>> congressman tim ryan from ohio, he is challenging nancy pelosi. thank you. >> and that will do it for "all in." the rachel maddow show starts now, how are you doing? >> you know, i'll tell you in an hour. at this point, i'm wiped out. i got super psyched for the show, and then i don't know who i am and where i'm going to be. thank you, steve. and thank you at home for joining us this hour. happy friday. got a lot to get to tonight, with a lot of really good guests. i want to introduce you to joseph brotten, a united states senator for a grand total of three months, elected in 1948, sworn in on new year's eve. and then he dropped dead in march. that was his whole time in the senator.

and before people got used to the idea they had a senator named joseph brotten, the voters didn't get to replace him. the governor got to replace him. it was an open seat. the governor of north carolina decided to look to a very prominent north carolina citizen to take brotten's senate seat. he decided to give it to the president of the university of north carolina. and the president of the university of north carolina at that time, 1949, was a really interesting guy. background, he had been a history professor, but was a very politically skilled guy. when he became president of unc, he got lots of funding and made a lot of impacts. there was previously a quota of the number of jews that they

would accept at the school. but when he came president, he drafted the jew quota. he was unexpectedly vaulted into the united states senate when he was asked to fill that open seat the seat unexpectedly died. when frank porter graham was given that seat in 1949, in north carolina, there were certain segments of the population in that state who were not going to stand for a guy like him getting a job like that. talking about today is because you should have seen the campaign that they ran against all right, he had been president senate seat. you should see how they ran against him. look at this, white people, wake up before it's too late. you may not have another chance. do you want negros working besides you, your wife, daughter and in factories?

do you want negroes riding besides you, in the buses, cabs and trains, negroes disciplining you, going the white schools and white children going to negro schools, do you want them occupying the same hospital rooms with you and your wife and your daughters? do you want negroes as your foreman and using the same toilet seat? and this will lead to whites and negroes working together in the south as they do in the north. do you want that? and then we get to the money part of it. frank graham, the newly appointed senator, the guy who had been unc president, and the guy just put in that open senate seat.

favors mixing negroes and whites, if you do want this, vote for frank, if you don't vote for smith for senator, he will uphold the traditions of the south. senate in 1950 in north carolina. on but it kind of taking your breath away to see it. the campaign for willis smith in that year they doctored the photo to make it look like frank graham's wife had been dancing with a black man. they photographed it that year. in 1948, all right, it was just the year before frank porter graham had been nominated to the senate seat two years before the senate race. president truman had ordered the

desegregation of the military. famously that was you know, ultimately a huge success. but in 1948 and nine when that decision was fresh in that north carolina senate race against frank porter graham with the wake up white people flier and the fake photo of his wife with a black man in that senate race, the desegregation was just another lit match for dry grass. and one of the other things that the campaign for willis smith didin -- in that senate race, they put god forbid, a black man. outrage, a black man to west point? and that almost unbelievable, all race, all the time campaign against frank porter graham for

that senate seat in 1950. it worked. frank porter graham had been appointed to the senate seat after that guy died, but thanks to that racist campaign against him he was voted out. and so willis smith became a u.s. senator. i think he knew why he won, of all the people who worked on his campaign, he took the guy who worked on the flier and the guy who reportedly used the scissors to doctor that photo of his wife with the black man, he took that man on his senate staff. even though he only brought that guy there as a junior staffer, that junior staffer proved to be ambitious and sort of hard to tie down. that junior staffer didn't have all that much interest in working that part of the regime.

turns out he wanted to keep working that type of campaign that knocked out that senator in 1950. a presidential campaign, this time working on the presidential campaign of a failed presidential candidate but long-time southern senator named richard russell. by 1960, he was back out in another campaign, working on a north carolina governor's race that time. reporting an insurgent candidate whose only issue in the run for governor was race. the congressional staffer deported a candidate called bev lake, who only ran for governor because of the insufficient fervor he saw for segregation among the existing white politicians in south carolina. quote, the two in the home is not inevitable and not to be tolerated.

