This is what it means to face the American People in the year 2014, a time when the people look upon politicians as fails at best, abusers of their offices at worst. Guilty today means guilty before the people. Guilty at a time just one in 15 americans believes the United StatesCongress Deserves respect. In the program tonight well get to two other staggering stories. One the deep nationalistic reaction to the beheadings by the Islamic State and the cases of americans who join the other side. Finally we devote time to the first female comic to bring a sharp nightclub edge to her humor. We begin with the guilty verdicts for bob and maureen mcdonnells. Pete williams is the nbc news justice correspondent. Thank you very much for joining us. How much time are we talking about if they get the book thrown at them here . The maximum is 20 years. There are sentencing guidelines that will modify that. They wont serve anywhere near 20 years. If the sentence stands lets remember that its a certainty that the lawyers will appeal. They had strenuous objections, chris, to the judges instructions to the jury. They thought the judge was too weighted to the prosecution on a couple of questions. One is whats an official act . The mcdonnells said they never did any. The judge said its anything a governor does basically whether its in the law or not. Anything in the performance of oh their duties. The second is what the definition is of a bribery agreement. What the judge said is you dont have to get anything in return. You just have to have an agreement to do something to help someone. On those counts, the defense lawyers thought the judge was wrong. They will certainly appeal. But if this guilty verdict survives appeal they will definitely be doing prison time. Where do you think they will go . A place with Tennis Courts or face medium security . Both of them. These arent violent crimes. These are white collar crimes. This is a former governor. Those would be taken into account. Undoubtedly they will serve time in a minimum security prison. They wont be going to super max. There is no question about their dangerousness. Back to the intro, one of the things thats interesting about the verdict is that going into the trial the general feeling was Robert Mcdonnell was in good standing. He was considered to be sort of a boy scout as governor. He was well respected. I think thats one thing that makes the verdict all that much more surprising. He was well liked in virginia. So the jury had to get past that. One other thing, the judge did say to the jurors and it was a pro defense thing at the end. He said, look, they have to have known what they were doing was wrong. If you, the jury, think they acted in good faith, that they were taking roughly 177,000 in cash and loans and gifts from this man, if you thought they really thought he was just a friend and not somebody looking for state business you should acquit. Obviously the jury didnt buy that defense at all. Thank you, pete williams. Michelle bernard is president and ceo from the Bernard Center for women, politics and public policy. Reports from people in the courtroom tonight depict a highly dramatic scene. The former governor was sobbing with his head back. His family howling with their own tears. His wife maureen crying, too. Well get a report from someone inside the courtroom. Here is mcdonnell composed leaving the courtroom this afternoon. Lets listen. All i can say is my trust remains in the lord. Thank you. He put his trust in the jury. This guy could have walked away with a minimal admission, a minimal plea. Youre the attorney. Absolutely. His wife would have been off scotfree. He chose to face a jury. Pete has his assessment of the law. My assessment is american politics. Yes. I dont think you want to face an american jury today if you are accused of misbehavior. I think they will hit you with everything as they here. 20 years they are facing. Going into it, i expected the exact opposite. Never expected a jury to find them guilty on all conspiracy charges. We have a congress that doesnt work. We have a lot of state governments that dont work. The federal government shuts down. They pass a budget. This was a case of the jury looking at broad jury instructions and saying to themselves, are politicians today filling their pockets as the American People suffer . Looking out for special friends who give them gifts. Absolutely. 11 of 13 counts, guilty. For the wife, maureen, not even a Public Officer. Shes a companion. 9 of 13. Pete said the judge made the decision. The jury made the final decision. They clearly didnt buy the defense at all. 14 counts all together. Five weeks of testimony. Two hours of jury instructions. Thats how long just the jury instructions took. It only took this jury a little more than two days of deliberations in order to reach this. They clearly thought he and she were deceiving them. They didnt buy any of it. I think the poor reputation offal politicians generally certainly helped them helped the prosecution. Excuse me. This isnt illinois. This isnt a state with five governors that went to prison. Virginia has been clean. They have never had accused of a crime. Or former governor this is going to hurt the state. And the prosecution said it repeatedly in the closing statements. Bob mcdonnell filled the shoes once held by Patrick Henry and thomas jefferson. There was a feeling on behalf of the prosecution in this case that hay besmirched the reputation of the commonwealth. Give me the rolex or forget it. He threw his wife under the ferrari she arranged for him to drive. The jury absolutely found a conspiracy between the governor and his wife in this crazy wife defense. I think they thought they colluded and this was a smart way to get off the mcdonnells were always holding hands, the picture of marital