weeks. more than 500,000 syrians have fled to jordan since the start of the civil war more than two years ago. president obama has yet to publicly comment on this new evidence of chemical weapons use, but referred to them as a game changer just months ago. >> that a red line for us is, we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized. that would change my calculus. that would change my equation. >> even as members of the president's inner circle urged caution, members of congress are declaring that so-called red line is trampled. >> i think it's pretty obvious that red line has been crossed. >> the sooner assad leaves, the better for the world. >> all right. so let's dig in right now. joining me at the top of this hour, nbc news white house correspondent, kristen welker. nbc news foreign correspondent, ayman mohyeldin, and connecticut senator, richard blumenthal. senator, i'll ask you to stand by for one second while we check

in with kristen and ayman. kristen, let's begin with the political calculations that go into what the white house is looking for, especially when the administration is receiving pressure from the rights about what it would mean if syria has, indeed, used chemical weapons on its open people. >> reporter: well, thomas, right now the administration essentially trying to buy some time, because there aren't any good options when it comes to syria. putting troops on the ground could cost thousands of american lives, arming the rebels is difficult, because it's not quite clear who the opposition forces are. a no-fly zone, also tricky. so the united states really trying to carve out some more time, but also making the point that they want to be 100% certain of this latest intelligence, which suggests that syria has used chemical weapons. they say there are still questions about the origin of those chemical weapons, and they point not faulty intelligence over weapons of mass destruction, for one of the reasons why they want to be absolutely certain, before changing their equation in syria. now, president obama, as you

mentioned, thomas, will be meeting with jordan's king abdullah today. one of the united states' key arab allies. and of course, jordan is not only a neighbor to syria, but as you pointed out, has 500,000 syrian refugees at this point in time. that number is expected to double by the end of the year. so that as many as a fifth of the jordanian population could be from syria. so, jordan certainly has a stake in this, and the president coming under an immense amount of pressure to make a decision in terms of how to proceed. thomas? >> well, we know that the vice president has already met with king abdullah to talk about a transition to a peaceful democratic post-assad syria. ayman, you've been on the ground in syria, and as kristen is pointing out, as we talk about the evidence and what it means, there are comparisons to the use of sarin, to the use of wmds in iraq more than a decade ago. are the ghosts of iraq really looming and looming largely over the white house as it considers what the options are for

increased involvement? >> well, there's no doubt that the ghosts of the iraq war are certainly lingering in the calculation of a u.s. administration. more importantly, there's a big difference, though, in the syria conflict than the iraq war. and that, particularly, refers to the preemptive nature of the iraq war. back then, the bush administration was arguing it had to take these measures. preemptively, so it kind of cocked it up in the eyes of many what it called weapons of mass destruction. this time it's different. you have a civilian death toll close to 80,000, you know, close to a million people displaced into neighboring countries. and now there is overwhelming evidence, not only from the united states, but some of its closest allyallies, including france, the united kingdom, and israel that suggest that chemical weapons have been used. but in addition to that, it's not about the argument to go into syria, but more importantly, once it goes into syria, the legacy of the iraq war lingers across the region. and i think people are very concerned what another u.s. military intervention in an arab country would look like. and more importantly, what the

scope of that military footprint would be. and certainly, that's not something that people across the region would want to see again. >> nbc's ayman mohyeldin and kristen welker, thanks so much to both of you. i want to bring in now connecticut senator richard blumenthal, a member of the armed services committee. so senator, you're hearing what we've been reporting for the this morning. again, the fact that the king of jordan has met with the vice president, will be meeting later today at 1:55 with the president. however, we know from the meeting with the vice president, the discussion was about a peaceful transition to get rid of assad. so do you agree with senators mccain and graham, who have said, definitely, that the red line has been crossed? america needs to do something and bashar al assad needs to go? >> there has definitely been very powerful, if not conclusive evidence, that has to be verified, that that red laine hs been crossed. if so, there should be, certainly, a consideration of enforcement of the no-fly zone through some kind of multilateral or international

