the rachel maddow show, transcript 12/23/13 - gas grill with cast iron grates

MSNBC host rachel maddow: Thank you for joining us this hour at home. All right.
In the small town of Richmond, Indiana, on the eastern edge of hoseye state, this is an ordinary Saturday.
A very terrible thing happened on Saturday and early afternoon. It was 1:47 p. m.
On a Saturday in April 6, 1968, the world just exploded in Richmond, Indiana. (
Start Video Editing)
Byron Klute, former mayor of Richmond, Indiana: About the time we were ready to cross the 6 th and "A", there was just A huge explosion, with only two floors of kaboom, kaboom, like this, it's big, we can't imagine what's going on in the world. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: we now know that an old cast iron pipe with natural gas has rusted underground and started to leak, and finally the gas has exploded.
This is the first kabooom.
But it happened under a sporting goods store called Marting Arms, which had gun ammunition and black powder.
So, the first explosion of natural gas triggered a second explosion at a sporting goods store, a second explosion, or at least a combination of the two, basically razed most of the city's downtown.
They did not find the owner of the sporting goods store except for his wedding ring.
They found his wedding ring seven miles north of the store. The chain-
A reaction explosion in Richmond, Indiana, killed 41 people.
April 6, 1968.
In the first few minutes and hours after the explosion, the people of Richmond and all those who heard what had happened there were worried that their town had not only experienced a tragedy,, perhaps history has taken some new and sinister turns in their cities.
They were worried that Richmond in Indiana was on fire, not only because of the accident, but also because they were worried about not just the accident, which was partially destroyed.
A few decades later, look at the local newspaper.
A Richmond woman who tried to call home in the field was told by a telephone operator that riots were taking place in the town.
Riots are taking place in this town.
The city center was destroyed by a riot.
This does not seem to be an obvious conclusion in the small Indiana town, especially since we know that this is not the case.
But in fact, the riots have already taken place nationwide, when gas pipelines erupted under the gunpowder cache in the small city's sporting goods store.
On the afternoon of April, major historic riots have taken place in cities such as Washington. C.
And Wilmington, Delaware.
They had trouble in Chicago for a few days.
Police have killed 48 protesters and rioters in Chicago and arrested more than 2,000 people in Chicago.
90 police officers were injured in Chicago.
A block after block in Chicago was left with a burning blood. soaked ruin.
The reason the United States had riots in April 6, 1968 was because two days ago, on a hotel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, a bullet from an assassin ended the doctor's life.
Martin Luther King
When he died that spring, anything terrible could happen, even in a small town in Indiana.
With the escalation of the US war in Vietnam, 1968 began the Tet offensive.
Police killed three students trying to integrate a bowling alley in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
Then a doctor was murdered.
King, he represents the hope of so many people and the future of our country.
Then dozens of people were killed and thousands of miles of riots in American cities burned down.
So, when the deadly, huge explosion hit little Richmond, Indiana, 41 people were killed.
At that time, it seemed natural to assume that history would come, right?
1968 is just such a year.
Not only did so many big things and terrible things happen in that year, things happened in a way and in order, which made people worry that things might never be regrouped together again.
1968 was their year to start the spring of Prague in the Czech Republic, and they thought they might eventually get rid of the Soviet Union.
They started the campaign hopefully in early 1968, but then Soviet tanks rolled in the middle of the campaign and crushed it later this year.
That's the kind of 1968.
On 1968, the American army was ordered to go door to door in the village of South Vietnam where I came, killing anything moving, and hundreds of civilians were killed without warning and reason.
1968 was the year they shot Robert F.
Kennedy, a civil rights hero, is probably becoming president after his brother was assassinated five years ago.
1968 was the year Andy Warhol was shot dead.
That year, you couldn't even be a painter of Campbell's soup cans safely.
1968 was the year when the Republican Party nominated Nixon as president. he won the election.
At the time of the 1968 incident, scenes outside the Democratic convention in Chicago sometimes looked like war zones. In the lead-
Before the Mexico City Olympics that year, police in Mexico City opened fire on thousands of student protesters who marched through the streets and gathered in public squares.
