>> well, boehner got a boost today by a group of house freshmen with their announcing their support even though their plan is not as big as they wanted it to be, but a short time ago senate majority leader harry reid warned that the bill will be rejected in short order. >> as soon as the house completes the vote tonight or this afternoon, the senate will move to take up that message that they sent to us. it will be defeated. they know that. >> so, no word as of yet from the president today on the standoff. earlier today, press secretary jay carney said that any bill would have to absolutely extend the debt ceiling until 2013, and nbc's kristen welker joins me from the white house. also in the press briefing, jay carney said that the bill being worked on right now is d.o.a. when it reaches the senate. >> yes, that is right. hello, thomas. good afternoon to you. he said it is d.o.a. and 58 senators have said they will come out to vote against it and

he reiterated the call that the white house is not going to get behind anything that is not a long-term increase of the debt ceiling. but you know, people have been pushing this on this saying that past presidents have increased the debt ceiling for periods of six months much like the boehner plan would. earlier today on msnbc, dan pheifer addressed this very issue. take a listen. >> there are lots of short term debt ceiling increases in the past, but they were done in a place where it was not, where one party did not use it as an opportunity to extract their entire policy agenda or by holding the economy captive. >> reporter: now the pressure is ramping up on the president and also on congress to get something done here. in fact, some ceos of the banks have just released this letter, and we want to read part of it to you right now warning of what would happen if they don't get something done quickly, and i'm quoting here.

the letter said, a default on our nation's obligations are a downgrade of america's credit rating would be a blow to business an investor confidence raising interest rates for everyone who borrows and undermining the value of the dollar, and royaling stock and bond markets and therefore dramatically worsening our nation's already worst circumstances. so everyone agrees that something has to happen, but what is the path going forward. many people expect the boehner bill to be passing in the house and not in the senate, so then what happens is anyone's guess, but it is possible that you might see a compromise bill between the reid plan and the boehner plan coming to life. we have to wait and see, but again, it does not seem at this point anyone knows what the path forward going is going to be, and thomas, that deadline is august 2nd, next tuesday. >> rapidly approaching. kristen welker from the white house.

thanks. next joining us is kelly o'connell at capitol hill for us. kelly, explain what happens next after the senate votes this bill down and specifically, jay carney referring to what some called a hail mary pass with the grand bargain. >> well, we can't presume what happens when the house votes, because they say that momentum is moving in their direction and take it for one step at a time and assume for the moment that it does in fact pass the house, and that is a big deal in and of itself, because there is a great deal of opposition as you know, and we heard from speaker boehner and the leadership team moments ago saying they are imploring the members to get behind this. they believe it is the best chance, and what they have kind of given to entice some of the most conservative members on board is a separate vote tomorrow unrelated to what we are talking about tomorrow which would deal with a balanced budget amendment which is a huge sticking point for conservatives who believe that the only answer to the long term debt is to

mandate a balanced budget mandate like many states. so these are important steps before it gets out of the senate. what harry reid is trying to do is to get ahead of this and some of the momentum that john boehner and the team is getting and saying it is dead. we got it from the white house as well. as kristen mentioned, there are many variations of procedurally what can be done and i won't go through that, but what needs to happen with that deadline looming is what options are left. we are hearing possibilities of additional conversations between the leaders here, but at the moment, it is going to make sense for those to let it play out first in the house, and see where it is and what the senate does, because pressure will be brought the bear on the senate democrats as well and see what can be done in the limited time left. this is a time when you need your handbook next to you watching all of this to see what the hurdles are, but a big one today for john boehner and his

lead leadership. if they can get this through the house, then as he says the burden falls on harry reid to deliver and prevent default, so we will see a shift in power here on capitol hill, and back to the senate. >> thank you, kelly o'donnell. joining me now is chris matthews host of msnbc's "hardball." and as this is unfolding are we seeing another red herring play out and ultimately distracting us from the deal to be done? >> no, we are seeing the beginning to the end, because the festivities are over. and this afternoon 5:00 to 6:00, the beginning of the end. a house bill formally reject and bipartisan compromise back to the senate with 60 votes, and that goes to conference in the house, and no taxes in it, because the republicans won't allow it, and no balanced budget amendment procedure and the democrats won't allow it, and the only level of spending cuts are what has to be raised to get

