tv Andrea Mitchell Reports MSNBC May 29, 2013 10:00am-11:01am PDT
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the most common adverse reactions were vomiting, itching and lethargy. serious adverse reactions have been reported following concomitant extra-label use of ivermectin with spinosad alone, one of the components of trifexis. prior to administration, dogs should be tested for existing heartworm infection. to learn more about trifexis, talk to your veterinarian, call 888-545-5973 or visit trifexis.com. you don't have to go to extremes to protect your dog from parasites. you need trifexis. visit our website to save up to $25. available by prescription from your veterinarian. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," bachmann bails. the tea party caucus leader and one-time republican presidential hopeful will not seek reelection to congress and goes out of her way to say what it's all not about. >> be assured, my decision was not in any way influenced about any concerns about my being reelectioned to congress.
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i've always in the past defeated candidates who are capable, qualified and well funded. i have every confidence that if i ran, i would again defeat the individual who i defeated last year. >> so what is the real story? we'll get to it on our daily fix. tipping point in syria. the arms race escalates. rebels plead for more weapons as russia sends advanced missiles to the regime. richard engel has the latest from beirut. twister threat. more than a dozen reports, as twisters cross the midwest tuesday. our storm chasers are on the lookout for potential dangerous weather in the same region, including battered oklahoma today. education nation, the uproar over school closings in chicago. >> there no educator i know that
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wants to close schools. there's no up side. >> my conversation with education secretary arne duncan about chicago and also high schools across the country, high schools of the future. someone get the tide. president obama's got some explaining to do about that lipstick on his collar at a white house reception. >> i want to thank everybody who is here, the incredible warmth of the reception, a sign of the warmth is the lip stick on my collar. i have to say, i think i know the culprit. where is jessica sanchez -- no, it wasn't jessica. it was her aunt. where is she? auntie right there, look at this. i look at this. i want everybody to witness. so i do not want to be in trouble with michelle. that's why i'm calling you out.
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right in front of everybody. and on top of the world, a russian daredevil marks the 60th anniversary of the conquest of mt. everett with a record-defying free fall from the north face. whoa. dizzy after that. good day, i'm andrea mitchell, live in washington. she won the iowa straw poll, but that was as good as it got. in a surprise move today. tea party caucus favorite michele bachmann announced she will call it quits, ending one of the morse memorable recent congressional careers. this morning she released this ad, a message to her constituents, that she will not be back in 2015, while playing defense on a number of topics. this cake only one week after congresswoman bachmann released a tv campaign ad touting her latest accomplishments. >> great news, the u.s. how just passed my bill to repeal obamacare. >> bachmann did face a major
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challenge next year from jim graves, who lost to her in november by only 42 hundred votes. her crease has had plenty of national highlights. the highest points in 2011, where she drew rave reviews for her debate performance in new hampshire. >> we're going to win. make no mistake about it. i want to announce tonight. president obama is a one-term president. >> she parlayed that showing into an iowa straw poll victory just a few months later. the first republican woman to emerge from ames victorious. >> this was a wonderful down payment on taking the country back, and it started in iowa. you've done it, iowa. thank you. >> but there were also plenty of pitfalls along the way. for bachmann, her 2011 tea party response to the state of the union was slightly off-tilt,
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leading to much ridicule. her presidential campaign hit a roadblock in iowa, after winning the straw poll in january 2012, she tumbled to, suspending her campaign a few days later. congresswoman bachmann has not been able to turn her early power into success on the hill legislatively. the federal election commission is reportedly working into -- that bachmann to pay a fund-raising consultant. joining me for our "daily fix" chris cillizza, and mark murray, our deputy political director here at nbc. chris cillizza, first to you, the fact she's not seeking reelection, she was a shooting star in the last campaign cycle. to 9 heights of the straw poll in ames, and then also the
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depths, as she stumbled along the way. >> right. andrea, look, you noted it. june 13th, 2011, the first republican presidential debate, new hampshire, bachmann sort of the star of that debate in many ways. august 13th, 2011, michele bachmann wins the ames straw poll. two months, two great months in which she rose to become -- and we saw this happen time and against, she is rose to become the mitt romney alternative. what happened on that same day, rick perry, the governor of texas entered the presidential race. he sapped momentum from bachmann. she trueled to unite conservatives behind her and her penchant for speaking off the cuff, comments about vaccines, food stamps, ultimately fact checkers found them to be false, that ended up dragging her down as much as anyone else. she was her own best friend.
