unturned in a methodical evaluation of the evidence. based on the facts, i fully intend to seek charges for each and every act of sexual violence, rape, each day of kidnapping, every felonious assault, all the attempted murders and each act of aggravated murder he committed by terminating pregnancies that the offender perpetuated against the hostages during this decade-long ordeal. and violation of 290301 and 290309 of the ohio revised code. my office of the county prosecutor will also engage in a formal process in which we evaluate whether to seek charges eligible for the death penalty. capital punishment must be reserved for those crimes that are truly the worst examples of human conduct. the reality is we still have brutal criminals in our midst who have no respect for the rule of law or human life.

the law of ohio calls for the the death penalty for those most depraved criminals who commit aggravated murder during the course of a kidnapping. in the meantime, i ask for everyone's patience to avoid damaging the investigation or the victims. the victims in this case have gone through a traumatic decade-long ordeal that few among us are capable of ever understanding. the fbi victims assistance specialists informed us the victims desperately need space and time. these victims need to be decompressed. they need a chance to heal before we seek further in-depth evidence from them. we cannot have them subjected to 50 interviews and then go seek the interview to get the detailed evidence that we need. it is imperative that the community and the media be respectful of these young women and their families and give them and their families the privacy

they need and deserve. i also greatly appreciate the members of the bar who stepped forward pro bono to assist victims and their families in this period of shocking change. particularly henry hilo, jim woolly, and attorneys in my office and prosecutors office, miss perk and others who have gone out of their way to help these individuals and will continue to do so. on behalf of all the citizen cii salute and thank the heroes this case has already revealed. first and foremost, the victims who have found the eternal strength and courage to outlast their tormentor. and survive this decade of torture and depravity. and second, the victims' families who never lost hopes for their loved ones and spurred all officials on. third, neighbors and police officers who actively and bravely to rescue these victims.

the police department, the sheriffs office and the federal bureau of investigation and all the specialists they have given us and the many hundreds of hours they have spent and will spend on this case. they worked together effectively, whose determination to bring this case to justice never wavered. for further questions, submit them through our public information officer, maria russo, who will give her your e-mail. we will work together to respond in writing as many questions as the law allows us to answer. i thank you for your time. i thank you for your concern. and on behalf of cuyahoga county, we thank everyone who has worked on this case. everyone who has worked to achieve justice and will work to achieve justice. i know each and every one of you in the media are here to help in this case. i cannot answer all your questions. so i want to do it carefully and legally and do nothing that

would jeopardize this case. we're going to, tonight, we're going to stay and answer every single question we can. we're going to do it in writing. i thank you. thanks very much. >> that was the prosecuting attorney in cuyahoga county in cleveland. and i think we're joined by our correspondent, craig melvin. craig, are you with us? >> i am, martin. i am. i was just listening to the news conference along with you as well. >> and he was -- tim mcginty is saying he will pursue justice that is swift, relentless, and fair. he talked about a methodical pursuit of justice. he also mentioned seeking the death penalty if the evidence supports aggravated murder in these circumstances. >> yeah, it sounded like he spent a good chunk of that news conference talking about what could lead the district attorneys office to look at the death penalty including

terminating a number of pregnancies. again, we've heard that as many as five pregnancies had been terminated in the house behind me over past ten years. so it sounds like they are strongly looking at pursuing a death penalty case against 52-year-old ariel castro. he also said, something i found interesting was that the victims, obviously, need time, and it sounds like they are going to have to probably wait for a while before they go back to the three women and try and get some more information about precisely what went on. what went on here on seymour street. he said they were going to be pursuing swift justice. we know castro has at least up to 30 days before that case has to be brought before the grand jury. >> and so, craig, what are the developments so far today? because we know ariel castro appeared before a judge this morning. that's right, isn't it? >> yeah. he appeared before the judge. the judge set a bond of $8 million which means he would

have to come up with $800,000. that's not going to happen. so he will remain in jail. he was transferred from the city jail to the county jail a few hours ago. that's where he will remain presumably until his trial, if there is a trial. the two other castro brothers, onil and pedro, again, we expected yesterday and the day before, we expected they might be charged in connection with this case. not only were they not charged in connection with the case, prosecutors have said they have no reason to believe they knew anything about what was going on. so they, in fact, were released from city jail on some misdemeanor charges a few hours ago. we're also hearing a little bit more about some of the evidence that prosecutors do have. this morning, a source close to the investigation confirmed to nbc news that during the initial search of the home, they found a suicide note. that suicide note was signed by ariel castro and it was dated 2004. also in the note, again, according to sources close to the investigation, a fair amount

