Skip to main content

tv   The Rachel Maddow Show  MSNBC  July 4, 2013 1:00am-2:01am PDT

1:00 am
>> what we're seeing right now, the people, this slice of the -- of our fellow citizens who are the people that were targeted by this law, that's going to benefit the most from this part of the law are going to be locked outside. >> all the republicans who were saying no are not giving us any alternatives to cover them. >> thank you so much. that is all in for this evening. the rachel maddow show starts right now. >> good evening, chris, thank you very much. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. when something is written by a u.s. government official and it is a classified document, sometimes that document is assigned kind of a freshness date. the same way that you buy a yogurt or beef jerky that has a label on it, that says the date at which those foods expire. sometimes secret documents have a date which they expire, or which they become unsecret. like this one, a 20-year freshness date. this was a document sent september 23rd, 2008.
1:01 am
20 years after it was sent it's scheduled to be a declassified document. it has a 20-year freshness date on it, that means for this document in particular, we the public can expect to have to wait until 2028 to be allowed to read this cable unless we've got a security clearance. that was the plan, and then bradley manning happened. this is one of the cables that bradley manning took and gave to wikileaks and then wikileaks published. we got to read 18 years ahead of schedule this document. this u.s. government assesment of egypt. it wasn't scheduled to be declassified until 2028, but it's in the public domain now. before the giant protest, two and a half years ago, against the 30-year dictatorship of hosni mubarak in egypt. the u.s. government in this cable, they assessed what role the egyptian military would play when it came time for mubarak to go.
1:02 am
at the time, the operating assumption in the u.s. government was that mubarak would try to install his son as his successor. would the military go along with that plan? the general assumption by the u.s. government was yes. the military would go along with it. we agree with the analysis that senior military officers would support mubarak's son if mubarak resigned and installed the son in the presidency. but in a messier succession scenario, it becomes more difficult to predict the military's actions. mubarak installed his son to take over, the u.s. government assessed a few days ago, they would be okay with the son. that's what would happen in egypt, right? in a messier scenario, the u.s. government's assessment was, who knows? well, who knows is where we are right now. on a day important enough in world history that your daytime television viewing on nbc today had to be stopped, dropped and rolled into an nbc breaking news special report.
1:03 am
watch. >> if you're going to be my boyfriend, have you to appreciate everything about me, my fake lashes, my extensions and you have to be cool with it. >> no, no, no. who told you that? >> this is an nbc news special report. here's brian williams. >> well, good day from new york, and we're about to go to cairo, and that is because over just the past few minutes, it is now apparent egypt appears to be in the throes of a change of management. >> special report today. you know, two and a half years ago, the scenes in tahrir square of the protesters who were toppling the government in egypt then, those scenes looked similar to the scenes of the protesters in tahrir square who are toppling their government right now. this year for whatever reason, there are more green lasers pointing in the air, you are forgiven if you don't see the
1:04 am
similarities between the two sides of your screen here. we look back at the revolution of 2011 and say hosni mubarak was pushed out of power. it was not just those throngs of egyptians who threw him out. two and a half years ago it was the military that stayed out of the fight on the streets between the protesters back then. it was the military that settled the issue. we do not think of that military coup back then in 2011 as a military coup, but the military did take over. they didn't take over for a hot second, they were in charge for a year and a half. from the moment they deposed mubarak, until elections were held to pick a new president. the elections were held a year ago this week. a year ago this week, the post
1:05 am
mubarak presidency was elected by mohammed morsi. after exactly one year in office, unhappy with his rule of egypt. brought people back into the streets to demand he be deposed just like mubarak was. just like two and a half years ago, the military stayed mostly out of the fight in the streets until they didn't. until they decided to weigh-in against the president and on the side of the protesters who were protesting against him. after issuing an ultimatum for the president to find a political solution or face the military doing that for him, the president's time in office expired today. by orders of the military he was deposed. once again the protests have forced the overthrow of the egyptian government. once again, it is the military who has grabbed the reigns and taken over. they say that again they will only hold power until new democratic elections can be held and then the military says it
