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country's nuclear program. where do those talks stand right now? we're live in geneva. also ahead, big league bullies, the new conversation happening all over this country. what happens when adults bully? plus, treating our wounded warriors. on this veterans day weekend, a look at new advances being made to help our injured veterans on the homefront. and the citypak project. more than half of americans don't have a place to live or places to keep their stuff. but that's changing in today's "big idea". we start with the developing news out of the philippines where typhoon haiyan has killed at least 1,000 people so far. the country's president says he expects that number to climb substantially. the red cross estimates more than 1,100 people have been killed in just one city alone. angus king has the latest from

man na. >> reporter: as every hour goes by, we're getting a clearer picture of the damage caused by the super typhoon. that's because rescue teams are now and only now able to get into some of the worst affected areas which have remained cut off. roads are blocked. power is down. and there's no phone coverage. experienced aid workers are saying they haven't seen anything like it since the december 2004 asian tsunami. and that's not a comparison you make lightly. a lot of people have managed to get away now. i spoke to survivors. they were rescued by the philippine air force earlier today. and they spoke of many people dead and also of most houses being swept away by a massive storm surge. the death toll has now gone up to over 1,000. it's risen very quickly today as more and more aid teams get in and discover what is a growing tragedy. the u.s. military is standing by ready to give assistance.

i spoke to a colonel in the u.s. marines today. he'd been up with the air force, surveying the worst-affected areas. the government of the philippines has now accepted the u.n. offer of international assistance. so now the picture is emerging of a much bigger humanitarian disaster than perhaps was first thought. and certainly the damage is far worse than many people feared. back to you. >> we'll ekeep our eye on what' happening there. and dramatic developments from geneva at this hour as talks continue with iran over that country's nuclear program. secretary of state john kerry is in geneva for the negotiations but warned this morning that there are still many hurdles to overcome. >> i want to emphasize, there are still some very important issues on the table that are unresolved. it is important for those to be

properly, thoroughly addressed. >> so will tehran curb its nuclear ambitions in exchange for a deal with the international community? david rode and reed wilson join me. david, i want to start with you. based on what you're reading and hearing, what might this deal look like? >> the broad outline is a freeze in nuclear activity. there's disagreement about what that means. and then there would be some sanctions relief from the west and the u.s. to basically give them six more months to come up with a comprehensive deal. that's the best case scenario. >> it would buy some time to come up with a grander deal? >> yes. but the reports out of geneva are that the french are objecting to the agreement, that there will not be an agreement today. and they'll come back to try to work out this six-month deal. they don't even have that yet. >> reed, what would a deal mean for this white house? >> this is clearly the largest

foreign policy challenge of president obama's second term. the first-term foreign policy revolved around ending wars in iraq and afghanistan. now they have to get iran right in the broader context of not only the shifting dynamics within the middle east and especially in the wake of the arab spring when there's a lot of turmoil in an area that's always been pretty tumultuous. but also in the broader context of israel and the u.s. allies in europe, especially the p5 plus 1 group in geneva. >> ali is standing by in geneva. i want to bring you into the conversation. you're on the ground talking to some of the folks involved in these negotiations. what's happening there at this hour? >> reporter: right now, craig, there's a bunch of bilateral and trilateral meetings going on.

the iranian form, zarif, has sat down with kerry and ashton, finished a bunch of meetings with them and then went into meetings with lavrov. but as was mentioned earlier, it looked like the parameters of some sort of deal were being worked out. but the french came in, dug their heels in saying it doesn't address serious security issues and that the french used a buzzword thrown about that they're not going to accept a sucker's deal. so they're very, very strong about this. i spoke to one of the eu high representative spokesmen. and he said, yes, we're all on the same page. but it was obvious there are some differences within the security council. so they're all trying to sit down and hammer this deal out right now. but it doesn't look like we're going to get anything tonight. there's been talk of them coming back in seven to ten days' time. the state department has told us today that there is going to be some sort of a statement issued tonight. so that might make things a little more clear. >> ali, what is the biggest

hang-up? you alluded to security concerns. specifically what are the french most concerned with? >> reporter: well, one point the french brought up that hasn't really been brought up before is the heavy water reactor at iraq where it could turn -- it could produce plutonium-grade bombs. this hasn't been an issue before. and i think this caught the iranians slightly by surprise that they brought this issue up and they're trying to deal around that right now. that plant is probably a year away from being operational, so that's why this caught the iranians by surprise. but the french have been very, very tough on this issue. they want this issue addressed and they want other curbs which they haven't talked to us about. that's made these meetings go late into the evening and today to try to resolve the issue. >> we know that president obama talked by phone with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu last night, reportedly

assured him that this country remains committed to preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. netanyahu's been publicly skeptical. >> iran got the deal of the century and the international community got a bad deal. this is a very bad deal. >> he's emphatic. why is he so worried? >> there's a fear that the iranians can sort of make a sprint and produce a nuclear weapon very quickly here. and the dispute about iraq, this is a plutonium reactor, is that once construction is finished and once the fuel rods are placed inside that plant, the israelis can't bomb it. if they did bomb this plant with the nuclear fuel in it, it would be an environmental disaster. that's why there's a focus on this iraq plant and why this deal is being held up right now. >> reid, there are a number of hawkish republicans in congress opposed to the idea of cutting any sort of deal with iran. bob corker telling "the daily

beast" in part, quote, we've crafted an amendment to freeze the administration in and make it so that they are unable to reduce the sanctions unless certain things occur. how hard is it going to be for secretary kerry and the president to get congress on board with lifting sanctions or easing sanctions? >> this is pretty interesting. this is one of the few areas of american foreign policy which is usually the domain of presidents that congress has legislated into law. the sanctions are part of law. to release them, to release some of the money that the u.s. has frozen or allowed iran to sell oil in the global market will require an act of congress. congress is never going to do that. so what the administration is -- their only bargaining chip really is some of those assets that the u.s. has frozen through the treasury department. they might be able to lift some of the freezes on -- i saw the number 10% of the $50 billion that we've frozen over the last

couple of years. that's sort of limiting this white house's options and the state department's options. john kerry doesn't have a lot of chips to play with because congress has taken them off the table. >> big thanks to all of you. this is a story that continues to develop throughout the course of the afternoon. we have our eye on it. if there's a major development, we'll pass it along to you. meanwhile, inside the locker room, as the investigation into the bullying of dolphins lineman jonathan martin -- as that investigation starts, we're going to talk to a former coach about what really goes on behind these closed locker room doors and why bullying, why adult bullying is more common than you might think. also, immigration on the links. a reporter goes under cover as a golf course worker. what he found out and why he says that sport cannot survive without immigrants. and republicans up late. what these two gop stars said last night.

