remarkable television. that was really really incredible stuff, chris, well done. thanks to you at home for joining us this hour. governors almost never quit. it's a good gig. that main question how hard it is to imagine why someone would give up that particular job. that was one of the challenges for the news media when alaska governor and former republican party vice presidential nominee decided to quit during her first term in alaska. there didn't seem to be in good reason to quit. when she announced she was quitting, for a long time into her speech no one could figure out what she was saying if she was quitting and why she was. >> if i learned one thing is

that life is about choices. you can choose to engage in things that tear down or build up, and i choose to work on a path for fruitfulness and opportunity. i choose not to waste presh time. what may be tempting and more comfortable to keep your head down and plot along to appease those who are demanding to sit down and shut up that is a quitters way out. only dead fish go with the flow. no productive fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts choosing to utilize precious time to build up. that's the quitters way. i quit it. quitting is a weird way to recommit yourself to the work of alaska. that is how she explained why she was quitting and it was very confusing. very typically they have quit in

modern times because of romantic entanglements. >> i'm deeply sorry i did nottive up to what was expected of me. to every new yorker and all those who believe what i tried to stand for, i sincerely apologize. >> given the circumstances surrounding the affair it's likely impact on my family and my ability to govern i decided the right course of action is to resign. >> governors rarely resign. the one that we might be in the midst of right now, the one that may be happening right now, tonight, in the country, is somewhere between the romantic entanglement quitting and the sarah palin version of quitting which is more like huh? what is going on here? i don't understand. here is my best understanding of what is going on right now.

this story is still unfolding right now. events may have overtaken the story by the time i get to the end of it. as far as i can tell here is what's going on. there is something called the national association of secretaries of state. that is the person who runs elections in states. and there is a national association for those folks. one of the secretaries of state from around the country is the president of that organization that served as president for a one-year term. this week in washington the national association of secretaries of state have been having their annual winter meeting in washington dc. not the highest profile event in the world but it ends up being important. stay with me here. the current president of the national association of secretaries of state is case brown. the secretary of statement for the great state of oregon. on tuesday, in the middle of their winter meeting for this

organization that she runs as president this year she got a personal, direct one on one call from the governor of her state. from the governor of oregon. in that phone call on tuesday, she says he asked her personally to please fly back to oregon immediately for a one on one meeting with him. leave this meeting she is chairing in washington come home you need to meet with me face to face right now. now oregon doesn't have a lieutenant governor. if the governor is forced out of office or dies the next person in the line of succession in the state is the secretary of state. the governor of oregon has been hit be many scandals most involving his girlfriend. some of them are pay to play charges. whether she was paid to advocate

for policies or to try to implement the policies herself in her unofficial role as first lady. so there is an ongoing ethics investigation over these aels allegations over his girlfriend. there has been plenty of public pressure for him to resign over these allegations including from the state's largest newspaper. there has been headlines like this in the local papers this week. rumors swirling the governor is about to resign. that call from him, personally to the secretary of state, the person who would take over and become governor if he did resign, that call from him on tuesday that she needed to leave dc and race home to oregon to meet face to face was a dramatic moment. she said yes sir. she said i know i'm the

president, i'm sorry i have to go, an emergency at home in my state, i might have to become the governor. she flew home on the first flight. she was due to arrive about 4:00 p.m. yesterday. and then i will let her explain it because she put out a statement explaining what happened. it i put it in my words, you might not believe it. it is so weird it can't possibly have happened. this is what she says happened. late tuesday afternoon i received a call from the governor while i was in washington dc at a secretaries of state conference. he asked me to come back to oregon as soon as possible to speak with him in person and alone. i got on a plane yesterday morning and arrived at 3:40 in the afternoon. i was escorted directly into a meeting with the governor. it was a brief meeting. he asked me why i came back early from washington dc. wait. huh?

