rachel maddow show starts right now. >> thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. in 1987, the new york times magazine did a long profile of presidential hopeful named gary hart. in the 1988, gary hart was going to be a real contender. the miami he recalled had run an investigative piece specifically running him in miami. when he did that profile, he told the new york times that he had nothing to hide. he told them specifically this.

"follow me around. i don't care. i'm serious. if anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. they'd be very bored. sure enough, people took him up on the issue and this is the picture that delayed 1988 the shiny newsprint magazine that you can get at the supermarket checkout line. don't tell that to garihearted. don't tell that to john edwards, either. former democratic senator john edwards had fathered a child,

secretly in that relationship, and basically was maintaining a whole second secret family. had he been elected president, what could possibly go wrong? tabloid journalism is tabloid journalism. sometimes, it breaks real journalistic stories. they break stories that are way more important than their usual, you know, celebrity feuds. the national inquirer is still around. it's largely taken its place in the internet era, taking the inquirers is the outfit called t 34rks z.

when the owner of the l.a. clippers was forced out of the nba and made to sell his team, that was because tmz sports published audio tapes that appeared to show that nba owner using racial slurs and talking disparagely about black people. in 2009, in the middle of the financial crisis by if government, it was tmz of all places that broke the story about northern trust bank. they took $1.6 billion, with a "b" and then just weeks later, that same bank spent millions of dollars to sponsor a lavish, professional golf event. the following day, the bank

rented a private hanger at the santa monocan airport to host another sell bratorial dinner after which earth, wind and fire played. enjoy the bail out. taxpayers are waiting to help. that story was broken by tmz. so, yes, mostly, it is about celebrity feuds and plastic surgery and wearing controversial swim suits and stuff. but, sometimes, tabloid outlines like this, sometimes they break the biggest story in the country. and that happened today. in february this year, february 15th, there was an altercation

at an atlantic city new jersey hotel involving ray rice and his fiance. it was a violent altercation of some kind. neither of them was taken to the hospital, but both of them were initially charged with simple assault by the atlantic city police, which responded to the incident. four days after the incident, tmz sports published this disturbing video. ray rice is the one in the baseball cap before you see somebody else appear in the frame. atlantic city police have the grand jury decided to inviolate ray rice on a very serious charge. that's a felony.

could be up to five years in prison. as far as we know, ray rice has no previous criminal record. he has not noticed any players in the league. if he met those conditions and stuck with that program for the year, ultimately, the charge would be wiped off his record. that's howdy version their programs work. >> he apologized for his behavior with a felony assault charge and him knocking his girlfriend unkorns. at the end, this was involved in serious circumstances and in a

bizarre and personal press conference. in part, he was, by then, his wife, went through with having sort of been some mutual trouble. and then, at the end of the press conference, after he had been speaking all this time,at the end of the press conference, she apologized? >> i want to apologize to the fans and everyone who is affected. i want you to know that, you know,i'm still the ray rice that

you know or used to know or and love. i'm still the same guy. as we and janay wish we could take back 30 seconds of our life, i think my wife has something to say. i don't want to be the only one. we're in this together. >> yes, first i want to say, thank you for all of those who have supported us throughout the situation. i do deeply regret the role that i played in the. >> that was in may. it was july before the nfl announced what action it would be taking against its employee. they played the first game of the season yesterday. it was on thursday of this week.

so, had that been the end of it, ray rice would be back on the team less than two weeks in the season and playing ball again professionally. but that, of course, is not the end of it. tmz somehow obtained and published a second tape of this beating at that atlantic city hotel. that tape was inside the elevator. it showed ray rice and some kind of mutual confrontation. they're clearly upset with each other. but then, unmistakably, he hilts her in the face really hard with his left hand. he punches her in the face so hard, it knocks her out immediately. it is a terrible thing to see. it's the highest profile story in years. and the reason, frankly, is the tape. there's no shame in that and you'll want to just turn away for a moment.

