THE RACHEL MADDOW SHOW
June 3, 2014
RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC HOST: Thanks to you at home for joining us this
hour.
The invasion of Iraq started on March 20th, 2003. March 20th.
On March 23rd, 2003, so still during the very first few days of the
initial invasion period, on March 23rd, a long column of vehicles from the
3rd Infantry Division was driving from southern Iraq toward Baghdad, when a
maintenance company that was part of that big drive to Baghdad got hit by
an ambush.
And with the nation riveted to the start of that war, to what was
supposed to be the shock-and-awe application of overwhelming force to what
would be a short and triumphant war in Iraq, that ambush on the third day
of the war gave the United States of America our first made-for-TV Iraq
household name. The name was Jessica Lynch.
She was diminutive 19-year-old blonde white female, West Virginia
soldier. But apparently beneath it all, she was a Rambo. On April 3rd,
2003, "The Washington Post" ran this front page story and photo of Jessica
Lynch and told the story of her unbelievable heroism after the ambush on
that day three of the Iraq war.
"Private Jessica Lynch rescued Tuesday from an Iraqi hospital, fought
fiercely and shot several enemy soldiers after Iraqi forces ambushed the
Army`s 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company, firing her weapon until she ran
out of ammunition, U.S. official said yesterday. Lynch, a 19-year-old
supply clerk, continued firing even after she sustained multiple gunshot
wounds. She was fighting to the death, the official said. She did not
want to be taken alive."
Lynch was also stabbed when Iraqi forces closed in on her position,
said "The Washington Post." Sources also told the paper that after her
rescue and her medevac, she was being treated for gunshot wounds and stab
wounds.
The Pentagon even managed to obtain night vision video footage of
American Special Forces rushing into an Iraqi hospital to rescue her.
The coverage of that rescue was unbelievably intense.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
TOM BROKAW, NBC NEWS: One of the most dramatic moments of this war
occurred early Wednesday morning Iraqi time in the dark in Nasiriyah. The
rescue of Private First Class Jessica Lynch of West Virginia. NBC`s Kerry
Sanders was with the 8th Marines when the first tip came in.
KERRY SANDERS, NBC NEWS: The rescue operation began with a fierce
barrage from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines, firing on Baath party
headquarters to draw out Iraqi soldiers. That diversion providing cover so
special operations forces could drop into Saddam hospital just hours before
a handwritten note had been smuggled out of the hospital and handed to a
marine with the words, "she`s alive." The note gave the hospital room
number where Jessica Lynch was being held.
Within hours, Army Rangers, Navy SEALs and Air Force pilots were
executing a rescue operation. Inside, the U.S. Forces found the Army
private first class wounded, a gunshot to her leg. Military sources tell
NBC News Jessica Lynch had been for several days at another hospital in
this room, her bloody uniform was found. It was torn, her name tag ripped
off.
Tonight, Jessica Lynch is in Germany where she will receive medical
treatment before heading home.
Kerry Sanders, NBC News, Nasiriyah.
BROKAW: Later in this broadcast, we`ll take you to PFC Lynch`s
hometown in West Virginia where the celebrations still are going on.
MATT LAUER, NBC NEWS: Now to the heroic story of Private First Class
Jessica Lynch. The POW rescued earlier this week. According to "The
Washington Post," Jessica fought fiercely before she was captured, even
after she was shot in an ambush and some of her comrades died around her,
she kept firing until she ran out of ammunition. One official describes
her as fighting to the death.
NBC`s Dawn Fratangelo was at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in
Germany where Private Lynch is being treated.
Dawn, good morning to you.
DAWN FRATANGELO, NBC NEWS: Matt, good morning. Private Lynch is one
of the most celebrated patients here at Landstuhl Medical Center.
Lynch and 14 other members of 507th Ordnance Maintenance Company
disappeared after being ambushed near Nasiriyah. Military officials say
she fought, even while hurt, until she ran out of ammunition.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MADDOW: It was the first rescue of an American prisoner of war since
World War II. And she was a hero. I mean, there was even talk of giving
Jessica Lynch the Medal of Honor. Members of Congress from her home state
of West Virginia put her up for the Medal of Honor, for the military`s
highest honor because of her heroism as a POW.
She was a mega watt hero. She was brought home safe. Her rescue was
all captured on film. It could not have been scripted better by Hollywood
for what they wanted day three of the Iraq war to end up like.
But it turns out it may not have been scripted by Hollywood but it
was in fact scripted. The ambush did happen. Private First Class Jessica
Lynch was injured. She did spent nine days in an Iraqi hospital and she
was rescued by American Special Forces.
