to the right people and machines. ♪ helping hospitals treat people even better, while dramatically reducing waiting time. now a waiting room is just a room. [ telephone ringing ] [ static warbles ] [ beeping ] red or blue? ♪ . the boston bombing suspect, new details today on where he is staying and more information on the actions of his mother. dangerous flooding, sudden rising waters leave some drivers stranded and the worst may not be over. amanda knox just days before her book comes out. does she fear she might have to

go back to jail in italy? it revolutionized the way we buy music. today marks an important anniversary. hello, everyone. it is high noon in the east. welcome to "weekends with alex witt." we're learning more details about dzhokhar tsarnaev. he's in a small cell with a solid steel door at a detention center about 45. a spokesperson says the cell has an observation window and slot for passing food and medication. also new today, house intelligence committee chairman mike rogers following up on comments he made saying he believes there will be more arrests in the case. >> there are still persons of interest in the united states that the fbi would like to have conversations with, and the big unknown is still that six months -- a little over six months in russia. and here is what democratic congressman dutch rut less

berger is saying. >> it's an investigation and international, and we're really good at this. the fbi is very good working with our other agencies. there are persons of interest in the united states. we're looking at phone calls before and after the bombing. this type of investigation. let's go to boston. nbc's michelle franzen. a good sunday to you, my friend. new information about the suspects and their mother. >> reporter: yeah, again we're learning more, alex, more overseas and also here at home. as you heard earlier, u.s. officials tell nbc news that they are focussing on leads here at home and also overseas. authorities have been operating under the theory that the suspects acted alone, but at the same time saying they are not ruling anything out. investigators say they are still looking into all possibilities in the boston bombing case, including tracking possible leads on the two bombing suspects here at home and

overseas. authorities confirm the brothers' mother was placed on a terrorism database 18 months before the bombings because of her son tamerlan. the list consists of hundreds of thousands of names, but being added to the list doesn't mean proof of terrorist activity. a u.s. official tells nbc news russian authorities passed along information to the cia, stating both tamerlan and his mother were showing signs of increasing radicalization. >> they already are talking about that we are terrorists. i am terrorist -- >> reporter: accusations the mother denied nbc news learned that another early accounts focused largely on the stolen suv, investigators are focusing on a second vehicle, a green honda used by the bombing suspects on the day of the manhunt and fatal shooting of sean collier in cambridge. authorities say the suspects car

jacked a mercedes suv, following the shooting when they were riding together during the chase that ended in watertown. but in photos obtained by nbc news and eyewitness accounts, a green honda was also spotted at the scene in watertown in copley square saturday shlgt bombing survive was recently released from the hospital and didn't let her leg injury keep her from visiting the makeshift memorial. >> it's amazing, and i appreciate it so much. i feel like i can speak for a lot of the victims how much we truly appreciate all this support. >> reporter: there's a lot more appreciation going on here at copley square this morning. a gathering place, this is the community spot where people want to come, reflect. it's wrapping around here just to see the makeshift memorial. in the meantime we have an update on the patients. now 28 remain in hospitals in and around boston, one still in critical condition nearly two weeks later.

yeah, it is extraordinary to think that two weeks ago today, none of this had happened. look how much has changed since. michelle franzen, thank you. a mississippi man will appear in federal court after developing ricin. james everett dutschke is accused of sending ricin in two letters. dutschke is also -- one neighbor had this to say of his arrest. >> i don't care how they got him as long as they got him out of this neighborhood. if they couldn't get him on the ricin case, then on the child pornography or the child molestations, and get him out of this neighborhood. that's the main concern i had. just getting him out of my neighborhood. >> wow. if convicted dutschke faces life imprisonment, also a quarter million dollar fine. a spring thaw and thunderstorm set off massive

flooding in houston. firefighters answered at least 50 water rescues calls when the city got soaked. some weren't so lucky. >> flooding in spots and people just tried to move all the way over so in a it stops for a while. after that it kind of barely crawled. >> i just gave it a shot, and now i'm trying to start my car up. i don't know what to do now. >> meteorologist dylan dryer is here with the forecast. yikes. are there big are problems with flooding in the midwest? >> that's all river flooding. it's not the iran, but more the -- but in texas it was an incredible amount of rain that felt in a very short period of time. that's why we do call it flash flooding. in the houston area it is nice and sunny, drying out. the rain is actually moving more to the southeast, with where we do have a line of thunderstorm

through eastern tennessee right into new leans. ould abo 2 to 3 inches today in western north carolina. south carolina as well. it's all out ahead of that same cold front that brought the heavier downpours to parts of texas, but area where we have the flood watches and warnings back through the mid we have had and northern plainsings that's where we're not seeing any rain. that's a good thing. we don't knee any more rain to exacerbate the problems. we still have warnings posted. also into illinois and also indiana, too, so we are going to keep an eye on the rivers that way. wednesday is when we should see the red river crest near fargo. that's when we're going to see the peak of the flooding. normal flood stage is 18 feet. so that's why they are looking at significant flooding that way. no wonder we're seeing the snow melting. will will top out in the 70s and

80s. a major thaw we haven't seen so far this season. with record-breaking snowfall in that area, now the temperatures are rapidly warming up. alex? >> yeah, it's absolutely like we were have expected this. it always seems to happen in april, but the winter that never ended, theres. dylan, thanks. the hearty laughs and aingeovers may be wearing off, but plenty of president athighlights to recap from this year's white house correspondents dinner. peter alexander has more. had ello to you, peter. >> reporter: good to see you last night, by the way. you have the politician, journalists. illustrate a katy perry sighting, saw brandly cooper, too. they call this the nerd prom, highlighted between the dueling appearances. where nothing really is off-limits, not the politicians, pundits or even the president

himself. here's a look back. >> it's like when two different zoos get together, you know, the hollywood zoo and d.c. zoo. >> also some surprise is attached to it. >> i got sniffed by a couple dogs, and i feel secure. >> i didn't have any idea how big this is. >> i think we all need some joy and laughter. >> i'm excited to see the president. that's why i'm here. >> obama, you know, that's my man. >> thank you, everybody. how do you like my new entrance music? rush limbaugh warned you about this, second term, baby. >> tonight i'm excited to announce that turner broadcasting is going to make a major television mini series about the big power players here in washington. vice president joe biden is going to be played by bob

barker. paul ryan will be played by mr. bean. senator chuck schumer will be played by grandpa muenster. secretary of state john kerry will be played by an easter island head. we talked about it, we're willing to try anything, so we borrowed one of michelle's tricks. >> last year tom brokaw criticized this event for having too many superstars and a-list celebrities. when i told tom i would be attending this year, he said that's more like it. >> i know republicans are still sorting out what happened in 2012, but one thing they all agree on is they need to do a better job reaching out to minorities. look, call me self-centered, but i think can think of one minority that they can start with.