operation and also, more aid for the opposition groups, carefully vetted in terms of what's provided and how it's used and who's receiving it. but, also, i think beyond that question, there needs to be more humanitarian aid to jordan and turkey for those refugees that are flooding out of syria, into those countries, and actually having a very destabilizing effect. i visited one of those camps in northern jordan when i visited with the king, actually, just a couple of months ago, and clearly, there needs to be more humanitarian aid, but now i think we're reaching the point where lethal military assistance, not boots on the ground, not anything peremptory in terms of failing to investigate, but after investigation, some additional measures. >> well, sir, obviously, the syrian refugee issue for neighboring countries is the human toll that is evidenced by the situation happening internally in that country. as we look at the new "washington post"/abc news poll from december, or the poll from

december, it showed this big shift in support for increased involvement, if chemical weapons were used. and now we have the information of what we're getting from the secretary of defense now about the harder evidence toward that. did the administration release this evidence of chemical weapons too early? the fact that they are not affirmative, that they know for certain, should they have waited to have had more concrete proof? >> they are building a case, as they must, involving not just the evidence that they have, but also the extent and the amount of chemical weaponry possible used, and whether it was authorized by the government of syria. and remember, thomas, that as the syrian government and its military degrades in terms of operational control, its troops on the ground, the syrian army, will begin grasping at these kinds of chemical weapons, anything at their disposal, simply to survive. and the degrading of the control

and command structure in syria is very, very troubling. so i think the administration is responsibly and deliberately building its case and also sp k seeking more evidence, more conclusive proof that chemical weapons have been used in an authorized way. and that should be a red laine, no question, that the use of chemical warfare is a line that seems to have been crossed and should prompt much more vigorous and aggressive action. >> connecticut senator richard blumenthal, thank you, sir, for your time this morning. i appreciate it. >> thank you. so we are following several new developments in the boston bombings case. surviving suspect, dzhokhar tsarnaev was moved overnight from boston to a facility at the decommissioned ft. devons about 40 miles away. the man who was allegedly carjacked by the suspects, identified on as danny, told "the boston globe" that tamerlan said, "we both have guns," and "don't be stupid."

and then when danny's cell phone rang, tamerlan said, "if you say a single word in chinese, i will kill you right now." joining me now is buck sexton from the blaze. he's a former cia officer, who is also an analyst for the nypd intelligence division. mayor bloomberg says he found on wednesday that dzhokhar and his brother had thought about heading to new york to blow up their remaining bombs in times square. peter king wrote this op-ed that came out today asking, what if tsarnaev and his slain brother were part of a broader conspiracy. what if accomplices waited to strike manhattan in their absence. the nypd was denied key intelligence. it's indefensible. so is this an overreach of monday morning quarterbacking or do you think this criticism is justified? >> there are two places, i've

seen this at a federal level and a local level. two places that not sharing intelligence comes from. there are two reasons, usually, for this. one has to do with classification. when you're talking about the feds, the fbi. they have levels of security clearance that are not necessarily and generally not shared at the local level. and that's very sensitive stuff. it could be actionable intelligence information that if that were to get shared, it could pose a public danger and derail their investigation. the other side are the turf battle issues. the we don't want to share it because it's our investigation, or we don't want to share it because we have privacy here. and that, of course, is what we try to get rid of. that's what the 9/11 commissions were trying to do. it's tough to tale right here which of those is a more accurate description. but both of those are always in play at some level. >> you know, there were more concerns about who was warned about tamerlan. those concerns are growing based on these reports that russia sent one warning to the fbi and others say that the fbi was

warned several times. the cia also being warned by russia, asking to investigate tamerlan and senator lindsey graham said the case is becoming a study in a system failure. is that accurate? or is that, again, they're overplaying the fact that there was a disconnect? >> well, of course, it's a failure in the sense that a massive attack was able to be perpetrated. but to look at it from the perspective of, was it preventable, and i guess that's what senator graham is trying to get at here, i'm not so sure. i wouldn't be as hard on law enforcement as he tends to be right now, based upon the information we have. the fbi opened an investigation, and while it's concerning that this individual traveled to a region known to be, quite honestly, a launch pad for jihad around the world, but also, of course, in chechnya, that does not necessitate the opening of a full-field investigation in and of itself. and there's only so many things that they can do based on the information that they had. and i know this sounds sort of like a hackney law enforcement thing, but you're not looking for a needle in a haystack,

