about a weapon of mass destruction that threatens the u.s., climate change. why the obama administration is trying to shift the paradigm. and hillary's just found an unlikely defender, mitt romney. what is the former gop nominee up to? and we are wishing you a good morning, with, yes, the 50th anniversary of the "sports illustrated" swim suit issue. petra is in studio with us today. good morning and happy presidents' day. the current president is rallying democrats around a jobs agenda for the second term, a policy priority democrats will hope will power them through this year's midterms. the plan, to force the gop's hand. first, democrats are escalating their push for a higher minimum wage by trying to bypass speaker boehner. they are using a special house tool called a discharge petition, which can force a bill to the floor without the leadership's support if it gets a majority of signatures.

then, chuck schumer, the senate's number three democrat is calling for the same gamut on immigration reform. it is a long shot, but some analyze the votes are probably there if the republicans are willing to buck their leader. meanwhile, democrats run in fix-it mode. this report is how some democrats are willing to run an imperfect but improving health care landscape, in contrast to what they call the "do nothing" approach from opponents. some democrats are touting their oversight in congress as part of the solution. >> ann kirkpatrick listens and learns, it's why she blew the whistle on the disastrous health care website, calling it stunning ineptitude and work to fix it. >> well, odds makers don't give house democrats much of a chance in the midterms, so what is the path back to power? well, we have gregory meeks here in studio. congressman, welcome. >> good being with you. >> let's start right there with this idea around the discharge

petitions. this is one of those things that activists and pundits talk about a lot, it's exciting, right out of "house of cards." people say, though, they don't usually work. give us the reason why this might be different or what the strategy is. >> well, what you're doing now is putting the emphasis on the individuals who say that people are benefitting from the affordable care act, to say, don't end it, let's fix it. and let's make sure that we can do it on a congressional level as opposed to the, you know, over 50 times that we voted to end the affordable care act. we say, we can fix it. we can do certain things on the bill. come vote with us, and if you don't, we will now be able to expose those individuals who are saying one thing, but doing another thing. >> on the minimum wage, if you don't get those majority votes, which is basically asking republicans to go against boehner, then what you get to do is say, look, you wouldn't even hold a vote on this. >> that's exactly right. we are for those in the middle

class and those striving to be in the middle class, ending the inequality inequity and income, trying to raise up the minimum wage so everyone can share this american dream. that's what we're for. clearly, you know, what has been happening this whole time, we don't know what the republicans are for. all they are saying is they are against everything. so what are you for? are you for raising the minimum wage? are you for giving people health care? if you are, let's do it together. the president has been saying that all along. if you want to fix something and make something better, because there's no bill that passes the house, none that i know of ever that when it first passes is absolutely perfect, but congress, working with the administration, have ways to fix it. if you want to fix it. this helps do that. >> congressman, you mentioned it was not that long ago whether or not there was ideological disagreement on legislation, there were what they called perfecting amendments, there were a lot of follow-up bills that would at least deal with the perfecting or technical aspects, even if there was still

a big fight to be had over whether to some day change the approach, right? we don't see perfecting amendments anymore because republicans don't actually want to do the hard work on the ground of fixing some of these bills. >> well, the speaker had said it himself, he said earlier, it's not about how many bills you pass, it's about what you stop. that means you're not trying to fix or do anything, you're trying to stop progress from moving, and they see the american public does not want things to stop, because they knew that when they shut down the government this past last year, so that's why the speaker this time did not abide by the rule and allow the bill to hit the floor in regards to the budget and in regards to the debt ceiling. we were able to pass something. that is now being exposed to the entire american public as to what's really taking place. now republicans, what are you for? >> let me ask you this, i know you were at the retreat with the president, saw the republicans retreat, as well. speak to us as a human being who

