aggressively. the new jersey that i inherited had those inequitieinequities. >> thank you so much for your time and your candidness. >> "the rachael maddow show" starts now with joy reid. rachael has the night off and we had a very busy news day that turned into a busy news night with a lot to cover. there is donald trump pulling the u.s. out of a major reagan-era arms treaty with russia and the rather od statement the white house put out about it. we will bring you the latest news from the russia information including trump advisor roger stone in court today. and the field got bigger today when kocory booker annound his 2020 run for president.

and the governor in virginia, ralph northam is facing calls for him to resign. this first surfaced on a right-wing news sight and quickly made it's way to the press. the page is from his medical school yearbook in 1984 when e was 25 years old. it shows him and a friend, one dressed in black face, the other dressed as a member of the klu klux klan. the guys that ran the site used to run roy moore's campaign. the washington post and the virginia pilot were the first news organizations to

authenticate it. they say yes, this is the 1984 year book, but i should tell you we still don't know which photo is northam and which is his friend. the governor has not said. he released a statement tonight in print and moments ago on video. my fellow virginians. earlier today i released a statement apologizing for behavior in my past that falls far short of the standard you set for me when you elected me to be your dporgovernor. i believe you deserve to hear directly from me. that photo and the racist and offensive attitude it represents does not reflect the person that i am today or the way they have con ducked myself as a soldier, a doctor, and a public servant. i'm deeply sorry. i cannot change the decisions

that i made, nor can i undo the harm that my behavior caused then and today. but i accept responsibility for my past actions and i'm ready to do the hard work of regaining your trust. i spent the last year as your governor fighting for a virginia that works better for all people. i'm committed to continuing that fight through the remainder of my term and living up to the expectations that you set for me when you elected me to serve. thank you. as the virginia governor tonight amended his earlier printed statement saying clearly there that he does intend to serve our his term. he does not intend to step down. he released that video amid growing calls for his resignation and questions of whether or not his governorship can survive. what ralph northam did was

unforgivable given his statements on right to life coupled with the most recent revelations he last lost the moral authority to continue to govern and should resign immediately. it is also reverberating at the national level. the democratic presidential can don idates are chiming in. julian castro said he should resign. that was followed by senator kamala harris of california who announced her candidacy on martin luther king day. she said that leaders are called to a higher standard. the governor of virginia should step aside so the public can heal and move forward together. we will be watching tonight for more of this national reaction

and there is lots of it at the state level as you can imagine the debate is heating up. the legislative black caucus condemned the photo without recommending what governor should do. it said "we are still processing what we have seen about the governor, but unequivocally we can say it is offensive. we feel betrayal, the legacy of slavery, racism, and jim you from have been an piercing reminder of this nation's sins. those that excuse the pictures are just as culpable. the democratic leader in the virginia state senate expressed spot for governor northam saying while the photo was in very poor taste, i think no one in the general assembly would like their college conduct examined.

i would hate to reexamine my two years in the army. i was 18 and a handful. northam has had a life of helping people, and many times for free. the richmond times dispatch published an editorial calling for governor northam to step down. it the rev laugs elation of a p from his medical school yearbook page that injuries his standard beyond compare. a college graduate studying to become a physician in a state with virginia's troubled racial history should know better. it reveals a lack of judgment that is disturbing. it suggests that he should, for

the good of virginia, step down and allow justin fairfax to succeed him. that brings us to the democrat that would take over if governor northam did he sign nap would be justin fairfax. it would be lou tenant governor fairfax that would serve out his term. there has been just two african-american governors in the history of the united states. if ralph northam was to resign, justin fairfax would become the third. that fact and the history to be made cannot be helpful to his bid to hang on. the story is developing quickly tonight as reactions continue to poor in. the naacp has joined the call for govern northan to resign. tim scott condemned the photo and said the people of virginia will make their voices heard.

