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tv   News Nation  MSNBC  December 18, 2013 11:00am-12:01pm PST

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the white house says it is releasing an independent task force report that recommends changes on how the nsa collects intelligence data. white house press secretary jay carney says the report ordered by president obama following classified leaks by edward snowden will be made public later today. >> over the next several weeks, we will be reviewing the report and the 46 recommendations as we consider the path forward, including sorting through which recommendations we'll implement and which might require further study and which we will choose not to pursue. while we intended to release the review group's full report in january, given inaccurate and incomplete reports in the press about the report's content, we felt it was important to allow people to see the full report to draw their own conclusions. for that reason we will be doing that this afternoon, releasing the full report. >> let's get more now from
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kristen welker. before we talk about the report itself, let's put about the group put together to review the nsa surveillance program. >> reporter: tamron, a couple of folks who president obama was meeting with this morning include michael morrell, a former cia director and richard clark, former counterterrorism official, and a legal expert. so really you have people coming together from a number of different walks -- having served in past administrations. but really what they did is take a hard independent look as you point out at the nsa surveillance program. the report they have put together 200 pages long. it comes with 46 recommendations and you heard jay carney point out and carney said one of the reasons they wanted to release this because there has been inaccurate reporting about what the contents will actually include.
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broadly we anticipate that the report will suggest ways to shrink the bulk collection of phone and internet data. we also believe that the report will call for separating the nsa director from the cyber command chief. right now that's a position that is held by one person. it's really significant that the white house decided to move up the time line for releasing this report. additi aoriginally we expected it in january. of course, this comes, tamron, after quite an interesting week on monday. a u.s. district judge ruled that the government surveillance program likely violated the fourth amendment of the constitution, that judge calling it or well yan, the administration clearly has to look at this. this an issue that dogged the president this year and contributed to the low poll numbers we've seen. >> kristen, do we know any more regarding a time line?
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once we learn the recommendations has the white house indicated when some of these might be put into effect? >> reporter: that's a great question. they have not mapped out a timeline. they have emphasized that this is a lengthy report and it's something that needs to be reviewed and they have said they are going to look at which recommendations they are going to implement and which they won't. there are 46 of them. it is possible that they will decide to move forward with some of those recommendations but not all of those recommendations. we also asked if we would hear from president obama today about this report, that was a negative. they say the president will not speak about that today. i anticipate we'll hear from him on this topic quite soon. >> kristen welker, live from the white house. thank you. developing now, we are awaiting news from nasa on what it calls urgent space walks that will happen in the next few days for necessary repairs needed on the international space station. in fact, these are new pictures of two american astronauts
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training today on board the space station. the spacewalks will be first for american since july when an italian astronaut almost dra drowned. the cooling system has been described as massive and requires the replacement of a pump with a bad valve. but the astronauts seem to be taking it all in stride and have been preparing for the possibility all week. american astronaut even tweeted out, have not looked out the window in four days, too busy building space suits. where did i put my gloves? he also posted a picture of a space suit that the astronauts are getting ready. joining me on the phone, derrick pitts, chief astronomer in philadelphia. right now the walks are planned for this coming saturday, monday and possibly wednesday, which is christmas day. the last time a space walk
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happened on krips machristmas in sky lab. let's talk about this being an urgent repair here. what can you tell us that enable us to understand what's happened here, the urgency of it? >> it's quite simple. what they have to do. they have to repair the cooling system of international space station because they have quite a number of heat loads on board and they have to regulate it carefully to make sure not only their environment is comfortable and liveable, but also they are not ruining any electronic components or any research specimens or anything like that on board. they don't want anything to freeze up. it's really important that they have both of the cooling loops on board operating properly. the closest analogy, very much like your car overheating because the water pump isn't circulating water through the radiators to keep the engine cool. they don't want space station to
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overheat or cool too much. >> the space walk was not the first option. the attempt was to repair it remotely and that did not work. in your description of it being a simple repair. if it can't be done remotely, why are they at this point with the space walk? >> they are at the point with the space walk -- this is the thing that separates it from being simple to complex. space walks are risky. they have to do the repair outside because the pump module that holds the valve is on the exterior of the space station on the main truss. they have to go outside, remove all of the connections that carry coolant to this, then they have to remove the pump itself, pumt put a new one in place and hook the connections back together. >> i want to play with rick said, he talked about the possibility of a space walk before it was confirmed. let's play that. >> some of these science
