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tv   News Nation  MSNBC  April 20, 2012 11:00am-12:00pm PDT

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if your car's totaled, we give you the money for a car one model year newer. to learn more, visit us today. responsibility. what's your policy? hi, everyone. the "news nation" is following breaking news in the trayvon martin case. a judge has decided george dim can go free for now if he posts $150,000 bail. this after zimmerman made a surprise apology to trayvon martin's family when he took the stand in an effort to be released from jail as he awaits trial. >> i wanted to say i am sorry for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was. i thought he was a little bit younger than i am. and i did not know if he was armed or not. >> martin's family who were present in court have called the apology insincere and disingenuous. the prosecutor also peppered
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george zimmerman with questions about whether he apologized for the killing before today. >> i don't remember what i said. i believe i did say that. >> you told that to the police? >> in one of the statements, i said that i felt sorry for the family. >> you did. >> yes, sir. >> why did you wait 50 something days to tell them? that is, the parents. >> i don't understand the question. >> why did you wait so long to tell mr. martin and the victim's mother, father and mother, why did you wait so long to tell them? >> i was told not to communicate with them. >> nbc's kerry sanders was in the courtroom. he joins us from sanford, florida. we'll talk about the possible he will be released on bail but many people are wondering why the apology was a central part of this hearing. what was the relevance of that? >> reporter: i think it was primarily because of the cameras in the courtroom showing some contrition, i guess, might sway a judge to a little extent.
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that's not really what was going on in that courtroom. the judge was deciding whether george zimmerman for the next year, perhaps, should remain in a jail cell while this case is moving forward to trial or whether he should be allowed out. of course, his defense attorney wants him out and was successful in getting him released, although not immediately. getting him released so that he can better prepare for his defense. the reason he's not getting out immediately here is because they have to work out some logistics. specifically, he will have an ankle monitor on and that will provide a gps signal so that law enforcement not only the sheriff's department here in seminole county butç also the florida department of law enforcement can keep track of him. one of the things the defense has requested is for the ability for george zimmerman to leave the state. to leave florida. so they're making sure that this technology works properly and also, can't be hacked from somebody in the outside who perhaps wants to find out where george zimmerman is going to go into what will effectively be
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hiding. >> and kerry, shelley zimmerman, george zimmerman's wife testified by phone. what did she say? >> george zimmerman's fally testified by phone. not only his wife but his father and mother. the reason they did that is because they have not shown their faces. while their identities are known, they wanted to protect some of their privacy. so they were sworn in and testified by phone. the primary things they were about were number one, his risk of flight and whether, if he ran, would they know that they are obligated to call the authorities. all said yes. and they were talking about whether he had a propensity for violence or not. he has been arrested before with battery on a police officer, as well as a restraining order against him. his family tells a different story of what happened. a, that he did not know it was battery against a police officer when it happened. rather, it was somebody in civilian clothes and ultimately
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while he may have been charged, there was a lesser charge ultimately pled to and he went into a diversion program so he was not convicted of that felony. nonetheless, the prosecution made a strong case here that they felt, there should be no bond. if there go.1uz a bond, it should be at $1 million. the judge saw it otherwise and set $150,000 bond. >> okay. live for us in sanford. thank you. let me bring in kendall coffey, a former u.s. attorney for the state of florida along with joy-ann reid, managing editor of the grio.com. the bond s 150,000. does that sound right to you? >> i didn't think $150,000 is unreasonable. a bond is not supposed to measure the value of human life or even the dimensions of a crime. it is like a security deposit. what is the am to assure that george zimmerman will be there? frankly from what we heard about his dire financial circumstances, i don't think it
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will be easy to come up with $150,000. there is this myth out there that all the defendant or his family need to come one 10%. not so. to get a bond issued by a bail bondsman, you almost always have to fully collateralize $150,000. under the circumstances, i thought it was a reasonable number. >> another moment in court. robert zimmerman, that is george zimmerman's father, talked about injuries. before i show this photograph that was shown on another network, i want to play this moment in court where this picture that is now online that was now published was referenced. let me play what happened in court first. >> he had a protective cover over his nose. his lip was swollen and cut. and there were twoç vertical gashes on the back of his head. >> did you take any pictures of that. >> i did not take any pictures. >> have you seen any of them? >> yes, i have. >> who showed them to you? >> i saw one on the news today.
