i think scrap the cap is a good slogan for them to use. you're going to find that more and more people are going to be pressing their congressmen about this. >> in a little town, we just raised the minimum wage to $15. it was done by the people. >> that is all for this evening. the rachel maddow show starts now. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. the various branchs of the united states military all offer a service academy. that's about an hour north of new york city, west point new york. the united states navel academy, it is in a beautiful spot in downtown annapolis, maryland. and then there's the united states air force academy, which is in a societily different part of the country.

it's way inland in colorado springs, colorado. colorado springs is really known for two things, it's home to the air force academy with its big airfield and it's massive football stadiums. colorado springs is also home to focus on the family. literally if you walk out the back door of focus on the family and you cross the ronald reagan highway, you're on the landing strip for the air force academy. they are right next to each other.

if you are 18 years old and you're thinking about a career in the united states military, you of course can just enlist. but if your grades are good enough, and you have the recommendations and you can do the pt and you have what it takes for the very stringent application process, you can also apply to the service branch of the military academy. and if you get in, you will get a good college level education along with your military training. you will leave with not only that top ranked education, but also as a military officer. and at the air force academy specifically. one of the things that's required of every cadet that goes through the academy, is that you have to take part in a counseling program. counseling program that is mandatory for every air force academy cadet.

you're assigned to something called the center for character and leadership development. one of the academy's counselors i mean coaches will work with you as a mental personal trainer, that will help you reach your goals and live the values of the academy. every cadet has to do this in one way or another. dr. mike rose bush. >> do you remember the represent boys scandal? do you remember the rent boy..com scandal? one of the nation's foremost opponents of the idea that homosexuality is something that can be cured was this guy george reeker, who had the he himself had the proponent of curing gay

people through therapy, he was photographed returning from a long european vacation in the company of a young man who he had met and hired through a website called rentboy.com. he said he just needed young and strapping to carry his luggage for. but actually what he was hired for was to give sensual massages to his older and well paying client on that trip. they isn't this to all 15,000 superintendents in the country, telling them that they should not believe the hype that any of their students might have been born gay or trance gender.

the letter said, quote, it is critical to understand that these conditions can respond well to therapy. so if you're gay, don't worry, it can be cured. says the boy with the hooker masseuse. sorry, masseuse. george reekers is part of a group called narth. that's the leading clinical organization that says they can cure you of being gay. ex other well known organization that claims to be able to change your sexual orientation actually closed up shop. they issued a statement in which they actually admitted that you can't change the sexual orientations of people. it doesn't work.

sorry. exodus international is now gone. george reeker is now impossible to google without finding yourself lost in an online world of fascinating gay dating sites. but michael rosebusch who co-authored a book with george reeker, michael rosebush has found a way to land on his feet. because he's the guy who's now running the mandatory counseling program for all cadet at the united states air force academy. it's not like he's been hiding his particular light under a bushel here. this is his work history. this is his therapy of how to rid yourself of homosexual attractions, co-authored by him and george reekers among others. here's hiss other book.

they do spell it out easily in the book. if you are tired of being distressed over your same-sex attractions, this book was written for you. it will help you achieve sexual purity and heterosexual confidence. before he got hired at the air force, showing as you can see there, sad but very attractive men who presumably from the context on gay rights that instant but they're about to not be gay. this guy's entire career, before being hired at the air force academy was devoted purely for curing gay people. that is his resume, that is what his career has been. it's what his biosays, it is what he does. he is a professional lifelong career long i will make you not gay anymore counselor. the thing this guy does is not disappearing, as groups like

exodus disappears. this stuff is disappearing in america in part because it is being made illegal. this type of quack counseling that purports to be able to cure people of being gay is now illegal in california and in new jersey and coming soon to a state near you. the air force does not seem to have a problem with letting this guy oversee the counseling for every single cadet that goes through the air force academy. what were they thinking in hiring this guy? yes, he did used to work at focus on the family, which we know is just across the road, so maybe they saved on the relocation allowance. they did hire him despite his expertise or did they hire him this is who they wanted specifically, overseeing the

