and russia may be heading for the deep freeze. president obama has officially canceled his one-on-one meeting with vladimir putin. the president will attend the g-20 meeting in st. petersburg in september. here is what the president said about the relationship are russia last night before this news broke. >> so there is still a lot of business that we can do with them, but there have been times where they slip back in the cold war thinking and a cold war mentality and what i consistently say to them and what i say to president putin is that's the past and, you know, we have got to think about the future. >> i want to bring in "the new york times" politics reporter jeremy peterer answer loy business mono. let me read the white house statement just came out.

quote. jeremy, we had signals this was coming obviously. but as diplomatic punishments go, what is the white house hoping to accomplish with this? >> well, i think they are being very careful, right? because one thing that you are hearing with kind of increasing fervor from capitol hill the white house should go each further and not attend the st. petersburg summit altogether and boycott the olympics next year. that's not what is happening and i think there's a growing recognition that the white house needs to kind of, while being firm with russia, not overreact.

>> is that how you would describe this, lois, a moderate response? there are still meetings scheduled for friday between secretary of state john kerry and chuck hagel with their russian counterparts. how far can the u.s. go, i guess, given, for example, that the white house will still need some level of russian cooperation on syria ousting president assad? is this a moderate response? >> it is a totally moderate response and what you can see in that statement is that edward snowden was an afterthought when he in fact, drove the response. the president had to do something. he was backed into a corner. they gave refuge to someone who we consider a spy. so they had to take action, but make no mistake. business is going to go on. discussions are going to happen and counterparts are going to talk. but, right now, they have a very high profile situation that they are trying to contain and not have dominate the news any more, which is edward snowden. >> i want to bring in senator

jeff merkley, a democrat from oregon. good morning. >> good morning. >> let me get your reaction to the president's decision. do you agree with it and did it go far enough? >> i think it's an appropriate symbolic gesture and expressing the issue of the united states on a host of issues including snowden. meanwhile, the communications continue at lower levels to resolve the challenges that we have. >> one of the things out there a lot and the president actually talked about this last night when he talked about the relationship with russia is an issue you've been very involved in that controversial law there that bans gay relationships and a lot of concern about how it's going to impact the olympics in sochi. let me just play what the president said last night about that. >> i think putin and russia have a big stake in making sure the olympics work and i think they understand that for most of the countries that participate in the olympics, you know, we wouldn't tolerate gays and lesbians being treated

differently. they are athletes. they are there to compete. >> do you agree with what lois just said which is that this decision to cancel the bilateral talks and should there be more the president can do in relation to the sochi and tolympics? >> i do agree it was primarily about snowden. the state department and level and we should be emphasizing that nerin term of the olympics they need to be a free zone. the president put it well, performance in swimming pool and on the track not about whom you love. >> are you comfortable that when american athletes go over there, any athletes go over there, or if anybody wants to make a show of support for gay athletes that there is not going to be a problem? >> i'm not yet comfortable because the sports minister in russia came out and said the law would be enforced in the

olympics. i want to make sure the olympic committee gets absolute guarantee for those who attend and for the coaches and athletes certainly that it will be a discrimination-free event. >> you saw the laundry list the president talked about in canceling this meeting with president putin. where do the olympics stand in the priority, do you think? >> well, i can't really nail that down. the fact that the president spoke about it last night was in the context of what happened this morning certainly was a way of indicating it's a fairly significant item. but there are large geo political issues that we're working on with russia and the war in syria, for example, is an enormous challenge, given russian support for the government of syria. >> so do you think this decision by the president will have an impact? you call it symbolic. >> yes. i wouldn't overestimate the impact. certainly putin has his own logic for where he is headed. he has his own domestic audience

but it's important for us to send a message that we're not in a place of comfort with where he is headed on a whole list of issues. >> senator jeff merkley, good to have out on the program. >> good to be with you. >> the other thing the president talked about last night is al qaeda. this morning, yemen said it has foiled an al qaeda plot to seize two ports and blow up oil and gas facilities there. that comes after about, of course, a hundred u.s. government workers moved out of the country yesterday. the president answering questions for the first time about that terror threat that has closed 19 u.s. embassies and consulates around the world. he also told jay leno americans should take their vacations and live their lives. >> it's significant enough that we're taking every precaution. >> what do you say to those who say it's an overreaction to ben ghazi and how do you sfoned that? >> one thing i've tried to do as president is not overreact. you know, but make sure that as

