fragmented, very mill t militarized area in syria. >> and it is imposing politics on alace that has become thoroughly and deeply militarized as you chronicled in your reporting. that's not at all an easy thing. perhaps no easier than trying to put up a no-fly zone. jamie ruben, anna guper, and l leila, thank you. "the rachel maddow show" starts now. >> here in our nation's capitol is is a particularly lovely friday. and a sweaty one. not because it is unseasonably warm or humid but it is a season for friday night nervousness in washington, d.c. and there is flop-sweat nervouses in d.c. tonight because tomorrow is the washington, d.c.er in the prom.

god forgive us. the white house correspondent dinner with poll thingses an reporters and pick who work in the media and celebrities who have been attached to this event, all cram into the same giant room in washington. and appreciate each other. honestly, it is kind of a nightmare. this even exist. let alone that it exists every year and seemingly every year keeps getting bigger and bigger and bigger. however, there is one thing that i have always believed as sort of unkplucatedly excellent about both the nerd prom itself and the huge and increasing amount of attention that it garners each year. and that is na the nerd prom is funny. it is all organized around comedy. a comedian act as emcee, which is usually where the best jokes come from. but the fact that it is hosted by a comedian morphed into the expectation that president himself will also be funny or at least try to be. what started as an expectation of a sort of standard

presidential speech with a few jokes thrown in for the occasion has now become the expectation that the president of the united states will do stand-up. it is a full-on comedy routine. yes, it is kind of weird that we expect the president of the united states to perform a standup routine on c-span once a year while wearing a tuxedo. but as far as weird things we do in our country, this is kind after good weird thing. we could try hard it make the leader of the free world to be funny and make funny things happen around him. >> as you know, i always look forward to these dinners. it's just a bunch of media types. hollywood liberals. democrats, like joe biden. how come i can't have dinner with the 36% of the people who like me? >> dick cheney was supposed to be here. but he is very busy working on his memoirs.

tentatively titled, how to shoot friend and inter get people. >> remember, if you really want a friend in this town, get yourself a dog. i wish somebody told me that before i showed up with a neuter etiquette. >> nuclear proliferation. nuclear proliferation. nuclear proliferation.>> nuclea. nuclear proliferation. nuclear proliferation. >> i am not doing so bad. at this point in his administration wab william henry harrison had been dead 68 days. >> no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the donald. and that's because he is finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter. like did we fake the moon landing? we all know about your

credentials and breath of experience. no, seriously, on an episode of celebrity apprentice, at the steakhouse, you realized the problem was a lack of leadership so ultimately you didn't blame little john or meat loaf. you fired gary busey. and these are the kind of decisions that will keep me up at night. >> that last clip thereof president obama saying, funny things about donald trump, which donald trump did not find funny at all, that last little set of jokes is probably not the most hilarious thing at a white house controversy dinner but it'll make the best jokes anyway. while president obama was there at podium that night, dissecting this creepy billionaire with a conspiracy theory about his

birth certificate, while he was doing that, we later learned he was also in the middle of overseeing the operation, super risky high stakes operation that sent navy s.e.a.l.sinto pakistan to secretly kill osama bin laden. they thought it would raise suspicions that something was up if president obama skipped the dinner that year. so they had him show up, tell jokes as usual, and no one was none the wiser. puts a different spin on how the president handles the responsibility of getting the timing right on the implied hair do donald trump related giry busse joke. in one instance there was a presidential joke at one of the fancy washington dinners that did not just look different with the passage of time, it became kind of a permanent artifact in a bad way. a permanent bit of evidence of something that was very wrong with that whole presidency. >> those weapons of mass destruction, got to be somewhere. nope, no weapons over there.