hello. >> reporter: so even nbc wasn't off-limits. you know, there were some serious moments as well. for one the event raises a lot of money for scholarships, but also both the president and conan o'brien paid tribute to the lives lost in, o'brien is a boston native. for that he had a proud punchline. if you're going to mess with a city i don't pick one where nine out of ten are related to a cop. >> i know. that was a really good line. thank you, peter. in west coast headlines, why people fear food stamps. a one-time executive is calling for gas to cost $7 a gallon. wow. [ phil ] when you have joint pain and stiffness... accomplishing even little things can become major victories. i'm phil mickelson, pro golfer. when i was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis, my rheumatologist prescribed enbrel for my pain and stiffness, and to help stop joint damage. [ male announcer ] enbrel may lower your ability to fight infections.

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the idaho statesman in boise has an article titled food stamp stigma keeps some from applying. it's the profile of a recruiter trying to select desperate senior citizens with snap benefits. the albuquerque journal has a story about tuition doubling over the last ten years. in-state tuition and fees now run $6800 a year. that's still less than many neighboring universities. the chairman of the house intelligence committee is revealing new details in the boston marathon bombing investigation. take a listen. >> we still have persons of interest that we're working to find and i had dpi, and have conversations with. i think anything ten or fewer? >> i didn't say that. i didn't give a number. i do think there are persons of interest. russia is where i think they went from to yes i'm ready for

jihad, this is how you conduct an act of violence, including training. joining mess is dana mill badge and erin carmone. dana, if the how intel committee chair is saying this, what does it tell you about the dredge of where they are? >> you always have to take it with a grain of salt when members of congress are giving police briefings, because sometimes they have a, dare i say, political charged affect to it, but it does suggest that things are more involved than we had otherwise known. i think people have generally been responsible about this thing, let's not jump to conclusions, let's gather the facts before all the political screaming and yelling begins. >> it also -- he opened up the possibility that there are more people involved, and i guess since you can't rule that -- >> i also want to talk about the fbi having a line on the older

bomber in the past. what's the d.c. buzz on this? >> well, again, what i think people are doing is an official washington is behaving in a responsible way, saying let's get all the facts out out table before the speculation. so i think in official circles you are hearing very little of this, first beginning to have a hearing at the end of last week, but the briefings having behind closed doors, so i think they are generally with the exception, being responsible. >> there are those who may not have been in the behind closed doors where the buzz is the fbi dropped the ball here. are you hearing that? >> oh, certainly yes. the age-old competition between and rivalry between the cia and the fbi. you know, there are all kinds of political footballs, like the one about why didn't they alert the authorities in no, that they might be headed there next. who would have thunk it they would be going to new york, that

terrorists would be interested in new york, but certainly there are more legitimate questions and the cia/fbi is theage-old one that has flared up again. >> it seems that boston has bounced back. what does that say to you about the public attitude toward an attack like this in a post-9/11 world? >> well, i was living in boston on 9/11. this unfortunately brought back some traumatic memories. i think the idea of terrorism is to destabilize people's psychological sense of safety and allowing that to be taken away from you allowing your sense of self to be destabilized is in some sense letting the terrorists win. while there are very real risks, it's great to see boston bouncing back and going on with his life like any other plaert that's been a victim of a terrorist attack. dana, let's listen to john mccain on "meet the press" today. here he is. >> first of all, american peopler weary. they don't want boots on the

ground. i don't want boots on the ground. i do want to give them 9 assistance which would give them a dramatic shift in the balance of power in syria. but we have to, as an international group plan and be ready operationally, not just plan, but to go in and secure those areas. >> this on the heels of the reports that syria has possibly used chemical weapons gets its own people. a red line the president called that. what are you hearing? >> that is a very measured john mccain, not beating the war drum. the obam administration is in a strange position. it's almost like they're dealing with a child. make they dipped their toe across it and used the weapons in a small way, so everybody is a bit befuddled. it doesn't call for an obvious response, but you have to do something since they have

deliberately defied what they laid out there. >> erin, the president did say, crossing that red line, do you get a sense of what that actually means? if the president is willing to participate in some kind of involvement in syria? >> here's the problem with drawing red lines. there was a great line in foreign policy, if he doesn't still to this red line, it looks like an impressionistic watercolor, once you box yourself in the corner to say we're going to get out of these expensive, xligted possibly in terms of lives conflict, but no clear end game, which unfortunately is what syria looks like, but then you say there will be a line, those comments were made in israel, you kind of boxed yourself to a corner. >> irin, dana, good to see you both, as always. a writer about what could be the best weapon. and it's not american soldiers. how about...by the bowlful? campbell's soups give you nutrition, energy,

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today of heavy fighting between rebels and regime forces. in washington, debate over american intervention rages, as evidence emerges of chemical weapons in use over the two-year civil war. a new book by my next guest calls for a major change of u.s. policy for the post-arab spring middle east. joining me now is two-time pulitzer prizewinner and reuters columnist, david rohde. david, welcome, glad to have you here. >> thank you for having me. you where i about the need for the u.s. to strengthen muslim moderates and moderates are a far better weapon against jihadists than american soldiers. how does the u.s. without making moderates like lie puppets of the u.s.? >> i think there's a way to help with economic aid, training, other efforts like that. we've been talking about syria today. i was talking to a member of the administration this morning who's been trying to push for the u.s. to provide more

non-lethal aids for more moderate group. he's talking about ambulances, generators, search-and-rescue equipment, and we've talked about doing that, but we are absolutely terrible at implementation, actually delivering this kind of aid. if they handle the non-lethal aid well, maybe you move into providing weapons. we're so cautious now, we're leaving the field wide open to the jihadists, and are now really dominant there. >> so you think that the time for diplomacy is still present with syria, political solutions aren't in the past? >> i think you need to strengthen the opposition on the ground. you saw this week that the regime that president assad thinks we're so afraid of the jihadists that switch sides and back him. we have to act in syria, you know, and early guest was talking about the long, complicated conflicts, a big theme of my book is that we don't have to respond to every foreign policy chalgening with

american boots on the ground. senator mccain is talking about an international force going in. you can work through local proxies, local allies, start with more civilian aid. before they can provide any training or humanitarian aid to steering opposition member, they're asked 11 questions, name of their father, national i.d. number, vetted through a terrorism list. our people are terrified of mistakenly training one jihadist, because they know they'll be pounced on in washington. on our division at home is leading us to be too cautious, and we have no power abroad, because we're so divided at home. >> well, you know what, david? for those of us watching from home, i arab spring started out looking so hopeful. you look at egypt -- are we in the beginning of a long process, or has the arab spring sort of been a net failure?