cadets are required to have this kouchbsing, i mean coaching, through counselors who he oversees. the air force told us this evening that the person who hired dr. rosebush has retired from the air force. and because of that, they said they could not comment on whether his background as an ex-gay counselor weighed into the decision on whether to hire him. according to an air force spokesman, there have been no complaints against him from within the academy. in a statement, the air force told us he was hired for his background in leadership development and analytical skills. this would not be the first time that the physical proximity of the u.s. air force academy and

focus on the family led, i think, to the conservative movement. pleading over into this very specific and very important part of the u.s. military. in the broader picture, even without infiltrating the united states military at levels like this, the social conservative and specifically the anti-gay parts of the conservative movement, they're kind of feeling their oats right now. the belt way commentary has people who talk about politics for a living keep saying that the republican party is changing on this issue, that republican politics should sometime soon start to be embarrassed or at least get elector rally shy about -- that surely represents the party past and not it's future. that conversation is happening in the press and it's happening in the beltway, by that is not the way conservative politicians are behaving, not at all. this weekend one of the republican parties main stream 2016 presidential hopeful, one that's supposed to be popular

with the kids and with the party. there's marco -- that's the pat robertson law school guy on the left there. he is the guy who put out my nominee for the single greatest obama care press release title of all time. obama care will mandate free sex changes. really? incidentally, also when that george reeker's riling boy came out in the miami news times, he is the one that defended george reeker saying that clearly this was a setup. somebody planted the hooker there. i don't believe the massager thing for a minute. but here's marco rubio doing -- public food, that erected over the past 48 hours in wyoming and in the "new york times," and on

facebook and in the pr shop hired by the family so they could have their family change in public. that delightful fact was sparked by these ads being run against liz cheney in wyoming as she tried to mount her senate campaign there -- back to the future, to have mike huckabee's daughter, running attack ads against a candidate who has a gay sister that says see this shows you're not anti-gay enough. but that ad was effective enough in wyoming, it got liz champion to basically change her stated public opinion now. to now say she's against gay marriage, to throw her only sister under the bus. because of the pressure from that right wing ad. the state -- personally

mistreating serving members of the united states military, which you would not think would be good politics anywhere, let alone in texas. but these guys desire to be a purely uncompromising anti-gay in texas has now brought texas republican politics to the point where the state is defying state republican policy in order to till active duty service members who show up at state facilities that they need to get out, that they need to go deal with getting their benefits and their housing aloumpbss and their i dn d cards elsewhere, because if they are in a same ---texas doesn't care, your kind is not welcome at texas state offices, get out of here, soldier. a state government choosing to spit in the faces of active duty service members, currently serving troops ought to be a huge political liability for any

state politician associate with the that behavior, right? but in texas, the republican calculation is that it is more important to be really anti-gay than to support the troops. contrary to beltway wisdom right now, on the right, radically anti-gay politics are -- they have got a bunch of victories lately, they have got the republican party wrapped afternoon their fijer to where people are choosing their anti-gay politics over their support for the military. right now as the republican speaker of the house is booking meeting rooms so anti-gay groups can meet in the basement of the u.s. capitol and is refusing even allowing an anti-gay discrimination bill to be -- aggressively anti-gay stance than they are in a really, really long time. it's weird and you would never know it from reading the belt

way press but that really is what's going on in republican politics. on the contrary, on the other side in the blue state, it's completely opposite to that. particularly since the supreme court will in striking down the defense of marriage act this summer--to move forward a democratic controlled state. in this area of civil rights, particularly on the issue of marriage. a couple started getting married in new jersey a month ago yesterday. the hawaii state legislature voted last week to approve equal marriage rights for that state. and tomorrow in the state of illinois, governor pat quinn -- who nevertheless has championed the issue of gay rights in his state, governor pat quinn will sign a bill into law tomorrow, making illinois the 16th state in the nation to recognize equal rights for all married couples in that state. the two parties are moving in two completely different directions on this issue of policy. it's not being reported that way.

