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tv   The Rachel Maddow Show  MSNBC  December 14, 2013 3:00am-4:01am PST

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there's not one way to do something. no details too small. american express open forum. this is what membership is. this is what membership does. this is david duherst. he is most famous for two things. one, famous for losing what everybody thought was going to be a gift of a u.s. senate seat to him. he lost the republican primary for that seat last year to a guy named ted cruz. everybody thought that he was going to get that seat, but he lost it and that's why we have ted cruz now. the other thing he's famous for is using the fact that he is the lieutenant governor of the state of texas to try to spring one of his relatives out of jail when she got arrested for shoplifting this year.
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>> good evening, taking heat tonight over a phone call to police. >> in that call, he says he wants to get a relative out of jail. >> i would like to find out what i need to do to get her out of jail, post bond, whatever. >> that was just a portion of the phone call. but tonight, critics say the lieutenant governor overstepped his bounds. >> police arrested ellen beavers at 6:30 on a saturday night. at 10:30, this call came in. >> i want to talk to the most senior police officer you have where you are right now. i'm the lieutenant governor of the state of texas. and you have incarcerated my sister-in-law. >> that kind of petty abuse of power, trying to throw your weight around and use your stature as an elected official or the things you can control to get stuff for yourself and your family, listed as long as
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elected officials have existed. but getting caught doing that is a particular kind of failure. that people tend to remember. because it reflects on your character and people tend to remember especially if you try to move up in the world and get more responsibility. take sarah palin and troopergate. chosen to be john mccain's running mate, i remember saying on some cable news shows that there was no chance that the unknown governor of alaska -- would get picked for the job. she had the troopergate scandal looming unresolved. it was basically involving sarah palin's sister's husband. sarah palin's sister and her husband, an alaska state trooper, they were in the middle of a divorce and child custody battle in 2006 when sarah palin as governor and her husband, todd, decided to weigh in to try
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to get her sister's husband fired from his job at a trooper. ultimately, governor palin fired the state commissioner of public safety in part because he refused to fire her brother-in-law. now, there are a lot of reasons why she department become vice president of the united states, but trooper gate did not know. in the heat of the presidential campaign, less than a month before election day that year when the official alaska inquiry came out and it said, yes, sarah palin had abused her power as governor in that scandal, it did not help the john mccain sarah palin campaign when their official response to that report which said she abused her power was the governor saying she was delighted to be cleared of abusing her power. it was terrible for them at a terrible time and reflected very badly on her as a candidate and potential leader and the only way they could deal with it that close to the election was
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essentially to pretend that the scandal was not true, to pretend that the report that said she didn't said she didn't do it. sarah palin's abuse of power scandal was not a good thing for that campaign. in the great state of new jersey, the republican governor there is the closest thing that the republican party has to a sure bet in terms of somebody who's going to run for president this time around and be seen as a top tier contender. chris christie has also had repeated, but small scale problems like this throughout his political career. little abuse of power problems. little misusing the perks of the office as personal perks of the office. the first problem we had of this kind related to his terrible driving record. between 1985 and 2009, chris christie racked up 25 violation points for various traffic incidents. during that time, he had been in
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six accidents. cited 13 times for moving violations. the problem though he was running for the governorship, how he used his public office to escape his responsibility when ever he would find himself in trouble. in 2002, mr. christie turned the wrong way on to a one way street in elizabeth, new jersey and hit someone. he was going the wrong way. the motorcyclist was injured. christie's car had to be towed away, but when he arrived on scene, chris christie started to throw his weight around. from the new jersey star ledger, when an officer arrived, he explained what happened and said he was on his way to the swearing in ceremony of the union county prosecutor, quote, he did identify himself as u.s. attorney to the cop on the scene and then although his car had to get towed from the scene and the motorcyclist was injured and had to be taken away in an ambulance, after saying i'm the