it down to one vote, and the question is how many votes there will be and whether this is the end of it. and something that was written this afternoon by james garrett, but it looks like the democrats may have to have larger spending cuts to pay off the republicans for not having another vote on this for the end of the year, and if the democrats want to have this overwith, they may have to give a number of spending cuts, but no taxes in it, a nd no balanced budget amendment in it. so i think that we can see the end of this whole thing by monday, and i think that it is going to work out fine. lit get do it will get done. >> chris, elephants are supposed to have a long memory, but do you suppose that they are asked about the debt crisis as it is and you were asked on your show last night, have the democrats gone rogue and happy to cut the baby in two and have the economy destroyed.

>> that is part of the pregame. and the pregame is over. >> do you think we get to that place where the credit rating is going to take a hit no matter what? >> no, it is over. i'm trying to say that. it is over. the mess is over and the pregame ceremony and the fun and the band and the cheerleaders and all of that stuff was part of this pre-game, and today begins the real game and the real game is to avoid a crisis in this country which will hurt everybody. i believe that john boehner and mitch mcconnell republicans agree with the white house on this that we need to get it overwith and they will use their leadership to do it and the grown-ups will take over this evening and began the take over two days ago and the real game will begin of saving this country from default has begun and it will be concluded in time. >> and as far as we know president obama has remained on the sidelines for several days now, but since his address on monday night, we haven't seen or heard of him taking meetings but

jay carney alluded to the fact that we don't know whether or not he has met with speaker boehner and you with critical of the fact that he came out and took up prime time and gave the nation that address, and what do you expect him to do next? >> well, all journalists were concerned and critical is the right word of the president using a prime time tv address for a political purpose. this is a partisan argument and his main concern right now is to avoid another vote next year which will endanger his re-election concern and that is a partisan concern and it was not just me, but i spoke to many journalists who say that prime time tv addresses should be reserved for events and not partisan debate. and it was not a public announcement, but a partisan debate. >> will it take a toll on the president's approval ratings down the line? >> no, everything depends what we are hearing right now about good news on the unemployment

situation. if we are getting less k4r5i78s for unemployment benefits for the first time in three months, that is very good news. if that orders f s fos for a gor and fall, and unemployment is down, he will be re-elected and if not, he won't. it is all about unemployment. that is what it is, and the name of the game and getting the country back the something that really feels like a jobs recovery, and all of this will be forgotten if that happens. and if it doesn't happen, all of this will be part of the blame that is attached to the president unfortunately. >> i was going the say, in the short term, does anybody come out smelling like a rose, or is everybody dirty in this? >> well, boehner looks like he is trying to do something and mitch mcconnell is looking good and the president is looking good and the tea party people have done their worst. if this is the end of it, they won't be destroyed by it, and if they bring down the credit rating of the united states, they will be badly hurt, and i think they will stop the pre-game activities today and

commence serious governing, we will be fine. if they don't, we won't. it is that vote tonight. if boehner can get 218 of 240, the tea party have done their worst, and it is over. they have played it cleverly, and in fact, boehner has helped them from hurting the country, and if they do bring down the vote today and it is a no confidence vote, it is chaos again. but i think it is going to pass tonight. this is what is going to happen the pregame festivities are over tonight, and we will get a vote tonight of 218 and not many more and overwhelmingly republicans and then it will go to the senate and be defeated. the senate will have a bipartisan response, because it has to be a bipartisan response to get 60 votes to the senate, and that goes back to house with something that looks good enough so it will get some democratic votes in the house, because it has to pick up those, make up for the loss of republican votes for what is a slight nudge to the left. that will be made up for by democrats joining boehner in the final vote for the conference