governor calls her and says you need to come back early from dc. she says yes, sir. she comes back early from dc walks into his office and he say what's are you doing back early from dc. is this is really weird, right? but wait it gets weirder. back to her statement. he asked me why i came back early from washington dc which i found strange. i asked him what he wanted to talk about. the governor told me he was not resigning, after which, he began a discussion about transition. now i guess transition can mean a lot of things. in this case it sounds like he asked her to come back early from dc and then he said why did you come back early and then he said i'm not resigning and he said let's talk about what happens after i resign. he said he's not going to resign and then talked about what happens when he have be governor

after he is not governor. there is one last light. this is clearly a bizarre and unprecedented situation. yeah no kidding. so the secretary of state had her drama yesterday with the governor even though he apparently did talk to her about transitioning in state government. the governor told reporters yesterday afternoon that he definitely was not resigning. >> have you been considering resigning? >> no, i have not. >> it has not crossed your mind at all? >> no. >> so tuesday, he tells his would be successor rush back home. he pleads ignorance when she gets there. yesterday he said he won't resign. today the secretary of state put our her statement saying what happened. now the democratic leaders of the senate and the house, both came forward early today and said not only do they believe

that the governor should resign but they said they told him that to his face. >> senator, did you meet with the governor this morning? and if so what was discussed? >> i met with the governor this morning, the speaker and i both met with him, and i asked him for his resignation, and the speaker asked him for his resignation. >> what did the governor say? will he resign? >> he was struggling. he -- it is unclear to me whether he will or not. he met with me in this office on tuesday and led me to believe he was going to resign. he wanted to have a transition period with the secretary of state. he noted it would be earlier in the week. i was ready to go i had a statement prepared it would take care of itself. then i could not tell anybody because he swore know secrecy, i

told my wife and then a bomb shell happened yesterday. the secretary of state is coming back i don't know. then all of a sudden i'm not going to resign. i just said i don't know. i can't fix this. i can't make it better. i can't save anybody. >> that was the democratic president of the state senate in oregon. these twoe leaders in the state legislature, in the same party as governor they asked the governor face to face if he would please resign. the treasurer of the state, the next highest elected official in the state, he also came out publicly today and said governor kitzhaber should resign. all of those called happened before the next bomb shell about governor kitzhaber landed in the press.

governor john kitzhaber's office sought to destroy thousands of his e-mails. it is a heck of a school. one week ago today, the governor's executive assistant sent an e-mail that has now been obtained asking the tech folks at oregon's tech department to say they needed to delete everything in the governor's e-mail. the governor is under an ethic the investigation, he is reportedly under an fbi investigation. the day after his office sent this request to the state government to destroy all of the e-mails and take them off of the servers is when the oregon attorney general announced an investigation into the allegations against the governor. here is the good news oregon

the governor's office sent that request one week ago today. please destroy my e-mails while in the midst of all of these criminal investigations about my behavior. the good news here? the guys in the tech department of state government that received that request to destroy the governor's e-mails -- they said no. congratulations, oregon, you have conscientious public servants including the field tech who got the request. he did not act on it and asked his supervisor what he should do. you also have a responsible servant there. they say i'll not willing to delate information out of the

archive archive. they survived and they went forward, and there is no provision to impeach a state governor. if he goes he has to go on his own terms. he took backsies in a way that most people did not understand. and the allegations keep flying about him and the bizarre way they're now being handled. it is still unsettled as of tonight, at least it was when i started talking. joining me now is oregon state senator diane rosenbaum. thank you for being here to help us understand. >> my impression as a total outsider is that governor kitzhaber has been a well respected state legislature, an

unprecedented four terms as governor. he was just reelected in november. even those criticizing him now believe he was a very good public servant, what do you think is going on with him? >> absolutely i have the utmost respect for the governor. he has done remarkable things for the state of oregon but he is a national leader on health care, and has seen as i think one of the foremost experts around the country. i think he is struggling. it ask a very difficult time for our state and for him personally. he has a difficult decision to make, and it can't be easy for him, both in terms of his legacy, the work he has done for the state. the fact that we just started a new legislative session and on a personal level as well. >> there is a lot that you have to expect as politic noise, but it was striking today to see the