of detailed evidence that would implication castro. they wouldn't go into the evidence, but they did say castro also talked in that note about being abused as a child. but 200 pieces of evidence were taken outside of the house. so it's going to take some days, going to take some weeks for investigators to be able to sift through some of that evidence. >> craig melville there in cleveland. thank you so much, craig. let's turn now to jamie lloyd, a legal analyst and defense attorney. jamie, we just heard from the prosecutor outside the courthouse earlier today. though we did hear from one of the attorneys who's bringing this case against mr. castro, l. let's take a listen. >> charges against mr. castro are based on premeditated deliberate decisions. he snatched three young ladies from cleveland's west side street. to be used in whatever self-gratifying, self-serving way he saw fit. >> today the situation's turned,

your honor. mr. castro stands before you a captive, in captivity, a prisoner. the women are free to resume their lives that were interrupted. and also with the promise and the hope that justice will be served. >> jamie, according to the police, mr. castro allegedly impregnated one of his captives, michelle knight, five times during her 11 years of captivity. that he would repeatedly punch her in the stomach to induce a miscarriage. now, if these allegations are true, what on earth could explain behavior like this and what are the likely implications for mr. castro when he's brought before the court? >> well, we heard earlier today here on msnbc an fbi profiler who gave the opinion that this man is clearly psychotic which is, of course, a dsm four, now five, diagnosis, and that would be something certainly he will

be suggested to. he will be evaluated by the appropriate medical and psychiatric authorities by his lawyers and by the prosecution team. this will be a long process. it is true, as craig reported, that 30 days before they can bring the indictment, but the process of prosecuting and if there's going to be a trial, which i do not foresee in this case, martin. but whatever is going to happen in terms of pursuing justice against this man will take a long time, indeed. >> yeah. and to that point of psychiatric illness, presumably this suicide note dated 2004 may speak to the condition of this man. >> yes. and as she suggested, again, to harkin back to the profiler, because this is what they do. they examine the minds of terribly disturbed serial killers, serial rapists. and in this case, someone who kidnapped at least three women and held them hostage for a

decade a piece. the suggestion she made was that in 2004, he was considering ending it all. well why then, for god's sake, did he not at least set these women free? instead, the horror continued as is now alleged, we saw from the press conference, officially alleged by police and prosecutors for a number of years thereafter. instead of a suicide or at least setting these women free, the horror continued. >> right. now, mr. castro's two brothers appeared in court with him this morning. but they weren't charged and they were only being processed for previous minor convictions. i believe one concerned drugs. investigators seem confident that they had nothing whatsoever to do with these kidnappings. now, does that surprise you given that ariel castro, if prosecutors are right, is deemed to have controlled these three young women almost alone? >> well, there's so much we don't know. i mean, this is an extraordinary

story. you know, generally i say prosecutors shouldn't step to the microphone. they shouldn't make proclamations. in this case, what we just saw was entirely called for, very reasoned and absolutely necessary by the prosecution in a case of this magnitude. and such a bizarrely horrific story as the one we are all experiencing as a nation in this community, but writ large for us as a nation, we're experiencing it together. how did this happen? how could the family not know? how could the neighbors not know? how could the police not know what was happening inside the house? so we wonder, did the brothers know? were they co-defendants in some way? or should they be co-defendants? were they complicit? were they accomplices after the fact or in fact in then there's the fast and furious that goes on with the reporting of the story. of course, martin, they were arrested with him. so we all assumed, reporters and

consumers of news, that they were somehow involved in the crime. now it's been reported by police to us, we then to our public, that they are not being charged. could it be the police will continue to investigate them as possible accomplices? yes, that could be the case. it seems they did not know me more than the mother of the neighbors or the police and that could also be the case. that he was a very secretive and bizarre man that kept everyone, including his brothers, at bay. >> indeed. horrifying story. jami floyd, thanks so much for your insight, jami. coming up, bigger and better in texas? the president is in the lone star state talking jobs and the economy. and we'll take you there in a moment. >> i want to thank all of you for a texas-sized welcome. now, those of you who have seats, feel free to sit down. those of you who don't, you're out of luck. [ jackie ] it's just so frustrating...