amid the calls for his resignation, since he apologized first in print and then in video, without saying who he was, a yearbook from his college years has also hit the internet saying two nicknames. like i said, lots and lots and lots of moving developments. joining me now is my two guests. larry, i want to go to you first. two things, one, this -- are you surprised that governor northam has come out on video saying he intends to stay on and can he hang on? >> not really, most elected officials try to hang on until there is no other possibility. that has been true in our

history. the me too movement changed that for awhile, but this is a very different circumstance. the peep thople that i have tal to, national and state, were unanimous that he could not survive this. if he did, he would be hobbled for remaining three years of his term and not be of use to his party. there are 140 seats coming up in november. >> and a major race coming up in 2020 where democrats hope to carry virginia. but i wonder if northam is getting pressure because virginia is so important to the 2020 campaigns, and also because justin fairfax is not a republican. he is an african-american that would make history if he became

the governor and might be a better look at the 2020 picture. >> joy, that is an interesting and good way to put it. look you are too young, but those older like me remember that nixon hung on as long as he did because he had an insurance policy in his vice president. well ralph northam is less lucky. he doesn't have an insurance policy because justin fairfax is intelligent and able. he is african-american which would help to heal the wounds by this terrible incident that have floored all of us that know ralph northam. i think justin fairfax makes it easier for those that want northam to step aside. it would be easier because a democrat will succeed him and an

african-american. and i have to put in a word for my state. virginia has taken a lot of knocks and rightly so over the years, but we would be the only state with two african-american governors in our history. doug wilder from 1990-1994 and justin fairfactix. and there have only been three in the entire country. i think we should note that, massachusetts had the third, and that is in the whole history of the country. let me go to you corrine. the things that have built up,c. you had him stand down and refuse to preside over it while a commemoration that is done every year for robert e. lee, he

has participated in that. he was secretary of state for like a day. secretary of state mike ertel had to resign after black face pictures surfaced of him and he was mocking katrina victims. does all of that make this harder and harder for northam to hang on? >> i believe that ralph northam needs to resign tonight. you're talking about two states that have a dark history of raci racism. it came into full view during the charlottesville riot. today we watched the second prominent african-american candidate jump into the presidential race on the first

day of black history month. we are in a difficult time. and this is not, in many ways, this is not about politics, it's about what we saw. these pictures with ralph northam, 25 yards old, 1984, it is horrific. one of the things that i agree with the statement they put out is that it is a scab. it is a reminder of the racism, the slavery, jim crowe, this country's original sin and that is why ralph northam cannot make it through the weekend. let's not forget that one of the constituents th constituencies that got him into office, can you imagine the betrayal that you may feel as a virginia black voter that went out, november 2017, to vote for

him. i don't see it. i don't see it how it can last. but it is what is right and what is wrong. it is about racism and making the right choice. he needs to resign. he cannot be taken seriously any more. it is just the right thing to do. >> and does it matter, in your view, very quickly, that the origins of it came from this site that is hunting for dirt coming from the world of roy moore? >> it is clear intense opposition research. he put it out there, and he admitted to it. he said yes, that's him. it is just problematic. >> larry, you had senator mark warner come out. his statement says this photo is shocking and deeply offensive. the governor must now listen to

the people and carefully consider what is next. you tim cane, the presidential candidate in the proceeding presidential cycle saying this photo from his year book is horrible. centuries of racism have already left an open wound. i hope that this man whose has manifested a commitment to justice and equality takes the time to listen to those he hurt. i wonder who in the state becomes the deciding factor. who has the pull if the party decides it is time for northam to go. who has the sway to get him out. >> you were right to mention terri mccaliff. they could come back with a second statement. i also know of a very senior

well known african-american elected official in virginia. i don't want to give his name because he can make his own announcement, but he will call for the governor's resignation and people will know who he is right away. i think things look dark for northam. maybe he can muddle through, but it means his governorship is in sh shambles and he will be a drag on his party. >> i wonder if it causes reflection on the commemoration of things like robert e. lee. these things are still going on in the state of virginia despite it being seen as the last of one of the new south states. >> you hit a nerve with me, of course i'm from charlottesville, if i had my way they would all be gone. i'm not shocked that the virginia general assembly has done nothing about allowing local choice for removing these

