tv The Rachel Maddow Show MSNBC June 7, 2014 3:00am-4:01am PDT
3:00 am
's open for everyone. 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. happy friday. thanks for being with us tonight. if you are a 23-year-old pair a trooper and you took part in the nazi occupied shores, you would be 93 years old just like jim martin in. jim martin, 101st airborne division, he at age 93 chose to mark the 70th invasion of the d-day invasion by parachuting in once again. whereupon, he promptly gave the single most straightforward and magnificent on camera interview i have ever seen anybody do in
3:01 am
any context in a very long time. watch this. after parachuting in, age 93, he lands. reporters swarm him. everybody is taking his picture. one interviewer gets him on camera. two questions. watch his answers to these questions. did it remind you back then when you jumped 70 years ago? >> no, because nobody was shooting at me. >> what was your feeling? >> to tell you the truth, riding around the plane is boring. when you get off the plane, that's exciting. when you go off the door, that's exciting. there's no fear to it, just something to do. >> right. exactly. plane ride? boring. leaving plane in midair, not boring. no, it's not scary to do this, interviewer, when nobody is shooting at you. it's not scary. i've done the same thing with
3:02 am
people trying to kill me. no, i'm not scared. gee, anymore questions? if you do not love para trooper jim martin for this interview, go to the cardiologist and get your heart checked because it's not working. consider bernard jordan, a former city counselor and the former city of whhome homs in southern england. he reportedly tried from the nursing home to sign up for a bus trip for d-day veterans to go to normandy for the 70th anniversary. for whatever reason, he was told they did not have space and he was not able to go. yesterday at 10:30 in the morning mr. jordan left the nursing home for his usual trip into town. he is able to be up and around on his own. the trouble is, by 7:15 p.m. yesterday he had not come back from his trip to town. the nursing home looked for him and then called the police. the police searched the area. they contacted nearby hospitals, bus companies, taxi companies.
3:03 am
nobody had seen bernard johnson. everybody is very worried. turns out he went to france. he went to normandy. after police put on an assist that they were looking for him. another d-day veteran who is just slightly younger than jordan called the police and said don't worry about bernard jordan, i've got him, we're together and we're in france. we're at a hotel and we're going to the d-day ceremonies. bernie jordan was part of the d-day invasion. he apparently pinned his service medals on yesterday underneath his raincoat before he went out for the day. he had a plan. he and his buddies said he's doing fine. he would be back home after they finished celebrating. look at this, this is great. local police chief tweeting the news of what happened. 89-year-old veteran reported missing to us by care home who said he can't go to normand did i for the d-day remembrance.
3:04 am
we've found him there, meaning normandy. look at the latest retreat on the subject from tonight. from just a couple hours ago. apparently mr. jordan was found on the ferry ride as well from france back to brittain tonight. look at the picture. the tweet says, bernard jordan, the d-day veteran has gotten himself a fan club on the ferry ride home. goodman. amazi amazing. today and for the last several days president obama and other leaders have convened in france to honor surviving world war ii veterans and to commemorate the turning point in world war ii. the largest amphibious landing in world history. 156,000 troops and pair a troopers, 200,000 naval personnel. it was the allied invasion of nazi occupied europe. that invasion, as hard fought as it was, it was successful. it opened a portal for american and allied armies to be able to swarm into europe.