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experiments have been shut down due to the lack of cooling. and really it's not any quieter. we still have lights and toilet working and food to eat and we're still very comfortable up here. any time you have something like this, it's good news/bad news. the bad news is the station is having problems and we have to do a repair. the good news is, as we have the spare parts and training and we have the skills and of course going out and doing a space walk is always very exciting. >> exciting but as you pointed out and we know as well, risky. the issue with the leak that we all saw in the astronaut suit of the italian has not been fully resolved and they are not sure what caused the leak to happen. >> that's right, they haven't quite figured that out but they have additional space suit parts they can use to put together a space suit so they can send two astronauts out to do the work. they have enough on board. not understanding what happened with that -- with the failed
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space suit from before adds another level of risk because they are not 100% certain it couldn't happen again. these things all fold into the mix there. certainly has been training for this and they have contingency plans all set up before an astronaut sets foot outside the space station, tamron. >> thank you so much. always great to speak with you. the walks are plan for saturday, monday and wednesday. thank you, derrick. >> my pleasure, thank you. >> we're also following developing news out of detroit where a preliminary hearing is being held today in the case of the killing of 19-year-old renesha mcbride. to determine if he'll stand trial for her murder. according to police, mcbride crashed a car nearby his home in the early hours of november 2nd and knocked on his door looking for help. wafer told police he thought
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mcbride was trying to break in and his shotgun went off by accident. mcbride was unarmed. charged with second degree murder, manslaughter and firearms violations. joining me now, kate lambert and lisa bloom. kate, let's start with you and the testimony we heard today. heavily focused on the events leading up obviously and the condition of mcbride. >> yes, we heard from the woman who was living in the house and saw renisha mcbride crash her car. she described her being very disoriented after crashing her car, wanting to gome, kind of stumbling away. that's one of the other things we know about what she did in the time before she knocked on the door of wafer. >> let me play the testimony from carmen beasley, the owner of a parked car that mcbride hit and as you point out, describe
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what she saw. let's play that, please. >> just the confused state of not knowing where she was or not being able to give me a phone number or anything to help me out to get her help. >> did she ever give you a phone number of her home? >> no, that's what i was trying to get. >> did she ever fight with you? >> no. >> become blij raent? >> not at all. >> testy in any way? >> no. >> lisa, explain the rationale with this testimony, at least this being the beginning. we should note as well, mcbride's blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit and traces of marijuana in her system. we're hearing a description of her behavior prior to this encounter with theodore wafer. >> one of the key questions is going to be whether mr. wafer's conduct was reasonable answering the door with a shotgun and
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shooting her in the face through the locked screen door. i'm sure he's going to continue she was behaving erratically and she was confrontational and he was in fear for his life. that's what i expect to hear from the defense. this witness shows while she was disoriented she was not combative or aggressive. the young woman had been in a car accident and wandering around in a discome bob lating state. that's not a reason to shoot somebody in the face. >> lisa, help us understand, at least the defense strategy here if the door is locked and you're behind the door, how is that explained as you feeling your life is in danger and in common sense terms and layman's terms, someone would think they are near you and the notion of a locked door separating these two individuals on the surface does not seem to hold up a
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self-defense rationale. >> michigan, like the majority of states is a stand your ground state and also a castle doctrine, you have the right to defend yourself in your own home or any place you have the right to be but only if you're reasonably in fear of great bodily injury or death. the homeowner is going to say, she was trying to break in and threatening him. he's going to have some kind of evidence like that to substantiate his claim. even banging on the door is not a sufficient reason to shoot somebody in the face. >> kate, do we know more about the witnesses we're expecting to hear from throughout this before the judge makes her decision on the case? >> we haven't heard much. we already heard from the medical examiner and 911 dispatcher and i believe they are talking to a detective right now and they are talking to everyone involved who from the legal side at this point. >> one of the key things though
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you mentioned, the medical examiner, that person testified that mcbride's injuries were too severe to tell if she suffered an early brain injury. >> yes, he said the only injuries that they could have seen would have been covered by the wound, which he showed an image and it was pretty much the length of her face, the wound from the shotgun shot. he wasn't able to tell that but from the behavior that was described, it seemed it was definitely a possibility that she had some sort of injury. >> lisa, that relevant, that the medical examiner saying it was too early to tell if she had a brain injury. obviously the question is state of mind, whether you're disoriented or may have a concussion and stumble out of that car looking for help. >> well, her behavior is going to be highly relevant to the case and we're going to hear from any witness who saw her that night.