bliss. Then in trial, i hate my wife and my wife hates me, we dont speak. Members of the jury had to have known the wife went to the prosecutor a year ago and said, i feel guilty about this. Its my fault. Is there anything we can do to save my husband . The whole defense backfired. Absolutely. It was so clearly made up. Yes. Awkward and concocted that it hurt their credibility. Let me remind everybody we are talking about felony counts here. Almost a dozen. Two dozen all together. Pete talks about they will probably get time off. Wont go the full 20 years but they are middleaged people. You dont know if they will be around. If i were them i would think, am i going to get out of prison snn when i do, ill be old. In their 70s, 80s. I will get out with little life left if any. These decisions dont seem that important. Pete williams pointed out they had to be Proven Guilty of having known what they were doing was evil, wrong. How do you prove that . But the jury is willing to believe it. The jury instructions were also are very broad. One of the jury instructions that might be a problem on appeal, for example, is the judge said it didnt you didnt have to focus on what Bob Mcdonnell thought he was doing. Focus on what Johnny Williams thought he was getting. I dont believe a judge will over turn this case. I dont. This was a long, well run trial. The jury has spoken. Its a trial thats been done. The guilty judgment was made. The verdict is in. Theyre going to do this all over again . No, no. So many guilty verdicts, on so many counts it will be hard for anybody to overturn this. Imagine them saying to the state of virginia, do this all over again. Assume it even happened. For Bob Mcdonnell who two years ago people were discussing running on the Vice President ial ticket with mitt romney. What an incredible fall from grace. His political career is over. The American Public loves redemption. It is over. Blagojevich is in the can now watching this. What a message this sends to politicians. You are not going to grab the silverware like before. Getting away with extras, trips. Want to go on a golf trip . Come on, ill take care of you. That guy will go, wait a minute. I better not end up like Bob Mcdonnell. I get on this plane and im taking a versus from you. If i do anything for you, im guilty of the same charge this guy is swinging for. This is sending a message to prosecutors. If you are an ambitious federal prosecutor you really want to go after anything. Public corruption. Because you think the big guy in trenton. We have scott walker in madison. A lot of governors now facing juries potentially down the road. Yes. Theyre thinking if they get offered a plea theyre going to take it. Take the plea. Its dangerous. They opened the flood gates in politics. Anybody who wants to face a jury in a political case is a taking a chance. Thank you michelle, robert carney, washington post, a real reporter. Coming up, a blaring warning about what americans think of politicians in this year of 2014. This jury saying we dont expect business as usual from the politicians. That will have a Chilling Effect on Public Office today. They are talking to their spouses about that and what they have taken. Plus joe biden said yesterday well follow isis to the gates of hell. A sharp contrast from what we heard from the president. It squares with the nationalism we feel at the beheadings of fellow americans. And why do some in this country want to join a group against america . Why would they sign on with that with the behead ers . Finally we pay tribute to an early trail blazer for women comics. Joan rivers brought a real nightclub bite to her humor. This is hardball, the place for politics. A victory today for president obamas health care law. A federal Appeals Court in washington threw out an earlier ruling that said financial subsidies arent available for people who buy Health Insurance on the federal exchange. Earlier ruling by the court in july was made by a panel of the court. The Justice Department urged the full court to hear the case which it will do. The full court is thought to be more sympathetic to obamacare. Well be right back after this. We are very disappointed but arent deterred. The fight is a long way from over. Were back. More on the fallout from former Virginia GovernorBob Mcdonnells conviction today on corruption. What effect will the fall from grace have an other gov authors, their wives or husbands also facing inquiries into their activities. There are three republican governors and one democrat facing various investigations. All are said to be considering 2016 president ial bids. Texas governor rick perry was indicted on two felony counts. Chris christie and his office face two criminal investigations over last years lane closures on the George Washington bridge and related affairs. Scott walker is being investigated by a special prosecutor for possible illegal fund raising. And andrew cuomo is under investigation for interference with an anticorruption commission. A word of caution. After the verdict today you dont want to face a jury headed into 2016. Howard fineman, editorial director of the Huffington Post heed i cant group and msnbc political analyst. Clarence page is a columnist with the Chicago Tribune who holds a pulitzer prize. Dave coulter joins us. What did it look like . Give us a picture of the scene when the verdict came down. You think of governor Bob Mcdonnell as confident, easy going as he was coming into the courtroom throughout the trial. What wh i saw there about two hours ago now was a man who, as i have described was broken. As soon as the first of the guilty counts came out i saw the former gover nor put his hands into his face and break down in sobs. He had three of the five children sitting behind him in the benches. They were all holding onto each other. A