The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, Transcript 05/14/15

RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC: That does it for us tonight, we`ll see you again tomorrow, now it`s time for THE LAST WORD with Lawrence O`Donnell, good evening, Lawrence. LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, HOST, THE LAST WORD: Hey, Rachel, great report on the river keepers -- MADDOW: Thank you -- O`DONNELL: But if you can just stay for a second, I have a question for you, it`s kind of a -- kind of a complex question, it`s -- and take as long as you need to answer this. If you were president in 2003, knowing what you know now, would you invade Iraq? MADDOW: Is hamana(ph) an appropriate answer? Could I then -- O`DONNELL: It`s -- MADDOW: Run for president? O`DONNELL: It`s whatever you got, and if you need to rehearse the answer - - (LAUGHTER) You know, maybe for several days and get back to me next week, that`s OK, too. MADDOW: I`m going to go ask my top Middle East adviser -- O`DONNELL: OK, you can do that -- MADDOW: Whose name is George W. Bush. O`DONNELL: You can do that. MADDOW: Thank you, Lawrence. O`DONNELL: Thank you, Rachel. MADDOW: Thanks. O`DONNELL: Well, another day, another answer from Jeb Bush on the question of the week, would he have invaded Iraq knowing what we know now? And a college student told Jeb Bush that his brother created ISIS. We`ll show you that video and the student who said that to Jeb Bush will join us for an exclusive interview. And later, the longest running animated TV series in history might have to kill off a whole lot of characters. If "The Simpsons" really does kill off Harry Shearer from their cast. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JEB BUSH, FORMER FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Knowing what we know now -- MEGYN KELLY, FOX NEWS: Would you have authorized the invasion? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three different answers in three different days. BUSH: I would have. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was kind of a challenge to keep track. BUSH: I interpreted the question wrong, I guess. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you saying boo or Boo-urns? BUSH: Yes, I don`t know what that decision would have been. That`s a hypothetical. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was saying Boo-urns. BUSH: I would have not engaged, I would not have gone into Iraq. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tough week for Jeb Bush. IVY ZIEDRICH, STUDENT: Your brother created ISIS. BUSH: We respect -- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The flip-flop speaking to reporters. BUSH: I`m running for president in 2016. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) -- BUSH: If I run -- ANN COULTER, LAWYER & POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Ugly-dorkly -- SEAN HANNITY, TELEVISION HOST: Who do you like for president? COULTER: I would like Mitt Romney. MITT ROMNEY, FORMER GOP PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, I`m Mitt Romney -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Going -- COULTER: I think he is going to jump back in. ROMNEY: You may recognize me from television or the news or -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Such nature films as Iwicks(ph) -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mitt Romney is set to square off against boxing great Evander Holyfield. ROMNEY: I`m taking this very seriously -- hello -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So who are we? -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why "Simpson" fans are saying -- UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dope! UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Harry Shearer tweeted that he is quitting the show. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What? You can`t quit. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Could we be saying good-bye to Mr. Burns and Ned Flanders? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But I guess there`s nothing left to do but kiss my sorry-ass good-bye. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right(ph) sir -- (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: And on the fourth day of dealing with the question that could crush Jeb Bush`s presidential campaign, Jeb Bush finally found his way to the right answer. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BUSH: I would have not engaged, I would not have gone into Iraq. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Jeb Bush said that at a town hall this morning in Tempe, Arizona. He is in Arizona for the RNC Spring meeting with donors where he is expected to speak at a reception that starts in about 30 minutes. Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum spoke to that same audience this afternoon and said this about the campaign question of the week, knowing what we know now, would you have invaded Iraq? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RICK SANTORUM, ATTORNEY & FORMER UNITED STATES SENATOR: I don`t know how anyone could look at that question and not -- I mean, his brother even said in his own book that he would have done something differently. I don`t know how that was a hard question. That`s sort of the interesting thing there. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Joining us now from that RNC Spring meeting in Arizona is Kasie Hunt, also with us, Msnbc contributors Eugene Robinson, columnist for "Washington Post" and Steve Clemons, Washington editor-at-large for "The Atlantic". Kasie, we`re coming towards the end of a tough week for Jeb Bush, certainly his toughest week of the campaign. Does the campaign feel like they now finally have settled on the right answer and that they can calm the waters now? KASIE HUNT, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, MSNBC: Lawrence, I do think that this is Jeb Bush`s final answer to this question after four days of stretching this out. We had a brief press availability with him earlier today and he essentially said as much and there was no further pushing for him to clarify this. Instead, he answered a question about whether there was a problem answering this question because of loyalty to his brother, which he acknowledged. He said I don`t go out of my way to disagree with my brother, I am loyal to him. And I think we`ve seen him over the course of the past months during this campaign -- non-campaign, I guess, essentially having trouble talking about his brother. It`s the one thing that seems to get under his skin, even as he dispatches questions about almost any other subject, this is one that`s really hard for him. And it`s obviously the most obvious question that he was going to have to ask -- or answer, excuse me, about his brother. So I think this one is going to go on and on, we`ll see if he gets any better at handling it going forward. O`DONNELL: Kasie, have you heard anything from inside the Bush campaign about why he wasn`t ready for this question? Like you say, you would think in the very first meeting of campaign staff, of advisers, the very first meeting, the first thing brought up is, OK, so what is our answer on the question of would he have invaded Iraq? HUNT: Well, one thing I would say about the Jeb Bush campaign generally, Lawrence, is that this is a team that trusts their candidate. Jeb Bush is somebody who for many years as Governor of Florida has interacted with the press easily, freely. He is somebody who up until this point has always seemed supremely in control of every encounter that he has with the press. He seems to kind of get the game, if you will. He understands what the press is looking for, he understands how far he wants to go. And I think that this is something that took a lot of people inside the campaign and maybe even Bush himself a little bit by surprise. We heard him joking a little bit on camera today about how -- oh, everyone is listening as though this was something that had just occurred to him. Which I don`t think that that`s the case. This isn`t -- but something that just occurred to him, but this is his first real test out there in the fire that is the presidential campaign and it`s just different. And even when your father and brother have done it, it`s clearly something he`s realized over the past couple of days. O`DONNELL: Eugene Robinson, it is one thing to trust your candidate with the press, when the press is the Florida press. When it`s just one state-wide press, that`s a whole different level of the game than facing Kasie Hunt and all the other national correspondents who are out there. That presidential campaign press is a whole other test. EUGENE ROBINSON, COLUMNIST, THE WASHINGTON POST: Yes, that`s a whole different thing. And look, how could he not have been ready for this? How could he not have written out the talking points, committed them to memory, practiced them in front of a mirror until they were just reflex? (LAUGHTER) I mean, seriously. This was -- O`DONNELL: Yes -- ROBINSON: Going to be, and this was bound to come up, if not in his first encounter with the press, and certainly in his second or his third. And it was going to -- it was going to come up until he came up with a coherent answer. And the fact that he stretched this out for a full week before coming to what he obviously had to say just amazes me. And I think raises questions about how ready this campaign is for what it`s -- and what it`s trying to do. O`DONNELL: Well, Kasie is telling us that Jeb Bush gets anxious when asked about his brother, it sounds like Rick Santorum is going to try to bring up the question of his father. Let`s listen to what Rick Santorum said about the first President Bush. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SANTORUM: When I run for Congress the first time, I was running against a 14-year incumbent and a 60 percent Democratic district in a year that was right after George Bush forgot how to read his lips -- 1990. And it was a bad year for Republicans. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Steve Clemons, every Republican in that room knew what he was talking about. That time when President Bush, the first President Bush agreed to raise taxes and break his promise not to. STEVE CLEMONS, WASHINGTON EDITOR-AT-LARGE, THE ATLANTIC: No, absolutely. I mean and I think that right now when you hear about Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton is compared to Bill Clinton and Jeb Bush is going to be compared to both Bushs. I mean it`s a historic thing to have a third member of the same family running for president of the United States. I think that the funniest thing this week is, that hasn`t really come up in the media about Jeb Bush`s comments on Iraq. Is that he`s probably pretty afraid of Dick Cheney because Dick Cheney is unrepentant in his support for the Iraq war. Absolutely has no regrets. So, it may have been that vote in the Dick Cheney wing of the Republican party that had more sway with Jeb Bush than people are giving credit to in this. O`DONNELL: And Kasie, do you get any sense that the Bush campaign is anticipating having to get into a defensive mode about his father, about that read my lips, broken tax promise? HUNT: I mean, Lawrence, I think at this point, it`s pretty far off. I think the reality is that most Americans today remember George H.W. Bush pretty fondly. He`s somebody that they`ve seen parachuting, you know, skydiving to mark his 90th birthday and all of these other things. So, I think that he`s so firmly rooted at this point in history that there`s less of a concern there. But, you know, sometimes we forget that George W. Bush had to run against his own father in many ways. He was constantly asked on the campaign trail, would he have gone to Baghdad? So this is not a new thing. The idea that a Bush has to answer to his father`s perceived sins, if you will, even