maybe under here. that was march 2004. almost exactly one year into the iraq war, which we were of course told at the time was necessary because saddam hussein was supposed to have weapons of mass destruction. and we today get him before he had to get him before he used those to topple us. we did get an 8 1/2 year long war though. that part of the recent american history looms hugely over what is going on in our politics right now. not only because the same president bush is now opening his presidential library in tkst. but also because because simultaneously the obama

administration is saying that intelligence community is saying, and i quote, to some degree of varying confidence that the country just to the west of iraq, syria, not only has chemical weapon webs that much we already knew but some n some small way syria has used them. >> and yesterday, some of you saw that i asked my people to brief congress about the fact that we now have some evidence that chemical weapons had been used on the population in sir why. these are preliminary assessments. they are based on the intelligence gathering. we have varying degrees of intelligence. there are questions of how, when, where these weapons may have been used. we will pursue a very vigorous investigation ourselves and be working with our partners in the region as well as the national community and united nations to

make sure we are investigating this as effectively and as quickly as we can. but i meant what i said an i will repeat that, it's obviously horrific adds it is when mortars are being fired on civilians and people are being indiscriminately killed. to use potential weapons of mass destruction on civilian populations crosses another line, with respect to international norms and law. and that is going to be a game-changer. i think all of us, not just in the united states, but around the world, recognize how we cannot stand by and permit the systematic use of weapons like chemical weapons on civilian populations. >> in that press conference today, with the king of jordan sitting right by him, president obama said, if it is true that chemical weapons were used on a

civilian population that would be a game-changer. in terms of potential u.s. involvement in the war in syria that we have thus far basically stayed out of. how differently is this administration handling an, u like this as compared to last time around we were handling an issue like this with the previous president? and how does the previous president's experience affect this one's? joining us now is richard engel. rich and and his team were kidnapped in december by men loyal to the syrian government. a rebel group freed them after five days in captivity. richard, thank you for being here. >> it's a pleasure. how are you? >> i'm all right. >> are you going to this prom tomorrow? >> i don't go to the prom. >> you don't? >> i told them, i'm like a dog. i like to have a job to do. so i told them i wouldn't go to the prom. i wouldn't go and schmooze. but they want me to work so i put -- >> you bus tableets? >> i tend bar at the after

party. i'm not very good at it. i'm really slow. >> do you get tips? >> no, actually. it never occurred to me. >> i will leave you a few dollars. >> if you tip me, i will keep it. it is deja vu. it is unclear intelligence about dmb in the same neighborhood where we have fights over iraq. what do you know about this intelligence about chemical weapons? >> the efd seems pretty solid. at least on two occasions. maybe one but probably two. some sarin gas was used. this is the evidence in favor of the case. now i will tell you about the holes because there are holes in this as well. that sarin gas was used. a few people died, when i say a few, i mean less than dozens. and which when we are talking about chemical weapons is a very small number. and these samples were taken from tissue samples from

victims. that's pretty much agreed upon by several different governments and several different intelligence agencies. >> the tissue sample is important because you need significant samples. >> you can use soil samples. tissue is better. you can survive, and if you survive an exposure to other chemicals, you will have an impact. there will be a residue. >> sure. >> what doesn't make sense, however, is why. and how. you don't use weapons of mass destruction to do minimal killing. it is like launching a thimble sized nuclear bomb on a city. why bother? was this a message? was assad trying to send a message to us, to the opposition? why risk so much to send a message like that when we already know he has chemical weapons? huge stockpiles of weapons.

so that part doesn't really make sense. the other part is, where does he have to go with it? so yes, something happened. but we don't exactly understand why or what the message might be p. there is a theory this may have been a mistake. the way chemical weapons work, they are buynary agent. there are two chemicals. the missile goes up into the air. they mix in flight and it becomes more caustic and deadly. when they explode, there's the exposure. maybe there was an improper mix. maybe these were supposed to have been more devastating attacks that didn't work. there are questions still unanswered. >> sarin doesn't have the longest shelf life in the world either. so you can have decayed materials around for unknown reasons and shouldn't have been on the shelf. >> exactly. maybe they were mixed improperly. maybe something went wrong. there are a lot of questions about that that i still think are unanswered. >> the tactical issue is bugging me. >> it doesn't make sense. >> the whole reason you have