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u.s. attorney here, he was allowed to continue on his way to the swearing in and he was never even given a ticket for the incident. it emerged during his campaign for governor that that was not the only time he had been pulled over for a traffic incident and avoided getting in trouble after telling police officers, hey, i'm the u.s. attorney here. in 2011, he had another abuse of power scandal when he had new jersey state troopers fly him to his son's baseball game in a state police helicopter at state expense. he refused to apologize, refused to reimburse the state, but eventually relented. yelled at the press that it was a joke, the scandal was being driven by hacks and it was a distraction from real issues, he did in the end agree he should pay the money back and did. earlier this year, when he
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decided to spend an extra $24 million in state money to set up a whole separate election day for cory booker's senate election, so that would not occur on the same day as governor christie's own re-election effort. he spent all of that money, more than $20 million in taxpayer money that had to be spent to do a separate election. it was hugely inconvenient to everybody in the state. it was to nobody benefit to anybody at all except chris christie. but he did. and in the closing days of that re-election campaign, something else happened. that now turns out to be the most serious of all the abuse of power problems that chris christie has had and that might be a problem for him. this most recent problem ironically started off as the one that seemed to be the most ridiculous. it involves this bridge between
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the state of new jersey and new york city. all week long, i've been calling this the busiest bridge in the country. if you go to the website, they're proud to tell you it is not just the busiest bridge, it is the busiest bridge in the whole world. you say so. the bridge is huge. it takes it more than $600 million every year in revenue in tolls. and that's how rich the agency is that runs it and that takes in the tolls. that's why it's a real perk of the job of being governor of new jersey or new york that you get to appoint people to the agency which runs this bridge like a casino. he was trying to maximize his election trying to stage manage his election so it would set him up. his campaign tried to set him up to make sure he had bipartisan appeal.
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one of the new jersey democrats who reportedly was asked to endorse chris christie but said no, was the mayor of ft. lee. right at the spot where that busiest bridge in the world connects to new jersey. two weeks after that democratic mayor refused to endorse chris christie, a long time friend and allie of the governor who has been appointed to the agency that runs the bridge, that long time friend gave an order that two of the three lanes to the bridge from the town of ft. lee should be closed off. the newspaper later published these e-mails showing that traffic engineers for the bridge warned if those lanes got shut down, lines of cars 600 cars long would back up into the town and totally gridlock that town. they said if you shut down those lanes, that's what's going to happen. but christie's high school
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friend said do it any way and what they predicted about the traffic is what happened. ft. lee got gridlocked. it essentially shut down. it was not just for one day. they started it on the first day of school on a monday morning. it went on monday and tuesday and wednesday and thursday. it was not until the executive director of the whole agency realized what was going on and sent an angry e-mail telling them to open up those lanes that the situation got resolved. the general manager of the bridge testified that when he got the order to shut down the bridge, he was told to keep it quiet, to not make any sort of public announcement about the lanes being shut down, to not warn ft. lee. that they were about to have traffic armageddon visited upon them. to not even tell the local police. he said he knew it was wrong. certainly unprecedented in all of his years at the agency, said he didn't feel like he had any choice. >> my question to you is the
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reason you chose not to exercise discretion because you feared for your employment? >> i was concerned about what mr. wildsteen's reaction would be if i did not follow his directive. >> chris christie's long-term friend and ally who ordered the lane closures has now resigned. this morning after refusing to answer questions for weeks, governor christie announced that his boss has resigned. chris christie's reaction to the whole matter today was quote, i'm bothered when people make mistakes that end up reflecting poorly on their performance. he's still saying that he had nothing to do with it. the issue here though, not just for new jersey and certainly not for ft. lee, but for potentially the whole country and chris christie's national role as a political leader, it's not
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whether the busiest bridge in the world is being administered poorly, the question, the reason why this is an important national story and why democratic groups and the democratic national committee are getting on board, the question is why did this all happen in the first place? what was the motive for doing this in the first place? was it political retaliation? was it chris christie abusing the powers of his office to get ahead politically or at least to get revenge politically? as fascinating as the details have been on this story and the new details are better than like every episode of "the sopranos" except where carmelo pulls the gold off ceiling, the basic issue here and the reason it's a national story here and not just the most new jersey story of all time is because of what he has not explained.