goes to work in the same place that another human being, john boehner goes to work. walk us through, if you can, why does he sometimes break these rules and basically let things go to the floor? you mentioned the budget, where he did that, and we're seeing it on the debt ceiling, right, where, obviously, republicans made a lot of noise. but at the end of the day, this thing they said we need a majority of the majority, didn't turn out to be true. did you know from working with him why sometimes he does let things go to the floor and whether that creates a path for other priorities? >> he's got a problem internally. clearly, you have the tea party wing of the republican party and you have the establishment wing of the republican party and they are fighting one another within, and he's trying to make a judgment as to which way to go. now, i'm not fooled by what the speaker did by allowing the vote on the debt ceiling and in the budget, because he realized what took place if you shut down the government, that it's not good

for his conference. and so but let's now focus on immigration reform. he made the statement beforehand that he's not going to put up a bill for immigration reform. if, in fact, you really want to do something and move forward and not just play little games here, then let's put immigration reform, because that's important for america to get done, and i think that's something we'd be able to pass. >> he's got folks in his caucus who say they want to do something on it, but they are not doing the opportunity. the unfolding crisis in syria, a huge problem, as you know. take a look at a video that is on youtube. we have not completely independently confirmed it, but it is supposed to show some of the terrible atrocities here and the reaction. take a look. what we're seeing there is reportedly the reaction of a child who is seeing his brother being murdered, being killed, and that is -- that's a reaction. we're seeing videos like this,

as you know, more and more about a conflict that already has spun completely out of control. is there a role here for the u.s. to do more? >> you know, i think that we've heard secretary kerry come out recently, in fact, last night talking about how syria is stalling and we're really upset with russia, because the bottom line here is the regime has to govern, and we're trying to do this in a diplomatic way. individuals, we're not going to tolerate americans boots on the ground or anything of that nature, but we've got to make sure that in any diplomatic solution, it means that there is a change in the regime. >> right. >> and we need the russians to step up, you know, and make that happen. so we have to continue to put that pressure on. is there a role? absolutely there's a role, and we've been playing a role. we have to make sure the russians step up, and the reason the iranians were not allowed into the negotiations, they have to agree to the agreement that was made in 2012 that as we try

to get this diplomatic resolution, that there's a difference in the head of the -- has to be a new regime. so we have to continue to push to stop these kind of atrocities from taking place. clearly, it's atrocities against mankind, and we cannot allow that to continue, but we've got to figure out how to get this done in a diplomatic way. >> and changing the regime, at least through some sort of diplomatic pressure is something many countries have talked about here in what is obviously a great humanitarian crisis. congressman meeks, thanks for your view on that and the congress. >> my pleasure, good being with you. all right, the news feed this morning, scary moments on an ethiopian plane, the copilot flew the plane to geneva instead of the intended destination, which is rome, and you can hear the copilot ask for asylum in switzerland. >> we need asylum or assurance

that we will not be transferred. >> copilot was arrested and none of the passengers and crew were hurt. geneva officials say flight operations are now back to normal. here at home, the midwest is getting hammered today, places like minnesota, wisconsin, michigan, and illinois could see up to eight inches of snow, while others will, again, see freezing rain. this storm moves east tomorrow piling on another one to three inches on top of what's still on the ground in some places. and there's new information in the george washington bridge scandal. it's reported the port authority is investigating the possible involvement of some of the agency's police officers after steve kornacki reported an officer drove david wildstein on a tour of the area during those now infamous lane closures. the officer grew up in the same town as both christie and wildstein. also coached christie's son in

little league hockey and his brother is a top republican lobbyist in the state. documents show michaels sent text messages about the traffic around the bridge. the revelations are pretty important, because it puts one more person with ties to christie as a witness to all that traffic. msnbc has been unable to reach michaels. governor christie denies having any knowledge of the decision to close those lanes, and steve kornacki has more of this story on msnbc.com. now, coming up, as we mentioned, the 50th anniversary edition of the "sports illustrated" swim suit issue. we're going to talk to 2003 cover girl about how the cover changed her life and she's here in studio with me. sorry we're l. did you run into traffic? no, just had to stop by the house to grab a few things. you stopped by the house? uh-huh. yea. alright, whenever you get your stuff, run upstairs, get cleaned up for dinner. you leave the house in good shape? yea. yea, of course. ♪ [ sportscaster talking on tv ] last-second field go-- yea, sure ya did.

