i'm canceling the razor of the month club that i was planning on getting you. i didn't know it would creep you out so much. i meant it in the best possible way. thanks, man. >> thank you. thank you for joining us this hour. did you know that there is a bill and hillary clinton national airport? it is not an international airport, it is just a national airport. so only domestic flights. but it already exists. the bill and hillary clinton national airport is right on the banks of the arkansas river. conveniently located in downtown little rock. which is the state capital of arkansas. and little rock, arkansas, is a nice place. it has the state capital. it has the bill clinton presidential library, and presidential complex thing, which is a big thing. the convenient little downtown airport. i was in downtown little rock the night the house of representatives first passed obamacare. and i watched that vote on c-span in a little rock bar while eating really excellent arkansas barbecue. i can attest, little rock is kind of awesome.

little rock has a lot to recommend in it. but little rock is not done. what they want to do is they want to create a little rock technology park. they want to capitalize on the fact that they've got not just a state capital, but also the university of arkansas at little rock, good intellectual capital there. but they want to make the city into more of a tech hub. at the little rock technology park website, they explain that plan. and they specifically explain how the issue of caffeine is an important part of that plan. >> proximity is everything. workers want to be in urban places that are walkable. bikeable. hyper caffeinated, so they can bump into other workers and share ideas. innovation districts are this century's productive geography. they are both competitive places and cool spaces. >> that is what little rock is looking for. they want to become a cool space. they want a slice of that sweet, sweet tech economy. that means they need to attract

technology workers and technology firms and technology entrepreneurs to come work in little rock, because little rock's a good place to do that kind of business. now, the state has been working on this as a strategy for a long time. they passed their first enabling legislation to promote this as an economic development plan for the state almost a decade ago. it is a state priority. they've directed a lot of resources to it. it is an overt project that is under way in that state. but there is now officially a big lump in that gravy. because one of the things that might get in the way of the free flowing exchange of innovative tech ideas, this hipster entrepreneur, geographically bikeable coffee shop environment they're trying to promote, one of the things that might sort of get in the way of that is if that coffee shop where everybody's meeting up to develop their new apps or whatever, if that coffee shop could decide that they were not going to serve gay people anymore because of the religious beliefs of the coffee shop's owner.

even some local anti-discrimination people in the town took steps to make sure it was clearly legal to put up a no gays allowed sign in any business in the state, even in a nice economically progressive and ambitious place like little rock. it has been interesting to watch this firestorm erupt over the discrimination bill that just passed, that mike pence just signed in indiana. right? the really leading edge of that backlash in indiana is some of the usual suspects. democrats were against what mike pence did. gay rights groups were against what mike pence did. but a big part of the immediate backlash, both in the state and nationwide, was specifically in the tech industry. you might remember there was that ceo from the tech firm sales force, which is a global cloud computing company. they just bought an indiana tech company for $2.5 billion last year.

so they've got this really strong new connection to indiana that they just made. the sales force ceo is one of the first people out of the gate nationwide to say that the mike pence anti-discrimination bill was such a problem for his company. he said they were cutting off all company related travel to that state. basically extracting themselves from the indiana economy. soon thereafter, it was the most profitable company on earth, it was apple whose ceo spoke out aggressively about what indiana was doing. and it would be an apple priority to fight what indiana was doing, and stop it from happening in any other state. fast-growing high-profile web companies like yelp and angie's list, they both came out and said that what indiana was doing in this mike pence bill were abhorrent to them. it would make a difference in their business dealings in that state. or lack thereof. angie's list is actually based in indiana, and their ceo is a

big republican donor. that put even more power behind that punch. and then there's this. indy big data, the twitter handle there, indy big data, a conference, a very large high-profile tech conference, which is slated for indianapolis at the indiana convention center next month on may 7th. as soon as mike pence signed that law, indy big data was one of the first places that felt the backlash and felt it hard. look at this. this is from their facebook page. over the past 48 hours, we have seen seven national sponsors back out of the indy big data conference 2015 as a direct result of the religious freedom act. this law is having an immediate and negative impact on tech in the state of indiana. the indy big data conference wants the state of indiana to know and acknowledge that this is a real case that is happening now. not a conference to be impacted months or years from now. and we are calling for an immediate correction to this law in order to prohibit discrimination in indiana on any grounds. seven national sponsors in 48 hours.