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>> so the picture he's referring to, we have it here. it is a graphic photograph showing blood. the top of george zimmerman's head. kendall, again, this is what is coming out now. you have people debating whether or not this looks like an injury that would be life threatening, which is what george zimmerman said to the police when he said it was self-defense. how does this play a role in what's happening now? >> well, it will be pretty clear at some point that george zimmerman overhyped his allegations in his self-defense claim. for now, what we would have to say is there are clearly some injuries. and the investigator, and i thought this was very significant, acknowledged to the defense lawyer that zimmerman's attorneys were consistent with somebody whose head was being banged against the concrete. the defense lawyer got him to say he could not tell who attacked who first. so even apart from the important victory of getting bond, the defense lawyer scored some points today. >> let me bring in joy-ann reid.
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it was late last night that i saw the attorney representing trayvon martin's family. talk about this offer. it came out of nowhere. that george zimmerman wanted to meet with them. >> right. and we've had, you have to remember that this wasn't the first time george zimmerman spoke. we heard him in court. >> he spoke one or two words when he was in the initial arraignment. >> exactly. he also spoke up for himself on his own website which wasç released a couple week ago. there was an opportunity if he wanted to express sorrow for the loss to trayvon martin's parent. when i spoke with ben crump, he made that point. why was there no apology on the website? why was there no expression of contrition when he left that voicemail? in all the other public pronouncements you've heard from his father and brother and from him, you've never heard this idea of contrition. so to them, it strikes them as self-serving. >> i heard the attorney say that trayvon martin's mother is a christian and there may come a time where she would meet with george zimmerman but this is not
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the time. >> absolutely. when you speak with sybrina fulton, she couches everything in her christian faith and she's tried to have her faith bolster her at this time. so ben crump said maybe in the future but right now they feel like what they want is justice for their son. >> as you know, far better than i could ever articulate, a lot of this is about strategy. what do you make of before this hearing today, there is word that george zimmerman wants to talk with, meet with trayvon martin's family. >> i thought all of that was frankly ill-advised. o'marra is doing a good job. the judge kept a very narrow leash on the prosecutor. didn't allow him to cross examine george zimmerman very much. unless this is something he ordered his lawyer to do, it wasn't the best idea so far for the defense. >> why isn't it the best idea? >> because you take a chance in the sense that you could expose your client to being askedç a t of different questions about,
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well, why are you saying that you thought he was a certain age? why are you apologizing now? are not you really apologizing because you killed a guy? and you knew you were killing him and you knew you were committing a crime. so it creates that kind of risk factor. tame, frankly, it came off as kind of lame. and i don't think it accomplished anything in the court of public opinion while creating some risk. didn't blow up today but creating some rick in a court of law. >> what was the reaction from trayvon martin's family? >> you saw the family left the courtroom very quickly after the hearing. so far i think there is disappointment. the parents did hope that he would remain in jail penning trial. i do think that throughout this process, they just wanted there to be a process. on the one hand, they're disappointed but they're glad the judicial process is going forward. >> from what we witnessed and heard today, is there anything that you believe hurts the prosecution moving ahead? i know a lot of attorneys were on twitter and sending out their
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opinions on this saying that at least from their perspective, what we heard today, and i'm not sure what they were referencing, points out to not second-degree murder but manslaughter. do you agree with any of this? >> well, in the sense that what we heard today, and i mentioned a moment ago, that gap where the investigators saying he doesn't know who attacked who first. that is a critical issue that they'll have to fix in some fashion. let's be clear. the prosecution made it plain, they were holding back. they did this to respect theç family of trayvon martin's wishes. that they oppose getting out on bail but they're holding their best evidence back. they know there will be a very big fight when trayvon martin's defense lawyers want a stand your ground hearing in the state of florida that allows to you try to get the whole case thrown out. so they are keeping their powder dry for the big fight. >> thank you both. greatly appreciate it. >> coming up next, new details in the prostitution scandal and it is shaking up the seek
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service. we've now lerns the identities who left the agency. plus, that's one of the supervisor behind sarah palin. the connection? we'll let you know. and developing news. in less than one hour, mitt romney will meet with a crucial group of republicans. state leaders from around the country. some of them still refusing to endorse the guy who seems to be their nominee. what is he going to say to win them over? join the conversation on twitter. ♪ [ acoustic guitar: slow ] [ sighs ] [ announcer ] all work and no play... will make brady miss his favorite part of the day. ♪ [ upbeat ] [ barking ] [ whines ] that's why there's beneful playful life, made with energy-packed wholesome grains... and real beef and egg. to help you put more play in your day. beneful. play. it's good for you. mine hurt more!
