i'm alex witt in for tamron hall. the news nation is following developing news. emotional words from trayvon martin's mother sybrina fulton, this at the national urban league conference. >> i'm just asking you to wrap your mind around that. wrap your mind around no prom for trayvon. no high school graduation for trayvon. no college for trayvon. no grand kids coming from trayvon. all because of a law. a law that has prevented the person who shot and killed my son to be held accountable.

>> those calls come after juror b-29 spoke with abc news and said she, quote, felt zimer man got away with murder but couldn't find him guilty because of the law. she also offered her apologies to trayvon martin's parents. >> what would you like to say to trayvon's parents? >> i would like to apologize because i feel like i let them down. >> joining me now, b.e.t. columnist and cnbc contributor keith boykin and criminal defense attorney john burris. keith, i want to start with you. let's play part of that interview that everybody's talking about today. here's some of that. >> george zimmerman got away with murder, but you can't get away from god. and at the end of the day, he's going to have a lot of questions and answers he has to deal with. the law couldn't prove it.

we just have to believe in the lord, that he's -- if he has to pay, he will pay. >> now, of course, you have to make a point that juror b-29 and her other jurors found george zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder. that said, were you surprised to see her come forward and make such an admission? >> i was surprised to see her come forward. i was surprised to see her show her face and to give out part of a name. it seems to me she clearly did not understand the law. i don't know if that was the fault of the judge or the fault of the prosecutor in terms of explaining the law to her. but the jury instructions specifically said in order to prove george zimmerman guilty of second-degree murder, it is not necessary to prove he had intent to cause death. that's completely not the issue. the issue wasn't about intent. it was about self-defense. she completely talked about intent as though that was an issue, which was a diversion from the real trial point. >> okay. here's a bit of what she went on to say. i'll pose this to you, john. she elaborates why they ultimately acquitted zimmerman. here's what she said.

>> how did you go from, in nine hours, from feeling he was guilty of second-degree murder to not guilty? >> it was hard. a lot of us wanted to find something bad, something that we could connect to the law because all six of us -- well, let's not speak for all six of us. for myself, he's guilty. the evidence shows he's guilty. >> he's guilty of? >> killing trayvon martin. but we couldn't prove that intentionally he killed him. that's the way that the law was read to me. >> so john, i have keith here shaking his head. he says they're not interpreting the law correctly. there are those who would suggest that the prosecution did not present their case effectively. talk about that. where do you come down? >> i come down on the side as well that they did not understand the jury instructions. i also think and always felt that the prosecution did not really explain the law well.

it was confusing the way the instruction was given out. you don't have to have intent. it's really kind of a culpable negligence, which is a higher form of negligence, which is not intent. it's reasonableness. that was never explained to this jury in a way they could understand. i can understand how they didn't get to that point. that, to me, was a prosecutor's fault. also, i don't think that this stand your ground law was really impacted in this case. it should have been not included as part of the jury instructions. if it were, they should have had additional instructions that says, if you are the aggressor, you have to withdrawal before you can use self-defense. so i thought the jurors never got what they needed. when the opportunity came for clarification, that did not come from the judge, in large measure because they didn't ask the kind of question necessary. i think this lady wanted to -- and saw what was there, but she couldn't do it because the instructions didn't give it to her, and she -- ultimately, they were more against her than not. >> you know, nia malika, the president lent his voice to the

conversation exactly a week ago right now. he was speaking about the trial and spoke about race, which propelled this conversation. here's part of that. >> when trayvon martin was first shot, i said that this could have been my son. another way of saying that is trayvon martin could have been me 35 years ago. >> so she was the only juror identified as a minority. race has become a focal point of this discussion. do you think that played a factor in her decision to speak out now? >> quite possibly so because she did say she felt bad not only for trayvon martin's mother but also that she knew what the minority communities, whether it be african-americans or whoever, what they thought about this case. in the case, it obviously wasn't part of what the jury instructions were or what the prosecutors actually presented, but i think people know that

race hangs heavy over this nation's history and certainly probably played a role in terms of what the jurors were actually thinking in that room. but listen, i mean, i think you have sybrina fulton trying to turn a page on this in terms of looking at the stand your ground laws in a number of these states. it's something like 24 states or so that have those stand your ground laws. a lot of states came in the wake of the 2005 stand your ground law in florida. so this cause around trayvon martin continues. they've got some fire power not only from the president but also from attorney general eric holder. >> you mentioned sybrina fulton. i want to play more of what she said at the national urban league conference and get your reaction to it. here it is. >> my message to you is, please use my story, please use my tragedy, please use my broken heart to say to yourself, we cannot let this happen to