i feel like we have to, after lots of consideration, because it is impossible to show this story without showing its. the tape shows mr. rice and his fiance entering the elevator walking into the elevator from out in the hallway. and then shows her dragging her seemingly unconscious body out of the elevator. he ends up dragging her out, rearranging her limbs, basically. eventually, another person approaches the scene at the end of the video. she's seemingly unconscious towards the end of this video. this is the tape that tmz published today. since it was posted this

morning, the football team that ray rice was employed by the balt more ravens, they've announced that they've terminated his contract. the raich's coach repeted in a press conference tonight that the team was not aware of the video before today and asked for the league he said he could not say. >> how come your team wasn't able to see the video until today? >> i have no answer for that. >> coach, did you believe that the nfl has seen that video before today? >> i koent have any understanding or knowledge of that, i don't know. >> were you satisfied with the level of diligence that the organization took i should

anouchbs how happy he is and how he looked to playing in pittsburgh on thursday. there's a real question as to whether or not it is true that the nfl had not seen this video today before it was posted on tmz. it had been reported in july at sports illustrated's web site. and also on espn. there was a second video. there was a surveillance video shot from inside the elevator on

espn radio. back in july, it was what was on the video was you will sdriebed in detail. espn radio, in july, describing the existence of a second tape showing it showed mr. rice hitting the woman hard and then the woman hitting her head on the handrail inside the elevator after she was punched and then she clearly became unconscious on the floor. the detailed description in july is absolutely entailed want the video did show. so at least somebody in the sports world seems to have seen that video in july. if so, if people inside professional football knew about this video before today, knew about the contents of this video before today, then the big press conference, right, the firing today, the indefinite suspension. remember, all along, since the

incident happened, since tmz published the sfirs video, there has never been any ambiguity as to what happened here. we have all learned all along t unconscious in that elevator. the nfl only moved to fire him today once we all saw him do it. this went from being a tragedy to a fr tragedy. the commissioner did admit that perhaps the suspension had been too light. given the impression that the nfl didn't care about domestic violence as an issue. the commissioner, last month, announced new guidelines for stricter punishment among nfl players.

since those penalties, two more have been arrested in doe mesic violence cases. the eventual punishment is yet to be determined. this week marks the 20 year anniversary of the domestic violence act which beeves up investigation and violence crimes against women, including domestic violence. this month marks the arrival of the one really big, thick monthly edition of the fashion magazine, vogue. september is when fall fashions come out and so september is always a really big, thick magazine. the advertising is presummablely expensive in the september issue.

in this month's vogue magazine, the nfl has bought a four-page spread of full color fashion magazine ads in the september vogue trying to make the nfl appeal more to women. i think we've got close ups of the ads there. today, as the story breaks, in the opening of the nfl, the richest and most monopolistic dominant in the country today as we talked about the most talked about story, frankly, a good country is hiding behind his hands unwilling or unable to watch a video this horrible and this raw and this really shocking and upsetting.

another part of the country, another part of the media, at least, apparently just sees this as one tabloid story among many. look where it broke, it broke on tmz. maybe there's everyone kind of a funny side to this thing. here's how they covered the story on a show called "fox&friends." a host of the program showed the video, they watched the video in the studio and then here's how they wrapped up their discussion and moved on. i think the message is take the stairs. >> i think the message is when you're in a elevator, there's a camera. do we get better or worse as a country to confront domestic violence. could we get better or worse at hantling that problem as a nation of the most potent

cultural institution that we have as a country. when john harbaugh held this proesz conference, he said it chachked things, of course. it made things a little different. why did seeing the video change change the course of the story so dramatically when we knew the out commonwealth of pennsylvania of the assault even before seeing the video? >> it changed the course because they finally had to do something about it. even if they had looked into it at all, everyone would have known exactly what happened in that elevator based on the facts that the police have brought forward and the short video that tmz had published early on. we all knew that he had punched

his fiance, but having it on video really hit home, so to speak, to so many people. and the nfl was really pressure ed into doing something about it, which is really sad. they should have done more much more quickly. >> it's hard to understand both culturally and economically. there's really nothing else in american sports and letters. some other criminal involvement

is never enough to remove them dramatically in the past. is it the fear of lost revenue? is it upset? do you have a sense of what makes them move? >> it's pr more broadly. but, of course, it's the fear of lost revenue. they know that women are powerful when it comes to who buys the tickets, season tickets. and who lets their husband go to the games on sundays. toogt, we're making a great form of entertainment for the world.