But the back story of her heroics -- emptying her weapon, fighting to
the death, fighting through gunshot wounds and stab wounds, all of that was
made up, as she herself said insistently from the very beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PFC JESSICA LYNCH, U.S. ARMY: When I remember those difficult days,
I remember the fear. I remember the strength. I remember that hand of
that fellow American soldier reassuring me that I was going to be OK.
At the same time, tales of agree heroism were being told. At my
parent`s home in Wirt County, West Virginia, it was the media repeating the
story of the little girl Rambo from the hills of West Virginia who went
down fighting.
It was not true. I have repeatedly said when asked if the stories
about me helped inspire our troops, and rally a nation, perhaps there was
some good. However, I`m still confused as to why they chose to lie and
tried to make me a legend.
DIANE SAWYER, ABC NEWS: Did you fire your weapon back and did you
kill any Iraqis?
LYNCH: No, no. My weapon did jam and I did not shoot, not a -- not
a round, nothing.
SAWYER: You could have just let it go and said nothing.
LYNCH: I could have, but I`m not about to take credit for something
that I didn`t do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Jessica lynch was the first American prisoner of war rescued
since World War II. She was grievously injured in that ambush. Eleven
members of her company died in that ambush and the vehicle crashes that it
caused, including Jessica Lynch`s best friend, who died next to her in that
Iraqi hospital in the next bed over.
But Jessica Lynch did not go down shooting. There was not a bloody
firefight and stabbing. She was not fighting to the death like that
headline said in "The Washington Post." Incidentally, that article has
disappeared from the online archives of "The Washington Post" now. You
can`t find it anywhere.
It turns out that the group of vehicles that Jessica lynch and her
company were in, they were supposed to take a detour around the city of
Nasiriyah, but they didn`t. They took a wrong turn or more likely a few
wrong turns. And they ended up right in the city center.
They were supposed to go around the city and not go through it at
all. They ended up wrong turn after wrong turn, right in the city center,
undefended, in territory where the U.S. Army knew they were likely to be
attacks or ambushes, and they just drove right into it. It was day three
of the war.
Should that rescue not have happened? Should Jessica Lynch have been
left there? Seriously, is that what we think about these things now?
Private First Class Jessica Lynch, star of the show of that rescue.
If the heroics that the Pentagon made up about her didn`t really happen,
and they didn`t, maybe the U.S. Special Forces who rescued her, maybe they
shouldn`t have bothered. After all, maybe it was their own screw-up that
got them ambushed and hurt and captured in the first place.
Is that how we think about these things now? Is that how we think
now about that rescue in hindsight knowing what we know now?
Because that kind of a case, that obscenity of a case that maybe some
Americans might deserve to be left behind, that is new cause celebre on the
American right, right now, that the American prisoner of war, the last
American prisoner of war, the last and only one still held from either the
Iraq war or the Afghanistan war, the American prisoner of war, Bowe
Bergdahl, he did not deserve to be freed -- that the U.S. government
working to free him, succeeding to free him, that was a shame somehow,
because yes, sure, he was an American soldier, but he was a bad one.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Questions this morning of whether Sergeant
Bergdahl was a deserter or potentially a collaborator with the Taliban
even. Pentagon sources confirming to FOX that many in the intelligence
community have had serious concerns that he not only had deserted his post,
but that he may have indeed been working in some way with the enemy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s pretty clear that he was -- looks to me like
a deserter or a traitor or both. And why the Obama administration would
give away five terrorists to get him back is kind of beyond me. Again,
five Americans were killed looking for him at least, and I think if anybody
needs a phone call or some reassurance or some condolences, it`s those five
families, listen, we`re really sorry we sent your sons out to get killed
looking for this traitor.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The one that we traded five hardened terrorists
for himself deserted, got six Americans killed. Why are we doing anything
to get this guy back?
He`s ashamed to be an American. He calls America disgusting. He
wanted to leave. So he left. He got what he wanted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: That is the timber of the American right today. As the
country celebrated the return of America`s only prisoner of war from the
war in Afghanistan, the right decided to condemn the president for getting
the soldier freed, and then to condemn the soldier himself. And now, in a
special show of class with the K, they have moved on to attacking the
soldier`s family.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL O`REILLY, FOX NEWS: This Robert Bergdahl, the father, who is
also engendering some controversy. He has learned to speak Pashto, the
language of the Taliban, and looks like a Muslim. He`s also somewhat
sympathetic to Islam, actually thanking Allah right in front of the
president.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Those sources tell FOX News in the executive
branch, that they are quite baffled by the White House decision to allow
the president to stand alongside Sergeant Bergdahl`s father.
He said he was growing his beard because his son was in captivity.