On 1968, dozens of student protesters were shot and killed by police.
1968 was the year when the US Navy lost a nuclear submarine.
The cause of the disappearance of the scorpion is unclear, and 99 crew members declared their deaths.
In 1968, the French almost held a second French Revolution, a massive parade on the streets, and more than one million people marched on the streets.
A worker who works in a French factory.
The men declared a coup.
1968 is us B-
52 nuclear bombs tried to land at the tulle Air Base in Greenland, but failed. four bombs were tied to the wing and crashed.
It hit the ice and three nuclear missiles exploded on the plane.
The huge and dirty bomb was full of radioactive material.
They said the ice burned black.
Three bombs exploded.
Fourth, who knows?
We can't find it.
They thought it was on the bottom of the sea somewhere above, but no, never found it.
1968, I swear, 1968 was a year for Jets to play Raiders in Auckland, and Jets scored a goal later in the last quarter, suddenly rising three.
With so little time left, the jet will obviously win the game and it's time for the next show.
So, with about a minute left in the fourth quarter, NBC switched and stopped playing games, instead showing the new version of "Heidi, the stepdaughter starring Julie Andrews somewhere in the Alps, when the country was watching Heidi, football fans lost their minds and didn't have Twitter, did they, the attacker scored two miraculous touchdowns that no one saw, as NBC had cut from the last minute of the game to the previously scheduled "Heidi", her gorgeous braids and
The riot was so swift and fierce that David Brinkley later apologized on NBC's behalf that after everyone knew what was going on, the network then aired the last minute of the game.
Now, is it a terrible thing to turn to "Heidi" in a grand plan? No.
Is this even a terrible thing in the grand scheme of professional football? No.
But if you're looking for a roof, 1968 is printed on your DNA no matter how old you are.
I mean, even if you just give one example, 1968 of people are the year they think football is in charge of the United States, or at least a year of television in the United States.
In 1968, you may lose hope in ordinary life.
You may lose the hope that the channel will not only change itself automatically.
You may lose hope because the country will follow its own values and know its own in 1968.
But at the end of 1968, something else happened.
The United States sent people to the moon.
Now, it's not for them to walk on the moon.
This did not happen until a year later.
But in 1968, NASA sent the first astronauts into orbit around the moon to prove that we could eventually explode from the planet. We can escape our tracks.
We are not bound by the world and its gravity.
It may not be terrible either, but at least it is hard to believe that even for the people who do it. (
Start Video Editing)
Unidentified male: I went through the night and I saw the lights go out, this is the press group that was staffing the news site at that particular time, and I looked down, I saw the ground and I went to the press group and I said, these people are really serious.
We're going to the moon! (END VIDEO CLIP)
They went up.
Jim Lovell and other astronauts, the second manned space mission in human history.
They left our little planet in December 21, 1968, just at the end of a year of hell.
One thing they plan to do from the track as part of their mission is broadcast.
When they leave the Earth, they know that on Christmas Eve, they will send a live message, a live broadcast, from space.
This is part of their mission, proving it is also possible.
It turns out that on Christmas Eve, millions of people watched their live broadcast from space.
For the first time in human history, life from space.
Earth people have never done this before.
To be honest, if it were me, I believe I would always like, test, test, one, two, three.
Okay, it works, right?
I mean, think about it. what would you say?
The three pilots probably just knocked on the microphone and said, we're here and we 've made scientific achievements, right?
They could have knocked on the door.
Joking, or because it's Christmas Eve, they can say, we see Santa and he's moving in your direction.
But that's not what they said. (
Start Video Editing)
Apollo 8 Christmas address, December 1968: I hope all the people on earth will understand what we mean by what we call an ominous horizon, a rather dark and frustrating place.
We are now looking at one of our future landing sites, chosen in this place called the Sea of Tranquility, to make the initial landing attempt easy and to avoid having to dodge the mountains.
Now you can see the long shadow of the Moon sunrise. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: talking about going through the moon, is the first person to see the far end of the Moon, thinking before the landing point of the next human group, can land on that moon, this is a frustrating place that others have never seen before.