anybody else's child. >> keith, how effective are her words going to be? >> i think those are very powerful words. i think there's two different parts here. one is about the stand your ground law. the other part is about the issue of whether people are willing to see someone like trayvon martin as a human being, to see his humanity in a trial. i think what we saw with juror b-29 is that when you have a persuasive juror on the other side like b-37 and a group of others who are against you, it's hard for one person to stand up and stand her ground, even though she could have stood up and hung the jury. apparently she didn't know or didn't try hard enough. it clearly shows there needs to be some education about the jury process too. >> john, do you think sybrina fulton's words ring true and that change can be in effect? >> it certainly can. as a lawyer, for me, controversy creates opportunity. so you can look at this case from an opportunity point of view on the issues of racial profiling, which is a huge

issue. it goes to it the other question about how he was in fact stopped. racial profiling is an issue all throughout the country. it's an issue where you can have discussions about it. people are more receptive. it's not the chatter in class that needs to hear this. it's every day people that need to hear about racial profiling and the kind of issues that cause people to stop people and stereotype them. the media does a job on this as well. it's an opportunity, i think. >> conversations to be held in every home. nia malika, your final thoughts? >> i think that's right. this is going an ongoing discussion. the president weighed in. it doesn't seem like he's going to lead it from this idea of having a national conversation on race. i think in communities and churches and all over the country people are trying to wrap their heads around what this means going forward. >> all right. thank you so much. ariel castro, the man who held three ohio women captive for nearly a deck raid reached a plea deal today. he will avoid the death penalty in exchange for life in prison

without parole plus 1,000 years. >> a plea agreement has been reached in this matter. are you fully aware of the term, and do you consent to that plea agreement? >> i am fully aware, and i do consent to it. >> you understand that by virtue of the plea, you will not be having a trial. >> i am aware of that. >> nbc's kevin tibbles is live in cleveland for us. the judge could have also said, you understand you'll never see the light of day as a free man again, right? >> reporter: the judge was very, very careful inform this ca fuf. he asked castro over and over again, do you know what you're doing? do you know what this plea agreement means? do you know you're never going to get out of jail for it the rest of your life? do you know you cannot appeal this? and to each case, castro said yes. the bottom line here, of course, is that he is avoiding having to fight the death penalty with

this situation, and that is the agreement that was reached between the prosecution and the defense in this case. castro, perhaps for the first time, talking said that he himself was the victim of sexual abuse as a child. he also said that he had sexual problems himself. he admitted that he was addicted to pornography, but in no way did he ever apologize or address the fact of what he had done. all he really did say was that he assumed or knew that the court was going to, and i'm quoting here, throw the book at him, as a result of his actions. he never addressed his victims. in fact, alex, the only real emotional part of this entire proceeding was when he said that he missed his daughter. of course, that is the daughter that he had with one of the captive women that he held in that house for a decade. >> yeah, well, in fact, speaking of those three captive women, they have released a statement. i'm going to share it with you, kevin. amanda, gina, and michelle are

relieved by today's plea. they're satisfied by this resolution to the case and are looking forward to have these legal proceedings draw to a final close in the near future. they continue to desire their privacy. they're immensely grateful for the support they've received from family, friends, and the donations to the cleveland courage fund. quickly, kevin, you mentioned that house. what's going to happen to it? >> reporter: well, they said in the court today, and we've heard this for several days, that it is going to be condemned and essentially torn down. mr. castro has had to sign over the deed and all of his other world ly possessions to the cout as a result of what he's done here. so the house is going to essentially go away, which a lot of people on the streets of cleveland that we have spoken to today welcome. >> yeah, can't happen soon enough. all right, kevin. thank you so much. we're also following developing news from egypt. we have live pictures here. demonstrators are taking to the streets for another day of mass

protests. there they are. it comes as egyptian prosecutors consider criminal charges against ousted president mohamed morsi. we're going to get a live report from cairo on that this. >> plus, more trouble for tea party congress won michele bachmann. we're going to get the first read with senior political editor mark murray. and you can join our conversation on twitter. you can always find us @newsnation. play close. good and close. help keep teeth clean and breath fresh