Well, your son`s out now. So, if you really don`t want to no longer look
like a member of the Taliban, you don`t have to like a member of the
Taliban. Are you out of razors?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: On the American right, in Republican politics and
conservative media, there apparently is nothing to celebrate in an American
prisoner of war coming home after five years, because look at his dad. He
looks like a Muslim.
The administration`s response and the U.S. military`s response to all
of this has so far been fairly calm, but also pretty forceful. The
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff last night issued a statement saying,
quote, "The questions about this particular soldier`s conduct are separate
from any effort, from our effort, excuse me, to recover any U.S. service
member in enemy captivity." And he wrote the word "any" in all caps.
President Obama spoke to the issue today as well on the first leg of
his European trip in Poland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States has
always had a pretty sacred rule, and that is we don`t leave our men or
women in uniform behind. And that dates back to the earliest days of our
revolution.
With respect to the circumstances of sergeant Bergdahl`s capture by
the Taliban, we obviously have not been interrogating Sergeant Bergdahl.
He`s recovering from five years of captivity, with the Taliban.
But let me just make a very simple point here, and that is,
regardless of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out
to be, we still get an American soldier back if he`s held in captivity,
period, full stop. We don`t condition that.
And that`s what every mom and dad who sees a son or daughter sent
over into a war theater should expect from not just their commander-in-
chief but the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Should we try to get soldiers home when they are held
prisoner or should we subject those prisoners and their worthiness for
rescue to some sort of test about how they got captured and whether they
were negligent or they left their post and they were incompetent somehow,
or maybe they made a wrong turn or maybe they went down fighting, but maybe
their dad has too long a beard?
Do we leave no soldier behind in captivity? Is that an American
value and an American military principle? Or do we leave some of them
behind because some of them frankly aren`t worth it, according to the FOX
News Channel?
Yesterday and today, a political strategist who worked for the George
W. Bush administration as a staffer and who for a time was Mitt Romney`s
foreign policy spokesman during his presidential campaign, that political
operative has been organizing a media strategy for a couple days now to try
to stoke criticism of this soldier, who has just spent five years in enemy
hands and is now on his way home.
It`s an organized effort now to try to organize opposition and
condemnation of this man who is getting out after five years of captivity.
Before this happened, you could not invent a hypothetical scenario in which
this is the way it would play out. Before this happened, you would have
laughed out of the room a would-be screen writer who tried to sell you a
plot about the freeing of an American prisoner of war being treated as bad
news in the United States of America.
But incredibly, that really is where we are now.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REPORTER: The heroic saga of Private Jessica Lynch, captured after
bravely fighting until she ran out of bullets, shot and stabbed, rescued in
a daring midnight raid that boosted morale in a country discouraged by a
war bogged down in its third week.
BRIG. GEN. VINCENT BROOKS: She`s been retrieved and some brave souls
put their lives on the line to make this happen.
REPORTER: But NBC News found the story of Private Lynch was not all
it was built up to be. The ambush, "The Washington Post" initially quoted
an unnamed single source identified only as a U.S. official, claiming Lynch
fought fiercely, firing her weapon until she ran out of ammunition, and
then was shot and stabbed.
No one from the Pentagon ever said on the record that Jessica had
fired her weapon or had been shot. But a steady stream of leaks built a
dramatic and false impression. An erroneous report often repeated.
LAUER: According to a report in "The Washington Post", Jessica
fought fiercely she was captured.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She is reported to have suffered gun shot wounds
and broken bones during her ordeal.
REPORTER: But doctors say private lynch suffered a head injury and
broken bones in her leg and back when her supply truck flipped. She was
unconscious when Iraqi soldiers and the Fedayeen brought her to the
hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was in a bad medical conditions. In
medicine, we call it a shock.
REPORTER: Dr. Annar Adi (ph) said it was clear in the emergency room
Jessica had neither bullet nor stab wounds.
OBAMA: With respect to the circumstances of sergeant Bergdahl`s
capture by the Taliban, we obviously have not been interrogating Sergeant
Bergdahl. He`s recovering from five years of captivity with the Taliban.
He`s having to undergo a whole battery of tests and he`s going to have to
undergo a significant transition back into a life. He has not even met
with his family yet, which indicates I think the degree to which we take
this transition process seriously, something that we learned from the
Vietnam era.
But let me just make a very simple point here, and that is regardless
of the circumstances, whatever those circumstances may turn out to be, we
still get an American soldier back after being held in captivity, period,
full stop. We don`t condition that.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MADDOW: Private Jessica Lynch was the first American POW rescued
after World War II. The initial story that the Pentagon told about Jessica
Lynch about her actions surrounding how she ended up in captivity turned
out to be a maid for TV super hero story that Jessica Lynch herself was the
loudest in pointing out that it wasn`t true.
