this is improved community relations through engagement, not entrenchment. >> telling cops what we want them to do. that's a good place to be. the rachel maddow show begins now. i have to tell you we are in the middle of an avalanche of late breaking political news. much of it either really funny or really intriguing or both. all of it unexpected and all of it happening all at once over the last hour or so. usually when i'm getting my make-up on at the last minute before i do the show, i know, hard to believe it's make-up, right? when i'm doing that, the executive producer comes by and gives me like a couple of last words about what's going. on sitting there in the make-up chair and corey ran in to the make-up room dripping sweat and heaving with breath so hard. i couldn't understand a word he said. that's how fast news is breaking right now.

that means i have no idea what's coming up on the show. so poor corey, we've been shifting thins around trying to make room for everything crossing the wires including getting in the tape that has been pouring in in tonight's news. it begins with republican jeb bush, and whoa, is jeb bush in trouble. he has just picked the kind of fight that you're going to lose. jeb bush has apparently without trying to, he has accidentally picked a fight with probably the biggest figure in pop culture in america right now. and this tape will explain it. watch. >> i'm so excited for the late show premier on september 8 when my guests will be george clooney and jeb bush. as the tabloids have coined them. i'm not the only one who is excited. so is jeb. which given his logo is really his only option.

jeb! in fact, governor bush is so pumped for the first show that he sent this e-mail to supporters. today we're formally launching our stephen colbert late show contest where we'll fly one lucky winner to new york where they'll receive a vip ticket to the late show with the new host. that's something you'll still be talking about 20 years from now. yes. you'll be talking about it 20 years from now when the next bush is running for office. to enter, all you have to do is donate $3 to jeb bush's campaign. if you can't donate $3, you're probably not voting for jeb bush. no one asked me if this was okay with me to raise money off my first show. where's my cut of that sweet $3, governor? huh? where's this stuff? the house always gets its baek wet. i'm sorry i'm yelling but you're the one who put an exclamation mark at the end of your name. two can play at this contest,

sir. so tonight, today, or whenever you're watching this. i'm launching my own raffle. the lucky winner will be a guest of the late show. plus they will get to submit one nonobscene question that i will ask. one question might be, don't you wish you had consulted stephen before launching your contest? submit your name and e-mail and a $3 donation. i'm going to be on jeb's site trying to score a ticket to the late night premier. that sounds like one. >> fundraising off somebody else's work without -- before now, it has been jeb bush versus 16 other major republican candidates for president. now it looks like it is jeb bush versus 16 other major

republicans for president and also against the cultural political juggernaut that is stephen colbert just as he starts his new show. it says right this in the secret political hand book. rule number three. do not tug on super man's cave. do not pick a fight with someone you cannot win. remember when he annoyed david letterman? his campaign was struggling. it looks like he's going on lose against barack obama and he stood up against him. he was inconsiderate to david letterman and david letterman went after him over and over and over again. then john mccain never recovered? that was david letterman. new guy with that show is stephen colbert. for the record, the bush campaign says, they thought they had permission from the colbert

folks before starting their fundraising off mr. colbert's show. they said they think the whole thing is just great. this is going exactly how we meant it to go. that's one. there is yet more big news that is breaking tonight that involves the democratic side of the presidential race. tonight as we speak the president of the united states, barack obama is up in alaska. we'll have more only a little later in the show. this trip marks the first time that a sitting president has visited the arctic in alaska. while the president is in alaska though, while he is in alaska, vice president biden is in the opposite quadrant of the country. joe biden is at a democratic fundraiser in florida. he gave a speech earlier today on college affordability. that has renewed speculation

about whether he might mount a run for the presscy. people keep saying the reason you can tell he's not running is he's not fundraising. now he's meeting with fund-raisers. now we know this weekend he'll be in pennsylvania taking part in a labor day march with the leader of the country's largest labor union, the afl-cio, who hasn't endorsed in the democratic primary. so all of this joe biden activity has led as you know to renewed speculation, tea leaf reading about joe biden and 2016. tonight, into all of this interesting and late-breaking news, dropped one more interesting tea leaf. probably the biggest thing, the biggest granular thing that really sparked this new round of interest about whether or not joe biden would run is when