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an explanation that seemed utterly ridiculous that the lanes were closed to create traffic chay as in the town of fort lee is the only logical explanation. democrats in new jersey are starting to call this trooper gate on the hudson. calling back to the sarah palin that almost upended her chances in 2008. joining us now is ted mann. he's been covering this for the "wall street journal" and the lot of the main scoops have come from him. welcome. >> thanks for having me. in terms of what you have been able to report so far and how this story is going, do you think we will ever have an answer as to whether or not this was a politically motivated action? >> that's going to be a hard question to answer especially as
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governor christie said today, he department know this was being done. he rejects this idea that there was anything politically motivated. they took an unusual way to study traffic way too far. >> there are assertions that this was part of a traffic study. we've seen evolution that they did something that look like a study. we have seen oupltation documentation that they did do something like a study. the study itself such as it was seems completely unusual and unlike anything the port authority has ever done. >> the actions produced no study and he said when he testified, they ended it too soon. so there was no data to report with. it's also important that pat foy when he testified under oath didn't just say he knew of no study, the second question was
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did he buy this explanation and he said i don't. >> so, he thinks there was no study. that any claim there was a study is not the answer, that there's some other answer. >> it's a familiar answer who said they're calling it a study, but there was no study. it's something else. >> if your source is correct and if the executive director is correct, is there an explanation put forward other than political retaliation? >> i can't rule out. >> nothing's been advanced. >> there have been several versions of the study. the first thing that was said by the press office when a couple of reporters called was this was about traffic safety. since then, it has been turned into a story about traffic fairness. whether i it was equitable to have three lanes. >> whether ft. lee should be allowed to live. and that he's not done here,
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that he thinks there's more done and he wants to keep issuing subpoenas. >> let me ask you about one specific thing that you reported that seemed to get governor christie excited and not in a good way. that governor christie as he's been joking about it, had called andrew cuomo essentially a say listen, your new york appointees on this are pushing too hard for answers. why don't you get them to lay off. he's now denying that call ever took place. >> and governor cuomo's did, too. we stand by that story. >> all right. ted mann, boy, am i looking forward to reading your next bees on this. thank you. appreciate it. did you see the big publicity stunt that's been mounted all week long in washington this week collapse at
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for details, visit vwdealer.com today congress is trying to wrap it up for the year. and they're getting antsy about it. by the time it's not thanksgiving anymore, they are already home for christmas. the fact that it's really contentious and uncertain as to when they get to leave, how much they have to work before they
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get to leave, right now that is making the the news out of washington more unpredictable and interesting than it usually is this time of year. and it is also making c-span right now the best c-span ever. c-span has to come up with ways to show, ways to make sense of the total nonsense happening in congress right now that explains why congress is still there even though they are really not doing anything at all. on wednesday this week, mitch mcconnell sprung a diabolical scheme on everyone. he said he was so mad at democrats, not only would the senate not be allowed to go home early for christmas, he said he wouldn't be able to go home all night. he was going to force the senate to stay in session all night wednesday night, all night thursday night and all night tonight as well. all the way into saturday. we're never going to let the senate leave.
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that was mitch mcconnell's i'll show you plan he unveiled on wednesday to try to make the democrats mad. because the democrats changed the rules about how they get nominated on. it would mean holding votes at like 1:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the morning and 4:00 in the morning the next morning too. they wouldn't let anything be done easily. they would create a giant spectacle by keeping the senate in session for four straight days at least with no breaks all night every night. that will show them. nobody sleeps. now, as publicity stunts go, this one must have sounded really good on paper. must have sounded really good when somebody first proposed it at the staff meeting. the weakness of this as a
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publicity stunt was that nobody cared. this is what it looked like. god bless you, cspan, you were there for every minute of it though nobody else was and if you want to know why this failed and why mitch mcconnell has now caved and decided to give up on it and call it off early, there's no better way to see the failure than by watching the genius of cspan covering the failure last night. this is pat toomey on the senate floor talking about how horrible the health insurance law is. it's latish. he's wrapping up his comments, maybe ready to pass the baton to the next republican, but instead of handing off to whoever the republican is who's supposed to be next, instead, he says this.