1:06 am
will step down. but does this just keep happening? does this just keep happening now, lather, rinse, repeat? should we reasonably expect that a country emerging fractiously into democracy after decades of dictatorship, may need a couple tries to get the whole thing right? or should we see this as a military coup, more than we saw it that way the last time, when technically the same thing happened, but we in the west viewed it as a popular uprising and not as some grabbing power. as the world watches, egypt again topples its rulers. as the world watches, and prays they get the responsible government they deserve. what happens next here? is the military the force for stability that the u.s. government wrote about in that wikileaks cable. and regardless, how can our country, how could any country
1:07 am
now try to support the earnest and determined people of the most populous country in the middle east, who once again have just thrown everything up in the air? joining us now live from revolutionary cairo is ayman mohyeldin. thank you for staying up into the middle of the night with us. we have learned that mohammed morsi, most of his presidential team have been placed under house arrest. do we have any expectation of what happens to him now? >> we don't. not yet, the military has not made clear what it plans on doing, whether or not he will be released at least in the coming hours or days. he's not been charged with anything despite the fact that a lot of the protesters here say that there are sufficient reasons to actually try him or put him on trial for some of the ways he has managed the country over the past year, he has committed crimes and as a result he should be put on trial. the military has not made any indication that his temporary house arrest -- i say temporary
1:08 am
because that is at least the indication we're getting, is for any other reason than for his own personal security, and that he's not being released right now, just because of the security situation and the overall climate here in the country. from the prospective of the muslim brotherhood, this was a military coup, they are describing the president now as being under house arrest in the custody of the egyptian military? >> in terms of the muslim brotherhood and the supporters of president morsi who were certainly outnumbered in the streets but we saw them in the streets over the past days and weeks, what are their plans, they're calling this a coup, are they planning to resist in an ongoing way that suggests further violence in egypt? >> well, right now, the tone that is coming out of the muslim brotherhood is one that is somber, albeit defiant. they say they still have legitimacy on their side, they're not looking at this as a personal defeat in their own struggle, but rather a sad day
1:09 am
for egypt. they haven't discussed what they plan on doing in the coming days or in the future. there are comments that have come out of the senior leadership of the organization, that have rejected violence, saying any attempts to try to portray the brotherhood was going to resort to violence, trying to distort all of the good deeds that the muslim brotherhood has done in the past years. the key question is going to be, what does the tone that is coming out of the new leadership of the country suggest in terms of what role the muslim brotherhood will play in the future. the military when they made their announcement a few days ago, the road map they're going to chart for this country will involve all of egypt's political organizations, the key point to keep in mind is that despite the overwhelming joy people are celebrating, the muslim brotherhood is still a fabric or part of the fabric of egyptian society.
1:10 am
they still have a tremendous amount of grassroots support, and certainly they will have a seat at the table going-forward. right now, though, they have not been very vocal about what this role will be, and neither have we heard from the new incoming president. >> looking at the scenes in tahrir square behind you right now, and just seeing the celebration it is hard not to feel the echos of what happened there in 2011 when mubarak was deposed and the military played a similar role saying they would take temporary control to dissolve the constitution, they would only hold power until new elections could be held. that is the process that led to this new round of it happening all over again, just a year into morsi's term. is there some sense that the military and the protesters will try to approach this process differently? what do they think they did wrong that brought everybody back into the streets just a year after morsi took power?