>> i think we don't know yet. i look at it through a different lens. to me there's a historic struggle going on across the middle east right now. eye jept is the best example, between conservative muslims, and more extremists who have weapons, and more liberals, secular opposition members. that's who's fighting basically in egypt. across the region, there's a struggle for who will control the middle east politics, the culture, even the interpretation of islam, and again, i think we need to kind of step back, stop thinking military tools are our only options, and see if there are people we can work with on the ground in these places. libya is a mess, no question, but i'm asking people to not forget after the ambassador was killed, thousands marched in the streets protesting his killing. they don't -- just the last thing. i found from people in the region they're proud of being muslims, but they also want to be modern and looking sort of for a third way where they're

not dictated to by american troops and not dictated by the crazy, sort of armed jihadists. >> stateside, your latest column says the city of boston may have set a new standard in the wake of the marathon bombing. what do you mean by that? >> i think it's tremendous. you were talking about it earlier in the show. you have up there thursday and friday. people have taken the city back, boylston affair is wide open again, the city is encouraging people to go to local businesses and restaurants. that's exactly what people should do. i talked to one volunteer from the marathon who vowed to come back next year. i even heard from one taxi driver, he's moroccan, and he's been talking to his passengers how he, as a muslim, completely absolutely opposes they bombings. it's not about his faith. so you've got average people trying to kind of overcome the division and fear that these guys tried to with these bombs. >> and members of the mosque, leaders from the mosque where the two brothers attended and

they came out and said we don't condone anything they did. david, good to talk with you. thank you so much. >> thank you. days ahead of her book release, does amanda knox fear she'll be forced to return to italy? eye

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your business can shine all week long. . welcome back to "weekends with alex witt." an investigation is under way in italy after a shooting outside the prime minister's office. two police officers were injured, one person is under arrest. the shooting happened on the same day that the country's new prime minister was being sworn in in a nearby ceremony. at least two people are dead after the partial collapse of a residential building in northern france. a gas leak is expected. 6 on years after the supreme court desegregated schools, a georgia high school had the first integrated prom. more than 50 students attended. in years past students we're sponsor separate proms. new worked today on where

dzhokhar tsarnaev is being held. he's in a small cell with a solid steel door at a federal medical detention center, about 40 miles outside of boston. meantimetime politico reports that the sequester cuts may be affecting the defense team. the office apointed is subject to three weeks of furloughs, as they prepare a defense in the high-profile case. for more, steven jones joins me. he defended timothy mcveigh. steven, it's nigh to see you again. it's been a while. thank you, alex. before we get to boston, how did you end up being timothy mcveigh's lawyer? remind our viewers about that. >> i was appointed by the federal court in oklahoma city. susan notto, the public defender, recused herself, because her office had been heavily damaged. the federal judges asked me if i would do it, and i took it that i should.

that was my responsibility, so i became his lawyer. >> in fact, you had to protect yourself, didn't you, your family as well? this certainly wasn't a popular -- >> it wasn't popular in oklahoma and elsewhere. the judges provided security for me and my family, so we were able to do our job without interference or problem. >> there's got to be a toll, though, stephen, that comes to being in the spotlight with defending those who are accused of terrorist acts. talk about that. >> well, i -- i think that's right. i would say probably the greatest thing i noticed was i put my emotional life on hold for 2 1/2 years, the carnage was so agreed, the pressure and scrutiny so intense, that it really was difficult to do

anything else, but just to focus on the task at hand. after it was over with, i think it took six or seven months before i felt i was able emot n emotionally to resume the practice of law and to live what might be called a normal life. >> stephen, i'm always fascinated about trying to get into the mind of a defense attorney. in a case like this, do you start with the assumption your client did it and you're just hoping to spare his life? >> no. it might seem that way to the layman, but the rules of professional conduct require that the defense attorney investigatal reasonable aspects and defenses. so you don't start with any preconception. obviously you read the newspapers and watch television before you get the sdroifr and get the framework, but i didn't

start the case with a mind-set that it was one way or the ir. the practice of law, at that time 25 or 30 years, had convinced me things are not on which what they seem at first gland. >> what about deal-making, do you think in this case the government might be willing to cut a deal, spare his life at least, to get information? >> it seems to me that that's a possibility. the defense -- and i don't want to second-guess some other lawyer, because i don't have the information they have, but there are three avenues that ape to be open. the first is they could negotiate with the government that in return for his full cooperation, particularly that may relate to the identity or involvement of others he would receive something less than death from the court.

secondly they could away that the government's case is flawed or evidence is inadmissible or a different conclusion may be drawn from it. or they may raised some diminished mental respond, or they could argue to the jury that, look, there are other people involved, and if you excuse this man, then you silence the only person who has the ability to tell us the full story of what happened. so those are some early avenues that i'm sure the defense would explore, plus others i'm not familiar with. >> can i ask about the statements that he grave before he was mirandaized. if he was on medication, are those statements admissible? >> they're not admissible, certainly not in the government's case in chief.

however, the question of bl and how far the government investigators can question him before he's mirandized is not free from doubt. the case in new york that the supreme court made the emergency exception to, the facts were much different, and there are no commentators who have suggested what that really means is you can spontaneously asking the accused where is the gun or is anyone else involved? it doesn't contemplate a multihour interrogation, of course the answer is for the government not to attempt to introduce any of that, because -- i don't want to prejudge the case, but i think it would be an uphill battle to introduce any of that against him at trial. >> stephen, i'm told to wrap, but i have to ask.