much as possible the american people understand that there are genuine risks out there. >> i want to bring back jeremy peters and lois romono. the president used the opportunity to talk about the current state of al qaeda so let me just play that. >> for all of the progress we have made, getting osama bin laden, putting al qaeda between afghanistan and pakistan back on its heels that this radical, you know, violent extremism is still out there. >> jeremy, is this kind of a tricky line for him to walk, talking about this? of course, reminding everyone that the death of osama bin laden was under his watch but you have closings and evacuations that send a different message. >> that's right. i think jay leno asked the right question when he brought up ben ghazi. i think that looms large now over every decision that has to

do with our installations overseas. the last thing that this white house wanted to have to deal with, i'm sure, is another attack on that scale. so, i mean, while al qaeda is definitely on the run, this is a reminder that, you know, while the president is trying to move on to other issues, whether it be housing policy, the environment, what have you, terrorism and the fight of it overseas is still a huge part of his portfolio. >> yeah, he answered a lot of questions. jay leno really playing the part of a reporter yesterday, including asking about the nsa programs. let me play that. >> we don't have a domestic spying program. what we do have are some mechanisms where we can track a phone number or an e-mail address that we know is connected to some sort of terrorist threat. and, you know, that information is useful. >> i did think it was interesting, lois, when jay leno

asked if it was the nsa that got the intelligence about this plot, he kind of didn't answer. >> you know, i think what is really interesting is how often this president has gone on jay leno. i mean, the white house was clearly made a decision to take whatever message they had and they had a lot of messages on a lot of different fronts right to the american people. the president, you know, stays on message. i don't know where he got the plot from, you know, where he got the information from the plot, but i think one of the things he is saying about security in al qaeda also is that it's not all about al qaeda. you know? that now they have these threats all over the world with these free agents, you know, coming up that maybe are not tied to al qaeda so they have a whole new level of threat that they have to be concerned about. >> let me ask you quickly, jeremy, since you brought it up and housing and that supposed has been one of the key messages that the president wanted to get across today, is something going to get done on that in congress?

could this be the thing that actually gets accomplished, something on fannie or freddie or 30-year loans? >> knowing how difficult it is to get anything through both houses of congress these days i would not put much money on that. while you have the president saying something sounds like appeal to conservatives on one hand the federal government needs to get out of the business of lending money to people to buy homes. the republicans and even in the house want to go further than the president does. they could still see eye-to-eye on this, but, i mean, right now, they have so many other large issues looming, the debt ceiling, federal budget. i think this year, once they get back from recess, is pretty much a loss. >> good talking to both of you. thank you. >> thank you. tearing down a house of horrors in cleveland. right now that home where ariel castro held three women for more than a decade is a pile of

rubble after demolished this morning in 90 minutes. one of the victims, michelle knight released balloons honoring other missing children' made this powerful statement. >> why it's important to be here today is nobody was there for me when i was missing and i want the people out there to know, including the mothers, that they can have strength. they can have hope. and their child will come back. >> she is remarkable. nbc's jay gray joins me now from outside that home in cleveland. i guess at least some work is still ongoing there? >> she is remarkable. you're right. important day to the victims and this community. take a live look right now. the house is gone and reduced to rubble. what is going on right now is they are loading this debris and the truck is hauling it off and they will clean up the lot here. you talked about michelle knight. she showed up before the process started and kind of kicked things off here. she brought yellow balloons

along about family members and friends released those to start the process here. we are talking about a lady, chris, that showed up in sentencing hearing to face and speak to the man who held her for more than ten years. she was held longer than any of the women here. and then came back this morning and not only to be here as this house was demolished but turn this thing around. you've heard her talking about other families who may need help. others who were looking for loved ones. and to turn it around into something to give them some hope and some inspiration. i think it's just amazing what she continues to do. she aggressively is working towards her recovery here. this community is doing the same thing. the house torn away. the city, at least two more houses adjacent not related to the castro situation will be torn down. they will leave it up to the neighbors what to do with this space but what they want to do is create a memorial garden here, a park to try to help them