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we've already seen that one female eyewitness and i expect at trial we'll hear from the defendant as to what her behavior was. we haven't heard that if full. he said she was banging on the door. doesn't describe any conversation with her. did he ask her what's wrong or what she wants? was there no conversation, he simply opens the door and then shoots and kills her? >> for the judge to determine, there's enough evidence. is this a low bar, lisa? >> it's a relatively low bar. just has to be probable cause to hold him for trial. i'd be very surprised if the judge does not find that. >> thank you very much. lisa bloom, always a pleasure to speak with you and kate, thank you as well. wall street already reacting after the fed announced just moments ago it will begin pulling back its stimulus. the dow up 126 points. zachary karabell will join us about the decision and new report on what economists say is
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really holding back our economy. they say it is the income gap. we're keeping an eye on senate floor where leaders are expected to approve the budget deal that cuts unemployment benefits for more than a million unemployed americans. another story tugging at the heart strings of just about everyone. a blind man in new york may be forced now to give up the dog that saved his life when he fell on the subway tracks. that dog followed its owner and was there. they both are okay. but now he may not be able to keep the dog because insurance won't cover the animal. the 61-year-old is expected to speak any moment. we'll bring you this story. and join our conversation on twitter. you can find me at tamron hall and my team at news nation. and ah, so you can see like right here i can just...
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this is a developing story, a visually impaired man from new york who fell in the subway tracks who was saved by his guide dog may lose the dog due to insurance issues. nevertheless, he's speaking for first time with the doctors who were treating him. let's listen quickly. >> thanks. >> good afternoon, mr. williams came into us yesterday after as you know he fell into the subway track. it sounds like to us at the time he had passed out and fallen into the tracks. fortunately these gentlemen were able to get him out and bring him to us. we had full activation of our
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trauma team and fortunately he had relatively minor injuries from his fall into the tracks. currently he is admitted to the hospital just undergoing routine testing and observation and if all goes well, hopefully he'll go home tomorrow morning. orlando was a great concern to us when mr. williams first came in. he was shortly behind him but the doctors were quite worried about him as well. it sounds like from what we were told he was the real hero, really tried to keep him from falling in the tracks and stayed with him the whole time he was there. we're very happy that both of them are okay and glad we're able to help him. [ inaudible ] >> hi, everyone. i'm proud to represent -- >> we'll keep an eye on the news conference, that's dr. jeffrey, the emergency room medical director, part of the team that helped cecil williams and his
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guide dog orlando. we'll have much more as soon as we hear from mr. williams. by the way, this story is part of our gut check, stick around on why it hit heart strings because he may lose the dog that saved his life. there's breaking news, the fed just announced it will begin tapering its aggressive economic stimulus in january. bernanke is set to hold his final conference elaborating on how the fed plans to scale back bond purchases by $10 billion. wall street reinitially reacted to the news but now stocks are rallying, up 138 points. you see the pace of 85 billion a month in bond purchases has been credited with keeping long-term loan rates, interest rates low. while the decision carries high stakes for business and global financial markets, it will also impact the bottom line for the
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average american. some economists suggest a pull back in their bond buying would likely send interest rates up on everything from credit cards and mortgages and car loans. one thing to keep in mind, this comes after a month of encouraging economic news, including unemployment dropping to 7%. comes on the heels of a new associated press survey, more than 3 dozen economists who say the growing gap between the richest americans and everyone else isn't just bad for individuals, it's hurting the u.s. economy. joining me now, cnbc contributor and columnist for the atlantic, zachary karabell. what's expected to happen here? >> from your old stomping grounds of chicago, look, a lot of debate about what effect $10 billion less of an $85 billion a month program of bond buying will have and you mentioned the surveys of economists where