you're looking for a needle in a stack of needles. there's all kinds of information coming in about informations who have traveled abroad to places of concern. they can't surveil everybody, and quite honestly, it would be illegal for them to surveil everybody. i'm not sure they tripped up all the things or rather, all the warning signs went off that would have caused them to do that here. >> but there are these concerns, buck, the questions about the interrogation of dzhokhar, the survivie inine ining suspect, t interrogation was stopped too soon. a judge read dzhokhar his rights before they were done questioning and this is the question he raises o you have that. >> that's really dangerous and concerning, especially when the fbi will tell you, we weren't quite finished with him. we didn't really believe that we had all that we could get out of him. >> do you agree with that? are they going to be able to get anymore useful information out of him? this isn't a needle in a haystack, as you said, this is looking to find a needle in a pile of needles and what it could lead to. >> i've thought all along, quite honestly, that the likelihood of this individual, for example,

engaging in a guilty plea and part of that being full-fledged cooperation, this could be a death penalty case. so how would you avoid the death penalty if you are dzhokhar tsarnaev? that would be to give information and to talk about how you engaged in this plot and who helped you abroad. it seems it's likely there was radicalization of the older brother. i think there's enough evidence to say that that is what we probably think happened. the question is just, was therein outside direction to the plot? was there facilitation and support from outside the united states? we'll find that out, i believe, in the weeks ahead. but as to the miranda work, the fact of the matter is, you can't let this thing go on for too long. it's already in a legal gray area, and if you hold somebody and don't read them miranda, the fact of the matter is, that could cause problems in the civilian trial to come, which everyone debragrees he is going get. so to hold him as a combatant and not put him in a military tribunal, to hold him as a combatant and put him in a civilian trial, you could cause

problem. >> former cia officer, buck sexton. buck, thanks for your time today, i appreciate it. >> thanks for having me. i want to to pass along a quick programming note to you. "caught on camera: terror in boston" will premiere tonight at 10:00 p.m. eastern. it's a comprehensive look at the bombing until the suspect's arrest, on here on msnbc. and there is more developing news we're following for you today. the house of representatives expected to vote on a bill that would put an end to the faa furloughs, which are causing delays, as you've probably seen, if you're traveling, around airports in the country. congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz will join me next. and president obama will become the first sitting president to address planned parenthood. he's expected at the organization's gala in just a few minutes. we'll take you back there when the president arrives. [ male announcer ] it's simple physics...

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thank you! all right. everybody, have a seat. have a seat. you're making me blush. well, i love you back. thank you.

cecile, thank you for the warm introduction and thank you for the outstanding leadership that you've shown over the years. you just do a great, great job. i want to thank all of you for the remarkable work that you're doing, day in, day out in providing quality health care to women all across america. you are somebody that women, young women, old women, women in between, count on for so many important services and we are truly grateful to you. i'm sorry i could not be at the part yesterday. i understand it was a little wild. that's what i heard. but, as all of you know, obviously, we've gone through a pretty tough week and a half. and i was down in texas, letting

the people of west texas know that we all love them and care about them in their time of grieving. but, obviously, this is a special national conference, because it's been nearly a hundred years since the first health clinic, of what later would become planned parenthood, opened its doors to women if broo in brooklyn. and nearly a century later now, one core principle has guided everything that y'all do. that women should be allowed to make their own decisions about their own health. it's a simple principle. so what i see in this audience, extraordinary doctors and nurses and advocates and staff, who work tirelessly to keep doors at health centers all across the

country going, then i'm reminded of those very early efforts and all the strives that we've made in subsequent decades. and i also think about the millions of mothers and daughters and wives and sisters, friends and neighbors who walk through those doors every year. someone there's a woman who just received a new lease on life because of a screening that you provided that helped catch her cancer in time. somewhere there's a woman who's breathing easier today because of the support and counseling that she got at her local planned parenthood health clinic. somewhere there's a young woman starting a career who, because of you, is able to decide for herself when she wants to start a family. one in five women in this

country has turned to planned parenthood for health care, one in five! and for many, planned parenthood is their primary source of health care. not just for contraceptive care, but for life-saving preventative care like cancer screening. so when politicians try to turn planned parenthood into a punching bag, they're not just talking about you, but they're talking about the millions of women who they serve. and when they talk about cutting off your funding, let's be clear, they're talking about telling many of those women, you're on your own. they're talking about shutting those women out at a time when they may need it most. shutting off communities that may need more health care options for women, not less. so the fact is, after decades of