statu statues. not defending northam at all, what he did was horrible, but he was terrific on charlottesville as was mccauliff and others but i have a hard time getting that out of my head. that was the mid '80s, not the ' 50s. >> let's talk a little bit, it seems a little early to be jumping into how this affects 2020 but you had two announced candidates come out and make statements. do you expect more? corybo cory booker i don't believe has made a statement yet. this is a very, very important 2020 state. >> it is absolutely porimportan. we have an incredibly diverse 2020 primary field, right?

we have a latino, two african-americans, an openly gay candidate, and women. issues like this do matter. they need to speak up and they need to talk about this. and they can't stay silent on this at all. we are in a different time, yes, we have donald trump in the white house who is a biggot and a racist, but our country is moving forward. look at what we did in november 2018 where we e legislalected t diverse house that we have had in history. so we have to speak up and speak out against this. this is racism. he is 25 years old. this is 1984, it was not okay we have to send a mess an. >> larry sabino, the dean of the political world. the center for politics. also our chief public affairs officer for moveon.org.

stories like this tend to move very quickly. we will keep our eye on developments, but the democratic 2020 field got a little more crowded today with one candidate kicking off his campaign on the fist day of black history month. . (in-store music) need a change of scenery? . kayak searches hundreds of travel sites - even our competitors - so you can be confident you're getting the right flight at the best price. kayak. search one and done.

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today a new jersey senator, cory booker, became the latest democrat to jump into the increasingly crowded 2020 presidential pool. he is hoping to take advantage of the favorable political environment and taking on a president with low poll numbers. two months ago democrats road a tide of antitrump septembntimen. this is the time to do it and by historical standards it is really not that early. >> a democrat today announced he will seek the party's presidential nomination. that really is not unusual, but udahl did it two years before

the presidential election. >> the 1976 race got under way in the fall of 1974. president ford was in office for less that three months when his party got a shalacking in the midterms. as punishment for the watergate scandal. just eight days after those crushing 74 mid terms, the first democratic contender was already in. a month later before the year was up, democrats had a second candidate, you might remember him. >> a second democrat today announced that he is running for president. here is part of carter's announcement. >> as of this time here in the

state that i love, surrounded by friends of mine from all over the nation, in fact even from the moon, i would like to announce that i am a candidate for president. >> that guy, jimmy carter, could come out on top of a record field of 17 democratic candidates and road the raangerf water dwa watergate to beating gerald ford. today, it is why we're seeing more than 20 possible democratic candidates are running or thinking about jumping into the race. cory booker announced his candidacy in newark and released an announcement video that has become a staple of the modern day campaign. in america we have a common

pain, but what we're lacking is a sense of common purpose. i grew up knowing the only way we can make change is when people come together. we are better when we help each other. the history of our nation is defined by collective actions. those born here and those that chose america as home. those that took up arms to defend our country and those that linked arms to challenge and change it. together we will channel our common pain back into our common purpose. together, america, we will rise. i'm cory booker and i'm running for president of the united states of america. he announced on the first day of black history month. kamala harris launched her

campaign on martin luther king day. today harris marked the start of black history month by speaking of shirley chism. she say she stands on the shoulders of giants like congressman chism. >> i'm figuratively and literally the dark horse. i have my soul and my commitment to the american people. the united states constitution says anyone 35 years of age and over and a natural born citizen of the united states, can run for president. >> the people will make a decision. she came up short in 1972 and

ultima although she won 28 delegates. now she is inspiring campaigns nearly 50 years later when wednesday again the people will make a decision. democrats already have a good roster to choose from as other big name candidates continue to ponder their futures. each candidate will have to choose their particular path. iowa and new hampshire have got the lions share of the attention in the past, but lately it has been south carolina that was a campaign starter or kicker. booker will likely focus heavily on south carolina and other southeastern states with large black voting populations. he will be one in a flood of candidates that gets bigger with every cycle.

the african-american vote is 6% of the elector ratate. jamie harrison will join us next. ate. jamie harrison will join us next -morning. -morning. -what do we got? -keep an eye on that branch. might get windy. have a good shift. fire pit. last use -- 0600. i'd stay close. morning. ♪ get ready to switch. protected by flo. should say, "protected by alan and jamie." -right? -should it? when you bundle home and auto... run, alan! ...you get more than just savings. you get 'round-the-clock protection.