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developing now in cairo, massive rival protests by the egyptian military on the one side and supporters of ousted president mohamed morsi on the other. leading up to the protests, authorities ordered that morsi be detained for 15 days over accusations he conspired with hamas to carry out a jailbreak back in 2011.

the egyptian military also gave morsi's muslim brotherhood a saturday deadline to end its resistance and has threatened to, quote, turn its guns on those who use violence. the muslim brotherhood says it will not back down and has warned of a civil war. joining me now is nbc's ayman. these latest allegations, talk about that and the timing of this arrest. he has 15 days at minimum from this point toward to be behind bars? >> reporter: that's correct. it's really right now more of a legal proceeding that changes his status because over the past several weeks, we've known that he's been in the custody of the military. he's been moved around to different facilities within the country. really, his legal status has been very ambiguous. we don't know if he was going to be charged. we knew that investigations have been launched. what we know today officially is that a cairo prosecutor has

ordered him to remain in the custody of the state pending an investigation that he conspired with a foreign organization to carry out attacks here inside the country. that means within the next 15 days, we can expect further legal proceedings, either a complete charge or him being released or him being extended or having that detention extended for another period. it really is the beginning of legal proceedings against president mohamed morsi. >> but before i move on, this was done prior to his taking over as president, right? and has anybody heard from him? >> reporter: he is still in communicado. so far, as we understand it, he's had no communication with anybody outside of whoever is keeping him in custody. we do know that the charges that he's being investigated for do

predate his time as president. in fact, they go all the way back to 2011 when egypt had its first revolution what they ousted the former president hosni mubarak. many people are questioning how he managed to get out. that's precisely why some are saying this is a very politicized charge. you've had two years to charge and try the president, before he was the president, that never happened. why are you bringing this case forward now? >> okay. joel, the u.s. perspective here. we provide $1.5 billion in military and economic aid to egypt every single year. most of that money goes to the military. the obama administration says it's not going to make any sort of decision over whether the military constituted a coup. how patient will the administration be with the egyptian military? >> they have no appetite for cutting off the aid.

both chambers of congress this past week had action about egypt. nobody called for aid in anything passed. but the administration did withhold sending f-16s to egypt this week. a kind of measured response. so clearly they're trying to send signals to egypt and the military, who is the key player in this, that there is not unlimit unlimited patience with this process. they want to make sure the aspirations of the egyptian people are followed through. >> when we send over this $1.5 billion every year, is that at all sent to designated areas that the u.s. either has control over, specifying where this money goes or can make recommendations, or does it just get handed over to egypt? >> the $1.3 billion in military aid is provided through a program called foreign military financing program where we will provide grants to the egyptian government. largely to purchase

american-made military equipment. in coordination with an office we have in cairo called the office of military cooperation, that office coordinates with with the egyptian military on specific purchases. it's very measured. they try to ensure that the needs, the military requirements of the egyptian military, but that they also don't pose a threat potentially to israel and enhance their capabilities beyond where israel is comfortable. it's all wrapped together in the peace treaty between israel and egypt from 1979. it is a very overseeing process. >> which also means it's very complicated. ayman, quickly to you with the final word. i know you reported there was one death in alexandria, egypt. how about where you are? has it been peaceful thus far? though boisterous. >> reporter: certainly. it has been relatively calm. the numbers are getting larger because the sunset here, people are going out into the streets. it's cooler temperatures. more likely we're going to see the kind of violence we've been seeing over the last several weeks unfold in the coming

hours. in fact, just in the past few hours, health officials have revised that number. the death toll stands according to one spokesperson at two people killed and 300 or so injured. we expect it to remain very volatile in the coming hours. >> all right. gentlemen, thank you so much. pressure intensifies on san diego's mayor to resign as four more women come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment. that's now seven women in total. we're going to talk to one of the san diego democrats now calling on their first democratic mayor in two decades to step down. plus, the u.s. trying to get russia to hand over nsa leaker edward snowden. what attorney general eric holder is saying about snowden's claims that he would possibly be tortured and sentenced to death if returned. [ jackie ] it's just so frustrating...