the fact that he was reportedly admitted the bombings and the killing of the officers, and you have testimony saying that he add milted that to them, the carjacked victim, cannot that not be admitted. if he said we did it? >> well, it can be admitted. the question is whether it will be admitted. i would anticipate if the case goes forward and is litigated, those will be issues of serious contention that some judge somewhere will have to resolved. >> stephen jones, thank you for your time. >> thank you, alex. in today's office politics, my college steve war neki, i asked him about the change in lifestyle from working on a weekday afternoon hours, to the challenging hours of weekend

mornings. tell me about it, but first he talked about immigration reform and how -- >> they have to change their tune on immigration. >> i think there's an urgency that's giving ma neuroroom. they're not all guess to vote for it. but this is one where i think republicans are willing to work. >> a small window of opportunity before the lame duck presidency. >> he's still -- you can argue whether the country even a grand bargain, but that will take of a bus chunk of this year.

than i think you are hearing them talk about the mid terms. i think they realize now four-plus years into the obama presidency, honestly the way of system works, the way they respond to the incentives, if you want to do big things you either have to have 60 votes in the senate or filibuster reform, you don't need 60 votes for everything and you have to have the white house, so there's talk of a concerted effort now to win back the house in 2014. the problem is historically i don't see how they go and do that, but i do see a lot of energy being focused on that. >> if the democrats retake the house and held the senate, how much would that shape the president's last two years. >> significancely. look at the difference of what

happened between 2009 and 2010, when they had not for all of that time, but for big chunks of that time they also have 60 votes in the senate the haz how you got the stimulus. you bakley only had three republicans willing to break ranks. that's how you got health care reform. they used this procedure called reconciliation, which can work on some budget-related items, but they needed to have the house or they were never getting health care -- >> look at your life. you're working on the weekends. >> i got up at 4:30. i wanted to go for a jog, just really wake up. so 4:30, 4:45, i go outside and i live on the lower east side -- there's people all over the place. i'm expecting to step out into the quiet and have a solitary run, and there's lights everywhere, you know, there's drunk people all over the place, particularly that neighborhood. i thought, wow this is just weird.

it's a little different. next week we'll sit down with former pennsylvania governor and msnbc favorite analyst ed rendell. what the american college student is saying about hurl time in a italian prison, but first a moment from the correspondents dinner. it's been several months since you were reelected, so why are you still sending everyone five e-mails a day asking for more money. you won!

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it's delicious. so now we've turned her toffee into a business. my goal was to take an idea and make it happen. i'm janet long and i formed my toffee company through legalzoom. i never really thought i would make money doing what i love. [ robert ] we created legalzoom to help people start their business and launch their dreams. go to legalzoom.com today and make your business dream a reality. at legalzoom.com we put the law on your side. the faa says that the nation's airports will return to normal operations by this eek. that is thanks to the new legislation that will ends the sequester forced furloughs which caused thousands of delays and kanz lace last week. joining me is jimy williams and tony fratto, press secretary under president george w. bush. always good to see you both.

here's what susan collins said on thursday after the senate vote. >> i'm dilated that the senate has just passed a bipartisan bill to resolve a serious problem confronting the american traveling public and our economy. it's nice to know that when we work together, we really can solve problems. here's the only issue you have with that, because, um, the serious problem was actually brought on by members puff congress, so you're congratulating yourself for something you created. >> welcome to congress 101. we screwed it and we're going to fix it. i have a big problem with this piecemeal sequester waiver over and over again. they fixed it for the business men and women that flew across the country, oh, and for -- i think the president should veto. you're going to stay care of the

flying business community, but kids with cancer s. you're going to screw them. c'mon. they asked for cuts, they got them. the president signed the sequester bill into law, but they're saying not for this one, maybe not for that coffee cup, maybe not for alex witt or tony fratto, but for -- >> get your head inside the -- interpreting -- >> i have a pox on all their houses view of it. we have a broken budget system, right? the only way -- i would love to say, yeah, we shouldn't be doing piecemeal. obviously we shouldn't be. it's almost like there's no other way to do it. i understand like the spirit of bipartisanship, pass around some s'mores around the campfire and sing kumbaya. >> it's more extensive.

nods through stories going around they'll exempt themselves from the obama care. how will this get -- they want to exempt themselves from obama care and fix the flying privileges. i mean, do they think the american people are really that stupid? >> it's these kinds of things, the ad hoc nature does break down support by congress. we do this over and over again. i don't care whose idea the sequester was, right? even the whole concept was we need to come up with artificial promises in order to do the job we needed to do. this goes back -- we did it in the health care bill, right? everybody winked and nodded that we're -- don't count -- let's pretend it's not going to get fixed. we'll come back and do it later, right? it just loses faith of the american people. >> here's the silver lining that i took away from this. congress put their minds to it, and they fixed something in, what, like three days? what? the expedient wait was i thought

maybe they can do this. i don't know how many 3 and 4-year-olds will call up and say, what about my headstart program? but their parents certainly can. patients wanting chemotherapy with cancer. >> here's the dirty secret about congress that. congress is reactive, they are not proactive. there is no vision, and it's been this way for a while now. it's frustrating. what i would like to see our government do is to actually come up with an idea. why don't we rebuilt the electric grid and update the interstate system. chris matthews talks about let's do big things. maybe congress should start doing big things again instead of stupid tiny fixes. it's a great that they did something on a bipartisan, but it's almost myopic. >> what are the chances it will happen?