state treasurer come out, the senate president, the speaker of the house, democrats all come out and say, all with obvious heavy hearts that he has to go. it seemed this week like he was planning to go certainly the state senate president seems to have said that is what the president indicated to him. who is telling him not to resign? >> i can't really answer that. i know that it has been a very difficult time for all of us. i think for those leaders you just mentioned, no one wants this to be the situation we're facing and certainly they didn't come lightly to the decision to ask for his resignation. >> you have not called for his resignation, and i can hear that you're not doing that now. i have to ask if the scoop today is born out, if he asked for his personal e-mails to be deleted off of all state servers, and he

did it a week ago today, would that change your feelings about whether or not he might be able to stay in office and be effective? >> i think we just learned that information late this afternoon. we have a very strong public records law here in oregon and a process to deal with that. i don't want to rush to judgment, but it sounds like a serious matter. >> democratic senator diane rosenbaum. i know this is a difficult time. i feel like things are moving very fast in the state. keep us apprised as best you can. i'm not sure why we're more interested in it than the rest of the national news media at this point, thank you for helping us understand what is going on right now, i appreciate it. >> thank you, rachel. >> if you want proof that i'm a total outsider to oregon

politics, it is wilamit week not willamet week. also house republicans stomping on the brakes. and president obama putting his pen collection to good use today. and later "50 shades of gray." there's confidence. then there's trusting your vehicle maintenance to ford service confidence. our expertise, technology, and high quality parts mean your peace of mind. now you can get the works, a multi-point inspection with a synthetic blend oil change tire rotation, brake inspection and more. $29.95 or less. you owned your car for four years. you named it brad. you loved brad. and then you totaled him. you two had been through everything together.

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look at this look. this is not -- look. this is not what you want to see in front of you when you're driving to work in the morning. this is what the sky looked like in several small spanish towns northwest of barcelona today. that terrifying apricot plume of smoke was a explosion at a chemical plant. two chemicals got mixed together and exploded and it created that

huge orangey giant cloud. three people were injured in the explosion. 60,000 residents were told to shut their windows and stay inside while the toxic smoke dissipated. this was not an attack. this was an accident. but things go wrong all of the time. even with really dangerous and toxic stuff. hold that thought. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn. because it gives me... zero heartburn! prilosec otc. the number 1 doctor-recommended frequent heartburn medicine for 9 straight years. one pill each morning.

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this is the rarest of all endangered species in washington. president obama signed into law the clay hunt suicide prevention act. president obama did that thing that president's office do when they sign a new piece of legislation. he used many many many pens. it looks like he has a dozen pens there. that is so he can give them as momentos to people involved in or affected by the passage of the bill. here is a pen that signed the legislation. but the presidential opinion is about to get a real workout even beyond that because today, it was that bill signing. next, president obama is gearing up for his first presidential veto of major legislation. that bill got final approval

from congress yesterday. it is not clear when president obama will veto it. republicans in congress want to make as big of a deal as possible that he is vetoing it. once they decide to send it to president obama, and he does veto it as promised republicans now say they're just going to pass it again after the veto. and they say they're going to pass it again after the veto and they will just pass it again and again and again. just like the repeal obama care bill they have passed some 56 times. senator john hoven said maybe they will attach the keystone thing to another bill or put it into a must pass appropriations bill or maybe they will put keystone in every bill in congress from here on out. this will start with president obama's veto and then it will

get very fun. senator john hoven knows from his home state of north dakota that they have thousands of miles of pipelines. natural gas, and 20,000 miles of gathering pipeline that's are the connecters between all of the other pipelines. a drilling company discovered that one of their small gathering pipelines had burst hope. it was only a four inch pipeline. when it burst, it caused the state's largest ever spill of toxic drilling brine. three million gallons of brine that is ten times saltier than sea walter. and it feeds into the missouri river. that pipeline was less than a

year old when it burst. state of the art pipeline, and it had never been inspected. at the time the pipeline burst, the state of north dakota had precisely zero pipeline inspectors. they approved funding for three inspector jobs but as of january when that one burst, all of the pipeline jobs were vacant. now we covered this on the show last month after that giant brine spill. and then we decided to try to find out who, if anyone, had a applied for these inspector jobs. we made a formal request to see the applications of people that applied for those jobs. it was very friendly north dakota officials that provided those applications to us under the state's open records law. between july and january, a total of 21 people applied for

those jobs. applied for one of the three pipeline inspector jobs. just last month, they filled one of the three jobs. there is now one inspector for the 20,000 miles of pipeline. for the other two positions, the stay says they have not found enough qualified candidates. i'm obviously no expert on what makes a qualified pipeline expect inspector. there is 21 applicants come on north dakota. they did decline to offer us their thoughts on why they're having trouble finding the right candidates even though people are applying for the jobs. consider this the department that oversees the state's larger pipelines, they have explained what happened. they say that i have trouble keeping inspectors because when they get someone into the job, they leave for a better paying job in the oil industry.