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we have new details in the prostitution case slamming the secret service. we now know the name of two of the supervisors in the process of leaving the agency. sources sell the nbc news they are greg stokes and chaif
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chaney. a lawyer representing them suggests both voluntarily left but not under good circumstances. we've learned that chaney posted a picture on facebook. that's him behind sarah palin. this was during the 2008 campaign. and the caption he put on facebook with this photograph, quote, i was reallyç checking r out. if you know what i mean. well, pale fired back. >> this agent who was kind of ridiculous there in posting pictures and comments about checking someone out. well, check this out, bodyguard, you're fired and i hope his wife kicks his -- and sends him to the dog house. >> nbc's mareporter has the sto. >> reporter: they have finished questioning maids and other workers and they're now trying to find the prostitutes allegedly hired by members of the president's security team. facebook pictures have now been published in news reports that say she is one of the women
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investigators are hoping to talk to will because there is no official confirmation of that, nbc news is blurring her face. though information is sparse, some cartagena locals are talking. the cab driver juan pena said he is pretty sure she is one of two women who were together in his car a week ago after he was call to the hotel to pick them up as they were being escorted out of the building. neighbors in the area where pena said he drop her off confirm, the woman in the photo does live there. he says the woman whose name we are not revealing told him she had had second for money at the hotel with a man who said he work on president obama's security detail. then argued with him over the price. she said she wanted $250. but the man only gave her $50 and shooed her out of the room. she said she pounded on the doo% and created a scene in the hallway attracting hole security and the police. a u.s. official has told nbc news, a scandal exploded after a
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prostitute who claim she was shared by two agents got in a heated dispute over how much she should be paid. representative peter king is regularly briefed on the investigation. >> right now, they're trying to locate the 11 women. they have the names, the faces, they have addresses. >> reporter: two sources with knowledge of the investigation have identified two of the agents who are separating from the agency in the wake of the scandal as 48-year-old david randall chaney and greg stoke, both high level managers based in washington. nbc news spoke with attorney lawrence berger who confirms he is representing both men. berger said he couldn't comment on why chaney was employing counsel but he said stokes will vigorously defend himself in the administrative process that is available. berger said he still considers both men to be part of the secret service and suggests they are leaving voluntarily but not under good circumstances. and he pointedly that, whoever is leaking the name from inside the secret service is probably
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breaking the law. u.s. officials say the investigation is being conducted by both the secret service and the mill are very thorough and they cannot predict when they will end. >> thank you. up next, how mitt romney stacks up against president obama in our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll. plus, what issues americans see as president obama's weaknesses. >> so i got this idea to create a ron paul video game. as far as i know, there$j nothing out there like it. >> nothing like it. that is one ron paul supporter. he has created a game he calls, libertarians can get excited about. it is something we thought you should know. first in today's money minute. here's a look at wall street this friday.
