Good morning everyone! Happy Friday to you!
Joining us for today's show, we have: Mike Barnicle, John Heilemann, Steve Rattner, Anthony Roman, Stephanie Gosk, John Yang, Rev. Al Sharpton, Mike Allen, Lawrence O’Donnell, Miguel Almaguer, Eriq Gardner, Stephanie Gosk, Rep. Jim Clyburn, Chuck Todd, Steven Malanga, John Wonderlich, Jason Isaacs, Dominic Chu, Gov. Steve Beshear, Bonnie Fuller, Katharine Zaleski and David Duchovny.
It is the last blast of winter.
Plane Skids Off Runway at LaGuardia Airport, Crashes Into Fence. A passenger jet skidded off a runway at LaGuardia Airport and crashed into a fence as it tried to landA passenger jet skidded off a runway at LaGuardia Airport and crashed into a fence as it tried to land amid a blinding wintry mix Thursday morning, sparking a minor fuel leak in one of its wings, prompting evacuations and injuring several people, Port Authority officials say. There were 127 passengers, including Giants tight end Larry Donnell, and five crew members on board Delta flight 1086, an MD-88 headed to New York from Atlanta, Georgia, when it slid off the runway around 11 a.m., authorities said. Two dozen people reported minor injuries, according to the FDNY, and three of those people were taken to the hospital. Passengers described feeling turbulence as they landed, like a rocking motion. One said the jet hit the runway and didn't slow down until it smashed into the fence, inches from the water. A Delta plane carrying at least 130 passengers and crew skidded off the runway as it tried to land at LaGuardia Airport Thursday and crashed into a fence. Several injuries were reported and Storm Team 4 says a phenomenon known as freezing fog may have contributed to the accident. Meteorologist Raphael Miranda explains.
Joining us for today's show, we have: Mike Barnicle, John Heilemann, Steve Rattner, Anthony Roman, Stephanie Gosk, John Yang, Rev. Al Sharpton, Mike Allen, Lawrence O’Donnell, Miguel Almaguer, Eriq Gardner, Stephanie Gosk, Rep. Jim Clyburn, Chuck Todd, Steven Malanga, John Wonderlich, Jason Isaacs, Dominic Chu, Gov. Steve Beshear, Bonnie Fuller, Katharine Zaleski and David Duchovny.
It is the last blast of winter.
Plane Skids Off Runway at LaGuardia Airport, Crashes Into Fence. A passenger jet skidded off a runway at LaGuardia Airport and crashed into a fence as it tried to landA passenger jet skidded off a runway at LaGuardia Airport and crashed into a fence as it tried to land amid a blinding wintry mix Thursday morning, sparking a minor fuel leak in one of its wings, prompting evacuations and injuring several people, Port Authority officials say. There were 127 passengers, including Giants tight end Larry Donnell, and five crew members on board Delta flight 1086, an MD-88 headed to New York from Atlanta, Georgia, when it slid off the runway around 11 a.m., authorities said. Two dozen people reported minor injuries, according to the FDNY, and three of those people were taken to the hospital. Passengers described feeling turbulence as they landed, like a rocking motion. One said the jet hit the runway and didn't slow down until it smashed into the fence, inches from the water. A Delta plane carrying at least 130 passengers and crew skidded off the runway as it tried to land at LaGuardia Airport Thursday and crashed into a fence. Several injuries were reported and Storm Team 4 says a phenomenon known as freezing fog may have contributed to the accident. Meteorologist Raphael Miranda explains.
As for the Hilary email issue. Politico reports that she violated 'clear cut' State Department rules. Washington Post reports that a state department Investigation is on its was and that a Clinton review could find security issues. The New York Times reports that Hilary Clinton asks State Department to 'vet' emails for release but the most disturbing headline about it today is the State Department itself asked some Ambassador to leave his post because in part he was not using the department email address account and it was reported that he would not use it. While former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton operated exclusively on personal email accounts, the State Department in 2012 issued a withering report on a U.S. ambassador in part over his use of private email. The U.S. Department of State Office of Inspector General report said Ambassador to Kenya Scott Gration "willfully disregarded Department regulations on the use of commercial email for official government business," saying that his "greatest weakness is his reluctance to accept clear-cut U.S. Government decisions."