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the president touched down in texas this afternoon to kick off a series of trips around the country in a push for jobs, growth, and economic opportunity. arriving in austin just a couple hours ago, the president was greeted by texas governor rick perry. heading just northeast of the capital, he toured mainerd new tech high school touting the school and region as beacons of innovation and cooperation. >> that's what we're seeing here in austin. we're seeing people working together, not because of politics, not because of some selfish reason, but because folks here understand that when we're all working together, everybody does better.

everybody succeeds. >> and naturally the president had to get out of washington to see that kind of collaboration. and joining us now is kristen welker. white house correspondent. kristen, the president obviously out there in texas. we got some very encouraging economic news. the dow is at 15,000. weekly jobless claims out today. the lowest in nearly 5 1/2 years. is that the story that he's trying to push to the people in texas? >> reporter: well, look, it's certainly part of the story, martin. this is, as you point out, the first in what will be a series of trips that president obama will be making that will be aimed at the economy. that is still the number one issue for most americans, according to our latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. today the president is touting two new executive actions that he is taking, martin. the first one aimed at making information that is stored by

the federal government more accessible to people, more accessible to entrepreneurs, to innovators. the second part is to direct $200 million in pre-existing federal funds to creating three manufacturing innovation institutes. really three manufacturing hubs. then he's going to ask congress for an extra billion dollars to create 15 more institutes of that type. not a whole lot of chance that that's actually going to happen. >> exactly. >> reporter: that's really the president's theme today. right. the importance of investing in manufacturing. and he's using texas as a backdrop, martin. the unemployment rate here is 6.4%. it is far lower than the national average. the president making the argument that is because this state has invested in manufacturing. he's going to stop here next at this company, applied materials, which is one of the nation's largest semiconductor manufacturers. by the way, you brought up the fact that rick perry met him at the airport. the state's republican governor. he touts the fact that the

unemployment rate is so low to the fact that taxes here are so low for businesses. so that is certainly a point upon which he and the president would disagree. by the way, some people think that there are some political overtones to this trip, martin. that president obama is perhaps trying to make this state a battleground state by 2020. the white house saying politics not at play, this is purely about the economics. certainly an interesting point to consider. martin? >> absolutely. kristen, the house republicans, of course, have blocked the president's jobs act. and speaker boehner warmed over some criticism of the president on jobs today. but then he suddenly started speaking some sense. take a listen. >> we can't cut our way to prosperity. we need real economic growth. >> now, i had to check that i was hearing that right, kristen. the speaker of the house, the republican speaker says we cannot cut our way to prosperity. and yet we just spent the last five years hearing him say the

exact thing. >> reporter: well, look, democrats have seized upon those comments today, martin. i can tell you i've been speaking with officials with house speaker john boehner's office. they point out that the house speaker also talked about the need to reform the tax code, to reform regulatory codes. so they say that he really had a broader message. in terms of what those comments mean, does this mean that we're going to see house speaker john boehner and president obama sit down and start to work together? not necessarily. as you know, the president has been spending a fair amount of time with republicans lately. he's been taking them out to lunch and dinner. he played golf with republican senators earlier this week. so far that hasn't yielded any real advances in terms of sitting down to get a broader budget deal passed. take those comments for what they will. according to house speaker john boehner's office, they had a broader meeting. >> kristen welker, thanks so much. joining us, erica greeter,

of "texas monthly" and author of "big, hot, cheap and right: what america could learn from the strange genius of texas." governor rick perry gave the president a very hearty welcome just now on the tarmac. a spokeswoman from his office told "the national review" that texas is the right place to study economic growth. i'm quoting her. "texas' success didn't happen by accident. it's a result of policies put in place under governor perry's leadership with a laser focus on making texas a beacon of economic freedom." but i have to ask you, erica, how much did rick perry's texas miracle rely on the billions of dollars in federal money and government jobs? >> the stimulus. actually not very much. the state has been a net contributor to federal taxes over about the past 20-year span, so we did get money in the stimulus despite initial pushback from the state's