This is the first man in the history of the species to see the far end of the moon.
They were the first humans in the history of the species to look down on the Earth and see it all.
They took this famous picture of the rise of the Earth, the rise of the Earth rather than the rise of the Sun, which no one has ever seen before.
It turns out that being the first creature to look down on the Earth and see it as a sphere floating in space is not only a scientific achievement, they do say so. (
Start video clip Apollo 8: we are now approaching the moon sunrise and for all of us on earth the crew of Apollo 8 have a message that we would like to send you.
In the beginning, God created heaven and earth, and the Earth formed, emptiness and darkness shrouded on the surface of the abyss, and God's Spirit moved on the surface of the water, and God said, "Let There Be Light," there is light.
God saw the light.
It's good, separate the light from the dark.
God calls the days and darkness of light the night, and the morning is the first day.
God said, let there be a sky in the middle of the water, let it separate the water from the water, and God created it, and opened the water above and the water below, and that's it.
God called it heaven, the next morning.
Then God left the waters under heaven and gathered in a place for the land to appear, that is.
God calls land Earth.
And come together in the waters known as the ocean.
It's good that God saw it.
From the crew of Apollo 8, we end with good night, good luck, Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you, all of you on Earth. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: bless all of you, all of you, from here on, where humans have never been, where you look great.
It was tomorrow 45 years ago, Christmas Eve, and millions of people heard the first broadcast from space.
They're back in Chicago today.
Take turns with astronaut Jim Lovell to live in space and read the lines in Genesis with high school students who did it in the museum where the Apollo 8 space capsule is now on display.
Given what happened in the world in 1968, when these people first said, I think that when millions of people first heard the news, there might be no way to reproduce how important it is.
In today's news, now, maybe forever, nothing else will be like this, but in today's news there are things that are much smaller in size, but the same effect, to some extent, the same effect is that things can be solved from a completely new perspective, and things that cannot be solved can be solved.
In today's news-no, this is not the first time that the Earth has risen for the eyes of humanity, but rather an American city that has just proved that a problem can be solved, A problem that an American city has never solved before can be solved.
It can't seem true, but it's true.
It's a little thing, but it's really a good thing and new news.
This is next. (
Business break)
Okay, that's good news.
It's a news, news, it's not just something that's in the interests of a human being, it's really good news, almost incredible good news.
You know, Barack Obama was elected president of the United States in November 4, 2008.
November 4, 2008.
300-60
Four days later, on November 3, 2009, Obama's cabinet secretary, the new president, appointed him the largest body in the United States. S.
In addition to the army itself, the Cabinet official created a huge, unstable government --
Public commitment. (Start Video CLI)GEN.
Eric shinseki, Department of Veterans Affairs: Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Shinseki, and I am here to end the homelessness of veterans. (
Cheers and applause)Thank you. Thank you. (APPLAUSE)Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Well, it sounds like all of you are here for the same reason, so it's great. Let`s talk. (END VIDEO CLIP)
MADDOW: Minister of Veterans Affairs General Eric Shinseki spoke at the National Veterans and Veterans service providers summit on November 3, 2009 to discuss ending the United StatesS.
Veterans are homeless, which sounds like a World Peace Summit, right?
Or trying to end the disease or something.
I mean, it's a goal that no one can refute, but it's an impossible project to complete, right?
I mean, how can a deep-rooted question, that complex person, be a purposeful question?
First of all, it is an infinite problem. it is not an infinite problem. (
Start Video Editing)JOHN EDWARDS (D), FORMER U. S.
Senator: This work continues to work for 200,000 men and women in uniform from the United States of America, proud veterans who sleep under bridges, shelters or grates every night. (END VIDEO CLIP)
John Edwards pulled out of the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.
There was a brief confusion about the remarks at the time, as a host named Bill O'Reilly on the Fox News Network said he did not believe that John Edwards had 200,000 homeless Americans(
Start Video Editing)
Fox News: I mean, come on.