though, of course, the third generation is new. So I think the question for Jeb Bush going forward is going to be -- I had somebody here at this meeting tell me, you know, every single one of these candidates is going to have a near-death moment over the course of the next 18 months. I think the question is how many more of those near-death moments does Jeb Bush have or is this the one and done? O`DONNELL: Let`s listen to how Marco Rubio handled the big question of the week with Charlie Rose at the Council on Foreign Relations? (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) CHARLIE ROSE, JOURNALIST & TELEVISION TALK SHOW HOST: After finding out there were no weapons of mass destruction, would you, if you knew that, have been in favor of the Iraq invasion? SEN. MARCO RUBIO (R), FLORIDA: Well, not only would I not have been in favor of it, President Bush would not have been in favor of it, and he said so. Ultimately though, I do not believe that if the -- that if the intelligence -- if the intelligence have said Iraq is not having a weapon of mass destruction capability, I don`t believe President Bush would have authorized to move forward. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Gene Robinson, I think Steve Clemons made a great point about the fear of Cheney out there. But -- ROBINSON: Yes -- O`DONNELL: We`ve got a bunch of Republican candidates now who are giving that answer just like Marco Rubio and they don`t sound afraid of Dick Cheney. ROBINSON: No, they don`t sound afraid of Dick Cheney. And I think their reading of the party, and certainly their reading of the party faithful is that if they had to do over again, certainly they wouldn`t have wanted us to go into Iraq. And they probably wonder just, you know, how many votes in the -- in the -- in the Iowa caucuses does the Cheney wing represent? I do think that point that Steve Clemons raised about the elder Bush and the whole sense of the Bush clan as kind of tax and spend Republicans is potentially damaging for Jeb Bush, however. I think that`s -- you know, that`s -- it`s kind of a sleeper issue out there. But that sort of atmosphere could be damaging in a state like Iowa. O`DONNELL: And Steve, the money crowd that Santorum was saying that to, they remember that vividly. CLEMONS: Well, I think that they remember the war that -- you know, when I would go out to places very conservative in the country, like Oklahoma. They saw George W. Bush as someone who had brought back big government, incredible spending and big brother watching everyone and that had undone the real ethic of what classic conservatism meant in the country. And I think, you know, Jeb Bush today, particularly on the tax fund has said, he hasn`t promised that he won`t raise taxes. He hasn`t gone down the Grover Norquist oath line. And I think that is another part of this. I think the other part B on the national security side in Iraq that we haven`t discussed yet is, Jeb Bush also said that the world is safer without Saddam Hussein. And I think that is an interesting and challenging question, because when you look at the Middle East today, you look at ISIS, you look at places like Libya, you look at the sectarian middle breakdown. You look at the fact that a lot of the Baptist generals that were working with Saddam Hussein are now leading ISIS, there`re just no doubt that the world is a lot less safe than before that invasion. And that will be the -- that will be the next part of this to fall forward. O`DONNELL: Kasie Hunt and Steve Clemons, thanks for joining us tonight. CLEMONS: Thank you. O`DONNELL: Coming up -- HUNT: Thanks -- O`DONNELL: James Lipton is here to discuss the unthinkable, the brilliant Harry Shearer leaving "The Simpsons" after 26 years of being the voice of Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, principal skinner and like an unbelievable long list of characters. And an exclusive interview with the college student who confronted Jeb Bush this week. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) O`DONNELL: The number two ranking agent on President Obama`s Secret Service detail notified the agency this week that he plans to retire. "The Washington Post" reports that Mark Connolly`s decision came ahead of the public release of a report concluding that he and a colleague were, "more likely than not impaired by alcohol after five hours of drinking at a downtown Washington bar on March 4th." Later that night, they drove into a barricade on the White House premises. Secret Service Director Joseph Clancy placed both agents on administrative leave last week. Up next, the student who confronted Jeb Bush about the Islamic State. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) O`DONNELL: Yesterday in Nevada, 19-year-old college student Ivy Ziedrich confronted Jeb Bush about blaming President Obama for the rise of the Islamic State. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ZIEDRICH: Your brother created ISIS. BUSH: Is that a question? ZIEDRICH: Through the Iraq (INAUDIBLE) Authority. You don`t need to be (INAUDIBLE) -- you can just answer my question which is -- BUSH: What is your question? ZIEDRICH: My question is why are you saying that ISIS was created by us not having a (INAUDIBLE) -- BUSH: Because by the time we went -- ZIEDRICH: (INAUDIBLE), when we sent young men to die for the idea of American exceptionalism. BUSH: Yes -- ZIEDRICH: (INAUDIBLE) why are you spouting nationalistic rhetoric just to get us involved in more wars? (INAUDIBLE) -- BUSH: We respectfully disagree, that (INAUDIBLE), we had an agreement that the President could have signed, that would have kept two thousand troops less than what we have in Korea. Could have created the stability that would allow for Iraq (INAUDIBLE). We can rewrite history all we want, but the simple fact is that we`re in a much more stable place because America pulled back. Thank you. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Joining us now is that student who you just saw in that video, Ivy Ziedrich, she is a member of the young Democrats and at the -- and a student at the University of Nevada, Reno. Ivy, did you know you were going to get a chance to be that close to Jeb Bush when that happened? ZIEDRICH: I certainly did not. It was not something that I anticipated at all, actually. I wasn`t even sure if I was planning on asking a question. O`DONNELL: And so how did that question come up about the creation of the Islamic State? ZIEDRICH: The reason why I wanted to ask that question was because throughout the speech that he was giving and throughout the question and answer period that followed, he repeatedly reiterated not only that President Obama`s foreign policy was to blame for the rise of the Islamic State. But he also like repeated more than once about how the United States is the greatest nation on earth, and how in order to prevent future conflicts, we need to have a greater military presence abroad. And I was even sitting next to a war veteran who was not taken quite so kindly to that sort of rhetoric, I suppose. So between that and just the blatant untruths that he was spouting, I felt the need to talk to him afterwards. I felt the need to hold him accountable for the lies that he was -- that he was saying. O`DONNELL: Now, how did his talk go over generally with that larger audience? Was he getting some support, some applause, some agreement with the audience? ZIEDRICH: Well, he was getting a lot of support with the audience, because it was an audience that was picked for him. I mean, it wasn`t -- it wasn`t a large public event. It was a small ticketed event that was put on, I believe, by the right to rise PAC. And so it wasn`t something that most people who weren`t already ideologically aligned with him, not something that most people had known about. And that I think is unfortunate. O`DONNELL: And so, did you have any trouble getting a ticket to it since you`re a member of college Democrats? ZIEDRICH: No, I mean, you just had to -- it was a free ticket that you just reserved online. But obviously, that makes it a little bit more difficult for people to hear about the event and for people to go throughout the process of coming to the event. I mean, it was -- even one of the questioners during the question and answer segment actually mentioned that it was a very white audience. O`DONNELL: So -- ZIEDRICH: So -- O`DONNELL: You -- he kind of walked away from you. He just said, you know, we`ll agree to disagree and he walked away. If you -- ZIEDRICH: Yes -- O`DONNELL: Had more time with him, what else would you -- what more would you have liked to discuss with him? ZIEDRICH: I actually really wanted to ask a follow-up question about how he felt about our relationships and our support of the Kurdish forces fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and in Syria. I really wanted to know if he was supportive of strengthening our relationship with the Kurdish YPG and the YPJ forces, and the Kurdish Peshmerga forces who have been on the front line in the fight against ISIS. O`DONNELL: OK, Ivy, you`re just going to have to moderate one of these debates coming up. We got to -- you got -- well, you got to get your questions in front of them, that`s -- those were all great questions. Ivy Ziedrich, thank you very much for joining us tonight, really appreciate it. ZIEDRICH: Thank you very much for having me. O`DONNELL: Thank you. Coming up, Ann Coulter of all people has another crazy prediction about Mitt Romney and it has nothing to do with Mitt Romney`s charity boxing match tomorrow night against former heavyweight champ Evander Holyfield. And later, the latest on the Amtrak crash investigation in Philadelphia, and why we aren`t talking about the safety systems that are already in place on that train. Some of the overlooked safety factors, that`s coming up. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) O`DONNELL: The number one rule of life for politicians is, they are always more likable when they lose. Some of us remember how much fun Bob Dole was on late-night talk shows after he lost his campaign for the presidency in 1996. Now, it`s Mitt Romney`s turn to lighten up. And his new vehicle for that is a charity fund-raising boxing match with the former five-time heavyweight champion of the world, Evander Holyfield. The fight is tomorrow night in Salt Lake City, and the weigh-in was tonight. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, square off, gentlemen. This is it! (LAUGHTER) Romney versus Holyfield. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Charity vision, the sponsors of the big bout released this video. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROMNEY: Hi, I`m Mitt Romney and you may recognize me from television or the news or just around town. You`ve heard my critics say that I`m out of touch, that I`m stiff, that I just don`t relate to people. For years, I`ve been listening to garbage like that. And I decided to fight back, how do you do that? By taking on the former heavyweight champion of the world. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, everybody (INAUDIBLE) does he even work out? ROMNEY: You may think this is just a joke, but I`m taking this very seriously -- hello? I don`t have much of a right hook, but when I get somebody`s ear, I can be pretty formidable. EVANDER HOLYFIELD, PROFESSIONAL BOXER: You don`t throw punches, but I`m too quick, too agile for him. Mitt, you can`t run, you can`t hide. Come and get your whooping. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Joining us now is Maria Teresa Kumar, President of Voto Latino and host of "CHANGING AMERICA" on shift by Msnbc. OK, I`ve got the weigh-in results right here. Evander Holyfield weighed in at 236.5 pounds and Mitt Romney weighed in at 179 pounds. OK, Maria Teresa, who are you betting on? MARIA TERESA KUMAR, PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, VOTO LATINO: I hate to say this, but I`m going to go with Evander Holyfield, I`m not quite sure why, but I think he might have -- a step ahead of Mitt Romney. O`DONNELL: Yes, that`s so risky. KUMAR: Very -- O`DONNELL: Eugene, I`ve never liked Mitt Romney better than in that video. It`s that -- it`s that thing that comes over them once they`re relieved of this, you know, life-time burden of trying to get to the next high office. ROBINSON: Yes, they can kind of have fun, and be themselves. And you know, we were always told during the campaign that actually Mitt Romney was a nice guy. O`DONNELL: Right -- ROBINSON: Was fun to be around, it never -- it didn`t really come through during the campaign, but apparently it seems to be true. One hopes he survives this fight. But shouldn`t really hope -- generally, hope he`s around a day after tomorrow. But we`ll -- you know, we`ll see, good luck, Mitt. KUMAR: You know, as you fight -- you know what, Lawrence? I would have actually liked him to be in the ring with a binder full of women. I think that would have been a good of a fight. ROBINSON: Oh -- (LAUGHTER) O`DONNELL: I love that, there you go, that could be -- maybe that could be the fundraiser he does for Voto Latino. Maybe, that`s what that can be. So Ann Coulter has another crazy prediction about Mitt Romney and it does not involve the boxing match. Ann Coulter cannot take no for an answer, especially from men who say they will not run for president. Let`s listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HANNITY: Who do you like for president? COULTER: I would like Mitt Romney with Scott Walker -- (CROSSTALK) HANNITY: Mitt Romney is not running. Keep going -- COULTER: I think he is going to jump back in when he -- HANNITY: He is not going to jump -- COULTER: When people realize -- HANNITY: Back in -- COULTER: The only possible candidate -- (CROSSTALK) HANNITY: He is not going to jump back in -- COULTER: A joke right now is Scott Walker, and I would rather have Mitt Romney answering questions about the Fed and trade with China and you will see. Ann is going to be right -- HANNITY: What is this -- COULTER: You will apologize -- HANNITY: Ann? COULTER: If it`s not Scott Walker, Mitt Romney, I think we lose and welcome President Hillary. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Well, there was Sean Hannity doing his level best to talk sense to Ann Coulter. And Eugene, I -- ROBINSON: Yes, well -- O`DONNELL: But I don`t think he got through. I think she thinks Mitt is going to run. ROBINSON: I think she thinks that. I mean, I think she`s wrong, I don`t think he is going to run. But I think -- I think she does have a point about the Republican feel which isn`t exactly shooting the lights out. I mean it`s not -- KUMAR: Right -- ROBINSON: Probably not striking fear into Hillary Clinton`s heart right now. And she`s got to look at these guys and say, Okay, who can beat me? And it`s not clear that there -- that any of these guys can or Carly Fiorina. They`re not all guys but -- so, you know, so she`s kind of half- crazy and half-right. MARIA TERESA KUMAR, MSNBC CONTRIBUTOR: Well I thought -- I appreciate the fact that she was talking to herself in the third person. I find that charming. (LAUGHTER) But she conceded, basically, -- Eugene, what you said was absolutely true, that she conceded that Hillary is the -- is basically the -- (END VIDEO CLIP) -- frontrunner across both parties. I think that the problem is is that, I think, Scott Walker is also someone that is quite formidable on his own. He`s been able to show that he can go toe-to-toe with the unions, and that he can go ahead and galvanize and mobilize and get a lot of -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- funding from the Koch Brothers. And I think that that, right now, is, I think, the one that is -- although he hasn`t declared, he`s actually the front candidate. (END VIDEO CLIP) LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: And, Eugene, it`s a good week for Scott Walker when he doesn`t have to say anything and just watch Jeb Bush struggle with an answer to the easiest question that he could possibly have been asked. ROBINSON: Yes, it was a good week for Scott Walker. It was a good week for Marco Rubio. You know, Scott Walker kind of spent the week trying to shore up his credentials with -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- social conservatives, of all people, who have -- some of whom have doubts about him. And he still -- you know, he`s great in Wisconsin but untested -- (END VIDEO CLIP) -- still on the national stage. Can you go the distance? And, I think, that`s an open question. O`DONNELL: Maria Teresa, the Republicans will say that Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, they have a really good shot at increasing the Republican share of Latino vote. What`s your analysis of that. KUMAR: I think that, of the two, believe it or not, I actually think Jeb Bush has a stronger chance. And part of this is because he`s espoused immigration. He believes in a pathway to citizenship. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) And he actually doesn`t have to demonstrate how un-Latino he isn`t. And what I mean by that is that Marco Rubio has constantly -- has to remind the extreme right that he`s not Latino enough. And I think that`s actually going to be a burden for Marco Rubio, especially during the primary. If he gets past the primary and he`s the candidate, that will be, actually, a complete different ball game. But I think that`s going to be really difficult for him. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Eugene, that`s sounding a little bit like what people perceived a Barack Obama issue to be, that whole complex issue, especially at the beginning, in the Democratic primaries, about how black can he come across as as a candidate. ROBINSON: Yes. That`s going to be a very complicated question for Marco Rubio as he goes forward and, I imagine, for Ted Cruz as well, if they hope to gain any Latino support. I`m kind of with Maria Teresa on that. I`m a little skeptical. Jeb Bush, on the other hands, checks "Latino" on forms -- (LAUGHTER) -- when he fills them out. So, -- (LAUGHTER) -- you know, he uses his identity, in a way -- KUMAR: It must be true. ROBINSON: -- that the other two sometimes don`t. O`DONNELL: So, I guess, there`s such a thing as going too far. Eugene Robinson and Maria Teresa Kumar, thank you both very much for joining me tonight. KUMAR: Thank you, Lawrence. O`DONNELL: Coming up, by now, you`ve all heard about the positive train control, -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- the new system that could have prevented this week`s Amtrak crash if it was installed on those tracks. But there`s an old system, a much older system that no one has been talking about, that also could have prevented that crash. Why hasn`t that system been used correctly? That`s coming up. And, later, with "The Simpsons" in crisis tonight over the departure of Harry Shearer from the cast, we turn to James Lipton to calm the nation. (END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) Earlier today, cadaver dogs found the body of one more passenger buried in the wreckage of Amtrak Train 188, bringing the death toll to eight. Officials now say that all 243 have been accounted for. The lawyer for Brandon Bostian, the engineer of that train, told NBC News that Bostian has, quote, "absolutely no recollection of the crash or of deploying the brake because he, apparently, got a concussion during the crash." National Transportation Safety Board says that the engineer has agreed to meet with their investigators in the next few days. There is a new -- (END VIDEO CLIP) -- report tonight in "Wall Street Journal" about safety systems that could have been used to stop that train. "The Journal" reports, -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- "People familiar with Amtrak`s signal system say, the Speed Monitoring Enhancement to the existing set-up could have prevented the scenario that appears to have played out this week." "The existing technology called `Automatic Train Control,` used for decades by many railroads to keep trains safe distances apart, can send information to a train about the speed limit for a section of track." "Equipment inside the locomotive can sense when a train is exceeding the speed limit and set off an alarm. If the engineer fails to respond, the system triggers the train`s emergency brakes." (END VIDEO CLIP) Last night, on this program, Robert Pottroff, an attorney who specializes in train safety, said this -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBERT POTTROFF, ATTORNEY SPECIALIZING IN TRAIN SAFETY: They equip these trains with an override switch where you could turn off the cab signals. That had to be what happened in this case -- that the engineer, and it`s a common practice, when there`s a problem that they don`t want to be bothered by the cab signals, has another toggle switch available to them. They simply pull out the little seal that protects that toggle switch, turn it off, and you`re not bothered by any of these signals that were there to warn you. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Joining us now, John Goglia, Former NTSB Board Member. John, we`ve been talking about this this week and I was really surprised last night when I heard Robert Pottroff talk about this other system, this older technology -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- that`s there, the so-called "cab signals." What can you tell us about that. JOHN GOGLIA, FORMER NTSB BOARD MEMBER: Well, yes, there are signals in the cab that require the operator to respond to when he goes through the signals, the red and green lights that are on the side of the tracks, when they go through to acknowledge that they have seen them. And they can be overridden by the engineer. But the question really here goes a lot deeper than just that. This train just left the station. And the reason why the Amtrak hasn`t put the same control system on the northbound track that they have on the southbound track is because, the southbound track, you have a long lead-in to it and you can come into it very fast. It was believed, because the train is coming out of the station, that you wouldn`t yet, if you operated the train normally, you wouldn`t get that high speed coming into the turn. So, that begs the question that we`ve been asking all day, "What were the actions of this train operator?" And, if he`s not going to talk, if he has amnesia and it`s very possible that he does, then the NTSB is going to have to go through the train, thank God it wasn`t burned, and see if they can recover some of the physical evidence in the form of memory chips or, rather, other physical pieces of the train that would indicate whether or not there was a mechanical problem or what the train was doing. So, it`s going to complicate the investigation, but it can be accomplished. O`DONNELL: The speed records that they revealed today indicated that a minute and five seconds before -- (END VIDEO CLIP) -- the crash, the train was at 70 miles an hour. And then, 50 seconds, less than a minute after that, 50 seconds later, -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- it had gone from 70 up to a hundred. With that kind of weight on that kind of train, John, that seems like really quick acceleration, unless there`s some kind of downgrade there that the train is going slightly downhill. GOGLIA: Well, there`s two answers to that question. The first is, this was a relatively new locomotive. And it may have added performance, it may be an upgrade because we`re going to be running these high-speed trains in this corridor. So, it may be that it had plenty of power to do that. And, also, the weight of the cars behind it. It was of -- not a lot of passengers on the train compared to what it could carry. So, they may have been light enough that the performance of the