republican leadership against the stimulus. that's not a big factor what happened in the state the last 10, 15 years. >> particularly over the last five years during this recession period, mr. perry, the governor seems to believe everything is down to him. is that a fair statement? >> well, it's an interesting -- i do give him some credit. he didn't screw it up, right? >> right. >> i think he inherited a model -- >> that's an achievement, isn't it. >> it is, right? the first thing you want to do is not make things worse. he did that. it's been a model states have had for a long time. low task, low spending, fiscally cur conservative state. i think if perry, he's done some things to push that further. he did a couple t.o.r.t. reforms, not a huge part of the model but he's done that a couple times. they did tax restructuring in the state. they've done some industrial incentives and abatements to try to encourage certain industries to develop in the state. >> right. >> they've resisted, i think, certain measures that might have

been bad for the economy like the push toward e-verify implementation for businesses. i think he's pursued the model he inherited and done well with it. >> now, the president is in town to talk about job growth and the economy as we were hearing. he may have a political purpose in mind for the long term. because with a 40% latino population growing fast, democrats think all they have to do is boost turnout. do you agree that texas could, okay, not turn blue, but at least perhaps be purple in the years ahead? >> well, it's certainly plausible. there has to be some candidates organizing some campaign infrastructure and some effort from the party. you have the battleground texas initiative that recently set up camp here in austin to that end. there are some democrats who are mayors of the city and who are in the legislature who seem to be eyeing those kinds of jobs down the road. we'll see what happens. i think one for thing for democrats that's a challenge, what argument do you offer

contrary to the republicans? the democrats when they were in power in the state were close to what we now think of as a moderate republican party. saying, we're pro-business, we're pro-education, we're pro-low taxes. and i think today's democrats in texas still are more like that than national democrats, but they're going to have to make a case. i think that's -- for change in the state. >> erica greider, on texas. thank you so much. next, the politics of benghazi grow clearer by the moment, but we think we found the real cover-up. stay with us. woman: everyone in the nicu -- all the nurses wanted to watch him when he was there 118 days. everything that you thought was important to you

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from a heinous attack on americans, to a wealth of conspiracy theories on the right. here are today's top lines. the truth will set you free. >> benghazi bombshell. accusations heat up, what will the whistleblowers reveal? >> testimony that will blow the lid off the giant cover-up. >> this is about getting to the truth. >> what did the president do? >> the president was in the middle of his re-election. terrorism had been defeated. he had defeated it. this ran counter to the narrative. >> the accusation makes no sense. >> attacks by republicans to

politicize what was a tragic attack. >> congress has held nine full hearings. >> the most organized concerted effort house republicans have made on anything since they took control of the house. >> i find it truly disturbing the first thing some did in this country was attack the military, the president, the state department. >> during the bush administration, there were 54 attacks on diplomatic targets that killed 13 americans. yet garnered only three hearings on embassy security and zero outrage on fox. >> susan rice, she blamed this attack on a video. >> i was stunned. my jaw dropped. >> somebody the other day said to me, this is as bad as watergate. nobody died in watergate. >> this is an administration that is practicing now serial deception. >> if there has, indeed, been a cover-up -- >> and if dingleberries were diamonds i could open a kays jewelers in my pants.

>> i'm questioning motives about witnesses. i'm questioning motives of those who want to use their statements for political purposes. >> they're just not winning over any converts to their position. >> substantiated republican allegations, disintegrated one by one. >> this hearing is now over but this investigation is not. joining us now is democratic congressman elijah cummings of maryland who was the ranking member at wednesday's benghazi hearing. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon, martin. >> speaker boehner, today, emerged to demand the white house release e-mails about benghazi. i have to ask you, are you, sir, involved in this white house conspiracy to cover up what happened in order to re-elect the current president? >> of course not. and i don't believe that there is a conspiracy, martin. it's interesting that one of the witnesses, yesterday, made it -- said that he had been told that

he couldn't say certain things to an investigator, to congressman chaffetz when he went over there to investigate. he said that during the hearing. on april 11th, martin, in his spo sworn testimony, sworn interview, he said there was no effort on the part of the state department to direct how he should say things or what he should say or limit him to what he should say. he did say they told him they wanted him to have a state department lawyer which is, you know, the usual. and they wanted him to have the state department lawyer because there was an fbi investigation going on and they wanted to make sure that he did not divulge anything that was sensitive to that fbi investigation. and by the way, that is standard procedure. >> of course. >> but he -- >> why the confusion, then, sir,