it's not being talked about that way in the belt way press. but that is the way it's going. governor quinn, thank you very much for being with us tonight. >> thank you very much, rachel. >> why did you decide to champion civil unions a couple of years ago and why did you decide to make it such a priority to pursue equal marriage rights in illinois? >> it's ironic today as the 150th anniversary of the gettysberg address. i was at his tomb this morning, and at the presidential library

where we heard the gettysberg address. it said at beginning, we're a nation conceived in -- liberty and equality, that's what marriage equality is all about. we'll be the 16th state and i hope we can spread the movement all across the other 34 states in the union. >> when you look at the future of this issue, particularly in your state, now that you're going to have this change in the law, do you think that fact in the law and the fact of equally married couples in your states is going to continue to change the politics around this issue? there was a big issue in illinois republican politics when the state chairman essentially was forced out of that job in the republican party for supporting equal marriage rights. do you think that changes once people can get married in

illinois? >> i sure hope so. there was a chairman of the republican party in our state who fairs marriage equality and he was drummed out of the party basically, kicked out. >> it was really special i think two weeks ago to -- that led to the passage of the bill, it was very rev rent and important debate, people listened and spoke from the heart and that's what it's all about, that's what democracy is all about. our state's a big state, we're the fifth largest in the country. >> as governor perry is in texas, i've got to ask your reaction to his decision to refuse to afford equal treatment

to all married couples among service members. he's now adding additional things that same-sex service members, families are not allowed to do in the state of texas. i went to iraq and afghanistan a couple of years ago with governor perry, as a matter of fact i was his roommate and i was sentenced to the harshest punishment known to man, seven days on the road to rick perry. i don't agree with him on his position on discriminating against him under federal law to marry and have their rights recognized by the united states military. i think it's very, very important that we protect all --

defend our democracy. he was in the ill ill national guard and he understands how important it was to volunteer to defending our democracy, in illinois, we're a welcoming state, we don't want to where like any state that would discriminate against people when it comes to equality in the matter of love. >> i imagine that planning ceremony tomorrow is going to be a lot of fun. >> we're going to have 3,000 or more people packed together. it's going to be a special day for democracy. >> a big day in illinois. appreciate your time. we'll be right back. stay with us. thunder crashes ]

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still trying to figure out the spelling of creed. but that's not the reason i'm here tonight, it's not just because of my personal bias. >> we have devoted a lot of ink on this show to weird and dramatic twists and turns in the politics of the great state of virginia. >> a hard right wing ticket that then lost the most interesting election anywhere in the country this year. before the outgoing governor's bribery scandal, we were the first to cover the state controversy in virginia over forced ultrasound and reproductive rights and voting

rights and, and, and, and. we have spent a ton of time covering virginia in the show in the past few years. senatory headlines like below the belt way, or spongebob and friends when we were talking about the governor's corruption scandal. which have covered virginia politics on this show a lot. but the political news in virginia came to a halt today with a tragic and almost unimaginable piece of news out of -- when governor bob mcdonald was elected governor in virginia, the -- creigh deeds had also run for -- a race that was beyond close, before the attorney general's race this year, which still isn't decided, that creigh deeds bob mcdonald race was the closest race in the history of virginia. creigh deeds is a well liked

middle of the road democrat in virginia. he's famous for promoting gun rights among other issues that are popular for hiss rural district. he played banjo, which made for this superawesome photo during his dad's losesing campaign for governor. well today, at senator dedes' home in rural bath county, it appears that the senator's son attacked his father with a knife, stabbing him multiple times in the head and upper body. senator dedes survived. but first he told the local press today that he lost a lot of blood. his condition is described by the hospital now as fair. at this time the working theory is the person that stabbed senator deeds and nearly killed him was his son gus.