None of that ever tempered the happiness that greeted the return home
of Private First Class Jessica Lynch and the gratefulness that she was
rescued and that she made it.
This week, there has been a remarkable return home of an American
prisoner of war from the war in Afghanistan. It is now a deafening chorus
on the right that bringing that American prisoner of war home was some sort
of mistake. That the president should not have made the deal he made, and
the soldier himself under the circumstances which he was captured mean that
the president and the country basically should have left him behind. It
would have been better if he had never been rescued.
I thought honestly from personal perspective, I thought that there
might be one ugly hour of this kind of thing in the comment sections of the
lesser blogs of the world when this story first broke. But this has now
turned into a full-on three-day uproar on the right that appears to be an
official Republican action on this subject. This appears to be their new
political cause celebre. It is an issue growing larger as we speak. I`m
flummoxed by this.
Joining us now is Patrick Murray. He served in Iraq in 2003 and 2004
with the 82nd Airborne. He earned the Bronze Star for his service. He`s a
former congressman from Pennsylvania, and he`s now the host of "TAKING THE
HILL" here on MSNBC.
Patrick Murphy, it`s great to see you. Thanks for being here.
PATRICK MURPHY, TAKING THE HILL: You, too, Rachel.
MADDOW: Patrick, let me ask you what you make of the criticism on
the right, not just of Bowe Bergdahl and the circumstances under which he
was captured, but criticism of President Obama for arranging his rescue.
MURPHY: It`s pretty disheartening, Rachel, because they`re
purposefully conflating two issues. The one issue of bringing home a
missing soldier back to America is clear. We have one standard in the
military, no one is left behind. No one. And to have them criticize the
commander in chief for following the military standard, which is very
clear.
Now, they`re conflating the fact that the sergeant may have been a
deserter. I`ll give you that. Let`s get him healed up. Let`s investigate
it. And if that`s the case, let`s court-martial him.
But the fact is this -- let`s court-martial him here in America where
he belongs. We don`t outsource our justice to the Taliban.
MADDOW: Did the president fulfill his obligations in terms of the
way he handled the prisoner exchange? One of the remarks the president
made today when he discussed this matter is he said, this is part of what
happens when wars end and he cited a number of previous presidents going
all the way back to Lincoln in terms of the way that other prisoners have
arranged prisoner exchanges particularly at the end of long conflicts.
Is the president -- is the way the president approached this in
keeping with that history, as well?
MURPHY: It`s keeping with the finest military tradition of our
commander in chief, Rachel, because -- you know, the Republicans`
disingenuous criticism, saying that Barack Obama`s negotiating with
terrorists, let`s be very clear. He was negotiating and talking through
our allies in the country of Qatar and the Qataris.
Secondly, they want to have selective amnesia, when the fact is the
Bush administration literally, not just negotiated, but paid the sons of
Iraq in the Anbar province, ones who are responsible for killing American
soldiers, to get a stranglehold and force al Qaeda in Iraq.
So, that is what`s so infuriating here. Let`s bring this American
G.I. home. Let`s heal him up, and let`s -- if he deserted, if that`s the
facts are, if there`s testimony, squad leader, if that`s the case, let`s
court-martial him and bring him to justice.
But to say that the commander in chief did the wrong thing and to
attack him this way is conflating the issues -- like they did, by the way,
as you know, as you pointed out, with Jessica Lynch. Jessica lynch, great
soldier, not a Rambo. She never lied. She had the moral courage and
fortitude, though, Rachel, to come forward and let people know that they
are lying about her record. And I give her credit for that.
MADDOW: Patrick, let me ask you one last question, it is a political
question. As you say, there isn`t a reason to conflate the actions of
Sergeant Bergdahl and the wisdom and the ethics of whether or not he should
have been brought home as an American soldier in captivity.
On the former question, though, the military does say it`s going to
open a new round of investigation, a new investigation into the
circumstances under which he was taken. Is that the sort of thing at this
point, which is now necessarily going to be infected with the sort of
politics, that have attended this decision to free him from Afghanistan or
do you have any concerns that that can actually be fairly adjudicated given
the way this has turned into a huge firestorm on the right now?
MURPHY: Yes. I mean, the fact that they`re bringing such a big deal
that we`re bringing an American G.I. home. And if the facts come out that
he may have been aiding the Taliban, potentially, because no one knows what
the case is. Of course, that trial is going to be very political charged.