progress, there are still those who want to turn back the clock, to policies more suited to the 1950s than the 21st century. and they've been involved in an orchestrated and historic effort to roll back basic rights when it comes to women's health. 42 states have introduced laws that would ban or severely limit access to a woman's right to choose. laws that would make it harder for women to get the contraceptive care that they need. laws that would cut off access to cancer screenings and end educational programs that help prevent teen pregnancy. in north dakota, they just passed a law that outlaws your right to choose starting as early as six weeks, even if a woman's raped. a woman may not even know that she's pregnant at six weeks. in mississippi, a ballot initiative that was put forward that could not only have outlawed your right to choose,

but could have had all sorts of far-reaching consequences like cutting off fertility treatments, making certain forms of contraception a crime. that's absurd. it's wrong. it's an assault on women's rights,s and that's why when the people of mississippi were given a chance to vote on that initiative, they turned it down. and mississippi is a conservative state. mississippi is a conservative state, but they wanted to make clear, there's nothing conservative about the government injecting themselves into decisions best made between a woman and her doctor. and folks are trying to do this all across the country. when you read about some of these laws, you want to check the calendar and make sure you're still living in 2013.

40 years after the supreme court affirmed a woman's right to choose, we shouldn't have to remind people that when it comes to a woman's health, no politician should get to decide what's best for you. no one sure should get to decide what kind of care that you get. the only person who should get to make decisions about your health is you. that's why we fought so hard to make health care reform a reality. that principle is at the heart of the affordable care act. because of the aca, most insurance plans are now covering the cost of contraceptive care, so that a working mom doesn't have to put off the care that she needs so she can pay her bills on time. because of the affordable care act, 47 million women have new access to preventative care like mammograms and cancer screenings

with no co-pay, no deductible, no out-of-pocket costs, so they don't have to put off a mammogram just because money's tight. because of the affordable care act, young people under the age of 26 can now stay on their parents' health care plan and insurance companies will soon no longer be able to deny you coverage based on pre-existing conditions like breast cancer or charge you more just because you are a woman. those days are ending. now, i know how hard you've worked to help us pass health care reform. you and your supporters got out there, you organized, you mobilized, you made your voices heard. you made all the difference. but here's the thing. if americans don't know how to access the new benefits and protections, that they're going

to receive as we implement this law, then health care reform won't make much of a difference in their lives. so i'm here to also ask for your help, because we need to get the word out. we need you to tell your patients, your friends, your neighbors, your family members what the health care law means for them. make sure they know that if they don't have health insurance, they'll be able to sign up for quality, affordable health insurance, starting this fall in an online market place where private insurers will compete for their business. make sure that they know that there are plans out there right now that cover the cost of contraception and preventative care free of charge. we've got to spread the word, particularly among women, particularly among young women, who are the ones who are most likely to benefit from these

laws. we need all the women who come through your doors telling their children, their husbands, and their folks in their neighborhoods about their health care options. we need all college students who come through your doors to call up their friends and post on facebook, talking about the protections and benefits that are kicking in. and you are all in a unique position to deliver that message. because the women you serve know you and they trust you. and the reason for that is because you haven't let them down before. i know it's not always easy. cecile describes planned parenthood as the only organization she's ever been at where opponents, in her words, literally get up every day to try to figure out how to keep us from doing our work. now, if she'd worked in the administration, she'd, um, she'd be more familiar with this phenomenon, but --

but when it comes to your patients wi patients, you never let them down! no matter what. and that's because you never forget who this is all about. this is about a woman from chicago named courtney who has a disease that can leave women infertile. so in college she turned to planned parenthood to access for affordable contraceptive plan to keep her healthy. you didn't just help her plan for a family, you made sure she could start one, and today she's got two beautiful kids. that's what planned parenthood is about. it's about a woman in washington state named joyce who for years could only afford health care at her local planned parenthood clinic, and heeding her advice,

she never missed her annual exam. during one of them, your doctors helped catch an aggressive form of cervical cancer early enough to save her life. today she's been cancer free for 25 years. so every day, in every state, in every center that planned parenthood operates, there are stories like those. lives you've saved, women that you've empowered, families that you've strengthened. that's why no matter how great the challenge, how fierce the opposition, there's one thing the past few years have shown, it's that planned parenthood is not going anywhere. it's not going anywhere today, it's not going anywhere tomorrow. as long as we've got a fight to make sure women have access to affordable, quality health care, and as long as we've got to fight to protect a woman's right to make her own choices about her own health, i want you to