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we have two huge stories tonight that turn out to be interconnected. we have the burgeoning democratic field and we have the

virginia governor ralph northam. he has apologized but it is not clear if he will survive the calls for his resignation. and now senator tim scott in the early primary state of south carolina is speaking out about the governor. he says his apoll dpi is good and the people of virginia will make their voices heard. here is jamie harrison, the associate chairman of -- and he is author of "climbing the hill." great to talk to you tonight. >> thank you, good to see you. >> we have lots of statements coming out, kamala harris has called on governor northam to resign. you have 2020 candidates

beginning to weigh in. i believe elizabeth warren also weighed in, how does this play out? a lot of these candidates are practically living in your state of south carolina. they're trying to appeal to the african-american vote. does their stand on northam become a factor on how much traction they can gain? >> i think this will be. i believe that there is stupid, dumb, and unconscionable. it is in the best interest for the people of the state and nation that he step down.

>> sthese racist images must no be tolerated. we know that elizabeth warren has been spending a lot of time in your state. she says corey booker is prepared to spend a lot of time here. you have to win, place, or show to come out with something, some kind of momentum. is there a candidate in particular that has an early good read on the elect or rate. >> the actions that i have seen so far, senator harris and senator booker have been spending a lot of time down there. they're talking to a lot of staffers, or potential staffers, and with a lot of community leaders in south carolina. they also have strong ties to

vice president biden. so you're getting all of this action in south carolina, it is not clear if there is a definite front runner in the state. . everybody is doing a little dating right now to gauge and see where they are on the issues most important to them. >> congressman clyburn that you know very well said biden is the candidate to beat. kamala harris has had some challenges with the african-american community because of her background as a prosecutor. are either of them going to become problematic for voters in

south carolina? >> the crime bill was front and center in the 2016 race. it was an issue that bernie sanders brought up repeatedly. i think that particular issue breaks down on decisions generationally. they really believe in it, and there are older african-americans that i talk to that have a mu nuanced approach as it relates to crime. so i think on that particular issue you will see some of the generational divides. for the senators or anyone that voted on that bill. they will talk about their stance. the up and coming african-american elector rate,

that is a very, very important issue for me. >> i'm sure there will be a lot of talk about being tough on crime, mass incarceration, jamie harrison, thank you so much, i appreciate your time. >> thank you, joyce, good to see you. coming up, roger stone goes before a judge and she does not like his signature antics. s not like his signature antics. there's little rest for a single dad,

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she said i have already noticed the publicity. i recognize that the arrest and indictment were public and the department may have justifiably felt the need to get history ri out. and since this is a criminal proceeding and not a pub luck relations campaign, i believe it behooves the parties to do their talking here in their pleadings and not on the steps or the talk show circuit. she said the gag order will only prevent him from talking about his case and he could still discuss foreign relations or tom brady or whatever he wanted. she said treating the trial like a book tour could taint the jury

pool. and the defendant should be aware that to the extend that any of his public proinfluencements are inconsistent with each other or bearen the facts of the case in any way the office of special council can introduce any of them as evidence against him at trial. maybe roger stone wants that gag order after all. this is the same judge that presided over roger stone's old pal and one time business partner paul manafort's second trial. she sent manafort to jail for trying to contact potential witnesses. she said it is a condition of your release that you may not contact any individuals that you believe are witnesses in the case in person, by mail, by phone, electronically, e-mails, text messages, instant mess