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welcome back. secretary of state john kerry made waves this weekend about a warning about a new weapon of mass destruction that threatens u.s. security, but it's not what you may think. >> climate change can now be considered another weapon of mass destruction, perhaps even the world's most fearsome weapon of mass destruction. >> kerry also mocked those who deny climate change. we're going to look at that in a minute, all part of a push to get more developing nations to cut carbon emissions. joined by dafna linzer and the wire's philip bumf. we're required to say the atlanta wire, not the wire, that's in your contract. we want to look at the numbers, which are not encouraging. when you look at global warming and climate change and ask people just in december 2013, is it happening, people say

probably. that is down from 2006 when 85% said probably. fact check, it is happening. but what can we make of this environment, where we have a lot of facts, a lot of ideas and information in the media ecos e ecosystem about this? >> well, i think there's been this political period in this country in which we stopped having a serious conversation about climate change. you can time it to sort of when the tea party came into office in 2010, before that, the end of the bush administration, but people stopped having a really serious truthful conversation about the environment, and that is starting to change, and change significantly, and we see it with john kerry's push abroad, but also at home with, you know, debates that are happening on weekend news shows about climate change, and i think also the fact that so many people are experiencing sort of extreme weather all throughout the last year and more, people,

i think, are starting to realize that there's a conversation to happen here, and i think there's a lot of work that needs to be done to kind of make up those numbers and people's awareness of what's really happening. >> it's a two-front war. one, is there a problem, and if there's a problem, there's a legitimate policy debate about what to do about it. should you get into should your car be small, should you drive less, or should power plants, should they basically do less or be more safe, whatever you want to call it, people in america are not down with that. look at this usa today poll that shows, when people are asked, should the government limit emissions, this shocked me, 21% of people say yes. that is up from 2006, but that is only one out of five people, philip. >> power plant emissions are by far the number one contributor in the united states to carbon dioxide emissions, which is the number one cause of global warming. this is the ultimate case of

people being asked to eat their vegetables and no one wants to incur the cost of retrofitting power plants to make sure they emit less pollutants. nobody wants to have to make changes to the way they live their lives. if we just did the power plant aspect, we'd be so much further ahead than where we are. what kerry is trying to do, if only the united states acts on climate change, because, of course, it is a global problem. indonesia is the third largest contributor, largely because of its deforestation programs, but kerry is trying to get other people to act, as well, so it le lessens some of that. >> yeah, let's listen to something president obama said on this, as well, because it goes to the idea of whether this is happening, as we've said. take a listen. >> a changing climate means that whether-related disasters like droughts, wildfires, storms,

floods, are potentially going to be costlier and they are going to be harsher. >> and that goes to the evidence, dafna, as we mentioned, people can see that connection. yet to take a look at the administration's rhetorical frame here and what secretary of state kerry said, it harpens back to something we've seen repeatedly in american life, using the methodology or rhetoric in war and national security and get people serious about things, war on poverty, or we were talking about this today, the nation of risk, which is a famous study on the u.s. schools said if an unfriendly foreign power had attempted to impose on america, we might well have viewed it as an act of war. kind of true, kind of not, kind of over the top. and that's really the big question here, why do we have to talk about this as a national security threat, or is that accurate? >> well, you know, in some ways it is accurate in terms of just

sort of where we are and what kind of a place we're going to live in, and droughts and water and all these issues are national security threats. i think using more analogy is not necessary in conveying it's a national security threat, and i think you're right, it is something people have become very comfortable with. i don't think people who are aware of climate change and global warming need the weapon of mass destruction to get it. i think that it's obvious to them. kerry's speaking to an audience overseas and maybe that's helpful. here at home, using a weapon of mass destruction is now an act of terrorism under the patriot act, so things have changed a lot in using those kind of analo analogies. i do think if kerry can find that effective overseas in a place like indonesia that has the emissions issues that it has, that's certainly not going to be -- >> he clearly wants to put the urgency there and that's, i think, positive when talking about something that's a real documented problem.