report. i can see it getting done on time. >> i am sure a lot of people are hoping that you are exactly right. chris, thank you so much for joining us today. >> thank you. >> and we want to remind everybody to catch chris matthews on "hardball" every week night at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. every night right here on msnbc. and brian williams will be anchoring "taking the hill inside congress" sunday evening. and we have breaking news coming out of texas, an army private is under arrest after allegedly threatening to attack the ft. hood army base. the officer was found with materials to make a pipe bomb which is the same base that major nadal hasan committed a bombing. and more breaking news to tell you about which involves the new jersey governor chris christie, and his spokeswoman says that the governor is fine

and in charge and this after being hospitalized today for difficulty breathing, and another spokesman who says that the governor is mentioned as a presidential candidate was taken to the hospital out of an abundance of caution and undergoing tests. the 48-year-old does struggle with asthma and does struggle with his weight, and moments ago they said that his ekg and blood work and chest x-ray are all normal. and meanwhile, a steel cross found amid the center of ground zero is causing controversy as atheists are saying it is ugly and has no place at the museum. >> and this is tracking don heading toward the gulf of texas. and plus -- >> i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. >> game show host turned crime fighter. alex trebeck revealed what happened when an intruder woke him up in the mid of the night.

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welcome back, everyone. an atheist group is filing suit against a plan to include world trade center beams in the shape of a cross from the 9/11 memorial and museum. the group has filed a lawsuit claiming that the presence of the cross is unconstitutional because it violates the church and state, and they say it is a public institution and should not reflect certain religion and they are asking the judge to ask that the cross be removed or other religions be commemorated in the same way. earlier rudy giuliani spoke in

favor of the cross. >> well, it is significant, because it was found in the midst of the flames and the smoke and the debris and then all of the sudden a cross emerges that is formed by the steel and by the way in which the building came down. so, it was like a sense that we weren't abandoned by god. >> joining me now is nationally syndicated radio show host michael smerconish who is also a contributor to msnbc, and i want to point out that the beams formed a cross organically from the remnants of the cross, and someone did not weld them together in the shape of a cross, so it is something that was inspirational to a lot of people, and what do you make of the lawsuit and does the group have a legal leg to stand on? >> well, it is one of the cases that thomas if it should get to the supreme court of the united states, my hunch is that it ends in a 5-4 decision probably because of the conservatives on the court siding with those who'd like the cross to be kept in the museum. i'm in that category. if you said to me that today

with nothing having happened organically and there was a move afoot to put a cross in the museum or put some other religious symbol, i would think it is inappropriate, but it is the organic nature of it and it is more historical and more than iconic religious reference. >> you make a great point, but however n the press release today they say that equality is all or nothing deal and referring to the deal that other religions be represented at the memorial, and do you believe that adding more religious artifacts could be an answer to quell them or is that a red herring, and they want the cross gone no matter what? >> the latter. they want the cross gone. it remind ms me of a case local where the ten commandments had been posted on a old courthouse wall for 100 years, and some atheists came along and said, that is not right, take down the ten commandments and the court said it is not there for the religious significance now, but

it is there as a historical artifact, and i feel the same way about this cross. >> the american center for law and justice does plan to file a friend of the court brief to defend the presence of this cross at the memorial and ultimately, michael, do you see this playing out and going awe of the way to the supreme court or can it get squashed before that and something satisfactory to both sides before? >> well, they have a lot on their plate and my hunch is that they would not accept this, but one never knows and in the meantime, i expect you will see it in that museum come september 11. >> but for a lot of people, inspirational is really a word of what it means to be seen from that emerge from the wreckage. >> yes. >> and like rudy giuliani said, it meant that god did not depart on that day. >> thank you, thomas. and now tropical storm don is on the track to hit the cos of texas. and also, is there a predator near a college campus with reports of six women being sexually assaulted alone this