chemical weapons tactically is to you can kill a large number of people and insteal terror. >> and terrain. if armies are coming at you and rebels in force, hundreds of thousands of rebels which there aren't hundreds of thousands, but in theory all marching towards damascus. you could create deadly crowd and prevent them from advancing. that's sort of what they are designed to do. >> does not seem like that's at all what happened here. >> no. >> so for no apparent strategic or tactical advantage -- >> unless you are trying to send a message or it was a mistake. >> could be a mistake. you know the message is okay, i will cross the red line that president barack obama of the united states keeps talking about. why does the u.s. say there is a read line on these issues? tens of thousands have been killed in the war. why a red line on this. >>. >> because if there was an incident or a massive attack, chemical weapons are used and

5,000 people die, or even 200 or 400 or 600 people die, and this is the first recognized use of chemical weapons against a civilian population in a decade and half, and there is no response, then you are encouraging every regime in the world that what is these horrible weapons to use them. this is the danger. that president, because he put this red line out there, could make himself look weak. could make the united states look weak. and could encourage others to use these things. >> right. >> that if you use the weapons and there is no response, then assad could feel em boldened. i can do this more and more. maybe his trial balloon, if you will. seems ridiculous to use a trial balloon like that. imagine, just to make an acorn size one and throw it at the world. >> and see what world does. >> and see what the world does. it seems strange. >> there seems to be something we don't know yet. the political way in which i'm encouraged right now is to see

the caution with which the white house is moving on this and cautious is warranted. better than the alternative. >> there is movement. they will try to use this to get russians on board. they will say, look, vladimir, see what he is doing. >> whose side do you want to be on. >> yes. >> nbc news chief correspondent, thank you for being here. >> i will leave the tip. >> and future tipper when i make you a manhattan. president obama doing something sort of bold that no american president had done before. a doozy of a follow-up story on the bp oil disaster in the gulf. and tips for the love lorn conspiracy theorist. an excellent friday night combo platter. please stay with us.

angie's list is essential. i automatically go there. at angie's list, you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare written by people just like you. if you want to save yourself time and avoid a hassle, go to angie's list. at angie's list, you'll find the right person to do the job you need. and you'll find the right person quickly and easily.

i'm busy, busy, busy, busy. thank goodness for angie's list. from roofers to plumbers to dentists and more, angie's list -- reviews you can trust. oh, angie? i have her on speed dial. the fact is, after decades of progress, there are still those who want to turn back the clock. to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century. and they've been involved, orchestrated an historic effort to roll back basic rights when it comes to women's health. in north dakota they just passed a law to choose to take away your right after six weeks. even if a woman is raped. a woman may not know she is pregnant at six weeks. in mississippi, a ballad

initiative was put forward that could not have outlawed your right to choose, but could have had all sorts of other far-reaching consequences like cutting off fertility treatments. making certain forms of contraception a crime. when you read about some of these laws, you want to check the calendar, make sure you still live in 2013. that's why no matter how great e challenge, no matter how fierce the opposition, there's one thing the past few years have shown, it's that planned parenthood is not going anywhere. it is not going anywhere today, not going anywhere tomorrow. as long as we've got a fight to make sure women have access to quality affordable healthcare and as long as we have the fight to to the right it make sure women have choices for their own health, you also have a president who is right there with you fighting every step of the way. >> that was president obama today addressing thanned parenthood in washington. says a president who will be

right there with you fighting every step of the way. of course, the obama white house and democrats broadly, have almost always supported the pro choice side of women's reproductive health argument. almost always. since 2010, republicans, particularly in the states but also in congress have made anti-abortion legislating made it one of their top priorities in governing. democrats have a decision to make. democrats the last couple of years had to decide what they would do. would they say with the kind of silent partner they had been for a long time or step up and let their position be known more loudly? they have stepped up more loudly. more publicly, in a way they haven't been comfortable doing in a long time. and today the president putting a cap stone on that when he became the first ever sitting president to address planned parenthood. joining us is president of planet parenthood of america and action fund. thank you for being here.