on the part of this witness who was giving testimony? >> well, i think mr. hicks was, you know, i don't blame him, martin. i blame the republicans. when i read the transcript, they were trying to put into his mouth the words that there was some kind of conspiracy and that he was being pushed not to say certain things, but, and then even yesterday, as i listened to mr. jordan, examining him, he basically tried to twist it and make this witness say something that he really, obviously, did not mean. because when we go through his sworn testimony, by the way, that was in a calm situation where republican investigators were asking him questions, he said emphatically, no. he was not coerced in any way or told not to say certain things. as a matter of fact, he had a lot of freedom to say whatever he wanted.

>> he did. >> except, like i said, except having the lawyer present because the fbi, martin, was at that time trying to investigate the situation over in benghazi. >> now, thomas pickering, who led the state department's review, has said, and i'm quoting him, that the notion of the cover-up has the elements of a pulitzer prize fiction. but here's what senator rand paul said about former secretary of state clinton on the radio last week. and i'm quoting him. "i don't question her motives, but her dereliction of duty and her lack of leadership should preclude her from ever holding any office." i have to ask you, congressman, hasn't mr. paul given the game away by saying, i don't want to run against that impressive woman for the presidency in 2016? that's what he said on the radio last week. that's what this is about. it is undermining the former secretary of state so that she

might limp into, should she choose to, limp into a presidential contest in 2016. and it's fitting that someone like senator rand paul should say that because we know that he's one who is actively considering the possibility of running. >> i think the sad part about all of this, martin, is that this is largely about politics, and it doesn't take much to see that. and that's what's so painful about this. i mean, we've got four dedicated members of our diplomatic team who have been killed, and we ought to be about the business of doing a truly bipartisan investigation so that we can make sure that our embassies and our diplomatic teams are properly guarded. >> but congressman, congressman, i listened to that hearing yesterday where you spoke. where was the republican outrage about them cutting $128 million from the administration's

request for embassy security in 2011? where was darrell issa's anger that he and his fellow republicans slashed $331 million from embassy security for the fiscal year 2012? when ambassador chris stevens was killed. where was their outrage about that? >> well, that concerns me, too. and that goes to the essence of what i'm trying to do. i was glad the whistleblowers came forward, but at the same time, the father of tyrone wood came up to me and said to me, he said, congressman, i'm glad you're doing this, i just want to make sure that nobody else suffers the way that my son suffered. and i committed to him and i commit to all of those families that we're going to get this straight. but we can't get it straight if we put politics above policy. and that's -- and we -- i say,

martin, we're better than that. i'm hoping we can get on a course where we find resolution to this problem and make sure that our people are protected and our embassies are protected. >> this is not a fact finding tour, sir. this is a theatrical farce. representative elijah cummings. thank you for joining us, sir. >> thank you. coming up, beyond benghazi. we will expose the real cover-up in washington. stay with us. [ male announcer ] there are many ways to thank our military families. walmart and operation homefront are thanking them by offering a little help when they need it the most. operation homefront provides assistance to our servicemen and women when they have unforeseen difficulties. [ mcmahon ] i was first introduced to operation homefront when we found out we were having a baby. even when i'm gone, she has a helping hand. thank you for everything you've done for us. [ male announcer ] walmart has teamed up with kellogg's to make a donation to operation homefront to help support military families. you can help too. find out how at walmart.com/heroes.

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to those seniors who rely on them. and as one oklahoma man interviewed by a pbs affiliate put it, it forces volunteer agencies to make some awful decisions. >> willfully, do you want to be the person who says, you, you, you, you and you, no meals today. you, you, you and you, can't get a ride to the doctor. >> but it's not just meals on wheels. head start cuts are likely to effect up to 70,000 children. in fact, in indiana, they've had to hold lotteries to determine which students they must remove from their programs. even small business, which republicans claim they represent, stand to lose up to $902 million in loan guarantees. congressman mike rogers of alabama is one of many congressmen just back from recess. and while at home, well, he got an earful from a small businessman about the sequester cuts. >> if the house of representatives had done more to