Gration, a former Air Force major general, left his "dream job" at the State Department weeks before the report was released in 2012 over “differences with Washington regarding my leadership style and certain priorities," he told The Washington Post. The report mentioned several items of concern regarding Gration, including his management skills and reluctance to read relevant classified messages, but also highlighted how shortly after arriving to the Nairobi embassy in May 2011, Gration had a commercial Internet connection installed so he could send private emails.
He also distributed a self-written policy allowing himself and others to use private email for official business, according to the inspector general report. Gration preferred using Gmail, according toThe New Republic, and worked from a bathroom, which allowed for an unsecured network. Staffers sat on the toilet for meetings. The inspector general report noted that the government's email system provides automatic security updates and maintains public records, while the ambassador's use of private email in the office and "his flouting of direct instructions" put his staff in a position of listening to their boss versus obeying agency policy. "I did all my official business on the State Department communications system. I supplemented it with my personal e-mail, but it was never a security issue," Gration told Foreign Policy following the report's release in 2012.
"I have a background in secure communications. I know what is right and what is wrong. I did everything correctly, and I have nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide," he added. The report gains renewed attention this week after news emerged that Clinton exclusively operated on private email accounts during her four years as secretary of State, from 2009 to 2013. Clinton has so far not directly addressed a growing number of questions regarding her email use, first reported by The New York Times, including concerns over the security of her private email system and maintenance of all public records.
President Obama appointed Gration as the U.S. Special Envoy to Sudan, where he served before working in Kenya. Gration did not immediately return a request for comment, while a spokesman for the Inspector General said "the report speaks for itself" and offered no additional comment. Asked about the report in light of news Clinton similarly used private email, a State Department official told The Hill that Gration offered his resignation shortly before the release of the report, which cited "several concerns with management and leadership at our embassy in Nairobi.”
She needs to get ahead of this issue. The White house is sort of behind her but not. The State department is behind her but not really and even me was behind her but not really because it was just so stupid. How do we have this type of person run for office? She needs to give up all of her emails and she needs to turn over her server to them too. This is so stupid of her. I cannot say it enough times.
Joe says that this like free jazz (he should have used the Grateful Dead analogy) and that Mike Barnicle is the Mingus of the group. Pretty funny. And, its cold, cold, cold in the eastern part of America. Kentucky got hit hard. Washington DC got hit hard and we (New Jersey) got hit hard.
And, hey Joe. Stop with the rams needing to give the police an apology. That is stupid. They are allowed to do what they want and so his hands were not raised up high. He did not deserve to be shot with a bullet and a gun. And, honestly gang, everyone seemed to lie. The Police. That kid. And, we can't blame the kid because he is dead. It was people near the kid that evidently saw it. But do not blame my rams for anything. I am glad they did that protest.
Here is that full report here (http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/03/04/us/doj-report-on-shooting-of-michael-brown.html). They were four words that became the national rallying cry of a new civil rights movement: “Hands up, don’t shoot.” Protesters chanted it, arms raised, in cities across the country in solidarity for Michael Brown, the black teenager who some witnesses said was surrendering when he was shot and killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Mo.
The slogan was embraced by members of Congress, recording artists and football players with the St. Louis Rams.
It inspired posters and songs, T-shirts and new advocacy groups, a powerful distillation of simmering anger over police violence and racial injustice in Ferguson and beyond. Mayor James Knowles III is the face of Ferguson, Mo., but the city manager has more power.Some in Ferguson Who Are Part of Problem Are Asked to Help Solve It. A memorial for Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., near where he was killed. Darren Wilson Is Cleared of Rights Violations in Ferguson. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. after issuing a report Wednesday that strongly rebuked the system of justice in Ferguson, Mo.Ferguson Police Tainted by Bias, Justice Department Says. But in its final report this week clearing the police officer, Darren Wilson, of civil rights violations in Mr. Brown’s death, the Justice Department said it may not have happened that way. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. cast doubt on the “hands up” account even as he described Ferguson as having a racially biased police department and justice system.