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from the scene admitted the train was going about 118 miles per hour around a sharp curve when it derailed. that is more than double the 49-mile-an-hour speed limit in that area. investigators are now looking at the train's black box recovered on the scene to help them determine why that train was going so fast. one american is among the 78 people killed in the horrifying crash. five more americans are listed among the injured, including a texas man who was on board with his wife. >> our car flipped over. it became chaos. things flew and everything. there was sudden darkness. i was kind of thrown on one side of the train. my wife, unfortunately, she was sitting on the side where the train flipped over, so everything kind of fell on her and two other people. i couldn't see her at all. i'm screaming out for her name. just to at least know i'm looking for her. >> his wife remains hospitalized in critical condition. former international monetary fund head dominique

strauss-kahn will be tried on charges of pimping. he has acknowledged attending sex parties at a hotel in a french city. he maintains he did not know some of the women who participated in the parties were prostitutes. a lawyer for strauss-kahn called today's decision, quote, absurd. strausz kahn quit his post in 2011 after a maid accused him of rape here in new york. a charge that was later dropped. pope francis draws throngs to his first ever foreign trip. he brought a personal touch to his trip, repeatedly reaching out from that famous pope mobile to hug and kiss adoring members of the crowd. today, thousands turned out to see the pope deliver a prayer. later tonight, the pope will return to the beach front of copacabana where last night he was greeted by more than 1 million young pilgrims. on sunday, 2 million are expected at the beach for his final visit.

claudio joins me now there in rio. a much better day today weather-wise. let's start with that sunday mass. it did have to be moved because of the weather. >> reporter: well, absolutely. look at this. the sun is finally shining after days of rain, alex. copacabana has now turned into some kind of catholic woodstock. this is where the pope is going to spend most of his time during his stay in brazil. looks like he's going to be here on saturday and sunday as well. the open mass, the open field where he was meant to hold the vigil and the mass is going to happen here because that turned into mud after days of rain. well, now there's going to be 2 million kids piling up into copacabana. is it going to be big enough to hold it? we'll see. among them there's going to be this group of kids from florida. now, you see them practicing a flash mob dance. they hope they're going to be joined by hundreds of thousands of kids in what they hope is

going to be the biggest flash mob dance ever attempted. one of them is marissa. i understand that yesterday you were about ten feet away from the pope. how did that feel? >> i was -- it was so beautiful. he was glowing. it was like a feeling i had never felt before. i thought i was going to start crying. i couldn't help myself. >> reporter: all the way from florida. was the trip worth it? >> it was definitely worth it. the eight-hour plane ride, i couldn't have asked for a better experience. >> reporter: okay. well, let's see this dance again. it looks like it's fairly simple, alex. may give it a go. i've got a couple of days to train. hey, you never know. i'll show you on sunday what i've learned. >> i will look forward to that. i'm actually kind of watching this whole thing and wanting to be part of it myself. it's pretty cool. i know they've been working on it for the better part of a week. can you imagine a million people doing that dance? >> reporter: remember, it's supposed to be a secret, so keep it a secret for the pope.

>> right, okay. we'll do our best. claudio, thanks so much. we'll look forward to the finished product on sunday. well, right now in chicago, an emergency summit is underway to address the epidemic of gun violence. we're going to get a live report on what officials hope to accomplish. plus, north carolina passes one of this nation's most restrictive voting laws one month after the supreme court struck down a measure designed to prevent racial discrimination at the polls. the latest on this new battle over voting rights straight ahead on "news nation." is the better choice for him, he's agreed to give it up. that's today? [ male announcer ] we'll be with him all day as he goes back to taking tylenol. i was okay, but after lunch my knee started to hurt again. and now i've got to take more pills. ♪ yup. another pill stop. can i get my aleve back yet? ♪ for my pain, i want my aleve. ♪ [ male announcer ] look for the easy-open red arthritis cap. ♪ for our children is something the purwe all share.ter life

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right now in chicago, an emergency summit is underway to address the epidemic of gun violence in our nation's third largest city. members of law enforcement, the clergy, community leaders, and politicians have all convened for this two-day event to discuss strategies that have and have not worked. the congressional black caucus organized the summit after the bloody fourth of july weekend this year when 72 people were shot that weekend, 12 killed. that is in a year where there's been over 1,000 shootings.