so for this one campaign operative, who specialized in this type of stuff, right, this nominated senate staffer, but operative and this was his specialty. segregation, segregation, segregation. he sort of cornered the market at least in north carolina on running campaigns that turned everything into race, white fear, encroaching black people with your daughters. and he got good at it. but finally this campaign pro who had run all of these expert confederately raced campaigns, decided the next big open seat in north carolina would be himself. graham's beloved unc as the university of negroes and communists. dangerous piece of legislation

in congress. states senate seat in north carolina, that was opened in 1972. helm, and jesse helm, senator helms, ultimately got to the senate too late to stop the hated voting rights act, but when it was up for reauthorization for the first time in 1982, jesse helm filibustered it in his words, until the cows came home, doing everything he could to get rid of the voting rights act. that was 1982. in '83 he led an epic filibuster with martin luther king jr. when he finally relented, the ap interviewed him about what he had done. this was kind of amazing. i stumbled across it today

looking at old newspaper clippings. quote, he said in an interview he realized his opposition to king and his comments angered the black community. but he said he didn't expect to get much black support anyway. he said i faced reality, the blacks have a history of voting democratic down the line. jesse helm did overlap with one african-american senator during his entire tenure in the united states senate. famously he got into one of the elevators with her and the senator from utah. he turned to orrin hatch, and said quote, watch me make her cry. i'm going to sing "dixie" until she cries, and they described it later to the l.a. times. said he did get right in her face and sing dixie in her face,

oh, i wish i was in the land of cotton, old times there are not forgotten. watch it all. make her cry. jesse helm's epic filibuster against the martin luther king jr. holiday, interesting the ap asked him, are you worried how it would affect you politicly? you're in a state with a lot of not only was he worried about that is what he was building his capital on. filibusterering, that was something he came back to again and again and again in his political life, proudly. he was not ashamed of it. he used it a lot. it can spike a particular white vote if you do stuff like that even if it costs you all your black vote. even though jesse helms did everything he could to filibuster the holiday, it

didn't end up being a single person filibuster record. the record longest filibuster in the united states by any state senator, that record actually is that record was also set against civil rights election but it is a record that belongs to this guy. gentlemen, that there is not enough troops in the army to force the southern people to break down segregation and admit the negro race into our theaters, into our swimming pools. churches. it was the two political parties in our country, he said, that were not racist enough, so he

had to run in order to create a whole new party, specifically to meet the racial needs of his constituents. retirement to join in the protests against the civil rights program. ticket. governor thurmond attacks the civil rights rank. >> it simply means that it's wrong to dominate their country these uncalled for and these damnable proposals, he has

recommended under the guise of so-called civil rights. and i tell you the american people from one side to the other had better wake up. and oppose the program, and if it does, the next thing will be is a totalitarian state in these united states. >> strom thurmond, running for president in 1948 to stop the totalitarianism for president and desegregation. he did all right and lost. it was not too long, 1954 before south carolina would elect him to the united states senate. and they would not stop doing it for another 40-plus years. until strom thurmond became the oldest senator in the united states, still holds the record for the filibuster, as the one man filibuster against civil rights legislation.

even at his hundredth birthday, everybody still talked about his run for segregation back in the good old days. >> when strom thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. we're proud of him. and to the rest of the country that followed our lead we wouldn't have all of these problems over all of these years either. and it -- obviously went over great in the room, but didn't go over well in the country when senator trent lott said that. by 1982, some of the charm of these guys was starting to wear at the point he said that at strom thurmond's 100th birthday, strom thurmond had been the top senator in the united states. but two weeks after he said we would have been better off in the country if the whole country had voted for the segregationist position, in 1958, two weeks

after that, trent lott was gone. he was most recently enthusiastic about trump, saying what he would be for him and his friends. he is probably better off not as a senator any more. it's important for us as a country to know basically trent lott couldn't stay on as the top republican senator in washington, once he was caught talking on tape the way he did about strom thurmond and his segregationist rant about the presidency. at some point, this is what normal politicians choked on. there did used to be a lot of these guys around, and for a while, it felt like they were all going to live to be 500 years old. but they all nearly died out. i'm 43 years old, i saw it ethically unwieldy for them to

run on these campaigns. over the course of my life i have seen most of them die out. most of them, not all of them. that ends up being really, really important for what is about to happen next in our country, and that is next tonight here as well.

in 1968, when reverend martin luther king jr. was killed, his funeral was procession. and his casket was led by mules. and the guy who led the procession, the guy who you see there on the left side with the white shirt behind the flag

there, he turns out to himself have had an incredibly and now news-worthy role in american civil rights history. it's important in terms of where he came from and what he did. it's also important for us right now. it will blow your mind. nomination.

>> good morning, jane.

>> the man who said those things and would be a federal judge is jeff sessions, part of the struggle over his nomination takes place right here, where sessions was born in alabama, and the struggle for black voting rights was waged. >> mr. sessions is a throwback to a shameful era, which i know both black and white americans thought was in our past. it's inconceivable to me that a person of this attitude is qualified to be a u.s. attorney, let alone a united states federal judge. >> jeff sessions iii, brought face to face with things he personally had said. civil liberties university are unamerican.