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she has a charisma, an ability to know what the base gets excited about, but she took it too far. i think that's why you see her ending her career here. >> mark murray, let's look at what happened when matt lauer asked her about the vaccine. this was on the "today" show. >> i will tell you that i had a mother last night come up to me here in tampa, florida, after the debate. she told me her little daughter took that vaccine, that injection, and she suffered from mental retardation thereafter. it can have very dangerous side effects. the mother was crying when she came up to me last night. i didn't know who she was before the debate. this is the very real concern, and people have to draw their own conclusion. >> you know, there's something going on here, where someone can rocket to the top with unsupported claims like that one, and get a lot of publicity because of us, because of the television, because there's a
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"newsweek" cover as well, and at the same time get all this attention without doing the basic spade work of becoming a presidential candidate. things have changed. it is media driven. >> there was a certain electricity around her for the two months from june to august of 2011. what was fascinating about that entire republican field, it was that electricity, the tea party enthusiasm went from candidate to candidate, first michele bachmann, the alternative to mitt romney, then it became rick perry, then herman contain, newt gingrich, rick santorum. by the time we're in january, february 2012 in the meat of those contests, as you mentioned, that was a false claim she had on the hpv vaccine, and she was a candidate who ended up launching a thousand fact checks during that vote, where a lot of political reporters had to become fact checkers every time she was in the debate or making a claim. >> chris, get in on this conversation, about how politics have changed, and how this
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republican primary basically epitomized all of that. >> that's what i was going to say. i would say, look, you know, she rose quickly, but you simply cannot, as a serious presidential candidate, take one anecdotal story that someone told you before the debate, use it in the debate and then cite it as sort of scientific evidence. you just can't do that. to your point, you can rise and also fall quicker, and ultimately mitt romney wound up as the nominee. you know, that ultimately this is a process that does sort of whittle out some of those folks who can rise quickly, but fall quickly. think about it, michele bachmann got elected in 2006, and wasn't a national figure until about 2010, so we're talking about 3 1/2 years in which we've sort of been talking about michele bachmann.
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it's icarus-like, way up toward the sun and dropping quickly toward thor. the process is still working in that people who make claims like that are ultimately weeded out and do not end up as the nominee. >> i wanted to close this out by talking about a politician who is switching back again. you've confirmed, mark murray reports that linking chafee will become a democrat again. >> and chris reported that news, too. he's got from -- he was a -- there is a crowded democratic primary for the governor of rhode island. there is doubt he might be able to win that nomination. some peopleivity spoken to thought his path of remaining as an independent is safer, because you end up splitting the democratic vote and you can end up winning. we'll see if it ends up paying out for him. he's going to run as a democrat in 2014. >> thank you so much, mark
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murray. thank you, and joining miss is andy parrish, michele bachmann's former chief of staff. thank you for joining us. we wanted to get to some of the charges that former staff members, including yourself, have made on this subject. we should point out that michele bachmann's attorney has said she's done nothing wrong and she's cooperating with the office of congressional ethics. what do you know about whether the fec or the office of congressional ethics, a preliminary group, what down about what actually happened in this campaign? >> thanks for having me on, andrea. ultimate down in iowa. i had move to work the straw poll for her. i'll be honest, from what i've seen and heard, i don't think there's anything investigating the congresswoman. from what i know, i really don't think there is. i think they're seeking out a couple payments that were made apparently to a fund-raiser, and also talking about some payments made to an iowa state senator.