3:05 am
it turned no, ma'rmandy into th busiest port and it turned the tide over hitler. it would come within less than a year after what happened 70 years ago today on omaha beach. >> if prayer were made of sound, the skies over england that night would have deafened the world. captains paced their decks, pilots tapped their beiges, commanders poured over maps fully aware that after all the months of meticulous planning, everything could go wrong. the winds, the tides, the element of surprise, and above
3:06 am
all, the audacious bet that what waited on the other side of the channel would compel men not to shrink away but to charge ahead. fresh face g.i.s rubbed trinkets, kissed pictures of sweethearts, checked and rechecked their equipment. god, asked one, give me guts. and in the pre-dawn hours planes rumbled down runways. gliders and para troopers slipped through the sky. giant screws began to turn on an armada that looked more like ships than sea. more than 150,000 souls sped off towards this tiny sliver of sand
3:07 am
upon which hung more than the fate of a war but, rather, the course of human history. >> president obama speaking today at d-day ceremonies 70 years on. the element of surprise that president obama mentioned there, that was very, very real. look at the "los angeles times" headline from the next day once we knew the invasion had started. that was the "l.a. times." this is the ann arbor news. here's the "baltimore sun" that day. allies invading france. troops land in normandy. this is the st. petersburg times in florida. they tweeted an image of what their d-day headline had looked like. that's like a font type you measure in inches and feet, right? the detroit news, hitler's wall broken as allies move inland. last one, this one's great. this is the norris town times
3:08 am
herald in montgomery county, pennsylvania. allies in france. land by sea and air, speed inland. fight from beachheads in great jest war operations of all history. and part of the reasons the headlines were a foot tall was because of surprise. i mean, yes, it was such a massive and audacious move, it did not only change the course of the war but part of the change of history but part of the reason why is they were a foot high is because it was a surprise. yes, people knew the allies would attempt an invasion of europe but from when and from where and how would they try to do it? that was one of the hardest thought a fought and greatest secrets of all times. when it happened, it was a shock. part of the initial reaction to the initial news that it was happening was that it might be a hoax. when they started to get filtered reports that it was going on, the first reaction, it
3:09 am
might be a hoax, put out by the nats yis to dishearten the people of europe that were praying and hoping this would come. we know that that suspicion was part of the initial reaction to the d-day news. we know that was part of what they thought. we still have access to the sound of that live news as it broke. you may know that we broadcast, all of us here on nbc, broadcast from new york. we broadcast from nbc news headquarters at rock yes fell ler center in new york city. we, this show, do our work out of what used to be the nbc radio news studio on the fourth floor of this building. and we work every day and hold our news meetings every day in the specific place in this building where nbc radio news broadcast to the nation the very first word that d-day had begun even though they weren't quite sure if it really was true in their first reports. so we got this out of the archives today. this is when the first
3:10 am
unconfirmed, unconfirmed reports of d-day started coming in. it was after midnight here. nbc radio news had been signed off for the night and was playing music. basically from the spot where my desk is, this is what happened from a room that looked like this right here in this building where i work today. ♪ ♪ we interrupt our program to bring you a special broadcast. the german news agency transocean said that the allied invasion had begun. i repeat, the german news agency transocean said today in a broadcast that the allied invasion had begun. there was no allied confirmation. the german broadcast could be one which the allied leaders said could be made with upsetting the people inside the
3:11 am
conquered countries. this is coming to you from the nbc newsroom in new york. german naval forces off the coast are engaged in a battle with enemy landing aircraft the broadcast said. the german newscast said they began with a landing of airborne troops in the area of the mouth of the sane river. i repeat, however, that there is no live confirmation of this claim. we return you now to your regular scheduled broadcast. >> now here's a bulletin that's just been handed to me. as i said when i first went on the air a few minutes ago, the associated press said that the allied invasion has begun, that our troops are landing at lahask, that there is still no allied confirmation. this may be an enemy prank. there has been no allied confirmation, i repeat. >> there has been no allied confirmation, i repeat. this may be an enemy trick. unconfirmed reports. just an hour later they got the
3:12 am
real word confirmed from london. watch this. >> and now we have just been informed that we can expect in a very few seconds, in a very few seconds a very important broadcast from the british capitol and so now we take you to london. >> the command of general eisenhower, allied naval forces supported by strong air forces began landing allied armies this morning on the northern coast of france. this ends the reading of communique number one from supreme headquarters allied expeditionary force. >> ladies and gentlemen, this is new york nbc newsroom again.