know that you've also got a president who's going to be right there, fighting every step of the way. thank you, planned parenthood. god bless you. god bless america. >> that was president obama wrapping up his speech to the planned parenthood gala, taking place here in washington, d.c., delivering that keynote to roughly about a thousand supporters. this is a first for a sitting president. the president has addressed this group in the past, but that was before he was elected to the white house. if you saw it from the very beginning, the president came out to a rousing group of applause and he told the people in the audience that they were making him blush when someone yelled out, "i love you," he yelled back, "i love you back." joining me right now is congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz. she's a democrat from florida, also the chair of the democratic national committee. congresswoman, great to have you with me. as you have -- were able, i hope to hear, the entire speech from the president there, what struck you the most about why he was there and, basically, not just the physicality of the president appearing before planned parenthood, but the statements that he made, especially in

reference to what's going on in north dakota? >> well, i think it's a significant occasion when the president of the united states has made the first appearance before planned parenthood, of any president. and it's a strong signal that this administration consistently has supported women's access to make her own health care decisions. as president obama said, right at the top of his speech. and how critically important it is that we be able to maintain that right. that was a huge bone of contention during the campaign. you know, the republicans concluded during their autopsy, after the campaign, that their principles were sound. well, millions of american women disagreed, and that's why they voted for president obama in overwhelming numbers. >> so in the past six weeks, as the president was pointing out, there are five states that have adopted some of the more strict laws and restrictions in the country right now when it comes to a woman's right to choice,

what she's doing, reproducti reproductively. how is there not an assault, when we think about that, how is there not an assault on a woman's right to choose right now? when we see the fact that instead of concentrating on jobs or the economy, that lawmakers are still hung up on the fact that they want to regulate what a woman has a right to do with their own body? >> you're exactly right, thomas. there is an assault on a woman's right to make their own health care decisions. and you know, i think we have to focus not just on the fact that reproductive choices are important, when it comes to planned parenthood and women's health care, but as a breast cancer survivor, that statistic that president obama mentioned, one in five women in america have gotten health care from a planned parenthood clinic, you know, there are thousands and thousands of women who have gotten cancer screenings and made sure that they could get their well woman care at those clinics and republicans still are trying to defund planned

parenthood, eliminate title 10 funding, which funds public access to cancer screenings and hiv and aids screenings, they're still trying to restrict all over the country, and in congress, a woman's right to make her own reproductive choices, and, you know, the gap between the extremist republican view and democrats and deny independents and moderates across this country is so wide, when it comes to the issues important to women. obama care in particular, as we fully implemented, we need to make sure that we can continue to give women access to preventative health care, look cancer screenings, without a copay or a deductible, access to birth control for free, so that a woman can decide at what point in her life, or whether she w t wants to actually have a family. >> congresswoman, you talk about extremist opinions on the right, though. i need to ask you while i have you here, and get you about this blog post that rnc chair reince priebus wrote, a couple of weeks

ago, where he accused planned parenthood of supporting infanticide, and even questioned if specific democratic lawmakers also supported infanticide, how do you respond to that? >> well, this is how dramatically out of touch the chairman of the rnc and the entire republican party are with women. women in this country simply want to be able to make sure the government can't tell us how and when to make our own health care decisions. we want to control decisions related to our own bodies and what the republicans did two weeks ago, at their meeting, was that they reaffirmed their opposition to a woman's right to make her own health care decisions and they doubled down with statements like that. but, you know, that i have just gotten done performing an autopsy and, essentially, the women voters in this country made it very clear on election day that the republican party is dead to them. >> congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz, we'll let you get back to work. thanks for taking time out for me. let's say hello to sandra fluke,

congratulations on a recent georgetown graduate. i hope you also had an opportunity to hear the president's speech there, a first for a sitting president to address planned parenthood. what do you make of so many other women's health advocates address the fact that president obama's re-election campaign, he got re-elected, basically, because of his role talking to women, and reminding women why it was an important mission to have him in the white house, when so many states across the country, as we've seen, with the -- five in the past six weeks, cutting back and restricting a woman's right to choose. >> well, you know, president obama wasn't the only person who got elected this past election based on standing up for women's reproductive health and women's health generally. i think we sent a strong message during this election that it's not only the right thing to do, but it's smart electoral politics to stand with women on these types of concern s wis cou

