former president ronald reagan. he has endorsed a seven-day waiting period for the purchase of handguns, and president bush may follow. >> he looked and sounded like the ronald reagan of old, but what he said was far from it. this darling of the gun lobby endorsing a gun control bill. >> and i'm going to say it in clear, unmistakable language. i support the brady bill and i urge the congress to enact it. >> all this left the national rifle association all but speechless. day released a terse one-page statement which simply reiterated the nra's opposition to the brady bill. >> it appears now that the nra has lost the white house on this one, but the powerful gun lobby is now expected to turn its sights on congress, where it's enjoyed considerable success in the past. >> that bill that ronald reagan was supporting back then, that bill he supported in defiance of the nra, it was named in honor of james brady. james brady worked for the reagan campaign in 1980. he then came to the white house with reagan to serve as his first press secretary. that meant he was with reagan just three months into his first term when a gunman tried to take out the president. >> these are policemen in raincoats waiting for president reagan to come out. this is the advance guard now with the secret servicemen coming out. here's president reagan waving. right arm up in the air. suddenly everybody ducks. mike is down. everybody's down. three policemen jump on top of the assailant, wrestle him to the ground. secret service police have drawn their guns. absolute pandemonium with one aide after another yelling and screaming. >> president reagan is in good condition tonight in a washington hospital after several hours of emergency surgery. his press secretary, james brady, is in extremely serious condition with brain damage. >> so you've heard the expression before, but when it came to james brady, it was literally true. he took a bullet for the president. and because he did that, he suffered the most serious injuries that day. he nearly died. he was left partially paralyzed. he was left with permanent brain damage. but he did survive. he and his wife, sarah brady, then dedicated themselves to trying to stop what had happened to them and their family from happening to anyone else. to any other family. they became activists. and they became the most recognizable advocates of gun control legislation anywhere in america. that was the legislation that president reagan to the surprise of everyone came out in support of back in 1991. it was legislation that could be traced directly back to that attempt on his own life. the lives of others around him a decade earlier. two years after reagan made that surprise announcement, the fall of 1993, the brady bill actually passed congress. it was signed into law by bill clinton. the brady bill, now the brady law as it's now known, mandated all federally licensed gun dealers perform background checks on customers in conjunction with federal law enforcement authorities. they couldn't just check off some background check form, put it in a drawer and never tell anyone about it. there were teeth in the law. the brady law changed the way people bought and sold firearms in this country. 1993, james brady sat next to bill clinton as he signed that bill. and today, james brady passed away. 73 years old. the bill that was named after him wasn't the only piece of gun legislation that was passed during bill clinton's first term. a year later, september of 1994, clinton signed the federal assault weapons ban. it was written by a senator from california who, herself, had been witness to a political assassination. senator dianne feinstein. she was the first person on the scene to find the body of the supervisor member harvey milk when he was shot and killed in 1978. president clinton inaugurated in 1993 and in the first couple years of his presidency, two major pieces of gun control legislation passed the house then they passed the senate. they make it to his desk. bill clinton signs them into law. one in 1993, the other in 1994. two months after he signed that assault weapons ban in 1994 came this. 1994 midterm election. those were elections in which democrats famously got absolutely clobbered. they call it the republican revolution. the revolution of '94. newt gingrich became the speaker of the house. republicans won more seats in congress in that election than they had had in 40 years. it was a seismic political event. the political narrative that started being spun about that 1994 election was that it was about guns. it was their support of gun control. it was those gun-control laws that they had passed that helped fuel the republican revolution. that's what some democrats started to say. now, this was, to put it politely, a questionable claim. there were a lot of reasons democrats took such a big hit in 1994. it was the kind of thing that a lot of smart people, even a lot of smart democrats, started saying and repeating to themselves and to everyone. it was something that even bill clinton started saying. something that became conventional wisdom. this idea that gun control was costing democrats voters they would otherwise win over if they would just stop talking about gun control, if they would stop doing anything about gun control. and then came the event that really cemented that thinking in place. that event was the election of 2000. everyone remembers florida as the key state that year. the florida recount, the hanging chads and all that. a