3:13 am
men and women of the united states, this is a momentous hour in world history. this is the invasion of hitler's europe, the zero hour of the second front. the men of general dwight eisenhower are leaving their landing barges fighting their way up the beaches into the fortress of nazi europe. they are moving in from the sea to attack the enemy under a man mouth cloud of fighter planes, under a sealing of screaming shells from live warships. >> that was nbc reporter robert sait. john and the place where was break that go is our newsroom where we work at the show every day. 70 years ago the main newsroom was on the fourth floor. here is what was the fourth door marked news and special events where they collected and processed information from across the world like you heard the foreign broadcasts that they couldn't confirm. news wires, telegrams, radiograms. the studios with the microphones and that's the place from which
3:14 am
they told the world that history had taken a 90 degree right angle turn. joining us is michael beshlof. thank you very much for being here. >> thank you, rachel. i couldn't imagine anything more chilling and exciting than to hear those broadcasts. >> curting into the music in the middle of the night, we know from the way they wrote about it, that they honestly didn't know if this was a hoax. imagine just the news making decision about whether or not you put it on the air knowing that you may be doing the nats yis work for them by raising people's hopes to crush them. it must have been an unbelievably tense time. >> that was the fog of war. you know one other thing is that the night before fdr was part of all of this because he had given a speech declaring the fall of rome and saying that was a great thing, he knew that d-day was beginning. didn't say a word. the night of d-day he said, last night when i spoke to you americans about the fall of rome i knew this was happening. >> wow. well, let me ask you about something that you've written
3:15 am
about recently, michael, that peaked my interest. it was about presidents and d-day. d-day 1944. at the ten-year anniversary of d-day, general ice sentences sen hour who led the invasion was president and he didn't do anything publicly to commemorate it. i know we've never lost sight about how important d-day was. it's not something that we've rediscovered. how is it that we have these massive commemorations now but eisenhower did donn't do that. >> eisenhower, needles to say ten years later, almost everyone alive remembered this with huge excitement. eisenhower didn't want this to be about him. he felt that for him to go to some white hauser moneyy, to go to normandy would look like he was congratulating himself. that's what the greatest generation did not do. he was also a very emotional person. on one occasion, 1952, he was speaking during the presidential
3:16 am
campaign to a veterans group, began talking about the casualties, the men who had died on d-day and began to cry and put a hank kerchief over his face. this is a guy who's known for -- there's the image of that. he was known for anything but this. he was usually a very steely character. he spent it not at a ceremony, he sent it at camp david with his family. he sent out a 300 word statement that was magnificent in its brevity and eloquence. >> that's amazing. we'll find that and post that online tonight at our site along with your tweets about that which i have to say have been remarkable. i just want to ask you over time between then, 1954 and 2014, how have presidents make a mark? obviously eisenhower is the only one who could have made it about himself? >> right.
3:17 am
>> how have other presidents handled it putting president obama in context. >> nobody did it until 1984 for various reasons. president reagan gave that speech with dramatic staging, very well written speech, it was so good that it was actually used in his political commercials that fall, and that speech is so well remembered and so much admired that, you know, every president has gone back there on a major anniversary, but they all know that they're not going to live up to that kind of rhetoric. nevertheless, no president would ever dare stay away. >> michael beschloss, thank you very much for your time. glad you could be here with us. >> thank you, me, too, rachel. big developments out of texas though you might not have heard about although they have big national implications. news on the whole bowe bergdahl situation. we've got a lot ahead tonight. stay with us.
3:18 am
america's newest real estate brand is all ready the brand of the year. berkshire hathaway home services. good to know. and we're here in detroit ent michigan helping folks refinance their homes and save money. does it make sense to refinance right now? a lot of times we can lower the monthly payment, we can consolidate debt. we just want to make sure that you know your options, and we're here for you. we're not just number crunchers. i specialize in what i do and i care about my clients. from beginning, the middle and to the end, you're gonna talk to someone. not a machine. call us today for a mortgage experience that's engineered to amaze.
3:20 am
[ male announcer ]gs the little things we do... can make a big difference. every time you use dawn, you're using a brand that supports wildlife rescue efforts. experts trust dawn... because it's tough on grease yet gentle. ♪ you by my side makes the little things so good ♪ ♪ be a part of the bigger picture. ♪ and your kindness makes ♪ the little things that you do for me ♪ go to facebook.com dawnsaveswildlife. you need to see this. show 'em the curve. ♪ do you know what this means? the greater the curvature, the bigger the difference. [sci-fi tractor beam sound] ...sucked me right in...
3:21 am
it's beautiful. gotta admit one thing... ...can't beat the view. ♪ introducing the world's first curved ultra high definition television from samsung. big development breaking opportunity in one of the weirdest ongoing stories of this election year so far. it involved the republican race between thad cochran of mississippi and his tea party challenger chris mcdanuled. on wednesday, you may remember us reporting some sort of mysterious news about a chris mcdaniel tea party official getting locked behind the courthouse at 2:00 a.m. it wasn't just one supporter locked inside, it was three, including one of his campaign staffers, locked inside the county courthouse, the place
3:22 am
where ballots of the primary election were sitting. the local hines county sheriff opened them and then closed an investigation into the matter declaring as far as he could tell, no crime had been committed. but tonight, and this is the late breaking news, the district attorney in mississippi has announced his office will conduct a criminal investigation into what exactly those chris mcdaniel supporters, two supporters and a staffer, were doing in that courthouse in the wee hours on election night. the story will go on because they have a run-off election three tuesdays from now, but it turns out the cockamamie story of the courthouse lock-in on election night, that story is not over either. stay with us. c, bro. whatever happened to good? good is choosing not to overshoot the moon, but to land right on it. good is maxwell house. ♪ good to the last drop
3:23 am
3:24 am
way to get your fiber. try phillips fiber good gummies. they're delicious, and an excellent source of fiber to help support regularity. wife: mmmm husband: these are good! marge: the tasty side of fiber. from phillips. look at what i put together. cheddar and honey nut chex mix. get outta here! i made this belt with traditional, bold, and peanut butter chocolate chex mix. you guys are cute! i've got trail mix, peanut lovers, chipotle cheddar, dark chocolate, hot n' spicy... turtle, cookies 'n cream, italian herb & parmesan, sour cream 'n onion, and brownie supreme chex mix. and it rotates. 20 flavors, lots of pieces. chex mix pick your mix. now try popped in white cheddar and sweet and salty.