>> very low. it does come down to the budget process. unfortunately it only work when you have the president of one party and both houses of congress controlled by the other party or both houses of congress controlled bit president et cetera party. when you have both parties split, you can't force them to come together. >> i'll push back just a bit. reagan was president, he had a democratic house, wide wide margin, a republican-led senate. for six years of his eight years as president. you know, he got a lot of stuff done. >> yeah, but he got most of it done in the first two years, where it was, you know, where he got his plan done. >> sure, sure. >> after that, he was conceivdi to tip o'neil the rest of the way. what's your reaction you can go back to gun control on down? >> republicans will always be blamed for stopping what the

president was doing. for the last two years, or the bush administration. they stopped everything that we want we wanted to do. that's the way it works. there also a always be finger pointing here, but i think we need to find a more -- so that both sides are forced to get together. we're like there's pain if the clock runs out, and the other team gets the ball and they get to do stuff. >> that was sequester. >> put control of the decision-making in one hand or the other whenever the clock runs out. >> who wants to tackle this one, that is how many people in congress look at merely their own reelection capabilities. >> you know, i think they ought to do it the california way, which is you have this unelected group of people, and you've got

to run in the district that's kind of 50/50. if your ideas stink, they're going to say no. you've got to represent your state. he did something -- >> joe manchin, too. i was talking to both of these guys and that's exactly what i said. >> do i agree with everything in the bill? no, but they ponied up and started representing their states. look at the poll numbers -- through the roof. >> they're in competitive states, though. so that forces them to think about --. but we have the polls in our parties who control a lot of what our members think, and a lot of people in the middle need to get more active, pay imperil attention and use their voices also. >> we have to do this again. way more fun. thank you guys. a one-time u.s. executive is

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that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. new right now, the mother of the boston suspect appeals for help. claims that more arrests may be coming, we'll ask a veteran house committee member about that. is anyone suggesting military action. superstorm sandy six months later. i'll talk with someone at the heart of the recovery zone. good day to all of you. it's just past 1:00 p.m. on the east. we'll get to what's happening out there. we'll begin with any video today, this of the boston suspect's mother, in her native tongue, she thanks people who have supported her, while appealing for donations to help her family and her son dzhokhar tsarnaev. he is being held in a small

cell with a solid steel door in a federal medical detention center. a facilities spokesperson says they have an observation window as well as a slot for passing food and medication. also new today, mike rogers is following up on comments he made saying he believes there will be more arrests on the case. >> there are still interests z persons of interest, and the big unknown is still that six-months -- allege over six months in russia. >> mile while lawmakers continue to demand answers. >> i think it's important to know, are there other people involved, are there others still out there. it's very important to find out. what also does call them to radicalize? what caused that to happen? how can we stop it in the future? also ask why the fbi is not

cooperating more with law enforcement. wee didn't they give vital evidence to the nypd about another possible attack. joining mess is adam schiff. always good to see you. thank for joining me. >> good to see you. >> you heard mike rogers say more arrests are forth coming. do you agree with him? >> i'm not sure i do. really the investigation is just getting started, in particular we want to need to know what happened when he was in dagestan, but to stay there will be more arrests i think is jumping the gun a bit. there are persons of interest. were there people in the united states who helped with that process? was it done mostly online? how much of that radicalization took place in dagestan, but i don't know that we can conclude from this there will be more arrested? >> there there are some reports

out that nbc has yet to confirm, but they suggest russian intelligence wiretapped conversation between the mother and tamerlan in which they discuss jihad. can you tell me if those tapes existened and if so what is speaking on them? >> i think it's been disclosed that there was a wire intercept, that was the basis of why the russians provided this lead to us. we don't have much more than that, and my guess is the russians do. if they were eve dropping on the mother or some other suspect that the mother was in contact with, there had to be reason why they went up on those people. they don't choose them at ran democrat. so the question is why were they listening to her conversations. we republican haven't gotten that information yet, so i think there's more to this than they've been willing to share. so the whys we don't know yet, but do you know whether the fbi has listened to those tapes yet? >> i don't know that they were

at least shared the basis of their suspicion was an intercepted phone calls, you know, my guess is that the russians like our own intelligence agencies are protective of their sources and methods. plus if they were to disclose more -- if they were to disclose more on the basis of their suspicion, then people will rightfully ask why weren't they more forthcoming. >> we also know that russian intelligence told the cia that both tamerlan and his mother were showing some signs of radicalization. do you know anything that involved the mother, and that has she been involved in any way? >> i think that all we know at this point was that she was certainly part of the russian suspicion, i don't know that we have any independent evidence that the mother was radicalizing influence or that the mother was involved in the plot. that is certainly something we're trying to find out and

that i think is one of the key remaining parts of the investigation. >> what do you think about your colleague peter king, who said he believes the boston bombing was an absolute intelligence failure. do you agree with that? >> i don't. i think there's a temptation to say whenever something bad happening, someone must have failed, otherwise how could it have happened? the reality is we are a big open society. if we were intent on preventing any violence, we would have to be in such a survail police state, none of us would find it tolerable. no one failed here but still something happened, and we have to accept a certain amount of that if we want to be in a free society. >> i've said obvious in the wake of this and terrorist attempts, you know, the police are intelligence have to be 100% of the time rights and we're still

vulnerable. right. i want to look at they gallup poll numbers. they were released after they conducted a poll of the boston bombing, finds that a 1% of americans believe a terrorist attack in the u.s. could be imminent, not the kind we saw from what we believe at this home, you can categorizes them as home-grown terrorists to some degree, but something larger, imminent from across the seas. >> can you say something to the nation listening that relieves them of that concern? >> i think the good news on the terrorism front is since 9/11, we have dramically improved the ecchanges of information among or agencies, seriously degraded the core of al qaeda and made it much more difficult for them to perpetrate the kind of vast attack they did on 9/11. instead we're seeing this proliferation of more one-off smaller attacks that still can be devastating, as boston was, and of course we have seen

multiple efforts to bring down airliners, which would be devastating, but to have the coordinated attack on 9/11, we have so degraded al qaeda, though still possible, i think it's unlikely. >> bottom line, you're comfortable with how the fbi handled things? >> yes, i am, but not ready to state a final conclusion. i have asked the fbi to go back and see based on what we knew at the time, based on what was online at the time, did they miss things they should have seen? the fact that they went out and looked and didn't find anything doesn't mean that there wasn't something there to be found. so we need to be self-critical, but we don't want to leap to the conclusion that somehow someone dropped the ball. >> adam schiff, thank you for coming in on a sunday. >> great to see you. once again to boston and michelle franzen, so michelle with another good day to you you. what are the details you've learned about this investigation? >> yes, new stuff coming out. of course, again that focus with

investigators overseas on the suspects' family, and also focusing on tamerlan's trip to the dagestan area and that six-month visit as we mentioned. as we also learned in the last 48 hours, we know that investigators are also confirming u.s. officials are confirming that they did add tamerlan's mom to that massive u.s. terrorism database known as tide. filled up with several hundred thousand of names. it doesn't necessarily mean there's proof of terrorism, but it is just one more thing that authorities need to look at as they continue this investigation nearly two weeks later. what about those injured? >> reporter: well, we have some good news. in the last couple days, several more victims have gone home. of course, recoveries from various injuries.