1:11 am
>> that's a great question, there's a few key differences. one, the leadership of the military itself is different this time around. the senior officer corps that runs the egyptian military was different than that. that was appointed by president mubarak, they served under president mubarak, but they weren't in the same type of leadership positions. that's one. two, you have to keep in mind the driving force behind these demands have been the revolutionary youth. their demand for freedom has not changed. they have endured decades of authoritarian rule. two years of the military interim government, and now a short lived islamist government. the only thing they yearn for is a shot at freedom. that is why they went back to the streets, that is the message that the military learned the first time around, they can try to manipulate the politics of the country. they learned the hard way that these people behind me will not simply be silenced by the gimmicks of a democracy, by the sham of a democracy, they want legitimate reforms. that's one of the things morsi failed to deliver in his first
1:12 am
year in office. you can see the people behind me had very little tolerance for anything more than a year, they've been patient they gave him a year, they feel his time was running out on bringing genuine democratic reforms to this country. that's why they're back into the street. i think the underlying message that you learn from speaking to people in tahrir is that from now on, future egyptian leaders, whether it be the military, the islamists, whether it be a secular liberal, they will have to pay more attention to the streets to tahrir square, and they simply cannot ignore it, you ignore it at your own peril is the lesson that comes out of the revolutionary youth movements that we've been speaking to. they have toppled two of the most powerful institutions in egyptian history. the islamists and the military. >> ayman mohyeldin in cairo after 3:00 in the morning local time. i would say get some sleep, but given where you are, i know that's impossible. please do stay safe ayman.
1:13 am
>> thank you. just a remarkable scene. that was live shots that we're showing you in terms of what's happening in tahrir right now. i should tell you president obama put out a statement saying he was deeply concerned that the military removed president morsi. president obama calling on the army to return full authority back to a democratically elected civilian leadership as soon as possible. again, this is the same process that the military went through two and a half years ago when they were in this same position. they did turn over authority to a democratically elected government in the form of mohammed morsi who is now gone after just one year. it's just a remarkable turn of events. the most strategically important country in some ways in the entire region. just amazing news. we'll be right back.
1:14 am
1:15 am
1:16 am
1:17 am
with no notice, no warning, no heads up last night, republicans in north carolina took a totally unrelated bill about the applicability of foreign law in u.s. courts and they stuck on to it, a republican wish list of abortion laws. that was last night, and when i say this thing came out of nowhere, i mean out of nowhere. the democrats in the legislature were caught completely off guard. >> we have a state full of people out there that don't know we're down here doing this. >> last night, it is true, most
1:18 am
people in the state of north carolina had no idea that republicans in their legislature were passing new regulations that are expected to shut down 35 of the 36 clinics in the state. that provide abortions. the whole thing was unannounced. the democrats and the prochoice side had no one there to argue against it when it came up, the republicans had apparently warned the anti-abortion side, which had all their lobbyists on hand forewarned and ready to make their case. what happened last night in north carolina was a surprise attack. by this morning, though, it was no longer a surprise. when word got out, about what the republicans were doing in north carolina, the same ways it went down in texas, a sort of bat signal went out across the tarheels state, people showed up at the state capitol today by the hundreds. just a few hours notice. people gathered outside the capitol, waited in line to watch the legislative debate themselves, they grabbed friends, made signs, mobilized over night. the gallery that overlooks the floor of the senate was filled to capacity, it was standing
1:19 am
room only, you had to wait in a long line to get in. outside, this ingenious bunch figured out a way to stream the proceedings live on an iphone and attached a speaker to the iphone so people who could not get inside to hear the debate live could listen in via the stream. this woman was reportedly kicked out of the legislature for bringing in a sign when she got in, you can see it folded up under her left arm. >> this woman was also arrested by state police, she was charged with violating the rules of the legislative building. she spoke to two witnesses today who said she was chanting, and that is why police removed her. otherwise, she was not causing that much of a disturbance. >> if you are experiencing a case of deja news here, you can be forgiven. if it is reminding you of
1:20 am