so far 226 murders. the hope is that by the end of the summit, they will have come up with practical strategies that can be applied, not just in chicago, but in cities across america. joining is me now, msnbc.com national reporter tremain lee. hello to you. they're trying to figure out practical applications, practical strategies to make this work and look at the ones that haven't in the past. what are you hearing so far? >> so far, as you see behind me, the crowd is just filling in. we're supposed to start at 1:00. we're a little behind. speaking to people here on the ground, they hope to walk away with real, practical ways in which they can try to stem some of this senseless and stubborn violence. from clergy and community activists who have worked with young people to give them job training and job skills and give them access to education to clergy who want to use their houses of worship to funnel messages out to the community what strategies might have worked from more policing on street corners in hot

communities that have experienced a lot of violence. as of right now, there are still way more questions than answers on how to get ahold of the rampant violence. >> ultimately, the point is to get a job. in this op-ed published in "the chicago tribune," it was pointed out that jobs are the number one solution for combatting violence. studies prove people have a sense of value and contribute positively to their communities that they reside in if they're employed. just today these new figures were released showing chicago's unemployment rate has climbed to 10.3%, which is well above the national rate and the illinois state rate. how do they address that? >> i think that's the big question. early this year mayor rahm emanuel held a press conference where he announced some money from private funds from local businesses hoping to funnel some of that money back into the community. those numbers are already stark. when you look at black youth who

are disproportionately victims of gun violence and perpetrators of gun violence, that's upwards of 90%. not only do they have a place in this community, but they're able to provide for themselves and just try to make it through even the toughest of times. we're talking about neighborhoods that have economically unstable. the access to education is, you know, soft and unsteady. so it's a high mountain to climb. again, after decades of this issue, we still haven't found something that works. >> yeah, and celebrities are trying to get involved as well. yesterday you had chicago bulls star derek -- derrick rose. he sat down with cnn. he had this to say. >> it all starts from poverty. i think people just surviving. people just really just trying to get out. if you look at the world we live

in today, everything is just getting faster. you want success faster. you want internet faster. everything is getting faster. so of course being human, you want a lifestyle even more faster. >> so his voice is one of other celebrities trying to combat this problem. what do they hope to accomplish in general, just bringing a spotlight to the issue? >> i don't think it's so much a spotlig spotlight, but by bringing voices together that perhaps don't communicate often from the community, from law enforcement and clergy to try to find some way they can actually apply some of the lessons learned. as derrick rose spoke about a few minutes ago, when you drive around parts of the south side of chicago, there seems to be a cloud of desperation. people are struggling and striving or dying while trying to survive. it's more than just a police issue. it's more than just education and jobs. but kind of a multi-leveled issue we're dealing with here. the hope is piece by piece maybe

they can come up with some sort of plan that might at least move them in an incremental manner. >> all right. thanks. the battle lines over voting rights are drawn. texas governor rick perry is lashing out at the obama administration after attorney general eric holder announced that he will pursue legal action against the lonestar state. holder wants to require federal approval for any changes to voting laws in texas as well as other states with a history of discrimination. now, governor perry says the administration is going around the supreme court's decision last month on the voting rights act. that decision indeed struck down the provision requiring preclearance and sent the issue back to congress. in a statement, the texas governor says, quote, once again, the obama administration is demonstrating utter contempt for our country's system of checks and balances, not to mention the u.s. constitution. well, joining me now is danita judge, staff attorney at a civil rights group specializing in

voter protection. let's first of all take a look at a new poll that shows what the majority of voters are saying at this point on this. nationally speaking, 53% of adults polled think discrimination in voting still exists, so it should be addressed by congress. but in that same poll, it found 83% think that changing election laws to require voters to show identification before voting is a good thing, much like what they've done in north carolina. >> well, i think many people think that it is a good thing, but what most people don't realize is that it is the underlying documents that you need to get to vote, to use a photo i.d. certainly, when you have people who have -- don't have a birth certificate, people who have had -- and have very difficult times obtaining those types of documents, and additionally, those documents are often very, very expensive. so it's not only about have been i.d. it's about how do you get i.d.

