easy for you to strip away the rights of the most vulnerable. so it is a real problem in places like virginia. that is a place where the voters who said they were motivated by rights for women, voted for democrats. the rachel maddow show starts right now. good evening. and thank you for joining us today. as you probably know it was a really, really busy news day. there was a lot going on. the administration released the enrollment numbers for the affordable care act. turns out in the first months of obama care going into effect over 100,000 people enrolled in new health insurance plans. president obama had tried to set expectations low for what the first enrollment numbers would be. his speech last month in boston, for example, noted that in the first month of sign-ups for the massachusetts version of health reform, only 100 people signed

none the whole first month. but in massachusetts, eventually the glitches got ironed out, and enrollment numbers went up. and now in massachusetts, there is essentially universal coverage. that state is essentially the template for our national numbers. but the numbers out today, 100,000 people signed up in the first month. in addition, another one million people were determined to be eligible for getting a new play in marketplaces for health insurance. but they have not chosen a plan yet. the overall idea is for everybody to get insurance over time. the republicans are rejoicing in the early low numbers, praying nobody else signs up to get health insurance, but we'll see how it goes. history tells us these things do tend to start slowly. also in washington today, you just heard on "all in" with chris hayes, they also saw the introduction of a landmark new piece of federal legislation that would try to protect

women's access to abortion, protecting it, not curtailing it. at a time when republicans have rolled back abortion, the bill introduced today by senator richard blumenthal and other democrats would federally protect women's ability to access abortion, by heading off state efforts to close down clinics and to otherwise impede access to what is supposed to be a constitutionally protected right. honestly despite senator blumenthal's enthusiasm on chris's show just moments ago, that bill is not assumed to go anywhere, at least as long as republicans control the house. if that bill ever does pass, though, it would be the first federal legislation to advance and protect abortion rights in this country in almost 20 years. today, the u.s. senate hosted confirmation hearings for president obama's nominee to

lead the department of homeland security, former defense department top lawyer jay johnson, tomorrow, the senate will hold confirmation hearings for president obama's nominee for the federal reserve, janet yellin. both of these nominees are expected to be confirmed by the senate easily, but confirmation hearings are always fun. earlier today in southwest oregon, a bomb went off. a homemade explosive seems to have been fashioned out of a large propane tank. it shattered windows at the county district attorney's office in medford. sources say if it went off the way it was intended to, it probably would have levelled the building. somebody was seen running away from the explosion in oregon but nobody has been arrested. there is a lot of news today, political and otherwise. but for my money, the most bizarre news of all today, political and otherwise, comes out of the great state of idaho. here is idaho, boise is idaho's

state capitol, the state's largest city. and in southwest boise this past year they elected a new state representative. they pretty much always elect republicans. but they elected a new republican last november, his name is mark patterson. he calls himself a constitutional republican. he is a ron paul guy in idaho. he got a really big boost in the state legislature when he was endorsed by the very conservative congressman raul labrador. they started to turn up weird stuff about his background. his website described him as having been a student at the university of southern california, having gone to usc. turns out he never went to usc. his website also described hip

as a petroleum engineer. turns out he is not a petroleum engineer, not an engineer at all. his website also described him as a professional bicyclist. he was not a professional bicyclist, as tv found out, he had no professional license, even though he did ride a bike. representative patterson said he does remember to be paid to be an endorser for bike lubricant at one sometime, so that should qualify him. he is not an engineer, his website still today insists that he was a professional bicyclist. and really, who are you to judge? now, though, comes the dark part of this story. which is that republican state representative mark patterson, turns out, has twice been arrested and charged with forcible rape. one of those times in ohio, he was acquitted.

he was found not guilty of those charges. but the other time he was arrested and charged with rape he pled guilty. he pled guilty specifically to assault with intent to commit rape. although the state of florida misspelled the word "commit" when they said what he pled to. he was initially charged with forcible rape, he pled guilty to assault with intent to commit rape. he did some time in jail and did some probation, and because of the sentence and the plea bargain that went along with it, under florida law, this all happened in tampa, florida, this went down on mark patterson's record as with held judgment on the assault to intent rape charge. so fast forward to 2007 and across the country to idaho. and in 2007, soon to be state representative mark patterson applies for a license to carry a concealed weapon in the state of idaho. he presumably does not mention on his application the rape issue in his past, since idaho law says you can't get a weapons

permit if you have committed a, assault with intent to commit a serious felony, like for example, rape. so apparently he didn't mention that on his application in 2007 or presumably again on his application in 2012. the application in idaho specifically asks you have you -- excuse me, have you ever had a with held judgment? mark patterson had to have said no to that question. but if he said no to that, that is a lie. his past rape charge, his guilty plea means he should have been turned down when he applied for a concealed weapons permit. so now, the idaho sheriff to whom he has applied for the gun permit has revoked the permit, saying basically having a violent felony on your record means you can't have a weapons permit.