something, north carolina democrats agree, this is all the same thing happening in texas and ohio, all at once. >> we're going to win this debate and feel really good about yourself because you -- all you big grown up gray haired men have beat three women. i want to see what you do with about 10,000 of them. that crowd's going to descend on you when you get back down here. >> it's clear to me our colleague from texas, senator wendy davis has gotten under some people's skin. you couldn't let rick perry get ahead of you with his follow-up actions. and you couldn't let john kasich and his ohio bill get ahead of you. >> ohio republican governor john kasich already signed his omnibus abortion ban into law this week. for rick perry's bill in texas, that fight in texas is still going on, they held a committee
1:21 am
hearing last night, and into the early morning hours of this morning. more than 1100 people signed up to testify on that abortion ban before that committee, but republicans only let less than 100 of those 1100 people speak. they accepted no amendments or discussion from any democrats, they cut off the testimony after less than 100 people leaving more than 1,000 people who signed up, unable to talk. they called the vote, rammed it through after midnight, party line vote. the full state assembly is expected to vote on this texas bill next week and it will go to the texas senate. democrats in the senate keep saying they have tricks up their sleeve to maybe stop it again this time. filibustering senator, wendy davis on this show, saying the texas senate democrats will not tip their hand publicly about their strategy. if you just go on the numbers in the state assembly and the state senate. it looks like texas republicans should be able to pass their abortion ban and send it to rick perry to sign it, just in time for his expected announcement
1:22 am
that he is running for president. the ultimate fate of the surprise abortion bill that was unveiled there last night with no warning. the fate of that bill is less certain. in north carolina, republicans have a majority of both houses in the legislature, they easily advance these new regulations today in the face of all these protesters. in north carolina, there's the little matter of governor. the governor is a republican, and he is an anti-abortion republican. last year when he was running to become governor of north carolina, pat mccrory pledged that he would not sign new restrictions on abortion in his state. >> if you're elected governor, what further restrictions on abortion would you agree to sign. let's start with you. >> none. >> all right. can't really -- >> none. none. that was very clear.
1:23 am
that is what the man who is now governor said in the fall. will he keep that promise? will he buck his own party in order to keep his promise? if the new republican north carolina abortion ban passes the legislature which would shut 35 of 36 clinics in the state, will pat mccrory veto it? today he put out a statement criticizing the way the republicans in the legislature have done it. he criticized the surprise attack way they brought it up. north carolina republicans could in theory vote on their new abortion restrictions as early as friday. the day after tomorrow. july 5th, when most people are enjoying their long independence day weekend and not paying attention to politics. they really could do it that way, by reconvening the friday after the fourth of july. at this point that would be shocking, but it would not be a surprise.
1:24 am
1:25 am
1:26 am
1:27 am
one more thing about the situation in north carolina, we've been covering all week, at least as we found out about it, all night we've been covering the surprise last minute sneak attack on abortion rights in north carolina. there's something else going on in the state there right now too. these are the 40 counties in north carolina that are covered by the voting rights act. or that were covered by the voting rights act. the voting rights act is struck down by the conservative majority of the u.s. supreme court last week. now that the justice department could not function as a governor in the state. stopping the state from
1:28 am
implementing racist voting laws. north carolina republicans are announcing they're going ahead with a radical restructures of the election laws in their state. the voting rights act had stopped republicans from going ahead with voter i.d. before. now they're going ahead with that. but even beyond voter i.d. which they say they want to prevent voter fraud. they say they're planning to end same day voter registration in north carolina. and they're planning to end early voting in the state of north carolina. and they're planning to end sunday voting in north carolina. what does voting on sunday have to do with voter fraud? exactly nothing. getting rid of it and getting rid of same day registration and requires i.d.'s that nobody's had to show before in the state. and that tens of thousands of registered voters do not have. that is going to make voting a heck of a lot harder in north carolina. the republicans in the state are going for it now, they're going for the abortion sneak attack
1:29 am
last night. because they can. the supreme court just killed what was stopping them from doing it before. north carolina right now is like conservatives gone wild. you want to know why people keep getting arrested there every monday? the whole moral mondays thing, it's off the hook. [ male announcer ] this is bob, a regular guy with an irregular heartbeat. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only once-a-day prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem, that doesn't require routine blood monitoring.