messenger, instagram, what's app or any other means. is that, understood, mr. stone? and mr. stone replies, yes, your honor. the other order of business is figuring out when his case will go to trial. the judge is thinking late summer. here is why that is notable. for all of the reporting that robert mueller is about to wrap up, it is suggested that maybe n not. i feel like it happens every couple weeks. it is almost over, the mueller investigation will wrap up, they hinted at that. but if a judge is saying october as a date for the stone trial,

doesn't that mean by default it is not ending any time soon? >> yeah, and it could take a significant amount of time. under the law he would be able to get a law within 70 days. but the government felt they needed more time to go through it. mueller could have been wrapping up, but just on account of everything that was seized from roger stone they needed more time or may may still be going on. in the grand scheme of special council and independent council investigat investigations it has not gone on that long. it started in 1994 and it didn't wrap until 2001. given that, 33 or 34 individuals have been charged and it has

been hugely successful thus far. it may not be coming tomorrow, but it may be in the relatively near future and following a great deal of success. >> and the judge was very pointed in trying to warn roger stone. we know that michael cohen has now been subpoenaed for closed door sessions on february 12th. that will happen. we also know that the house oversight committee is in talking to bring cohen in on february 7th and that would be the open session. how much jeopardy does that, in your view, put roger stone or trump in? now you could have cohen telling one story. and talking a lot, if anything

he says, if they disagree, could that be problems? >> yeah, it potentially puts them all in jeopardy. cohen has been charges with lying, roger stone has been charged with lying, paul manafort has been charged with lying. frankly they're tied to a president that i believe in 2018 because of 15 times a day in 2018. they could commit accouts of emergen perjury. ere time they talk they seem to get in more trouble. congress as a body can hold them in attempt for lying, and it can moesz up all of their prosecutions, too. so it is when people are

pathologically untruthful they will get into more trouble and they're jeopardizing frankly their own chances of getting fair trials. every time roger stone opens his no mouth he is harming his chances of a fair day in court. >> the judge is saying don't do that any more, it is not a good idea. thank you very much, appreciate it. >> coming up, the president checks off another item on vladimir putin's wish list. stay with us. m on vladimir putin's wish list stay with us ith debt. intuit is here to change this story... with giant solutions like turbotax, quickbooks and mint that give everyone the power to prosper. intuit. proud makers of turbotax, quickbooks and mint.

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the president of the united states and the general secretary of the communist party of the soviet union signed the inf treaty. >> today, i for the united states and the general secretary for the soviet union have signed the first agreement ever to eliminate an entire class of u.s. and soviet nuclear weapons. we have made history. >> in december of 1987 ronald reagan and mikhail gorbachev came to a dramatic agreement. at the height of the cold war they agreed that the united states and the soviet union would eliminate all land-based missiles with ranges between a few hundred and a few thousand miles. after the treaty was signed more than 2,000 missiles were destroyed between the two countries. for over 30 years the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty or inf has served as a check on ambitions of the two largest nuclear powers on

earth, until today when secretary of state mike pompeo announced that the trump administration is suspending the treaty effective tomorrow. in six months if they don't find that russia has come into compliance with the terms of the inf, they will terminate the treaty altogether. the president managed to put a positive stand on the affair saying, we stand ready to engage with russia on arms control negotiations that meet these criteria, and, importantly, once that is done, develop, perhaps for the first time ever, an outstanding relationship on economic, trade, political and military levels. this would be a fantastic thing for russia and the united states, and would also be great for the world, unquote. european allies are understandably very, very nervous. after all, the missiles regulated out of existence by the treaty could reach europe within minutes from russia. now it is widely acknowledged russia is violating the terms of the treaty and it was the obama administration who first confronted putin about missile tests back in 2014.