someone in the biden camp last month leaked that the vice president had requested and in fact taken a private meeting in washington, d.c. with democratic senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts. joe biden had been home in delaware but he traveled back to washington, d.c. just to meet with elizabeth warren. and it was just the two of them. and that was what really kicked off all the joe biden wondering. and it's been sort of a mystery since then about what exactly was discussed in that private meeting. tonight "boston globe" spoke with elizabeth warren about that meeting. a globe reporter interviewed her at an event at a suffolk university in boston. he asked her what she and vice president biden talked about during that meeting. he asked whether they talked about a potential joe biden run for the white house and whether they talked about running together on a ticket. watch how she responds.

this took place in boston. this is how she described what took place with her meeting with joe biden and listen to what she says about what is happening in her political future. >> we talk about the direction the country is going in. we talked about the capture of this country by those who have got money and power. it was, long, rambling policy, conversation. >> what did you have for lunch? >> it was a chopped salad thing. i was never entirely sure what it was. >> at least with fast food, you know what it is. >> that's the thing. you never have to ask what the fillet of fish is. it's pretty clear. of course, it resembles no fish anyone has met. >> was there any talk of a joint ticket even jokingly? >> it was a long conversation.

>> okay. okay. do you plan to meet with him again? >> look, i meet with anybody who wants to talk about policy and might be able to help out here. >> there is a lot of chat about vice president elizabeth warren. i wanted to ask you a question this way. will you pledge to serve out your whole u.s. senate -- >> i love my job. i truly want this job. and it is all i'm thinking of. and you just can't put a different thought in my head. i am thinking about my job. >> sounds like a truly great gig. i wonder whether you'll stay in it for the duration of your six-year term. >> it is all i'm thinking about. >> i am where i am. you can't give me another thought. that was elizabeth warren. and did you and vice president biden, was there any talk with the vice president with a joint

ticket even jokingly? it was a long conversation. elizabeth warren tonight in boston letting out that long pause when she was asked whether or not vice president biden talked about forming a joint ticket when they met last month. it was a long conversation. and because all political news decided to break basically within the same hour tonight. we got that news on the colbert, stephen colbert/jeb bush thing. then, the republican party, right? then the news on the democratic party, the elizabeth warren thing. because everything is at the same time, we also just got something from the other thing in american politics which doesn't always feel like either party, and that is the donald trump wing of the 2016 presidential race. and i say it sometimes doesn't feel like either party because one of the issues around the candidacy is that he has not been willing to swear off the possibility that he might leave the republican party and might

make a run as a third party candidate. if donald trump were running as a centrist kind of guy, a third party campaign from him, that might take votes from both the democratic nominee and the republican nominee. conceivably, if he ran as a centrist candidate, that could be a hard to 46th impact decision. much like ross perot in 1992. when you look at the number, ross perot took numbers from bill clinton and poppy evenly. with donald trump running the way he's running, he won't be a ross perot. with him running the very hard right campaign, there is no question if he bolts the republican party and runs as an independent or third party candidate, all the votes he would get would be taken away from the republican nominee. a donald trump independent or third party candidacy would virtually guarantee, i think, that hillary clinton or some

other democrat would become the next president. that gives donald trump a ton of leverage. he keeps saying if the republican party treats me nicely, we can talk about that. if they don't, i'm not going to swear that off. mr. trump has not sworn off the possibility of running not on the republican party ticket. and that has been freaking out the republican party for the obvious reasons. republican party said the states have been talking about the possibility of state based republican loyalty oaths for candidates to even get on to the primary ballots for the republican party in those states. mr. trump got asked right up front about this at the fox news debate last month. asked about the possibility of running as a third party candidate wolf he swear off that possibility? he would not swear it off and he still has not. they keep asking him. say you'll only run as a republican. say you're only going to run as a republican. he will not. now we have just learned, we're being told tomorrow, heads up.