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this morning, the bankrupt city of detroit is a step closer to gnaw mayor. but new york city's mayor michael bloomberg says detroit's financial disaster should serve as a warning to all u.s. cities. >> the reality is we may be a long ways from detroit, but only a short ways from relapsing into decline if we allow health care and pension benefits to crowd out the investments that new york city -- makes new york city a place where people want to live, work, study, and visit. >> in detroit, wayne county sheriff polian and ceo mike dugan emerged as the top vote

getters in yesterday's mayoral showdown. that means detroit where 82% of the population is now black would elect its first white mayor in four decades and they scare off in november for a job that doesn't have any significant power since a state emergency manager controls the purse strings there. let's bring in thomas sugrew who is a detroit native and author of "the origins of urban crisis race and inequality in post war detroit." >> good morning. >> detroit did crushed by skyrocketing pension and health benefits and why mayor bloomering put out this warning, i think, about public unions coming to the bargaining table agreeing to have their members contribute more to benefits and you wrote about this as part of the big picture for the "new yorker." is detroit becoming the poster child for cities facing tough negotiations? >> well, detroit is an extreme case but the problem with

pensions that is affect afc being the city is playing out and lots of other places in the country. has an enormous pension problem looming on the state of horizon, chicago does and so do many other big cities. detroit and resolution to this pension problem, i think, will serve as an example to other cities grappling with the balance of interest between the creditors on one side and the retirees on the other. >> you say an extreme example. we talked about these stats in rents weeks but bear repeating. detroit is $18 billion in debt. the average police response time for high priority calls is almost an hour. half the parks have been closed since 2008. 40% of street lights don't work. it does kind of beg the question why would anybody want to run for mayor? >> yeah. that's a good question. i mean, i think right now the two candidates for mayor are both playing their respective strong cards.

napoleon is playing i'm a police chief, i'll bring law and order to the city and dugan is saying i'm an ceo and i've turned around other failing organizations in the past and i can work with the emergency manager to turn around detroit. in reality neither have very much power and it rests in the hands of the emergency manager and his boss, the governor of michigan. >> you know what detroit was in its glory days. this was an industrial power house and it didn't bring us just cars but great music. at one point, such a beautiful city, it was called the paris of the west. there are some other midwestern industrial cities and you ahave talked about this that have come back maybe not from as far as detroit has fallen but places like cleveland and pittsburgh. how does detroit get there? can they get there? >> it's a long road for detroit to get back. a city of 140 square miles and vast tracks of open land. this place has hemorrhaging population and it's possible to

live effectively and less likely a -- the real question for detroit is how does it reinvent itself? some say put the population together in concentrated places but that is an expensive p proposition to it. >> it's going to be something to watch and we will continue to follow it. thomas, great to talk to you again. thank you. >> thank you. the story of two missing children in california just gets more heart breaking. turns out the man police believe kidnapped hanna and ethan anderson was a close family friend who the kids considered an uncle. their father addressed james dimaggio and his own daughter directly at a news conference yesterday. >> jim, i can't fathom what you were thinking. the damage is done. i'm begging you to let my

daughter go. you've taken everything else. hannah, we all love you very much. if you have a chance, you take it. you run. >> the fact that brett anderson did not mention his son ethan seems to confirm suspicions that ethan, along with his mother, died inside dimaggio's burning home. police are searching for him from mexico to canada believed to be driving a nissan versa with california plates. hero: if you had a chance to go anywhere in the world, but you had to leave right now, would you go? man: 'oh i can't go tonight' woman: 'i can't.' hero : that's what expedia asked me. host: book the flight but you have to go right now. hero: (laughs) and i just go? this is for real right? this is for real? i always said one day i'd go to china, just never thought it'd be today. anncr: we're giving away a trip every day. download the expedia app and your next trip could be on us. expedia, find yours.

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him to return to grandpa duty. anthony weiner referred to one of his mayoral candidates as grandpa as a forum raising more than a few eyebrows. >> here we go. >> i heard what you said. really? what is going to happen if i do? tough guy now. oh, are you? appreciate the time. i don't have any anger. you do, grandpa. >> oh, okay! >> and former president become is staying far, far away from what is going on right now with anthony weiner. >> neither hillary nor i was ever involved in the political campaign and they understood that from the beginning that we are not going to be involved as long as our personal friends and people whom we feel obligations are involved. so the feelings i have are all personal and since they are, i shouldn't talk about them.