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as far as the congresswoman is concerned, i don't think that had much, if any, effect at all on her decision not to run again. >> be that as it may, have you been involved in any affidavits oquestioning by they investigators. >> that was mainly to let them know that any payments that were made to an iowa state senator, certainly the congresswoman was aware of, but she was also told that they were perfectly legal payments to make, and that she had instructed all of us at all times to follow the law, which i believe we did. >> this is the senator soren son, the state senator -- >> well, i mean, we'll see the outcome of that investigation, but i can tell you.
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>> what was set up is he would get paid through a different llc. at the end of the day, the congresswoman was assured that that was a legal transaction. and i still believe that it was. >> why have some characterized this as money laundering? >> well, i think it's -- look, she's a lightning rod, a conservative lightning rod, a conservative hero. we don't have many conservatives. i think that when you can kind of poke the cage a bit, i think people do that. here's a great opportunity, i think, for sort of some individuals to try to make a name for themselves, get a bit of press and try to poke at her, when in reality, you can't name very many names of congress or president atcandidates that are involved and how people are paid. they're just not that involved in the my nusha details like that. >> are you surprised she's not seeking reelection? >> i am. my wife woke me up at about 2:30, 3:00 this morning when the video was posted.
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she was feeding our little boy. she said you're not going to believe this. i have not been able to go back to bed since. the field is already getting crowded in the 6th congressional district, and people will have great choices to choose from next election. >> why do you think she cut a tv ad. only last week we saw a reelection campaign add. why would she make such a sudden decision, such a change of mind? >> michelle is -- i've had the pleasure of knowing her and serving her. michelle is not what i would classify as a politics. i believe she's somebody in her heart feels like she's doing the right thing. in which some ways she has, and with michelle, if she just felt her time was up, she felt her time was up. the district she sits in is plus 17 rep and plus 9.
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we had obama on the ballot last electionic sole, but i'm confident she would have won again. the district is that republican. i think in her mind she just decided i've served my country, i've done what i feel is best and done the best job i can, and now it's time for somebody else to do the job. >> andy parrish, thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me, andrea. now to new jersey, chris christie is standing by the rutgers leadership despite the latest controversy. herman has been accused of mistreating her volley ball team at the university of tennessee. the new jersey governor said he has spoken with the rutgers president and will not micromanage those hiring decisions. >> i don't know julie herman, i've never met julie herman, i've never spoken to her. i wasn't involved in the recruiting, vetting or anything else, as i should not be. i'm the governor of new jersey,
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welcome back. the crisis in syria is bleeding into nations throughout the middle east, and while the obama administration continues to search for a diplomatic way out with russia, vladimir putin keeps props up the assad regime with advanced weapons. richard? >> reporter: andrea, what started out two years ago as an uprising from the syrian people has now become the most convoluted complicated international situation the middle east has seen in years. just look at the controversy over weapons. the eu recently decided to live an arms embargo on syria, making it legal for european nations,
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particularly britain, which has been pushing for this, to supply sophisticated weapons to the syrian opposition. russia is condemning that, iran is condemning that, saying it will only make the situation on the ground worse, but at the same time russia recently said it is also supplying weapons to the syrian government. even while russia says it is supporting a peace plan, russia announced it plans to transfer s-300 anti-aircraft missiles to syria. the world "anti-aircraft" is key here, because the syrian rebels don't have aircraft. why would the government need them? syria seems very clear it wants these weapons to prevent any kind of international weapons, prevent a no-fly zone like the kind that senator mccain is calling for. if there were a no-fly zone by the u.s. or france, nato or other countries, it could have to operate out of turkey or jordan and fly over syrian
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airspace, with these s-300, syria would have an increased capability to knock those aircraft out of the sky. israel is also very concerned about the transfer of these weapons, because israel, as you know, has carried out numerous air strikes against hezbollah in syria, another international component in this. israel worries if the syrian government is armed with these new anti-aircraft missiles, it won't be able to continue targeting hezbollah. then here in lebanon, the country is divided. some people are with the rebels, the sunni population in lebanon wants to support the uprising against bashar al assad, so there are so many different camps, so many different possibility solutions. at the end of the day it's boiling down to weapons, who supplies them action who gets them. andrea? >> thank to you, richard, in beirut. to talk about the spread -- steve clemens, editor at large
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for "the atlantic." and state correspondent for the about. bc, and author of "the secretary." you're watching richard engel there in beirut, obviously where you grew up. lebanon is now caught at the heart of the exploding syrian crisis. >> it was inevitable. i think i was on your show a few weeks ago warning about the possibility that hezbollah and iran would decide to go all in in the fight to help prop up president assad in syria, make sure he doesn't fall. they made the calculation they could do this, not necessarily to win in the traditional sense, but at least make sure he stays there and doesn't lose. additionally, they feel -- hezbollah feels that it is important for them to maintain what they call the axis of resistance, the supply of arms to them in lebanon.