1:30 am
like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce the risk of an afib-related stroke. there is limited data on how these drugs compare when warfarin is well managed. no routine blood monitoring means bob can spend his extra time however he likes. new zealand! xarelto® is just one pill a day, taken with the evening meal. and with no dietary restrictions, bob can eat the healthy foods he likes. do not stop taking xarelto® rivaroxaban without talking to the doctor who prescribes it for you. stopping may increase your risk of having a stroke. get medical help right away if you develop any signs or symptoms of bleeding, like unusual bruising or tingling. you may have a higher risk of bleeding if you take xarelto® with aspirin products, nsaids or blood thinners. talk to your doctor before taking xarelto® if you currently have abnormal bleeding. xarelto® can cause bleeding, which can be serious, and rarely may lead to death. you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop.
1:31 am
tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. listen to this, this is a cockpit recording from a flight
1:32 am
somewhere over austria last night. you'll hear an austrian air traffic controller talking to a bolivian pilot. you will still be able to understand what they are saying to each other. check it out. >> good evening, information whiskey. [ inaudible ] >> do you need any assistance? >> not at this moment. >> we cannot get a correct indication of the fuel indication. as a precaution, we need to land. >> for an english speaking audience, it's a useful thing that english is the international language of aviation. that comes in handy, when this is audio of a dutch plane
1:33 am
a dutchman, an austrian and bolivian, but everyone is speaking english. neat for us. the fox trot alpha bravo 001 had a that you heard requesting to land, that's the official state aircraft of the president of the bolivia. his airplane was at the center of what was quite literally an international incident last night. the associated press story today, it was bylined in las palmas, spain. beyond las palmas and the canary islands, it's paris, paris, madrid, geneva, brussels, lisbon and las palmas, canary islands or for one plane.
1:34 am
>> at this moment, bolivia's president is finally about to cross back into bolivian airspace. after this marathon journey that saw his plane diverted and grounded and searched by officials in austria. it started last night when the bolivian president got on his plane to leave russia, a number of world leaders from oil producing countries were in russia this week for high level meetings with putin. when president morales departed moscow last night to go home, there was suspicion he was trying to take back with him edward snowden. mr. snowden has reportedly been hiding out in a moscow airport for over a week now. rumors started spreading last night that bolivia had decided to take him in. bolivia is one of the 20 or so countries from which mr. snowden has reportedly sought asylum. because of those suspicions that bolivia may take him to south
1:35 am
america, the plane was denied access to airspace over spain, italy, france and portugal. bolivia's president was ultimately forced to land in austria, because he had nowhere else to go, and there were concerns he was going to run out of fuel. here's a picture of morales stranded at the airport. he was grounded in austria for 134 hours. -- 13 hours. i think these are some of his pilots grabbing a little shut eye as the entire bolivian government scrambled to try to figure out what was going on. after half a day on the ground. after announcing to the world that he had nothing to do with edward snowden and snowden was not on the plane. bolivia's president was finally able to take off early this morning.
1:36 am
he's just now about to return back home to his native bolivia. bolivia as you might expect is really mad. i mean, think about it, whether you love president obama or hate president obama. imagine how it would feel to you to learn that some other countries had treated our president this way. the bolivian government has summoned the ambassadors from spain and portugal and france and italy, summoned them to a meeting to demand explanations for why they shut down their airspace last night. bolivian officials are alleging that while their president's plane was grounded in vienna, the search that austrian owe fishes conducted of that plane was an illegal search. and according to bolivia's president it wasn't just the austrians who searched his airplane. while the bolivian presidential plane sat in predawn darkness on a tarmac in vienna, a surreal scene played out when spain's ambassador to austria visited the airport to meet with morales.