but one of the things that's happened in north carolina is that the photo i.d. law that they have enacted that is waiting to be signed by the governor is probably the most repressive in this country. that photo i.d. basically says you can't use a student i.d. and you can't use a government i.d. >> and can i ask you, the student i.d., i mean, i know plenty of kids who go off to college, kids from new york who, for example, haven't driven a lot growing up. they don't have driver's licenses and things like that. that means their i.d. may be a college i.d. and that won't work. >> that won't work at all. i think that's why we're seeing in north carolina this multicultural movement that is being led by the north carolina naacp and reverend barber. there's people from all walks of life who understand the impact of what these laws will do to many individuals in that state and will really prevent them

from being able to cast an election. >> what do you see as being the next step here? what's going to happen? >> well, i see the next step is that the governor is going to sign the bill. then, of course, we will watch the naacp of north carolina for their next steps. what is it they'd like to see done? they're representing a huge coalition of individuals. this is a huge movement that's taking shape. i am hoping that people throughout the country will start to look at north carolina and see that you can make a difference, that your voice does matter and that they will be pushing back. what the department of justice did yesterday was outstanding. what they basically said is we're going to use every tool in our arsenal to make sure that we protect the right to vote in this country. >> okay. well, your voice much appreciated in this conversation. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. now for the news nation political postscript from the

president's efforts to pivot america's attention back to the economy to a republican congressman's comments on immigrants and drug smuggling and anthony weiner's scandal in the race for the new york city mayor. let's look back at this week in politics. >> america has to make the investments necessary to promote long-term growth and shared prosperity, rebuilding our manufacturing base, educating our work force, upgrading our transportation systems, upgrading our information networks. >> every time he goes out and gives one of these speeches, it generates little more than a collective bipartisan eye roll. >> they aren't all valedictorians. they weren't all brought in by their parents. for every one who's a valedictorian, there's another hundred out there that weigh 130 pounds and they've got calves the size of cantaloupes because they're hauling 75 pounds of marijuana across the desert. >> what he said does not reflect the values of the american people or the republican party. we all need to do our work in a constructive, open, and respectful way.

as i've said many time, we can disagree without being disagreeable. >> this behavior that i did was problematic, to say the least, destructive to say the most. it caused many stresses and strains in my marriage. >> anthony's made some horrible mistakes, both before he resigned from congress and after. but i do very strongly believe that that is between us and our marriage. >> there is a clear pattern here of difficulty with the truth. difficulty with the truth is not a good characteristic in a mayor. >> joining me live now, nbc news senior political editor mark murray. good afternoon to you. want to get to something we're just getting word on. p it's just coming from the white house relative to guantanamo bay. of course, something the president has indicated he wanted to close.

apparently, two prisoners are being repatriated from guantanamo bay to algeria. what do you know about this? >> that is a statement we just got from the white house. while it is significant that they're mentioning two have been repatriated back to algeria, so many more are still at guantanamo bay. the bottom part of that statement, the white house said we ask congress to help us resolve the situation with all the other people who are at guantanamo bay. of course, it is congress that has put restrictions on the white house being able to quote/unquote officially close out guantanamo bay. one of the very tricky things is that many of the host countries aren't -- don't want these people back in their home countries. algeria accepted these two. this has been a thorny issue the white house has been dealing with over the past four years. >> absolutely. let's get to anthony weiner and his difficult situation there. he's staying in the race, mark, despite admitting to sexual exchanges with even more women now.

a number of anthony weiner's donors won't abandon the scandal-scarred mayoral candidate as long as his wife still supports him. so is she the key to his success at this point, and might this then backfire on her? >> well, alex, right now she has become the pulse that he has had in this race. had she not been by his side, had she not given him the support, you could pretty much say his candidacy was all but done. i think that he is in big trouble right now. you look at that new poll that just out that shows that his situation has deteriorated since this news came out about him. it just remains to be seen. alex, i'm having flashbacks to two years ago when just one incident after another after another finally led anthony weiner to get out of congress and resign his position. he initially did not go. it took more and more and more information, the drip, drip, drip. more colleagues telling him to get out. this time around, however, there is an election that's just a few

weeks away. he might decide to say, look, even if i'm having a tough situation right now, my fate is in the voters' hands. >> it was interesting on the daily beast. they had an article that said, three, two -- you know, leaving it open until he's going to get out of the race. we shall see what happens. mark murray, thanks so much. new pressure on san diego's mayor to resign as four more women come forward to accuse him of sexual harassment. we're going to talk to the head of the san diego democratic party now calling on him to step down. [poof!] [clicks mouse]

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this man is about to be the millionth customer. would you mind if i go ahead of you? instead we had someone go ahead of him and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. nobody likes to miss out. that's why ally treats all their customers the same. whether you're the first or the millionth. if your bank doesn't think you're special anymore, you need an ally. ally bank. your money needs an ally. san diego democrats are calling on their own mayor to resign after more women came forward with claims of sexual harassment. four new accusers, all prominent women, went public last night with claims against mayor bob filner. they bring the number of accusers to seven. joining me now, the chair of the san diego county democratic party. with a welcome to you, francine.