but it's the response to that violation where things get more complicated. i mean, why not work harder to get russia back into compliance rather than issue ultimatums? who will benefit most from demise of the treaty and are we headed for a new arms race? a nuclear weapons policy expert and president of the plow shares when someone breaks the law, the answer is not to repeal the law. there are well-established methods of bringing an offending nation back into compliance. he joins us tonight. appreciate your time tonight. thank you. let's answer the last three questions. who benefits most from the u.s. backing out of this treaty? >> vladimir putin. it is a gift to vladimir putin. he's the one who now gets to deploy as many weapons as he wants because there are no longer or won't be in six months any limits on what he can do. it also, of course, as you noted, produces great strains in

the u.s.-european alliance system. that is also to putin's favor. and the u.s. takes the blame for this. also to putin's favor. so this is not standing up to russia, this is a gift to russia. >> was there some other way that the u.s. could have encouraged compliance if the obama administration was also complaining that they were not complying? >> absolutely, and ronald reagan showed us the way. treaties often have violations in them. one state or the other accuses another party of violating the treaty. when ronald reagan became president, he accused the soviet union of violating another treaty, the anti-ballistic missile treaty, but he didn't pull out of that treaty. he didn't kill that treaty. he pressed the russians for six years. in fact, while he was pressing them, he negotiated with them this inf treaty. and after mikhail gorbachev and reagan signed that treaty, the soviets admitted that they were in violation of the abm treaty and they tore down the offending radar. that's the way you get somebody

into compliance. you don't let them off the hook, you press them until they give in. >> joe cirincione, president of the plow shares fund. thank you for being with us. stay with us. thank you for bein. stay with us when did soup become this? at panera, we treat soup differently. with vine ripened tomatoes, signature cheddar, simmered to perfection. with big flavors, not artificial ones. enjoy 100% clean soup today. panera. food as it should be. back pain can't win. enjoy 100% clean soup today. thankfully there's aleve back and muscle pain. aleve targets tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. aleve back & muscle. all day strong. all day long.

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right, kids? -kids? -papa, papa! -[ laughs ] -you didn't tell me your friends were coming. -oh, yeah. -this one is tiny like a child. -yeah, she is. oh, but seriously, it's good to be surrounded by what matters most -- a home and auto bundle from progressive. -oh, sweetie, please, play for us. -oh, no, i couldn't. -please. -okay. [ singing in spanish ] okay. one quick thing i said at the top of the show that there have been two african-american governors in the history of this country. i was wrong. during reconstruction, p.b.s. pinchback served as governor of louisiana for about a month. since then, we've had governor duval patrick in massachusetts and douglas wilder from virginia as well as, can't believe i forgot about david patterson from this great state, the great state of new york. so if the governor of virginia resigns and his lieutenant governor justin fairfax takes over, mr. fairfax would be the fourth african-american governor

in modern times and the fifth in our nation's 242-year. got to make that correction. but let's talk about an historic first. this tuesday for the first time in its more than 50-year history, a block woman will deliver the response to the president's state of the union address. i'm, of course, talking about former democratic nominee for georgia governor stacey abrams, who emerged as one of the 2018 cycle's democratic stars. she lost her race in a nail-biter and then she wasted no time after the race getting back to her life's work, fighting for voting rights and against voter suppression by starting her own pac dedicated to increasing voter accessibility called fair fight. she's gearing up this tuesday for what could be the biggest speech of her career so far. she's also making an appearance at another one of the biggest television events of the year, the super bowl that ad is going to air on georgia stations. >> smile. >> i'm republican natalie crawford.

>> we don't agree on everything. >> but we love georgia. >> and want fair elections. >> every vote should be counted from every corner of our state. >> this will make abrams the first person ever to deliver the state of the union response less than 48 hours after appearing in her own super bowl ad. fact check that, twitter. that does it for us tonight. now it's time for the last world. ali velshi is in for lawrence. good evening, ali. >> should make some time outside of this. it is a busy night. we'll pick it up now. thank you. i'm ali verbally in for lawrence o'donnell. the president of the united states is living in an alternate universe with this border wall. house speaker nancy pelosi has said repeatedly and unequivocally she will not give him the money he wants to build his wall so it seems that the president is okay with simply pretending to have a