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>> the absence of a quorum. the republicans forgot to send somebody else to go after pat toomey. the whole idea was relay. it's like you and you and you. they forgot. there was nobody for pat toomey to hand off to, so then yay for cspan, the clerk has to take attendance. the clerk has to call the roll, watch. >> and i know absence of a kwaur quorum. >> clerk will call the roll. >> mr. alexander. >> mr. alexander? mr. alexander? hello? and the camera pulls out, revealing oh, look, nobody's in any of those desks. there's some staffers leaving, one guy is carrying around like a white board, but none of the people you can see there are republican senators. there are no senators on the floor. nobody to speak. the republicans forgot to show up, oh, there goes the board. republicans forgot to show up for their own protest.
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there's nobody there. at one point, this guy, he stands up, looks around and then puts his hand in his pocket and sits down and just puts his head in his hands. that's pretty much all the action. our blessed cspan stays on it until the bitter end. finally, they are forced to go to this. this was supposed to be the republicans big, all night stand, but when they forgot to show up, cspan decided they couldn't just keep the camera room on an empty room of their sad staffers, so they went into rolling senator james inhoff reruns while they waited for a live republican senator to show up and get on the floor of the senate and get back to the business of what was supposed to be a publicity stunt to make democrats rue the day. just before 3:00 a.m., the most junior senator, cory booker,
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started presiding over the senate, but because the republicans all went home, cory booker had nothing to preside over, so finding themselves again with some time to fill, cspan started talking about cory booker's tweets. >> senator cory booker of new jersey won a special election of october. he spent a tweet saying pulling the graveyard shift. now residing overed over the u.s. senate. a number of people responded to his tweet. >> and that is essentially how the big publicity stunt ended. at 3:00 in the with cspan talking about what cory booker tweeted that day. and how a number of people responded to his tweet. after that fiasco, early this morning, mitch mcconnell decided to give up the fight. harry reid agreed that they would not stay in session all night.
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everybody could go home starting about noon. and it gets better. it looked like they might adjourn for the day, maybe get some rest and remind who was supposed to take over. initially, this was going to be one day, but then the republicans decided if we're caving on this thing, let's really cave on this thing, so now, they're not even coming back until tuesday. so, the we'll stay in session all night every night through christmas to make you sorry, today dissolved into it's friday and let's have a long weekend. the whole failure was probably best summed up by john mccain who told "the new york times," quote, come on! the zeal sometimes dissipates when you get into thursday and by friday, the zeal is gone. so, that was it. the zeal is gone. that was the republican party's big, angry campaign about the rules change in the senate.
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this means that the democrats could have made this rules change years ago? and probably had hundreds more of president obama's nominees confirmed over the years. the reason they didn't years ago is because they were so scared of what the republicans would do in angry response. now, we know what the republicans would do and it turns out their angry response is sort of angry, but it was not strong enough to withstand the desire on the part of u.s. senators to go to sleep. and to not work on the weekend. constitutional crisis averted. human nature. ugh! actually progresso's soup has pretty bold flavor. i love bold flavors! i'd love it if you'd open the chute! [ male announcer ] progresso. surprisingly bold flavor for a heart healthy soup.
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at 12:30 local time this afternoon, a high school student opened fire at his school. he said he intended to confront a specific teacher. he did use the gun but not against the teacher. he injured two students before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. the identity of the young shooter has not been revealed. upon hearing the shots, teacher and students left under law enforcement orders with their hands on their heads. today's shooting was just ten miles away from the columbine high school shootings which happened in 1999 and about 16 miles away from the aurora mass theatre shooting which happened last summer and this all too familiar story comes on the eve of the one-year anniversary of the sandy hook elementary school shooting. stick with innovation.