“It remains not only valid — but essential — to question how such a strong alternative version of events was able to take hold so swiftly, and be accepted so readily,” Mr. Holder said Wednesday. For many, the answer to that question was contained in a second Justice Department report released on Wednesday that described in blistering detail how Ferguson had used its police department and court system as moneymaking ventures that disproportionately targeted African-Americans and routinely violated their constitutional rights. As the nation digested the two federal investigations into Ferguson, police groups that are often sharp critics of Mr. Holder found vindication in the report on Mr. Brown’s death, seeing in it a final rebuttal to a narrative that demonized Mr. Wilson. They called the shooting a tragedy, but said it had never been a crime fueled by racial bias.
Oh yeah. Harrison Ford crashed in a real cool plane BTW. I am glad that he was hardly hurt by the crash and i am glad he landed the plane on a golf course and away from the houses and people in the neighborhood. That was right near my old house.
Jewish UCLA student questioned about possible bias'? Is that a real story? The chancellor called the 40 minute debate about it a teaching moment. I do not get this story? Good one John (Heilemann). Why are they even discussing whether this person is Jewish and yeah, what if anyone said to some black that maybe because if you are black, you may not be great for that role on that board. This is very odd. Let's find the YouTube video of the 40 minute debate about ita dn lets post the NY Times article writte by Adam Magourney because from my seat here, it seemed like routine business for the student council at the University of California, Los Angeles: confirming the nomination of Rachel Beyda, a second-year economics major who wants to be a lawyer someday, to the council’s Judicial Board.
Until it came time for questions:
“Given that you are a Jewish student and very active in the Jewish community,” Fabienne Roth, a member of the Undergraduate Students Association Council, began, looking at Ms. Beyda at the other end of the room, “how do you see yourself being able to maintain an unbiased view?” For the next 40 minutes, after Ms. Beyda was dispatched from the room, the council tangled in a debate about whether her faith and affiliation with Jewish organizations, including her sorority and Hillel, a popular student group, meant she would be biased in dealing with sensitive governance questions that come before the board, which is the campus equivalent of the Supreme Court.
The discussion, recorded in written minutes and captured on video, seemed to echo the kind of questions, prejudices and tropes — particularly about divided loyalties — that have plagued Jews across the globe for centuries, students and Jewish leaders said.
Rachel Beyda, a sophomore at U.C.L.A., was appointed to a student council board after it debated her Jewish background. Credit Emily Berl for The New York Times
The council, in a meeting that took place on Feb. 10, voted first to reject Ms. Beyda’s nomination, with four members against her. Then, at the prodding of a faculty adviser there who pointed out that belonging to Jewish organizations was not a conflict of interest, the students revisited the question and unanimously put her on the board.
But in the weeks since, that uncomfortable debate has upended this campus of 29,600 students that has long been central to the identity of Los Angeles. It has set off an anguished discussion of how Jews are treated, particularly in comparison with other groups that are more typically viewed as victims of discrimination, such as African-Americans and gays and lesbians. The session — a complete recording of which has been removed from YouTube — has served to spotlight what appears to be a surge of hostile sentiment directed against Jews at many campuses in the country, often a byproduct of animosity toward the policies of Israel. This is one of many campuses where the student council passed, on a second try and after fierce debate, a resolution supporting the Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions movement aimed at pressuring Israel.
“We don’t like to wave the flag of anti-Semitism, but this is different,” Rabbi Aaron Lerner, the incoming executive director of the Hillel chapter at U.C.L.A., said of the vote against Ms. Beyda. “This is bigotry. This is discriminating against someone because of their identity.” Reports of anti-Israeli or anti-Jewish sentiment have been on the rise across the country in recent years, especially directed at younger Jews, researchers said. Barry A. Kosmin, a Trinity College researcher and a co-author of a study issued last month that found extensive examples of anti-Semitism directed at college students, said he had not come across anything as striking as what happened at U.C.L.A. “It’s egregious and startling,” Mr. Kosmin said. “If they had used this with any other group — sexual, racial, any kind of identity group — they would have realized it was illegal.”