how important is it to have the sitting president address planned parenthood and why has it not happened before? >> i don't know why it hasn't happened before but yes today was history for this organization. extraordinarily important, given the attacks on a woman's right to choose. to access abortion in this country. but the thousands of men and women who work across the planet parenthood across the country, the work they do is important and that he stands with them and that came at a very important time. >> one of the things you and i have talked about before is the morale issue. that this -- it has been a very, very pointed legislative and rhetorical fight from the republican party for whatever reason really over the last three years. there's been a sort of, a standard level of hostile it to reproductive choice, rights we have seen for a long time. but the lot of three years have been intense. you described how that brought people who have maybe been silent supporters of

reproductive rights out of the word work to declare themselves more. how did that manifest? >> i think a couple things happen. when the house of representatives, when the tea party took the leadership of the house of representatives, they voted to defund planned parenthood. women were everywhere. i think that's what we saw. folks who thought they were issues this he didn't have to wore about any more realized they were. then we saw a presidential campaign where literally the right of women to go to planet parenthood even for basic healthcare, cancer screening ws, breast exams, that was on the ballot. i think that you saw in the past election, women and women who cared not only about planned parenthood but women's access to healthcare calm out in droves. we saw the large efest gender gap ever on the polling of these issues. >> do you think state by state, we have seen north dakota,

arkansas, mississippi, and other states just this year, since the election, push things further than they've ever been pushed since roe v. wade. do you feel like we are entering a patch area in which the rights are not protected? >> that's our concern. that your right to safe and legal abortion, your right to birth control, shouldn't depend on your zip code. yet we see the worst bills, one bill i don't think that many folks were aware, was just sign need law in kansas that allows medical practitioners to lie to women about ultra sounds, about other genetic testing, refuse to give them information that would influence their decision about their pregnancy. this is now signed into law. it goes into effect in july. basically allowing doctors to lie to women in order to influence their decisions about pregnancy. this is the most incredible invasion in women's privacy and their ability to make their own

healthcare decision we've seen. >> law like that, proposals like that have been around for a long time. but particularly right now in 2013 we are seeing stuff pass and get sign need law that they had never been able to pass before. what's happening? >> i think we are seeing the result of the 2010 elections why state legislatures were reshaped across the country and we are seeing unfortunately a republican party that is held hostage by the most extreme wing of the party. it is extraordinary. we had many, many vice wits republican members of congress yesterday on the hill. there are republicans who are deeply concerned about this -- not just shift but right word total direction. that does not represent really where the moderate wing of the republican party is. but unfortunately i feel like that part of the party is being completely silenced in states like arkansas and north dakota. >> especially with brand new all red control of the state is where we are seeing the furtherest leaps. and i don't know that there is -- i don't know if there is a

strategy to start that, except lawsuit by lawsuit, state by state. that a long hard slot. >> you look at north dakota, bad legislation, incredible legislation being passed and just last year with a ballot initiative on these issues of north dakota, we beat it summarily. it is not that people in north dakota changed, it is the -- >> the republican party, yeah. >> from cecile richards, thanks for being here. and congratulations on the president attending. >> thank you. citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can help make this a great block party.

♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. [ male announcer ] advair diskus fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder. get your first prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com.

glass on floors. daily chores. for the little mishaps you feel use neosporin to help you heal. it kills germs so you heal four days faster. neosporin. use with band-aid brand bandages.

on september 11th, 2001, two boeing 767 aircraft crashed into the world trade center towers in lower manhattan. 11 years, 7 months, and 13 days later, this was found. today wedged in a narrow gap between two buildings not far from ground zero. this is believed to be part of the landing gear of one of those planes. police say they can clearly see a boeing identification number on this newly recovered part of the airplane. the nypd secured the scene as if it were a crime scene. after a health and safety evaluation is made a decision will be made about whether they should sift the soil in this very narrow alley between the two buildings for the possible human remains of victims of the crime committed on 9/11.