police say they're not looking for any other suspects. first responders at the scene found gus at the place where his father was stabbed, at the same home. gus himself was near death when first responders first found him. he died on the scene. police are treating this as an attempted murder and a suicide. gus deeds was 24 years old. the richmond times reported that he had been hospitalized briefly over an emergency custody order which allowed him to be held for four hours so he could be 'valuated psychiatrically to -- >> the son was evaluated yesterday at bath community hospital, but he was release because no psychiatric bed could be located for him across a wide area of western virginia. for whatever reason, this young man was committed for psychiatric care yesterday, but

then he was released. specifically because there was nowhere to put him. that's at least the reporting from the times dispatch. virginia mental health said, at least in part, that part of the state, if this reporting is correct, was just maxed out. there wasn't anywhere to go. last year a report by a mem health advocate rated the alarm that cuts in mental health services had caused a severe shortage for psychiatric patients. that led to a burst in local news coverage in and around virginia that virginia had cut more than 250 available beds for psychiatric patients in the state, leading to a severe shortage of help for people suffering from mental illness, with just nowhere for them to go. a state senator of this tragedy at the deeds home, this was prevechbltable. describing a lack of psychiatric beds that prevented them from holding gus deeds yesterday --

gus deeds was the valedictorian of his high school class. he broke -- he had the highest class average in ten different subjects. this past spring he made the dean's list another the college of william & mary. he's survived tonight by his three siblings, by his mother, and thankfully by his father. we'll let you know more as we learn more.

nbc news richard engel is one of my favorite people to talk to in the world about anything. but when richard is personally breaking a really big story as he did today, he is definitely the best person to talk to in the world about that. richard engel broke a huge story today and he's here live next. ♪ [ female announcer ] just about anywhere you use sugar, you can use splenda® no calorie sweetener. splenda® lets you experience the joy of sugar without all the calories. think sugar, say splenda™

we are accustomed to thinking of the end of a war as a good thing. a time for skipping out into the streets and grabbing swung good look and giving them a kiss. we are so very happy when a war finally ends. >> the very last of them would be home for christmas that year, the war was over at 8 1/2 long years t troops were coming home, all of them. nbc a's richard engel was there when they -- >> it is now just after sun rise here in kuwait as the last american troops leave iraq. >> moments later, the gate to iraq was shut.

>> iraq was a war that our nation's leaders chose, and american troops by the hung dreads of thousands were stuck there for more than eight years, fighting and dying, even though it after all that, you might have expected that the closing of the actual physical gates on that bloody, expensive, morally disastrous floor would be cause for celebration. by partisan, nonpartisan-- >> unfortunately, unfortunately, it is clear that this decision, of a complete pullout of united states troops from iraq was dictated by politics an not our national security interests. >> we're now in a situation where we're pulling all of our

troops out of iraq, period, no stay behind force. >> they were unable to negotiate a status of forces agreement to allow the 10,000 to 20,000, to 30,000 troops to remain which i think was a failure on the part of the administration. >> president obama got the troops out of iraq. republicans were furious. they wanted thousands of troops to stay in iraq indefinitely. v sadly, every american came home, and every republican in the country celebrated that the -- >> even as that happened, the other forever war dragged on, just a few months before the last u.s. troops left iraq, president obama announcement that u.s. troops would be leaving afghanistan eventually. he said the u.s. would start bringing troops home then, but it would take a long time to get them out. it said the u.s. would start handing security -- but the

process wouldn't be complete, and american soldiers wouldn't be scheduled to leave until tend of 2014. by 2014, in the president's words, the transition will be complete. and yet it has not been exactly clear what complete would mean in this context. it has not been clear whether or if any u.s. troops are going to remain behind. and for how long. and that led to this, frank and i think starting question from an american service member, master sergeant leon panetta a year ago, watch. >> five, ten years from now, mr. secretary, are my kids going to be serving in afghanistan too?

the answer from the defense secretary that day was basically, yes, he said the plan was to have an enduring presence in afghanistan, even after the war was technically over. well today, nbc's richard engel broke the news of what the plan is, for that enduring presence. richard has posted an early draft of an agreement between the american and afghan governments allowing for an ongoing presence of american troops in afghanistan, even after the end of 2014. thousands of u.s. troops and major u.s. facilities on the ground. richard writes t document outlines what appears to be the start of a new open ended u.s. military commitment in afghanistan. the war in afghanistan, he says, does not seem to be ending, rather it is being renewed under new scaled down terms. joining us now live from kabul is nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel. thanks for being here tonight. >> it's a pleasure to be with you as all. kabul is missing you.