Ms. Beyda, 20, who is from Cupertino and is president-elect of the Jewish sorority Sigma Alpha Epsilon Pi, said she did not want to comment on her confirmation hearing because of her role on the Judicial Board, whose duties include hearing challenges to the constitutionality of actions of the council. “As a member of the Judicial Board, I do not feel it is appropriate for me to comment on the actions of U.C.L.A.’s elected student government,” she said by email. The four students who opposed her wrote a letter of apology to the campus newspaper, The Daily Bruin. “Our intentions were never to attack, insult or delegitimize the identity of an individual or people,” they wrote. “It is our responsibility as elected officials to maintain a position of fairness, exercise justness, and represent the Bruin community to the best of our abilities, and we are truly sorry for any words used during this meeting that suggested otherwise.”
Ms. Roth, in an email Thursday evening, expressed distress about the episode. “I have already apologized profusely for what happened during our council meeting and I deeply regret how I phrased my questions to Rachel,” she said. The university’s chancellor, Gene D. Block, issued a statement denouncing the attacks on Ms. Beyda. “To assume that every member of a group can’t be impartial or is motivated by hatred is intellectually and morally unacceptable,” he said. “When hurtful stereotypes — of any group — are wielded to delegitimize others, we are all debased.” In an interview on Thursday, Chancellor Block said he viewed this as “a teaching moment. These are students that are learning about governance. I think they all learned about what’s appropriate and what’s not appropriate. The campus has come together on this.”
Yet some Jewish leaders here questioned whether Mr. Block or the students appreciated the meaning of the event. John L. Rosove, the senior rabbi at Temple Israel of Hollywood, said the incident “reflects something deeper, more troubling, insidious, and pervasive not just at U.C.L.A. but on college campuses nationwide.” As this is happening in California--and not in the European Union, with its "right to be forgotten" on the Internet--What a horrible thing for youn students to do to another student. This is pure unadulterated anti-Semitic hatred. The line of questioning adopted by the board was egregious and assumed that her being an active Jew would make her biased. That assumption...“I am not one who sees anti-Semites lurking under every bed,” he wrote in his blog. “I am not a fear-monger. I do not believe that all criticism of Jews or the state of Israel is necessarily anti-Semitic.” “Yet,” he said, “our inability to use the term anti-Semitism when it concerns Jews, when we don’t have a problem calling other forms of ethnic and religious bigotry what it is, raises disturbing questions about prevalent attitudes towards Jews, Judaism, Zionism, and the state of Israel.” The president of the student council, Avinoam Baral, who had nominated Ms. Beyda, appeared stunned at the turn the questioning took at the session and sought at first to rule Ms. Roth’s question out of order. “I don’t feel that’s an appropriate question,” he said.
In an interview, Mr. Baral, who is Jewish, said he “related personally to what Rachel was going through.” “It’s very problematic to me that students would feel that it was appropriate to ask that kind of questions, especially given the long cultural history of Jews,” he said. “We’ve been questioned all of our history: Are Jews loyal citizens? Don’t they have divided loyalties? All of these anti-Semitic tropes.” He called Ms. Beyda a “stand-out applicant,” with strong grades, interest and experience in the law. The students who voted against her also praised her credentials, but kept returning to questions about whether she could set aside her religious affiliation when ruling on issues before the council.
Rachel Frenklak, who is Ms. Beyda’s roommate and president of the sorority, said she had gone to the meeting expecting an enjoyable night watching her “best friend” get approved, and was stunned at what she witnessed. “I swear the word Israel was not said once,” she said Thursday. “It was all about Jewish affiliations. It didn’t leave any doubt that what this is, is anti-Semitism. There has to be recognition that there is anti-Semitism on the campus, and it manifested itself first with the anti-Israel stuff.” The boycott resolution, and the battle it set off here, was not explicitly mentioned but was described by her and others as setting the subtext for the episode. “The overall culture of targeting Israel led to targeting Jewish students,” said Natalie Charney, student president of the U.C.L.A. chapter of Hillel. “People say that being anti-Israel is not the same as being anti-Semitic. The problem is the anti-Israel culture in which we are singling out only the Jewish state creates an environment where it’s O.K. to single out Jewish students.”
On another note, the POTUS is off to Alabama this weekend for a 50th year event at that bridge. The Rev (Al Sharpton) is on now and Joe is correct in that someone from the GOP should go to the event. There is no Representative of the Republicans going to it. I still have yet to see that film 'Selma.'