lot of democrats looked at the electoral map in 2000 and what they saw was a bunch of states with big rural areas. states with lots of gun owners. states with deep gun cultures. states that bill clinton had won twice in 1992 and 1996 but now al gore lost. missouri, kentucky, west virginia, tennessee, arkansas, and ohio. forget about florida. it gore had won any wone of thoe states, he would have been president. the recount wouldn't have mattered. that's what a lot of democrats saw when they looked at the 2000 map. the idea that gun control had cost them in those states, that it had cost them the white house. it was why they were stuck, why the country was stuck with george w. bush. now you can argue whether that conclusion was right or not, but it is the conclusion that has shaped how a lot of democrats have looked at the issue for the last decade plus through one horrific gun tragedy, one ghastly mass shooting after another. just before the 2000 election, there was columbine. then there was the virginia tech shooting rampage in april of 2007. there was the shooting in tucson, arizona, where congresswoman gabrielle giffords was shot. there was the aurora movie theater shooting. terrible, devastating tragedies that everyone bemoaned, but that produced from washington no real response. no legislation. no new laws. one attempt to close a big loophole in the brady law, the gun show loophole, after columbine. that attempt was made, it failed. after that, nothing. and then came newtown. the shooting that left 220 fi0 graders and 6 teachers dead at sandy hook elementary school in newtown, connecticut. when that shooting happened two years ago, when we all absorbed the unspeakable shock and sadness around that shooting, that did jolt a lot of people in washington, did jolt a lot of democrats who had been shying away from gun control for so long. they were jolted into trying to do something. it was after newtown that democratic senator joe manchin from west virginia, republican senator pat toomey from pennsylvania, came together to sponsor bipartisan legislation to try again to close that loophole that was left open in the brady law all those years ago. the gun show loophole. the toomey/manchin bill would have expanded federal background checks program to include not just anyone trying to buy a gun at a federally licensed gun dealer but also anyone trying to buy a gun at a gun show. that's a lot of people. would have extended background checks to cover basically every private sale. president obama pushed for it as hard as he could and many democrats, most democrats, came together and pushed for it, too, but ultimately, failed to pass the senate. failed to even get enough votes to get a vote in the senate. there weren't 60 votes to break a filibuster to have that real vote. that moment, that was the moment it turns out that president obama has said was the singlemost frustrating moment in his entire presidency. >> i have to say that people often ask me how's it been being president, and what are my -- what am i proudest of, and what are my biggest disappointments? and i've got 2 1/2 years left. my biggest frustration so far is the fact that this society has not been willing to take some basic steps to keep guns out of the hands of, you know, people who, you know, can do just unbelievable damage. we're the only society -- we're the only developed country on earth where this happens. and it happens now once a week. and it's a one-day story. there's no place else like this. and i will tell you that i have been in washington for a while now, and most things don't surprise me. the fact that 20 6-year-olds were gunned down in the most violent fashion possible, and this town couldn't do anything about it, was stunning to me. >> just try to imagine a president sitting down to sign legislation like the kind of legislation that president clinton signed back in 1993 and 1994. try to imagine that legislation making it through the house. try to imagine that legislation getting those 60 votes to even get a vote in the senate and thn passing the senate. try to imagine a republican as big as ronald reagan coming out and supporting that legislation. telling people in his party, it's okay to support that legislation. try to imagine that, but you find out it's impossible to imagine that right now. when you look at it at the federal level, our system is broken down completely when it comes to the issue of guns, and there was no symbol of that that was more potent than the failed background check bill in the wake of newtown. here's the other side. if you look state by state, get away from congress, get away from washington, get away from the federal government and look at places like connecticut and new york and colorado and california and maryland and a host of other states, if you look there, then you see that there actually has been some movement on this issue, that the system isn't broken when it comes to guns. took 12 years after president reagan and james brady and two others were nearly killed when they were shot and then nearly killed before the federal government passed gun legislation. passed the brady bill in 1993. it has been about a year and a half since newtown. is our federal government now broken beyond repair when it comes to this issue? has the battle now moved away from washington into the states? is that the future when itle tos to gun control? joining us now, sarah clemens, gun violence prevention advocate. her mother is a teacher and survivor