tomorrow, donald trump is meeting with the republican party national chairman, reince priebus, in new york city. after that meeting, donald trump is now scheduled to hold a press conference at his headquarters in new york city at 2:00 p.m. eastern. this meeting between reince priebus and donald trump is thapg day after the republican party nationally quietly started circulating a loyalty pledge to all of the republican candidates for president, asking them to affirm their allegiance to the party. i, state your name, affirm if i do not win the 2016 republican nomination for president of the united states, i will endorse the 2016 republican presidential nominee regardless of who it is. i further pledge that i will not seek to run as an independent or write-in candidate. norly seek to run for president of any other party. they want candidates' signatures. all the candidates to sign this. republican national committee

chairman rinls priebus started circulating this yesterday. tomorrow he meets with donald trump. and then right after donald trump does one of his patented donald trump press conferences. again, he is scheduled to be there tomorrow. if he swears off a third party run, he is giving up 50% of the leverage he's got for not only this campaign but for what he gets on ream the rewards of this campaign for the rest of his natural life. hard to believe he would give up that leverage because as he smart businessman but we will find out tomorrow. that will be a huge victory for the republican party if he swears off leaving and running as an independent. they are basically signaling they think that's what he's going to do tomorrow. i'll believe it when i see it. we are just getting started. i'll be right back. which saves money. they settle claims quickly, which saves money. they drive an all-hybrid claims fleet, which saves money.

they were born online, and built to save money, which means when they save, you save. click or call. ...of fixodent plus adhesives. they help your denture hold strong more like natural teeth. and you can eat even tough food. fixodent. strong more like natural teeth. fixodent and forget it. from bank of america to buy a new gym bag. before earning 1% cash back everywhere, every time and 2% back at the grocery store. even before he got 3% back on gas. kenny used his bankamericard cash rewards credit card to join the wednesday night league. because he loves to play hoops. not jump through them. that's the excitement of rewarding connections. apply online or at a bank of america near you.

so the there is lots of news

coming tonight. including footage. we have the footage of the president of the united states making history with an overexcited fish. we were there. we have the tape. ♪ mother nature can turn in an instant; don't turn back. introducing the new 2016 ford explorer. be unstoppable. ♪ this is my fight song...

wheall i can think abouthit, is getting relief. only nicorette mini has a patented fast-dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. i never know when i'll need relief. that's why i only choose nicorette mini. sis being built into bounty.l dawn. bounty with dawn. just rinse and wring so you can blast right through tough messes and pick up more. huh aren't we clever... bounty with dawn. the president of the united states likes fish jerky. >> really good. >> president obama enjoying

salmon jerky assuring america it is really good. president obama is a thin person. i have seen him eat before but i have never seen him eat like a whole thing. he eats a little of something and then doesn't finish the thing. i have seen it myself. do you know what? he ate all of that salmon jerky. he wolfed it. here's the thing about being president. if you like salmon jerky and you get to go to alaska to the exact spot where they fillet that salmon to make the jerky and you get the opportunity as president to meet the native alaskan fisher women who do it to feed their families and they offer you on the spot to show you how they make this thing that you like, how they cut the salmon and dress that salmon that they just caught there a few feet away, if that is what you want to do as president of the united states, you say yes. i would like to see you fillet that salmon. please show me how you do that.

if that's what you want and you are president of the united states, you cannot have that. because knives, knives. no matter who you are, if you are meeting the president of the united states in person, the one thing you do not get to keep out is your big sharp fillet knife. no way. >> do you have a knife? did we leave them all at home? come on, guys! you can't fillet a fish without -- >> president obama today in alaska which is one of the stops he made today. if you want to know where dillingham is. i see anchorage there, at the top of the screen. dillingham to the left. his trip there to dillingham was not his ultimate destination in alaska.

it was just one part, one stop. a big full day of events he's doing on this last of day of his three-day trip. some of what the president is doing right now on the strip is historic. he is doing stuff presidents have never done. going places presidents have never been before. some of what he's doing will have political implications. honestly i am saying what he is going to remember most acutely, the thing that will be foremost in his mind at the end of his big long historic day, at least the thing i think the president will tell his friends about when he gets back to the lower 48, i am guessing, will be this moment. the moment when one of those two salty local fisher women had to tell the president of the united states what that fish just did on his shoe means that fish was happy to see him. this is amazing. watch this. watch, watch.