and the companies involved here, the companies that pulled out of this thing are a big deal. especially if you know the cloud computing, big data universities, it will be a big deal for you. oracle, emc, cloud dara, platfora, pivotal, the companies all pulled out and said they would not go to indiana because of that bill that mike pence signed. their sponsorships cost them a lot of money. but they walked away rather than having to show their faces in indiana after what mike pence just did. since then, a new tech letter has been signed by some of the highest profile ceos in the the whole industry opposing what indiana did, warning other states not to do it. in fact, telling other states they ought to proactively now put protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity into state law as a matter of the business climate in those states. and look at the list of ceos that just signed this letter.

it's like twitter, ebay, air b and b, yelp, evernote, cisco, paypal. even if you don't know anything about big data cloud computing, even if you are watching me right now on an abacus that you rigged up to a sun dial or something, these are big enough firms now, this is a big enough portion and such a dynamic portion of the american economy, this is an attention-getting thing. and that huge and acute tech backlash that goes all the way to the very top of the tech industry, that has happened on top of all the other business backlash, and the growing list of cities and states around the country that are doing things like blocking taxpayer funded travel for any state employee to the state of indiana in protest of what mike pence just did. the final four in the ncaa men's basketball championship is due to be played in indianapolis this weekend. the coach of the uconn men's basketball team canceled his plans and his coaching staff's

plans to be in indianapolis this weekend for the final four because the university of connecticut is a state school, and the connecticut governor just issued a travel ban for the state of connecticut and their employees. even the basketball team during the final four is respecting that travel ban. and so, yeah, in the midst of that whirlwind, that he has just started to reap, mike pence has, you know, had an interesting week. he's been sort of doing the backstroke, doing at least a little side stroke all week long, trying to undo some of the damage that he has inflicted on his state. and it's still not exactly clear what's going to happen in indiana. in part because governor pence himself, he seems regretful, he seems to recognize he has done something that has done great harm to his state, but he does not himself even now seem all that clear on the concept of what's wrong, and what should be done, if anything, to right this wrong. i'll give you a very specific

example of how confused he is. yesterday morning, it seemed like governor mike pence in indiana agreed that the law needed to be fixed. that he would find a way to fix it. >> let me say i believe this is a clarification. but it's also a fix. we will fix this. >> mike pence yesterday morning, we will fix this. by yesterday afternoon, mike pence no longer thought he needed to fix this. watch. >> i stand by this law. the law doesn't need to be fixed. >> it doesn't need to be fixed. we will fix it. it doesn't -- that was on the same day. out in a press conference in front of cameras, you know, national coverage, we will fix this. it's also a fix. we will fix this. then on right wing talk radio later in the afternoon, this doesn't need a fix. i stand by this law. so, yeah, it seems clearer and

clearer that indiana -- indiana, hoosiers, the people of indiana -- want to fix the problem that state government has made for the state. the state wants to fix it. but if the state was hoping that mike pence could lead them out of this morass, mr. let's fix this, let's not fix this, depending on who he's talking to within hours of each other, mr. pence is not proving to be a real clarion voice on this issue. if you want leadership to fix this problem here, he doesn't even get what the problem is. so in indiana, things are confused from the very top on down right now. nobody really knows in indiana how this is going to work out, or by when it's going to work out. right now, the law in indiana is what mike pence signs. and maybe they're going to pass something else, but -- last word we had, there was no plan to try and make the law that mike pence signed go away. there was maybe some language being circulated that might try to cast the existing law in a different light without really changing it.

we heard recently that republican legislators in indiana have started meeting with gay rights groups. okay. under mike pence's utterly confused, sort of bewildered leadership, indiana is currying around like a water bug in choppy water. and the indiana story is not over yet. however, down home in little rock, arkansas, what has happened in arkansas appears to be much more straightforward than the mess right now under mike pence in indiana. as you probably know, arkansas passed the exact same law that indiana passed, just days after indiana passed it. and when mike pence signed the indiana law, and there started to be the huge national blowback against indiana, that reportedly did not scare arkansas republican governor asa hutchinson. he had no doubts, he said, like mike pence, he would sign that bill, just put it on his desk. that was friday. today, in arkansas, asa