Only that person's brain is sleeping under the bridge. (END VIDEO CLIP)
John Edwards is actually right.
Census of homeless peopleS.
There were about 200,000 veterans in 2008.
Not on Fox News, but in America.
The new president-
The president-elect that year said he wanted to solve the problem, and the new Minister of Veterans Affairs said it would be a national priority.
Along the way, in 2010, in a city in the United States, in Phoenix, Arizona, they did a census and almost did a registration job in their city center, they found, among the homeless veterans of our country, there are 222 people in their city, and 222 long-term homeless veterans in Phoenix.
Phoenix decided that they would provide accommodation for every veteran.
They got some federal money.
Phoenix decided to invest in general funds on the project.
The city elected a mayor in 2011, and he said it was the main goal of his tenure and the main reason why he served as mayor, Phoenix will not just solve this particular problem, but Phoenix will fix it
Do you know?
The country has made a lot of progress and progress on this issue, but Phoenix is completely another matter.
President Obama traveled to Phoenix in August and said: "We must continue to fight the homeless.
Mayor Feng has done great work on this issue.
We must continue to improve it.
The president said, "since I took office, we have helped four homeless veterans take one from the street.
We should be proud of it.
In Phoenix, thanks for the hard work of everyone from Mayor Stanton to the local joint approach to the United StatesS.
Airline, you are expected to end the long term homelessness of veterans in Phoenix by 2014.
President Obama said in August.
Sounds good, you know.
Standing in Phoenix to give a political speech, applause.
Sounds good, right?
But it also sounds like a pleasant conversation, right?
I mean, how can a city do this?
Phoenix now says it is the first American city to end the long-time homelessness of veterans.
They said they did it.
They did it with the efforts of the Alliance, a strategy called "housing priority" that says you give someone a permanent roof without conditions, you arrange your housing first and then focus on other things, including substance abuse, healthcare issues and job training, everything else, after each head has a roof on it, you do it.
There's more than that, right?
It's a huge and complicated job that takes a long time, but it's important that Phoenix just decided to do it and they did it in advance.
They did not expect to do so by next year.
The president said the plan is for 2014, right?
But they did it now.
A census of the Veterans Day-so, in November-shows that they have been reduced to 56 veterans who still live on the streets of Phoenix, who still need housing.
At that time, on Veterans Day, the City Council unanimously voted to add an additional $100,000 to the city fund to place the last group of veterans before Christmas, and they did.
So I said it was good news.
This is good news.
Philadelphia, Salt Lake City and Washington DC. C.
Now, they are also saying that they can also use the version of this model to end the homelessness of veterans in these cities.
But Phoenix arrived first.
So, yes, a problem that is considered tricky, a heartbreaking problem, it always seems that there is no solution in some small aspects, at least in some very concentrated places, it is a city in the United States, and this is evidenced by a dedicated, good government work.
Merry Christmas.
Now we are joined by Greg Stanton, mayor of Phoenix, Arizona. Mr.
Mayor, thank you very much for being with us tonight.
Mayor Greg StantonD)
Rachel, it's my pleasure to play.
So, I made it simple what you did in Phoenix.
I condensed it and simplified it.
What do you think is the most important factor in how to get the job done?
Stanton: priority and team work.
As mayor, I have to give high priority to stating that we are going to finish this work, and I say we will do it by the end of this year, but we have to find the right partners.
The federal government is a good partner.
President Obama has made this a priority. HUD and V. A.
Make this a priority.
This is a priority of the stimulus bill.
Many housing units where homeless veterans live are the result of the stimulus bill.
City Council spent additional resources to build a good partnership with the business community in Phoenix, Arizona, through a joint approach, a great partnership called H-project
Health, family and hope, this isprofits.
When you come to Arizona for a conference on ending the long term homelessness of veterans, you don't know who is a government official, you don't know who is a business leader, you don't know who is a non
Earnings or Foundation Leadership
We are all on the same team and say we will finish the work.
For veterans who serve our country, this is the very least we can do.
So, this is a story about leadership and teamwork, and when we do it with our heart, the government can work.