>> in the meantime, check out the paragraph of political power players who hit the links together. how speaker john boehner playing golf yesterday. no whored who had the better tan or hairdo. what a difference a year make. president obama got a much warmer welcome from jan brewer on the phoenix tarmac this time around. during the first meet-up you may recall she greeted the president with a stern finger wagging over their differences on immigration. if you read only one thing this morning i guess you probably saw earlier in the week the hamburger? "the daily beast" says if that piece of beef is grown in a lab without killing a cow, can vegetarians eat it. check it out.

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you know, hillary clinton isn't even running yet but the race is on to define her potential 2016 bid for president. this morning's "the washington post" says independent superpacs have proud to pledbludgeon her. a clinton ally complainant to the post of almost the breathless attention. last night on the tonight show president obama was asked about his recent lunch with his former secretary of state. >> we had a great time. she had that post administration glow. you know when folks leave the white house? two weeks later, they look great. i could not have more respect for her. she was a great secretary of state and very, very proud of what she did. >> did you notice her measuring the drapes or anything like that? >> keep in mind, she's been there before. >> that's true, that's true.

>> she doesn't have to measure them. >> let's bring in progress iive strategists. good to see both of you. >> you too. >> the buzz is good, i guess. what is the danger, is there danger for hillary clinton as she weighs this potential presidential bid and you have all of these different factions trying to define her in ways that are advantageous to them but not necessarily to her? >> right. you know, ultimately the only person that can defy you for you is you. the only person at the end day, should she choose to jump into this race that can define her is hillary clinton. i do think that there is, you know, it's certainly the republicans think that there is some danger in having someone else be able to have conversations about her character because they think that that is going to be in some way favorable to her though, we have no evidence what it's going to say just yet.

yeah, i think that a lot of the media fodder has built up a hillary clinton candidacy in a way that isn't quite warranted just yet. >> john, if she is defined already and i think a lot of people would agree with that, she should be happy with it because she is one of the most popular political figures in america, depending on the poll you look at maybe the most popular. what is in the republican playbook with the rnc and these other groups? >> first of all, i think reince priebus is right. flattering biographies play on nbc and cnn. that is unfair advantage against the rest of the candidates, especially republican candidates. >> do we know it's an unfair advantage? what if they are negative and not glowing? >> we can assume they will be glowing. i think that priebus is right to raise that question to set the stage if they are glowing which i'm assuming they will be. let me make another point where she is defined right now. two things. a front-runner and as a centrist.

i think both places can be dangerous in a democratic primary. democratic primaries tend not to treat front runners very well. the party has moved left and i think hillary clinton has to make sure she doesn't make the same mistake in 2008 which is be the centrist in a primary that wants a left wing candidate. >> "the new york times" maureen dowd agrees to a point with reince priebus with his complaints. let me read from her column today. reince priebus says a lot of goofy things. but fortunately for hillary reince priebus is working hard to make her look more important. is there a case right now you want to just be talked about? >> well, i would actually add to this conversation about why it would be problematic to have cnn and nbc doing these types of

docu dramas, if you will. what we haven't discussed there is a real ethical issue here in terms of the integrity of those agencies as news sources. >> nbc has issued a statement saying this is part of the entertainment division. >> sure, sure. that absolutely is the truth. but cnn has done the same thing. but, at the same time, i don't think, you know, that we can ignore the fact there is going to be a public perception of a merging of the two. the general public may not see the difference. i think we should think of that and what are the implications of media sources that cover these campaigns. >> real quickly for the republican side, john, let me ask you. do you think maureen dowd has a point in talking about it, in fact, reince priebus is drawing more attention to it? >> i don't think that hillary clinton has any problem drawing attention. almost everything she does is big news. i think her bigger problem by the time she runs for the primaries she will be old news and she won't be able to inspire

any excitement. everything that has been said about her will be said and democrats tend to want to look for fresh candidates and she's not going to have a fresh message and i think that is problematic for her. >> that is the sky is falling message that folks are the defense would say. >> john and ishi, thank you. >> thank you. the news feed this morning. more dramatic testimony expected today in the ft. hood shooting trial. the suspect major nadal hasan is representing himself. he called himself a mujahadean. the jury deliberating the fate of reputed mobster whitey bulger came back with several questions for the judge today about the statute of limitations on certain charges and jury