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topping our saturday headlines, a jury convicts a utah doctor of killing his wife six years ago. he faces 15 years to life in prison. a march for justice in detroit outside the funeral for regina mcbride. she was trying to get help after getting into a car accident. her family is demanding that police charge the homeowner. that homeowner insists the shooting was an accident. and same-sex marriage is one step closer to becoming legal in hawaii.

the hawaii house of representatives passed a bill legalizing same-sex marriage last night. the senate is expected to take up that measure tuesday. a malicious physical attack, that's how the attorney for dolphins offensive tackle jonathan martin describes part of the bullying that he endured by a former teammate. that alleged bully? richie incognito. incognito was suspended from the team last sunday indefinitely. martin is in california with his family and remains on the team's injury report. is this simply the culture of the nfl or is it an example of a larger problem? coach, i want to start with you. i want to start by talking about the nfl locker room culture because most people have never set foot in one. they never will. how much of a difference is there between what constitutes

bullying in an nfl locker room and what's bullying in the real world? >> well, there's a separation. but the bottom line right now is where we all have to understand this -- richie incognito, it's distasteful what he did, with the texts and the phone calls. there's no excuse for that. but that is not common. it's not a common thing. >> okay. >> now everything else, we have to relax a little bit till we get to the bottom of it. we're getting stories from everybody on everything. it wasn't that long ago, duke lacrosse team was accused of raping a girl. the president came down hard, fired the coach, kicked the kids out of school, everything blew up. then the girl says, no, they didn't rape me. so we have to have some understanding. what's going on there is not normal. 20 years in the nfl, i never saw anything like that. i had a couple of incidences where we had to deal with things. >> it sounds as if you think

incognito is going to be vindicated. >> no, no, not at all. not at all. my deal is if i'm in the dolphins organization high up, i want to know who authorized the signing of him because he's had a problem from nebraska and oregon and all his nfl teams, all of them he's had a problem. why are we thinking this guy's history is going to change now? i also want to know, i don't believe for one minute, not one minute that the trainers, the equipment people, the players and the coaches didn't know what was going on and they turned their back. somebody had to know. the locker room is maybe a unit for them but there's no secrets in there. >> ben, being an outsider to a certain extent, what were your initial thoughts when you started reading and hearing about this case? >> well, i thought -- >> my initial thought -- i thought incognito -- >> coach, coach, that was for ben. >> i'm sorry. >> thanks, craig. yes. my thoughts were that this is no

different from anything i see at any company or in any family. this type of bullying, this type of terror, this type of predator goes on everywhere, whether it's a ceo, whether it's a group of employees ganging up and going after another employee, whether it's a company that creates a power volume and the nastiest, rottenest, most despicable people get in there and take it over. it's the same thing. whether it's a family, supposed to keep things quiet, and you have perpetrators like that doing horrible, rotten, disgusting things -- >> ben, how common -- how prevalent is adult bullying? >> it's all over and it's everywhere. we have no good statistics. but if you ask anybody, they will tell you all the stories of their life. and the earliest oral epochs we

have across the globe in all of culture, the earliest written stories we have have bullies, terrorists and predators. it's a human condition and it happens all the time. i see it everywhere. we in america do something very different about it, even though it's a secret locker room. we are willing to open it up and face the shame of saying one of ours, an american, thought like that, spoke like that, did that sort of stuff because we know that the only way we're ever going to do anything good about it, the only way we're ever going to change anything is to expose it. >> coach, former rutgers basketball coach mike rice, fired earlier this year for verbally and physically abusing his players. he talked about his firing. he also talked about the lessons learned last night on abc's "20/20." take a listen. >> what i went through and everything that i've learned and

the steps that i've taken and how people have helped me along the way, yeah, i've changed. will i be a work in progress? yeah, of course. >> coach, what can we take from all of this? what can we learn, if anything, from what's happening with the dolphins organization and the conversations surrounding adult bullying in this country? >> his admission, it's in the business world, like the doctor was saying, sometimes you lose control of yourself. and you have to back up and you have to understand. and sometimes the mistakes you make cost you your career. but it's part of the human nature that has to be dealt with. and i think as a coach, you've got to be there. you have to be around. you have to know what's going on. as a coach in the nfl, to cut to the chase, you're dealing with a bunch of 20-year-olds that are by nature very aggressive. they put their life on the line

all the time. and you have to be there to monitor because somebody is going to get out of whack. and as a coach, you have to be more of a leader and a person that looks over it like a father does over his family. >> ben, jim, big thanks to both of you. coach, if i had more time, i'd ask you what's happening to your g-men. but that isn't this kind of broadcast. the olympic torch made quite a pitstop. two russian astronauts took it on its first-ever space walk. the torch arrived at the international space station thursday. they did not light it for obvious reasons. but the astronauts did take turns posing with it. back here on earth, houston may have a problem. a 200-pound satellite is expected to crash into earth tomorrow night. they don't know exactly where. scientists say it's unlikely anyone will be hurt since most of the satellite will actually burn up during the reentry.

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listen, jay, i'm one of the many people who is not a fan of shutting down the government. >> you looked like a big fan from where i was setting. >> texas senator ted cruz's interview with jay leno tops our political playground. cruz insisted he had not been in favor of the recent government shutdown but admitted his dr. seuss-fueled filibuster in the lead-up to the stalemate proved quite popular with one important person in his life. >> i have to tell you, in ten months i've been in office, my daughters, caroline and catherine, nothing i've done in the senate has impressed caroline at all except the only moment was when i read "green eggs and ham." and when i got home, caroline said, that was kind of cool. >> another politico hobnobbing,

chris christie riding high on his recent reelection. he appeared on "the michael j. fox" show thursday. and last night, he headed over to jimmy fallon. he noted this morning that his accommodations were less than satisfactory, pointing to a supply closet and tweeting, thank you, jimmy fallon, for showing me how special guests get special treatment. fallon wrote a note saying, perhaps trying to mend fences. ♪ >> thank you, governor chris christie, for winning a second term as governor of new jersey and proving that whenever you run, it ends in a landslide.

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last night at seattle international airport, a guy ran through the checkpoint, down the concourse, managed to get on the jetway, then broke the window of a locked door. the man then crawled through the window to get on a plane. that's when officers grabbed him. they think the suspect was on drugs. no flights were impacted. that airport remained open. i'm craig melvin. here's a look at the other top stories making news right now. two separate incidents had tensions running high at l.a.x. last night. police had to evacuate a ticketing area in terminal 2 after a passenger told an agent he was carrying a dangerous item. he later confessed that he was joking. he was charged with making a false threat. meanwhile, in terminal 3, the same area where a tsa agent was killed last week, police

arrested an arriving passenger for showing a gun in a public area. they say that passenger declared the weapon and cleared security before boarding a flight into l.a. back here, an undercover new york police officer is among 11 bikers indicted by a grand jury for that infamous highway brawl back in september. police say the officer who was off duty at the time participated in the attack when he smashed in the back window of the suv. and the united nations says more than 20 million children will be vaccinated against polio in syria and neighboring countries. it's an effort to stop the disease which has reemerged during the that country's civil war. could golf survive without immigrants? that's the central question in the new december issue of "golf digest." contributor gabriel thompson spent six months traveling to golf courses in california and georgia, at times working under