MADDOW: Is this a question that you now feel in the snapshot at the end of this year, even a little ahead of the schedule you want? We are at the moment of a snapshot of this issue right now, but it may appear again?
How are you going to make this a lasting solution?
Obviously, it's a long time.
These veterans have long-standing problems, which is why their homelessness is called chronic rather than intermittent.
Yes, homeless for a long time.
In fact, regular veterans who have been labeled permanent homeless in Phoenix have been on the streets for eight years. Eight years.
So not only do we provide housing for them, but even though we have to provide housing for them immediately, first and foremost, we provide services.
So, no matter what they are troubled by, no matter what the reason they are homeless, whether it's mental health issues or any medical condition, maybe substance abuse, we put a roof over their heads and then we serve them so they don't get back to being homeless.
Our retention rate provides not only housing but also packaging
In terms of service that bothers these people, our retention rate is 93%.
Our strategy for ending chronic homelessness in veterans is exactly the same as our strategy for ending homelessness and chronic homelessness in a wider population.
So, this model, the right thing to do by our veterans, is exactly how we are going to do the right thing through more homeless people.
MADDOW: It sounds like a veteran-the fact that you focus on veterans is a key part of how you use federal resources here and get some federal grants.
That's why I played some tapes of Eric Shinseki and the president specifically talking about the homelessness of veterans.
As you continue to apply this experience to more homeless people, do you expect to still be able to get a lot of federal aid, or do you think it will be a difficult path?
Stanton: of course, it will be difficult.
What I want to say is,A.
It's great to work with me. I know the V. A.
There are some challenges.
On the issue of ending the return of veterans, not only in Phoenix, but also in Salt Lake City, this is the leading city on this issue, as well as some other cities you mentioned.
The president challenged all of us to deal with the issue, and cities across the country responded.
We know that it will be more difficult to get federal resources, but because we have an effective system that we can prove to work, and now we can use the business community, and now, we can dig into the foundation, say we have an effective model.
Let's do the right thing for all our citizens.
Let's end the long-lasting homeless situation in America.
Let's start with veterans and then get into the wider crowd.
Greg Stanton, mayor of Phoenix, thank you for your time tonight.
Stanton: Thank you.
MADDOW: I'm not looking outside for a good news to tell, but given what you're doing in Phoenix today, I feel like it's my Christmas miracle.
Sir, it's great to have you here.
Congrats.
Thanks, Rachel.
MADDOW: Thank you. All right.
With a 5-year-
The old child of a show producer by Rachel Mado, there are only two places to sleep at Christmas, which is true.
Sleep again after that and we will give you a special gift.
It won't open unless the big day comes, but we do have a little hint of what's coming. Stay with us. (
Business break)
Is the bear Catholic?
Does a Rolling Stone whistle in front of the cemetery?
The early bird is worth two in the bush, right?
A bird whose feathers rot down from the head.
You can bring the horse into the water, but you can't make a silk wallet with it.
What's easier than taking candy from a bucket of monkeys?
There's nothing more interesting than taking a bucket of babies with candy.
If you lie down with the dog, be careful to eat the cat of the mouse.
When life gives you lemons, make hay!
I would like to thank the great state of Wisconsin for providing the best story for a long time that Scott Walker might not be a legitimate presidential candidate.
This may also be the best mixed metaphor in the history of the Koch brothers metaphor.
The story is coming soon. Stay with us. (
Business break)
In last year's election, the great state of Utah appointed a new attorney general.
Utah chose a Republican named John Swallow.
There is no doubt that he will win once he gets the nomination, really.
I mean, he's a Republican in Utah and he's got the Republican nomination, so, he ended up winning a lot.
He won 65% of the vote.
But John Swallow is in the office for less than a week.
In fact, before John Swallow had to start his fight against the call for his immediate resignation, he had been in office for six days.
He has faced serious moral charges since he took office.
One of the many charges against him was that when he was a deputy attorney general, he was allegedly the middleman who helped a Utah business owner arrange a bribe.
John Swallow allegedly told the business owner that if he paid $600,000 in bribes to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the government's investigation into his company could disappear.