and you certainly can't lie about your violent felony record in order to get a weapons permit. this is not a hard call, right? whether or not you understand or have respect for the arcane gun laws in the country, even if you were acquitted, the second time you were arrested for forcible rape, the one time you pled guilty to assault with forcible rape, that means you can't have concealed weapons anywhere. even if you are a newly elected state representative. who knows why he was able to get away with lying on that application once, and at least for a while on his second try, too. but eventually the sheriff in ada county, idaho, found him out. and now this weekend, the idaho statesman has done a big long feature on the past rape charges and the guilty plea and the revelation of the concealed carry permit. and you know, it all has to be a really embarrassing time. we posted the story, which is really incredible work. but in part because of the idaho

stateman's incredible reporting on this, this has to be embarrassing for this politician. he is part of the ron paul wing of the party. has had the endorsement of the party since the craig and stamp thing. boise has to be embarrassed by this guy, having elected a guy who didn't go to the college, who is not an engineer, and who is not a professional bicyclist, although hey, let's argue about it. and do you want to hear about the rape charges? in a normal world, this is the time the guy would step down to spend more time with his family. this is not a real world, this is our world now, the rape charges the republican lawman caught lying about it has launched a counter attack, saying this is a trumped up bit of retaliation from police, because of the legislation he would have sponsored. because he is the guy responsible for the legislation that would have put the cops in

jail if idaho lawmakers attempted to enforce federal gun laws in the state of idaho. he says because he sponsored that legislation, this whole ruckus is just the man coming for him and his guns in retaliation. that sheriff that discovered my rape conviction was angry about being exposed as an opponent of the second amendment. 25 years ago this week, on november tenth, 1988, the president named ronald reagan signed a piece of legislation called the undetectable firearms act, essentially meaning guns made so little they couldn't be spotted by metal detectors. ronald reagan signed that law long enough ago that it is soon enough to be expired. just as we have expanded the printing technology that makes

plastic guns more of a reality than ever before. it was 25 years ago this week that president reagan signed the ban, 20 years since the bill was passed named for president reagan's press secretary, who was shot in the head and nearly killed during an assassination attempt by john hinckley, jr. the bill was called the brady bill, and established the principle that people had to have background checks before they could buy a gun. and since hinckley had just been charged, he used the pistol to shoot the president and a secret service agent and a d.c. police officer. and press secretary, jim brady. the brady campaign is still around. and right now the brady campaign is keeping up their efforts to try to apply background checks to all gun purchases, not just the ones from licensed gun dealers. on the 20th anniversary of the brady bill being signed into law they just released this ad.

and i'll tell you, i think personally, no offense intended, but i think most animated political ads really suck, but i think this one is really good. >> meet mr. bad guy, he has done a lot of really bad things, but the one thing he uses is a gun, good thing a brady law check stops him from getting the gun at the gun store. no gun for you, but he is not going to stop. he is a bad guy, not a quitter. so he goes on line where he doesn't even need a background check to buy a gun. more for mr. bad guy. and ta da, now he can do even more bad guy things. and just think, 40% of gun sales happen just like this. thousands every day. no brady background check. so why wouldn't congress fix this? maybe they're rooting for the bad guy.

tell congress to stop helping bad guys. sign the petition the finish the job and demand brady background checks on all gun sales. easy peasy. >> usually animation in a political ad is short and don't bother watching this because it will be lame, but this is a good ad, on the 20th anniversary of background checks being required at gun stores if not anywhere else. but of course the real politic of this issue right now in our country is less easy peasy, like the ad says, and more like idaho. because do you want to know what the resolution is to the story of the republican state representative who it turns out was charged with forcible rape twice, and who pled guilty with assault with intent to rape, and then lied about it on his gun application twice, and then got caught lying about it by the local sheriff, do you want to know how the story ends?