you'll have plenty of time to come back, it seems. >> i know that spot, and i have a feeling we're going to be seeing you long there longer than we expected to be. >> what struck you about this draft agreement when you first got a hold of it. as you mentioned, there eels always been this vague notion. there's never been in enduring presence. but really it was all big. it was never clear how many troops were going to stay, it was never clear how long they were going to stay, and some of these questions remain unanswered. but what is clear, when you see a draft of this document, is that u.s. officials and afghan officials behind closed doors have been very hard at work hammering out a detailed agreement that would allow u.s. troops to stay here for decades

or at least a decade or not. the document talks about going up through 2024, and beyond. it outlines a variety of commitments like the afghan security forces, maintaining outposts that are not called bases but that are called access to afghan bases but access where the u.s. personnel would have exclusive control and could keep their planes and vehicles inside and would be allowed to patrol the perimeter and taxation and that they would receive mail without subject to subject to compensation, very detailed agreements, talking about a new phase of the war. and what i was struck about, is -- i'm in afghan right now because potentially several thousand leaders tribal leaders and politicians in kabul are going to start debating this

openly over the next few days here to decide if this is a good deal for afghanistan. the reason it is all coming out right now is afghanistan doesn't think that this is a good enough deal and they want to try and get a better deal. and i was struck that, why is it that the united states knows much about this when at the end of the day, it will be the u.s. paying for all this and sending its sons and daughters to support all of this. >> the debate about whether it is a good deal for the united states of america, even after technically the end of our longest war ever in america history, it seems like a debate worth having, i don't want to ask you to compromise your sources at all, but do you think the word is getting out through the scoop that you got today, do you think that this draft is being leaked because the afghans are dissatisfied or because the americans are dissatisfied? >> i think that both sides, the americans think this is a done

deal, that this is no big deal, that this is an important thing for afghanistan's instability, and that it's an important thing to safeguard the american prozbres that's been made, those are both the diversions of events that are being explained to me from u.s. and afghan officials. both of them seem like this is a done deal and what we're seeing now is negotiating tactics, with the afghans debating this so they can get slightly more restriction procedures put in place so that american troops who will stay here won't be allowed to interact at home, or that they will be entired to high pay a higher percentage of the budget. and the midwesterns are saying that's just what the afghans are doing, so don't worry about this, this is really a negotiating ploy. we had 12 constant years of warfare and now we're going to

have an open ended period of training and dependency from afghanistan. so there are hard options here, if there is no truth left behind, this country could collapse and the inurgency, the taliban, the other extremists networks could either take over and make this country ungovernable. so it's not like you have great options right now. >> to make richard, thank you very much. i really appreciate it, well done. >> good to have you back with us, we'll be right back.

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late in the day today, the united states supreme court decided to not block the texas anti-abortion law that has shut down or stopped a third of the clinics in that state from providing abortions, this is not a totally done deal, this is another case about a similar law that may not yet to the supreme court. but that ruling came down late today. also late today, a freshman court in new jersey decided to delay the execution of the white

supremacist serial killer who was best known for having shot and paralyzed larry flint. the same man confessed killing 30 people. larry flint has been lobbying against the planned execution, schedule ford tonight, 12:01 in missouri. today, a federal judge stayed that execution in missouri indefinitely. a bunch of national news, that broke late in the day, all on different issues, all concerning courts. and crime. and in one case, a congressman. today, in d.c. superior court, republican congressman of florida was charged with misdemeanor cocaine possession. the congressman in his first term. conservative radio host before coming to congress last year. we do not yet know the circumstances of his arrest other than the fact that it occurred on october 29th in the district. he has the not yet said anything, he had not yet said anything about it publicly before politico.com broke the

news from the court documents. the congressman we know is due in court tomorrow, in d.c., so far there is no sign that he is planning to resign. he did put out an apology statement tonight after politico broke the story. the apology said he struggles with alcoholism and that led to an extremely irresponsible choice, one apparently involving cocaine. but the congressman due to appear tomorrow in court to face cocaine possession charges. we will keep you posted as we learn more. [ male announcer ] wildlife rescue workers open up a lot of dawn -- tough on grease yet gentle. dawn helps open something even bigger. [ all ] 3, 2, 1! this year, dawn is also donating $1 million. learn more at dawnsaveswildlife.com.

you give them the giggles. tylenol cold® helps relieve your worst cold and flu symptoms. but for everything we do, we know you do so much more. tylenol cold®. this is a really good story. all right. in late 2010, during year two of the barack obama presidency, conservatives all over the country were outraged that president obama had the nerve, the gall, to go on vacation.