Therefore, the merchant accepted John Swallow's suggestion and made a down payment for his bribe.
He did not pay Senator Reid, who said he had nothing to do with all this.
Instead, he paid a down payment of bribes to the middleman, who was introduced to him by John Swallow.
So, this guy pays the middleman, but you don't know, the investigation into his company is going on anyway, and the person who paid the bribe is very, very angry about it.
He thought he knew how much he was going to pay, so he asked for the money back and even warnedto-
The Utah attorney general said he would tell everyone about the bribery, including allegations that John Swallow allegedly reduced the bribery for himself.
The charge is the most watched.
The Legend of the entire Utah attorney general.
But overall, it's a very dirty thing.
Last week's meeting was about the upcoming meeting. to-
The attorney general and the man he allegedly helped arrange the bribery took place at the Krispy Kreme Donuts store, and the details of the story were clearly found irresistible.
But the list of charges against Attorney General John Swallow is indeed very long, which also includes allegations of candidates for the attorney general, who advised another Utah businessman and a potential donor, his campaign owes Utah a fine of tens of thousands of dollars.
Now, John Swallow should be on the side of the country, right?
He is about to become the state's top law enforcement official.
For Pete's sake, he's running for the state attorney general.
But he can be heard on the tape to reassure businessmen and potential donors that he can expect a's help. G.
The Office after John Swallow was elected(
Start audio clips)
John Swallow, former Utah attorney general: Well, you 'd better get yourself a lawyer so you don't make this a verdict.
Then, you know, I would be more than happy to have you sit down with the Minister of Justice.
I'm not the attorney general. (END AUDIO CLIP)
I'm not the attorney general.
God bless the Salt Lake City Tribune as it painstakingly explains all the many charges against John Swallow, Kristy Clem donuts
Related, otherwise.
Vacation value at luxury boathouse and golf resort is tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for help with business deals.
There are a lot of these charges, and I have to say, no. Utah.
Maybe I'm a little naive about Utah.
Less than a year after his overwhelming victory in the 2012 general election late last month, John Swallow resigned as attorney general of Utah.
He remained innocent of all these charges, however, he became the first judicial minister to resign in Utah's history, citing many of the charges against him and his desire to clarify his name.
There is only one acting attorney general in Utah since he resigned last month, and he has been in that position, while the state governor is trying to find out who will permanently replace the person who resigned in this shame.
Of course, last weekend, the new acting attorney general found himself in a huge legal whirlwind in Utah, Friday afternoon, A federal judge unexpectedly vetoed a constitutional amendment to the state's ban on same-sex marriage.
After the judge ruled on Friday, residents of Utah almost immediately began racing to get married at the chaplain offices across the state.
If the acting attorney general does not act quickly to ask the court to suspend the ruling, he will face criticism, which led to all these weddings on Friday, as well as confusion in Utah law.
It all happened on Friday.
Why don't they ask to stay?
Why is the weekend extended?
Does the acting attorney general know he has to-has the governor of Utah appointed a more permanent replacement for John Swallow today?
The interim Minister of Justice is running for the job, but he has not received it.
It's the guy's job.
His name is Sean Reyes.
Congratulate the new attorney general of Utah.
Welcome to the first day of your new job.
This is what happened in your state: 30-last night-
Weather outside Salt Lake City County Staff Office.
They waited in line all night so they could go in as soon as the door opened at 8: 00 in the morning. m.
This morning, I hope to get married before the court takes action to stop them.
The coastline of Salt Lake City extends several blocks.
Members of the local Scout forces today presented a pizza for the staff performing the wedding and the couples in line.
When Salt Lake City Mayor Ross Becker ruled on Friday, he ordered Salt Lake City's staff office to remain open and marry as many couples as possible.
The mayor personally hosted 35 weddings in the middle of the night, one by one.
Utah Senator Jim Dabakis married to his partner in Salt Lake City on Friday.
Some couples in wedding dresses appeared.
Others appear as quickly as possible, sometimes with their children, taking advantage of their right to marry now, just in this second, before someone tells them to break the law again in their hometown.