the guy gets to keeps gun, and his concealed permit to carry, even though, you know, he lied about rape and felony. and he gets to keep the gun and permit, because turns out there is a state law in idaho, one of the elected officials in idaho, there is a state law that says the legal requirements for getting a gun permit in that state don't apply to you. the local press? this is coverage from the local cbs affiliate looking into this. they have been trying to figure out why elected officials are exempt from the law about guns. but nobody seems to know. elected officials are just exempt from the law for whatever reason. and so when aliens come to earth, who are we going to explain to them that this is

what happened to the oldest and most stable democracy on earth, that once upon a time, even conservatives supported an out right ban on dangerous weapons. and even conservatives supported checking to see if people were, say, violent felons before agreeing to let them have a gun. once upon a time, everybody pretty much agreed that made sense. but in one generation in less than 30 years, this country became the place where the response by law to the violence attempted rapist elected official who lied about it and who got caught lying about it, the only legal response to that man is, sorry, sir. here is your gun, here is your gun, sir, here is your concealed weapons permit. really sorry for the inconvenience. that is the only possible legal response to the guy who pled guilty with assault with attempt to rape. sorry, sir, here is your gun. how can this possibly be who we

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facing mounting allegations that he accepted bribes and kickbacks, connecticut governor john roland today called it quits. >> the months leading to this have been difficult for all of us. i acknowledge my behavior has caused this. >> he was a rising star as the gop looked for help in new england. >> he was a young, smart, politically adept governor, who was viewed as somebody with a future nationally. >> connecticut republican john roland was first elected to state legislature when he was

only 23 years old. he was first elected as governor of connecticut when he was only 37 years old. and for two and a half decades for john roland, it was pretty much going fine, but then, items that the governor insisted he paid for himself, turns out he did not. it came from state workers and contractors, it came from people who were essentially looking for something from him. the state legislature had hearings on whether or not john roland should be impeached. days before the decision was due, he left office in disgrace. but you know what? that was the least of his problem. >> connecticut's former governor today pled guilty to federal corruption charges that could send him to prison for up to five years. john roland, driven from office last summer, admitted to

accepting more than $100,000 worth of perks from contractors. once a rising star in the gop, roland was even considered as a possible running mate for president bush back in 2000. >> john roland, he really did get the kitchen cabinets and house repairs from people who really did hope to do business with the state. and he really did go to prison for that for nearly a year. this week in "the washington post," we got more information on the rising governor, the post reporting that virginia governor bob mcdonnell got some work done on his house by the brother of the same wealthy virginia businessman whose gifts to bob mcdonnell and his family have already put the governor under federal investigation. the contractor who reportedly did the work said he believed he was doing the work at mcdonnell's home for free at the request of his brother.

he said the first lady eventually asked him for a bill, but that was months after he finished the work and long after the federal investigation into the first family taking too many gifts was already under way. a spokesperson for bob mcdonnell denies any wrongdoing in this case. and maybe it is a small thing, $60,000 in home repairs after the $160,000 in cash that the mcdonnells got from the contractor's brother. maybe it is nothing. but if it turns out to be something, this is the kind of thing that can send you to prison. ask john roland, this is the 10 time in the continuing saga of virginia governor mcdonnell, these are tense times for the governor, and a close race for the attorney general in virginia.

we are really down to it. they counted the ballots last night, with the counting of the last ballots, the democratic candidate for the attorney general appears to have run the race. the slimmest possible margin, 164,000 votes out of 2 million cast. mark herring, if the sweep holds up, they will have taken the governor, the lieutenant governor, both senators and the attorney general's job, those are all state-wide elected officials in the state, not happening in virginia since 1969. as close as this virginia election was in terms of vote, it has been just as contested in terms of how the votes are being counted. we have been reporting on this

show for a couple of days about a state order that changed the way the ballots are counted in the biggest virginia county, the most important county for democrats in virginia. the order came down on friday, which of course is after the vote and in the middle of the ballots being counted. the state board said it issued the order on advice from attorney general ken cuccinelli. now ken cuccinelli himself was a candidate in this election, running for governor, of course. and he was the first attorney general in 30 years to not step down from the attorney general's offers when he decided to run for something else. and that has meant that ken cuccinelli was both competing in this election and adjudicating the rules of how the election would be conducted. and look at this, we now know that he was not just competing in the election and setting the rules, ken cuccinelli has been campaigning for the attorney general since election night.