hutchinson changed his mind. he said he will not sign it after all. he wants the language in the arkansas bill either recalled all together or wants it amended to make the bill less like what just happened in indiana, and more like the garden variety, noncontroversial religious freedom bills that have been passed federally and around the country for decades without much people caring because they weren't like the discrimination bill like the one just signed in indiana. asa hutchinson explained his about-face today by citing a personal communication from his own son. >> my son, seth, signed the petition asking me, dad, the governor, to veto this bill. and he gave me permission to make that reference. and it shows that families, and there's a generational difference of opinion on these issues. >> governor asa hutchinson was also urged to veto the bill. not just by his son, but by a

little company you might have heard of called walmart. which is headquartered in arkansas. which is so big, it could eat the state of arkansas in one bite if it ever chose to. also lobbied to make this decision that he made today by the mayor of arkansas's largest city, the mayor of little rock. the mayor has been clear and loud on this issue, alongside groups like the little rock chamber of commerce, saying that arkansas's image cannot stand a hit like this. and maybe the little rock technology park, you know, will get their hyper caffeinated young tech savvy cool space after all. they're working on it in part working to stop this law from happening in arkansas, too. joining us now is the mayor of little rock, arkansas. mayor, nice to have you here. thanks for being here this evening. >> thank you, rachel. i'm glad to be here with you. >> what was the tipping point for you to decide to write this letter to governor hutchinson to take an issue in the state

legislation and say it was important to little rock that he said no to this? >> well, this thing was really locked up in the senate judiciary on friday, and all of a sudden the gates broke open and unfortunately it looked like it had some legs. the governor said he was going to sign it. you know, i think the governor's a very thoughtful man. i give him a lot of credit for having the courage to say, i've changed my mind. and i'm not going to sign 1228 as it is. we've got a state that has really had a sea change in terms of its representation in the house. you would think that smaller government would suggest that there be fewer of these kinds of bills. i can tell you as a mayor, more and more the state is taking over provinces typically that are left to local government. on a variety of issues. this is just one of them. i might mention in addition to the chamber that came out against this, as well as all of these companies that you mentioned, that the arkansas

municipal league representing over 500 cities also came out opposing hb-1228. it was a tipping point. i felt it important to tell the governor from my perspective as the mayor of the capital city, a city that is open, and welcomes all people of all religions, of all diversity, of all faith and of all love, that first of all, there's no need for this. i guess we've gone in arkansas from 1993 when rfra was first passed federally to 22 years until today, and all of a sudden someone thinks we need this law. the bill of rights, constitution, the united states and the country was founded on the issue of tolerance, religious tolerance and tolerance against persecution. whether we need it or not i guess is in the province of the legislature. the point that had to be made was that it obviously can be construed to discriminate against people based on a variety of things including sexual orientation and

transgender identity which happens to be the issue that is the focus and the fire point today. so i made the point to him that it really was not needed, number one. number two is, anything this divisive, anything that causes so much angst and debate and anguish is simply not good for this state, and certainly not good for indiana. i think the governor took a strong look at what governor pence was doing, and figured out that he didn't need to go down the same road, frankly. i think he's a very reasonable, thoughtful person. hopefully the legislature will be as reasonable and thoughtful as the governor is and come up with some language if they're going to do it at all, to make sure that we memorialize that this type of legislation cannot be used to discriminate against individuals. >> mayor, let me ask you, on that point about the legislature, do you believe that they are going to do the right thing? obviously governor hutchinson made it clear he wasn't happy with his original plan to sign this thing. he did change his mind on this.

does it seem clear to you that they will end up with something everybody will be more comfortable with, including yourself and the governor? >> i hope so. it's in debate right now. and candidly, i think the speaker of the house and president of the senate are both working with the governor to try and see if they can come up with some language. as i pointed out today, this is not a democratic issue, not a republican issue, it's an individual that should bring people together from all perspectives. and so i have encouraged that both the democrats and republicans get together and make sure they come up with language, if they're going to go forward with this, make sure it memorializes we're not going to be discriminating against people in this 21st century. as you mentioned clearly on the issue of technology, i expect a lot of my time in the day trying to recruit businesses here. the citizens of little rock in 2011 passed a sales tax, and dedicated $22 million to create a research technology corridor. and for something like this to

come down would absolutely cripple our opportunities. i'm simply not going to let that happen. in whatever perspective that i can lend to this issue. you know, we are open for business. we are an open, welcoming city that has great diversity. it's a fascinating issue, the focus is here. this 21st century version of what we went through in 1957 when it relates to racial integration. we have come a very long way. we still have obviously lots of footsteps to continue to follow. but we're making great progress as a very diverse, wonderful community here. and we need to continue with that. i hear that from normal ordinary citizens who can't believe that this issue is taking the focus that it has in the state legislature. >> mayor of little rock, arkansas, thank you for being here tonight. really appreciate your time. >> thank you, rachel.