There are reports today that, in addition to the Boy Scouts, people offer coffee and donuts to couples and shop assistants, as well as Christmas carols to sing serenades for waiting couples.
Tonight, we are waiting for another ruling from Utah's marriage equality decision.
We are waiting for a federal appeals court ruling on whether hundreds of couples married after this ruling on Friday will be told they have lost this right again.
It is possible to make a ruling at any time tonight.
In Utah, it was a big play even before Friday's surprise ruling.
But since then it's not just drama, it's exciting.
Now joining us are Moudi Sbeity and Derek Kitchen, two plaintiffs suing Utah for the right to legally marry in the state.
Gentlemen, I must say, thank you very much for coming here.
Thanks, Rachel.
Thanks, Rachel.
M: glad to be here.
MADDOW: I know you two haven't officially married yet-it hasn't changed in the last few seconds, has it?
No, it's not. MADDOW: OK.
Everyone else who submitted it from Friday to today is.
Do you have any feelings about whether people believe that these marriages will continue, even if the court takes action to retain the previous decision?
Does this affect your own decision to take action?
DEREK ktickle, plaintiff: Well, for us, we want to wait and see what the court will do.
We are currently waiting for the Tenth Circuit Court in Denver.
They were asked to keep our decision twice starting on Friday and rejected twice.
So, we are optimistic that they will refuse again in the next day or two.
MADDOW: May I ask the two of you about your decision to become a plaintiff in this case?
Man: of course.
MADDOW: as someone on the record, I asked this talk from New York City, and he said, wow, Utah!
Utah feels different!
It feels like Utah is probably the most difficult place for this argument to climb in this country.
Why do you have enough hope to make yourself such a high plaintiffprofile case?
Plaintiff moudi sbeity: Well, we have a company in Salt Lake City.
We have been working together for nearly 1/2 years.
When we hear about the case, we think we have to be involved because the logic of our next step is to get married and further develop our lives.
At first, we were not sure if we would win, but after the summary judgment of December 4, our lawyer Peggy Tomic absolutely killed it in court, we are very confident that Judge Shelby will make a ruling in our favor.
MADDOW: I know you guys haven't decided to go ahead with your own marriage yet because you see what's going to happen next in court, but have you been to the pastor's office?
Are you in the chaos and excitement below?
Can you tell us what it looks like?
SBEITY: we fell last night when people started queuing up and handing out hummus to everyone.
So, when everyone got married, we didn't get into chaos during the day, just because we tend to do other things, but we did go last night, and everyone seems to be happy in Utah, very excited and excited.
What I'm trying to say is that in Utah everyone is stressing that in Utah.
I mean, I don't want to be too naive about Utah, either in an optimistic way or in any other way.
But this week, or this weekend, now, there are some counties in the state that have completely closed their doors and refused to process any marriage applications because they don't want to process the same
Same-sex marriage application
There must be-it's a big country, you know, and there's a lot of diversity in terms of political views and ways of acceptance.
But you will see people queuing up in those blocks.
In Salt Lake City and some other places, you will see the mayor of park performing the wedding.
Do you think the rest of the country fully understands how Utah feels about it?
Kitchen: What I'm trying to say is, Utah-well, Salt Lake City, like the rest of the country, has some counties in our state that are more conservative, but you know, Salt Lake City is a good place to live, in many ways, like New York, we are completely different in many different ways.
But, so, no, I don't believe people have enough knowledge of what's going on here, because there's a huge gay community here that we 've been fighting for over the years.
This is the home of Prop 8 in 2008, so, you know, call it karma.
This is karma.
This is definitely karma.
Derek Kitchen and moody skbettie, you are one of the most notable gay couples in the country as of tonight.
You put yourself there and have a real impact on your state.
I'm sure you feel good about it.
Good luck to you.
Thanks, Rachel.
Thanks, Rachel.
MADDOW: Thanks.
Okay, mixed metaphor.
I like when I'm alone-I'm not the only one who accidentally jokes when trying to make a serious point.