of the shootings at sandy hook elementary schools. sarah, thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> i'm really interested in how you look at this issue because you're much younger than me. i think you were probably born in the late 1990s. after a lot love the stuof the e talking about in the intro. i remember the run-up to the brady bill, run-up to assault weapons ban becoming law and there was a sense of real momentum that it was going to happen, it was a matter of time. you had republicans like ronald reagan coming out for it. i look at the situation now where a background checks bill goes to the senate last year and can't even get a real vote. do you feel any sense of momentum when it comes to the federal government doing anything about this, or do you look at it and say, it's just not going to happen? >> i absolutely am optimistic about legislation being passed on the federal level. especially on the state level right now, but also on the federal level. it was absolutely a devastation for the universal background check bill to fail. it was a devastation for communities everywhere. it also motivated a lot of americans who otherwise were just sitting on the sidelines who "a" didn't even know that there was a gun show loophole or that you could buy a gun online without a background check, and "b," it angered so many people, including young people, including mill lennials like myself most disproportionately affected by gun violence in america to get up and fight this. i think we're sort of in this turning point right now where moms and students are -- and other sort of demographics are coming together on the grassroots level to advocate against the gun lobby and to prove that average americans can have more political power than the gun lobby and that's never happened before. >> yeah, maybe you could tell us a little -- there's the protect all women movement that's out in washington. in california they have this gun violence restraining order idea. there are some interesting things happening or trying to make happen at the state level. tell us about some of them. >> exactly. even though universal background checks have been put on the back burner on the federal level, that doesn't mean other legislation can't be passed especially on the state level like you mentioned. in california, they're looking at the -- the state legislature is looking at this gun violence restraining order which would give parents, you know, family members or intimate partners a mechanism and a process, an efficient process to work with law enforcement to ensure that a loved one who they fear might be dangerous to themselves or to others in the future, in regards to owning or buying a weapon, a firearm, it provides that mechanism to ensure that everybody stays safe. an example is the ila vista shooting a few months ago. we heard in the aftermath the parents of the shooter didn't really have a way, a mechanism, a process, to work with law enforcement to ensure that when they went to the shooter's apartment that they could seize his firearms for just a short amount of time, just like a domestic violence restraining order would happen, and make sure that whatever issues that he might have, like a mental health issue, or substance abuse issue that might trigger a violent act, are taken care of before he's able to possess those firearms, again, and potentially that could have stopped that shooting as well as other domestic violence shootings, things like that, and suicides. >> one more question. i'm just curious. i mean, we all -- obviously the images and the emotions of newtown are just permanently sort of a part of all us. i wonder how is the town? how is newtown now almost two years later? >> you know, the town is strong. healing and moving forward as we have been for the last 19 months. but to me the heroes in our town are the advocates who are standing up and saying, like richard martinez, not one more. advocates who i work with every single day in town like my mom who is a survivor of the shooting and coming out in support as a survivor and teacher to stand up and say that it's enough, that we have to act. and survivors and victims all around the country who are coming together and building bridges between every type of community to show that we have -- we can have more power than the gun lobby. >> all right. i appreciate the time tonight. incredibly well spoken, too, i have to say. i wish at your age i had been half as well spoken. >> well, it's an honor to be on, especially tonight, you know, in the wake of the passing of jim brady. he's a hero to all of us in this movement and in this country, and millions of activists around the country hope to move forward his legacy of one day ending gun violence in america. >> i'm sure that mean a lot to him. sarah clements, founder and chairwoman of the junior newtown alliance. there appears to be movement away from violence between israel and hamas at least for the moment. there was a big deal federal court ruling regarding alabama and abortion law today that may resonate elsewhere. former president bill clinton did something over the weekend that not even he ever thought he'd be doing. stay tuned. collection is here. ♪ ♪ during the cadillac summer's best event, lease this 2014 ats for around $299 a month and make this the summer of style. nineteen years ago, we thought, "wow, how is there no way to tell the good from the bad?" so we gave people the power of the review. and now angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. you can easily buy and schedule services from top-rated providers. conveniently stay up to date on progress. and effortlessly turn your photos into finished projects with our snapfix app. visit angieslist.com today. ♪ apparently the tea party candidate for senate in mississippi had so much fun barely losing to the establishment 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[cheering] the fastest in-home wifi for your entire family. the x-1 entertainment operating system. only from xfinity. this is the first power plant in the country to combine solar and natural gas at the same location. during the day, we generate as much electricity as we can using solar. at night and when it's cloudy, we use more natural gas. this ensures we can produce clean electricity whenever our customers need it. ♪ and other car insurance companies? yes. but you're progressive and they're them. -yes. -but they're here. -yes. -are you... -there? -yes. -no. -are you them? i'm me. but the lowest rate is from them. -yes. -so them's best rate is... here. so where are them? -aren't them here? -i already asked you that. -when? -feels like a while ago. want to take it from the top? rates for us and them. now that's progressive. call or click today. there is important news from the war between israel and hamas in the gaza strip tonight. late this afternoon, it was reported that israel and hamas have agreed to a 72-hour truce. first proposed by egypt. the deal would allow the two sides to negotiate a longer-term cessation of military hostilities. the truce would begin tuesday at 8:00 a.m. local time which is four hours from right now. promise of a halt to the deadly violence is, of course, tempered by the brief history of the current hostilities. at least four cease-fires have been broken since the war broke out back on july 8th. most recently, struck on friday, crumbled within hours of its start. shelling resumed from both sides. a responsibility for that agreement's failure was disputed by both sides. earlier today, it had already been reported that israel was ramping down its military efforts. israeli officials indicated that the mission to destroy tunnels linking gaza to israel was nearly achieved. israeli troops were withdrawing its ground forces from gaza on sunday before news broke of this latest truce. the troop withdrawal came on the heels of another day of deadly shelling on and near a u.n. shelter in gaza where displaced civilians sought safety. ten people were reportedly killed. in the wake of that incident, the u.s. state department strongly condemned the actions saying, "the united states is appalled by today's disgraceful shelling --" excuse me. "the united states is appalled by today's disgraceful shelling outside a u.n. school in rafah sheltering some 3,000 displaced persons. the suspicion that militants are operating nearby does not justify strikes to put at risk the lives of so many innocent civilians." those civilian casualties added to the grim total on human life on this war. palestinian authorities say at least 1,800 palestinians have been killed, 64 israeli soldiers and 3 israeli civilians have reportedly been killed as well. all of those casualties have come since july 8th. empb today as the 72 hour truce was being finalized, we were reminded how fragile a cease-fire can to be maintain. violence in jerusalem took another life. a man attacked a truck using the excavator's shovel to tip it over. palestinians want a full and complete israeli withdrawal from gaza and an end to the israeli blockade of that territory. they want hamas prisoners released by israel and want international help rebuilding and reconstructing gaza. israel wants gaza to be completely demilitarized giving up all weapons. for now, we will wait to see if and for how long the violence stops. then we will see what more is possible. be right back. avo: waves don't care what age you are. take them on the way you always have. live healthy and take one a day men's 50+. a complete multivitamin with 7 antioxidants to support cell health. age? who cares. for over 19 million people. 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[ female announcer ] everyone has a moment when tomorrow becomes real. you've been working like a dog if yall year.e me, but you don't need to camp out 'til labor day to reward yourself. mattress discounters labor day sale is on now! rest those tired bones on a queen size serta mattress and box spring set. right now, they're just $397. get 48 months interest-free financing on the entire tempur-pedic cloud collection. not to labor the point, but this sale won't last long. ♪ mattress discounters that's why i always choose the fastest intern.r slow. the fastest printer. the fastest lunch. turkey club. the fastest pencil sharpener. the fastest elevator. the fastest speed dial. the fastest office plant. so why wouldn't i choose the fastest wifi? i would. switch to comcast business internet and get the fastest wifi included. comcast business. built for business. on june 25th of last year, the "washington post" got a scoop on a story they had been doggedly chasing down for weeks. it was about a governor in trouble. it was about a governor suspected of carrying out official state actions in exchange for gifts. that day, the "washington post" edit it from reliable source s that one of the gifts received was a fancy new rolex watch worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $6,a00, personally engraved with the inscription, 