instructions. they were 45 minutes into day two of deliberations when they brought up those questions. usher's 5-year-old son raymond is expected to make a full recovery after he nearly drowned in their pool. the boy was trying to get a toy out of the drain when his hand got stuck according to tmz. here is the frantic 911 call. >> my nephew was in the pool. he went. i couldn't get him in. i couldn't get him. i tried to get him! and they got him. they are doing cpr on him. >> her son from a previous relationship died last year after a jet ski accident. the new york drowning incident has -- raymond refiled documents seeking to take custody away from usher citing a dangerous

environment. tonight's powerball jackpot up to $4 million. luring millions of ticket buyers in 43 states. if you don't see me tomorrow -- no, i'd come in niveany way. good morning, brian sullivan. >> you would come in because i presume with your talent and beauty, you're probably locked into like a 10 or 15-year deal so you have to come in. >> you're looking to replace mandy drury, aren't you? >> i don't know where she is! >> can i show awe tweet about yahoo!? let's be honest as far as most users are concerned yahoo! got a new logo about a decade ago and shows a picture of google. is that part of the reason for a change, draw some attention and help them get some of that share

back from google? >> a low myer taking over the team. the basketball team changed its name because sometimes you need to show you're not what you used to do. different color, different logo and different jersey. no meaningful change here but myer said it needs to reflect the new yahoo! going forward. they have apparently picked one but they are going to do 30 different ones over 30 days even though they know what they are going to choose. like an extended tease as we would call that in the biz. >> head fake. head fake. the next story provoked so much conversation that we kind of had to shut it down and move on to other things. a lot more people are saying no when he when they get invited to weddings because it's so expensive. >> the amount of spending on weddings is up 60% from a couple of years ago! the average cost is $539 to

attend a wedding. hotel, child care, outfits and transportation. that is probably skewed by a lot of people doing these destination weddings we're getting married in hawaii, come stay with us. the cost of weddings themselves is way up. listen. i don't know. everybody has got a different view. i'm going to give mine which is this. the wedizing a big day, i understand it but it's not as big of a day for your friends as it is for you. make it easy for them. don't make your friends go bankrupt because they feel like they have to go to the wedding. >> cnbc brian sullivan with his own words of personal wisdom. more on squawk box. are you looking for an island get-away maybe for a wedding? a survey ranks the best islands and proving not all great islands are tropical. prince edward island is fifth. number four is in greece.

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involvement in criminal activities and violence for a lot of reasons, a lot of it having to do with poverty, a lot of it having to do with, you know, disruptions in their neighborhoods and their communities, failing schools and all those things. and that is no excuse. but what we also believe is that people, everybody should be treated fairly and the system should work for everyone. >> president obama commenting on the trayvon martin case and nowhere is the question of whether the system is working for everyone more prevalent than in the criminal justice system where the sequester is now decimating the federal public defenders program and deepening a crisis in the courts and making it harder for a poor defendant to get a fair shake. here is more. >> reporter: it's been called share sacrifice. >> sequester was meant to be something so bad that no one would allow it to happen. i think part of what we are learning is that we are in a new normal. >> reporter: that new normal for our nation's courts, a crisis of

justice. in march, sequestration swept 350 million dollars out from under the courts. defender services are already 0r79ing under $51 million shortfall this year alone and public defenders facing double and triple the cuts as their opponents across the courtroom. ryan riley calls the public defender system sequestration's biggest victim. >> it essentially creates an unequal system. federal public defenders with their going on for limit series going up against federal prosecutors. >> reporter: take the western district of texas. in february, the public defender's office there faced a 9% pay cut and then in march the office was notified it would have to cut its budget by an ishl 14%. the result? case delays. layoffs for a third of the defenders and a 10% salary reduction on top. meanwhile, the number of case isn't letting up. it's projected to top 13,000 this year.