But in American politics, the best mixed metaphor that has long happened will appear in the news tonight. Stay with us. (
Business break)
This is Florida State University in Tallahassee.
Florida is home to the Seminole sports team.
It is home to the most prestigious Magnetic Field Laboratory in the United States and to its teachers, especially the very unusual recruitment policies of the University's Department of Economics.
On 2012, the Tampa Bay Times found that Florida's ministry of economy had quietly reached an agreement with a billionaire, essentially letting the billionaire control the people employed by the department.
In exchange for money, the guy has a veto over who the university hires to teach.
Quote "a foundation funded by libertarian businessman Charles G.
Koch has promised $1.
Department of Economics, Florida State University holds 5 million jobs.
In return, his representative can screen and sign employment contracts for any new department project.
The contract provides that the advisory committee appointed by Koch decides which candidates should be considered.
If the Foundation is not satisfied with the choice of faculty, or if the employee does not meet the objectives set by Koch in the annual assessment, it may also withdraw the funding.
Forgetting the naming rights of the stadium, or whatever, conservative billionaire Charles Koch bought the recruitment rights for faculty at Florida State University's Department of Economics.
Yes, there is the word "State" in the name of Florida State University because it is a public university and yes, it is objectively crazy that Florida State University allows this to happen. From Mr.
However, the future of Koch, you can see why he would want to do this if he could find a state of madness enough for him to do it. I mean, $1.
5 million is nothing to him.
He threw it in his handkerchief when he sneezed.
But for this, he can make sure that his conservative billionaire economic philosophy is taught, published, and disseminated, and named after a brand that should look like a college-level education.
I mean, his idea is no longer just being taught and disseminated under the flag of Charles Koch, but under the flag of Florida.
So, how great is tax cuts for the rich, that's not what we're talking about.
It's from Florida.
If you don't like what the facts say, write your own facts.
If you don't like the way independent scholarships look, buy some.
Earlier this year, at the beginning of the year, the shiny new report appeared in the ranking of future economic prospects for all 50 states.
Which states will have the best economic conditions in the future?
Wisconsin is one of the most beautiful states in the United States.
Wisconsin ranked 30 in 2011 and 32 in 2012, but in 2013, Wisconsin rose to 15 in Wisconsin.
It's a bit strange, because all the reports at the time found that Wisconsin didn't do better than actually being close to the bottom of the list in terms of economic competence.
But, unlike all the other bad news reports, the shiny new report makes Wisconsin faster than anyone else.
The lead author of the study attributed the great leap forward in Wisconsin to Governor Scott Walker's denial of union rights in the state.
Look, governors-if you take away the rights of the Union, you can be like Wisconsin, at least if you get your ranking from us, you can be at the top of your ranking.
The report was written by an editorial writer and former Reagan economist at the Wall Street Journal, and when it was released, it received quite a bit of local and national media coverage.
But who has funded the study and who has funded the bankruptcy Union to improve your economic outlook research has always been a mystery?
The mystery has now been solved. Any guesses?
The Guardian said it had obtained internal documents showing that the study was partially funded by the Koch brothers, in particular the charitable trust controlled and managed by the Koch brothers.
A spokesman for the Koch brothers told us tonight that the funds for the Koch brothers were not specifically used for this separate study, but they did confirm for us that they did pay the grant.
The Milwaukee Magazine Sentinel told the economist who wrote the report that he referred to the Koch Brothers Fund, citing "they funded my research.
They didn't do my research.
They don't tell me what to do.
He also made more suggestions on how Wisconsin will continue to be on the list.
The Economist called on Governor Walker to lower state income taxes for the wealthiest individuals and cut corporate tax rates at the upcoming legislative session.
The Economist then told Sentinel magazine, "it's not rocket surgery.
"In fact, it's not rocket surgery.
But, this is a very eloquent way to express some important information about the quality of the scholarship you receive when you purchase your own scholarship.
It's not rocket surgery.
That's for us.
Thank you very much for being with us.
It's time for "The last word of Lawrence O'Donnell.
Have a good evening and a good holiday.
This is a report card in a hurry.
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