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in about an hour, mitt romney will face an audience, some of whom are still refusing to support him. they are gathered in scottsdale, arizona. he will be introduced by the 2008 nominee senator john mccain. meanwhile, with exactly 200 days left until election day, our new nbc news "wall street journal" poll shows president obama leading mitt romney by six points. 49-43. our poll also shows president obama is vulnerable on the economy with more voters believing romney would do a better job. romney beats the president by 6 points on that. 40-34. joining me now, deputy political editor. with that said, i've heard you and the other first read colleagues talk about how it is looking like 2004 or maybe '96. >> we went back and looked at job approval rating. it is difficult to say with a
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lead of six points or some others with as much as nine in favor of the president to down as far as two or five points in the gallup daily tracking poll. there's a wide range. what job approval can tell çus let's look back historically at where some of these other presidents have been. president obama right now mirrors what george w. bush. the exact same number, 50-46. and then bill clinton was slightly better in '96. when you look at 1992, it gave us some ability to see that h.w. bush was already in trouble. his approval rating was only 42 and was upside down with the disapproval rating was about 53. so you're talking about 200 days out, already big warning signs for him. that's the opposite for president obama. so it's looking of course like we've been saying all along, a very close election. and the economic number, very important. even though people feel like they relate to president obama, on the economy they feel like
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mitt romney has good ideas. and more people say that than president obama. so the economy, the number one issue, that's why this thing is close. >> let's talk about this meeting mitt romney has, an important audience member. for whatever reason, holding back and getting behind the guy when it is clear, he is the last man standing here. >> well, we also saw in our poll is that mitt romney's likability ratings, his fave on fave ratings actually improved. we looked inside the numbers, that meant that republicans, conservatives were starting to rally around mitt romney. he is still under water. he is still net negative. but they're starting to come around. that's something that you will see as a likely thing that there is some likely tightening.ç one thing to watch when we look at some of the other places, there are still people not fully on board themselves wish they could have somebody else. he will be the nominee.
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but look at what happens in states coming up. the states that vote on tuesday. other states, let's see how high of a margin mitt romney gets. is he at the 70% where others have been previously? how will that translate to enthusiasm for the fall? it is tough to draw any conclusions on what that means but it could give us some clues. >> i guess i'm trying to get more insight into this address and why these republican state chairmen, some of them don't like what they're hearing 200 days out. i get this conversation, we were at the exit poll when rick santorum was still standing strong. even at that point where newt gingrich. what we know now with clarity, and we can see and they can see, is that it looks like this is their guy. >> well, you know, it was just last week that rick santorum dropped out. >> it was only last week? okay. it seems longer. >> that's what i mean. in this age of twitter, every mild controversy that turns into
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a firestorm. you think that every minor thing happened yesterday or last month. but it was just last week. that's why i'm saying we'll have to watch and see what happens. rick santorum hasn't even endorsed mitt romney.ç >> thank you so much. we'll keep an eye on what mitt romney has to say. meanwhile work the years ago today, we first got word of what would become the biggest offshore oil spill. now scientists are finding sick fish. this he say it could be devastating to prize species. there is no doubt in my mind that we'll find her alive. >> we'll get the latest on the search for a missing ft. bragg soldier. why police called off the search of a pond today. i'm a marathon runner,
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disaster in the gulf. it was two years ago today that we first learned about what would become the biggest oil spill in this country's history. now there are still reports of fish near the bp oil site. pleas for help. authorities are asking for any leads in the case of a ft. bragg soldier who disappeared six days ago. and late night stop president obama is set to make. his debut appearance on late night with jimmy fallon. and they call it flower bombing. details on a new group of gorilla gardeners. they are breg gardens to no access to veggies and flowers. we begin with news with george zimmerman. a judge has set bail at $150,000. he won't leave jail today but he could be free in a matter of days. attorneys are trying to work out