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times where there were terrorist attacks and everything else we've been through for the past 50 year, every congress has been able to get it together to pass a defense bill and even though this congress has been the least productive of all time, they did pass a defense bill and the senate says they, too, at the last minute will pass a defense bill. it will be the last thing they do on wednesday before they go home for the year. as part of the strategy that has them passing the defense bill and the last second, negotiators have agreed that basically, no one would be allowed to make any changes to the bill, so even though there would be talk of putting an amendment to go after iran in a way that would have screwed up the new nuclear deal, to have the congress weigh in on when we are leaving afghanistan instead of only the afghan
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government weighing in on that. a stronger set of new rules about sexual assault in the military and how it's prosecuted, by virtue of the fact this is a must pass bill and that time is running out, none of those changes is going to be made with this bill. we know what's in it and we know it will pass and don't tell the beltway press. don't tell the beltway press, but the new defense bill is almost secretly going to pave the way to empty out half of the prison at guantanamo. president obama's order to close guantanamo have been stymied by congress. they refused to let prisoners there be transferred to the real court system. they passed confusing restrictions on transferring prisoners to third countries and
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those restrictions are why the majority have been cleared for transfer to some other country, but they're still languishing in cuba and our strange prison there at an average cost of $2.7 million per man per year indefinitely. that last category of congressional mucking it up, on prisoners getting transferred, those are the restrictions getting fixed and the bill that is about to pass congress and be signed into law by president obama. president obama gave a speech in may saying that he would renew efforts to close the prison. after that speech, his white house chief of staff took a field trip to guantanamo along with dianne feinstein and john mccain. they all pledged while there that the prison would be closed down.
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president obama then appointed a white house senior staffer and envoy from the state department and pentagon. all with the same michelle, get this closed down. they have started essentially what are parole board hearings and security agencies in the government including the military. when barack obama ran for president, it wasn't just him and the candidates running for president. it was also the current at the time. mr. obama was running against that election. everyone agreed that it should be shut down. if you told anybody back then that in five years it would still be there, they wouldn't believe it.
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but it's still there. but then allow to shut down. the huge shove this week from an unlikely source. when the u.s. government decided to open the prison at guantanamo early '90s, running that site, intercepted while trying immigrate to the united states. after 9/11, the general got the call again. he was given four days to set up on the island. within seven days, the first prisoners were on site. and he was the first commanding officer of america's newest offshore prison at guantanamo. now, 12 years later, retired marine general is speaking out. he wrote this op-ed this week saying that as a first commander
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at guantanamo, he now believes that not only is it time to close that facility down, he says that it never should have been opened in the first place. joining us for his first interview since retiring after 36 years is general leonard. thank you for being with us. >> thank you, rachel. it's good to be here. >> what are your impressions of the steps that may be able to be taken in the next year or so to try to get guantanamo closed down? do you think the facility could be closed under the legal authorities that exist now? >> rachel, i think that right now, we're at a moment in history where we have an opportunity to close guantanamo for good. the national defense authorization act is a great first step. senator levin wrote some very
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practical language into the act that would have allowed us to completely close it as you've pointed out. we'll be able to have simpler rules to move those detainees that have been languishing for some cases up to ten years. and get them back to their country of origin. he was joined by senator mccain. who brought in bipartisan support. we have representatives at the white house to make this happen and now is the time in history that we can make this happen. >> to hear your describe it as a blot on our history, thinks now that it never should have been set up. it never should have existed. why do you believe that? >> well, rachel, i think there's a number of reasons. and it starts with our constitution.
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every officer in every branch of the service takes an oath to support and defend the constitution of the united states. it's my belief that the constitution does not end at the water's edge and that as a nation, we have to walk the walk not just talk the talk. >> do you think that if the political steps and the logistic steps were taken to shut it down that could happen over the course of the next year or so, do you think they would be resistant within the military? do you think that having seen so many members of the military, people working as guards there, the kinds of detainees that would been held, do you think there would be a sense in the pentagon that the kind of political decision ought to be re sisted? >> the military is the least of
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my concerns. first off, we have the greatest military in the world. the one concern that i've heard expressed is the potential for recidivism. and it is certain that if we release those detainees that have been already we fight our nation's battles. we're ready to see guantanamo closed down. i'm speaking for myself. but many senior military leaders have shared with me they feel it's time to close guantanamo. >> thank you very much for your time tonight, sir. your contribution to this debate is a landmark thing and i know it took bravery. >> thank you.