it's kind of a joke, when you think about it. like i said, this is an embarrassing moment for the nfl, prapts the most embarrassing moment in the history of the league. and we don't know if the nfl commissioner had seen the video tape or if the ravens had seen the video tape, but from my perspective, i don't think it matters. the facts are out there that ray rice had punched his fiance unconscious. nobody did anything about it that really meant anything. and the nfl really has a huge effect on people in this country, whether it's children, other players, guys and women that watch the games on sunday. if they came out and fired ray rice immediately.

>> the owners or the nfl may decide more broadly that his initial deposition exhibit was sort of the original sin here? after mr. rice's behavior itself that maybe mr. cadell is going to be in need of a new job? >> i think a lot of people are calling for him to step downright now because of the huge gaft that he has already done. but i think we'll have to watch over the next days and months about how he treats the other players who have been charged with domestic violence. >> thank you very much for being with us. i appreciate your time. >> lots more ahead tonight. we're going to be joined by jose diaz in just a couple minutes to talk about president obama's decision to delay immigration reform. later, we've got some important scott brown news that i'm going

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so, hey, congress is back. did you miss them while they were away? members of congress were on a five weeks plus vacation. that included the entire month of august and then some. but they have now had to come back to d.c. to work for a few days. borings. that said, there is a lot to do. and, right away, on the new "meet the press yesterday," the debut of chuck todd, announced

obama and what he'll do to address isis this week. it is due on wednesday, the day after tomorrow. we don't know if it's going to be a speech during the day or a prime time, nighttime address. that effort to make the case, the white house says it also intends to hold intensive briefing this week for every single person serving in congress. the president is working with leadership from both houses of congress to talk about isis. and then on wednesday, they're going to hold a classified briefing for all 100 members of the united states senate. and then on thursday, a classified briefing for all 435 members of the house. now, it's always fun on those days to see which members of congress leave to go do tv interviews, instead, in which they claim that they're just not

getting briefed enough. that will be fun to watch. i'm looking at you, john mccain. but those meetings between the congressional leadership and the president, the classified briefings of the entire congress, those are the signals of a major political ert effort in washington to basically get the whole of the u.s. government, if not on board, then at least on the same page and all of this political and diplomatic work at home, it all happens to try to get the rest of the world on the same page. not just about the necessity to combat this group, isis, but to try to do so in a coordinated, international way so different countries aren't would recollecting at cross purposes when it comes to trying to stop this group. particularly, the administration wants high profile involvement

from countries that have big, sunni muslim populations. they also, particularly, want and need participation from countries that are in the immediate neighborhood of the threat posed by isis, countries including not just iraq and syria, where the group is based, but also countries like turkey and jordan and saudi arabia and cutter, they want those countries to be seen as helping lead the international response. so it's not just the west against the muslims. it's it's the world. this is a very big diplomatic aim. this is a big ask of countries that do not like having big things asked of them publicly. there was a big development today.

they signed onto a report of immediate measures to combat isis. it still leaves the tough work of negotiating individual commitments from individual commitment that is could play a key role against isis. particularly the nation of turkey. turkey has turned out to be a big player. turkey is inevitably a partner. it won't work without turkey. and when you look at a map, you can see why that geographic inevitability is so. turkey has served as a point of transit. they crossed over from turkey. and the u.s. wants to turkey to stop that. if turkey was on board, they would provide a key launching

point, particularly if there would be a campaign. so turkey, gee graphly and politically is important here. turkey has been a little hesitant to take a stand since they're holding 49 citizens hostage after a raid on iraq in june. turkey is avoiding becoming the next target on isis. today, defense secretary chuck hegel landed in turkey's capital to meet with other top officials there. the trip was, quote, really to see how farther willing to go to assist a u.s.-led coalition. one of the reasons that's been hard to figure out so far is because we, as a country, don't