>> did you see that? that got on my shoes. he was spawning a little bit which -- generally you don't want fish spawning on your feet. she said he was happy to see me. >> president obama today in dillingham, alaska. that was not fish pee squirting on to the shoes. that was really a whole different idea. the president also went to a school when he was in dillingham. he wore a sweater. and he was absolutely unafraid as all presidents should be, to dance with the little kids at that school who did a traditional dance. not just for him but with him. including the big finale which

involves putting your hands behind your back in a tail feather. he pretended he threw his back out doing it but he didn't really. after leaving the fishing community, after leaving dillingham, alaska, his next stop was up there on the alaska map. the historic nature of that represent the was that it is in the arctic, above the arctic circle. no american president has ever gone to the arctic before for any reason. president obama went to see that part of country that he governs. to meet the people but also to see how climate change is evident and how that should help us explain the overall skoem of climb change as a problem we are already living with. not just something that affects us in the future. for the 3,000 or so people who live there, regardless of exactly why the president of the united states came to visit their town, the fact remains that their little town of 3,000 people way, way out in the middle of nowhere got a full

blown visit from the sitting president of the united states of america and they were psyched about it. watch this. this is about the town getting ready. check out the news they break here. i think they're breaking news here from the mayor. >> it's crazy. it's a once in a lifetime thing that he is coming to a tiny little village. >> things have been crazy. >> i'm excited though. this is crazy. you see, the president gets to town on wednesday, get a ticket. >> they spelled my name wrong. >> and you get to see him. >> i am over the moon. i was pretty upset yesterday when i didn't get one and then my sister called and said we have your ticket. it's crazy. it's the president of the united states of america. >> that's her sister. the mayor of kotzebue. thing like this press conference, that's rare stuff.

and maya has a crazy story for the president when she meets him at the airport. >> i am so excited to beat you that my apendics burst. i am trying to think of something that he'll remember me by. >> are you going to say it? >> i'm going to say it. when you do you get to say something like that? >> the president has just handed there. we do not have a live feed of his arrival so we don't know yet whether or not the mayor actually did greet the president by saying i'm so excited to meet that you my appendix just burst. we've been trying to say why she would say that specifically. whether or not her apendics recently burst. she does seem fine. the reporter for anchorage tweeted out, saying they were practicing the native alaska sponge they're planning to sing to him when he arrives. the kids are 4 years old. just 20 seconds here. watch the little boy in the green shirt.

if any one of these kids will end up being a politician, it is the little boy in the green shirt. watch. ♪ >> 4-year-olds at the local preschool preparing to greet him with a big cat cough and a song that they were practicing this morning at breakfast. the schools they go to is an immersion school where they do everything in one of the native alaskan languages. in case you are suffering from a shortage cuteness in your life, we have posted that video so you can top out on that whenever you're having a bad day. that little kid going is the cure for everything.

so president obama has had this kind of remarkable three-day trip in alaska. he is making history right now as air force one lands in the arctic and he will be giving a speech tonight. stay tuned to msnbc for that. while the president has been wrapping up this trip, this trip on which it seems like he's having a lot of fun if nothing else. simultaneously, back home in washington, d.c., the administration today had one of its biggest political victories ever. one of its biggest 56thies of the entire administration. these two oil rigs look the same. can you tell what makes them so different? did you hear that sound? of course you didn't. you're not using ge software like the rig on the right. it's listening and learning how to prevent equipment failures, predict maintenance needs, and avoid problems before they happen. you don't even need a cerebral cortex to understand which is better. now, two things that are exactly the same have never been more different. ge software. get connected. get insights. get optimized.

everyone loves the picture i posted of you. at&t reminds you it can wait. so, what did you guys they think of the test drive? i love the jetta. but what about a deal? terry, stop! it's quite alright... you know what? we want to make a deal with you. we're twins, so could you give us two for the price of one? come on, give us a deal. look at how old i am. do you come here often? he works here, terry! you work here, right? yes... ok let's get to the point. we're going to take the deal. the volkswagen model year end sales event ends on labor day. so hurry in to your local volkswagen dealer today.