one is said to be in critical condition. last week one woman in the hospital for nearly a week, had a chance to leave, and she had a chance to come by here at the makeshift memorial. >> to see there be a line to come in and just sign a poster or leave a card or a teddy bear, something for all of us victims, just to show their outpouring. it's absolutely amazing. >> leanna said she was moved by the massive amounts of people who came by here. it actually seems busier than what it was yesterday, a line wrapping all the way around one point in this block. people just waiting patiently to walk through this small makeshift memorial where flowers, tied-up running shoes

have been put over the fence, a lot of different messages, alex. >> yeah, that's a very positive reaction to all of this. thank you so much, michelle franzen. now to the latest on syria and growing concern over.reported possible use. let's go to kristin welker, who's at the white house. a good sunday to you, kristin. what are we hearing from the lawmakers? are we getting a sense of how this might play out policywise. more action. >> reporter: he says he does not believe the united states should put boots on the ground, said the nation was war-weary he also

highlighted the fact that it is a complicated situation inside the country. take a listen to more of what john mccain had to say. >> arming the rebels, making sure that we help with the refugees, and an international -- be prepared with an international force to to go in. there are a number of caches, they cannot fall into the hands of the jihadists. otherwise we will end up seeing those weapons used in other places in the middle east. >> reporter: to the second part of your question, the president to some extent has bought in. he declared that the use of chemical weapons would be a red

line, the administration saying they are not prepared to say definitively that syria has used chemical weapons. they say they want more information to corroborate the initial intelligence reports. the president really has a number of bad options to choose from, though, alex. one is putting boots on the ground as you heard john mccain say that's not an ideal opposition. the question is, who are the opposition forces? do they have ties to al qaeda? and another option creating a notch hi flay zone zones they're keenly aware of the fault,intelligence that le to the war in iraq. >> kristin, clearly the situation is murky at best. very great to see you last night. you looked beautiful. >> reporter: you too. thank you. so did you, alex. thanks. profiling a terrorist, the key traits of budding

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mike reasonable rogers is providing new details about where the investigation stands. >> we're still working to find and identify persons of interest. >> are you saying ten or fewer? >> i didn't say that. i didn't give a number. i do think there are persons of interest. in russia is where i think they went from yes, i'm ready for jihad, here's how you conduct an act of violence, with and including training. >> joining me now nia malika henderson, and john harwood, two good buddies. glad to have you here.

john, what are you hearing about the direction of this investigation. >> it's mostly people covering their bases and being cautious before declaring these two acted alone. obviously you have the six months when the older brother was back in russia that causes suspicion, but there's a lot of evidence to indicate, including the testimony that dzhokhar has given to his questioners that they learned how to do this stuff themselves onlinings you can see what the older brother was posting and watching on youtube, so they're trying to make sure it was something bigger. it doesn't sound like there's a very strong -- >> what about, nia malika, the ke question about what the fbi knew and when and whether capitol hill might get involved in an investigation. >> you hear john mccain and

kellie ayotte call for an investigation. they had concerns about tamerlan, the older brother, the cia ended up putting him on the terror watch list. the fbi launched and investigation and came up empty-handed and unable to confirm terrorist ties. that seems to be where things might have happened, when he might have gotten more radicalized. we've seen hearings, obviously the benghazi hearings, post-9/11 hearings, a great deal of concern about what they organizations know, when they know it, and whether or not they're sharing information. i think we'll hear about stovepiping, that they're not sharing information enough. >> certainly understandable that they have that investigation and everybody is wondering, wait, if you were asked about this guy, how did they go undetected or unsupervised. other, what russia was worried about was about violence by chechens, and that's not what he ended up doing.

>> let's turn to syria. well senator mccain talking about how there should not be any boots on the ground. let's listen further. >> we have said they need a no-fly zone, which could be obtained without using u.s. manned aircraft, we could use batteries and cruise missiles to take out their air, and to supply the resistance with weapons. >> are you getting a sense from lawmakers that they're echoing the sentiments of john mccain? >> one of the things that's interesting about what mccain said, he is probably one of the most hawkish people. even he is reluctant to put boots on the ground, have much involvement with the no-fly zone. there's a great deal of reluctan reluctance not only on the parts of americans. >> do you think that's because they're thinking in terms of

politics or actuality are 2u8 able to effect change? >> likely there's in al qaeda ties, if we supplied articles to the opposition, that would be a problem, because these aren't obviously allying for the united states. i think we'll see probably sort of an upgrade on what we have already seen, which is communications aid and some of the humanitarian aids. >> let's not forget we have north korea, we have iran action and we have this red line that seemingly may have been crossed to some degree with the potential release of chemical weapons in syria. so, you know, what do we do? when you put that out there across this red line action and we're going to do something? >> well, that's exactly the point. you see from the administration a very cautious coming to terms with the idea that the condition that they laid out has almost certainlying violated, and

they're trying to go as slowly as possible to figure out our response. as nia malika was saying, john mccain's reaction shows you even how people want to do something recognize, yes, we can affect change, but what will we do six months from now? five years from snow? everyone is very apprehensive, given the track record we've had, that there's a very long tail to these things and you have to figure out how to do it that protects your own national interest. >> okay. i wish we had more time, but you have to get to the nationals game, with your daughter. >> go nats! it was a night of political power, but critics have problem with the corresponds dinner. really? why? what if this feeling could last all week? with centurylink as your trusted partner, it can.