stand against them at your peril. unfortunately, some of our elected officials need to be reminded of that message repeatedly. so it's important that we all understand that the election of 2012 didn't end these issues for women's health. we have to continue to be informed skpen gauged and speaking up against these types of assaults. >> meanwhile, when you talk about speaking up, nearly half of reproductive health measures introduced in the first three months of this year seek to restrict reproductive rights access for women around the country. if women are using their voices to speak up, why do we see the trend gaining traction in state legislatures then? >> well, unfortunately, we have some legislatures that aren't very responsive to the concerns of women. and that just means we have to keep pushing the forward. but i'm also really focused on making sure that women understand what the president was talking about the affordable

care acts implementation, because that's our good news right now. and that's making sure that they know that they have afford able access to contraception, no co-pays for annual exams for breast cancer and domestic violence screenings. we've been fighting for the affordable care act for years to deliver this health care, and it's important that people know that they can go and access it now. >> sandra fluke, it's great to see you, sandra. again, congratulations on graduation. that's a mighty milestone for you. >> thank you. i'm all sworn into the bar in california, that's the 2012 election victory for me. >> congratulations. much success to you in the future. i appreciate your time. so moments ago as we all witnessed, president obama gave this rousing speech before members and supporters of planned parenthood at their annual gala in washington, d.c. joining me right now is congresswoman jackie spear. she was, hopefully, also listening to what the president had to say. and congresswoman, it's nice to have you with me. i want to remind everybody what one of your former republican colleagues, todd akin, had said about the comments, "legitimate rape," that led to his political

demise during this past election. take a look. >> would you take those six seconds back, if you could? >> oh, of course i would. i've relived them too many times. but that's not -- that's not reality. all of us are fallible. you know, we make mistakes, say things the wrong way. >> so is todd akin, obviously, there, very concentrated and pensive in the fact that he recognizes that his words might have cost him the election. is what he said and how he acted a true cautionary tale for other conservative legislators, and when they take on a woman's right to choose? >> absolutely, thomas. if you remember, two years ago, the very first bill that the republicans put on the house floor, hr-1, was to defund planned parenthood. and that erupted, i think, with great consternation among women across this country. why is it that the number one issue, when we were concerned about jobs and a failing economy, that the republicans

were dead set against doing anything but focusing on a woman's uterus? and i think they learned a very, very important lesson that you can't somehow minimize rape, you can't somehow minimize a woman's access to health care. and the disproportional health care costs associated with women and reproductive health, and that'ses what the what the aca about. why should a 40-year-old woman who's a nonsmoker pay more for health care than a 40-year-old who does smoke? and it has much to do with the cost of reproductive health, which is part of one of the great values we have in this country about making sure that men and women, families can p procreate and we can move forward in a healthy society in which that kind of health care is provided. >> congresswoman, while you have you here, i want to pivot to a different topic. because as we speak right now, there's activity move right now

on the senate-passed faa furlough fixed. and minutes ago, steny hoyer gave a pretty impassioned talk from the floor. take a listen. >> i will oppose this bill, because it fails to address the whole impact of sequester. let me share just a handful of examples of how the sequester will affect americans. education, head start, 70,000 children will be kicked out of head start. nothing in this bill deals with them. >> congresswoman, what's your reaction to steny hoyer and your thoughts about the faa furlough fix means? >> first of all, i agree with steny hoyer that, in fact, it shouldn't be done piecemeal. that the sequester should have been one that we gave enough discretion to all departments to make the kinds of cuts that are made with a scalpel and not with a saw. and what people are witnessing across this country, with long lines, with delayed flights, is more than an inconvenience.

it is affecting everyone's productivity. so, i think this measure that would allow the faa to take money, savings that it has from other accounts, and place it into accounts so we don't have to furlough the air traffic controllers, makes sense. but we should be doing this across the entire federal budget. >> but congresswoman, do you think that the senate has really pitched you a hot potato on what the furlough fix means and the fact that steny hoyer and you, you have objections and certain capacities. but does that mean that people around the country are going to continue to be held hostage to the fact that airports aren't moving and the fact that there are needed staff members that are going to be furloughed and not taking home paychecks. >> well, the piecemeal approach is not the right approach. we should do a holistic approach. i think what the senate did was, it was to try to deal with what is truly a hot-button issue right now. people are pretty darned mad. and they should be pretty darned mad, because the sequestration