cover as a maintenance worker. he was trying to find out what life is really like for the workers, especially the undocumented workerings. gabriel joins me now. first of all, what did you find? >> the most basic conclusion is that in fact the golf industry as a whole could very easily shrivel up without the backbone of their workers, which are latinos, mostly latino immigrants. it's estimated that about two out of every three golf maintenance workers in courses across the country are latinos, the vast majority of the immigrants. so the first takeaway, which took a little bit of digging, was that they are integral to that industry continuing. the second thing i think is we're accustomed to thinking about -- i've written a lot about immigrant workers and labor conditions, we are accustomed often to think about

how that work is invisible. we think about people working in the lettuce fields or washing dishes in the back of restaurants. but in fact the golf course worker, the ideal golf course worker is completely invisible. they show up at the shifts at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning. they're out there before the golfers are there. >> yeah. when you talk to these workers, do they sense that as well? i know you sense that because you have perspective. but do they talk about that? >> the invisibility? >> yes, the invisibility specifically. >> definitely. many people told me that they rarely will talk to golfers in the course -- even golfers that might be playing at the same course for 10, 15 years, that there's really no chance for interaction. and a lot of that has to do with their job description. they are meant to be sort of not seen, not heard and to do this

work as if in some ways no one ever sees them do it. that creates a real sense of -- i think it might be -- and i'm not a golfer. but i think as a golfer who shows up at these courses and sees that they're in pristine conditions all the time, doesn't necessarily see a lot of the work that goes on, that it's some sort of force of nature that happens independent of any sort of sacrifice on the part of workers. >> your story notes that in a 2008 cornell study of latino workers in golf, nearly 10% of golf course superintendents reported having lost workers to deportations in the previous three years. how is the golf industry or is the golf industry working to help undocumented employees find the path to citizenship? >> well, the first thing to say is that it's very difficult for a golf course to know whose workers are undocumented. and undocumented workers clearly have no real reason to be

upfront about their status. but i think one of the overarching organizations of golf course superintendents who are in charge of running those courses are trying to push for things like some sort of comprehensive immigration reform so they'll have steady workers that are available to do the work. one of the really intriguing characters i met -- i did a lot of reporting in california but also in georgia. and a story about latinos -- a recent story about a trend is that they're really spreading out. they're not just in the border states. they're not just in new york. but they're growing really quickly in the south. so i found a guy who spent 20 years working at a course in georgia where they passed this bill, modeled off the arizona bill, that made it easy for cops in routine stops to actually begin sort of deportation proceedings. i got a sense of the fear that a lot of these golf course workers

had. he never went outside except to go to work and back and occasionally to get food from the grocery stores. and the main constraint he had was that his wife was sick in mexico. and if he returned to help her, there was no money to do that. and so he felt like a lot of -- if he had one stop that led to a deportation, that could really sort of send his wife on a very negative medical spiral. >> gabriel thompson, thank you. >> thank you. can a backpack make a difference in the life of someone without a home? it's today's "big idea." a chicago businessman has developed a pack that stores the needs of the homeless all while helping them get back on their feet and improve their image. ron caplan started citipak and started giving out the bags last year. how did the idea come about?

>> it was born basically by walking and driving around the streets and seeing people with inadequate means to carry their belongings. seeing people with numbers of plastic bags and beat-up school bags for school kids just brought me to the idea of, why couldn't we create something? and i was fortunate enough to know the folks at high sierra. and they loved the idea. and through a number of different meetings, we created the first version of the bag. and from that, we sat down with the chicago coalition for the homeless who helped us pick out 14, 15 organizations in chicago that would benefit that know how to reach people on the streets. and so we met with them and provided them last year with over 2,000 bags. >> i understand you have one of the bags there with you. walk me through it. show me the bag and give me some of the basic features. >> the bag is made of ballistic

nylon. it's very weatherproof. it lasted through the chicago winter last year. it has certain features in it that are very unique. we call these anti-theft straps which they could put around their ankles or wrists at night if they're sleeping outside. it has an integrated poncho underneath here that pulls out and goes over the body and the person. the only logo on the bag is a citypak logo. inside here is a waterproof compartment for clothing and for their paperwork. >> one of the things we're talking about, ron, during our meeting before the broadcast, this idea that your organization has -- this is something that enhances the image of the homeless as well. explain that. >> well, first of all -- to be able to -- we go to organizations and incentivize

these organizations to tell people to come in to get the services they need to help build their lives better, whether it's insurance, whether it's housing, whether it's medical attention, anything. but to be able to have something -- could you imagine waking up in the morning and walking to work with six plastic bags? we forget how easy it is for us. and just to have a simple tool to be able to carry your belongings in an organized fashion has got to be a good start for the day. >> ron kaplan, citypak is the organization. it's our big idea on this saturday. ron, thanks for all you're doing there in chicago. keep us posted on the organization's success. if you are watching and you are listening and you have a big idea that's making a difference in your community or even the global community, we'd love to hear about it. e-mail us. there's the address right there. it's bigidea.msnbc@nbcuni.com.

'tis the season. a department store in london is adding a hearty dose of quirk to their holiday window display, turning household items into festive ornaments. back here, at 30 rock, the holiday season has officially arrived. the rockefeller center christmas tree is in place as you can see there. it's getting prepped for its big debut. the lighting of the 70-foot-tall norway spruce will happen wednesday, december 4th, only on nbc. no branches? 24/7. i'm sorry, i'm just really reluctant to try new things. really? what's wrong with trying new things? look! mommy's new vacuum! (cat screech) you feel that in your muscles? i do... drink water. it's a long story. well, not having branches

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november 11th, 1918, the armistice ending world war i went into effect that morning. it was seen as the end of the war to end all wars. today, it's known as veterans day. now, 95 years later, u.s. troops today are again at war. u.s. forces are in the mountains of afghanistan 11 years after operation enduring freedom started. more than 6,500 troops, 6,500 have been killed in the wars in afghanistan. meanwhile in iraq, 51,000 have been wounded. the medical director at the rehabilitation and research center at virginia commonwealth school of medicine joins us. an orthopedic surgeon at the brock army medical center and patrick murphy, the first iraq

war veteran to serve in congress and an msnbc contributor and the host of "taking the hill." an msnbc special tomorrow on veterans issues. colonel, i want to start with you. according to a 2012 article in the "army times," combat survivability is at an all-time high in the wars in iraq and afghanistan. 10% of all injuries, i understand, resulted in death, as opposed to vietnam where the fatality rate was something like 16%. world war ii with a 19% fatality rate. what's led to more people surviving, colonel? >> well, craig, we all know that our troops are armed better, they're protected better with body armor and whatnot. but i think one of the most important things that i get to see on a daily basis and get to talk to some of the troops are the training of our medics and corpsmen. it's one thing that i've got to know a few of these medics who are just trained, i think, better than we've ever trained medics before.