Now, I have confidence in the military justice system. You know,
they`ll select a jury, all that stuff. But I can only imagine. Luckily,
Barack Obama, President Obama does not make the decision whether he`s tried
or court-martialed or not, that`s in the chain of command of the sergeant.
MADDOW: Patrick Murphy, Iraq war vet, former congressman, host of
"TAKING THE HILL" here on MSNBC, the next new installment airs on Sunday,
June 22nd. Patrick, thank you for being with us and helping us through
this and I really appreciate it, man.
MURPHY: Thanks, Rachel.
MADDOW: All right. Not every Senate primary campaign results in
four arrests, actual arrests by the police and mug shots before the voting
happens. But that means this year is just a little special. That story is
ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MADDOW: If you have bet on the favorites so far in this primary
election season in 2014, you are way ahead with your betting buddies, or
your bookie or whoever. In every Republican contest for a nomination to
the U.S. Senate so far, the incumbent or the more mainstream establishment
Republican candidate has prevailed.
But then along came Mississippi, when the primary was today, where
polls have just closed. And there, things could turn out differently and
that news is next. You may want to call your bookie.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, THEN-U.S. PRESIDENT: Today, we renew a bill that
would help bring a community back into the margins of American democracy.
My administration will vigorous enforce the provisions of this law and we
will defend it in court.
(APPLAUSE)
I am proud to sign the Voting Rights Act Reauthorization and
Amendment Acts of 2006.
(APPLAUSE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: When Congress renewed the Voting Rights Act in 2006, the
House vote was 390-33 in favor. Those 33 no`s were all Republican members
of Congress, but, honestly, 192 Republicans voted for the Voting Rights
Act, including the top two Republicans in the House today, John Boehner and
Eric Cantor both voted for it. And as you saw there, George W. Bush,
President George W. Bush signing it proudly and said we will defend it in
court.
When that was voted on in the Senate in 2006, the vote was unanimous
to keep the Voting Rights Act. Zero senators voted against reauthorizing
the Voting Rights Act in 2006.
That signing ceremony was one big bipartisan garden party. The
consensus for it was clear. The particular question of the civil rights
era had been decided.
Last year, the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. In
the course of the debate, Justice Scalia said using the law to protect
voting rights in places that had a history of denying those rights on the
basis of race, Justice Scalia said that had become racial entitlement in
this country.
So, in a 5-4 vote, where all the Republican appointed justices voted
in the majority, all the Democratic appointed justices voted in the
minority, the court voted last year to gut the Voting Rights Act. It
opened the way for new restrictions on voting, even in places that had a
history of trying to block access to the polls for minorities.
Immediately, immediately, that same day, states that had been stymied
by the Voting Rights Act in the past, when it was whole, right, those
states announced that they would put into place the restrictions they had
been waiting for. Texas, North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, they all
moved immediately to put in place restrictions on voting rights they had
always wanted but they had always been blocked from implementing because
the policies were too racist for the Voting Rights Act to allow.
Policies like requiring ID that black and Hispanic voters were less
likely to have than white voters, or cutting the days for early voting that
were favored by black churches.
But something else happened after that Supreme Court decision that
was really interesting to watch. No mainstream Republicans wanted to be
seen as cheering too hard for what the court had done, even though it was
the five Republican appointed justices who made up the majority in that
decision. A few key Republicans in Congress, in fact, said they wanted to
put some of the Voting Rights Act back into place.
On the House side, Majority Leader Eric Cantor had begun joining
Congressman John Lewis on his annual civil rights pilgrimage to Alabama.
As a young man, of course, John Lewis had marched for voting rights in the
1960s. He was beaten so badly he was nearly killed trying to cross the
bridge in Selma, Alabama for voting rights.
Congressman Cantor joined John Lewis on his annual pilgrimage back to
Selma, Alabama, in 2013 and again in 2014. The night the Supreme Court
ruled against the Voting Rights Act, Eric Cantor issued a statement citing
his, quote, "profound experience" with John Lewis in Alabama. He said,
"I`m hopeful Congress will put politics aside as we did on that trip and
find a reasonable path forward that ensures that the sacred obligation of
voting in this country remains protected."
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said he was on board for finding
some sort of reasonable path forward from day one.
Then, in January, a bipartisan group of lawmakers put forward actual
legislation to restore the Voting Rights Act. The bill made a big
exception for state laws that require voters to show new forms of ID. The
bill sponsors reportedly did that to attract support from Eric Cantor.
They even left Congressman Cantor`s home state of Virginia off the list of
states that need special attention. This bill was a valentine to Eric
Cantor, trying to get him on board, since he`s the guy who decides
basically what the House votes on and what they don`t.
For all of their courtship of Eric Cantor, what they got was nothing.