more "sit" per roll. more "stay" per roll. more "who's training who" per roll. bounty is two times more absorbent. so one roll of bounty can last longer than those bargain brands. so you get more "life" per roll. bounty. the long-lasting quicker picker upper. try phillips' fiber good gummies plus energy support. it's a new fiber supplement that helps support regularity and includes b vitamins to help convert food to energy. mmmmm, these are good! nice work, phillips! the tasty side of fiber, from phillips'.

so there's no connection at all between the two events but while president obama was on this historic alaska trip today, this is the president earlier today in alaska. while the president was on this alaska trip today with the ice cream shop and the spawning salmon and the adorable kids and the crew neck sweater and all the rest. while he was doing that today, president obama also just today sealed what is maybe the biggest diplomatic achievement of his presidency. last night on this show we said one of the thing to watch for on today's news was president obama, as of last night, he was one vote away from getting the go-ahead for the senate with the nuclear deal with iran. he had 33 votes as of this time last night. he only needed 34 votes to be able to guarantee any effort by the republican led congress to block the iran deal could be held off will he had 33 votes last night.

he needed 34. this morning he got 34. it came from barbara mikulski, the deciding vote. the feisty democrat from maryland who is retiring at the end of this term. because this iran deal is so fraught and so politically controversial and so much money and so much lobbying being spent, it is a hard political decision for even a lot of democratic senators to side with president obama. on the one hand it makes sense that the dgd vote would come from a senator who will never face re-election again. will never have any political blowback from this that she is ever going to have to worry about. on the other hand, that didn't make it a sure bet that barbara mikulski would be a yes. one important factor we're told, is that the other senator from her state, the other snart, ben cardin, is still legitimately undecided on how he will vote and barbara mikulski didn't want to split her state's votes. she didn't want to split votes

with the other senator from her state. so it was not at all sure that she would be a yes. as of today, she is a yes. that means it is done. it is a done deal. there are ten democrats including ben cardin who say they are still undecided. who still haven't said how they'll vote. but brass tacks, doesn't really matter. the white house and supporters of the randle deal have got what they need. congress will not be able to stop the iran deal. it's not going to happen. and this is a huge political victory for the obama administration. this was something that was really hard to negotiate as a deal. it was really hard to imagine that they would be able to felony off these domestic political challenges to it in congress. a lot of people thought they would never be able to get this done but they got it done. and this will be seen as one of the top tier political achievements of any kind from the whole obama presidency. and one of them that was hardest to achieve against the worst odds. it happened today.

and yet, even though president did seem happy today, in alaska, he did not say he was specifically happy about this huge achievement. and he was happy about the salmon jerky and about the kids and the awesome dancing and that salmon that was so happy to meet him. the president seems like he's in a good mood. there's been no declaration of victory and the white house. no crowing about how they got it done and what a huge deal it is. instead, since the barbara mikulski announcement this morning that put him over in the votes, the whole obama administration has kept its head down all day and said they're going to stay focused on getting more votes in support of the deal from those ten remaining democratic senators who haven't yet said how they will vote. they want to focus on getting more of them on board even though they have already hit the magic number that they need. why is that? why are those extra votes so

important to them? and if they're so important to them, are they likely to get them? today we called all ten of the democratic senators who have still not said how they are going on vote on this deal. none of them wanted to come on the show to talk about it. but i want to know not only how they're going to vote. i want to know why the white house cares. so. since they have the magic number they need to get the deal done. so to get those anlss to those questions, the next call i made after i called ten different senators was to call my friend steve clements. even though he is not a senator, he tends to know these things. joining us now, editor at large for the atlantic, msnbc contributor. great to see you. >> great to be with you. why does the white house care so much about getting more votes, now that they have the number they need? >> because there's another magical number. if they get 7 of the 10 people,

7 of the senators and hit 41, then theoretically, they have the possibility of preventing that legislation from even going to a vote. that's called a filibuster. they can prevent cloture from succeeding and they can stop all of this if they can make sure all of that. i talked to one of the senators today. and that's just one out of the ten. he made a very interesting statement. joe manchin said no matter which way he votes, a direct quote, on this, on the iran deal, he will not stand for the hypocrisy of the democrats trying to filibuster this. so joe manchin will not support a filibuster of the iran deal. and he hasn't said that publicly. he said in it an interview with me and i had permission to quote him. so at least he is one. and i don't know if chris kuhns has made such a declare i have the statement but the white house is trying to get seven of the ten to support a filibuster.