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that all really muddies the water, and turns this into potentially also a sunni/shia war. it's taking sectarian overtones. when it comes to lib nonitself, perhaps i'm eternally optimistic will lebanon's to stay out of all-out conflict, now that we've seen what it does, to avoid having the war into lebanon, but there will be those recurring incidents like the one we saw on sunday where rockets were fired into hezbollah neighborhood in beirut, but you know, andrea, i can't help noticing that richard is standing on the cornice, right on the water, where the american embassy was bombed in 1983, and that brings to the fore the discussion about what america should do about syria. it's a very stark reminder that american involvement in the
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middle east doesn't always end well, and for people who are calling for american involvement in an effort to try to end the violence in syria, increasingly you're hearing those voices saying the u.s. has to get involved, has to show leadership, we don't know what form it will take, but i understand the hesitations in washington, and i was speaking to syrian activist the other day who said, you know, our perception of what we want from america is changing as well. we're not asking for boots on the ground, we just want leadership. i thought that was a very interesting distinction. >> steve clemens, you could broughton this out to take a look at iraq. we've had violence in baghdad, sunni versus shia violence, and it's emblematic of how not only this is spreading, but how american involvement doesn't et end well. >> i think one of the vital things -- it was clear from the beginning that the hezbollah and lebanon would be involved.
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it was clear from the beginning in afghanistan, in iraq, that these were potential violent sectarian civil wars, on top of which you had stakeholders in the region willing to engage in proxy conflict. we knew that syria would be a rubik's cube problem. and those senators this week continue to advocate for simple binary responses in a cauldron of horrible problems that just defy simple explanation. i think that the way kim described it, and the early warnings on what would happen, because i do disagree with kim on one aspect of this. i don't know what lebanon can withstand, but jordan, lebanon, turkey, iraq, and the kurdish population, which i think is complex in the region, you have to potentially expanding this across 78 other borders. that's a point of leverage for
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bashar al assad. his thread to the region is there. you see the europeans removing their arms embargo, the russians saying we'll throw in the defense systems, maybe all of this and the fear of this will lead it to a peace conference, there is an argument to be made that each side begins looking into the abyss, and that might be the condition that leads them to peace. i would doubt action like most other observers that could be it. >> speaking of proxy wars, once you have hezbollah and iran so involved, inevitably, especially with lebanon now as a new battle front, if you will or potential battle front, you have israel involved. >> absolutelivities now that israel is trying to prevent that from happening, you know israel will not wait very long. >> israel -- to israel's benefit, i think it's demonstrated a lot of restrain. >> so far. >> and i suspect that it is the regional super-power.