train was such that he could get that speed. That is also going to be high on the NTSB`s agenda -- "What was the capabilities of the locomotive? Could it, in fact, do that?" And then, there`s also some speculation that`s going to occur on why he would want to go into that track so fast. "Was this his last run for the evening?" "Was he going to be finished at the end of the day?" "What was his work schedule for that day and the three previous days?" "Are we setting up a fatigue scenario here." There`s lots of questions that we have not talked about that will be asked and answered over the next few days. O`DONNELL: Well, a Philadelphia Police official at that press conference, at noontime today, with the mayor, very clearly said that this was a criminal investigation -- (END VIDEO CLIP) -- that they were doing. And then they got a little bit nervous about the way they phrased that later in the day. But this is obviously where they`d be going with this when you`re looking at that kind of acceleration. I want to listen to what Robert Sumwalt of the National Transportation Safety Board said today about this -- and tell me if what we`re hearing here is the cab signals issue that my guest in the program was discussing last night and, now, "The Wall Street Journal" has started writing about. Let`s listen to this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ROBERT SUMWALT, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: They have the system of an alerter, so that can tell if the engineer has not made any inputs to the train over a certain period of time, that alerter will sound an aural message as well as a visual message. So, we will -- we`ll be seeing if that did activate. But the engineers, what we have seen in other accidents -- I`m not saying that that happened here -- if you ever heard your alarm clock and you reached over and reflexively turned your alarm clock off, we have seen cases where people have done that. They can be, you know, in a sleepy state and they keep popping something on the train to satisfy the alerter. I`m not saying that happened here, but it`s because of that that we`ve -- that you can do that. But we think the positive train train control is the best answer. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: So, John, it sounds to me like, one of the reasons he`s saying positive train control is a better answer is that the engineer can`t override it. And these cab signals that we`re talking about, the engineer can just override them. GOGLIA: Yes, he`s correct. It`s just like the alarm clock. You just give it a whack and you silence it, you hit the switch. So, yes, that`s exactly what he`s talking about there. And, in a positive train control, it isn`t hitting the alerter. It`s going to stop the train from being automatically taken over. It`s going to be reducing the throttle. In the case of an overspeed, you then have to reduce the throttle. If you don`t reduce it, then the system will take over the train and do it for you. O`DONNELL: Now, the engineer -- his lawyer seems to be, you know, giving different levels of detail about what the engineer remembers, including the notion that he remembers right up before the crash, and he remembers noticing, at some point, a higher speed. But he does not remember braking, and then -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- doesn`t remember the actual accident itself, you know, because of the concussion. And so, it seems like the lawyer came close today to saying that the engineer remembers that very controversial minute of acceleration on the train. And if he remembers that, he should be able to explain that. GOGLIA: Well, it`s going to be interesting to see what he has to say. It`s still a free country. You`re innocent until proven guilty. But, sometimes, your actions speak louder than words. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: John Goglia, thank you very much for joining us again tonight. Really appreciate your time. GOGLIA: Thank you for having me. O`DONNELL: Coming up next, in the Senate today, it was round two of President Obama -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- versus Senator Elizabeth Warren. And, this time, the winner had kind words for the loser. And if anyone can make peace in "The Simpsons`" feud with departing cast member, Harry Shearer, it is the most diplomatic figure in the history of show business, the one and only James Lipton who will join me to discuss Harry Shearer`s contribution to the longest-running half-hour comedy in T.V. (END VIDEO CLIP) (COMMERCIAL BREAK) After 13 Democrats joined with Republicans in the Senate today and voted to start debate on Trade Promotion Authority, commonly known as Fast Track Authority for the President, President Obama said in a press conference tonight, he has no problems with the Senate Democrats who opposed him on Trade Promotion Authority, including the leader of those Democrats, Elizabeth Warren. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Still, the issue, with respect to myself and Elizabeth, has never been personal. I mean, I think it`s fun for, you know, the press to see if we can poke around at it when you see two close allies who have a disagreement on a policy issue. But there are a whole bunch of some of my bestfriends in the Senate, as well in the House, some of my earlier supporters who disagree with me on this. And I understand. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: My next guest is a man who would never call Senator Elizabeth Warren by her first name, the honorable James Lipton. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) Hey, listen up. Now, I know this is really hard for you because you now have a shorter attention span than a gold fish. That`s what a new Microsoft study found about the effects of an increasingly electronic lifestyle on the brain. According to the study, people now generally lose concentration after, count them, eight seconds. That is one second shorter than a gold fish. Congratulations. Up next, James Lipton joins me to discuss the unthinkable -- Harry Shearer, the voice of Mr. Burns and so many other characters, leaving "The Simpsons." (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) HARRY SHEARER AS MR. BURNS IN "THE SIMPSONS": Smithers, are they booing me. HARRY SHEARER AS SMITHERS IN "THE SIMPSONS": Uh, no, they`re saying, "Boo- urns, Boo-urns." MR. BURNS: Are you saying "Boo" or "Boo-urns." (AUDIENCE BOOING) DAN CASTELLANETA AS HANS MOLEMAN IN "THE SIMPSONS": I was saying "Boo- urns." (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: For 26 whole years, the full series run of "The Simpsons," the brilliant Harry Shearer has been the voice of Mr. Burns, Ned Flanders, Principal Skinner, Kent Brockman -- (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) -- and many, many others. Then, last night, Harry Shearer tweeted that the show will be moving on to the 27th season without him. "Simpson`s" show runner, Al Jean, told "The New York Times" today, -- TEXT: "Harry Shearer was offered the same deal the rest of the cast accepted, and passed. The show will go on and we wish him well. Maggie took it hard." But "The Simpsons`" co-creator, James L. Brooks tweeted this today, -- TEXT: "Hey, we tried. We`re still trying. Harry, no kidding, let`s talk." (END VIDEO CLIP) Joining us now is the Host of "Inside the Actor`s Studio," James Lipton, who was recently nominated for Critics` Choice Award for Best Reality Series Host. James Lipton, there`s hope with James L. Brooks tweeting this "Let`s talk" to Harry Shearer. We have hope. JAMES LIPTON, BRAVE CABLE TELEVISION HOST: I have hope. I`m very biased toward this show. I`m sure you are, too. I think it may be the greatest comedy series in the history of television. I love the show. You know, for the record, they have the second most Emmy- nominated primetime series in the history of broadcast television. "American Masters" is first, "Tonight`s Show" with Johnny Carson is the third, "SNL" is the fourth. You know who the fifth is, most nominated in the history of television. O`DONNELL: I don`t. LIPTON: "Inside the Actors Studio." O`DONNELL: I should have known. (LAUGHTER) Yes. LIPTON: Oh, that was cool. O`DONNELL: Now, speaking of that, let`s look at you playing yourself on "The Simpsons." (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JAMES LIPTON AS HIMSELF IN "THE SIMPSONS": Welcome back to "Inside The Actors Studio." We`ve met Rainier Wolfcastle, actor, novelist, barbecue sauce spokesman. Now, can we meet McBain. HARRY SHEARER AS RAINIER WOLFCASTLE IN "THE SIMPSONS": Let me get into character. OK, I`m McBain. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) All right, Mendoza, I`ll give the Maxwell circuit if you put down my daughter. (LAUGHTER) LIPTON: It was a pleasure to eat your lead, good sir. O`DONNELL: James, you`re scene partner there was Harry Shearer. Now, how did you do that. Did you work together or did you each do your parts separately. LIPTON: No, with animation, you work separately as a rule. I did it in New York, in front of the camera and a -- so they could get my facial expressions, and a microphone, and then they incorporated it in California. O`DONNELL: All right, let`s take a look at this amazing moment on your show with Harry Shearer suddenly sliding into a bunch of these characters. LIPTON: Mr. Burns. SHEARER AS MR. BURNS: Yes. (LAUGHTER) LIPTON: What is your occupation. MR. BURNS: Mogul. (LAUGHTER) LIPTON: Mr. Smithers. SHEARER AS SMITHERS: Yes, call me Waylon. LIPTON: Hi there, Mr. Flanders. (LAUGHTER) SHEARER AS FLANDERS: Hello. How are you. LIPTON: Who is Propane Elaine. FLANDERS: That`s a woman in Vegas. Oh, -- (LAUGHTER) -- you`re talking about my barbecue, Propane Elaine. LIPTON: Yes. FLANDERS: Sure, yes. Of course, yes. My backyard buddy. LIPTON: Principal of Springfield Elementary, Seymour Skinner. SHEARER AS PRINCIPAL SKINNER: Thank you very much. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) PRINCIPAL SKINNER: Let`s hold that down, please. Let`s hold that down. Let`s keep this in order. And will you please sit down, sir. (LAUGHTER) O`DONNELL: James, what was it like to be on that stage with that group and especially watching Harry fly through so many of them. LIPTON: Well, it just shows you the genius of the man and the genius of the show. When they do the show, they get together. They actually all get together. And they get together for like two hours a week. And they go right straight to it as if it were a play, curtain up to curtain down. They don`t take meal breaks. If you have to go to the bathroom, you have to wait until you`re not in the scene, and get back before the scene begins. That`s the way they do it. They are the most remarkable people doing the most remarkable things. You know, I`m very proud to be, by the way, to be a Simpson. Once you`re on the show, you`re a Simpson forever. And, I mean, with my yellow skin and my three fingers on each hand, -- (LAUGHTER) -- right. And I once asked -- in a severe underbite, by the way -- I once asked Yeardley Smith, who plays Lisa, "Why are you all yellow." She said, she had asked Groening. And Groening said that when he started the show, he wanted people to pay attention. So, he made the skin yellow, so they will all go to their sets and try to adjust the color. And people will be crowded around the television set, watching "The Simpsons" before everybody knew that they were maybe the best comedy show of all time. (END VIDEO CLIP) O`DONNELL: Oh, wow, so many details to the birth of genius that are "The Simpsons.: James Lipton, the Host of "Inside the Actors Studio," thank you very, very much for joining us tonight. LIPTON: Thank you, Lawrence. I brought peace. I hope Fox will discover. O`DONNELL: I hope you can bring peace to "The Simpsons." That would be so great. LIPTON: Fox, vobiscum. O`DONNELL: Yes. "Inside the Actors Studio" returns in June with guests -- END