and they're able to get people to us that never would have survived on the battlefield before and get them to advanced medical care ever sooner than before. >> what kind of new challenges have been created for healing and rehabilitating some of those survivors that we were talking about, colonel? >> right, i think the new challenge is with more troops surviving and with their chest and abdomens being protected so well, we're seeing a lot of devastating limb injuries, which as you know, once a troop heals from those injuries canning devastating for the rest of their lives once they're trying to deal with the limb injury, the contradiction injury and the chronic pain that may come with it. >> doctor, many of the injuries incurred by troops cannot be seen. you've talked and written about postdeployment syndrome. for folks not familiar with that concept, what is it and how prevalent is it? >> sure, craig. what we're seeing with postdeployment syndrome is the

silent injury of a traumatic brain injury, what folks these days call a concussion, along with psychological challenges, combat stress, depression, anxiety, on top of the things the colonel just talked about. pain, sometimes amputation. we're seeing at least 10% of all the folks coming back from the wars who are seen in the v.a. setting have had a traumatic brain injury and are still symptomatic with it. so of those folks, at least 90% are going to have a secondary injury such as combat stress, anxiety or pain. so we're seeing somewhere between 7% and 10% of everyone who's been in the conflicts, was coming back and getting care at the v.a. is having postdeployment syndrome. >> how difficult is it to identify and treat that? >> it's very challenging if you haven't seen it before. if you're not used to it and don't fully understand it. which is why the v.a. has set up more than 110 teams across the country with specialization in

understanding the diagnosis, the management and the long-term care. if you haven't done it before, it's very hard. if you've been doing this for 10, 20 years, it becomes a little easier, just like anything else in medicine or health care. >> patrick, more than 2.5 million u.s. troops have gone to war in iraq and afghanistan since 2001. that's an eye-popping number when you stop and really think about it. how does the war experience -- how does that affect veterans? how does it shape the rest of their lives -- and how does it shape our society? >> well, as far as society, craig, when you talk about over 2.5 million -- but that's less than 1% of americans. we have 330 million americans. really they're the ones -- those 2.5 million and their families are carrying a heavy burden here. it affects them in a positive way and sometimes in a negative way for the rest of their lives. our country -- we have made great strides. the new g.i. bill, the largest increase in veterans benefits in the history of our nation.

bringing down the backlog. but every day, 22 veterans commit suicide, homelessness. those are the types of things we need all hands on deck. and we can't say, government, make this happen. it has to be a public and private partnership. every community needs to be engaged. and we're going to talk about those tomorrow in "taking the hill". >> doctor, the injuries that veterans are coming home with have led to increased demand for medical specialty like yours. what is that specialty? >> my specialization is physical medicine rehbltation. it's one of the specialties that provides care for individuals with acute and chronic disability. takes them from a point of acute injury, trauma, stroke, et cetera, and brings them back to health and full function. it can be a short-term

intervention. if you have back pain, it can be a lifelong intervention if you have a spinal cord injury. >> when your dealing with these injuries, how difficult is it for these soldiers to maintain hope? >> it's very hard. it's very, very hard. >> colonel? >> i'd have to tell you, i'm one of the lucky ones. i always tell people, if you had my job for a week or a month, you'd be a changed person. the ladies and gentlemen that come back that i get the honor to take care of are -- their will and their drive is like nothing you've ever seen before. they will redefine words for you. they'll redefine the word determination and the word sacrifice and they'll redefine the words patriotism and love. it changes you to see that in them. they are the most hardest working individuals i've ever seen in my life. >> patrick, there are fewer veterans serving in congress today than there were 20 years

ago. what does that mean for -- what does that mean for lawmaking in this country? >> it's one of the reasons why you see what happened with the government shutdown a couple of weeks ago. we had five casualties in afghanistan and death gratuity benefits weren't given to them because the government was shut down. oftentimes when you look at history, during a time of war, there's a lot of people rallying around veterans. but when the war ends and winds down like it is now in afghanistan, people will say, it's start cutting the v.a. benefits which is not the right answer. especially when so many as the colonel and david mentioned are hurting out there. we need to make sure that we leave no one behind. we need to take care of these heroes when they come home. >> doctor, colonel, patrick, a big thanks to all of you. and a special thanks as well from all of us to all of you for your service. a quick programming note as well, tomorrow, patrick murphy is going to be hosting a

one-hour special about veterans issues. he'll do that from the 9/11 memorial in lower manhattan. it's called "taking the hill." it should be a fascinating conversation. he'll take what we just talked about to the next level. that's tomorrow, noon eastern right here on msnbc. up next, two developing stories that we continue to follow here. six leading nations are holding high-level talks with iran over its nuclear program. where those negotiations stand right now. also, crews are busy determining the damage and searching for victims from that super typhoon. we'll talk live to a red cross official on the ground in the philippines. this is msnbc. when we made our commitment to the gulf, bp had two big goals: help the gulf recover and learn from what happened so we could be a better, safer energy company. i can tell you - safety is at the heart of everything we do. we've added cutting-edge technology, like a new deepwater well cap and a state-of-the-art monitoring center, where experts watch over all drilling activity twenty-four-seven.

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i don't have the words for it. it's really horrific. it's a great human tragedy. >> our latest look at the damage before darkness fell onto the philippines. super typhoon haiyan left much

of that country without power, without communication. we'll talk live with rescue officials as the search and rescue effort starts there. good saturday afternoon to you. i'm craig melvin. you're watching msnbc where we are also closely watching developments in geneva where talks on freezing iran's nuclear program are well under way right now. also, demands for justice in detroit. >> no justice, no peace! >> protests are planned today after a teenager was shot to death while looking for help. why her family now claims it was a case of racial profiling. i think the president's got to fix the problem and he's got to lead on this issue. and he's just not leading. >> this is what betrayal looks like. the president isn't leveling with us. he's trying to cover his tracks. >> and piling on the president. republicans rev up their attacks on obama care as a crucial deadline comes closer.

did i wake up because i got a primary and say, let's be pro-life? no. >> and republican senator lindsey graham pushing for a vote on a new abortion bill. is he trying to save lives or his own career? all that to get to. but we start with that super typhoon, haiyan. in its aftermath in the philippines, at least 138 people have been confirmed dead. the country's president says that number will climb substantially. the red cross estimates at least 1,000 people have been killed in one city alone. it's being called one of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall. angus walker starts us off with the very latest from manila. >> reporter: as every hour goes by, we're getting a clearer picture of the damage caused by the super typhoon. that's because rescue teams are now and only now able to get in to some of the worst-affected areas which have remained cut

off. roads are blocked. power is down. and there's no phone coverage. experienced aid workers are saying they haven't seen anything like it since the december 2004 asian tsunami. and that's not a comparison you make lightly. a lot of people have managed to get away now. i spoke to survivors. they were rescued by the philippine air force earlier today. and they spoke of many people dead and also of most houses being swept away by a massive storm surge. the death toll has now gone up to over 1,000. it's risen very quickly today as more and more aid teams get in and discover what is a growing tragedy. the u.s. military is standing by ready to give assistance. i spoke to a colonel in the u.s. marines today. he'd been up with the air force surveying the worst-affected areas. the government of the philippines has now accepted the u.n. offer of international assistance.