3:26 am
until today, this was the official republican party platform for republicans in the state of texas. we affirm that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society and contributes to the breakdown of the family unit. homosexual behavior is contrary to the fundamental changing truths that have been or dabd by god, recognized by our country's founders and shared by the majority of texans. homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable lifestyle in policy, nor should family be defined to include homosexual, quote, couples. there's something truly great about the fact they put the word
3:27 am
couples in spare quotes as if two gay people in a relationship, they may in fact be a couple of people, but it's only like, you know, two pairs is a couple of pairs or two buckets is a couple of buckets. two gay people can't be a couple, so get out the scare marks. today, though, the republican party of texas at their state convention, they did decide to get rid of the homosexuality tears at the fabric of society language. they only adopted that language in 2012, but today, they scotched it. instead, they added something new. under homosexualty, they say this. the new platform that picked says, quote, texas republicans recognize the legitimacy and value of counseling which offers reparative therapy and treatment to patients seeking escape from the homosexual lifestyle. so good news, texas gay people. you no longer need to escape from texas because republicans are out to get you for tearing at the fabric of society.
3:28 am
texas republicans now say you don't have to escape texas. they just expect you to escape from being gay, and you can stay by the help of quack science that is officially confirmed by the republican party of texas. you, too, can slam a pillow with a tennis racket and yell at your mother and you, too, could come out ex-gay. so help you rick perry. >> the therapy to cure people of being gay came today at the texas republican convention, which they bill as the nation's single largest political event. it's an every two years test of partisan political will. i'm happy to report that partisan will in 2014 republicans is very strong. the run-up included an announcement that no, the log cabin republican gays could not have a booth to pass out flyers and stuff. first, you get the reparative therapy so you become ex-gay and then you can have a booth so you
3:29 am
can be the log cabin republican ex-gay. come talk to us when you're cured. 6 and if you think that should extend to not making pot illegal, you're also not welcome to set up your hippie stoner booth because no one at the convention is allowed to advocate for policy that contradict the platform that includes both pot and gay people. over the years, the texas republican platform has been like a diagnostic workup of conservative politics. so far, republicans want you to know that benghazi was a cover-up, climate change, again, scare quotes, is an agenda to control every aspect of your life. congress should appeal the voting rights act, all of it, and they want you to know they deplore all discrimination and now if somebody could just fix the gays. that's not really the heart of what they're fighting about because none of it is going to cost them the party in texas,
3:30 am
but this might. there were 4 million hispanics eligible to vote in the last election. that number is expected to grow. at some point, that number is going to grow, and it may make texas a swing state. maybe by 2016, that's the democrats' great hope, or 2018 by the earliest is what you hear from texas republicans. if texas republicans want to stay in charge of texas, they have to figure out a way to continue winning elections which means they can't afford to keep losing hispanic voters as a block. in 2012, the last convention, the texas republican party drafted and passed a platform in favor of immigration reform, seriously. they called it the texas solution. yes, it started off with tea party friendly stuff, secure the border first and stop giving people citizenship just because they're born here, which would be an amazing change. but along with those tea party friendly proposals their texas solution immigration proposal
3:31 am
called for what amounts to a guest worker program. a program you can sign up for even if you come to this country illegally. oh, my god. amnesty, everybody freak out. the tea party has waited two years in texas to vote that out of the platform this year in 2014. the anti-immigration part of the texas tea party world calls themselves protect texas. their rallying cry was this. the battle is on for the future of the republican party and for our country. the message of the other side that wants to keep the immigration plan, their slogan is just as clear. their slogan is this, keep texas red. do something for immigration reform or republicans are going to lose texas. and by immediate consequence, any significant hope of controlling the white house or congress for a long while. that's the fight they're having right now in texas at their republican convention, at least when they're not pledging to turn gay people into straight people. how is this big important question going to work out in texas?