the part was found about three blocks from the site of the world trade center towers. it was found by accident. there was a surveyor inspecteding the rear of one of those two buildings between which the landing gear was found wedged. inspecting one of those buildings and totally unexpectedly, ahead this very, very dramatic find. we are posting links to the pictures from the site and the parts themselves at ma dd ow . bl ob . g c maddowblog.co m. ♪ [ agent smith ] i've found software that intrigues me. it appears it's an agent of good. ge has wired their medical hardware with innovative software

to be in many places at the same time. using data to connect patients to software, to nurses to the right people and machines. ♪ helping hospitals treat people even better, while dramatically reducing waiting time. now a waiting room is just a room. [ telephone ringing ] [ static warbles ] [ beeping ] red or blue? ♪ and you'll dump your old duster. but don't worry, he'll find someone else. ♪ who's that lady? ♪ who's that lady? ♪ sexy lady, who's that lady? [ female announcer ] swiffer 360 dusters extender cleans high and low, with thick all around fibers

that attract and lock up to two times more dust than a feather dter. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning. and now swiffer dusters refills are available with the fresh scent of gain. that owns that aquarium store. he's not gonna sell you some labradoodle, he's gonna sell you tropical fish! he's got salt water tanks, fresh water tanks, brackish tanks, tanks you can't even fathom. that fish?! no you're not ready for that fish. precision aquatic manipulation.

he boils his water perfectly for his velveeta shells & cheese. advantage. this guy. liquid gold. eat like that guy you know. . hey, guess what? corporations are not people. if you are a corporation, and you get into trouble, you cannot go to prison as a corporation. show your executive office or something maybe can go to prison, but in terms of you as a corporation, paying for your crimes, is usually literally paying for your crimes. you pay money. you pay a fine. so our happy friday pop quiz tonight is this -- what is the single largest fine ever imposed on a corp rag in the united states? what's the largest amount of money that any u.s. court ever made a company pay for its crimes? the answer? ding. $4.5 billion.

4.5 billion to be paid by the company that does not want you to pronounce the petroleum in their name. they just want you to call them by their initiales. bp. think of this green, green sun flower when you think of them and not say british petroleum. bp earned bragging rights for being charged the largest fine ever in american history. they earned it in part for lying. bp caused the largest accidental oil spill in world history three years ago this week. and their full culpability for that spill is still being worked out along with the other companies that are responsible. they are currently on trial in new or lean. but the bp lying part of it, that part has been adjudicated. bp admitted in court that while they said publicly and to congress even, that their gushing well only leaking 5,000 barreles a day, merely a flesh wound. while they said that publicly, not only was that wrong, but they knew it was wrong.

bp was having all sort of discussions about how it wasn't 5,000 barrels a day. it was more like 60,000 or maybe 140,000 barrels a day. but publicly, they kept assuring everybody that it was no big deal, only 5. the important part was not just that bp was wrong or that they didn't know the answer and they were getting. the important part in their culpability, the reason they paid the largest corporate fine in history of corporate fines was not because they got it wrong, it is because they did know the truth and they lied about it. they lied about it publicly and lied about it to congress. in the three years since the worst oil spill ever, there is a slow unfolding in the courts and the gulf of things that we, the public, did not know at the time of the spill. some of them, it turns out, the oil companies knew what the truth was and kept it from us.

other unanswered questions, three years down the road, maybe we are knew it all along or if they were in the dark until now d st like we were. remarkable new reporting on the question that i frankly was asked the most when i was down at the gulf covering this story. the worry that was expressed to me the most by people who live on the gulf coast and make their living on the water there, three years ago in the middle of the spill, this is what folks worry about more than anything. we are getting answered about it now three years later. for now crews are lying on the tried and true method of kpem cal dispushants. these are chemicals you have seen dusted offer the oil slick. bp dispursed thousands of gallons on the oil slick, not to mention that pumped to the leak. that is more used on any oil spell ever. the chemicals are toxic.