so now the picture is emerging of a much bigger humanitarian disaster than perhaps was first thought. and certainly the damage is far worse than many people feared. back to you. >> angus walker on the ground for us there. richard gordon is the chairman of the philippine red cross. he joins me now on the telephone. richard, what are you seeing on the ground right now? >> terrible devastation. it is catastrophic. many, many people dead on the ground, very hard to go there. access is a big problem because it's an island. and there's a lot of debris on the ground. a lot of dead bodies on the ground. and definitely there's a lot of -- hunger is beginning to set in because there's not enough food. and there are shortages of water and fuel. that's what the red cross is trying to bring in right now. we're trying to bring in water tanker trucks, trying to bring in water filtration trucks, machines and water bladders, as well as food, non-food items,

tents, medicines, fuel, fuel tanks. you name it, we need to bring it. and it's hard to bring it. access is so difficult. the airport is not functioning. you have to bring it by land which is a two or three-day trip because of all the debris or bring it by sea, which is going to take a while, maybe two or three hours. right now, i'm in the office. we have a philippine ship bringing supplies. we still have to bring another ship to bring in the rest of the supplies including rescue trucks. >> you're on the ground there. we've been hearing in terms of a death toll, 138 confirmed. we know earlier the red cross said 1,000. the president of the philippines has said we can expect that death toll to climb significantly. what do you say about those numbers? >> well, the numbers are

estimates mainly coming from the ground from all kinds of people. they are so shocked. the secretary general did not make a specific statement that that was an actual count. in the red cross, we do not count until we see the bodies ourselves. because we have to identify the bodies and do tracing for restoring family links so that there can be proper closure and respect for the dead. but those numbers indeed are going to go up. remember, this is only one province. we haven't even reached one town. one town with 17,000 people, which was the first hit. it's called giwan. this is the area where general macarthur landed and many other places, which are beaches. there were storm surges. and we haven't been able to get to those places yet. in one town, they have about 40 dead and 140 injured. we'll see more deaths along the

coastal areas. there are deaths also in other islands. and the whole area is now being compromised, especially the island of bohol which just had a terrific earthquake. and mercifully enough they weren't hit by the typhoon. but because of the typhoon, the power that comes from the island that supplies bohol is out. they are now having problems with water and power. so the red cross and the government has to ratchet up the supply of water, water filters, filtration and water trucks -- >> richard gordon, chairman of the philippine red cross. keep us posted, sir. >> we will do that. thank you very much. >> thank you, good luck. >> thank you. wac here, the lines between state courts and the political process, those lines are growing even more and more blurred. 38 states hold public elections for their supreme court justices and campaign spending on judicial contests hit record

levels in the last election cycle. a new study found that 2011 through 2012 election cycle saw nearly $34 million spent on tv ads for state supreme court races. that far exceeds the previous two-year record of $26 million spent in 2007 and 2008. wallace jefferson is the former chief justice of the texas supreme court. burt brandonberg is the executive director of justice at stake, an organization aiming to keep courts fair and impartial. burt, let me start with you, basic question, what does this money buy? >> people spend money because they want something out of the courts. they want better decisions. in a lot of cases what's happening is the tort wars are becoming court wars. an one side, you have businesses and allys spending billions of dollars. on the other side, you have trial lawyers and others. you have millions of dollars

being spent and judges are forced into being fund-raisers. and in the end, people wonder if justice is for sale. >> nine out of ten voters believe that campaign cash is influencing court decisions. what do you think, personally? >> well, it's a chilling question to have answered because, number one, we've been asking the question for a number of years. that number is at its highest level ever. we've never seen the level of public fear so high. in addition, we've had the question of state judges themselves. and perhaps more chilling, nearly half of the judges agree with that statement, that campaign cash is affecting courtroom decisions. in the end, judging is in the mind. you can't have an x-ray to tell you exactly what a judge is doing. what you try to do is get the best possible people on the bench and create a system of political insulation around them so there can be as little pressure as possible. the money is eroding that insulation. >> wallace, you recently expressed your dislike of electing judges. you sadz in part, quote, it's a

broken system, we shouldn't have partisan elections. i do not like the concept of a republican or democratic judge. i think fund-raising undermines the confidence in a fair and impartial judicial system. let me play devil's advocate for a second here. what's wrong with letting the people decide who their judges should be? >> the idea of accountability for judges is not bad. the problem is in practice, most people in texas don't know the judges they're voting for. if you think about walking into the ballot box in houston, texas, that's harris county, you're going to see a ballot that has over 50 judges on it, from the supreme court all the way down to the district court level. and there is no way to identify the qualifications of each and every one of those individuals who are running for judge. so instead what the public does is they vote in texas by straight party ticket. they vote either for all republicans beginning with the

top of the ticket down or all democrats. and that has nothing to say about the merit of the judge, the experience, the wisdom. that's why it's a broken system. accountability doesn't work in this context. >> what was your experience like when you ran for the high court there in the lonestar state? >> it was not good. if there's a silver lining, it was that i got to meet people all around the state. but there are 26 million people in texas. and there's no way you can reach all of them or even a good proportion of them. and then you have advocacy groups who come to you and say, we want you because we want you to vote this way. >> yeah. >> which represents a fundamental misunderstanding of what judges do. >> bert, we should note here that this has not always been the case in this country. this is a somewhat recent phenomenon over the last few decades. how did we get here? >> the big bang was the year 2000. that's when money really began to flow in nationally. we'd seen it in a couple of states beforehand, actually

texas and alabama and mississippi. suddenly there was a much more concerted effort and then it turned into an arm's race. as justice jefferson said, this is not the system that our judges signed up for. they didn't ask for this. and now they're forced into a system where they're asked to dial for dollars for parties who appear for them in court. when election time comes, instead of having time to actually talk to voters, they have to spend their time talking to donors. >> the 2012 contest for the michigan highcourt, mccormick race drew national attention mostly because of this unique tv spot. take a look. >> michigan is one of 15 states that uses nonpartisan elections to choose their supreme court justices. this is bridget mary mccormick. it's her sister. she's running for state supreme court in the nonpartisan section of the ballot. >> not every candidate for the high court who has a sister star on the show "the west wing."