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people are saying it may lead to rates to go up and that would have consequences for mortgages and credit cards and car payments, et cetera. given the fact that this program which has been going on for the better part of three years is very new and untested, no one really actually knows what the effect of this will be. and economists like to predict the future as we know, those predictions are just as often wrong as they are right. i wouldn't get too concerned. >> it's so interesting, zachary, to your point, i've read 50 or more articles today and half of them say continue with the stimulus plan. others say it's time for the economy and to stand on its own two feet. we're ending a year where there seems to be or there is -- there is success on wall street but this petering economy continues to threaten every day americans and their ability to have the american dream as well. >> it's not -- the success on wall street is purely a
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byproduct of corporate success, bear none of the costs that governments and people do. goflts have to deal with roads and aging and health care, companies, large ones have to deal with little of that. they get a lot of benefits of the capital system and none of the costs. the average person who is rooted in a place who has to have a living wage, bears a huge amount of the cost as to governments. >> and just quickly, we're almost out of time. this income and equality chart from the business insider shows that the share of national income growing to the top 1% has double since 1979. if we can show that. >> and that space has accelerated in the past five years and it's really accelerated since the beginning of the 2000s. so that's a gap that the fed program did absolutely nothing to close and in fact you could argue it's done a lot to increase, meaning a lot of money that the fed was buying bonds with went to bottom lines of wealthy individuals and
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corporations. how you close an income gap, this is a whole other segment and conversation is a more complicated one. raising the minimum wage might be a start to it. >> thank you very much. greatly appreciate it. we'll speak with you more on this. another factor in the fed's decision could be the bipartisan budget compromise and in a few hours the senate is expected to hold its final vote on the murray/ryan deal. it is expected to pass and make its way to president obama's desk by the end of the day. but lawmakers on both sides are making it clear that they are far from happy with the measure. cuts pension increases for military retirees under the age of 62 and many senate democrats are upset the bill did not include an extension of unemployment benefits. congressman paul ryan discussed that in an interview. >> they insisted on turning off all of the sequester and getting rid of it entirely.
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for the next year and a half we keep 70 prosecution. they got 30% of what they wanted i got 70% of what we wanted. no tax increases and stimulus spending and no 13th extension of the emergency unemployment provision -- >> ryan's partner, patty murray appeared this morning and said the senate could take up the issue in january. >> we have extended unemployment insurance in the past without a specific pay for, so it's unclear whether leader reid and speaker boehner will come to an agreement on that. but the fact is we've got to make tough decisions on everything we ask for in this country. >> there could be a bipartisan short-term fix on the way for 1.3 million americans set to lose their benefits by the end of the year. jack reed of rhode island and dean heller of nevada introduced a bill to preserve unemployment insurance for three months while
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congress works out the comprehensive plan. senator reed, thank you for your time. >> thank you, tamron. >> let me get your reaction to congressman ryan's assertion that they got 30% and i got 70% in this deal here. your reaction to that? >> well, this is important measure because it provides the stability for the next two years in terms of appropriation process and budgets and also goes along way in reducing the nature of the sequestration cuts. i think trying to calculate who got 70 and who got 30 misses the point. we're able for first time in a long time to come together, work out a principle solution to a problem facing the american public and avoid the catastrophic effects of a shutdown demonstrated in october by the acts of the house of representatives. so i think in the long run it's a step forward. we have a lot more to do because