he has been fundraising for the guy whose race is now almost certainly heading for a re-count. with ken cuccinelli's office supposedly counting the votes. i need you to click here to fund the recount fight right now. ken cuccinelli, the attorney general, sent that fundraising letter the day after the election while the votes were still being counted. and nobody made much of it until virginia democrats finally did today. donald mckeechen who is a democratic leader in the state senate said attorney general ken can you i nell needs to take his responsibilities serious in this process and refrain from his overt partisanship. i further call on the senator to recognize the importance of virginians having faith in this outcome, and therefore to ask the attorney general to stop

fundraising and to conduct himself befitting himself in a way of elected officials. joining me now, leader of the caucus. senator, thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me, rachel. >> have you had any response from republicans in general, or from the attorney general specifically, to your statement today? >> all i've heard so far is crickets, rachel, there has not been a word said either from attorney general cuccinelli or senator obenshain. >> when you say you want him to conduct himself in a way befitting the elected official's responsibilities, what to your mind, would that mean? >> well, that would mean he puts partisan politics aside and let the people of virginia have confidence in how this turns out. he is the chief legal officer in the commonwealth. the first responsibility of any

person is to avoid impropriety, and you're fundraising for your republican colleague. that is just wrong, and we're calling on the attorney general to stop it. >> it does feel like -- we were talking about this in the news meeting today. the analogy that the producer came up with today that stuck with me, is that the idea you learned that your umpire has a bet on the game, a personal stake in the outcome. and whether or not you think he or she is a good umpire, it is very hard to trust the way they call balls and strikes knowing that they have a personal stake in this. it was ken cuccinelli's decision not to step down for attorney general when he decided to run for governor. should it have been his decision or should it have been a requirement to run for that kind of office in the state, the requirement of the attorney general's job responsibilities that nobody is allowed to do this in the future?

>> well, we've never had had to do that before. the virginia way has always been for the attorney general to step down. we called upon him to do that this time around. we asked him to step aside as far as giving advice to the electoral boards, and now we found he is actually raising money. as you said, he is calling the balls and strikes on the election process. >> the last time we spoke, one of the things we talked about was another decision defended by ken cuccinelli's office, which was the effort by the state board of elections to purge almost 60,000 voters off the voter rolls very shortly before this election happened. and they put out a list that they said contained too many errors to be rushed through

before this election happened. did you see the effects of this purge? how did that play out ultimately on election day? >> well, i don't think we'll really know how that played out. obviously, this election was very close. it was close at the gubernatorial level. it was close at the attorney general level. we wouldn't ever know. but really, the sad thing here, rachel, is the faith of the people of the commonwealth of virginia in the electoral process. it is up to all of us as elected officials to make sure that that is integrity. and what he is doing now, raising money for senator obenshain, that is hurting our ability to restore confidence to the election process. >> thank you, sir, for being with us tonight. stay in touch as this continues to unfold in your state. >> thank you, rachel. >> all right, we have lots to come up tonight. including way, way more rapture than i would have ever expected, especially on a wednesday. please stay with us.

for at least the duration of his first presidential campaign and his two terms as president, george w. bush consistently and vigorously resisted running afoul of one specific group of americans. but it turns out it is not too late to harm them, too, like within about 24 hours of right now there is going to be a big fight. up next for the interview

tonight is an american who is really displeased by president bush's plans for tomorrow night, plans that it is hard to believe the president really is going to keep. stay with us, that is next. [ male announcer ] if you can clear a crowd but not your nasal congestion, you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec-d®. powerful relief of nasal congestion and other allergy symptoms -- all in one pill. zyrtec-d®. at the pharmacy counter.

for those nights when it's more than a bad dream, be ready. for the times you need to double-check the temperature on the thermometer, be ready.

for high fever, nothing works faster or lasts longer. be ready with children's motrin. despite how awesome that sounds, maybe that is not your thing. maybe, specifically, you're into wine. again, look for further than the irving, texas, convention center. because that is also the venue for the 30th annual beaujolais wine convention, the price is a little steeper, but presumably you get something to drink.