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>> thank you, rachel. >> we'll be right back. consta. so i deserve a small business credit card with amazing rewards. with the spark cash card from capital one, i get 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. i break my back around here. finally someone's recognizing me with unlimited rewards! meetings start at 11, cindy. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one. choose 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? i need your timesheets, larry! [ male announcer ] this december, experience the gift of exacting precision and some of the best offers of the year [ ding! ] at the lexus december to remember sales event. this is the pursuit of perfection.
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in the summer of 2011, president obama wanted to give an address to the joint session of congress. on wednesday, september 27th,
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he wanted to talk about the issue of jobs. well in advance of the date, the president asked john boehner if that would be okay and when the president has asked congress about delivering a joint address, they have said sure, mr. president. but not john boehner. john boehner made history when he said no to president obama. he said the congress wasn't plan ong convening until 6:00 p.m. and there wouldn't be enough time to get ready for the president's speech. john boehner made the president move his speech to the following night, the 8th. the first game after the nfl season at the exact time the president would be speaking. so the president spoke not on wednesday, but on thursday, during the game. because john boehner said so. it was unprecedented political affrontry. considering that past, tonight, we can report some progress. today, speaker john boehner formally invited the president
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of the united states to deliver the state of the union address on tuesday, january 28th and the president said yes. so civil and so it will be. and the only football scheduled anywhere near it is the super bowl, five whole days later. so you will be able to watch both. progress. baby steps. we'll be right back. ♪ [ female announcer ] let betty do the measuring and get a head start on delicious homemade cookies. visit bettycrockercookies.com for fun holiday ideas. betty crocker cookie mix. just pour, mix...love. of their type 2 diabetes with non-insulin victoza®.
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for a while, i took a pill to lower my blood sugar, but it didn't get me to my goal. so i asked my doctor about victoza®. he said victoza® is different than pills. victoza® is proven to lower blood sugar and a1c. it's taken once-a-day, any time, and comes in a pen. and the needle is thin. victoza® is not for weight loss, but it may help you lose some weight. victoza® is an injectable prescription medicine that may improve blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes when used with diet and exercise. it is not recommended as the first medication to treat diabetes and should not be used in people with type 1 diabetes or diabetic ketoacidosis. victoza® has not been studied with mealtime insulin. victoza® is not insulin. do not take victoza® if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer, multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2, or if you are allergic to victoza® or any of its ingredients. symptoms of a serious allergic reaction may include: swelling of face, lips, tongue, or throat, fainting
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or dizziness, very rapid heartbeat, problems breathing or swallowing, severe rash or itching. tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. serious side effects may happen in people who take victoza®, including inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis), which may be fatal. stop taking victoza® and call your doctor right away if you have signs of pancreatitis, such as severe pain that will not go away in your abdomen or from your abdomen to your back, with or without vomiting. tell your doctor about all the medicines you take and if you have any medical conditions. taking victoza® with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. the most common side effects are nausea, diarrhea, and headache. some side effects can lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems. if your pill isn't giving you the control you need ask your doctor about non-insulin victoza®. it's covered by most health plans.