1:37 am
the spanish ambassador asked him if they could board the plane together. morales said, he asked me to go have a coffee inside the plane to see the plane. won't you please join me in the cargo hold for a moment, mr. president? that's where i like to drink my coffee. mr. snowden, are you here? it's unclear what prompted all these european countries to take the action they did last night. whether they were urged to do what they did by the united states. but the blow back has been swift. the organization of american states of which the united states is a member is now demanding answers from all of the european countries involved here, expressing outrage. some of those european countries for their part are trying to backtrack on the whole thing. france is saying, no, no, no. we totally would have let you fly into our airspace. it was just a big misunderstanding. and the footnote to all of this, the things that remain true in
1:38 am
the wake of this huge international upset is this, the whereabouts of edward snowden remain unclear. oh, right, we still have no idea where edward snowden is. maybe he's still at the moscow airport? countries sometimes throw their weight around alone. countries sometimes throw their weight around with friends, with the allies that they have earned and accrued overtime. allies that they have convinced to trust them. sometimes if you really need to you ask your friends to do even sort of outrageous things as favors for you. sometimes you have to ask your friends to go out on a limb for you. when you ask somebody to go out on a limb for you, it better be for a good reason, right? at least it ought to be for something that you know you will get because your friends went out on that limb for you. in this case, if the united states was in fact involved here, this diplomatic international fiasco appears to have been for nothing.
1:39 am
they still don't have the guy. what exactly is going on here. joining us now is p.j. crawly, former assistant the secretary and spokesman at the state department. he's a fellow at george washington university here. mr. crawly, thanks for being with us tonight. >> what do you think happened when this bolivian plane was diverted over european airspace? what do you think happened here? >> i think some countries didn't want to become vladimir putin. obviously, he's the current possessor of edward snowden, he's been trying to give snowden away, he can't find anybody to take him. friends of the united states said we can't take a chance he may be on that airplane and we'll have to figure out how to navigate between the united states government that clearly wants him back and sympathetic publics in europe that appreciate what snowden has done in terms of revealing levels of espionage that were a surprise to europe and touching on sensitive issues in privacy in europe. >> does it seem clear to you
1:40 am
that other countries would have acted this way out of an expectation that it was what the united states wants rather than the u.s. overtly going to these countries and saying, close your airspace? >> i think there are two separate issues here, i think countries understand that the united states wants snowden back and before a jury of his peers. on the other hand if you're suggesting that the united states in essence took over european airspace last night to hassle a president of a country of bolivia, i'm skeptical that that's exactly what happened. >> i don't think anybody's trying to hassle morales, i think he ends up being a by stander here. it was a remarkable -- the countries who did this went to a remarkable extent to do what they did. i mean, it is one thing to deny access to your airspace for any sort of private plane. any sort of commercial plane, any sort of civilian aircraft. but for a head of state, season the this kind of a big deal?
1:41 am
>> well, sure, i think will is a professional courtesy, it's a very unusual circumstance. i can't remember something similar happening in my recent memory. >> when president obama went out of his way last week to essentially downplay the importance of mr. snowden, he said, i'm not going to scramble jets to go get some 29-year-old hacker. this was not scrambling jets, but this was a really big deal. diplomatically, in terms of the overall message from the united states government about his priorities in trying to apprehend this guy. is this a mixed message problem here between what happened last night and what the president has said. >> i think we have to be careful. the implication is that the united states was an actor in what happened last night in europe. there's no indication to me that was the case. if you look at the international sphere right now, the state department is not a very big place. you're watching what's happening in egypt, what's happening in
1:42 am
syria, you have lots of international balls in the air. the future of edward snowden and the flight path of morales' airplane don't rise above the level of other international challenges. i don't think that the united states was a direct player last night. clearly the united states has communicated to countries directly and indirectly, this is important to us. i think for that reason these countries didn't want to get into the middle of challenges that china has faced by having snowden in hong kong and putin continues to face by having snowden for an indefinite period sitting in one of his airports. if you are right and the u.s. was not directly involved in making this happen, the u.s. wasn't an actor, i think they would have said already, we weren't an actor, we didn't do this. we have just been dodging the question all day long. they're thankful for the coincidence in this. i find this story unbelievable. do days like this make you wish you were back there? or make you glad you're not.