3:32 am
and is the way in texas ultimately going to be the way it works out for the country as republicans everywhere figure out how bad the math is for them. joining us is wayne slater, senior political writer for dallas morning news. he's had the pleasure of covering the republican state convention this week. wayne, it's great to see you and have you here. >> great to be with you, rachel, as always. >> let me ask you about this convention versus texas republican conventions past. they're always kind of amazing and always huge. is it more contentious than it usually is on this immigration issue specifically or any of the other things they're changing or tweaking? >> it is contentious. it was contentious two years ago. it was somewhat contentious four years ago. the key here is, let's quote, reasonable folks among the republicans who, as you have so well set up in the set-up piece, are worried about the future of the party and alienating every hispanic potential voter from el paso to lubbock, are saying we've got to do something. we can't be the party of no
3:33 am
anymore, and this fairly modest appeal to a guest worker program, the texas solution, is one thing we could do. but it will be contentious tomorrow. the debate is going to be on the floor tomorrow between those folks in the party who say let's have this guest worker program, secure the border, but let's not have this harsh rhetoric. it ain't good for the party. we'll see what happens. >> in terms of the state-wide candidates, texans running for congress in november and some of the conservative heroes, people like ted cruz, are they getting in on this argument and throwing their weight on one side of the argument or the other? it seems like they could be potentially king makers if they wanted to be. >> i talked to ted cruz just a few hours ago. he's leaving the platform, including the immigration matter, to the grass roots. in other words, i'm taking a powder on that. but the people behind cruz and
3:34 am
behind rick perry and behind the gubernatorial nominee greg abbott and others in the party say we really need this language that doesn't alienate hispanics. so that debate is very much under way and recognized because just a few hours ago on the stage, greg abbott, the man who is being challenged by wendy davis on the democratic side, not only talked in pretty glowing terms about hispanics and the need to expand and appeal to the constituency on the shared values the party offers, but also had his wife come out on stage, she is a latina, and made it clear he wants to make a play for south texas. spanish-rich south texas, and this republican party's days of alienating hispanics ought to be over. >> do you expect this will be settled by binding vote tomorrow, if the tea party loses on this, and they keep in the pro immigration reform, does
3:35 am
this become a rallying cry, a permanent split in the way the conservatives fight with each other in texas? >> i think there is a split. i think it will remain fairly permanent, at least for the time being. i think what it really will be is the opposite. this offers a model. this language offers a model for every republican who isn't from the beautiful red state of texas to say, i'm conservative. i want to secure the border, but here is a way we can talk about immigration without being accused of amnesty in a way that doesn't alienate and repel the constituency that's growing. look, there is a party very much a constituency inside the republican party, in texas, who is going to talk tomorrow and will argue amnesty, no amnesty, no way. but i sense that even here, although the rest of the platform, as you said, is pretty conservative. even here on the issue of
3:36 am
immigration, the are far reaching, far viewing folks in the republican party who say if we're going to grow, we have to figure out how to talk about this issue in a successful way. >> this is going to be a fascinating thing to watch over the weekend. seems like there's a real prospect the tea party side in this is going to lose in texas, which i think is going to be sparks for a long time. we'll see. wayne slater, thanks a lot. enjoy. >> thank you. all right, a best new thing in the world coming up. it involves my new fake boyfriend. he is 89. he does not yet know of my existence, but i'm working on it. stay tuned. was a truly amazing . he was a matted mess in a small cage. so that was our first task, was getting him to wellness. without angie's list, i don't know if we could have found all the services we needed for our riley. from contractors and doctors to dog sitters and landscapers, you can find it all on angie's list. we found riley at the shelter, and found everything he needed at angie's list.
3:37 am
join today at angieslist.com woman: what do you mean, homeowners insurance doesn't cover floods? [ heart rate increases ] man: a few inches of water caused all this? [ heart rate increases ] woman #2: but i don't even live near the water. what you don't know about flood insurance may shock you -- including the fact that a preferred risk policy starts as low as $129 a year.
3:38 am
for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. you know that dream... on my count. the one where you step up and save the day? make it happen. (crowd) oh no... introducing verizon xlte. hey guys, i got it right here! we've doubled our 4g lte bandwidth in cities coast to coast. so take on more. with xlte. for best results, use verizon. (vo)cars for crash survival,ning subaru has developed our most revolutionary feature yet. a car that can see trouble... ...and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not honda. not ford or any other brand.