was just an i inartful way of trying to bring parties together to negotiate a grand deal to come up with that $1 trillion. and in fact, we never expected that we would go to sequestration. so the fact that we're here and now doing wholesale cuts across all budgets is really inane. >> you know, 876 flights were delayed on wednesday alone. do you really think that while everybody kind of pitches a fit over this, that it's not going to move, that it's going to stall, or that it's going to move, you know, and probably coming up for a vote quickly? >> i never predict what's going to happen on the house floor. we're oftentimes surprised. so we'll see. i think inconveniencing the american public is something that we should not be doing. we should be doing everything in our power to make sure that the air traffic controllers are not furloughed and i'm hopeful we'll come to a compromise that makes sense. >> congresswoman jackie spear, always nice to have you on. thanks for your time today. >> thank you.

so new exclusive information about the bombs used in the boston marathon. we're going to be right back with more details on that after this quick break. stay tuned.

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welcome back, everybody. breaking news we need to pass lang to you right now. msnbc news has exclusively obtained a detail analysis of the construction of the bombs used at the boston marathon and the deadly confrontation with police days later. according to these reports, the bombers used two issues of "inspire" magazine as a guide to build their bombs. the charge was designed to be set off by a radio-controlled trigger, and the devices from the car chase, including a pressure cooker, and several pipe bombs, were in the batch that they had with them. of course, we'll bring you more details on that report. tributes, though, they're pouring in today for george jones. the country singer passed away at the age of 81. he had been hospitalized with a fever and irregular blood pressure. jones had number one songs in five separate decades, the '50s all the way through the '90s.

he reported more than 150 albums. a legend, right there. here's a quick look at some of the other stories topping news for you now. police in bangladesh broke up protests this mornings with tear gas and rubber bullets. protesters are demanding better working conditions after that garment factory collapsed on wednesday. 300 people were killed. yet another juror was dismissed from the jodi arias murder trial with just one day left of testimony. this was the third since the trial began back in january. two u.s. tourists are safe on land after their ship sank eight miles off the coast of st. lucia. it took the brother and sister 14 hours to swim to shore. the captain and first mate of that boat spent nearly a day in the water before being rescued. dr. conrad murray is now saying he is not responsible for michael jackson's death. he called into the "today" show from his jail cell this morning. >> i've lost a very dear friend and a dear person to me and it's going to remain with me for the rest of my life, but i'm not

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welcome back, everybody, want to show you what's going on currently at the house. the house voting in this window of 15 minutes to vote on the senate-passed faa fix. the house is expected insiders saying to pass the bill with a two-third majority needed before they leave town for the week-long recess. on wednesday, the faa reported 8 76 flights were delayed.

now the bill was sent over by the senate unanimously last night. again, the measure will go back to the senate for approval. and then on to the president's desk for signature after it clears the house. the faa's decision to force unpaid day off every two weeks for all 47,000 employees, including 15,000 flight controllers. that began on monday and the ripple effects have been felt around the country since. >> congress and i have certainly had our differences. and i tried to be civil. to not take any cheap shots. and that's why i want to especially thank all the members who took a break from their exhausting schedule of not passing any laws to be here tonight. let's give them a big round of applause. >> past is prologue, right? the white house press corps with let their hair down and have the

white house press dinner hosted by conan o'brien who tweeted yesterday in d.c. to perform at the white house correspondents' dinner, practicing my opening goofy sunglasses bit. joining me now is comedienne and co-creator of the "daily show" liz winston. describe what life is in the political comedy world for somebody like conan o'brien, who is trying to wrap his head around performing in front of this room that's going to be the mix of dignity aarydignitaries, leaders and celebrities. >> think about how much material that is thomas. i really think that at some point it's an embarrassment of riches. everyone is there. then you have to weigh out, what what are the biggest stories that people want to hear at home. because to televise, what are the stories that are going to be laughing in the room. a lot of times when you're making fun of all the people in the room, the material is for

the people maybe watching at home. because everybody is going to get poked at. and are they going to laugh at themselves? >> and this is, obviously a celebration to raise money for the charity that the white house press corps supports and to celebrate the hard and intrepid work that the corps does around the year. our colleague here at nbc, the legend that is tom brokaw, he's decided to stay away this year because he told politico, the breaking point for me was lindsay lohan, she became the big star at the white house correspondents' dinner, give me a break. she was there last year sitting next to kim kardashian. she said the press corps is presenting a bad image. should celebs not be allowed, or at least what some might consider a higher a-list echelon of the celebrities that have political interests? the more of the invitees? >> i think when it's nerd prom and then the popular kids take over, it's kind of a bummer, right? and so for me, i think you know,