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welcome back, everyone. people living on parts of the texas coast are on high alert as tropical storm don barrels their way. a tropical storm watch is in effect. don is predicted to make landfall north of corpus christi friday night. and weather channel's carl parker is tracking the storm. fill us in, carl. >> well, it is a minimal tropical storm right now and the intensity forecast is a problematic one, and i will show you why in a moment. 45-mile-an-hour wind and moving northwest at 15 miles an hour, and the pressure is up a little bit. this is the visible satellite picture and you can see a swirl right in here, and a low-level swirl, and the convection of the thunderstorms have been on the south side and it is not terribly organized thus far, and a big burst recently, and it has been undergoing some sheer here will be probably modest, because

these are the latest predictions here from the national hurricane prediction center, and it is nearing the coast friday night, there is a outside chance it will get up to hurricane strength, but it is a small system and for that reason, it could get a lot weaker as it nears the coast. no problem as far as warmth from the water, but the shear that is an issue and at the minimum, we will see heavy rain in some areas that generally do want to see that heavier rain, and speaking of that, wow. we got clocked in chicago over the last couple of days here for the month, and 10 inches, wettest july ever, and looking for the worst potential in chicago, detroit and des moines today and back into the central plains, and of course, it continues to be very hot across a lot of the country, and that is not changing any time soon. going into tomorrow, look at this, it builds into the east, and 102 in richmond, and 100 in columbia, and still very hot in the southern plains, and then that ridge will shift to the farther east saturday and still very warm to the south, and gets a little cooler across the ohio valley and builds back into the

plains by sunday, and talking about 101 and 100 in wichita and no relief there in the central part of the country any time soon. thomas, back to you. >> we will have to hold out longer. thank you, carl. >> you bet. i want to pass on breaking news from south florida concerning a small plane crash. we will show you the video coming in from behoke, florida, where a small plane flipped over according to the palm beach sheriff's office and the incident happening in -- okeechobee, and two students were on board, and this happened near lake okeechobee and right there by the palm county glades airport and it was the instructor and the student who ended up flipped up over there, but everybody is safe, rescued and doing just fine. all right. we are following breaking news coming about with a soldier arrested for threatening an attack outside of fort hood, the

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all right. so we continue to follow developing news out of the capitol, house speaker john boehner making a public plea to the colleagues in the house and the senate to vote for the debt ceiling bill with hours to go before the plan is taken up, he says that the bill is reasonable, responsible and most importantly bipartisan. >> for the sake of jobs, and for the sake of our country, i'm asking the representatives in the house and in a bipartisan way and asking my colleagues in the senate, let's pass this bill and end the crisis.

>> joining me now is jay newton smalls, and my colleague, and so, now all have signed to oppose the boehner plan and the senate is calling it dead on arrival, so what message is the house republicans sending by vote on this bill and then sending it to the senate? >> well, boehner is calling the bill bipartisan, because he did negotiate it with the senate majority leader harry reid last weekend, but reid walked away from the talks, because they included a two-step process and essentially six months from now we would be back in the same place negotiating deficit budget cuts at s attached to the debt ceiling increase, and nobody wants that to happen, because it is in the middle of the campaign season and the primaries and they want to do it once and take one stab at it. and so even though he did negotiate the bill with john boehner, it is not the bill that reid wants. >> so maybe kicked back and

forth with amendments to make that compromise that everybody is looking for? >> well, reid said he will kill the bill as soon as the house has the votes, he has the votes to table it in the senate. and reid has said going forward he wants to negotiate a solution to pass both chambers, and he is open to talks with boehner and mcconnell, and those talks have broken down now, but that they were very close to finding a way through up until a couple of days ago and so now that the republicans are focusing on the boehner bill, and reid is hoping that once the boehner bill dice, they will be able to go back to the table to craft a compromise to get through both chambers before next tuesday and if not, he is willing to fall back on his version of the bill which includes $2.2 trillion of cuts and try to up it to $2.4 trillion to get it through as the last bill standing and the last train to leave the station. >> well, harry reid spoke about getting a bill through to get us through 2013 to everybody could make it through the elections