but it shows the power that tv has. how has tv spending changed the nature of judicial elections? >> well, the tv spending records are getting shattered. and the problem is that it then brings down judicial elections to the rest of the level of our politics. we think about what we want from a judge is supposed to be different than a legislator and an executive. they're supposed to be fair and impartial. the race to get on tv makes you raise enormous amounts of money and then you have to run these ads that essentially whether they take the high road or the low road, they have nothing to do with their qualifications for actually being on the bench. >> wallace jefferson and bert brandonberg, big thanks to both of you. >> thanks, craig. developing right now, six leading nations are holding high-level talks with iran over that country's nuclear program. where those negotiations stand right now. i know that if we can do

this in trenton, new jersey, maybe the folks in washington, d.c. should tune in their tvs right now, see how it's done. >> and the fight for the gop continues. did governor chris christie's victory offer the party a roadmap? so what can i get you? we'll take something tasty and healthy. ♪ must be the honey! ♪ there's a party going on in your cereal bowl ♪

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topping our saturday headlines this hour, barring a last-minute breakthrough, talks between iran and six world powers including the united states will end without an agreement on tehran's nuclear ambitions. the main sticking points center around calls to shut down a reactor that could help iran produce nuclear fuel. a jury convicts a utah

doctor of killing his wife six years ago. martin macneill was accused of drugging and drowning his wife in the bathtub so he could be with his mirz. he was convicted in the wee hours of the morning. he'll be sentenced in january. he could face between 15 years to life in prison. and former miami dolphins star mark duper says he's tested positive for the brain disease cte. duper went to ucla to get tested after having headaches and some body pain. he is now just the latest player to come down with that concussion-related disease. a major breakthrough for mental health care advocates in this country with new regulations announced by the white house friday. insurance agencies are now required to provide the same coverage for mental illness and substance abuse as they do for physical illnesses. the white house put out regulations for benefits and treatment yesterday. and this has long been the fight of senator richard blumenthal

who joins me now. senator, why has it been such a challenge to get insurance companies to treat mental and physical illnesses similarly? >> this battle really has gone on for too long. the regulations are long overdue. the reason is that the insurance companies simply have refused to provide the kind of coverage that people need and deserve. we're talking about regulations that are probably the most single important step towards stopping gun violence since the newtown tragedy here in connecticut and regulations that will guarantee access to mental health care for our veterans coming home with the invisible wounds of war, the signature wounds of this war, posttraumatic stress and traumatic brain injury. and they're costly to cover, which is perhaps the major reason why the insurance companies have refused to do so on their own. >> you mentioned gun violence. we are sadly coming up on a year since the sandy hook shooting.

i can't even believe it's been a year. the state's attorney, as you know, trying to block those 911 calls from that day from becoming public. lawyers from the "associated press" and freedom from information commission argue they should not be closed off. take a listen. >> these tapes need to be released. the people of newtown will deal with that. we've dealt with a lot in the last year. they'll be able to deal with that also. >> where do you stand on the issue? >> what's needed, craig, is for the report by the prosecutor. that report really should have been done long before now. it should have been issued with all the relevant evidence. there is a real need for closure here. and the drip-by-drip disclosure, the piecemeal revelations that have come have not only been painful for those families that have endured so much and demonstrated such strength and courage but also for the public. that's what we need. >> you'll wait until the report

comes out to decide whether you support the 911 calls being released to the public? >> the report should embody and set forth all of the relevant evidence. and that report really is necessary for the public to be satisfied that it knows all that's known right now by the prosecutors and the police. i think that report is long overdue. should be released right away. >> you've been a major proponent of better health care coverage in this country. but due to problems with the obama care rollout, you've joined a bipartisan group of lawmakers pushing for a delay in the individual mandate. how would that delay affect changes you hope to see in mental health care coverage? >> i am not for delaying the individual mandate. i'm for possibly postponing the deadline for the enrollment date, which is march 31. and there may be a need also to compel the insurance companies to reissue policies that are now being canceled. there are a number of measure

that is we need to pursue in light of the glitches that have developed. we need to consider anything and everything that guarantees fairness to those consumers that are really suffering disadvantages because of the lack of access to the websites. but here's the important point, in the long run, health care insurance is necessary for mental health care and behavioral health treatment because we can help stop gun violence, we can help make america healthier and safer. >> senator richard blumenthal of connecticut, always good to see you. thank you for your time. >> thank you, craig. today, we have talked about homelessness and we've also talked about the citypak program in regards to homelessness. and we've talked about veterans as well. did you know that 26% of the homeless are military veterans? that's just one of the findings in a survey of panhandlers in downtown san francisco. the survey aimed to dispel some of the myths society gives to

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lindsey graham as you may know is the center senator from my home state, south carolina. he's someone who's helped build a political career by being fairly reasonable more often than not. graham has talked about sensible entitlement reform, stood up to those in his party who like to rule by obstruction. he's talked about elections having consequences. but senator graham did something this week that's come to typify contemporary politics. take a listen. >> it is our belief that science and medicine has advanced tremendously since 1973. and it's now time to have a discussion in light of medicine and what we know about the unborn child in 2013, is it time

to do more? >> that was senator graham thursday calling on the senate to vote on his proposal to ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy. graham's been a player in the upper chamber a long time. he knows that's not happening. he knows it's not happening since the dems control the senate and the white house. so why would he engage in such a public exercise in futility? at the same news conference, a woman with a group backing his idea revealed the real motive. >> it will be very mobilizing, mobilizing politically and mobilizing electorally. >> rarely do panderers admit openly what they are doing. but that supporter called a spade a spade, throwing meat to the red base is a tried and true way to turn out not just the vote but primary voters who are quite different from general election voters. pandering is part of the reason

dysfunction and vitriol consume our capital in dialogue. when politicians red and blue do it, it leads to more voters with unrealistic expectations. and since those on the farthest ends of the political spectrum are the most susceptible to pandering, we get fringes deciding primaries. lindsey graham is up for reelection next year and has four primary opponents so far. he wants his base to know that he's really conservative, too. that's why three years ago, he actually suggested repealing the 14th amendment as a way to deal with illegal immigration. he knew that wasn't happening then either. they do it because it's effective. even if it eats up, scares time on the legislative calendar. people fall for panderers, time and time again. here's a thought. stop. ♪