>> these comments that you could say about a county organization or something. i may have said something like that in a general way. and that probably was wrong. >> also brought face to face with the justice department civil rights attorney who knows him well and who was asked, is sessions a racist? >> i don't know whether he is or isn't. don't. i really can't say. >> but the would-be judge's case came in alabama. defendants in a perry county case, were political and civil rights leaders for more than 20 years. albert was an aide to martin luther king jr. marches. can see, that is him right there. mules at martin luther king jr.'s funeral. and mail fraud.

>> i just don't think jeff sessions came in with an ounce of evidence. >> blacks charge harassment by u.s. attorney jeff sessions noting there was no investigation of white vote fraud. the justice department said it had no complaints about white vote fraud. >> others said they may have found voter fraud if they looked for it. >> i have seen letters that said we know you don't live here but want you to vote here. >> albert and evelyn were found not guilty. the justice department said sessions had a good case. jack drake disagrees. >> i didn't think the government had a case. the impetus of it, i think, was to keep blacks from voting, to intimidate people. and they went right at the leadership they want to defeat.

>> albert turner doesn't want him on the bench. >> a man like jeff sessions will be there for a long time and i honestly think he will be in the way of progress for quite a while. >> is i believe a disgrace to the justice department and he should withdraw his nomination and withdraw his position. >> and the jeff sessions nomination is not over, from my sense what i said is that if president reagan really wants jeff sessions on the bench he is in for a fight. >> it does sound rough, thank you, ken. >> thank you, it was rough, he didn't make it. this was 1986, by 1986, ronald reagan had been president for five years, been through a lot of judges. he had never had a district 1986, they decided a guy like jeff sessions could not be choked down. this guy erased? no, that was 1986.

the voters of the state of alabama decided they didn't care about him enough to keep him out of statewide or federal office. by 1996, he was vote d state attorney general, and by 1996 they sent him to the united states senate. he was sent back there since. in his time in the senate, he got on the same judiciary bench that rejected him in the earlier phase of his career. some of the issues that have been raised with regard to the -- the wise latina quote where you said that they should make decisions that are better than a white male. throughout her career, she has associated herself with well-known activist judges.

she clerked for justice marshal, well-known activist. >> he spits out just marshal there. thurgood marshal. as if that should be a black mark against them because he was such an activist. just marshal, who argued against the brown v board of education. sessions is the last of what looked like it would be a die breed of old school, absolutely unreconstructed white southern senators. course of his entire career is part of why he has remained a relatively anonymous low-level senator on capitol hill. there is a reason he is not in charge of anything. but today president-elect trump announced his next pick for the states is senator jeff sessions. joinings us now is the senior writer, ari berman, author. part of why jeff sessions was

rejected for that federal judgeship when he was in his 30s, was because of the corroborated report of him making racist statements. but the other part of it was the prosecution he brought in selma. can you tell us more, what should we look at now? >> he prosecuted three people very influential civil rights activists in alabama, people who had marched on bloody selma in 1955, who had been beaten and helped to build political power in alabama, who had virtually. the fact that sessions prosecuted them on trumped-up charges, the fact that he prosecuted them, the prosecutions took place in selma

of all places, the fact they were prosecuted under the voting rights act, which were supposed to help african-americans, not harm them, was all outrageous at the time. >> and that was a case that went to the jury, the jury that went to the decision, he brought his charges. half, there were like seven african-americans, five white people, came back in five hours and said immediately, no, not guilty on all counts. they absolutely rejected the prosecution here. strong case by jeff sessions, that is what civil rights activists told him at the time, don't do this. it is politicly and racially motivated, so for sessions to lose this high profile case against black activists, and to be voted for by reagan was shocking.

problems, how did he react when the supreme court basically gutted the voting rights act a couple of years ago? >> he never changed his life, he supported the supreme court decision gutting the voting rights act, saying there was no discrimination going on in alabama, or georgia, clearly he is not watching your show or reading my reporting. in his own state of alabama, they required 31 dmcs, many in north carolina and alabama, the courts found that voter suppression law targeted black voters, there has been so much segregation that sessions has refused to acknowledge. >> if he is chosen, he will have a lot of influence on these type of cases. jeff sessions is a controversial nominee, not the only controversial person

president-elect trump picked for a very important job today. we have much more ahead. there is a very important time in the news.

kansas, technically born in cleveland. he made his life in wichita, kansas. legislature in 2006.

in 2010 after his two terms in the legislature, raj decided to try to take a big leap and run not just for the state legislature again but instead for congress. from his district in kansas, and this is what it was like that year to be raj goyle running for congress in kansas in 2010. vote american, vote for the guy running against this guy. subtle, right? the guy running against raj did not put up the vote american billboard against raj, that billboard was put up by a supporter by raj's opponent, not by the opponent himself. but when raj goyle called his opponent out on this, about this billboard that his opponent was just that raj goyle was just distracting from the real issues in that campaign.