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it has great capacity, enormous intelligence capacity. so i think that while israel may get involved, and certainly is in the zone of concern, it's managed its strategic assets very well. >> what is the likelihood of a diplomatic conference even taking place? >> it's very unlikely, though a lot of efforts are trying -- >> john kerry has staked a lot. >> andy wendy sherman traveling to gen northeast to to meet with her russian counterparts, a top state officials, to try to bring this conference together. we understand the syrian government is willing to go. president assad has said he's willing to go, but you have an issue with the syrian opposition. they have their own preconditions. they've been holding this conference in istanbul for dales on end trying to put a platform program for their vision, for the future of syria. >> and the russians insisting on
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iran. >> russians insisting on iran, opposition insisting if they go, assad as a precondition cannot be part of syria's future. that isn't a precondition that president assad is going to -- >> that russia -- we'll have to leave it there. as you described it, it is a rubik's cube, and unfortunately one that is stained with blood. thank you so much. kim ghattas, always great to have you. red cross staff have been evacuated after a deadly ambush. officials say three suicide bombers targeted the international red cross's office. an hour-long gun battle ensued, where all three of the attackers were killed. time for the entrepreneur of the week. c oeismt of maker -- he created a 3-d printer and now the company is at the hub of the
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weather remains high today for much of the region, including oklahoma city and moore. the weather channel's mike bettes is keeping a close eye on it from his truck in wichita. i think you're in the blue mobile or one of our vehicles. tell me more about what you're seeing and where the threat is highest. >> we are moving a bit west of wichita, the bloom mobile, named after david bloom. we are definitely watching for a very violent weather this afternoon, maybe as violent as what we saw yesterday, maybe even worse today. we already have a tornado watch. what we're looking at right now, as we drive done the road, wide open countryside, not a lot of buildings to hit, mostly crops out here. this is proverbial tornado alley. it could be an active day here. violent tornadoes, long-track tornadoes, meaning tornadoes that stay on the ground for 20,
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30, 40 miles at a time. eventually when it stays on the ground so long, it will hit something. we don't want a repeat of last week, so as long as everyone's aware today and they know where to go when that warn is issued, i think they'll be in a good shape. underground would not be a bad appears whatsoever. we're just waiting for it. probably another couple hours and thing will really explode this afternoon violently. well, stay safe, mike bettes, thank you very much. meanwhile, a tribute to courage in boston at fenway last night. jeff bowman and the man who saved his life were reunited to throw out the first pitch at the red sox/phillies game. bowman lost both legs in the past. this became a symbol of resolve after the attack. the cloud gave the two a standing ovation, as he pushed bowman out to the mound to throw
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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. welcome back. ten years ago. the "uss stennis" headed over. he went to meet the heroes. >> there's a saying aboard -- everybody feats the jets. even after hundreds of flights, pilot dave, still gets a thrill from sitting in the driver's seat of an fa-18 hornet. >> fastest in the world. >> reporter: he also knows that every day he flies, he puts his life in the hands of his ship mates. ste in. nis has four independent steam
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catapaults, each capable of hurdling them in the air. too much and the jet could be damaged. too little and tucked plunge into the sea. it's been almost an hour now since jack came on deck. moment before takeoff. red shirts signal him to lift his arms as they activate his weapons. in the final seconds, the all clear. the shooter presses the button. jack is airborne. you can see more of tom's visit aboard the system tennis as he reopening "the brokaw files" airing on the military channel tomorrow. now in new york.