whether or not it will actually bring people over who don't currently think we should change policy is an open question and interesting one. philip bump, dafna linzer, thank you for joining us. up next, chris jansing keeping us up top on all things olympics and her chat with bode miller. we've got allstate, right? uh-huh. yes! well, i found this new thing called... [ dennis' voice ] allstate quickfoto claim. [ normal voice ] it's an app. you understand that? just take photos of the damage with your phone and upload them to allstate. really? so you get [dennis' voice] a quicker estimate, quicker payment, [normal voice] quicker back to normal. i just did it. but maybe you can find an app that will help you explain this to your...father. [ vehicle approaches ] [ dennis ] introducing quickfoto claim. just another way allstate is changing car insurance for good. cut! [bell rings] this...is jane. her long day on set starts with shoulder pain... ...and a choice take 6 tylenol in a day which is 2 aleve for... ...all day relief. hmm.

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are obstacles, but at the top of the mountain, you couldn't see in front of you. the racers were up there, they were waiting, there were people checking the course with walky talkies and finally the determination was made it was just too dangerous. this is the first at x-treme park they had to cancel, actually not the first, the second event they had to move back. you might remember the men's biathlon, where they ski, then shoot, they couldn't even see the targets, so that wasn't going to work. they postponed that sunday to monday, now postponed it monday to tuesday, and the third is the woman's giant slalom. they moved it earlier, they are checking the forecast and seeing the conditions are probably going to be better earlier in the day, so they've moved it up a bit. down here in the coastal area, it's been pretty clear. a lot colder than it was last week, but still big crowds here at olympic park, ari. >> chris, it was a big weekend for bode miller. what did you guys get to talk

about? >> yeah, you know what, it was so interesting talking to him, because i've spoken to him at olympics past. he's a lot more reflective. he's 36 years old. boy does he feel good about the bronze medal he's won, which makes him the oldest alpine winner and he's thinking a lot about his legacy now. he's married and is a dad, and we talked a little bit about how this race, this olympic race, was maybe tougher than any he's ever had before. take a listen. >> and skiing, if you're one of the top people in the world in the history of the sport, you might win 8% or 10% of your races, that means eight times out of every 100 you win, but in america they expect you to win every time, especially when the olympics spotlight is on. these are some of the most challenging conditions and circumstances to get the best out of yourself. >> and this in particular, one of the more challenging you've ever had?

>> yeah, definitely. you know, for me, i mean, i'm older now, i have different sort of perspective, but definitely. this hill is challenging. >> he's got two more chances to medal, and he told me he's going to surprise people and medal in the giant slalom, so we'll still be keeping our eye on bode miller. ari? >> chris jansing live if sochi, thanks for your reporting today. >> thank you. and if you read only one thing this morning, i have a must read for you. it comes from "the guardion." the question is, can the international outrage over this law change the realities on the ground? that is up on our facebook page if you want to read it. let us know what you think. i take prilosec otc each morning for my frequent heartburn.

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loud music in a parking lot with his friends. on saturday, a jury found dunn guilty on three counts of second-degree attempted murder and one count of firing into an occupied car, which could put him in jail up to 60 years. on the most serious charge, first-degree murder, the judge declared a mistrial. many are questioning the racial overtones of a trial, an armed white defendant based his defense on asserting a reasonable fear that jordan, the black unarmed victim, posed a major threat. now dunn testified that he thought he saw the barrel of a gun in the incident. no weapon, however, was ever found at the scene of the crime. joining us now is michael denzel smith, who writes for "the nation," and lisa bloom, a legal analyst at nbc news and abbo.com, and the author of the book "suspicion nation," the inside story of the trayvon martin injustice and why we