am i right materially there would be no difference in the iran deal going through because it got filibusters in the snad and the iran deal not going through because president obama vetoed it? either way, it goes through. >> materially you're right. but the world then never sees an actual vote by the united states senate. supporting a resolution of disapproval on the iran deal. that's a big deal. >> so the idea, the rest of the world seeing american resolve or seeing two american faces on this issue. that's, it is a sort of impressionistic power of that rather than the -- >> in the end, the president will prevail. he will not have his veto overridden. you're absolutely right on the substance. so this is a big deal. but it is very different when you have two houses of the congress passing very large proportion a negative statement

on the randiran deal. and this magic number robs them of that prospect. >> steve clemmons, editor at large. eventually someone is going to do big a 56th are you lap on this. we'll see which magic number they do it on. thank you. we've got much more to come on this very busy news night. please stay with us. and it's...well...just a car. without taking it for a spin, test-drive our full lineup only at your local john deere dealer.

it's from daddy. sfx: dad's voice i love you baby girl. duracell quantum lasts longer in 99% of devices

so you can always be there. ♪ i mentioned at the top of the show there's been a lot of late breaking political news. tonight one of the weirder and more personal, honestly, just sort of more creepily agro fights of the day ended up looking like this. yeah. this was how it looked by the end of the day. this was one of those clash of the titans political fights. we've got an important announcement about that fight coming up. please stay with us.

toenail fungus? (crowd cheers) don't hide it... tackle it with fda-approved jublia! jublia is a prescription medicine proven to treat toenail fungus. use jublia as instructed by your doctor. once applied, jublia gets to the site of infection by going under... and around the nail. most common side effects include ingrown toenail, application-site redness, itching, swelling, burning or stinging, blisters, and pain. tackle it! ask your doctor if jublia is right for you. larger size available. everywhere you look, it strategy is now business strategy.? and a partnership with hp can help you accelerate down a path created by people, technology and ideas. to move your company from what it is now... to what it needs to become.

this is something you do not see every day if you live in beijing. blue skies. not altered, this photo. blue skies, crystal clear blue skies over tiananmen square today. normally it looks a little more like this. smog.

you can't see your hand in front of your face smog. but today in beijing, the skies are very bright blue and that's in part because for nearly two weeks, smog producing factories have been shut down. millions of cars have been taken off the road and it is all on purpose. to pretty up the skies. to artificially clean them up for china to hold big a military parade today. marking 70 years since the end of world war ii. 12,000 troops taking part. it is a military parade so it is a show of force in some ways. for all the military chest beating and the not inconsiderable triumphism, this is also way of china's way of commemorating in a way it hasn't done in such a big way before. it is their way of commemorating, not just the end of world war ii, but also, how much china sacrificed in that war. china had 14 million people

killed in world war ii. that war created 80 million chinese refugees. the forced movement of 80 million people. a phenomenal number of human beings forcibly displaced. and while every allied country, i think, imagines itself to be the hero of world war ii in some way or another, countries around the world, including ours, are still grappling with the conscience implications of what we did not do for some of the worst-off refugees in that global war. now it is happening again. a humanitarian crisis of refugees, women and children. a crisis getting increasingly acute every day. for months, people all over the world have been taken aback by the heart rending images of what are sometime called migrants, sometimes called refugees. hundred of thousands of people flee in the middle east, africa,

coming by foot, by boat, trying to get to safety in europe. every day the pictures get more desperate. today one very hard to look at image is showing how god awful things have gotten. you have probably seen this already. it led the news around the country today. even whether or not you've seen it, you may not want to look. it is graphic. i'm going to show it in 3, 2, 1. this is the image. it shows the body of a small syrian boy. a refugee who washed ashore in turkey. his family's boat sank on its way to greece. absolutely terrible image. it is resonating around the world tonight though. and alongside how terrible this crisis is, we are seeing people being moved to try to help with or without their governments. in vienna this week, 20,000 people took to the streets to show support for the refugees arriving on their doorstep. in iceland, thousands have signed a petition calling on the

icelandic government to allow more refugees into their home. people are offering up their own homes. tonight many hungary, an outdoor screening of tom and jerry cartoons for some of the displaced children. german soccer fans unfurled big signs saying refugees welcome. overone are donations that police officers had to say stop bringing them. every country is responding differently. in some cases, the reaction of the people is not at all the same as the reaction of their country's government. but one of the thing that has been interesting to watch. the government of germany is taking a welcoming and relatively organized stance amid this tide of people trying to get there. germany has announced it is on track to take in 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers. 800,000 this year. contrast that with britain, the second largest in europe.