3:39 am
subaru eyesight. an extra set of eyes, every time you drive. coming up tonight, still, a best new thing in the world, which is great, and also the thing that made john mccain this mad. >> how many times do i have to comment? i have a right as a senator to have no comment. and who the hell are you to tell me whether i can or not? i've been giving you an answer for the tenth time. get away from me, please. >> away from me, please. john mccain hits the anger button by mistake when he was aiming at something else, and that story's next. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn.
3:40 am
because you can't beat zero heartburn. woo hoo! [ male announcer ] prilosec otc is the number one doctor recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 8 straight years. one pill each morning. 24 hours. zero heartburn. how much money do you think you'll need when you retire? then we gave each person a ribbon to show how many years that amount might last. i was trying to, like, pull it a little further. [ woman ] got me to 70 years old. i'm going to have to rethink this thing. it's hard to imagine how much we'll need for a retirement that could last 30 years or more.
3:41 am
so maybe we need to approach things differently, if we want to be ready for a longer retirement. ♪ to prove to you that aleve is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. ♪ ♪fame, makes a man take things over♪
3:42 am
3:43 am
last night on this show, a rare and wonderful thing happened. are you ready? look. look at that. whether you love senator bernie sanders of vermont or you hate him or you don't much care, but you see him on the news. one of the things that is a reliable constant about good old reliable vermont accept tore bernie sanders is that he's kind of a tough guy. and i don't mean to say he's cheerless, but whether he's talking about good news or talking about bad news or breaking news, bernie sanders looks very serious all the time. you know sam the eagle from the muppets? by which i don't mean to suggest
3:44 am
that senator sanders is not perfect in every way, but he's not a big smiler. last night on this show it was news in and of itself that we got this big grin out of bernie sanders live on tv. we got him on the show to talk about the unlikely achievement of coming to an agreement with republicans. he put forward an effort in february to help v.a. health care, but republicans in the senate filibustered it. there was worry that republicans were going to filibuster it again and we were going to get nowhere in terms of fixing the problem, but behind the scenes he was able to get senator john mccain to sign on to a deal with him. their expectation is their deal is going to bring enough republican votes to actually get this passed for veterans, so something might get done, and senator sanders beamed. i'm not kidding, it caused spontaneous applause in the control room when he showed his pearly whites.
3:45 am
since that announcement, they put out a statement saying they applaud the compromise. they hope it gets done. between the bipartisan endorsements and bernie's smile, and the iava saying yes, politically, there ought to be nothing that can stop it. interesting about veterans groups, especially on days like today, this d-day commemoration, veterans groups in the u.s., at least the big ones, are usually treated with widespread respect, even deference when it comes to policy on veterans issues. that's why it was shocking recently when the opposite of that happened. this past memorial day, richard burr of north carolina put out this open letter ripping america's veterans organizations telling them they were doing a terrible job. he said the most recent senate hearing on the v.a. made it clear to him, specifically veterans groups' testimony at the hearing, made it clear to
3:46 am
him that veterans groups were more interested in their own livelihoods and washington connections than they were the needs of their own members. wow. their testimony at that hearing must have been really terrible to earn a rebuke like that from a senator on memorial day from a senator who isn't even a veteran himself, right? here is that testimony. look at how upset richard burr was at that hearing when he sat there listening to that testimony. look at how -- wait, look how upset his chair is. senator burr -- now it's possible he was in his chair but slumped to the floor so you couldn't see him, but actually, cameras in the hearing room -- look, this moment when he got up and walked out as soon as the veterans groups began their testimony. richard burr got up and left as soon as the veterans groups began talking and he only returned at the end of their testimony to tell them, thanks very much, you guys, but you have to get out of here.