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arrangement that's would allow him to leave the state of florida. i imagine you talk to a lot of people. what was the reaction after the judge madeç his decision? >> reporter: yeah, a lot of people not really surprised bond was set in this case. most observers thought that would be the case. i think the most shocking thing that happened in the courtroom today was george zimmerman actually reaching out to the parents of trayvon martin. talking to them from the stand, apologizing saying he was sorry for their loss but he did not know how old trayvon martin was. he did not know if he was armed. today after the hearing which was long and very contentious, his attorney mark o'mara talked about letting him speak. >> he had always wanted to acknowledge what happened that day in the death of trayvon martin. i was hoping that could be accomplished in more private ways and we weren't afforded
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that opportunity. >> okay. let's talk more about the details of his release which could come in the next few days. we've talk about the fact they are trying to decide whether he will be allowed to live out of state awaiting his trial. he must wear a gps ankle monitoring device. i'll have curfew between 7:00 at night and 6:00 in the morning. no contact with the mash family or any other witnesses in this case. he is not allowed to use firearms, alcohol or illegal drugs. again, his attorneys, his defense team saying they understand this will be a problem. they've mapped out four or five locations where he can live. but they are concerned about his safety. just as they were when he was in jail behind bars here. he was isolated inç protective custody them want to move him somewhere where no one long where he is. that he won't be out and about. he will be helping with the defense. it will be a long and difficult process. likely won't see a trial or even
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a stand your ground motion until sometime next year. >> we get the indication the prosecution was on board with george zimmerman going to one of those two or three places that his attorneys would like to see him as he awaits this trial? >> reporter: it looks like now that we know there will be a bond in this case, that they will agree to him going wherever they feel like he can be most safe. they even said during a hearing that they understand, that is a problem and something that must be dealt with. remember, there is a third player in all this. that is the sheriff's department here. they have to be able to monitor george zimmerman. know where he is and he must contact them every three days. so they have to work out the logistics of what may happen. >> jay gray live for us in sanford. exactly two years ago, bp's oil rig exploded in the gulf of mexico killing 11 workers and triggering the worst oil disaster in our history. the government estimates 206 million gallons of oil leaked
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before that well was finally capped. almost three months after the explosion, july 15, 2010. gulf coast beaches and most wetlands contaminated by oil are now clean and waters are reopen for fishing. but sick fish and dolphins are still being found and scientists are saying there are more effects which could take decades for us to even see. marine biologit steve from the university of south florida where he works on oil spill studies. >> thank you. >> let's start with your understanding of where things stand now. the report of sick fish and dolphins. i even saw a video of a husband and wife pulling sand with oil still in it at one location. >> there certainly is oil in the gulf that remains from deep water horizon. up in some of the bays in louisiana and particularly the marshes. there remains oil and it is difficult to get out of the marsh. there is also deep oil that's stranded 1,000 feet deep in the
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sediments there. and a number of my colleagues at the university of south florida and elsewhere are monitoring that oil as well. >> do you think, you have the expertise. you're the scientist. do you believe most people grasp when we hear the effects of this disaster could be felt for decades? >> well, i think so. when we look at "exxon valdez," it took a few years for us to understand the breadth of that disaster and what it meant for a number of the wildlife populations. we're seeing the same scenario play out with deep water horizon. the dolphin work that has been done and published by noah and the work that we're working on in fish diseases is consistent with what we know the health effects are will. >> some of the fish you're referring to are black streaks, gashes. the waters are open for fishing. you see some of the fantasticç ads going down to the gulf vacationing and enjoying the
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good things that are in place there. and it is not a seek, the darkness that is still there. >> well, i want to be clear that all the seafood testing that is going on indicates this is not a public health issue. this is a fish health issue. we cannot say for certain yet that the different sores that we see on fish are directly related to bp. what we're trying to do is eliminate alternative hypothesis. that is why with the wildlife institute, we at usf undertook a survey from the florida keys to louisiana to compare the relatively pristine florida area with this area up along the louisiana area as well. to see if the rates were higher, which they were. ? you're right to point out that the seafood tested safety, i've enjoyed plenty of it since the spill itself.