71st governor of virginia. that would be then-virginia governor bob mcdonnell and that rolex has sort of come to symbolize the heart of the case against him. that he performed official state actions for a wealthy businessman in exchange for gifts like that $6,500 rolex. last week was the first week of the bob mcdonnell corruption trial and now after more than a year of waiting, we finally have gotten to lay our eyes on the rolex watch in question. this is the watch right here, you're looking at it. the watch that virginia businessman jonnie williams bought for bob mcdonnell. see right there on the back of the watch is the inscription. "robert mcdonnell, 71st governor of virginia." there's mcdonnell, himself, proudly displaying his rolex in a photo that was texted to the wealthy donor who brought it for him. that watch was brought inside the courtroom last week during the trial and was passed around among the jurors so each one could handle it and inspect it personally. today, the businessman who purchased that watch for bob mcdonnell was on the stand for another day of testimony. the government still has to prove that the gifts that mcdonnell and his wife received from him were given in exchange for official state actions. right now, any time you google bob mcdonnell, any time you google him from now and any point in the future, these are now the search results that you're going to get. a few years ago, they were talking about bob mcdonnell ending up on the national gop president someday. vice president, president, who knew how high he'd go. now, this is what it's come to for him. we'll be right back. 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[ whirring ] [ train whistle blows ] she makes trains that are friends with trees. ♪ my mom works at ge. ♪ in the nation, the safest feature in your car is you. add vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance and get $100 off for every year of safe driving. which for you, shouldn't be a problem. just another way we put members first, because we don't have shareholders. join the nation. nationwide is on your side. since 2010, since that historic midterm election that saw a huge republican tide not only in congress, but statehouses and state legislatures across america, too, after the midterm elections, republicans controlled more state-level legislative seats than they had at any point since 1928. in 21 states, republicans controlled both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's mansion. complete control of state government for republicans in 21 states. thanks to their 2010 midterm landslide. one of the things that republicans have been doing with that uncommon power on the state level, something this show has been reporting on for the last 3 1/2 years has been a drive at the state level to close down abortion clinics. in multiple states around the country, legislatures have passed nearly identical laws that place restrictions on abortion clinics with the intent to shut them down. or at least to make it very hard for them to stay open. these are known as t.r.a.p. laws, one of the most frequently used t.r.a.p. laws require doctors performing abortions at clinics have admitting privileges at local hospitals. it is a requirement that may not sound like a big deal, but one that has proven nearly impossible for many abortion clinics and providers to fulfill. since 2010, republican controlled statehouses have passed a version of this particular t.r.a.p. law in kansas, in mississippi, north dakota, tennessee, alabama, texas, wisconsin, and just this year, in louisiana and oklahoma. same legislation, same potential, same intentional effects. in texas, this law has already resulted in the closure of half of all the clinics in that state. in oklahoma, likely shut down all but one clinic for the entire state. in louisiana, the law there passed just last month will close all but one or two clinics in that state as well. in alabama, that same law was likely to shut down all but two clinics in the whole state. two clinics for the state's 2.5 million women. in alabama, republican governor robert bentley who won his seat in that 2010 republican landslide, he has been very clear about his objectives for abortion access in his state. he campaigned on a pledge to bring more antiabortion legislation to the state of alabama. when he was asked about it in 2009, he said that he'd even prefiled antiabortion legislation. so that's the backdrop for some very big news that came just today. it was a decision of a federal district court judge in alabama to strike down part of that state's t. r.a.p. law. finding that the state's case in favor of the restrictions on abortion providers was, "weak at best." in a lengthy 172-page opinion, the federal judge referred to the history of violence against abortion providers in the state which reduced the number of doctors willing to take on the task. quoting testimony from abortion doctors in the state who continue to feel threatened finding that, "against the backdrop of this history of violence, abortion providers and women seeking apportibortions i alabama today live and work in a climate of extreme hostility to the practice of abortion." "the attorney general said his state will repeal the decision. what happened today comes a week after the fifth circuit court blocked mississippi's version of the same law. which would have closed the very last abortion clinic in that state. fist circuit ruled in that case that mississippi was going too far