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so, beyond just republican governor asa hutchinson, and the arkansas discrimination bill much like the indiana discrimination bill, beyond that which we just talked about, there are some other really totally unexpected news tonight about a red state legislature doing the kind of thing that republican legislatures do these days. a red state governor deciding to stand up to them and say, stop, no way, we're not doing it. totally unexpected, fascinating coming up. taxi. vo: after years of being treated

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this is beautiful stockton, california. stockton, california, nice place. basically due east from san francisco. about 80 miles. stockton is on the san joaquin river in california. lovely stockton, california, they have a weed problem. i don't mean it as a euphemism for marijuana. i have no idea how much pot they smoke in stockton, or whether it's a problem. where they have a weed problem in stockton is actually in their river, in the san joaquin river. the weeds are so bad in that river, in the shipping channels that lead to the port in stockton, they're overgrowing the delta and the river itself. there's an important california aqueduct around there, that the weeds are clogging up. and blocking not just the inflow and outflow of the river, the weeds are so bad they're literally blocking the ship traffic in and out of that industrial port. in october, a big ocean-going

international freighter carrying cement from japan had to phone in a delay for the people who were waiting for them to drop that cargo at the port of stockton. the delay they had to phone in was a water hyacinth delay. there was this giant frickin' ship carrying cement, that they couldn't get around the hyacinth weeds choking the port in order to get that stuff dropped off. mechanically ripping the weeds out, used to be enough of a tactic to manage this problem. but it's just not anymore. the problem is getting worse and worse. it's too environmentally ruinous to dump herbicide in the water to kill the weeds. now stockton has come up with a genius new plan, hippos. i made jackie laugh. hippos was not their first idea. in november, stockton's mayor had suggested bringing in manatees from florida. to eat the water hyacinths in the river. apparently it's like their favorite food. they can eat 100 pounds of those

weeds a day or something. alas manatees are super endangered, so obviously it's impractical to move manatees from florida to stockton. even though the stockton mayor suggested that idea. without the manatees, they have come up with the next best thing. so behold, stockton got hippos instead. this is a photo today from the california water blog, which is an excellent blog. and the california water blog, as you can see in this picture, it shows this pod of hippos that the city of stockton brought in to graze on the weeds around the big industrial port. they brought this herd of hippos from botswana. they have radio tagged them so they don't lose the hippos. they have the coast guard watch over them, and keep people far away. because the hippos don't much like people. other than that, it is apparently working like it is supposed to. hippos love delicious water hyacinths. they're having lovely meals. they're helping stockton with their problem.

stockton brought in a second slightly cuddlier hyacinth eater. these adorable little capybara in the river. see there in the foreground there? from brazil. being coaxed into the water by a bunch of uc davis water science students. they're giant swimming rodents that can eat 40 pounds of weeds per day. they negotiated with brazil somehow, got a bunch of them, and alongside those hippos, keep them apart. they're setting them loose hoping they're hungry, hoping it will make a dent in stockton, california's weed problem, freeing up some of that precious delta water for california's parched water system. and that is not true. i'm sorry. the part about the weeds being a problem at the port of stockton, and the cement freighter getting stuck in the water, hyacinths, in a state where they need the

water, that is true. there is a really bad weed problem. hippos and capybaras are more of an april fool's situation. but that april fool did run in the california water blog today. and i forgive them. because this was a day that honestly in california they needed some magical lightness of imaginary botswana hippos swimming around in the port of stockton. you can forgive them for trying to find something funny in this situation, because today things got really really real in california on the issue of water. they've done something they've never done before. today is the last day of california's traditional snow season, april 1st. every year it's the day they measure how much is in the california snow pack. it has huge implications of how much water is available for everything the state uses water for. today, every year, on april 1st, the day they measure, it turns out this year was worse than anybody dreamed. snow pack statewide came in this year at 5% of normal. not 5% below normal, but 5% of

normal. like 95% off. and that means that this is the fourth straight year of drought. and the worst of those four years probably. and we're likely heading into a fifth year of epic, epic drought as well. >> you're at the phillips snow course for the april 1st, 2015, measurement. and as you can clearly see, there's no snow at this location. and this is the first year in its measurements going back to 1942 where this snow course has been bare. no snow at all. and unfortunately, that's what we're finding more or less statewide, where upwards of 60% to 70% of the 240 manual snow course measurements that are being made on or about april 1st are showing bare ground, no snow. and i just wanted to show you,