so that really is what that looked like, true americans vote for pompeo, now raj's opponent is pompeo, who is known for dissenting from the republican's benghazi report, because even basically that hillary clinton remains convinced that she did. so he dissented, he is also basically known for being the congressman from koch industry, they have been his biggest funders in his congressional life, ever since his first run, they have been the number one funders of mike pompeo, when he first got to congress he hired the former top lawyer to be his chief of staff and got to work on his top priorities which happened to be what koch brothers wanted for christmas

that year, which was a super happy christmas. it was a, killing a registry of gas polluters, and b, stopping an on-line registry of product safety complaints, because that is what the people of his district wanted. now, after pulling that heavyweight for the hard-working people of wichita and writing brave op-eds like this, stop harassing the koch brothers, now he is donald trump's nominee to be the director of the cia. he has no intelligence experience, outside of his time as koch industry guy on the intelligence committee. mike pompeo has to be confirmed before he takes over, by the senate. it done.

and democratic congressman adam schiff called him willing and listen to engage, both key qualities in a cia director. and whatever fight democrats are going to put up over some trump nominations somewhere, we're not seeing much of one here for the cia director, at least not yet. the congressman for koch industry at least for now, appears to be on the path to the top agency. boot camp these days.

boot camp these days. you know what, it is a blessing to have clarity. a blessing to see things clearly, and have a clear understanding of what you're up against in the world, and why. that is a blessing. tonight after today's news cycle we're working our way down the list that the new trump hires are.

was bipartisanly viewed as too racist for a judgeship, but now he is tapped to be one. and the koch industry. this is one that makes the other two look really mainstream, and his story is next.

announced that retired general michael flynn would be his new security adviser. requires any other form of announcement. no senate confirmation for national security adviser. for general flynn, that might be a blessing. last year, he attended the anniversary party for russian state-sponsored television. there he is there. and just to the right of him. see that handsome guy? that is russian president vladimir putin sitting with

general flynn, who explained his actions, saying he was paid for that appearance. the dinner with vladimir putin and honoring state russian tv. his defense was i was paid to be there. adviser to the president of the united states. general flynn was fired from the defense intelligence agency from 2014 as what was described from one side as leadership clashes. he explained it as, the military fired me for calling our enemies radical jihadists. i think it is fair to say, i think his supporters would concede that he is a fringe enough choice that you would probably hear, probably impotent opposition, for somebody like him having a big important role in the white house. a former colleague said his thinking process is not

sufficiently analytical to test streams. if you listen to him, in ten minutes you will hear him contradict himself two or three times. flynn is known for putting stuff like this on twitter. fear of muslims is rational. he is also on board 100% with the things that donald trump campaigned on, on national security, that more national figures may be expected to balk at. a terror suspect, yes or no? >> i would have to see what the circumstances of that situation was. what circumstances would justify killing the family and wife and child? >> it would have to be the circumstances that we were facing at that time. what can you tell me about the child? know.

donald trump has said he would kill family members of terrorists, even if the families themselves were totally innocent. and president-elect trump has the person closest to him whispering in his ear and advising him as national security adviser. general flynn has accepted the job offer, and as far as we understand it that is the end of that process. this is it. he is done. joining us is adam schiff, congressman, thank you for nice to see you. >> broadly, what is your reaction to mike flynn being named national security adviser? >> well you know, shocked and gravely concerned about it. both for the reasons of his policies, they're well out of the mainstream when it comes to russia.

his comments about turkey show a complete lack of appreciation on who is happening there. and more broadly, his views on islam, his failure to distinguish the perversion of that state by groups like isis. and his ideas, that there is a clash of civilizations between the west and islam, that they're incompatible with a relationship with the west. these are deeply disturbing ideas that the president-elect has expressed, and to have the national security adviser on this is alarming, and the tenure is especially alarming. i think what was found and he exhibited on the campaign trail. this is somebody who is often erratic and shoots from the hip and a volatile personality. you want somebody to bring the national security experts, the secretary of defense and state, the national security council and reach consensus on very tough issues and often with the pressure of time.