say that neither martial arts nor wine are your particular thing. say instead, your thing is converting members of the jewish faith to christianity, because you believe that the end of the world, the end times, maybe that is your thing. and you're free tomorrow night and you have $100,000 burning a hole in your pocket. if so you may want to check out the jewish bible institute annual banquet this year, which is also being held at the irving, texas, convention center, $100,000 buys you a ticket to the event, in something called a president's package. that package includes the president speaking at the fundraiser tomorrow night in irving, texas. $100,000 buys you stuff like two premium tables for the speech.

and ten signed copies of president bush's recent book. even the cheapest seats for this event costs 100 bucks, but at that rate you are not even guaranteed a seat in the room. since mother jones broke the news that president bush would headline the event in texas, there has been an outpouring of criticism against the president, including people that enjoyed good relations with him, like, for example, the anti-defamation league, whose president says he is disappointed in president bush's decision. there has been a lot of criticism of president bush's decision, from jewish leaders across the country. irving, texas, is kind of near dallas, texas, leading members of the dallas jewish community put this out expressing their concern about the fact that president bush would not just be speaking at this event, he would be helping this group raise lots and lots of money to do what they do. they said the messianic bible

institution's message conflicts with the jewish community. quote, we respectfully urge him to reconsider this decision to appear on behalf of the organization whose purpose is to undermine the tenet of the jewish organization. after the overwhelming response, any mention of his appearance has virtually disappeared from the messianic institute's website. the speaker is kind of a big-deal guy, security measures will be in place. we have screen grabs of what their fundraising page used to look like, before somebody i think realized that publicity on this thing maybe was not helping. we do not know if president bush himself is being paid a speaking fee for this event. that almost seems beside the point now.

either way it is almost incomprehensible that any president would appear at an event that a jewish leader says would under mine their faith. if you care to look, it is not hard to figure out what they do. if you're looking for that information, you can find it. because they state their goals loudly and publicly and repeatedly. it is not subtle. >> the bible predicted the day would come, declared the day would come when the lions would come out. >> as the blindness comes off the eyes of the jewish people and the days we're living in, our job will get bigger and bigger and bigger until all israel shall be saved. help israel to raise up, and bring up the promised

redemption. the greatest blessing you can give a jewish person is the gospel, and then invite them into an abundant life in the lord. every contribution matters. if it is a hundred dollars, a million. >> it takes resources to expand this. >> just to recap. the group's goals are as follows, convert the blind, meaning the jews, into christians, thus saving them in the process. bring about the end times by saving said jews from judaism, and of course raise money to do all the above. this is not a new thing the group has been turning to after raising money in the past, they have been doing this since the '90s. they're very proud of it. they're trying to convert jews around the world, including in israel in order to bring about the end time. and they need more money to do

it. and tomorrow, a former president of the united states will help them further those goals by helping them raise many, many, many dollars. a spokesperson for president bush confirms tonight that the former president's plans have not changed. he is still planning to keynote this fundraiser tomorrow night for the messianic jewish bible institute. nobody can gauge the responses, but judging from the newspapers and their own leaders, jewish people are offended by this. not every jew, of course, but this is offensive to a lot of people in the jewish community. it is not hard to see why that would be the case. why would president bush do this thing that is being perceived as a hurtful thing to the jewish community, a community he has always had good relations with. as if he doesn't know why it is hurtful. joining me now, the director of the center for judaism, thank you for joining us. good to have you here. >> good to talk with you, rachel. >> why do you believe that president bush will speak at the messianic bible event tomorrow. >> i fully support that he has a right to speak, but having the right to do something doesn't make it right or wise. and this decision is so painful

to many people in the jewish community. first, he is raising money for and endorsing an organization whose primary purpose is to convert all different religions. how do you have a respectful relationship if the measure of success of one group is the ending of the other group by having them convert away from their own religion? secondly, the core theological is the irrational covenant, secondly, this is part of the movement, saying you can be a jew and a christian at the same time. that is deceptive practices, trying to manipulate people.