to give you some perspective, this was the -- the black is the 1977 measurement that in many areas, was the previous driest on record. the yellow is last year's measurement. green is the average snow depth at this location. and the very top of this pole is the maximum, 150 inches of snow depth that we've recorded in all these past years. this is bad news in terms of the state's water picture. >> that man is the chief of snow surveys for the california state government. the bright side is his job is much easier than usual. nothing to measure. but it's also much, much scarier. what he's talking about there with the historical measurements on the stick, he's pointing to the bottom one there.

what happened in 1977. which is a legendary year, the worst that anybody could imagine in california. the only thing california has been through in its history is a state that is as bad as what we're going through right now, at least approaching it, that previous drought in 1976 and 1977. the governor of the state of california during that 1976, 1977 drought, was the same guy who is governor today. less hair, same guy. left side of your screen, jerry brown, governor in 1977 during the last worst terrible drought. on the right, governor jerry brown today, dealing with the only drought that has been as bad as that old one. same guy. back then, in the '70s, everybody thought it was extreme. the state policy for dealing with that huge drought was to tell every water district in the state, you need to come up with your own water saving measures for your district. and every district has to do it. in every district it was different across the state. every district had to come up with some amount by which people needed to mand torly cut back

their water usage. they decided the approach in the '70s would not be nearly enough this time. for the first time in the history of the state governor jerry brown issued a statewide mandate, statewide mandate for reductions in water use. by a lot. >> one thing we know is we're standing on dry grass, and we should be standing in five feet of snow. that's the way it has been. we're in an historic drought, and that demands unprecedented action. for that reason, i'm initiating an executive order mandating substantial water reduction across our state. this executive order which i've signed today, it's long, it covers a number of different details. in fact, i've never seen one quite like it before. it's going to save water by mandating real reductions in a number of areas. it's going to affect golf courses, people's lawns,

universities, campuses, all sorts of institutions, the median with vegetation on our roads and highways. it affects all of that. >> nobody knows how well people are going to comply with this new mandatory order from the state. this has never been done before. but they mean it when they say mandatory. there's going to be enforcement issues here. and a lot of the low hanging fruit, honestly, is already picked in terms of conservation. the drought is in its fourth year likely heading into its fifth year. people have already been conserving water in california. so getting further big reductions is going to change people's lives in california. because it's going to be hard. but more than 93% of that state is now rated as being in severe drought, extreme drought, or exceptional drought. more than 93% of the state. when the chair of the state water resources control board saw the snow pack numbers start to come in, earlier this month, her statement about the snow

pack were that the totals were and i quote, just terrifying. so california is pulling out all the stops, doing everything they can think to do. full disclosure, my dad works on california water issues. he always has my whole life. i did not talk to him about this story today as i was prepping for air. i do have to admit, though that my dad was the one who sent me the thing about the hippos. that's just because he's my dad. and he's adorable and it's april fool's day. you know your dad would do the same thing. bring us your aching...

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we recently reported on a bill moving at lightning speed through the republican controlled legislature in the great state of ohio. it was a provision stuffed into a transportation bill that appeared to be a voting rights nightmare. it appeared to be crafted specifically to try to prevent young people in the state from voting. specifically college kids. it told every college kid in the state who's legally allowed to vote in ohio they can no longer register to vote in ohio unless they also register their car in ohio, and give a new ohio driver's license. two things that happen to cost a ton of money. ohio republicans stuck that into a transportation bill and sent it to the governor's desk where it appeared it would be signed into law. democrats have been urging governor kasich to veto this de facto new student poll tax, asking him to use his power to line item veto that specific provision in the bill. seems like a long shot when democrats were calling for it. today john kasich today said, okay. john kasich decided he would not go for the new student tax.

he in fact used his line item veto to take that provision out of the law. he wrote in a signing message that striking that line from the bill was in the public interest. we talk a lot on this show about red states rolling back voting rights across the country. this is a case where a red state legislature tried to do that. but a red state governor stood in their way. i have to say, i did not see that coming. neat. we'll be right back.