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let's talk about why you wanted to go back and share with us some of these extraordinary reports. >> i think it's a need as we sit here i think people at their duty stations get transferred to the pacific recently, and they had what i thought was a very good idea, they invited families to come on board so they could see what it was like. they went out at sea for two nights, and they spent time in the cramped quarters, and watched their husbands and wives and sisters and brothers perform these extraordinary duties. it is a small city an u.s. aircraft carrier, nuclear powered, as this one is, has top gun pilots to ordinary seaman down there fixing the electronics. we can't forget that this is
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going on as we lead our civilians lives here in the sang at this time of this country. >> on a carrier, it is a synchronized city. everything is done, you know, in perfect order, because there are real threats of accidents and other unintended consequences. so they are in the eye of the storm, but also worrying about other kinds of accidents along the way, especially on those takeoffs and landings. >> 5200 people on board, and they're all working on a common mission, which is keeping the ship on course and keeping the planes in the sky. it's not just getting a wash, but to come back. nighttime landings could not be more harrowing. i was part of a group that helped grate nighttime landings. a couple of them missed their cable catch, had to go around, and the admiral said this is not good news for the rest of the ship. if they miss this time, we'll be
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all night long putting up tankers to get more fuel so they can come back in the daytime hours. it was one of the most inspirational experiences i've ever had, to see people from all over the country, every ethnic group action men and women alike, no one turned on the other one and said are you from a blue state or red state? they just want to get the job done. >> this is a good point also, to take a pause. i want to ask you about all of the accusations and denials. and saying that the in the eye of another storm, with house for members of the judiciary committee saying they want to find out whether eric holder lied about those investigations, particularly into james rosin and fox news. first of all, perjury is a very specific charge, and, as talking
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to pete williams and digging deeper into this, and meeting walter pinkus this week is rather complicated. there are a lot of laws, and whether the attorney general broke the laud during testimony is considered highly unlikely in any kind of balanced approach. you had your own take, and you were quoted as saying that journalists should -- >> i recommended to everybody that they read a piece by walter pinkus in "the washington post" yet about how complicated the case is and the issues in play. there were real nationality security and intelligence issues that need to be examined very carefully. it is a complex case. i don't think the administration has done a very good job in describing in detail its side of the story. but so much of washington now on both sides of the aisle is probably a political game of
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gotcha. the country wants to move beyond that. in this case, i don't know enough about what eric holder did or did not do to make a conclusion or judgment about whether or not he was liable for a perjury investigation of some kind. i do know that these cases can be very complex. i also know that the obama administration has held on to information very tightly. as you know, it's very tough to get information, in other administrations we've been able to retrieve without as much difficulty as this one. this is a case that bears very careful detailed examination, and i think it's in the best interests the the country if everyone takes a breath and goes through it point by point. >> amen. tom brokaw, thank you so much. thank you for "the brokaw files" produced exclusively for the military channel by nbc news peacock productions. premieres thursday, may 30th at 10:00 eastern. thanks to tom. we'll be right back.
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chicago teachers are preparing to go to battle, the union is, with the city over the planned closure of 50 public schools. last week's vote to close dozens of schools sparked massive protests from parents, teachers and students. today the teachers' union is announcing a lawsuit again the city claiming that the state code prohibits the plan to close at least ten of those schools. yesterday i sat down with secretary arne duncan about the situation in chicago and the administration's plan to reimagine high schools for the future. >> there's no educator i know that wakes up in the morning and close schools. when you close schools, there no up side. kids lose, communities lose, parents lose, if you're in chicago seats for 500,000, you only have 400,000 and a budget shortfall, you have to make some tough calls. the big thing is how do we increase public confidence in
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public education and get great teachers and principals to go to the most underserved communities. >> in the perfect world from what you've suisun, what would you as a policy maker want to see as the new form of high school? >> i'm convinced the last adviser of people who drop out not because high school is too hard, but because it's too easy. they don't see the relevance between what's going on in school and the real world. more students have internships, doing job shadowing are engaged, then they recently read the article about how important it is to the rest of their lives. when that happens, young people don't drop out. >> what do we do about a generation of kids that don't have the opportunities i had when, in first grade, somebody put a violin in my hand, which was owned by the school district. >> so none of these -- these are great questions, none have easy answers. i think as a country we are fighting the battle right now.