continue to repeat it. welcome to you both. let's start, lisa, with what we know from this ruling. unpack it for us. >> well, you know, this was a mixed verdict, so there were five counts. on four of them, michael dunn was found guilty. that's three counts of attempted murder. that's for shooting at the other three young men in the car. the ones who survived, and shooting into a vehicle. those were the easy counts, because he shot at a car that was driving away, so i think pretty clearly he's guilty of those. the top charge was the one that the jury hung on, and that was the killing of jordan davis, and the question the jury had to answer was, was that first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, or self defense? they were not even able to compromise, it was a hung jury. they worked very hard, they asked a lot of questions over those four days, and they just couldn't reach a verdict on that top charge. >> lisa, just to get clarity on

that, the reason that's become a very big controversy here is while there are many serious, you know, charges here that he was convicted on, it was, of course, the death of this victim where there is not a charge that has landed, is that right? >> right. think of it this way, if he had stopped firing after he killed jordan davis, he could very well be out on bail right now. to me, this is much like al capone, where we got him for tax evasion and got him locked up and that's a good thing, but true justice is locking up a murderer for murder. and remember, his defense was, jordan davis pointed a gun at me, this magical, invisible gun that nobody except michael dunn ever saw. none of the other witnesses saw a gun. nobody has testified jordan davis even owned or possessed a gun at any time, but that defense was apparently sufficient for at least one juror to hang. >> michael, go ahead. >> yeah, i think what scares me about this is not even had he stopped shooting he may have got, but if he had killed all of

these kids, what then would have happened to him? there were no witnesses to counter his story. that frightens me that the -- the care for black life in this country is such that unarmed teenagers can be victims of murder. like this is murder. and no one is held accountable. i mean, he's getting off, he's getting off easy, to me. i mean, he's going to go to jail for the rest of his life, but he is never going to -- we don't know, it's a mistrial, but it doesn't seem as if he's going to have to face the fact that a jury of your peers, your country, believes you killed an unarmed, innocent teenage. it doesn't sit well with me. >> let's look to the important point you raise of whether there is differential treatment regarding a race in these incidents, right? i want to put up on the screen some of the facts we have in the

aggregate about this. in states that have these stand your ground laws, murder and nonnegligent manslaughter is about 8% higher than states without it. that's a correlation. and to your point, the killings of black people by whites are, in the aggregate, more likely to be considered justified according to the studies than in the reverse. so to your point, the concern here, even beyond the individual case, is that we have a rule about self defense that, according to the data, is being applied much differently when the defendant is white versus black. >> yeah. the law has codified white and racial fear. the fear of blackness, antiblackness in the united states. i mean, this is what the system is essentially meant to do, is to protect white male land owners from their property or their person being assaulted in

their mind by blackness. >> and i want to play something from the victim's father, jordan davis's father and get your thoughts afterwards. let's listen. >> there's a lot of good kids out there, a lot of good nephews, a lot of good grandsons, granddaughters, nieces, they should have a voice, they shouldn't worry about if someone has a problem with somebody else, that if they get shot, it's just collateral damage. there's no such thing to parents that their child suffered collateral damage. >> lisa, very briefly, where do we go from here? >> you know, jordan davis's parents have spoken with such dignity and grace, it's extraordinary. we're certainly going to have another trial on that top charge, angela cory has said that, it's going to be another first-degree murder, which is a

mistake, there could be a civil case and could be an fbi civil rights investigation into this matter. >> all right, all right. thank you for that reporting and your views here. michael denzel smith and lisa bloom. coming up in the next hour, craig melvin will talk to michael dunn's attorney at 11:00 a.m. eastern here on msnbc. you seem knowledgeable, professional. would you trust me as your financial advisor? i would. i would indeed. well, let's be clear here. i'm actually a dj. [ dance music plays ] [laughs] no way! i have no financial experience at all. that really is you? if they're not a cfp pro, you just don't know. find a certified financial planner professional who's thoroughly vetted at letsmakeaplan.org. cfp -- work with the highest standard. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. everybody knows that parker. well, did you know auctioneers make bad grocery store clerks? that'll be $23.50. now .75, 23.75, hold 'em.