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sleep number store. hey buddy, you're squashing me! liquid wart remover? could take weeks to treat. embarrassing wart? dr. scholl's freeze away wipes 'em out fast with as few as one treatment. freeze away! dr. scholl's. the #1 selling freeze brand. in july, 2008, the longest serving republican senator in the history of the united states, ted stevens of alaska, was hit with a seven-count federal felony indictment on corruption charges. he was indicted in july of 2008, in october 2008 he was convicted. that was on a monday in late october. then the following tuesday, eight days later, eight days after his conviction he lost his reelection bid. but then just as he was about to be sentenced on those corruption charges, the justice department made a stunning announcement. this was actually six years ago tonight. watch. >> it's a stunning reversal in

such a high-profile case. the justice department concluded that misconduct by prosecutors was serious enough to justify a new trial for ted stevens. but that the government will instead drop all the charges. attorney general eric holder after assigning a new team to examine the case concluded that prosecutors repeatedly withheld key evidence from the stevens defense team, which could have been used to challenge government witnesses. >> the justice department basically took it all back. they vacated the conviction they had won against ted stevens, they dropped all charges against him. it was a disaster. justice department's public integrity section botched it. they concealed evidence during the trial which is a cardinal sin for a prosecutor. it led the justice department to take apart their corruption unit. they restaffed it, re vamped it. since then they've had a much better department. that union successfully oversaw the trial of rick rendery who was convicted and sentenced to

three years in prison for corruption and money laundering. they oversaw the case against republican governor bob mcdonald of virginia, convicted of 11 felony corruption charges this past september. he's been sentenced to two years in prison. and now, as of tonight, they're prosecuting the latest politician to fall under federal indictment. tonight a grand jury in newark, new jersey, has indicted a sitting democratic senator bob menendez of new jersey. 14 charges of corruption, including bribery, conspiracy and making false statements. the federal indictment alleges between january 2006 and january 2013, so a seven-year period senator menendez accepted almost $1 million in gifts and campaign contributions from a contributor who was also a longtime friend in south florida. the indictment says he took those gifts, took that money in exchange for using his power in the senate to help that man's interests. the indictment also alleges that senator menendez used his influence to support visa applications for several of the donor's girlfriends. and one of the girlfriends' sisters.

the justice department said senator menendez, quote, allegedly engaged in advocacy for this businessman all the way up to the highest levels of the u.s. government, including meeting with the u.s. cabinet secretary, contacting a u.s. ambassador, meeting with the heads of executive agencies and other senior executive officials, and soliciting other u.s. senators all in order to assist this businessman's personal and pecuniary interests. justice department today also indicted the democratic donor and businessman at the center of this alleged bribery scheme. he's an eye doctor named solomon melgin. so that's actually kind of nice for a change. just that the alleged briber, and the alleged bribee have both been indicted. that is rare, but nice to see. since it is a two-way street. senator menendez has aggressively maintained his innocence as the allegations have swirled around him for months. he said he's done nothing wrong, that this doctor is just a longtime family friend. late tonight senator menendez held a defiant, i'm not going anywhere press conference in

newark. one of the odd things i have to tell you about this press conference is he held it in front of a crowd of supporters. but their cheering and applause for him mostly just seemed to annoy him. >> i'm outraged that prosecutors at the justice department were tricked into starting this investigation three years ago, with false allegations by those who have a political motive to silence me. but i will not be silenced. i'm confident -- [ cheers and applause ] >> i'm confident at the end of the day i will be vindicated, and they will be exposed. [ cheers and applause ] >> and i -- this is a press conference so i appreciate if

you would just withhold. i appreciate it. thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> they will not be silenced either. they will cheer for you. even though it creeps you out. weird, right? senator menendez said he would ask people to hold their judgment and he said, quote, remember all the other times when prosecutors got it wrong. senator menendez said he won't resign his senate seat, although it should be noted tonight that new jersey's largest newspaper, the star ledger, has already called on him to step down because of the indictment. the star-ledger writing tonight, quote, menendez resign and spare us the drama. if he did resign, that would entail a whole new kind of drama of a very interesting sort. that story is next. so,as my personal financial psychic, i'm sure you know what this meeting is about. yes, a raise. i'm letting you go. i knew that. you see, this is my amerivest managed... balances. no. portfolio. and if doesn't perform well for two consecutive gold. quarters. quarters...yup.