Mike Allen is now on this 'Happy Friday' to discuss his article about Clintons email issue and how that behind the scenes the Dem's are a bit iffy about her candidacy. They also feel that eventually, this issue will get 'washed away' and it is a good article about that and about the hypocrisy (firing that guy) with the State Department and how they act towards certain people vs. how they act towards a Clinton. Regardless, Mikes end the segment with a Happy Weekend.Boy, man, this is like a free form jazz show (and a typical Grateful dead show). We are flowing everywhere and back and we are off the beaten path and the norm.
Holy cow. we have footage of the Harrison Ford crash? Jeez Louise and btw, every year to a year and a half, we would hear of a crash at or near or approaching that Santa Monica airport. It is a shame the plane is destroyed. It is a beautiful looking plane.
Anyway, Lawrence (O’Donnell) is on now 'licking his chops.'
And, oops. Lawrence (O’Donnell) says Politico got it wrong saying what a typical lawyer would say about it. His interpretation of that law is probably correct but he does touch into where the law could have been broken. He also states that it depends on what is actually in the emails and whether there are any smoking guns if you will, and that it would take a long time to sift through it. Which goes back to it blowing over in due time.
The bottom line it was stupid. It did not need to be done. She did not have to deal that way. She could have very EASILY used a normal email address. For her to think it would not rise to the surface was/is stupid. There was/is nothing not stupid about it and why even tread this grey line? That is my real question. Why even balance on that grey line? For a Presidential candidate to even tread on this grey line is just not a smart calculation.
And, Lawrence is correct. We should by law, have the ability to know what she was doing in that post and Mika has the greatest response to it. 'What if Dick Cheney had an entirely other server at his place in TX?" Which honestly, he probably did have a separate one there but anyway. And, Joe, we are NOT only discussing this about the Secretary of State, we knew she was going to be a candidate to run for the POTUS. She knew that back then. She left half way through the 8 years because of it. There is nothing smart about this issue and it was so EASY to avoid. It is also not even that huge of an issue that comes with the territory, unless you have things to hide from us.
The real issue is let's say there are smoking guns. Let us say that she cannot be a candidate doe the Dem's to then run in that next general (election). Who then? There is not one else that can on that side. They have thrown all eggs into that one basket so to speak.
It is just a stupid thing to have done. I cannot say it enough times this week.
OMG is right. No one has even mentioned the GOP candidate (Chris Christy) that could have feasibly written the 'time for some traffic problems' on that bridge to/from New York and new Jersey. Lawrence makes the best point ever.
And, what Steve Ratner is saying that needs to be done, needs to be done. She needs to get the hell ahead of this story. She is so behind now and she has let the media tell its story. She did one tweet so far about it and that has been it.
Speaking of Chris Christy, The National Review wrote up an article about what he has (or has not) done for the state of New Jersey. Since winning reelection easily in 2013, Christie has watched his reputation tumble both in New Jersey and nationwide. This is partly the result of the political fallout from the so-called Bridgegate scandal, in which members of Christie’s staff ordered lane closures on the approaches to the George Washington Bridge to create traffic jams, and headaches for a political opponent who was the mayor of a town that suffered the congestion. But, in addition, the governor’s efforts at cleaning up the state’s multitude of fiscal messes and recharging its economy have stalled, prompting criticisms that he isn’t doing enough to revive New Jersey. he has also had an awful year so far on the National level. he had a bad time in England. Actually, he had an OK CPAC but read the article about what I am trying to articulate (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/414981/christie-hiatus-steven-malanga?target=topic&tid=929) because I feel that I don't know enough. I do see how that New Jersey has balanced budgets for the first time in years under Christy's watch. I also think Christy inherited an awful situation in New jersey and most of all, he is running for POTUS starting next year. he has no time to make any real change now.
BTW, did this week fly by or what?
Chucky T (Todd) is on now. He reminds us that Hilary should be announcing her run (officially) within the next month. He feels that GOP will dive into this email issue more and we have already heard the Benghazi freaks are at it. That was my problem with the issue. You know the Benghazi people would be all over her because of this email issue. There was never one doubt they would be standing there with stakes chomping at the bit.