have an ambassador to turkey. really? with all of this going on in the world? nope? we don't have an ambassador to turkey. thank you, congress. since then, they've just sat in the senate leaving all of these hot spots around the world other than an ambassador. the obama administration realizing how important it is to get a fix for the american government on the ground there, especially right now, the obama add american strags has taken a remarkable step to send a temporary ambassador to turkey while it tries to get a full time one. they sent ross wilson during the george w. bush administration. he's just a place holder. he only got back to the region this past saturday. so the president is going to try

to defeat isis this week. turkey is assuredly going to be key to that strategy. we have a huge ask and we have nobody to ask. it's one thing to talk about the world being a mess. it's another thing talking about congress being a mess makes the world being a mess. it's summer break in july. the senate was shamed into finally confirming an ambassador to russia after months not having one and a huge stand off with russia. we, at the time, they were finally at the last second before vacation shamed into signing one up. now that the senate is back from vacation and not for very long, maybe we can finally get an ambassador to turkey now, too? maybe?

no rush.

a year ago this week, stuck in epic traffic because lanes were closed down on the world's busiest bridge on what appears to be on the order of new jersey governor chris christie. democrats marked the one-year an verse ri with a press conference at the bridge.

the closing down of those lanes on that bridge is still under investigation by federal prosecutors. one year later, we do not know much about that very opaque investigation, in fact that it does extend to governor christie himts and it's something that is not over. what we can say in new jersey in the meantime is this. on friday, new jersey got its credit rating downgraded again. specifically over new jersey's handselling of state finances. yes, that is a new record for the garden state. so, tomorrow will mark one year since the christie administration shut down for whatever political vendetta we still do not understand.

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in june, president obama said that if congress will not act on immigration reform, he would. and he would do it by the end of the summer. >> i take executive action only when we have a serious problem, a serious issue. and congress chooses too do nothing. and in this situation, the failure of house republicans to pass a darn bill is bad for our security. it's bad for our economy. and it's bad for our future. i've also directed to identify additional actions my administration can take on our own. within my existing legal authorities to do what congress refuses to do and fix as much of our immigration system as we can. if congress will not do their job, at least we can do ours. and i expect to adocument those recommend dagszs without further

delay. >> that was since the president set that end-of-the-summer deadline for himself. immigration reform have been lobbying to go big. if he's going to act on his own, he should act in a very significant way. republicans have campaigned against the president's promise mpx kagsing as proof that this is a president who governs by fiat. it would be the right thing to do for the country. he reiterated that point on friday. he decided to put off and will not act until after the elections in november. with control of the u.s. senate in the balance, democrats say they're worried that president

obama would now cost key senate races and red states like arkansas and north carolina and louisiana and alaska. white house officials are arguing that if the democrats lose the senate over immigration, they'll not be able to get oat r votes for immigration reform basically ever. they say, yes, this is a political calculation, but they say this is practical politics. they're trying to reserve for reform. they think they'll destroy that chance if the president acted now before the election. are they right in that calculation? regardless of whether or not they're right, how are they going to deal with everyone by reneging on this very clear projs made not that long ago. joining me now is jose telemundo. >> good evening, rachel, what a pleasure. >> what do you think of the calculation as it's being explained by the white house. it's not that they just want to hold onto those senate seats and they think the president's actions would be unpopular.

it's if they think the president acted, it would essentially foreclose any time in the future. do you buy that? >> rachel, let me tell you, i go back to my reading of medieval theology who wrote the cloud of unknowing. there seems to be a cloud of unknowing for me, at least, on what the logic is. between the president being so forceful in june announcing that he will take unilateral action to deal with a system that everybody agrees is broken. the left and the right both say immigration is broken. the house had the opportunity this year to deal with it. there were people on both sides of the aisle willing to handle this very difficult situation and they punted. and they punted for strictly political expediency. then, the president says, well, if you people aren't going to do