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and my friendship, into something that is improper. they are dead wrong. and i am confident that they will be proven so. >> new jersey senator bob menendez a couple of hours ago tonight insisting he's innocent after the justice department dropped a 14-count felony corruption indictment on his head earlier today. joining us is john stanton for buzz feed news. mr. stanton, lovely to see you. thank you for being here. >> good to be here. >> bob menendez tonight said he's not going anywhere. defiant about the charges. does he have a choice? does he actually have to step down? can the democrats, for example, make him step down if they want him to? >> no, they can't make him step down. theoretically he could be maybe impeached. michael grimm did the same thing a couple of months ago, and he had things with the justice department and he stepped down. i think that is certainly a potential option here for senator menendez. a bit of a difference here is

senator menendez generally is not somebody who's going to give up. he has been fighting this case now for quite a while. i think he's known for several years that the department is investigating him. the idea that he will step down immediately is unlikely. but i could see it happening, you know in the next few weeks, or months especially if doj is able to marshal more evidence against him in the next coming period. >> think about the precedence on this. michael grimm pleads guilty and then he's got to go. previous new jersey democratic senator named harrison williams like in 1980 ab scam was it he ended up fighting trying to stay in the senate while they brought bribery charges against him. he got convicted and expelled from the senate. and enson ended up resigning rather than face the ethics committee. so there's no clear precedent on when they go. but if he stays there is the question of all the power that he's got in the senate. he's the ranking democrat on the

foreign relations committee. he is going to step down presumably from that position in the formulations committee at least. >> yes, he has already. >> so the republicans have a rule about that. republicans say if you're under indictment, i love that they have to have a rule you can't be in leadership and you can't have certain high-ranking committee positions. >> i think everyone expected him to step down with this. also, the -- harry reid and amy klobuchar are both implicated as sort of people he attempted to manipulate as part of his -- this alleged corruption and these schemes to help this donor. there's absolutely no you know question that they did anything wrong. the names ended up on the indictment of corruption charges. those are things in a place like the senate that is really built on personal relationships and people's ability to trust one another, cut deals, is really going to hurt him a lot. he's going to have a lot of trouble, frankly, finding a lot of friends when he shows up. as my friend jacky sort of

quipped, he's the guy who will have to sit by himself at lunch, when they come back in a week and a half because nobody's going to want to be seen with him. >> are any democrats supporting him? >> cory booker came out strongly for him. you know harry reid is sort of big -- is lukewarm. dick durbin the whip has been very noncommittal and said it was good for him to step down from his position. most of the democrats in the senate are looking at this and the amount of evidence in the indictment, and are very very nervous about what's happening. they're trying to keep a bit of a distance from him right now. >> great to see you, my friend. thanks. much more ahead. it occurred to mindy she might actually be invisible. ♪♪ but mindy was actually not invisible. ooh, what are you doing? can you see me? she had just always been treated that way. yeah. you don't have to look at me like that. there are worst things than an attractive woman

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you have probably heard that -- this is sort of the next chapter of that furor, hillary clinton has been summoned to answer questions in front of the republican-led house benghazi panel. which she's refusing to meet with them. she's refusing to answer their questions. >> first of all, hillary clinton is not answering any questions to anybody of any sort. >> she will not answer any questions. so is that true or false? hillary clinton is being called to appear in front of the benghazi panel but she's refusing to answer their questions. is that true or is that false? false. but not only false, it's weird. benghazi panel guys have demanded a meeting with hillary clinton, yes. they have demanded a private meeting behind closed doors with them. she told them she would be delighted to appear at a hearing open to the american public. so this is really weird, right? you would think it would be the other way around. you would think they would want to pound the table and score

political points against hillary clinton in front of all the cameras. it's actually the opposite. she wants a public hearing, they want to meet with her privately. keep in mind this is the same panel that kicked and screamed and finally given access to a selection of secretary clinton's e-mails, which had been closely guarded, even though a fairly wide swath of people had seen them. but then 300 of those e-mails were given to the house republicans benghazi panel. as soon as they got them look they're in "the new york times." senior government officials offered descriptions of the e-mails in exchange for anone nim ti. no public no cameras. very interesting. for the record i'm not accusing that panel of leaking hillary clinton's e-mails the last time they got something from her. of course, that would be rude. i'm pointing out the timing with vigor, however. it would seem to me if this same panel was

>> it sounds like hillary clinton and the republicans on that committee agree on one thing, that when they have those hearings, the republicans on that committee send to look silly. >> exactly. so they would like to do it mind behind closed doors. >> and one more thing -- happy birthday. >> thank you.