you don't want another volatile personality guiding the way of already an impetuous president-elect. >> we get vague characterizations of what happened during his tenure. he was there from 2012 to 2014. he was asked to leave. you have the seat on the intelligence committee and obviously have your finger on the pulse on what is happening in the intelligence agencies. what can you tell us about why exactly he was asked to leave and what went wrong, what his colleagues at that agency thought about his tenure there? >> well, it has nothing to do with wanting to call islamic radicalism by its name. rather it had to do with his management style, which was one of essentially a bull in a china shop, the inability to work with others, enormous problems that were largely his creation, essentially a mess, that real pr

national security adviser. he is the equivalent of steve bannon in the national security arena. so you have one person who flirts with the alt-right in steve bannon in charge of domestic policy advice and now flynn as national security policy. that's a dangerous combustible combination. >> pompeo was named to be the director of the cia, you sort of welcomed that. you're not opposed to everything that trump has proposed. you're keeping an open mind as to whether mike pompeo is a good choice for cia >> i know him,

he's a hardworking guy. he has the capability of being a good cia director. he's a bipartisan guy. he will need to set that aside to be an effective cia chief, he is going to be strictly a political non-partisan. i think he can do that. what americans have to recognize, the elections have consequences. a modmoderate. and that is the president's prerogative to pick. and i am counting on him to do it well. >> always a clear and sober voice on scary issues. thank you for your time, appreciate you being here. >> thank you, rachel. had something else we were going

he gets a lot of compliments. he wears his army hat, walks around with his army shirt looking all nice. and then people just say, "thank you for serving our country"

and i'm like, that's my dad. male vo: no one deserves a warmer welcome home. that's why we're hiring 10,000 members of the military community by the end of 2017. i'm very proud of him. male vo: comcast. had something else we were going to cover, by i scrapped it, because there's a thing i need to say about the mike flynn security announcement. all the president has to do is ask somebody and them say yes. so this mike flynn thing is done. discussed as much compared to the other people who have to go through the senate confirmation process. but the choice of mike flynn is a different kettle of fish than anything we might have expected from the trump campaign.

mike flynn calls islam a political ideology hiding behind a religion. he calls islam a malignant cancer. president putin and take money to go to a gala. he's been a frequent guest on russian state television and says he sees no difference between russian state television and for example msnbc. he will now be the closest person to the president on a day-to-day basis on all foreign policy issues, on all military issues, on all national security issues, and he is way outside anything that anybody on the consider to be the mainstream, either in thought or temperament in terms of national security issues, and it's done. and trump gets him unless he has some change of heart or awakening of conscious about doing something like this for such a key position. i would also say that mike flynn has been on the payroll, his intelligence firm has been on

during the trump campaign, without him disclosing that while he was working for the trump campaign. so this is just -- i know he's not going to get as much coverage as the other people who have to get confirmed over the next few days, but stick a pin in that. it's a really, really important, really worrying announcement. back to our regularly-scheduled program back in a second.

the same never quit attitude. that's why i asked his doctor about once-a-day namzaric. (avo) namzaric is approved for moderate to severe alzheimer's disease in patients who are taking donepezil. it may improve cognition and overall function, and may slow the worsening of symptoms for a while. namzaric does not change the underlying disease progression. don't take if allergic to memantine, donepezil, piperidine or any of the ingredients in namzaric. tell the doctor about any conditions including heart, lung, bladder, kidney or liver problems, seizures, stomach ulcers, or procedures with anesthesia.

serious side effects may occur, including muscle problems if given anesthesia; slow heartbeat, fainting, more stomach acid which may lead to ulcers and bleeding; nausea, vomiting, difficulty urinating, seizures, and worsening of lung problems. most common side effects are headache, diarrhea, dizziness loss of appetite, and bruising. (man) dad and i shared a lot of moments. now we're making the most of each one. (avo) ask about namzaric today. here's one tantalizing little jib let to meditate upon. if jeff sessions gets confirmed as the attorney general of the united states, jeff sessions is a sitting u.s. senator from one of the reddest states in the country, alabama. drama as to which party his successor will come from. alabama has a republican governor. a.g., the governor will

undoubtedly pick a republican to replace jeff sessions, and that will undoubtedly be the safest seat in the country. that is basically a guaranteed job for life. here's a potential hilarious thing. one of the people who could be appointed by the governor of alabama is the governor of alabama. the same governor of alabama who was last heard on this show saying this. >> you know what, i stand behind you and i, and i put my arms around you and i put my hand on your breast and pull you real close, i love that, too. >> alabama governor robert bentley right now is facing impeachment at home because of that tape. appoint to replace jeff sessions

is himself, which would let him escape the threat of impeachment for the sex tape and it would be a job for life, and washington, d.c. is very nice this time of year. prospect of him appointing himself. everybody can borrow my tape when that happens. we've got the sex tape. you can use the subtitles and everything. good evening ari. >> we'll let you know when we need the tape. and president-elect trump has