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yea, sure ya did. [ male announcer ] introducing at&t digital life. personalized home security and automation. get professionally monitored security for just $29.99 a month. with limited availability in select markets. ♪ hillary clinton, if she becomes the nominee, will have plenty to discuss about her own record. i don't imagine that bill clinton is going to be a big part of it. that being said, the times when he was president were by and large positive economic times for the country. on the other hand, he embarrassed the nation, he breached his responsibility, i think, as an adult and as a leader in his relationship, and i think that's very unfortunate. but i don't think that's hillary clinton's to explain. >> that was mitt romney yesterday breaking with some republican leaders who have been

recycling attacks on hillary based on her husband's fidelity. romney is advising republicans to focus on the nation's future and if they must go negative, go on their opponent's policies, not history. jason samberg and msnbc contributor robert traynham. welcome, gentlemen. robert, what gives here? why are republicans even having this as a public debate? >> you know, i'm not sure, ari, good morning. i think it's really more about rand paul kind of rehashing the past, but i agree with mitt romney, elections are about the future and the candidate and what he or she wants to, how they want to position the country for the next four or eight years. i'm not sure people want to go back to the 1990s and talk about the macarena and talk about monica lewinsky. i'm just not sure anyone is really thinking about that. >> jason, can you do the macarena, did you ever do that at any weddings or bar myth vas?

>> no comment. >> robert seems to agree with the romney wing, realist ring, or, frankly, the respectful wing, if you're dealing with a candidate, any candidate, their family and spouse's choices, however objectionable, are not the main way to assess them, and it's especially dicey for republicans when dealing with what they are potentially facing, which is something unusual, a woman candidate for president. >> well, they've had women candidates for president, michele bachmann and what not, but they've never faced anyone like hillary. it's we're also going to have to do it during the fact that they are accusing us of waging a war on women. rand paul brought this up as a way to say, oh, democrats have their problems, too. if you're attacking hillary clinton because her husband cheated on her, then you don't know the first thing about why there is a war on women.

this isn't a presentation problem, and it gets us back to republican rebranding. if a year after mitt romney lost, we're still talking to mitt romney and not about rebranding, then the republican party hasn't just lost its way, it doesn't even know where it's headed. >> but ari -- >> there's that netflix documentary and everyone is excited to talk about mitt again. i want the point directly, jason is not only indicting the republican party, but the media, if the goal is distraction, here we are getting distracted and not talking about some of the social policy, medical policy, abortion policy, where this originated. >> well, let's be clear, if and when hillary clinton runs, she has a big enough record and large enough record and deep enough record that quite frankly she will be attacked upon. even when she was first lady, she had at that point a radical position on health care and as a united states senator for eight years, she has a deep position there. clearly, secretary of state with benghazi and other things,

there's something there. it's not about bill clinton, although it's unique, because clearly he is a former presidential candidate himself and former president, but it really is about hillary clinton and her record. there's more than enough there to go after her, if, in fact, she becomes the democratic nominee. again, it's not about her husband's infidelity and the other stuff he did back in the 1990s, it's really about the legislative and political record of hillary clinton, if, in fact, she runs. >> you talk about that legislative record, and jason, this is another question as we go into 2016 and 2014 and look at the big issues today, you have worked with the truman project, which is sort of a hawkish or at least tough national security approach for democrats, at this time going into the last contested democratic primary two years out of '08, it was all about the iraq war and national security. seems those issues have really fallen to the background and the democratic party still needs to figure out just how populous it wants to be on the economy and on jobs and on to some degree