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the philippines. at least 138 people are confirmed dead. we've heard other estimates that go as high as 1,000. the country's president says the number is expected to, quote, climb substantially. we heard from a red cross volunteer earlier in the hour who had mentioned the difficulty they were having getting rescue workers and much-needed supplies in some of those far-flung areas. we continue to watch that story in the philippines. detroit residents today continued to mourn a young woman who was shot and killed a week ago as she sought help following a tragic accident. the 19-year-old was reportedly shot to death by a homeowner as she stood on his porch early last saturday morning. civil rights leaders are calling for an investigation into that shooting. so far, no charges have been filed in the case. lisa bloom is here with us. this story sounds eerily similar to that case a couple of months ago down in north carolina, down

in charlotte, in that case, if i remember correctly, there was a black guy also seeking help after a car accident, shot by a police officer as he approached. are we seeing more examples of this or are these just being reported on more often now? >> i think there are dozens and dozens of examples of this. some of them are rising to the level of national media attention. the problem is we have a perfect storm. we have a culture of racial profiling. we have the laxest gun laws in the developed world and we have "stand your ground" laws. with those factors combined, we have story after story like this. it's a terrible tragedy. >> is there enough hard information in the michigan case specifically -- enough hard information out there at this point for prosecutors to bring charges? >> that's a tough question. and i don't know all of the evidence that the prosecutors have. the defense has indicated there is some evidence that's going to be coming out. i don't want to prejudge anything. but we know this is an unarmed young woman who was in a car accident who was banging on doors trying to get help and

ultimately she's shot and killed. certainly it's enough for a very strong and thorough investigation to be taking place. >> where's the bar here? if you were at home and someone's knocking on your door -- i guess it varies state by state. but if someone's knocking on your door and you think that they are suspicious, what's your obligation? not your moral obligation. but your legal obligation? >> your legal obligation is the same. in a "stand your ground" or non-"stand your ground" case, which means you can only shoot and kill someone in self-defense if you are in reasonable fear of imminent great bodily harm or death. in other words, if you think that person is about to attack you and kill you, that's the only time that you can use deadly force in self-defense. it is certainly not reasonable in any state in america to answer the door with a gun and shoot and kill somebody who's banging on your door. it could be a criminal. it could be an innocent person like this young woman is. that's why you simply can't behave this way. >> i want to ask you about the former state prosecutor in texas sentenced to jail for his role

in withholding evidence in a murder trial where the defendant spent 25 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. what kind of message does this send to other prosecutors in this country? >> this is the first case i've heard of where a prosecutor is going to jail for withholding evidence. they have an obligation to turn over exculpatory evidence. but when they don't, they get a slap on a wrist, a fine, a censure from the judge. consider this innocent man spending 25 years in prison. the prosecutor will probably spend ten days in jail. it's not very much considering the harm that he caused. but i think it's a good first step and sends a powerful message. >> how common is this? >> very common. it's very common. the prosecutors in the trayvon martin case were accused of withholding evidence. the defense makes the accusation a lot. they're not always right. but lawyers in the heat of battle withhold evidence from each other. not saying it's right. it's not right. but it's very common. >> lisa bloom, always good to

see you. >> great to see you, too. >> i wish we had more time to introduce our viewers at home to your lovely dog. >> my rescue dog, sadie. >> that's a separate segment. >> she's adorable. >> thank you for coming by. to politics we go. republicans today continued their assault on the affordable care act despite president obama's apologies over the disastrous rollout. congressman todd young of indiana was the gop point person today in the party's weekly address. >> this is what betrayal looks like. here you have hard-working people who were repeatedly told not to worry, that their coverage would stay the same and if anything, their costs would go down. just the opposite is happening. >> let's get to the brain trust. bob franken, syndicated columnist, rich galen and esther arma is here as well.

rich, you're knew to the brain trust. we start with you. >> i'm a little intimidated. >> you should not be. these are very friendly people. this is a friendly bunch, except bob franking sometimes. >> can we bring our dog? >> rich, how long is obama care going to be fair game for the gop? >> it's going to be fair game for everybody, including democrats. democrats who are in cycle which is to say the ones, especially senators, up for reelection next year or in 2014. everybody's sort of looking back. it's not so much the rollout. that was sort of the attention-getter, the headline. but the bigger problem is as the republican address said, the bigger problem is that the president, for whatever reasons, whether he just didn't understand what the actual rules were going to be or what, did promise a number of times that if you like your health insurance, you can keep it. just yesterday afternoon, i was

walking down king street in old alexandria, and two men were talking. and one man said, are you still working? and he said, no, now that i'm on my parents' health insurance, i'm going to help out for a while. >> that is an anecdotal story there. >> you think i made it up? >> i did not say that. but that's one story. we've heard other stories of folks who have said the opposite. >> somebody that found a job because they got health insurance and it was better? >> no, that's not the story that i was referencing. >> oh, i see. >> but folks that we have heard from that have said if it were not for obama care or the affordable care act, that they would not have health care coverage. >> i think we ought to have universal health care coverage. we are the wealthiest country on the planet. for people not to be able to have guaranteed health care is just wrong. i absolutely agree with that.

this is the wrong way to go about it. >> i have to ask, my friend, republican rich galen, we've been friends a long time. are you saying that perhaps we should have a single payer system? >> no. i'm on a single payer system because i have medicare. so for me, yeah. so far, so good. but, no, i don't think it has to be single payer but i think having a program that is so complicated that they don't have any idea how to administer it 3 1/2 years on tells us there's something wrong with it. i'm not saying to delay or cancel it. i'm saying we need something that should be functional. >> the problem is what we had previously or what we've had previously, is equally complicated. one of the things that i used to love to hear during the debate over obama care was the question, do you want a bureaucrat to get between you and your doctor? the fact is is that what we have now is a bureaucrat who works for the insurance company who does get between you and your doctor.

>> esther -- >> i say more than that. let's be clear. we had a health system that was broken, everybody -- so many people were a check away from bankruptcy. the challenge that exists is the one hand, the rollout is a problem. you have a president who ran one of the most sophisticated campaigns to win -- not just one but two elections. and because of that kind of technological expertise, to have a website that doesn't work just creates this question of competen competence, which is deeply problematic, no question. and it offers the republicans -- >> not just republicans, the democrats as well. >> but, the thing that's important to remember is the system beforehand was absolutely decimating and devastating millions of americans. and so the challenge is not to just get it fixed but to create the scenario that allows people to do what the law actually will enable them to do. and for the president -- >> what is that?

>> the president posts -- more than the initial broken system did. let's own that. >> my point, esther, is nobody knows what this thing is going to do. >> that's become a line the republicans use in order to continue to articulate. it's about fear and panders to the way in which we've start to think about politics. >> the other issue that rich raises is the one about president obama saying in this period up until now that if you had your -- you keep your health care plan. what's so interesting to me is somebody who's known to be such a smooth talker can sometimes say things that really bite him you know wear. >> a la red line in syria. >> we're going to take a quick break. rich, i didn't know you were old enough for medicare. i've learned something new today. >> i'm way old enough for medicare. up next, the brain trust,

we'll talk about precisely how republicans are going to attempt to take advantage of the president's problems when they are struggling with what seems to be just the same number of issues as well. welcome to the gallery. how do you react when you first see this? it looks kind of like a dancer? reality check: some 4g lte coverage maps don't really look like maps. seems like maybe... a bunch of berries. this one feels more empty. what do you see here? clearly a picture of the united states. check the map. verizon's superfast 4g lte is the most reliable, and in more places than any other 4g network. i should switch to verizon immediately. that's powerful. verizon. the lg g2: featuring an intuitive rear-key design and 13-megapixel camera. could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that. well, did you know that when a tree falls in the forest and no one's around, it does make a sound? ohhh...ohhh...oh boy! i'm falling. everybody look out! ahhhhh...ugh.