>> he is actually shoehorning the job of the presidency into his busy schedule of going on vacation, listening to george lopez, swaying to paul mccartney, playing hoops, playing golf. is he ever working? >> is he ever working? the president obama takes too much vacation thing was not just the right-wing fringe and fox news, it really became a mainstream republican critique. >> his idea of a hand-on approach to the economy is getting a grip on his golf club. he's going off for 17 days in hawaii. he'll be playing a lot of golf. >> hawaii. can you believe that guy? why would anybody go there? republicans have been incredulous, outraged every time president obama and his family have gone on vacation. from the very, very beginning of his presidency. in the second year of his presidency.

being mad again at the time, about him going to martha's vineyard. what was never really noted in all of that fume and outrage was that, this -- is how much time president obama had taken at that point in his presidency. compared to his predecessor, george w. bush. vacation time. doesn't matter. obama is lazy. that guy never works. you know what president obama does he puts his feet up on the desk at work. earlier, the conservative website, the drudge report, posted this photo of the president on the phone in the oval office with his foot on the desk. the right lost its collective mind. it was disgraceful. offensive. it was -- it was, exactly what lots of presidents before him had done without upsetting anyone. this is called obama derangement syndrome. common sense, logic, ability to simply google something vanishes. it surrenders before the superior force of just incoherent blinding disdain for this particular president. today, a new one that is a

doosie. today, the american right is outraged that president obama removed the words under god from the gettysburg address. did you hear that? oh, my god, did you hear, did you hear? oh, my god. oh, my god. >> when obama recited the gettysburg address for ken burns to be included in the pbs documentary -- obama left out "under god." from his reading of the passage. that this nation under god, shall have a new birth of freedom. he left out under god. >> he left out under god. this was a thing on the right today. all over the right. not just on a.m. radio. look, obama removes god from gettysburg address. that was at a website, brightbart. this one, obama owe mitts god from gettysburg address reading.

on the right-wing blogs. on this one, watch, president obama leaves out an important word in the reading of gettysburg address. god. on right-wing radio. obama delivers gettysburg address on you tube, leaves out under god. the daily caller website so heat add but their version of the story that they had the managing editor of the whole website, write up their article about it. headline, national review online. obama cuts under god out of gettysburg address. the mediaite covered it under the guys of covering the outrage about it. president obama, omits god. yeah, the right just had its hair on fire about this today. how dare president obama, alter the language of the gettysburg address to remove its reference to god. the gettysburg address, one of the speeches where a few different versions exist. nobody taped it if you know what i mean. five versions of the address are

in circulation at any given time. which is why you often hear the speech recited differently each time you hear it. when the documentary film maker, ken burns put together his compilation of lots of different people, actors, politicians, news anchors, tv hosts, reading the gettysburg address, he published for this project all five major known drafts of the speech. and he, he, let it be publicly known that he asked president obama, specifically to read a very early draft called the draft which does not include the phrase "under god." which is why president obama did not include the phrase "under god" in what he read. period. end of story. in america, at least, that would be the end of the story. in conservative media land, this scandal will never die because president obama killed god. everybody freak out. folks at media matters noticed the story today. and since posting all of the

embarrassed corrections from all of the conservative media outlets that ran head first to the story that did not exist. not all are apologizing yet. and why would they? the stuff has been working for them for years. amazing. . good wednesday morning. right now on "first look," breaking news. a lear jet plunges in to the atlantic moments after takeoff. two people are confirmed ted while the search is on for those other two. a new deal in the works could keep u.s. troops in afghanistan longer than promised. a new disturbing new trend called the knock skrout game is putting unsuspecting victims in serious danger. plus a rocket speeds to space. a harrowing rescue for two hikers. and george w. bush explains why he stopped by jay leno last night. >> i mean, you're about to head