>> you see sort of multiple layers of injustice where people are funneled into a system because they don't have economic opportunities. then once they are in the system, they don't have adequate defense because there is insufficient spending for the public defenders that would provide them with adequate defense in that system. >> reporter: it's black defends who overwhelmingly denied the equal representation they are required to receive under law. black defendants compromise just 19% of clients who can afford to hire their own attorney. if sequester is the new normal, this imbalance could ultimately prove constitutional. -- unconstitutional. >> i want to bring in ari and a.j. thank you all for being with us. important topic. i thought i knew a lot about this but just those numbers, they are shocking. >> yeah. what you see there is something that starred out very arbitrary.

d.o.j. has a mlot more money. whether or not you think that's a good idea that is not happening in this area. we have cuts to people and cuts to the folks that provide services to those who can't afford it at a far greater rate than their opponents on the other side of the courtroom. >> we pride ourselves on our system of justice. a.j., give us a real life example. what are you seeing as the impact of these budget cuts? >> well, they have been massive furloughs in our office. we started at 35 days. we received some funding and got down to 20 days. but that means people can't handle the case loads that are required to be handled. and we face the system, our office and the system faces devastation for the next fiscal year starting 2014 fiscal year which would require our office and offices around the country to lay off one-half, maybe as much as one-half or one-third of their staffs across the country so it's going to be devastating

to the people who need representation the most. >> i saw a number in "the new york times" that absolutely astonished me. you're looking at it getting worse. already the recommendation is a maximum of 150 cases for a public defender. "the new york times" says they are often 500 to 1,600 cases that they will have on their desk. what does this mean for us as a society? >> this is a constitutional crisis of immense measures. what it means is one of the most sacred promises that our constitution makes if you're accused of a crime and can't afford an attorney, one will be pointed for you. it does undermine that fundamental promise, something that a bedrock of our democracy and enshrined in our constitutional law. >> is it tough to get sympathy realistically with the things going on in the world? i think a lot of people look at this and say you know what? these are people who got themselves in trouble and, you know, i'm not going to lose any sleep over the fact that maybe their lawyer has too many cases. what would you say to them?

>> all of us are entitled to constitutional defense. a fair and equal defense and money should not determine of type of justice you're entitled to. these people are accused of crimes and not convicted of crimes. as part of our criminal justice system, something we all defend on and in a partial manner, these people deserve a defense. >> chris, when we talk about government, people don't like government in their lives. people are afraid of government. this is your last line of defense against the government's greatest power which is to deny you your liberty to take you away from your family because of a charge, because of something someone somewhere said. if we don't have some defense for your rights against big government here, where do we have it? >> 65% of african-americans, a.j., are appointed federal public defenders. the irony is that if there are no public defenders left essentially, then they have to assign a private attorney and that just costs more money, right? >> that's right. if our offices and offices

around the country are not able to handle the cases, then private lawyers would be appointed. they are paid an hourly rate and generally it ends up being more than expensive for private lawyers to handle the cases. of course, when the might and power of the united states government, especially in federal court, the united states government are brought against a person accused of a crime, i think anybody would want to assure themselves that before heavy punishment is meated out that someone has been well represented by their lawyer. >> there have been 40 former federal judges and prosecutors who sent a letter to the senate judiciary committee urging them to fund the program. they did it with meat inspectors and able to push that through. any chance you see, ari, there is going to be some movement on this? >> i think there is. you have this uprising and from people who stay out of politics. former prosecutors who in a sense reaching out to defenders because they understand the system. chief justice john roberts said this is not like the pentagon where you can slow down

procurement. we are firing people and ruining fair justice. i think congress need to say we can't decimate the people who provide fair trials. >> ari and a.j. and vincent, thank you for an important discussion, gentlemen. good to see you all. we will have more in-depth analysis on the crisis facing public defenders on our new "presumed guilty" series on our website tv.msnbc.com. ari will have more on "the cycle" at 3:00 p.m. on msnbc. because all these whole grains aren't healthy unless you actually eat them ♪ multigrain cheerios. also available in delicious peanut butter. healthy never tasted so sweet.

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president obama canceling his face-to-face meeting with russian president vladimir putin scheduled to take place next month at the g-20 in st. petersburg and move comes after russian authorities granted temporary asylum to nsa leaker edward snowden. it comes this after the president said this last noit in an interview with jay leno. >> i was disappointed because, you know, even though with we don't have an extradition treaty with them. they still help us on supplying our troops in afghanistan and still helping us on counterterrorism work and they were helpful after the boston bombing but there have been times where they slip back in the cold war thinking and a cold war mentality. >> kristen welker joining me from the white house. some peopleld