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reelection wins it by a landslide, displaying no false modesty when asked about a 2016 run for the presidency, take a listen. >> if someone asks you if you're going to be a candidate for president of the united states and you're in politics, stop annoying me and asking me if i'm going to be the leader of the free world. come on. anybody who says that's lying -- >> here's the thing, esther, it's that authenticity that so many people, especially folks in new jersey, seem to have come to really appreciate. but the other part of this thing, a lot of folks haven't been talking about this week, it's tough for a guy like chris christie to win primary races in places like south carolina. here's a governor who expanded medicare. here's a governor -- we could play this game all day. but is he a flash in the pan or does he have staying power? >> here's the challenge with christie. if you're measuring his ability on the basis of performance and

the power of performance, being if you're measuring him on rhetoric rather than record, if you're dealing with his perception rather than his reality -- >> style over substance? >> he absolutely shines. his record when it comes to so many issues is deeply problematic. but the reality is presidential elections and primaries are not necessarily won on the basis of records. we deal with the minutia and the detail. but perception is a much bigger deal. his ability -- we've heard it again and again to change people's minds who fundamentally disagree with him, that is a power when it comes to presidential politics. now, who turns out becomes another conversation. >> bob, one of governor christie's possibly competitors in 2016 is a fellow named rick perry, governor of texas. he said on thursday essentially that chris christie should pump the brakes a bit. take a listen. >> there's a lot of time between

now and 2016. i would suggest governor christie and the rest of us need to focus on 2014, making sure that we elect more governors that have those policies put in place to create jobs, to create wealth, to be the juxtaposition -- >> we heard something senator from marco rubio down in florida, talked about chris christie being a great leader in new jersey, used new jersey several times in about a 15-second sound bite. chris christie's got a big "x" on his back right now, no? >> i'm amazed that rick perry knew the word juxtaposition. but beyond that, christie is the flavor of the month right now. we've sort of ordained him -- the pundits have -- to be the representative of what we like to call moderate republicans, which always begs the question, what do we mean by an immoderate

republican? but chris christie has some shortcomings that could really be a problem for him if he actually does run. the one that really sticks in my mind is he can be kind of nasty. that may play in new jersey. but it might not play in the rest of the country. >> rich galen, chris christie was on the short list to become mitt romney's v.p. nominee. he did not make the cut. there have been a number of folks who have suggested that if people knew why he did not make that cut, we would not all be so gaga -- or folks wouldn't be so gaga over chris christie. what say you to that? >> everybody's got something in their background -- you can't be in public life for a very long time without something that somebody decides is just the worst thing in the world. that's why we have negative ads. negative ads are distilled gossip. we all love gossip. that's why negative ads work. somebody will dig all this stuff up. but christie knows this and his guys know this. but back to something esther said is exactly right.

we're a year away from the midterm elections. anybody who's got a political telescope that lets them see all the way to 2016 is lying. who knows who else is out there? it's likely there are governors on both sides of the aisle all across this country that we on the east coast don't know much about that may spring up out of the ground and get everybody's attention when -- >> and let's not forget, we have a congressional election coming up. that could really have a lot to do with it. >> we didn't have a chance to get to sarah palin. sarah palin is actually not campaigning but she is on the road right now. i understand she's in iowa. she's going to be guest hosting "today" on monday. how relevant is sarah palin to the republican party's future? >> we keep making sarah palin relevant because we insist --

>> she's a guest, not guest hosting. >> sarah palin is kind of known as a kingmaker in the republican party. she's a person that the base b enjoys and somebody who republicans want the endorsement of. she turns people out with these incredible numbers. she is a woman who has shown herself often as a politician to be incredibly light on substance, all about style and she keeps moving that forward. so she's flog in a book, she will sell a lot of copies and a lot of people will turnout. what does that say about politics? celebrity politician gets a good crowd. >> ten seconds, rich, we got to go to commercial break. is she just using the gop? is she a user? >> oh, yeah. absolutely. she excites people. she does bring people out. she's good to sell a bunch of books. but you could say the same thing about elvis presley and he was never going to be president either. >> did you just compare sarah palin -- we got to take a break. this week's most underplayed stories overlooked and underplayed after this.

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let's get to your headlines and some thoughts on some other stories and issues that may have been overlooked and underplayed. bob, let me start with you. >> well, first of all, we need to pay attention to the budget negotiations. those are deadlines again. we could face another debt ceiling crisis or another government shutdown if they don't come up with some sort of deal. my headline would be forget about the grand bargain, democrats and republicans are scrounging for an infinitesimal bargain. >> can they get it done? >> i'm always scared when people say we're not going to do it again. so the answer is i have no idea. >> you're so honest, bob. that's why i enjoy you. ester, what's your headline? >> we were in iowa talking about the gop, but actually hillary

clinton has the democratic superdelegates already lining up to endorse her. that creates a problem for of course joe biden who's thinking about it, for martin o'malley, the maryland governor who's thinking about it. but they're already lining up to endorse. >> i think you and i both know hillary clinton decides she's in this thing, the race -- it clears. i think she is a race clearer, no? >> that's what everybody said in 2007 though. >> you think that -- >> and the funny thing happened on the way to the west front. there are some really -- martin o'malley for example is a very talented guy. >> he is. but i think the history people did compare barack obama to hillary clinton to was about the vote. and when the fight for the vote was happening, historically black men got the vote before women did and so went that fight for the vote so goes the presidency. >> rich, what's your headline, sir? >> i want to disagree with something we heard earlier. i think that performance counts. there's a reason christie won so widely in new jersey. and i think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he was --

he has been a really good governor. not everybody likes him. teachers don't like him clearly. public unions don't like him. but the fact is if you look at the exit polls, republicans, moderates, democrats, they all said that he's done a great job on the economy. did a great job in handling the aftermath of hurricane sandy. so performance counts when you're running for re-election. i think as we go into the 2014 cycle, that will become more and more clear. >>ester, bob, rich. rich, you did well. gave us clever zim lis. >> i'm just confused. >> thank you so much. >> you can't say that and then make me go away. you got fo give me a compliment, stick with it. don't turn around and make it left-handed. >> this is your first time. it's kind of what we do here. it's our thing. i'll be back tomorrow starting at 3:00 eastern. first though, "disrupt with karen finney." have a fantastic saturday

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add some beef, sloppy joe sauce and cheese, fold it all up and boom! delicious unsloppy joes perfect for a school night. pillsbury grands biscuits. make dinner pop. all right disrupters, thanks for joining me. is sanity making a comeback? women rule, insurance companies being dishonest? i know you're shocked. and laverne cox drops some shock on us. plagiarism is -- >> republicans ought to leave this stuff alone. >> you send a message to the president of the united states. >> the democratic candidate for governor has been narrowly elected in virginia. >> i'll tell you, it's a shame what happened to ken because he was betrayed. >> i'm never going to be a democrat to get in the middle of a gop