3:47 am
>> not that i don't love you guys, but we're going to try to get the next panel in before we get into the series of votes that will bring a finality to that, so thank you. >> thank you. in this case means please leave. richard burr getting back to the room just in time to tell the veterans groups to leave after he skipped their testimony. their testimony that he later said was so upsetting to him he had to send out an open letter ripping veterans organizations on memorial day. i should note this cowardly form of failure is not just a richard burr problem, although he does wear it well. this particular kind of failure happens a lot right now in washington. over the last few years, this has become a very popular way to make a fool out of yourself as a politician. here's another instance. this tape i'm about to play, for example, this is one of the all-time great recorded instances of senator john mccain accidentally hitting the angry button when really what he might have been aiming at instead is the button marked i'm sorry or i'm embarrassed, but since those
3:48 am
are apparently tiny buttons that are heart to hit and the angry button is enormous and always in the way, he hit angry. senator john mccain screwed up badly and he sort of emotionally misfired all of his anger into the microphone of cnn's capitol producer at the time. >> tempers flaring on capitol hill. senator john mccain lashing out at one of our cnn producers who questioned why he was missing a key hearing on the attack of the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. he's been a sharp critic of the president and his administration, complaining lawmakers are not getting enough information. when asked why he missed that meeting today, he lashed out. >> one of those republicans who did not go to that briefing, it was a classified briefing, was john mccain. now, mccain at the time was having a press conference yesterday, lashing out at the administration for not getting enough information and calling for a select committee to investigate it all. well, our ted barrett caught up
3:49 am
with the senator earlier today and wanted to know why he didn't go to that briefing and to say the least, it did not go well. >> cnn then posted the audio exchange between their producer trying to get senator mccain to explain how he could justify this thing. there's a classified briefing on benghazi going on from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. john mccain did not go. at noon, he scheduled his own press conference demanding more information on benghazi. he had to skip the meeting with the information about benghazi in order to complain he was not getting the information. do you care to comment on that, senator? >> listen, i understand that you did miss this briefing yesterday. >> i have no more comment. i'm not going to comment on how i spend my time. i will not -- i'm not going to comment. i have no further comment. i have no further comment. how many times do i have to comment. >> why can't you? >> i have no comment. >> i have no comment.
3:50 am
who the hell are you to tell me whether i can or not. >> i'm asking a question. >> i'm giving you an answer for the tenth time. get away from me, please. >> there were no documents. >> did you make a mistake? you're very mad about it. >> i have no comment. >> senator mccain really did skip a briefing on benghazi so he could instead hold a press conference demanding information about benghazi. that really happened. senator mccain's office later called it a scheduling error. it's the kind of error that a lot of these guys tend to make now. in october as obamacare was rolling out they offered a briefing to house democrats and house republicans. house democrats accepted, house republicans reportedly ignored the offer and then when house democrats didn't get their briefing house republicans said they were outraged that they weren't having one, too.
3:51 am
fox news headline, boehner calls for briefing after republicans are snubbed. speaker boehner put out far too much information is being concealed from the public. all-americans demand answers for this debacle. now, briefing had been offered to them. they didn't bother to respond. but after that statement, the administration said okay if you really want that briefing we'll schedule it for you. then they held it. the hhs briefing that the republicans demanded. and well -- >> how many members are in there? >> i would say there is about 20 members in there. >> 20 of them showed up. for context here there are more than 20 republicans in the house. there are more than ten times 20 republicans in the house, but only about 20 of them showed up. after they were so outraged that they were not being offered information that they apparently actually did not want. it is so much more fun to demand
3:52 am
information than to actually receive it. receiving information is boring. takes forever. it's totally not like just going on fox news and complaining. it's like a dog chasing a car. so much more fun to chase the car than to catch the car. what are you going do do with it once you got it? this is an increasingly frequent, modern failure. just happened in a big way. on the new things republicans want to be a scandal. this is senator chambliss top republican on the intelligence committee. this is him speaking on fox on the show that is hosted by my friend greta van sustren. a live interview not on tape. what that means is senator saxby chambliss was live talking how the administration was denying congress the information about the bowe bergdahl prisoner ex-change. congress is out of the loop, the administration hasn't explained. more information is needed. while doing the interview, the administration was conducting a classified briefing for all
3:53 am
united states senators to explain those act things. senator chambliss walked out of the briefing to go on fox news to complain he couldn't hear what was being explained to him because he left so he could go on fox news and explain that he couldn't hear it. after that briefing was over, chuck todd tweeted that a lot of nbc personnel were trying to track down senators who had gone to the important classified briefing on the bowe bergdahl situation, according to chuck, many are admitting they left early. quote, amazing so many senators from both parties didn't stay for the briefing until the end." meanwhile there is lots of briefings never mandatory, you can go or don't go if you want to. when you don't go, you leave early, you are outraged that you didn't hear enough. like senator saxby chambliss and senator mccain. senator mccain did go to the beginning of the bowe bergdahl briefing.