probably. we don't really know what's in them. >> what are the long-term impacts of breathing this? of touching the oil? of touching the dispersant. these are all questions that nobody really knows the answer to. so we need scientific data. we need doctors to help people when they do come in contact with this. >> one of the response technologies so controversial for this, congressman, is the issue of dispersants. one of the complication says that they are seen as pro pry tarity technology. the companies that makes them don't say what is in them. >> we can't allow for the company to use chemicals in ways that could ultimately have profound impacts on not only the food that is provided from that region, from the fishing, but also the impact that it could ultimately have upon human beings. >> are you also hearing concerns

voiced about the long-term impacts of dispersants? that's something i know fisherman, when i was there, were talking about. and they are doing long-term studies, but they don't know. >> very much so. they don't no the long-term impacts and that's what is what really scares people here. >> that is what really scares people. now, three years down the road, some of the very ominous unanswered questions asked on the gulf coast when that spill was happening and dumping all of that dispursant into the sea it make it better, some of questions are finally beginning to be answered. joining me is mark hartzguard. contributor for the daily beast. what bp doesn't want you to know about the 2010 gulf spill is his article. thanks for joining us. nice to have you here. >> thanks for inviting me. >> i know you've been in the gulf coast talking to folks who came in contact with this dispursant. what did you find? >> that people are still

suffering from this and that the illnesses at the time were very, very severe. basically, an odd combination of illnesses. striking the skin, lungs and brain all at once. and above all, what i found, is that bp knew this at the time. bp was told that this correxit dispursant, told by them, what chemicals were in there and that workers and anyone who came in contact with it, this was extremely hazardous stuff and they needed it protective gear. they needed training and everybody and bp buried that report in toward further its goal of basically making the oil appear to disappear. to cover up this oil spill and to get it off of tv screens in the front pages. >> that is always been one of the political conundrums, thinking about the use of dispursant, from a political

perspectispe perspective. even if the oil is still there and maybe made into something you can't see by addition of another chemical that might be just as toxic. but isn't there an argument to be made for using dispursants for the use of breaking oil down. allowing it to be exposed more to the elements that might make it -- might make the spill go away faster? >> to be fair. i interviewed the epa add money straighter in charge at that time and that's what she said. she said we faced a choice between bad and worse. we didn't like the idea of the dispursant but we thought it was better to apply it to keep the oil from hitting coast lines. to keep it from hitting a l beaches and epa administrator jackson said that the national commission appointed by president obama did not find fauld, quote unquote. so hardly a ringing endorse many of it but not finding fault.

let's remember, epa did not have the legal authority to force bp not to use this. administrator jackson wrote them a letter. this is in the story on may 19. asking them to stop using the toxic dispursant but she did not have the opportunity to force them to stop and bp wrote back the next day and essentially said, sorry, we are going to continue. >> the people made sick by exposure to correxit, and again the ways this he were made sick, are the ways you point out were predicted or described by the company that makes it which is why they should they should be used in such careful ways. are the people who made sick by this chemical seeking redress? what are they doing to get their medical expenses covered? are they settled with the residents that covered the rest of the oil spill? >> they are trying, rachel. but it'll be an uphill path because, now, you know, bp set aside last year, roughly $8

billion for medical claims. but unfortunately moestd of the illnesses that these people are suffering from are not covered under that settlement and that's partly because they were not well represented by the plaintiff's committee, the attorneys handling that. so it is a kind of a tragedy that goes on. some of them have already taken buyouts from bp but they are paid pennies on the dollar and at $60,000 and their medical bills are way beyond that. so you know, i think that is part of the reason that i felt so strongly about getting this story out is that these people were basically treated as collateral damage by bp. as part of bp's coverup, they were willing to sacrifice the health of the workers, hundreds and possibly thousands of them, coastal residents, a 3-year-old boy we write about in startry who was fine until he started breathing this stuff in. now he is terribly sick.

let's not forget the eco system where 33%, one-third of the seafood we americans eat come out of that gulf. that too was terribly damaged by this use of correxit. and this name of the dispursant, once you put that with oil it is 52 times more tomore toxic. >> mark herts fw aard, also the author of "hot." thanks for talking with us tonight. >> thanks for airing it. >> i appreciate it. >> are you a deeply suspicious, deeply suspicious person, but you can't seem to find your soul mate? i have some very bad advice for you, just ahead.