The bipartisan bill to shore up the Voting Rights Act has been referred to
committee and there it languishes, while that committee chairman seems to
be in no particular hurry to do anything with it. And Congressman Cantor
says he`s continuing to have conversations about the bill.
So, with the old protections gone and no new ones in place, today,
two of the states that went ahead with new voting restrictions once the
Voting Rights Act was gone, so they could get away with it, two of those
states sent people to the polls today for the first time under those new
restrictions that they couldn`t get away with before.
In Alabama, this maiden voyage occasioned a $1,000 bounty offered by
the Alabama Republican Party for tips leading to convictions of voter
fraud. They also promised to have Republican poll watchers at all the
precincts so voters could enjoy that cozy feeling of driving with the
police officer in the rearview mirror.
Meanwhile, a 93-year-old man in coastal Alabama is reported to have
been turned away because he did not have the kind of ID you now need to
vote in that state, even though he has happily voted in previous elections.
Next door in Mississippi, voters went to the polls for the first time
with new requirements. And Mississippi might be the most important race in
the nation right now in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.
Chris McDaniel represents the Tea Party`s last best chance this year
to unseat a Republican senator. Over the closing days of the race, Chris
McDaniel has shared the stump with Republican leading lights, like Sarah
Palin and Rick Santorum. Mr. McDaniel is challenging eternal senator, Thad
Cochran, in the Republican primary and the polling heading into this race
today showed, Mr. McDaniel and Senator Cochran separated by only a few
points.
It`s just been a crazy race in Mississippi. Four people were
arrested last month in connection with a bizarre alleged gross scheme to
sneak into a nursing home and take pictures of Thad Cochran`s infirmed
wife, apparently to use those pictures in some short of hit piece connected
to the senator`s travel with a staffer. Four people arrested, all of them
supporters of Chris McDaniel, including Mr. McDaniel`s former radio show
co-host.
This week, Mississippians have been wondering which mystery group
placed an ad calling for Democratic voters to cross over and vote for
Senator Thad Cochran. Voters can decide at the polls in Mississippi which
primary they want to vote in. You don`t have to be a Democrat or
Republican primary voter specifically. You show up and say which one you
want to vote in. It`s an open primary.
Also, it`s just kind of open season in Mississippi right now. Right
wing Tea Party outside groups have spent more than $5 million on this
primary trying to unseat Thad Cochran, trying to prove that the Tea Party
still can win elections, still can claim the scalp of long-time incumbent
Republicans.
The polls closed in Mississippi at 7:00 p.m. local time, so just over
an hour ago. You have to cross the 50 percent threshold to avoid a runoff
for this race. Just 29 percent of the precincts reporting so far, Chris
McDaniel is leading Senator Thad Cochran by just five votes as you see
here. They got 49.2 percent of the vote each. And when it`s that close
it`s important to note there`s a third person in the race as well, a man
named Thomas Carey right now polling 1.6 percent.
But again, the threshold to avoid the runoff is 50 percent.]
Joining us now is Kasie Hunt, NBC`s political reporter. She joins us
from Thad Cochran`s campaign headquarters in Jackson, Mississippi.
Kasie, thank you for your time tonight.
Right now, we are reporting this as neck and neck as it gets. What`s
the mood there among the senator`s campaign?
KASIE HUNT, NBC NEWS: Among Cochran`s campaign, the mood here is
nervous, but cautiously optimistic. I think there`s acknowledgement that
the senator could lose this race, and we`re picking up a few early
indications there might be some finger pointing starting to go on about
what exactly happened here.
The Cochran campaign has sort of had a difficult road all along. He
wasn`t sure initially if he was going to run or not. He announced somewhat
unexpectedly and at that point the establishment in Mississippi,
specifically the Barbour family, sort of rose up around him to try and push
him through to the finish line. But it may have within too little too
late.
As you pointed out, this is a real test for these outside groups.
They`ve lost almost everywhere else. If they were to loss here, it would
be a major blow. It would sort of send them retreating back to their
foxholes, if you will.
But if they pull this out and it`s looking like they very well might,
that`s going to shift the dynamics of this race. In particular, Democrats
are looking at Travis Childress, a former congressman, and I don`t think
it`s out of the question that national Democrats would go all in for him
and try to put this seat in play in the fall.
MADDOW: In terms of the outside groups that have been involved here,
I just mentioned that figure -- kind of remarkable figure for the Senate
primary, in a state like Mississippi, $5 million alone spent by outside
groups on behalf of Chris McDaniel l trying to unseat Thad Cochran. More
than $8 million spent overall on this race so far.