and the primaries and not have it hanging over their heads? is it a double-edged sword for the republicans to hold on to the hostage so to speak and keep it active all of the way through, because if the tea party is blamed for any type of debt crisis that the country goes into or a reversal of the recovery, isn't that tricky coming primary season? >> it totally is, and this is not a winning message for the republicans in the last few weeks, and a lot of the presidential candidates like you see michele bachmann and tim pawlenty for whom the iowa caucuses are important don't like this bill, and boehner's bill particularly because they don't want to talk about this stuff right now, and the way that boehner has it laid out, literally the end of january that you would be voting on the next extension and the iowa caucuses are february 6th, so it would really step all over those kinds of election, and it would be a kind of bad message i think for the republicans going into it. so, on the other hand, if you default, si bit is bad for

everybody, so it is a giant game of political chicken going on here. >> jay newton-smalls, thank you for joining me. >> thank you. and now to the breaking news and that out of texas and we expect to hear more of the army private arrested for plotting an attack at fort hood. he was arrested at a hotel in killeen, texas, and police found what they called smokeless powder in the room which is a common component for pipe bombs, and nbc justice correspondent pete williams is following the developments. pete, what do we know more about the army private? >> well, thomas, you ar are loog at pictures of him as he was taken in fort campbell, kentucky, as he was asked to be relieved of his duties, because he says as a muslim soldier he shouldn't be required to vote against his enemies. and then they say that child

pornography was found in his possession, and the hearings were suspended, and then according the officials this weekend he went into killeen, texas, and tried to buy smokeless powder, but the gun store owner showed that he didn't know much about it, and the owner became suspicious and contacted the local police, and they found the cab that took him there, and then naser abdo was arrested. they went to the hotel room and found the explosive materials and officials said they did not find fully assembled or functioning bomb, but nonetheless, he is in custody and federal charges are expected to be filed this afternoon against him for apparently expressing this desire to attack fort hood. certainly possessing these

materials and being awol. >> but pete, if he was never properly discharged where is he jurisdictionally? civilian or military? >> well, he is certainly still in the mill tashgs and so -- mi and if your question is how will the charges be filed? they are criminal federal charges because the offense that he is charged happened outside of a military base. so, that's the reason, as opposed to major nidal hasan who shot up and killed 13 people in 2009. that offense was on the post, so the military is handling that one. >> pete williams in washington. thank you. a string of sexual assaults at the university of michigan are topping the news today. there are six attacks ranging from forced groping to rape. police say it is unclear if one or two men are responsible for this. the campus police department

spokeswoman says that u of m students accounted for two of the assaults and police have increased security measures for the fall semester. atlanta public school employees linked to a widespread cheating scandal have been put on paid administrative leave. the superintendent reaffirmed his plans for termination as soon as possible, a nd they say that 41 of the 44 accused educators have quit or retired from the school system. an 18-year-old finnish man has been arrested for having 22 pounds of explosives. they say that the fertilizer can be used to make explosives and the media said that the man was trying to make his own fireworks, but however, the police say it is not related to the attacks last week in norway. more heart wrenching pictures of the suffering and famine taking place in east africa. these children from somalia are orphans and they have been brought across the border to kenya where they are being

helped at a refugee camp. meanwhile, heavy fighting was reported in somalia's capital of mogadishu as the african peacekeepers launched an offensive to help with the famine relief efforts to be thwarted by al qaeda rebels. six people were killed. joining us from skype from mogadishu is richard guerra from the united association of human rights. and what can you tell us about the fighting and the ripple effects of the already existing problems there? >> well, hello, and good evening from me at least. well, for the time being, we have not seen much of the effect of the new fighting. we are hoping that it won't affect too much of the operation here, and i would not create