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as we move forward, what surwhy great concern for this region and the long term effects that we wait to see if they manifest and hope they don't. >> honestly, my greatest concern is when we got information about the content of the bile from the gallbladders of some of these fish, and it indicated that there was an active oil source there. it is perhaps even more problem aikt that it may not be bp's or some other source we don't know about. this is an active area with hundreds orç thousands of oil infrastructure rigs, et cetera. and there is chronic low level pollution. so there is something going on in the environment. >> thank you so much for joining us. i greatly appreciate your insight and your knowledge. as we talk more about this, moving ahead, thank you. new details in the search for a boy who vanished 30 years ago. investigators are right now tearing up the concrete floor at a basement in downtown new york city for clues in the 1979
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disappearance of this boy. he was one of the country's first missing children featured on the side of a milk carton. the building was once used as a workspace for the new suspect in the case. investigators are paying special attention to areas of the basement where a cadaver dog pick up a skrenl of human remains. his family still lives in that neighborhood. maryland is on its way to become the first state to ban employers from demanding workers hand over social media passwords. state lawmakers passed this. last year an employee complained about providing his facebook log-in information before a recertification interview. and messages written by dick clark's fans will be part of the confetti that is showered on times square next new years even. people can share the memories of clark on small pieces of confetti at the times square visitors center. the messages will be displayed
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at the wishing wall until new years eve. police in north carolina have stopped searching a pond near fayetteville for m}r'g ft. brag soldier kelly bordeaux. the two-day search did not produce a single new lead. and investigators are desperately calling on the public for help at this point. she was last seen leaving a local bar earlier saturday morning with a registered sex offender. police have questioned that man twice but insist he is not a person of interest. her family remains hopeful she'll be brought back safely. >> to wake up every day and this is my reality is just, i'm searching through the woods for my sister. you're hoping that she is only kidnapped and held hostage or something like that. it is really mind-boggling. nbc's mike viqueira joins me. they searched this pond two days, no new leads. where are police now?
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>> they have run into a wall her here. they had the inflatable boats, the electronic surveillance equipment to look under the water. didn't turn up any clues. they're back to square one. that's one reason you saw matt henson there, the brother of kelly bored kelly bordeaux. the family was reluctant to go public with this. they don't like to speak in front of the media but they thought now with theç investigation sort of hitting a wall, they needed to keep this story alive themselves needed to keep people's attention focused on finding their sister. their wife, their daughter. kelly bordeaux. she was at that local bar about a week ago into saturday. it was karaoke night.
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she was there. we understand that she had a few drinks. she was seen with this individual who was a registered sex offender. apparently he lived in a tent on a right-of-way in the woods behind this bar. he apparently according to his own account, one media report gave her a ride home. he may have been the last person to see her alive. since then the cops have fanned out. military officials, volunteers, she was an army soldier. she had been in the army about one year at ft. bragg. a health specialist. they fanned out across the woods. they've been passing out flyers as the family, mike bordeaux, kelly's husband who was in the orlando area where they met, married two years ago. over the week, was not here. he was also passing out flyers today. a dozen members of the bordeaux family have gathered. they refuse to go negative. they are doing everything they can to pass out flyers. keep this in the public
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consciousness here in the fayetteville area. coming up, they call themselves guerrilla gardeners. they are planting flowers and vegetables in neighborhoods without fresh çfoods. one of the activists will explain how to seed bomb. something we can all do. first there is a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. condoleezza rice said she does not want to be mitt romney's running mate. the cnn poll today, she led the contender field. ahead of florida's marco rubio and chris christie. the form he secretary of state told the crowd at arkansas's harding university, thank you for that enthusiastic response but no. >> so i got this idea to create the ron paul video game. there's a game about ron, it has to be awesome. >> that's daniel williams. a 27-year-old computer programmer from texas. and you heard him say it.
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he is developing a video game featuring libertarian candidate ron paul. it is called road to revolution. in the game you'll be able to play the role of the texas congressman and make their way through 50 levels to collect gold and delegates. williams hoped to release that game in the summer. and this tuesday, president obama will be a guest on late night with jimmy fallon. it will mark the president's debut appearance on that show. musical guest if you're wondering, dave matthews. those are the things we thought you should know. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe?