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rapidly. you can't keep up. i remember when buzz feed was something i did in college around 2:00 a.m. that got a good laugh. president obama going on that dodgy college mentalry. he got plenty of laughs from that and everything else as he played the room. the dinner is a pricey shindig. but the question whether that connection is really relevant exists. joining miss is amy argeh-singer of worst woes. i'm proud of you making it in considering how late sdr . there are lots of stars. >> originally it was a chance for reporters to catch up with their sources. those were the original white house correspondents dinner

guests. you would bring your sources, government officials you wanted to kiss up with and hopefully give us information through the rest of it is year. >> people will drop by your table. you almost are using the stars as a transactional thing. >> so are the stars relevant. bradley cooper, an a-lister. do you think that really brings in the people who then talk politics. >> i guess you have to ask what is the goal. it start off being an industry dinner, a chance for the reporters to get together and to be on meened terms for one night with the president they cover. now it's become a happening that you have all these big ceos who want to come to this thing. media organizationses bring

their advertisers, bring the stars to impress the advertisers. is this good or bad? i don't know, but it's a different way the whole thing operates. >> tom brokaw has said he doesn't like the turn with which this dinner has taken, and then i had on our good friend and your colleague cynic, dana mill bangs. here's what he recently wrote. >> lost in this cozy celebration of wealth and fame is the journalistic notion of holding the powerful to account without fear or favor. he's not the first to suggest that -- >> there's something unseemly about trying to impress each other, but have i the stars there, in places that used to be reserved for journalists, basically. there are a lot of rank-and-file journalists that can no longer go. there's the display of this that is kind of unseemly, but at the same time it's one night a year. >> it's a very fun night.

>> and they always remind you the proceeds go towards scholarships. >> absolutely. >> it ghot big applause. you say one wealthy hand feeds the other in this case, which then begs the question -- who is running the show? is it hollywood or d.c. politics? >> it feels like it's hollywood. you can tell a cabinet secretary, no, i'm sorry you can't bring your spouse to the dinner. very hard to tell that to a hollywood star, so you see seats reserved for the hollywood's star's girlfriend and agent. you do see these people have the upper hand, it seems. >> all right, but i can pretty much i can guarantee i'll see you there next year? >> probably. thank you. >> thank you. it's a wallops that's hurting six months later. with greek nonfat yogurt, loaded with protein 0% fat

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12k3450 welcome back. new today, they're focusing on the role their mother played. michael mccall today gave the strongest warn about her yet. >> i think she played a very strong role in the radicalization process. i believe she is a person of interest, if not a subject. i do believe she comes into the united states that she will be detained for questioning. so i think there is a connection there. >> joining mess is christopher dickey, the paris bureau chief and editor for theo -- i love this argue in which you describe the three key factors that lead to the development of -- the t.n.t. explain testosterone.

>> you know, most of the people who carry out terrorist acts are young men, who have lot a juice, a lot of testosterone, they are ambitious, anxious, they are full of all those characteristics that we associate maybe with a cliched sort of way, not necessarily biologically, but with the presence of a lot of tess toes torino. so we're usually talking about young men. it is second factor, you nay narrative. >> i think narrative is the most important, rather than ideology or religion, because that demystifies it. what happens is they young men see themselves identifying with some greater cause, usually the cause of some oppressed people. it could be the catholics in northern ireland, it could be the tamals in sri lanka.

in this case, they probably saw themselves identifying with the oppressed chechen people, the opressed iraqi people, the oppressed afghan people, even though they -- they see themselves almost like in knights in white armor. the key work of the ideology of al qaeda is a book called" knights under the prophet's banner" which is the whole idea of terrorism as chivalry. i think that's what you'll see almost universally with these guys. >> what about the third factor? theater. >> this is something that's always been a characteristic of terrorists, whether anarchists or islamists. it's become a huge problem in the last 30 years, when terrorists have seen they can carry out actions that will

literally resonate around the world. they can do something obviously like 9/11, but even something like the boston marathon bombings, where three people are killed and scores injured, but it's not a huge disaster, yet it has resonance in every corner of the globe. that's the kind of theater they want. in fact, if you look at the history of al qaeda, you'll see that the leaders used to watch disaster movies all the time, because they loved that spectacle. in some ways 9/11 was an effort to replicate the hollywood's spectacle of destruction that they had seen in hollywood movies. there's a lot of talk, christopher, about boston being an intelligence failure. law enforcement was tipped off. but can anything really be stopped to stop all terrorist attacks, or is it just a matter of reduction? >> well, it is a matter of reduction. i mean, you can keep pushing and keep pushing, you can use

intelligence, which really is the most important thing and you have to be careful how to use it. you don't want to be too invasive, but you can't let a tip just sort of drift by the wayside and say these guys are not a priority. but the most important thing is resilience, is building up the nation's ability to weather the kind of storm we saw in boston. i think boston itself is a great example, the way people have come back quickly from that tragedy, and i think the way the american people have come back from the boston tragedy. that's where i defeat the terrorists. if you look at britain during the height of the i.r.a. bombing campaign, horrible things would happen in the center of london, and the british would just carry on. i think ultimately that's the way you defeat the terrorists, because they don't get the resonance that they want from the actions that they carry out. >> christopher dickey, thank you for being lived from the shauth

was fun to see. thousands of gut --r gutted homes. joining me now via skype, the mayor barilla. we just heard christopher dickey talking about people carrying on, which certainly you have done there in that community, but talk about the damages that superstorm sandy caused. >> thank you for having me, alex. sandy knocked out about 60% of our housing, in the sense that they were flooded. the boardwalk was about 85% damaged or destroyed. restaurants, some infrastructure. it's been a long road back. >> i can imagine. of course, with summer looming,

it's where you make a lot of tourism dollars, a lot from me over the years as well. it's a wonderful place. what's the status of things? >> okay. there's very little that you were able to do last year in point pleasant beach, that you will not be able to do this summer. the boardwalk was opened on friday, 4 thousands of the approximate 5200 feet of it was opened to public on friday. the rides are open. by memorial day, the entire length of the boardwalk will be open, with the exception, as i said, of a couple restaurants and perhaps one bar. everything should be open and should be business as usual. getting the -- getting people back into their homes is a more difficult task, and that's where the focus is, and has been, but it's just a slower process. >> i'm sure you've been communicating with your colleagues, the heads of other, you know, beach towns there. what's the story there?