The Sunlight foundation has 24 questions to ask about the Hilary email issue. That is pretty funny. Two Dozen questions and not one? I never heard anyone use that cliche before without it being one question. Evidently, they say she broke some law enacted back in 1954. Mika asked why no one noticed but I thought Politico or David Corn from Mother Jones said that he noticed back then at that time. I assume no one said anything about it but how could you not find that to be odd? Because fundamentally speaking, who the hell uses Hotmail?
The other thing is that the people in the Obama administration went after her about transparency issues and this by law was enacted by Obama. he had literally asked Hilary to sue state department servers and email addresses. She never did evidently. i assume that is why the Obama administration and the White House has distancing herself from this issue this week.
Diane Feinstein, Lindsey graham, John Lewis and Curt Schilling are on Meet the Press this Sunday/weekend.
Tonight BTW, Real Time With Bill Maher is back with his roundtable guests - Lawrence Wright, John Ridley, David Axelrod, Matt Taibbi and Genevieve Wood - will answer fan questions after Friday's show. Submit your questions in the Comments section below. Selected questions will be answered on HBO.com immediately following the premiere. Please be aware that concise (50 words or less) single topic questions have the best chance of being selected, so the shorter and more specific you can be, the better. Visit the Real Time homepage right after the show to watch Overtime LIVE and watch it again later on the Real Time YouTube channel. And, of course, read my views about the show here at Blogger/Google Plus (https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DonLichterman/posts/p/pub) and at Sunset Daily (http://www.Sunset-Daily.com).
Jason Isaacs is on promoting the show Dig. I have not seen it and actually, as I am hearing this segment now, it sounds like an interesting topic. It sounds kind of cool. I think he says that the makers of the shows 'Homeland' and 'Hero's' created this series or show. It is on the USA Network on Thursday Nights.
They just showed that video of the UCLA board meeting and the woman that asked about how this poor girl could deal in an unbiased way, sounds like an adult. It also sounds like a major hearing and not some school hearing. The woman is English speaking too whatever that means but i think my point s that I thought it was kids asking these questions about whether a Jewish person can be unbiased while doing this particular job. That video is astounding. I need to see it. I wish I could post it here. I cannot believe that was not only at the UCLA, but it was done yesterday. It sounds like we are in the 60's or not 60's because i am not sure what era this would come into play besides after or during the German Nazi regime and even then, they would not ask that question, they would just scoop her up to throw her into some concentration camp. It is very odd for some modern day school system, to be acting this way when electing certain or any board members.
BTW, I am not sure if this UCLA issue happened this week. I have found videos and stories about what I think is this issue from February and from November last year. I gave up trying to search for it. Maybe its getting legs now but regardless, its appalling and the other thing is too, this is a kid. It is a college kid. That is a very harsh way to act towards a 20(ish) year old kid. I just feel like we are reading a story from some other country let alone from another era. Mika just said that too which I missed during the early broadcast.
And, as we all know, it is the first Friday of the month which means it is jobs report day. They were just release. better than expected jobs report. the Unemployment is set at 5.5% from 5.7% and we created over 295,000 jobs. And, hourly average rates rose too. These numbers did not come out on time because of weather and January was revised down to 239,000 from 257,000 jobs. This is a strong month and we have been on a roll now for a while. Whether people feel it, I cannot tell yet. But wages going up is a great sign to me. That s the first time I have heard that stat rise in years.
I am not sure what this next segment is about but some Executive apologized for having a baby. Mika is calling her brave for doing it. I wonder if I care about this story. Katharine Zaleski is the women that wrote the article. And, I see. She apologizes for the ways she had treated expected mothers in past jobs. This somehow made it into Fortune magazine. She sounds like a dick. How do department heads not take that extra step to not be simple minded is beyond me. I am sitting here with my small business that feels like its running round in circles and I hear and see every day that there are so many assholes that run divisions and that run companies today. And, of course it is not until they personally go through whatever the issue, is when they 'see that light' or have that relation as Mika says. Whatever. i hate this segment. She is honest when she needs to be (when she starts her own company).
David Duchovny is back on but its an interview he did with Joe from I guess when he was on live a few weeks ago (promotion his book). As you know all know about how i feel about him, he is one of my top people I love in the entertainment industry. I was a huge X-File fan. I love Californication. I wish him and Tea Leone did not break up.
Regardless of it all, Please stay in touch!