hurt my business than anything, government, by anybody, state, local, federal, has ever done in that 15 years. every time you all do something and cut funding, it hurts my customers. >> joining us now is karen finney, my soon to be colleague here at msnbc. and a former dnc communications director. and jonathan alter, a columnist with the "bloomberg view." back to both of you. karen, the head start cuts are so bad that "the new york times" reports that children in colorado springs are trying to paint chairs and then sell them for $500 a piece. i actually -- >> i saw that. >> -- spoke with school representatives. they say they've sold something like four chairs. isn't this the true cover-up that's going on today? >> of course it is. and the thing that we know, oh, so well, because we've heard it time and again, is that when we get to sometime in the summer when we're trying to talk about the budget or facing the debt ceiling crisis, what's going to be the excuse? we don't have enough time. and this is the precious time

that they are now spending that they should be spending not on benghazi but actually on let's get some kind of deal, let's figure out some way to reverse these cuts. >> john, when secretary of state hillary clinton was testifying about benghazi a few months ago, she said that nothing, nothing that she could say or do would ever bring back the lives of those who were killed on that terrible day. but how critical is it for these young children to have a resource like head start? i mean, are we just making this up? are these people just making up and exaggerating their reliance on this program? or is it critical to them? >> let's just broaden the conversation out from head start little bit, because these cuts go all the way across everything -- >> sure. >> -- that the federal government does. so people can have a particular problem maybe with head start. maybe it doesn't have the results they want. anybody can find various problems with various government programs. but to take a machete to the federal budget this way is

mindless. pretty much all of these agencies could close some programs, consolidate programs, save some money. obama's for that. democrats are for that. but to just kind of say that arbitrarily everything has to be cut, what ends up happening is, look at these people on dialysis. they get rides to their kidney dialysis programs. if they don't get there for their dialysis treatment, they can die. these rides have been dramatically cut back in some areas because of these cuts. multiply that by thousands of programs and different things the federal government is involved with. whether it's small business, head start, or anything else. the only people spared are those who serve the powerful. like airlines. >> yeah. >> because congressmen have to fly home. they don't want the delays at the airport. so they fixed that and they left the poor and the sick to fend for themselves. and that's immoral in the united states. >> karen, go ahead. >> you know, martin, here's what i love about this.

so earlier this week, i had to bring this to read this to you. eric cantor was complaining about how the media is so mean to the gop and paints them into a corner. and he said, "they say all we're concerned with is somehow balancing the budget, cutting spending and taking things away from people." well, let's see. that would be head start, that would be meals on wheels. that would be, you know, rides to get your cancer treatment. yes, that is taking things away from people. he went on in that speech to say, we've got to really be talking to people and the needs that things that really concern them. i'm not sure when that's going to start, by the way. he certainly seems to say -- >> i mean, let's be honest, karen, i mean, let's be honest, eric cantor, what is it now, 25.0 reboot. i mean, it's ridiculous. the oklahoma man we showed in the first clip continues on to say, i'm quoting him. "giving tax cuts to rich folk, that's what we're talking about here." he's right, isn't he? because republicans will not relinkish the sequester because

they won't agree to the president closing tax loopholes on the superrich. that's the problem, isn't it? >> that is. that is the essence of it. in other words, this is kind of a robinhood in reverse. they're taking from the neediest programs, the ones for wealthier people are spared because they're well connected in washington. right? >> of course. >> so they're going to get away from these cuts. they're taking from the poor in order to give to the wealthy in tax cuts. that's the class-based politics that we're living in right now. >> karen, final word to you. i thought they had accused the president of class warfare. >> i remember that. yeah. how about that? now they are the ones engaging in class warfare. and somehow i'm sure by the end of this week they'll flip that back around in some, you know, republican jujitsu we have yet to see on how this is actually the president's fault. because remember, despite the fact that he warned them again and again and again that this would have a real impact, they made fun of that. they didn't see it until their rich donors' fault. >> everything is the president's

fault, by definition. >> thank you very much indeed. karen finney, jonathan alter. i'm glad we agree on that. next, day one of the jodi arias sentencing trial has been abruptly canceled. we'll tell you why in a moment from phoenix. straight ahead. not bad. this tree has deep roots, strong limbs... things are perched and not pinned. nicely done. the boys love it. they are up there day and night. well that might be because you overlooked one thing... what? it looks into your neighbor's window. ohhh boy. hel-lo, mrs. kozlowski. boys? i'm gonna get the hose. [ dennis ] home insurance with do-it-yourself tips? that's allstate home insurance. great protection plus helpful advice to make life better. talk to an allstate agent... [ doorbell rings ] and let the good life in.