additional movement. i will have to say that the fightings have been happening in another part of the city where we have less likely been located. >> richard, tell us about the u.n. efforts taking place in somalia and one of the first planeloads of relief supplies were airlifted in yesterday? is that correct? >> well, that is correct. that is the first visible increase of aid coming here in mogadishu, and we are scaling up the activities for the past week now to our national partner and international partners, and yet the first plane arrived and the first one that is visible, and you know, we have been working in mogadishu for years now. we are dealing with 400,000 new, 400,000 idps out of which 25,000 have just arrived in july due to the drought. so, for us, it was really a matter of scaling up the

activities. i have to mention, if i may that it is true that we are concentrated on mogadishu for the time being, but really the problem and the roots of the problem are in an area where the majority of the people are coming from and where it is difficult for us to intervene. >> richard, still continuing where thousands continue to flee from somalia and they are trying to flood over into kenya and ethiopia and they are already facing jammed refugee camps, and people turned away. how are they helped? >> well, shg, i can as you kno covering mogadishu, and at the same time being concentrated on mogadishu and three other regions, and yet, there are people fleeing to the camps and as far as i understand they are being taken care of in those camps and i understand as well for the time being that the aid has increased, and we think it

is because a majority has moved from the regions and a majority of them have been hindered of moving from where they are. >> richard, as you are working in mogadishu, how difficult with the unrest in the surrounding areas for you to effectively do your job for the u.n. as office for the coordination of human affairs? >> well, if you may, well, it is very difficult. you know, mogadishu, it is a city at war. we are working in a low profile. we have seen a lot of people angry at the u.n., but the reason we do not see the u.n. is because we are wosrking low profile internationally, and if i may finish, two days ago, we were visiting the biggest camp in mogadishu and we had to stop because fights erupted inside of the camp, and that tells you how difficult it is here in

mogadishu to continue. >> we wesh you continued success there with the work in mogadishu, and richard guerra. thank you. we know many of you want to help the famine victims and logon to newsnation.msnbc.com, and you will find a list of groups that are collecting donations. and amy winehouse, with a new release of music that has never been released. courtney hazlett has the latest. and also what you should know about, a freshman congressman who opposes raising the debt limit and a big proponent of fiscal responsibility is being sued for $117,000 for child support, and representative joe walsh's ex-wife has asked to suspend the illinois republican driver's license until he pays up. walsh's attorney says that this is unfounded. who would read a book entitled "the complete idiot's guide to understanding islam."

well, try the fbi, because it is one of the books that the bureau recommended to the recruits as recently as 2009. the book is no longer on the recommended reading list. here is a lesson for all of you who tweet. you never know who is watching. david wigs who describes himself as a golfer tweeted that the white house briefing was not that interesting and then the white house tweeted back with a tweet they called more fun. ♪ never going to let you down ♪ never going to run around ♪ and desert you ♪ never going to make you cry all right. tricking someone into watching this rick astley video is called "rick roll" and we thought those are some of the things that you should know. ♪ never going to make you cry ♪ never going to say good-bye it flows with clean water.

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up at 3:00, zero hour with the fight over the nation's debt ceiling, and the bell is about to ring as the vote comes to the floor of the congress. and does speaker boehner have the votes? and what will the senate do if the bill passes in the house? game day begins at the top of the hour. stay with us. so game show host alex trebeck faces real life "jeopardy" and lady gaga sheds a tear, and amy winehouse leaves behind a trove of music. we get the scoop from courtney hazlett and i know the headline here. >> and yes, that story of the day broke shortly after you and i were standing here yesterday and we didn't have the details, but a long story short, he hurt himself trying to fend off a robber in the hotel room, but you have to hear the man tell it himself, and some of the more creative headlines. alex trebeck gets injured in the most awesome way possible, and yes, and look at this most

awesome detail in alex's own words. >> i got up and saw that the door was being held up by a wad of tissue and i got up and saw a woman walking away. i put on my underwear and ran down the hall. i chased her and i didn't get more than 25 feet before my right achilles tendon ruptured and i crashed to the ground. >> yeah, alex trebeck sleeps in his birthday suit is something that none of us need to know. and that makes the story fantastic, and moving along, i wanted to move on to lady gaga on "so you think you can dance." >> speaking of disrobing. >> well, maybe not what you think, but she is one of the best guest judges on any show i can say. and cried and laughed better than "cats." take a look. >> i am so proud of you. there were so so many things that i did wrong when i was

