If we cant secure the quarterback center exchange. Youre doing a great job, coach. Well theyre coming along better than i anticipated. Very pleased. Who told you to take a break . [ male announcer ] want to win your own football fantasy . Just tell us. Then use your visa card for a chance to win it. Just tell us. Because what you dont know can hurt you. Urance, what if you didnt know that its smart to replace washingmachine hoses every five years . What if you didnt know that you might need extra coverage for more expensive items . And what if you didnt know that teen drivers are four times more likely to get into an accident . sup the more you know, the better you can plan for whats ahead. Talk to farmers and get smarter about your insurance. We are farmers bum pa dum, bum bum bum bum we go, go, we dont have to go solo fire, fire, you can take me higher take me to the mountains, start a revolution hold my hand, we can make, we can make a contribution brandnew season, keep it in motion cause the rhyme is the reason break through, man, it doesnt matter who youre talking to [ male announcer ] completely redesigned for whatever you love to do. The allnew nissan versa note. Your door to more. Your door to more. There are lots of jamiejamies out there,. Huh . But that doesnt mean were all the same. Just like greek yogurts. Thats why i prefer activia greek. You got that right jamie, theres nothing like it exactly, because activia greek is the only greek with exclusive probiotic bifidus regularis, and it helps regulate your digestive system. I love its thick creamy texture mmm the greek nonfat yogurt that helps tummies smile activia greek. Like no other greek yogurt. Dannon when dictators commit atrocities they depend upon the world to look the other way until the horrifying pictures fade from memory. But these things happened. The facts cannot be denied. The question now is, what the United States<\/a> of america and the International Community<\/a> is prepared to do about it. To my friend on the right, i ask you to reconcile your commitment to americas military might with a failure to act when a cause is so plainly just. To my friend on the left i ask you to reconcile your belief in freedom and dignity for all people with images of children writhing in pain and growing still on a cold hospital floor. For sometimes resolutions and statements of condemnation are simply not enough. President obama making the case this week in his address from the east room of the white house. That what happens in syria matters. And that our country ought to not just care about what happens in syria but we ought to act. Because he made the case that we can act in ways that are not to futile, that can make a difference there. This is interesting. Before the speech and after the speech book ended polling done by cnn, the president s speech shifted americans views to be favorable of american involvement in sear yeah. Syria. It wasnt a huge shift. It was a shift among people who watched the speech. The polling broadly Shows Americans<\/a> do not want our military involved over there at all. The fight in washington and the fight at the u. N. Now is about the maybe of International Military<\/a> intervention. Or International Diplomatic<\/a> intervention to at least seize and secure all of syrias chemical weapons. Not all of the action that might make a difference in syria has to happen through governments and militaries. To the extent that president obamas attention and all debate and News Coverage<\/a> this week about what syria is going through, to the extent that is motivating regular american citizens who want to help, want to help the people there in some way. There are nonpolitical ways to help. Individual people, us random civilians of course cannot negotiate with the russians or with the assad regime. But there is stuff that we can do. The u. N. Refugee agency has made an urgent appeal for donations even just from individuals to help the more than 2 million syrians who have fled their country because of the violence there. The World Food Program<\/a> also from the u. N. Theyre seeking donations to help feeding families who are still in syria. People can also donate to the Syrian Crisis<\/a> fund at save the children, which is, setting up temporary schools in refugee camps. The International Rescue<\/a> community, International Rescue<\/a> committee is doing work helping displaced people inside syria and in the cross border refugee camps they have fled to. A british charity, hand in hand for syria that has also been helping at three field hospitals inside of syria. The inspiring and intrepid group, doctors without borders, won the Nobel Peace Prize<\/a> they need help. If you so choose. If you are so moved by what you are hearing out of syria and you want to help there spa sieve there specifically, you can designate that their work goes toward syria. A big overwhelming story about a big overwhelming crisis. Beyond the politics of it. Beyond the international wrangling between countries of it. If you personally are moved to help in a small way there are ways you can do that. We will put links to all the places and a few more, tonight at maddowblog. Com. Check it out. Well be right back. All of us. Obesity. And as the nations leading beverage company, we can play an important role. That includes continually providing more options. Giving people easy ways to help make informed choices. And offering portion controlled versions of our most popular drinks. It also means working with our industry to voluntarily change whats offered in schools. But beating obesity will take continued action by all of us, based on one simple common sense fact. All calories count. And if you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, youll gain weight. That goes for cocacola, and Everything Else<\/a> with calories. Finding a solution will take all of us. But at cocacola, we know when people come together, good things happen. To learn more, visit coke. Com comingtogether [ crashing ] [ male announcer ] when your favorite food starts a fight, fight back fast with tums. Heartburn relief that neutralizes acid on contact and goes to work in seconds. Tum, tum tum tum tums how old is the oldest person youve known . We gave people a sticker and had them show us. We learned a lot of us have known someone whos lived well into their 90s. And thats a great thing. But even though were living longer, one thing that hasnt changed much is the official retirement age. The question is how do you make sure you have the money you need to enjoy all of these years. Happy friday. Best new thing in the world. The motor city great city of detroit produced lots of great cars, art, music over the years. And now the great city of detroit has produced this. Behold the light dragon. This is the brain child of two artists, detroit based artist royian doyle and Hong Kong Born<\/a> artist, teddy lo, the light dragon made of salvaged metal and rubber and lights. Apparently 60 feet long. It weighs 17,000 pounds. It sits on top of a stripped down 1963 dodge dumptruck. 2,500 feet of color changing l. E. D. Lights. Because it is a dragon, naturally it can breathe fire. No, really it can shoot a 20foot burst of flame through its dragon nostrils. That part is going to be really important later in the story. Put a pin in that for a second. The city of detroit as you may be aware is going through a rough stretch. City filed for bankruptcy in july. Under the control of an emergency manager who makes all the decisions regarding the citys finances. That has rendered local democracy essentially dead in democracy. One of the things that emergency manager did in city recently he hired christies action house to appraise the art that is house the inside the amazing, iconic, Detroit Institute<\/a> of arts. One of the greatest art museums. A world famous collection of rembrandts and diego rivera. It is owned by the people of detroit, municipal owned, the city owns the collection and belongs to the people. When the emergency manager was having the entire place appraised to find out its cash value in case he was going to sell it off, detroit started fighting back. Part of the way they have been fighting back is with art. And that is where the fire breathing dragon comes in. Last night, the l. E. D. Dragon equipped with its own d. J. Booth on the back, rolled through city of the detroit, pulled up to the Detroit Institute<\/a>s of art and only as a fire breathing dragon can do it left the message for the city manager about how the city feels about its art museum. Watch this. Save the art. If you are going to try to send a message to the powers that be in your city. That is the way to it, send your fabric wrapped metal flame on fire, and with flame out of dragon nostrils. The artists made their escape shortly after setting the protest sign alight. The sign was extinguished by drag gun artist supporters and also by the fire department. However, you have been making your political case, however you have been trying to convey your political feelings. 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