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jodi arias has been found guilty of first-degree murder. and the aggravation phase of her trial was supposed to start today. but for reasons that remain mysterious at this hour, court has been canceled. we're joined live now by diana alviar who is outside the court. diana, just moments ago we got this news. do you know what's going on? >> well, martin, this is what i can tell you. about 28 minutes after that hearing was supposed to begin, the media was still waiting in the hallway area. a court official abruptly canceled the hearing, said things will resume next wednesday at 10:00 in the morning and gave no reason.

this announcement came not long after we were able to confirm jodi arias had been transferred to the lower buckeye jail, the psych ward. of course, this comes after last night we heard from the maricopa county sheriffs department arias was on ssuicide watch after the infamous interview if which she discussed she wanted to be sentenced to death rather than spend the rest of her life in prison. a lot going on right now. we're trying to find out more and will let you know as soon as we get it. >> diana, i don't want to be unseemly about this. given the extent to which this woman has lied and manipulated, and found guilty, as you know, of first-degree murder, do you think this is part of a theatrical performance? she appears on that news broadcast and says she wants to die. she then is admitted to a psych unit earlier today. and now she's obviously not well enough to appear in proceedings for this aggravation hearing. is this some kind of active plan that she has? >> you know, martin, i can't

speculate on that. however, i can tell you that earlier when we found out that she'd been transferred to the psych ward, we were also told at that point she was in transport to the courthouse to come to this hearing. now, at this point we don't know why the hearing has been canceled. this wouldn't be the first time court has been canceled or delayed or, you know, outright -- they end it very early. different reasons include jodi wasn't feeling well or something happened. so it's not out of the ordinary for court not to have gone on today as usual. but we're still trying to find out why. >> well, you will and you'll bring it to us. nbc's diana alvear, thanks so much, diana. and we'll be right back to clear the air. for seeing your business in a whole new way. for seeing what cash is coming in and going out... so you can understand every angle of your cash flow- last week, this month, and even next year.

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and i have a massive heart attack right in my driveway. the doctor put me on a bayer aspirin regimen. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. go talk to your doctor. you're not indestructible anymore. it's time now to clear the air. one of the reasons cited by the republican party for why it failed so badly in the last presidential election is this.

>> for too long, our demographic inclusion efforts have been separate from our on the ground political activities. well, that's coming to an end. >> it was, therefore, no surprise that the so-called gop "autopsy" report recommended and endorsed comprehensive immigration reform. now, since then, we've had the so-called gang of eight senators who put together a proposal, and today the senate judiciary committee has been considering some possible amendments. well, i say "amendments" but they're more like a series of lethal injections solely designed to kill the proposal stone dead. and here's just one of them. as presented by republican senator jeff sessions of alabama. mr. sessions believes that although the current proposal would require an undocumented immigrant to show an average income of 125% more than the current federal level of poverty, he wants that figure

raised to 400%. and here's what that means in cash terms. for an individual, the currently assessed poverty level is $11,490. under the gang of eight's proposal, an undocumented immigrant would have to prove that they've earned $14,360 a year. but under mr. sessions' amendment, that individual would need to prove an average income of $45,960 per year or they can kiss good-bye to ever becoming legal permanent residents. this means that under mr. sessions' amendment, an undocumented immigrant, in order to achieve legal status, would have to prove that they've earned more than the following. medical technicians, opthalmic, who make over $35,000 a year and transportation security screeners who make $37,000 a year.

the new republican outreach to the undocumented designed to put legal permanent status out of their reach. thanks so much for watching. chris matthews and "hardball" is next. horror in cleveland. let's play "hardball." good evening, i'm chris matthews in washington. let me start tonight with this. the horrors of cleveland are growing. one of those captive women was forced to deliver her child in a plastic swimming pool so it would be easy to clean up afterwards. when her baby got sick and stopped breathing, her captor said, if the baby dies, you die. and other times when she got pregnant, the man holding her captive starved her and beat her in the stomach to force a miscarriage. as a final grotesquery, and gave each of his three female