in its effort to shut down its only remaining clinic. a state cannot close every last clinic within its borders. it was that very same court, the fifth circuit court of appeals that earlier this year ruled in favor of the restrictions that have successfully closed half of the clinics in texas. and this week, texas will be forced to defend in court another challenge to those restrictions which have closed every clinic in texas' rio grande valley, an area that's as big as the state of connecticut. it's a challenge that will ask the court whether a law that effectively eliminates access to a legal procedure in an area that big can stay on the books. joining us now, nancy northup, president of the center for reproductive rights. nancy, thanks for being here tonight. so this alabama ruling, if you just explain the meaning for abortion clinics in the state of alabama, for women in the state of alabama, for the state of alabama. how final is this ruling today? >> well, it's a huge win because the federal court in alabama called out the politicians that passed this law for the underhanded tactics that they're using and said this is not a law about advancing women's safety, it's about a law that's going to hurt women's health because it's going to close clinics. and that the state is unjustified in its reasoning, and it's a very, very important decision that comes after other positive decisions in this area that we've seen. >> can you explain -- i think for sort of the layperson who's just sort of following this maybe for the first time or doesn't follow it that seriously, when they hear this idea of laws on the books that say, doctors have to have admitting privileges at local hospitals. that probably sounds like a reasonable thing. all things be equal, give one a doctor who has admitting privileges. why is that such a difficult thing for these clinics to fulfill? >> i think the most important thing to remember is groups like the american medical association have come out against these type of laws because they're not medically necessary. and like the court in alabama today, they showed that these laws are really about shutting down the clinics. because what they know is going to happen is that the hospitals aren't going to give admitting privileges because, again, the judge today did such a beautiful job, really, in going through the horrific history of violence in the state of alabama. i mean, alabama had the murder of an abortion doctor. >> hospitals wouldn't want to be associated with a doctor that could potentially bring violence to the hospital or anything like that, public outcry. >> exactly. a very hostile environment. the court goes through that in their decision. what's happened is you go from the violence that tried to close clinics in alabama 20 years ago to this attempt to do by the back door what couldn't be done by the front. which is pass a law that sounds like a health and safety law, the ama is saying it's not, and not necessary, and that's a devious way to try to shut down the clinics. >> it sounds to me if i'm reading this right that far of the decision here is basically, look, the supreme court through roe v. wade says abortion is a legal proceed wrdure in the uni states of america and cannot pass a law that effectively in a state effectively outlaws it by not allowing clinics to open. to you think that logic that prevailed in alabama today, when you look at the challenge now taking place in texas where an area that big, rio grande area, the size of texas now, the clinics have been closed, do you think that basic logic will prevail in texas? >> trial started today on another restriction in texas which you pointed out. that's a restriction that's so onerous it makes every clinic in texas have to be a mini hospital despite the fact abortion is one of the safest procedures there is. despite the fact that one in three women in the united states will make the decision that ending a pregnancy is the right decision for her. and in the rio grande valley now, there is no clinic. it's been closed. >> what are those -- you say they have to become a mini hospital. what does that mean? what are they forcing them to do? >> they have to have all of the kind of hall widths and storage spaces and all kinds of regulations that doctors in private practice who are doing similar -- so, for example, if you're an ob-gyn and do miscarriage completion in your office, similar procedure to an abortion procedure, you don't have to follow the regulations and be a mini hospital. that's what the courts are looking at these comparisons and saying this isn't about health and safety. if it were, it would apply to every similar type of medical procedures. they're really about the fact that clinics would have to spend millions to comply and know what that means is they will close down. >> how does this all get reconciled? the ruling in alabama today. texas, earlier this year in texas they upheld the restrictions in the state. other states ruled sort like we had in alabama today. do these all at some point get reconciled so there's one sort of de fintive ruling on these t.r.a.p. laws? >> we're certainly looking for the court of appeals in texas, the federal court to reconsider that decision, but eventually, there's only one court that can decide what is the one law for the nation. and that is the supreme court. and we are looking to that court to do what the alabama court did today, in a very well reasoned 172 pages which would say when you look at the