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the battle is education an investment or is it education an expense? there are a set of phobes who look at education as an expense, when in tough economic times we cut back on. i think education is the best investment you can make. if you think it's expensive, try ignorance. we have to invest in the vision of reform, but where you see arts and dance and drama being eliminated. when you see p.e. and academic decathlon and yearbook and debate, when those opportunities don't exist, andrea, we're celting off or nose to spite our face. we're hurting our kids, our country, or economic competitiveness. if you want to reduce dropouts rates. for chris and i was basketball, for a lot of kids, it is dance, debate. you have to have that full menu, so kids can figure out what's going to keep them coming to school every single day. when we fail to make these
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investments, i worry tremendously. that's the battle right now, as a country we're fighting. >> how do you justify the waivers and the flexibility that are trying to show in trying to show in so many different states with the projected goal of overall higher standards? >> our first, our plan a was to have congress fix no child left behind, which i think is broke at so many levels. unfortunately, congress is pretty broken right now, pretty dysfunctional. so rather than sitting back and seeing student hurt and teachers hurt, we decided to have flexibility and partner with states. that's gone extraordinary well. we have states across the spectrum working with us. what we have seen, a couple of moves that i think are so important, first of all, much less focus than sang el test score, which i think is way too much at the country, long-term outcomes, increasing graduation rates, higher college going rates. better perseverance in college.
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not taking remedial classes once you leave high school. and so, some people critique us as more complex, more complicated. yes, it is. but it is more important than focussing on a third grade test score. >> nba all-star chris paul, who off the court has become a leading advocate for education reform, has started his own foundation. here is cp3 in his own words. >> i think a lot of times kids see tv and they see the artist and that's fine. they see us sports athletes and they think that's all you can be. that's all can you be is basketball, foot or something or it's nothing. and you have to find out in school what kids are interested in. and teachers do that. make sure you are vocal and figure out their personality and what they like and that's what we try to o do with our after
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school programs, is just get out there to the kids and i try to show them that i really do care. i'm not just a basketball player that you see on tv, that i really genuinely care about what you are doing and want it try to help. time there've been some good days. and some difficult ones. but, through it all we've persevered, supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. so why should our history matter to you? because for more than two centuries, we've been helping ideas move from ambition to achievement. ♪ and the next great idea could be yours. ♪
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so which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? chris cillizza is back with us. a lot of fund-raising. the first lady, jason collins, in new york this afternoon? >> busy, busy, busy. there's always fund-raising. people always say, politics is stopped for the moment. campaigning is stopped. there is always fund-raising. i think this is the big one to watch. you're right that there is a lot of events going on. but you mentioned it. michelle obama, jason collins, this is the first major sport athlete to come out as gay. attracted a huge amount of attention when he wrote his piece explaining why he did it.
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this will get a huge amount of attention with the first lady involved as well. >> and meanwhile, new york republicans have ted cruz. so that is something completely different. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> thank you, chris cillizza, see you tomorrow. that does it for us for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." craig melvin has a look at what's next on "news nation." >> hey there, andrea. more developing news out of afghanistan. what seems to be a coordinated group attack on a red cross office there. several foreign workers had to be rescued in the middle after gun fight. we will have a live report. also, what goes up is coming down today on wall street. as you can see there, stocks slumping after yesterday's record close on the dow. also, what the first team says in improving economy. could mean for washington's politics. it is one of the most searched stories. toronto's mayor trapped in a smoldering scandal after newspaper reports he is caught
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on tape. smoking crack. without the footage, will he be forced to step down? we will look at that. that's ouz "news nation's" gut check. music ... music... from capital one... boris earns unlimited rewards for his small business. can i get the smith contract, please? thank you. that's three new paper shredders. [ boris ] put 'em on my spark card. [ garth ] boris' small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase every day. great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. read back the chicken's testimony, please. "buk, buk, bukka!" [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose 2% cash back or double miles
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your trip begins at michigan.org. good wednesday. i'm craig melvin in for tamron hall. there is a new threat of violent tornadoes facing the midwest today. forecasters are predicting a round of potentially fierce twisters, starting this afternoon and into the evening, at greatest risk, that area around northern texas, oklahoma and kansas and the area around oklahoma city where people of course are still cleaning up after last week's devastating twister that killed 24. forecasters say there is a 50% chance of tornado activity today. meanwhile, last night in kansas, storm chasers caught this video of a massive tornado, right as it touched down. luckily damage was minimal and there were no reports o
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