how railroad faring compared to them? >> we are doing pretty well, compared to some towns, especially the towns to my south. they really were hit very hard. they don't have the same commercial tourism industry we have, so it's a different dynamic, so to speak. in bell mar, i think we are probably ahead of where belmar is. >> you know, it took more than two months after that storm, and then we heard the famous youth burst from governor christie, before congress finally voted on a relief package. what was running through your mind as all this was playing out? >> dealing with the issues on the ground p there was very little as a mayor of a 5,000-person town that i would have to be able to do. though i will tell you this --

congressman smith has been absolutely magnificent in terms of providing assistance. you know, as far as our concern, it was what we could do to get the debris off the streets, to come up with a plan to make sure we would be at least ready to be open, focusing on the boardwalk, focusing again on getting resources in for those people who have been displaced. as far as the actual dollars go, that happens at a level above my pay grade. >> well, you know about dollars, $60 billion-plus dollars came through, some of it went to your community, but i guess everyone looks at that and thinks that money needs to be spent to repair and po templeally prevent in the future disasters like this from happening. where does that stand, in your mind? >> okay. the most critical step at this point in time and what we are working on right now, and have been for a while, is to secure

those easements necessary both with homeowners and businesses to allow the army corps of engineers to put together a replenishment project for point pleasant beach as part of the overall project from island beach state park north. so getting those dunes in place will be an essential part of protecting the town. >> we wish you the best of luck, and you for your time, mayor. >> thank you. now to the trial that captivated italy and the book being released. amanda knox "waiting to be heard" she found out next month she will be retried. joining my nina burly, whose own book chronicled her time. nina, nice to see you.

she reveals during her time in prison that doctors lied that she was hiv-positive. she thought about suicide. she fought off advances by a guard. how important to you think it was for her to write this book and get this published? >> well, it was important for her to get out of jail. i think that was the first thing. the second is what kind of information is in that book, what is it that we're going to learn. from all the accounts that i have read, you know, prison is pretty boring, it's a pretty boring place. so unless she had kind of revealed something about what happened that night that we didn't already know about, or something about the case itself that we didn't already know about, i think we were, you know, we're going to be kind of underwhelm underwhelmed. was it important to write the book? well, you know, for her to have gone through four years in prison without being ability to get compensated for it through the italian system, the fact

that harper collins gave her $4 million to write it, reportedly, is some sense of compensation for the time spent in prison. >> but we have to also remember that a young woman lost her life that day in italy of knox says he wants them to read the book. are they going to get something if they read the book? >> they're not going to get anything from reading the book, as far as i can tell. that family is very convinced that amanda knox killed their daughter. so they're not going to be reading the book. i think they're very upset about the fact that she got that much money, and one of the reasons why they're not publishing the book in the uk is that there are apparently lots of libel laws, it's easier to file a libel suit there, so they're not going to be satisfied by it. >> real quick, nina, were you surprised when the high court in italy ordered a retrial?

>> yes, i was, absolutely. i was surprised. there isn't a lot of evidence that these two young people were involved in the case, but then again, the italian system has to work its way through. it's different from ours. it's legitimate for them. the prosecutor can bring an appeal. >> sure. apparently that's what they're doing. >> yes. >> nina burleigh, thank you. should congress be congratulated for hatting the furloughs? >> republicans fell in love with this thing and now they could stop talking about how much they hate it. it's like we're trapped in a taylor swift album. [ coughs ] [ angry gibberish ]

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it is time for the big three in today's topics. thinning red line. up in the art. this week's must reads. bringing in the panel. political editor and republican strategist. with hello to you, talk first, doug, the message on syria. has that red line been crossed with allegations of some, perhaps small, chemical weapon use on its people? >> getting close. the administration is un understandably not wanting to jump into things with regard to not finding the weapons of mass destruction in iraq.

there is no appetite among the american public for military entanglements on the ground. >> what's the message that gets gent a wrong message sent to the rest of the world? >> this is why the president is communicating he wants to take plenty of time. with congress out on recess for a week it gives them a couple more days to do more digging, get more information out there and share with all the intelligence leaders in congress to say, talk through it deliberately. you can't just say you have a headline and how do you exactly define that? a. swishy. >> and paraphrasinparaphrasing. john mccain, create a safe zone arming rebels, helping with refugees and be prepared with an international force? far enough? >> it does. a lot of people saying that the administration needs to take action. ip think that is a step. i think that is action. you know what, alex? americans are war wary. we are tired and it's going to be a hard sell for obama to sell

another war. sending troops and boots on the ground to a base, and as a rubben strategist, a very hard sell for the gop to be all war gung ho. >> okay. stick with you, noel. your reaction to senator susan collins of maine on the floor basically saying, hey, congratulations. we have fixed this with regard to the faa. passing legislation to end the furlough stemming from the sequester. wasn't it congress' fault we even were here in the first place? >> you know, as far as putting the blame game, this is spart of the problem, and this is why americans are so frustrated with both sides. nobody can work it out. obama wanted more taxes. the republicans are not going to give. a sequester happened. then look who got hurt? it's the american traveler, the pilots. everybody involved. saying that they've come together and didn't something

tan task, i don't want to reward anybody. and the blame game? it takes two sides. that's my answer on that. >> doug, do you think the faa needs to implement the furloughs or was this a level of grandstanding. >> probably strategically selected in tile. the fact is they've been through all--all agencies corrected to make cuts. i agree. this does not help with congress' image. we can take action with easing sfeed get it done, but can't get it together ta avoid what hurts the middle-class people. >> ptrying to be about optimist. lightning speed done. will it extend to headstart, people treated for cancer, needing chemotherapy? all things that are important? peoples on wheels? the list goes on. >> in addition to the program, each agency affecting real people, working more hours for less money. people taking big hits to their budget. all ahead. when you do something public,

people waiting on hours at an airport, a little bit of politics in all of it. >> your must reads. first -- >> my must read was the sarah palin tweet i thought was heinous on the white house kpoernt correspondenten dinner. one of the worst things. >> whoa. okay. something else from t"the washington post"? we have to look that up. that's all right. >> the furlough. >> and doug? >> paul krugman's column, the austerity and politics. these budget cuts actually hurt our ability to create jobs, because government drives economic activity, like air travel, makes the economy go. cut it, hard to create jobs. a problem gnkts. christine? >> front page story, "washington post," raiding prisons on yelp. one more thing technology allows us to do. employees to rating the food to prisoners saying what it was

like being arrested. >> i saw that and thought somebody would get to that one, too. noel, doug, christina, thank you for joining us. that's a wrap. on time this sunday edition of weekends "weekends with alex w." up next, "meet the press." more "msnbc live" coverage in one hour. c-max two. that's a super fuel- efficient hybrid for me. and a long range plug-in hybrid for you. now, let's review. introducing the ford c-max hybrid and the ford c-max energi plug-in hybrid. say hi to the c-max hybrids. there's a reason no one says "easy like monday morning." sundays are the warrior's day to unplug and recharge. what if this feeling could last all week? with centurylink as your trusted partner, it can.

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