the job you're paid to do, i'm going to have to step up for the nation's betterment and deal with it. and i'm going to do it before the end of the summer. the crisis on the border that started last october was already going on. the elections in november were already coming. and, so, what is it that one can gain by doing this after being so forceful on the announcement? the only thing i can think of, rachel, is that the democrats in the senate and in the house behind closed doors were very forceful to the president not to act. there were only a handful of them, as you know, the senator from minnesota, the senator from florida who publicly said it would be a good thing if the president kept his powder dry until after the elections. i'm pretty sure a lot of other people weren't willing to give their face and take the heat by

asking the president to do something that i am certain he is ready to do and he wants to do. >> are the democrats not giving enough consideration to not just the po ten shl negative effect of doing this politically,but the potential positive effect had they done something. he other wise might have turned out to vote against democrats. you can say there's a similar dynamic maybe in some states. but what's different about this than in gun control issues is that this potentially has a chance to galvanize democratic voters to boost latino turn out at a time when democrats are trying to do anything they can in a midterm election. >> i think that in 2014, the gamble would not be big enough in the key areas and the key

races right now where this issue could make a difference. taking colorado out of the equation, there are probably very few states in 2014 that will be affected by lower-than-normal participation. deportations like a young man named luis who, on the morning show at 10:00, 7:00 a.m. pacific time, it's a cheap plug for my show, but i really do think that we want to talk about luis who is a guatemala man who is currently in a church in arizona where he has sought refuge. he has been here six and seven years and has family and he is facing deportation. so if we remove that aspect, the

humanitarian aspect of a thousand people being deported every single day, a thousand people being deported tomorrow, maybe 60 or 70,000 people being deported by the time the president decides to act on this issue. if you remove that, then maybe, maybe by the time you get to 2016, and there will be another candidate that won't be barack obama, then maybe what happened today is not going to be as well-remembered by some. jose, thanks for staying up late with us tonight. i really appreciate it. >> thank you so much. >> stimahead, some scott brown news and a very exciting programming note about something coming up on this show, stay with us. let me get this straight... [ female voice ] yes?

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the only thing i can think of, rachel, is that the democrats in time than he did last time. rick perry has been governor in texas for 14 years. but he's not running again. running for the position, greg abbott and wendy davis.

wendy davis has a new book out tomorrow, and we have an exclusive interview with her about it. we're going to be the first cable news interview that she is doing. that's tomorrow, set your dvr, we'll be right back.

there is a state in the country that has two women u.s. senators, a state that also has two members of the house, and they also are both women. and that statement state also has a governor who is a woman. the entire congressional delegation and the governorship are all head by women in the great state of new hampshire, but one former fashion model is trying to change that. the polls say scott brown is on track tomorrow to win the republican nomination for u.s.

senate in new hampshire. and then the polls say that will put him on track to raise that race for senate to the incumbent jen shaheen. if that's correct, that means scott brown will make history. if it goes the way the polls say it's going to go, he will be the first of the male persuasion to win to u.s. senate races to women. good job. that is pointed out in a recent edition of time. to help make up the deficit, scott group's idea, apparently, is to give out trophies to women, little plaques with engraving on them, all in cursive. because women love cursive.

this woman only really wanted to meet with scott brown to talk about health care costs at her business, but scott brown showed up with a plaque tor her, naming her a women for scott brown hero. he took a picture with her and the plaque and sent out a press release about this award he was bestowing on this woman. she appears to be mystified by the whole thing. that is the latest from scott brown winning over the women of new hampshire one trophy at a time. how long can it take. tomorrow's the last primary day before the november election. tomorrow's the last primary, new york, massachusetts, delaware, rhode island and new hampshire. we should know everywhere in the country, who's going to be running in the general election on november's election night. we'll have all the election results for you tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel.

>> great show. >> thanks. >> we're proud of you. >> that does it. now it's time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. . good tuesday morning. right now on "first look," hitting a woman is not a real man does. ray rice's actions have sparked a nationwide discussion. we have reaction far and wide. two people were injured in arizona's flash floods on the rainiest day in phoenix's history. las vegas also suffered flooding. and president obama will define his strategy today. the fight against the terror thugs of isis. good morning, everybody. thank you for joining us. baltimore ravens' ray rice is terminated from the nfl indefinitely but it is good enough? that question after that violent new video seen here, rice delivering a knockout blow to