that larger pipeline inspector position, that one is also open right now. that job pays up to $96,000 a year. the one for the smaller pipelines, that pays $51,000 a year. $51,000 a year is good money, right? but when you're competing with the most profitable industry the earth has ever known, maybe $51,000 is not enough to hold on to people. you may have to pay more. one official told us the pipeline industry is a competitive industry. we have and will continue to work to make the positions' salaries as competitive as possible. there are still two open positions. if there are any experienced or aspiring pipeline inspectors out there, north dakota says they would like to know? do you have the ability to work effectively with diverse groups of people. are you adaptable to the northern plains climate?

any relevant pipeline experience? we have posted the application at maddow blog. seriously, north dakota needs you, the country needs you, but that is the state of the art for how we deal with pipeline safety right now. keystone that is a 36 inch pipeline. the 3 million gallon spill was from a four inch pine line. no. it's called grid iq. the 4:51 is leaving at 4:51.peline. they cut the power. it'll fix itself. power's back on. quick thinking traffic lights and self correcting power grids make the world predictable. thrillingly predictable. next.

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so we don't usually cover movie premiers, but one movie coming out tonight, i'm told it is caused "50 shades of gray." it has caused a stir. particularly in the south. the deep south, in particular is really psyched for this movie. which has led to awkwardness for one of the most powerful organizations in conserveative politics. they call it planning for retirement because getting there requires exactly that. a plan for what you want your future to look like. for more than 145 years, pacific life has been providing solutions to help individuals like you achieve long-term financial security.

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online for the first time how how combat operations in afghanistan are back on and in a big way. the hook is a laptop that special operations forces were able to obtain in october when they raided the home of an al qaeda suspect. it has been a treasure-trove of information on that part of the world. militants that work with them in thart part of the world, and according to the "new york times," the u.s. war in afghanistan, going after these militant groups is apparently back in full spring. quoting from the times that the spite in raids is at odds with the policy declaration. they appear to target a broad measure of militants.

they said it would continue after the formal end of american-led combat operations last december. the tempo, according to one military official is quote, unprecedented for this time of year. it is also unprecedented for a war that supposedly no longer exists. so that is awkward to be talking about the war being over in the midst of this very detailed new reporting coming out simultaneously talking about how the war is not at all over in fact it is kicking way back up. the other thing that happened while the "new york times" was breaking that story and the president was mentioning the war being over in the same half hour period we got a new secretary of defense. ashton carter. he was confirmed in the senate today 93-5. because there was such

overwhelming support, his confirmation process, honestly was not really the occasion for any significant debate in washington about him or about broader issues regarding national security the wars and what military is doing right now. that debate about the military fight against isis is only just starting now in congress more than six months and more than 2,000 air strikes into the ongoing military campaign. that debate is just now starting in congress in the last 48 hours with president obama sending over his proposed language to authorize that force that we have been using for months. that debate i believe, is long overdue. it is already quickly becoming unpredictable and therefore interesting. lawmakers from both parties are coming down on the president's request for authorization to use military force in surprising and

unpredictable ways today, for example, we learned that seth molten a marine corp veteran, he served four tours, he signalled that he will not support president obama's request for military force. he said it should be lead by political and diplomatic efforts locally in the middle east and in the region. interesting, right? from a decorated combat veteran. so we are finally having a debate. now, it does seem like that debate ought to include some mention of what is really going on in afghanistan where 10,000 troops are supposedly still there and it is supposedly not a war. even if they have changed the name of what we're doing over there.