you can't be a christian and jew at the same time. let's respect religions for what they are. and by throwing his stamp of approval to this group he is acting in a way that is both disrespectful to both christians and jews, as he has always done in the past, respect groups for who they are. >> you worked with president bush during his administration. the u.s. commission on international religious freedom. you were involved with the administration. from your experience working with him and seeing the way he worked as a politician, as a public figure, do you have any insight into why he would decide to speak to this group? i am essentially asking if you have an opinion about maybe -- whether or not he doesn't know what he is getting into here? >> well, perhaps he didn't in the beginning. you're right, even though i

represent the larger section that tends to be quite liberal in their views, the president was very comfortable working with those issues we could find common ground, and we did. i never heard him give any hint of anything other than respect of the jewish people. he was a friend, even with those who he differed with politically. that makes it more surprising, perhaps he didn't understand. if that is the case, i really wish he would withdraw. i don't think he understands the pain. and he still has the opportunity to respectfully say this is the wrong decision. i'm going to let this group do its own work, but i don't want to give my stamp of approval. >> i honestly feel -- i share your feelings about president bush and the other organizations. it always seemed like a constructive and mutually respectful relationship in the past. and i expected him to drop this. now, on the eve of the event it seems as though he will not. do you think this will be an aggravated problem for president bush and the jewish community.

will this continue to force questions to him there after? >> i think it will lead to his friends in the jewish community and those he encounters, asking why you did this, to give your stamp of approval to say that judaism, and christianity are the same, it is not. it is a unity, redemption is found through jesus, through christians, for good deeds, who believe that jesus was divine for christians, he was a messiah for christians, and we reject that on the basis that when the messiah comes, it will be a message of justice and peace for all. he should respect all religions enough to say i don't want to be a part of those who say these are one and the same, as a means of converting jews to christianity. i really hope he rethinks it and withdraws, rachel. >> i realize this is a sort of a

painful issue, and this is an awkward confrontation with somebody you didn't expect to have it with. i really respect helping us to understand it. thank you. >> thank you. >> we have a best new thing coming tonight. i am still not over our first segment tonight. but we have a best new thing, and that is coming up. stay with us. having triplets is such a blessing.

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>> that this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom. and that government by the people, of the people, for the people switch that -- shall not perish from this earth. i was so close. >> you have to get it all in one? i thought that was great. >> it's okay. >> it was great. >> okay, we are done. >> that is not the best new thing in the world today. them flubbing the gettysburg address. close to the best new thing in the world today. that gets better. best new thing coming up. the secret is out. hydration is in.

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>> off best new thing in the world, earlier this year when the president spoke on the 50th anniversary of the "i have a dream" speech at the march on washington. president obama admitted afterwards to some jitters to feeling the weight of history. >> a couple things i was thinking, leading up to the speech, i was thinking -- you generally should not try to follow one of the two greatest speeches in american history. because it puts a little pressure on you. >> so one of the two greatest speeches is dr. king's, what 's the other one? i had a suspicion i knew what he thought was the other one. we checked with the white house. sure enough he confirmed the gettysburg address. president lincoln delivered it 150 years ago this month. actual anniversary is next week.

president lincoln delivered that brief, gorgeous speech right in the middle of the civil war, dedicating a cemetery on the side of a battlefield that had seen tremendous loss of american life. you might have had to memorize the address in school, a lot of kids do it. not that hard to memorize. a lot of the lines are already so memorable. there aren't that many lines. it's short. well this is learntheaddress.org. by ken burns. learn at dress. anybody interested, recite it on video and upload it. very, very cool. learn the address put out a mashup of some videos they collected of people reading the speech. it is awesome. and i am in a tiny bit of it. which is really cool. i want to show this to you. this is still not the best new thing in the world today. that comes after. here's what they put out. ♪ >> four score and seven years ago --

>> our fathers brought forth -- >> a new nation conceived -- >> based on the proposition that all men are created equal. >> testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and dedicated can long endure. >> we are met on ape great battlefield of that war. >> we have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place. >> for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. >> it is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. >> but in a larger sense we cannot dedicate. >> we cannot consecrate. >> the brave men living and dead have consecrated it. >> the world will little note or long remember what we say here. >> they can never forget what they did here. >> it is for us the living. >> to be dedicated to the unfinished work.

>> which they who fought here have thus nobly advanced. >> it is rather for us to be dedicated to the great task remaining before us. >> that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause. >> for which they gave the last full measure of devotion. >> that we here highly resolve that these dead should not have died in vain. >> that this nation under god. >> shall have a new birth of freedom. >> that government of the people. >> by the people. for the people. >> shall not perish from the earth. >> see what i mean, short, beautiful. even with cable news dorks, amazing. that's not the best new thing in the world. after getting all the living presidents to participate, sitting members of congress, here is the headline about this project posted on website of abc news. look at this. this is so great. look at the headline. >> taylor swift and all five living presidents recite