1:43 am
>> we have to be careful, obviously in hassling eva morales who prides himself as being an anti-american antagonist, there's a boomerang here, he may say i'll accept an asylum request. and that boomerang is based on what the united states wants, he's an intelligence asset, a valuable individual. and the united states wants him back within its own borders. that's why i'm highly skeptical the united states was directly involved in what happened yesterday. >> p.j. crowley, i disagree with you on this, but we'll find out when we finally know, but thanks for talking to us about it. >> fine, i'll owe you a dollar if i'm wrong. >> good, excellent. i think that's illegal, but good. sleep train's 4th of july sale doesn't just end sunday,
1:44 am
1:45 am
1:46 am
it's going out with a bang! through sunday, save on sleep train's most popular mattress sets. plus, pay no interest for 36 months on tempur-pedic and serta icomfort. big savings and interest-free financing? these deals aren't just hot... they're explosive! sleep train's 4th of july sale ends sunday. ♪ sleep train ♪ your ticket to a better night's sleep ♪
1:47 am
the blisters were oozing, and painful to touch. i woke up to a blistering on my shoulder. i spent 23 years as a deputy united states marshal and i've been pretty well banged up but the worst pain i've experienced was when i had shingles. when i went to the clinic, the nurse told me that it was a result of having had chickenpox. i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. this is a particularly interesting time in the courts right now. tons of interesting stuff going on, but most of it we don't get to experience in realtime or tape because cameras are not allowed in the courtroom. so with the huge supreme court cases in the last few weeks, we have no audio or video, we just have the awesome sketches of the courtroom sketch artists, who i hope will not lose their jobs.
1:48 am
in the whitey bulger trial, there are no cameras or video or no stills. but we do get sketches, and sometimes we get audio. this is part of a whitey bulger jail house conversation regarding the south boston liquor store. >> see you later. >> i put one in the chamber, and he looked up. and -- says a bag of peanuts please. >> trials in civil and criminal courts are public events. anybody can go in, if there is room for you. most people don't do that, let alone travel across the country
1:49 am
to do that. but when trials are nationally public, the casey anthony trial, the jodi arias trial just a couple of months ago. and now there is the george zimmerman trial being televised on national tv. george zimmerman is pleading not guilty to the second degree murder charge of trayvon martin. mr. zimmerman claims he shot him in self defense. when the case first broke, much of the attention centered around the "stand your ground law." now that the trial is being televised, there is just as much focus on the human drama of it all. and it has a huge television audience, today, the prosecution side called the 33rd witness to the stand, a former professor who had taught george zimmerman back in 2011. the professor is in colorado, and the trial is in florida. and although you would think that colorado to florida
1:50 am
wouldn't be a huge amount to travel, the court decided to allow this professor to testify remotely. they had him testify by skype and even swore him in over skype. but watch what happened when he started to testify. >> professor, the course that you teach -- is that sort of an in-classroom course or is it a different type? >> this is a different -- we teach it on line. and requires on the -- >> i'm sorry, would you go ahead and repeat that, starting from the beginning? >> we, the -- is it coming across? >> go ahead. >> okay. >> could you repeat the question? >> thank you, no other questions, your honor. >> cross examination? >> is someone calling -- your honor --
1:51 am
[ noises ] >> just hit -- >> that is all right. >> hold on, i -- >> there is now a really good chance that it would be -- just so you know. >> these are not his friends calling during the trial. i mean, maybe the first time it was the friend of his, calling to ask about lunch plans, but the second, third, tenth time, is a byproduct of the fact that it is on tv. they were too illiterate to know they were broadcasting to the television audience, all the information they needed to call in on skype themselves and interrupt this part of the trial. when they put the witness on
1:52 am
skype, they also showed his and their own skype name, which are kind of the same as skype phone numbers. so any number of people watching the trial decided to call in to the skype names during the testimony, so it was wakimo, decline, decline, decline, so as the trial has everybody riveted. as it unfolded on live tv, the prosecution gave them a chance to screw the trial up. in case you wonder why the supreme court is a little shy about putting themselves on tv. this could have been avoided with the help of a tech savvy intern here, like jonathan, calling his mom on skype. special note, you see you go to the settings part. you click the button that says do not disturb and then people can't jump in on your skyping with mom. or your skyping witness statement with the nationally televised murder trial. do not disturb, do not show this message again.