clearly the war in afghanistan, at least at one level, is still very much on. that may require further debate maybe further legal authorization as well i don't know. a little sunshiny ray of hope right here. being optimistic that we are capable of a roadway debate and real decision making. the reason to be cheerful about that prospect is these guys. iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. iava proved today that politics is still possible. in a congress in which nothing gets done, and everything is partisan to the point of stupidity, and there is nothing that does not get consumed into a dumb smoking pit of failure, see that the homeland security department is about to shut down and no one knows why in a congress where nothing gets done, a washington where nothing is possible iava and the family

of marine corporal clay hunt who took his own life after coming home from two tours in afghanistan, they did the impossible today. they made politics work. they signed into law a small direct constructive piece of legislation that is aimed at preventing veteran suicide. they were able to muscle this threw, this terrible dysfunctional congress. >> just to be clear about the bipartisan here this is one of those areas where we can't have an argument. clay's parents are texas republicans. you know i mean that is not just run of the mill republican. and they worked with this entire spectrum conservatives, liberals. that is just a reminder of what we can accomplish when we take a

break from the partisan bickering that so often dominates this town and focus on what matters to the american people. >> joining us now is the founder and president of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america. he was at the bill signing today at the white house just over the president's shoulder there. paul, thank you for joining us tonight, congratulations. >> my pleasure thank you. i just came from where all of the vets are celebrating with susan and richard, a barbecue place here in dc and she asked me to pass thanks to you personally for staying focused on this fight. this is a real team win and we appreciate the win that you and everybody watching gave us. >> i just been covering what you are doing and watching in amazement as anything gets done in washington and watching with real admiration for the tenacity it took to get this done on the part of clay's family and you

guys. you're a good advocate for your cause. i have seen you pass stuff when i didn't think anything could pass before. what is the lesson learned here about how you did it? >> a total team effort. bringing together people from all different becomes and all across the country. most of all this is people power. the politicians were on stage but the real leaders were in the audience. people who were every day people who took up this fight and kept pushing forward. we learned aasymetrical. we're talking to all kinds of people. most of all we have people on the ground around the country in every city fighting for change and we're sick of washington being broken.

this is a big win and a first step. we have a long way to go. we hope this is a shot in the arm and it gives us hope that things can get done. if we stay focused on what matters. >> as an observer on politics that is what i'm trying to figure out, whether or not you guys can do this stuff because you're veterans, because of your skills in getting it done and people feel about veterans in a way that is powerful enough to transcend politics. if there is anything that can transcend your focus and if it can work for other stuff, do you feel like it could? >> i hope sewo. i was standing between senator blumenthal and senator mccain. they will probably not stand on a stage together again this year. we're leading outside of washington. we're not going to wait for washington because washington has been so dysfunctional.

this is grass roots power. this is mr. and mrs. smith going out. she is tough. the only thing tougher than a marine is a marine's mom. she has been so selfless and a true leader. she is what this country is all about and i think she personally has inspired people from all across the country to get involved. >> paul rieckhoff, celebrating tonight, thank you for being here. >> thank you, rachel we appreciate it. amid unimaginable grief, clay's family jake and his fellow veterans made it their mission to spare any more families the pain they endured. they reached out to members of congress. and they lobbied and they testified and made personal

appeals. and thanks to their tireless efforts, we are particularly grateful to clay's family for being able to transform grief into action. today i will sign the clay hunt save act into law. we're both between 35 and 45 years old. we both like to save money on car insurance. and we're both really good at teaching people a lesson. um, let's go. cool. sit down! alright. sorta you, isn't you. only esurance has coveragemyway. it helps make sure you only pay for what's right for you not someone sorta like you. i think i blacked out from fear... did we ask him where mr. craig was? we did. esurance. backed by allstate. click or call. if you're taking multiple medications does your mouth often feel dry? a dry mouth can be a side effect of many medications. but it can also lead to tooth decay and bad breath. that's why there's biotene available as an oral rinse toothpaste, spray or gel. biotene can provide soothing relief

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a week ago tonight on this very show i made a very specific offer to the good city of salem, oregon, and then this happened. salem is taking a step to help protect people from angry owls. this hazard sign started as a gag on "the rachel maddow show," but they're going to use them. the city has identified the birds as barn owls and that park goers should be especially careful from dusk to dawn.