Those outside groups, obviously this does have national implications
for them, in terms of what they`re capable of pulling off. Are they trying
to spin tonight`s results? Are they reacting or positioning themselves in
terms of what they think the results are going to be like?
HUNT: At this point, neither side, and I`ve talked to supporters of
McDaniel, I talked to the outside groups, I talked to Cochran supporters.
No one at this point has any idea how this race is going to come out. And
as you pointed out, it could go to a runoff.
I will say, on the outside groups, while there are a lot of Tea Party
groups in this race, the most significant player on the outside side has
been the Club for Growth. So, this is going to be a real test for them in
particular.
I wouldn`t necessarily they say line up with all of the other Tea
Party groups. While they are sort of anti-spending, they`ve been around a
little bit longer, they pick their spots a little more carefully. And
their track record has been fairly good in past election cycles. They in
particular have a lot riding on this race.
MADDOW: Kasie Hunt, NBC political reporter joining us from Jackson,
Mississippi. This is going to be a fun one to watch tonight. Kasie,
thanks for helping us to understand it. Appreciate it.
HUNT: That it is. Thanks, Rachel. Great to see you.
MADDOW: All right. We got much more ahead tonight. Stay with us
and keep an eye on those election results. We`ll be sticking with it until
the end. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MADDOW: In 2005, Rick Santorum undertook that unavoidable right of
all presidential aspirants. He wrote a book. His book was called "It
Takes a Family." Get it? Because Hillary Clinton had famously written her
screed against everything good and right, that was titled "It Takes a
Village."
So, Rick Santorum wanting to be the anti-Hillary Clinton, he turned
"It Takes a Village" into "It Takes a Family", and the book explains Mr.
Santorum`s take on the evils and the disease-ridden nature of sex outside
of marriage. He explains how feminism undermines the traditional family.
Mr. Santorum`s book was hailed by people like televangelist Pat
Robertson. It was reviewed widely on the right as a triumph of family-
friendly public policy. One particularly slobbery viewer said this, quote,
"Pleasantly departing from Bill Clinton`s my life genre of political
writing, Santorum barely mentioned his personal history, accomplishments
and aspirations. Instead, `It Takes a Family` is a thoughtful articulation
of conservative vision in public policy, leaven with real life example and
practical solutions", so wrote Rick Santorum`s own lawyer, who had the
honor of authoring that book review for a Christian magazine.
Rick Santorum`s lawyer and personal book reviewer is a man named
David Porter. The Pennsylvania attorney went on to defend Mr. Santorum in
a residency dispute that cropped up during senator`s re-election bid in
2006. That was the reelection effort that Rick Santorum lost by a
staggering 18 points. A defeat that Mr. Santorum still amazedly parlayed
into what is now an apparently permanent career for him of being a guy who
is always kind of running for president of the United States. Vote for me,
the last time people elected me, the same group kicked me out by 18 points
the next time they got a chance at me.
Meanwhile, Mr. Santorum`s lawyer, David Porter, he went on to bigger
and better things as well including being reported as a legitimate
candidate for a lifetime appointment to the federal bench. David Porter,
same guy, has been mentioned as part of a package deal with a group of
judges to be appointed by President Obama to fill one of the many, many
judicial vacancies which remain after 5 1/2 years of the president trying
to appoint people as judges and the Republicans in the Senate never letting
anybody come up for a vote.
Mr. Porter`s potential nomination is part of the package deal. It
drew very concerned attention from liberal groups in Pennsylvania, who
reacted negatively to news that a Democratic president might be appointing
this conservative activist to a lifetime appointment on the federal bench.
They highlighted his background as a social conservative activist, as
leader of the Pittsburgh lawyer`s chapter of the Federalist Society, as a
trustee of a conservative group called the Center for Vision and Values.
Liberal groups in Pennsylvania gathered 40,000 signatures in
opposition to the nomination of the guy who had yet to actually to be
nominated to anything.
Well, today, "The Huffington Post" reported David Porter will not be
nominated to the federal bench as part of a package deal of conservative,
not conservative nominees to try to get them through the Senate. Chock one
up for the Pennsylvania liberals on this one.
But this package deal thing isn`t happening just in Pennsylvania. It
is happening all over the place. And David Porter isn`t the only potential
nominee in the scenario who has come under fire from the left side of the
political spectrum.
Georgia Appeals Court Judge Michael Boggs is also one of President
Obama`s picks for the federal court. But he too is not a conventional
choice for President Obama or for any Democratic president. When Michael
Boggs was a Georgia state legislator, he voted for a constitutional
amendment banning same-sex marriage. He also voted against changing
Georgia`s state flag to drop its confederate imagery. He was also in the
Georgia house in 2001 when a bill was brought to the floor that would have
created a public registry of all abortion providers in Georgia, posting the
names of doctors who have done abortions and the abortions they have
performed.