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at heart what you've been talking about, getting people back to work and making that work pay. >> but part of the list of things that congressman ryan pointed out, that he was unwilling to give up is the extension of unemployment benefits for 1.3 million people who will suffer greatly if there's not an extension. i know this is something that makes -- that unsettled -- that is unsettling to you but however, what is there -- why do you believe or is there confidence that the republicans will support this measure that you would like to push through? >> first of all, this is important to 1.2 million persons and communities they live in. these people are looking for work in a very tough job market. and it's not an issue that's localized in one part of the country. in my home state of rhode island and heller's state and other
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parts of the country. my colleagues will respond to that. but more importantly it's been estimated if we don't extend unemployment benefits we'll lose 200,000 jobs next year, probably .2% in terms of potential gdp growth. not only is it a bad policy for family but bad for the economy. i think again congressman ryan is more fixated on bookkeeping than putting people to work and making sure people benefit from the growth of the economy. >> so you're confident after january something -- a compromise could be made regarding unemployment, the extension of unemployment insurance and protecting these people? >> we're going to try. i'm very encouraged the senator heller stepped forward. we're looking at the short term solution and give us a longer better opportunity for a year's
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extension. but we want to see if we can do it and we're going to try as soon as we get back. >> senator reed, thank you for your time. >> right now the president and first lady are meeting with mothers inside the oval office discussing health care, specifically how families can benefit from the health care law. and jackpot, two winning tickets sold in the mega millions jackpot, one in atlanta and another in san jose, california. we still don't know who bought the tickets. we'll have a live update. if i can impart one lesson to a
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jackpot, one ticket sold at the san jose gift shop and other sold in a tiny news stands in atlanta. the owner of the california gift shop will get a million dollar bonus. here's what he had to say when he returned to his store earlier today. >> successful usa. i want to say jackpot -- i want everyone in my family you know, sell the winning ticket. >> the owner of the store in atlanta does not get that bonus. gabe gutierrez is outside the office building in atlanta where the winning ticket was sold. explain to us why the store owner in atlanta doesn't get the bonus. >> reporter: it was great to see the reaction in california. but here's the thing, california, lottery officials say that they give a bonus to the person that sells the ticket of .5% of the total cash payout and that amounts to a million
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dollars in this case, up to a million dollars. but here in atlanta, the georgia lottery corporation says that they do not give such a retail bonus to the person that sells the ticket here. retailers get a 6% commission on sales and get the distinction of being the lucky stars and sometimes get a giant promotional check. we spoke with the owner of the newsstand here, she's a korean immigrant that came to the u.s. in 1980 and owned the store for nine years. she says she is sad that she did not -- will not get the retailer bonus but still excited that her store sold for the winning ticket. here's the speculation, we don't know who the winner is and who actually bought these winning tickets but the speculation is here in this high rise office complex in upscale part of atlanta, speculation is that an office pool may have bought the winning ticket. at this point we're waiting for them to come forward.
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in georgia, winners have 180 days to come forward. in california, it's up to a year. at this point, we're still waiting to see who won this lucky ticket. back to you. >> gabe, thank you very much. still ahead, the sochi snub, president obama cites a scheduling conflict as the reason he won't attend winter games in russia. he is however, sending two gay athletes to represent the u.s. we'll get first read on the message the president may be sending. where does the united states get most of its energy? is it africa? the middle east? canada? or the u.s.? the answer is... the u.s. ♪ most of america's energy comes from right here at home. take the energy quiz. energy lives here.