>> turns out they didn't wait until friday. the salem parks department took us up on our offer, and today -- look, be hold it happened! look our suggested beware of angry owls sign is now the official sign in salem, oregon. you know what? write my obituary right now. if we have accomplished nothing else on television let this be the legacy of the rachel maddow show. thank you salem, oregon.

okay. just because you get there first doesn't mean you get in first. at least that's not how it works in the united states senate. just because loretta lynch was nominated to be attorney general a month before ash carter was nominated doesn't mean she'll get a confirmation vote before he does. she sailed through her confirmation hearings in the senate. nobody laid a glove on her. because they couldn't lay a glove on her, the hearings ended up basically being about the current attorney general instead of about her. >> you're not eric holder are you? >> no i'm not, sir.

>> so no one is suggesting that you are, but of course attorney general holder's record is heavy on our minds now. >> loretta lynch just like ash carter aced her confirmation hearings in the senate. but today it was ash carter confirmed to become the next secretary of defense, even though his nomination went up a month later. loretta lynch, apparently republicans are having second thoughts. today, the judiciary commit was supposed to vote on her nomination, but at the last minute they decided not to. why the change of heart? nobody is saying. now they're not planning on giving her a final vote until march. there's no indication before now that she was going to have any trouble. i usually would finish a report by saying watch the space. with this delay, this really feels like an outbreak of shenanigans is imminent.

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elvis was from tupelo mississippi. he built his graceland in memphis, yes, but he was born and raised in tupelo mississippi. diplo was also born in tupelo. he grew up in miami but he's apparently a tupelo native. the guy on the right here was not born in tupelo mississippi. he was from chattanooga. but he moved to tupelo. he was frank raines and he was a simultaneous parker. >> he has the ability to talk right along with me, and can do it in any language, even though he may not know the language in which the person is speaking.

[ applause ] [ indiscernible ] >> frank raines the simultaneous talker. and elvis and tamika they are all from tupelo mississippi. also from tupelo, mississippi, these guys. the american family association, our new favorite far right religious activist group, who says jewish immigrants to america should be forced to convert as a condition to coming to this country. >> number one, those who came to our shores would be expected to adopt our religious values and our traditions. that would mean christianity. the religion of their home lamd the god of their homeland they would leave them behind. >> from their home base in tupelo, mississippi, the folks

at the american family association figured out how to make a real wonderful living with running radio shows and leading crusades against sponge bob and boycotting hamburger ads. and have been hauling republicans around to israel. after news got around that the republican national convention was being hosted by this mississippi trip we've been asking whether republicans went ahead with that trip. still, the republican party won't answer our questions about that trip to israel neither will the american family association in tupelo. that said i'm sure they have plenty to work on besides answering questions from liberal tv ladies. this is now being unleashed by satan on cineplexs everywhere.

telling you and your mother and everybody else why they might not see this movie. "a more apt title would be 50 shades of evil." now, it's not for me to say whether you should see this movie, but the american family association, from its tupelo mississippi headquarters most certainly wants you to not buy a ticket for "50 shades of grey." but when they open the newspaper in the morning, this is the news they're seeing. mississippi, the most eager state in the country to see "fifty shades of grey." advanced tickets for this devil show have been selling there four times faster than the national average. in the home state of the american family association, which is very busy telling everybody not to buy a ticket. the first theater in the country to sell out for this movie, every ticket gone, is in tupelo,

mississippi! the actual backyard of the american family association. tonight in tupelo mississippi, the first three shows of "fifty shades of grey" are completely sold out. yes, american family association, your town really wants to see "fifty shades of grey" and they really don't care what you say about it. but we would still like to hear your answers to our questions about that trip you took with the republican party. so please check your inbox. thank you. now time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." there is a new part-time member of the republican congressional leadership. his day job is prime minister of another country. >> this is not a personal disagreement between president obama and me. >> one of america's strongest allies and its very existence is under attack. >> i'm going to the united states not because i seek a confrontation with the president. >> he getting chosen