try running four.ning a restaurant is hard, fortunately we've got ink. it gives us 5x the rewards on our internet, phone charges and cable, plus at office supply stores. rewards we put right back into our business. this is the only thing we've ever wanted to do and ink helps us do it. make your mark with ink from chase. omnipotent of opportunity. you know how to mix business... with business. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above.

and still pay the mid-size price. i could get used to this. [ male announcer ] yes, you could business pro. yes, you could. go national. go like a pro. ...amelia... neil and buzz: for teaching us that you can't create the future... by clinging to the past. and with that: you're history. instead of looking behind... delta is looking beyond. 80 thousand of us investing billions... in everything from the best experiences below... to the finest comforts above. we're not simply saluting history... we're making it. very logical thinker. (laughs) i'm telling you right now, the girl back at home would absolutely not have taken a zip line in the jungle. (screams)

i'm really glad that girl stayed at home. vo: expedia helps 30 million travelers a month find what they're looking for. one traveler at a time. expedia. find yours.

programming note, we are about to air something on msnbc here tonight in just a few minutes. that we have never aired before. right after this show tonight, you should stick around. because we are premiering a special about what happened in the boston marathon bombing last week. but it is using material that you likely have not seen before. it is the story of what happened in boston told using surveillance camera footage, video available from the scene and still images, a lot of which you will not have seen. essentially the visual story of what happened in boston and how that bombing went down.

it is striking material. put together in a way that you will find strik striking. and it is premiering tonight right after this show. so we've got something important coming up, but you have to plan to stay here on msnbc thereafter. okay, good. deal? okay, we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] straight from red lobster's chefs to your table for a limited time! it's our seafood dinner for two for just 25 dollars! a handcrafted seafood feast made to share. first you each get salad and unlimited cheddar bay biscuits. then choose two from a wide variety of chef-inspired entrées like our new honey garlic crispy shrimp

or new seafood lover's linguini. round out your seafood dinner with your choice of either an appetizer or dessert to share! don't miss our seafood dinner for two, just $25 at red lobster, where we sea food differently. [ male announcer ] a car that can actually see like a human, using stereoscopic cameras. ♪ and even stop itself if it has to. ♪ the technology may be hard to imagine. but why you would want it... is not. the 2014 e-class. it doesn't just see the future. it is the future.

[ dog ] you know, i just don't think i should have to wait for it! who do you think i am, quicken loans? ♪ at quicken loans, we won't make you wait for it. our efficient, online system allows us to get you through your home loan process fast. which means you'll never have to beg for a quick closing. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. bonkers, look at me when i'm talking to you. [ clang ] my house is where plants came to die. but, it turns out all i was missing was miracle-gro potting mix. it's got what a plant needs like miracle-gro plant food that feeds them for up to six months. you get bigger, healthier plants, guaranteed.

who's got two green thumbs thanks to miracle-gro? ah, this gal. boom! with the right soil, everyone grows with miracle-gro. happy friday. okay. so this is not exactly best new thing in the world territory but it's close. because starting last night, and then carrying on all through the day today this -- can i point at it? yes, i can. was one of the hash tags trending on the twitter machine. even if you do not use twitter and so the idea of something trending doesn't resonate with you as a measure of volume, telling you, you will still get this, i promise. the hash tag is info wars pickup lines. people are making up imaginary pickup lines for conspiracy theorists. if you like info wars which is a show hosted by alex jones, if you like glenn beck and alex jones who says we faked the moon

landing and that 9/11 was an elaborate hoax and that it was secretly the white house that bombed the boston marathon, michelle obama was in on it and there was no massacre at sandy hook, they were hoaxes, if you are one of those folks, a conspiracy theorist who believes in the glenn beck alex jones view of the world, well, that doesn't mean you don't need love. and so hash tag info wars pickup lines. what's your sign in mine is

it's a little different than most dating sites and some folks identify themselves geographically. this gentleman is holding a big fluffy kitty says he lives in fema region nine. so you have to know where that is if you want to meet up with him. it's a whole world out there. life is a rich paranoid tapestry for the conspiracy theorists