whether wall street, which supports the democratic party still, whether wall street's standing in the way of fundamental reform. do you think that is the defining issue, do you think hillary clinton is well positioned there? >> well, i think these are two big issues facing the midterms. one is, we have a country that really wants some populous economic reforms. there is a broad based bipartisan support for raising the minimum wage. that's beyond question. it's whether the political class gets that quick enough to react to those voters. then there's the understandable confusion about obamacare, so those things are going to face the voters right now in 2014. hillary gets a pass on that. that does not directly affect her. where we go forward, i don't know if there's going to be a real contested democratic primary for president if hillary runs. that is going to be a big question about whether or not she has to face the internal questions facing the democratic party. >> yeah, and i think that's such an important point you raise, because primaries are good for

democracy and the voters, the politicians often resent them, which gives you a window into their world view. the tea party has given republicans a hard time, incumbent republicans, but i don't think anyone really doubts at this point it's been a huge source of energy, so if the democrats are riding towards such an intense excitement about one candidate that they are going to deny themselves any primary debate, although i'm sure there are some politicians that would love it. jason sanford, marcus traynham. thank you both for being here on presidents' day. >> thank you, ari. >> thank you. now in other news, everyone reads it for the articles, for the sports coverage, but tomorrow, the "sports illustrated" swimsuit issue hits newsstands and today's tweet of the day, the "si" swimsuit cover models call their shot, happy, healthy, and real. and coming up here, "sports illustrated" model, author,

petra nemcova joins us in studio. there she is. that's up next. nt? i don't want to think about the alternative. i don't even know how to answer that. i mean, no one knows how long their money is going to last. i try not to worry, but you worry. what happens when your paychecks stop? because everyone has retirement questions. ameriprise created the exclusive confident retirement approach. to get the real answers you need. start building your confident retirement today. lovely read susan. may i read something? yes, please. of course. a rich, never bitter taste cup after cup. 340 grams. [ sighs ] [ male announcer ] always rich, never bitter. gevalia. starts with freshly-made pasta, and 100% real cheddar cheese. but what makes stouffer's mac n' cheese best of all. that moment you enjoy it at home.

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mike's now retired. lebron, when you look at him, you think he might be able to play at a high level for another seven, eight, ten years. he's 29 years old. in terms of every aspect of the game, lebron has a chance to be, you know, as good as anybody. >> as good as the greatest? president obama didn't rule it out during his sit-down with sir charles, touting his superior skill set and looking back at king james and michael jordan. the president also went on record, as you guessed it, a chicago guy whose allegiance will always be with m.j. now we turn to an institution who's pushed boundaries and sent hearts racing across the country, the "sports illustrated" swimsuit issue is celebrating its 50th

anniversary. the magazine released its new issue with three cover models. the swimsuit issue reaches over 60 million people every year. wow, and more men under 34 than the super bowl. joining us now to reflect on the anniversary, a woman whose career exploded after landing on the coveted cover spot in the 2003 edition. she appeared in the magazine four more times, has excelled in modeling, tv, and philanthropy. also wrote a book about her life under communism in czechoslovakia. did we get it all? >> yes, and the book was about experience in the tsunami in 2004, as well, and the book was helped to fundraise to be able to build schools. >> that's the happy hearts foundation. let's start there. you went from being this cover

girl, this object of intense intention and speculation to now starting an organization based on your experience in the tsunami and wanting to build schools. how did that all come about? >> well, i was blessed to survive the 2004 asian tsunami, and i was very lucky. i lost my partner, my pelvis was broken in four places, i had someone to come back to in czech republic and those left, they lost their family members, their livelihood, their homes, they had nothing to come back to. as soon as i could walk again, i went back to see what's the biggest need, number one, and number two, what could have the biggest impact, and the biggest need i found was after they leave, children and communities get forgotten for sometimes four to six years they don't have a support, and learning that in thailand and other countries, as well, that's why the foundation focuses exactly on the time