the prime minister said taking in refugees is not the answer. this is playing out on the newspapers. it shows two young refugees the headline, we help. on the right in britain, the daily express says migrants swarm to britain. swarm. amid this huge human tide of sadness and need, why are these two important countries reso differently? and what about us? are we helping? do we have plans to? how should we? joining us now for the interview, the former british foreign secretary, now president and ceo of the international rescue committee. it is a real honor to have you here. >> thank you very much. good to be here. >> how should we understand the difference in the german and british reactions? both big economies in europe. >> i think the conscience of

germany has been picked in a very fundamental way. leadership from the top. a coalition government of central right and center left. both the chancellor and vice chancellor are very committed. for historical reasons, germany has a special thought about its role in humanitarian crisis. it is also the point germany is now the largest economy in europe. and the question of what german leadership and german responsibility means in the modern world is a very big question in germany. here's chance after all the trauma of the euro crisis where germany has been accused of being slow, here's a chance to show real political leadership on a scale. when he we look at the images, almost the sort of, hard to get your head around the scale of there. the fact that it is unrelenting now. the fact that people are not just coming from one place.

they're coming from so many different war torn places. it feels like it is europe. not coming but europe's rules don't fit this problem. the rules that were if place supposedly to deal with this sort of thing don't seem to be fitting. >> there are two aspects i would question. they are not coming from that many places them international rescue committee, our organization, we have staffed on the islands of greece where people are arriving two-thirds of the refugees arriving in to europe are coming in to the islands, 60% are from syria. the five-year syria crisis, 4.5 million refugees, most in lebanon, jordan, et cetera, that's the main source of refugee numbers. also afghanistan to some extent. you said sometimes we call them migrants or refugees, there's a huge difference. one of the most dangerous things including in britain the idea of

status of someone who has a well founded fear of persecution that the definition is muddied, undermined in the talk of migrants who chose to come for economic reasons. >> all the headlines are about this is just migration, people moving in a normal context. >> this isn't about being politically correct. it is about being correct. a refugee is fleeing persecution, an economic imgrant i would rather to say rather than migrant is seeking life and they have rights in international law, rights to protection and responsibilities from governments that need to be upheld. one of the fundamental challenges is to ensure the very notion of a refugee is not lost in the talk and the headlines about a migrant crisis. >> what about the united states? obviously the united states is in a different position, particularly with regard to people coming from afghanistan and syria, making their way by

land across europe. what about american leadership. >> historically america has been the leader of refugee resettlement. i don't want to throw too many fingers at you. but the record last year 20 million refugees around the world. those who resettled in richer countries, 150,000 or so. the u.s. takes 70,000. the record from syria, i'm afraid does not amount to leadership. the united states since the syria conflict began has taken 134 thousand refugees. 250 a year. the state department announced a target but it is way below the leadership needed for america to play its historic role. never mind to compare with the german reaction of 800,000 asylum seekers and refugees. okay, it's our responsibility. we'll take them. >> david miliband, thank you for being here. the world's most serious issue and really nice to have you here to talk about it.