daughter, one son. They were praying initially. As the verdicts were read, about eight minutes long, they were sobbinging in histerics. I have never seen Bob Mcdonnell like i saw him inside the courtroom. Maureen mcdonnell wiped away a few tears. She was more in shock than anything else. The tears, sobbing, that was the former governor Bob Mcdonnell we saw this the courtroom. Thank you. Howard, i have known you a long time. When you look at this guy he was calm, debonair governor. Looked like he had it made. His wife and he are going into the can for 20 years each. I covered him because he came out of the Pat Robertson school, literally. Attended regent university. Yet he was able to have main stream appeal. He seemed the perfect, almost created in the laboratory modern republican southern candidate. I know for a fact barack obama and his political advisers were keeping an eye on him from the beginning. Obama said there is a guy weve got to watch. Then it turned into this. Its one of the most amazing rises and falls i have seen in a short period of time. Its shocking but the law matters. They broke the law according to the judge and jury. It does. Also you mentioned earlier the context of politics here. A jury is being impatient now with politicians accused of misbehavior. I think governor mcdonnell himself was a victim in a way of the National Spotlight. When you get into the National Spotlight like Chris Christie in new jersey and others you mentioned, scott walker. Suddenly you look very interesting to prosecutors, too. You become subject to extra scrutiny and decide whether to try to plead not guilty or take the deal. In this case mcdonnell made the wrong choice. All of us grew up in big cities. You get used to ethnic groups voting the ethnic way. Thats the way it was. They would say, well, of course hes crooked but he looks out for us. They bring the turkey at christmas time or whatever. Im not sure that attitude is there anymore. This attitude of hes our guy. Thats we have had it with the crooks. We dont care if hes our guy. Thats interesting, chris. Youre right. Voters dont have the personal neighborhood relationships, if you will, with these candidates. The candidates present themselves through television. They hype their credentials, talk about their whole someness. Thats the thing with mcdonnell. Regent university, Pat Robertson, picture perfect marriage. One of the things the jury didnt believe was the sudden fact that they were all going in the other direction. The other thing thats going on here legally is that the definition that the judge accepted in this case of what is an official act that somebody receiving money or favors is doing is so broad that if i were a politician anywhere in america i would be worried a federal grand jury could go after me, even if i did nothing official, nothing legal, no administrative change, no legal change. If i set up a meeting with a guy, i could be cooked. Thats what happened to Bob Mcdonnell here. If the governor comes to your wifes birthday party, wow. He showed up with a state trooper. Thats public business. Right . By the way, we live in a city where ambassadorships go to bundlers, people who raise money in elections. Who gets invited to state dinners when the president of france arrives. You look at the list. Its bundlers. A lot of people say is that unethical . Its been done for so long. What would the judge say . Thats interesting. I compare virginia with illinois or new jersey or louisiana. I never did before. We are accustomed to occasions like this where youve got states more accustomed to this kind of scandal. I was amazed after the first four governors were convicted let alone the fifth one back in illinois that more didnt say, hey, maybe i should behave better. There is a culture rises from the streets. Remember the deal for the city to one of his kids . He said, who am i supposed to give it to, a stranger . There is mistle toe on my coat tails for thib who frowns on it. I agree. Think giving ambassadorships to bundlers is hiding in plain sight here. Thats an obvious quid pro quo of official action for a bunch of money to your campaign. Keep watching, ladies and gentlemen. A lot of governors and their wives or husbands are saying, what have we taken . What have we done . Could this be us . Talk about a quiet conversation. Even the kids arent listening. Howard fineman and clarence page, this is Serious Business 20 year this is prison. Up next, joe bidens rhetorical response to isis may have upstaged the president. It certainly did, i think. Thats ahead. Mmm, progressive insurance here. Ever since we launched snapshot, my life has been positively craycray. Whats snapshot, you ask . Only a revolutionary tool that can save you bigtime. Just plug it in, and the better you drive, the more cash youll stash. Switching to progressive can already save ye 500. Snapshot could save ye even more. Meat maiden bringeth to me thine spiciest wings of buffalo. With isis threatening to behead more american hostages president obama was trying to build International Support for action against the terror group. It was the Vice President who connected with the American People. The American People are so much stronger, so much more resolved than any enemy can fully understand. As a nation, we are united. And when people harm americans, we dont retreat. We dont forget. We take care of those who are grieving and when thats finished, they should know we will follow them to the gates of hell until they are brought to justice. [ applause ] because hell is where they will reside. Was that what the American People want to hear . I think so. How far is this country willing to go . Here in washington there is a drum beat for action coming from democrats and republicans alike. Does the president himself hear the drum beat . Mike b