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[ male announcer ] campbell's homestyle soup with farm grown veggies. just like yours. huh. [ male announcer ] and roasted white meat chicken. just like yours. [ male announcer ] you'll think it's homemade. i love this show. [ male announcer ] try campbell's homestyle soup. when you don't have the time, there's new crest 3d white 1 hour express whitestrips. removes years of stains in just 1 hour. whitening without the wait. now get the best 3d white deal of the year at selected retailers. president obama has name d two gay athletes to his delegation to the winter olympics in sochi, delivering a strong message of opposition to russia's anti-gay laws. billy jean king and ice hockey silver medalists will head to sochi as part of the delegation, both are openly gay. the president himself will not
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be traveling to russia and neither will the first lady or vice president or any cabinet member. the white house says president obama's schedule does not allow him to travel. last week the presidents of france and germany also announced they are skipping sochi and the delegation will be led by former homeland secretary janet napolitano. >> all of our delegation members are distinguished by their accomplishments in civil activism and sports. we're proud of each and every one of them. >> joining me now, senior political editor mark murray and of course we should note nbcu is broadcasting the olympics. let's go to the statement first. >> well, there's a tale on who they are actually sending and
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not sending and they wanted to send first lady to send the vice president and that's what you do, always clear sometimes the president is running for re-election or have a busy schedule they can't go. you normally send somebody who is either your wife or vice president or someone who is your cabinet. someone who is no longer part of his cabinet, former homeland security janet napolitano. we'll have prominent gay athletes going there to protest russia's anti-gay laws. >> to transition quickly. the president and first lady are meeting with a group of mothers as part of the white house enrollment push, believing that mothers often rule the household and can get their older children to sign up for health care. >> this has been such a big part of the push and it's interesting they are doing this now. you need to get your insurance by december 23rd to be able to have it ready for january 1st.
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so going to the mothers who can speak to their children and say, hey, son or daughter, time to get your insurance. a lot of opponents have been targeting the mothers and that's why the demographic is so important. >> greatly appreciate it. >> good to see you in person. >> you too. >> we'll talk with chris coops in the central african republic. can the u.s. do more to stop the bloodshed. a bp engineer on trial for destroying evidence in the gulf oil spill. my customers can shop around-- see who does good work and compare costs. it doesn't usually work that way with health care. but with unitedhealthcare, i get information on quality rated doctors, treatment options and estimates for how much i'll pay. that helps me, and my guys, make better decisions. i don't like guesses with my business, and definitely not with our health. innovations that work for you.
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the ongoing sectarian conflict continues to worry officials around the world. france has already sent 1600 peace keepers announced that more will join with more troops.
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here in the u.s., the testimony before a senate foreign affairs committee, experts who track atrocities worldwide warn congress that the humanitarian situation calls for our immediate attention. >> central african republic is a collapsed state 613,000 generally displaced person, they fled sectarian atrocities and what more can be done, how can it be done faster and who can do it? >> joining me now is delaware senator chris coons, thank you so much for your time today. >> thank you. >> what we heard from the experts is exactly what you said on your website and many other times responding to the international community's slow, i believe you said on the website, a slow awakening of the severity of the humanitarian crisis. >> that's right, tamron. here in the capitol as we hammer
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out a budget agreement and work to strengthen the economic recovery and promote job growth here in america, this seems fairly remote to most senators and most americans that there is a very real humanitarian crisis unfolding and we need to make sure we don't stand o on the sidelines while thousands are massacred and the situation evolves further. i'm grateful that the african union, ally france, are contributing troops to stabilizing the situation. but the testimony that we heard yesterday and hearing i dhared from doctors without borders and international crisis group was heart rendering. yesterday the united nations upgraded the level of this crisis and upgraded the system of how many citizens have fled their homes to more than 700,000. we need to act swiftly and support allies to make sure this humanitarian crisis doesn't get out of control and turn into a
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genocide. >> what is the action that needs to happen next. >> we're providing critically needed support to allies, two american c-17 planes transported 850 peacekeepers. we're providing intelligence communications and equipment and sorts of things where the united states has unique capabilities, but i don't think we should be sending american troops. the french have stepped up and african union stepped up. i do think the united nations will step up. we should be helping to fund and facilitate that sort of important work and help recreate stability and security so that international humanitarian groups can get in and provide access and help to those starving and who have health care problems. we need to support a transition back to democracy. there was a coup back in martha set all of this in motion but happened because there was a long term grinding crisis in this country, one of poorest in the world. >> you bring up doctors without borders, an open letter was