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>> amsterdam, holland, the dutch are famously tall. also amsterdam and much of the netherlands really, the land of bicycles. next time you jump in your car to go some where, kid the dutch make one out of every four trips on a bicycle. old people. young people. little kids. people who sometimes drive cars. people never drive cars. doesn't matter they all ride bikes. when americans go to amsterdam they are amazed by the sheer
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number of bicycles and how all the bikes and cars weave around each other in traffic rather seamlessly. the dutch get into conflicts on the streets. some times they crash their perfect bicycles or careful cars. but, the dutch have somehow reached an agreement in their society. with rights and privileges and limits and rules and compromises. and the end result is that it works. their new way of doing things overall is safer and if you are willing to slow down in your car and on your bike, the new ways also freer. it gives you more choices. more options. more ways. the netherlands have not always been like that. in the 1960s and 1970s, dutch streets looked more like this with more people driving and some people still trying to ride bikes without much success among the increasing car traffic. look at this. see the sign on the right there,
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stop kinder moord, literally means stop murdering children. a slow down, be careful sign for drivers. simple message. stop killing kids with your cars. the effort was to try to remake the whole dutch approach to traffic. so it would be safer for kids, kids on bikes, and ultimately for everybody on bikes. that movement was started in the netherlands by kids. this boy lived in an amsterdam neighborhood called the pipe. in this documentary see him walking along asking why his city street cannot be a safer place. and then he asked his friend. >> those grade schoolkid. 9, 10, 11, they started a petition drive to create a place where they could play on the streets.
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essentially, cars out, kids in. and when they first blocked off their streets, so that kids could play, the drivers did not want to go along. they did not want to give up anything. compromise did not seem possible. >> that was 1972 in the netherlands. off to a rough start. the drivers, some of them did
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not want to yield. but that movement started by the kids did not go away. and slowly small things in that country started to change. people realized for instance that lowering the speed limit was not itself a fatal thing. you could lower the speed limit and still drive. look at that same street. it has cars, bicycles, and trees, a nicer place and a safer one. the first ambitious neighborhoods got the kind of change that they were working for. it started with the kids. the kids with their, their teachers smoking cigarettes in class. their giant class rabbit, all of the other weird things about seeing kids in the netherlands at this time of the world. right? the kids who were so industrious and determined and soap smart, they were right. and their kids started movement changed their whole country in a way that is globally celebrated. kids did it. thought it up. far sighted wisdom to be right and make it work. our nation.
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tomorrow, it is going to mark the one-year anniversary of the loss of six school staff members and 20 kids in newtown, connecticut. kids who could have become anything. done anything. had that day not happened. the people of newtown connecticut have asked the media and public them to leave them alone as the anniversary has approached and arrives this weekend. they said they need their time to themselves. it is hard to understand how anybody could fight them on that or fault them on that. the national discussion about where we are as a nation a year after newtown is a discussion that feels like futility. our network website at nsnbc.com, a reporter has written beautiful individual profiles of american kids who have all been killed. who have all been shot to death just since newtown. she got up to over 50. but that's scratching the surface. it is barely a quarter of the number of kids who have been killed in the past year. here, mother jones magazine portraits of nearly 200 american kids all under the age of 12,
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who have been shot to death in our country since newtown. after newtown, even off to day, it is some times just feels impossible that the same scenes are just going to keep playing out year after year after year. school after school. this was the high school today, not 10 miles from columbine. the gunman killed himself after shooting and wounding two students. it some times feels impossible. there may be no safe place to be a kid. a kid in suburban school, or home, or city park. conventional wisdom says the country can do nothing more against gun violence. specifically nothing more about protecting kids from gun violence. you can't get people to give up access to guns. part of who we are. how we live. get over it. get over it. don't get over it. don't get over it. don't believe when nay say there can be no changes, there is no compromise that can be lived with, repeated and frequent murder of children has to be normal and there is no way to stop it at all. we have a choice as to whether we accept that or whether we see a way to make change.
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and we adults do not see the way to do it, our best hope is that the surviving kids are smarter and braver and more clever and more committed than we are. that does it for us tonight we'll seat you again monday. have a great weekend. bracing for the storm. in some parts it's already arrived. another blast of wintery weather. where will it hit and how hard. political storm. the one inside the gop. how will it end? set to soar. well airline companies are making big profits, you may end up paying more to fly. well explain. >> i can't comment further on what he may or may not have been doing. and the mystery deepens. an ex fbi agent who vanished in iran 124 days ago, what was he doing there and where is he now? msnbc has new information.