At the time, there was intense debate about whether or not this was a
safe thing to do for those doctors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STATE REP. LARRY WALKER (D), GEORGIA: You heard about these, these,
clinics being bombed and these people being shot and if word goes out, this
very well could cause -- in fact I had a leading Republican say, we have a
right to life, not this kind of thing.
STATE REP. JAMES MILLS (R), GEORGIA: Well, I guess, I guess that`s -
- I mean if we took that kind of approach in everything -- then, then we
would have difficulty in passing everything, there are some radical folks
out there, and I agree with that.
WALKER: How many appendectomy doctors do you know, clinics have been
bombed. A baby -- a pediatricians, or heart specialists, Mr. Mills, let`s
be realistic about it. I mean --
WILLS: I am.
WALKER: If you take the approach, this is a real thing. If you put
out on the Internet that these people have performed abortions, next thing
you know, some of the radicals will want to shoot them and kill them and
bomb them. It`s going on. It`s the real world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: It`s going on. It`s the real world. That`s audio from the
2001 Georgia House debate about that public registry of abortion providers.
That was put up at "Huffington Post" last week because it is now, newly
relevant to Michael Boggs` potential nomination as a federal judge.
When that bill which would have created an online registry of
addresses and names of abortion providers in the state, when that bill was
voted down, Michael Boggs, a Democratic state legislator at the time, he
was among those in favor of it. He voted in favor of creating the public
registry of abortion doctors.
And when he was asked about that vote, during his nomination
hearings, a couple of weeks ago in the Senate, Mr. Boggs pretty much
pleaded ignorance. He said he hadn`t realized that anybody had targeted
abortion doctors with violence. He never heard of that, when he voted to
publish a registry of their names.
But we have heard the debate now. We know that he has heard about
that violence. He heard about it at the time he cast the vote. And he
voted the way he did anyway.
He now says he has heard about that violence against doctors and so,
he`s changed his mind on the issue.
That idea, that vote he took to make an online registry of abortion
doctors names. That idea is not just a Georgia thing, that is haunting one
judicial nominee who now says he changed his mind on the subject a few
years down the road. It`s not just him. It`s not just Georgia, because in
the great state of Louisiana, the state government there has just
overwhelmingly voted to do the same thing, to form essentially a public
registry of abortion providers.
And this isn`t a decade ago like it was in Georgia. This is now.
The new Louisiana legislation specifically forces some doctors in private
practice who do abortions to register with the state as abortion providers.
So, their names and their locations literally, the addresses where
they work and where they can be found, that would all be publicly posted
information by order of the state. Yes, hey, I wonder what people use that
list for.
That bill passed the Louisiana Senate. Then it sailed through the
Louisiana House last week. It passed by a margin of 88-5, with zero
debate.
Same bill also expected to close three if not four of the state`s
five remaining abortion clinics, using the same kind of targeted regulation
that has shut down clinic all across the country. The bill, that omnibus
anti-abortion bill is now sitting on Governor Bobby Jindal`s desk. Right
after the legislation passed, the governor was looking forward to sign it
and a signing ceremony expected sometime soon.
This idea of making lists of abortion providers, making public
details about where they work, their phone numbers, posting photos of who
they are and how they can be found, is not a new idea. It has long been a
tactic of anti-abortion extremist groups, people who wish to do harm to
doctors who perform abortions or at lest to intimidate and scare them.
These lists were frequently made in the form of old-fashioned wanted
posters. This for example is the wanted poster for Wichita doctor, George
Tiller, giving his home and office address where he could be found. This
wanted poster was distributed right before Dr. Tiller was shot by an anti-
abortion activist the first time, in 1993.
Dr. Tiller survived that assassination attempt. He went back to work
one day later, bandages and all. But ultimately another anti-abortion
activist, stalked Dr. Tiller at his church. On a Sunday morning went into
the church and shot and killed Dr. Tiller inside the church. That was May
31st, 2009, five years ago this week.
It is arguable that Dr. Tiller was the most visible abortion provider
in the country. His name and face was on every anti-abortion extremist`s
personal list, and now, sitting on Governor Bobby Jindal`s desk is a new,
would-be public state sanctioned list of the doctors still willing to
provide abortions in the state even as the state rid itself of almost all
of its clinics.
And now, simultaneously sitting before the Senate is a federal
judicial nominee who fried to do the same thing for his home state when he
had a vote on the matter. Will that nomination survive? Watch this space.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY
BE UPDATED.
END
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