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can help shore up his hispanic support.ç no shortage of material for our top lines week in review. right, mr. nugent? now back to tamron. we're following breaking news in the secret service sex scandal. kristen welker has the news. >> reporter: a source close to the investigation tells me that we can expect the secret service to announce that it is getting rid of more people this afternoon early evening. anywhere from three to five people are possibly, as you know earlier this week they announce that had three people are on their way out. two supervisors, one nonsupervisor. we are expecting the secret service to announce they are getting rid of more people. the source says they want to get ahead of this curve. they want this to happen before the weekend themselves want this investigation to move along swiftly so they dope have to come in next week and have
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people essentially say why isn't this moving more quickly? we are expecting more people to be leaving. or the announcement of more people later this afternoon, early evening. >> with some new breaking news in the secret service scandal. thank you. did you know, it's green is universal week right here on msnbc. have you ever heard of guerrilla gardening? groups of people. they target a abandoned or overgrown lots, planting flowers or food to beautify and improve public spaces. now that the weather is getting warmer, you may see them in your neighborhood. joining me live, a guerrilla gardener who teaches how to seed bomb. thank you for joining us. before you give usç a seed bom lesson, tell me how you got involved with being a guerrilla gardener. >> it happened when i graduated college. i was young and broke and realized how hard it was to come across good food cheap in the city. i started thinking creatively.
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>> and creative i included i guess, gardening on your own. >> there is a huge amount of unused space in almost every city. and one of the great ways that we can do something with that is reimagining it as a place to produce food for, you know, inner cities. >> so tell me a little about the plan. how you focus and go in on the attack. you see an abandoned lot or you see blight somewhere. then what happens after that? >> normally you round up your friends. if it needs a good weeding or a place that could use some, to pick up some of the garbage, you should definitely do that first. and depending on whether there is a fence around it or it is an open parking spot. parking strip. you can go ahead and start planting there. i would suggest not trespassing. >> that's good. i was going to ask you if it is illegal. d.c. police, for instance, say it is technically against the law.
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it is unlawful entry. but it is tough to get mad at someone who is putting something healthy or beautiful. but now i need to find out how we flower bomb. i have asked the entire "news nation" team to join me in flower bombing but i have to know how to do it first. >> it is really easy. you need some red clay and some compost, some seeds and some water. i would strongly suggest that you take a look at what sort of native plants are in your area and only use indigenous plants. you don't want to add to invasive species in the area. >> so do our homework. and then we go out and do it. do we need, this is done in the dark of the night? do we just do it any time? >> it depends on how sneaky you want to be about it. sometimes it is great to surprise your neighbors several weeks later with wild flowers. >> and i've heard that i weapon on a site. this is not just in the u.s. i actually saw a site based out of london.
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it is global where people go in and put in flowers. the next time some of the neighbors really notice, there are beautiful flowers or maybe vegetation where it had not been. >> yeah. that's one of the beauties of repurposing public space. that's pretty much what i do with the free school project that i work on in d.c. call knowledge commons. we're all about repurposing public space. >> i think it is a fantastic idea and we'll try to get in on some flower seed bombing when we have time. thank you so much. congratulations to you and everybody who participates. coming up next on "news nation," it is our gut check. our top story this hour. a judge granted george zimmerman bail. and you can join the "news nation" on our facebook page. c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer.
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of course you can join the "news nation" on our twitter
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page. it issate news nation. we'll beç previewing something for our viewers. and time for the gut check. george zimmerman could be free in a matter of days while he awaits trial for the death of trayvon martin. earlier today the judge ruled zimmerman could go free on $150,000 bail as long as he wears an electronic monitoring device and checks in with authority every three days. zimmerman's attorneys say it will take a few days to make living arrangements because of the threats made against him and his family. what does your gut tell you? do you agree with the $150,000 set for george zimmerman? and take a look at what the "news nation" is saying about yesterday's gut check. a group of parents are suing apple after their children ran up huge fees on their iphones. they said it compels children to
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make pitches because the games are so addictive. but apple says parents can easily adjust their phones and set blocks to keep those kids from making the purchases. should apple be blamed for what these parentser are to as highly addictive apps? 10% of you said yes. 90% of you said no. and i can't tell you how many tweets i got from our viewers just blasting these parents. so we know where you stand. tough love. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall on this 4/20. thank you for joining us. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank.
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