3:54 am
reportedly senator mccain stayed long enough at that briefing to ask one question but then he walked out shortly after shouting at an official over what he considered to be an unsatisfactory answer. the bowe bergdahl hearing, john mccain turned up, hated the answer, screamed the person that gave him the answer, left. walked out to a nearby camera, and said about the briefing he just walked out of, i learned nothing. >> i learned nothing in this briefing. >> the one he left in the middle of. it must be hard to be a member of congress. i don't want the job. i don't know very many people who do. it cannot be part of the job to demand information that has been offered to you and that you have decided not to listen to. it cannot possibly be part of the job to insist that you have been denied critical information that you yourself were too lazy or otherwise occupied to bother to absorb. this is a new, increasingly frequent form of really, i mean, political lying in washington. it depends, getting away with this lie depends on us being ignorant and easily led when it comes to actually what is going
3:55 am
on in that big boring catty high school called congress. there is a roone to know what hearings are going on, when, and who is invited, and who ought to be there. and yet it sound boring all of a sudden. until all of a sudden it is the punchline on an ambitious member of congress turning himself into a laughingstock. if you are skipping the briefing to complain there is no briefing. we're not laughing with you, congressmen, we are laughing at you. america's newest real estate brand is all ready the brand of the year. berkshire hathaway home services. good to know. spending the day with my niece. i don't use super poligrip for hold because my dentures fit well. before those little pieces would get in between
3:56 am
my dentures and my gum and it was uncomfortable. even well-fitting dentures let in food particles. super poligrip is zinc free. with just a few dabs, it's clinically proven to seal out more food particles so you're more comfortable and confident while you eat. so it's not about keeping my dentures in, it's about keeping the food particles out. [ charlie ] try zinc free super poligrip. you don't try to catch... ...will get away. seize the summer with up to 40% off hotels from travelocity. how can a tablet replace start with the best writing experience. make it incredibly thin. add an adjustable kickstand, a keyboard, a usb port, and the freedom of touch. and, of course, make it run microsoft office, with the power and speed to do real work. introducing surface pro 3.
3:57 am
the tablet that can replace your laptop. i quit smoking with chantix. before chantix, i tried to quit... probably about five times. it was different than the other times i tried to quit. along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it's a non-nicotine pill. chantix reduced my urge to smoke. that helped me quit smoking. some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these, stop chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. my quit date was my son's birthday. and that was my gift for him and me.
3:58 am
ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. you need to see this. show 'em the curve. ♪ do you know what this means? the greater the curvature, the bigger the difference. [sci-fi tractor beam sound] ...sucked me right in... it's beautiful. gotta admit one thing... ...can't beat the view. ♪ introducing the world's first curved ultra high definition television from samsung. happy friday. best new thing in the world, boy do we all need one. this is great. at the top of the show tonight we brought you the story of bernard jordan, 89-year-old british navy vet who snuck out of his nursing home in southern england. they were worried, they called police. but today, he turned up in france. he is a d-day veteran when his nursing home told him they hadn't got him on an organized
3:59 am
trip to go to normandy today, he just went on his own. hooray. now the best new thing. since we have been on the air, bernard jordan arrived safely back in england. apparently he made lots of friend on the ferry from france to england once his story got out. because an itv reporter was able to find him in the ferry terminal in england when he got back. now we know the best new thing in the world today is that mr. jordan says he is going to try again next year. >> i'm going to try, if i am still with us, but if i am still about, i should try next year. >> nothing is going to stop you basically? >> oh, no. >> was it worth it? >> oh, definitely. yeah, yeah. >> have you any idea how much interest there has been in this? >> i didn't realize. no, no, no. >> do you think you are in trouble when you get back? >> i might be. but i hope not.
4:00 am
>> bernard jordan, nursing home escapee to normandy, says he is going to try it again next year. best new thing in the world by a mile. try to tell me it's not. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again monday. "weekends with alex witt" starts now. the main concern was is that we have a vast and delicate situation that requires no publicity. >> new word on the bowe bergdahl release in an exclusive interview. president obama talks more about defending the deal. >> right now -- >> a huge influx of immigrants on the texas border and a lot of them are children alone. we will tell you why they've been forced from their homeland. morning fix. why you might be less inclined to grab your daily dose of caffeine in the future. the answer in big money headlines. triple threat. the serious hurdles that face california chrome as he tries to run into history. a live report track side in minutes.
105 Views
IN COLLECTIONS
MSNBC West Television Archive The Chin Grimes TV News Archive Television Archive News Search ServiceUploaded by TV Archive on