period when everybody leaves, when it's not sexy to be there at all, that's when we come in and focus on rebuilding schools, which are disaster-proof with computer labs, because they help children and at the same time family, community members and future generations. >> you were in the position to do that because of being a model. author, philanthropist, but people knew you first as being this beautiful woman. what does it mean to land on the cover? >> it was -- it was the most incredible sort of changing my life. it took -- it's like taking an elevator and going 20 stories high in a matter of seconds when you land on the cover. so it was really amazing. gave me a platform to further, after surviving the tsunami, to do something with that platform and success. "sports illustrated" has been supportive of the foundation since the beginning, and when i was in hospital in czech

republic, still broken, they were fundraising here in new york during the launch of the issue, and this year for the 50th anniversary, they are doing something very special. for the first time, they are launching official philanthropy partnership with happy hearts. i feel very honored. in seven years, we have built 85 schools in seven countries, but with "sports illustrated," we can do a lot more. >> that's a platform and brand that gets you out there. when we walked out here, you were looking at the cover, you didn't like the ribbon, though? >> i was curious, why it was there. >> modesty. >> modesty, but the cover looks incredible and what's in it is actually really exciting. what "sports illustrated" had brought together, 22 cover models. that's a historical event. never happened. it was a secret photo shoot here in new york city in the fall and you have the first cover girl

event, tara banks, heidi klum, kate upton. it was really special photo shoot. >> people often say they feel empowered by this. the criticism, as well, you have to go around with nothing on, but you felt it's allowed you to do a lot of other things. >> it's embracing your feminine side. it gave myself and many of the girls who were on the cover incredible platform and they are successful in entertainment, like heidi klum, tara banks, it really gives incredible platform to feel empowered with your body but also your life. there's amazing opportunity, which everyone will get tomorrow on 18th of february if you go to si.com, you will be able to participate and win a trip to a next photo shoot, which is an incredible, rare opportunity. >> why didn't you tell me about this earlier? >> because it's not until

tomorrow and i want everyone to know. >> not just me. >> no, it's for public and really general public never gets this opportunity. it's the first time, and i hope everyone will participate, because it will support happy hearts, as well. >> i'm not an expert, but i feel there might be interest in that. we'll have to look on the internet and see. congratulations on all your success and thanks for coming in today. >> i have at least one person who will. >> thank you again for being here, petra nemcova. the "sports illustrated" 50th anniversary issue does go on stands tomorrow, as we mention. history will also be made tonight on nbc. jimmy fallon takes over as host and brings it back to new york after a 42-year absence. the show will air at a special midnight time after the olympics, and people have already started lining up starting last night for their shot at tickets. the tonight show tweeted out this photo. that wraps up this hour of "jansing and co." i am ari melber in for chris

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good monday, everyone, i'm craig melvin. topping our agenda today, from mistrial to retrial, the verdict in the michael dunn murder trial is raising questions and reopening wounds surrounding florida's stand your ground law. 47-year-old michael dunn now faces up to 60 years in prison. he fired ten shots into an suv of teenagers, three of those shots killed 17-year-old jordan davis. dunn maintained he shot in self defense after seeing a gun. police never found the weapon. a multiracial jury of 12 people convicted dunn on three counts of attempted murder, but deadlocked on that top charge of premeditated first-degree murder. prosecutors say there will be a retrial. >> the issue here is a young man was killed, and the verdict doesn't address that at all.

>> protesters turned out over the weekend to voice their outrage. the parents of jordan davis spoke out about the verdict and their son's killer. >> and we will continue to stand and we will continue to wait for justice for jordan. >> he's going to learn that he must be remorseful for the killing of my son. >> all of this as george zimmerman, who was acquitted in connection with the shooting and killing of trayvon martin is speaking out in a new interview, saying he's not comfortable being the face of the controversial stand your ground law and hopes to one day become an attorney himself. joining me live now, cory strolla, michael dunn's attorney. let's start with the appeal. you plan to appeal this decision. on what grounds do you plan to ba