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actually sent too the u.n. from that group and said they express their deep concern about the unacceptable performance of the united nations humanitarian system. your thoughts on that open letter and those concerns? >> well, that's right. they repeated that in testimony yesterday. they were very concerned that the u.n. was slow to act. in our own government we have something called the atrocities prevention board created after the rwanda genocide, the united states government failed to respond in a timely way to the report -- in the direction of having a focus on this important issue and making sure that we support and press the u.n. to be more
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effectively engaged. >> senator chris coons, thank you for your time. we'll speak more with you on this issue. >> thank you, tamron. >> a verdict reach in the trial of a former bp engineer charged with obstructing the oil spill probe tops our look around the news nation. found guilty of one charge of deleting text messages from the cell phone to obstruct an investigation into bp's massive oil spill in the gulf of mexico in 2010. a jury acquitted him of a second charge and the verdict comes after the jury said they were at a stand still and having trouble reaching the decision. the maximum sentence is 20 years in prison one of four current or former bp employees charged with crimes related to the spill. police identified a doctor who was killed when a gunman open fire in reno nevada hospital yesterday. officials are still trying to figure out the motive of the gunman who open fire killing dr.
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charles and injuring two women before taking his own life. police say the gunman did not appear to be targeting people but the incident was not completely random either. and still ahead, more from the visually impaired man who just held that news conference thank you everyone and crediting his guidedog orlando with saving his life. >> when i travel on the train, he's next to me, always watching out for me, always looking for me. that's his job. when i go in the street he guides me through traffic and drives me through side walks and gets me across the street. he's always looking out for me. and save now. philips sonicare. i have a cold with this annoying runny nose. [ sniffles ] i better take something. [ male announcer ] dayquil cold and flu doesn't treat all that. s
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. we have an update from the news conference we brought you earlier this hour. cecil williams, the visually impaired man who fainted in a subway system on tuesday and fell on the tracks as the train approached. his courageous and loyal guide
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dog orlando jumped into action to save cecil. part of the train passed over both of them as they huddled between the tracks. but neither cecil or orlando were seriously injured. cecil was about to lose orlando because his insurance company was no longer going to carry the cost for covering for the dog because the dog was ready to retire. amid the publicity this has gotten, there's been a change. >> i appreciate that all of the people that got together and help me to keep orlando as this, somebody made a donation and it's going to cover him for the rest of his life. like she said, there are other people out there with disabilities and that need dogs. if you can find it in your heart, like they said, you can send donations to guiding eye. >> according to guiding eye, an
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anonymous donor contributed the money that cecil needs to keep orlando. other organizations have raised about -- wait for it -- $50,000 for them. this story has only been out there 24 hours, maybe a little bit more, the issue with cecil williams being able to keep orlando was supposed to be our gut check. now that we heard this news that his issue has been resolved, there forego the gut check. you did hear mr. williams say there are so many others who need help. it's that time of the year. you know what you need to do. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. this is the best story of the day for me. "the cycle" is up next. ya know, with new fedex one rate
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so i can't afford to have germy surfaces. but a fresh sheet of bounty duratowel leaves this surface cleaner than a germy dishcloth. it's durable. and it's 3 times cleaner. so ditch your dishcloth and switch to bounty duratowel. cycling now, the senate
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actually poised to do something in that building behind me. i'm jonathan capehart in for ari, it's like winning the jackpot. >> 8, 20, 14, 17, 39 and mega ball is 7. if no one reached it will be $950 million. play on, america. >> not last night's near mega millions jackpot, believe me if i had one of two winning tickets, i would still be here. maybe. the jackpot we're talking about the nation's first full budget in a divided congress in nearly three decades. the final senate vote is coming up in about an hour. while we would like to turn it into a cliff hanger to boost ratings, i am forced to say by all that is against the cable news gods, it will pass. if i'm wrong, maybe they'll replace me tomorrow. but, with the house long gone and senate majority leader