you have a retired navy admiral, a university dean. you're committee made this decision just two hours before these women came forward. in fact, here's what one of them said. >> all the guys left, and i was the last one in the room and bob stepped between me and the doorway and he stopped me. he got very close to me. he ran his finger up my cheek like this and whispered to me, do you have a man in your life? i jumped back. i was very, very startled. i said, yes, i have a man in my life. >> so how does the committee feel now? >> well, you know, the committee changed from our position last week where we were split 50/50 because people felt that as long as it was press conference justice, it wasn't enough to ask him to resign. but once the charges came out this week, there was a shift in the feeling of the committee. it reflected the shift in the opinion of the democrats that we

were hearing and the committee was planning to meet yesterday evening to take that vote. right before we met, these women came out publicly. i did announce that at the meeting. i can tell you people were absolutely dumbfounded that someone like retired rear admiral was one of the women, the one you just heard that, he had also approached so inappropriately. >> yeah, are you taking into account sort of public sentiment? clearly this is a man who was ele elected, but you've got to think polls or at least some profound anecdotal evidence is going to suggest that people don't want him to stay? do you have a sense on that, any read on that? >> we absolutely do. i think last week the public was split because the due process is also a very important principle. he had the right to face his accuser. once that changed, i think the public opinion also shifted. then when these women started coming out, we were hearing from democrats very, very strongly

and the far greater majority of them saying it was time for him to step down. >> i know it's a difficult time for you because he's the first democratically elected mayor -- i mean, as a democratic, rather, for decades. i know it's tough for you. >> it was absolutely the hardest vote we had to take because we do believe that he has the right agenda, but we are determined to continue with that vision of san diego and we will in the future. right now the best thing for san diego is for him to step down, get the help that he needs and top let the city move forward. >> thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. a letter from attorney general eric holder to russia on edward snowden tops our look at stories around the news nation today. in his letter dated july 23rd, holder guarantees the u.s. will not seek the death penalty for edward snowden. holder also assured the russian minister of justice snowden will not be tortured if returned to the u.s. russia is still considering his

request for asylum. wall street is seeing more likes on facebook. yesterday, the giant saw its biggest single-day gain ever. much of the gains are fueled by a boost in mobile advertisine a coming up, our gut check on a 9/11 memorial raising the question between separation of church and state. and be sure to like the "news nation" on facebook. bjorn earns unlimited rewards for his small business. take these bags to room 12 please. [ garth ] bjorn's small business earns double miles on every purchase every day. produce delivery. [ bjorn ] just put it on my spark card. [ garth ] why settle for less? ahh, oh! [ garth ] great businesses deserve unlimited rewards. here's your wake up call. [ male announcer ] get the spark business card from capital one and earn unlimited rewards. choose double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase every day. what's in your wallet? [ crows ] now where's the snooze button?

it is time for the "news nation" gut check. a conflict is brewing in princeton, new jersey. a proposed 9/11 memorial. the deputy fire chief has spent the last three years trying to get a memorial built in his town using a piece of wreckage from the world trade center complex. this week he brought his plan to the city after securing a salvaged beam. some city officials are concerned because the beam has a cross etched into its side. they say displaying the beam with a cross on public property would violate the separation of

church and state, which could leave the town vulnerable to legal action. what does your gut tell you? do you think a 9/11 memorial featuring a religious symbol violates the separation of church and state? go to facebofac faceboofac face. that's all for "news nation." "the cycle" is up next. being sixteen, alex thinks he's invincible.

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he was kind of already a controversial figure in some ways. now the calls have only gotten worse the last few days. republicans taking advantage of the anthony weiner scandal in new york kind of seizing on this, trying to create a broader narrative. they essentially, by beating the drum really hard, prompted the chairman of the dnc to come out today and say filner should resign. >> just a moment ago, mayor bob filner was saying he would not discuss these allegations. there was a legal process going on, hiding behind that old thing. if he's going this presser here, we should expect him to be resigning, don't you think? >> not necessarily. there's some conflicting reports from local affiliates in san diego. it's possible he'll try to find a way to not resign but to kind of reclaim something, to offer something, some kind of concession that might allow him to stay in power. filnun