facts, what american medical association is saying, these are unnecessary regulations, unjustified and are hurting women. >> when you look to the supreme court, you're looking to one justice it almost seems, anthony kennedy. it's a to be continued story. appreciate the time tonight. nancy northup, president of the center for reproductive rights. in the event you were under the impression that august was a sleepily month in news and politics, there is in the great state of kansas, things are getting a little testy. >> you've told kansans, given your word you'd give a debate. you said it multiple times in multiple places. you told us you're tough, trusted. i want you to keep your word. i want you to debate. >> this is not the time. we have a regular scheduled event. this is not the way to conduct myself. >> when would be the time? >> this is not the appropriate time or place. >> where would be the time, senator? i'll go anywhere you like. you've given your word to debate. let's just debate. >> for the record, there was never a debate, but those two guys are going to be on the ballot facing off against each other tomorrow. the whole story coming up after this. 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>> this is not the appropriate time. >> when would be the time, senator? i'll go anywhere you'd like. you've given your word to debate. let's just debate. >> that was senator pat roberts being confronted in the street last week by his republican primary challenger, milton wolf, then scurrying away from him as quickly as possible. milton wolf is actually, believe it or not, a distant cousin of president barack obama. he's also a radiologist who caused a stir earlier this year when it was revealed he used to post x-rays of some of this patients' various ailments on facebook. pat roberts, incumbent senator, hasn't exactly done himself favors in this race. he spends a lot more time in washington than he does in kansas. that's a big no-no especially in the tea party era. turns out his official primary residence in kansas, the one that he, himself, claims, is a friend's recliner sofa. the senate conservatives fund, and other outside spending groups have spent heavily trying to knock off roberts tomorrow. the polls have been tightening a little bit in the last few weeks. pat roberts fits the profile of the kind of republican incumbent who's been caught sleeping by the tea party in one primary after the other in these past few years, especially after eric cantor's shocking primary loss this spring, this kansas race is one political observers have been keeping a close eye on. could there be one more big tea party surprise in the works here? 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"i've still got it" when you think aarp, then you don't know "aarp". life reimagined gives you tools and support to get the career you'll love. find more real possibilities at aarp.org/possibilities wouldn't it be great if hiring plumbers, carpenters shopping onlin easy as it g. and even piano tuners were just as simple? thanks to angie's list, now it is. we've made hiring anyone from a handyman to a dog walker as simple as a few clicks. buy their services directly at angieslist.com no more calling around. no more hassles. start shopping from a list of top-rated providers today. angie's list is revolutionizing local service again. visit angieslist.com today. a memorial service was held over the weekend and the eulogy that was delivered at it was, in one word, extraordinary. not really for the words that were said, although they were certainly nice. but it was extraordinary for the simple fact that this eulogy was ever delivered. actually, i'm not sure there is a word that captures how baffling and bizarre and just plain unlikely it was. this is david brock. if you know who he is, you probably think of him as a lefty. he started something called media matters, it's a watchdog group aimed at combatting conservative misinformation. he created a democratic super pac called american bridge and a group called correct the record. they are dedicated to defending hillary clinton against attacks from republicans. but david brock wasn't always a man of the left. back in the early 1990s, he was young an ambitious conservative journalist looking to make a name for himself. if you were looking to name a name for yours on the right in the early 1990s, there was one obvious way to go about it -- go after bill clinton. when clinton was elected president in 1992, the resistance from the right was instant, it was heated, and it was often way, way over the top. suggestions that he'd been involved in drug running, that he'd been involved in murder, things like that. there was a lot of money behind this resistance, too, and a lot of money to be made by channeling it. this is how david brock first got famous he want linked up with a magazine called "the american spectator." it was a fairly small and very conservative publication. but the man who was bankrolling it has big plans. his name was richard melon scate, a right wing billionaire who inherited a fortune from his father. scaife poured that money into publishing and he had been the single biggest supporter "the american spectator" magazine. he was basically the guy keeping this thing alive. like the rest of the right, scaife couldn't stand bill clinton. he couldn't believe he'd ever been elected. he believed he was unworthy of the presidency and he was convinced, absolutely convinced, there were all sorts of deep, dark secreted