>> thank you. >> we'll be right back. stay with us. low on gas. pit stop. fill up. double points. yep, that's cold. tired. day 2. coffee. eggs. double points. beautiful. majestic... nothing. where are you, bear? warm. warmer. warmer. yes. wherever the journey takes you, carry american express gold. it's more than a card. it's the gear that gets it done. everyone is looking for ways while to cut expenses.s unique, and that's where pg&e's online business energy checkup tool can really help. you can use it to track your actual energy use. find rebates that make equipment upgrades more affordable. even develop a customized energy plan for your company. think of it as a way to take more control over your operating costs. and yet another energy saving opportunity from pg&e. find new ways to save energy and money with pg&e's business energy check-up.

this morning the "washington post" plished a op-ed about donald trump. it was an op-ed that donald trump didn't like. happy wednesday. this op-ed was written by nba hall of famer car hooem ream abdul jabbar, the all-time leading scorer in the nba. smart man, good op-ed, debunking the bernie sanders and trump are

two sides of the same coin media troupe. donald trump hated it. the way he chose to display his contempt for the op-ed was writing a mean note on it and sending it to kareem abdul-jabbar. kareem, now i know why the press treated you so badly. they couldn't stand you. the fact is you don't have a clue about life and what has to be done to make great again and he closes it with best wishes, donald trump. that's a what he wrote to kareem abdul-jabb abdul-jabbar. nobody likes you and now i know why. based on the way he reacts to criticism, you would think that mr. trump is the one that made 11 all defensive teams. tomorrow night, right here exclusively on the rachel maddow show we will be joined by kareem abdul-jabbar that is in a fun, weird fight. it will be very, very beautiful. very, very beautiful. ♪

we stop arthritis pain, so you don't have to stop. because you believe in go. onward. today's the day. carpe diem. tylenol® 8hr arthritis pain has two layers of pain relief. the first is fast. the second lasts all day. we give you your day back. what you do with it is up to you. tylenol®. ethey have smart online tools, which saves money. they settle claims quickly, which saves money. they drive an all-hybrid claims fleet, which saves money. they were born online, and built to save money,

which means when they save, you save. click or call. behold, these are two can you spot the difference? the wind farm on the right was created using digital models and real world location-based specs that taught it how to follow the wind. so while the ones on the left are waiting, the ones on the right are pulling power out of thin air. pretty impressive, huh? now, two things that are exactly the same have have never been more different. ge software. get connected. get insights. get optimized. start the interview with a firm handshake. ay,no! don't do that! try head & shoulders instant relief. it cools on contact, and also keeps you 100% flake free. try head & shoulders instant relief. for cooling relief in a snap. wheall i can think abouthit, is getting relief. only nicorette mini has a patented fast-dissolving formula. it starts to relieve sudden cravings fast. i never know when i'll need relief.

that's why i only choose nicorette mini. it's a good looking car. ? this is the model rear end event. the model year end sales event. it's year end! it's the rear end event. year end, rear end, check it out. talk about turbocharging my engine. you're gorgeous. what kind of car do you like? new, or many miles on it? the volkswagen model year end sales event ends on labor day. so hurry in to your local volkswagen dealer today. so you're a small business expert from at&t? yeah, give me a problem and i've got the solution. well, we have 30 years of customer records. our cloud can keep them safe and accessible anywhere. my drivers don't have time to fill out forms. tablets. keep it all digital. we're looking to double our deliveries. our fleet apps will find the fastest route. oh, and your boysenberry apple scones smell about done. ahh, you're good. i like to bake. add new business services with at&t

and get up to $500 in total savings. an avalanche to our political breaking news tonight. we started with jeb bush picking the kind of fight you can't win. he told people in exchange for a $3 donation to his campaign they could be entered in a raffle for a chance to get tickets to stephen colbert's first show as the host of the late night show on cbs. mr. bush is going to appear as one of the guests on the first show. apparently he didn't ask stephen colbert if it was okay for him, for his first show to be a jeb bush for fund-raiser president. bad move, governor. >> no one from jeb's campaign asked me if this was okay with me to raise money off of my first show. where's my cut of that sweet 3

bucks, governor? huh? where's this stuff? house always gets its beak wet. where's the big, gov? >> now jeb bush just responded with a hilarious comedy routine of his own. >> hey, stephen, i'm at the philadelphia airport. i thought the host was amy schumer. i totally blew it. since it is you, we are lowering the contest fee with $1 and i will enter yours with a donation to the yell loy ribbon fund. >> jeb bush from the philadelphia airport trying to get ahead of the feud he started with stephen colbert before he starts his late-night show. how this plays out and what it means we do not know. it is all happening right now. that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow. it is time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." welcome back. >> thank you very much. when reporter alison parker and camera operator adam