among us. the fact that they have a conspiracy theorists only dating site organized as part of the online scene for this website and talk show, it is a reminder that there's money to be made here. right? there is money to be made in feeding the ragged edge of america's long-standing conspiracyial mine set. if you can get enough people freaked out enough who believe you are the only person that can tell them the truth, that is a captive audience that needs you for everything. you know, dating. if you're on the glenn beck side, glenn beck will sell you patented glenn beck freedom pants. congressman ron paul who has always counted on the conspiracy theorists to be part of his base, now that he's left congress and out of office he's decided to go back into business with the conspiracy theory guys that used to do viz i had vertly racist ron paul branded

newsletter in the 1990s. and then naturally today ron paul went on at lex jones radio show. remember, the chief alex jones conspiracy theory right now is that the white house bombed the boston marathon. the government did it as a false flag attack as part of a new world order conspiracy involving marksism and fascism and helicopters and something about mexico. honestly, i got lost trying to figure it out. that's what ron paul did today, he spent the day with alex jones. i'm sure it's good for business. these guys have a good racket going and they have all been in the racket for decades. you know, it's always the end of the world but not quite yet. subscribe for one more month, because then it will be the end of the world, only $19.95 and yes, you can pay in gold. what do we do when it is not just the hilarity on the internet, your personal sadness that your crazy uncle sends glenn beck part of his social

security check each month because he's terrified? what do we do when it seeps out of the edge of your a.m. radio dial, leaking into the, say, the u.s. congress. last week, four republican members of congress sent a letter to the department of homeland security demanding that the department of homeland security respond to the latest glenn beck/alex jones conspiracy theory, which is that the real boston marathon bomber was being protected by the white house, by michelle obama. the republican chairman of the homeland security committee in the house signed on to that letter. they moved on from that last week to now this week the republicans convened a whole congressional hearing, a house committee on government oversight hearing on the right wing conspiracy theory that the government is stockpiling ammunition to kill us all or something or to at least buy all the bullets so that you can't get me, you can't stop them from killing us all. this is a long time favorite cause of the info wars world. now it's playing in congress. the congressman you see on your

screen is republican kerry bentovolio. you may also remember his role playing a doctor in a movie about how 9/11 was an inside job. now that same man plays a republican congressman in real life. >> i have a lot of people calling me up and saying that there's all these conspiracies and so forth and so forth. you probably heard them. doomsday events, civil unrest, you're preparing to are that. do you have operational plans in the event there's civil unrest that you'll arrest innocent civilians and put them in fema camps. >> no plans. >> no plans whatsoever. >> none. >> great. how about anything else like that. >> no plans at all. >> congressman bentovolio got the guy from homeland security admitting on the record no plans to enslave the people of america yet.

but they better not try. today james inhofe introduced a bill. you know, i live in fema region nine or whatever, want to meet my kitty? conspiracy theories are not new, they're not even the exclusive providence of the american right. right now anti-government conspiracy theories are anti-the obama government. and that appears to be too convenient and too appealing for the supposedly mainstream right to leave unharvested. so the fringe has become the center. so the republican chairman of homeland security is writing conspiracy theory letters about the real bomber and they're convening conspiracy theory hearings and republican senators are introducing conspiracy theory legislation that actually says the government is stockpiling bullets so they can kill us all. they're doing it on theed 5 vice of the folks that say the newtown shooting is a hoax, and

that michelle obama is she'lling the real bomber of the boston marathon because it was an inside job like 9/11. there's always going to be a very, very, very exciting market for these things. when a political party sees profit, when a political party decides to seek political advantage by trafficking and courting it and popularizing it, that is a different thing and i am not sure we know how that ends. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again monday night. now it's time for the premiere of "caught on camera: terror in boston." please have a great weekend. the camera captures the last seconds of normalcy. then shows everything, changing in an instant. >> i saw the amount of blood, the injured and the bodies just like a war zone. >> we've had an attack.