1:53 am
in courtroom drama and in life. the lesson is almost always the same for us, if you're not going to bother to read the manual yourself, don't fake it. ask anyone under age 20 and they will fix it for you.
1:54 am
1:55 am
1:56 am
this is the washington, d.c. beltway, 64-mile stretch of interstate highway that goes around the city. and the beltway is more than just a matter of geography. it is a state of mind, inside that area of pink-striped area, being inside lends itself to the sense that d.c. matters, most of what matters is personality, power is not a structural thing, but wins and losses, accrue the way that magazines accrue to movie stars or something. so in the beltway, president obama alone failed to pass gun legislation this spring, all by
1:57 am
himself, he did it. technically it was the senate that did it. in beltway land, never mind the 46 senators who blocked that bill. it was all president obama's fault. put it on him. that is how the beltway thinks. in colorado this week, two new gun control laws went into effect. a ban on high-capacity ammo clips, and expanded background checks. in order to be ready for the expanded background checks they're going to have to form the colorado bureau of investigation and added a dozen staff members to their background checks. also delaware, approving the laws, including that state as well, expanding background checks. on the six-month anniversary of sandy hook elementary school, they launched a nationwide bus tour that started in newtown. victims of gun violence and their families are now still traveling state by state to read the names of americans who have
1:58 am
died from gun violence since december. when the bus pulled up outside the state house in concord, this is how they were greeted. the gun rights hecklers were chanting the name ayotte, the a grieving father was shot trying to protect his daughter from her estranged husband, mr. cantor survived being shot, but his daughter did not. and this is what happened when mr. cantor tried to speak outside the state house. >> the names delivered are the names of young people. please have a little respect. [ shouting ] >> all of this propaganda. >> propaganda. >> i'm not going to leave --
1:59 am
here are the names. they are the names of those who have been killed by a gun in the six months since newtown. >> the pro-gun hecklers would not even let the guy with the daughter killed by gun violence speak. it got so intense that one of the protesters got hit with a taser. and then, mr. cantor continued, as well as the rest of the families trying to get the state legislature to try to do something about it. former congresswoman gabrielle giffords and her husband launched their own state tour this week. she used to be right-handed, but she fired a gun with her left hand. somebody who learns to shoot a gun with their nondominant hand after a brain injury is not looking to take your guns away. but she is also somebody who doesn't give up easily after a few setbacks. don't believe the beltway, on everything, but particularly on
2:00 am
this. the fight is still being waged, state by state, by a lot of very brave people, and in some places they are they are winning, have a great night. good thursday morning. happy independence day. right now on "first look" -- unrest and celebrations in egypt, as the world wonders what will happen next. and president obama hunkers down with his national security team. fourth of july preps from heightened security to barbecue blowouts and everything in between. a massive hole swallows up a car and driver, but somehow, it all ends well. and what who gets james gandolfini's $70 million estate? the arizona firefighters are remembered. the bunny causing quite a stir in texas. good morning. nice to see you. a dramatic political shift in egypt. president mohammed morsi is ousted and the military takes over in a striking fallro