younger, and so many things i wish i could give back and i felt every moment of that through your dance tonight. >> and the dance community, when you do a really good job, what you do is to throw your shoe at the stage. >> whoa, whoa, whoa! >> if i ever had lady gaga here at a minimum, she will cry and throw a show and that was fantastic and ratings went up last night, so it helped. and amy winehouse, and we have been talking about her last week, and it appears that via a source of the record label she left behind at least a dozen unfinished songs, and sometimes they are unreleased for some reason as we talked about with michael jackson, but it was in progress and it will be released and they still have to go to the studio to produce them. >> and she wrote all of her stuff. interesting, courtney. >> you got it. >> and for all of the best in

entertainment news logon to scoop.com or be a fan of the scoop@facebook.com. while i was away e-trade's techno-magic --

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all right. time now for the "newsnation" gut check. you are about to hear from a texas couple whose classic teen love story has turned into a 15-year-long legal nightmare because frank rodriguez now a husband and father of four young girls had to register as a sex offender as part of a plea deal to avoid jail after frank was charged with statutory rape for having sex with his underaged high school girlfriend then, nicki. he was a high school football player and she was a cheerleader. and after an argument, nicki's mom reported him, and then they were married. their story is chronicled in "marie claire" magazine. frank and nicki, thank you for joining me.

frank you were 19 and nicki was 15, and now 15 years later and did you think that you would still be living with this? >> no, at the time, going through the court system i had no idea that i was going to be on the registry for the rest of my life. they said seven years probation, and you get through that, and you know, it is aoff of your record. >> and still it is on your record and your name is on the sex offender registry, and you have young daughters and you cannot coach your young daughter's sports teams and day care and now parents who don't know you well enough are afraid to let their kids come play at your house, and as plarents of young daughters do you understand their concern and have sympathy for them around this issue? >> of course. i worry about my daughters and where they are going to stay. you know, it's something that, you know, everybody i'm sure lives with.

you know, i did my time. you know. >> he shouldn't be grouped with real sex offenders and child molesters and predators. >> you are right, because this is a severe list, and this is people listed with pedophiles and people listed with rapists, and nikki though as a mom, how have you tried to explain to your daughters and how much do they know about this? >> well, the older they get, they are starting to know more and more. how do i explain it? they know that their dad shouldn't be on the same list. they know it is a list where bad people are. they know that he shouldn't be there. they know that he is not a bad person. i don't know that they quite understand it fully. >> obviously, for a lot of people seeing this, you have started a family, and you are a loving couple and been together

the entire time, but frank you were placed on this sex offender registry and trying to appeal this and where does it stand right now and how successful right you be of trying to get off of the list in 15 years? >> recently we heard that they are going to change the law, and the age difference. and so, we fit that category. >> we are very optimistic. >> and how soon might you know? we are working with an attorney right now. he's going over to new bill that was just signed. and we are getting all of the paperwork together to file it after september 1st, and hopefully we will just get a court date and the judge will side with us, and justice will be served, and he will be finally free. >> and frank and nikki rodriguez, thank you for sharing your story today. >> okay. so what does your gut tell you about that, should frank rodriguez be removed from the

sex offender registry? go to msnbc.com to cast your vote. we asked if britain should have banned these two ads with julia robertson and christy turlington be making them look unattractive, and 58% of you said no, and 42% of you said, yes. so, don't go anywhere, because martin bashir is coming your way next. has ginkgo for memory and concentration, plus support for bone and breast health. a great addition to my routine. [ female announcer ] one a day women's. how'd you learn to do that? what'd you use? every project we finish comes with a story built-in. it's how our rough ideas become "you did that yourself?" so when we can save more on the projects that let us fix, make, and do more...

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