when you add a kim kardashian or a lindsay lohan to your guest list, it sort of says, hey, we're going to try to -- you know, add some more material to the evening by having those people in the room. and i don't really think it needs it i think you should be inviting people who are, you know, awesome and interesting and there's plenty of celebrities who go that are and who do that. like i know, there will be amy poehler is going this year and it makes sense, she has done such brilliant political satire on "snl." so i don't know if it cheapens it, but i don't think you need it who wants to sit next to kim kardashian for a whole evening? i wouldn't. >> amy poehler does have the first lady laugh. when some comments were made by president clinton. the dinner gives the president a chance to show his comical chops. i want to show everybody clips from 2011 and 20 is 12. take a look at this.

>> just the other day, matt damon. i love matt damon. i love the guy. matt damon said he was disappointed in my performance. well, matt, i just saw the "adjustment bureau" so right back at you, buddy. last year on this very weekend, we finally delivered just toys one of the world's most notorious individuals -- >> donald trump is taking it on the chin a couple of years in a row, liz. for the president, he walks a fine line, especially on the heels of the current news situation out of boston. also the current volatile situation and what it means for what's going on in syria right now. how does that go into the calculations of how to play it? so to speak over the weekend? >> well i think you know, if he

sticks -- he's been very amazingly graceful and very funny and petty edgy. he hasn't done lame jokes. he allowed himself to be bleeped a couple of times. i think as we remember like bin laden was captured the night after the white house correspondents' dinner, so he's good at playing it close to the vest, and being sensitive to the news at hand. >> comedienne and co-creator of "the daily show" liz winston. sorry we had to be 200 miles apart but thanks for your time. jay carney is giving a white house press briefing, we expected comments about the syrian situation, let's listen. >> it has been assessed by our intelligence community with varying degrees of confidence, that the syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in syria. specifically the chemical agent, sarin. and this assessment is based in part on physiological samples. we are working to establish

credible and corroborated facts to build on this intelligence assessment in order to establish a definitive judgment as to whether or not the president's red line has been crossed. and to inform our decision making about next steps. but the president himself raised this issue, raised the profile of this issue, the seriousness of the prospect that the assad regime would use chemical weapons. or transfer them to a terrorist group. last year, and the president has made clear from the beginning, that this issue is gravely serious. now that we have a growing body of evidence that suggests that we can say with varying degrees of confidence that he has in a limited way or that the regime has in a limited way, likely used weapons, we need to build on that. it is absolutely the correct thing to do to take the

exceptional work that our intelligence community does, and continue to build information. and put together a credible set of facts that can be corroborated. that's based on firm evidence. that can be reviewed. and that's what we're endeavoring to do. we are of course very much supportive of a united nations investigation into this. the president led, the united states led in calling for that investigation and we continue to press for that investigation to proceed unhindered. we are also working independently and with our allies, and with most importantly, the syrian opposition to assess credible reports of the use of chemical weapons. and to build evidence to support the assessments that have been made thus far. >> considering the seriousness of the implications, how much

urgency do you feel to get to a definitive conclusion? if this investigation that you were just speaking about, for instance, went on for a number of months, is that something that president obama would be comfortable with? >> the president wants the facts. and i'm not going to set a timeline, because the facts need to be what drives this investigation, not a deadline. the situation in syria is and has been grave. the assad regime has the blood of its own people on its hands. there has been enormous loss of life. and enormous disruption. and you have seen us in a leadership role, significantly increase our aid to the syrian people through humanitarian assistance, significantly step up our assistance to the opposition. including nonlethal assistance directly to the syrian military

council as part of the opposition. and that is in reaction to what we have seen in syria. but you know, it is, i think instructive to look at the past for guidance when it comes to the need to be very serious about gathering all the facts. establishing chain of custody, linking evidence of the use of chemical weapons to specific incidents. and actions taken by the regime. and that's what we will do, because that's the responsible thing to do. >> and on tuesday, the u.s. quote not come to the conclusion that there had been one of these attacks. we've since learned that the administration has known about this for a number of weeks. how do you square those two statements. >> what i said -- you're talking about conclusion versus varying