back in arkansas that would bring clinton down if they ever came to light. so that's what scaife want "the american spectator" to do, to do the digging that would unearth the scandal that would destroy bill clinton. scaife and his team called this "the arkansas project" and there is where david brock came in. they was young ambitious conservative report yesh who was going to go out there and get the big juicy scandal they were sure was out there. and brock came through for them. this was his big scoop in the january, 1994 issue of "the american spectator." he had gone to arkansas, he had gotten four state troopers to say that they had arranged and facilitated all sorts of extra marital encounters for clinton when he'd been the state's governor. the story caused a bit of a stir but it wasn't huge news. by that point, people already knew that bill clinton maybe hadn't always been faith to feel his marriage. it got bigger. the story mentioned one of the women's first names -- paula. and the real paula got upset about this, decided she wanted to come forward and some very well-connected conservatives wanted her to come forward, too. this is how the world met paula corbin jones. in 1994, she publicly accused clinton of making unwanted sexual advances and sued him for sexual harassment. there was a question of whether she could actually to that, could sue a president over something like that. fortunately for paula jones, she got help from a legal team, the legal team with deep connections to richard melon scaife. so she got to go forward with her lawsuit and then her lawyers came up with a strategy. they wanted to ask bill clinton under oath about a bunch of different women he was rumored to have been involved with, to prove a pattern, at least that was their justification for doing that. they'd heard rumors about a white house intern named monica lewinsky so they asked him about it and he denied it -- or seemed to deny it. then ken starr, the independent counsel who'd been investigating white water, remember that thing? he'd been investigating whitewater but he caught wind of this and the next thing you knew starr put out a sordid report which was basically a catalog of bill clinton's sexual habits and the republican-controlled house impeached him. that was american politics in the clinton era. a conservative movement intent on taking down a president who it believed had no legitimacy. and richard melon scate wife wa the heart of the movement. he is who hillary clinton probably had in mind when she went on the today show when she had this to say. >> look at the very people who are involved in this. they have popped up in other settings. this is -- the great story here for anybody willing to find it and write about it and explain it is this vast right wing conspiracy that has been conspiring against my husband since the day he announced for president. a few journalists have kind of caught on to it and explained it, but it has not yet been fully revealed to the american public and actually, you know, in a bizarre sort of way this may do it. >> the "vast right wing conspiracy." hillary clinton took an awful lot of heat for saying that, but she and her husband felt it deeply. what started with richard mellon scaife and the arkansas project and david brock talking to those state troopers ultimately led to bill clinton being impeached and having all of those embarrassing details from his private life aired for all the world to snicker at. richard mellon scaife and the right did not succeed in destroying bill clinton in the 1990s, but they sure tried their best and shea sure inflicted their share of damage. well, richard mellon scate passed away, he was 82 years old. on saturday on his estate there was a memorial service. the eulogy was delivered by a man he had specially requested to take part in the services -- a man with whom he had forged a late in life friendship that few people could figure out. that man was bill clinton. >> if someone had asked me on the day i left the white house -- [ laughter ] -- what the single most unlikely thing i would ever do, this would rank high on the list. [ laughter ] our differences are important. our political differences, our philosophical differences, our religious differences, our racial and ethnic differences. they're important. they help us to define who we are. but they don't to keep us at arm's length from others. >> i guess there's a lesson in here, something about how if bill clinton and richard mellon scaife could end up coming together there's hope for all of us. or maybe that it's just in life sometimes crazy things just happen. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. now it's time for "the last word" with lawrence o'donnell. good evening to you, lawrence. >> or maybe the lesson is bill clinton can be strange sometimes. >> strange and very forgiving, i guess. >> yeah. extraordinarily forgiving. thank you very much, steve. >> sure. nate silver has a new and very important political prediction tonight. >> what a huge crowd for senator mcconnell's retirement party! [ cheers and applause ] >> we can't afford a leader who thinks the west bank is a hollywood fund raiser. >> mitch mcconnell and allison grimes face off. >> thanks to you, d.c. stands for "doesn't care." >> congress started a five-week recess. >> with very little accomplished? >> the narrative right now sucks. >> the center of the political universe -- >> the annual fan

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